Stop, Drop and Roll

The days are getting warmer and the sun is shining longer which means there is more opportunity to work outside.  Each morning my husband and I exchange lists of our respective obligations for the day.  

Without fail, almost every single day the focus ends up shifting to accomplishing the tasks on his list.  It makes things on our side much more chaotic, but as any elementary-aged child can tell you: when the world is turning into a dumpster fire, the best thing to do is stop, drop and roll. 

Stop everything you're doing.

Drop whatever task you may have been in the middle of accomplishing.

Roll with the punches and things will (probably) work out just fine. 

Last week John really wanted to finish his library book.  The Magic Treehouse series is pretty captivating at his age and reading is something that I don't want to discourage in our children.  I needed to make ear tags and help Wesley work calves so John had to tag along and continue to read aloud about adventures in ancient Rome while I continued my work.  We swapped his magic treehouse for a magic vet shack and he shouted the story to me over the loud hum of the hydraulic chute. 

Stop, drop and roll.

And, because this kid can relax anywhere, he took a few moments to create a rock lounge chair.

The kids love to jump haybales.  If they could do nothing else for recreation I think they'd be just fine.  We had just started to enjoy our afternoon when I got the call that everyone needed to head to a pasture and help gather a set of calves. 

Stop, drop and roll.

The kids are having fun working with all their 4-H calves this year as they are now big enough to do most everything themselves.  We thought it was going to be a productive afternoon of scratching on calves when we got the call and suddenly tracking a bull sale online was more important. 

Stop, drop and roll.

We were interested in bull #10 and bull #110 in the sale order.  The kids did a wonderful job of tracking everything in between and letting us know when they were getting close to our prospects and it allowed us to keep working.

As this busy spring season progresses I have a feeling we're going to stop, drop and roll each and every day. 

Someone Is...

With four kids underfoot, it seems life around here is merely a game of odds, or probability, if you will.  Chances are that someone in our family is doing at least one of these things at any given time.   

Someone is always hungry.  

You simply cannot add enough spicy salsa to this kid's scrambled eggs.
Not possible.

Someone is always in the middle of a growth spurt (thus the hungry part).  

Someone is always drawing blood, getting bruised, being banged up. 

Someone is always needing a shower. (Or a power washer.  Sometimes you have to pull out the big guns.)

Someone is usually reading a book. 

Someone is normally shouting.

Someone is always wrestling.

Someone is normally arguing with a sibling.

Someone probably deserves a swat on the behind.

Mom: Reese, are you supposed to be on the table?
Reese: No! Good girl.
*cue angelic smile*

Someone is wanting to draw. 

Someone is wanting to go fishing. 

Someone is doing something, somewhere, with cattle.

Someone is always needing a nap. 

Someone is singing and/or dancing. 

We constantly listen to the new Cody Johnson CD in the car and everyone jams out. 
And yes, we still listen to 'old school' CDs.

Someone is always exhausted.  (Me.  It is me, the mom.) 

Bunch of Nothin'

The standard opening to nearly any conversation in the Midwest either involves the weather or 'whatcha been up to?'  I like to quote a favorite saying from my then five year old son.

Whatcha been up to?

Bunch of nothin'.  

And there you have it.

We read tons and tons of books.  I love it that we can go an entire day without watching tv and no one dies without it.  Kathryn's newest obsession is bursting into the bathroom when I am otherwise occupied puking and reading a nice book to make me feel oh so much better.

Laundry.  Oh my goodness there has been so much laundry.  We've had snow and rain this winter, which is nice (kinda?) but then it is just a constant battle with the mud and water and dirty clothes and filthy kids.  

Can you see her wet pants and muddy jacket? She's been in heaven.

The snows have been fun for the kids.  Great Grandma C has a perfect hill in her backyard for sledding and we took full advantage of it.  All the kids napped hard that afternoon after partaking in the fun!  

We also like to climb trees down at the creek.  John is quite the daredevil and I'd imagine by next year he'll be jumping off limbs into the water.  His first broken bone from two years ago will undoubtedly not be his only with all the risks he likes to take. 

On nice days we spend as much time outside as possible.  One fine afternoon we cleaned up the garden and pulled out all of last year's tomato and pepper cages.  I'm not sure just how much time we'll have for gardening this year, but we'll still plant something for the kids to have pride and ownership in.  They loved picking produce last year and it makes my heart swell to see them have pride in their work.  

On many of these long winter days we've walked over to visit Great Grandma C and spent lots of time at the piano.  Although she swears that she 'can't even play anymore, dear' she still never hits a wrong note and I've actually never seen her open either the book or the hymnal on her piano bench.  

I'd say she's doing just fine. 

Our kids are not normal, which is another blog post in and of itself.  But here's a little taste for you.  I'm glad we don't have neighbors, and I'm glad the men in our life don't seem to mind these odd little people that wander around the yard and sheds.  They have these old baseball helmets and on certain days decide it is imperative that they wear them.  Who am I to tell them no?  Safety first, that's our motto.  (Cue massive eye roll.)  

And in between chasing the kids around we find time for a little bit of this and that.  A little bit of bible study with a great group of ladies, a little bit of social media activism (follow Greenwood County Cattlewomen on Facebook and Instagram, please), a little bit of cooking, a little bit of working calves or being the gopher for the hubs, a little bit of bookwork, a little bit of woodworking, a little bit of grant writing, a little bit of baby prep work, and a lot of dang snap tests for cattle.  I feel like the female version of 'Jack of all trades, master of none'.  Like most, I just feel pulled in a million different directions each day and if I manage to cross one or two things off the list each day I feel like I've won the lottery.  

So there you go.  What have we been up to lately?  A bunch of nothin'.

Get Ready

Last night while sitting at the supper table I heard that oft heard, oft dreaded phrase once again uttered.

"Well, get ready" he said.  "It's fixin' to get busy around here for the next six weeks."

Really?  Like the last six weeks haven't been busy?  Or the six before that?!

I rolled my eyes when I heard this.  It's one of my least attractive qualities and one of the reasons I wear sunglasses so often.  As my eyes turned towards the heavens; however, my gaze landed upon a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for years:

This one - she gets me.  We're kindred spirits born 125ish years apart.  We've both had to bust our tails on the same soil.  Both probably rocked babies and wondered where in the world our husband was at and when he was coming home.  I saw the pooch in her belly and wondered if she was 4 months pregnant or just had acquired a permanent 'shelf' like mine after having 3 kids in 3.75 years.  It's not lost on me the countless ways my life is filled with more creature comforts than hers, but I appreciate the biggest commonality we share - we're both just trying to raise good kids and eek out a living.

I wondered if she breathed a huge sigh of relief when someone else offered to take her kids to the nursery during church so she could have 30 minutes a week without being in charge of someone else (but let's be honest, she probably didn't) and then I wondered what she would have done for self care, a phrase that's become so over-used and abused that I've come to despise.  Truth be told, we're probably looking at it in this photo.  She got 30 minutes to herself and decided to pick up cow chips for firewood and she was relishing in the quiet until someone interrupted her solitude and asked to take a photo.  I feel you, girl.

"Are you listening?  Hellllooooo?" my husband asked as I snapped back to reality.  I didn't realize how many moments I'd been lost in my thoughts with this prairie woman.

"We've got it.  We're ready.  Bring on the next six weeks of haying and shipping and fair and life."

Now that I've 're-found' this book on my shelf I imagine that I'll be glancing upward at her quite often for a little inspiration.

Buncha' Nothin'

When the kids come inside from working or playing I often ask them what they've been up to and their reply is consistently the same.  

Buncha' nothin'.  

This is what comprises a bunch of nothing in our little world...

One nice day we went for a walk that never seemed to end.  They all kept asking if we could go 'just a little bit farther' and I never said no.  We walked a little over two miles that day and all the kiddos were thoroughly worn out by the time we got home. 

One of the things I admire most about our kiddos is their ability to play accurately.  Notice how John is backing his trailer up square with the barn so he can unload his horses?  We do NOT back up our trailers all willy-nilly around here. 

Kathryn has reached the stage where she reads allllllll the time.  Except this book (Frosty the Snowman) which she sings the song to in her soft, angelic little one year old voice. 

Go sledding, Wes said.  It'll be fun, Wes said.
Wes lied.  Sleet pellets were hitting us in the face and it sucked. 

She told me she was too cute to do chores.
I told her she was wrong.  Cute, but still wrong.

When the weather outside is frightful we play enjoy building tall towers (and then karate chopping them down).

I was not lying.  We read, and read, and read...

Mama's mashed potatoes are not too shabby.

Some mornings are easier than others to get bundled up and go outside.  For instance, when the men are shipping cattle and need supervision.  

Fashionable eye wear choice, my dear.

There you have it.  Our boring little life in a nutshell.
A buncha' nothin'.

Spring is Coming!

Thank goodness, spring is almost here.  12 hours and counting.  We can make it if we just hold on a little... bit... longer... I will be so relieved to leave this miserable winter behind all of us.  One that should never be repeated.  

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year.  The hubs tilled the garden for me and it looks marvelous.  Although I pulled most all of the plants out last fall, I left the hay/mulch on top and it was incredible how much moisture was retained in the garden soil.  It is nothing fancy, just good feedlot manure, but it looks, feels and smells like rich, fertile garden soil should.  Mmmmmmmm. 

Kenyon insisted we all leave handprints in the dirt.  And when your four year old asks you to, you oblige him.  

This picture makes me giggle every time I look at it.  Yesterday afternoon I laid Kathryn down for a nap.  I could hear her crawling around and playing in her crib for the first several minutes, and then there was a terrible shriek and cry for a few minutes.  When it didn't subside I decided to poke my head in and check on her.  She had pulled herself up but was too scared to let go and sit back down.  Its rough learning all sorts of new things.  And yes, when she woke from her nap I lowered her mattress first thing. 

It is absolutely exhausting just being so cute all the time.  That, and Mom took a very long, very hot, very needed shower right before nap time.  Well, apparently I went to take a shower and it became nap time.  

 This could quite possibly be one of my favorite photos of all time.  Not for its composition, but its content.  John was reading to Kathryn one morning before breakfast.  My heart melts every time I look at it. 

We love to read books.  Seriously.  Have you figured that out yet? 

Even Kathryn is figuring it out rather early.  

When we're not reading books and the wind is NOT blowing 50 miles an hour, we also like to fish in the evenings.  We've not caught anything yet this year but no one seems to mind.  

If it were possible to smother an animal to death with affection this horse would be a goner.  

Happy spring everyone!  Pretty sure that's not a 'thing', but I just made it one.