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.

Teeny, Tiny People

When the babies were little, they were constantly attached to me.  I was often holding them on my hip or chest so they were RIGHTINMYFACE and BREATHINGMYAIR most all day, every day.  Which is the wonderful part about having babies, don't get me wrong.  Even for their small size, they were huge in my eyes due to their proximity. 

Now the babies are getting older and.... smaller.  They no longer breathe my air.  The are rarely right in my face, unless they are showing me the latest bump, scrape, bruise, turtle, blackbird or the like to impress me.  These days I mostly see them from a distance, which is becoming increasingly alright with me.  A friend told me once that raising kiddos never gets easier, it just gets different.  Each day I am becoming more aware of just what he meant.  

See what I mean?  I wasn't joking.  Blackbird.  In my face.  He was so proud of himself for catching it.  Still not sure how he managed that one. 

We spent a few days last week hauling hay.  Kenyon LOVES to drive the pickup and flipper trailer through the fields so I can load him with the tractor.  Once I get him loaded he dutifully slides over and lets me drive down the road to the hay yard to unload.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Load after load. 

Not only can he do the manly chores like haul hay, but he's great at walking home to make sandwiches for everyone as well!  He really wanted to keep loading hay while I went home to make sandwiches, but he definitely lost that argument. 

We had to wait nearly 10 minutes for the men to switch fields and bring us a tractor, which is approximately 10,000 eternities in young man years.  He sat on the tail end of the flipper trailer and nearly died of boredom.  

"Seriously, Mom.  I think they forgot about us.  There is no way it should be taking this long.  We should just go find them."

I love picking up these tiny hitchhikers I find alongside the road.  All the kids love to take turns riding in the swather and baler with their grandpa and dad.  After spending many long hours bouncing around in the cab I drive to the appropriate middle-of-nowhere location and find the tiny dot standing at the side of a field that is hopefully my child. 

I loved stumbling upon this scene a few days ago.  The kids found the best vantage point (the top of the ground load trailer) and watched their dad go back and forth with the tractor and baler.  I believe if you click on the individual photos you can enlarge them.

Nearly every Saturday morning while the rest of the world is watching cartoons, we have our kiddos out working a load of calves that arrive to our place the night before.  I run one side of the chute- giving shots, worming and putting in ear tags while my husband works the other side.  He runs the hydraulics of the chute to catch each calf, gives other shots and implants as well as brands each calf with a hot iron.  We both keep an eye on the kiddos as they push calves up the alleyway or simply see how much dirt they can possibly cover themselves in.  Not to brag or anything, but they could earn a gold medal in the filthy kid category.  Hands down.  

The boys have to practice their penmanship skills when they number all the ear tags and vials for BVD testing that I then run in the afternoons.  

This new, different chapter is difficult for me to process at times but I'm slowly adapting.  I never dreamed it would be this enjoyable to watch the children grow bigger physically but become teeny-tiny in my eyes as they become more independent. 

Spring Sprang

It happens every year.  Spring suddenly sprang and here we are trying to play catch up.  I thought the toughest years were those with little babies and endless diapers, but I think perhaps I was wrong.  At least during that time I had control of the narrative.  I could control most of our schedule, doctor's appointments, play time and the like.  The only wild card I had was chasing around my husband, which admittedly is more than enough.  

These days we have school, field trips, three baseball teams with three different schedules, being a hired man for my husband, piss poor secretary and trying (failing) to keep house.  

The diaper days were 'easier'.  Or at least more focused.

Lunches with Grandpa are priceless.

One of our many 'homeschool' days. 

Cousin love.  These two are 20 days apart and thick as thieves.

Lunch on the go.

First spring show of the year. 
6:20am and everyone is loving life!

I love when someone else is kind enough to till my garden. 
He's not quite big enough to do it by himself but this was a nice learning experience.

Who knew tomato cages could be so much fun?!

Yellowstone

These past few years it seems like I hear the word Yellowstone, the popular ranching drama set in present-day Montana, at least once a day.  I read articles concerning countless spinoffs from online news sources, see shirts or feedcaps with the Yellowstone brand or hear someone utter a popular phrase from the show.  Normally something regarding a train station, which, to be honest I still don't understand but maybe someday I'll finally get to watch some of those earlier seasons and know what is going on.  

Also, while we're on the subject I wish I had a nickel for every time I saw photos of couples dressed up as popular characters Rip and Beth for Halloween last year.  Clever?  Yes.  Humorous?  Certainly.  Original?  Not even close, although they and hundreds of other middle aged white women with faux fur coats and a bearded significant other looked amazing.  

But I digress.  I have enjoyed the handful of episodes we've watched and small snippets we've seen online.  The one liners are humorous and the drama looks intense.  A common complaint I've heard among the agriculture and rural community; however, is the lack of a believable plot.  "That sort of stuff just doesn't really happen."  Fair enough.  I can't tell you the last time I beat a rattlesnake to death with my boot while my dad was off chasing someone down through the desert (or something like that).  I find those plot lines entertaining and an escape from reality.  

I, too, would argue that Yellowstone is not an accurate portrayal of agriculture lifestyle, but for entirely different reasons.  

Can you guess?

THERE IS NO SECRETARY.  

Correct me if I'm wrong because we've not seen many episodes, but I have yet to see a haggard middle aged woman who desperately needs to brush her hair and teeth lurking in the shadows, chasing down the boss to sign papers, calling the vet clinic for health papers to ship cattle, endlessly filing VFDs and making sure the truck mileage matches the loads that were shipped last week to the yard.  You never hear the soft, steady utterance of curse words under her breath as she resubmits dig claims, makes appointments that will undoubtedly be rescheduled countless times and trades emails with other secretaries of several businesses they are connected to in various states across the nation at 6am on Monday mornings.  Perhaps I've missed the episode where aforementioned secretary rearranges her day to haul hay or cattle or help process calves or run for parts or buck bales.  Tell me there aren't at least six seasons worth of compelling stories RIGHT THERE.  I can't think of much better. 

When I see that part of the show I'll agree that it is more realistic.  Until then, for myself and nearly every other ranch wife in the country, it shall serve as nothing more than an entertaining escape on Sunday evenings after the kids go to bed.  

Rural Babies

Today was one of those fleeting, perfect days that you just cannot soak up enough.  Minimal wind, temperature in the high 40's, bright sunshine... absolute perfection.  Thank you, Lord.  

Today was also a constant reminder of our rural life.  

The 'baby' recently moved from a crib into a big girl bed.  She does well most of the time, but last night woke up multiple times crying and needing her mother.  Alas, this required me to be awake multiple times, rocking her and providing encouraging pep talks to her.  After waking up at 4:30 I just decided to officially start my day which really isn't all bad.  It means I get to have quiet coffee - my very favorite kind.  

Whilst attempting to enjoy my peace and quiet I heard rustling outside several times.  I attributed this to raccoons and silently cussed them while I continued to read the news on my phone, sip my heavenly goodness and relish in the quiet.  

At daylight I walked outside to find that the boys' 4-H calves had gotten out of the pen last night and traveled the 100 yards up to our house where they decided to shit on our porch.  Obviously this wasn't' the end of the world, but something that made me cuss under my breath. Oh, who are we really kidding? I cussed out loud and asked the kids to get shovels to clean up their calves' manure.  I was immensely proud; however, when I asked the kids if they needed help.  "Nope.  Dad says if we make mistakes in life we need to take care of them ourselves."  Cannot love this enough.  

We ate lunch down at the shop today, during which Kathryn decided that the dogs were hungry and also in need of a meaty lunch.  She promptly trotted down the road several yards and found a dead rabbit laying on the side of the road that she carried back to them.  

Later that afternoon as I was cleaning in the shop I looked over to see Reese carrying handfuls of food to the dogs who were more than willing to lay on their dog beds as she handfed them eat tasty morsel.  

In between all these antics the children checked their traps, rode bikes, climbed all over equipment, worked with their animals and capped off their evening by hunting racoons with our neighbor.  Days like today make our hearts full and remind us just how lucky we are to raise our babies in this environment. 

Sometimes

Sometimes, well, all the time, I worry about our children.  I think that's normal for most parents, of course.  We lie awake at night and strategize about what went wrong, what went right and what we need to do better the next day.  My husband and I often remind ourselves that our mission is to make good kiddos right now because 'it's easier to raise a good kid than to fix a broken adult'.  Amen.  This is no lie.  Cannot stress this shit enough.  

We have unique concerns about each of ours, but then sometimes I'm reminded that maybe they'll be okay (at least for the near future).  

Kiddo #1: 

He used to make such sweeping generalizations that drove us absolutely insane. 

    Everyone does it.  It's always like that.  This always happens every time.

Now I often feel as if we live with a lawyer.  

    Mom, I hate to tell you but technically, that's not correct.  Not EVERYONE actually does that.  

I secretly love it when he corrects me like this.  It gives me hope for the future.  

Kiddo #2:

We ask him questions that make him utilize his mental math skills and he struggles.  

    And then we ask him to play blackjack and suddenly he knows his mental math like a genius. 

Kiddo #3: 

She likes pink.  She has beautiful blonde hair.  When asked a hard question she tends to giggle and deflect with her good looks.  We worry about her becoming a superficial girl that uses her good looks to gain attention and not put in actual work.  

    Last week I was standing at the sink washing dishes and gazing out at the yard and pasture.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small blonde child bouncing down the middle of the road.  I could see that she was lugging something along but couldn't tell exactly what it was.  As she got closer and started to march through the yard I could finally tell what it was.  She had a fresh, bloody deer leg slung over her shoulder that she had found and was dragging home for the dogs to snack on.  Kind to her animals and a country kid okay with blood.  We breathed a sigh of relief.  

Kiddo #4:

    We simply worry about her.  She's the last child and at this moment is very advanced for her age in the language department.  We carry on long, full conversations with deep meaning versus simple yes/no questions.  We've made the mistake of carrying on adult conversations in front of her more than once, thinking we were in the clear only to find out hours later that she absorbed every. single. word.  Sigh. 

Pray for us and prayers that we raise good kiddos! 

...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.