Where to invest, Maple Syrup & Celebrating Accomplishments

Life on the Ranch

Last week was a busy week with High School rodeo, getting ready for Hudson's ACR, having the vet come out and then the wind! Hope all of you fared well when it came to that wind. We had some shingles blow off our roof, the garage and the shed so Kohen has been busy fixing those.

Plus, the old water tank that we use as a small animal shelter blew into the Hutterites field and Hudson had to go retrieve it. Papa's quad has certainly come in handy. Hudson noticed that the seeds were blown to the edge of the field when he was in the bush getting the blue tank. Plus, down the road from us yet again the Hutterites field blew into their neighbors to the west of them... it looks like snow drifts however it's sand drifts.

Today Hudson gets to move on to level 4 for cadets! We are super excited for him because there are so many more things he will get to do once he gets to level 4. As the years have passed, he has increased his skills and after going to camp last summer has certainly improved on his drill.

Yard cleanup has begun. I am grateful the garbage's were not spread all over the place in the wind! I see dandelions have poked up and I will let them stay out for a week or two before I even attempt to cut the grass. More than likely, we will run a couple horses over the yard before I mow. They give the ground great fertilizer, plus it feeds them for a couple days and saves me fuel for the mower.

Last year I prepared the east ditch to be grazed this year so the horses will keep that eaten down pretty good, plus this year Hudson went down the north ditch, and it is now ready for horses to graze there too. I'm guessing we will have about 3-5 extra acres to graze. This will help. There are only certain horses we will put in the ditch, and we always put a tub of water out there for them as well. We don't have as much traffic as we did about 6 years about, which is nice, so having them in the ditch will reduce the chances of a grass fire as they keep it fresh AND feed them PLUS save me $$ on fuel cutting them because it looks way better.

Kohen shared a chatGPT prompt for the photo of Justin. I took a photo of him when I was talking to him on facetime when he was at work... he stuck a comb in his hair... it turned out pretty good. There's Kyrna on the floor of the bookstore picking out some poetry books to read. Last year for school one of the classes was poetry. I had wanted her to read lots of poetry since she started to play guitar so she could possibly one day write a song to express herself... and wouldn't you know it... Just the other day we got to hear a couple verses of a song she wrote.

Then there's Xia. She's generally pretty chill. Lazes about during the day and keeps all the critters away all night. We are very grateful to have her looking after the place and definitely earns her keep. If a dog could have wages, she sure would be paid top price for the value she brings to our little ranch.

SPOTLIGHT

Sweet Ontario Pure Maple Syrup... Justin bought it from a guy from his work who has a maple syrup farm. $45/2L. Part of our way of supporting local! Above you will see Kyrna and Grandma... I'm obviously behind the camera... and we are putting together Kyrna's new muck bucket trailer thingy. It will certainly help out at all these rodeos and horse events.

After last weekend for reined cow Kyrna is sitting 1 point away from tying for first place. She needs to do well the next two runs in Virden in hopes to head to Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska. From what I understand she has to place in the top 4 to head to nationals and the top 6 to head to Canadian High School Rodeo Finals. Regardless of how this works out when it comes to going to finals, we are super proud of Kyrna to be dedicated and putting in all this effort, taking constructive criticism and using it for her next rodeo. Considering this is the career path she wants to be involved in all of the investment is worth it.

CHICKS WILL BE GOING OUT IN CHICKEN TRACTORS NEXT WEEK!!

RECOMMENDATION

INVEST IN YOUR KIDS/GRANDKIDS!!! However, it is you can! It is truly one of the best ROI's you can ask for in so many ways (more than likely not financially for you- for them)

What does investing in your kids/grandkids look like and it's not always about $$$$:

1. Sit and truly listen to them without multitasking

2. Teach them practical life skills beside you (cooking, fixing things, caring for animals, gardening)

3. Read books together consistently

4. Speak belief into their character and abilities

5. Let them work alongside you instead of always entertaining them

6. Create family rhythms and traditions they can rely on

7. Teach emotional regulation by modeling it yourself

8. Encourage curiosity instead of shaming mistakes

9. Give them responsibility that makes them feel needed and capable

10. Spend one-on-one time with each child doing something they love (you don't have to be good at it)

Children often remember:

• How safe they felt

• Whether they were wanted

• Whether they mattered

• and whether they were trusted to grow.

It is most definitely ok if they make mistakes, in fact that's how they learn. When they make mistakes be kind and maybe tell them a story about how you made that same mistake and what you did to not make the mistake again... the different thoughts or movements you had which changed the outcome.

99% of the time my children are not too worried when they make a mistake, and as they get older, they have realized how to go about correcting the mistake without coaching. When I have made mistakes even as a parent ... my children have then been EASIER on me, for the most part, on how they let me know I have made a mistake. Even as parents and grandparents we make mistakes and that's ok, just speak up and say it, "oh I made a mistake when I said ......... or did/didn't do ........, I'm sorry let's do it over.... this is what I would rather have said/done" This way they realize it's okay to acknowledge the mistakes and correct them.

Acknowledgements: Last High School Rodeo I would like to thank Grandma M. & Susan for their help, I'm grateful to have people in my life who want to be there! I'm grateful to all of the people who have come and plan to come watch Kyrna at the rodeo we are so happy you are part of our lives! An extra thank you to Dr. Grayson Ross (Innovative Vet Services) for taking time on a holiday to come do a call we had to reschedule, your dedication to your clients is appreciated!