24 September 2018

Athletes And Nerds

It’s homecoming week. All week the children will dress up to fit various themes. The first was Athletes or nerds. I wanted them both to go with the nerd theme. The Goblin Child was not interested. We did our best to find an athlete costume. I couldn’t find my high school jersey and decided that horse riding counts as a sport thus horse people count as athletes. I pulled out cowgirl clothes.

Still clinging to my desire to send her as a nerd I thought of my clicker tucked away with the rest of my tack. If I sent that with her she could be the nerdiest of all horse people, a clicker trainer!

8 had no opinions. He happily let me dress him as a nerd. A darling one at that! I only have pictures of him, and him with his class. The Goblin Child just looked like she normally does.

Category: 8, Goblin Child | 2 Comments on Athletes And Nerds
16 September 2018

A Traumatic Day

It all started with the fighting. Constant bickering. I ordered them both outside. The Goblin Child complied. Mad. Slamming her way out the door. With both hands she emphatically shoved the door open. Hard.

Glass tinkled to the ground she stepped back staring at her hands in horror. I started to scream. She started to scream. I stopped and checked for blood. There was some. Nothing gushing though. 8 was quite upset by the whole thing. He was worried about her and near tears. He repeated over and over “I don’t know about this. This is bad, I don’t know about this. Lala’s going to be mad. I don’t know about this” He was cute but I was trying to deal with a screaming T.G.C. who was screaming that Lala was going to kill her. I considered the possibility that she might be right as I assured her that he wouldn’t. I thought back to putting my hand through the window in the back porch door and that my loving father had yelled at me. Now I understood why.

Taking her into the bathroom we washed up the blood. What little there was. And got her covered in band aids. I had to get a picture. The scrapes were little. She wasn’t really hurt.  I worried the small injuries would put a stop to our plans to go to the lake after lunch. She sat around and moaned about how bad they hurt. She whined that it stung and look how much skin this one had taken off! By lunch she had quieted and we made it to the lake afterwards.

There they played and swam and mostly forgot about the injury. Until they were home and in the tub. Apparently there are salts in a bath bomb. It hurt again. Out of the tub they forgot about how much fun they had had and that they briefly liked each other at the lake and bickered all afternoon. Finally unable to take the fighting any longer I ordered them both outside. Starting to sound familiar?

No doors were broken on the way out. They played happily for awhile. Then I heard Gus screaming. I met him at the door. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with him. I asked where he got hurt. I meant on him. He wanted to show me where exactly. By the time he pulled me far enough to understand that it had been the tree I insisted on seeing where on his body he had been hurt. I pulled his shirt up to see his torso covered in scrapes. He couldn’t hold still long enough for me to check him all over but I had the idea. Attempting to carry him in the house without hurting any of his injuries we went in to tend to him. A few band aids weren’t going to take care of this.

I didn’t get any pictures of him. He was actually hurt. He sobbed on my lap for awhile telling me that he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. settling down for awhile he was ok until I pulled up his shirt for another look and he saw one of the scratches. He cried again until he cried himself to sleep on my lap. The hearty dose of Ibuprofen could have helped that along a little.

Thankfully neither of them were seriously injured. Both wrecks could have been bad. 8 will be sore tomorrow but is otherwise relatively free from harm. The door window will be dropped off at the hard wear store to have the window replaced by a piece of plexi glass. I may have suffered the worst of the day. Having both children try to kill themselves in one day is more than I can handle.

Category: 8, Goblin Child | 1 Comment on A Traumatic Day
15 August 2018

First Day Of School

The Goblin Child was happy to be off to kindergarten. She knew most of her classmates and was glad to see some old friends join the class. She knew the routine and loves school. We never worry about her and school.

8 has done nothing but want to play in the preschool room for the last couple of years, we thought the transition might go well. We thought wrong. His excitement over playing has disappeared. He went happily the first day but his reluctance has grown ever since. Hopefully he starts to enjoy it, this is the part that is supposed to be fun. If he doesn’t like it now he’s really going to hate it as he gets older.

Category: 8, Goblin Child | 1 Comment on First Day Of School
29 July 2018

End Of Wheat Harvest ’18

I haven’t been on here for a very long time. Far longer than I ever intended it to be. We, well, we got busy and the summer slipped away. I have to make note of when they harvest wheat though and that is done and over with so I better write something about it!

It was a fairly late harvest and still wet and hard to get to with that. They started in on the neighbors wheat on July 11th and finished up on the 26th. It’s been a really wet year. It rained all the way through while they tried to squeeze in between showers and fight through wet wheat and green weeds. The kids are getting big enough to enjoy going along and not have to sit in the combine the whole time. They loved playing in the grain trailers with Jack, riding in the semis, and also napping in the combine. The Goblin Child and I made use of combine time, sending 8 off with his father so we could get some riding done. She’s starting to get more comfortable on Coyote and Rusty is grown up enough to be useful ponying and helping them when needed.

8 had a little accident near the end of harvest. He was riding along in the semi. He had the misfortune of being leaning on the door when another kid opened it. The semi was stopped, his head broke his fall. He caught his head on the steps and it left a pretty good scratch on the back of his head but luckily he wasn’t hurt bad.

Category: 8, Family, Farming, Goblin Child | 1 Comment on End Of Wheat Harvest ’18
17 June 2018

Rodeo, Again

Last year when we went to the kids first rodeo they loved it. We found a out about more coming up the next summer and I told them we could go. The next summer came around, things changed, we lost Onna, but the rodeos were still coming up. The Goblin Child found out about them and still really wanted to go. I told her we’d try.

Coyote isn’t Onna. 8 has been riding him, while being led. T.G.C. has been getting started on him, trying to get used to him after riding her own horse. i have a lot more I want to say but don’t seem to be getting around to writing it. So here are the videos. It wasn’t great. We all survived. I did not get to work with Rusty the way I wanted. There was no way we could have done it without Tanna and Jerry. They were life savers. We are so grateful to Tanna for coming along and always appreciate all the help she gives us.

They scared me half to death here loping back!

 

 

 

I kept watching not through the phone and it would drift down. I’d look back at it and realize I was filming dirt and get aimed again then back to the dirt. Oops.

 

Category: 8, Goblin Child, Horses | 2 Comments on Rodeo, Again
3 June 2018

Vacation Bible School

I volunteered this year. Last year I told them I couldn’t help because I had to work, and, well, I did. Have to work that is, somehow it felt like a convenient excuse though. Then all my friends did it and I was jealous and felt left out. So this year I told them I’d help.

It was a fun busy week. I thought I’d be an assistant in one of the rooms with someone else in charge. Instead I wound up doing science projects. I happen to love doing science projects! But we had to choose from the ones in “the book” that went with the theme and gave a bible tie in and so on. It was fun anyway. We made slime. We made baking soda play dough then added vinegar. That was the greatest. This baking soda is your life. Start squirting vinegar. This is your life on God! I want more God in my life the children screamed. We’d squirt them with more vinegar and their hands, covered in play dough, foamed. That part wasn’t in “the book” they just said to add vinegar to baking soda. Boring. We made tin can telephones and played telephone. And we filtered dirty water through sand, gravel and rice.

The last night the kids got up and did their little program. It was very nicely done. Some singing, some pictures, some talking. Our children were, of course, adorable. Sometimes just by being rotten. They’re always cure when they’re your kids 😉

And I see that it wont load 8’s videos. I’ll mess with them and get them shortened or something. He was adorable dancing to his own personal beat. Totally different from everyone else.

 

Category: 8, Goblin Child, It's a God thing | 1 Comment on Vacation Bible School
13 April 2018

April Snows

It is snowing, hopefully it brings May flowers just as well as showers do. The wind howled all day yesterday and the day before. It rained all night, then changed to snow this morning. Fortunately the worst of it is East of us, unfortunate for them though.

Yesterday 8 and I ran out through the cows. They were already locked out of the pivot. Locked into the pasture to try to force them to stay behind a windbreak. Going across the pasture we saw a calf moving funny. Looking closer she was carrying a leg. It curled under her wobbling in a sickening manner whenever she stepped on it. It was broken. There was a blizzard predicted for the next day.

Deciding that through the wheat in the pivot would be an easier rout than through all the cows, down the lane, and round and round we headed her for the gate. The mama was a little high headed, the calf was managing to follow on three legs but it was hard for her. They finally went through the gate. The mama went the right way nicely from there, down to the corrals and the old horse barn. We went as slow as possible, following way behind so we didn’t rush them. She went right in the gate and we shut it behind her leaving them in the corral.

We had to wait for the father-in-law to get home to do anything with her. Once he did get back we went out to see what we could do. The mama stood back and watched while her calf was pushed to the old horse barn. The one that was falling down until they pushed it up with the payloader this winter, and tightened the cables holding it in a somewhat upright position. With the wind howling around us we crouched in the rickety old building out of reach of the mama and looked at the leg. It had broke just above the ankle. Swollen and floppy but not awful. Unless it moved then my stomach lurched and I had to look away.

We had found some old slats, a pair of The Goblin Child’s pants tossed in the rag drawer once they developed holes, and duct tape. Throwing the calf down and sitting on her we pulled the pant legs over her leg. Breaking the slat down to the right length we taped them to three sides of the leg. Once everything seemed secured we sent her back out to mom.

Overnight the rain set in, then blowing snow by morning. The horses were happy to be locked in the barn, warm and dry with lots of hay. The cows were fed up against the shelter of the windbreak. Calves bucking and playing in the snow. Coming back to check on the two calves in the pen I found the new born calf laid in an exposed corner with a snow drift building over him. The calf with the broken leg was shivering.
I got the snow covered calf up. he woke with a beller that brought his mom running. She didn’t eat me and I was able to push them back towards the barn from yesterday where both calves could find dry shelter, if only they would.
Hopefully the storm will end tonight and give the cattle some rest. Give the calves a chance to dry off and warm up. Give us a chance to start doctoring the ones that get sick from this. It is spring, the weather will warm up soon. Hopefully soon enough.

 

Category: 8, Cows | 2 Comments on April Snows
8 March 2018

Frolicking Kids

We took Baa to visit a boy. We hope to have a baby. We took her down in the end Of January and picked her up early March. As the people who own the boy say they “fell in love” immediately then showed no signs of heat after that. A goats gestation period is five months. If everything goes right we should be expecting a baby, or two?, in July!

When we dropped her off and picked her up the very nice people let all of us see, and play with, their baby goats. It was so much fun watching all the kids frolic together.

 

Category: 8, goats, Goblin Child | 2 Comments on Frolicking Kids
25 February 2018

Happy Birthday 8!

He’s been telling us for a long time that his birthday was coming from over there, then pointing to let us know which direction it’s coming from now. We were afraid that when it finally got here it would be a let down. Especially after we couldn’t get reservations at the bouncy houses. Seriously people how can you just take that away after the children have come to depend on it? We did the next best thing and got the school cafeteria. Lots of room for kids to run and not in our house. We only invited a couple of friends but a couple of friends is a couple of families plus family. It’s just too many people to fit in our house!

We got there early and turned them loose to play in the pit while we got stuff ready. Then people came and they really went to playing. We had brought balloons and they ran kicking and throwing them the whole time. All the children  ought to sleep good tonight. Then we ate cake. Played some more. Opened presents. And played a little longer as people started to file out the door and we cleaned up.

He was asleep long before we got home. What better way to end a birthday party than with a good nap.

 

Category: 8 | 2 Comments on Happy Birthday 8!
18 February 2018

A Day Of Many Firsts

Putting this up here for mom real quick so she, and anyone else who’s interested, can see the videos. We hauled the horses over to a friends indoor arena to ride with our good friend Paula who we don’t see nearly enough. I wanted to try Rusty somewhere besides home and start getting him used to being hauled.

The morning started out warm, as it was supposed to. We spent the morning playing outside and getting the horse stuff loaded. Ate lunch came back out and it had gotten cold, as it was supposed to. We all squeezed into the cab of the pickup and dropped my long suffering husband off so he could put in a couple of hours of work in town.

At the arena I decided there was no way I was pulling down to the arena, it didn’t look like we’d ever be able to get back out. We parked on the gravel far far away from the arena and started to climb out of the pickup. It was cold and windy. The horses were crazed the children were under foot. Paula had arrived by then and was the only reason we were able to accomplish it at all. She took the leads of two horses loaded with children and I followed with Rusty, helmets, hats, gloves, and treat bags.

There is a pen that needs to be gotten through on the way to the arena and it had horses in it. Paula gave me the other two to lead through while she kept the horses off of us. I abandoned my other baggage and concentrated on getting a crazed Rusty and two other enthusiastic horses through two gates and away from the other curious horses. We all lived.

In the arena Rusty immediately made it clear that he was NOT going to stand tied. Not without choking us on clouds of dust. Trying to get the children ready to ride for real, I forgot those pesky helmets earlier in the rush to get horses saddled before we froze, and into the arena where they could hopefully take care of them selves was difficult. Fortunately, once again, Paula took care of everyone and got the job done.

We had a good ride once everything got settled. 8 rode Coyote all by himself! I was so proud of both of them! The Goblin Child was a little pouty and wouldn’t really try to get Onna to go away from me but she still did pretty good. It was the same jumbled, mad rush to get back to the pickup. The kids were cold and tired and grouchy. It was colder and windier. Once everything was loaded, they hopped right in so nicely, good horses, the kids fell asleep almost immediately. It was a great ride and I for one can’t wait to do it again!

Category: 8, Goblin Child, Horses | 3 Comments on A Day Of Many Firsts