What a day

On Sunday, a friend of ours who knows livestock stopped by and checked Bell. He said, "Oh yeah, there's a calf in there, and she's going to calf within the week. Maybe not in the next 24 hours, but definitely within the week."

This morning I go out to do chores, and there lays a calf. She's mostly dried off, but shivering. Now what? Nothing like a shivering calf to clarify my inexperience! What a blessing to have friends. I made 4 phone calls and within an hour there were three guys there helping me get the calf started off right.

Once I felt we had done all we could for her, I went to an interview with UPS and was offered a part time job as a driver for next day air shipments. That will probably start in February.

I came home from that, and took Sheryll and Carrie to their respective doctors. Sheryll got her staples out, and they checked Carrie's bilirubin because she looked jaundiced. Her number came back very high, so we had to check her back into the hospital so that they could put her under UV lights. Once we got her settled in, I came home so I could get the calf another feeding and milk the cow. Sheryll will spend the night in the hospital with Carrie.

I'm going to bed!

Sid and I help the calf find the "spigot".

Don Ost, the gentleman we bought the cow from came to help as well.

Here's the line of cars that came to our rescue.

Snowed In!

Well, we're experiencing our first genuine snow storm. We have drifts in the yard and driveway around 3 feet deep, so we won't be going anywhere until we move some snow. Sure glad we got Sheryll and Carrie home last night! They closed the main highway (83) that goes through Minot from Bismarck to the Canadian border. Not much traffic on highway 52 tonight either! Good night to drink hot chocolate and watch a movie, which is exactly what we did.

Home for Christmas!

Sheryll and Carrie were released from the hospital a little after 7pm on Christmas Eve. We were home by 8, and able to celebrate Christmas together. We are all very happy to be back together again with the newest member of our family.

It is snowing and blowing outside, with a blizzard warning in effect. I'm no expert, but I think Bell may be in labor. Her bag is huge and tight, and to quote a friend of ours, her back end is "floppy". She's standing in the cowshed like she's in a daze. I think I may get her back in the barn and keep her there for a couple of days.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Still in the NICU

Carrie is still in the NICU. Her lungs and breathing are now fine, but her blood sugar is still low. They will slowly wean her off the IV as she begins to eat more. She's not all that interested in eating at the moment, which they say is not that unusual in a baby born 3 weeks premature. So we're not sure how soon she'll be able to come home, but we're still hopeful about tomorrow being a weak maybe, and Christmas Day a definite possibility.

Because of the H1N1 virus, they will not allow children on the OB/GYN floor. So the other kids can't see Mom or baby until they come home. This is the first time they haven't been able to see the new baby soon after they were born, and they are NOT happy about it. And to not even be able to see Mom is almost more than they can endure.

We're thankful for good friends who are already bringing meals and caring for our other children while I'm at the hospital with Sheryll and Carrie.

And just to add some interest to the story, we're being hit by a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow on us. Is this fun, or what?!

Birth!

And no, I'm not talking about the milk cow. Sheryll's C-section was scheduled for December 30th, but today she began having contractions. She went to the doctor, and they decided to do the C-section today. So she calls me at around 4pm while I was on the UPS truck and said I should make my way to the hospital, because the delivery was scheduled for 5:30. After about an hour delay to begin the surgery, Carrie Reese Paulson was born at 7pm sharp. She weighed in at 9 lbs and 12 oz, and was 21 inches long. Since none of this was planned, we had no camera there so have no pictures yet. I'll fix that tomorrow.

Carrie had a little trouble breathing on her own at first, and her blood sugar was low. So she is currently spending the night in the NICU, but is progressing rapidly. She's already off oxygen and has normal blood sugar levels, so the only concern is some fluid in the lungs. Not unusual for a c-section baby, since it doesn't get squeezed out in the birth canal. Mom was a little more queasy than normal, but otherwise doing well.

For those who we normally would have called with this news, my apologies. We're making this up as we go!

Winter is here!

Well, now we know what 20 below feels like! Actually, today it is a balmy 25 degrees, and feels quite nice outside. Since my last post, however, we have had several days where the high was below zero. It did strike me as funny when one morning I woke up and saw 3 degrees on the thermometer and was happy that it had warmed up!

Working for UPS has been challenging when the weather is below zero. I'm thankful that I only have 4 more days of work to go. The non-stop running for 7-8 hours straight has revealed some weaknesses in my knees and ankles. But overall it has been a good experience.

The gentleman we bought the milk cow from talked to the vet who checked her before we bought her, and they agree she must have aborted the calf. He feels badly and wants to get her back with his bull for another try. I hate to disagree with the experts, but her bag is definitely larger and firmer, and I can't imagine why that would happen except in preparation to feed a calf. I think God is just hooking me up with the timing, since I really didn't want the calf to come while working for UPS. Christmas Day would be fine with me, so we'll see what happens.

Not much else new. Until next time...

UPS

Not too much is new since the last post. I've worked twice for UPS, and this week will hopefully be working every day. I worked with a different driver each time, and they were both enjoyable to work with. Lots of walking/lifting, but I enjoyed it.

Still no calf from the milk cow!

I moved a wall in the basement which enlarged the room with the wood stove. I suppose we'll call that the family room now, although the motivating factor was to have a room large enough to host a home fellowship.

Until next time...

In all my UPS finery...

Milk room

This week was filled with building the milk room/milking stanchion, butchering roosters and traveling to the second Junior Bible Quiz meet.

The milk room is ready for milking, and more importantly, for heating! The stanchion is very basic, but I test-drove it with Bell and she seemed to think it was OK. She has still not had her calf. Hopefully she will deliver soon.

We have now butchered 29 roosters, so we have greatly diminished the stress in the chicken coop in addition to lowering our feed costs for the winter. We have gone from zero eggs per day to 4-6 eggs per day. We have around 25 hens, so the number should steadily climb.

I was very pleased with the children at the JBQ meet. They were much improved over their first meet. Tucker and Courtney’s teams placed first and second in the A league, and Tanner’s team placed second in the B league. In their overall individual standings, Courtney placed 2nd and Tucker placed 4th out of all A league quizzers, and Tanner placed 3rd out of all B league quizzers. Most important of all, they continue to hide God’s word in their hearts! The next meet will be in Minot in January. The baby will only be a couple of weeks old, but hopefully Sheryll will be able to go and see them quiz.


Here's the milk room framed in and ready for insulation.

Here's the milking stanchion that will keep Bell from wandering around during milking.

And here's the completed milk room. It's 10' X 12', so it doesn't take up too much room and should be easy to warm up.

I go to training with UPS this Wednesday, so we'll see when they want to put me to work. If it gets quiet on the blog for a while, that may be why. Of course, with my erratic history, I'm not sure if you'll be able to tell a difference! :-)

Ready for winter...we think!

It continues to be a busy time for us, but we do feel that we're mostly ready for winter. It's a good thing, too, because I interviewed with UPS for work as a seasonal Driver’s Helper. I go to training on Nov 18th, and will work from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve Day. I may do some work as a package sorter the week before Thanksgiving.

Poppy (Sheryll's dad) called two weeks ago and said he was thinking of coming for a visit. He left Texas the following Tuesday and got here on Wednesday. His comment on getting out of his car was, “Boy, ya’ll sure do live a long way from Dime Box, Texas!” He stayed until the following Monday, and we sure did enjoy it. With Mom and Dad spending much of the summer here and two visits from Poppy, we are hoping this is a trend that continues!

Here he is getting his camera ready for the birthday party. He did a great job capturing lots of good pictures for us.

The barn and chicken coop are done! Now all that remains before winter to care for the animals is to build a milking room.

Here's the chicken coop connected to the barn by a breezeway.

Here's the barn with no more holes where the guineas can get in! It's nice to finally have it completely enclosed.

We now have two teenagers in the house. We celebrated Trevor’s 15th (Nov 1st) and Courtney’s 13th (Nov 5th) birthdays on the 1st.

We had a surprise visit from Tyler during the party, so we had all three November birthday kids represented. Hard to believe Ty is now 20! (Nov 1st as well)

Bell (the milk cow) should be calving any day. She lost her mucous plug last Monday, and the gentleman we bought her from said that meant we should have a calf within 24-48 hours. Apparently Bell missed that memo, as she has not yet calved. Hopefully soon, as I’d like to get a few days of milking under our belts before I go to work for UPS.

OK, who is checking out whom here?

Some friends of ours from Bismarck called and asked us if we would be interested in wintering over 9 bottle calves that they have. In exchange, we can have our pick of two of them for our own in the spring. So now we have a good use of our hay for the winter. They are about 6 months old and very friendly, so this should be lots of fun.

As I type this it is sunny and 57 degrees outside. The weather this fall has been great! We are very thankful, as we weren't prepared for winter to set in early, and this great weather has allowed us to get things in order.

Until next time...

Wood stove and JBQ

We now have a wood stove! Hopefully this will help keep the house warm this winter.

Courtney, Tucker and Tanner have been participating in Junior Bible Quiz. This past Saturday was the first meet. We got up at 4:40am to travel to Sidney, Montana for the meet. They all did very well. Courtney and Tucker are on the A league team, and Tanner is on the B league team. Trevor went along and helped as a judge in one of the B league rooms. If you get 6 questions correct during a round, you "quiz out". They all quizzed out in at least one round. Tanner did very well, quizzing out three times and placing 5th out of all the B league quizzers. We are very thankful that they are having fun hiding God's word in their hearts. There is a meet each month, and the chance to go to regional, state and national competion.

We got the cow and the pig to the butcher. The loading of the pig was easier than the unloading. She did not want to leave that trailer! We did get her off eventually, and should be getting the meat next week.

Snow!

OK, so routine blogging has not yet become a habit! Perhaps when the barn is done...the children hear that a lot around here.

It has been a busy time of barn building, canning, caring for animals, etc., but we did take advantage of Mom and Dad being here to to watch the farm and took a short weekend vacation with the camper. Mom and Dad have since departed for warmer climes. We sure do miss them around here!

Below are some pics of things we've been busy with.


How's that for 'maters? No, they're not from our garden, they're from the Hughes garden. They sure are good!

Sheryll canned around 40 quarts...it's a lot of work.

Here she is using the tomatoes to make some awesome salsa.

We went camping up to Lake Metigoshe, which is right up on the Canadian border. We had a great couple of days having fun as a family.

Callie would rather be in the paddle boat?

Sheryll and Trev catching some rays...

Music around the campfire...

It was a beautiful place!

Our friends, Tim and Jessica Seavey (through the smoke of the campfire). We sort of crashed their party, but they were very gracious and we had good fun and fellowship.

Tyler came down and helped sheet the roof. The sheets were about 30 feet long, so it was no small task getting them in place. But the roof is all on now!

Dad making sure the sheet stays in place.

Mom and Courtney supervising...

And this is how it looks today. Still need to do all the trim and hang the sliding doors, but we're getting there. Good thing, too, since winter weather showed up this week. We had a low of 21 and our first snow. No significant accumulation, but it was fun watching it come down. Not so fun was finding all the frozen waterers each morning, and discovering that the freeze-proof well hydrants are in need of repair. They say we're likely to have an "Indian summer" yet, so we'll see.

Next week the pig and beef cow go to the butcher. Should be an adventure figuring out how to get them in the stock trailer.

Until next time, so long from the Paulsons!

News About Baby!

I, Sheryll, had a doctor's appointment yesterday. She set up my c-section while I was there and it is going to be December 30. This is very significant because that was my mom's birthday. That would be neat if she were still alive, but is even more special since she passed away 7 years ago.

I'm glad I have a woman doctor because she totally understood my crying at that news. I have a feeling a male doctor would have been a bit uncomfortable at that moment.

I will also change the subject in this post and say how thankful I am to Bob's dad who got our house all repainted! You may have noticed in some older posts that the house was a bright blue. I really did not like it! So Dad took that on as his project the past couple of weeks. Here is a picture of it in the middle (you can see both colors here):

And with it all finished! Doesn't it look SOOO much nicer????? Thank you, Dad!

The trusses are up!

The trusses arrive 10 minutes early as we're finishing breakfast. Yikes!

Our good friend, Mike Washek briefs the crew. After the brief, there was no confusion as to who was in charge or what would happen to the younger members if any of them walked under a truss that was being moved. Mike is a "retired" contractor. I don't think his wife was thrilled that he was going to be up in the trusses.

Setting and securing the first one was the most tense time of the day.

I wouldn't have wanted to try it without crane!

Our good friend Jeff Hoverson was a tremendous help. He was the last man standing at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, Sid was relegated to a supervisory role, having broken his wrist earlier in the week working on his own roof project.

Trevor hooks up the truss for lifting.

Mike looks really "retired", doesn't he?

And here's the finished product, ready for metal roofing.

Dad in his overalls, working hard as always. You can see his ongoing painting project in the background.

That's all for this week. We stacked and hauled straw bales with our friend, Kevin Forbes and his son Ethan today. I'm going to bed!

Barn project update/Navy friend visit

Well, Mom and Dad made it back safely. Our time since the last post has pretty much been consumed by building the barn. We are now ready to put the roof trusses on. They are scheduled to arrive next Friday, and the folks who built them will bring a crane out to set them. They are 56 feet long and nearly 10 feet tall, so it is no small undertaking.

I'm thankful that we were able to build the larger section using materials from an old grain bin here and the pole barn we tore down. For the smaller section I did buy some new materials, but we should be able to put the roof girts and remaining wall girts (boards that get nailed on to the studs and trusses for use in fastening the tin on) without buying any more new boards.

This is how I felt when we got the larger section completed:

Here is what the completed wall structure looks like:

The whole thing measures 48 feet by 56 feet, because those were the dimensions of the existing foundation. Not having to put in a foundation and just doing a few repairs on the old one helped tremendously in keeping the cost down.

Last Sunday we had an unexpected pleasant surprise when Paul Ostrowski, a good friend from my Navy days (as though I'm so far removed from them:-), called to say he was stopping through Minot to drop off some Air Force folks and get some gas. They were only going to be on deck for 45 minutes, so Trev and I hopped in the car and drove in to see him. Ir was great to catch up and sit in old trusty C-9 again.

This coming week is full, with final prep for the trusses, a trip to Fargo, ND for medical appointments related to my VA disability claim, and then back home late Thursday night to be ready to set trusses Friday morning.

That's it for now!

Update

Well, it's been a busy time around here, and it's hard to believe we haven't blogged since July 27th. Here's a few of the things we've been doing:

We moved the tool shed. It's amazing what you can do with a tractor! I puzzled over how to move the shed, which is 12 X 16 and built very solid, so it's heavy. After much input from lots of folks, Dad and I jacked it up, put poles under it and pulled/turned it with the tractor. It went great, and now it's off the barn foundation so we can build there. This is my first shot at putting a video on the blog, so we'll see how it goes.

We butchered chickens! We had lots of help processing our 75 meat birds, and it went very well. Here Trevor and Carter Hughes are inspecting a chicken, ensuring it is feather-free.

We poured concrete on the barn foundation, filling in the old gutters and repairing floor and wall defects to prepare for building.

Poppy and the Sheryll's sister and family came for a visit! We had a great time with them, and were thankful they came our way on their way home from a trip to Canada. Tyler was able to come through while they were here, so that worked out great. Here are some pics of some of our male bonding time.

And we built our first section of barn wall!

We also baled hay and finished tearing down the pole barn, but I don't have any pics of that.

Mom and Dad are gone on a road trip for a couple of weeks to Rapid City, SD and Wyoming, but will return for a month or so before they head back to Texas.

That's it for now! Stay tuned, there's never a dull moment around here!