Intergrity Club Lambs

If anyone knows our family they know that it revolves around livestock. Duane and I feel that our children have learned just as much in a show ring as they have ever learned in a classroom. We have spent many weekends traveling down the road showing one species or another. Yes the trophies or prizes are great but that is only the smallest part. We love the friendships and the connections that we have made over the years. We have always bought our livestock and never raised our own, that has changed! In the fall we purchased Dale Asche's club lambs.....never in a million years did I think I would raise sheep. I am however, and am learning things about myself and about my family.



What have I learned since starting Integrity Club Lambs?

• That having your spouse as your business partner can sometimes be the best/worst thing to happen.
• That it doesn't matter if there are already 43 sheep the birth of 44 is just as exciting
• That I can deliver babies, give shots, fix fence and numerous other things myself.
• That ewe lambs can have babies without having milk. (the milk comes later)
• Raising sheep has reinforced that my children are great little workers and wonderful help.
• That communication is the key and all involved see things differently.
• That if something can go wrong it will when Duane leaves on a business trip.
• Animals die and it is heartbreaking...no matter what!
• That goats do "jeer" at you if you don't feed right on time (thanks for the article mom)
• That the child that never wants to be outside can't resist spending time in the orphan pen.
• Hard work is the most rewarding feeling in the world
• A full moon is your best friend and that sheep never get out when there is one!!
• My parents are the greatest!! Drive 30 miles to help me at 10:30 at night..Priceless!!
• The best time of the day is before the sun comes up.

Close Call

Help I could have been arrested!! This is how rumors get started, I have a friend that is into horticulture and I said that I am stressed to the max so she says oh I got the plant for you.

Rumor 1: Teachers are into drugs and one teacher is selling it

So she brings me a cutting of a lavender plant (picture on the right) it smells really good and it is calming when you sniff..oops..smell it. So I decide to put it in my desk and see if it still smells the next day.

Having a stressful moment the next day so I pull out my lavender and am **sniffing** it when a student says Mrs. T what are you doing I say oh nothing sniffing my weed it helps me relax...

Rumor 2: Mrs. T is sniffing weed in class this gets back to the cop in rumor form of course.....Thank goodness am friends with the cop or I might have been calling for pizza delivery

Moral of the story: Sniff your weeds at home

Amazing Grace

Does God exist? I think about this a lot lately not sure why, maybe because God doesn't answer on instant message time and I am not a patient person, maybe because the news is filled with evil and not enough good, maybe because my children live in a world of danger that I never had to imagine as a child........

Then I look at a picture like this (I took it while traveling) and I hear the awww in my children's voices as they watch the sun slip behind the clouds and I know then without a doubt that there is, has to be, a hand guiding me on my journey through this life and that if I am patient and watch and listen he lets me know that there are good things in the world.

Differences between town and country

Ok my girls will maybe kill me for posting this----them in their glamour wear and all, but I got to thinking about the differences between town and country when my friend at work in Manhattan said come check out the moon,yes it was pretty but it was the moon. I live in the country see the moon, stars all that every night so the difference, I guess I take it for granted that I can see all of that (I have to thank her for reminding me to take advantage of what I have). Another difference...Tree removal...above is what tree removal looks like if you live in the country you use "little people" for slave labor, make a pile in the middle of your yard then rent a chipper or light a match....if you live in town you make a pile at the edge of the street a orange truck pulls up and chips your limbs and halls them off, kinda like a "tree fairy". Those of you that live in town think Oh it's just a little rain....us in the country think damn I just washed my car for nothing or I just washed my chore clothes and now I have to stand in 2 inches of mud again, am to the point I liked it when it would freeze at least the ice didn't pull your boots off during chores. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't trade the country life for city life for all the money in the world, I love that my kids can go for long walks unattended exploring nooks and crannies, finding bugs and other things. I love that driving to work I see deer, turkeys, owls, rabbits and assorted wildlife. I do wish that they would put in a convenience store in the country for the occasional forgotten milk or the times that I am low on gas, but all in all country life is great.

The cat with nine lives

Ok i don't know if these are the pictures that I should publish because, it still looks like the cat is half dead or dying....he isn't he is just fine....Allissa took the pictures, Spook was laying around in her room on a squishy pillow that he has taken over and adopted as his own....since my last post on the cat he has managed to get himself stuck in the pop holder that we have (it holds two litter bottles of pop) he fit his head through and then couldn't the rest of himself through without knocking the pop holder over on himself....Duane held the pop holder and he slide himself out...he then managed to knock all the wine bottles (4 of them) off the top of the fridge....no they didn't break but I have know idea why!! This cat is going to make me crazy!!!!

Zoo Trip!!

Allissa turned 13 on March 18th (help I have another teenager!!!) so we went to the Henry Doorly zoo in Omaha...I love this zoo, if you have never been there you have to go it is amazing. There is aquarium in the zoo complete with sharks that swim over your head. The picture above of the girls (Allissa took a friend) is when we where watching the penguins there is a bubble that you can sit in so they swim right up next to you and you feel like you are in the water with them...made a great picture. I also love the gorilla's and was a little disappointed that not all of them where out the day we went but i took a picture of my monkeys with the statue gorillas. In the rain forest we walked across a bridge of which Jake being the typical teenage boy had to swing back and forth as hard as he could...thank goodness for other ways around.....all in all it was a great day...we where all soooooo tired when we got home.....Happy Birthday Sis...we love you!!

Spring is here-Golf begins!!!

I know that Spring is officially here. How do I know? Because golf the only sport that really matters in my son't life has started..... I am sure Jake will move somewhere warm 365 days out of the year when he graduates so he can golf year round....yes he plays basketball but he tells me it is only because he would get bored waiting for golf to start. He played varsity a couple times last year and his goal is to be on varsity for the whole year.

Doing something right

Why as parents is it so easy for us to believe we might be screwing our kids up instead of doing the right thing....Oh yes I know because they keep telling us we are mean, their friends parents are not mean, we don't do anything right. So finding out that I am a predictable parent and that my children know it must mean that I AM DOING SOMETHING RIGHT....imagine my shock when I found that out!!! This is how I discovered this...amazing thing. Allissa is going out for track and has conned her sister in to running with her so she is in shape, they talked mom into letting them run on the dirt road...we live for those that don't know a mile and a quarter off a blacktop road (or beyond BFE if you ask my brother) so I am far from worried about anything happening.
They asked to go the other night about 7:15 (it gets dark about 8) I let them thinking they can't go very far, they will get tired and come back before dark........this is the part where I underestimated my children. 7:45 Duane, Jake and I start picking up the equipment we are using outside and head in, 8 o'clock and still no children.....starting to freak...ask Duane if I should drive up the road and get them....his answer: yell out the backdoor they can't be far....soooo I yell...No answer.....MORE FREAKED, maybe more so because the husband isn't. I give up waiting get in the car and drive up the road, 1/2 mile no girls, 1 mile no girls almost 1mile and a 1/4 two smiling faces :)!!!! Start to lecture them about being home before dark and Allissa turns to me and states "We knew if it got to dark you would come get us, you wouldn't leave us out here in the dark where something might happen to us, so we just kept running to see if we could make it to the blacktop even though we knew it was getting dark." All I could think is oh my gosh do you have any idea how lucky you are to have parents that are predictable. I work with kids everyday that don't have a clue what their parents next move might be and here are two beautiful little girls that wanted to meet their own personal goal and knew in doing so it wouldn't matter how dark it got their parents would be their to make sure they stayed safe......I so hope they never lose that feeling!!

UGHHHHHH MONDAY!!!!!

Yes this is a real picture........It is my classroom Monday morning the 10th.....Why is it black??

Well lets start from the top.....time changed...we are all tired...it is Monday (that is bad enough) now start the day with NO electricity and 8 high school students in your room...it is so dark in my room i can't get to my desk without flipping open my cell phone and using it as a flashlight........and NO COFFEE!!!!!! If this doesn't sound like a case that could lead to a psychotic breakdown, then you live in happier world then me or have better drugs!!! :)

What I have learned on the road.

Our family travels alot with showing livestock, picking out livestock or now following livestock that we have sold, sooo there are a few things that I have learned on the road......

• The best discussions in our house happen at the dinner table or in the truck
• Clouds still make pictures if you believe and use your imagination (thanks Kaylee)
• No matter what list you make you WILL forget something
• Don't plan on sticking to any schedule it will just make you crazy
• Breakfast Burritos and Cappuccino are great revenge on road buddies that drink to much the night before :)
• You will find out who your friends are and what ones you can't live without
• Murphy's law does apply..."If it can go wrong it will"
• If you have to REALLY pee 10 miles might as well be 300
• When you are exhausted beyond belief you get less picky about where you will sleep
• 20 miles out of your way is not that far for the best cheeseburger and homemade pie of your life
• If you are hungry eat don't wait for everyone else it could be hours until they are hungry
• Conversations between my kids (when not fighting) are the best things in the world
• When you really need cell phone reception it won't work
• That having parents at home who do chores is better then it's weight in gold
• That when you are driving with your eyes in tiny slits it is called squinting when riding as a passenger it is called sleeping
• If it says EXIT ONLY it does not mean the only exit....it means you can not get back on.
• That there are other reasons to stop occasionally besides gas and food.
• That you should always help others if you can even if it makes you late....good karma always comes back to you.
• That packing if you want everything and the kids to fit is my job
• That bottled water is good for way more then just drinking, and some snacks are not car friendly!!

What we see on the drive to work

It was wildlife day on the way to work......we waited patiently while the turkeys crossed the road and then noticed two deer (in the background) watching us watch the turkeys...have to wonder what they are thinking!!!

Every little girl wants to be a cheerleader

Allissa and Alisha with their trophies for their duet

Many of you know that cheerleading has taken over our lives this year....Allissa decided to join the team and the Principal of her school asked if I would coach...Sis thought this was a great idea so I took the position...I mean it won't be long before she doesn't think I am cool and hopes that I am nowhere around let alone coaching anything she belongs to. They went to competition at CCCC in Concordia and came home with six trophies and one medal....I am SO proud of them.

The Cat did it!!

OK I can honestly say I never thought I would be a blogger but I have to say I can blame it on the cat!!! How you ask? Well, for those of you that know us you know we have had our fair share of animal mishaps (those are probably blog material to but...) our cat however has taken the cake.....First I have to tell you we adopted this cat in order to keep it alive..so we do love him dearly. His name is Spook, all black, husband named him..not very original. From the time he came home he was continually into everything, the cupboards, the computer desk. You name it he was into it. It has sometimes got him into situations that he needed help getting out of, the other night however, Spook used eight of his nine lives. Duane was helping me do laundry (yes he does laundry) we were talking and I emptied the dryer...dryer is on the back porch...left the door open went to the kitchen to get the wet clothes.....washer is in the kitchen. I filled the basket with wet clothes and Duane and I where finishing our conversation. Duane took the basket to the dryer, threw in the clothes and started the dryer. Now if you haven't figured this out yet....the cat was in the dryer!!!!!! YIKES you dried my cat, could you not hear him thumping around...Yes i know the dryer has been making a weird noise but did it not sound worse??? In all fairness Duane felt terrible worse then the cat if that is possible....the cat is fine a little sore and a little confused but I doubt that he will venture into the dryer again....I will post pictures of him soon so that you can see how cute he is.