Well, after a great day off, the kids are back to school, but it’s still snowy and windy here on the Knolltop. The older boys went in early to pitch…they’ve got to love baseball to get up early on a cold morning just to practice! I hope it pays off.

Last evening while Bobby, Sarah and I were munching on popcorn enjoying the warm house, the boys invited a couple of friends over and were playing airsoft out in the barn. Why would anyone want to be outside in the cold winter when they could be inside eating popcorn?

Jake came in asking for some hot chocolate. I handed him a milk jug and sent him to the milkhouse. When he came back he was so happy to be inside. He said he was glad the older boys had asked him to go get the hot chocolate started. I asked why and he replied that he was cold and wanted to come in. Then I asked him why he didn’t just come in, he replied, “The boys would’ve called me a baby.” Oh, what these youngest boys have to endure!

Off to the barn to check on a cow that may be calving and do the rest of chores.

Good Morning from an icy, snowing, no school today Knolltop!

The kids are elated to think they don’t have school. I am too.

The scrimmage went well last night, we had to divide our attention between the JV and Varsity. Luke was in one gym and JW was in another…so we kept walking back and forth. It was fun.

The ride home was slow, the roads were awful. I don’t know if they were really that bad or we are getting acclamaited to the snow again.

This morning Jake and I cleaned out a spot for the calves, they had to move to make room for other cows. Don’t even ask where those good for nothin’ teenagers were…don’t get me started…just don’t get me started!

Sarah and Jake are out sledding right now, what a great time for pictures but since I just got out of a nice warm shower after being out in the cold, I’m NOT going back out in the cold to snap pictures…sorry, I’m just not that dedicated!

Good Monday morning from the Knolltop! It looks like Christmas at my house! The ground is covered in the white stuff and it’s still coming down. The kids were hoping for a snow day, but as JW and Luke headed in early to pitch, I assured them there was school today.

Tonight the boys have their first basketball scrimmage, so you know what that means. We will be running through chores to get to it. It’s a half hour north of here, so we will have to really speed the milking along.

Over the past few months I’ve written a little bit here and there about the All-American Beef Battalion with commander in chief, Bill Broadie of Ashland, Kansas. If you’ve ever really wondered about what it’s all about you now have a chance to watch it in action. Cowboy Church, a program on RFD-TV, filmed one of their services at a steakfeed in Manhattan, Kansas. They had their normal singing and preaching, but they did it while a bunch of Iraq war troops were eating big, juicy steaks. It is the goal of the AABB to feed every man and woman serving in the United States military a beef steak. So far, they’ve had several steakfeeds with troops either leavning to go to Iraq or coming home. As told from the volunteers who feed the men and women and their families, it’s an amazing event that has made a huge impression, one they’ll remember for a long time.

So, if you want to watch, you can catch it tonight on RFD-TV at 9:30 pm EST. Or tomorrow at 11:30 am EST. And if you feel compelled to donate money for the cause, you can visit http://www.steaksfortroops.com/ It’s a great effort put on by a great group of people and is the creation of one very special, Vietnam War Vet, Bill Broadie.

Gotta go!

Good Wednesday morning from the Knolltop!

We’ve still got snow this morning, but it’s warming up a little, I had to take my sweatshirt off during milking….so I know there is either no wind or it’s warm.

It’s time to get ready for Thanksgiving. Yes, I may sound a little late, but I’m not cooking it this year, we are traveling over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house! Which means I haven’t even thought about cooking or cleaning or even shopping yet! I’ve got to get two things at the store today and then I’ll be good to go….this is a nice reprieve. My mom loves to cook and really enjoys hosting Thanksgiving dinner. The other day she was absolutely giddy about the linen table cloth and matching napkins for 12 she found in her linen closet! She commented on how much she enjoyed starching the napkins and I had to agree with her, ironing and starching napkins is a very satisfying job. When you end up with sharp, crisp edges and creases it’s very gratifying to put them on your table. Are we weird? Does anyone else enjoy this?

I’ll be on Rural Route today with Trent Loos and my favorite host, Kyle Bauer. Trent is traveling to Chicago to be in the Thanksgiving Day parade with his chuck wagon…check out his website www.facesofag.com for more info…after the event. I’m sure he won’t have time to post on the site before the event…Trent is just not a planner.

Better get!

It’s a very snowy morning here on the Knolltop. It’s started yesterday morning and made drivers start creeping down the road and now we’ve got a couple schools closed this morning. Much to my children’s dismay, our school is in session today.

I have a new milking partner. She wears a pink Michigan State hat and a pink sweatshirt and I call her B.J. She’s probably… no she IS the best milking partner I’ve had. She’s easy to get along with, she keeps up with the milkers and is not easily distracted. She takes direction with respect and keeps her mind on her job. She even keeps me on my toes.

Last evening while we were milking I changed a milker and stepped back into the center isle. She looked at the cow that was just milked and then looked at me and asked, “Did you dip her?” Indignant, I replied, “Of course.” She said, “Oh, well it just didn’t look like it.” I turned and looked and was confident that I had dipped her even though she didn’t look like she had a drop of dip on any of her four teats. I slid a little closer and then bent over to inspect my dipping job and discovered she was a clean as a whistle…no dip at all.

I looked at B.J. and said, “You were right, I hadn’t dipped her, thanks.” She just smiled.

Then I gave her a new name. That beautiful daughter that was born almost 13 years ago that delighted my life and has made my world a better place and consistently keeps me on schedule, on task and on time was now going to be known as B.J…..Bobby Junior.

Good Monday Morning! It’s breezy this morning, but not as cold!

Everywhere we go it’s John Deere!

Over the weekend, Sarah and I went to a craft show and we found the cutest earrings. We found a pair of John Deere earrings and a pair of Oliver earrings. We were so excited we just had to get them. We’re going to wear them to Thanksgiving on Thursday, my dad will love Sarah’s Olivers!

Then yesterday we had to stop at TSC on the way home from church and I saw a John Deere t-shirt that said, “My tractor can beat your tractor.” I held it up for Luke and told him he needed to buy that for me for Christmas. He refused! He knows his tractor can beat mine, but I like to talk trash.

Then while I was checking out another blog last night, I noticed her template was really cool, so I found a place where you can change the “wallpaper” on your blog, so I browsed through the choices and found this John Deere wallpaper! How fun!

If your a Case fan…please don’t run off! I’m not against Case, but I love my old John Deere A and the great sound it makes! Just thinking about it makes me want to run down to the tractor barn and start it up.

I know that’s not Tina the fat lard, because Tina is a llama…but I think we could call this cow Tony the fat lard…what do you think?