18 and counting...

Jay and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday.  We really 'celebrated' on Friday evening with a nice dinner at the Black Angus Restaurant in Terre Haute.  The food was delicious, and although it was a little pricey, it was an occasion to be celebrated so we were okay with it.

Last night Jay had a meeting and I had Ladies Night Out with the church women at Monical's.  Monical's Pizza is my number one favorite and I haven't been there in months, so in essence, Jay taking me out on Friday night, which freed up my Monday evening, was a great gift.

My real gift is something I bet none of you have ever in your life received...and maybe never will.  That makes me a very special girl.  My mom always tries to give us something in line with what is appropriate for each anniversary.  Eighteen was porcelain.  She asked if we needed a new sink.  Haha.

Back to my very special gift.  Last year for our anniversary I received a Duroc Gilt named Yadi from the Illinois State Fair gilt sale.  And now look...Yadi is on her second litter and there are eight babies in our barn.  This year, Jay has spent countless hours looking at websites and researching the specifics of this gift.  He has finally narrowed it down to one...

Boar, that is.  Jay just ordered some semen for our pigs so they can be artificially inseminated in a couple weeks.  It's the gift that keeps on giving.  You're jealous, I know...

Summer Project 2013

Earlier this summer when summer was fresh and exciting, we were working on various projects outside. Number one on our list was tearing out our old deck and replacing it with a smaller set of steps, we are calling temporary.  (Temporary in our world can mean anywhere from one hour to ten years.)  We know ourselves enough to understand that temporary needs to be good enough to last a while...just in case.  So our temporary steps are pretty nice if you ask me...of course, I also feel that way because Jay and I worked side-by-side on these steps.

Some day we would like to add a screened-in porch to the back of our house and we don't want to do anything back there right now that would interfere with that future plan.  (Future in our world can mean anywhere from one hour to twenty years.)

One Saturday in June, Jay and I worked all day long on these steps.  All day long.  It was a very long, hot and exhausting day.  And by the end of that day we were both completely spent...totally dead on our feet. We practically had to crawl in the house.  We kept laughing because we were so pitiful...and the next morning we were heading to Holiday World.  YIKES!  We must be getting old or something.  The sad part was even though we had worked hard all day, we were only halfway done!  It took a couple more half days to wrap it up.

Before deck stain

As you can see from the picture, all that area of dirt is where the old deck was, it was pretty big.  It took most of the summer, but we finally finished those temporary steps.  And after finding several excuses not to, I got two coats of deck stain on them.  Now, we need to get a couple sections of white siding to replace the areas that were ruined from the old deck...and a piece Lane wiped out with the tractor bucket. (Someone let the 9-year-old work the tractor and bucket on this project...)

We ordered up a load of rock to match the other landscaping rock and Jay has put it in line with the sidewalks to create walkways.  I found this simple idea on Pinterest for deck board steps that I plan to use on the rock paths to meet up with the concrete sidewalks already in place.  As I have found with Pinterest, often things that look simple...are not.  We shall see.  Then we're going to move the plants that I had in a little garden around the old deck and we'll sow some grass seed in the rest of the dirt areas.

Surprise tomato plant!

Funny thing, last year, I had a topsy-turvy with a cherry tomato plant hanging from a shepherd hook in that little flower garden by the old deck. I didn't remove the topsy-turvy and dead cherry tomato plant from the hook until early this spring.  (I know it's pitiful.)  Surprise! This spring, a very healthy volunteer cherry tomato plant popped up among the marigolds and has been thriving!  I think the marigolds have protected that plant from all the bugs and such because it is so healthy. I have been picking cherry tomatoes off that plant for weeks now and delivering them to Grandma Great, who eats them like candy.  The marigolds also come up volunteer.  They're not very orderly but they're thick.  I know when I relocate the rest of the plants, I will probably lose my little surprises.  Snap.

I can't wait until grass is growing thick in the dirt areas...that will complete the project...of course then we'll have to figure out how to mow it.  And we don't own a push mower.  Hmm...

Piggies!

I kind of kept you hanging a couple weeks ago, I know.  Sorry about that.  I was so frustrated that day because Yadi was making me wait...something I'm not very good at.

Would you believe that I got to be there for six out of the eight deliveries?  I missed the first two.  I think Yadi was upset that I wasn't there so she waited a whole hour on me to get home...and then was so pooped out from the first two, she decided she was done.  Literally.  Or she wanted to see just how far Jay would go for her.  I'm not sure, but by 5:00, it was time to take action.

When I arrived home, Madolyn had had enough with assisting in the birth and clean-up of one and two.  She retreated to the house and came out periodically for check-ups.  Lane saw the first two and decided to circle the barn on his fourwheeler.  That quickly came to an end.  The noises and commotion were not very relaxing for Yadi...or Jay.  And then Lane left for football.

Numbers three through eight came via human hand express.  It was lovely, people.  I had the honors (barf) of being handed the goo-covered piglets as they came out and cleaned them up.  I got to the point where I was nearly dry-heaving.  Ugh.  The smell.  The site.  The whole experience.  We had called upon the expert hog mama, Mammie, to come evaluate the situation.  Sometimes it's just good to have someone there who has done this before to calm fears.

My mom came over to get in on the action and I can tell you she was super impressed.  Or not.  We were giving Jay lots of 'tips' on his gentleness...and how would you feel if...based on our own experiences with child birth, etc.  My mom may or may not be back next time-around.  

We had seven healthy piglets and couldn't decide if she was done or not.  Mammie's son, we'll call "Cook", came by and reached up in there and felt teeth.  Hmm, that's not something you would expect to hear when reaching in that end of a pig.  But, lo' and behold, number eight (I dubbed Husky) was stuck way up in there and had to be helped down the line too.  Again, what a lovely sight.

All eight piglets are healthy and happy.  Their teeth and tails have been cut...seems so cruel, but I'm told that's just how it is.  It's sort of interesting how you mark the babies with notches on their ear.  Each ear has meaning, one side means the litter number (which this is number two for Yadi) and the other side is the number in the litter (so we have one through eight).  The ear is divided into sections that are numbered, because obviously, you aren't going to make eight notches in an ear (or even twelve or thirteen).   Then you make a notch in the appropriate section to equal whatever number you're needing to show.  (I think)  That is the extent of my understanding of the ear notch process.  Madolyn drew a poster on how it works...maybe I need to study it a bit.

They are very active and are growing quickly.  I was a little perturbed with Yadi early on because she gave up pushing after the first two, but she has been a very good mama and seems attentive to the little ones.  They're so much like puppies right now, and watching them snort and play around is fun.  It's when they grow up and get super disgusting, that I lose interest.

First pig in the house...hope the last.

It may seem ridiculous, but with these low temperatures at night, we have had to have a heat lamp on...in August.  I told Jay the other day that I think the pigs are thick enough they don't need it.  They're pampered enough.  We'll feed them until about January and then off to the market they will go, and the circle of life will begin again. Hopefully by that time, Yadi will be ready to deliver litter number three...on time.

Back to School Time 2013-2014

Today was the day that the summer ended for my kiddos.  It was about time too if I should say so myself. Our routine this summer was each morning Jay and I would leave a list of chores for the kids to do during the day, and by the time we got home that afternoon, they better be done.  Nine times out of ten, they were.  Yesterday happened to be one of those times they weren't.  I don't know if the kids decided to throw caution to the wind or what, but I was pretty sure we had been robbed when I walked in the door.

She is now as tall as I am.

Madolyn is psyched and ready for school; Lane is not. When I broke the news to Lane the other night that today would be a full day and not a waste-two-hours-day, he was not happy.  It's always been hard on him to go back because he really enjoys home and country life.  School just gets in the way. For Madolyn it means that volleyball season is nearing...and she is all about that!

He is never in a hurry to put on his shoes.

Fortunately, I didn't have any trouble getting him or Madolyn up this morning.  I actually heard Madolyn's alarm going off downstairs and she promptly came upstairs.  She told me she had barely slept, she was anxious.  I get that...even as an adult, I can't sleep the night before something new or exciting.


They were waiting on me in the truck and ready to go a little ahead of time...of course, I made them get out so I could capture the moment.  They were "Happy, Happy, Happy."

Madolyn - 8th Grade & Lane - 4th Grade

'May the Lord bless you

and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you

and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor

and give you his peace.'

Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)

I'm just about ready

to get back on the horse...not a real one.  School starts tomorrow and the summer will be officially over, at least as far as my kids are concerned.  And then maybe, just maybe, I'll be about ready to get back into a routine.

I have one reader (and maybe only one) who is pestering me to write something...you would think he hears enough of my ramblings...but apparently not.  This gives me hope.  He doesn't tire of my stories and whatnot.

As I have mentioned before, one major reason I write stuff on here is for my children...that someday when I'm not around, they will want to read my ramblings and recall some of our good family memories...and maybe some that aren't so good...maybe they'll tell these stories to their children or finally realize the thought process behind a lot of things Jay and I did during their childhood...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There are lots of things from this summer I need to put down on paper, so-to-speak, I just haven't made the time for it lately, but I'm just about ready...

I've lost my patience for the pig

I've completely lost my patience for the pig.  Yadi, our Duroc sow, was due on August 2.  Today is August 5.  August 2 was a Friday.  It is now Monday.  I'm starting to get texts from my family that she will blow any time now.  Lovely.  I have literally waited all weekend for this and now I'm at work.

Let me go back.  Madolyn was at church camp last week.  We were so bummed she wouldn't be home until Saturday around noon.  Yadi was due on Friday.  Her companion to the AI (artificial insemination) process gave birth to 15 pigs on Thursday evening.  She was due one day before our Yadi.  When we learned that the other pigs were born, we just knew that Yadi would have the babies before Madolyn could get home. Thankfully, her BFF's mom went and got her and her BFF from camp a day early, in part, so that Madolyn would be there to wipe the baby pigs off and assist in the birth.  Friday night we are so sure Yadi will give birth and we wait.  Nothing.

Saturday morning rolls around and we have things we plan on doing in the morning...and since Yadi was due to have her pigs the night before, and pigs are like clockwork, we knew we would be free to run those errands.  Wrongo.  We stick around all day watching Yadi like hawks, waiting, squeezing to check for milk, observing her behind (as I call it), and nothing.  I find things to do around the house because we cannot leave or we'll miss it.  Finally, the evening reaches us and Lane has his first football game at home (thankfully), but Jay and I are both scheduled for volunteer positions at 5:30.  So we go, thinking we will only be gone two hours and will race home.

Madolyn leaves promptly after Lane's game to check on Yadi.  About halftime of the second game, she calls and says she saw some blood, it surely will be soon.  Yes, surely, since she was due the night before and pigs are like clockwork.  If I've heard it once, I've heard it fifty times, they are like clockwork; three months, three weeks, three days.

We race home full of excitement, leaving invites to a couple friends to bring their kiddos out on their way home to see the babies.  We get home.  Nothing really major to report.  We wait.  We text friends, forget it. Jay now sets his alarm every two hours to check on Yadi.  After a good night's rest - NOT - we still have nothing.

We had plans to go to Ellis Park to watch a friend race horses on Sunday afternoon.  We cancel those plans and even skip church because surely it will happen because pigs are like clockwork.  We decide once she has the pigs, we can head out and run our errands.  Within the first hour of my morning, I clean up three separate piles of poop from our enormous sow and figure that that means she's getting ready to push 'em on out.  We wait.  I decide to find something productive to do (because I'm about to lose my mind staying at home like this) and put a coat of stain on our new back steps.  Jay mows while I stain.  At one point, I can hear Yadi snorting, groaning and kicking around and I am just sure that she will soon have those babies.

By 4:00, I've had enough of this waiting game and I go get groceries.  If she has them while I'm gone, that's fine.  We must have some milk.  And while I'm away, guess what?  Nothing happens.  I put another coat of stain on the deck and we go for a drive in the jeep with the kiddos.  We don't stay out too long because surely she will have those babies soon...because pigs are like clockwork...and still nothing.

Our friends have given up on receiving a call to come over.  We are starting to wonder if the AI didn't take and she was bred by a teaser boar, which means it could be another couple weeks.  I also entertained the thought that she is just overfed and super, super FAT...because absolutely NOTHING is happening.  She doesn't have any milk and her behind is looking the same each time we check.

As I left this morning, I told Yadi how unhappy I was that she had basically ruined my weekend (well, maybe not ruined) and that now that I will be at work, unable to see the action, she will surely have them.  And because pigs are like clockwork...and the clocks at our house run slow...she surely will.

Farewell to our friends

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

A family from our community is embarking on a very exciting adventure soon. In just a few days, this family will be leaving for another country for the next year, using their God-given talents and skills to teach children in a mission school. (If I understand how it works.)  Although we're sad to see them go, we know they are doing what they have been led to do and we also know that if any family can pull this off, it is this bunch.

Last night there was a going-away cookout in their honor and here is something I put together for them.  (I am purposely making typos in their organization name and deleting their names for safety reasons, which may or may not be necessary.)

The day is drawing near

When you’ll no longer be here.

Pi0neer$ for Christ you’ll soon be

Spreading His light for all to see.

We’re so sad to see you go

But we want you to know

That we’re excited about your mission

And dedication to the Great Commission.

What a huge step for you to take.

There’s no limit to the impact you’ll make

As you teach the children in ____ (this country that rhymes with 'you')

And follow the path God has set out for you.

We’ll take care of things here in the ‘Ville

It will be like time is standing still.

We’ll make sure the Halder's mow your lawn

And keep the place ship-shape while you’re gone.

The fall traditions will come into play,

And even though you’re far away,

Your house will be decorated by some of this crew

Because it will seem like the right thing to do.

Though many miles may separate us

Skype & E-mail will be a must

To keep us informed and up to date

On your adventures and experiences as of late.

We know that God will bless you this year

And when you come home, we’ll be right here.

Good luck, (daughter, son, daughter, mom & dad - whose name rhymes with 'day')

We will be praying for you every day. 

If you happen to know this family, please keep them in prayers as they go on this journey.  Pray that God will give them peace and comfort when they need it most as well as safety and good health.