Almost Kinda Certified!

This past weekend I was able to take a Yoga Teacher Training Course in Red Deer!  I have always wanted to take teacher training but have never been able to swing the time it takes to attend these things!  But Vulcan Adult Learning asked if I would teach a class for them again, when I told the new coordinator that I wasn't certified she quickly made it her priority to find a training course in our area.  She succeeded and it turned out to only be two days and after I do 8 hours of volunteer teaching I am certified to teach level one yoga.  And the best part, Adult Learning paid for half of the registration fee!!  I was so anxious for this course though, I am still far too over weight and I really haven't done yoga on a regular basis for a couple of years now.  I went and loved it and I even learned so much and gained a ton of confidence to teach others.  Thank goodness, because I start teaching tomorrow, this session will count as my 8 hours of volunteer teaching!  I can go on and continue taking courses, and in time I may, but for now all those who are interested in taking yoga are beginners!

Jared, Emry and Calum came up to Red Deer with me, they had fun together.  Jared took advantage of being in a city and got new tires put on our Jetta, it was well over due.  Since our hotel was right across the street from a Denny's, Canadian Tire and a mall they didn't run out of things to do and he said the kids got along so good!  After my course was done on Saturday we all went swimming, and even though it turned out to be a late night we had a lot of fun.  It made the next day a long day for sitting on mat learning the break down of yoga poses.  Armin stayed with my mom for a night and with Myrna for the other and he too did so good.  I was worried because I had only gotten him weaned earlier in the week and I hadn't left him over night yet.  Myrna really enjoyed the one on one time with him, and he is so happy all the time.  She said at times he did look around wondering where we all were.  Even in Red Deer Calum would out of blue say "I miss Armin, he likes to smile!"

We had a great time and I was so happy I was able to take the training, it made me realize how much I miss doing yoga.

Cattle Conference...Happy Chinese New Year!

Last Thursday Jared and I had the opportunity to attend the annual Tiffin Conference put on by the Lethbridge College.  Buck and Arren invited us to go along with them because it has a lot to do with cattle.  It was really informative and I think I only embarrassed Arren once when she nudged me awake during one of the speakers!  I said it was very informative but also really scientific and in-depth about global cattle markets, not a topic that really excites me!  The highlight of the conference was being able to listen to Temple Grandin and her ideas of humane cattle handling methods.  It was really neat to see her in person, she is autistic and throughout her life has been a real advocate toward autism and has such a love for animals she has been able to design systems that keep animals calm while working with them.  Jared and Buck have both incorporated her cattle corral systems in their designs.  We were also fed two meals during the conference, lunch was soup and sandwiches and dinner was a super delicious prime rib.  We had lots of fun together, Jared made us laugh, as he usually does, when he wrote Charles Carmichael on his name tag. The name comes from a t.v. series we have been watching called Chuck!  When we went through the line to get our lunch the chef that was dishing up the soup was calling us by name from what he could read on our tags, when Jared went through the man said, "Charles, which soup can I get for you?"  It was perfect because the man also had an English accent, Buck and I couldn't control our giggles and thankfully we had already made it through the line.

Deep in thought?!

Temple Grandin

Sunday everyone came home for dinner to celebrate Dave's 40th birthday, Jason's 38th birthday, Dave and Char's 13th Anniversary and Char's 35th birthday!  A very busy month!  As usual it was nice to have everyone home, the kids had fun together and the noise level was just as high as expected!  We weighed Armin and Jonas and at 14 months Armin weighed in at 19.8 pounds and at almost 7 months Jonas finally out weighs Armin at 20 pounds!  It will be Calum and Liam reversed with these two little boys!

Yesterday the boys and I went over to help Buck and Arren move the heifers from my mom's farm to their farm so they can preg test them on Thursday.  It went really well after we finally got them to go over the hill.  After we were all done moving them Arren and I made Chinese food to celebrate the Chinese New Year!  It was a lot of fun and sooooo yummy!  Although we did agree that maybe next year we would just order Chinese food as it was A LOT of work!  It literally took us all afternoon. But it was well worth the effort, I was so excited to start eating that I forgot to take pictures of everything before we dug in!  I had even made fortune cookies with a fortune inside, and as yummy as the cookies were they sure didn't look like traditional fortune cookies!  It was so much fun cooking alongside my sister, I am so thankful for her and her family and for the closeness we all share.  I was also happy that John and Roxanne could be there too because our kids think of them as their grandma and grandpa too!

Lemon Chicken

Ginger Beef

Coconut battered deep fried Shrimp

Beef and Broccoli

Stir Fry Vegetables

Home made Fortune Cookies

Armin and Grandma Debbie

I did a little bit of research of what the Chinese New Year represents.  This is the year of the Dragon and it symbolizes this...Chinese New Year 2012 (according to the Chinese Zodiac) Year of the Dragon begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013.

The year of the Dragon is the year for great deeds, innovative ideas and big projects. In this year success in particular can expect people who are dealing with finances. This will be advantageous time to begin new projects in business and social level.

The Year of the Dragon will bring the excitement, a big ups and downs in our lives. Only if we adjusted the ruler in the right way, we will be able to pick the most beautiful fruits that we could ever imagine.

Dragon gives happiness and success to all good and honest people. Also, those who have great talent. 2012 Year of the Dragon is favorable for the establishment of family, the birth of a healthy and smart children. During this period we should be bold and not humble.

So, Happy Chinese New Year and I hope this year is one of many, many wonderful blessings for us all!

The Dentist!

Yesterday Emry and Calum had a dentist appointment.  Emry had been asking me for quite a few weeks when we were going to the dentist again!  It has only been a year!  I decided to take them to the dentist in Vulcan sine we have no reason to go to Claresholm anymore!  Emry's appointment was just a routine cleaning, which always goes very smoothly!  Her teeth are good, two tiny cavities, but that is no surprise she always seems to have one when she visits no matter how well she takes care of her teeth!

Calum's visit was called a happy visit since it was his first time!  He did so good and as usual was super cute!  The technician asked him how old he was and he put up five fingers!  I honestly think his hand is too thick to fold the last two fingers over so he just puts his whole hand up!  She showed him how the chair moves up and down and then she showed him how it lays down, he was not fond of this, but he has never really liked rides either!  She then showed him her little mirror and how she uses it to look in his mouth, he thought that was cool!  She showed him the big light she uses to see inside his mouth better and he thought it was a little too bright!  Whenever she asked him if he knew what her tools were used for he always nodded his head and then put his little hand up to his mouth and giggled and then looked at me!  After her examine was all done the dentist came in to look at his teeth and to count them!  He asked Calum if he knew how many teeth he has, and Calum nodded and held up his five chubby fingers!

The dentist actually happens to be Rick and DaVeeda's nephew, David's sister who lives in Mountain View, his name is Dr. Baker from Lethbridge!  He was really good with both kids, and made them feel real comfortable, which isn't always easy at the dentist!  It was a real success, even though we have to back to get Emry's cavities filled!

Skiing With Dad

Jared and Emry went skiing yesterday...FINALLY!  They had intended to go January 2, but car issues had stopped them!

The story was...Jared had left his ski coat in the van, and the van was parked outside John Deer because I had hit a chuck of frozen mud before Christmas and dented the oil pan and did some damage to the axel's and pulley's?!  So that morning Jared drove up to Vulcan to get his coat when on the way home he hit a rock and actually made a hole in his oil pan and lost all the oil in his car!  I honestly didn't say, "I told you it was easy to do, especially when driving on the gravel!"  But did I ever want to say it since he gave me such a hard time for hitting the frozen chunk of mud!

So instead of skiing I went and picked Jared up and brought him home to a very disappointed little girl!  He made it up to her though by taking her to Vulcan to work on our van and then they played racquet ball together!

This past Wednesday Jared was finally able to get the new oil pan on his car, when I told Emry the next morning she excitedly said, "So now we can go skiing!!"

They had such a good time!  Emry took the camera that Grandpa Glen had given her for Christmas and on the way they had to take a picture of the windmills!  They didn't get any actual skiing pictures but from what I heard they had a blast.  Emry did want to go home at lunch and after Jared convinced her to give it one more try she literally did not want to leave when the hill closed!

The other pictures on her camera are just random photos she has taken since Christmas, she is quite the little photographer!

I snatched her camera and took a picture of her playing her guitar, another Christmas gift!  She loves learning new chords and is doing quite well!

I had a fun day with the boys yesterday too!  I made play dough for Calum, and then a robot helmet, and a tunnel from the hot water heater box that the plumber left after installing Myrna's new tank!  It was a nice day!

The Beauty of the Prairies

This afternoon the boys and I helped Arren and her family cut strings on bales.  Arren had watched Calum while Armin and I went to Time for Rhymes ( Calum has been banned from coming with us so Arren watches him for the hour we are gone!), and when we came to pick Calum up we stayed and had grilled cheese sandwiches with them.  After lunch she asked me what I had planned for the afternoon, I told her not much and jokingly she asked if we wanted to come out and cut bale strings!  Instantly I said sure!  I think she was slightly shocked!  I told her it would be fun, so we bundled up the kids while Buck got the truck ready.  John and Roxanne were also going to help so we could get a lot more done.  Every four days they have to cut strings on the bales that they left out in the field in the summer for the cows to graze during the winter.  80 bales usually feeds the 350 cows for 4 days so every four days they are out there cutting strings so the cows don't choke on them and so they can eat the bales more easily.  This afternoon with the five adults cutting strings we were able to cut the remaining bales in the field, which should last until the end of the month!

Calum and Lily tagged along with Arren, while I pushed Armin in the stroller.  We each took a section and walked to each bale.  Not even 10 minutes after starting Armin fell fast asleep.  Lily and Calum had races to the next bale and even became rescue heros saving the bale strings!  From where I was in the field I would hear bursts of their sweet little laughs.  Arren said at one point they each had a tool, Calum a hammer and Lily a wrench, and they would grab a string with their tools and pull it to safety.  Once the string was safe they would give each other a high five and a hug.  When Arren had cut the strings on her last bale she lifted the kids up onto the bale while she walked back to get the truck.  The were laughing and giggling the whole time they were up there.  The imaginations kids have truly is so amazing, they can make fun out of anything!

I had such a great time this afternoon.  No matter which direction I looked I could see for miles.  To the west I could see the beautiful snow covered mountains, to the north I could see nothing but blue sky, to the east golden fields and rolling hills, and to the south tree lined farms.  It was so beautiful and I couldn't help but take a few moments to thank my Heavenly Father for where I live in the world.  I couldn't be any happier than I am, even as much as the wind bothers me, I still love being able to see for miles and miles.  And the peace and quiet of nature truly fills my mind with peace!  It was a great day, one I will remember for years to come!

Future Rock Stars

This morning Calum got out the Wii guitars and was singing and dancing.  Armin got ahold of one and it was almost like he was doing back up to Calum's "naaa, na, na, na-na, naaa!"  It was so cute to watch, and who knows maybe this will be the footage of how it all began when they become famous!

Bye, Bye Momma!

Yesterday Jared and I separated the calves from their moms!  I was a little nervous of how things would go with just the two of us, but it went a million times better than I could ever have expected!

First we had to move all the cows and calves into the corral, and they were all out in the field!  Jared took the dirt bike out and rode back and forth behind them to get them moving, when they got closer to where I was standing I closed in on them and helped guide them to the open gate on the corral.  It took a lot of patience to get them to finally go through the gate but we did it, and we managed to do it without any cows getting by us!

Once all the cows and calves were locked in the corral we pushed them up near the barn into the smaller corral.  From there we took smaller groups and pushed them into the alley and sorted them from there!  I maned the gate and Jared would call "in" or "by".  In meant calves into the corral and by meant cows to go back out to the field.  This too went very smoothly and only took us just over an hour to do.  Again we didn't have any animals get by us and we didn't have to resort anything!  I really enjoy working with Jared, I feel like we are a good team, both very patient with the cows and patient with each other.

After all the animals were where they were supposed to be I helped Jared feed them.  I even got to drive the tractor and personally I think I did a really good job!

The calves are so fuzzy, they have their winter fur and I think it looks so cute!

I love this white one, his mom is a black cow, it is really neat to see them together!  

The poor little calves on one side and their momma's on the other side!

This is our one lone red calf.  We are thinking a Red Angus bull must have gotten in with our cows before we were ready to put our bulls in with them.  The bulls that are the dads to the other calves were Charolais, that's why they are all so light in colour.  Thankfully this calf is a heifer, the only calf we will be keeping this year!

I loved driving this tractor!  It is actually my Brother-in-laws, a lot easier to drive than the one we have!

Myrna came downstairs at about midnight to see if there could be something wrong with the cows because they were making so much noise mooing and bellowing!  We told her they were probably just missing their babies!  Last year when we separated them they didn't make any noise, they are quite a bit louder this year but I think that is to be expected, I would be making a whole lot of noise if my babies were ripped from me without any warning at all!

After dinner today Jared and I did have to go out and get one calf who had managed to get back in with her mom!  It went just as easy as yesterday and probably only took us 15 minutes!  Jared said we are becoming professional cattle herders!  I tend to agree!

I love being a farm girl, and as much as the cows have exasperated me in terms of our house building being put on hold, I really do like having them on the farm.

Starting the New Year Off Right!

On New Year's day we were able to go to church!  It was so nice how both Christmas and New Year's happened to be on a Sunday!  Anyway, this Sunday also happened to be Calum's first day as a Sunbeam!  He did pretty good considering he was the only one there from his class!  He had a new teacher and when I picked him up from his class I asked Sister Burbank how he did and she said he stayed with her until the end so it must have been fine!  When we were walking toward the chapel he did however turn to the Nursery room and over the door divider he asked for some craisins and some fishy crackers!

After church Buck and Arren had a little get together.  We first went over to my mom's farm and went skating on her little lake!  Buck and Arren had gone over earlier in the day and shovelled off some of the snow.  It was really smooth and the kids had a blast!  Arren had some strap on skates for Calum to use and while Jared was putting them on him he asked if they were autobot skates!  Jared told him they were special megatron skates!  He loved it and actually did pretty good for his first time on the ice!  Armin was bundled up really good and seemed to really enjoy sitting in front of the fire watching the other kids!

Hannah Pooley, Emry, Megan Pooley, Lily and Gilbert

Jared pushed Calum across the ice while he was sitting on this shovel...Calum thought it was the neatest trick ever!

Calum helping clear off the ice! 

Buck starting a fire!

Megan and Lily

Jared, Calum and Emry 

Two Thumbs Up!!

Blake and Amber Jordan, Catherine Pooley, Buck and behind Buck is Shaun Pooley

Amber Jordan and Catherine Pooley 

Me and Armin, it was quite cold but to touch Armin's skin he was super toasty!

After skating we all went back to Buck and Arren's for hotdogs and leftover Christmas goodies!  We had such a great time with family and friends!  The kids had an exceptional time, even with the three extra kids there from other good friend's of Buck and Arren's!  It definitely was a great start to a new year!

New Year's Eve Cattle Drive

Yesterday was such a wonderful day!  It started out quite early but it was a day of great success and lots of fun with family and friends!

Jared decided that instead of trucking the cows and calves back to the home quarter we should walk them the 3 miles home!  We weren't entirely sure how it would work but a friend and neighbour of ours walks his cows twice a year from his farm just north of Champion to his pasture land just north of Carmangay!  We enlisted the help of several people!  Another neighbour of ours has 11 children and their 4 oldest girls are quite the horsemen.  I gave them a call to see if they would like to saddle up their horses and help us out!  They were more than willing to help, their horses love moving cattle, without their help we are almost positive that this cattle trek would have taken the entire day just to move the 3 short miles home!  Buck and Arren also came to lend a hand, Arren drove their truck and Buck was on the quad.  Dave and Char and their three kids of course were part of the action and played a vital role in leading the cows home and creating barriers for where we didn't want the cows to go!  The Elder's also came to help and had a great time!  The only area of trouble we ran into was when we had to go by a pile of grain, the cows got a whiff of the tasty barley and desperately wanted to have a taste!  Thank goodness for the girls and their horses, they were able to round up the cows that broke away from the herd before we lost complete control.  What we were sure would take the better part of a day to move the cows only took us a little more than an hour!  It was a spectacular experience and I can't wait until the summer when we move them back.  The weather was just perfect too, it was definitely cool but not COLD, and about half a mile from the gate where the cows were to go through it started to snow, slow falling flakes that made the nip in the air feel totally refreshing!  After all the cows were in and the gate closed the Vandebruinhorst girls offered to let the kids have a ride on the horses!  Emry was in seventh heaven, as I am sure all the other kids were too!  The horse Emry rode was Jazz, Leah and Cora each had a ride on Flicka, Gilbert and Lily each went on Dodge and for the life of me I cannot remember the last horses name!  It was a great morning and we are so thankful for the help of friends and family.

Lexi always stays right with the horses so it was just natural for her to help with the cattle drive too!

We even had a spectator! 

Later that afternoon Jared and I decided to take the kids to a movie before we met Myrna, Rachel, Dave and Char and the rest of the kids for Chinese Food.  We remember Calum laughing hysterically at a preview for the newest muppet movie and when we saw that it was at the Movie Mill we knew we had to see it!  Well, as usual Calum did great for the first 45 minutes of the movie and then he was done!  It was a super cute show, and we do know that Calum can sit through a whole show but the novelty of being at the "mooie fearter" is just too much for him to handle!  We did have a good time and having Chinese food with everyone is also lots of fun.  At the restaurant Emry asked me if she could stay up until midnight!  I told her without any hesitation that she absolutely could stay up till midnight!!  On our way home both her and Calum fell fast asleep, they were even able to stay asleep through Armin crying the ENTIRE way home!  When we got home we told Emry that it was almost midnight and she should hurry and get her jammies on, and get ready for bed.  While she was in the bathroom Jared changed the time on her watch to just 4 minutes before midnight and then also set the timer on his iPod to count down the last four minutes of 2011.  I poured some sparkling apple juice into fancy goblets and together we counted down!  Emry was so excited and had no idea that it was only 9:40pm!  We toasted in the New Year all while Calum was passed out on the couch!

After the kids were all asleep Jared and I watched The King's Speech, both of us falling promptly asleep and waking up just before the real midnight to ring it in together!

It was a fantastic day, I look forward to the new year and what it will bring!  I wish all of you a very happy year filled with many wonderful memories, lots of love and even more laughter!