This weekend we had a birthday celebration for Mom and Dad. Their birthdays are less than two weeks apart, and this was Dad's 80th... so we thought we'd better do something special.

Emma helped me hang up balloons and other colorful decorations, to make things festive.

Leila helped me take down the balloons (maybe a little sooner than I would have liked), and distribute them around the house.

Since I had to cook lots of food for our gathering, I decided to have fun with it and go "exotic". We had an interesting assortment of dishes from countries like Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Of course, that was followed by birthday cake and ice cream!

Jonathan joined us for lunch but had to leave early, for work. Here he is with my sister Laurie.

After the meal, Mom and Dad opened presents. A highlight was John and Laurie's gift to Dad.

Laurie wanted to get Dad something special for his 80th. So she called the Chamber of Commerce in Ladysmith, to see if they had any interesting old photos of Dad's family.

They didn't, but the elderly lady she spoke to told her that they did have a few available copies of a nice leather-bound book called "The History of Rusk County". She asked Laurie what the family name was and, when told, responded knowingly "Yes, of course-- the Bragg family."

While on the phone with Laurie, she looked up "Bragg" in the book she'd mentioned. There was a section on Dad's family. Amazingly, it included a photo of Dad's parents, and had been written by none other than Dad's mother... my Grandma Bragg!

Laurie told the lady that she definitely wanted a copy of the book (there were only six left). The lady promised to mail it to her that day (even before receiving any money from Laurie) so she'd get it in time for the party. To send it so soon, she shipped it at her own expense, telling Laurie, "I'll let you know what the postage is and you can send me a check later."

Laurie wasn't sure whether or not Dad was aware of the book. So after she and John gave it to him, she asked. Dad was completely unaware that the book existed. He was surprised, excited, and-- as you can imagine-- touched. Here was a history of his family recorded for posterity in a beautiful published book-- and in his own mother's words.

It's truly a wonderful thing.

I gave Mom and Dad a couple of drawings I made (unfortunately there's a bit of a glare on the glass in this photo, so you can't see them very well here). The drawings are of Mom and Dad's most recent grandchildren, Leila and Stephen.

I also gave Mom a shadow box full of miniatures, meant to tell a story about her. The box includes a sewing area, a hutch full of glass collectibles, and pictures of things she enjoys-- like horses and Elvis. But my favorite element is a tiny version of the portrait they have in their living room... it shows a young, Madonna-like Mom holding me when I was a newborn baby.


I'll close with a couple of cute photos of the girls-- at left, having a tea party... and below, Leila reading a book.

Happy Birthday, Mom and Dad!!

Did everyone enjoy their Valentine's Day as much as Leila did?

Here she is "working on" the marshmallow lollipop Daddy gave her. It took at least five minutes for her to finish it, but she loved every bite.

The kids had Friday off from school. Michael and Emma spent most of the day in their pajamas, lounging around the house.

Jon joined the family late Saturday night. He's still working in Iowa, and they've been working six days a week since January. So he's getting pretty tired. But he still manages to make it home to us at least one day on the weekends.

Below, Leila and Emma show off a page of hearts they drew with crayons.

Jon's "day off" was spent working around the house and at the neighbor's farm. Johnne had hay delivered, and Jon used his Bobcat to help stack the large round bales.

There was some excitement during one of the hay deliveries. The truck hauling the hay had


trouble making it up the slippery hill, and the trailer tipped over... spilling it's load of hay onto the road by our house.

But Jon saved the day! He's very good with his Bobcat, and in just a few minutes had the road cleared. He even used his Bobcat to lift the trailer up out of the ditch, and with a nudge got the truck and trailer started back up the hill.

He stacked the hay into a big pile at the top of the hill; I think their were five trailer loads in all, during the course of the day. Besides feeding Johnne's cows, the hay will provide food and bedding for our horse, two cows and chickens.

Cuz we're farmers, ya know!

At right, Emma demonstrates the size of the round bales, by hamming it up for my camera.


While at the farm, Emma showed me what she calls a "Kids' Paradise"... a shed with an attic full of smaller, square bales (that she and the other neighborhood kids climb up like steps).

At her insistence I climbed up the hay bales and sat down beside her. I know they look pretty tippy in the photo at left, but I made it up and down okay.

It was quiet and warm up there. You could see a couple of curious cows through a window nearby. I immediately thought: a good thinking spot.

And of course I was reminded of childhood visits to my aunt and uncle's farm in Ladysmith. It was always a special treat to go up into their barn's loft and climb on the hay bales. There was a rope to swing on, and sometimes there was even a litter of kittens to pet and fuss over.

We visited Macy. She has a thick, shaggy winter coat now, and seems to be enjoying her new spot nearer the cows. She has her own shed and is separated from the cows by a fence, but manages to interact with them a little... especially the calves, who are more prone to outbursts of energy and a little frolicking.

Some of the icicles along our roof's eaves are about five feet long. They're really something.

I took this picture of the snow piled up on our back deck and patio furniture... before our most recent snowfall (an additional four inches). A very snowy winter this year!

Well, to close... a shot of Jon snuggling with his littlest girls in the "big bed." As you can see, he did manage to get a little bit of rest in this weekend (poor guy).

We love him and appreciate how hard he works for all of us.

Happy Valentine's!

Taming of the Shrew: Colfax-Style

Mind if I dream about spring for awhile?

Let's imagine islands of retreating snow... puddles everywhere. Buds in the trees and lawns tinged green. Robins.

Let's imagine stepping outside... and realizing that there's no need for a coat.

Nice fantasy, huh? Of course, in reality it's still only February. We're weeks away from March-- and according to Jon, March is the snowiest month of the year. So spring is still just theory--an expectation.

But... it will come. And so I've started thinking about our next garden.

We didn't have a garden, our first spring in Colfax. The first spring was spent learning about what was already here. We knew that the yard was landscaped with flower beds, but we weren't sure how many beds there were, where they were located or even what was planted in them.

So each time the snow melted back enough to reveal a planting-- and each time the bed's shoots transformed into a specific flower-- it was a surprise. I really appreciated the effort of the people who'd lived here before us. So many thoughtfully planted things.

Last year (our second spring in Colfax) we decided to make the place more of our own.

The biggest project, of course, was digging and planting the vegetable garden. We made a few mistakes (the rows were WAY too close together), but overall it was a big success. Most of what we planted made it to harvest.

This year we're going to expand the garden and make adjustments, according to what we learned last year-- like adding more corn (the corn I froze last year was SO good... but it didn't last very long).

Another "project" in development is our little Leila. She'll be two in April, and is becoming more independent (and doing something new) almost every day.

She talks a lot. She says things like "please" and "thank you," but also "NO!" and "don't!" She eats with a spoon and drinks with a cup... but she still likes her "ba". (Though now that she says "thank you" so nicely when I give her the bottle, I'm wondering if maybe it's time for just cup).

Lately she's been spending a lot of time drawing. A favorite topic these days is circles. Emma taught her to do a circle once (she beamed under Emma's praise). Now Leila fills whole pages with circles.

But... back to the theme of "discovery". Not all of our discoveries here in Colfax have been pleasant ones.

Yesterday morning, while reaching down for the cat's dish, I was surprised by a small mouse-like creature scuttling away from the dish.

As I watched, the (shrew?) retreated to the laundry room, but stayed within my sight. I was able to get a good long look at it. It was definitely not a mouse. It's ears were small, it's nose was long, and if it had eyes they were extremely small-- it didn't look like it even had eyes. It's fur was quite dark-- almost black.

What to do? Killing it was out of the question. I'm willing to set mousetraps and that sort of thing, but I have a real problem with squashing bugs, let alone little animals.

It occurred to me to go get our cat. I figured the thing would be gone by the time I got back, but what else was I going to do? I called the cat downstairs and picked her up. The shrew was still there. I placed the cat directly in front of it.

Well. You can see at right what our cat's reaction to the shrew was. Complete indifference! Not only did she not kill it... she didn't even chase it. She hardly seemed to mind that it was drinking her water, though she was A LITTLE PERTURBED that I'd called her downstairs without first filling her dish.

New flash, Cuddles: if there's a rodent in your cat dish, consider yourself FED.

So... bemusement. My very next thought was "I should take a picture of this-!"

I made a second trip upstairs, returned to a still-not-hiding-shrew, and took a couple of pictures. Then I decided to bring out the big guns: Coco.

Coco, our Jack Russell terrier, is usually not allowed downstairs. But since the shrew incident, that policy is changing. Coco loves to chase small animals, and has killed at least one mouse-- more than I can say for Cuddles.

So it was that I carried a confused Coco down the basement steps. The shrew must have known he was in for it. By the time I got Coco downstairs, the shrew was gone.

But. Our story does not end there.

When the kids came home from school, I told them all about my crazy run-in with the shrew... (and Kitty's "F minus" in killer instinct). They were amused. I remarked to Michael, "Well, at least we know that if we were shrunk down to mouse-size, the cat would probably not try to eat us." I could not say the same for Miss Fanny. Sorry, Lulu.

But I digress. Later that same evening... Emma caught the shrew under a cup! It had returned once again to the cat dish.

An excited Michael called me downstairs. I quickly determined how best to avoid MY having any physical contact with the shrew. So I had Emma slide a thin book under the cup, so the shrew could be moved while still under the cup. With lots of encouragement and the promise of a big reward, Emma carried the shrew upstairs. There were several squeals and hair-raising moments when a tail or little paw flashed out from underneath the cup. But eventually we made it to the door.

I had Emma release the shrew outside. It scuttled off. ("Won't it freeze, Mom?" "No. It wants to be free. It'll find a cozy place somewhere else.")

Of course, the next morning when the kids left for school... we were all confronted with the sight of a dead shrew on our porch. You could see little tracks in the snow, where the shrew had made a few sad attempts to burrow away. But its struggles were futile... and the shrew ended up as an unpleasant little popsicle waiting to confront us just outside the door.

So much for my telling the kids we had liberated the little creature from accidental confinement in our home.

Ironically, while the shrew was homeless and cast out into the cold (by evil me), I was fashioning a mouse-size paradise just a few feet away-- in my art room.

I'm re-doing a shadow box that I'd made a few years ago for my mother. It's filled with miniatures.

I've made a couple of these for special people in the past. The idea is to try and fill the box with miniatures that represent the recipient's interests.

I won't show the full box because Mom hasn't seen it yet. But I can't resist giving you a partial peek inside.

Notice the little photos framed on the wall. Look familiar?

Michael Staying Busy

Here's Michael and his team taking it easy between games. The Colfax 5th graders had a basketball tournament in River Falls this weekend.

Jon was home, so he was able to take Michael to the games while Emma and I stayed home with Leila. This year the tournaments start at nine in the morning and end at six... WAY too long to expect Leila to behave. She is so active right now. Really keeps me running (were the other kids as challenging?!).

Colfax almost didn't have a fifth grade team this year. Only five fifth grade boys signed up for basketball. They were able to put a team together, though, by recruiting a 4th grader and a couple of 6th graders.

The good part is that each individual boy gets a lot of game time. Michael's getting a healthy work out and learning some new skills. It's nice to watch his confidence grow.

Michael had an academic challenge earlier this week.

He'd asked me to sign him up for a knowledge contest in Menomonie, where kids from surrounding schools competed in math and spelling.

Michael did very well in the contest. He placed 1st in math and 2nd in spelling. So later this month I'll take him to the next round of testing in Plover, WI.

Sunday afternoon we visited Jon's parents in Cornell. Grandma Jane gave Leila this wonderful
(big!) Raggedy Ann doll that she made.

The kids are so lucky to have two sets of grandparents to enjoy them and give them so many wonderful handcrafted presents. Very lucky kids.

Since it's almost Valentine's Day, I'll close with a picture of our little sweetheart... Coco.

XOXOXOXOXOXO (woof)