Busy!

School's back in session, and I'm busy. I've been so tired lately and realized yesterday that it must be because I now do all of the house stuff plus work and after school activities. Evan started soccer practices and his first scrimmage is tomorrow. I've got pictures of what's been going on but not had time to blog about them. I have no idea how long it will be before I get to it so I'll leave you with this question...How many bb's does it take to kill a skunk in my hen yard at 4:30 in the morning? Chris knows. And he's probably getting a 22 for Christmas. Poor guy! AND my house reeks like skunk. Too bad I was so tired and didn't get up to help or I might have had a more descriptive account of the situation.

Have a great weekend!

More fruits, and veggies of our labor...food and otherwise.

Um, I'm now sick of squash, for this year anyway. The chickens are excited about this fact. They've been getting zucchini and cucumbers thrown in to them daily. The tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapenos are now ready...finally. Salsa anyone???

Here is a sneak peak at Evan's quilt that I've had in the works for 2 years. Now to just wash it and act like it's a surprise on his birthday since he's seen it. I gave up staying up late to work on it when he wasn't looking. The best part is IT'S DONE!!! Now we have a fun trip going to the laundrymat to use their oversized machines. I just love experiencing the laundrymat culture.

Here is Amanda's book bag for school. I just barely finished this one by the hair on my chinny chin chin. School starts tomorrow. I need to lengthen the strap a little, but other than that she loves it. It's stuffed with school supplies that we got yesterday. She is so excited to be in 4th grade!

We got a little crazy on the front with the embroidery settings on my machine(Maybelle).

This bag was a bit of an experiment since I worked from a pattern and picture we found on the internet and just changed the size up a little. One thing I've noticed on the free patterns you find on the internet is the directions are usually lacking. If I hadn't just made up 11 grocery bags made with similar lining concepts I'd have not been able to complete it properly. These people need to edit their directions better. They forget key parts that make a huge difference, like don't sew the handle all the way to the top since you have to tuck it down inside when you are sewing the lining to the outside. That way when you turn it the right side out the handle is on the OUTSIDE instead of the INSIDE. I think I'll write them a note. They forgot that whole step. Anyway, bookbags are packed and awaiting a lunchbag and school starts tomorrow. I see some closet organizing going on today in preparation for tomorrow. Fall is near, and I'm ready!

Tacoma

Well, here is the little poop. Actually, we think he's a bit taller than the lady said he was, but are we surprized about that? No. We went and pertied him up last night, just to play with him.

Imagine a dumb look on my face now...I love him. Ok. I'm done. I really do enjoy him. His personality is great. Time will tell if he'll calm down with us, but he really likes being around the kids and let them brush and love on him while he ate dinner. That's good. He also worked out in the round pen with my mom a little, which is a great sign as that means he's done that before. Cool.

He's got the LONG tail and full billowing mane. I call him Taco when he's being a poop, like when he flipped around and I thought he was going to kick at me, but he just wanted me to scratch his butt. Um, ok. Now if I can just get him to do what I say...

Expectations

Lately I've tried to take on a new mantra. I go through life trying to not set myself up with too many expectations. It's kind of like when you go to a movie, expecting it to be great, and it really wasn't, and you spend all evening being disappointed? Well, I used to do that to lots of things in my life, which lead to disappointment...holidays, birthday parties that I'd kill myself planning and baking for, date nights with my hubby where we'd just sit and eat and have nothing to talk about, looking for that perfect house that we could afford and not finding what we thought we wanted, baking with the kids in the kitchen, going to the gym and doing South Beach and still not losing that much weight(this one is the hardest)...I try to not expect too much of the vacations that we take the kids on as well. I used to set myself up to thing that it was going to be the best vacation ever, not thinking about the extra packing, bickering, whining, and parenting I was going to have to do. Now I try to just enjoy each moment and don't sweat the small stuff. This gets easier as my kids get older as well and we as parents gain back some of that freedom we lost from having young children. I'm not sure where exactly I'm going with this, but I guess I'm at a point where I'm happier just letting things happen all the while doing my best to plan for life events so as to just be able to be ENOUGH. I mean enough in the sense that my kids have snacks, we're safe, there aren't too many surprises, and we'll make the best with the outcome. Enough. I was recently taught quite a bit of patience along with my expectations last weekend. My mom and I have been on the lookout for a horse that we could ride but also that the kids could ride. We found him in Corning, which is about 2 1/2 hours away. Off we went with her horse trailer on it's maiden voyage with Grandpa and Amanda. He is an Arabian/Quarter horse cross named Tacoma. We were somewhat leery since we prefer the more grounded mind and stocky build of the Quarter horse and don't care for the flighty thin Arab frame and attitude. The seller assured us that although he was more Arab in build he acts like a Quarter horse. When we showed up our first thought was that he was kind of skinny, but boy was he pretty. He was also very calm. He was actually yawning when they were riding him around and Amanda led him down the driveway towards the trailer. These were all GREAT signs. The lady said he was slow and you had to really get on him to get him to go but that he had been used to work their horse ranch up north and camped up there during the summer. We brought him home and my mom started working on his nutrition to get his hair and feet in order. Since my mom's main horse, Tater was home from the trainer we decided to go for a short ride last weekend...no expectations since she is still young and needs more time to get used to the trails. Well, let me say I at least expected Tacoma to be slower and calm. He wasn't. On the way out he pretty much trotted down the steep dirt hills and was so excited to be out on the trails I had to constantly stop him to wait for Tater to catch up. He was the most sure footed trail horse I've ever been on. Then all hell broke loose when a deer came out from behind a tree. He freaked out and lunged sideways with 2 big jumps and I couldn't recover. Off I came into the star thistle and he trotted off under a tree while I tried to catch my breath and stand up straight. Then he spooked at EVERYTHING he had already walked past on the way home. OK, can I at least say my expectations were to have a calm horse and one that was levelheaded enough to follow my commands. Let's just say my confidence is a little shot, my arm is huge and purple, along with my butt, and my expectations weren't met. That's the first time I've come off of a horse like that. Damn it hurts and I'm lucky there weren't any rocks where I landed. I guess I've got a little more learning to do about expectations...and he's got some work to do with me in the arena before I take him out again or let the kids ride him. Life threw me a curve ball and now I have to deal with the outcome. Now I have to decide what commitment level I'm willing to have and how much work I'm going to need to do to learn how to work with Tacoma. That means trailering him to the trainer's house and consistently working to learn about him, and to learn a lot myself. I guess expectations will have to be set based on the unknown and I'll just have to go with my gut. I do think he's worth it. He is one sweet boy and quite a looker. I'd show you but I can't exactly remember where I put my camera after I came off of him. I EXPECT to find it though...but for today, I'm off to enjoy a day and evening without kids, which is an uncommon event here and I EXPECT to take advantage of it. Rambling done, lucky stars thanked, and a shower calling my name. Peace out!

Summer memories

I'm playing a bit of catch up on my pictures this week. Lately, every time I try to post pictures it fails on me. Today it worked! As I looked through my pictures, I'm always reminded of my childhood and what summer was to us. We spent most of our time outside getting dirty!

We spend 4th of July each year at Marcy and Sean's house doing fireworks and drinking beer(the guys anyway). The kids LOVE the fireworks and since we can't do them in the county we live in we are fortunate to have this tradition.

Boy, the sparklers really suck now. When we were kids we had the grey ones with metal handles that really sparked. I think I even have a picture of when we'd "write" names with them in the air. Then someone complained or sued since they got to something like 800 degrees on the tip and kids were burning themselves...us kids didn't...maybe we knew not to touch the glowing end...dummies...what's next? Make flaming marshmallows illegal?

Here is Amber enjoying the 4th as well. Nothing like bellying up to a bag of BBQ chips. I'd have done it too but someone needed to take the picture...

They enjoyed some water fun while waiting for it to get dark. Remember asking when you could start? It seemed like the longest day ever!!! I remember when we got some illegal fireworks in Wyoming on a road trip we took with our parents as kids. Who said bottle rockets were unsafe? Um, they are kinda scary. I think we waited until New Year's to light them off. They were cool! Did I mention my brother was somewhat of a pyro as a kid? Must be a boy thing. Evan's eyes were glazed over the entire evening and was running around with a lighter lighting anything that had a fuse on it. It was too funny!

Another part of my childhood was having purple hands for a couple of months. Every time we'd walk past the blackberry bushes we'd stop and pick. Nature's candy! Yum! Never mind the road grime and spider webs. We'd eat it anyway. My parent's road used to be dirt so you can imagine the added "flavor" they had. The kids and I went with grandma this week to do some picking. Of course the first thing we made with them was blackberry pancakes. My fav! Now, you can't get me to use maple syrup on said pancakes. Talk about wrong. We made blackberry syrup to go with them.

If there is one thing I learned from Grammie Crabtree, there isn't anything better to cook your pancakes in than a biggo dollop of butter. I, of course, usually spray a light coating of Pam on my griddle. With berry pancakes, all healthy thoughts go out the window. The only thing that keeps these babies from sticking is butter, and lots of it!!!! Talk about golden brown and flavorful! YUM!

Guess what the best part of the homemade syrup is? Wait for it, wait for it...today I smashed the rest of the berries up and mixed them in the syrup. Now we're off to the store to get the fixins for some homemade blackberry ice cream. I'm using my Daddy's recipe and there's none better. So many memories. It really takes me back to standing in the kitchen after listening to the ice cream maker turn and turn on the back deck, waiting for the paddle to come out of the can so we could lick it off, dripping all over the place. I have a feeling I'll be mopping later today. But first...showering! Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh, a few more thing. Sheesh I downloaded a lot of pictures today.


Here, in the garage, we have a fridge that is waiting for a new electrical outlet so it can be plugged in. I guess Chris is going to have to hurry and get this done on his vacation next week.

And you say, "Why is this so important?"

This is why. About 4am I heard a major bang out in the kitchen. Here is soda can #2, blown up in my fridge on Tuesday morning. He tried to get huffy at me and say that he set the oven timer so when it went off I could remind him to take it out. Hello! I was with the kids over at grandma's house swimming Monday evening so I never HEARD it go off!!!! Here's a thought...put soda in the fridge when you take the last one out and you won't have a problem!!! He is now banished to the garage fridge. Annoyingly, it is Friday and I still have stalactites and stalagmites in my freezer. Hello, we have a deep freeze that he could transfer the stuff to so he could clean it. He is obviously waiting to see if I'll clean it. I'm slowing wearing down. He has more patience with filth than I. Hey, it does get annoying when I take things out of the freezer and frozen bits of soda fall on the floor and melt into little sticky droplets. Since I'm grocery shopping today I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet. And he's going to have to climb in the attic. I clean, he wires.

What's this? The kids got my camera. Yet another Webkinz to add to their collections. This is the Grey Arabian they bought with their own money. Actually, Amanda bought Evan's for him with her money. She said it was his birthday present. Does that mean I don't have to buy him one?

Since Amanda is obsessed with horses she's hired the cat to practice on. Are they bored or what? Talk about memories...Marcy and I used to catch my cat and stick her in the oven I had and sit out in front of the door singing, "For he's a jolly good fellow" over and over again. Then she'd shoot out and we'd do it again. Poor cat! I can't remember what cartoon we got it from, but I remember a group of men catching a tiger or something and carrying it on a pole hanging upside down, all the while singing that song on their way back to camp. It seemed like a fun idea at the time...

Here is Molly, all saddled up and looking like she's ready to buck.

She didn't really get too annoyed until Amanda tried to put the bridle on her. That was more committment then she was ready for. Goofy cat.

Ok, now I'm done. Caught up for the most part. Have a great weekend!!!

Get me outta here!

We're on the final approach to another school year's beginning. Can't say I'm sad, but I'm not entirely happy about it either. I do, however, long for the mornings when I can drop my little angels off at school and come home to clean a house that will stay tidy until about 3:30pm. Oh, and yes, I've given up on housework. This is kind of a warning to those of you that might randomly stop by. Please feel free, but don't be shocked by the shoes all over, the kitchen messy, strange pickling smells coming from somewhere, clothes thrown around, and a floor that needs to be vaccumed. Yes, they won. I'd rather do something else than constantly follow around the mess. It's a 24/7 job that I've grown tired of. I'd rather water the garden, picking something that has been lovingly grown from seed in the happy summer sunshine. Or maybe it will be a trip to the library, where my kids are now old enough to leave to their section of books so I can sneak across to the grown up section, all the while waiting to hear a loud yell, telling me my kids are once again too close to each other...not realizing that even though they are inseparable, they still each need their space as well. Oh, maybe it will be another trip to the lake, or to riding lessons, or music lessons, or swimming at Grandma's house, or baking, or or or or or . See? I need a mommy pedicure day. Summers are all about keeping them entertained, avoiding the heat, and not blowing my stack. I guess I'm ready for them to head back to our routine. I will miss the opportunity to sit around in jammies way to long, or thinking that showering is optional, or not having to stop what I'm doing to go to work at school. I do enjoy being able to just do our own thing. I don't, however, enjoy their boredom and bickering. Yeah, I think I'm ready for summer to wind down. One more camping trip, a couple of birthday parties, and the opportunity to watch my daughter fall in love with Tacoma. Yeah, she's got her momma in her. More on that soon!!!