After four kids, ten moves and nearly two decades, we are still blissfully in love (most of the time) and I found myself back in the state I was born and raised in. It has definitely been a journey. In fact, on our 18th anniversary we pulled the last of our stuff up over the pass and into Montana, leaving our surprise love, Idaho, behind. But Montana is a great place. The last best place according to some. And we fully intend to explore as much of it as we can! Join us on our continued adventure through life, love and other stuff that comes with it.

Monday, May 30, 2011

He has come back to us . . . again!



Violet asked all winter where he was and when we were getting him back.  And this spring we had a boy for him to meet.

And here's V on top.  "Mommy!  Look!  I'm a cowgirl!  YEEEHAWWW!!"


Yes, she actually hollered that as she rode by.

And Calla just wants to go fast.  The faster she goes, the bigger she smiles.


Mr. C even got a turn. He was pretty thrilled.


Here he is waiting for his turn.  The fence rails were just the right height for him.


Whoa . . . that's BIG!  And it has pink boots on!


Not at all intimidated.  Such a boy.

 
And he could care less about the chicken, too. 


Grace wanted to go without the saddle.  And with daddy's hat.  Our girl is getting SO big!


And a new one.  Mr. A.  He lasted about 90 seconds, even after bribing.  But he eventually went on with Brent.


I feel like our family is complete again.  It feels good.



Monday, May 16, 2011

Your dumb. My dumb. Their dumb.

Facebook drives me batty sometimes.  I will confess that I am far from perfect when it comes to grammar and such.  But I do believe that I have the basics.  And some things just make me shake my head.

Your dumb

I see this comment ALL THE TIME on facebook. 

Actually, that's my dumb.  Because you obviously can't be trusted with it.

Oh wait.  Never mind.

Dumb is apparently something to be had and fought over like the stupid little toys at my house. 

MOM!  I HAD IT FIRST!  AND SHE ISN'T SHARING!

YOU TWO STOP IT AND SHARE THE DUMB!  THERE'S PLENTY FOR ALL OF YOU!

Or maybe it's some entree at a Chinese restaurant with bean sprouts and sliced carrots and celery and noodles and chicken and some mystery sauce that gives me gas just thinking about it.

Don't order the Dumb.  Last time I was here it gave me gas.

Don't get me wrong.  I like Chinese food and have weird cravings for it sometimes.  My point it that if you use the word as a noun, it seems to fit well into what I hear in Asian languages.

Or walking down the street.

Excuse me.  Is this your dumb?  I think you dropped it.

No, sorry.  My dumb is pink and sparkly and cute.  Wanna see it?

Your dumb.

My dumb.

I have a dumb.  I keep it in a cage and feed it lettuce and skittles.  It's perfect because I'm allergic to rabbits.

Their dumb.

Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

How's that for semantic satiation?

Think about it.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

SUN!

Finally, we have something resembling SPRING weather-wise.  So naturally, we are drawn outside.  Carsten sat in the driveway  and played and watched.


He liked the ball.  And the kittens.  And the sun.


Violet came out, too. 


Calla rode her bike around and then she and Violet went and played in the sand.  I use the term "sand" loosely since it's an old sandbox that has since grown over.  But if you dig there's sand to be had.

Then Grace got home and was eager to join the outside crew.  I told her she should change her clothes.  After arguing with me briefly over it, she complied.  Something told me this would probably be in her best interest.  And then I went in the house to tackle a few housekeeping things.

Later I hear, "MOM!  WE NEED HELP!"  I'll translate that for you.

"MOM!  WE ARE COVERED IN MUD AND NEED A SHOWER AND THEN WE'LL BE YOUR PERSONAL HOUSEKEEPING SLAVES FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO IF YOU WON'T BE MAD AT US!"


And they got their bath for the night, their rooms are clean, and we got the muddy mess cleaned up without any trouble.  All before dad got home.  Sometimes their poor decisions work out pretty well for me.  Frankly, I give the credit to the energy chart.  That thing is awesome.  It's done wonders for many perspectives in this house.  Including mine.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Welcome to the zoo

Last night I discovered a creature in our basement.


I'm pretty thankful it wasn't the furry, scurrying type.


And the kids are pretty excited to have a creature pal today. (He'll go outside free later today.)


Carsten even got in on the action before Grace got on the bus.


And these little creatures are now getting out of their box and running around.  If I wasn't afraid that there was something outside that would get them, they would SO be outside.  I'm not a cat person, but still.  They are pretty darn cute.


Then we discovered this in the garage: 


An injured duck.  Not so injured that it couldn't fly or recover enough to make it.  But injured non the less and in a corner of the garage.  So my plan was to put it in with the chickens until it got stronger. 

But then it got out of the bucket and flew away with the little dog after it.  I think it was fine.  And I have no intention of chasing it down.

And this all before 10am.  Yes, we have a zoo.  I'm okay with it.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Tracking Big Birds

This spring we've had some visitors across the road.  Visitors that I don't remember since we've lived here.  But I'm sure I'd remember them if they had visited before.


Sandhill Cranes.  A couple evenings ago there were about a dozen of them and I decided to go check them out since bedtime was under control and it was so nice out.  So I put on my rubber boots (or as Violet calls them, Scrubber Boots), told Brent I'd be back in a bit and headed over.  The mountains were amazing.


The birds were close.


And our stupid little dog chased the cranes off before I could get a good picture.  They are big enough that they could probably just eat her.

But, look what I found!


To back up a little, not too long ago I decided that this summer we are going to try to find animal tracks and make plaster of Paris casts of them.  So, before I would let Brent come home yesterday, he had to find some.  (Actually I called a few places and found some for him to just stop and get.)

And after dinner, off we went!


For once, mom wasn't behind the camera.  And daddy did a pretty good job. 


The dog came, again.  But she apparently is a part of the family now.


We found a few really good prints. (Violet calls them train tracks.  That does sound strikingly similar to crane tracks to a two-year-old.) They were on a slope, but we made them work.


Calla felt she needed to wear her helmet in case she slipped on some ice and landed on her head.  Smart kid.  And it's amazing that nobody landed on the track, as close as they were.


We got the two of them set and headed back to the house for baths and bedtime.  And then I went and retrieved the casts. 

Can we say AWESOME!?



I'm super pleased with our first ones!  They will cure for a few days and then I'll clean them off.  I was thinking that originally we'd try the process on chicken, cat or dog tracks.  But this is fabulous! 

I dream of a collection of tracks with the kind and date and where we found them to display somewhere in our house.  A kind of tribute to our adventures.  I'm so excited!

**EDIT**  Wanted to add the link to the instructions I used.  And also, the big round metal thing, while cool looking and perfectly round, may not have been the best choice since now I have no idea how I'm going to get the cast out of it.