some more randomness.

is randomness even a word?

i don't think so.

but, i am going to use it anyway. :)

baby. it's cold outside.

how about it?

i haven't had to drive a crazy amount in the snow. that makes me happy.

love all you farmers who have to go out "in it" all.the.time. everyday.

no matter what.

kudos to you.

that would probably make me cranky.

i am so thankful to be a woman. :)

totally serious.

i love it when my husband treats me well.

opening car doors, stoking the fire, goes out in the cold to take care of chickens,

feeds the cows, plows the driveway, washes my car...

oh. so many things.

happy to be married to my man.

happy to be a woman. :)

Thankful for so many things in my  life for that matter.

Tickled to be a wife, and a mom.

although i feel like they are the hardest things to be on earth!!

i learn more and more everyday. not just about my kids. and how each one is different.

but about myself. as well.

these were just a few pictures taken in the last snow storm.

since then, we have had a bout of sickness run thru our household.

fevers and coughs.

so extremely thankful we were not puking.

that is the worst for me.

yesterday everyone was home from school except kaden...

and he had been home for 3 days the week before.

today, there is only 1 fever left.

whoo.hoo.
that my friends is just another gift.

how are you spending the winter?

has there been much sickness in your household?

are you dreaming of spring and what you want to accomplish when it gets warm out again?

are you spending time reading by the fire, being lazy, like me? :)

oh. friends.

i hope you have a joy filled day and can find Jesus in it somewhere!

much love.

mk.

snowtime fun.





 

guess who?

yes...it's me. it's me.

i have scant memories of hanging on for DEAR LIFE the few times i have ridden snowmobiles.
it wasn't much.
was either with: a) my dear hubs when I was just 14 or 15 years old, or
b)another friend of my brother's brett eby...when i was a little bit older?

i must say it was pretty fun driving.
granted i was not going very fast, and it was daylight out.
win.win.

was nice to get out for a bit.
kaden is sick.
poor guy. pretty sick. fever. cough. headache.
sounds like the flu.
i was so tickled we haven't really been sick since august.
a bout of strep, and that's been it.

guess my luck ran out. :)

the snowy owl.

my titles are so creative, aren't they?

the snowy owl.

we have a snowy owl that is hanging around here.

it is awesome.

i have never seen such a beautiful creature.

really. it has captivated me.

this picture was taken thru my car window...i was afraid he was going to fly away...and he did as i got closer.

this was friday morning around 8 a.m.
he has been spotted around the neighborhood.
infact. he was first seen on sunday, on our neighbors roof, and then on the baseball field,
but by the time we got home sunday afternoon, he was gone...

matt took this picture today...at 10:30 a.m. when he came home from goose hunting...there he was...
but was gone, when we got home from basketball games at lunchtime...


i feel like our compost pile is now feeding:
a) coyotes
b) bald eagles
and now
c) a snowy owl.

whoo.hoo.



okay. so the kids are playing so nicely, so i thought i would make good use of my time and research my new friend,
the snowy owl.

those of you who know me, know this is COMPLETELY UNTYPICAL of me.
i do not like animals.
not fond of them at all in fact.
sure. i grew up on a farm. now i live on a farm.

and NOW i am researching a snowy owl
another full circle event in my life. :)

some things i found out via the internet...mostly national geographic are:

* these large owls breed on the Arctic tundra, and northern most stretches of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia
* this year (2013/2014) is the largest mass southern migration of the snowy owl ever seen (thousands)...i don't really
know how they know all this?? A snowy owl was seen in Florida, 1st sighting there in decades.
* Females will lay a clutch of 3-11 eggs, clutch size depends on food availability...some years females may not lay
any eggs.
* Parents are territorial and will defend nests against all comers- even WOLVES. :)
* Young owls- especially males, get whiter as they get older. Females are darker, with dusky spotting and never
become totally white.
* Patient hunters. Perches and waits for prey. Keen eyesight and great hearing.
* Carnivore: preferring lemmings, but will supplement diet with: rabbits, rodents, birds and fish. (interesting...
we have seen tons of rabbits around here, until just last week...hmmmmm...)
* Lemming availability may determine the extent of Southern migration. Eat 3-5 lemmings a day, or 7-12 field mice
a day. (Wonder why he's here?) He has found a great place to feast on several different meals of choice here. :)
* Snowy owls, are diurnal- they hunt and are active both day and night. They are most active at dawn and dusk...which
is also interesting...we have always seen the snowy owl at morning or mid-day...
* Nests on the ground, and are low flyers. (My very first question was wondering why we are seeing him on the ground,
or perched very low...this is why. was awesome to see him fly away...his wing span is huge, and to see such a
huge wingspan so low to the ground was really neat).

So...there you go.

We got home from church today, and found a note from my aunt and uncle from VA...they were passing thru and decided to try to spot our snowy owl. So sorry you didn't see him. We haven't seen him at all today. But so tickled you stopped by. Sorry we missed you Vic and Christina!!

I have several people requesting calls the next time our snowy owl appears...we'll see how that goes. :))

i am shooting.

who is EVER going to believe this?

i don't really even believe this...

i was a field hockey player.

i was the homecoming queen.

i went away to college and was so homesick i had to transfer...and commute from home.

eeeekkkkkk.

i live on a farm. i was never going to live on a farm. ;)

i also have 5 kids. i was only ever going to have 3.

i was going to work full time as a Physical Therapist Assistant.

work full time? what?

stay at home mom. yep. that's me. 

and now. and NOW.

i am shooting a bow.

whoo.hoo.

full circle baby. i believe that is what you call it.

snow day fun.

we certainly capitalized on the snow from last week this weekend.

we got a new toy.

kids were driving it by saturday.

eeeekkkkkk. :/



i have some great video. :)

happy. happy. day.

the new year.

the new year has arrived.

2014.

the year i will turn 36 years old.

how does THAT happen?

the same year my husband will turn 40.

eeekkkkkk.

send me some good party ideas, will ya? ;)

the year my kids will keep growing by leaps and bounds.

the year i pledge to complete my weight loss journey. since all my babies, i mean.

(my baby will be 3 this year). : /

the year i pledge to spend time with Jesus at the start of -each- day.

the year i pledge to keep my desk organized for longer than 3 days.

the year i pledge to FOCUS.

yep. that is my resolution word for the year.

FOCUS.

isn't it great?

it encompasses everything.

if i could just focus on each thing that i do, it would be grand.

but instead, i multi-task, and get a million things done in a day, but not finished.

does that make sense?

FOCUS.

if blogger worked right for me, i would have that centered, in a different font, and really big.

but since blogger does not work correctly anymore. that is all ya get.

since i didn't get around to posting our Christmas pictures until now...here ya go.

we had a fabulous Christmas.

Christmas Eve was spent with Matt's family and my family was together the Saturday after Christmas.

which means Christmas Day was just us. I LOVE that.

just US.

i spent most of the day in my jammies. and most of the day, the house was a wreck.

and i didn't care.

I had a fun day off. and actually. i think i took about a week off.

i am paying for that now.

 

but. i will probably do the same thing next year. in case you are wondering. ;))