I love November!

 There are so many reasons that I love November! I thought that I would share on why I think that November is one of the best months of the year.

Every year at the beginning of November is our annual family vacation up to the shack for a week of deer hunting. I haven't ever shot a deer but I really enjoy sitting in a deer stand watching nature for hours at a time. I really hope that I get a deer before I'm 30 though.

Then around the time deer hunting is over Egg Nog comes out in the stores! I love Egg Nog!

Then its time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I love all of the food and getting together with family and reflecting on all that I have to be thankful for.

Sometimes we get the first snow that stays on the ground in November.

After Thanksgiving we can start getting the house ready for Christmas!

Whats your favorite month and why?

Recent Knitting Projects

So I have a few Knitting projects I have been working on and would like to share.

Here is a little sack and hat I made for my newest nephew Lucas. 

He was born 10-21-12

The hat is the "Trendy Baby Hat" on Ravelry and the sack is the "Laural Love Cocoon".

All the patterns will be on Ravelry 

I made this hat for Charlie! I used extra yarn that I had and knit it up in an afternoon. the pattern I used is "Scandihoovian Hat" It is a very easy knit and very cute! It was my first hat that I knitted from the top down, its also my first hat with ear flaps.

I made these mittens for my friends little girl. I used the the "Give A Hoot" pattern but to make it kid sized I used size 3 needles. 

 I made hat and mittens for Natalie.

The mittens are the same "Give A Hoot" pattern and then hat I'm not sure if its on Ravelry or not but I got it out of a book "Holiday Knits" by Sarah Lucas and Allison Isaacs its called "Striped Stocking Caps" on page 63 of the book.

I'm also working on a sweater for Natalie that should be done before Christmas! 

If your wondering about Ravelry.com its a free web site that you have to sign up for but you can find thousands of knitting or crochet patterns on the site. Some are free and some cost money and its the only site of its kind that doesn't send you tons of e-mails once you sign up.

Morning Farm Chores

So I start off my day by changing diapers, getting kids dressed and then feeding them. Then I let the dogs outside and feed them and make sure they have plenty of water. Once we are all fed and dressed we all load up into the truck and go over to my in-laws house to take care of the animals. Today I took pictures so I hope you enjoy them.

The cows coming into the barn for some hay!

Indy and Cheerio eating some breakfast!

Two hens laying eggs in the hay bales!

Tiny the rooster checking out what I'm doing!

One of the hens checking out the combine!

Some of the "baby"chicks eating out of the hens food dish!

Some more of the "baby" chicks eating their food in the coop!

Natalie by the coop with her stick!

Tiny the rooster and some of his hens scratching in the leaves!

Rayne the dog chewing on a bone with Natalie in the background chasing a hen!

Some of the "baby" chicks checking out my truck!

So this is what we do when we come do morning chores.

First we let the chickens out of the coop so they can roam, then we feed them and make sure they have plenty of water, after they are fed and watered we check to see if there are any eggs in the nest boxes or in the hay bales in the barn. That's what we do for the chickens.

Then we goto the barn and make sure the cows have water and hay and if they don't we give them hay and fill their water. once the cows are taken care of we feed the cats and play with them a little. Thats morning chores! I hope you enjoyed our morning ritual.

My Random Thoughts and Tips

So I have some household tips that I thought I would share with everyone (my personal opinion).

1.) Did you know that if you put a wet or damp sponge in the microwave for 60 seconds that it kills all the germs! So I do this before every time I do the dishes, so I have the scrubbing power of a sponge and know that its germ free.

2.) Cloth napkins! I have a hard time using paper napkins, I just feel that its so wasteful. So in my house we have quite a few cloth napkins and depending on the meal you can use them for a few meals. I have some from Target and some from Crate and Barrel and I love the Crate and Barrel ones because they wash and dry so nice and don't look like like they need to be ironed before use, not to mention they are so much more soft then the Target ones. The Target ones are not as soft and after every wash look like they need a good ironing before use. So if you're going to buy some cloth napkins I would not recommend going to Target.

3.) Did you know that if you have mineral rings on your drinking glasses from water that if fill your glass with white vinegar and soak it for 20 min or so then wipe away the rings. If it doesn't all come off then repeat. I would say I do this at least once a month. But I really don't like rings on my glasses and try hard to keep them ring free.

4.) How I treat laundry stains, if I have stained clothing (I do every week, my kids are dirty) I start treating them by first getting all of the stained clothes wet and then I put powdered Oxi Clean on the stains and rub it in a little, then I soak them in the washer over night, when I'm filling the washer with water I add 1/4 cup Oxi Clean just for that extra cleaning boost. How I soak the clothes, I fill the washer and don't close the lid (I don't think it would work on a front load washer) and then I let the clothes sit in the Oxi Clean water over night to get a good soak, then all I have to do is close the lid and the washer runs its cycle and in general all the stains come out but if they don't I repeat as many times as needed.

That was on my mind and I needed to get it off my chest! I have many more random thoughts and tips so expect more tips in the future! 

Hi All!

I'm sorry I haven't been very good at posting, its been very busy around here!

We went on a family camping trip.

We were up in Ely MN

Then we went up to the shack for a weekend.

 We got 25 baby chicks that are now a month old.

One day old

 Them at 3 weeks! Natalie and I really enjoy having the baby chicks. We got a straight run and that means there are boys and girls so we will keep all of the girls/ hens and butcher the boys/ roosters.

 We got 6 calves with Jeff's dad.

This one with the spots on his face is named Prime Rib,

 but I just call him Prim

This is the smallest of them all and I named him T-bone

Then we have Chuck Roast (Chuck for short) he is the biggest then we have 2 that look a like that I named Fred and George and the last one is named Rib eye

they will all be raised for meat so if your in the market for 1/2 of a cow or a whole cow let me know.

Then the kids were sick. That was a few days of not leaving the house.

That has been the last month just trying to take care of everything.

I also canned tomato sauce with my Friend/ cousin- in- law Lindsey

It was really fun because we had never canned before and we learned a lot and even though it took 2 days I think it was worth it!

I will try and be better about posting more. Now that it is fall life shouldn't be quite as crazy busy.

3 Year Anniversery!

Three years ago today was one of the hottest days of the Summer, our wedding day! Aside from the incredible heat it was a beautiful wedding, the best wedding I have ever been to. We got married on Jeff's  parents farm on August 8, 2009. Even if you were not at our wedding you may remember the heat that day. It was so hot sweat just dripped without even moving and in the afternoon there were storms that created tornadoes in Mound, not to far from us. The storm missed us but we did get a quick rain shower (that cooled everything down) and some INCREDIBLE looking clouds!

Jeff is one of the most amazing people I know. Here are some things that make him so amazing!

He can do Just about anything he sets his mind to and do a good job at it.

He is alway willing to help others out when they ask.(but he isn't quick to ask for help)

He has almost gutted and re-built our whole first floor of the house.

He built me a really cute shed.

He can fix just about any computer problem.

He works very hard at everything he does.

So much so that just about everyone that stops working with him want him to come work with them at their new job.

He is supporting the family.

He is alway there when I need him.

He is an amazing cook and the best griller I have met or at least tried their grilling. (sorry dad)

He can hunt and fish.

He loves me.

He is crazy about our kids.

He can tell you who is singing on the radio just by the persons voice.

He isn't afraid to try new things.

He is my best friend.

He wants to move to a farm with me, and let me get animals.

He supports things I want to do.

These are just a few things I can think of.

I love my Jeffrey so much! I'm so glad I get to grow old with him

(sorry about the blog over load life have been crazy busy)

Kral Family Trip to Madeline Island

July 28th- August 2nd the kids and I were at Madeline Island with my family.

We stayed at this really nice house on Lake Superior. Almost everyone was there we were just missing a few key people, John, Leslie, Ashley and Jeff.

(Natalie on the ferry ride to the island)

She loved being on the ferry and was talking about it for days after. The house that we stayed at was right on the lake and had amazing views.

The kids really liked playing on the beach.

Their cousins liked playing in the water, even though the water was freezing cold.

 Charlie really, really liked being on the porch! Any time the doors were open from the house to the porch he would crawl over and go out on the porch.

Natalie, Charlie and I went on a walk one day and we saw and 8 point buck run across the road. Later that day My dad some of the girls and I went on a bike ride then we brought the girls back when they were tiered and we went back out on a 14 mile long bike ride. While we were gone my mom was watching my kids, my niece Zoe put Charlie to sleep so my mom and Natalie went outside to play and while they were playing a black bear came walking down the driveway!!! So My mom grabbed Natalie and ran inside as fast as she could.

We also had a birthday dinner for Natalie and I made homemade macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, brats and hot dogs.

I also made an Ice cream cake for her with home made almond macaroons, chocolate ice cream, I made my grandmas fudge sauce, and my mom and I made coffee ice cream because they didn't have it in the store and she brought her ice cream maker, and then there is a layer of crushed heath bars on top.

So yummy!

Natalie got some fun blocks for her birthday and was playing with some of her cousins on our last night there.

Then we came home just in time for Jeff to spend Natalie's real birthday with her.

All in all it was a nice trip and we had a nice time with my side of the family.

I Have a Two Year Old!

Natalie Mikayla is two as of Friday, August 3rd. 

 (She was such a little peanut)

Its mind blowing how fast time flies, it seems like yesterday she was just born and now she is two!

Natalie is one of the most amazing little people I have ever met, I know she is my kid so I'm biased. 

So I'm going to list some of the ways that makes her such a cool little girl.

She remembers everyones name even animals that she has met.

She loves to give kisses the people that she loves.

She loves dirt and she likes to help me garden, she even helped grandpa Hoeft plant potatoes this Spring.

She can tell you every farm animal even some non-farm animals noise and point to what the animal looks like and tell you what animal it is.

She can say most of the alphabet and even point out some letters.

She can say quite a few numbers.

She always asks where everyone is before she falls asleep, and when I say everyone I mean it if she knows you or your pet she will ask where you are.

She is very smart and if she feels like talking she will tell you about everything she can think of.

She is very shy but once she warms up she is the biggest sweetheart.

She loves to help me with different chores around the house, She really likes helping with the dishes aka playing in a sink of water while I do the dishes and turning on the water for me when I ask her to.

She LOVES her dogs.

 Every time we goto Jeff's parents she asks to go on the 4 wheeler and then she will even ask grandpa to drive on the road.

She gets really excited when she sees or hears motorcycles, planes and tractors.

She loves, loves, loves having books read to her.

She will tell you everything she sees as you drive past and then ask where it went when she can't see it any more.

She loves it when mommy and daddy sing to her and will even request songs for us to sing.

She gets very concerned if something happens to Charlie... (Meaning I'm holding 2 crying kids instead of one).

She is aware of everything around her.

and She is my favorite little girl, I'm so lucky to be her mom

(on the 4 wheeler with grandpa and her cousin Nolan)

 

 

All In A Little Over A Week

A lot has happened this last week. I think that the first thing was that Jeff put in the wood floors. He did an amazing job putting them in.

(This picture was taken on Tuesday)

This is the office floor. The wood floors we got when we were redoing our living room, we got 800 square feet of 4" rustic oak wood (rustic means there are knots in the wood) from Siwek lumber yard in Jordan, MN. We have now put the floors in the living room, dining room and office and we still have more wood in the garage.

Since the wood floors are "rustic" once they are in we needed to fill all of the knot holes with putty before the floors were sanded. 

(This picture was taken Wednesday)

Jeff is standing in the living room taking a picture of the dining room and office floors right after he finished sanding them. While Jeff sanded, stained and polyurethaned  the floors the kids and I went to my friends cabin, its a good thing we went because there was so much dust from sanding the floors and Jeff said the whole house smelled like stain.

It was nice to have a few days with my friend Amanda and her little girl. Check out her blog almostevelyn. We had a good time talking about life and life since we had kids and became parents.

 Natalie really liked watching the boats go by, she would wave and yell "HI BOATS".

All to soon it was time to go back home. This is what we came home to on Friday after lunch.

(This picture was taken Friday)

Isn't it beautiful? It was also the only clean part of the house so I set to work right away dusting and sweeping everything, everything had a nice thick layer of dust from when Jeff sanded the floors. Not my first choice of how to spent a Friday night, but it was needed. We also put the last 2 coats of polly on the floors Friday night.

Saturday I painted baseboard while Jeff watched the kids.

 I wanted to go with an older style baseboard to keep in style with our 1913 house, and I'm painting all of the trim with linen white paint from Home Depot. The hard part was painting all of the corner pieces, sorry I dont have any pictures of them because I was COVERED in paint.

Sunday Jeff started putting in the baseboard.

Its coming together nicely!

I just am in awe at how fast these two rooms are coming together. 

Sunday night I painted the door for the room. Its a new door but is the same style of door that is original to the house.

Now that the baseboard is in its time to work on the window and door trim. Jeff buys 1"X 6" or 1"X 4"s and then cuts them to size and uses the router to do the edges. It is really beautiful if you ask me.

Last night (Monday) Jeff got the first set of windows done.

Now I need to putty the holes give it a light sanding and then paint.

I think Jeff does amazing work!

So if you were wondering where I have been the last week you now know.

My Non-Farm Farm!

Even though I live in town I'm still starting a small farm.

Today I got 6 hens from Jeff's uncle, they will not be living at my house because we cant have any farm animals in town.

My 6 hens are living with Jeff's parents 10 hens.

They are  Silver Laced Wyandotte hens. They wont start laying eggs till they are around 6 months old.

They are loving being able to roam outside! I am having a good time watching them, they are great entertainment. Jeff's mom and I will take turns feeding the hens and collecting eggs every other day.

and then over at my friend Melanie's farm I have a really cute goat named Tiberius, Ty for short. He lives with lots of other goats and is such a happy baby goat.

Isn't he cute!

I still have to talk to Melanie about how I can work off his food and shelter until I move to a farm of my own. 

I also have quite the garden in my yard.

I have strawberries, zucchini, summer squash, horseradish, broccoli, onions and carrots in this picture

onions, carrots and potatoes in this picture

and sweet corn. In Jeff's parents garden I have my tomato plants and I still haven't planted my green beans yet but I plan on planting them soon.

Also by the end of the summer or early fall Jeff and I will be getting 2 steers that will be raised for meat, we will keep them at Jeff's parents.