What should I call it???

I am in the process of setting up a new blog so that I can once again share pictures with you all.  :)  BUT, I am having a hard time deciding what to call it.   Does anyone have suggestions?

Andrew had a good day today, as he bought a nice pickup in Bismarck for a reasonable price. 

I had a GREAT day, as I finally finished sewing the top of my king-sized quilt-top!!!  I've been working on it for 5 years at least (just every now and then), so it is a great feeling to have it finished at last! 

My dad did not have a good day, as he didn't have a single good hand in the 3 games of Rook that we played this evening (my mom and I had the Rook almost all night).    ;)

Mom and Jacob had normal days, I believe, and we all enjoyed the zucchini chocolate-chip muffins that my mom and I made for supper.

Have a wonderful last-day-of-2012!  May God bless us all richly in the upcoming year.~

Peace...

That's what this day was filled with.  We just rested and did not much of anything, outside of singing and reading for our church time, and counting our blessings.  It's nice to just do nothing once in a while!

My room is more organized...

I spent the morning dusting, reorganizing, and thoroughly cleaning my room (even washed the ceiling fan).  :)  It's amazing how things can get so out of order from day to day living!

The rest of the day was spent in cleaning the rest of the house; making some delicious supper (with peanut-butter pie or mint ice cream for dessert); and playing ping-pong for an hour before chores.  We're going to have our supper soon, once my dad is off the phone. 

I look forward to sleeping in in the morning (Lord willing, of course).  We have nothing happening tomorrow, so it will be nice to just rest! 

  Have a happy weekend! 

The new cows are home...

My mom and Andrew went to Bismarck (they met up with Lauretta up there) and had a successful business day (and brought home fabric for my quilt!). 

I went over babysitting the twins and their sister again.  We made all kinds of things out of playdough and "Exercised" on their treadmill....  

Shortly after I got home this afternoon, my dad arrived, pulling an unloading-chute behind the pickup.  Jacob and I bundled up and headed outside to help Dad get the pen ready for cows (chopping out the ice on that side of the big tire-tank; setting up some more panels; spreading straw; jacking up/down the chute), and finished just in time to unload the cows when the rancher brought them in a big pot-trailer.  My dad bought 40 young, bred cows (2nd calvers) to replace the old ones that were sold earlier and Jacob bought 2, plus my B. grandparents had called and told my dad that they wanted to give each of the 3 of us younger B.s a cow, (as they've helped their other grandchildren materially and wanted to do the same for us, they said----what a nice surprise and blessing!), so we each now have 1 more cow, resulting in a grand total of 45 new animals on the place tonight.  They are remarkably quiet!  I think they'll fit in with our herd nicely......

Starting on the letter....

While the girls were sleeping this afternoon, I started going through the year (reading on my blog) and writing down the main highlights so that my mom can take the list and then write out our annual New Years update letter.  I only got through February, so have a ways to go!  It's amazing how many things happen in just 365 days worth of living.

When I got home from work, everyone else was lazing around the house (except for my mom who was doing a session), so I suggested we all head out to the shop for some ping-pong practice, which we then did for the next 2 hours. 

My mom and Andrew are going to Bismarck tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll have time to buy some fabric for me so I can finish my quilt.  I cut out little samples of my fabric so they can have it for reference in the fabric store, if they have time to go...

I'd better get to bed, as I have an early morning of babysitting tomorrow.  :)

It came upon the midnight clear...

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

 

We had a delightful day, spent with my Bornemann grandparents in Mandan.  We arrived about an hour before the noon meal and helped Grandma with last minute preparations (peeled some potatoes, whipped cream for the pumpkin pies, rolled crescent-rolls, dished out the olives and pickles, and my dad carved the turkey).  Grandma had cooked up a genuine feast!!!   

 

After eating until we could eat no more, we cleared the table and did the dishes.  Then, we looked at a bunch of pictures (pictures from when Grandma was young, and then some of our pictures); opened presents; and listened to Christmas music.  Oh, and we sang happy birthday to my mom too....  Grandma gave mom and I two plants to add to our collection.  :)

 

When we got home, we gave my mom her birthday gifts, then ate another feast, but in much smaller quantities.  While the guys did the chores, my mom and I cleaned up the kitchen some, then played piano duets until everyone was in from outside.  Then, we watched "The Christmas Card" and another movie I gave to my mom about a young couple on the Dakota prairies.... 

 

It was a fun day! 

 

While my family and I don't keep Christmas in the way that most others do (as we don't believe anymore that this really is the time of year when our Savior was born), we are so very grateful for His coming to this earth to wash away the sins of the world and sing our praises to Him!  

 

I hope you all had a wonderful day as well.~

 

 

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house...

...not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, thankfully!

Much was accomplished today: 

• The milk/cream got separated and we started some more buttermilk.
• Mom and I made candy-cane ice cream.
• Andrew bought another, even higher-quality camera and placed his other one on e-bay.
• My dad went and looked at some more cows and decided on the ones he wants to buy.
• We made our favorite Winter-time cookies---Ritz crackers (my dad bought the very last box at the grocery store!) with peanut butter between them, dipped in almond bark.  Yummy!!!
• I went babysitting for 6+ hours and made sugar cookies (snowmen, candy-canes, snowflakes, ginger-bread-men, etc...) with the girls.  Paula gave me a VERY nice gift of 2 cake-takers (different sizes) and a really cute cake-pan that makes 6 small cakes that look like ice-cream bars with a bite taken out of each one.  :)
• Mom and I gave the guys hair-cuts this evening.
• Plus, all of the usual day-to-day parts of living (chores, meals, dishes....) that all take time.
• I'm sure my mom and the boys did other things as well while I was away.

I was also surprised to receive a small box in the mail today from one of my great-uncles.  We've written back and forth a couple of times in the last year, as he wanted to let me know he/they are praying for me to find/be found by my future husband, soon.   This time, he sent me a very lovely pearl necklace with a note tucked under the label which says,

"You are some young man's pearl of great price.   Keep praying!"    

                                                                  .......and yes, I am praying, and waiting.......

...laughing all the way, ha ha ha...

My mom, Lauretta and I went to Bismarck today, as mom had clients to see and Lauretta ran the Betar (music therapy) table in the other room for her (she's working with/for my mom now one or two days a week) and I was along for the fun of it and to make my mom a scrapbook of the nice cards/notes she's received over the last 4+ years.   It was a fun day, even though we almost got crashed into by a driver who wasn't paying attention.  Another highlight of the day was that Mom and I stood next to the tallest/huskiest man in ND while doing a business transaction for Andrew (he was SOOO huge!).  The roads were pretty bad too coming home, but we talked and laughed all the way home.  :)  We went inside when we took Lauretta home, as they had some company they wanted us to meet. 

AND, we made it home, safe and sound.  Praise the Lord!  It is so good to be home...

Soon it will be Christmas day!

Which also means my mom's birthday will soon be here too.  :) 

We had so much fun skating this afternoon, and playing ping-pong, and even doing dishes!  Lauretta, Sarena, and their brother, Thaddaeus came and played ice-hockey with us and my parents even came up later and guarded the goals with shovels (as we ran out of sticks!) while the rest of us tried not to fall down while chasing the puck all over the ice.  Later, Andrew gave snowmobile rides, or rather, he gave sled rides, the sled being pulled behind the snowmobile.  Then, we all headed for our house and made some supper; played some music; ate supper; Dad, Andrew and Jacob did the chores while the rest of us did the dishes quickly; and after that we played ping-pong for about 2 hours before they had to head for home.    Praise be to God that nobody got seriously hurt during all of our adventures!

Still, still, still...

It is indeed still tonight.  I don't hear any wind anyway...

This morning/afternoon, I went over and cared for Johanna and Tracy Jo.  They are growing up so fast!   I got off early, so made it home in time to scrub the floor and make the dessert (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting) for supper.  After Jacob cut up the potatoes and I cut the carrots to add to our roast, we headed out to the shop to play ping-pong with our dad for a while before chores.  My mom was still inside cleaning the bathroom and finishing up some other projects.  Andrew sold and delivered his green 4-wheeler today, driving up to Hurdsfield to meet the buyer.  Now we're down to 1 little 4-wheeler and we're hoping Andrew buys some more to repair soon, as they do come in handy!  ;) 

We're praying for nice weather tomorrow for our ice-skating party! 

Come on, it's lovely weather for skating together with you...

We spent the morning working at home on various projects, then around 2:00, Jacob and I decided to head up to the pasture to check out how the ice was this year and to push some snow off of the ice.  I'd written to Lauretta before we left, mentioning where Jacob and I were going, amongst other things, and it "Just so happened" that she got the message right when she was by the corner where you can either turn or go straight up to our pasture, on her way home from work.  She called me (just as Jacob and I were almost at that corner) and asked where we were and if we'd like some help?  SO, she parked her pickup and hopped in with us for a snowy ride to the "Lake" (it's more like a pond).    We pushed tons of snow and then skated and played ice hockey.  Andrew made a delivery up to Steele (he sold a motorcycle), then stopped in on his way home and joined us on the ice.  We pushed off another ton of snow, making our skating area twice as large.  We had fun skating around (holding hands and skating in a line, swinging the outside person around very quickly on the corners!) and trying to play hockey (the boys even had their lit hockey-puck along) and we skated until the sun went down and the moon came out, and then each headed for our respective homes. 

We're planning to have a skating party up there on Saturday (in the afternoon), which is why we headed up to push snow in the first place....   Anyone want to join us on the ice?  :)

Jingle bells, jingle bells...

...Jingle all the way...

That's what the little boys that I was babysitting today were singing while we were coloring pictures of ducks.  :)  I babysat for the 3 children I used to babysit quite a bit for a couple years back, (Amelia, and the twins, James and Michael).  It was fun to see how much they've grown and changed!   We colored; played hide-and-seek and red-light, green light; made all kinds of things out of playdough; played catch with small balls in the basement; and drew pictures.  It was a fun day...

It was almost humorous to learn that one of our friends also slid in the ditch yesterday afternoon----at the VERY SAME CORNER that Jacob did, except she slid in the opposite side, as she was coming from the other direction.  I guess that corner was especially slippery! 

When I got home, I worked on my quilt some more and am now at the point where I need to buy some more fabric before I can finish it up.  This is getting exciting!  Its always a good feeling to finish big projects.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow...

While I'm sure Andrew is not very pleased with the way his pickup and trailer look tonight, and while Jacob is blaming himself, we are so very grateful that everyone is safe!    My dad (with the semi) and Jacob (with Andrew's brown pickup and pretty-new car-trailer) headed for our Hazelton land this morning to bring home the 2nd to last load of hay.  Jacob headed for home as soon as he was loaded up with 7 large square haybales.  He drove the 20 or so miles to the curves in Hwy. 34, then slowed down to make the corner, turning onto the Kintyre road.  Unfortunately, it wasn't slow enough, I guess, and the road was snow-covered and slippery and the trailer wanted to keep going straight, SO, Jacob went sideways all the way down the ditch, jack-knifed badly and came to a stop at the bottom.  It dented the side of the pickup pretty bad and bent a bar on the trailer.  Thankfully, Andrew has insurance on that pickup which will hopefully cover the damages!  I drove the tractor out to them so Dad could unload the bales and then they had to get a jack and jack up the pickup some and then pulled the trailer straight with the tractor.  I have pictures, but I can't post them here.  :(  If you're a friend of Jacob's on FaceBook, you can see there.

Mom and Andrew (and Lauretta) went to Bismarck today, Andrew ran errands around town while the others took care of clients all morning/afternoon.

This afternoon, my dad and Jacob went for the last load of hay and then Jacob drove the tractor home from over by Hazelton.

Meanwhile, I kept busy in the house, baking bread; cleaning my aquarium thoroughly; making meals; doing the dishes;  and sewing on my quilt.   I milked Sally this evening, as Andrew was still in Bismarck at chores time. 

'Twas a busy day.  We thank God for keeping us safe through it...

...(little) folks dressed up like Eskimos...

I was over babysitting "my" little girls again today.  It wasn't too terribly cold out but there was a bit of a breeze, so I bundled them up heavily and we went outside to play in the snow for about half an hour.  I couldn't find Tracy Jo's gloves, so I slipped my large ones over her little hands and she was fine with the plan, until it interfered with her ability to hold onto the little rake handle that she was playing with.  I gave Tracy rides down the driveway hill in a pink sled, but Johanna didn't want any part of the sledding and just wanted to dig little holes in the snow with her shovel instead.  :)

Thankfully, everyone here is feeling almost completely back to their usual, energetic selves.   What a blessing it is to feel well!

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh-ride together...

It would be just perfect....  So still and beautiful with the big snowflakes falling all around.  Unfortunately, we have neither a sleigh or a horse, but it is fun to dream of...

Thanks be to God, my family members are all feeling better today, some nearly back to normal.  It must have been something they ate while I was gone babysitting, as I never did get sick, which was a blessing, as then I was able to do all of the chores yesterday evening when everyone else was unable to do so!

Oh, and my friends' little girl has a name now:  "Amy Lynn".  :)  She is a beautiful baby, from what I can tell from pictures...

What child is this who laid to rest on ____'s lap is sleeping....?

My friend just had her baby!  It's a girl.  :)  I don't know her name though....


Please pray for my family now as certain members are dealing with some kind of a tummy bug.  Yick!

I'll be home for Christmas...

I'm pretty sure, anyway.

We had a busy house-cleaning day and fed old squishy vegetables to the goats and cleaned out the fridge a bit and separated cream and made some yummy food and played some ping-pong.  'Twas a good day!

Please, if you read this in the next few hours, be in prayer for my friend, Crystal, (pray for her husband, David too) who is having a long labor currently with her first child.  Thank you!

....5 golden rings...

Well, it was only 2, I guess...   My parents went to Bismarck today for business reasons and my dad also had the idea to take along their high-school class rings to sell them, as my parents will never wear them again and would rather have the money to do useful things with then have them sitting around, collecting dust in a drawer.    It was well worth it too, as they received a total of $144, or something close to that.  I asked if they had any other old gold rings lying around that they'll never use?  ;)  They said, "No, sadly".

  I went over babysitting for most of the day.  The girls are just getting over a flu bug, so weren't quite as perky as usual.  I feel so bad for little people when they're so sick! 
 
  The boys stayed home and worked on, well, things.  Andrew hauled a load of hay home.  Jacob worked on his schoolwork.  I don't know what else they did.

  After posting last night, I couldn't believe I'd forgotten to write about the happiest news of the day for me!   When we got our cows in the corralling and sorted them off to work the calves a while back, I'd noticed that one of my cows (a very distinguishable black/white face) was missing.  I thought maybe I'd missed her, so kept a watchful eye out for her when we got the cows in again later and poured them all and for sure, she was gone.  I marked her down in my records as possibly having died in the pasture or having gotten lost.   Well, yesterday when we were sorting off the 2 cows to take to the butcher shop, I thought I saw her, so after the cows were loaded, I grabbed one of the 4-wheelers and went through the cow-herd to see.  Low and behold-----there she was!!!!   Just as round and healthy looking as ever!   I'm not sure where she was on the 2 days that we got everyone in the corralling, but I was praising the Lord over and over for the blessing of being able to delete my last entry in my cattle-records!!!

It's a marshmallow world in the Winter...

...when the snow comes to cover the ground!   It is still snowing, big, heavy snowflakes. 

It was a busy day at our place, getting the house back in order after bringing lots of things back from the open-house and dumping it all in the kitchen this morning.   There was a huge stack of dishes to wash and dry; laundry that needed washing and folding; the guys hauled hay home; we rounded up 2 more cows and loaded them in the stock trailer, which the guys then took down to Linton to the butcher shop; plus lots of other odds and ends...

I did not write last night for two reasons: 
  #1. It was very late by the time we headed for home from Bismarck
and
  #2. I wasn't at home and didn't have Internet access (as I stayed with Lauretta at her and Sarena's house when we dropped Lauretta off last night, then Sarena dropped me off at home this morning on her way to work---as she goes right by).

The open house went very well!  It got quite busy in the early afternoon and we had to shorten people's Betar sessions so as to give everyone some time on the relaxing musical table.   My mom was doing sessions in the other room all day long.  Lauretta ran the Betar table most of the time, although Andrew and I helped her now and then, and helped with selecting music to play according to the persons' preferences.   It was my job to make sure the punch bowl and cookie platter remained full, and to try to explain the benefits of my mom's newest venture---Vibes-Up products.   After it was all over at 8PM, and we were packed up, Mom took the 3 of us out to eat at the Ground Round.  Yummy!   It was a fun day, but also tiring....  I have pictures to share, but I think I need to start a new blog so as to be able to post pictures, as it won't let me do it here anymore.   ;(

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere...

...that we're ready for my mom's open house tomorrow!  :)  I was originally going to babysit today, but then the little girls I watch got the flu and their mommy stayed home to care for them.  SO, I stayed home (outside of taking Paula her birthday cake and presents)...   I made several dozen egg-less cookies (that's an actual recipe) and frosted them with a mint icing I made; I decorated my mom's little cake she requested that I make; I attempted a batch of fudge, but it flopped and ended up being fudge sauce, so I made a large batch of mints instead; and mom and I made some peanut-butter-sweet-sauce covered popcorn.   I hope lots of people come so we don't have tons of leftovers!

  I'd best get to bed now though, as we're planning to leave at 6:00AM....

  

Over the ground lies a mantle of white...

...a heaven of diamonds shine down through the night.

Sorry I didn't post last night, but I was too busy talking to Lauretta until all hours of the morning (well, not quite all the hours, but several).  She had come over in the afternoon and stayed into the evening to help with plans for my mom's business' 5-years-of-being-in-business open house that is in Bismarck on Tuesday.  (Everyone's welcome to stop in!) Then, it started snowing and blowing, so she spent the night.  We watched "The Shop Around the Corner" with her and then the 2 of us sat up a long time talking and looking at pictures.  Then, she stayed today all day and helped too.  Her sister needed something from the pickup she had here, so she took that back at noon and I tagged along with the Pacifica and brought her back, as she was willing to help me bake cakes and cookies and we still had more planning and preparing to do.   Should be fun!   I took her back home this evening...

And now, I'd best get to sleep so I can get up and get my chores done and some odds and ends done before going to work!  So, good night.~

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We received a dusting of snow this afternoon and may be getting more through the night.  The ground was bare and brown, so it's nice to see some white again.  :)

I did not feel well all day, so took it easy (slept) most of the day away.  The boys helped mom  clean the house this afternoon and she made us some yummy supper.  The guys worked outside and/or in the shop too.  My dad hauled a load of hay home from over by Hazelton and also took the 9030 (the one that's been sitting over there) in to the Hazelton shop to get some major tire/rim work done, as it wasn't safe/smart to even use it anymore. 

Tomorrow, we may be getting 2 different sets of company, so that should be fun....

Gloo-oooo-ooo--oriah....

We separated milk/cream today (and I made 2 kinds of ice cream)!    That is cause enough to celebrate.  :)

I also baked bread this morning, as we were out---again.   

We worked on several projects that needed doing around the house and Dad worked outside.  Andrew showed me how to get cassette tapes onto the computer so he can later put them on CDs, so we worked on recording the new ones that I'd bought on Tuesday in Bismarck. 

Much later, we all went out to the shop and played a new variation of ping-pong where all 5 of us can play at the same time.  It was lots of fun and we only lost 1 ball this time.

I practiced my violin a while too....and Andrew tried his hand at it for a while.  ;)

God rest ye merry gentleman...

The menfolk in my family are especially glad this evening, as they now have the "new" combine home from Jamestown (they bought it at the consignment auction there on Friday).  My dad said it was a 5 hour drive home!  The combine is SO nice......it has a very nice 2nd seat in the cab for people to ride along on; the paint is in great condition; it has 2 windshield wipers on the front windshield because it's so large; and the horn has a nice sound to it.   That's what I think is neat about it.  The guys would probably tell you what's great about it is how powerful it is; that the hopper is larger because it has a big top on it; that is has 4-wheel drive; it has duals on the front; and things like that....  :)   

I watched "my little peoples", as Dorena calls them (I received a very nice letter from her in the mail today when she returned the music I'd forgotten down there---and a huge chocolate bar!)...   Their grandparents are now visiting for about a week, so it was fun to see them again and to hear their comments on how the girls have changed since they'd seen them last. 

My mom had 4 sessions with clients today, so she was busy with that.

Andrew worked on his projects (put the new tires that he bought yesterday on his 4-wheeler) and Jacob went with my dad to get the combine and drove the other vehicle back home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never posted last night because I checked my FaceBook account first and my dear friend, Miranda was on at that moment and we got to talking................and talking...............and talking............and I never got back to my blog!  

Mother, Andrew, our friend Lauretta, and I spent a very long and busy day in Bismarck and got home a little after 8:30PM.   Why?  Well, my mom rents 2 office rooms in the same building (across the hall from each other) and has her main health business in the one room and was using the other for storage.  Now, since she bought her Betar table (healing with sound/music), she needed a place to set that up and so we set up the other room as an office too, using the room dividers she'd bought a year or two ago to split the room in two.  The back half is where the Betar table and desk will be and the front half will have a little sitting area and a table to sell things on (grains we grow on the farm or VibesUp products that my mom is getting into selling now too.   We all worked together on planning out the room, then while my mom did several sessions for clients in the other room, Andrew, Lauretta and I went shopping.  :)  We hit the thrift stores first and found several things we needed/wanted (a huge landscape scene with a stunning frame; a desk-clock; another picture---of an iris and an iris picture frame to match it; a floor lamp; and also a bunch of music....   Andrew dropped we girls off at Seeds of Hope (where we saw one of our neighbors!), and went over to Mandan to buy parts for his current ATV project.  Lauretta and I had fun looking through lots of music (and bought some) and wedding gowns----just for the fun of it (and we didn't buy any).  Then, we went to Menards for the things we couldn't find (light bulbs, trash-can, pegs for the desk...) and then to TSC for farm supplies.  It was a busy day, but I think we're now ready for Mom's grand opening of that part of her business (next Tuesday). 

Lauretta stayed for a little bit once we got home and watched with us where we were in "Pride and Prejudice".  :)

Joy to the world!

We are done "working" all of our cattle for the year (Lord willing)! 

It was quite windy out today and the cows were pretty frisky, perhaps due to the wind or maybe because it was sunny and they thought it was Spring?  At any rate, even the mild-tempered ones were spunky and we had 4 animals (1 bull and 3 cows) jump the corralling (and it took some doing)!  We had to park the tractor at the end of the alley and a pickup on the other side once we got those back in so they wouldn't do it again.   Thankfully, it is all done now and we were all kept safe amidst the flying feet and the fur...    We definitely need to get a better cattle-working set-up made on this farm in the near future.

This needs to be short, as some of us are getting up extra early in the morning to get the chores done, showers taken, pickup loaded, fliers for my mom's open house printed, and all be ready to take off to pick up the Azure order by 8:15....   So, goodnight.

Silent night...

I just got home---and all is silent in the house as everyone else is in bed already....  I watched "My" little girls today and then went over to Lauretta and Sarena's house.  Their dad, sister Josephine, and a brother were there, as well as a cousin I'd never met before.   Lauretta, her brother and I played some ping-pong, then Sarena and I played piano duets for a while.  Lauretta played piano then, her brother played guitar, and the cousin and I played violins (and later, Josephine and I played).  He is a little bit better at it than I am, but not as good as Sarena and Josephine, so it was nice playing with someone who didn't exactly want to speed things up either....  :)  Then, we looked at pictures and shared funny stories and, it got late.

I don't even know what everyone else did here today?  I think we're going to be pouring the cows tomorrow.  I'm glad the wildest ones are sold!

All is calm, all is foggy...

The cows have finally quit bawling and accept the fact that their babies have to stay on the opposite side of the fence.   Thus, all is calm.

You can barely see out to the barn or the swingset tonight.  Thus, all is foggy!

It was a pleasant day we spent at home, doing not much of anything, other than playing games, singing, reading, playing instruments, and watching a long movie of Dickens'.