Adorable versus Expected

We've slowly phased into a new era of parenting, and I can't say I'm disappointed.  Life used to be so cute.  

Adorable.

Charming.

Darling.

No more, my friends.  No more.  

These days the kids are starting to really earn their keep and it's amazing just how capable they are.  I wish more parents took some training wheels off their completely grown adult children to see what they can manage.  

Then: The kids used to enjoy riding the dozer with their dad, and still do on occasion.  
Now:  It's not uncommon for one of us to yell at them to pull it out of the way while we need to work on something else.  

Then:  I used to bring a high chair to strap a baby into while we worked calves.  I'd give them rocks and sticks to play with I checked on them constantly through the bars of the chute. 

Now: Kenyon likes to reload my syringes because he's faster than me.  I'm not complaining.  

Then:  The kids sat on Wesley's lap while he hauled or fed cattle. 

Now:  I'm glad you can drive a pickup and gooseneck.  It would be a lot handier if you knew how to drive a stick and could take the groundload. 

Then:  Please go outside the shop - I need to weld and we can't hurt your eyes!

Now:  Where is your welding helmet?!  Why am I doing this myself?!

Then:  We'd explain how we were giving this calf a shot to make him feel better. 

Now:  Child #1 questions every doctoring decision and gives his two cents on what he would rather administer if he were running the show.  I had tears of laughter while working calves that day.  Father and son had a heated discussion about what medicines were *right* for the situation.  Wesley looked at me through the chute and rolled his eyes.  Not five seconds later I made eye contact with my son who gave me a similar exasperated look and threw his hands in the air to emphasize just how ignorant his father was.  

Then:  What's that squeaking sound? 

Now:  Yeah, Mom, I'm gonna be a little late to lunch today.  Heard a little squeak earlier, loaded the grease gun and gonna do a little maintenance before I head home for dinner.  

Then:  Go work with your 4-H calves. 

Now:  John is standing on the back of his calf and trying to step over onto another one.  Knowing him, I'm sure he has a goal of walking across his pen of calves without ever touching the ground. 

Then:  Stay back from that fire!  HOT, HOT!

Now:  Kiddo, light your stick, start a line and pay some mind when you drive across this pasture.  

Then:  Mom! Slow down, I see a calf out!

Now:  Hey, Mom, I'm gonna finish up my schoolwork and go fix some fence this afternoon.  Some calves are getting out on the 40 and they are a bunch of prrrrrretty ornery cattle.  (Whew, close one kiddo.  Nice save and thanks for not cussing.)

Then:  Momma, this is broke!

Now:  Hey, Mom, I notice there was a loose board on the swing set so I took your drill, switched the batteries, stole a few bits, screws and a ladder and fixed things.  Put most of it back.  

Then:  Momma, can you come shoot this racoon I trapped?  

Now:  Hey, Mom, I know we were gone a while.  I went to check traps and turns out I didn't secure the trap well enough to the post and he ran into a tree and got caught.  We went back to the shop, got a ladder, went back to the tree, got the trap loose, drove back to the shop, used the winch and a come-a-long to pull the lever on the trap apart.  Didn't want to bother you.  

I remember two years ago my husband and I were talking about welding on a set of pens but knew we needed to hook onto the welding trailer before we could do anything else.  Thirty minutes later I saw a feed pickup and welder parked in the middle of the drive and wondered how it got there.  Turns out the 7 and 9 year olds heard us talking and wanted to be of help.  

What we're learning, slowly but surely, is that someday you might make some decent help out of your littles.  The secret is surviving..... both you and them!  

Sweet Summertime

The year is flying by.  Nothing major ever seems to happen around here but we are making all sorts of tiny steps towards our little people becoming more grown up, independent folks.  

Each morning the kids are up and out the door as the sun rises so they can feed their livestock and walk the hogs.  I often wonder if the kids realize how fortunate they are to witness such a beautiful time of day in such a beautiful area, or if some of these sunrises are totally wasted while they cuss and discuss various 'little 80 year old man' topics.  

This year the boys work with their 4-H calves all by themselves.  Get them caught, rinsed, walk them in the yard, they can do it all.  It's so incredible to watch a 50 pound boy be able to control a 1400 pound steer.  Mom, I'm 56 pounds - please get it right.  

When the kids are working on their arts and crafts projects for the fair this summer I just give them the hot glue gun and walk away.  I think some of the kids have burned their fingertips enough times they may not have any fingerprints left, but perhaps they'll grow up to become bank robbers and thank me for being so farsighted.  

The oldest is 10 and cuts all his own boards for woodworking.  I'll admit, I still peer over his shoulder on this one.  Partly because it is super dangerous, but partly because I love woodworking so much.  He seems to enjoy it as well and I love that we can bond through this.  

The three oldest kids all played baseball this summer and had a great time.  All three also played catcher at times.  This was my favorite position growing up and it gave me great pride to see them tough it out during miserably hot games.  

This day was particularly rough. She got up early to help load cattle, had swimming lessons during the late morning, picked up rocks and sticks from a previously flooded field all afternoon and then was absolutely comatose during the hour-long drive to the ballgame that evening.

Arguments are starting to evolve around here as the children age.  During breakfast last week I heard a heated discussion on what type of spray we needed to use on our soybeans.  I don't think my favorite PBS cartoon, Daniel Tiger, has a helpful jingle I can sing to diffuse these sorts of arguments.  Also along those lines, I miss many of the PBS cartoons that helped us along during the past decade.  It seems now we've graduated to old westerns, science documentaries and exploration-type shows.  

I'll admit, we push our kiddos pretty hard out here.  We see how the rest of the world is spiraling and it only further solidifies our desire to raise our children more like '80's babies', with less technology and more time outdoors and filthy.  But it's not always work!  This summer we've tried to make more time to carve out a little bit of fun.  Great Grandpa stops by occasionally and though he doesn't stay long, the kids always glean a little bit of knowledge (and a lot of bull) from him.  We recently stole away for a weekend and went camping with cousins.  The kids are now hooked and have been mentioning pooling their money to purchase a camper.  And one of the best perks of kids maturing is that we can now eat at a restaurant and actually enjoy the experience!  Our good friends recently opened a sundry in a nearby town and it is quite the place.  I enjoy a reprieve from feeding a small army and the kids enjoy eating at such a fancy place with familiar faces. 

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. 

Fall Recall

I often wonder how our children will recall their childhoods.  Will they think back fondly on how they ran rather feral through pastures or will they remember chores and fixing fence?  

Will weaning calves bring back smiles or mild cussing when they think of how filthy they were and how tiresome it was to roll out and set up pens to sort cattle time and again?  Will they remember their mom cussing each time a momma cow came after them?  

Will they remember the endless pasture picnics, the days their plates nearly blew away in the fierce winds?  Will they wish they had eaten more meals around the table I built them in the house?  

It seems many days our table is almost
exclusively used for schoolwork.

Will the kiddos recall pausing for paperwork and chasing down scale tickets or are those memories pushed aside and viewed simply as extra time when they played rock-paper-scissor and argued on who would back up the next truck?  

Will they lament because their jungle gym was covered in manure? 

Only time will tell.  I'm anxiously awaiting to hear someday what they recall. 

Smoke and Dirt

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that if you see our family in the flesh it is likely you will probably gather a slight whiff of branding iron smoke and our children will be covered in dirt.  

I so enjoy these times.  Everyone knows their place and what they need to do.  There is minimal talk, save for the times I shout out ear tag numbers to John to make sure we are on the same page as he gathers ear notches for me to run BVD tests later.  

We get to spread apart from one another and no one has to breathe my air, which is heavenly having come out of a pretty intense decade of raising tiny babies that often clung to me like spider monkeys.  

The girls need reminded fairly often to quiet down.  They have so much fun playing in boxes, climbing over old oxygen tanks and having sword fights with sorting sticks that they forget there is actual work to be done. 

I can always count on John to make hilarious comments about no longer needing a bath when we both get sprayed with slobber from a rambunctious calf.  

Kenyon is a solid worker and he always keeps the tub and alley way filled with calves.  He loves to talk numbers when we finish and recount how many were bulls, steers, etc.  

The husband runs his side of the chute and I run mine.  We don't talk unless I ask him to pause so I can refill a vaccine gun.  It seems like the wind is normally out of the totally wrong direction and the smoke from his branding iron fills my nostrils for several seconds with each calf.  We never argue during this time.  Processing calves is the one thing that we can do really well together and I always look forward to it.  

We don't have time (or a desire) for things like Saturday college football games or weekends at sporting tournaments which I've seen many families on social media document.  I'm glad they've found their niche in life.  This is definitely ours.  

This is a terrible attempt to photograph smoke in bright backlight.
My apologies. 

Time Marches On

Summer commenced.  

We blinked.

Summer came to an end. 

Captivating material, right?  I'm renowned for my creative writing skills.  

I've heard people exclaim 'I have no idea where the time went!', and while I understand the phrase I can assure you we know exactly where the time has gone around here.  

Our time this summer was spent in the hay fields, the ball fields, the bean fields, the corn fields - any type of field you can imagine - we were there.  

And then there were the chores.  The kids were very faithful in taking care of their animals.  Each morning they walked their hogs as well as fed and watered everything.  In the evenings, provided they didn't have ball games to play, they walked their calves and then fed and watered all their hogs, calves, horses, chickens and dogs again.  We were very proud of their work ethic.  Don't get me wrong, they grumbled on many of those hot days, but they understood the importance of their duties.  

On the weekends we'd have some quality, family bonding time while we processed calves together.  For the most part, the boys are becoming pretty decent help.  Kathryn fills in where she can and is learning the ropes... and little Reese does what most supervisors do and barks nonsensical orders that benefit absolutely no one.  

I always enjoy when someone asks if we enjoy the sunrises from our home.  
Yes, yes we do.

The kids and I try to sneak in a few walks each week before the heat gets too terrible.  They subscribe to the Robert Frost school of thought and enjoy choosing the 'road less traveled'.

Find a better babysitter.  I dare you.
Loopie is the best of the best.

6am and ready to head out the door to load cattle.  
Pink, sparkly shirt?  Check.
Pink, sparkly belt?  Check

Fishing has become much more enjoyable for all as now 75% of the kids can cast out the lines themselves.  It makes a world of difference to the parent(s). 

Reese has a pretty tough life I tell ya'.

6:30am and we were watching a concrete mixer unload into the forms for a loading chute.

It was really interesting for all of us to watch that process.

This day was absolutely awful.  The kids were fighting and screaming and I nearly lost my mind.  The next thing I know, the house is silent, save for the gently voice of Kenyon reading Bible stories to his sisters. 

Yes, Mom forgot to pack the lawn chairs one day.

Yes, the all survived eating on the ground.

Silage chopping was less than stellar this year.  

Thankful to have that one checked off the list.

A low quality photo, but I do enjoy watching the kids help us work calves.

After the fair we had the chance to go into the meat locker and see the kids' calves and hogs hanging.  It was such a great learning experience.

We are very fortunate to have many great mentors in our lives. 
(Bonus points if they are super pretty high school girls.)

The girls thoroughly enjoy oiling anything with leather.  
Halters, boots, saddles, purses, diaper bags... If you bring it, they will condition it.

They often move as a whole and I love to watch this little tribe and all their antics.  They have inside jokes, inside arguments, inside super-secret plans.  They are close and it is wonderful. 

This photo will never get old.  8am and running your hogs while topless in your socks and jelly sandals.  Life is good for R.E.C.

Kathryn touched her brother's welding project and burned a finger.  While icing it down she also passed out from sheer exhaustion.  This accurately captures the essence of our summer.  
Sheer exhaustion.

Cooking class with Grandma can be rather chaotic but the end result was oh-so-worth it.
Raisin bars with Grandma Kate for the mouth-watering win!
It was a nice change from boring ol' mom's endless pans of chocolate chip cookies.
I'm a bit of a one trick pony with baking and not afraid to admit it.