OUR CARPET IS IN!!!

This past weekend our carpet was installed and it looks truly amazing!!!!  I can't believe how much it changes the appearance of the house, and how finished it now looks!  We had a little problem with the original carpet we ordered, it had dried out and we were told that it really would not lay nice so it was off to Calgary to pick out a new one!  The very first sample he showed me is the one I went with, very different from the original one we ordered over three years ago!  It turns out that this new colour suits our house perfectly and it really blends nicely with the paint colours and has such a warm tone.  We vacuumed it and even moved some furniture in.  Now if only we can get the plumber to be as quick!!  Jared and I sat over there for a good hour after the kids were asleep, it was so nice to sit in a quiet house just enjoying the beauty of all Jared has created with his hands!  I will be taking pictures so stay tuned!!

What Were You Doing at 2:36am?

Wow!  It has been a little while since I have last written anything, the layout has changed!!

Anyway, on with my post!!  Last night Jared and I went out to check the cows together after all the kids were in bed!  As I was putting Armin to sleep Jared was up on the roof of our new house putting a better water proof barrier on our chimney in case the rain that had been forecasted really did come!  While he was up there he could see the cow herd quite well and he noticed that there was a cow off all by herself and a little larger than normal lump next to her!  So he called me and asked if I wanted to come out with him!  Of course I did, I will do anything at this point to spend some face to face time together!  And really who wouldn't want to go for a stroll through a somewhat stinky field by the glow of the setting sun and the twinkle of the first stars...so romantic!

The cow Jared had seen from the roof of our house was standing by a lump of dirt, not a calf but she was acting funny and she couldn't seem to put her tail down.  When we got close to her she started to walk away in the opposite direction looking extremely uncomfortable, we left her for a while and went to investigate a little more, Jared was sure the large lump near her had gotten up and moved...sure enough we did find a new, very new little calf laying in the hay.  So new that he was still super slimy!  Jared didn't know if he should tag it or wait because he was so new.  He ended up putting in the RF-ID tag in his ear and putting the elastic on his boy parts, but we weren't exactly sure who he belonged to.  The cow acting funny was no where in sight, and we thought maybe she was actually calving.  We found a few cows who were quite interested in the little guy until he wanted to have a drink, and then they would kick him away.  We decided to go inside and wait for a couple of hours to see what happened, before we went in we made sure to put the little calf back in the hay where we found him.  Instead of going in right away, Jared finished taping the ty-vek around the chimney while I sat in the nice warm truck to make sure the lights were shining on him so he could see!

After being in the house for a couple of hours we went back out just after midnight.  The calf was still in the same spot and not licked off at all, but warm.  When Jared got him up to feed him some colostrum we had in the freezer he made a bit of a fuss, the next thing we knew there was a cow bellowing back at him and looking quite concerned.  Jackpot, we found his mom and with very little trouble, we were going to be able to go to bed at a somewhat decent hour!  Well, as the cow got closer we could tell from the lack of a yellow tag in her ear that she was actually a heifer that is not even pregnant, we kept her in hopes that next year she will have a calf, being such a good looking cow we knew we had to keep her!  That somewhat decent hour was looking less decent!

We drove around the field in search of the cow that was acting funny and finally found her in the corral still acting funny.  Both Jared and I thought we saw a foot sticking out from her back end and since she was right near the alley to the barn we pushed her through and closed the gate.  We left her in there while we went back to the house to check out Jared's cattle "bible" to see how long we should leave her until we helped her deliver her calf.  Once we got back out she was lying down in the corner of the alley looking quite content...good, she had her calf without any trouble!  Another surprise...it wasn't a calf she delivered but her placenta!  Okay, things are now starting to add up, the little calf in the field must be hers, and she was just uncomfortable because she hadn't delivered her placenta.  The little unknown had a mom, so we went back out to the field and rounded up the little guy and brought him to the barn.  Just to make sure the calf really was hers Jared put her in the maternity squeeze and cleaned her back end off with soapy water and manually checked inside to make sure there wasn't a calf still inside her birth canal.  Thankfully there wasn't so we are now 100% positive the little guy belongs to her.  The only challenge now is to get her to realize that!

The calf was doing good this morning though it didn't look as though he had sucked from his mom at all.  The inside of his mouth was warm and he gets up and moves around quite good.  Now to just get him to have a drink from his mom.  I was able to get her into the barn by myself before lunch but she could see the fear in my eyes and knew I wasn't as scary as I was trying to be, she took control and walked right past me!  I did manage to close all the gates so she is locked in the alley and can only go into the barn, Buck is on his way over to help me get her locked in the maternity pen so we can force the little guy to eat!  Hopefully it will work.  Now that I have come back and reread this, I can safely say that the little guy has finally had a drink from his mom, and they are locked in the maternity pen together until she is completely convinced that he belongs to her!

After Jared and I got everyone settled last night we came in the house at 2:30am to a very sad little boy standing in Emry's room crying!  He was so scared!  When we got him settled we decided to put him in our bed and when we got into our room our other little guy was standing up in his bed crying!  So Jared cuddled the big one to sleep in our bed while I cuddled the little one to sleep on the lazy boy in the living room!  I finally got Armin settled and back in his bed at 4am!  On the plus side I was able to watch Survivor from earlier without any interruptions, though I don't think it is really ideal to do that at 3am!

It was a good night, long but quite a bit of fun despite the confusion!  I love spending time with Jared and I love working together with the cows, I feel it is a great bonding time for us and I admire the tenderness he has for the cows and the patience even when the much needed hours of sleep were looking shorter and shorter!

Dad, Birds Can't Read!

Last night Jared and I took the kids with us to pick up a furniture dolly from Buck and Arren's.  As we were driving the back roads we went by our dugout.  Jared said, "Look at all the bird's nests out there, this is really becoming a wetland.  Before we know it Duck's Unlimited is going to put up a sign and then we won't be able to farm it at all!"  From the back seat we hear Emry's too grown up voice say, "Daaad, bird's CAN"T read!"  We had a good laugh over this.

I love how innocent kids are, I love how they say the most logical thing when we as adults never even think of that!  I am so thankful for the joy our children bring to our life, and when we get down about things we really can't control they help us see what is really important in life...family, and laughter!

Lightqueen!

Calum says the cutest things sometimes, ALL the time!  The other day at supper he had the sweetest little grin on his face and I said to him, "You may look like a little angel but you're mostly a little devil!"  He laughed and replied with, "I is a angel, maybe just a little devil!"  And his precious little grin again!

Last night Myrna watched the kids while Jared and I made a trip to Calgary to pick up the last piece of our arborite for the kitchen counter tops.  While we were gone there was a freak thunder and lightning storm.  Both Calum and Emry were scared, so Myrna sat between them on the couch in her sitting room while they tried to fall asleep.  When a huge flash lit up the room Calum asked what that was, Grandma told him is was just lightning.  After a little while Calum says, "Oh, Yightning Mceen!" (Lightning McQueen, from the Cars movie!)  Thinking about a scary light as his favourite car made all the difference to him and he soon fell fast asleep!

Lately he will be playing something and he will say to me, "Mama, you say...!"  So I will say what he wants me to and then he will answer me back.  While we were in the city today we went to McDonald's for lunch and he got a pair of Green Lantern glasses in his happy meal.  While we were driving to Home Depot he would say, "Mama, ask Green Lantern where his phone is."  So I would ask and he would answer with, "It disappeared, a bad guy took it, and now I be sad."  The next thing he told me to ask was, "Mama, tell Green Lantern to get the bad guy car."  So again I asked him!  This time he answered with, "Oh, I can't he too far away, I can't reach him!"  Jared thought this was funny since he was supposed to be a super hero, when Jared called him on it, Calum put up his little arm and pretended to shoot the bad guy car and said, "Oh, never mind, I got him!"

We sure love our little boys, and Armin is proving to be just like Calum in every way!!  We love the balance Emry brings to this little family of boys.  Even when her attitude and sassiness gets to be a little too much, she still manages to make Jared and I smile!  We love our children so much and even if at times we may think it, we never really would sell, give them to the zoo!!

One thing I want to write down before I completely forget it...

The other day while Cora, Leah and Blake were here Cora said, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", which I have heard before.  But Leah answered with, "No, everything tastes better than skinny feels!"  I loved this, I thought is was so funny yet, so true!  Cora said that Leah always has to say the opposite of what she says!  I did think it truly was classic!  We were eating super yummy cupcakes that Myrna had made for dessert one night after supper, so it truly was fitting!

Individual Pizza's!

Last night for supper each of the kids made their own pizza's!  They had a lot of fun too, and some interesting pizza's were made!  Leah doesn't like cheese on her pizza so it looked a little naked to me, she put tiny bits of ham and a few pineapple pieces on top of sauce.  Cora and Emry only wanted cheese, no sauce!  And Blake wanted a "little" bit of everything on his pizza!  Calum wanted "apple", which he means pineapple!  I made the dough and then made each kid a mini pizza of their own to decorate with their desired toppings.  I put their's in pie plates and it worked out perfectly.  For the adults I made a new kind, it had Peppercorn Ranch dressing for the sauce and then chicken breast with hickory barbecue sauce on top and then pineapple and cheese, I thought it was really yummy!  It reminded me of the potato skins at Boston Pizza.  It was a fun night with the kids again, they are all getting along so well.  They do have a break from each other today as Myrna took them home while she did her Weight Watcher's meeting's.  Tomorrow they will be back at it just as strong!  I was also able to have a nice quiet conversation with my dad who is in Texas.  Sometimes when we talk everyone turns chaotic.  But it was nice last night when all the kids were in bed.  I am so thankful for my dad!  He always offers to bring us whatever we "need" from the US, and since we have been able to buy Jared's chocolate syrup from Walmart here in Canada we haven't had to use Dad nearly as often!  I guess we should find something else we "need"!

More Easter Fun!!

Maryssa, Lily, Leah, Cora, Emry, Owen
Blake, Calum and Gilbert

Yesterday I took my kids as well as Dave and Char's kids over to my mom's for another Easter Egg hunt and a yummy roasted chicken dinner!  The kids informed me that they had a ton of fun and the food was really yummy!  My sister also brought her two kids over and my older sister's kids are staying with my mom for the week, so with all the little hooligans running around there were nine kids doing the egg hunt, that didn't include little Armin who happened to be sleeping.  After the egg hunt and before dinner was ready all the kids went out to the bale yard and had so much fun climbing and running around.  Every single one of them had hay all throughout their hair, Calum even informed me that he had hay in his bum!  I love seeing the kids get together with their cousins.  I am so happy that they have all formed strong bonds and I hope they will always be close friends!

I thought this was the sweetest picture of Calum

Happy Easter

Yesterday all the Puzey's came home for an fabulous Easter celebration!  Even though we were missing the jubilant company of Char and Jared Hague, it was still a wonderful time!  It started out with a magnificent dinner made by Myrna!  We had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Jared's absolute favourite, and cheesecake for dessert!  Cora put together a scavenger hunt and I put together an Easter basket for each of the kids.  The scavenger hunt was so much fun, we had everyone involved, even little Jonas!  The weather was perfect, of course a little windy but nothing unusual!  It was a great time had by all, and even though the kids were bouncing off the walls from all the sugar they ingested everyone went to sleep relatively well and didn't wake up too terribly early this morning!  Cora, Leah and Blake get to stay at Grandma's for the week so Emry is in seventh heaven!

I made the eggs in the bowl!  I found the idea on the very addictive pinterest!  They turned out really cute and were a lot of fun to do!

Cora made the place settings for everyone.  They were so cute and edible too! 

The blue team anxiously reading their first clue!

The yellow team

The pink team

The purple team

The final prize! 

Jared and I got a lot of our house sided this weekend, it is looking so good!  The front of our house faces east!  This picture is taken from Myrna's yard facing south.

Thankfully we filled the plastic eggs with candy, sustenance for the adults!!

We weighed Jonas and Armin again and they weigh exactly the same, 21.8 pounds! 

Brothers!

The fabulous Puzey girl cousins!

Leah asked if she could take our picture!  She said we looked so cute sitting there on the couch!  She told us she is practicing for her future career!  She wants to be a photographer/director/stylist/designer!  She wants to design her costumes for the movie she writes and directs and then photograph and film it all too!  Can we say ambitious!! 

This time of year truly is so special!  The newness of spring combined with the celebration of the life of our Saviour, brings a renewal to the earth.  I am saddened by the way our Saviour died, but I am so thankful for the faith He had to overcome the darkness of man.  Without this sacrifice we would have no hope in this life.  I am truly grateful for the knowledge and the faith I have to know that I have the perfect example to follow, and when I do I will receive the ultimate gift, returning to live with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

It was wonderful to spend Easter with family, to share in the joy of the life of our Saviour.  I am so thankful for all I have been blessed with so far in life.  I am thankful for the trials I have had to go through because I know they have made me stronger, and are nothing compared to what our Saviour suffered.  I couldn't be more blessed with the family I have, or the place I live.