MERRY CHRISTMAS-A few days late!!

Sorry-a really bad pic of the tree this year-and the first fake one we've had in too many years to count. We missed the smell of a live one-but not the mess!!

And this is one I promised of Mady and Cheyenne at the Christmas Play-it is still too cute!!

We finally got to come home on Christmas Eve-I got Mom home at 6:00pm on the 23rd. She's still a little weak and very sore-but is making progress. Her blood pressure is back to normal-Thank you, God! We had a very nice Christmas with turkey, ham and all the fixin's! Mom didn't feel up to coming over-so we took plates of food to her and Shorty in the afternoon. They got us a NuWave cooker-we are looking foward to cooking in it-Jeff cooked a few pieces of link sausage this morning-it was good!

I still have this week off-Shorty has a Dr. appointment at the VA on Wednesday-but he's riding the bus-won't let Jeff drive him. We have a party at Church on New Year's Eve-but other than that-no other plans for the week-although we do need to go into Baskin's-I picked up the wrong size overalls for Jeff. And he needs a new battery for the welding machine-Shorty needs some hooks welded onto the bucket on his tractor-then it needs to come home so we can start on the loading and squeeze shoot for the cows. We still have to take the black cow back to Shorty's and bring the other hereferd home.

Dad is STILL battling the staph infection in the new knee replacement. He's been going to Conroe everyday for a $750 antibiotic IV treatment. If this doesn't kill the infection-he may have to have the new knee removed and be bedridden for 6 weeks-with no knee-until the infection is all gone. That will be SO hard for him-he's on the tractor everyday feeding hay to his cows-and always busy doing something! Please keep him in your prayers!

And guess what-we finally are getting eggs! Well-we've gotten 2 so far-1 every other day! I can't wait for them to all really start up laying! I hate to buy eggs! Ricky is busy butchering his hog right now-with Jeff's guidance! Man-it was COLD this morning! Jeff got me a beautiful bird feeder and the birds are coming to it already! We've cleaned up and relocated some of the old feeders-I just love watching them!

And just in case I don't get back to my laptop this week-HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Mom

Well-alot's been going on with Mom-we've had her back and forth with Doctor/Hospital visits and running tests. We found out after last Friday's heart cath that things had gotten more serious. Right now-I'm in the waiting room at Conroe Regional waiting on them to take her back for a triple bypass and to clean out the artery in her neck-it's 90% blocked!Pray for her, please over the next few hours and days-the surgery itself will take 4-6 hours for the bypass and we don't know how much longer for the neck. She'll be fine-just awhile recouping! We'll have to stay with them for the next few weeks-Alana will be staying at our house to keep the animals fed and taking care of everything else!
We lost a very good friend on Friday. Bobby Conner was SO much a part of my growing up years and had a huge part in my early Christian life. I love this man just as much as my own father-he was such a kind and quiet soul. We ALWAYS shared a hug on Sunday mornings-I sure missed that hug last Sunday!! Jeff is serving as a pallbearer @ 10:00am this morning and will join me at the hospital as soon as he can.
The Children's Church had their Christmas program on Sunday night-it was a live nativity scene with the girl's being angel's and Jordan played a dual role-the innkeeper and a shepherd. They were great! We took Cheyenne and Pretzel and they both behaved beautifully-Cheyenne even moo-ed as if on que! When they were singing Away in the Manger-she lowed at just the right time-everyone asked how long it took us to train her-God is wonderful!! I'll post pictures later of the play-I got some good ones!
Gotta go for now-will give an update when I know something on Mom-just keep her in your prayers today!

Ready for the Weekend!

This is gonna be a LONG day! We are SO ready to get to the beach this afternoon! Both of us are just totally worn out from running! I even went in and laid down for about 20 minutes when I got in from work yesterday. Then after we ate supper-Jeff fixed some left-over brisket and made potato salad-we went out and reset the camera-Jordan and Kaytlynn got in the hot tub and it started raining again! It's become a daily event-but I'm not complaining!
Mom is STILL in the hospital-they now say she has gout-so I don't know if she'll go to re-hab or not.. She does NOT want us to change our plans this weekend-so we'll go on tonight -spend tomorrow on the Strand in Galveston-but we might just come back home on Saturday-depending on what's going on. Shorty now has to have cateract surgery-probally down at the VA in Houston.
Jeff has decided the sow is definately bred. I'll have to look back and see around what time she'll be due. He went to the back Doc yesterday and got the normal run-around and a new script for pain meds. He called the Work Comp manager and let her know what was going on and she assured him that his Dr. is one of the best-but he was way past his review time-which we already knew-it's normally in January! So I'm sure we'll be getting a letter in the mail shortly saying that he'll have to report downtown Houston for his review. Just another day!
Guess I'll go-still have a few things to pack and gotta get ready for work! Have a great weekend-we'll sure try to! :)

HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!!

We did it!!! We made it to 30 years! And talk about time going by fast!! It just doesn't seem possible that that much time could go past-but then when you look at your kids-adults themselves-you know that it must have!! We married so young-Jeff was 19 and I had just turned 16-Julie was born almost 2 years later-but we have each other for a best friend and can hardly stand to be away from each other for any length of time! We don't have any big plans for tonight-but we are taking Friday off from work and leaving for the beach on Thursday afternoon. We stayed at my Grandparents beach house for a few days after we got married-funny-we always migrate to the coast!
Mom is still in the hospital-they are worried about her leg now. She said she will have to have home health care when she goes home-they don't want her up on her leg at all. The bruising is pretty bad and they are afraid of blood clots. So we'll see what happens with this. Shorty has to go to Houston today to the VA for a Doc appointment-he'll ride the bus from Livingston.
I managed to get more of the garden weeded yesterday-it was SO nice outside-a cool breeze would blow through every now and then. I got 9 tomatoes, 9 broccoli, and 9 red cabbage planted. I shoveled 3 five gallon buckets of rabbit manure and added to the beds. Jeff worked on getting a hot wire strung up at his parents so we can extend the pasture a little bit for the cows. Where they normally have their garden the grass is over knee high-Ike had torn up the front of the fence and when we rebuilt it-we just moved way back the other side of the garden. So this afternoon-we'll open the gate and let them in there for a few hours. We don't quite trust them yet to stay in there-they haven't been in a hot wire fence in some time-and the calves never have been-but they learn quick to stay away! We ended the evening with a soak in the hot tub-so relaxing and what a great anniversary gift to ourselves!
Gotta go! Have a great day!

Ready for Cooler Weather??

I caught this picture of Jeff yesterday splitting wood-He's soaked with sweat-so I figured he's waiting for that first cool morning when we have to light a fire in the heater. Actually-we heat our house with wood-so we have to put a good supply in every year!
Mom is still in the Hospital-She is supposed to come home tomorrow. Hopefully! She still doesn't sound very good!
And of course-today is 9/11-Do remember where you were? I do-I was in surgery and woke up to the images on TV screens everywhere in the recovery room! Thanks again to all the brave people who gave their lives and prayers for all who lost loved ones!!
Have a great weekend! :)

Mom & Curtis

Here we go again! Mom is once again in the hospital! She called us at 3:30 am yesterday morning-she was sick with a spell with her stomach. By 8:00 she was still feeling bad-but shortly after-she begin bleeding again. So I had to leave work around 11:00 and take her into the ER in Conroe. We finally got into a room at 2:00 and they began running tests. It was just as we suspected-her Diviticulitus had flared up again-although not as bad as back in July! By 6:30pm they had decided she could go home-of course Jeff and Shorty were aready on their way up there! But then the PA came back in and said the Dr. said no-she'd have to stay over night due to blood in her stool. They were still trying to get her in a room when we left to come home. Hopefully she had a good night and will come home this morning!
And Curtis fell again yesterdayand bumped his head and hit his ribs pretty hard. I haven't seen him-but Jeff said his Dad is bruised up again! He is having such a hard time, too!
Just keep us in your prayers-as we will you-We are all facing difficulties right now!
Have a great day!

Weekend's Over!

Well-it turned out to be an OK one-at least Mom is finally home! She got home on Saturday evening and is doing well. She did have some kind of spell last evening-but I think it is all the Meds-she's gonna check with her Primary Doc this morning and make sure she's not over-doing it with some of them!
We moved the cows across the road yesterday into the other pasture. There is some grass there and Jeff put the last of the old hay rolls in that pasture. He said they didn't even look at it-they were enjoying the grass. We had sat in the yard and watched them eat beside the garden again for awhile before walking them over. The calf was SO cute! He layed down and started chewing on the water hose like he was trying to nurse from it! And , of course, he quit doing it by the time I got back out there with my camera!
We have 7 bitties at last count. The hens came out of the nest when Jeff fed and 2 bitties followed. Jeff said there was such a fight and a few more eggs were pipping-that he caught them and put them back in the nest. Something will have to be done with them this afternoon. One of the turkeys managed to get out of the cage while we where out there and the rooster almost killed him before Jeff got in there to catch him-so that must be what happened to the missing one.
And it rained twice last night before we went to bed! The first was just a slight sprinkle but the second was a pretty good shower! We have a 30% chance today and 40% tomorrow!! Bring it on! And our Temps are finally dropping-Only mid 90's this week instead of 104 degrees! Looking foward to a weekend at the beach!! Have a great day!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Hay Bales in the Field!!

Hay Baler at Work!!

3 bitties-1 is hiding-and their mom's!

Happy 4th to Everyone!!!

Ok-First things first-again! We haven't been home since Thursday-Mom did not get to come home-the Docs thought she was bleeding internally-thank God she wasn't-but she did have to have 2 units of blood on Thursday. She wasn't feeling well and her old friend Divaticulitus-I know I didn't spell it right-flaired up again-causing her a great deal of pain! But they have been treating her for it and Shorty has gone to the hospital to bring her home. So we decided to run home-Oh-we've been staying up there with Shorty since Thursday-and check on things here. And we found that the hens have hatched 3 bitties! They are SO cute popping out from underneath their moms! They are due to hatch on Monday and there are still quite a few eggs under them! Momma cow still hasn't had her calf yet-but the little bull calf-he still doesn't have a name-poor thing-is doing wonderful.

Jeff hauled hay almost ALL day yesterday-luckily the field is only about a mile or so from Mom's. It hasn't been cut in a few years and ended up with a total of 70 rolls of hay. Jeff brought 32 bales to Mom's and 2 to a friend of their's. They put 1 out to Shorty's cows and they had eaten over half of it by the next morning! It hasn't rained at their place in way over a month-it is SO dry up there!

We'll be heading back up to Coldspring shortly-we are planning to BBQ at Mom's this evening and Jeff has made up a batch of homemade yeast rolls for her-her favorite! Just gonna keep it real low key and see how things go from there. We have spent the last several years-at least 10 or more-at the beach for the 4th of July-so this will be quite a change for us. But it is OK-everybody is doing well!! Be safe and have a fun evening!!

Soft-Shell Egg

One of the hens layed this soft-shelled egg on Sunday. They look really cool-but we just give them to the hogs. The kids-and Ricky-were really facinated by it. We've been told that the hens lay one at the beginning-or end-of their laying cycles. And since none of my hens are new layers-? We have been blessed with MANY eggs so far this year!

Mom is supposed to be coming home from the hospital this morning. HEH!! She finally got in a room yesterday afternoon. They got her a phone in the CCU room-she could only call out-and she called me at work. She sounded SO good! I know she can't wait to get home this morning! I work from 7-9:00am this morning-then I'll go up to their house and see what I can get ready. Aunt Linda went up yesterday and cleaned what she could.

I don't think we'll go to the beach this weekend-anyway that's the plan right now. The hay cutters finally showed up at Shorty's yesterday-they NEVER showed last year! So looks like we're gonna be hauling hay this weekend! But that is DEFINITELY a good thing! We have already bought 10 rolls @ $50 a piece because we were afraid they wouldn't show up again and we'd be scrambling for hay again this winter. At one point, we had to pay $80 a roll last winter! YUCK!!

Guess I better go-gotta get ready for 2 hours at work this morning! Have a good one!

We Got Some RAIN!! Happy July 1st!!

Jeff picking tomatoes in the garden.

One of the sunflowers-Can you see the bumblebee?

It RAINED!!! And , boy, did it! We got 3-yes 3, inches yesterday! Of course, it was too much-too fast-but it looks so much better here already!

Mom is still in the hospital. She was supposed to be moved out of the CCU yesterday into a managed care room-but there weren't any available. Hopefully they moved her during the night and she'll get to come home today. I only work 2 hours tomorrow-so I'll either go to the hospital when I get off at 9:00-or go to her house and get things ready for her to come home.

And the calf is finally nursing on his own! YEAH!! What a relief! The 2 turkeys are doing well. I weaned 1 pen of bunnies-only a litter of 2. We have 2 more litters that were born a day apart-1 is almost ready to wean-3 of them, the other one had 10 ! She has 7 left and there is a huge difference in the sizes of the 2 different ones. But is just SO hot out there on them! We expected Momma Cow to have her calf overnight-but it hasn't arrived yet! hehe Jeff put a roll of hay out for them-maybe they'll give the grass a little chance to catch up with the rain. Have a great day!!

Busy!

Baby turkeys!!

Jordan and Kaytlynn with the new calf.

Well-first things first! Mom is doing better-even thought she still is in CCU. While we were visiting her on Saturday-they rushed her into the Cath Lab and put a balloon in. She only had 30% usage of the bottom of her heart-the previous blockage had not changed. They slowly begain weaning her off the pump yesterday-if she did OK she should get to come home today. She has to remove ALL the stress in her life-I don't know how that's goin' to happen-she's always been a worry wort and worries about EVERYTHING! Jeff and I went up to their house after work last night and I worked on getting the Frig cleaned out and some of her pantry. Aunt Linda is going up today or later and work on cleaning up the house some for them.

The calf has been having trouble nursing. Jeff put Rainbow in the stall Sunday morning and made the calf nurse-he doesn't have a name yet-guess that shows how busy we've been! We still aren't sure if he nurses on his own during the day or not-since we haven't been home to watch yet. But he is NOT aggresive at all or just not hungry enough yet-but with all this heat-we worry he'll dehydrate. We bought 4 baby turkey's on our way home from the Hospital on Sunday-1 disapearred and 1 died. They are a month old-so I thought they'd be a little easier to raise-maybe not!

I took some really pretty pics of the sunflowers in the garden-but my Internet is SO slow-I'll wait to post them til another time-Oh-and we got a little rain yesterday!!!!YEAH!!! Have a little bit better chance this afternoon. I don't remember a time when its been this dry in June!

Chances are I'll work this whole week-other than Friday. We are getting a little backed up in the office. We are planning a long weekend at the beach-starting Thursday evening-as long as things are OK with Mom. Can't wait!!! Have a great day!

We've got a CALF!!

Not a good picture-I'll get better ones later! He doesn't have a name yet, either!

He was born around 6:30 last night! Rainbow put herself into the barn-so we watched her pretty closely. We came into the house and I went back out about 30 minutes later and she already had him. He is so shiny black with curls on his head! SO cute!! I'll get better pics later-they didn't come out good in the barn!

Shorty is on his way over this morning-Mom is in the hospital in Conroe. She had a slight heartattack yesterday-and the Doc is saying she will have to have by-pass surgury! We're going to the hospital shortly and see what's going on!!! I really don't have any details yet-gotta find out what's goin' on with my MOM!! Her last heart check-up was fine-so this really doesn't make any since!

Gotta go get ready-will post more info when I get it! Keep her in your prayers! Have a great day and stay COOL!!

Christmas Tree Farm Visit

This year's tree-the last from our favorite tree farm!!Jeff and Mady cutting their tree.

Jeff and Hailey cutting our tree.

Jeff and CayCay cutting our tree.

Jeff, Julie and the girls at the tree farm.

Well we made our annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm in Tarkinton yesterday afternoon.

Only thing-it was so SAD!! There were hardly ANY trees there!! WE did manage to pick out 2-then took them up front to be shook and bagged. While talking to the owners, we found out that this is their last year-OH NO!!! We've been bringing our kids and grandkids here for YEARS now!! It was the end of a tradition!! We left so depressed that something else is now gone from our lives.

Mom's heart tests all came back fine!! What a relief!!!! She had just about worked herself into a tizzy over it-but she's OK!!! We did a little shopping afterward and she was great!!

I get to babysit today-Julie's 2 youngest-Cayden & Madysen. It'll be a fun day-Trying to keep a 22 month old out of the Christmas tree and all the decorations-Maybe I'm getting TOO old for this!!! I love them to death-BUT they can be a handful!!!