250 Miles Stronger…

Like many avid football players and fans, my husband looks forward to the fall because of the ensuing college football season.  Last fall, his eyes were opened to a new sport as our oldest daughter was introduced to running.  A Cross Country course is a bit different from the football fields and 200 meter dashes that Matt was famous for during his athletic tenure, but watching our daughter over the past year has made him a believer.

Matt, his senior year in high school…

I have always loved Cross Country.  There is just something about taking on the challenge of a running course with nothing but a stop watch, a pair of shoes, and your pride that makes me grin.  While I have transitioned away from competitive athletics during my adult years, I still periodically search for that “runner’s high” on the roads that surround our farm.

I don’t run as fast anymore, but I still enjoy the journey…

Nothing in my decade long search for athletic excellence prepared me for the absolute joy of watching my daughter in her own athletic journey.  It is fascinating to watch her learn to set goals, work toward them, and gain confidence as they are achieved.

Last fall was the beginning of a beautiful thing…I look forward to the years ahead!

This summer her coach challenged her to run 200 miles.  The lure of the “200 mile club” sparked her competitive nature, and she came home and announced that she was going to do it.   I helped her to develop weekly goals for the summer, and then turned her loose to see what she could accomplish.

The medal last fall that taught her that hard work led to success, and the coach that helped her to learn…

I spent the summer watching her gain confidence and pride with every run that she took.  She and her loyal four legged running partner got up early each morning and ran in the relative coolness at dawn.  While she certainly gained physical strength that will be greatly beneficial as she competes this fall, in reality she gained so much more than that…

The runner and her loyal sidekick…

At the end of the summer, armed with 250 miles and a smile, she is a proud member of the elusive “200 mile club”.  She wore her shirt to the first day of 7th grade and talks excitedly about the plaque that she earned the right to have her name printed on.  She comes home from practice talking about how it is important to always “work hard and finish strong”, and I find myself blinking back the tears as my heart swells with pride.

A special shirt on a very special young lady…

I have no idea what physical accomplishments this cross country season will bring—she has new goals for the season which include breaking a 5:45 mile and winning at least one race.  As her mom and her biggest fan, I know that regardless of how fast she runs and how many medals she brings home that the life lessons that she picks up along the cross country course are invaluable.

I would like to send a huge thank you to Coaches Dustin and Alisa Favinger for inspiring my daughter to search for greatness in all that she does.

Go Haymakers!

Harnessing The Power Of Our Youth…

Over the past decade, I have coached hundreds (perhaps thousands…) of children through local youth sports teams.  Whether it is on the soccer field, the track, the t-ball diamond, or in the swimming pool it is easy to tell the children who are expected to tenaciously work hard and problem solve at home.

As I coach them, I not only teach them to be good swimmers---more importantly I teach them to work hard and challenge themselves.

I studied psychology in college, and am a firm believer that good work habits and problem solving skills need to be ingrained in children from a very early age.  Learning to work hard and finish with pride gives them confidence and teaches them to be positive contributors to their team, their community, and their country.

My coach used to tell me "Pain is temporary, Pride is forever"...I tell her the same thing. It is how we push ourselves to work through challenges that creates excellence.

Although it is a natural human tendency to want to smother our children and complete tasks for them, it is so important to not give into that tendency, and rather instead to empower them to complete tasks on their own.  There are times, as a parent, when I have to let go.  I have to believe in my girls and allow them to work through a task even when it challenges them.  Challenges teach tenacity—they inspire confidence—and they reinforce the importance of digging deep to be able to finish strong.

I often ask them how they should end a race---they instantly answer "STRONG!".

My oldest daughter, Ashley Grace, is blessed with an incredible verbal ability—she has the vocabulary of a college student and expresses herself well both when publicly speaking and writing.  She is a 12 year old walking dictionary…

This is her favorite place, and her favorite pastime...

She is not a natural problem solver.  If something is broken or if anything needs to be done that requires mechanized equipment, she calls her younger sister Megan to do it.  Megan is not a walking dictionary, but she is an incredibly resourceful problem solver…

My "problem solving" cowgirl would rather ride her horse or exercise cattle than read a book...Caring for animals teaches her personal responsibility and a commitment to excellence.

Last weekend our lawn mower was broken.  Matt was in the middle of planting alfalfa, so I knew that our mower would not get fixed before the grass was tall enough to hide my youngest daughter Karyn (Matt is the mechanical problem solver in our marriage—can you tell which of us each of the girls take after?!).  Matt’s parents have a mower similar to ours, so we borrowed it for the weekend.

After the job was finished...

I gave the task of mowing the grass to Ashley Grace.  I took a few minutes to show her how to operate the mower and then headed off to get Karyn ready for her soccer game.  Ashley Grace was not keen on the idea of mowing and, consequently, did not pay much attention when I was showing her how to run it.  It took her a long time to mow our large lawn, and before she was finished she had christened the mower with a new name: the hell wagon.

The newly mowed grass looks beautiful, but the lesson that my daughter learned was far more valuable...

Perhaps the lawn would have gotten mowed faster if I had done it for her…Perhaps she would have exerted less frustration and fewer tears if I had done it for her…Perhaps she would have had a more enjoyable afternoon reading a book.  None of those were the point.  The point was that I gave her the instruction and tools that she needed to complete the task—I expected her to complete the task—She learned by completing the task.

Did I mention that I also harvested the power of my youth to plant part of the vegetable garden last weekend?

Whether I am parenting my own children or coaching someone else’s, I believe that it is my job to empower the next generation to strive for greatness.  In order to harness the power of our youth, I must first empower them to believe in themselves and want to excel.

The Complexities of Nature…

I have fond memories of riding on the top of my Dad’s hunting rig keeping a watch out for his bird dogs as they looked for quail.  I was always content to just be outside looking for animals and enjoying the landscape.  It was peaceful, quiet, and soothing to my soul—a sharp contrast to the city where we spent most of our time.

My brother and I next to the hunting rig with one of my dad's dogs and the quail she found...

It has been decades since I did that with any frequency… By the time that I was in Junior High School, swimming workouts and competitions dominated my life and kept me from weekends out at the hunting camp; but those early years with my family hunting on cattle ranches in South Florida gave me a glimpse of what I wanted my life to be like.  The quiet solitude that I found in the rural Lake Okeechobee area opened my eyes to the complexities of nature and gently steered me to the life that I live today.

My children take for granted the quiet solitude of rural life, and have learned early to respect the awesomeness of nature.  They watch the challenges that their daddy and I face everyday farming and caring for livestock amidst the irreconcilable force of Mother Nature.  Our life revolves around animals which both fascinates and frustrates them (depending on the day!).

The landscape of "The Mara" in Kenya---really not that different than the grasslands in Nebraska...

When Matt’s parents suggested a family trip abroad, the idea of a safari appealed to us because of our fascination with animals. However, it was not until I stood up for the first time in the safari jeep that I felt the sense of déjà vu taking me back to my childhood memories of riding on the top of the hunting rig.  I remembered trying so hard to spot animals and keep track of the dogs…I remembered the rush of pleasure when my dad would tell me what a great “look out” I was…I remembered the quiet beauty of the grass lands and the marshy swamps…

Megan, on the "look out" for animals...

As we spent our days riding around in the jeeps on safari, I smiled watching my middle daughter, Megan, look for animals with the same tenacity and fascination that I had as a child.  Her expression of awe and pleasure as she took in both the animals and the landscape warmed my heart and reminded me so much of both myself and my dad.  As the saying goes, the apple does not fall very far from the tree.

They come from different worlds...

My oldest daughter, Ashley Grace, brought home memories full of facts on the animals and the culture of Kenya.  She is a twelve year old walking encyclopedia with a keen ability to remember facts and details, and soaked it all up like a sponge.  I am fully expecting for her to periodically surprise us with random facts from Kenya for many years to come!  I am also trying to get her to write some poetry about the trip, and hope that she will accommodate us and put some up on Ashley Grace’s Corner soon.

It looks quite a bit different than our house...No electricity, no running water, a dirt floor, and it houses eight people in a room smaller than my kitchen...

My youngest daughter, Karyn (age 7), had perhaps the biggest epiphanies on the trip.  The afternoon after we visited a tribal “homestead”, she looked at me and said: “Mama, I learned something today.  Not everyone here has everything that they need.”  As a parent, I cannot think of a better lesson.

She got a little bit braver after the initial shock wore off and she was no longer sitting in the seat directly below the cheetah...

About two days after this, a cheetah jumped up on the roll bar on the jeep that she and Megan were riding in.  Karyn and Megan were riding in the back seat (right below where the cheetah jumped up), and Karyn amazed everyone with her ability to move with ROCKET SPEED to the front of the jeep!  Megan had just remarked early that morning that she really wanted to see a cheetah—After the cheetah jumped on their jeep, Karyn told Megan that getting THAT close to a cheetah “really was not necessary”.

Up close and personal...

Although Karyn remembered with clarity, sometimes it was challenging for the rest of us to recollect that the animals were wild and untamed.  The guide told us that the first thing that the animals learn when they are young is who their mom is.  The second thing is what a jeep looks like.  They view the jeep as a “cage”, and as long as we stayed inside the jeep it was just a natural part of their environment.

Am I going to make it?

The same cheetah that jumped up on Karyn and Megan’s jeep also jumped up onto the jeep that Matt and Ashley Grace and I were riding in.  As awesome as it was to see it that close up, it was incredibly disconcerting every time that the big cat looked down into the jeep at us.  I have to admit that it even made me a little bit nervous.  Interestingly, as you can see from this picture, Ashley Grace (my cat lover) was without fear and completely enamored by it.

Aglow with wonder...with an unrestrained wild cheetah close enough to reach out and touch...

Although all three of my daughters created their own independent experiences and memories in Kenya, they all brought home a new perspective.  They gained a new appreciation for both nature and for the blessings of living in a country where food, opportunity, and modern technology are aplenty.

The Balancer…

I define success as the ability to maintain balance while moving forward in a positive way.  Complete balance involves physical, mental and emotional components.  Whether you are managing yourself, your family, running a business, or caring for animals; maintaining balance is both an art and a skill.

I mentioned in a previous post that my life is a juggling act, and that I am both a planner and a creature of habit because this helps me to be a more successful juggler (http://feedyardfoodie.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/a-two-legged-creature-of-habit%E2%80%A6/).  Despite my quest for balance and my dedicated attempt to plan and run both my life and my feed yard with a regimen based on HAACP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points), being a mother of three (in addition to being a caregiver to thousands of animals) has also taught me to “go with the flow”.

HACCP is a critical part of BQA. At a basic level, it means "Figure out what can challenge you before you are challenged so that you can deal with the situation effectively and efficiently."

Although both Matt and I had to work off and on all weekend (me at the feed yard and Matt at the alfalfa dehydration plant loading railroad cars with alfalfa dehy pellets and corn destined for the west coast), we had plans to spend time as a family cutting down a Christmas tree, riding horses, and watching college football (in addition to the traditional over-eating that generally occurs Thanksgiving weekend).

"Horse time" with my girls is a very special time for me. Here I am "ponying" Karyn as she learns to develop good balance and feel in the saddle...

Instead, we spent the weekend at the hospital with our youngest daughter.  Karyn was diagnosed with pneumonia the day before Thanksgiving and we kept her at home on oral antibiotics until Friday when it became apparent that it was going to take more intensive care for her to get better.

After the blood work and IV were put in, but before the need for extra oxygen...It's hard work to "cowgirl up" when you are sick...

My life is consumed by the desire to keep my kids and my animals healthy…It is sobering when I fail…

I believe in the proactive power of:

1. A Balanced Diet
2. Being well rested with adequate sleep.
3. Maintaining up to date vaccinations.
4. Having time to play and learn.
5. Being active and getting sufficient exercise.

 Sometimes, however, even the highest dedication to a good proactive health plan is not successful at keeping illness at bay…

 Sometimes the best laid plans change and challenges occur—that is life…It is how we deal with those challenges that define us as individuals…

So, instead of Christmas trees and relaxing horse rides, we got: IV antibiotics, breathing treatments, additional oxygen, and worries about our sick little girl.  All of this on top of reading bunks (the process of determining how much each bovine will be feed for the day) and making sure that the cattle were fed on schedule (they are creatures of habit just like I am and expect to be fed at the same time every day).  A special thanks to my crew for filling in for me as much as they could so that I could spend most of the weekend at the hospital.

I am looking forward to getting my littlest cowgirl back to good health!

Challenges allow for learning and the development of personal strength.  If we are never thrown off balance then we never learn how to obtain it.  Unfortunately, my seven year old had a hard time believing that being stuck with a needle, an IV, and enduring little plastic pokey things sticking up her nose to increase her oxygen levels would make her a better and stronger person (all of these on top of a fever, cough, nausea, and a rash)…But, I know that learning to deal with crisis and being tough enough to do what it takes to improve is an important  life lesson.   It is my job as a parent to teach her to deal with challenges because no matter how much I would like to be able to solve all of her problems for her, I know that I cannot.

Our children mirror us and our behavior.  They look to us for leadership and guidance.  We fail them when we do not deliver it.  It is so hard to stay strong when your child is lying lethargically on a hospital bed and you want to move mountains to make her better, yet really all you can do is help her professional caregivers and pray that God will make her better.  Although Karyn does not really understand why she has to endure all of the medical procedures that go along with fighting a pneumonia infection, my support and quiet strength show her how important it is for her to be tough and to cooperate with the hospital staff.  We had a couple of bouts of tears over the blood work and the IV, but she “cowgirled up” and rose to the occasion.  She is a fighter and gets better each day.  She also is learning to balance herself when faced with adversity, and that is a lesson that she will carry with her long after the pneumonia infection is gone.

Although my little cowgirl is improving, she is still a  sick little girl.  Please pray for her speedy recovery—we are hoping to have her home from the hospital soon.

Life Lessons: One stick at a time…

I believe that our youth is the future of our country, and that our prosperity is intrinsically linked to them.  For that reason, I am very involved in coaching youth sports in our local community.  I believe that participating in sports builds strength of character in addition to muscle strength.  I coach soccer, swimming, track, and t ball and I love every minute of it.

Taking a break near the main pile...

The strength of character that I learned participating in sports as a child and young adult has helped me tremendously as I have adapted to a life on a farm caring for thousands of food animals.  I hope that my children will develop that same personal responsibility and desire to give their best effort every day in everything that they do.  Because this is a huge priority for me, I not only have my children involved in sports and community activities, but also actively engaged in the work on our farm.

We had a series of bad storms come through our area over the past couple of weeks, and these storms blew down quite a few trees and limbs down at our grass

Karyn, age 6, "doing her part"...

pasture.  We do not have any cattle down on the grass pasture right now (see the posts from last week about “the gather”), but we plan to “hay” two of the pastures that were not grazed yet this spring in order to bale feed for the winter months.  “Haying” the pastures means that we will mow down the grass and then, after it has dried for a couple of days, bale the grass.

In order to “mow” the grass, all of the tree limbs that blew down into the pasture have to be moved out of the way.  This is a perfect job for my kids!  So, I loaded them up (with plenty of grumbling) and we headed down to the pasture in the pickup.  When we first began, there was a bit of bickering about who got to drive the pickup and who had to pick up limbs and sticks.  I quietly set out moving the largest limbs and let the girls figure it out themselves.

I was pleasantly surprised that it did not take much time or coaxing on my part to get the girls started working.  They soon were not only doing their “fair share” of the work, but were also working together as a team to move the big branches that they could not lift single- handedly.  We ended up clearing out branches and limbs from about four miles of fence line, and it took close to three hours of work to get it done.  A nearby storm brought high winds and a little bit of rain as we were finishing up the job, and I was proud of the way that the girls kept working until the job was finished despite the bad weather.

All cleared off and ready to "hay"...

The best part of the afternoon was the fact that the girls followed my example and took it upon themselves to do their part.  The grumbling that I heard on the way down to the pasture was replaced by camaraderie and teamwork as they figured out a way to accomplish the goal.  As we drove home, everyone was tired but I could tell that they were proud of what they had accomplished.

I was proud of the fact that my girls not only worked hard, but also worked together using problem solving skills in order to successfully accomplish the task.  I do this every day as I work to care for my animals and raise safe and healthy beef.

Posing in the "cattle chute", the structure that the cattle walk up to get on the truck to be transported back to the feed yard.

Whether it is on a track or on a farm, the lessons that we teach our kids are vitally important.  I believe that it is my job to teach my kids to “do their part” and develop a good work ethic.  I am confident that my girls will be successful wherever their dreams take them because the “life lessons” that they learn on our farm give them the skills that they need in order to be successful—one stick at a time…