Big doings

In the spirit of attempting to write everyday... here I am. After an entire afternoon spent cleaning, organizing, and decorating. If you think that sounded like fun.... actually it wasn't that much fun. But I did find my baby has no less than 4 shape sorters. Does everyone know what that means? It means if you ever need to put a triangle through a hole into a box.... Crew is your man. Also.... I found about 25 rattles. Really. I told Clay that they needed to be loved by other kids. The unfortuante thing is that.... after literally not sitting down for 4 hours.... I would still be embarassed if anyone stopped over right now. I got some fun decorations in the mail.... complete with enough styrofoam to protect your grandmothers china while it flew around the world in 80 days..... and now it is on my living floor in a million peices because someone (not me) thought it would be fun to make guns out it. We are all about guns at my house. Styrofoam= gun. Any stick= gun. Toilet brush=gun. We've got ourselves a future NRA member in our midst. Except that he has been known to hunt pandas.... that might not go over so well in later years.

Spinach Brownies

Yummm. Seriously... I made these today. Much to the chagrin of my husband. He did come around though... as they were in fact faboulous... but he was def suspicious. This is because I recently made chili that involved cinnamon and chocolate. And unfortunately also beef and chili powder. It was to date the most disgusting thing that I have ever made. Win some lose some. It got 5 stars on allrecipes.com so whatever. Cooking on the ranch is also a different beast. First of all... you have all 3 meals. Which means, I am in the kitchen alot. Our neighboring ranch has a cook... and someone over there recently commented that she cooked "too healthy" and they didn't really like that. Luckily.... anything here passes for a salad. You might be thinking... lettuce, onion, tomatoe... but you would be wrong. Think broccolli and bacon. Red jello and carrots. Snickers and apples and whip cream. Now there is a salad. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Perhaps the very crux of not being able to lose a few pounds is the very fact that I did indeed turn a perfectly good vegatable into a brownie. Pathetic.

First Calf of the season

Exciting news..... the first calf has arrived. This is big here in our neck of the woods. Or sandhills. Small town rural life revolves in seasons.... that everyone knows and talks about. This is unlike big cities....(defined as anywhere with a population over 10,000 peeps) because everyone is doing their own thing and has different jobs. Here, everyone is somehow related to agriculture. So all conversations start the same and really the answer is the same, so that one who is not from here could participate if they knew which season we were in. So around Feb, March.... the convo goes like this

Anybody: Started calving yet?
Person with cows: Close, or got a few.

Around April or May:
Anybody: Finished calving yet?
Person with cows: Getting there. One never actually discloses when they are done. If you go to long.... this indicates some sort of failure on the cow owners part..... so eventually you quit disclosing that you are not done yet.

Also in May:
Anybody: Got any sick calves?
Cowowner: A few. Also represents some sort of failure... but everyone has sick ones but no one fesses up.

This whole line goes on all year.... very pridictable.... which I love somehow. We go from calving to planting, to watering, to harvesting.... to feeding through the winter... and then it starts anew. And now for the spiritual implications..... just reminds me of a time to reap, a time to sow. But this is the best time of year because the baby calves are so cute.... just like your faverite childhood farm book. Mommas standing around licking thier calves.... calves frolicking in the pasture.

Just a glimpse into farm life..... more later. :)

Sick Day

Greetings from the plague. Our little town has been struck with the flu.... no fun. I am on my second week of missing work.... which is also no good. My counter looks like a pharmacy..... and there are kleenex everywhere. This being my first blog.... and first posting.... it may be a little dry till I get in my blogging grove if you will. Until I find my blogging nitch. I feel somewhat intimidated as my sister, who is extrememly artsy and creative....... has a blog as well. And I feel as if our family will read them... compare and I will come up short. Anyone have a cute younger more interesting sister out there?? I know you do. Because in all these cute romanic comedies... they are always about a cute, young, single journalist.... and her older married nurse sister with children. It is so us its not even funny. But I do have farm and children stories..... both of which she is lacking. She only has the swinging single life to draw on.....which is a mere memory of mine. A good memory.... but 5 years prior now.

I was up half the night with my youngest boy..... he is sick too. Snot nosed.... tearful. Both of which are rare for him.

My oldest boy who is 3.5..... has a lot of things to say in this world. Many an observation. Last nights....... if you stick your hand in your booty.... it smells. That is does.... and a good lesson to learn early. We use the word booty at my house..... for a couple of reasons. Because we are literally 45 miles from anyone with any ethnic background and I want him to be comfortable with different terms..... butt sounds crass.... and hiney sounds old lady. If anyone has any better ideas...... they would be welcome. If I knew the biblical term.... I would soooo use it.

Allright.... I will write more, when I think of more.