Music, Mustard, and Monsters Inc.

At church yesterday, the children helped lead the service. They did all the music, they did the invocation, they did the offertory prayer, they read the scripture (that was Kate's job, and she did so well!). The youngest kids served as greeters at the doors, handing out programs. All in all, it was a great day. Here is a photo of Abby singing with her choir, the Little Angels.As an encouragement for more kids to attend and participate, the church treated the kids to lunch and a movie in the Family Life Center after the service. They had hot dogs (with MUSTARD) and then watched a movie (Monsters Inc.). If the kids had at least 50 children show up, then they got to make our music minister, John, into a human hot dog. They got to be really messy and squirt him with mustard and ketchup and relish. They had to wear garbage bags as smocks so they didn't get their church clothes too messy. Here's a picture of Luke holding Grace, because, believe you me, she WAS NOT going to get left out of this one!!
And, finally, here's a picture of all the kids turning John into a human hot dog. He was such a good sport to do this!!
Happy Monday!

Play Ball!

I love to watch kids play T-ball and softball. More specifically, I love to watch MY kids play T-ball and softball!! It is so funny. Our seasons have begun, so I thought I'd give you some photos of the girls.

Here's Kate, ready to go. Her team is the Lady Rebels. They won their first game! Here's Abby. Her team is called the Rangers. They have won their first two games (even though they don't "officially" keep score in T-ball...)
Here is an action shot of Katie's team just after winning their first game. They were so excited!
Here is a picture of Abby's team in action. She's the little one playing short stop there.
Go teams! Can't wait to see them play again!!

Ducky Update

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The ducks and chicks are growing SO quickly, I thought I'd give you a "visual". Here is a photo of my brother, Bill, holding his namesake, Bill, the Black Duck. Look how tiny Little Bill is! Now, this is a pic we took yesterday of Bill and Bubba Duck, swimming in the wading pool. They are swimming like big boys! Just look in the corner of the picture... Scardey Cat is watching them swim VERY closely. I think he'd probably eat them if we gave him half a chance. Luckily, he doesn't like water!

My "Mama" License...

Luke and I often marvel that people have to have a license to drive a car and a permit to buy a gun, but nothing to have a child. We think they should have to apply for a "mama card" or a "daddy card"... I'm sure that somehow goes against their civil liberties, but it is just one of those things that we enjoy laughing about.

Any-hoo, this week by about Wednesday, I was ready to turn in my "mama" license. My children were not enjoyable. Everyone was fighting and grumpy and just generally difficult to deal with. (It probably didn't help that I had a fierce headache, either.)

But, then today came. I'm glad I didn't relinquish my "mama card", because today it's been good to be a mom.

Here's the main reason why:
We didn't do anything today but play together while the older sisters were away at school. And it was really fun for both of us.

Thankful Thursday

Some of the many things I am thankful for...

1.)  Good friends.  I am blessed to have a lot of them.

2.)  Family.  My husband, my kids, my parents, siblings, their spouses, nieces, nephews, ...I am blessed.

3.)  Animals.  We are blessed to have a lot of them, too.  Those new kittens are just the sweetest, cutest little things I have ever seen.  The ducks and chickens are thriving.  I'll have to post a photo soon, because they are quickly getting their adult feathers, and the chicks are learning to fly.  We took the ducks swimming for the first time, and they LOVED it.

4.)  Church.  I continue to be amazed at how GOOD it can be in a little town.  Tonight we had the Baylor Men's Choir come and sing for our church.  They were amazing.  We were honored to host 4 of them overnight in our home.  They were delightful.

5.)  Did I mention my husband?  I have had a headache for the majority of this week, and he has really stepped up to help me (and not just medically.)  He has helped so much with the girls and just house stuff.

6.)  Spring.  I love it.  Bring on the wildflowers.

7.)  T-Ball and Softball.  Is there anything better than watching 4 & 5 year olds play ball?  No, not unless it is watching 7-10 year olds play softball!

8.)  Comfortable jeans.  I found a new pair and I love, love, love them.

9.)  Flip flops.  

10.)  Being wonderfully and mercifully forgiven.

HAPPY THURSDAY, Y'ALL!!

Tough Weekend...

This weekend was tough for us, and I have had a tough time deciding whether or not to blog about it. SO... if this is your first time visiting my blog, please believe me when I say that I'm usually not quit so "morbid"... don't judge me! :-) After that little disclaimer, I guess I'd better explain...

The weekend started off great. We slept in Sat. morning, and then went into town to eat breakfast and purchase a wheelbarrow. Luke had ordered a 1/2 truck load of composted manure to use as fertilizer for the garden, and we intended to utilize the free child labor we have to spread it. At first the girls were a little hesitant, because, really, it IS manure, but they soon got over it... it is already composted and pretty much is just like dirt. Soon they were playing on the pile of "dirt" and helping us spread it. The dog and several of the cats came down to the garden, and the kids were having a great time playing and working.

We worked for several hours, took a break for a picnic, and then continued working. Finally we stopped so that we could all shower and get ready for two b-day parties... one for a friend of Abby's from school, and one for a grown-up friend of ours, who was turning 50. Luke's parents had agreed to baby-sit and everything, so we were excited to go to a "grown-up" party.

Here are the kids, sitting on the "dirt" pile. Here is Luke, wheeling the girls around in the wheel barrow. Oh, my, they had fun!
So, as we are getting ready to stop work in the graden, Katie walked up the hill, but the rest of us loaded in the back of the truck to ride up the hill. We loaded the dog, but I thought the cats had followed Katie up the hill (they follow her everywhere.) As we were leaving, Luke backed over Gato, the cat, with his truck. It was awful. Truly awful. Little Abby saw her die on the ground. Then we had to come up the hill and tell Katie, because it was her cat. She was HEARTBROKEN. She cried and cried and cried. I guess it was really the first time that she lost something that she REALLY loved, and there was nothing her Dad and I could do to fix it. We had to carry the kitty up the hill and bury her. Katie was so upset... she didn't want us to put the dirt on top of Gato to bury her, because she thought it would "scare" her. She had all kinds of questions about animals and heaven and lots of specific things that I really didn't know HOW to answer. It was so emotional and I felt so helpless, because I couldn't "fix" it, and I couldn't stop her pain.

Needless to say, after all the "drama", we didn't make it to either birthday party. We were so tired... we finally agreed to let the kids still visit Luke's parents, because Abby and Grace still really wanted to go. Katie went, but she was sad the whole time.

In honor of little Gato, who really was the BEST cat, I'm putting up a picture of her with Katie from happier times.
The next day after church we went to one of our dear friends' houses who had baby kittens that were ready for adoption. Katie decided that these little babies wouldn't REPLACE Gato, but maybe they might help her be happy again. So, we now are a proud family of two new kittens, and let me tell you, they are sweet. Pure little "kitten sweetness" in a box. Just look at them!
The girls decided to name them "Pancho" and "Lefty". They are about 8 weeks old, and they are living in my spare bathroom until they get a little bigger (yes, I know I said NEVER AGAIN to animals in the house, but what do you do? They are babies!)

Welcome to the family, Pancho and Lefty. You have big paws to fill!!

Hot Rod, the Wandering Bull

After we sold the calves this year, we decided that we needed to get a bull, because eventually we would like to have more calves... The problem is, we didn't really want to MESS with a bull. They can be a lot of trouble... they can be mean, and with lots of little girls running around, we didn't want to risk one of them being hurt by a grumpy bull. They also have been known to roam, as (like most males) , they only have ONE THING on their minds. Once all the little cows are pregnant, their work on the ranch is done. Any - hoo, we finally talked to our cattle guy that we've been buying and selling from, and he told us he would just loan us a good bull, deliver it, and then pick it up later. He was impressed with our calves we raised this year, and would like to buy more like them in the future. This all sounded like a GREAT deal to us. Free Bull. No up-keep. No pick up or delivery worries. Happy cows. Happy bull. We quickly agreed.

So... he shows up and delivers us a fine specimen of manly bovine flesh. The name of the bull?? Hot Rod. It said so right there on his tag. Wow.

He seemed to settle in nicely. Followed the cows around like a docile creature. We thought all was well in the world. He showed up at the corral every evening to eat and socialize. Seemed like a well-adjusted male.

Then a few weeks ago... no Hot Rod at the corral. Hmmmm... maybe he was down at the creek getting a drink. No worries. The next night? No Hot Rod. I'm beginning to get a little concerned. Hubby, the gentleman rancher, is equally concerned and perplexed. So much so that he went for a little drive to check the fences. No fences are found to be down, but he does find one that is "leaning". Leaning?!?!?!?!? What could this mean? Oh, yes, it seems that not only is Hot Rod a calf-making machine, he is also a very ATHLETIC bull, as he has leaped over our 5 strand barbed-wire fence, and is gone. GONE. As in , no longer on our land. This is not good, as this animal does not belong to us.

The gentleman rancher peruses the problem. Behind us is about 800 acres. The owner does not live here. In front of us is also several hundred acres, but at least we know the owners well. To the side of us is a large ranch of unknown acreage, along with unknown owners. Luke finally goes to the tax assessors office and explains his problem. They kindly provide him with names and phone numbers of the owners. He calls the out of town owner, who is kind enough to give us permission to enter his land any time we need to do so. Then Luke attempts to call the other owner and learns that... he is in jail. There is no real way to get in touch with him. The ex-wife is not helpful, and wants nothing to do with her former husband or his land. Hmmmmm. How do you get permission from someone you cannot contact? This is a real obstacle. Luke finally decides that since he has made a real effort, he will go there to look if he has to and apologize later if need be.

So, the next step is to phone our local "rent-a-cowboy". We have had to call on his services before, as the surrounding land is too rough for driving with a truck. A horse is the only way to REALLY gather a lost cow. Local cowboy-for-hire says that since we don't really know where Hot Rod is, he will just have to take a buddy and go out looking. No telling how long this will take (or how much it will cost.) We readily agree, since Mr. Hot Rod, the wandering bull, is not ours to lose.

Local "rent-a-cowboy" goes out the next day and spends a half a day searching. He finally finds him, miles and miles and miles away to the east. He was happy... there were other cows there (and they probably weren't pregnant YET.) Cowboy delivered him back home, and deposited his sorry butt in our corral, where he now resides until today, when he is supposed to be picked up and taken away to go and service some more cows on some other ranch.

Good riddance, Hot Rod. You are more trouble than you are worth!! :-)

The Life of Abigail Ann (so far...)

In honor of Abby's 6th birthday," I wanted to show her life in pictures so far. My "baby" girl is growing up right in front of my eyes!!


Here is baby Abigail on the day she came home from the hospital. Here is sweet Abby at 6 months old. Look at that tongue!!
Here is Abs on her first birthday. Bring on the cake!
Here is Minnie Mouse (aka Abby) at 18 months, ready to go out trick-or-treating.
Here is Abby on her third birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. She loved those games!
And here is Abby on this past Easter Sunday, just after hunting some eggs. She looks like an angel in that Easter bonnet!
Happy Sixth Birthday, Miss Abigail Ann! Your Mom loves you so much! Thank you for bringing sunshine into my life EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

In honor of Abby's 6th birthday tomorrow, I've come up with 6 things that are special about her.  Here we go!!

1.)  She is quiet, yet smart.  She doesn't feel the need to be vocal about what she knows, but if you can ever get her to talk about things, her knowledge will just blow you away.  But, you probably won't ever get her open up... the moments are few and special.

2.  She is beautiful.  I mean "take your breath away" pretty.  When she flashes that smile, I am in awe that she could possibly be MY daughter.

3.)  She loves animals and science.  She is always learning new things about new animals.  (I mean, for example, she asked for chickens and an ant farm for her birthday this year!)  When she was 3, she said she wanted to be a killer whale when she grew up!!

4.)  She is tiny, which is amazing, because she was a BIG baby.  We would always laugh about how she was a giant.  She was in the 99th % in height and weight at one point!  Then one day... she just kinda quit growing.  Now she just keeps getting taller, but not any bigger round.  (How can she be tall?!?!?!?  Her Dad and I are NOT tall!!!)

5.)  She is kind and sweet and honest and pure.  She loves with her whole heart.  She is helpful and reasonable and blissfully "undramatic".  (And as a mother of 3 daughters, we have a LOT of drama!!)

6.)  She loves the Lord, which is understandable, because she was a gift sent to us from heaven.  She is like watching my heart walk around outside of my body!  She makes me want to be a better person and a better Mother.

Happy Birthday, my sweet, sweet girl.  I love you so much... more than I can say.  Have a wonderful 6th birthday!!

More Pics from Spring Break

We all had a great time at my parents' house over Spring Break. All 6 cousins on that side were together, and a they really enjoyed each other. The weather was really great, too. They got to play at the park and enjoy an egg hunt at my brother's house. Then, of course, we needed to celebrate Abby's upcoming birthday AGAIN, because we are all about the cake in my family. My SIL, Rox, got Abs a pinata, and the kids beat on that thing for AT LEAST half an hour. It was hilarious... that thing just WOULD NOT BUST OPEN!!! Below you can see my niece, Sarah, whacking the pinata bunny for all she was worth. She hit is so hard she actually broke the pinata stick in half!! Once they finally made a hole in the tough blue bunny, my brother took mercy on them and dumped the candy out so they could collect it. Even Duke, the dog, had fun gathering the candy.
Here is my niece, Sarah, with the proof that the blue bunny was tougher than the stick that was supposed to be used to beat it. You go, girl! Way to whack that bunny!!!
And here is the beautiful birthday girl, again, showing off her cake and her birthday plates. (Note the chick on the plate... this birthday is all about the POULTRY, since she wants chickens for her b-day! ha ha! We should have gotten her an Easter Chick pinata instead of a bunny! ha ha)
Happy Easter, and Happy Spring Break!! I wish it wasn't over... it went by too quickly!!