My baby is 14.

Wow. How in the world did this sweet little boy already get to be a 6 foot tall 14 year old? It doesn't seem all that long ago he was this easy baby who was too long for the nurses to properly swaddle at the hospital as a newborn. I remember watching Chris hold him for the first time and being amazed at what a bond the two of them had from the get go. And that first day in the hospital we discovered he'd be so much like my dad. You see, Jesse was born with a bone in his foot curved out slightly. Doc asked if anyone in our family had such a thing and my Daddy said, "Doesn't everyone's do that?" Hmmm.... Jesse has grown into such a strong young man in every sense. He is a strong young man in his beliefs. When he decides something, that's it, no changing his mind. He is a strong young man in the physical sense. We were unloading doors and windows the other day and while it was no problem for him, I couldn't handle several of them. He is strong in mind. Such a memory and such a creative thinking process he has. I pray that God will continue to bless my sweet baby boy. Happy birthday, Jesse. Love ya bunches.

Where did the time go?

I am now the mother of a 16 year old driver. THUD!!! I've been pondering just where the time has gone. You see, it seems like it was just yesterday that I dropped him off for Kindergarden dressed in his "tacky pants" (they were really khaki but that's what he called them) and blue polo. He was so excited. I was sad. Jesse and I went to the park for the 4 hours Chris was in class and then picked him up. And it seems like it was last week that he and Jesse were playing outside a little too quietly. When I found them, they were playing happily in the tractor ruts by the shed. I guess I should mention the ruts were full of mud, manure, grease and oil. I hosed them off as much as possible outside and yet the tub still had a black ring for weeks. And wasn't it last month that he climbed into the crib to comfort his baby brother? And yes, I'm quite certain it was last year that I watched Mike take his son for the first time with tears in my eyes. If you've never seen what unconditional love looks like, that was it. I cannot tell you how much more I fell in love with my husband that day. So, how did we get here? Here where our son is driving alone and experiencing so much new freedom. Here where our son only has about 2 1/2 more years of high school before he's off to the adult world. Here to the age I was when I met my husband. How did I get here? What happened to all the years I now warn others to treasure? And yes, I realize just how old saying that makes me sound. And yes, I know next Thursday when my youngest turns 14 I'll be going down this same road. It's one that's well traveled. I go down it yearly it seems. And then last night I saw an old highschool friend. Her kids are literally 1/2 the age of my boys and two of them are preschoolers! Did I stop having children too soon? Really......I could be a grandma while some my age are still having children. Do you see my eyes bugging out? I know just how far off track I'm getting and I know the ones who will bring me back (the same teens that sent me off track). The Bible warns me of seasons for everything. I guess I'd better pay a bit more attention.

Melinda

The ipods have invaded.

Ok, so I'm a cheap skate and could never imagine spending the $$$ on an actual ipod. I have an mp3 player and it's good for me and even my techno non savvy hubby. Our boys, on the other hand, feel the need to keep current on all the current gadgets. Jesse has long been a gadget guy and I expected that he'd want something like the ipod touch. The only hold up would be getting the crowbar into his wallet to pay for it. I didn't expect Chris to be all that interested and just knew the price would be too much for him to take. I was wrong. Way wrong. The both were searching the internet for an ipod and both decided they wanted an ipod touch!!! Thud. They each wrote me a check and I ordered them for them. They arrived Monday evening. Mike is soooo amazed. They can get the internet on them, watch movies and listen to music. I know there's a slew of other things they can do but if they've figured them out, they're not telling. LOL. Right now their biggest thrill is using the google map to follow roads to other places. Chris just got lost in Auxvasse on his ipod. Do you know just how funny that is?

The house is coming along. We're waiting on trusses for over the garage and then we'll be able to finish the roof and the room upstairs. Tomorrow they're putting the roofing sheeting on the rest of the house. The boys have learned a lot about framing.

The cattle are a mixed story at this point. Calf sales were tremendous the first weekend we offered them. Sold 6 of 9 steers and 2 heifers. Since then we've not moved any. We're running an ad this week and hopefully that will lead to more sales. Last night Chris came up from checking cows and said something was wrong with a cow who was due to calve next month. I went out to check her and thought she was a little off but probably ok. I checked her again later and she was ok. Today, Mike and Chris found her dead in the creek. Not exactly what we were hoping to find. We only got one calf out of her so she was a tremendous loss. Monday we found out that Jesse's show heifer is NOT bred. She, apparently, has small ovaries and will need some medical help in getting pregnant. We'll breed her once more with medical help and then contact the people we bought her from. This, also was not what we hoped to hear. We've never had this sort of difficulty in breeding a heifer and are getting more and more frustrated. I know God has a plan for all this, but I don't know what it is right now.

Mike has been given a golden opportunity at work. He did not get laid off as we were concerned he might be. His shift changed slightly and his coworker changed. This coworker is not saved. He asked Mike something about the book of Revelations which lead to a series of great discussions. Mike came home looking for the best Bible to take back to work for this guy to read and settled on a pre teen Bible the boys had used. He told me Jesus must be on His way back since this guy was asking these questions. I was amazed.