Our new niece, Brooke Ann

On March 31st, just one day after her due date, our niece, Brooke Ann Wolter was born to Bradley's brother Keith and his wonderful wife Leslie. This is their first baby and we are so thrilled for them! Brooke weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. Mommy and baby are both doing great!

We took the kids to meet Brooke tonight and Blake wasn't sure what to think. He did say when we were leaving the hospital, Brooke is nice and pretty. He also told me he'll share Grandma and Grandpa. Now that statement is pretty big for him to say considering the three minutes I held her he was jealous. I don't know what's going to happen when Grandpa holds her!!!

God bless this sweet baby girl and her parents!

Meet Cash!

On Monday Bradley e-mailed me from work saying that our cattle partner Greg McClure from Four Corners Farm had a bucket calf that needed a home and wondered if we'd be interested. The calf's momma had died after having a c-section trying to deliver the large calf. I asked the kids and of course they said yes. I had reservations though because boy calves have two destinies, become a daddy or become hamburger. Neither of which I was fond of. I would have rather had a female that would eventually be a momma and live on our pasture ground and always be a big baby. Well against my reservations we agreed to take the calf because it would be an awesome opportunity for the kids. So Tuesday night Bradley drove to Greg's picked up the calf and returned at 10 pm. Bradley and I got the calf settled and the next morning the kids got to meet the calf before Lauren went to school. Blake and I fed him his morning bottle and when Lauren got home that afternoon she got to feed him his afternoon bottle.

She was thrilled to feed him and took it very seriously as you can see. She described his pulling on the bottle a little bit like playing tug of war! An accurate description I must say.

Our dog Sadie is not such a fan yet of the calf. So she has had to spend some extra time chained up until she settles down and realizes the calf is here to stay. I will report two days later she is doing much better and the calf is becoming numb to her barking.

We named him "Cash" because his daddy is Currency and his mommy's daddy was Pay Day so it was just fitting to call him cash.

Blake has found his hair to be so soft it's like a pillow! I must say, I'm so glad we got the calf and I think Daddy and the kids are too!

Disney on Ice

On Friday March 18th we went to Disney on Ice with the kids. It was a last minute event because some friends of ours couldn't use their tickets so they offered them to us. It was Blake's first time to go and he loved it! The only bad thing was he wasn't familiar with many of the characters besides Donal, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie. He tried cotton candy for the first time and loved it! This was Lauren's 4th show and she enjoyed it as always. She was bummed though that she didn't dress up when she saw other girls dressed up. I told her there is always next time!

Big Shoes to Fill

Hearts at Home

I attended the National Hearts at Home conference March 10-11. It was my first time to attend so I really didn't know what to expect. It was truly a great experience. It was wonderful to have a night away with good friends and to focus on how to be a better mom and wife. By the end of the conference on Saturday night I was mentally exhausted with so much good info. Now that I'm back home I'm trying to implement some of the things I've learned and have several books to read also. I can't wait to go back next year!

Lauren is in print!

I was contacted earlier this week by the newspaper who had received a picture of her submitted by the Clinton County Humane Society. They wanted to find out more and so this is the result. Lauren is on the front page of the Clinton County News. I'm so proud of her! Below is the article as printed.

Kindergartner Donates Birthday Presents To Clinton County Humane Society



Lauren Wolter, with distracted puppy Quilles, is pictured with a few of the many items she collected for her 6th birthday. Instead of gifts Lauren asked friends in her Aviston kindergarten class and her family to bring donations for the Clinton County Humane Society. Photo submitted by CCHS.
By Pamela Rensing
Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 6:21 PM CDT
AVISTON - While some little girls wish for new dolls, toys, or games for the birthday, Lauren Wolter wished for chew bones, cat food, and pet shampoo.

Lauren, daughter of Kimberly and Bradley Wolter, invited all her friends to her sixth birthday party, but instead of the usual presents, she asked they bring items to donate to the Clinton County Humane Society (CCHS).

And it all started with a televised news segment.

"Sometime around Christmas, we saw a news report about a little girl who gave all her Christmas presents to a children's hospital," said Kimberly. "We talked about it and I said it was a very nice thing to do."

When Lauren's birthday arrived February 9, she had not forgotten about the little girl who gave her Christmas presents to those in need. But in Lauren's case, she wanted to help the animals in need. She sent out invitations for a birthday party to be held Feb. 19. The invitation asked for donations for the animals at the Clinton County Humane Society. Her friends loved the idea.

"The other kids reacted overwhelmingly! She had tons of presents. Everything from dog toys, cat litter, to food."

Kimberly said Lauren was excited to attend the next CCHS Meet-and-Greet to give them her donations. The Meet-and-Greet is held every Saturday morning at a different location in Clinton County. Families are invited to see and meet the animals available for adoption.

"She was so proud. They kept thanking her over and over. They were awesome.

"She loves animals. We have a rat terrier/Australian shepherd mix that we adopted from the Mt. Vernon Humane Society," she stated. "We attended several of the CCHS Humane Society's Meet-and-Greets but just couldn't find what we wanted. They helped us find and adopt 'Sadie.'"

The Wolter family used www.petfinder.com to locate the new member of their family. The website lists all the adoptable animals from area humane societies and rescue groups.

"So far Sadie is our only pet, but that may change," she joked.

The next Clinton County Humane Society Meet and Greet will be held at the Villas at St. James north of Breese from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Mar 19.

Owners can also bring their pets for nail trimming by Lori Langenhorst for a $5 donation and micro-chipping by Laura Beckmann for only $25.

For more information about the Clinton County Humane Society, check out their website www.ccilhs.org.

The New Toy

Lauren had on her birthday wish list a drum set, which she did not receive. I was relieved, one less noise making thing in our house! Her idea was to have most of the instruments for a live band, with the addition of her mini piano and guitar along with her microphones.

So the other day we went and checked out the local rummage sale going on looking for a few outside toys, etc. Well luck would have it we found a drum set there. It was in relatively good condition and was listed for the bargain price of $10. Lauren bought it with some of her birthday money she got and is so proud. Today, I finally got it cleaned up and reassembled so she could play with it. Needless to say, Blake and Daddy have been having fun as well!

All in a days work

Blake tried out his new wheelbarrow he got for Christmas today outside. He had great fun loading landscaping rock into it and then dumping them back out.



He also has taken to cooking with mom. Now whenever I'm at the stove he pushes his step stool up to join me. In fact he gets pretty posessive that it is his pot and he has to do the stirring, not me. Maybe a future chef?? I tried to sneak the picture, but the little stinker thinks he needs to pose for the camera whenever it appears.

So Proud!

For Lauren's 6th birthday she decided instead of kids bringing her presents, she wanted to have them bring items that could be donated to the local humane society. All the kids were very generous and on Saturday we took them to the monthly Meet and Greet to present the gifts. They took Lauren's picture with some of the stuff she brought to put in their weekly write up in the Breese Journal. They were thrilled with all the wonderful things she brought. I was super proud of her for being so generous and for helping others. My little girl is definitely growing up!

New boots

Last weekend we ventured to Springfield for the IL Beef Expo. We got to see our partners awesome heifers this year (Congrats to them on Grand Champion Angus Heifer) and check up on the ones we sold. On the way home we stopped in Litchfield for dinner and a trip to Rural King. It's a much larger store than our local one so the kids and Bradley love it! After sitting on ten lawn mowers, seeing all the new baby chicks and bunnies for sale, begging daddy to buy them a Gator, climbing on feedsacks, picking up stuff for the garden, we finally tried on some boots. Bradley needed new work boots and he declared Blake did also. So after determining the proper size (which none of them fit right because Blake has an extra wide foot which only a few manufacturers make) we finally settled on some John Deere boots that would work for Blake. Needless to say he was thrilled! So much so we had to wear them the rest of the time we were in the store. So we continue with our shopping and something caught Blake's attention just outside the door in the entry way. So what do you think he did, runs out of the store and sets off all the security alarms. So I grabbed him, explained we have full intentions to pay for them but just need to get the rest of our shopping done. Well the alarms still don't go off when the lady tried to deactivate them so needless tos ay we created a lot of ruckus! Finally, we got out of the store boots still on but security tag free. Gotta love it!