Hooray For Ruby

Today we celebrated her first birthday. It was equally exciting for all of the kids.
I made Hudson and Dalanie eat breakfast while Ruby got some time alone in the bath with her new toy. She loves it. It was a low key birthday, but we finished the day by going swimming. (We've tried to make birthdays special by doing something out of the ordinary.) She is such a splashing fool. It was hard to keep a hold of her because she wanted to take off swimming.
Things we love about our Ruby-Doo:
-her happy disposition
-playing peek-a-boo and patty cake (love watching her clap her chubby hands)
-eating her neck and listening to her giggle
-listening to her mooo when you ask where the cows are
-the way she begs for food as soon as I sit her in the high chair
-pulling her around on blankets
-confidently watching her approach stairs, turn around, and maneuver down them like a pro
-the way she snuggles her blankies
-her 5 crazy baby teeth
-that she finally says "Mom"
-that her hair and lips are still the object of conversation

Giving Thanks

We kicked off the morning inside with a Treadmill Turkey Trot since it was too frigid outside.

After a quick snowmobile ride, we headed over to Grandma's for dinner. The cousins put on a little play about the first Thanksgiving, complete with Hudson's cap gun and the paper bag turkey. Not many anticipated the bang, so Hudson got a good belly laugh when people jumped.The kids worked on thankful worksheets and countdown Christmas chains.
Hudson's thankful list included cousins, family, and his tongue (the other day he started a great discussion about all the things our tongue helps us do.) While the other kids were stapling candies to their paper chains, he graciously refused with a simple "I'm trying to eat more healthy."

My heart is full of gratitude and Thanksgiving for the life I have and the blessings I enjoy.

Salmon River Adventure

I got to join my husband and his friend for a Steelhead fishing trip on the Salmon River. It's a unique experience. Our friend's Grandpa pioneered the river for private boats. He is a legend, so it's fun to go with him. This trip was quite an adventure. We left in snow and drove 6+ hours to the campground. The first day was cold, but a few fish were biting. I wrestled a big one for over 10 minutes trying to land him. Towards the end I could barely keep a hold of my pole I was so tired. He must have been a wild by the way he was fighting. He finally surfaced near the boat and he was huge, we estimate over 40". Just when we thought we were going to net him, the line broke! Dang it! No picture. Take it as a fishing story if you want, but my arm is still sore.The next morning we woke to 3" of new snow. It let up, so we shoveled the boat out and went on the river again.



The wind decided to pick up and persist, not good for fishing. We tried to keep warm and wait it out but finally decided to pull out, pack up and head for home.
It was slow going, but we made it to Salmon to find out the road was closed home. We spent the night and continued rest of the way home in subzero temperatures. The closer we got to home, the worse the roads got.
We won't be eating Steelhead for Thanksgiving this year, but at least we're home.

Paper Bag Turkey

Hudson was having a Thanksgiving Feast at school and of course, everything had to be store bought (Maybe safer, but definitely not funner.) So we bought a bag of popcorn and whipped up this turkey in no time. While we were at it, we made one for the cousin table for Thanksgiving.As luck would have it, school was canceled due to the snow, so we have two birds waiting around for the big day.

From Sunshine to Snowboots

Last week we were enjoying the beautiful fall weather in t-shirts. We picked the last of the apples and cut the tops off the onions for the winter.



It's a good thing because now we're scrambling to find our winter clothes to keep warm. The kids insisted on dragging out the mittens and hats so they could go play in the snow. We kinda got knocked upside the head with this winter thing. But you know what they say, "When life gives you snow, make snowmen."

Big Deal

Grandpa Hillman pulled out Hudson's 1st tooth Halloween night. Grandpa has a lot of experience and did a great job. It was relatively painless. The family was together, so there were cousins and aunts and uncles to show the tooth to.

Once we got home (at bedtime) Hudson requested to call his Aunts and Uncles on the other side of the family. It was pretty important to him. Loosing teeth for a kindergartner is a pretty big deal.

The tooth fairy even came!

Happy Trails

We moved cows yesterday. Despite the cooler weather, the kids and I were determined to take part in the fun. We bundled up and hit the trail. Hudson was especially excited to ride his own [borrowed] horse. After riding around the pasture, the girls traded mounts for one with hand warmers, bigger saddle [lunch] bags, and more accommodating seats.




The funniest part of the entire day was when Brent was eating his snack-sized chips at lunch. The two older kids were begging for some as usual. In the meantime, Ruby reaches her hand into the bag to get her own. Verdict: There's not a chip bag big enough for the four of them.

Happy Halloween

With a week full of Halloween activities, we're glad this holiday is coming to a close. I must say we got our money's worth out of the costumes. Ruby was our beautiful butterfly, Hudson pulled out some aggressive moves as the Karate Kid, and Dalanie enjoyed telling people how her hair stuck up as a Garden Fairy.



We enjoyed a spooky lunch with friends, carved pumpkins, decorated sugar cookies and went to several carnivals.

RubY' Lantern

Need a little inspiration for pumpkin carving?

Hunting and Gathering

During the last few days corn harvest, the kids and I drove around the edge of the fields looking for piles of spilled corn. The hunt was on, and boy did they love doing this. Once one was spotted, the kids got ready with their colanders. As soon as the four wheeler came to a stop, they were off and scooping. We gathered over 30 gallons for our chickens. What a win-win, good fun and good food for the birds.

Every variety looks different. I especially liked this one that looks like candy corns.

Corn Harvest 101

Harvest rolls on. We had a few days break between silage harvest and high moisture corn harvest. Let me explain the difference. In silage we use a chopper to cut the entire corn plant, cob and all, into 1/2" pieces. It is done when the plant/cob are at about 70% moisture. In high moisture, a grain combine is used to collect only the kernels. It is done when the corn is much drier, at about 30% moisture.

Chopping

The chopper has knives that chop the corn. There is a kernel processor in the chopper that crushes the kernels so that it is more digestable for the cattle. Innoculant, a fermentation catalyst, is also applied through the chopper. Then the silage is hauled to either a pit or bag for storage. We use semi-trucks with special trailers that allow us to carry roughly 25 tons at a time and unload in about one and a half minutes. In this photo from the archives you can see the texture of the corn silage.

Oxygen causes spoilage, so you try to eliminate as much as you can for storage. When packing, you driving back and forth with an extremely large and heavy tractor that compresses the silage and reduces air pockets. When bagging, the silage is fed into a giant plastic tube eliminating oxygen. Pictured here is the bagger. Trucks dump the silage into the green table on front. High Moisture

The combine has a specialized header just for corn. It plucks the cob off the plant and sends it through the combine to be thrashed. As you can see, you are left with only the yellow corn.

A grain cart helps to transfer the corn from the combine once the hopper is full. While driving, corn is augered from the combine to the cart. The cart then takes it to the truck, so the combine can keep harvesting without having to stop.The trucks carry the corn 40 miles to a feedlot. There the corn is milled and stored to be fed to cattle.


In total we run 2 choppers, 7 trucks, 2 pack tractors, a bagger, combine, and grain cart. It takes a lot of horsepower and man power to run a full crew. Our harvest lasts nearly a month and a half.