Seven

Sometimes we forget he's only seven.  

He's gotten up at 5:30am multiple times this week to ship cattle.  I often ask him to babysit his three siblings while I mow, or run to the field, to deliver lab supplies or a whole host of other things.  

He has his own pocket knife to cut hay bale strings.  (I, too, thought this was a bit much when our neighbor gave their son a pocket knife at a young age, but now I totally agree with them.)  

He enjoys taking photos with a 'fancy' camera.  After a brief tutorial he was cropping and editing photos like a pro ('pro' meaning poor misguided housewife that taught him).  

One of his first female loves will undoubtedly be his heifer.  He does a good job for his size and age at handling her.  I enjoy watching their bond.  He teared up just a bit this morning when we discussed turning her out to pasture after the fair. 

He's a good role model for his siblings..... most of the time.  They enjoy going to 4-H meetings as well and are chomping at the bit to get their 4-H careers started as well. 

He is a creature enthusiast and can provide some sort of fun fact for many different creatures.  (Major shout out to the nature show Wild Kratts on PBS.) 

He's beyond excited about his projects for the fair (as am I).  I cannot tell you how many times I've openly bawled this week when he told me 'Mom, I've got it.' 

His western wear outfit melted my heart. 

There are a whole host of things that make me forget he's only seven.  Which often seems silly because so many of his friends are country kids as well and they are held to the same unusual set of expectations.  It is so terribly cliché, but I remember just yesterday when we had him.  We finally were wheeled back into our suite around 3am and the nurses helped us get settled in.  The sweet woman swaddled Kenyon, laid him into his bassinet and then smiled as she said goodbye, shut our door and headed back down to her station.  Wes and I stared at each other with terror in our eyes because neither one of us knew anything about birthin' babies. 

And here we are, seven years later.  We know quite a bit more about babies and we're all learning to roll with the punches as this oldest child grows up.  It's been quite an adventure and we're excited to see what the future has in store. 

Video Games

An oldie but goodie from several years ago. 
This child fell off the top of a panel
and didn't have such a great landing.

Our kids get hurt a lot. 

It bears repeating:

Our kids get hurt A LOT.  

One is currently waiting on a fingernail to grow in after it was smashed by a brick (But Mom, the brick was already starting to come down when he slid his hand right in the way!), one child has a nail sliced in half from a nasty lead rope accident with his show heifer and we just got done doctoring an unenviable case of hives.  We had more concussions than I'd like to count.  Fallen off the top of trailers, top of panels, been kicked, been stepped on... staples, stitches, casts... the list is endless.  

Through all this, my husband and I buckle down and do our best to triage and treat each case and run to the appropriate medical facility if necessary.  However, we try not to get mad at our kiddos for getting themselves into a bind.  

Why?

It could be worse - they could be inside playing video games.  

We knew a kid once that was welding on a panel and managed to burn down an entire machine shop.  Equipment, tools and supplies were all destroyed.  It was rather devastating.  However, a friend stopped by one day to chat and reminded the family that things could have been worse - the kid could have been inside playing video games.  We've clung to that wisdom and repeated it endlessly over the years.

They will learn about gravity not from Mario Brothers (is that even still a thing?) but from dropping bales from a barn loft.  

They will learn about pulling weeds not from Farmville (again, sorry for the dated references but this is all I can think of) but from busting their backsides in the garden. 

And they'll learn how to run from snakes, well, from me.  That's my favorite contribution.  Running from snakes to find a long shovel and 'relocate' them (to heaven).  I whisper that last part so my husband doesn't hear me.  

We hope we're giving them a childhood full of old fashioned experiences that allows them to have stories to tell when they grow up and fills them with wisdom to help them be functional adults.  

Wisdom comes from experience.
Experience is often a result of a lack of wisdom.
-Terry Pratchett

The Long Game

It's that time of year again; the time when our alarm goes off at 5:30 each morning and our heads hit the pillow absolutely exhausted at 10 each night.

It's the time of year when I cook as much as possible on the grill so I don't have to turn on the oven and heat up the house because we refuse to turn on the air conditioner just yet.

It's the time of year when the boys wake up at 5:45 and barrel down the stairs for the day.  They see the sun shining through their window and know that they need to get in gear.

It's the time of year to pick cherries and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Literally.  (One of the few times literally has actually been used correctly.)

It's the time of year that we don't see much of my husband and I'm a single parent 90% of the time.  This is getting better as the kids get older but it's still me the majority of the time.

It's the time of year when we do get an occasional evening to see Wesley and spend some time as a family fishing together.

It's the time of year when we spend lots of time in the garden and flower beds and I try to incorporate science and life lessons in here and there.

It's a very fulfilling life, a very tough life and hopefully one day a very rewarding life.  When things get too hard sometimes Wesley and I will sit at the supper table long after the dishes have been put away and make sure we are still on the same page with our goals.  We make sure that 'not raising little assholes' is at the top of our list, followed by a bevy of other things.  We try to find the balance between providing a nice life for the kiddos and creating little monsters that don't understand what work is.  We want them to realize food doesn't just come from a grocery store, money doesn't grow on trees and hard work is worth it.  I don't know that we always get that balance correct, but I hope the majority of the time this is the case.

I appreciate so many things about these kiddos.

I love that they enjoy simple things in life.  We went on vacation and the thing they enjoyed the most was paddle boating as a family on the lake each morning, not the flashing lights and hoopla found everywhere else.

I love that they enjoy hard work.  They LIVE to work calves and help me in the wood shop.  Kenyon jumped in the alleyway to push baby calves one day, got kicked several times and was so proud to show me the bruises from his hard work.

I love that they are content to play for hours outside.  They can make their own entertainment without screen time.

I love that they enjoy grocery shopping with me and are starting to understand coupons and sales, or at least understand that they are of major importance to our family.  This has lead to several conversations about price as well as value.

I love the big picture, hard questions that Kenyon is starting to ask.... most of the time.  Sometimes I find myself tiptoeing as delicately as possible.  Still answering the question but in a roundabout way.  Not much gets by him and therefore he's got THOUSANDS of questions that need answered.  Every. Single. Day.

I read a quote once that really stuck with me.  If you raise your kids then one day you'll be able to enjoy and spoil your grandkids.  If you spoil your children you'll end up raising your grandkids.  This part of our lives is absolutely exhausting, but we keep this quote in the forefront of our minds and tell ourselves that someday it will all be worth it.  Not saying it's a guarantee, but at least we're trying to build a strong foundation for the long haul.

I Have a Favor to Ask

I feel bombarded these days by buzzwords and catchphrases: clean eating, organic, non-GMO, hormone free.  The list goes on and on.  Companies, restaurants and consumers seem to feel more powerful and self-righteous when they throw out these phrases regarding their food choices.  I understand that much of this stems from a need to feel in control of what you're eating.  I'm a parent.  Trust me, I understand the battle for control in some aspect of life.

Much of the time I, as part of the 2% of the nation's population that produces food, in turn feel vilified.  How dare I use a chemical like dihydrogen monoxide in the production of beef and crops?  (Did any of you catch that?  You may know this potentially lethal chemical by it's more common name: water.)  I wonder if I am a monster for judiciously providing sick animals with antibiotics because the ominous commercials on television indicate that I am.

My plea to advertisers, to companies, to consumers, is to stop with the fear mongering.  Please don't encourage anyone to feel morally superior because they paid more money for a product that is equally nutritious and safe as its conventionally grown counterpart.  Please don't assume that wikipedia or google nutrition statistics hold themselves to the same standards as hundreds of peer reviewed journal articles and countless studies regarding food quality and safety.

Please don't misunderstand; I don't mind if you choose an alternative path when feeding your family.  I've nothing against vegans, vegetarians, pescetarians, pollotarians or any other alternative diet choice.  I do; however, draw the line when 'facts' are presented to justify this choice.

I don't like hormones in my meat.
Hormones are found in all living things - both plants and animals.

I only eat organic because I don't want any chemicals from pesticides.
Pesticides can still be sprayed on organic produce.

I don't want antibiotics in my meat.
There are withdrawal periods for all medicines administered.  There are never antibiotics in your meat, or milk.  Ever.

I hear these types of phrases all too often, and I hear advertisements that cater to these exact misconceptions.  It is shameful.  I do believe it is possible to promote your chosen food or lifestyle without cutting down another.

For example, I do not like ice cream.  I don't skew data on nutritional studies to suggest that it causes cancer, nor do I write bitter diatribes against the ice cream industry and those who support it.  Do I feel morally superior to those that eat ice cream?  Certainly not.  Do I create a fictional narrative that supports my agenda against ice cream?  Again, no.  This all sounds ludicrous, and yet it happens every single day against those of us in conventional agriculture.

It is my hope that the tide will soon turn and it will become passe to think that 'food with a conscious' or 'food as it should be' or any of these other elitist type phrases are acceptable.  Myself, I look forward to the day when it becomes commonplace for everyone to simply say 'safe food for all' and 'enough food for all'.

Resolutions, Toilet Paper and Baking Supplies

It's that time of year again.  Time to make resolutions and forget about them in the blink of an eye.  I've made out my usual mental list

• Lose ten pounds of baby weight  Nope
• Run more often  In these hills, on dirt roads, while pushing a stroller? I think not.
• Become more organized.  This one I actually make great strides at each year.  I'll probably never take it off my list of resolutions.
• Purchase more products locally.  This is where the toilet paper and baking supplies come into play.  

Across the country, small towns are slowly dying off.  People like the idea of raising their families in a small town yet still make a trip to the city to purchase items from a bigger box store.  I get it.  I am guilty as anyone when it comes to purchasing groceries.  I feel rather euphoric when I combine the saving power of my grocer's loyalty shopping card and coupons and see that I've saved $80 each shopping trip.  

A friend recently shared an older article with me that was originally published in The High Plains Journal.  You can read the article in it's entirety here, but I'll give you the edited version.  A small town in Iowa created a 'Buy Local' campaign with a twist.  They asked citizens to 'Buy One Product Local'.  Specifically, toilet paper.  Everyone uses it, to the tune of 105 rolls per person, per year, on average.  Think of the tax dollars that could be generated in all of our rural communities if we were to purchase all our toilet paper locally.  In our small town, the grocery store is one of just a few businesses left.  I need to support it more, and therefore I'm taking the toilet paper pledge.  This year I vow to purchase my toilet paper locally.  

To take this a step further, I decided to pledge to purchase a few more items only from our small town store.  Resolutions are more likely to be carried out the more specific they are, so I decided to add baking items to my list: flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar.  To some this may not sound like much, but I do a fair bit of baking.  Last year I used 50 pounds of flour in my baking and I don't see myself slowing down in that department any time soon.  

I feel confident and hopeful in these few, manageable resolutions for the year.  I will purchase all my toilet paper, flour and sugars locally and feel better about helping out our local economy.  

Will you take the toilet paper pledge with me?

Resolutions

It's that time of year again; time to make some lofty goals for the upcoming year.  Last year my list of resolutions progressed really stupendously for the first month or so and then was derailed by my pregnancy.  This was not a 'slight change of plans' but more like the train jumped the entire track and left the station.

With no immediate goal of adding to our family, our plans for this year will look a bit different.  Let us begin:

• Less contractions.  Hundreds less contractions this year.  No, THOUSANDS less contractions this year.  I'm looking forward to their absence.  
• Similarly, less vomiting and morning sickness.  Again, I'm looking forward to its absense.  
• A better garden.  Anything is better than our feeble attempt from this summer.  
• I will be a bit more organized.  I make great strides on this each and every year, but it is something I feel everyone could always improve on.  A little more kon mari never hurt anyone. 
• I want Kenyon to become potty trained.  We'll see how this one goes.  I've never heard anything but horror stories about potty training boys, so if you have a miraculous success story please feel free to share it with the class. 
• Spend more time outside.  I feel this one will be super simple.  No pregnancy, no contractions, no 'suggested' bed rest to keep me cooped up inside.  Easy peasy.  
• Expand my cooking range.  Although the husband doesn't seem to mind my simple menu of about 10 standard items, it is starting to wear me out.  I am a simple person just like him, but mama needs a change, STAT.  This should be pretty simple as well.  My sister gifted me with the newest Pioneer Woman cookbook for Christmas.  Good call, Liza.  
• Send more handwritten notes to folks.  Snail mail that doesn't involve bills makes a soul feel good I've come to realize.  
• Drop at least one pant size.  We're not shooting for a Victoria Secret model body, just something with a little less junk in the trunk.  We'll see how this one progresses, especially since I just mentioned that I got a new cookbook.  Hmmmmm.
• See John begin to walk.  Of all my goals, I feel the 'no contractions' and 'John walking' will be the most achievable.  Both goals are also directly attributed to him as well.  
• Grow a thicker skin, especially when it comes to the 'little things'.  I am very good at handling large scale, end of the world disasters with a level head, but I will spend days over analyzing an off-handed comment from someone.  Really, my house is messy?  Really, I have weeds in my garden?  Really, my kids have a speck of dirt on them?  These are the things I must learn to let go of.  Again, if you have a miraculous success story you'd like to share with the class, feel free to let me know.  
• Less screen time for both parents and kids in our house.  I shudder when I think of how many children these days are not capable of carrying on a conversation with either their peers or adults.  The hubs and I are bound and determined not to let our kids get sucked into this hole, and as a result we hope to always be the 'awful' parents that won't let our kids have a tablet, ipad, gameboy, etc.  Less electronics and more dirt, that's our hope.  

Someone help hold me accountable, and good luck and Godspeed to those of you setting goals for yourself as well.