We went down last week, and the kids scattered outside. They love to play on the haystack, they wander up and down the ditch, and they like to catch frogs and toads. Mo chases chickens, and frolics with sassy, and played with the new puppies. Ryan also put them to work. There is a never ending supply of projects and chores that need to be done.
We also attended shrsh down there which was a big fiasco. It was only a fiasco because the kids had not packed their bags very well. Chloee tried to pull off a look in a maroon dress with yellow socks. Jerusha couldn't find her shoes, Oak couldn't find his boots, and Chloee was stuck in yellow socks. It all worked out, but it is hard to pack for everyone for a week. I tried to get the kids to pack up themselves, and yet this is the results. (Chlo didn't pack for herself, her missing shoes were my fault.)
Ryan and Jams went out to chase cows the first few days. Ryan has been stuck on Buck lately. Buck is getting better, but he is slow and skittish. Ryan also claims that he is built like a barrel and a saddle won't fit on him. Anyhow, for this reason, Ryan hasn't been the main cow catcher of the bunch. Jams was riding Diesel. He is a faster horse, but Jams was intrigued with the wild donkey's and kept going after them instead of the calves. Hello Jams...what are we going to do with a herd of wild donkey's??? Ryan usually catches one or two, but he claims he needs a better horse. I agree...we will have to find him one.
Arden has a camera that he wears on his cowboy hat as he chases cows. He showed us some footage from a cowboying trip that they had been on recently. It was seriously the coolest thing....ever. It is so cool because you are on the horse and running. You can see the cows in the distance and Arden spurs his horse faster...at this point you can tell that the horse is running as fast as he can to catch the cows. Arden swings his rope several times and throws and catches one on his first try. It of course starts bawling and mooing in protest. For just a moment it all made sense to me. I could clearly see why going out and chasing cows would be so amazingly fun. It was kind of like deer hunting. I finally understood why my Dad and brothers loved to hunt when I was finally handed a gun, and had a tag of my own to fill. It is extremely thrilling. Yep, I want to be a cowgirl now. I want to learn how to rope, and I want to ride a fast horse. If I can't make all of that happen, then I at least want to watch Arden's cool footage. That might be as close as I ever get.
One of Arden's dog had puppies last week. This proved hours of fun for Chlo and the rest of the kids. They all had a puppy that they doted on. Chlo named her puppy cupcake and she packed it around and loved on it. I had to kindly remind Chlo that she couldn't take it too far because if she did, the puppy would miss out on her mom coming to feed her.
Sassy proved to be an exciting part of the week. She was still taking a bottle, and the girls fed her quite a few times. The problem with Sassy is that she figured out how to get into the kitchen. I am not sure how, but she figured out how to open the door. It was quite hilarious to walk in the kitchen, and see Sassy standing there all dumb and out of place. She is still as playful and rompy as ever. Another calf was born down there, and he was small and needy. Luckily his mom was taking good care of him, and on the morning before we left, a little black calf was born. He was little, and needed lots of help too. It was great to see his mom take care of him. She helped him get up and was way protective. Luckily Sassy has Stetsy. I am not sure what happened to Sassy's mom, but Stetsy takes great care of the doggie calves down there.
Jazzerz caught a frog one night. This should have been a joyous occasion, but it turned out to be a huge fiasco thanks to Mo. He longed to love and squeeze on that frog, and hey...we are not into torturing poor animals. He just could not seem to get the knack of being soft with it. For this reason, we kept having to remove the frog from Mo, and he would howl and bawl in very loud protest. It got to where I really wished that Jazz had not caught a frog at all. We finally figured out a solution. We put the frog in a cup, and let Mo tend to the cup. This way the frog didn't get squashed to death, and Mo felt close to the frog. It was all fine and good until Mo got into some show that they were watching in Arden's room. He must have got intrigued with the plot because he forgot all about the poor frog, and honestly I did too. I went and scooped him (Mo) up not long after that and took him to our trailer to bed. Apparently Arden came out of his room later. Jams said that he said, "Who put a frog....in my room????" The frog must have ditched his cup, and Arden had to deal with it. Thankfully Arden is used to that kind of a thing. It is rare when the ranch isn't crawling with dozens of grandkids. Arden is a great uncle who uses the grandkids to hone his roping skills. They get to chase around dodging ropes, and Arden is now one of the best ropers ever. It is a win-win I would say.
Most of the kids had the opportunity to go out with cowboys. I always encourage them to go if they possibly can. There isn't much that I wouldn't give to spend even one day with my grandparents, and the kids always come back with great stories. Jams is trying to learn how to rope and ride better too. We just need to keep her focused on catching calves and not donkeys.
Mel's kids were down for awhile last week. This was perfect because it gave the kids some great time to play with their cousins. Ryan has an old travel trailer down there that we were trying to gut out and clean up. Chlo and Prestlie were convinced that it was haunted. It was hilarious, the stories that they were telling about it. They stole a few items from our discard pile. They explained that it was fine if they took them because everyone that had lived in the trailer was now dead, and were only around to haunt the place. I didn't want to ruin their fun, but Ryan was living in that trailer when we were dating, and he is very lively.
Well, we helped gather melon seeds, the kids stacked firewood, and Ryan worked on the squeeze chute several days. Ryan also rode with the men most days, and I chased kiddos around in the sunshine. I also love my morning runs down there. The noise and smell of the river are so relaxing.
We also celebrated New Years down there. Usually there is a small gathering of kids down there that my kids can party with. I felt kind of bad because Jamie was missing her first New Years Eve youth dance. Also, Stetsy is now married and has no desire to party with the kids, and Arden was off with his friends too. This left my kids alone to party on their own. I wasn't feeling too great that night, and had no energy to party. Ryan went and started them a fire, and they had all kinds of desires to roast hot dogs, and sleep out under the stars. I figured it was way too cold for them to sleep out, but I did not want to ruin all their fun. Anyhow, I fell asleep pretty early and kind of lost track of what they were doing.
According to Rooshkie, they were getting cold outside, and decided to sneak in the house and watch a movie in Arden's room. At this point Grandma and Grandpa had gone to bed too. Well, when they walked in Cliven was up and said, "Let's party together!" They watched "Nacho Libre" and laughed until all hours of the night. Cliven and Jerusha had a drink of rootbeer at midnight because they were the only ones up. Anyhow, I got up pretty early to check on them, and it looked like a party all right. They had mattresses, and bedding and had cozied up in front of the fire. I am sure it will be a new years that they will never forget. I am so grateful for Cliven. What an awesome Grandpa.
Well, we got home, and my small little house looks like a huge mansion after spending a week cramped in our travel trailer. I hesitate to share this story but, I am going to even though it is gross. It is just so typical of what mom's have to deal with. Jazzerz has caught some kind of a virus. She came into my room several times last night and complained that she was nauseous. I got up and rubbed some essential oils on her, and this seemed to help her for a few hours until she would wake up feeling sick again. I got up early this morning because we have switched to the earlier schedule in shrsh. Anyhow, Jerusha was having issues in her room and I walked in to find puke everywhere. Someone had puked all over Chlo in her bed and all over the floor. No one could remember throwing up at all. Well, it had to be Jazz, but how does a person puke in their sleep??? Chlo had slept in a puke-y bed and did not even know it. She was upset because she had accidentally peed in her bed, which is somewhat unusual for her. I didn't want to inform her that pee wasn't all that she had slept in. Ryan just quietly took Chlo by the hand and stuck her in the bath with Mo. We then went to work on cleaning up the beds and the floor. I never realized, when we were dating, what that man and I would calmly have to face together. I am so glad that I married someone who just strongly deals with stuff with me. I am so blessed. I am so grateful that we face these problems together. Anyhow, we got everything and everyone cleaned up. Jazzerz stayed home, and Oak attempted to fly a paper airplane around the bench in Shrsh. Luckily Ryan caught it, and hid it before it made too many flights. Mo had a change of heart about the nursery, and did not want to leave today. I will never quite be able to predict that kid. Anyway, it is good to be home, but I miss the sunshine. It is back to school and all sorts of our activities tomorrow. Bring on 2014.
This picture has Ryan on Buck...It looks like he roped the cow...Clance is tying it down...Leroy and Arden are also in the picture.
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