It’s 0 degrees out this morning and thank goodness the wind has died down because it was brutal all day yesterday. When we went to the barn to milk last night, the milk house was frozen. This morning was much better, but the skidsteer doesn’t feel like running too well…it’s just too cold!

I had a great time at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference. When I left Thursday morning, I left 2 inches of snow to drive into 2 feet of snow. A two hour trip took three and a half. And on the way, I did Rural Route Radio with Trent Loos so that slowed me down…I actually sat in a McDonalds parking lot and did the show and then went the rest of the way to the conference. Trent dogged me about not being able to get there on time….but what doesn’t he dog me about?

Thursday evening I returned the favor when I introduced him. I said he had come up with a new clothing line for pets called the Loos Wear pet clothing line made from his red shirts….believe it or not, there were a couple of people who came up to me the next day wanting more information on this new pet clothing. Yes, I set them straight.

Trent did a fabulous job with his talk and even got a standing ovation….I wonder how often that happens? Friday was a great day with the Partners Program. Rebecca Long Chaney was our main speaker and she did a great job. But I have to say the highlight of the day was when we learned how to salsa dance. It could’ve been the combination of funny farmwives learning how to dance while starring at a very nice looking dance instructor, but whatever the reason, I nearly fell over with laughter as the group of us danced around to latin music. The great thing is we got it all one tape! One other note was a surprise visit with one of my good friends from college…Ernie Birchmier. He and I had a chance to catch up on life and then I asked him to come speak to our group about the threat of HSUS to animal agriculture. He wasn’t prepared for that, but did a great job…he’s great under pressure.

2008 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference….pictures, words later!

Well, it’s icy here on the Knolltop…a real trick walking over to the barn. School in in session and the kids were bummed about that. The only day they really want to go is Friday and that’s because it’s winter homecoming. JW is singing during half time with the jazz band and one of Luke’s best buddies, Brad, is on the homecoming court as the 8th grade representative. I guess he’s less than thrilled at having to wear a tux and walk out in front of everyone with a beautiful girl on his arm. Give it a few years…that will change.

JW’s team beat Tekonsha last evening, JW only had 2 fouls….they came pretty quickly. The varsity lost. Tomorrow night JW and Luke will compete in the FFA District leadership contest. Luke is on a conduct of meetings team, he went to state last year with the team, but this year he said they’ll be lucky to make it out of districts. JW will compete in the extemporanious speaking contest. They pick a topic when they get there and then have 30 minutes to write a speech. That is right down his ally, back up against the wall and having to perform….he’s a clutch guy all the way. Since I can’t be there, I told him he had to make it to regionals so I could hear him there. I’m sure he’ll do well, but those of you inclined to pray…please pray for both boys…JW is tired this week and a little stressed and could use a prayer.

Better get…lots to do!

The kids are at home on the Knolltop….the work list has been given out and they are all heading outside for to complete their jobs. It’s so nice to have free labor!

It’s very foggy here and very warm, in fact I didn’t even wear a sock hat to milk this morning…that’s how warm it is.

Lots to do today…JW still has a game tonight….and I’ve got some writing to do before I head for Frankenmuth on Thursday. And meals to fix, laundry to do and buy a few groceries.

Well, I’ll never get any of it done sitting here!

It’s an icy morning here on the Knolltop…but the kids still have school. The trees have ice, and there is a crust on the road, but it’s not that bad.

Did you watch the superbowl last night? Wasn’t that a great game? Yes, we sat in the livingroom eating our pizza and hotwings…compliments of our neighbor, she gave us a gift certificate after Jake and Bobby plowed her driveway and shoveled her steps last Friday. So we used it and had a great time eating and watching Eli and company take the wind right out of Tom Brady’s sails.

You see, Tom Brady is a U of M grad and Plexico Burress is an MSU grad so you now know why we wanted the Giants to win. Plus what mother wouldn’t want to see two brothers go to the superbowl in consecutive years and win? It was a great game and we enjoyed every bit of it….yes, especially the commericals.

On Saturday, Jake won his game, he had 16 points and Sarah’s team lost their game, she had 2 points….they only scored 4. They need a little practice.

Water’s boiling for oatmeal…better get. They get a treat this morning…toast from homemade bread!

Good Morning from the Knolltop. It’s overcast and a balmy 23 degrees out. The temp is supposed to rise into the 30s today and rain and 40 by Monday. So we are out of the cold spell right now….how are you out there in Montana, Pryorvu?

It’s a basketball Saturday. Sarah and Jake both have games today and Luke gets to ref two of the little kids games today and then Luke has basketball practice tonight…during milking time…he gets out of chores….again. And I bet at some point we will be watching basketball tonight as we munch on our popcorn.

Last night, Jake was laying on my bed watching basketball while I was sitting in a nearby chair reading a book. During the game, they had a mic on one of the players so we could hear what they were saying on the bench and during the huddles. Now this was an NBA player. I looked and listened to what he was saying because it was interesting and then Jake said, as serious as he could be, “See mom, now you know what we talk about in the huddle and on the bench.” I raised my book up to my face and began laughing my head off….honestly, does he honestly think his conversations with other little 8,9 and 10 year old boys could be the same as what 25 year old NBA stars talk about? Well, now that I think about it…maybe they are similar.

Gotta get…chores are waiting!

We are currently under 6 inches of snow with more coming down as I write. And then it’s supposed to blow. And then on Monday we are supposed to get rain. What a winter!

The kids have the day off, of course. I don’t know of another school district that is holding school in southern Michigan. A three day weekend! YEEHAW!

Last evening we drove south to Waldron for JW’s basketball game and the JV’s won, but the varsity lost…in a close one. Waldron has a very good team this year…. it would’ve been nice to knock them off the top…but the baskets just didn’t fall.

Yesterday I had a package arrive….my official Red Shirts! Now I can wear my official American’s in Agriculture Red Shirt Friday shirt that Trent Loos is always yackin’ about on his radio show. Trent was nice enough to donate one for our auction at next week’s Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth….for heaven’s sake, it’s the least he could do when I’ve relented to be on his Rural Route Radio program so many times over the past year. I mean really….you have to be tough or dumb to be on his show the way he and Kyle like to verbally abuse me….so I guess I’ll call myself tough. Well, come to think of it…..it’s not all that bad….I guess…. 🙂

Oh, and if you too want to support our troops all over the world by wearing the official Red Shirt, you can order one on Trent’s website listed over on the left of this blog….Faces of Agriculture.

Okay, okay, that’s enough promotion for him….I’ve got lots to do today….good thing the boys have the day off so they can go to the barn and do my chores!

Well, I have to say, someone who reads this blog is a major prayer warrior! Yesterday morning the gutter cleaner worked like a champ. Yes, it needs some repairing, but besides that, it worked really well…it can only be attributed to God answering someone’s prayer! More prayer is needed for the Knolltop…please don’t stop now…God’s on a roll…keep praying for the whole operation…if you don’t mind!

Unfortunately, other obstacles got in our way of making it to our district meeting…but that is the way it is on a dairy farm. You learn that early on…you may or may not get to where you’re going. If you get there, you will probably be late.

Of course staying home proved to be very productive…I got all the laundry done…after I de-iced the water lines going into my washer. The laundry room is on a southwest wall and when we get a good stiff wind, no matter what, the lines freeze. So I was up on my washing machine with my handy blow dryer getting them thawed and once that was done, I kept them thawed by doing lots and lots of laundry. So, today, I don’t have any to do!

The milk inspector is due back today to check on a few items…just three and I took care of one of them this morning…putting in a new lightbulb over the bulk tank. So, two more to go and they are easy fixes, just have to run to the hardware and get the supplies….spray foam to fill a couple of holes.

Better get going….later!

Yesterday with my 40 degree temps, I was chuckling at Mel from Pryorvu and how he posted his chilly temps and how they had to make sure everything was plugged in. I’m laughing no more….it’s down right cold this morning. It’s 1 degree with 25 mph wind and a -20 windchill. Now that’s just not needed in my world.

We are on our way to our Holstein district meeting this morning with the neighbor…providing chores go well, the gutter cleaner gods have not been good to us lately. So I may be on my way to Mooville Creamery today or I may not….it’s all up to the gutter cleaner. For those of you incline to…PRAY!

Gotta go get cold again…it takes about 10 minutes just to put all the clothes on…yes, I’m a baby!

The kids have the day off of school today since it warmed up and then cooled down just enough to ice the roads over. As of this morning we have very little snow…most of the ground is bare and it’s very warm…41! I like this! But it’s supposed to get cold and nasty tonight.

I don’t care…I’m just glad to have the kids home. In fact, I found out that in all the craziness of teenagehood, they still are human…sometimes. When I came in last evening early from chores so I could go grocery shopping because I was working on a story most of the day yesterday, JW was standing there in the kitchen. I looked at him and I must have looked really stressed or something…even though I wasn’t anymore stressed than any other day. He looked at me, reached out and gave me a big hug and told me he loved me. Wow….I kept waiting to hear the request….the confession…the other shoe to drop….but it didn’t. He just wanted to hug me and tell me I was a great mom. Now we all know those moments are fleeting….so that’s why I’m writing them here to tell you and I also wrote it down in my daily journal. That way I can look back and see that at one point, they are still human and somewhere I did something right as a parent. And some day, when I’m dead and gone, he may pick up my journal and read about his kindness and remember that he is a good person…and then he’ll go read it to his wife in order to convince her that he’s not the awful husband that she thinks he is! HA!

Well, I’d better get…but before I do…I have a prayer request from a reader named Sara…not my daughter…just Sara. She emailed it to me and because I know some of you who read this are wonderful prayer warriors….you’ll want to stand in the gap for her. I’m seriously considering starting up a prayer blog…we could call it “knolltop prayer circuit” or “God’s hotline”….or “You pray, He answers.” Anyway…if and when I do that, I’ll let you know! Here’s Sara’s situation.:

Let me just say right off how much I enjoy your blog. It just great… Finally someone who understands dairying and farming. It’s just so refreshing.

Anyway my family (mother, grandmother, aunt and myself) are in need of much prayer at this time. We of course dairy which at times is its own prayer category, but this at present is more needed. 🙂 This is the situation… after years of looking and much prayer we decided to get a new home. A modular or a stick built. It would be much faster than a stick built. ANYWAY all was going well… We had found a contractor for the basement, the loan was having a hard time going through or so she said because of the housing market troubles. In the beginning it was just supposed to be 30 acres with the other 130 free and clear. Well for it to go to construction loan it had to be the full 160. It was just going to be for 6 months and then the 130 would be free.

Well things happened. The contractor wouldn’t give receipts or lien waivers. And now the 6 months are almost up. The house isn’t on the basement as the contractor didn’t give us the right height in the basement walls, there is no rebar to speak of and we’ve had to hire a lawyer since he has money that hasn’t even been spent. The mortgage company says it’s our fault for signing the draw forms but they didn’t even get receipts and he (the contractor) wouldn’t give them to them. All in all it’s a royal mess.

The lawyer has sent out letters to all parties in this thing. I could go on but at the present time I will stop. At this point I don’t know how to pray or what to ask for. All I know is the farm is in jeopardy (even though the lawyer says don’t worry) I trust God and that he can work through our lawyer. We should have been moved in before Thanksgiving… Not being cold or having cats fall in thru the bedroom ceiling.

Thanks so much–Sara, Little Brown Cow Dairy