Snow Again?

As tedious as it may be to read post after post on the subject of snow, it is not tedious to me to take the pictures. I love snow! Don't snort at me. Everyone snorts and says, "just wait...", but I prefer to enjoy enjoying it, rather than spending my time just waiting until I hate it. These pictures are a bit old, and the snow level has now reached the bottom of the mailboxes, but you get the idea. (The cat is Dove.)

Girl Power!

Recently, we girls had to start chores all alone because the boys were off doing a tile job. Here are some pictures of the ladies getting the job done! The girls really enjoy the see-saw up in the hay mow, too. That's Amanda climbing up the ladder to the loft, and Rachel mugging with her favorite bovines. I took the snow picture on our way over to the barn.

It's So Cold!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe this one is worth a little less, since it does not show the blistering wind or the driving snow. I took this about two hours after sunrise, after a night when the low temp. was supposed to have been about -14 degrees. It is so cold!

There was a partially frozen towel on the kitchen floor this morning, and the snow is blowing around in the mudroom like sand in a sandstorm. We have blankets and mismatched curtains hanging over the windows to keep out the drafts. Last night, I grasped the handle of the barn door when my hand was wet. (Life lesson: don't grab metal things with wet hands when it is this cold out!)

It is not any colder than usual in the barn, though. In fact, the ventilation fans still have to run. They are controlled by thermostat, so we know it is getting over 50 degrees or so in there. At least the cows are warm! I am really, really glad the barn stays warm, as we do a lot of work that gets our hands wet in there. Maybe we should bring some cows into the house as heaters. The only thing is that they produce more than just heat, if you know what I mean.

Jason had to grind feed yesterday. The tractor would not start because it was so cold, so they had to pull it with the other tractor (the one that plugs in) up and down the highway until it started. Today, Jason is out loading hay for his cousins to haul down to their cows. The wind chill is supposed to be between -25 and -35 degrees. He looks a little funny because of all the clothes he is wearing to try to insulate himself, but that doesn't matter. I just hope he can stay warm.

I think when we go out for chores, we will try throwing water into the air to see if it will freeze before it lands.

Katie's Knee

Little Katie burned her knee on the vaporizer. I had not realized how dangerous they can be. It was painful for her, and it took a while to get better, but now that it is almost completely healed, I decided to post the pictures of it along the way. The picture with the dark background was taken the day she got the burn. The one with the red dress was taken one week later, and the pink sweater picture was taken after two weeks. It does not seem to bother her at all anymore. Hopefully, a few months from now, I'll be able to show you pictures of her in cute summer dresses and you won't be able to see that she ever had a burn.

Merry Christmas, One at at Time

Here are those individual pictures. Better, I think...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

That is a very late greeting, but it is sincere all the same. Here is the best picture of all the kids that I could get. You know, I think it may not be worth trying to get a group photo of a bunch of little kids. I have received a couple of Christmas cards with a collage of pictures, one for each kid. That must be the way to go. In order to get this picture, we all had to endure much un-holiday-like suffering. It does not work to yell at people in order to get them to look happy. We finally got out the baby's high chair and strapped her into it so that we could get this picture. I have two hundred seventy nine pictures of her trying to slip out of someone's lap, pull someone's hair, yell about the tribulations of her life, and eat her toes. For any of you budding photographers out there, I strongly suggest using some type of non-painful binding for the youngest children. (I still could not stop her from pulling the clip out of her hair, which is why she looks a little like Michael J. Fox in this picture.)



Here is a short video that captures the general sense of purpose we were operating under during the photo shoot. I did not mean to have it come out sideways, but perhaps that enhances the point I am trying to make.