...And Just Like That

And just like that, we blinked and summer was over.  We played our hearts out in baseball, had weeks of swimming lessons and vacation bible school, survived the fair, sold our animals, spent countless hours in the hayfield and one day in town buying school supplies.  

That is a completely accurate recap of our summer.  

It was exhausting, but we seemed to manage very well.  The kids were up and out the door early each morning to walk their animals or ship cattle and then spent their afternoons in a myriad of activities - swathing, raking, baling or hauling hay mostly, and then we'd eat a light supper and head to the ball fields or work with animals again.  We had three children on two different baseball teams this year and it went pretty smoothly.  Everything this summer seemed to go smoothly even though it was incredibly busy.  Last summer each breath and each activity seemed to be a torturous struggle but that weight was somehow lifted and things were rather delightful these past few months.  

After spending so many years at home with small children I am now meeting more parents through all these activities and truly loving this little tribe we've created.  It is refreshing to find another soul that shares similar values and standards, not only in child rearing but their own work ethic and mannerisms.  Conversations are easier when you don't want to beat your head on a wall.  

The kids are getting older and starting to be really helpful with activities.  Some of them can even read, so now I can leave for short periods of time and leave them notes with instructions or lists of chores to accomplish.  (Funny, the first few times I left chore lists they always seemed to mysteriously blow away.  Hmmmm.)  

It's an exciting new phase of life, one where I can walk away from children, take a deep breath and be fairly confident they'll survive for a few moments.  We can skip naptime and the entire world does not end.  (Close, but not quite.)  And we are thisclose to being done with diapers FOREVER.  It's a thrilling time around here, let me tell you.  

John found a shell with the live snail inside.  He was so proud.  This was our exciting Father's Day.  The girls rode in the air conditioned tractor with Wesley to bale hay and the boys and I picked up logs from the edges of fields since a recent flood had carried them in. 

We are a filthy little family.  But I'm proud that they spend so much time outdoors on adventures.

Kenyon designed a replica of Big Brutus and took it to the fair.

Again with the filthy kids!

Oftentimes it feels like we eat as many meals in the shop as we do around our kitchen table.

Horrible picture?  Undoubtedly.
But this was my view repeatedly this summer -
three kids running out the door long before the sun came up.

She loves to drive the dozer, dinosaurs and the color pink.  Such a funny little one.

Everything can be made into an obstacle course, especially pallets of mineral.

She's kinda like her momma and has a soft spot for sweet little old men.

Reese is an excellent cattle counter, just like her dad.

She does a nice job of keeping herself entertained in the tractor while we move hay together.  
Also, I highly recommend the $11 writing tablet she's holding.  She can draw for hours with her finger and be perfectly content.  

*I should have mentioned that she enjoys almost all reptiles (like turtles) and not just dinosaurs.  My apologies. 

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.) 

Life in Photos

Sometimes I get really down about life around here.  Lots of work, little play (or so it feels like) and lots of same ol' same ol' with the daily grind.  But then I look at the photos I'm able to capture and maybe life isn't so bad after all....

This was after church last week. 

I lost the kids last week.  I told them to go to the barn and do chores.  Thirty minutes later no one had come home yet so I walked down to the barn to check on them.  They tried to throw a bale of hay down from the loft and it got stuck on the ladder.  Thus, they were stuck as well.  Hmmmmm..... 

This one.  Oh..... this one.....

I went grocery shopping last week.  A man though I was funny enough that he pulled over, stopped his pickup, rolled down his window and laughed loudly at my precarious situation.  One of the checkout ladies had helped me out with my two carts and was proud to tell him that 'Oh you have no idea - normally this lady buys waaaaaay more stuff!'

I'm sorry, doesn't everyone have to plan their grocery trips around when the heifer needs feed???

Will my father kill me for this photo?  Yes. 

Does it melt my heart when the kids trade silly faces with their grandparents?  Yes. 

It's worth any beating I might have to take. 

Cake, Batter, Batter cookies are the best! 

Nothing to see here, folks....

I love our little family.  Kids, work, mud, love. 

Meet our newest pet.  Mikey the micer.  You have to look up in the rafters to find him.  

No..... this was not my choice.  I tried to kill him (don't tell my husband) but he's a quick little buggar. 

 

Little Hands

It seems as if there is always something amiss around here.  Currently we have a bucket calf that keeps bloating up.  He was sick approximately 10 days ago and my husband doctored him.  The medicines he administered also did a number on the microbes in this calf's rumen.  When the microbes aren't working on digesting food properly, bloat can occur.  

But that's neither here nor there.  Long story short, we have a calf that we have to 'air out' often.  And yes, I made that term up.  Getting a three year old to properly say 'debloat' is difficult, so we just say what we want.  It's how we roll around here.  

When we told the kids to run the calf into the chute they knew just what to do.  They set gates just right, helped make a wing, blocked holes where there was no fence so the calf couldn't run off.  I was proud of them for being such good little hands.  Make no mistake, it makes for a crazy, intense, chaotic, near sh!t show of a time, but each time they get the job done.  

I don't want to brag on them too much, as there are still tons of things they do (or DON'T do) every day that make me pull my hair out.  But I do love that these kiddos have a passion for their animals and mimic how they see the guys around here act.  

One night when the kids and I were done with the calf I looked up to see this sunset.  We were all muddy messes, I did not have supper ready, the baby needed fed and had been sitting rather patiently in her carseat for 30 minutes.... I could go on and on about the crazy things that were making me frazzled that evening, but this sunset helped calm all of that.  I think the world needs to just take a time out and look at a few more sunsets like this, right? 

 

Intensity

 Whew.  Just..... whew.  

Life these days is beyond wonderful, but..... it's a lot.  Like, A LOT.  And we knew that when started this mess.  A friend told me once that having several kids very close in age was fun 'if you survive it'.  I mentioned to her that she in fact got divorced, so did she actually survive it?...  I loved her response.  "Oh yes" she laughed.  "Besides that part it was so much fun!" 

The kids enjoy doing puzzles, so we try to squeeze in one or two a week.  

This one.  This one.  There is a reason she's the last one.  She's pretty wonderful and I'm trying to soak up all the wonderful little baby snuggles I possibly can.  She's a little ray of sunshine for us all. 

Poor Grandma C.  Like it or not, we bother her nearly every morning and regale her with stories of chasing chickens, chasing bucket calves, dead racoons in her yard, live opossums in her trashcans.... there is no shortage of stories to tell her ever.  We don't go into the house, but the kids knock on the door, peer in like creepers until she come out and then berate her with stories over and over again.  The lady has it rough I tell ya'.  

Seriously.  This kid.  She's too much. 

My momma tried hard to teach me to cook and I didn't fully appreciate her efforts until I started cooking for a crew of my own.  Maybe I can break the curse?... 

The kids are starting to be great help when it's time to load out cattle.  If we can keep them from sticking their head or hands in the panels and just stay alive then we'll have great help someday.  

Sure, Reese looks cute in this picture, but I love seeing my husband's smile.  Pure joy.  

***

I read someone's blog several years ago and she apologized for her lack of blogging but added in the caveat 'if you don't have a 3, 5 and 7 year old then you probably don't understand'.  I didn't understand then, but I totally do now.  I am currently forgoing a much needed shower in order to get a few of these pictures recorded for posterity.  I feel poorly about letting this blog lay idle as it serves as my kiddos' defacto baby book as well.  I also feel poorly that there are no current pictures of our oldest child, but he is now a full-time student and much too busy to pause for the camera. 

This past week my husband and I celebrated a milestone anniversary and it was simply wonderful.  My mother-in-law watched the kids for 24 hours and I was simply in heaven.  I was able to SIT.  BY MYSELF. AND NOT FEED ANYONE ELSE. NOT BATHE ANYONE ELSE. NOT ROCK ANYONE ELSE. It sounds incredibly superficial and shallow to brag about this, but I cannot tell you how refreshing it was as well.  On Sunday morning when I picked up the kids I felt like I was returning from a one week vacation in Jamaica.  It was heavenly.  No wonder folks get addicted to this 'me time' thing.  

Here's to hoping that I make it a priority to blog a bit more often... showers be damned.  I love looking back on these pictures years later and wondering how in the world we survived.  It is intense these days, no doubt.