9,587 steps...

  I wanted to see how many steps I made today so, first thing this morning, I clipped my pedometer onto my skirt, then went about my daily chores.  It helped bring the number up considerably when I went out and played ping-pong with the guys for an hour!  The ped. said that that many steps equals 4.78 miles.    Just in case you wanted to know.

 The guys worked in the shop today, except for when my dad went to Napoleon to put money in the bank again, and then when he got home, he spent an hour or so with the insurance lady who stopped in.   My mom did sessions again.  We also printed more newsletters this evening until we ran out of ink.  This is getting to be a very long, drawn out project...  

  We made soup today and it was nice to have something warm to eat! 

  Andrew has been considering selling his milk cow, Sally, but I really would hate to see her go (and the thought of buying milk when the goats aren't producing is very appalling!!!), so I've been trying to help him with the milking more so he gets a break from it.  Sally is such a good cow!

 

An extra fun babysitting day!

I went over and babysat again today.  Paula had made an indoor-"Sandbox" with rice in a long, rectangular tub.  She'd died the rice so it was pretty colors, and while Tracy had her morning nap, Johanna and I played in the rice for at least an hour and a half.  :) 

Later, while Johanna had her afternoon nap and when Paula was done studying, we dressed Tracy Jo up and did a mini-photo shoot with her.  Then, when Johanna woke up, we got the girls all dolled up in matching outfits; got out some bubbles and had a blast!    Fun, fun, fun....

Awwwww, aren't they darling?

As I said, it was a super fun babysitting day.~

Down 2 people...

My mom and Jacob are staying overnight in Bismarck, as they're teaching a health/energy class together and were busy this evening and start bright and early in the morning again.  So, we're 2 people short tonight here at home. 

It's snowing and cold out tonight, so it's good to be indoors!

Andrew and I played some ping-pong this afternoon.  :)  He's getting very good....

I think the kitchen smelled like...

....freshly baked applesauce muffins this afternoon, although I can't smell anything currently, so I'm not certain of that fact.  ;)  I did bake some, so I'm sure they gave off some delicious aroma?

Mom and Andrew went to Bismarck.  They moved some things around in my mom's office again, then ran some errands and Andrew spent a lot of time at the capitol, listening in on committee hearings I believe.  My dad hauled grain for a farmer all day.  Jacob did his schoolwork and tried to figure out what is going on with his snowmobile. 

People seem to be less cough-i-tive tonight, so that's encouraging.  Have a good nights rest everybody!

Hot off the printer...

My mom and I sat down this afternoon, said "It's ridiculous we don't have our new-years letter out yet", then did the last proof-read; I put in the new black ink-cartridge Andrew had bought in Bismarck and filled the color cartridge; and the printer kept buzzing for a few hours.  The letter is especially long this year, so consider yourself forewarned.  ;) 

The guys were busy outside all afternoon, grinding several batches of feed for the calves and making sure the semi is road-worthy again.  Jacob had his snowmobile running---for 1 second, then it died so he's not sure what's wrong with it now.   He's had so many problems with that machine already.  I guess it's a good learning experience anyway....

'twas a lazy day here...

...no ping-pong or anything.  We're all fighting colds (cough, cough) and just took it easy today, outside of my mom who was at a short class in Bismarck last night and this morning until mid-afternoon.  Now we're going to try to get some sleep!  (awwwwchewww).... 

We hustled and got the house cleaned...

I worked the first half of the day, babysitting.  Then, when I got home, I found out that my parents had gone to Bismarck for the day (they're still not back), so my brothers and I rolled up our sleeves and got the house cleaned; food prepared; plants watered; chores finished; etc, etc..... 

Now, we're ready for the weekend.  :)

They don't look very pleased...

 

Paula was going through pictures she's taken and found this one and sent it to me today.  Hmmmmm, they don't look very happy, do they?  :)  I think Tracy Jo was just saying something, because in another picture she was smiling...  Johanna looks like she'd rather be running around though. 

I spent the afternoon with "My babies".  They were good girls, for the most part.  They sure are growing and changing every day!  Johanna and I painted in coloring books quite a while and Tracy Jo just sat in her booster-seat, watching and smiling at us. 

 

The guys are all sick with a cold and it was super cold outside, so not much got done out of doors, other than chores.  I feel sorry for the animals on days like this!

Johanna got a present today...

As she was sleeping yet when I left, after Paula and I opened it, I'm not sure what her reaction to it was, but I'm SURE that she loved it!  What was it? -------a violin!    Paula found one on-line for a very reasonable price (and the UPS man just brought it today), so she bought it for Johanna to practice, as she's shown interest----looking for a bow to play on her guitar.  Now I can try teaching her to play....?  Or, we'll just have fun playing with it.  :)  Maybe she'll look like this someday?

A few pictures from camp...

Neither Andrew or I took very many pictures.  I guess we were just having too much fun visiting and playing games to think about snapping photos.... 

 

Here are a few that I took during one of the many volleyball games that were played throughout the weekend:

 

 If you look very closely, you can see Andrew in this picture...

 My friend, Anna is the one in the denim skirt/blue shirt/brown sweater jacket.

 At one point in time, there were 7 teams playing speed-volleyball!

 Later, they played families against families....

 Here is the cafeteria (the kitchen's at the far end)...  This room completely filled up during meals!

 If you look very closely, you can see me in this picture, visiting with a friend from Montana who I hadn't seen since her wedding.  They now have 3 little girls.  :)

 The young ping-pong players...

 Saturday morning, before brunch, was family introduction time....  Here we are:

 Miranda and I forgot to take our annual picture even, so here is one with her (3rd from the left) and her family...

I could post pictures of more of the families who were there (Andrew took pictures of each one), but as there were about 35 families (most of them large!), that could take some time and I don't know if any of you would be interested anyway?


Today, Andrew sold one of his pickups (the white one with a topper) and delivered it to Bismarck.  My mom had her open-house for war-veterans today as well.  My dad delivered an organic bagged-wheat order down to a lady in SD and came home with a very neat book, "The Natural Remedies Encyclopedia."  I baked bread, using Dorena's bread recipe this time, and tried to get our printer to work for our newsletters, plus did some laundry and made a chili-pizza.  Jacob did his schoolwork and worked on his snowmobile.    It was, yes, a good day.~

We had lots of fun and great fellowship at:

...Cabin Fever Family Camp!    I tried several times today to upload pictures, but am having problems, so I can't do that tonight.  I'll save the review of camp until I can post the pictures...

We separated cream/milk today; I baked oatmeal cookies; started some bread; made 2 pheasant pot-pies; got the new batch of water-kefir going; started making plans for the homeschool convention in March; my mom had a client here; the guys worked in the shop; my dad had to thaw out the calves' water fountain this morning as it was very cold outside; and we worked on unpacking.  :)

Leaving for a bit...

This afternoon, some of us will be leaving for "Cabin Fever Family Camp" at the pretty Crystal Springs campground.    It will be SO good to see friends again, old and new!  I won't be posting here until maybe Sunday or Monday.

God be with you 'til we meet again.  (I have to go finish packing the last minute things...)

We built snow castles...

I took Johanna and Tracy Jo outside this morning and we played in the snow for over an hour.   The girls and I built snow castles using their sand-pails as molds.  Then, once the castles were built, Johanna promptly smashed them all down with one little puff of her hand.  The snow was actually not very sticky, so it didn't make for very firm castles---or snowballs.  Johanna wanted me to throw snowballs to her, but by the time the clump of snow reached her, it was just a dusting of white.  The girls didn't want to go in even after all of that time outside, but Tracy kept loosing her boots, so I knew it was time to head in. 

My mom and Andrew and Lauretta went to Bismarck today again, as my mom had a full day at her office and Andrew had lots of things to do in town.  He drove his smushed pickup (the one that jack-knifed) up there separately and left it at a shop to get a lot of body repair done, which will take at least 2 weeks time. 

My dad and Jacob worked in the shop---Jacob on his snowmobile and my dad on the grain-cleaners again.  When I got home, my dad was just starting to feed the cows, so Jacob got Sally in for me while I took care of the turkeys and goats, then I milked Sally and Jacob fed her calf.  We spent the evening visiting, planning for the future, and watching Hogan's Heroes....

 

2 dead critters...

The fact that the one is dead, we are all grateful for.  The other, not so much.  Sometimes it is harder than others to count your blessings in a day....

My dad informed me that one of my cows was found dead this morning.  She apparently slept down in a hole they'd all dug for some reason and she couldn't get back up, so died there, struggling.  :(  You feel so bad about loosing them that way!  This is the 2nd time this has happened this Winter (it's been my cows both times too).  What, are they too rolly polly or something?

The other critter was a skunk that fumigated the milking barn overnight.  Phewwy!  My dad saw it lumbering across the south cornfield this morning, so Andrew grabbed a rifle and went out to do it in.  Unfortunately, the gun jammed, so Andrew had to come back to the farmyard for another one.  This time, my dad grabbed another rifle and joined Andrew on the stinky beast hunt.  The skunk had found the feed-corn pile and, no matter how many snowballs D & A threw at him, he just wouldn't go away and then started heading towards my dad and brother, so they shot him dead there on the spot.  More stink!

The rest of the day was more pleasant.  I did some ironing for this weekend and my mom went through cupboards/cabinets/boxes and got together several things to donate while in town tomorrow.  Jacob's snowmobile parts arrived after lunch, so the boys worked on that this afternoon.  My dad went to two towns (Napoleon and Hazelton), or "The Twin Cities", as Jacob calls them.  He payed our land rent and visited with Fern for most of the afternoon.  I added a bunch of pictures to our newsletter and am glad to report that it is almost done (I believe I've said that before though)....

And now, it is time to get some sleep before another busy day dawns.  :)

God saved a house for us...

We have been excited about attending the "Cabin Fever Family camp" which is coming up this weekend at the Crystal Springs campground, but got our request for a cabin room in too late, and all the rooms were reserved already when I talked to the family who hosts the event.  However, today we got a call from Mrs. S. saying that there was an option available if we still wished to stay overnight at camp (apart from the family members who will drive back and forth for chores).  There is a small house with 4 little rooms available (each has 1 bunkbed in it).  The house is not heated, but the camp will provide space heaters.  There's no bathroom either, but the house is right by one of the large cabins, so we can shower there.  We are so excited!! 

Apart from that joyous news, our day was pretty usual.  Mom and Jacob worked on schoolwork quite a bit.  I folded lots of laundry and also started choosing the clothes I want to wear at camp (Jacob was surprised/dismayed that I was already packing, but I like to be prepared).  Later, my mom and I worked some more on our annual letter.  I refilled the ink in our printer so that should be ready to go once we have all of the editing of the letter done.....

The guys worked in the shop quite a bit too, then visited a couple hours with a neighbor when he stopped in to make some decisions on the pickup he's having Andrew work on.   It's so nice to have a heated shop!

"Make coogies, Tora, peees?"

That was Johanna's request, so I told her, after she went "Nigh-night" (nap), then we'd bake some cookies.  She was all excited then!  I'm surprised she got to sleep.  :)   Once she did wake up, I disinfected her highchair tray and washed everybody's hands, and then we started mixing the ingredients together.  Her mama, Paula came home just as we were about to start rolling them out, so she took over as chief baker then and I headed for home. 

I read this prayer request on a friends' blog this evening...  We truly are still blessed here in America.  Please pray for this man and his family!

Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep

I know I've posted this song on my other blog, but I just like it so well, so am sharing it again. :)




I had a busy day of babysitting Johanna and Tracy Josephine. We went outside for a while and played in the snow. Then, we went "Boating" in the living room, sitting on blankets and rowing with a yardstick. ;) Later still, we built all kinds of things out of playdough. They're so easy to keep busy!

The others worked at home/in the shop/doing schoolwork. And now, it is once again time to sleep. As Johanna was saying all day, "Hooray"!

Next decision:

...What to drive to work tomorrow morning?  It snowed and blew a lot over night and this morning, so I'm guessing my car would not be the best to take...

We spent a peaceful day at home, reading, making music, and playing games ("Dutch Blitz" and "Key Harvest").  This evening, we watched a movie together.    It was a good day!

Have a great week, doing the things God has on your agenda.   :)

Blizzard!

The first one of the year.  It is so nice to be inside!

My dad kept busy in the wood-heated shop, working on reassembling a grain cleaner. 

The boys helped my mom in the house with whatever needed doing. 

I, meanwhile, was over babysitting Johanna and Tracy Jo.  Johanna is getting to be quite the little talker already and is a good helper!  We're still working on the whole potty-training deal...  She LOVES painting in coloring books and drawing on big boxes with her (washable) markers.  Tracy Jo can also say "Hi", "Daddy", "Mommy", and I think she was saying her own version of "Thank you" after handing me pieces of clean clothing to fold, repeating it over and over with each shirt, sock, or pair of pants.  It was so cute!  She also discovered her eyelashes today.  ;)  They're so much fun.  I was glad when their daddy got home in time to take over so I could drive home before dark, as it wasn't easy to see the road in places, even in the daylight hours.

Have you all watched...

..."Little Lord Fauntleroy"?  We watched it for the first time this evening and, though a very old movie, we enjoyed it thoroughly!  It reminded me in many ways of Pollyanna--the glad girl. 

We worked on our annual update-letter this afternoon, my mom starting on the writing end of things and Jacob and I going through hundreds of pictures, trying to decide which the best ones were and storing them in a special folder for further scrutiny later.  It is amazing what all happens in one years time!

I made a stir-fry this evening, using a combination of recipes and imagination.  My mom had bought some fresh mushrooms from Sams' Club, so I sauteed them with onions, garlic and butter and then added seasonings and more vegetables.  Everyone said it was tasty.  I don't actually know, as I'm on the Master Cleanse (lemon-ade) again and so did not taste it.

It was very windy today and yet very warm, even melting some snow.  Speaking of snow, there is a good chance that we'll be getting some more tomorrow and the following day.  Hooray!  (We need the moisture, plus winter just doesn't seem like winter without at least a few inches of snow covering everything.)  :)

Stuffy.

That's how I'm feeling right now, trying to breath.  Uggg.  I guess I caught the cold after all...  Now I'm trying to hurry up and get well so the others don't catch it!

The guys worked in the shop all day and towards evening, Jacob came in to see if we wanted to join them for a few rounds of ping-pong, which we did.  It was jolly good fun.  ;)

Finished.

I dug out my mom's sewing machine this morning to do the blind-hem stitching on my skirt.  It skipped a few spots, so I took my skirt along to work and finished it by hand there.  :) 

I just got home a little bit ago actually, as Johanna & Tracys' Daddy & Mommy went to a long meeting this evening, so I stayed with the girls and put them to bed when they were ready.  It was bath night too this evening, so they splashed and played with their bath toys for a long time.  They're so much fun!

I don't know what all happened around the farm today, so I can't tell you that this time.  I know that my mom and Jacob went to Bismarck this time...

A new sewing project...

It was another busy day for my family and I...

My dad went to Napoleon this morning to take care of business and to buy more lick-tubs for the cattle.  He then loaded up two loads of hay that he sold a while back to guys in MN.

My mom and Andrew were in Bismarck for most of the day.  Andrew got some parts for his newest pickup project (a FORD!).

Jacob helped me with some projects and worked on some schoolwork.

I made chili and sour-cream-raisin cookies.  Then, I started on a new sewing project:  a skirt.   I'm making it like one of my favorite skirts (a multi-paneled skirt), taking ruff measurements from it to use for this new one.  I dug out my serger and, after untangling the thread disaster, I serged the 12 seams.  I've added the zipper, so now just need to finish the waist (that's almost done too) and hem it.  Then, I'll take a picture to share.  ;)

Blessed with safety today...

We worked together to get the new cows retagged and poured (stinky delousing stuff) today.   These young cows were fairly cooperative, although there was 1 that nearly wiped my dad out!  I guess my dad said he did get kicked a bit by another cow---"She grazed me a bit" were his words.   

This afternoon, the boys helped me in the kitchen a bit and we made some banana bread and sweet potato hot-dish.  We took care of money business/bills (rolled a lot of coins that were filling up piggy-banks and money-containers).  My mom did a couple of health sessions for people.  She and I ground some "Black seeds" and stuffed 2 batches of capsules.  I practiced on my violin for a while.   Dad, the boys and I played some Foosball.  We got things ready to go out in the mail tomorrow (Andrew sold his fancy camera, as he bought an even fancier, and I wrote out some instructions for how I made my quilt, as a friend of a friend would like to make one like it, so I'm sending her what I have for a pattern).  And, we did some more laundry....   With so many animals needing water now, we can only run the washing machine in the evenings when all the animals are done using the water (or else there's not enough water pressure), so we only get a couple loads done at a time.  It works.  I'm very grateful to have such conveniences.

It was a good day.~

January thaw?

"There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues."
- Hal Borland

While there is some talk about nice weather tomorrow, I don't know if it will qualify as a thaw?  :)  The seed "catalogues" are surely pouring in though, so that must mean that spring is around the corner, someplace....

The dogs are barking just now.  I wonder if they've spotted the fox or coyote that was in the garden the other night when my parents looked out their bedroom window to see what the commotion was?

I am now a true nanny, so says my boss....

Why?  Because I babysat over there yesterday and then spent the night there and got up in the night with Tracy Jo for a couple of hours when she was sleepless (she has a cold), so now I can classify myself as the real thing!    The girls' mommy had to work last night and their daddy was miserably sick (and tired from being up with the sick girls the night before), so I stayed in Tracy Jo's room with her and prayed that I'd hear her if/when she woke up, as I'm a sound sleeper, and yes, I did hear her each time she made even little noises.  ;)  It's amazing that you can be responsible when you're sleeping if you know you need to be.   I rocked her and walked her around the living room until she finally fell back asleep.  It was a good thing her daddy was sleeping downstairs so he didn't have to hear all the noise we quietly made!

I got home around 2:00pm (I drove Jacob's Rover to test-drive it for him---I gave it my unqualified approval), and then spent the rest of the day cooking/cleaning/doing laundry.....and watching Hogans' Heroes.  :)

May you all have a wonderful, healthy weekend!

Behind the Scenes with Project Appleseed...

Recently, our Turtle Mountain friends made this video about a Project Appleseed shooting experience.  I've especially been wanting to share it with all of you, as you can catch glimpses of my mom and Andrew in it.  :)    (Great job, by the way, Bartletts!)



Tomorrow, I get to see how much "my" little girls have changed in one weeks time! :) I'm sure they've grown by leaps and bounds.

We spent the day doing many odd jobs around the house and shop. I worked on some scrapbooking my mom asked me to do. The guys worked on vehicles. My mom had clients here. Andrew helped me figure out some technical details with starting up this new blog. We folded laundry---the never-ending task. I made an apple pie from the filling we'd frozen last summer... Things like that.

Welcome to my new blog----and here's a huge picture-post to catch up from the last 2 months...

 

Happy 2013 everyone!

I had a lot of fun putting this post together, as it's been so long since I was able to post pictures that I went a little overboard, but I hope you all enjoy it nevertheless.

This was the day that the cows that my dad bought arrived on our farm.

We were grateful that, for a little extra $, the rancher was willing to bring all of the cows to our farm in one large load...

The following were taken on December 25th---while my mom was opening up her birthday gifts...

Andrew, getting ready to play piano? Hmmmm

Jacob, looking serious...

My mom, opening a present...

"What could be in here?"



This was at Grandpa and Grandma B.s' house, earlier in the day...

My dad carved the turkey...



Don't they look hungry?



My mom is mashing the potatoes while I roll up the crescent rolls...

Grandma's Christmas Cactus was blooming nicely...

These were the thoughtful gifts that my employer gave me. :) She knows what I like!

You may recall when I told you all about this pearl necklace that my great uncle sent me?

This was a fun day a couple of weeks ago, when we went ice skating and snowmobile-sled-ride giving with Lauretta, Sarena and Thaddaeus... Here, Andrew is pulling Thaddaeus on the ice, over the snowbanks.

Now Lauretta's getting a ride...

Ice-hockey time!

The siblings...

Tired, Lauretta?

My dad and mom came up later in the day and guarded the goals with shovels!

It was a lot of fun!

Then, we just skated around, flinging the last person in the line when going around the corners.

Wheeeeee.... (Andrew, me, Lauretta, Sarena, Thaddaeus, and Jacob)

Getting tired...

It was pretty cold, so we bundled up pretty well...

My brothers in their snowmobile suits...

The guys...

Thaddaeus...

This was the Friday before the skating party, when Jacob and I headed up to clear the snow off the ice and we "happened" to meet Lauretta up at the corner, so she came and helped us.

We took Jacob's Rover up, but its battery was pretty weak and it was a very good thing that Andrew joined us later with his pickup so he could give us a jump, or we might have had a long walk back to Lauretta's pickup!

Jacob cleared the ice with his skates on, while Lauretta and I preferred doing that part with our boots on our feet.

Moving on now, we have pictures from my mom's open-house in her Bismarck office(s). Lauretta was with us....

Lauretta and I, ready for picture taking, waiting for Andrew to get the timer set on the camera...

This was a week before, when we were setting up the Betar-table office room. We had to move everything out of that room into the other room in order to set-up the room dividers...

Andrew, screwing them together...

The nice desk that my mom got for FREE on Bismanonline!

Andrew, Lauretta and I went picture-shopping that day and found the large scene (there's a church in the background) you see behind my mom and Lauretta there...

Now it's starting to look more like an office!

The candy-cane cabinet... (that whole basket is full) ;)

This is looking out of the Betar office, viewing my mom's other office room across the hallway...

I made this cake for her open-house...

...and Lauretta helped me mix up colors for this cake for my friend/boss, Paula...

The day of the open-house... This was the door-prize table:

My mom's VibesUp products...

The refreshments...

My mom's desk...

Her work area...

These next few pictures are of when Jacob was driving on a slippery road and jack-knifed Andrew's pickup and trailer (those bales were on the trailer at the time)....

Oops!

Here's where he went down (sideways)...

These pictures are getting older and older. This is of the cake I made for my grandma's birthday/Thanksgiving party.

Grandma at her feast...

Our guys... (That's my dad's younger brother sitting next to him).

Calf working day! Aren't those red ones pretty? ;) (I'm the only one in my family who prefers the red ones).

Jacob did the "pouring" while Andrew ran the head-gate...

My mom kept the bander filled and gave shots...

I kept the records and mixed up vaccines and kept up with ear-tags...

Jerome helped by giving shots...

Jacob again...

Andrew did very well and didn't miss a one...

Hey guys!

This is our humongous 30lb Thanksgiving supper that we raised. ;)

Oh, and here is a picture I took of the middle of my quilt when I'd finished that part...

Here I am looking at my completed quilt-top, amazed that it's finally done!

It was hard to get a good picture of all of it, as it's so large!

That is all of the pictures for now.

I hope you all had a wonderful first-day-of-the-year!