Stevenson Branding

June 9, 2013

Our good friends had a branding yesterday. They head and heel their calves, so of course it was a lot of fun! And they have two stinkin' cute  lil boys, so double the fun for me! :)

 Bringing in the herd.

 

Handful of rope...

 

 

Taking him to the fire while My Cowboy gets a heel shot.

 

 Got him!

Setting ropes.

 

 Branding.

 

 Waiting in line for their turn at roping.

 

 My friend Karmen! She's quite a handy lady. She has a toddler and a baby. She made lunch for about 20 people,(with some help from her sister-in-law)  and she was riding and roping with the crew.

 The Stevensons. Husband/wife team.

 

 A reata.

 

 

 Grandpa taking care of the baby.

 

Hot irons.

 

 



First Schrock Branding

 

My Cowboy and I made Schrock History last month.

We had a Schrock branding - of our very own calves.

True - it was a tiny branding, as brandings go, but hey - it was ours.

Kinda fun! :)

 

 

Cliff's brother came to try his hand at roping...

 

Didn't do too bad, considering he is a carpenter and all.

 

Oh wait - My Cowboy was a carpenter too, before he learned this whole ranch thing. Who cares? Anyone with some 'try' is bound to become handy. We aren't pedigree snobs around here!

 

 Our brand - designed and registered by My Cowboy. It's a take on a tool he uses a lot in his leathershop; the round knife. A friend who owns a welding business made the iron for us.

My Cowboy's mother also made the trip out from MO to help, since some of the pairs are actually hers. First ever branding for her.

 

Josh holding a steer.

                                                       First Round-Knife brand!

My Cowboy enjoys buckaroo tradition, and head/heel brandings. Of course all our brandings will be headin' and heelin'!!! :)

 

                               Head/heel brandin's make for prettier photos, I think.

 

 

 

                                                       Fun times!

 

Angry Birds Cake

Happy Birthday to my son, Franklin!!

What a blessing God gave us with him.
He was born on a warm summer day in June...the bees were buzzing around my snowball bush, and  I lay looking out at the pretty summer flowers, and feeling the refreshing breeze blowing softly through the open window.

     

I remember holding him on that beautiful day in Missouri - basking in the wonderful after-glow of childbirth. You know, after the labor is done, your midwife has left, you're done with the phone calls, (before texting days!) and it's just you and your sweet, new baby!

10 years,, 6 houses, and two states later...here we are!
Franklin Joseph was named after his paternal grandfather - who went to be with Jesus less than a year before Frankin was born. I often wish he could hang out with his grandpa Joe Schrock. What a great guy, who loved to fish, hunt, camp and was looking forward to the day he could have a grandson to do those things with!

Franklin loves Legos, dinosaurs, and anything with wheels. Engines, machines, gadgets. What a kid!
He is getting handy on  a horse, and helps his dad out with riding and chores. But his first love is engines.

Jenni and I tried making him a 3D Angry Birds Cake today...not professional by any means, but quite cute, nonetheless!

Happy Birthday, Son!

 

Here's some cool Angry Birds' items for your next party!

 

 

 

 

                                      Happy Mother's Day!

I was reminiscing today about some things that I am glad my mother did for me. You know - as a young mom, I wonder sometimes if I am doing the 'right' things. That made me reflect on the way my mother did it. She often tells me that she made so many mistakes. But the older I get, the fewer mistakes I can remember!
Here is a few things I am so glad my mother did for me:

1. She told me every story in the Bible, I believe. Most of them multiple times. And she didn't leave out the gruesome/wicked ones. She told them in a matter-of-fact way, that showed me the wickedness of men's hearts, and the righteousness of God.

2. She  always took extra special care of me when I was sick. She made me special food, even though she was a very practical, no-nonsense woman.

3. She taught me that no matter where I go, I can't run from God, so I never tried. :)

4. She frequently scrounged up quarters to buy us ice cream cones at the corner shop - even though we were quite poor.
 
5. She took me on long walks, pointing out the beauty of God's creation. She was not particularly educated, but she liked to try to figure out which bird was singing, and what kind of flower it was.

6. She taught me to love and care for my husband, home, and children.

She taught me how to bake bread,

 

can vegetables,

 sew clothes,

piece a quilt,

plant a garden, cook a meal,

 

...and that books were great friends.

She taught me to work hard, and you will always have a job.

That if you want to have friends, you have to be friendly.

That hard things happen in life, and you have to keep calm and carry on.

That all babies are sweet - even when they aren't very cute. :)

That a real lady acts the same in a palace or a hovel.

That you should be on time. No excuses. It's rude to others to be late.

That it's annoying when girls giggle a lot. :) ...and that they CAN learn to control it.

That it's OK to fix yourself up to look nice, but when you leave your room - you quit thinking about yourself, and start thinking of others.

That popcorn should be popped every Sunday afternoon, and eaten while reading a good book.

One morning she woke me up early, and we walked to the top of a small hill. As we watched the sun rise, she talked to me of God. I don't remember anything she said - but the memory of that early morning walk walk will stay with me always.

I take for granted too often all the great things that my mom has taught me. Today I want to say:         
                                       "Thanks, Mom."

 

3 Day Snowstorm

 

We have been in a drought, here in southern Wyoming. Therefore, it wasn't hard for even this southern gal to be happy for the big (albeit late) snowstorm we received last week. I mean, a foot of snow is at least a couple inches of water, right?

So we canceled the kids music lessons and stayed snug at home in our warm house.

(I love having a warm house. )

 

Sunday evening it began to snow again. They were calling for chance of rain or snow through Wednesday. But I wasn't too excited...I mean, since when has the meteorologist been correct, ya know?!

But when I got up Monday morning, it was still snowing.

It snowed all day.

 

 Tuesday morning it was still snowing....

Again, it continued to snow all day. Now, it wasn't a heavy, pile-it-on snow - just a gentle, at times very light snow. But still, it was snow.

 

Last night at 10:30 pm, I flipped on the porch light,  and watched the snow falling...

When I got up this morning, it was still falling. Snow, snow snow.

Water. Moisture. whatever you want to call it.

I am truly ever so thankful.

But I am considering running away.

Preferably to Florida.

Where snow doesn't fall in the door when you open it.

And where people dress in a normal fashion - not covered head-to-toe in snow gear.

 

But still. I am thankful.

Some hay this summer, perhaps?

That would be great.

Oh, and how cool is it that you can take pictures of snowflakes? Even if it you have to lure the cats to the porch so you can see the flakes on their fur. :)

Get More Ink

...out of your printer ink cartridge, that is.

Printer ink cartridges just cost money, don't they? I get so tired of buying yet another pack of ink. Perhaps because I never had to buy ink til I was 26 years old. Barely knew what the stuff was.

 

But, as a home school mom, I am constantly printing, copying, and scanning things. I go through ink at an alarming rate! I should buy stock in Kodak.

 

I found a way to get a few more pages out of my ink cartridge. I was so excited about it! I tried it several times, and lo and behold - it works!

I have never just thrown away a cartridge since, without doing this one simple trick first.

Ready?

                                                    Before photo of my shopping list

Roll it.

OK, so maybe you knew this. It took me awhile to come across this weird trick, so maybe it can help someone else. Share the love, and all that.

Yes, all you do is roll it side-over-side.

Not end over end. And don't shake it.

For some reason, those two methods do not work. I tried. I mean - if rolling it several times gently is good - shaking it vigorously is better, right? Wrong.

Here's the checklist:

1. Just hold it like you do when you are going to put it in the printer - right side up.

2. Then roll it side-over-side about 4-5 times.

That's it! You will get about 10-12 more pages out of it.

                                                After photo of the same list

Have you ever done this? Did it work for you?