Prairie Peace

 When we are low God gives us a glimpse of beautiful moments.

    I was up early gathering water samples. I stopped the quad by a slough and was hit by how much sound there was. Birds chirping back and forth, the cows peacefully grazing, the sound of the water, and the beauty of the fog rising from it. There was noise all around but it is the most peaceful place I have been in a while! It does my heart good to be in the country. I have dark moments where I feel like I can't handle what has been placed in front of me but moments like this... I know God brought me right here to see all this when I needed it most! 

    I wrote those words back in July of 2018. In the last 4 years of married life, we have lived in two small towns and on three farmyards. I find that farms are always more peaceful. No car doors or squealing tires. Just the birds, gophers, coyotes, cows, and the humming of farm equipment in the distance. 

    

    However, the yard in the pictures above was the quietest of all and I feel so blessed to have spent over a year on that property. There was no other farm for miles and all you heard was nature. I am very happy where we live now and this new house fits our family needs much better. However, I do find myself thinking fondly of those early sunrises and late sunsets, standing and listening to God's creation chattering all around.

God Made The Sunset

    The wind was strong all day which makes spraying the crops difficult. It wastes liquid and we would never want to damage another crop by letting it drift on the wind. There was no plan to spray and I was secretly hoping Carrington would be home a little early so I could shower. My momma friends know how it is hehe. But, when the wind dies down suddenly you go go go. 

    Talk about perfect timing. Rhett had been in bed for over an hour but woke up just as I got the spraying update. Since he was up I decided it would be supper in the field. I snapped this as we headed for home. God's paint strokes were stunning tonight!

Stay safe to all the farmers pulling these long hours.

You Are Unique

    I love the beautiful depth of colour in our eggs. 

No two are the same. 

   They are different eggs from different chickens who ate different combinations of feed. They are complex and simple all at the same time. 

    It reminds me that God makes us all different on purpose! Some of us are lighter and some are darker. Some are tall and others short. Each of us is unique and important. 

Today God taught me a lesson with the help of Chickens...

and they don't even know it! 

   

9 Months On The Outside

I am a day late with my 9-month update and it is all mommy’s fault. She took me to the beach for the first time and totally tuckered me out. However, she assured me you would all still want to hear how this last month has gone.

I have really been working on my smile! You all look so funny with your wide-tooth grins that I tried to give it a go. I did it a lot at the beginning of the month but a few days ago suddenly stopped. Mom is a bit sad because she called it the horsy face and she said it was so cute it made everyone chuckle when they saw it. *pic at the bottom

We have been doing lots around the yard and I love being outside. I love pulling up the grass to eat it and I just recently realized that even though it is prickly it is safe to crawl on so now mommy can’t leave me in one spot to do her gardening. We have gone gopher and raccoon hunting, outdoor swimming, deck building, cow tagging, baby animal pickups, and I even got to ride on the lawnmower with my own hearing protection!

My favourite indoor chores are moping or sweeping the floor, checking to see if the fridge is still cold inside, sneakily spreading my toys around and playing ‘Trip up Mom’, as well as emptying the bottom cupboards of everything, pots and pans, cutting boards and my all-time favourite… the basket of Tupperware lids.

I have always enjoyed water but have started really expressing it. I like swimming at the neighbour's house in their cattle trough pool and handle cold water better then mom does! Bath time is a blast and I do a good job of splashing away and seeing how much of mom I can soak. I had a good time at the beach but the big open water and the extra cold temperature made me a little nervous. I did spend some time in a little pool they made for me but the real fun was scrunching my hands in the sand and seeing how fast I could shovel it into my mouth before someone stopped me. That really got me giggling.

I pull myself up to standing on anything that can handle my weight… and of course, some things that can’t however, I am pretty good at bouncing back after a fall. I still prefer crawling to trying to walk but I know that will come soon. I didn’t cut any teeth this month!! Surprise surprise. I’m still sitting at 6 teeth but was working hard at it and am frustrated the next two are popping up and down which is new for me. I have been in size 4 diapers since 7 months old but I am trying the new pull-on style! I move around so much and my legs are so hefty that they can get sores from the other ones. Mom wanted me to mention it because she thinks there may be other moms that could really benefit from knowing pull-on styles start as small as size 4.

Some of the things I am working on are; swallowing food. I make a great food chopper but would rather let it go into my bib then actually swallow it, respecting gravity when it comes to the stairs. I like sitting right on the very top step and worrying mommy. I think I like going up but only when I am really confident and daddy is on the other side to encourage me. I say Ma-ma really well and mom gets excited until she realizes I am just talking to my toy police car hehe.

So that is all for now. I will see you in another month. I am looking forward to seeing more and more people in person as the world continues to change. My best-behaved days are when I out of the house… mommy really gets boring after a while.

See ya later!

Chicken Run

Late evening joy ride!

Rhett has a funny way of going to sleep. He often goes down and after only an hour wakes again. Well, tonight he got to stay up and go on a chicken run. The extended family already has a few chickens that lay eggs, called layers, but we would like to get a few more to better supply the three families connected with the farm. Carrington and I also wanted to get some cute Americana chicks that will one day lay blue eggs. Right now we do not have any animals on our yard and I have really missed seeing them every day. I am hoping to put the chicks on our yard soon.

Oh my son, you make my heart so happy when I see you look at your Daddy. You already look up to him so much and have him wrapped around your little finger. You want to be everywhere he is, doing whatever he is doing, eating whatever he is eating... and oh the laughs you two already share.

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Side Note: For those who may have been concerned.... this is Carrington's small Ranger truck (not Rhett's normal vehicle) with no proper back seat for a car-seat. There are no airbags on the passenger side and his car-seat was fully strapped in for the 10 miles or so of grid road driving.

But I Wanted A Bath!

I roll over in bed and blink my eyes, fumbling for my glasses on the nightstand.

6:05am

    As my brain clears I hear you babbling to yourself in the crib. I guess this means we are up for the day. Once you start telling stories there is no going back to sleep for you my son. I wonder which parent you take after in that regard. My husband of few words or.... well you get the picture.

    I say a quick prayer of thanksgiving as you did pretty good last night. Still feed a little over every 2h but I count it a win as I got to sleep in my bed.... the whole night... without co-sleeping in the spare room to keep you sleeping. That is a celebration moment already in my day!

    'Good morning my son. It is good to see you' I whisper as I walk into his room. He greats me with a wide toothy grin, a 'hummhuh', and promptly chomps down on the crib rail. He is getting so big. My mom's heart swells with pride.

    I grab the nursing pillow and scoop him out of bed. 'You must be hungry my little man' I softly say as I pat him on the back...

Squish...

Ummmm...

Oh boy!

    My thoughts of getting a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon completely ready before Daddy wakes up goes out the window. This my friends is no small leak. I had just planted my hand in a full back blowout situation... this calls for a bath. 

    While his splashes soaked me and his shouts of glee filled the bathroom I reflected on the previous night. We had been out at the farm later than expected and though I had told him he would get a bath once home I had to go back on my word and skip the bath so he wouldn't become overtired and entirely refuse to sleep. My son may only be 8 months old but often it feels as if he truly knows what I am talking about.... especially when it comes to bath time and anything relating to Daddy. I am almost positive that due to not getting a bath last night he became a bit upset and made CERTAIN he would get one this morning.

My son, my son...
    You are now squeaky clean. I am so soaked you may say I had a bath as well. Breakfast is cooking and Dad is comically smiling at both of us. What will the day hold? No one but God knows... and I am sure He is smiling and chuckling about it too.

Makings of a farm boy?

Carrington had to leave by 6 and Rhett woke at 5:45, just in time to say good-bye. I am starting to seriously wonder if this boy somehow knows when his daddy is leaving, or coming home for that matter.

Now it is 6:30am and he has been sitting at this window listening to the tractor on the other side of the bushes for almost 10 minutes straight. He doesn't often sit still but when it involves a tractor or other loud machinery he makes an exception.

It isn't daddy's tractor otherwise he could go for a ride. Our landlord has been spraying the organic land and baby Rhett has loved the hustle and bustle of it all the last few days. The tractor comes and goes and he almost always crawls to the window to listen in. I hope you never lose your sense of curiosity and discovery!

Schulz Family Work Project

Other people may be hunkering down inside their houses blasting the A/C and that is fantastic! Way to go. I wish we had A/C too haha.

What were we doing? Well, we were adding more to the deck in 29+ degree weather... on the south side of the house from 8:30 a.m. till 3:45 pm.

We are:

Totally bushed

Nice and sweaty

Definitely a bit redder

What a great time working with my parents. My dad is a teacher and often made time during the summer months to do a large work project with us. I helped make a wooden hot tub, treehouse, and double car garage to name a few. Working with them this summer has brought back so many fond memories and I love that now I get to include my own son in work projects. He is the overseer... the wood inspector, extension cord taster, funny noisemaker.

My mom has done an amazing job looking after the cleaning, meals, and of course the little escape artist while I get to use the power tools with my dad. It has given me a mini holiday from the constant career that being a mom is. I can't wait to finish off the decking and add a sturdy fence style railing. Rhett loves being outside and I look forward to releasing him on the deck and adding an additional 'room' for him to explore. I can just picture us sitting out there in the evening waiting for Carrington to come home or hosting church family BBQ meals (post-COVID). I know all the hard work and love going into this deck will be repaid in much food, laughter, and quality time fellowshipping with my biological and spiritual families.

Day's End

The sights and sounds of my country life...

The end of another long hot day. The chores are done. The cows are moved. The laundry is folded, ready to be used. The lunch box is bare soon to be filled. The dust washes off those tired hands.

'Why do you stay?' We hear the people say. Well, most days it isn't for the pay!

This is our job. This is our calling.

This is our life.

Let's Surprise the Cows

    If you didn't know yet that farming is full of surprises... well today I am telling you it is! Part of it is lack of good communication and part of it is the unpredictability of animals and the weather. If it rains and stops seeding, haying, or harvest you move on to the next job on the list. If something brakes you do another job while someone goes for parts. Or if the weather is mild and the animals are in good humor you go tagging hahaha

    At breakfast, Carrington surprised me by mentioning that they wanted to do some tagging today. That is when we run the cow and the calves through our squeeze chute to put ear tags in the baby calves and castrate the bull-calves so they grow up as steers. The ear tags help keep track of which farmer/rancher owns that particular animal and also helps us identify them if one needs to be separated from the herd because they are hurt or sick.

    It can be done with two people, my husband, and his father, but often my mother-in-law helps load the taggers and mark the details in our book. Today she was busy off-farm and that meant I got to step up and help... if I could get myself and the little one ready and to the farm in time.

    

    I always leave the main diaper bag packed as well as another farm bag and a city bag. I take two bags with me most places and that may seem like overload but I have found with being a new mom being prepared makes for better days. Each bag has different essentials... extra diapers, toys and CD songs for the long trips in the city bag. Extra-extra wipes, mommy's toilet paper, and a mosquito net in the farm bag.

    

    We made it just in time to get the stroller positioned and the tagger loaded before the guys started with the first calf. I would call it a success!

Family Activity - Rhett's perspective on Gopher Hunting

Heidi: Awe, that's so nice! I saw the pictures. Your family went for a picnic and your kid ate an ice-cream. 

..........

Heidi: Oh...uh what did we do?? Well, my son ate dead flies out of the patio door track today. We also went and dispatched some gophers as our family activity.

....…..

Heidi: Yes, he is in his PJ's already... Daddy came home early but that still means after bath time for our family.

He looks serious but that is
because he took his job as a
gopher spotter seriously.
Check out those teething cheeks.

Rhett's perspective...

I don't fully understand what just happened this evening but it was fun for me to watch. I hope it was fun for mommy and daddy too. Like most good farm stories it started with a twinkle in Daddy's eye and mom not wanting to miss out. 

    It was the end of a long workday and mom was trying to get me to sleep. I didn't want to and tried to tell her as much. I don't know why she keeps trying so hard. I needed to wait up for daddy to get home... she knows that... not sure why she thinks I could go to sleep without seeing him. She can be so stubborn when it comes to bedtime. I usually win but I try not to rub it in her face too much. 

    Anyways, Mom said she had all these projects on the go and a few things she wanted help with. When daddy came home he simply said, "I am going out to get those gophers." And just like that, he walked back out the door. As I see it mom had 2 choices; she could be grumpy and complain that he wasn't prioritizing house stuff 0r she could seize the opportunity, ignore her rumbling belly, and go do something she had never done before. 

    I am glad we went out with daddy. We would have missed out on so much fun if she would have been grumbling.

    I had already had a bath but that was fine because I did the spotting/supervising and they did the running around. Mom held the hose and filled the buckets with water. Sometimes she would even walk around with the hose filling/hanging out of a bucket in one hand and push the stroller with the other hand to get us to the next target location.

Daddy showing me how to drive the tractors.

    It wasn't a very smooth ride. I may need to check the shocks on that stroller. Dad has been letting me play with his 1/64 scale tractors and teaching me to look at all our equipment. If he takes care of those little tractors so well from when he was a boy he must take really good care of the big ones on the farm too. I am not allowed to inspect the big equipment yet but I am sure he wouldn't mind if I did some minor repairs on the stroller wheels. So far with most new things my favorite approach is the observe... gentle touch... hard grasp... tongue taste then full-on soaker hose suck and chew. I hear it is a different approach to most inspections that are done but it is working for me. 

    Anyways, back to the gophers. Mom was filling the buckets and dad was whizzing around from hole to hole with his buckets and shovel. And that is saying something because not much gets him running these days haha. I plan to change that and it was good to see what his endurance level was like. I think we can improve upon it just a bit. I may warm him up with a few bathrooms runs. I have been helping my mom get extra exercise by opening the bathroom door and making my way over to suck on the toilet. That always gets her moving hehe

    We worked until I was exhausted from watching and all the remaining gophers had gone to bed. It was a pretty exciting night. Mom thinks she played me out with all this fresh air and excitement. I am really tired and was thinking of going straight to bed. On the other hand, I am always up for a good cuddle and my teeth are hurting. I have decided to see if I can convince her to go to bed with me for a little while. Crying so hard I start hyperventilating and chocking on snot so that I throw up seemed to work well last time. I think I will give that a try and see how it goes. 

Gopher hunting is great fun. 

I hope we do it again as a family real soon. 

Daddy's Lunch and Bedtime Routine

Hey Daddy! Don't forget your lunch. I wish I could come with you. I will stay up till you get home... Mom would prefer if you don't stay out to late.

     Anyone else's dear child head over heels in love with their daddy? I know he is only 8 months old but sometimes I am positive he knows what I mean by 'maybe daddy will be home soon.' Then if the farm holds my husband up, my boy waits and waits and waits.... fending off sleep until he is home. It could be 8 pm, 9 pm or even 10 pm but he waits... and mommy waits too. We both look forward to having our Farmer Man home once again. 

  Then the bedtime ritual starts again. The hugs and kisses, giggles and snorts. Sometimes I can get frustrated with all the energy when I so desperately want to go to bed. But then the Lord taps my shoulder and reminds me that this time is all too short. The last goodnights are said and kisses given. My worn-out man heads for the shower or even just straight to bed. I hold my boy tight, humming a tune, and rock my son to sleep... Praying he doesn't have too much energy and that I can snuggle into bed before too long. 

    Is it the perfect nighttime schedule? Absolutely not! But it is a routine... however crazy, and for now, it works for us.   

Pray for Rain

    The sun is setting with orange and yellow hues. The purple clouds rolling in overhead promising rain. As the lightening scurries across the sky you can see the last few cows slowly making their way towards the herd. A smile crosses my face as I listen to the birds calling to one another.

    My prayer tonight is that the heavens will open and bless this land with the moisture we desperately need. The farmers have prepared their fields in great expectation. Now let it rain down on us!

Picture from 2020

    The text above was written in 2019 but my hopes and prayers are still the same! We need rain so badly. The crops need it, the pastures need it and selfishly my heart yearns to jump in a puddle and smell the freshness rain brings. We have been on the edge of a few showers but have not yet had anything substantial.

Lord, we have prepared the fields and taken the animals out to their pastures. Please send down rain upon this dry and dusty land. Please bring up new life from the dust.

Ummm.... a Blog?

Surprise 1

This is what it looks like when a baby decides to eat chunks out of the toilet paper! 

Surprise 2

    Well, it is finally happening! I have started to record all the funny happenings of my life. I have lost count of how many people say I need to be keeping a journal or write a book one day of all the funny situations I seem to get myself into. 

    So I listened! 

    I don't feel entirely ready for this but I am jumping in with both feet. If you are looking for something to lighten your day while also learning about myself, family, and farming life you are at the right place. I will be using this blog to keep track of the funnier moments of my life with some realness sprinkled on top. As you will find out in many of my stories, I have a very bad memory and this will help me keep track of the happenings of my family so I can read it years from now and reminisce... correctly... and not blame all the shinanigans on my husband.  

    I will also be adding in older posts from the last three years of our married life. You can go to the sidebar and click on a tag that will help you navigate. You can choose from the year of marriage, individuals in the story, farm vs. home, and so on. I love interacting and reading comments so let me know what you think!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy your time here!

8 Months Old

As dad would say, just the facts….

    My name is Rhett Wylder and this month has definitely been a bit… well, Wylder I am 8 months old, have 6 teeth (working on another) and no one knows how heavy I am but I have tons of rolls. I enjoy hard foods that I can sink my teeth into. I am crawling, can stand on my own when holding onto something and have pulled myself up on the edge of the tub and in my crib a few times. I am ready to go go GO!

    Now as mommy would say…. Get ready for a story!

6 Teeth!

Chomp, chomp, chomp...

Hiya! Rhett here. It has been another month since we updated you last. A lot has happened this last month. I cut another two teeth which bring me up to 6 teeth in total. I am still feeding from mom and I try to be careful with my chompers but I do have a bit of an attitude and if I get angry I have been known to bite… I even bit Opa’s shoulder but that was just because it looked tasty at the moment. I tricked mom a few days ago into thinking we were done with the teeth for a little while... She is so gullible. I am back at it and I will likely be cutting another 1 or 2 teeth this month. That means I would be 8 months with 8 teeth which is awesome! I will be able to have eating competitions with daddy real soon. I enjoy solid foods that I can sink my teeth into, like carrots, pickles, eggs, hunks of meat, and the like. Mushy food is not for me and I will put up a stubborn fight. 

I dumped over Daddy's water jug and pulled the spout open.
Then I proceeded to suck the water off the floor and soak my shirt in the process.

    I am also crawling about 75% of the time. I tried the swimmers crawl first and even though I am still faster at that, I have found the two hands and two knees work really well. Occasionally I try to bear crawl, but those bears have me beat and I just land on my face. I still use the swimmer's crawl when mommy catches me in the bathroom and I am trying to make a speedy getaway.

Oooo what is this? Inspect it, taste it... Yup this is a good one.
I will add this tub plug to my toy collection. 

    By the way, the bathroom is my favorite room. I love licking the bottom..... of the toilet! I have no idea why she won’t let me do that.

    We were going to do the photos this morning but yesterday I had waited all day to see daddy and I wasn't going to give in, even if it was past 9pm. My daddy is so crazy! Mom says he riles me up but between you and me I am the one riling him up! Since all of us were wound up we decided to take the 8-month photo in my favorite room with my favorite toys. Mom has all these colourful noise-making toys that are supposed to be grand… but who is she kidding?! These are my favorites... A basting brush, spatula, cutting board, metal spoon, empty cream bottle, and the oven mitt that fell on the floor. Once it hits the floor it is on my turf and I have dibs on it.

    My other favorite things are grating my teeth on the oven door handle, the register, or the freezer grate. I especially like the sound it makes…. similar to fingernails on a chalkboard. Mom says it sends shivers up her back… I think that is a good thing, right? 

Watching all the activity in the store parking lot.

    Well, I could go on and on. I do love to talk, when I am around new people I am not shy but I am very observant. I don’t like to smile right away and instead give them my poker face. But after I have assessed the situation, I usually warm right up and if you are lucky you may get to hear one of my stories. I like to compete with mommy and yell the stories at the top of my lungs. I sound angry, but those are just the dramatic parts of the story. 

    

Well, see you in a month!

Finished visiting Daddy at the farm which always puts me in a good mood.

You Tagged How Many Calves?

My Snugglesaures and I are off to help Carrington tag up our calves!

    

    His tooth is far enough up I can officially say he has cut his 6th tooth AND did a little crawling on Monday and Tuesday without his belly on the ground so I figured he is ready for working with the big boys. 

    I ended up having one of 'those' days. A day of unexpected changes, learning, disappointment, and thankfulness. All the emotions rolled into one! 

   

    I have always enjoyed helping with the animals and learning all I can about their behaviors and care. Today was no different. Tagging and castrating calves are some of the things I helped with every year since I married Carrington and moved to the farm. Even last year while pregnant I traveled to the farm to help with tagging the bison. 

    However, this year everything is different with a child along... as it should be. My son is my priority. In this stage of life, of being a new mom, I have accepted that caring for Rhett is my job and I love that. The thing is,  some days my heart and my mind are still playing catch up with one another. My mind wants to help on the farm. Some days it is for my own selfish desire of wanting a physical, measurable purpose. A job with a start and an end. Something I can look back on at day's end and say 'that was done well. That will help with X or Y down the road'. Such as building a fence. Thankfully my heart speaks up and I realize that some days my new role is not to help with the crop or the animals but rather to keep our son safe, happy, and (once he starts walking) out of the way of the big people's work so that they can be productive with their work. Of course, I will work to include my son in the goings-on of the farm but it will look different for myself from years past. 

    Today I helped tag 3 calves out of 46.

    I felt accomplished when I remembered everything Rhett might need. I had packed a lot of toys and took the time to put strings on them. I took one of his tethers and put a carabiner on it so that I could quickly change his toys for him when he got bored. I remembered the bug screen and the wind cover for the stroller, his sweater, and his blanket. 

    I arrived just as the work was to get started. We tagged up 2 calves and then Carrington and his dad took a small load to a nearby pasture. Something I had not calculated into my time. That was a miscommunication on my part. They returned and we tagged up another calf. Then they took a second small load to the same pasture. By this time I had used up all our time. Rhett was hungry and tired. We had to return home as he was too distracted to feed and sleep but too exhausted to enjoy himself. 

    I promised myself that as soon as his nap was over we would return and I could step back into helping them tag up. Rhett slept longer than expected and as we pulled onto the yard for the second time that day they were tagging up the last calf. Haha what timing! 


    I was initially quite disappointed. I had wanted so badly to help with the work. Thankfully God blessed me with a wonderful husband. He greeted me and could see my disappointment. He hugged me tight and said I had done a good job today. He is a man of few words but I understood what he was getting at. I had done a good job overall, tagging, or taking care of our son, it was all good and helpful.  


    
    Why do I share all of this? I want to be real with myself and with others. Writing helps me to slow down and reflect on life and what I am learning. It helps me to focus on the good and not the bad. Plus with how poor my memory is, if I tell myself it was a good day tagging, and write it down, in a week's time I will likely forget all the emotions other then the fact that it was a good day of tagging... no matter how many I did. Today was a success and that is all I need to remember. 
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. edit: I should also mention it was not all on my shoulders. My mother-in-law was there to help with Rhett and took him on a walk when the wind was so intense. Family can be a wonderful thing. I am also learning to relinquish control. It is not all dependent on me all the time. 

Rhett's First RV Visit

    This RV holds so many memories. I haven't lived here full time since Dec. of 2018. However, I did visit a dozen times or so last year when Carrington was helping on the farm and now Rhett gets to finally see it! Today we are cleaning it up for Carrington to move into for the pre-seeding and seeding season while we get our house in Caron packed up and ready to move.

I am thankful I do not have to live here with a baby. I love this place and I am sure we could have made something work but with him almost crawling, all the little cracks for fingers to find, and handwashing baby clothes ontop of farm clothes... that might have been my limit. I will stick to visiting for now and who knows how our first little house on wheels will fit into our future.

Thank you, God, for always providing us with a house to live in. Whether it was traditional or had wheels it was always what fit our needs in that season. You have led us to yet another great house and I look forward to seeing how it will become our home.