I can’t control the President, but there are 3 things I can control.

Over the past six months I feel like all I ever see on social media is people complaining about politics, who did or didn’t win, why the US is going to go down the toilet and how politicians should run the county.  I am no politician, I vote religiously and have an opinion on politics, but I choose to keep my opinions to myself, not because I don’t care, but because I think once the election is over a lot of it is out of my hands.  I know that I can reach out to my legislators, but lets be real, I don’t have time for that.  There are a few things that are in my control however, and they have a much greater impact on both my and others’ lives.

1- I am in full control of my attitude.  I can’t control how my senators, congressmen or legislators vote on a daily basis, but I can control how I react to situations.  I may have a customer who flies off the handle because their feed bill is too high.  I regularly have calves that are stubborn that don’t want to eat. In fact, I got a black eye last weekend because a calf head bunted me in the eye while I was trying to give her fresh bedding.  I also can’t control when my three year old pees in her bed, followed by a 9 month old ‘talking’ in bed for 45 minutes at 3:00 am.  The only thing I can control in these situations is how I react to them.  I could freak out, lash out or fight back, but I don’t, because I am an adult and hope I am setting a better example than that for my kids. (I have to admit I had a few choice words for the calf though).

2 – I can control how hard I work.  We all have that one co-worker.  You know, the one that you feel like you’re carrying so they get a gravy train job and you’re stuck busting your hinder.  No matter what the task might be, I don’t want to be that person for anyone.  When it comes to my customers, I know my expectations, and do my best to meet them.  As a farmer, I bust my butt to harvest  wholesome food for people to enjoy, even though it’s hard to make ends meet.  As a mom, I struggle to get the laundry and dishes done, but at the end of the day, no one controls how much I get done, or how much I need a break, more that I do.

3 – I control how I manage my time.  I get asked a lot how I do it all.  My response is usually pretty simple.  I only spend time doing things I want to do.  Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t love spending my time scrubbing toilets, scrubbing calf pens or trying to make cows pee to do urine pH’s (yes that is a thing, and no it isn’t fun).  But they are all things that come with the territory of being a mom, farmer and nutritionist, and those things are what I have chosen and love to do.  Do things that ‘fill your cup’ or give you more energy to do the next thing because they are things you love to do.  I’m not a church choir director, preschool board president or dairy farmer because I have to be.  I do all of the things that I do because they make me who I am and are what I love to do.

The next time you read a political post, or are ready to write one, think about if you can control what you’re complaining about or not, and if you can’t, maybe try to spend energy on things that you can.  It is much less exhausting and usually ends with much better results.

Some days I suck at life…

I assume I am not the only one who on occasion feels like they suck at pretty much everything they try to do.  Whether it’s parenting, my job or farming, some days seem like no matter how hard I try, I tend to suck at life.

Kids do not come with a manual, and there is no one right way to raise a child, but some days the little victories are what matters.  A few weeks ago, I ended up doing heifer chores at our other farm after we finished milking cows because Phill was in the field.  By the time I got done milking it was almost 8:30 pm and by the time I got home from taking care of our heifers it was 9:21 pm.  Remember I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old who are usually in bed by 9:00 pm (I know, later bed times than ‘normal’ kids, but we do the best we can).  I was having a ‘I suck at life’ mom moment when I fed my kids peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car on the way to do heifer chores for supper.  They did get baths when we got home (they were filthy) but by the time they were in bed it was almost 10:00 pm.  Another ‘I suck at life’ mom moment.  I can’t help but wonder if I’m scaring my children for life by feeding them PB&J for supper in the car at 9:00 pm instead of serving healthy, balanced meals at 6:00.  As it turns out, I’m human, and I’m just doing the best that I can.  My kids had food in their bellies, they got baths, and since they both are very good nappers (most likely because of the not before 8:00 bed time), they both most likely slept a little longer at the babysitter’s the next afternoon instead of sleeping later in the morning.

Another ‘I suck at life’ mom moment came right around Mother’s Day.  Lucas filled out a ‘all about my mom’ sheet at school and brought it home, and it nearly brought me to tears, and not tears of joy.

In case you can’t read it, not only does he think the only thing I’m good at making is peas and I’m 42 years old (really 30), most of the answers have something to do with me working.  Part of me wanted to cry knowing that thru my 4 year old’s eyes I basically don’t do anything but work, but the other part of me is hoping I’m instilling a good work ethic in him in the process.  I’m not sure which way to take it, but since I’m a really ugly crier, I’m going to bank on the latter and convince myself that I don’t totally ‘suck at life’.

At work I deal with a lot of numbers.  Though the majority of my job is ‘consulting’ the real back bone to all of it is nutrition, which means I balance each diet for well over 40 different nutrients.  If you know my personality at all, you know that focusing on every single detail is not my forte.  I’m more of a ‘big picture’ type person, but when I’m balancing diets I try hard to make sure I don’t overlook something.  That being said, when it comes to details, I still ‘suck at life’.  This morning alone I had to do the same diets over 3 times because I over looked something the first two times I did them.  In the end, they were correct and I know the Diets were balanced the way I wanted them, but from changing forages to editing cow numbers per batch, sometimes, I ‘suck at life’ and end up making more work for myself.

The same goes for me in the barn when taking care of our animals, where attention to details is the difference between life and death and paying bills and not paying bills.  A few weeks ago I had a sick heifer (girl) calf that I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  She wasn’t ever the most aggressive calf, and though she always drank her milk, she wasn’t gaining weight like she should have been.  I had been keeping an eye on her, and I finally decided to treat her for pneumonia.  After treating her for that, she got scours (diarrhea) and started to dehydrate.  I continued to give her medicine, asked a few different people their professional opinion, and made sure she was comfortable.  After 5 days of treatment, my little black heifer calf died.  I really felt like ‘I sucked at life’.  Sometimes in farming, no matter what you do, you don’t end up with the outcome you want.  I don’t think there was anything else I could have done to keep the calf healthy, but having a calf die under you care really sucks.  It turns into a learning experience for our kids, as I have to explain that the calf had to go to heaven because I couldn’t make her better, but those days are some of the hardest on the farm.  I love taking care of animals, but I hate feeling helpless when one is sick that I can’t fix.  I know I did everything I knew how to do, but it still feels like ‘I suck at life’ when something like that happens.

The good part about ‘sucking at life’ is that there is always something to learn from whatever I felt like I sucked at.  I’ve learned that it’s ok to have my kids go to bed late once in a while, as long as they know they’re loved and have all of their needs met.  I know that I am human and will make mistakes, but I will be a better person and nutritionist as long as I learn from my mistakes and continue to pay more attention to details everyday.  I also know that with life comes death, and that’s okay, even if it does mean emotional and financial loss. The next time you think you ‘suck at life’ take a step back and think about what you have learned by not being perfect, and remember, somewhere, someone else is doing the same thing thinking that they ‘suck at life’ too.

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate June Dairy Month

June Dairy Month has been near and dear to my heart my whole life, and this year is no exception.  Here are a few ways I have loved celebrating June Dairy Month, and will continue to do so every year.

10 – Cows on the Concourse: Every year in Madison cows and cow experts cover the square for people to meet and greet, as well as learn about how farmers take care of their cows.  No matter what your knowledge of dairy going into this event, you’re sure to learn something.

9 – 4-H grocery store giveaways: As a kid, 4-H was a very big deal to me.  I can’t wait for my kids to be in 4-H so I can watch them learn and grow from all of the opportunities available to them thru this timeless club.  I always remember our June Dairy Month ice cream giveaway at our local grocery store where we would give free ice cream sandwiches to the customers.  I remember freezing in the produce aisle as we handed them out, but it was a lot of fun, and people seemed to really enjoy the treat.

8 – Natural air freshener: With June comes hay making, and to some, (me included) freshly chopped hay is one of the best smells in the world, right next to a freshly bathed baby and a bakery in the winter (for some reason baked goods smell better to me when it’s below zero outside).  So if you get out to the country during the month of June and a farmer happens to be making hay, take a moment to enjoy one of my favorite simple pleasures in life.

7 – Weber’s Farm Store cones: 4 of my top 10 have to do with ice cream, but I think it’s legit because I believe sharing ice cream brings happiness.  At Weber’s Farm Store in Marshfield, you can get a HUGE soft serve ice cream cone (even the smalls are huge) for less than $2.  The best part is they have a drive thru, and you can even buy their farm bottled milk and an ice cream cone without even getting out of your car.

6 – Nasonville cheese curds: In Wisconsin we take fresh cheese curds for granted because we have easy access to them, but other parts of the country don’t even know what they are.  Nasonville has the best fresh cheese curds, that you can buy still warm and squeaky.  I took them to a birthday party in the Twin Cities with me once, and a couple from Montana was there and had no idea what they even were.

5 – Order ‘with whip’: I enjoy a good espresso drink every now and then, but I rarely order it ‘with whip’ to save calories.  Once during June Dairy Month every year, I order a drink ‘with whip’ just for the fun of it, and because I can.  I see that Starbucks has a few new frappuccinos to try them out on too.

4 – Try a new cheese: Wisconsin is home to over 500 varieties of cheeses, so use June dairy month to branch out and try a new kind, it may just be your new favorite.  A few of my favorite random kinds are Olive Jack and Buffalo Cheese from Nasonville Dairy and Salsa Assiago from Sartori.

3 – Ice cream at he big cow: Cedar Crest Ice Cream is my all time favorite brand of ice cream, no matter what the flavor.  The Cedar Crest store in Manitowoc, WI has a huge cow statue in the front, so it was always a fun place to go get ice cream.  I still love Blue Moon, even if it does turn my mouth blue.

2 – Pine River Dairy cones: Pine River Dairy in Newton, WI has $0.25 ice cream cones, and in the month of June you can get a free ice cream cone with any purchase in the store.  There for, getting two ice cream cones for $0.25 if you want.  I don’t think there was another place we wanted to go more in June as kids, and you can’t beat the cheese spread they sell either.

1 – Dairy Breakfasts: Breakfast on the farm was always a June tradition I loved growing up whether I attended as a breakfast eater, Dairy Princess, 4-H member clearing tables or FFA member parking cars.  It was always a very anticipated day of the summer and even more so this year, because we are hosting the Greenwood Dairy Breakfast on Sunday, June 28th. We are very excited to host and can’t wait to showcase our farm.  All are welcome, we are serving from 7:00-1:00, pancakes, potato pancakes, sausage, applesauce, cheese and ice cream.

Whether you like ice cream, cheese or just want to know more about where your dairy products come from, June is a great time to enjoy dairy products and learn more about the farmers who produce it.  All of the farm families working hard to put dairy on your tables want you to know how much they care about making a wholesome product and for the care of their animals.  Happy June Dairy Month, and don’t forget to #milklife!

Time-management: Why wasn’t this a class in college?

Everyone is busy.  People have jobs and families and hobbies and responsibilities.  There are only 168 hours in a week, and we’re put on this planet to make the most of them.  Lately I have had a few curve balls thrown at my time budget, but proving to myself and others that I can ‘catch’ anything thrown my way has made me think a little bit more about what’s the best way to juggle everything life throws at me.

First of all, I’ve learned to plan ahead.  I’ve always been more of a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ kind of girl, to the extent that Farmer Phill and I left for our honeymoon without a plan other than knowing we eventually wanted to make it to Montana and back.  As my career gets busier, I’ve scheduled my time more religiously and I set time goals for myself.  I’ve also gotten better at judging how much time it actually takes me to drive somewhere, rather than thinking I’m always 15 minutes away from the next farm.

Second, I’ve become a multi-tasking maniac.  If I’m not doing more than one thing at a time, be it folding clothes while singing songs with Lucas or giving baths while I’m waiting for water to boil to make supper, I’m thinking about what I need to do next or ways to become more efficient at what I do.

Third, I’m getting better at not over-committing myself.  I used to be notorious for trying to be two places at once, leaving one place early just to get to another place late.  I’ve become more honest with myself about what my actual physical limitations are, since we do only have 168 hours in a week, no more, no less.

Finally, and most importantly, I’ve learned how to prioritize what I need to do.  Saturdays are usually my day to catch up on my house (even if that just means getting the dishes and laundry done), but last Saturday, Lucas woke up not feeling 100% and asked if I’d cuddle with him on the couch.  I had 100 other things I needed to do; taxes, laundry, dishes, clean the bathroom, order music for choir, etc., but at that moment, watching Frozen while cuddling on the couch with Lucas and Jane was the most important and best use of my time.  I’ll never get those moments back, and they are what keep me going on a daily basis.

Farming is a very demanding job and in turn is very rewarding, but at the end of the day, the best part about it is being able to spend the time you are working, doing so with your family.  I may have a full time job, full time farm, full time husband and full time kids, not to mention other part-time volunteer commitments, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Starting them young

Since my kids are young and we love to read books, I’ve picked five of our favorite farm to fork children’s books to share with you if you have any little people (or old people) who want to learn about where their food comes from.  Shout out to my sister-in-law Michele for giving me the idea for this blog.  🙂

#5 Eating the Alphabet

This book is great for babies as they are being introduced to food and books.  We actually got this book as a gift from the hospital when we had Lucas.  I love the illustrations and variety of foods it introduces.

#4 Lift the Flap Farm

This book is great for kids as they start to get older and has been one of Lucas’s favorite books.  It’s simple enough for him to have memorized some of the pages, so when we lift the flaps, he can finish my sentences!  It does a great job of showing lots of different aspects of agriculture, from equipment, to tools, animals and vegetables.

#3 Growing Vegetable Soup

This is another book by Lois Ehlert that has great illustrations and tells a story of seed to soup.  It’s also in a board book format, which is nice for babies, but the story it tells is great for kids of all ages!

#2 The Jolly Barnyard

This is another book that Lucas has listened to so many times he can now ‘read’ it himself.  I love how it integrates animal noises, what the animals eat and what their jobs are on the farm all in a story that rhymes about Farmer Brown’s birthday.  It makes learning about what the animals on the farm do a little more interesting than just saying ‘cows eat corn, chickens lay eggs’.

#1 Flip Flap Farm

This book has so many flaps in it your children may not know what to do with themselves.  This book explains different seasons around the farm, what a milking parlor is, what baby animals are called and what different crops look like all in a very cutely illustrated fashion.  This may be a little advanced for children under 2, and you may end up with a few less flaps then when you started if they read it on their own.  I may or may not know that from experience. 🙂

No matter what the book, reading to my kids is one of my favorite ways to spend time with them, and it’s very exciting for me to have so many awesome books on the market today that showcase and teach children (and their parents) about agriculture today.  Every generation is farther removed from agriculture than the last, and it is never too early to start teaching kids about where their food comes from.  I hope you and your kids enjoy these books as much as we do at our house!