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Stealing Sunsets

I struggled to hold in a shout, as I stumbled out the door carrying too many things at once. “Please move,” I said politely to our golden retriever, Summer, knowing I shouldn’t yell at her while the toddler’s ears were absorbing my every word and watching my every move. I look up and see a cat sitting in the baby stroller and groan. I cannot stand how rapidly our feral barn cat population has grown. Does anybody need cats? They are FREE!

I ignore the cat and mentally dive through the checklist of everything we would need to go to the field. We were only going to be there for less than an hour, but children require stuff. It’s nearly supper time which means we need snacks and drinks to tie them over, hangry children, especially a hangry one-year-old must be avoided at all costs!

Ok, we have the snacks, drinks, diapers, and wipes. Everybody is dressed, we’ve got coats, and shoes and our hair is up and out of our eyes! Ok next toys. Entertainment for the car will hopefully keep them content while I take photos. Check, check, check, check. Next my camera bag – hopefully things are charged and ready to go. I don’t get the privilege of time to look through my equipment. I run back into the house to grab another forgotten but necessary item. A sigh of relief escapes as I settle into the driver’s east. We made it – to the car. We’re ready to go to the field.

I look at my phone and see a text, “We’re done in the field you can just come to the shop.”

My heart sinks, all that preparing and we can’t even go see tractors and combines in action? I look at the time stamp, it came through twenty minutes ago. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and try not to cry. I haven’t taken a single good photo during harvest yet, and haven’t been to the field at all during the beautiful golden hour. Now I’ve spent the past forty minutes getting my children out the door only to not have a field to go to.

I sit and think. Do I unload the kids, do I go to the shop, do I just go drive around for my own sanity.

I call Mom, “Are the guys harvesting somewhere close?” Crossing my fingers as I wait for her response, “Yes – both combines are going right by our house.” I look up relieved – at last, I can release some of my pent up creativity! To the field we go!

We get to the field, and it’s as beautiful as I remember it. The sun reflecting off of the equipment, the dust glittering in the air, the sights, sounds, and familiarity fills my heart with joy. The one-year-old is happy and she sits in her carseat entertaining herself so I roll down the window. This allows her to watch the action and makes it possible for me to hear her cries should she decide she doesn’t like waiting in the car.

The three-year-old anxiously waits for me to unbuckle her, and prep her camera (of course before my own!). We step carefully over the cornstalks and get into the field. She holds my hand or hugs my leg knowing she needs to stay right by my side because farm equipment is big. We need to stay out of the way. We find a good spot and we start capturing the beauty we watch unfolding in front of us! We wave at some of our favorite farmers – Grandpa, Uncles, Cousins, they’re all here. What they all might consider as another day, I consider a work of art. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I haven’t been to the field all year.

Unfortuantely, the golden hour is also what mothers often call the “witching hour” for their kids. It’s when they need us most! Supper, bath, books, bed. It has been my greatest struggle as a mother and a creative, to lose this crucial time outdoors. But tonight! Tonight, I took it back, and it felt good.

My time was limited, the sun was setting, and my girls would only be transfixed by harvest activity for so long. We captured some beauty that night together, and I’m not sure if I’ll make it back to the field again this harvest. But I remind myself that the season when our children depend on us so strongly is only a season. It will pass, and soon I’ll be sad it’s gone.

Before I know it there won’t be a tiny hand tugging on mine asking for a snack or a refill. A toddler won’t be hugging my leg as the combine turns in the end rows. A baby’s chubby arms won’t reach for me to lift her from her car seat because she can’t get out herself.

God-willing there will be thousands of sunsets in my future, so for now, I sacrifice them for sticky grins and bedtime prayers. But every once in a while, I’m going to get out there and steal a sunset. Just for me.

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Reznicek Farms History Video

This past July my family celebrated our heritage by gathering for a family reunion. My Dad had the idea of putting together a short video demonstrating how drastically farming practices and equipment have changed through the years. What we originally planned as a short 3-5 minute video, became more of a love story for the family farm. We wanted to share what it feels like to be a part of a family farm. The fun, the toys, the work. This video travels through the decades giving each era a moment to shine. Beginning at its inception in the 1930s watch the farm evolve into the modern operation it is today.

This video isn’t perfect, as video is not my expertise, but I’m happy with the turnout! We watched it as a group at our family reunion this past Saturday and there were lots of tears and laughs. The grit and determination of our ancestors do not go unnoticed.

I’m sharing this, because if you are considering putting some time into your family history – farming or not – just do it! You won’t regret it. Here are a few things that helped me persevere and digitize content:

VIDBOX Video Conversion

  • Use this device to connect an old VCR to your computer to digitize old VHS tapes. So easy to use, and worth every penny!

Slide Converter

Scanning

  • Use an actual scanner for old photos if you can! The quality is much better than spending time trying to not get a glare taking a picture of a picture with your phone.

Label – Label – Label

  • Write on the back of photos along the way as you identify what they are. Label VHS tapes, letters, photos, and digital files. Somebody in the future will thank you!
  • I try my best to label all my digital files in the following format: month.day.year_description (my description often includes name, event, action, or location or all four) When I print my photos at Mpix, the digital file name prints on the back of the photo, so if my digital files are named properly the physical copies will be labeled properly as well.
  • Container Store Photo & Craft Storage Carrier This product comes in many shapes and sizes, and is helpful for organizing loose-leaf photos, or ditching albums altogether. I label each individual box within the case to mark the decade and/or category. https://www.containerstore.com/s/iris-16_case-4%22-x-6%22-photo-and-craft-storage-carrier/d?q=photo%20organization&productId=11004246

LegacyBox

  • Send in VHS tapes, reels, and slides if you don’t want to do it yourself, they do it for you.

https://legacybox.com/

I learned so much while working on this project. I’m far from done and will continue to dive into the family history when my time allows. Do you have any tips about preserving family history? Leave your suggestions in the comments, I would love to hear them!

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Time Well Wasted

“Shhh,” I gently reminded my three-year-old daughter, Riley, as we stepped into the barn. We were on a mission to find the kittens. We knew they were there. We just weren’t sure where. The barn is full of excellent hiding spots for their Mom to tuck them away.

Over the past couple of weeks, mama cat was showing all the signs that she was definitely carrying a litter, and suddenly her tummy shrunk and I knew the kittens had made their way out into the world and likely to a warm bed in the barn surrounded by hay.

We walked quietly. Naturally, our first step was to follow the mom, but she wasn’t going to help us. Rather, she led us on several false trails in other outbuildings on the farm with no kittens to be found.

Surely they were tucked away in the barn loft full of hay. Securely hidden behind some bales keeping them safe from outsiders. We tiptoed around the loft quietly listening for tiny meows. After maxing out a three-year-old’s ability for silence we gave up!

As we trudged down the stairs in silent defeat, loud meows escaped from somewhere near. “Shhh,” I said again, “did you hear that?” The biggest grin crossed Riley’s face and I knew the sound wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Meows then came loud and clear and they were right to our left. Following their cries, we found them where? In the cat cage. Apparently, mama cat isn’t that sneaky. They were right under our noses.

After that, we sat. We sat in silent wonder as we watched these tiny babies crawl around their new home. We laughed as they let out baby hisses not trusting these new strangers who invaded their peaceful place. I picked them up and their purrs came quickly when they realized we were their friends.

Searching for kittens that day brought a slew of memories from my own childhood. I spent hours as a kid exploring the farm, seeking the thrill that any encounter with something other than my dog would provide.

Simple things can bring such joy, we wasted an afternoon that day, but it was time well wasted.

A few weeks later after the babies had grown.
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2019 C&I Photo Contest

Every year I look forward to reading the Cowboys & Indians “Visions of the West” Issue. There are always so many beautiful photography submissions to look through. This year when the deadline for the annual photo contest was approaching, I decided it was time to submit a few photos of my own. That was in November, and since I hadn’t heard anything back I assumed my photo was just among those submitted that didn’t make the cut. Much to my surprise an issue arrived in the mail on January 15th and one of my photos had made the issue. I was thrilled to have one of my images be featured among so many beautiful shots! Below is the image that was featured in the Farm and Ranch Life category. The category is described as: Shots incorporating trusty farm animals and beloved family pets.

HELLO WORLD

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Calving 2018 Highlights

Moments like these make me so proud of my husband and our lifestyle. I grew up loving row crops, and have always been passionate about agriculture. Being more exposed to the livestock side of production has only increased my affection for agriculture. The hard work that farm families are doing to feed the world is something that often goes unnoticed and underappreciated. There are long days with late nights and early mornings… and having livestock means you often have to drop everything you are doing to ensure your herd is healthy, happy and safe. Thanks to all the farmers and ranchers out there for putting in long hours to feed a world that is far removed from the lifestyle we live. And to those of you who don’t know a lot about where your food comes from, just ask!

Calving started extra early when little “Gisele” our Superbowl Sunday Calf arrived a few weeks early, very unexpectedly. Fortunately, Jordan and I were driving by the field where our cows were on cover crops for the winter and saw this little one’s mama isolated from the group. Jordan hopped on the four-wheeler driving through the 6-degree temperatures in his church clothes to see what was happening. He hauled the cold calf back to the safety of a warm shop and we did our best to warm her up and get her a bottle while we coordinated moving her and her mama into the barn. It took a few weeks of bottle feeding her to ensure she had healthy weight gain. She did come away with a little frostbite damage, but Gisele has grown into a very healthy, happy calf. *we did not get to watch the first half of the Super Bowl

This is a video of Jordan doing a late-night bottle feeding to our calf Gisele

Bottle Feeding Calf Gisele February 7, 2018 from Kelli on Vimeo.

Lick tubs like this one from Purina, helps provide our mamas with all the minerals and nutrients they need in their last-trimester.

Summer (our dog) is very nosy during calving season. The cows are rotated around to provide them the best places to eat in each season. During the Summer they are at our house to graze on the pastures, during late fall and early winter they are out on the cover crops (turnip/radish mix) in a field and then they come back to our house so we can keep a close eye on them during calving. Summer is always curious when the cows return to our house after being gone for 4-5 months.

Laying down bedding for the cows to ensure they have a dry place to rest.

Finally more calves started to arrive.


Any new babies that are born get moved into the protection of a barn with their mama, it’s still pretty cold out. But that means extra work, hauling water and food to each pen to make sure everybody has what they need each day.

Every time a cow starts showing signs of labor it’s important to keep an eye on her and make sure she safely delivers the calf in a timely manner. It’s always a relief when a calf is born and is able to stand up and eat on it’s own.

The calf in the picture above, and below was born with contracted tendons in his front legs. It means his legs would “knuckle over” so he couldn’t stand up straight or walk quite right. So we fed him a bottle because he was unable to reach the udders and needed to get colostrum quickly. Fortunately “Forrest” was able to eventually walk all on his own, and the condition repaired itself after going in and gently stretching out his legs each day. *thank you internet for helping provide a network to research conditions such as this in a timely manner

Each calf gets a close check up and is given an ear tag to help identify who is who after it’s born.

Most calves are skittish around people, but this one loved getting special attention.


Happy helpers doing chores after an Easter celebration! If you want to be the most fun Aunt and Uncle, buy some livestock so your nieces and nephews can come do chores. 🙂

Overall this calving season was very challenging, but we were fortunate that the majority of cows were able to calve with no issues. Our herd is now happy to be grazing out in the pasture.

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Calling All Seniors

I really dig taking senior pics and would love to hear what ideas you have to make your senior photos as YOU as possible. Are you into sports? Have a favorite car? Or pet? (I LOVE animals) What’s your favorite color? Let me know so we can create one of a kind moments during your senior session. Let’s Chat! Contact me for a rate sheet and more information.

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Picking Pumpkins

I finally picked all my pumpkins! A rainy fall delayed the process a bit, and a few of my pumpkins have a little green on them but with the sun shining they will all be bright orange just in time for Halloween. It also gave me a chance to practice my self-timer settings on my camera.

 

Harvesting pumpkins is easily one of the best workouts of the year.

 

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Baby Emma

Niece #4 arrived on September 22nd. Emma Ann is a healthy, happy and beautiful baby. I was so excited to get her in front of my camera. I have never taken newborn photos, so this was a totally new experience for me. It takes a village; my two sisters, Mom and I spent the afternoon working together to pose little baby Emma just right. We had a lot of laughs and were happy with the memories we made posing this sweet girl.