Tag Archives: children

Ag Book of the Day 9

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Today’s Ag Book of the Day was brought to my attention by my dear, dear friend Katie at Pinke Post:

“If You’re Not From the Prairie” by David Bouchard and Henry Ripplinger. It’s suggested for children in grades four through seven, but I believe any child of any age can relate to the amazing lines of poetry.

Although I do not own this book yet, I will by the end of the weekend…if the weather allows us to travel. (We’re under a winter storm warning for tomorrow…Yay!)

This book has beautiful poetry and great illustrations of what life is really like on the prairie. It’s a strong reminder of all the things that we take for granted, especially when winter is dragging on a day or three too long!

Do you have any other suggestions of ag-related books that you enjoy? Young or old alike?

Signs of spring – Ag Book of the Day 8

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For those new to my blog, the month of april is Cultivating Reading month at our school. In support of such a great month, I’ve decided to feature an Ag Book for each day of school. Today is day eight!

And since we’re entering the half-way point of April (and it’s Wordless Wednesday…hmmm, Wordy Wednesday?), I’ve decided to include some pics of sure signs of spring:

Lilacs budding? Check.

Tulips coming up? Check.

Green grass? Sandal weather? Check and check.

Shop open for repairs?

Parts arrived? Check.

But the best sign of spring? Outdoor bathroom is open for business.

Today’s Ag Book of the Day is:

When the Rooster Crowed

“When the Rooster Crowed” by Patricia Little. It’s a really great book about a farmer that wants just a few more moments of rest before starting his chores in the morning…but too many people and animals are relying on him! It’s a cute story, with great illustrations, and my boys love reading it, especially when they’ve gone one too many mornings without seeing Dad.

Lots’o laughs – Ag Book of the Day 4

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Today is Pocket Day at school. The boys each put a joke (written on a piece of paper) in their pocket. Scooter’s joke was:

Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?

Because he didn’t have the guts to do it.

I’m not sure which joke Big Bro went with, but he was taking advice from Scooter, so I can about imagine. Ah, the joys of young boy humor!

Today’s book is one that we read from a lot at night. It’s titled, “5-Minute Barnyard Tales for Bedtime,” with more than 90 stories by a variety of authors.

5 Minute Barnyard Tales for Bedtime

Now, the stories are great, most with moral lessons, but I will give you a heads-up, some of the animals talk. (I know for some parents, talking animals is a no-no in farm books.) But my boys know that our animals don’t talk. They also know that our hamburger comes from our cows and that our bacon and pork products come from pigs. So using their imagination for a story isn’t a big deal.

But again, the stories are GREAT! They are short and sweet and almost all of them have really great lessons that can easily be related to everyday situations. Plus, a lot of the farm situations are very accurate, which is something we end up talking about too.

And, as promised, later on today I will be putting together a blog recapping our calving season. We’re not completely done yet, but we’re pretty close.

Which means that spring MUST be here…somewhere.

Not-so-wordless Wednesday – Ag Book of the Day 3

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Since it’s Reading Month at the school, I figured that it wouldn’t serve my purpose very well to go wordless today. But I am featuring a book that doesn’t have a LOT of words to it. It’s one of George’s favorites, and it is:

Large Slide and Find Trucks: Large Slide and Find Trucks

“Trucks” by Priddy Books. It’s a board book, with slide and find panels. And it’s GREAT! Most board books/lift-the-flap/slide-panels don’t last in our house. They are usually destroyed very quickly by little hands that aren’t careful, patient, etc. Not this one.

George can look at this book for HOURS and I do mean hours. It covers colors, different types of transportation, different kind of workers (not just farmers, although there are definitely tractors in it!). Again, it’s just another great book.

Today at school it was Bandana Day, “wrap up with a good book.” Big Bro was excited to wear a bandana to school. Scooter decided that he was to old for that stuff (which is totally unlike him). Oh well, to each their own.

There it is…my book of the day. But in keeping with the Wordless Wednesday theme, here’s some of my favorite George shots. Enjoy!

Don't mind my dirty face, I'm still cute!

Smile!

Look into my eyes...

Boxes aren't the only cheap toy!

Guess who will be 2 soon?

You might not be able to put Baby in a corner, but you can put George in a bucket!

Fabulous flannel – Ag Book of the Day 2

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Today is Flannel Shirt Day at my boys’ school. I didn’t send them to school in flannel, because they decided they didn’t like wearing it a few years ago, and they are both at the age that they can decide what they want to wear, to an extent.

But I promised yesterday that I would give my Ag Book of the Day choices through the month of April, since it is Cultivating Reading Month at the school. Here is today’s pick:

It is “Good Morning, Farm!” by Catherine Nichols. It’s a Level 1 Reader from DK Readers, and it happens to feature mostly John Deere equipment. I like this book because it has real pictures, it includes many different types of farming (orchards, honey, milk, pigs, chickens, vegetables, grain, etc.) and it’s short and sweet and easy to read.

Enjoy!

Cultivating the future

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I love my school.

Now, to clarify, I don’t ALWAYS feel that way, but who ever does? My sons attend the school that I graduated from…in 1995. In fact, they have had some of the same teachers that I had. Talk about a strange feeling, sitting across from your first-grade teacher, talking about your son! I still can’t call any of them by their first names.

This month is reading month. The theme??? Cultivating Reading. WOOHOO!

The whole month is focused on farming, agriculture, animals, etc. What a great opportunity! And you can bet I’m going to do my best to maximize it!

My plan is to shine the spotlight on a favorite ag book of ours, at least a few times a week. Now, as a disclaimer, I haven’t received approval or monetary donations from any of the authors…in fact, they haven’t a clue that I’m even doing this. I don’t know any of them personally (at least, not to my knowledge). But these are books that my family loves, and that we read together.

I’m an avid reader. I LOVE to read. I received a Kindle for Christmas and have already put over 100 books through it. (Hmmm…I may need to seek help.) I’ve been trying to instill in my children the same love of books, and so far, so good. Let’s hope it keeps rolling that way!

Today at school was “Hats off to books!” Day…or Hat Day. Scooter wore one of Boss Man’s farm caps, Big Bro wore a Cat-In-The-Hat hat. It was a Monday, and they were excited about school. Who could ask for more?

My book of the day?

It’s a great farm safety book, and one that we’ve read TONS of times! Plus, many county Farm Bureau’s sponsor safety days or safety camps, that reiterate what is taught in the book. It covers everything from ATV’s to cows to grain bins.

Do you have a favorite that you think I should check out? Something you’d like to see a spotlight on? I’d love to get more farm-favorite story books in our ever-expanding library! Tomorrow is Flannel Shirt Day – “Every which way with books.”

April is going to be a GREAT month!

Sleepy Saturday

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We had an interesting 24-hours. Scooter is grounded until he turns 60, Boss Man decided to run a fever (spiking at 105.2), EJ has been busy (as in lots and lots of trouble, busy), Big Bro is bored and George is being George.

Little George decided he wanted to wear underwear today. I knew he didn’t mean that he wanted to wear underwear and actually USE the potty, so we compromised.

Not the typical way to wear underwear, but it works. Are you cute enuf to pull it off?

I’m disinfecting everything, trying to make sure that George doesn’t come down with whatever Daddy managed to pick up. Let’s hope I’m successful…but hey, when you’re that cute, how could a germ decide to call war? Right?

Well, Boss Man just called from the clinic. He is influenza positive. Nothing like having a whole family on Tamiflu. I declare germ warfare!

Silver linings

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If you’re friends with me on facebook, then you’ve probably realized that I’m kinda into finding the silver lining in every situation. I think it’s a mental-survival thing. Without it, I would be completely whack-o a few times over. (Be careful…I know what you’re thinking!)

But today’s silver lining showed up a few times! Yay!

First: George ran his first fever last night since we had The Plan in place. It was a bit scary, but things went well. I called the pediatrician, he ran through things with me, we formulated our plan and all went well. I ended up not having to take him in, the temp stayed down over night, took him in this morning and all things are well. Woohoo! Chalk one to George!

To celebrate, we got his FIRST big-boy haircut! Not bad, for a boy that’s about to be 2!

Not only will George be 2 in a month, but he got his first real hair cut today!

Second: Someone asked if the deer are still a problem. Here’s the answer:

That isn't just dirt on the horizon. Those are hundreds of deer, still making our yard home.

Yep.

But the silver lining? Another creature has followed them here…namely Bald Eagles. It is COOL! There are at least four of them right now. I think they’re eating off the carcasses. But they are so majestic and all things amazing. I tear up looking at them, and feel like saluting as they fly by…kinda weird, I know.

Getting close to a Bald Eagle isn't as easy as getting pics of deer in our yard.

And just to let you SEE what kind of damage the deer are doing, I’ve got these pics for you:

Yeah, that's what you think it is...deer urine

You can see where the hay has been moved from. Notice the difference between white and yellow/brown.

Notice the yellow/brown snow? Do you remember what your mother said about eating yellow snow? That’s right, that’s urine. As in deer urine. As in lots and lots and lots of deer urine. Now imagine all that on your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum.

But SB 2227, which will give landowners a few more options in deer depredation, is supposed to be voted on in the House of Representatives tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll keep you posted.

And come next fall, I expect you and ALL of your family to come hunting.

First week of spring

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Yes, that’s right, according to the calendar, it is indeed spring. Could’ve fooled me.

It’s been a long week, that’s for sure. Let me run down the last six days or so for you:

Saturday – Scooter had his first wrestling tournament in Lisbon. We had a blast, he placed first (even pinned his second competitor!) and it was a pleasant day overall. Little did I know that this would be the highlight of my week!

Sunday – Scooter was supposed to have another tournament in LaMoure, after singing in church that morning, but he woke up with 102 temp. No church, no singing, no tournament. Spent the day quarantined upstairs, so that our chances of transmitting something to George was lower. Talk about a long, miserable day for everyone.

Monday – Scooter stayed home from school, just in case. He quit running a temp late Sunday night, but if more parents would follow the 24-hour-with-no-fever rule, think of how much less stuff would be spread around? But that’s another topic, for another night. Another day of quarantine.

Tuesday – Forecast of bad weather, but it’s supposed to be further north of us. I held onto that hope up until the minute that we got the call that school was dismissing early. We ended up with rain, followed by about 4-6 inches of snow and nasty winds. No wrestling tournament in Ashley, two crabby boys home early from school, awful weather outside and a husband MIA at a meeting, since he received the message that there was no wrestling, which gave him free reign to “run errands.” (AKA – visit with anyone who will listen…for hours…and I’m not even close to kidding. Someday ask me about his “wrong number” phone call…the one where he didn’t realize that he didn’t know the guy he was talking to until 15 minutes into the conversation…and I wish I was exaggerating.) At this point in time, I’m beginning to hate the mocking way that the calendar declares that it’s spring. And checking cows in 6 inches of muck, covered with a few inches of snow, is still not fun…but great workout for the legs!

Wednesday – No school, but the school waited until after my regular alarm time to make the call. Thanks, appreciate it. So, instead of letting everyone sleep in, it was just a day where everyone was up early and bored about 10 minutes into the day. Oh, and did I mention that EJ is now sick? Yeah, he decided to start running a temp late Tuesday night. By Wednesday he’s coughing and miserable. He even asked if he could go to the doctor and get a shot. Normally, if my 4-year-old requests an injection, I would be heading to the ER, but in the middle of awful weather and blizzard-conditions, you tend to stay put a bit more.

Thursday – EJ gets his wish to go to the doctor, but the strep test is negative and it appears as if he just has a cold and some fluid in his ears. I’m not sold on that, but we have the medicine anyway, so as long as George doesn’t get sick…we’re good to go. As we leave the doctors office, EJ has a coughing fit, which leads him to remark, “The doctor’s office is broken. I’m still sick.” Apparently he figured that the minute he left, he’d feel better. I wish, bud, I wish. My mom kept EJ and George that evening while Scooter had another wrestling match. Him and three other boys from Ellendale all tied for second. It was the best possible outcome for that group of four boys. I love that he’s learning how to win (and even more importantly, lose) and still be a good sport. We have some work to do yet, but it’s a good start.

Friday – EJ is feeling a tad bit better, and I’m hoping and praying that George doesn’t catch “it.” So far, so good. Tonight was the carnival at school, and the three older boys had a blast! We brought home three goldfish (somehow the other two found foster homes!), bags of candy, toys and books from the book fair! It was a good night, until EJ got home and proceeded to throw up. Apparently the carnival was too much excitement (he hadn’t coughed all day, but went into a coughing fit as soon as we came home), but Mommy took care of things, then went and checked cows so Dad could sleep. (He came with to the carnival, which thrilled the boys to no end!) Not quite how I hoped our potential “date night” would go, but better than some.

Tomorrow, Scooter has a wrestling tournament in Ellendale. My mom will watch the other boys, just to make sure that George isn’t exposed to anything else.

When I get home, I’ll try to post some pics. And as long as everyone is healthier this week, we’ll be posting more often as well! By the way, did I mention that we only have 19 cows left to calve??? What a relief!

The doctor is in

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It has been a little over a month since we were finally clued in to what was going on with George. It’s been a few weeks of trying to find our groove, feeling our way along and doing lots, and lots, and lots of research.

What I found hasn’t been all that encouraging, but if you are prepared for the worst, than anything above that is excellent…right? And either way, having some idea as to what is going on is WAY better than fighting some unknown. Trust me on that one.

I have spent countless hours on the phone, trying to figure out the logistics of George’s “medical food” (which has been an absolute nightmare), arranging for our emergency care plan (hopefully it will get old and dusty and never need to be used!),  and educating quite a few medical personnel on a rare condition called ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. (If I had a nickel for every time I was asked to spell that this week…)

But, with the bad comes the good. George has had a GREAT week…and we’ve added another word to his vocabulary!  He now says, “More,” while signing it. It’s GREAT!

Because I’ve been asked a lot about it, I’m going to give you a quick run-down on OTC. Here are the facts:

  • OTC is a rare metabolic disorder, usually genetically inherited through the mother
  • OTC affects the body’s ability to get rid of ammonia, which is a by-product of breaking down protein. Since the body can’t get rid of the ammonia, the levels increase in the blood, causing the most damage to the brain.
  • High-stress episodes can cause the ammonia level to spike, things that we need to watch for, and seek immediate treatment for, are: fever of 101 or higher, vomitting, lethargy, hyperactivity, etc.
  • Treatment includes immediate IV fluids during episodes to lower the ammonia levels, low-protein diet, and sometimes medications. (The low-protein diet will be life-long. Although, as he grows, we should be able to add in more protein. Right now we are at only 9-10 grams of protein per day. The “medical food” provides the rest of the essential amino acids that are needed to grow and sustain life.)
  • The only “cure” is a liver transplant, which is a drastic step, to say the least.

If we follow the diet, make sure George takes his supplement, and are very diligent during times of illness, George should have a very normal life, sans meat. So that’s what we’ll do. (You can read more here.)

I will admit, though, that this week has not been easy for me. I’ve been in a bit of a dark place these last few days. The weather, lack of sleep, lack of interaction with others, fear, anxiety, anger…you name it, it’s hit me. But I promise this week will be better.

It’s up to me to make it so.