Errrrrrr!!!

Here is James in front of his Science Project. He is giving me what I like to call the 'Jeff smile.' Because really, it's more of an 'I'll humor you while you take the picture, Mom' look. He was quite happy to take home a certificate, a ribbon, and a free Water Ice coupon. Speaking of water ice, yesterday was the first day of spring and that means free water ice at Rita's! I still haven't figured out quite how to describe Water Ice to my non-PA friends, other than its like a slurpee meets a snowcone, but better. I actually hate slurpees and snowcones so maybe that's not the best description. Anyway, while I do feel that in the world of water ice, Dairy Delight is where its at, Rita's is also good...and free on the first day of spring. Back when I was young and fancy-free, my sister and I went to several Rita's locations on free day and loaded up. Good times.

In other news, I went to the doctor yesterday to get my Thyroid checked and guess what I got diagnosed with? Asthma! Woo! Who knew. He asked me if I ever got short of breath. Uh, no. Then he diagnosed me with asthma. When I asked him why, he said because he could hear a slight rasp in my breathing. Huh?! He prescribed me an inhaler (that I can use up to 4 times a day as needed, you know, for when I get short of breath and all) and Singulair. He also kept my thyroid dose low, even though he told me that my dose will need to keep increasing as I get older, and this is the lowest dose I've been for as long as I can remember. All in all, very discouraging and now I feel that I must find a new doctor...again. I didn't fill the prescription for the inhaler or Singulair, because I am pretty sure if I had asthma, I would have noticed.

A Hat

I just uploaded pictures and realized that I have really slacked off on the blogging. I have pictures of James' science project, Valley Forge, our newly discovered sandy L-town beach, and more. I promise to post more pictures tomorrow, but for now...here is a picture of Tyler in his super duper Revolutionary War (?) hat. James saw one in a picture at Valley Forge and of course we had to make one. Guess what we made it from? Oh, yeah, an oatmeal canister. I am my mother's daughter. I just trimmed that bad boy down, covered it with construction paper, added a bill and a pipe cleaner band. Just like they had in George Washington's day!

Pinterest

There is this really neat site called Pinterest. It is basically like an online 'pinboard,' where you can 'pin' pictures of things you like. I like it because it is like a visual bookmark system. There is a wide variety of things to see, but I mainly dabble in the DIY/crafty/sewing/food areas. The thing about Pinterest is that you can end up spending your time drooling over stuff, and never end up making it. This month, I decided to make at least 4 things I have pinned. So far I have made soft pretzels, Parmesan breadsticks, bacon-wrapped roasted cabbage (mmm!), homemade glue, quinoa mac and cheese, bubble prints (total bomb!) and scrapbook paper seed packets. Now only a hundred and one ideas left to try! :)

All's Well

Everyone is happy today now that Jeff is home. Although he was only gone for 3 days, it seemed longer. The kids have had hard time sleeping when he was gone. Although Jeff didn't get home til about 9, the kids couldn't sleep because they wanted to see him. I kept hearing them talking, singing, etc. up until about 10 minutes before he came home. I went to check on them a few minutes later, and they had all passed out. Jeff went in and patted their heads and said goodnight, and guess what?! They all slept like babies. It was lovely! That also meant that I slept like a baby, which was also lovely!

The Tree

It's a sad day. As I write, 'our' tree is being shredded. I can hear each time they throw in a log and it makes me sad. The tree fell over in the hurricane last year on the greenbelt, and the kids have spent a lot of time playing on and around it. Initially, all the leaves were still on it, creating a room of sorts to play in. The leaves even changed colors in the fall. Despite the fact that the roots are exposed and the tree laying on the ground, some of the branches were getting buds. I knew it was coming, but it is still a bummer!

Here are a few pictures of the picnic we had last week with our preschool, before the tree met its demise.

Well, Golly Gee!

It seems like I haven't blogged in almost a week. We had a few computer glitches over the weekend involving the fact that we have a lot of pictures on the hard drive. Thanks to Jeff, the problem is solved and my pictures are back where they are supposed to be. Yay! We looked through some of the archives and found lots of funny photos, as well as those pesky 'were they really that small only a year ago' pictures. The kids are growing so fast, too fast! I have posted some of the pictures below, just for kicks. In other news, Jeff is in LA, cruisin' Highway One along the California coast and inspecting condensers in his spare time. I am hoping this one goes quick, because the kids are not handling it well. He hadn't even left, and last night Katie couldn't get to sleep til almost 10 because she was sad he was leaving. As of now, she and Tyler are still awake and they've been in bed over an hour. They like their Dad near to them., thankyouverymuch!!

This one is ridiculous, and I'm not sure why I'm posting it, other than that it is funny. It was taken at Christmas a few years ago.

Tyler: I wish I could keep him little and squishy :)

Proof that Katie has always had her own wacky personality!

Jeff as a kid

Aww! 

Katie

Responsible parenting at its best!

The day Katie was born

Goofballs

Sleeping Beauty

False Advertising

In a moment of despair, I went to the library to find a few books about Science Fair projects. Jeff and James picked out a Fox Hole Radio to build, and it wasn't working out. While I was perusing the library (one of my very favorite places) I saw a book called 'How To Fossilize Your Hamster'. You better believe I had to check it out. I mean, how cool would that be?! I brought it home and showed it to Jeff. He looked at me with that look, and asked if I would seriously go buy a hamster just to kill it for scientific purposes. (Says the guy who used to get paid to shoot prairie dogs...alas, we are turning into softies) The answer to his question is 'Why, yes, if I could actually fossilize a hamster...that would be so fascinating.' I believe he just shook his head at me. I was disappointed, although not too surprised, that the title was misleading. It went into great detail about how you could, hypothetically, fossilize your dear deceased hamster, who died from natural causes of course. If you have a deep sea bed handy, free of anything that might eat Fluffy (may he rest in peace) as well as several thousand years, the book says that fossilization is possible. Sigh. I guess I won't be fossilizing a hamster after all. Good thing the fox hole radio turned out! :)

P.S. I sat outside today, in the sun, in my bare feet, reading a book while the kids played. Now that's my idea of a good day!

I Might Have Squealed A Little

I was going to post something nice and sophisticated and intelligent today...oh, wait...I never do that. You would think you have come to the wrong blog, or that I had come down with some sort of illness. But seriously, whatever I was going to write about has gone out the window because my friend Erin emailed me and said she is coming to visit us!!! I am so excited it's ridiculous. I mean, this is going to be fun! We have known each other since way back in Second Grade. We have about a million things we want to do when she is here, including visiting Longwood Gardens, going to Lancaster, dyeing Easter eggs, canning something, sewing something, and eating cheesesteaks, pretzels, and water ice. Her husband told her not to get into too much trouble with me...poor guy has no idea!! :) This is going to be so much fun!

Pictures From The Week

Last weekend

Preschool Fun!

Shoe Boxes

We just got the 2011 Operation Christmas Child update, and James and I had to fight over who got to look at it first! :) Every year, they put awesome pictures and stories about the children receiving their shoe boxes and the impact that the program has. They also include pictures and stories of how the shoe boxes are transported. The highlights? Cartons of shoe boxes strapped to a yak, to be delivered in inner Mongolia. Cartons loaded precariously in a small canoe, being paddled into the Phillipine jungle. And my favorite...boxes dropped by helicopter to the remote islands of Madagascar, found only via smoke signal!

This morning I had to take the truck in to get it re-inspected. For some odd reason, we still take it to a certain car dealership at which I used to work. It was the worst job ever, not because of the job itself, but the work environment. When I started there almost 9 years ago, everyone was miserable. Everyone hated their job. When I left, everyone told me I would be back. Yeah, right! But guess what, everyone who was miserable back then is still there, and they say it is even worse now. Someone I used to work with saw me in Service and brought me upstairs to see everyone. There were a few new faces, but mostly people I recognized. They all sit in the same little cubicles, filing the same paperwork, and probably complaining about the same things. I don't miss that at all!

P.S. Don't tell the Safe Parenting Police, but I took the kids wading in the creek today. I managed to find a pair of rubber boots for each kid (and myself!) and in we went. Tyler only fell in twice, and he doesn't appear to have hypothermia, so I think we are good to go.

I'm Tired Of School (And How We Got Here In The First Place)

Last week if officially hit me: I am sick of this semester already. I know, I know...he'll be done soon, and for that I am very grateful. I am just tired of Jeff being gone two nights a week, with homework in between. The kids have been getting upset when he leaves for work, or when he has school. They want their daddy, and they want him NOW! I keep reminding them, and myself, that it will be over soon. Yay! And when that day comes, I plan on throwing a big ol' par-tay. I will invite you, and the mailman, and the termite guy (even though we don't have one). I will even invite my brother's neighbor's cousin's half-sister's goats ex-owner, for crying out loud! A few days ago, I told the kids that I wanted to plan something special for Daddy since he was graduating. Katie suggested a cake. Of course! James suggested 'renting a clown.' I think that is right up Jeff's ally...ha! Seriously though, this has been a long time in coming.

And while I'm on the subject, wanna hear how Jeff ended up in school anyway? Did you know Jeff never even planned on going to college? He wanted to join the Air Force, but he was too tall, or maybe too blind...one of those. His plan B was to work. Jeff's high school career was less than stellar in the grade department and he never liked school. He scammed his way through the system and graduated when he was 16. He got credit for living at the farm, shooting prairie dogs, drinking Mountain Dew and eating Fireballs. No joke. He also took two periods of Teacher's Aid where he was in charge of the attendance records. There was one or two kids who he didn't get along with for whatever reason, and he would carefully erase their attendance mark here and there before scanning the card, then fill it in afterward. The offending student would get a phone call to their parents for their lack of attendance. That is how he earned enough credit to graduate early. He moved out at 16 and lived at the farm, where he was living when we met in 1998. I was going to college, and around that same time, his grandpa told him he should go to college and make something of himself. No one in his family, aunts, uncles, etc...went to college. He decided mostly to pacify his grandpa that he would apply, knowing that they would never accept him because of his GPA. Guess what? He got accepted. No problem, he thought. I'll still never be able to pay for it. Guess what? He got a full ride to pay for tuition, books AND living expenses. At that point, he ran out of excuses about college. The only problem was, he had to declare a major. He had no idea what he wanted to do. He picked up the book, flipped through and saw 'Computer Aided Drafting.' He thought it sounded interesting, from the short description provided. He wrote it down and went with it. Well, it turns out that he loved it, and was (is) very good at it. He was working many hours at the farm, and taking 19 credit hours per semester. He kicked some academic butt, bringing home almost all A's. There were times he wanted to quit, like when we took Algebra together. (He managed to avoid Algebra in high school...not sure how that's even possible) I wouldn't let him quit. I actually tutored him through that class, if you can believe that. It was the blind leading the blind. He soldiered on, in the mean time saving money for a laptop. Back in ye olden days, laptops were quite expensive. He wanted to have one so he could do his work at the farm and get ahead. He saved up $2400 and I remember going to Circuit City with him to buy the thing. It cost more than both our cars put together I think! It also cost more than our wedding, come to think of it. It wasn't long after that his grandpa came into town to visit. Thinking his grandpa would be proud, Jeff told him how he had saved for the laptop, and how he had been working hard and getting good grades. His grandpa looked at him, rather unimpressed, and said 'Well, I hope you don't end up being a bus driver.' That made smoke come out of my ears to say the least. But Jeff didn't give up. He finished up his Associate's Degree in CAD shortly before we got married. Once we moved here, we realized that a two-year degree was not going to cut the mustard and he needed to go for his Bachelor's degree in Engineering. The past ten years have been one class at a time, two or three classes a year, working toward the goal of a Bachelor's degree. So there you have it, the life and times of Jeff as a college student. I know God has been working from the beginning to put Jeff where he is today, but I am glad that this phase of that is almost over. We are all going to enjoy not having to share him with homework time anymore!

What A Morning (Complete With Random Pictures)

Katie recently asked if I had any cowboy boots that would fit her. Is the pope Catholic, as we say in our family?! Why, yes! Of course I have boots. James kindly offered up his spurs, which incidentally don't feel good when stepped on in the dark.

This is how I felt this morning, but a little less festive. Details following.

Handsome Cowboy riding his bucking tire bronco 

We went on an impromptu pretzel picnic at the greenbelt yesterday. Pretzels are a culinary delicacy in PA, especially with mustard. Tyler and I shared the Jalapeno mustard. That's my boy!

This morning when I went to do my farm chores (ha, ha! and by that I mean let out the chickens) I noticed that the pipe in the back yard (which ties in to the sewer) had signs of overflowing. That can't be good. I kept an eye on it and when my washer went to drain, water was pouring out of the pipe into my yard. That pretty much confirmed what I already knew: Houston! We have a problem! Jeff said to call the water people first (who, incidentally are Jeff's favorite people in the whole wide world...not!). I called them, and before I could tell her anything, she cut me off and took my address. She told me someone would come out and hung up. Um, hello? Are they coming out today, tomorrow, next Christmas? But all I heard was dial tone. I hoped for the best. Ten minutes later, no joke, I saw the water peeps cruisin' through the hood. That was fast. They checked whatever they check and the guy comes to my  door to inform me that it is not their system. I wanted to cry a little. I told him what was happening and he said 'oh, let me see if I can fix that for you. I have a tool in my truck for that.' Then I wanted to hug him. He went out to his truck, got the tool and went back and plunged the pipe. Voila! It was fixed. I think he should be cannonized or something...sainthood, here we come! He said something was dropped down the pipe to clog it up. Yesterday we had a whole passel of kids playing in the backyard and it seems that one of them must have taken the lid off and dropped something down the pipe. I am so glad it wasn't any worse, and now am going to post a guard of ninjas around the pipe so nothing else gets dropped in. :) I told Jeff that God works in ways we don't understand because he used the water people to save our bacon! (Jeff has a rocky relationship with the water people because they raise their prices and we are always over the quota, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

What is wrong with me!?

OK, you don't actually have to answer that. I mean, there is only so much room in the comments. And alternative and catchy title for this post could be: Fermentation, I Just Can't Quit You. I am currently caring for a bowl of bubbling whole wheat levain that is supposed to turn into a lovely sourdough starter.  I do believe that sourdough might violate the pact I made with my friend Erin to STEP AWAY FROM THE FERMENTATION! A while back I tried to make sauerkraut. I ended up with sauerkraut hooch. A few months later, Erin tried fermented pickles and also ended up with something strange and 'off'. We decided that as intriguing as the whole idea was, we should stay away from it and keep each other from going back to the dark side. Now here I am trying to carefully follow the instructions to feed this growing thing on my counter, with the intention of eating it once it gets 'ripe' enough. Incidentally, Tyler got into the bubbling brew this morning and took a big spoonful thinking I had something special going in there. I don't think it was what he expected!

On a side note, this morning we had preschool here and ended up ditching the activities and herding the kids out into the sunshine. It was quite lovely! It is amazing how relatively low maintenance kids are when they have a friends to play with and a yard to play in.

Warm(ish) Weather = Picnic!

Random rain barrel is optional

Day Off

James has the day off and we have basically been piddling around doing random stuff. We assembled this tractor kit James got Tyler. It is broken already. We should have bonded it together with titanium or something so it would have held up to the rigors of the mini-beast. We played outside for quite a while. I built a cold frame. It almost works. I have to make a quick modification once the drill battery charges up, and I will be putting that baby in the garden! I think I am going to plant lettuce first and see how it goes. So far this morning, the kids have had breakfast, second breakfast, snack, and first lunch. Yesterday I made bread and that means that James asks for a sandwich every 4 minutes. That kid is a bread-aholic. Or maybe a jam-aholic. Or both. This afternoon I am hoping to paint the trim around my kitchen window. Jeff has still not warmed up to the color, but I love it! And since this post is going nowhere fast, I will sign off and go attempt to accomplish something. :)

Like Mother, Like Daughter

There are times that it kind of freaks me out how much Katie is like me. Yesterday, we saw a dead rabbit on the road. She was determined that everyone get to see it. On the way back, she told me that we needed to let James see it again. The kids saw vultures circling in the air, and Katie told me to 'hu-wee up!' She said she hoped that the vultures didn't get it before we got to see it again. Later, she told me 'Mom, I forgot to tell Grammy about the rabbit!' I'm sure she's heartbroken about that. But you see, she comes by it naturally. I am also morbidly interested in the inner workings of things. For the most part, guts don't freak me out. A little known fact is that while I was always the last one picked in gym class, I was a hot commodity in my anatomy class. I found the dissecting  part to be fascinating business and didn't mind doing it. The other students wanted me to be on their team so they didn't have to do the dirty work. There was this kid named Dennis who was the class clown. He was never particularly friendly with me, until we had to dissect sheep's eyeballs. He was so repulsed that he buddied up with me so I would do it. I decided to play a practical joke on him. Did you know that the lens (is that spelled right?) of an eye is remarkably hard and slippery? Well, I found that I could shoot it like a missile out of my rubber gloved hand. I shot the lens at Dennis and he FREAKED OUT!!! He's probably still in therapy today.

It's a Conspiracy!

When the kids are napping and I am caught up need a break from housework, I come upstairs to sew. I have been listening to Pandora, which I think is mostly awesome. You can tell it what type of songs or artists you like, and it will choose songs based on your input. It is nice, because I can listen to a random mix of people like Johnny Cash and Bob Marley and 80's dance music. There is only one problem, and that is that despite my having NOTHING related to hip-hop or whatever she is, they keep playing Rhianna every 4th or 5th song. I'm about ready to go postal! Its gotten so bad that when Jeff is home and it comes on, he cracks up because it happens so often. She can be pretty raunchy and I wish they would get the point and stop playing on my stations. I mean, after about 50 thumbs down, you'd think it would be obvious. It must be a conspiracy to get me to like her, but that ain't gonna happen!

On a side note, yesterday we got a check from H&R Block for a grand total of $2999.00. We figured out that the pesky little decimal point had been moved and instead of our $29.99 refund check, we hit the jackpot! Not really, as we were poised to call them to straighten it out when the UPS man showed up this morning. He had an URGENT MESSAGE sent overnight from our math-challenged peeps at H&R, stating that a mistake had been made and apparently multiple checks had been sent out in that amount. Oops! Who needs math anyway?

Randomness

• James went to Sparks (AWANA) last night. He loved it! He didn't start at the beginning of the year because he was adjusting to Kindergarten and all. It is a late night, but he seemed to be fine this morning and he's currently taking a nap! Katie goes to Cubbies and she loves it! She is super excited that the 'Cubbie Carnibal' is coming up.
• Jeff only has 2 weeks or so until his midterm. That was fast! He is slowly chipping away at his homework each night, and he 'officially' turned in his graduation request forms. I can't wait for the final approval.
• I have been drawing some more. Katie said to me this morning, 'Mom, you bring that thing everywhere now.' (my sketchbook) I have been bringing it along in case I have the opportunity to draw. I have done a few things for the retreat, and last night I drew a picture of James while I was waiting for the kids at AWANA. I was in a zone I think, and trying to ignore the stampede of Stockade boys at church, when I look up to see them all standing around me staring at my drawing. Eek!
• I'm happy to say that the chickens have been drama free for weeks now. The injured chicken now has a big scar on her back and the feathers never did grow back in, but they are all getting along swimmingly with no pecking. I think putting the bully chicken in lock-down for a week really did the trick! Its about time to order chicks again and I can't wait! 

Craziness With A Side Of Rant

In a moment of insanity, I decided I needed to paint my kitchen and living room. The ceiling had never been painted and Jeff hung crown molding a while ago and that, too, needed to be painted. Also, if you haven't heard, kids are kinda hard on stuff. The paint we put up 4 years ago is starting to look a little dismal. I decided that if I was going to go to the effort of doing the ceiling and crown molding and the chair rail, I should paint the rest while I was at it. Crazy, I know, but it would have had to be done soon anyway. I only took this on with the help of the Blessed Mother, the BM for short...ha, ha!!! aka my mom, who has entertained my children while I painted myself into a fume and fatigue induced stupor. Yesterday I got most of the kitchen knocked out. I chose this robin's egg blue meets aqua for the bottom, light blue/aqua for the top. Now Jeff has a thing about me painting. Mainly, he wants me to paint every surface in the house white. And I want to paint every surface in the house not-white. He has tolerated my adding color to the house, with varied approval ratings. This time, I was sure he would declare it 'alright,' which by Jeff standards is about as good as you can get. Instead, what did I get? Oh, yes, I got the 'Are you kidding me?! It looks like a kid's bedroom!' I hope it grows on him. I like it. It makes me want to lay down on my floor and take a nap. Or maybe that's the fumes and fatigue talking...

The kitchen so far

On a side rant note, Valentine's Day.....oh, my goodness! So, I decided to do some very cute non-candy Valentine's Day cards for James. I figured with 22 kids in his class, he would be coming home with too much candy as it is. Let me tell you, I was shocked when he came home with his bag o' loot! I would say probably a half to two thirds of the kids gave out goody bags full of candy and cheap toys. He got three big boxes of conversation hearts and a couple of those big candy sticks with the gumdrop candies attached. Only one other parent went the non-candy route, taping cool pencils to the cards. Seriously people, its basic math. If each kid gives out a card with only 1, ONE!, piece of candy on it, your kid will still come home with 22 pieces of candy!!! If each kid gives out 5 pieces, that's over a hundred pieces of candy! That's a little crazy if you ask me. 

Crazy Dreams

This week hasn't been a stellar one in the sleep category for Jeff and I. On Tuesday I couldn't sleep for the longest time, then kept waking up. I dreamed that we were all at some old mining camp with the extended family and an odd assortment of friends from long ago. There was snow on the ground, and all the sudden our green pet duck came flying down the hill on a log and I went running after it. The duck sailed into the swamp below and I went after it. I got caught in some trees and was stuck. No one was in any hurry to rescue me. Jeff even looked at me and went back to socializing. Eventually they said that help was on the way, but it never came. In the meantime I looked down to see armadillos swimming underneath me and I was convinced they were as vicious as crocodiles. Finally I jumped to safety and that was all I remember. Its pretty crazy what the mind comes up with. Last night I had a dream that Jeff's dad showed up and wanted to be a part of his life again. That one woke me up right away. I'm hoping for a dream-free night tonight.

Sweetness

There are times that I feel like I am going to explode from all the cuteness. There are also times I feel like I am going to explode from all the (non) cuteness, but that's another story. Here are a few things from the last few days that made me feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy:

• Tyler waking up from his nap to see it snowing. He started yelling It 'nowing, Mama! It 'nowing, Mama! He climbed into the window and stood there, in his cute little dinosaur jammies, watching in wonder.
• Katie collecting the eggs the last few days. She skips out there in her rubber boots and brings in the eggs. When she comes out of the shed, she carefully juggles her precious cargo so she can have an extra hand to close the latch. Then she walks in as fast as she can, because she knows she's not supposed to run. When she comes in, she announces which chicken laid each egg, and who that egg is for. She almost always says they are for 'Daddy and you.' 
• James setting up an obstacle course in the backyard and running through it on his stick horse.
• James turning around as he is walking into school to blow me a big, loud kiss. Its awesome, and probably won't last much longer.
• James exclaiming over and over (quite loudly) in awe of the dinosaur exhibit at the Franklin Institute. He then declared it 'Just like on (Curious) George!'
• Tyler begging to see the 'nake' that Daddy fed to the birdy. The kid loves worms (but calls them snakes). 

Speaking of Art

So, my friend Trish left a comment on the previous post that got me thinking...or rather having disturbing flashbacks...of my art school days. We had to draw naked people, and a lot of them. Little known fact here, people: did you know that normal folks will not pose naked for an art class?! Shock!  $25 or $30 an hour is not enough to make people get nekkid in front of a room full of 19 year old art students. The type of people you get for models are probably fit into one of the following categories:

• Live in their parents' basement and tell them they are going to 'work at the library'
• Skeletal 60 year old men with the shakes who show up nursing the remains of a 2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper (true story...and he was one of the regulars)
• Artsy-type girls who smell of patchouli and have dreadlocks
• People that can't hold a job anywhere else and need the $$

Here are a few other things you are just dying to know about our anatomy class models. (Is it sad I am writing about this or what? I should maybe get a life...) OK, so some models are divas. They are very strict about what poses they will do, and how long they will pose before taking a break. They even demand that the heat be turned up! And here I thought a birthday suit was rated down to -30 degrees. A lot of the models, disturbingly, would wander around and check out everyone's renditions of them. Is it just me, or is that just plain weird? I mean, what are they going to say 'Hey, I really like how you shaded that dimple in my left butt cheek!' or 'What?! I don't have lunch lady arms! Here, give me that eraser!' I always thought that was very, very odd. Another thing about the models: some would sit there and read, or stare off into space and never talk. Those are the ones you liked. Because its a lot easier to just focus on the academic drawing part when you aren't worried about someone telling you which bar they went to last night, or the latest book they are reading. If you look at the model as an object, it is a lot easier to manage. And the one thing I hoped for the most during my anatomy classes? Folds! Fat! Rolls! Because guess what? Rolls cover a multitude of...err...other things, things that I don't care to see, let alone draw. Yay for pleasantly plump models!

My Artsy Side

So I think you might know that I like to make stuff. Long ago, in a land far away, I went to school for Art. I spend glorious hours drawing and painting and developing photos in a dark room. (Very therapeutic by the way!) I even threw a few pots, although I never managed to turn out anything spectacular in that class. I went to school for art. And then I had kids. There is something about kids (maybe the noise? the constant needs?) that makes it difficult to get inspired and focus on a project. Sewing is one thing, because you can just sit down and sew a few seams here and there. Anyway, this part of me has been sad and neglected. Then I volunteered to do the Women's Retreat decorations. If you know me, you can laugh now. (Candi! ;) I HATE women's functions. Like, I reaaaaally hate them. They are not my thang, for numerous reasons. Anyhow, I must say that the women's functions at our new church have been quite enjoyable. They also have an 'in-house' retreat, which is the only reason I would go. Oh, that and I have to do the decorations. So, to get to the point (yes, I think I have one...) I am getting to bust out a wee bit of my artsy side and do some drawing! Nothing fancy, but it has been so much fun. Jeff thinks I am spending an inordinate amount of time when, and I quote, 'the computer could do the same thing.' Oh, sweet Jeffrey. He doesn't realize that a) I am having a blast, and b) this is where my OCD comes alive. I will always think there is a 'better' idea. Whatever I draw I will always look back on and say 'Oh, I should have done this,' or 'I don't like that.' Part of my issues. Nevertheless, it is fun, and I hope to find more excuses to use this side of me. 

Guess What's Sitting On My Table?

A bird. In a Miller High Life box. Classy! I found a little chickadee in the yard yesterday that has an injured wing. I knew that James would be beside himself with excitement over the prospect of a bird to care for. A while back, I told him about how my cousin and I found three little barn swallow chicks in my Grandparents' barn in Minnesota. We kept them in a box and fed them worms and tried to nurse them back to health. Since then, James has mentioned a few times how he wants to find a bird like that. Sometimes he will even chase them around trying to catch one. All the kids were excited about the bird, and we made it a little box to hang out in. I happen to have the perfectly colorful Miller High Life box left from my thrift store score, so we used that. Last night, Tyler asked to pray and he asked that the 'little birdy fwy up in the sky!' So cute. Hopefully the bird is not too traumatized by the kids and recuperates. Katie is scared it will die, and I tried to explain that that was a possibility but that the bird has a lot of energy which is good. Too bad I have zero expertise in wild bird recuperation...although I did give it some chicken feed! :) P.S. This morning I heard some noise and thought Jeff was up. Then I forgot all about it. I came downstairs with the kids to find the bird hopping all over the kitchen floor. We had put it on top of the fridge overnight, and somehow it managed to escape the narrow crack in the box and get down from the fridge without being able to fly. Not sure how that happened...

And here is the reason I would like to fire my photographer! Whenever I ask Jeff to take a picture of something for the crafty blog, I get this! Amazon woman or midget. As if I need any more issues about myself! This time I made him promise to take normal pictures, and he just threw these in at the end. 

Chicken Myths Busted

Since having chickens, I have learned that people have a lot of misconceptions about them. Here are a few:

• Chickens have to have a rooster around to lay eggs. (No...only if you want fertilized eggs. Hens will lay eggs, regardless. They will just never hatch any chicks.)
• Chickens lay multiple eggs a day. (No, laying an egg is a lot of work for a chicken. They lay an average of 5-6 eggs a week. Did you know that according to my reading, at any given time a chicken has multiple eggs in various stages of development in the chute? Interesting.)
• All chickens lay brown eggs. The ones you buy at the store are bleached. (No...it varies by breed)
• All chickens lay white eggs. The brown ones are dyed. (Yes, I wake up every morning and carefully dye each egg to an individual shade of brown or blue. Not!)
• Chickens lay one egg a week. (see above)
• And one of my favorites....do you actually eat the eggs? Um, yes. They are eggs and they just so happened to be way more fresh than the ones you buy in the store. There is a lot less potential for contamination when they go straight from the nest box to the fridge. (P.S. Did you know that eggs are coated in 'bloom' which naturally protects them from bacteria entering the porous shell? Eggs can actually stay fresh without refrigeration because of the bloom, and apparently in Europe they don't even refrigerate their eggs. In the U.S., they scrub the bloom off and coat the eggs with some sort of oil or wax to replace the bloom.)

Was That A Compliment Or....??

Today I did my shopping-trip-on-steroids. You see, I try to do all my shopping once a month (except for milk and fruit). I make up a menu and a list, and go nuts. My saintly mother (que the angels singing) is kind enough to watch the midgets so I can get it done in less time with more sanity left at the end. So today, I hit Walmart, BJ's, the Amish Market, Redners and the thrift store....all in 3 hours. Wooo! I came home laden with various groceries, household supplies, and a set of plates I paid 8 cents each for at the thrift store. Seriously, I think paper plates are more than that. It seems that my dishes have taken a beating mostly due to the wild card we call Tyler. He is hard on everything, plates being no exception. Someday I will have a nice set of matching plates for people to eat off of, but for now, not so much. I picked the kids up from Mom's and headed home. My initial plan was to put all three of them down for quiet times/nap times, then unload. James offered to help, so I modified the plan. As it turns out, all the kids wanted to help. I decided that while it might be easier to do it myself, it was a good exercise in responsibility for them. They all tried to carry the heaviest things: a ten pound bag of onions, a case of baby wipes, etc. Then, Tyler took it upon himself to crawl in the back of the truck and help out. Next thing you know he flung a whole case of tomato sauce out the back. The box busted open and twelve cans of tomato sauce were rolling willy-nilly down the driveway. I was dodging around, trying to catch them all before they went in the road. I put them back in the box as Tyler flung a few other odds and ends out the back. I got him out, shut the truck, and I head a voice say "Its better than watching TV!" I turn to see my neighbor standing there, chuckling. He had been watching the whole time and said we were very entertaining. I'm going to assume that was a compliment.

Random...bla, bla, bla....

It seems this week has flown by and I haven't blogged much. We're still here. This morning I was scheduled to teach preschool, but Tyler decided to get up in the night and, uh...'get sick.' He woke up right as rain, but Katie took her turn and now she seems fine. I am realllllly hoping it was a fluke thing, and not a virus. In other news, James informed me that they are writing sentences in school. That made me very excited because soon he will be writing awesome phonetically spelled sentences for me to read. I am also quite happy to say that I think my love of reading has been passed on to the kids. James brings a stack of books with him whenever he needs 'to entertain myself.' He brings them to the bathroom, his quiet time, and in the car. Tyler has been bringing books to bed. I found a secret stash of missing books in Katie's room too. Good times! Yesterday we had art lessons and the weather was so nice that we modified things a bit. I have learned (slowly...) that it is better to let the kids play before we start. I used to have them sit down and do their project, then play, but they come over with such excitement about playing. Now, they play first and it seems to work better. It goes like clockwork: the boys find something, anything, that looks like a gun. They start shooting stuff. I remind them of the rules. The girls run around and hover over Tyler. Tyler is not amused. Emma runs around doing the potty dance. (EVERY WEEK!) I make her go to the bathroom. Now, all I have to do is look at her and say 'Emma!' and off she runs to the bathroom. Yesterday, she came out and must have said my name. I didn't hear her, and she said, a little louder 'Uh, Aunt Megan....hello!!!! I can't turn on the sink!' Oh, yeah, how can I forget I have to turn on the sink for her every week. She cracks me up. Anyway, after letting all six of them run around in the sunshine, I had them stand on the patio and I traced their shadow with chalk. Then they got to fill in the details, much like a project we did recently. They really had fun with it. After that, we came in and made sculptures out of Model Magic. For some reason, at the mention of 'sculptures' and 'clay' they got really excited. High times around here, I tell ya! Now that I've blathered on about nothing in particular, I think I'll hit post before I bore you all to death. Oh, too late? Sorry. ;)

Fun And Mysterious Weekend

We had quite the weekend. Saturday morning James and I went to meet this lady from Craigslist to buy a bike. A like-new bike for $16!!! Saturday evening we dropped the kids off at Grammy and Chappy's while we went to a Murder Mystery Party. It was so much fun! I think we laughed more there than we have in a while. At the last minute, Jeff decided to layer three crazy shirts and mysteriously change shirts throughout the evening. (For the record, he wore his red ganster shirt, his 100% Kosher shirt, and his Colorado is for Love Hustlers shirt) Every one thought it was scripted and a few people were going nuts trying to figure out why he kept changing. We also got randomly arrested and handcuffed to a chair which was hilarious. It was a lot of fun! The kids also had fun with my parents, and got to go to a real live restaurant where people bring you food in baskets and you get to eat fries. Quite the novelty. We capped off the weekend by going to see friends last night, and I got a bonus lesson in Egg Rolls. It was quite the fun weekend, except that Jeff threw out his back on Saturday morning and could barely move most of the day. Alas, he faked his way through the party somehow and then spent a pretty much sleepless night groaning in pain. I thought I would have to tranquilize him and drag him to the ER, but he survived the night. (He won't even go to the doctor, let alone the ER) Today he is starting to feel a little better so hopefully he'll be pain-free soon.

On The Ranch With Jeff: Feeding The Cows And The Time I Almost Killed A Horse

When Jeff lived on the ranch, he learned to drive a stick shift the hard way. His uncle took him out in the middle of a pasture, got out and walked home. Jeff was left to figure things out. If this had happened to me, I would have sat down in the pasture and cried. Then I would have made some dandelion chains and called it a day. But I happen to think that men have a certain mechanical aptitude that I personally do not possess. Jeff figured things out that day, and it became his job to feed the cows. The ranch truck was one of those hot-wired numbers where you have to hop on your left leg three times, say a hail Mary and start 'er up. Jeff would load it up with hay and head off toward the pasture. The main difficulty with this operation was that being two places at once is not on Jeff's list of skills and capabilities. This problem was remedied by a clever trick that they had been using for years. When he reached the pasture, he would point the truck uphill, put it in gear and get out. He would hop on the back of the truck and begin tossing hay down to the cows. Each bale was bound by two wires, which had to be cut and carefully tracked. Apparently cows can eat the wire along with the hay** and as you can imagine, that doesn't go over too well with the cow's digestive system. If he ended up with an odd number of wires he would have to jump off and find it. All the while, the truck would chug its way up the pasture, oblivious to any obstacles in its way. Whenever the truck was approaching a boulder, Jeff would have to jump off the truck and reach in the window to redirect the truck. Then he would hop back up and drop some more hay. How's that for a summer job?

**Speaking of animals swallowing dangerous things...true story...when I was in high school I had a friend who had horses. Technically speaking, they were her step mom's horses. One afternoon we took them out for a ride. I still don't know if this was actually sanctioned by the step mom, or if my friend took advantage of her absence to go for a ride. Regardless, we saddled up both horses and went for a ride in the woods. We came across a creek and my friend said she was going to see if she could get her horse to jump the creek first, and then mine would follow. As I waited for her to coax her horse over, my horse was happily grazing away. My friend jumped the creek and turned around to call me across. When she saw my horse grazing, she began to spout off a multitude of words that are in no way kosher for this blog. I was flabbergasted because I had no idea why she was freaking out that the horse was grazing. As it turns out, my horse was eating star thistles which are bad. Very bad. Apparently there is the potential for the horse to die. My friend is explaining all this to me, peppered with a whole list of expletives. I felt terrible. We coaxed the horse across the creek and raced home. When we got there, my friend stuck a hose down the horses throat to wash them away (not sure if this is the preferred method...). I very vividly remember her reaching her arm down the horses throat feeling around for the thistles. She kept saying how her step mother would kill her if something happened to the horse. It was pretty tense. For the next few days I was on edge, hoping that nothing happened to the horse. Fortunately nothing did and I don't think she ever told her step mom.

Hymns and a Broken Bike

James' bike broke on the way to school yesterday. The seat just cracked and eventually fell off. I can't complain. It was a hand-me-down from his buddy Noah, and he has used a lot in the two years he's had it. The tires were bald and it was getting too small. For now, James will be without his beloved wheels til we can find something suitable for him. I think he will go into withdrawals if I don't find one soon. Craigslist, here I come!

In other news, the kids love hymns which makes me very happy! James will bring me one of my hymn books and sit with me while I sing song after song. I happen to collect hymn books, and have a real church pew in my house...from the church I grew up going to, and the church I got married in. It is my favorite piece of furniture. Anywho....back to the hymns. Sometimes James plays along with his harmonica. At night, the kids usually revolt if I don't sing them a few verses of Amazing Grace. They sing along, getting some of the words right and singing their little hearts out. Its one of my favorite things ever!

Miscellaneous

I have been suffering the affects of a pesky cold that flew right through the rest of the family and hung onto me like nobody's business. It has left me with a bit of dizzyness from having blocked up ears, and I am ready for it to be gone. Today was Jeff's first day of Applied Fluid Mechanics, so I am on my own with three cooped-up rambunctious kids. Fortunately my Mom took pity on me and had us over for a little while so that was a nice break! In other news, I have decided that it is time to have a major reckoning with my pantry and freezer. I have this strange thing about not opening anything I canned/froze til after Christmas. With the exception of jam and salsa, I try to save stuff for the dead of winter when we need something nice to eat. I really need to loosen up on that rule, because we have a ton of stuff hanging out in the garage. Don't be jealous, but I think I have about 2 gallons of frozen rhubarb left in my freezer! Oh, yeah! So, for next month's menu I guess I should incorporate all the loveliness that is in my pantry. I shall bust out all my recipes calling for rhubarb and roasted peppers, and I'll be forced to make Spiced Apple Coffee Cake. Its going to be rough, but someone's got to eat all this food!

And A Good Time Was Had By All (Except Maybe The Chicken)

This morning we woke up to snow. It just so happened to be the perfect 'wet' snow, great for snowballs and sledding. (This was before we got a layer of ice pellets) After locating approximately 92 pieces of winter clothing and real matching pairs of gloves (!), the kids and I headed out to play. We got the sleds and headed off to the greenbelt. When we were almost there someone ran up behind us yelling. It was Jeff trying to scare us. He had thrown on his snow clothes and followed us. We had so much fun!! We had both a saucer and a toboggan at our disposal and I think we sledded in just about every configuration possible. Jeff and Tyler, Katie and James, me and Katie...you get the point. We had the hill all to ourselves and we made the most of it. Jeff accidentally performed a pretty sweet stunt. He was flying down the hill on the saucer and hit a bump. He flew up in the air, did a 360 degree flip, landed and kept going. Tyler went down solo in the toboggan and hit Katie, who fell over onto the sled and flew down with him. While Jeff and I had loads of fun sledding, it appears that we exceeded the weight limit on the saucer and it met its demise.  We decided to tempt fate and ride down together on the toboggan. It remained unscathed, but we ended up landing in a patch of brambles where I managed to cut my finger on a thorn. To add to the injury rate, James got a bloody lip and Tyler's little ankle got rubbed raw from his snow boots. Hey, we had a 40% safety rate...that's good right? We spent the rest of the day playing in the yard, and doing fun crafty projects and baking inside. Oh, and we took the chicken sledding. I think the only reason she stayed on the sled was because she was scared of the snow. I can just imagine someday when the kids are older, sitting around saying 'Remember when we took that chicken sledding...yeah, we sure did some strange things to entertain ourselves!' :)

Random

Random Picture of the Day: Our Botched Tissue Paper Hot Air Balloon

• Sleep...I need some! Tyler kicks off his blankets many times each night, and each time he whimpers and cries until I put them back on. If I don't get there quick enough, he wakes Katie up. She is not pleasant in the middle of the night, and that further wakes Tyler up. After dressing him warmly and tucking him in again before we go to bed, I just think he likes the feel of blankets over him...which is really annoying for me.
• James is back in school today. The strike is over for now. He seemed to be happy to go back, although I know he had fun at home too.
• The chickens have been 'boking' at each other a lot the last few mornings. Yesterday I finally went out to see what was going on, and it seemed that it was rush hour at the nesting boxes. Patience, girls! Patience! Every now and then I threaten them with the stew pot, but it doesn't seem to have an affect.
• Having a supply of pretty brown and blue eggs makes up for the minor annoyance of bickering chickens.
• We might actually get snow tomorrow. Aside from a small amount in October, we've got nothing so far. 
• Jeff starts class tonight...Production Tooling! Doesn't that sound scintillating?
• I am just about finished with a skirt which has taken actual brain power to complete, apparently brain power I am not accustomed to using. It wasn't hard, per se, but the directions were like deciphering a foreign language. I guess it is a European pattern after all. 
• James is ordinarily a good helper, and yesterday he decided to go all out. He helped me watch the little boys at preschool, he picked and help make a recipe for the kids' snack (all his own idea), and...drumroll please....he did the dishes! Oh, yes, I could get used to that! Me thinks some lessons are in order, as he put the bowls in with lids still on, but heck...who cares! He did the dishes, and I think I might have to work that into the rotation more often. Maybe I could teach Tyler to do the laundry?! ;)

Rainy Day

Its raining today. Still no snow, and I must say I am ready for some. The kids have been wishing for snow so they can use their new saucer. This morning our furnace died again. Thank God Jeff got it running again. The 'people' are coming out tomorrow to fix it up. We made the appointment almost three weeks ago and that's the first day they could come out! Crazy. Due to the rain, we are having a cozy day mostly at home. We made a quick run to the library for a 'few' books, and came out with a whole stack as usual. I love the library! The kids also entertained themselves this morning by wrapping themselves in blankets 'so they can't see'and sliding down the stairs. It reminded me of the time that my siblings and I got a hold of a dishwasher-sized box and took turns sending each other down the stairs in it. After a round or two, we got smart and padded the box with sleeping bags. I think we did that until we wore the box out, or maybe gave Mom a headache with all the thumping and screaming. After their escapades with the stairs, James and Tyler took turns throwing each other a ball. It was one of those rare moments where I felt like calling Norman Rockwell in...it was so picture perfect and they were getting along so nicely. I love those moments! :)

Spontaneous Adventure

For the last few years, I have been wanting to visit the Pennsylvania Farm Show. For various reasons, we haven't been able to go. This year, I totally forgot about it until I talked to a friend who was going. Turns out there was only a few days left, so we Jeff and I decided to take the kids on Friday. He took the day off and we took our clueless but excited children on a ride to Harrisburg. We didn't tell them where we were going until the car doldrums kicked in and the kids got antsy. They were pretty excited. Apparently they are having record attendance this year, so we had to park offsite (along with a million other people) and take a bus. A bus!!!! If you are 2, 4 and 6 years old, a bus is so much fun! Jeff found he no longer fits nicely in a bus, but that's what you get when you are 6'4" tall. 

The farm show is in a HUGE indoor complex. The website boasts 6000 animals, 10,000 competitive exhibits and two indoor arenas. We all enjoyed the Hitch and Pull show, where they had various draft horses come in and show off, mostly pulling some type of wagon. Katie was complete enthralled with the Cinderella coach, and James loved the covered wagon. The black horse on the bottom left was my favorite. It had the most beautiful and jingly harnesses on, and it had a beautiful way of running (prancing?).

The chickens! After lunch, the kids were super tired and the chickens were allllllll the way across the complex. I told Jeff we should just go, but he knew I wanted to see them so he said we should go see them. It was really cool. Now I know of two more kinds of chickens I want to get, and that I never want to raise a turkey. Those things are even bigger than I thought, and honestly they kind of scare me! The rooster on the top left was unbelievably tiny, even though you can't tell by the picture. The rooster in the bottom left was gigantic, although the picture doesn't do it justice. It was a Jersey Giant and I would not want to meet up with it in a dark alley. 

We visited the goats and sheep. I'll take one (or 6) of each, please! And a farm to go with it. The boys also loved sitting on the tractors they had everywhere. 

The food court was spectacular! Every 'council' was there promoting their own delicious food. There was the dairy council, the potato council (potato doughnuts, anyone?), the beef council, etc. After hitting up the dairy dudes for some 'toasted cheese sandwiches,' (is that what they call them in PA?) we bought the kids some whoopie pies. Whoopie pies, as far as I know are a Pennsylvania Amish thing. I don't really like them (except when I made these...oh, they were so good!!) The kids, however, loved them mainly because they are a) huge, b) sweet, and c) they each got their very own. For myself I visited my Maple Syrup peeps and bought myself a Maple Frozen Yogurt. It was so good it was ridiculous! 

Yes, we let the kids eat on the floor, the very floor where surely cows had trodden only hours before. The place was packed and there was not a table to be found anywhere. I tried to keep Tyler from putting his pie on the floor, with mixed results.

P.S. There is saran wrap under Katie's treat...just so you know :)

James was fascinated by the fact that the tire was taller than Jeff!

As you can see, we had a lot of fun. On the way out, we stopped at one last exhibit and got to talking with a Dairy guy. He was so darn interesting and we learned a lot. There was this huge yellow brush (like a bottle brush, only about 15 inches wide) on a fixture on the wall next to his dairy cow. I asked him what it was, and he said that when the cow goes up to it, it starts spinning and scratches her back and cleans her coat. He said the happier the cow, the more milk she gives. I'd say that is a very spoiled cow! He also told us that most dairies are using robots to milk now. The cows go in on their own. They have a tag that the robot recognizes, and it sends the information to the computer along with the amount of milk, time, etc.. This way they can track each individual cow and there is a lot less work involved. Who knew! And one more fascinating bit of trivia (or not) that I learned...I asked him why the show cows in the Dairy barn had such full bags. I felt sorry for them. One girl was actually icing down her cow's udders. According to the guy, they do that for show, even though its not very good on the poor mama cows. There you have it! Useful and exciting information you can use every day.

Tractor Square Dance

 

This was my favorite event of the farm show. Who ever heard of tractor square dancing! We actually got there about half way through the show, but it was still awesome. A caller calls out the moves and the tractors follow. Some of the guys had skirts hanging from their tractor seats like they were ladies dressed up for the dance. It is amazing how close they stay to one another without a collision. In the first video, you can see they formed a big 'X' for their finale. After they finished, the caller said 'Now they don't know I'm going to do this to them, but they all need to turn around and do that the other way.' They all shook their heads and then did it anyway. They all made tight little turns and faced the opposite direction in formation without crashing into each other.

Randomness Complete With Pictures!

Yesterday for Art Lessons we did life sized self portraits. I traced each kid on their paper and they went to town adding details. The only bad part about this project is what the heck do you do with a life-sized self portrait? Hide it in the garage until they forget about it? Hmm...

The boys have been wrestling more lately. The funny part is that Tyler can take James out. He just runs full force into James and tackles him.

Katie and Chappy: Cute!!

James and Chappy! Cute, Cute!

And both boys with Chappy: cute, cute, cute!

Is there anything more adorable than a boy in an earflap hat and a boy in a newsboy cap? Yes. A boy with an earflap had and a boy with a newsboy cap holding hands while swinging!

• And now for the random drivel news:
• I have a headache. I think it has something to do with the fact that Tyler screamed at the top of his lungs almost the whole way home from preschool. It was awesome. For whatever reason, the last two weeks he has been having issues leaving preschool and it gets ugly. I actually rolled the windows down hoping that it would help with the sound. Katie was upset and wailing loudly, and I wanted to stop the car and run for my life. (Is that terrible to say?)
• I'm not going to mention any names or anything, but the people who bring their kids here (starts with an S, ends with a chwartz)  for art lessons really need to take more pictures of their beautiful, adorable, prodigy, gorgeous, genius children, because when they come here they beg me incessantly  to take pictures of them! ;0)
• We still haven't got 'official' word for when the strike will be over. Geez! How long does it take to figure out. There was a news article today that said the strike will be over on the 20th, so we'll see if that's accurate. 
• Jeff starts class next week! (Not sure that is an exclamation of excitement or terror..ha!) After this semester he'll be done. Happy dance!!

And one more thing? Did you know that chickens have such luxuriously fluffy butts?  Don't say I never taught you anything! 

Change In Routine

Now that we are not spending our mornings getting James to and fro from school, I have to come up with a new rhythm for our days. This morning we ate breakfast, watched a cartoon, played with playdough, painted huge paintings, cleaned up the resulting mess, and played in the living room. And then it was 9 o'clock. I think I need to come up with a list of adventures and rainy day projects to do. There has yet to be an announcement as to how long the strike will last, so I have no idea how long James will be home. The funny thing is that last week when I dropped James off at school, I was thinking about how I missed having him at home and the adventures we can go on when he is. (All you mothers with school kids can laugh at me now! :) I guess I got my wish!

Trespassing: A Tale From The Franch

I was perusing ye old Franch files and found a few stories I forgot to post. Here is one:

 It was like a scene right out of a movie. I’ll do my best here to paint an adequate picture for you. It all started back at the farm. We spent all summer fixing up Jeff’s old Chevy pick-up. When Jeff had no farm work to do, we’d pull the truck up outside the shop and work. Sometimes we’d work at his Mom’s house too. The truck had significant rust damage, and let’s just say we used way more Bondo and duct tape than is recommended to restore the thing back to its original beauty. It was that summer that I earned the title of ‘Bondo Queen.’ I would do the Bondo and Jeff did the sanding. Anyway, after a summer of fixing up the truck, we had it painted. It sure turned out purdy. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Jeff was a poor college student commuting to and from school almost an hour each way, he decided to sell the truck and get something more fuel efficient. After all the work we had put into that truck, we decided to take it for one last hoo-rah. After all, that truck had gone on many a four-wheeling trip and had always served Jeff well. We decided to head out on Highway 6 &50, past Mack, and see where it went. We had never been much past the highly-esteemed Colorado Club. (Also known as the last stop on the edge of the edge, a seedy bar that attracted some really, shall we say, ‘interesting’ characters) To give you an idea of where we were, Mack is a town where there is all of 30 or so Post Office boxes. It is on the edge of the valley and consists of some very nice people and some very strange people. Like nudists, meth-heads, and other random assorted oddballs. West of Mack, well, there is a whole lot of nothing. It is only about 6 miles from the Utah border, in the desert. So, we headed off on the highway toward Utah. The highway pretty much disintegrated before our very eyes. The asphalt became more crumbly and patchy, and it was clear that the road was not frequently traveled or maintained. Somewhere around the Utah line, we decided to turn South. We just steered off the road onto BLM land and decided to see what was out there. We drove for several miles and of course, didn’t see a soul or any sign of civilization. Oddly enough, we ended up on some sort of ridge looking down on Rabbit Valley and the main interstate. There was no quick way to get down there, and as we soon realized, it was impossible. We decided to head back in the general direction we came, knowing we would eventually run into the highway. However! As it always seems to work, a fence appeared out of nowhere. A fence that stretched as far as we could see. I have no idea why or how we did not see it coming in, or how we got around it. Knowing we did not have enough gas left for a wild goose chase, we looked to find somewhere to pass through. We managed to find a gate in the barbed wire fence. Hanging at lengths along the fence were rusty old ‘No Trespassing’ signs, serving to ward off hooligans like us. Hanging on the gate was an even larger ‘No Trespassing’ sign, riddled with a few bullet holes seemingly put there for added emphasis. We decided we had no choice but to take our chances and head into whatever lay before us. I hopped out, opened the gate and closed it after the truck. We drove for quite a way before we saw what appeared to be the scene from a movie, off in the distance. There were a few rusty old trailers circled ‘round. There was your standard assortment of dilapidated old cars, surely housing the likes of raccoons, jackrabbits and other wildlife. There were rusty oil drums, broken tractor parts, and various ‘hey-I-might-use-that-someday’ odds and ends strewn about. I quickly told Jeff to slow down so we didn’t stir up too much dust. Nothin’ like trespassing on someone’s land and then stirring up a fit of dust to boot. So, we slowed to a crawl. That gave us time to spot them: three crusty old badgers sitting around in lawn chairs smoking and shooting the breeze. There may have been a can or six of beer sitting out. Clearly, they were sitting outside waiting for a UFO to fly over or something. Instead, they see a trail of dust in the distance, and a old but shiny green pick-up with two young whippersnappers driving up. My concern at this point was that they would take a shoot out one of our tires or something, just for sport and because we were trespassing. I was worried that since they clearly chose to live way beyond civilization, they would also feel beyond civilization's rules. And who wouldn’t want to have a little fun with two scared teenagers dumb enough to get lost and end up on private property with a near-empty gas tank? Jeff and I quickly debated the merits of stopping to explain ourselves vs. driving right past them. It became clear that we were the first human beings that had ventured into them-thar-parts in quite a while, as evidenced by their long stares. Every so often one of them would lean over and spit in the dirt. It really was like a movie, in slow motion. They didn’t take their eyes off of us, or we off them. We crept along, trying not to stir up dust, and decided that the best course of action would be to skip the pleasantries and head for the hills. So we did. We had to pass fairly close to these gents, and as soon as we were well enough past them, we sped up and high-tailed it for the highway. Fortunately, it wasn’t too much longer til we got to the road, and we managed to get to the ‘Last Chance Gas Station’ to fill up before we ran out of gas. That was close!

Strike

Our school district teachers are officially on strike. We are waiting to hear how long they will be allowed to strike before coming back to work. I am not happy with the whole thing. I'll save you from my soap box, but if you are curious you can go here and view a slideshow about it.

OTRW Jeff

When Jeff first started working at his current job, his coworkers were fascinated with his 'former life' in Colorado. All the stuff that seemed so normal to us was, apparently, very interesting. What?! You haven't skated around a dead steer with your honey? Oh. Back to my story. Jeff's coworkers loved to hear his stories, both of the farm he worked on in high school, and of his Uncle's ranch in Gateway, Colorado. They began to refer to these impromptu story times as 'On The Ranch With Jeff,' or OTRW Jeff for short. I have written about quite a few of our mutual tales from the farm (here), but not much about the ranch. My goal is to pester him  politely ask him to rehash the stories for me so I can record them for posterity. First, some background:

Jeff's Uncle lived and worked on a ranch in Gateway, Colorado, that had been in his family for several generations. Gateway is (was?*) a tiny little community so small that every graduate received a handmade quilt upon their graduation. (There were usually only one or two graduates, maybe three.) The ranch was 1500 acres, situated in a valley and running up to the mountain top. They had about 325 head of cattle. Jeff spent several months living and working on the ranch. He lived with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin Amber.

And now on to the story (sorry...this post is getting out of hand!) Jeff had a new wrist-rocket style sling shot that he was dying to try out. He had found a handful of nuts (as in nuts and bolts) that fit quite nicely in his slingshot. He and his cousin were standing around outside the farm house while the chickens milled about. He saw a white chicken along the ditch bank and decided to take a shot at it. He hit what he was aiming for, and the chicken fell into the ditch. Jeff saw the mortified look on his cousins face and knew that he was in trouble. He was sure the chicken was dead. He ran to the ditch and reached in to grab the chicken. At the moment he reached in that chicken came to, flapping like crazy. It came flying out and scared Jeff half to death. I'm not sure who was more relieved in the end, Jeff or the chicken!

*I think Gateway has grown considerable since we moved, and for certain it has become much for commercialized. The owner of the Discovery channel decided he liked the area and began buying out everyone in sight. He said he wanted to keep the natural character of the place, then proceeded to build a big resort, a huge mansion complete with helicopter pad, and a car museum, among other things. 

The Garden

I will admit that by the end of September I pretty much had my fill of gardening for the year. I even slacked off in my obsessive habit of weighing everything. My best guess is that we got about 250 pounds of veggies last year. I still have a little parsley and rosemary growing which has been nice. Yet after only a few months of non-gardening, and with the arrival of the seed catalogs, I am going nuts! I want to go out and dig in the dirt and plant seeds and then pick baskets full of food. This winter I am planning on researching cold season plants and growing techniques so I can extend the season. (And I make fun of Jeff for reading books on Thermodyamics and Mechanics of Solids!) Maybe this year will  be the year I actually build a cold frame...we'll see. For now, I will have to be content perusing my seed catalogs and planning away. I asked Jeff what he would think if I turned our front yard into either an orchard or vegetable garden and all I got was an eye roll. I don't think its going to work. I need more space. Hmmm....maybe the neighbor's yard?! :)

Let's Not Repeat That

Last night I woke to the sound of our carbon monoxide detector beeping. I smelled oil and the furnace was misbehaving. It was 3:50ish in the morning. I woke Jeff up who promptly shut off the furnace and got to work. I moved the kids upstairs into Katie's room which we have been keeping unheated (she sleeps downstairs right now). It was reaaaaally cold, but mostly free of fumes. We ran the whole house fan, which helped with the fumes but pulled cold air in from outside. Alas, I'd rather be cold than the alternative. I am very thankful right now for carbon monoxide detectors and glad that the furnace is running again too.

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

After spending the last few weeks basking in the glow of Christmas cheer, I am forced to admit that the party is over. Grandma went home yesterday. James started back to school today. Jeff is back to work. We really enjoyed having family around and checking fun things off our Christmas to-do list. We even made Jesus a birthday cake, albeit a few days after the traditional day. It was quite amusing...Katie helped me with the cake, and she did the frosting and sprinkles. When we were admiring her work, James came in and asked if he could have a piece. I told him yes. Katie looked up at me and said 'But I thought we made it for God?!' James fired back with some comment to the affect that God wasn't going to actually eat the cake, and that he didn't like cake anyway, he liked fish. :) Other fun highlights of our Christmas festivities include:

• Playing tiddlywinks with Grandma (that game is way harder than it looks!)
• The whole family reuniting in a little Rhythm Band awesomeness (a tradition from our childhood...Grandma and Grandpa made instruments for all the grandkids and we would play Jesus Loves Me and others with our home-made instruments)
• Finally having someone to play Bananagrams with! Oh, how I love Bananagrams. Jeff, however, does not. 
• The girls (Mom, Grandma, Nikia and I) going galavanting through the countryside to New Hope and a few other places. It was awesome!
• Baking, baking, baking! And eating, eating, eating!
• Did I mention eating? And Dad made omelets. Omelets! That pretty much means I was in butter-dripping bliss. 

In other random news, Jeff just might be able to double up this semester and take two classes, which would hopefully mean he would graduate!!!! We are praying that everything will fall into place for this, because it would be so nice for him to be done. (Remind me I said that in a couple weeks when he has classes two nights a week and homework all the other days, OK? Thanks!)