How we've grown? Or not?

I signed on today to follow a friend and realized I haven't updated my blog in over a year and a half!  Wow! I haven't updated my profile in 2 years!  I now have a 16, 10, and almost 7 year olds!  Where did it all go?  I ask that all the time.

Fog Fog Everywhere

I don't mind the fog so much except if I have to drive somewhere.  Then it's not so fun.  But to be at home cozy and warm and look out at the fog, feels like a my house is cocooned.  I like how the fog insulates.  Taking the dogs outside the sound is muffled and quiet.  The 2 lane is quieter and the neighbor noise fades away.  Standing in the pasture and seeing the horses materialize out of the fog is an amazing sight.  They are quiet except for a few snorts and stamps.  Then there they are!  Nickering for dinner.

This Moment

This Moment ~ A moment from the week that I want to savor and remember.

First wrestling medal.

Stuck

Oh my goodness.  I am stuck.  I have all these thoughts and ideas for blogs but when I get a chance to sit down and type, they are gone.  I have a few unfinished ones saved, one from 3 days ago, that I can't even remember what I was going to say about the topic.
I have been given the idea of writing ideas down as they come, but usually they come when my hands are otherwise occupied.  When I'm driving, washing dishes, showering, ect.
What do you do to remember the topics you want to write about?

Nemesis

My husband has a nemesis.
It hides and teases Mike when he least expects.
It calls to him at night.
It hovers as we get out of the car.
It's not a cold.  It's not a person or a thing.
Mike's nemesis is a Screech Owl.

Photo from:

BC Creek Protection Society

http://www.bc-creeks.org/index.php/category/uncategorized/
I like to hear the owls at night.  They hoot and talk to each other and I am hoping they are catching those nasty squirrels we have in our pasture.

I have liked owls for as long as I can remember.  They call to me and they comfort me.

Mike, though, Mike has a love hate relationship with owls.  Mostly hate when they keep him awake at night.

This Screech Owl and sometimes it's partner have created a new relationship with owls for Mike.

A few months back Mike had to go up on the ladder on our balcony to look at our wireless router, which we have to have on the edge of the chimney on the roof, to get signal, as I was on the phone to tech support, I could not do this job.

Mike had just come back in from walking the dogs and said, "It's kind of scary out there.  There's two owls circling outside."  After helping me with the internet issues Mike decided to get his camera and take pictures of the owls.  Of course once he had the camera out the owls disappeared.

What has ensued with Mike and the owls has been comedic to say the least.  He will run upstairs tripping on things, who knows what, to grab his camera.  Yet every time he gets the camera and makes it outside, the owl is gone.  So then he's tried to take his camera outside when he took the dogs outside.  Yet again the owl disappears!  Of course there is the obligatory comments to the owl when he hears the owl with phrases like.. "Yes I hear you, I know you're out there, I'm going to get pictures of you yet!"

Last night, as we were getting out of the car, the owl went flying around the house, with a weird clicking noise.  Mike and I just got a glimpse of the owl.  Mike yelled "I saw you!"

Tonight the thing screeched at me, talked a bit, and then flew off.  Again with the clicking noise.  Mike is away on business trip tonight. 

I wanted to yell at the Owl, "He's gone tonight!"

An Oldie but a Goodie

I wrote this last year about January and winter.  Thought it would be nice to share it again.
I like January. The kids are back in school. The days are getting longer. The Christmas/Solstice decorations are put away. Trying to figure out where the tree will go. (This year, Mike threw it out the back door and there it stays) (2009's tree got put in the dumpster and 2010's is out the back door).


January is a time for Mother Nature to hold her breath and gather energy for the big push of spring. This year we are having a rainy January, which means we are having a gray, wet, muddy mess but a welcome mess in Ca.

January is when BB was born. Almost smack dab in the middle of the month. So there's the hurry and rush of getting his birthday here and his party done.

January is a month of waiting. Look at any tree and see the buds that are ready to pop. See the different color of the new growth on the leafless trees. The bulbs are all nestled in the ground ready to SPRING forth when the time is right. The animals are waiting to shed and the wild ones are waiting to wake up.

January is a month of possiblities. Of opening a new calandar and dreaming of all the things that one wants to do. Of making plans and finding ways to complete them.

Finally January is a month of being back to normal after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. A time for me to catch my breath and wait for the busy months of spring ahead.

This Moment

Wow two months and a new blog.

Hi to my three followers! I am hoping I can get more this year. I am also going to try to blog weekly on this, my personal blog. The holidays were busy but fun for me this year! How were yours?
I have also started a new blog, www.billybobsrodeoadventures.blogspot.com , suggested by my sis-in-law, Cathy, as a way to generate interest and support for Billy-Bob's calf riding. Lets see how well I manage two!!!!

This moment

Hey 2 weeks in a row is good!
~ This Moment ~ A moment from the week I want to pause and savor. A simple, ordinary, extraordinary moment.

Trademarked ~SouleMama~

This moment

This moment ~ A Friday Ritual (for me every other), a single picture, no words. Capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, ordinary moment. That I want to pause and savor.

(Trademarked by SouleMama)

~This Moment~

Trademarked by Soulemama.

~This Moment~ a single picture, special, extraordinary, simple, that I want to remember.

This is actually from last week but I missed putting one up last week.

~This Moment~

~this moment~ Trademarked by SouleMama
A Friday ritual. A single photo, no word, capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. One that I want to remember. Please leave your moment in the comments.

Just another day on the Farm

First I have got to credit my sis for the title ~ Thanks!

What a weird and wacky week we've had this week. It's been short but it's been wild. Mon. wasn't so bad, just tried to get some of the vacumming and mopping done in the mud room (actually the dust room this time of year) and the kitchen. Plus the hubs needed to take the lawn mower in and get hay. Of course he waited all week to do this on the day he had to leave out again and guess what ~ surprise surprise ~ they were both closed. Which left me in an irritated and grouchy mood for the day. Then there was the pickup of the stepson. Which isn't to bad except I had to do it, because it was suit shopping for him and shoes for him and my son. Suits for boys are not easy to find anymore and my stepson is at an "awkward" size for dress shoes. Normally we let them wear boots but he no longer has dress boots and dress shoes at his age are way way way cheaper than dress boots! And finding shoes for my son was ridiculous and after exhausting all the cheaper options and myself meant the StrideRite, which had a pair for my son. It was also the realization of 2 things, it's the first time the my oldest (stepson) had outgrown StrideRite AND his feet are now BIGGER than MINE! What!?!?!?
Then home, where my mom had kept the daughter, thank goodness, because before the suit shopping I had to pick up my bridesmaid dress, which wasn't mine, as the bride got mine labeled for her 12 year old soon to be stepdaughter. After the suit shopping it meant the drive back and dropping the bridesmaid's dress at the bride's house then running to the store, because even with a list I always forget something! Big hugs to hubs for feeding all the animals before he left out!
Tired yet? This was just Monday.
Tuesday started at 5:30 when I heard my oldest getting ready for the bus and I always listen (shhh don't tell him) for him to go out the door and listen for the bus to come. Tuesday is also my helper day in my daughter's kinder room, then I stayed over and helped with the finish work the kids had to do. Then an errand and home. Where I took an hour to sit down before my daughter's bus came home. Her backpack held a lovely surprise. Welcome to the lovely world of kindergarten homework. All homework will come home at the beginning of the week and must be returned completed by Thursday with a parent signature on the little reader books. Now this being a short week you'd think the teacher would have a little less homework in the folder. Oh no it was the same as a regular week. Homework session finally ended with daughter in a laughing fit and mommy with a headache. The boys got home not to much after the homework. Then there was the mad dash for a snack and homework for my son and off to soccer practice. Of course my son forgot his water bottle and the neighbor boys coach moved their practice to a different part of the field, oh and the main gate was locked. So the long walk around the soccer fields to the open gate, then the walk across the field to drop of my son, then to walk around with the neighbor till he found his coach, then my son forgot water so a quick trip to town for waters and back to the field. Carrying my folding chair and my purse the whole time The field is big as they can but 2 full sized soccer fields, then all the smaller fields for the different rec. league age groups. I get to sit down, my oldest is babysitting my daughter and I've already given her a bath and my mom was cooking dinner.
3 hours later, my daughter has had several full blown melt downs on my oldest and my mom, cut her hair with scissors I didn't even know we had, cut her laundry hamper, argued with her brother about going to bed, dropping off the neighbor boy then sending his regular shoes home via my oldest, my son and I eating dinner, my oldest goes to feed and "Moooom" as he walks into my mom's house with the lariat over his shoulder. Dang it the goat is out and in the back pasture where she convenitly uses the horses to dodge us. We finally wear her out and my oldest jumps on her and I can get the rope on her. Of course all the while yelling at my son to get inside and shower and my daughter to get inside to her bed.
On to Wed. Sometimes I'm amazed I can get out of bed. Well all the walking and running helped me drop a little weight!!! The morning started out well and I actually got a nap, I normally work nights and I never know if I'll be able to find a sitter at night so that I can pick up a shift. Then get daughter off the bus. She has lunch at grandma's. I work on the sprinklers, laundry, cleaning off the table, and sweeping the floors. Then homework. As I'm walking the dogs I look up and there is one of our horses, not in his back pasture, but in the front, hanging over the fence waiting for a kiss and some pets. "Huh, how'd you get there". "Oh look you're gate is sideways!" No injuries. Get the dogs inside and the boys off the bus. Get my son started on homework and figure I'll get the horses sorted out later in the evening. My daughter runs up "mommy they need you outside to help with the horses RIGHT NOW!" What? My mom is watering, my oldest decides to get the horses sorted but they can't get the gate on. Someone had lifted the gate off it's hinges! Get that back and and the horses settled. More housework. Mom heated up leftovers and added vegies, so off to dinner. Then back to homework for my son. Take my daughter to soccer practice. Drop her off. Go to grocery. Go back to pick up daughter. Come home. Ask oldest if he fed because the boys are still hollering. He goes out to feed and comes in to ask "Mom where'd you put the rope?" NOT AGAIN! Yes the escape artist goat is out again! I swear this goat could have given Houdini a run for his money!
Finally get the kids into bed and realize I have a cold coming on.
Of course and It's only Wed.
Do I really want to anticipate tomorrow?s

Humility

There is nothing that brings humility more than having a daughter.
Especially a fashion forward, worried about makeup and looks, just turned 5 years old.
She apparently comes by this naturally, not from me, but through the hubs side of the family. On his maternal side, one aunt is the nails, cloths, and shoes type and the other aunt was a model in her younger years and even in her 80's she is still very style conscience. And then there is my hubs, who worked for years as a glamour photog. My daughter got every one of their style, art, fashion, and make-up genes.
My daughter found shoes at a young age. On a trip to Fl. for a wedding when she was a year, she had more shoes than I did! At 14 months in a bridal store my daughter found the shoes AND they were low enough that she could get to them!
Back to humility though.
Standard comments from my little girl run the form of "you're fat mommy", "you need make-up mommy", "what's that on your lip mommy? It pokes me when you kiss me" (need to wax the upper lip again), "don't wear that mommy", ect. Of course I remind her that it's not nice to say those things and she apologizes as only a little girl can.
Yet she can raise the ego also. With comments like "you look beautiful", "that's perfect", "I like when you wear those shoes", "we match!", and "I Love You Mommy" ~ the best one of the bunch!
All these comments can come in the span of half an hour. Talk about a bipolar half hour. LOL. It wears me out sometimes. Taking her shopping is exhausting and not something that I like to do often. She even tries to shop for me. I wonder if she'll be a professional shopper.
I don't want to give the wrong idea though, she can and loves to play in mud and dirt and is just at home playing cars as dolls. At a recent peewee rodeo event she was outside playing with trucks in the dirt, the only girl in a crowd of boys.
Oh my darling, complicated, silly, sweet girl. The years that we have ahead of us, I can't wait to hear what will come out of her mouth next.

Touch

Human touch is such an important part of life, a basic need. We all crave to be touch. Just a hand on the shoulder or a gentle hug from a friend.
When though do we lose that need for such spontaneous gestures?
The kids squirm into bed whenever they can even if just for a few minutes to be held and cuddled. My daughter loves to hug all our friends and family. My son at 8 still has a thing for my tummy, wanting to touch it whenever he can. Even my 14 year old still want to, on occasion and when no one is looking, sit on my lap.
I feel the need for touch also. When ever I my husband gives rubs my back or even on the rare occasions when I treat myself to a massage I can feel my skin aching to be touched. A need to have human contact.
Maybe we can just remember that people need to be touched and make more of an effort to touch our friends more.

~this moment

This moment - A Friday Ritual, no words, capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. One to savor and remember ~ From SouleMama (tm)

Ode to a Horse

Joe came into my family's life in 1989, when I wasn't quite 17. He was brought down by my parents' friends from Oregon in a 1955 Miley 2 horse trailer being towed by an RV, one side filled with Alfalfa. They didn't get Joe out once because they were afraid he wouldn't go back in. My parents' friend had a back injury and could not ride Joe anymore. He did use Joe to hunt off of and apparently he pulled a travois with a deer on it once.
Joe was a great big old style blood bay Morgan. He shined when he was all groomed up. He was only 15.2 hands but due to his style he was our heaviest horse. We always knew when we were hauling Joe unlike our taller TB, Standardbred, or QH. His feet were also huge, to hold his mass.
Joe became my dad's horse for awhile. He enjoyed saddling him up and riding around, even when my dad was getting sick.
Joe taught a lot of people to ride. He was very good at figuring out who needed the extra protection and who could be tested a lot. He was my best 4H horse and always dumped the know-it-alls on the ground. He always knew when he was at a show, even when he was older, and "studded up" (making himself look muscley) and put on a proud head carriage. My stepson started riding him at 7 months and my favorite picture is of the three of us showing leadline at the fair, as "My Eee" when my stepson was only 16 months.
He was a true Morgan with an amazing sense of humor. He played keep away with a chain with one farrier, water splash fights at the lake, and once made the most god awful noise when a young farrier was working on his front leg - the farrier looked up thinking something was wrong when Joe blew saliva and snot all over him. We had all heard and seen the horse version of hocking a lugey.
Joe got old, and while no longer ridable, due to a kick fight injury to his knee, he still loved to be groomed, bathed, and loved on. We agonized for the last year over the big decision. We had to put my mom's horse down before the winter, the two had been almost inseperable for 20 years. Joe was very angry and agonized for a day over losing her. We put Joe in the arena and didn't go near him for a day. We thought then about the decision. Joe had sweet itch which made spring and summer miserable for him. The last year or so he's had such a hard time getting up after rolling.
One night, 3 weeks ago, Joe laid down for the last time. My stepson found him during morning feeding and came up and got my mom. He didn't look as if he was in any distress, just that his big old Heart gave out.
The herd lost one great old horse, with a huge personality and the pasture isn't the same without him.
Oh Joe I miss you so.

A really didn't know why I was feeling so melancoly for Joe last night until I was sitting waiting for the Kindergarten bus to show up with my daughter today. Today was the first day of school and I was reminded of the all the years that Joe would stand and wait at the fence for first my stepson and then my son to get off the bus. He waited everyday and even in the summer would stand at the fence watching, until he had to move to the old horse pasture. That memory was hiding away for the right moment.

Rough Go

My middle son is having a rough go of it at the moment. I think part of it has to do with the fact that for the majority of the time he is the middle but at times he is the oldest. My oldest son is my step-son, so every weekend and every other week he's at his mom's. This causes for a lot of jealousy when both boys are home together. It's gotten so bad that my oldest resents my middle son's friend. They fight and they fight all the time over pretty much everything. My oldest can of course be down right evil, as only a teen can be, and that just crushes my son.
The oldest and my daughter team up and pick on my middle boy. Unfortunately he gets so hurt and frustrated by it that he usually melts down. It's truely sad and I have no idea how to stop it. We've tried grounded them from each other. We've tried taking things away. It got so bad once, on the way to SF for an aquarium and natural history museum I pulled the car back into the driveway and made everyone get out and started unloading the car. That worked the best. The stopped fighting amazed that I was serious and after about 15 minutes came and asked to go and promised to stop. Well we still had attitude issues on and off but at least the constant picking stopped.
My hubs and my son are exactly alike, and that is causing problems, and the other two pick up on this. My hubs and my son butt heads like two bulls jockeying for position. I have finally told my husband to knock it off and figure out a more peaceful solution as I am done done done being in the middle. I will no longer referee a fight between the two of them. I've also reminded hubs that he is the adult.
I am glad that school is starting soon. While I like summer and being more relaxed and freer to do things, I am going to be happy that there is no more constant bickering and nitpicking going on.

This moment

Thank you SouleMama ~ this moment is a Friday ritual. A single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week.

Strength

Hubs has been gone for a night with 3 more to go. I had forgotten what it was like not to have him handy. He started work again about 3 weeks ago. My youngest is starting kinder next week so we no longer need anyone to be 100% dedicated at home anymore. I still work weird shifts and it varies so I am freer to be home if needed. The oddest thing is the taking for granted that the Hubs was going to be home. That if there was anything that needed to be done at the last minute, he was there. Now we have to plan out everything.
It reminds me that I have a strength I don't always remember that is there. An ability to do many different things that need doing. Maybe I take longer or make more trips but it gets done. The ability to manage the house and the kids and the outside pretty dang well. I forget that a lot and found myself falling back on the old ways on hubs days off. So now I have to figure out how to balance both sides.
Spending the time with the kids now is different also. With Hubs going back to work and the kids being older, the kids have had to step up and take a bit more chores on. My middle has learned to do laundry, it's not always stain free, but it's clean. My youngest is dumping trashes and feeding kitties. My oldest is still feeding the horses at night but he's also moving the sprinklers when he hears my alarm going off, without being asked and it's heartwarming when he and my middle one aren't fighting and he reads a story to him at bedtime.
This change will be good for all of us.