Energy Like a Cow

So, I know that kids are tweaked…all of them. It’s just their nature.  I have one especially super tweaker kid, but they are all their share of tweaked.

My super tweaker (not mentioning any names and I bet none of you can guess, right?  Right!!)  is a really loud, crazy, odd, darling, funny, talented, child who makes weird noises constantly (I think I need to write Julian Smith’s mom and ask if she was worried when he was young…..the answer probably won’t make me feel any better, but might help me prepare emotionally for the future).  He was being unusually loud(er) and I was holding my head saying stop, stop, stop you’re driving me crazy.  And he said “I can’t mom, I have the energy of a cow”.  Hm.  Oh…..yeah……I get it….no, I don’t.…  Here ‘s his explanation:  “Cows are moving, moving, moving their mouths all day long…chew, chew, chew.  They never stop moving their mouths…..they have lots of energy…..just like me”.  Okay.  Yep, I get the mouth thing. – boy do I.  And be assured that this wisdom was offered about 40 decibels above normal in a squeaky, cartoon character voice.  Tweaker.   Did I mention that he plays the drums?  Figures, huh?

Last night, we were talking about everyone getting older and Josiah being out of the house in the next few years most likely (and I am getting sad), and the tweaker blurts out, without even a second to contemplate – natural as anything….”Yeah, and I’ll move out with him.  I still won’t have to pay rent and he will have good recording equipment then and a way better drum kit than I have now”……huh.  And so we were thrown off in a mere instant for better gear.  I see how this works.  The rest of us laughed really hard, but he was serious.  

Easter

We celebrated Easter in what has become our tradition....a joyous Easter service at church and then the rest of the day at the Millers. We eat way too much great food, let the kids hunt for plastic Easter eggs filled with candy, eat more food, watch the kids bounce off the walls and then become comatose from the sugar, go to the park for some football/frisbee/whatever, come back and give everyone a snack and then drag ourselves home - tired and happy. It is a always a great day with great friends celebrating the joyous life we have in, and because of, Christ.

Oh So Cute

A few weeks ago, around Josiah's b-day when I scanned the photos from his album to post, I also found some really cute ones of the kids when they were younger........oh, my, they were darling. They still are, of course, but there's nothing like having 4 little people under 5 to present you with total craziness and cuteness all balled up into one package. Micah hates the ones in which she is NOT - because she just WASN'T yet - she says it isn't fair and that we ought to get rid of all those. So, anyway, I had to post some of these....ah the memories. My parents will appreciate it and Kelly will breathe a sweet sigh of remembrance (remember how long we called Elias, Baby?). What I wouldn't give to do it all over again.

Look at the stinky crossing her eyes and sabatoging family photos....she was 4.

The first day of school - Josiah - 1st grade, Elisha - Kindergarten, Isaiah and Elias - along for the ride. Look how chubby Elias' little cheeks are!! That was before he decided that he only liked peanut butter, spaghetti, and meatballs.

playing car

The Long-haired Kings of France in the Middle Ages. I think they were more fierce-looking that this, and probably didn't have multi-colored hair.

One of my all-time, very favorites - and Micah IS in this one - she's just a few weeks undercooked. I am sure that she will not be consoled by that fact.

Hey, look, it's the Village People

In Which We Miss Church Because We Don't Know it's DayLight Savings

Say it with me, now .....LAM-O!! It never even crossed my radar - not even once, but when we drove up to church 6 minutes early (so we thought) and the entire lot was packed and no one was walking into the building, Brad said "oh no.....daylight savings" (I said, "HUH?"). Apparently he had noticed earlier in the week that today was the day. Josiah noticed that his phone was an hour later this morning, went to check the calendar and since it didnt' say anythig about Daylight Savings there, he decided that his phone must have freaked out. So, we went to get coffee instead of going to the last 15 minutes of the service. Rotten.

Family Photos 2010....our favorites

This year's photos were taken in front of a great, old barn on some friends', John (Doc) and Marylane Heine's, property. Doc Heine (pronounced Hiney) was an OB/GYN in the valley for 30-something years....true story. We went with the Rickels and Millers to take photos, so our photos all look strikingly similar. Well, you know, except that all of the people are different of course.

We are all laughing, because my hubby had just turned around and acted like he was going to moon everyone.....thank heavens he did not!!!

Josiah - 14

Elisha - 13

Isaiah - newly turned 12

Elias - turned 10 on October 31st

Micah - 7, but will be 8 in a mere 2 months....shocking.

Spring in Plains

This past weekend, we went to see our friends, the Olsens, at their river house in Plains. We have not seen them for an entire year - shame on us. Well, Brad spent 35 days in Minot, North Dakota working with Shawn, but our families have not been together a full year.

We met their new little addition, River, who is a 7 month old cutie pie.

The weather wasn't great, but it was good enough to get in one short hike and for the kids to play outside between rain showers. We always have such fun in Plains, or anytime we see the Olsens. It has been way too long between visits this past year. Wish we lived closer.

He's BAAACCCKKKKK!

It looks like he is signing autographs

Finally, last night, Brad got home! After THIRTY-FIVE DAYS in Minot, ND, he is home. It was long and cold (in the negative 50's sometimes with the windchill) and they were working outside for much of the trip. He even missed Christmas (spent it in a hotel room - miserable. At least Shaun was with him then and for most of the trip). After hymn sing last night at church, a big group went with us to the train station to meet him.....it was a great surprise. He is oh-so-glad to be here and we are so happy to have him back.

Not So Good Afterall!

Nevermind....about that last "So Far So Good" post. At least two of us didn't get the scrunge, but I was not one of the lucky few. Last Wednesday night, sitting here at my desk finishing up something that I really HAD to get done, I felt myself travelling that downhill road to the flu. Losing my cookies started at about 1 a.m. and continued throughout the night! Just as a side note - I probably will not eat popcorn again for years....ever thrown up popcorn? It isn't pretty. So, far, in my experience, it ranks just under white rice as one of the worst things in the world to have come back up.

I awoke at 6 a.m. to the sound of Micah throwing up in her bed....all over everything including herself (I know, TMI. - I should have posted a disclaimer at my title: "gory details to follow") I crawled to her room, where she was totally freaking out. Elisha and I got her to the bathtub. Do I need to mention here that I was still not in the clear yet? I didn't think so. I don't do throw up even when I AM well; it was pure torture that morning. When I got her cleaned up, I asked if she felt okay, to which she answered "I feel fine. I'm not sick, I just throwed up". Excuse me? Do we do this often in our not-sick normal days?? Not to my knowledge and I would most definitely know. And she was perfectly fine the rest of the day. Glad someone was! But THAT someone wasn't the one who had to clean up the mess. I prayed a lot that morning and finally made it through to get back in bed for the day. I think that we are in the clear. It has been one full week and everyone else is well. Praise God.

Make Hay When the Sun Shines

...........well, that's the idea at least. It is cherry season in the Flathead Valley (well, everywhere, I guess). Our new place has 4 cherry trees.....one Rainier, one Bing, one pie cherry, and one that we can't figure out. My fingers have been black for about a week now. In the midst of moving, it is that time of year when you have to process your cherries or lose them. So, we did what all narcissistic people with boxes everywhere do.....we did cherries!! Tracy Rickel was my partner in crime. One evening last week, she and her girls came over and we all processed some pie cherries.....to the tune of 19 pies worth. Then, this Saturday at her house, we processed 84 pounds of Bing cherries.

Today, we all met here again and picked the rest of our pie cherries and after pitting them all, we ended up with cherries to make 24 pies. It is a good thing that I love cherries....or maybe it's a bad thing. I guess I'll let you know after we've eaten all those pies. HA!

We Aren't in California Anymore, Toto

Two years ago, this never would have happened....but now.....hm, well, things have changed!!

McGyver Strikes Again

Have I told you that I call my husband, McGyver? No? Hm, well, I do, because it is fitting. He can do/make/figure out just about anything. One time, on the way to a church camping trip, we came across friends of ours who had broken down on the way to the campsite. We pulled over and with a mag-light handle, a bicycle handlebar, duct tape, and something else that I cannot remember (something strange!), he had them back on the road and running fine. Not only did they keep on trucking that weekend, but they ended up driving around for 6 weeks with it that way until they could afford to have the car fixed. ha. Well, there are similar stories, but that's our favorite. So, this week, McGyver did it again. We have been renting a truck/trailer each time we go to San Diego for a bison delivery, and this time, McGyver decided to turn our trailer into a permanently insulated box. We had friends over working with him all week (we really do have great friends!). We now have an insulated box that will require much less dry ice. We have another insulated box that goes inside the insulated trailer too. We should be good to go and no more renting trucks for us. That McGyver; he's amazing! :)

McGyver, with his lovely assistant, painting the trailer. Tad working on cooler box. Tad was here all day long - from bright and early until after dark. What trooper. I wish I had taken photos the day before too when Chris Miller and Jay Rickel were here helping out.

Shooting with the Sibs

We had the most glorious day last Sunday - truly, it was amazing. After church we went out to the Siblerud's house to shoot skeet. The view is amazing from their house (as you can see in the photos!). The day was sunny and warm -Isaiah is the only one of us wearing a coat. Paul started a little bonfire for us and Elizabeth came out with marshmallows to roast. They burned the Christmas tree and we all had a great day. It ended with an alpine glow over the mountains above which you could see the moon - before the sun even set. What a day. I am so sorry for the rest of you in the world who were not here to experience it.

Bison - It's What's for Dinner

Many of you are wondering what happened to that bison in the garage.....well, he is now in the freezer. After the kitchen and garage were prepared and bleached and after we had our morning lattes, the fun began. The Fabulous Millers came with their robo meat grinder, knives and happy selves. Our friends, Scott Paul and Jay Rickel (Jr.) showed up and even my sweet friend, Tracy Rickel, couldn't stand to miss out on the fun (yep, that really is what she said). The meat was beautiful (if such things can be so, but we all agreed that it was). In the end, we now have meat in the freezer and we learned a few things:

1. Just because you know where rib eyes come from, does not mean that they will look

anything like rib eyes when you are finished.

2. Anything that you aren't sure about is round steak.......we have LOTS of round steak.

3. With a little imagination, anything can be a chuck roast.

4. Even when T-bones LOOK like burger, they really aren't - but they CAN be.

5. A bison is a lot larger than, let's say, a deer....now, shouldn't we have already known that?

6. Leave the butchering of large animals up to the professionals. Butchers are amazing and

we ought to appreciate them a lot more. Really.

7. Next year, in order to more fully understand the process so that we can better

serve our bison customers - we are going to take a field trip to the butcher instead!

Guess What's in the Garage?

You will never believe what I have hanging in my garage. An entire bison carcass, halved at the waist (do they have those?) and dry curing - ICK. I would post a photo, but I am afraid that I might get kicked off of Blogger for doing so. I am not one that likes the gutting/skinning/killing process. Generally, I go hide in the ranch house and cook something so that I am not accused of wimping out - those big tough bison slayers need something to eat when they are done, right? So, imagine my horror to find a whole bison hanging in my garage!! Imagine my even greater shock to find that Brad wants to butcher our animal himself this year (don't even ask WHERE that is going to happen because I won't tell you!) because he wants to understand the cutting process better in order to better inform all of our bison customers. Isn't that nice of me - I mean him - to make that sacrifice? We do live in hunting capital here and have friends who have been harvesting and cutting their own game for years. I have been told that they will help us through the process which is really nice, because I like having round roast that really is a round roast and not something random...like my thoughts. And if you think of it, pray for me - I have a feeling that I'm not getting out of this one so easily!

Hymn Sing

Every third Sunday evening, our congregation meets to sing hymns. It is not what you think: a bunch of old people, singing dirges. Not even close. It is the most fun at a church function that I have ever had, and yes, I do get out much and I have had plenty of fun at church activities in my life, thank you. We are blessed to have a very musical church - talent runs deep here. If churches sang hymns like our church sings hymns, everyone would love them. It is a shame that they don't. The sound of a group of people singing those age-old, meaningful songs of the faith in 4-part harmony is something to behold. And fun? You bet. Tonight, we started out with a booming round of "Redeemed", ended with "Almighty Invisible", and had an hour of "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Joyful Joyful" (WITH the descant) and others (some new, some old) thrown in. What is really great is that the kids do most of the requesting. You gotta love when your kid requests something like "We Come Oh Christ to You". We all bring food, and afterwards we go downstairs, fill the kids with sugar, and let them run amuck. Fun stuff.

Awkward Biblical Moments

Agonizing, uncomfortable, maybe even excruciating: those moments when you are headlong into a passage with your kids and realize that maybe you shouldn't have gone here. This week, I was reading Genesis chapter 19 to the kids while Brad was at the ranch. When we hit verse 8 where Lot tells the men of the city that instead of the visitors they are seeking, he will send his daughters (ICK!!) out to them to do as they please with, I used the "just keep reading" technique and moved right past those confused glances. But when we got to verse 32, I started sweating. My mind was saying "uh, maybe we should stop for today". But while my mind was grappling with that confusion, my lips just kept right on going. When we ended at verse 38, the littler people had some questions (oh, really? what a surprise!!). I shot a deer in the headlight look over at Josiah, who is 12. He suppressed a laugh and gave me a "don't look at me - you're on your own, here, Mom" look. After stumbling over a "people are sinners and we do all sorts of evil things thinking that we are right" type of answer (I am certain that they were looking more for an answer to just what the text MEANT), but before they could pursue any more questions, I pulled an "Oh, look at the time".

I am thinking that tomorrow we may stick to Leviticus, you know; burnt offerings, sacrificial lambs - something a little safer!

Raining on the Inside

This afternoon, while we were in the garage up to our ankles in bison (we were filling individual cuts orders for our trip to San Diego next week), Josiah came running out to tell us that water was coming in downstairs in the "shop". I ran in to see what was going on and was shocked to see water pouring in from the ceiling and down the walls. Did I mention that it was pouring?? A water pipe let loose.

That all came on the heels of a very non-productive morning. I had to get all of our butchering specifications to the butcher this morning, but when I called him, he was way too busy to take them over the phone. He asked me to fax them. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to get everything lined out with each animal: how each half/quarter/whole was being processed and who went with what animal. I got up from the computer and when I went back, it was all G-O-N-E. So...... I had to do it all over again. At the same time, Brad had started filling cuts orders. The first one was large and Brad didn't see the second page (probably because I hadn't stapled them together) which had things separated out (friends had gotten together on the order but wanted to know what each person owed separately). He put the entire order together (weighed it and all) and then saw the second sheet and had to start all over again.....then came the flood.

The Millers came over to help rescue us. After seeing all of this and hearing about our morning, Peggy Sue invited us for over dinner - I gladly accepted. What a friend!!

Of course, kids don't see things the way we do - we see the mess, the ruined things, the added work, and the frustration of it all. But, apparently, rain on the inside is quite convenient to people under 12. When the rain came pouring down, Micah scooped up her Polly Pockets and was overheard whispering to them, "Let's go swimming!". A few minutes later, she asked Brad, "Can I get my swim suit on?" (the answer was no!). She and Elisha then got out their Polly Pocket Water World and headed off for the middle of the mess. What a great day!! It is all about perspective, isn't it?

Potato Gleaning

Yesterday the kids and I went to glean potatoes with the Rickels, Millers, and Mallerys. My friend, Tracy Rickel, asked the farmers as they were plowing, if she could glean from the field after they were finished harvesting and then she invited us along. I guess this is nothing too unusual here. It was really a fun thing. We harvested about 100 pounds of potatoes. We may go back next week when they finish the rest of the field.

And lest you think that everything we do with the Rickels involves dirt, here is a photo of them at our house for dinner tonight - no dirt involved!!

When in Rome....

You know what they say.....when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It isn't fine food, historic sites and romance for us - it's more like skeet, shotguns and ammo!

Homeschool on the Range

Remember what I said a few posts back about staying home for a long time? Well, scratch that. I THOUGHT we were staying home for a long time, but I have come to understand that I never really know what we are doing - I am just along for the ride. And ride I did - all the way out to the ranch for 3 days. The weather was icky at first - rainy (rain is not good out there - because rain on the eastern front of the Rockies means cold!), but after the first night, it was beautiful - Another couple of days in paradise. As much as I whine about my crazy, inconsistent, and all-over-the-place life and wanting to stay put for a while, I hate NOT going to the ranch - especially when the weather is perfect. But, it is hard to do laundry, unpack boxes, get organized, and HOMEschool when you aren't ever HOME. On the other hand, when it is going to be 80 degrees out there, how could I POSSIBLY stay home? See my schizophrenic dilemma?

We stayed in the Shepherder's Wagon and schooled in there. We also went on great walks and fed about a zillion grasshoppers to the rainbow trout in the ponds. The kids are impressed with my bravery and daring when I catch grass hoppers in my hand. The secret is that I can handle the squirmy things when they are completely contained, because by shaking my hand all over while holding them, I cannot feel them in there. However, when the little varmits (the grasshoppers, not my kids!) find a little opening and start worming their way out, I throw all impressions of the courageous mother to the wind and come unglued.

On Thursday, our friends, the Millers, came out for a field trip. It was such fun having friends see what we do. Generally, when you tell people that the ranch is near Browning, they get visions of "ick" running through their head. Browning is a reservation town with a bad rep.... for good reason. You have to see the ranch to get those preconceived notions out of your head. It is all WOW. We gave The Millers the tour, picknicked out at the Curry side, shot skeet, and watched the bison. No one fell in the creek or got lost......which is nice, although Titus did get wrapped up in barbed wire and the kids had to cut him out....not so nice.

So, our little trip was a great event. We were sorry to leave. But then again, I was glad to get home......and I hear that the weather next week in Browning will be perfect! Oh no! :)