Hannah's Favorite Author

I never dreamed that my almost 3 year old would have a favorite author, but she does. So far she LOVES every book that we have checked out by Lois Lenski. Lois has authored a number of books where Mr. Small plays different roles. Most of these books were copyright in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and as a result they provide the adult with a little bit of entertainment reading about how things were different in that era. We have currently checked out the following books:



The Little Fire Engine. Hannah is working on memorizing this one and she's pretty close to getting it done. Fireman Small arrives on the scene of a house fire where he permits the family to go into the burning house and remove some of their treasured belongings. I guess while carrying the sofa out they neglect to remember a little girl upstairs. Fireman Small ends up having to save her, but what good is a story with out hero? After the fire has been put out, Fireman Small encourages the family to move right back in. Never mind the smoke and water damage, along with the gaping hole in the roof! I'll have to be sure to teach Hannah proper house fire etiquette.




The Little Farm is a favorite. Hannah has this one memorized to a "T." In this book Farmer Small goes about his chores around the farm. It even teaches the child about some of the different seasonal chores that might need to be done. One of the most dated portions talks about Farmer Small putting the milk into the milk cans and then into the cooler. Then he sets the cans on the milk stand to wait for the milk truck. Unpasteurized milk sitting out in the sun...I think I feel food borne illness coming on!

Cowboy Small was the very first book of this series that we checked out. It shows Cowboy Small caring for his horse and working on the Bar S Ranch. Not a whole lot has changed about traditional ranch life, but I would venture to guess that not as many cowboy sleep in a bedroll under the stars. One of the most entertaining things about this book was the hand written library card inside. One of Ben's friends had checked it out when he was two or three years old, and there were many other local "kids" that we know on the card too.

The small library we visit most often is wonderful. Many of their books are checked out "on your honor" and don't have to be returned at any particular time. These favorites are so old they are those type of books. Hannah seems to have them checked out perpetually. I finally broke down and looked for some copies of her own. Apparently other people love these books too because some of them are quite expensive, even used. Here are the titles in this series. Check them out at your library soon for a good chuckle and a reflection of the past.

Cowboy Small

The Little Airplane

The Little Auto

The Little Farm

The Little Fire Engine

The Little Sail Boat

The Little Train

Papa Small

Policeman Small

The Laborious Beginning

We started calving over a month ago when we came home from church "surprised" to see a new calf. I was only remotely surprised as I knew when I put the bull out, but didn't notice anyone being that close to calving. I guess it caught Ben off guard because I neglected to tell him the fun was about to start.

Saga #1

About a week later Ben went out in the morning to check the cows, and came back in to report that we had two new calves but he wasn't sure who one of the calves belonged to. I offered to go back out and see if I could figure out who the calf belonged to. I felt like a modern day, adult Nancy Drew. I drove around and checked all of the cows and heifers. We don't usually have a problem with a cow taking her calf so I though maybe it belonged to one of the heifers. I looked at everybody. I checked hind ends and hind quarters. I checked the milk factory and looked for afterbirth. I looked for matted hair and dirty bodies from an arduous labor on the ground. NOTHING! I could not for the life of me figure out who this calf belonged to.

Sure, the cow with the calf showed all the right signs but she had her calf. I retreated to the house for a little nourishment and contemplation. Ben suggested maybe she had twins. "Oh duh Erika," I thought. Leave it to the gal that spent four years in college studying Animal Science to miss that a cow had twins. Maybe the fact that I've had two babies of my own helped cloud my brain. As it turns out, the guy that claims to just be the "Hay Procurement Department" of the cattle operation solved the mystery.

I took the calf over to the cow, and they immediately took to each other. Here's a picture shortly after the reunion. A couple of heifers came over to investigate. I think they were trying to find out what they were getting themselves into. I guess it must have scared them because I'm still waiting on them to calve.

This was a good sign but it was dirty rotten cold outside and the cow was having a hard time managing the care of two new calves. We brought them into the corrals for several days and they are all doing well now.

The mama cow is a little unsure about going through this whole pregnancy thing again. She thinks that since she's doing twice the work of the other gals she should get next year off. We are still in negotiations but I'm sure she won't get off that easy, those bulls are hard to convince.

Saga #2

We had a couple of smooth sailing births and then about a week later came my next challenge. I took the girls out in the morning to check the cows. One cow was off by herself so I knew something was up. When I got close I could see one calf leg sticking out. Not good! A normal presentation would be both front or both back feet coming out together, with the calf being right side up. Picture that one with me! So, one foot is a bad sign and my gut feeling was that she needed help. I however couldn't tell if she had been laboring all night long and had given up on pushing, or if she had just started and her contractions weren't very close.

I called some friends for a little bit of advice, a grandma for a babysitting favor, and a guy to come help me pull. This would be the morning that Ben was swamped loading trucks. Everyone showed up plus the friend giving the advice. We made the executive decision to bring her in and pull the calf. She assured me it is better to assist the cow if you think she needs it rather than not assist when she really does need the help. I have heard the OSU Calving School talk twice and you would think I could make a decision on my own. Nope. I really was second guessing myself because we haven't had to pull a calf since 2003. I can count that up as a blessing!

We brought her in, pulled the calf, and the cow mothered right up to the calf. They got to go back out with the rest of the herd that day and are doing well now.

Saga #3

The next morning Ben went out the check on the cows and he came back in and told me that there was a calf wandering around out there trying to nurse off of the other cows, but didn't seem to be with its mom. So I put my Nancy Drew cap back on and went out there to see if I could figure it out. I picked the calf up and kind of waved it around in front of the herd. "Calf for sale, calf for sale! Do I have a taker? Can I get a bid?" Most of them looked at me like I was crazy, but there was one cow off by herself that raised her head. Ah, I've got a taker...sort of. I took the calf over to her and tried to get her to take it. No way! She head butted it and kick the crud out of it when it tried to nurse. Meet Erika fights Mother Nature! I was determined to make this cow love this calf it was the last thing I did. No one wants to have to bottle feed a calf because the mama doesn't want it.

I brought the cow and calf into the corrals. Thankfully this little calf was resilient. He had been alive for about 12 hours, had never eaten, and was giving me a run for my money as I tried to wrangle him. I put mama in the squeeze chute and let down the sides so the calf could nurse. She wouldn't let him nurse and he couldn't seem to figure it out. She would however let me milk her, so I got the calf some colostrum and fed it a bottle. There was alot of persuading the calf to nurse and the cow to let him. Finally the cow got tired and the calf got it figured out.

Here is a picture of the small success. I don't know if you can tell but that's a very dirty look on that cow's face.

It took another day of bringing her in and letting the calf nurse, before she decided to let him nurse and he decided that he wanted to nurse her. Thankfully they are both doing well too. Score: Erika-1 Mother Nature-0. She has a few battle wounds on her right front leg from being a pill in the squeeze chute but they are healing up nicely. Her calf must have been off basking in the sun or frolicking around with the other calves when I took this picture.

We have been enjoying a calving lull for the last couple of weeks. Now we are waiting on two commercial cows and two heifers plus all of the purebred animals. Nine down (10 babies) and eleven to go. I'm hoping all of the kinks were worked out in the beginning and it will be downhill from here.

A Good Dog is Worth His Weight in Gold

We have a pretty special dog to put up with what Hannah and Helena dish out. Gus is very tolerant of the girls and only protests when he is truly being hurt. Hannah has been working up to riding Gus on her own. Only lately has she been able to mount by herself.

I'm pretty sure that Gus puts up with this so he can be inside next to the fire, but whatever motivates him works for me. It looks like Hannah will be ready for something a little larger to ride in the not so distant future. I'm planning to hold out as long as I can. Dog food is cheap compared to a horse.

Hannah Speaks in January

I thought I would start making "Hannah Speaks" posts. I realize many of the things she says would be much more entertaining if you were here to hear them, but humor me while I record these for posterity sake.

Hannah was in the bath tub and she, Ben and I were discussing who's mommy was who's.

Ben: Grandma Bevie is my Mommy.
Hannah: No she's not, she doesn't have a pony tail like Mommy.
Ben: You have to have a pony tail to be a Mommy?
Hannah: Yes.

The other day she was singing songs and this is what she came up with.

Hannah: This is my commandment that ye love one another that your joy baby bull.

It should be may be full. I guess it's all about what you know.

Hannah gives us a good laugh on a daily basis but I think I'll leave it at that for this month.

Heléna's 9 Month Picture

She wasn't feeling too well they day we took this but I managed a few good smiles out of her.
Here's an update on what's happening in Heléna's life. She has six teeth. She is can now speed crawl and walk along things while holding onto them. Neither of our girls escaped the independent gene, and Heléna doesn't seem to want help walking. My favorite phrase as a little girl was "I do by self me", and Hannah's favorite phrase is "I WILL." It will be interesting to see what Heléna comes up with to express her independence.

She loves to eat which is a nice change from Hannah who wouldn't eat baby food. She is a joy to be around and is always smiling. It is fun to watch her personality develop. If I get more time I'll put up a few more pictures of her.

Christmas Day

We decided to take it easy on Christmas Day. We opened presents with my family, had brunch and played. The cows didn't know it was Christmas so we had to feed them. We came back in for a hamburger BBQ and cupcakes for Jesus's birthday. We played and relaxed most of the day. The day after Christmas we had dinner with my Dad's side of the family.

Here's a few pictures from Christmas day.

We aren't done celebrating yet. We have more family coming in tomorrow and some coming back for a second round. We hope you have a Happy New Year!

Pre-Christmas Activities

We were fortunate to have both of Ben's brothers here and our nephew for the week before Christmas. We had a lot of fun while they were here.



I know this isn't very much snow but we decided we had to take advantage of it before it melted that afternoon. Hannah and her cousin had a blast sledding with their uncles. I towed Heléna around in a little sled by herself.

We had quite a few family meals throughout the week. We spent Christmas Eve day with Ben's family. In my hurry to get out the door, I forgot my camera, so I'm sorry there's no pictures of the festivities.

On Christmas Eve Hannah and I made cupcakes for a birthday party that we had for Jesus on Christmas Day.

Here's Heléna enjoying herself while Hannah and I bake.

Here's the tree on Christmas Eve. I should have been in bed but instead I was playing with my camera, trying to get a picture of the tree.

Feeding the Cows Today

I've been falling down on the job of taking pictures of the girls. I attribute it to the challenge of carrying one and chasing another. I just need another arm to carry the camera. I was feeling particularly adventurous today so I took the camera when we went to feed the cows.

Here's Heléna enjoying hanging out while I feed the cattle in the corrals.

The girls in their Carhartts today. They both have bibs on but Hannah is finally just big enough for a jacket, and she loves it. These are a couple of my favorite pictures that I have of the girls. I just can't stop smiling.

Here are the ladies waiting for their dinner. Just so you don't think we have more cattle than we do, it's just the gals nearest in the picture. The ones in the background belong to our neighbors.

Mmmm...dinner.

If you're low woman on the totem pole you get to eat at the second feeder. All of the big wigs eat at the first feeder. We have one cow that goes straight for the second feeder. I think she's just smart and has figured out that you have to put up less of a fight at the second feeder.

Oh, she beat us to the feeder.

Heléna is checking on Mommy through the side mirror of the pickup.

On our way back to the gate we feed a bale of junky hay for the cows to pick through later. Here's Hannah ready to throw a flake of it off the feed wagon.

And there it goes....

Heléna and Daddy waiting while we close the gate.

Heléna isn't happy in the pickup unless she's "driving."

Merry Christmas

Making a Statement

Hannah has reached the point where she would like to pick out her clothes and then dress herself. Tonight at 7:00 she has decided that it's time to go to the library. Let's see what she picked for the big outing. And, no we didn't actually go.

Hannah is sporting the layered look tonight. She's wearing a John Deere t-shirt, topped by a red and pink butterfly sweater, daringly layered again by a turquoise winter coat. To compliment these pieces she's wearing lavender leggings with white socks, layered by a set of blue, white and green leg warmers. To round out the outfit she's got on a pair brown cowboy boots. This is a one-of-a-kind outfit and can't be duplicated. It is being shown for your viewing pleasure only.


After taking herself to the bathroom Hannah insisted upon getting herself dressed. Here she's wearing a pair of green and pink underwear. Both legs went down the same leg hole so now she's wearing them as a belt. The pink fleece pants made it on inside out, but at least they aren't backwards. She's trying to bring the exposed seams look to the fashion forefront.