While the Husbands Away......

Why is it that when my husband is out of town I just can't come up with anything fun to do? Kale is going camping with the boys and Trevor is leaving for a fishing tournament, so Nikia and I are going to be home by ourselves.

I want to do something fun, but what???

Girls night out - I can be ready in 10 minutes.
Shopping - maybe.
Pool - possibility.
Movie - perhaps.
Just sit at home - probably.

I have such a boring life!!!

Girlfriend and Boyfriend

Remember Jade? Kale's "girlfriend" (she just graduated this year from high school). He's been wanting to ask her to come to one of his baseball games but just hadn't got the chance to yet. Well, last Friday he made his move. Now, this is really cool that he wanted to invite her, BUT.... I had no idea when he was going to do it.
I was taking a shower when he comes in my room and says, "I just called Jade and she said she might come to my game."
Ummmm, what did you just say? (as I'm getting the soap out of my ears because I thought he just said he called a girl)
"She might come to my game!"
"You called her?"
"Yes"
"Well, okay, but it's an away game" (45 minutes away, to be exact, in another town, and it starts in 2 hours. In the back of my mind I'm thinking there's no way she'll come that far) "How did you get her number?"
"I already had it marked in the phone book!" (dah! Mom)
"You did?"

So.... we're sitting at the game, waiting for the Wee-Wee's (5-6 yr. old) game to finish and the Pee-Wee's to begin when up walks Jade. I looked at Kale and he got the biggest smile on his face and started to blush. Could she be any nicer? A beautiful teenage girl, on a Friday night, could have made plans to do anything and she chose to make my little 8 1/2 year old boy's night. She drove all that way just for Kale. Isn't she wonderful?

















The other highlight of the night was.....

As the games went on Jade and I were chatting about Nikia and Jade asks if Nikia has a little boyfriend. I told her I didn't think so, she thinks boys have germs (a little thing I may have made her believe). It was no more than 3 minutes later and up walks Nikia crying her eyes out. Sobbing!!

"What's the matter honey?"
"Aaron, my boyfriend, just broke up with me!"
"What did you just say?"
"He broke up with me, and now he's playing with another girl!"

As Jade was doing all she could not to laugh out loud, I was trying to comprehend that my 6 yr. old just said the words "broke up" and actually new what it ment, and that it was referring to her and a boy.

OH THE DRAMA !!!!!!!

Black and Blue and Red

I've taken such a beating the last couple of days. On Tuesday I was scooping manure out of the barn and I went to toss the "crap" off of my pitchfork into the wagon but "it" didn't come off. The pitchfork kind of fell out of my hand and the handle went right to my right eye. OUCH!! Now I have a black and blue mark on my eyelid. I've tried to cover it up with eyeshadow but it must not be working. My Mom told me it looked like my makeup was smeared. NICE!!

Tonight at my softball game I was playing catcher and the pitch came in and took a nasty bounce right at my mouth. OUCH!! I had to leave the game because it wouldn't quit bleeding. I now have a big ol' fat lip on the top and a little hamburger on the bottom lip, plus a nice RED mark on the outside. Oh yeah, and my front big tooth hurts too. I sure hope I didn't hurt a nerve to my tooth. That would be real great to have my tooth turn black. I'd have to change my blog site to The Redneck Hillbilly. NICE!!

















So, yeah. I'm looking just peachy!! Wish I could just stay home and hide out for a few days. Nope. I have softball practice with the beautiful teenage girls at 8:00 am. YAY!! :(

Pets, Pets, and More Pets!!

I know I have posted pictures of our goats before, but I have to show you our new set of twins. They are so adorable. I wanted to name them Bert and Ernie but it turns out one of them is a girl. So, I have yet to come up with their names. (any ideas Kerrie? I thought of the first letter of all our names and came up with TANK or KNAT. I'm thinking no to both) They were born while we were on our trip. I knew the mama was close and I was really hoping she could wait till we got back, but no such luck. They're only about 5 inches tall.




















Guess what else we came home to. Another litter of kitties. She had 6 kitties to be exact. So now the count is 11 baby kitties. NICE!!!
Okay, now make sure your children are looking at the screen and read the following out loud to them.
Anyone want a free kitty? Pick a color, any color. We've got black, grey, white, and orange. Nikia plays with with the older litter everyday so they're nice and tame - very kid friendly. I'm sure you kids would love to have one - or you can even have two. That way one kitty won't get lonely all by itself.






















These are two from the first litter and they're about big enough to start giving them away. They wouldn't cost any money. They're free!!! They'd probably be such good kitties you could let them sleep in your room with you or just follow you around wherever you go. You can even pick out a name for them. Except, Nikia has already named the orange one Peaches. Just tell your mom that you really want one.

Now moms, don't break your kid's heart. Give in and let them have a kitty - or two. Remember, they're free!!!

Father's Day Trip to the Black Hills

It was a great trip and we're all ready to go back again next year. The location Dad had picked out was beautiful. We were very secluded from seeing or hearing a lot of vehicles so there was hardly any noise except what we made. Every day we went on horse rides and 4-wheeler rides so we put on something like 200 miles on each of the 4-wheelers and I'm not sure how many on the horses. We saw so many deer, elk, turkeys, antelope and of course we heard the coyotes howling at night. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable trip for everyone.




One of the gorgeous views!













Tylor letting the horses eat some grass.

Kale being a goofball!

Nikia and Lexy slept in the front of the trailer each night.

Playing the "washer" game.

Heading out for a ride.

We had just gone through a very beautiful long canyon with rocks and trees on both sides of us and it came out to this open range.

Kale letting Storm graze a little.

Saddle is on and now for the bridle.

My brother and Dad deciding which way we should go to see more elk.

The first day we had the horses tied up like this. They could move around quite a bit but they ate the grass pretty quickly so we changed it a little the next day.

The next day we made a corral for the horses to stay in.

Grandpa having some fun with the kids.

Trevor and Nikia hanging out.

For those of you wondering: our "biffy". The blue tarp for some privacy, the white towel to let others know someone was using the biffy, the toilet paper on a stick for a holder. This "seat" really came in handy for the kids to use. I didn't have to worry about the kids getting "any" on their pants while squatting. The bucket with a bag for easy disposal. I would prefer using this biffy over any other biffy any day - it didn't stink and it had a beautiful view! :)

It really was a great time. I wish we could have stayed longer - lord knows we had enough food along to stay longer. The weather was perfect except the last night we got about 1/4 inch of rain. We didn't mind it though - it washed all the dust and pollen off of everything. I can't wait till next year!!

This is just going to be a quick post as it is 4:00 in the morning (I can't sleep and what else is there better to do than blog). I just thought I'd let you know what I've been up to lately since I haven't posted in a while. We've been so busy around here lately. Last weekend I worked here at home and finally got caught up on some things that have been neglected (mowing, flower beds, garden, cleaning house, etc..).

Every night of the week someone in our family has a ballgame. It pans out kinda like this:

Monday - Kale baseball
Tuesday - Nikia softball, and I help coach a 16-under girls softball team
Wednesday - Amy softball
Thursday - Nikia softball, and Trevor softball
Friday - Kale baseball

Busy? YES!! But I love watching the kids play and it's a good time to chat with the other parents from the community.

We've been getting ready for our Father's Day vacation. In past years we've gone out fishing to the Missouri River with my Dad and Mom and one year my brother's family came too. This year Dad decided we should all (except my sister and her family because they're being party-poopers and don't want to) go to the Black Hills. We're taking 4 horses and 6 4-wheelers. We're staying in tents and Mom and Dad are bringing their camper. We're not going to a campground.....no, no, no, we're staying out in the woods and "roughing it". It should be a lot of fun if the weather cooperates.

I'll be sure to let you all know how the trip went and post some pictures when we return. Have a great weekend.

Just Horsing Around!!!

Almost every day Nikia asks me if she can ride a horse. When we're at the farm she spends a lot of time by the horse pasture talking to the horses and feeding them grass. She LOVES horses. In fact, she wants her own Paint horse someday. I've never been that big of a fan of Paints but maybe for her I'll change my view. Maybe. The other day my niece Lexy went riding and helped Nikia and Kale get all set on some horses.

Nikia riding Zippy.

Kale riding Bo.

Nikia has no fear of horses and Kale is a little more nervous around them. I think Kale's fear stems from seeing my horse accident. When it was time to put the horses away, Nikia cried because she wanted to ride more and Kale had had enough.

Who Are You, And What Have You Done With My Children?

We've had so much rain lately that it's been hard to keep up with the mowing. The other day we finally had a break from the rain and the sun was shining so I sent Kale out to begin the task of getting the whole yard mowed before the clouds came back. It takes about 3 hours (non-stop) with a riding lawn mower to finish our yard. He was such a trooper and only took two breaks. One for lunch and one for a much deserved popsicle. I was going to take over but he never complained or seemed to get tired of it.

I was so proud of him for getting the job done so quickly. I told him that Pirates of the Caribbean was on t.v. if he wanted to watch it. He loves that movie and hurried into the house to watch it. He only watched about 15 minutes of it and then came and asked me if there was anything else he could do for me outside. WHAT??? He wants more work? Ummm, okay. I told him there was some piles of old straw/hay in the goat pen along with a couple piles of sticks and branches that he could pick up and haul to our dump. He simply said "alright" and got to work. Again, no complaints, and he finished that job too (this time with a little help from his sister). She didn't have any complaints about the task either.

That same morning, Nikia asked if she could dust for me. Ummm, of course you can. She was walking around dusting and singing away. This can't be normal. Kids enjoying work?

Yesterday, I explained to Kale that for one of his summer chores I would like him to clean the toilet in his bathroom once a week. I have shown him how to do this before and he was thrilled to learn (go figure). So yesterday, with no hesitation he got the job done and then came and asked me what I use to clean the mirror in the bathroom. Again, he's wanting to do more work.

Wait just a minute! What is going on here? I promise, I don't threaten them, or bribe them, or run any type of sweat shop. I'm just simply wondering who took my kids and what did they do with them. My kids are usually really good workers but I usually hear some griping and wining about the chores they're having to do. Hmmmm, what are they up to? They must want something. But what? I bet in some way or another their father is involved in this little conspiracy too.

I guess the only things I can do is consider myself extremely blessed to have such willing little workers, and make up a list of things I want done so I'll be ready for the next little volunteer.

I sure hope this lasts all summer. Yeah, right! Who am I kidding.