Three Peas in a Pod ...

My dear friend Peggy gave the kids their first Webkinz, and they love Leo, Harry and Freida!  Yes, I fibbed a bit.  I told them Peggy said they had to sit together and smile for a picture if they wanted to keep them.  It was very painful for them as you can see, but they really wanted to keep their new pets!

First Day of Big ... Class of 2023

Yesterday was the last day of LITTLE and today was the first day of BIG!  Today ... my Littles started Kindergarten, and in a decade plus a few years, they will graduate high school with the Class of 2023.

 (Waiting on the Bus)

This morning was exceptional and I woke them up at 6:30 with a plan to be on the bus at 7:10.  For the first time, they got themselves ready and with backpacks on, we actually were standing at the end of the driveway at 7:05.

We've decided to do breakfast at school every morning so that I don't have to get them up at 5:30 and get them all awake and hungry.  We figure that after a short bus ride they can eat with all of their friends.

My Velveteen Boy

My velveteen boy betrayed me this evening.

It was so pretty outside today when I picked the kids up, we dressed them in their bib overalls and "orange, so that I can see you a mile away" sweatshirts and sent them out to dig up the yard! That is Sam and Jay's favorite pastime ... especially in the Spring when the ground is so soft. There is nothing like holes and piles of dirt everywhere. Our yard shrieks that "boys live here" and you have to be careful when where you walk so that you don't fall in a hole.

My littlest boy is now big enough to go outside and play with the big kids, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He runs and romps and keeps up with everyone just fine. He is now ruler, and when he runs his ears pin back and flap in the wind. His fur is soft and he feels like fat velvet ... but this evening he went missing, and we searched everywhere thinking the very worst.

Then as I was walking back from the pond ... I spotted him alone in the barn. He was having the time of his life as his short little legs jumped in the wet straw. He was burrowing as deep as he could in the muck and he only stopped long enough to glance at me as I yelled .... "Gus, get out of there!" He was on a mission ... and that was to make sure that every inch of his body was covered in the black slime.

My sweet little velveteen boy has betrayed me ... he has found life beyond me. The same world that my little boys live for ... a world of dirt and mud, and slime and cow poop!

A Cow Round-Up!

Whilst the boys were out chasing cows on four-wheelers with their Dad and their Uncle Don, "Miss I can't get dirty in the barn" wanted her picture taken.  She was lacking some attention while the other two sides of her triangle was chasing the cows that got out. 

Here she is ... and here's the story:

Like always, a trip to the barn is in order on our way home.  The climax of their day is to hit the barn and check out the happenings while they were gone.  You never know if a new baby has been born, or if they'll be the star of a rodeo when they get there.  Just so happens, the star of the day was a sick cow, and the boys jumped right in to help treat her. 

They were all hands on handing in the pills and syringe that housed a giant sized needle.  The pills weren't anything to ignore either.  They looked liked giant sweet-tarts and they used a medicine tube to get them in her.  The medical aspect of this farm still amazes me.  I've been a people nurse way too long and just can't grasp this end of things.

They also get to ride home with their Dad from the barn to the house ... and that is when it happened.

It was Round Up Time!  One of the pastures of cows had escaped and the boys helped round them up.  Just in the eight years I've been here, times have changed.  Von used to chase them on foot or else drive his old black pickup truck through the pasture.  These days .... it's a race on 4-wheelers and a big whooping it up because the cows don't like the noise.  If I was a cow, I definitely wouldn't want to be playing chicken with a wild man and a loud kid on a four wheeler!  Don and Jay on one ... and Von and Sam on the other. 

So I stood outside to try to get a few pictures of the round up ... and instead had a little mini shoot with the Princess!  She didn't realize it, but while she was standing there posing and complaining, she was surrounded by clumps of cow poop.  You see, we were standing in the gravel right in front of the barn gate, and if you can imagine before Photoshop .... that little brown clump by her left ear was a pretty big chunk of fresh poop!

Over at the Farm

The other evening I stopped over at the farm on our way home so Sam could ride a cow.   He does this every chance he gets ... he thinks he's a cowboy.  Jay wouldn't do it.  It's not his cup of tea.  He has though in the past ... but not that night.  Meg?  Well, it's completely out of the question you know ... she's not getting dirty.  Not stepping in cow poop and not about to take any chances in the cow pen.

This is their Uncle Don.  I love the way the sun is shining down on them as they walk off towards the barn.  I love how pictures tell a story.

Because I'm the Mom

This is a vent.  Only a vent.  Nothing I say here can or will be used against me!  You promise???

This Monkey has reached the end of her rope.  They got the best of me, and it only took four and a half years to do it.  I truly thought I had the patience of a Saint and was the best Woman for this job.  The Saint business went right out the window this morning ... and I can't abandon the ship or give up the job, because I'm the Mom, and when you're the Mom ... it's for better or worse.

Some days it's a toss up which is better and which is worse. Here's my day, and you can sing it to any tune you'd like.

No No No No ... it's five AM, the sun's not up, lay down and go to sleep.  Go to sleep, Go to sleep, Go to sleep! Be quiet in there ... don't wake up Sam ... I can't deal with that right now.  He's "one on one" and I'm too tired, too pooped to pop ... to pop, to pop, to pop!  You what?  Go pee?  Are you ser-eee-ous?  Just sneak down stairs ... quietly, don't talk to loud, don't run, don't play ... just pee and come back here.

All is quiet, I did my job, pillow here I come.  I can sneak a few more minutes in before my day begins.  What?!  You need a drink?  You want to eat?  You need your boots?  You want to play?  You don't like that shirt?  You need your Dad?  You don't like me?  You want that toy?  Don't cry ... don't cry .... don't cry.  Don't wake up Sam ... he's "one on one" and I'm too tired right now.

Let's lay on the couch and sneak some hugs before the day begins.  You watch TV... I'll close my eyes.  We'll take a nap and catch some ZZZZZZZ's.   Sushhhhhhh right now, don't wail that loud, there's room for both of you.  One on each side, I still can sleep.  Just don't wake up Sam ... he's "one on one" and I'm still tired, just thinking about our day.

The sun is up ... and so is Sam.  He's "one on one" and makes me play things I don't want to do.  Out to the sandbox?  Right now you say?  Blue jeans?  Gray shirt?  No food?  Just play?  Drink you Milk!  Eat your Food!  Wash your face!  Let's Go! 

No No No!  No sand in the house.  Drive that truck outside.  Water?  Where did you get that Water?  Shoes off the couch.  Take that out!  No bugs in the house!  Put that down.  Put that back.  Close that door, I'm chasing flies.  Sam, you're "one on one."

You need a bath.  You have sand in your hair.  What's on your hands?  Ewwwwww ... take off your clothes.  One at a time.  Stay out.  Close that door.  No bubbles.  Don't dump that shampoo in there ... in there ... in there.  Don't pee in the tub.  Don't pee in the sink ... Just don't Ppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Sam did what?  Trash can in the tub?  Oh no ... oh no ... oh no!  The floor is wet.  Don't slip ... don't fall ... get out in the hall.  Stay there.  Sit down.  Wait your turn.  Don't fight.  Sam is "one and one" and I'm so tired.  It's only noon,

I need a drink ... I need a break.  I need to sleep.  I need to eat ... but I'm the Mom, and it's my job and it is only noon.  Clean up the mess.  Make some lunch.  Take a nap.  Take a break.  You're wearing me out ...  but I'm the Mom, and it's my job .... and I love you so much!

It's quiet now.  They're all asleep ... I get to go pee.  By myself, with only the dog for company.  Who threw the washcloths in the tub?  They're all wet.  They all were clean.  I'd wake up those kids and make them pay ... but I'm the Mom, and it's my job.  I'm so tired ... So here I sit and fingerpeck so I don't wake them up.  This is my break, and it still is only noon!   

It's all in a days work ... because, I'm the Mom!