Operation Healthy Balance

Meet "Railcrest Aerocerf Karina".  Karina was born June 2, 2004.  During her initial classification she was Railcrest Farms' first Very Good 2 year old scoring 86 points and moved up to Very Good 88 during her third lactation.  She scores 88 on rump, 88 on mammary system, 87 on feet and legs and 89 on dairy strength.  She is a good looking cow with excellent height and a deep rib.  Her highest scoring traits are her udder texture being very soft and body depth being very deep.  Traits that we will try to improve with her progeny are rump angle and udder depth.  Her rump is a bit high and her udder depth is a bit deep. Karina is a fantastic cow and is always noticed by visitors when they enter the barn.  So this is all great right?  Well, we have a dilemma.  We have not been able to get Karina pregnant and this is leading to much frustration and the general realization that her time her at Railcrest Farms is coming to and end. You se...

Have you ever been on a diet?  Did you lose weight?  Did you gain it back? I can answer yes to all of those questions.  I don't have a lot of weight to lose (maybe 10 lbs) and I like to think I am not obsessed about it.  I would just like my mid-section to be a bit less bulgy. Recently, I started a fad diet.  Lost 5 lbs in one week and thought I was on my way to battling the bulge.  But then I hated restricting myself so I veered off my strict dieting path, gained all the weight back just as fast as it came off and felt defeated.  I was also mad at myself for falling into the fad-dieting-quick-fix mentality. So now I don't count the amount of calories I am eating.   Instead I am counting the calories that I burn.  A colleague and friend of mine introduced me to an "app" that helps track physical activity.  The Endomondo Sports Tracker uses the built-in GPS in your smartphone to track physical activity and then automatically sends t...

Most days it is difficult to allocate my time and attention to all three boys.  As a result some days "my baby" suffers from Third Child Syndrome. Mommy's busy helping Chase learn to lead his 4H calf. Chase and his 4H calf "Caramel" Mommy's busy trying to talk Louis, I mean Karson, out of keeping a boulder for his rock collection.  Then Mommy is busy washing the rock for Karson so he can add it to his collection. A new one for the "rock collection". Where's Arlen?  Uh oh. Third Child Syndrome Symptoms of Third Child Syndrome include 1) Shirt on backwards (did he go to school like that? not sure) 2) Furniture climbing 3) Laser beam eyes 4) Chocolate on face and 5) Christmas socks in April. No need to panic. Symptoms should subside after added attention from Mommy and extra cuddles at bedtime.  Remember, there is always a new day tomorrow and third child syndrome can't be all bad.  It can build personality and character.......

Let me start off by saying that I truly love my husband and three sons.  There is nothing in the world I love more than them but quite frankly they are driving me bonkers.  When I am having a busy day at home or when I come home from work, all I want is to relax in the comforts of my home but when I look around I see a big mess. We have rules for the boys, like hang your coats up, unpack your bookbags, put shoes on the mat, pick up laundry, etc but they never seem to do it.  So I ask them nicely once or twice, they ignore me, and then a switch turns on and I turn into another person.  My friends laugh because I usually start with sternly saying "alright" and then start barking orders.  I realize that yelling is not the answer and this is not "healthy" so if you have any suggestions please let me know. Here is a few examples of my plight..... I've also included what I would be happy with.  As you will see, I am not picky. Or am I? Shoes Coats An...

This post is long but bear with me.  I was on a parenting roller coaster this week; I went from feeling I failed as parent to thinking I was the greatest Mom ever.  As parents we want what is best for our children and we would do almost anything to ensure their happiness.  I've learned we have to be very careful in how we approach certain subjects with our children because the wrong message can be sent quite easily. My eldest son, Chase, is almost 9 years old.  The summer before he started grade one I noticed that his feet looked different than other kids his age.  Chase frequently complained of sore legs and always seemed to lag behind his friends walking or running.  Family members chalked up the sore legs to "growing pains" but with further research I decided there was something not quite right about the look of my son's feet.  Take a look for yourself. After seeking medical advice it was decided that his feet over-pronated and this could be cor...

Okay, so I started a blog.  Why?  Not sure.  I can only say that part of me feels lost in the chaos of life and this seems like a great way to organize thoughts and possibly rediscover myself. I am a self-proclaimed polymath.  No, I don't think I am a genius.  My definition of a polymath is someone that has knowledge or skills in a bunch of different areas.  My mind is always curious to learn new things and master new skills.  This constant drive for personal growth has weirdly enough caused me to lose sight of some aspects of my life that were once very important to me. A simple example is that I used to love to draw and would spend hours of time with my nose stuck in a sketching book.  Drawing was once relaxing and inspiring to me so why haven't I done it in years?  Who knows?  I bet everyone has a "drawing" example  and to be honest probably everyone's simple answer for not doing it anymore would be well "life is busy". ...