Healthy Living Fair 2013

Monday, March 25th we go back to school from Spring Break.  That is also the day of the 3rd Annual Healthy Living Fair at my school.  I have had a dairy nutrition booth there every year.  Today one of my jobs will be to take inventory of my dairy promotion items.  Then I will pack up what I need to get me through the day.  I will see about 700 people between the hours of 8 and 2.

Drink Milk - Sleep Well!

Countdown to CUPCAKE

My Jersey, Carmelita, is due to calve around April 11th.  Her udder is starting to BLOOM.  Her baby will be CUPCAKE...unless I change my mind again.  I'm hoping that little Cupcake will be as big of a blessing as her mother.

I bought Carmelita with some of my premium sale money from last year.  I was not in the market for a Jersey.  I thought I was going to buy a Brown Swiss or a Milking Shorthorn.  Instead, I bought TWO Jerseys.  The little one got Reserve Breed Champion at the Oklahoma State Fair, and Carmelita got Grand Champion at our county show.  Grand Champion is the only dairy heifer allowed in the premium sale.  She brought $5100 plus some booster club money plus some add-on money I also don't know the amount of.

OH! I almost forgot!  When I bought Carmelita, he A.I.ed her, too, but he used conventional semen because it was a freebie, and we're getting a heifer out of her anyway!  So it's like I bought one, and got one free!

So I think it's around two weeks from now that little Cupcake will make her debut.  We are praying for protection, an easy delivery with no complications, and great strength and health for daughter and dam.

Godbless Shebull Cupcake!

Getting close to CUPCAKE time!

SUNDAY, APRIL 7TH, 2013

Can't go check on Carmelita until I get back from my appointment in the city Monday evening.  She's not due until Thursday, but every day for the last week, we've been just SURE she would be in labor.  Every day we go check on her and do chores, and every day she looks the same.  Her vulva is GIANORMOUS.  A couple of days ago it was sticking out further than her udder in the back!  Let's put it this way, it was so big that Christy took a picture of it and sent to Alan!  Christy says that at this rate, Cupcake will be able to WALK out.  We've been praying for a quick, easy calving with no complications.  We've been praying for strength for daughter and dam with no sickness.

The weather has been beautiful the last few days.  Tomorrow and Wednesday it is supposed to storm.  Hail, wind, rain, possible tornados, too.  This does NOT make me happy.  I just want my girls to be safe.

******Monday Update
Mom was sick at home all day.  She said that she had the nagging feeling that today was going to be Cupcake day.  She said it was the same kind of feeling she had the night we helped deliver Prim.

After school when we went to do chores, we ran into Christy.  She wanted to know if Carmelita was standing when we came.  She wasn't.  Christy said that she was on her way to the barn to get carriers for the petting zoo chicks, and she could have sworn that she saw hooves sticking out, but she said that by the time she turned around and came back, Carmelita had stood up, so they sucked back in.  She said that she wouldn't be surprised to see us again before morning.  So we went home and waited on a phone call.


*******Tuesday Update
The weather was good all night.  At 6:50 we got a phone call!  Christy said that there were legs sticking out, so we could head on over!
Then, at 7:01, she called back and said Cupcake was on the ground and Carmelita was cleaning her up.
The weather was GREAT!  Nice and warm.  We got to Windy Hill and Carmelita was still cleaning her.  We wiped her off some, too.  We gave her some Novartis and used Vetericyn umbilical, navel, and udder spray on both of them. Before we went to school, Cupcake stood up and we made sure she sucked.

Welcome to the world GODBLESS SHEBULL CUPCAKE!

She's up!

We checked on them at lunchtime, and Cupcake was up and following Carmelita around.

By the time I got out of school, Cupcake was totally dry and fluffy.  She had a full belly and was sleepy after her long ordeal.  While we were there, she started nodding off to sleep, but was fighting it.  It was so cute!

She's beautiful.  The only thing that would make her better is if she would have any white.  Carmelita has some.  Shebull's last offspring was a bull, but he had LOTS of white from a plain dam.

Cupcake is strong and energetic and FRIENDLY.  She's so sweet.

Thank you, Lord, for the sweetest little Cupcake ever!  I have high hopes for her!

PTD: April 2013 Post

THE BEST ADVICE

April 2013:  What's the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you when it comes to showing cows?  

The best piece of advice was being told to remember that “YOU are responsible.” This has come from every direction since the beginning. 

I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING.  I have to make sure that:

*The cattle are fed right and taken care of from the moment I take possession of them.

*They have good living conditions.

*They are handled properly and trained.

*They maintain good health.

*I have all the supplies I need to take care of them.

*I am prepared.

*If I mess up, I admit it, and I fix it or find out how to get it fixed.

*I don’t look sour when I’m not happy.  Practice a “pleasant” look.  Fake it ‘til you make it.

*I do things on time or in time.

*I pay attention.  I listen.  I watch.

*I’m reasonably quiet.  (Don’t want to agitate animals or people.  Don’t call negative attention to yourself.)

*I’m dressed appropriately.  (Detailed show dress, appropriate work clothes-nothing hoochie, represent well.)

*I’m a fast worker.  Do a good job and finish it quickly.

*I take care of my stuff and respect other people’s, too.

*I double-check everything.  Better safe than sorry.

*I jump in and help when someone needs it - not waiting until they ask me.

I know there are a million other things that I’m responsible for at shows and every other day of the year, but there’s only so much room on this blog.

What makes this advice so valuable?  

Well, I guess it’s valuable because it’s simple and easy to remember.  My family and my mentors and I talk about different stuff like this, and we’ve talked about how that’s the way LIFE is, not just in showing or raising cattle.  That’s the way it is in families.  That’s the way all people are supposed to be in the world.  Everything in life should come down to the idea that “YOU are responsible.”  

It irritates me when people are clueless and unhelpful and rely on everyone else to do everything for them, and then sometimes even get in the way. I am not the world’s best worker.  There are kids that can work circles around me, but there are a lot of kids and even adults that I can work circles around.  That’s sad.  There are a lot of people in the world that don’t act like they are responsible for anything.  People need to learn that “YOU are responsible.”

Have you passed along that advice to anyone else? 

I’m working on it.  I’m not around a whole bunch of showmen that are younger than me.  A couple have parents that are by their sides constantly.  One is getting out of showing this year.  That leaves one brand new showman.  She won her heifer with an essay.  She is pretty much all by herself.  She’s SO sweet and asks lots of questions.  She’s just nine (and looks like she’s six).  I try not to overwhelm her, but I stick by her and show her all of the things we are responsible for.  I didn’t consciously decide to make this my mission.  It just seemed to happen naturally because I know I’m responsible to jump in and help people before they have to ask.  

At county, I was responsible for washing all five of my heifers by myself (Mom walked them to and from the wash rack for me) and then I also washed my little buddy’s heifer with her.  I told her what to do and how to do it, and she did it, but she couldn’t see what she was missing, so I washed what she didn’t.  She kept asking, “Is this good?”  She was trying to be responsible for the quality of her work.  She watched and listened and worked.  I taught and I helped.    

I’m trying to teach her how things should go.  I don’t want her to be helpless.  I feel responsible to do it.  I tell her when it’s time to feed or water.  We take our heifers out of the barn and “play stock show” outside on the grass.  I show  her when our heifers need more hay.  I tell her when it’s time to change into our whites.  We are still working on how to tie up properly.  She must like me okay because she brought me candy.  

I guess I’m trying to teach her by example.  I show her what I’m responsible for, and those are the things she’s responsible for for herself.  She’s only been to two shows, so later on in the fall, I’m going to ask HER questions and let her be responsible for figuring out the answers.  I’m proud of her.  She didn’t win her showmanship class, but she did beat out two showmen that have been showing for two years longer than she has!  Apparently she’s been paying attention.  It was great to see her being successful.  It makes me happy to think that maybe I am responsible in some small way for what she’s learned.  :)