Better Week

This week was much better for me! I am adjusting to doing all the chores myself since Chad is laid up and have only had a few minor mishaps this week! Chad did have to come out and help me fix one of the water fountains for the calves....it froze up and the calves had no water. It ended up taking us just over 4 hours to get it going again. I was trying to get one part done and it was taking me a long time (about 20 minutes) when he says "if I had more than one arm, I could have done this part in a minute". Yeah, guess what honey, you don't have more than one arm right now and I am stuck doing this (didn't say it, it went through my head).

Chad had a doctor appointment yesterday and the shoulder looks good. He started physical therapy yesterday too but is very limited in what he can do because it was a massive tear(they did some measurements and gave him some things to keep his hand and forearm from getting stiff). Having a massive tear delays his therapy about 2 weeks and makes the recovery a bit longer....not what we wanted to hear. We are hoping he can get it working enough to get in the tractor by April for spring planting. He still won't be able to lift by then so I might have to follow him around and load the planter and also the sprayer. We will probably have to try to hire some help for calving because he won't be able to help with that and we also have pigs going out some time in April and he won't be able to help with that much either. It's going to be a tough year....for both of us!

Thanks for all the prayers and concern for Chad and for me! It really makes my day to know that people care!

Winter Formal

Courtney and her good friend Tayler got all dressed up to go to a Winter Formal a few weeks ago at a school about 45 minutes away. They all went out for supper and then......the dance got cancelled due to the weather. Oh well, they sure looked nice anyway!

They both ended up staying the night at Courtney's boyfriends parents home (by my request after hearing about the numerous roll-overs in that area). His mom made if fun for them and even made them chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Cheer Competition

Courtney is member of the cheerleading squad that competed in a cheer competition this last Saturday in Sioux Falls. They did very well with their routine, cheer and stunts and received the 1st place trophy!Their routine- Courtney is in the back-left.

Kelsey, Tayler, Miranda, cheer coach Mrs. Sauder, Courtney, Hannah, Cheyenne

Award!

An Award!

Brenda graciously gave me an award.....thanks Brenda!

The Lemons into Lemonade Award.

Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 10 who show great Attitude and/or Gratitude.

Be sure to link your nominees within your post.

Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received this award.

I am going to share this award with 5 wonderful women!

1. Michelle- has had some ups and downs in her life but still remains to keep a great attitude. She is a SAH mom 0f 7 who home-schools some of her kids....now that is patience!

2. Kerry- has 3 kids and always seems to have something disrupting her life. She can laugh about it and make me laugh at the same time.

3. Tracy- has 2 kids and runs a daycare from her home. Anybody would be lucky to have her watching their children. She is upbeat, creative and sounds like a ton of fun. I have met her in person a few times and she is such a sweetie!

4. Jodi- is a mother of 4.....3 homemade and one adopted angel! She runs a photography business out of her home and takes wonderful pictures....I have my sons senior pictures to prove it! She loves to share her family and her photos with us and keeps me smiling with her great shots of life!

5. Amanda- is a mother to adorable son Alex! She is a single mom doing a great job of raising Alex and blesses us with his clever sayings, what a smart kid! She works and also goes to college while raising Alex on her own....now that takes some courage! I admire her!

Disaster!

My first day of doing all of our chores was a DISASTER! I woke up, let the dogs out (they sleep in the garage during the winter) and heard the young dog barking right away. I looked out the window and saw about half of my calves (probably about 60 0f them) wandering all over the yard, in the north pasture, in the south pasture, by the silage pile and some by the hay pile. Jeremy had Monday off and decided to go back to school that morning (Tues).....thank God! He and I ran out right away and started gathering calves and Chad called his parents and they came over to help too. Jeremy missed his first class but about an hour and a half later we had all the calves in where they were supposed to be. Poor Chad watched all of it from window....just about drove him nuts too! Since Al was here helping get the calves in, he helped me with the calf chores and did the cow chores for me....yeah! Now the last few days, things have been going much better! Chad's mission for me tomorrow is to go to town and buy some bred cows (there is a special bred cow sale in town). Courtney doesn't have school tomorrow so she and I are going to head to town and see if we can buy us some more cows I guess. UGH....more to feed!

Chad is doing pretty good. He has some pain but the worst part for him is being stuck in the house all day. It was his birthday yesterday so his mom had us over for dinner....he liked getting out of the house but was worn out and hurting by the time we got back home. The morphine pump should run out some time tomorrow so I have to take that out of the incision and change his dressings. Nurse....one more job title, just what I need..lol!!!

Surgery

Chad's surgery went well today. They were able to fix the tendon although it was a huge tear, much larger than they thought. It took 45 minutes longer than normal because of the size of the tear. They also we not able to do the block to his arm....after about 12 pokes they gave up....so he woke up from surgery in severe pain. They medicated him pretty well and then he would not fully wake up. We ended up at the hospital 3 more hours than anticipated. I got him home and he went to sleep right away and has been sleeping since. He is on some potent pain meds and a morphine pump. The next several weeks are going to be pretty tough for him!

Farm Kids

Here is what farm kids do on a bitterly cold day or a during a blizzard when it's too miserable to be outside.......

Clean their guns!

I just love that I have a pistol packin' daughter, she sure will be able to protect herself!