Grace in small things

Time for a little Grace in my life: 5 things that I am thankful for to remind me that it is the small things that matter

1) I am thankful for full moons (the kind in the sky)
2) Assistant coaches that do their jobs
3) Texting (I know sounds shallow but it allowes me contact with my hubby and kids when they are not home)
4) music - it soothes the soul
5) A good book

Just Do It

Summer Olympics, winter Olympics or Ag the all weather sport??

With the Olympics coming up I got to thinking about some sports and how they can only be done in the summer or winter but Ag is the all weather sport, we have our version of:

1. Athletics - sprints, long jump. I sprint to the house from the barn on a regular basis's to retrieve feeding tubes, pliers, flash lights well you get the point. I have my own version of the long jump I clear giant mud puddles in single bounds, leap over giant snow drifts to get to the feed shed
2. Shot put - This includes throwing hay bales into the barn, into feed racks.
3. Weightlifting - I lift 50 lb bags of feed to haul them from the truck to the feed shed and then to the sheep themselves
4. Shooting - This is protection of the livestock from predators
5. Wrestling - Yes I wrestle come watch when we put markers on bucks or worm ewes or tag babies, I wrestle
6. Gymnastics - This covers all the positions I bend my body into when I am trying to hold one panel with my foot and another with my hand and move livestock into another pen without letting things escape, or the art of balancing the flashlight while handing wire, pliers or other miscellaneous items to the hubby while holding up the board/panel that is being fixed at the time.
7. Hockey - If you have ever watched hockey you know that the purpose of the goalie is to block the net from the defenders and take a hit if needed. When working sheep my job is to block the exit and take a hit when needed...sounds just like the goalie, doesn't it.

So to all you Olympic athletes I say come train in the real world without massage therapist and personal trainers and when they start giving out medals to the "Real World" athletes I will be a top competitor.

Cold weather whining

Wow could the cold weather just leave us alone already?? I so miss my mom and dad's house this time of the year. They have wood heat and nothing compares to that I just cannot get warm. We are about to start lambing I sure wish that we had everything done in the barns, jugs need to be finished, electric needs to be fixed because we blew the power box and foam needs sprayed in a couple spots for drafts. I told Duane that we are not breeding next year if the stuff for lambing is not done I hate doing this stuff in below zero degree weather.
We are getting out at 1 today because of weather I really need to work on the things above but I really want to go home and play the Wii I have never been a video game junky but that thing is addictive, the kids get high score and I find myself having to see if I can beat them. Think it is because I have always had to move when I play stuff like that and this lets me really get into the game.
Well I am just rambling I really didn't have anything amazing to blog about but I do know a few people get on here to see what we have been up to. Stay warm, stay safe and I will keep you posted on the new baby lambs

Merry Christmas

Christmas break is just around the corner, finals are in for college, grades are in for students, Christmas cards are done and getting mailed today...What the heck is wrong with me??
I want to take the time to tell everyone to have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Education vs. what is right

When does education step on what is right?? Do we as educators have the right to use material that is not school appropriate to teach a lesson?? When does freedom of expression go to far??
This is what is going on the new English teacher decided to teach his English Comp I class about advertisement and talk about what is OK and what is not, basically the sex sales side of advertisement. I think this is a great thing for the dual credit English comp class that is about to be thrown out in the real world and thinking outside the box, not for freshman who are trying to figure out their own bodies and their place in the world.
He had the students bring in the most sexy most racy adds that they could find that was trying to sale a product. He then posted the ads in his class room, OK its his classroom, he then put up an huge college in the hallway (his classroom is located in the Freshman hallway) with alcohol and nearly naked or completely naked people on them.
Here is my problem, I don't like the fact that we expose our children to all of this crap on a daily basis anyway without anyway to protect them, but must they sit in a classroom and look at pictures of what society thinks is the perfect body for 90 min. and then must it be placed outside that classroom where there is no guidance to what is being viewed just what they see??
Is it appropriate to tell our students that they can't dress a certain way and then post material that is not school appropriate for viewing? Is it right to censor poster that the student create but allow information to be posted without guidance?
When does educating our students cross the line??

I WISH

SOME BEACH.....

SOMEWHERE......

Pictures of the family

Just some pictures of the family from Jacob's 18th Birthday party

Jacob, Cassie (Jake's girlfriend) Hunter (Jake's step-brother)

Allissa and Kaylee

Alex and Allissa acting silly

Jacob hanging out

Alex and Kaylee