Deputy Schroder... As Promised!

Pictures, as promised! He wore his uniform to work yesterday, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures ;) Just for you!

Just look at how tall he is!

Another shot ;)

A Close Up!

He got certified to carry a firearm yesterday. He shot 50 rounds and hit the target 47 times, in the dark! They didn't get to the target range until 4:30 and shot some practice rounds, so by the time he did the test it was fairly dusky. He passed with flying colors. As I knew he would. It sounds like he is having a really fun time so far.

The boys and I are having a blast riding our bikes all over town. Well I am at least. The boys are party poopers right now and complain about how much their legs hurt all the time. Sheesh... The farthest we ride is a 1/2 mile from the house. You'd think I'm making them ride up hill both ways in a snow storm!

Well I'm off to the post office to try to get a phone book. Have a great day!

The New House!!

Okay you guys! Here ya go! Pictures of the new house. We LOVE it. Even Hubby said he thinks he likes it more than the house we built =) It's just so cute and with the upstairs it gets the boys toys out of the living room. They have the bed room for sleeping and then the "Great Room" for their toys. It's AWESOME!

On to the pictures!

The front of the house, with my Dad standing on the porch.

The back of the house, with Angus sniffing around in the grass.

The sidewalk out to the garage. We get one stall in the garage and then a little storage alcove. There is an apartment above the garage that they rent out as well.

A shot of the living room from the front door. You can see Hubby in the kitchen...

Here is the living room shot from the kitchen.

A shot of the hallway. On the left is the main bathroom, the next door is the office, then a closet and around the corner to the right is our bedroom.

Our bedroom. Sorry about the mess! We are still putting everything together...

A shot up the stairs from the front door. Big B is standing at the top, with his paper airplane. (The ONLY thing they can throw down the stairs...)

A shot of the Boy's bedroom, taken before we set up the beds.

A shot of the "Great Room". The boys have all their toys, books and desks in this room. It makes it nicer when we tuck them in at night. I don't step on legos stuck in the carpet! Yea!

This is the laundry room. There is a sink and a toilet in here! It's awesome and sooo big.

So that's it! The new place.

Ennis is such a friendly town. When we went to the bank yesterday to open an account, the bank lady was so excited to meet us, she went and got other people to introduce us to. It was pretty fun listening to Hubby talk about being a Deputy Sheriff and see people's reactions to that. They are very happy and supportive of him. The propane ladies were hysterical. They were very chatty and funny. We had a great time getting our propane!

Today we want to go up to the school and meet the boy's teachers. I was thinking the boys wouldn't start school until Monday, but it may be sooner. They are pretty wild and starting school may help settle them in faster. Little L is very nervous and worried about school, but I think he'll like it. The bank lady's son is in his class and she was so welcoming and sweet. She told him that she would talk with her son about helping Little L around on his first day. I think that made him feel a little better.

Hopefully we'll get our phone/internet figured out today. I'm sitting at the little local Coffee Shop writing this (they don't have a plug that accommodates my computer plug in so I'm running off my battery) having internet at home would be nice =) It's been really busy here this morning!

Thanks for all your kind words and for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers!! We really appreciate you guys!

News

Okay, so here's what's up!

I rented a cute little house in the town of Ennis on Tuesday. When we went around and looked at houses before, we couldn't get into this one. So I waited to make my choice until I saw it and it's perfect! It's three years old and VERY clean. It's got two bedrooms downstairs, a full bathroom and then a toilet in the HUGE laundry room. Then upstairs there is a little bedroom (there isn't a closet so technically it's not considered a bedroom) and a "great" room. The boys will be up there.

The boys were thrilled to hear that the house has stairs... they have a thing about stairs, I don't know why, but they LOVE them.

Hubby had some orientation on Tuesday, filled out important paper work and was issued a badge, a car and a hand gun! He says it's starting to feel real.

And ladies!!! Boy oh boy does Hubby look Handsome in his uniform!! I can't wait to post some pictures for you!! Whew, I'm feeling light headed ;)

We stayed the night in Ennis this time. I rented a cute little cabin along the river, it was only $60 and we could have Angus there! Neither one of us could sleep with all the excitement and talking about what we need to do. They would like Hubby over there on Wednesday Nov. 4th. His schedule will be Wed - Sat, 4 10 hour days and then have Sun, Mon, and Tues off.

Oh this is all so exciting!! We will be living in town and can WALK EVERYWHERE! I can walk the boys to school and then walk wherever I need to go in town. The grocery store is a little farther away, but Hubby said I can get a bike and then I'll really be mobile. (I'm so tired of having to drive everywhere. I plan to mostly just park the car and be active... I'm also planning on losing A LOT of weight!!)

I have a friend in Sheridan (that's about 45 minutes from Ennis) that is going to let me take Destino and Annabelle to her house for the winter. Meantime I'll look for a place to board them closer to Ennis (hopefully within biking distance.)

That's what's happening in our neck of the woods!! I'll post pictures when we get there...

Deputy Schroder

Oh My Gosh!! My Hubby is now known as "Deputy" Schroder!!!! We are so excited!!

We will be moving to Ennis Montana SOON... VERY SOON....

Oh My Gosh!!! We are literally jumping for joy over here!!!

To Whom It May Concern:

It is a hard thing, to lose one's home. It is something that we have been going through for almost a year now.

Last October we knew that we were in for a hard winter. Work was scarce and not paying well. Some people would have my Husband complete a job and then refuse to pay or pay just enough to cover material cost. We knew we were in trouble. I called you (Chase Bank, the loan sharks for Fanny Mae) and let you know that we were going to be missing a payment. I asked if there was anything we could do, send a partial payment, lower our interest rate, you said "NO." December rolled around and it was either Christmas and food or house payment. We have two small kids so no Christmas wasn't an option. (Our kids get only one Christmas present from us a year and it's not a big one. We do fill their stockings however, so I suppose you could call us irresponsible.)

I called you in January and asked again if we could send a partial payment? You answered, "NO." I was informed that if we only sent a partial payment the house could still go up for Foreclosure. So I chose to save the partial payment that I had. I called you again for the next 3 months and every time I asked for help, I was told "NO."

Finally after we had missed our 5th payment a very nice Gentleman named Todd helped us out. He informed us that President Obama was "bailing" out home owners just as he had so graciously bailed out the Big Buisnesses and we may qualify for some Home Owners Assistance Plans. We started the arduous paper work phase. I filled out so many forms in the next month, hopeful that we would qualify for some kind of assistance. But we did not. Either we didn't make enough money, or we made too much money (in the last year) or our house wasn't worth enought, or whatever. For whatever reason we were told that we didn't qualify for ANY assistance.

I would like to add here that we had put the house up on the market that October, when we saw how difficult it was going to be. But with the economy so bad, what once was an asset for our family turned into a prison. What once would have been a boon for our bank account turned into a sucking hole. We were drowning and there was no life boat in sight.

My Husband managed to get some odd jobs over the winter and into the spring. They kept us eating and clothes on the boys. We managed to put some money into savings for the time when we could start making house payments again.

Then Finally we qualified for a Home Assistance Program. Finally. You lowered our payment $200. I called and said that we couldn't manage that payment for more than a few months. You informed me that we only had to pay it for 3 months, then you would re-do our trial and lower the payment even more.

After the 3 months was up, and our savings was GONE, you informed me that we hadn't sent in some paperwork that was needed to complete the next trial period. It's been 2 months and I have recieved about 4 letters telling the same thing. I send in paperwork after paperwork and keep getting a letter saying that you don't have the proper paperwork and will I please send in "A, B and C so we can help you save your home from forclosure." I have sent in the paperwork 4 times. I am starting to get concerned that you guys aren't very organized.

Really, I think that you are pulling my leg until you decide to put the house into foreclosure and then all that savings money that we paid you, well, I should have just flushed it down the toilet.

And our Esteemed President and all his "Bail Out Plans"... I have no nice words. Some say that it's only the bad stories that we hear and that those are blown out of porportion. Well, this is my bad story, you are hearing it, and it's not blown out of porportion.

My Husbands credit was Good and mine was Excellent before this happened. Now because of this it's been hard for my Husband to get a job. Because we have had some hard times, and there is no assistance for people like us, we struggle to get a job. This is all so very frustrating.

And there is no one to listen. Or care. It feels very much like we don't have a say in anything our Government is doing. They want to bail out the Big Boys (That's YOU Fanny Mae) and the American people stand up and say NO! and they go ahead and do it anyway. Then, low and behold, in the news we see those very same "poor executives" who couldn't buy toilet paper out sunning themselves on beaches, having lavish parties and still living in their huge mansions. And still raking in the big bucks. America the free my @$$. It's the little guy that is paying for all that. It's the little guy who always pays. It's the little guy who pays for the people on welfare, but then when they get into a bind there is no welfare for them. No help for them.

So we are sitting here in a house that is going to go into forecloser, still getting letters "Your Modification is at Risk - Urgent Response Needed!" You need

• Income Documentation
• Proof I occupy my home as primary residence
• Signed IRS Form 4506-T
• Signed Hardship Affidavit

All things I have sent to you 4 times in the last month.

Well we will no longer be living in our home. We are going were the work is. My Husband is making a career change and we are leaving our life and home to start fresh somewhere new. So you can have the house, the farm land. Good luck with it. And Thanks For Everything.

Sincerely,

Mindy Schroder

A Huge Thank You....

To our Auntie Teresa!! She sent us a box filled with Halloween treats, costumes, face paint, Applebee's Gift cards, and.... drum roll please..... $500!!! HOLY MOLY!! How totally wonderful is that?? Talk about Heaven sent. Just in our time of need.

(We have been going through some really tough times here on the farm. It's been touch and go as far as eating and paying the bills. We haven't been able to make a house payment for some time now. The bank is not really interested in working with us, so we are looking at losing the farm. That is something that we have accepted and we are ready to move on.

It looks like we are going to be moving soon...Hubby has been trying to get on with the Police Department, somewhere, anywhere, and it looks like we are close! We are very happy about this and are looking forward to starting a new life soon, so please keep us in your prayers and happy thoughts!)

Anyway, our Auntie Teresa knew about our troubles and felt compelled to help us out in our time of need. We are so thankful to her and can not say it enough!

Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You!

Now onto the pictures of the boys in their new costumes =) Enjoy!!

Little L in his Monster Costume.

Big B in his Skeleton Monster Costume.

Nice Teeth!

I LOVE this one. Bumble Bee? Or Little L? Hard to say!

Big B? Or Batman??

All my Boys! Don't they look Great!?

Another Big Thank You to Auntie Teresa!! XOXOXOXOX

Big B

Seriously, if I posted everything that happens to that boy you would NOT believe me! Every Day. Every Day. Something. Happens. To. Him.

"Did you wet the bed tonight?" I ask Little L (it's an ongoing problem, but he is getting way better.)

"No." he answers tiredly.

"But Big B pooped his pants."

What!? He said it so matter of factly. In that sleepy gravely morning voice.

"What? No. You're kidding right?" I say.

"Big B did you poop your pants?"

"Yep." Big B answers, matter of factly.

"I Hatchooed and pooped at the same time."


Seriously. This really happened.

Watch This!

This is adorable!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS93Q4jQAOo

I'm going to have to learn how to put the actual video up here....

Soakin' up the sun...

Montana Style!

The World

I snapped these today.

I thought it would ease your mind to know that Angus has the world in his paws.

And that he has the world on his mind...

XOXOX!

Seriously!!

Okay, Big B swallowed a magnate, night before last. We have been waiting for it to 'show itself'. This is the conversation I was just in...

"I pooped!" Big B says. (by the way he is 9!! What in the heck is he doing putting a magnet in his mouth!?)

"Oh great!" I say. "Hubby! Big B pooped!" (sharing the news)

"What?" Hubby says. Yea right...

"It's diarrhea." Big B says.

"It's diarrhea!" I call to Hubby.

Ok, so he is the one that had this great idea to put on a rubber glove and squeeze the poop between his fingers to try to find the magnet. I figure, he's the one with the idea, he should be the one to DO it.

"What?" Hubby says again. "I'm writing."

"I'm writing too." I say.

A HUGE sigh comes from the office and Hubby drags himself past me to the bathroom.

"I can't BELIEVE you swallowed a magnet!" Hubby says to Big B.

"I'm going to my happy place, I'm NOT touching poop right now. Uggggggg, fhewwwt, shhhhhh, mmmmmmm, hrumpf." Hubby groans.

"Found the magnet! We found the magnet!" Many boy voices call from the bathroom.

THANK GOD! (especially Thank God that I didn't have to put my hand in the poop to find the slippery little devil...)

Thankfully!

Thankfully it seems that everything is going to be alright! The hay looks remarkably good. It's green and drying well. It even smells good! Whew!

Xena is also doing well. She is very sore and doesn't move around much, but at least she is still alive. Her wound is rather yucky, but she keeps it tucked away under her wing, so I don't imagine it's getting much air. In my opinion that is a good and bad thing. If it was out in the air, the flies would be difficult to manage. As it is they are always hovering near her. She keeps a sharp eye out and when one lands, SNAP! She eats it.

Here is she all snuggly in the little hen house. We are trying to decide how to get the big hen house over to the circle drive. It's heavy and won't be easy to move, but I think we MUST. Right now the other three hens roost on the roof of the little hen house. It's not big enough for them all to fit inside. I have it penned off just for Xena right now anyway. I don't want any chickies in there bossing her around. Mostly they are very kind to her, but they do encourage her to move a lot. In my opinion she needs rest. And lots of it!

Thanks for all your kind thoughts!

Sigh...

It's been quite a day here on the farm.

This morning I stepped out to start my chores (which aren't hard anymore... I only have the one horse now!). My Mom called me from her yard and started over to my side of the farm. She didn't look happy. She wasn't. She had found pieces and parts of one of my chickens (her's were all still in her chicken coop) around her farm yard. We both headed off to see what we could find. She had seen one of my red chickens wounded, hiding in some grass under some stored irrigation pipe. We couldn't find her. We COULD find black feathers, some with pieces of chicken still attached. Not good.

We looked and looked and finally found the black chicken. She was mostly eaten and most definitely DEAD. Sigh... It was my Henrietta. She has been a favorite for the boys. She was always so friendly.

The missing red chicken was Xena, Warrior Princes. We looked and looked but couldn't find her.

I put the rest of my chickens in the fenced middle part of our driveway, with the ducks and two other chickies. Then we went to town. We were there for a couple of hours.

Then I went out to do my evening chores (again, they aren't hard... only one horse!) and looked around again for Xena. I have a small hay stack over beside Destino's pen, so I don't have to haul hay around when I feed him. It's covered with a tarp. I started remembering how Xena liked startle me, when I reached under there to get hay for Destino , she would pop out at me! ACK!

I walked around and around the little stack and noticed that one side, at the back, was moving around. Hmmmm.... I undid the front of the tarp and flipped it back and THERE SHE WAS!! Sitting under there all warm and dark trying to take care of herself. I picked her up (she has a LARGE wound under her wing and won't walk on that leg) and took her over to where I had put the other chickens today. I put her in the little house Hubby built for the ducks, which they never use. She sat in there for a few minutes, then hopped out on one foot and got a drink. When I fed the other chickens on the other side of the enclosure, she watched me carefully. I brought her food and she snarfed it right up.

Hubby and I talked about what to do with her injury... should we leave her outside (this was Hubbys vote... no chickens in the house), clean the wound, banadage it? Oh what to do!

I came inside and did a search and found a whole forum for people with back yard chickens! Cool! BackYardChickens Forum They had lots of helpful info.

I went outside to see what kind of wound treatments I have for the horses. On my way over to the horse trailer and shed, BIG HUGE RAINDROPS started falling... (Our hay was cut yesterday... it is a VERY BAD THING to have your freshly cut hay rained on... just great. Bring it on!)

I made it to my shed and the torrential rain storm hit. I rummaged around and found some iodine, looked out the shed door and saw Xena huddled up against the fence of the enclosure.

Sigh... great... one of the things the forum said was, "Keep them in a dark, warm place to help with the shock."

The middle of a rain storm in September is not a good place to be. Sooooo, I RAN across the farm yard and the driveway, reached over the fence and grabbed Xena, she was shivering and her eyes were closed, and headed for the house. Hubby and the boys were in the doorway... "Are you getting wet?" Ha ha...

I had water running down my face and dripping from my hair. My clothes were stuck to my body. I ran in, put Xena in the bathroom, and headed for the other bathroom, where I toweled off and changed my clothes... Wet??

So much for Hubby's vote of no chickens in the house! Xena is wrapped in a towel huddling in the warm, dark bathroom as I type. We are preparing to clean and medicate her wounds. Poor girlie! Good thoughts her way would be appreciated! She lays me an egg every day. Not always where I want her to, but oh well. She has always been my favorite chickie!



And what about the hay??? Only time will tell! He is suppose to bale it on Friday... Fingers crossed that it will dry out enough!

Farming

Farming is hard work. It's hard work all the time. If you have animals, it's hard work in the winter too. You have to break ice in their water tanks, haul hay around, make sure they are healthy and well. In the summer time you have to water the hay, then have it cut, or cut it yourself, if you have the equipment. (We've watched our neighbor this summer and last. His equipment breaks down more than it runs!) You have to worry about weeds, storms, GRASSHOPPERS! Sigh...

But it is a pretty life! Life on a farm is full of baby animals, chickens following you around, horses talking to you when you go outside... (or if you have a pony in the back yard, if the door is left open, the pony comes in to see you!) Fun!

Alfalfa comes in such pretty colors. And it smells good too. It makes for a pretty field...

Hubby "farming" =) Though he comes from a farming family... he doesn't love it LOL

The Pony in the back yard!

A book review... Just for Fun!

I was directed to a new-to-me author last weekend and LOVE her! Her name is Francine Rivers. I started with her book, "Redeeming Love" and just finished up "Scarlet Thread". These two books were refreshing in the way that she handles love scenes and describes her female characters. They really do ring true to life. At least for me! I would highly recommend this author. I can't wait to get my hands on more of her books =)

A summer day in Montana

We went out and explored yesterday. There is a lot to see fairly close to home! We drove down south of Darby up to Painted Rocks Lake and then went on to Sula and drove around. Then we met family at the Rocky Knob and had dinner! It was a fun day! I thought I would share it in picurtes, of course =)

We found little tiny frog babies... they were everywhere!

Angus was forced to pose...



Then the boys were forced to pose....

I don't think they minded much =)

I wanted a serious shot too... that was harder!

Walking around I found a BUNCH of butterflies. They were fluttering everywhere and pretty shy. It was hard to get a good shot of them.

Then I found some dragonflies. It must be mating season. There were male and female dragonflies EVERYWHERE!
Then we found where the little tiny frogs came from! There was a muddy flat area that was home to hundreds of tadpoles.

When we drove over to Sula, there were Big Horn Sheep right along the road! This one came walking right up to my car window. So Cool...

They were licking and licking the dirt. I imagine they were getting some salt and minerals from it.

I think this one looks like she's smiling!


Captured at the restaurant...
This is my brother in law and his little baby. I LOVE this picture!

Gardening

It's a farm life! I love looking out the window and seeing this....

Big B was out picking lettuce for our dinner and getting a little help from our "lawn mower" =)

Happy Birthday Little L!!

Actually Little L's birthday was on the 7th of August. I'm just now getting around to posting about it! Bad Mama!!

He had a wonderful birthday. His Uncle Bob, my little brother, came up from Bozeman to celebrate this birthday with us. We were all so excited! Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperative and it POURED rain most of the day. So, we spent the day at Currents, an indoor water park in Missoula. Lucky us!

Then in the evening we had a little family get together with cake and ice cream. Hubby is usually in charge of the birthday cakes. He like to make them and decorate them himself. This year's takes the award for the most imaginative!! I've never seen anything like it =) I was calling it "The Heap". I think it really resembles one!

"The Heap"
It's actually supposed to be an asteroid that is being mined by the lego people. Can you see it??

Little L getting into his presents. He could hardly stand the waiting... all.... day..... long.....

I think he got everything he wanted! That is so important when you have your Golden Birthday... 7 Years old on the 7th!!

Happy Birthday Little L!! We love you =)