January Recap

First of all, how did we get to 2015 so quickly??  And secondly, how is it almost February??  This month has been packed full of all kinds of fun and extremely busy.  Between Kevin and I we were in six different states this month, a few of them more than one time too, for various conferences and meetings.  But we made it through it and look forward to a little bit slower February…..haha.

I started off the year with my “Word of the Year” post.  I been trying to really “focus” on various areas of my life and so far so good I think!

Cattle & Our Farm

With the beginning of a new year came really cold temps in our area.  This screenshot from my phone was taken on January 4th.  Brrrrr!

During this month our cows were moved to different fields for a while.  We will start calving around the middle of March so the cows will be moved back home before then so we can keep a close eye on them.  It was so cold out that the boys had to watch from the house as their dad and uncle moved the cows across our yard to load them up on the trailer.

We did have a surprise calf born the middle of December and another one this month.  They both came from a new set of cows that we added this past fall.  Even with the cold temps, these calves are doing great!

During January we also had our feed bunks finished back behind our house by the cattle lots.  This has made feeding the cows so much easier and faster every day!  You can just drive the tractor right next to it and dump the feed in as you drive by.  No getting out and opening gates to drive into the pens!

I love our Iowa sunrises and sunsets.  They are so colorful!  I found a new app (Diptic) on my iPhone and played around with some of my pictures to create this image.  Reminds me of a stain glass window!

Hudson & Axten

The boys had a busy month too!  I took them to Menards one day to get some lumber to fix their new bed.  By the time we left with 10 foot boards, they were filthy and mommy was tired!  I think I’ll send Kevin next time!  🙂

The boys also received much needed haircuts!  I knew they were both getting a little shaggy, but didn’t realize how bad until I did a side-by-side comparison!  Axten made his first ER visit this month.  Of course it was when both Kevin and I were gone!  He was running at his cousin’s house and tripped and hit his head on the corner of a wall.  So to the ER for two stitches they went!  He did really well they said and had to snuggle with Grandpa when it was all over.

The stitches didn’t slow him down any!  The next day he was happy as can be and back at it again!

When I saw the damage he did to the wall with his head, I felt pretty lucky it was only two stitches that he ended up with!

I’m lucky that my boys like to watch movies!  I love sitting in the chair with both of them snuggled in to watch a movie!  Not sure how much longer all three of us will fit on one chair though!  May have to move to the couch!

The boys also got to see some of their best friends last week.  They moved away last year, but we try to get together whenever they are back or we are near them in NE.  Five boys that are five and under is quite the time!  I love how they just pick back up like they had just seen each other yesterday even though it had been a few months!

Hudson is on this big Lego kick!  We went from no Legos less than a year ago to a LOT of Legos today!  He loves the kits and will sit and read and follow the step-by-step directions to build whatever the Lego kit is.  This dragon one was his most recent creations!

While Hudson likes to play and build with Legos, Axten loves to color.  One of his aunts gave him bath crayons for Christmas and our bathtub and shower become covered in his drawings every bath time!  And sometimes when it’s not bath time too!

Another little tidbit about Axten is that he’s in full swing with the “Terrible Twos” stage of life.  This kid has always been stubborn, but nothing like he is now!  It’s either his way or there’s a huge fit thrown.  I’m hoping it passes quickly!  The other morning it was just faster to put the Minion hat and TMNT mask on him so we could get out the door instead of trying to get him to leave it at home.  As soon as he had both on he was a happy camper!

My 32nd Birthday!

January 21st was my 32nd Birthday.  Kevin was out-of-town that day so I went to Omaha to meet my sisters for sushi.  My mom surprised me by showing up too!  That morning Hudson had requested cupcakes for my birthday.  So I told him I’d buy some in town since I wouldn’t have time to make any that day.  When my mom and I got home from dinner we put a candle in mine and they sang me happy birthday!

I think there was more frosting than cake!

I didn’t mind that I turned another year older, it has never really bothered me.  But when I realized that the next time that I have to renew my driver’s license is when I will turn 40, that got to me a little!  Oh, well, that’s still eight more years away!

 Recipes and Featured Posts

And lastly, here are the recipes and other featured posts that I shared with you this month!

And that rounds out the month of January!  I know there’s a full day left, but I’m hoping it’s just a nice relaxing day at home!  Hope you have a great weekend!