Monday, June 23, 2014

     I really need a computer.  I am going to attempt to update on my phone because so much is going on, and I really want a record of this stuff.  We are still living at the ranch.  The summer temperatures have soared, and I am trying to smile and deal with it in a tough fashion.  We have been busy as all get out.  Wams and Sags took turns with their dad in plowing up the melon field, my younger ones have fed baby calves morning and evening, and we just started our squash bugging program.  Yep...we squish squash bugs between our fingers.  It has to be done, or there won't be a melon crop this year.  Sage was telling me how much she hates the stinky sour apple smell that happens when the bug goes squish.  I told her that there are a lot of stinky things in the world.  I am personally glad that squash bugs don't smell like stink bugs, for example.  I really hate the stench of stink bugs.
     Some of the only heat relief we get is swimming at the river and head gate.  Mo and I had a grand ole time in the river on Saturdee.  He would jump stomach first and land in the river.  I cannot say that it looked pleasant.  We also made a burger castle...it was a heap of sad looking mounds, that looked somewhat like a mound of burgers.
     We have had some interesting times down here.  Mo has played and played with the kittens until they have scratched the heck out of him in self defense.  Ryan kept telling me that he would learn to leave the cats alone because, he will get sick of the scratches and bites....nope.  He has scratches all over, and his latest one happened when he attempted to throw the squirming cat in a pool of water.  He really isn't learning.
    We had a gentleman down last week that was thinking about doing a reality show at the ranch.  He sat on the couch and visited with Carol and her girls for several hours.  He was trying to see if there would be enough material for one.  What he may not have realized, is that we had a reality show going all over the ranch that evening.  Mo had been poking a stick at the dog, and he bit Mo in the eye.  This made me angry, and Arden went and got after the dog.  The kids weren't allowed in the house during the interviews, and so they spent the evening in the ditch, catching frogs and carrying on.  In the meantime, the interview went on and on.  Everyone got really hungry.  I finally decided to sneak in the kitchen and cook something.  I told Ryan that I needed some hamburger from the freezer.  He finally came back in with a huge bin of frozen hamburger.  What in tarnation was I supposed to do with it?  I asked him this, and he instructed me to get a hatchet, and start hacking at the burger...yeah, that'd be just great.  Anyhow, I finally found the whole situation hilarious, and began laughing.  We seriously have a fine reality show go on daily here.
     We went to McKay and Noelle's wedding reception last night.  McKay is our cute nephew....anyhow, Mo and Chlo went a little wild at all of the delectable pastries on the table.  Mo finally settled on a huge, double layer piece of chocolate cake.  It had a lovely pink rose right on the top.  I have cut all extra sugar with my last five pregnancies, but I must admit that the cake looked way tempting.  Anyhow, Mo ate the lovely, pink flower, but refused another bite.  I had to take the rest of the cake to Ryan, who happily finished it for him.  He and Chlo then ran around and around the joint.
     I don't know if it was the cake, or what, but Mo woke up in the night making all kinds of demands.  He wanted a breakfast with syrup, and he wanted me to purchase him a home of his very own.  He kicked and bawled and squirmed.  I refused to oblige him at 3am....jeez, I hope he does better tonight.
     We got an ultrasound down for baby #8, and it is a lovely, healthy, little she.  I am really excited.  A little sister will do Mo so much good.  Wow, does he ever need to grow up a little!
     Oak, has been as happy as all get out at the ranch.  I caught him putting a grasshopper in the freezer though, and this was disturbing....I really hate grasshoppers and I cannot think of a need for a frozen one.  He helps with calves, and spends his free time swimming.  Yep...he is kinda spoiled



Sunday, June 22, 2014

     Our sometimes klompy adventure continues.  We have been happy and busy now that school is out.  We have been spending a bulk of our time at the ranch in our travel trailer.  Yes, I went from thinking that we were purchasing a 5200 square foot home in January...(because our 1100 sq foot home is much too small) to a travel trailer on the Bundy ranch.  I must say that when I do make the trek back to Cedar City, my once too small home seems like a grand palace.  I guess that is where murmuring and complaining get ya.  I have decided to work on that one.  Be grateful for all blessings and try not to complain too much.  I must admit though, that I did a little bit of complaining this last week, because the air wasn't working properly in our trailer, and I felt like we were baking in a tin oven.  Ryan hooked up a swamp cooler, and claims things are much better now.  I plan on returning tomorrow with wershed and folded clothes for another week.  The kids usually help their dad in the morning hours...(and we are talking EARLY morning hours...he gets us up at like 4am), and then because of the heat that sets in around 1 pm, they spend most afternoons swimming at the head gate with Arden.  They are enjoying themselves immensely, and I am just grateful to be with my husband again.  In my case, absence does NOT make the heart grow fonder.  Absence makes my heart grow madder.
     We went camping as a family last weekend and had a glorious time.  Sager had been bugging us to go on our annual Pinto springs cookout.  Well, Ryan decided to make it a full on camp out.  We were so happy to arrive and have the place to ourselves.  The kids waded in the springs and were disappointed that the crawdad numbers were down.  Jams caught a tiny minnow and placed it in their crawdad bucket.  Other than a few small crawdads that was their catch of the day.  The problem was, Chlo would just not leave the poor little feller alone.  She kept wanting to mother it.  She would pull it out of the water and want it to play with her somehow.  All of her handling of it out of water finally killed it.  Poor little guy.  Chlo was just trying to make it have a better life, but she just could not grasp the concept that it couldn't breathe outside of the water.  She kept trying to revive it by putting it back in the water, but he was a goner at this point.  Too bad, I hope Chlo learned her lesson.
     Jams also caught a lizard and gave it to Oak.  He loved that thing.  He kept it in a cup and would take it out and try to feed it various things.  I don't think it liked roasted 'shmallows much, and it refused to eat the ants that were being shoved in his direction.  Oak finally agreed to let him go, so that he could catch his own food.
     The kids loved making s'mores and Chlo and Mo just ate all of the candy bars.  Ryan also made several batches of homemade root beer.  Not a real good combination for Chlo, who usually refuses dinner.  I think she ate a piece of bacon out of our dutch oven potatoes, 'shmallows, and chocolate with her root beer.  I think that all of that sugar would make me puke, but Chlo slept well in spite of all of her sugar intake.  Mo, on the other hand, was a different story.  We are shy on sleeping bags, but the bags we do have are warm and large.  We doubled all of the kids up hoping that they would stay warm.  We just threw bags on the grass by the spring.  Anyhow, Mo was put with Sags.  He woke up in the night and the air was chill and damp.  He bawled and bawled in spite of all that I was trying to do for him.  He really wanted me to rock him in our rocking chair, which I had not thought to bring.  He finally gave up after about 45 minutes of intense crying.  He slept well with Ryan and I after that.  He woke up chipper and happy.  I still don't get what in the world his problem was.
     We had a really good shrsh meeting after that.  Ryan gave a lesson on complaining, which I must admit, I was doing a lot of.  Moving into that small trailer on the ranch when it was 110 degrees wasn't something I wanted to do.  He spoke about Laman and Lemuel, and also the children of Israel.  I must admit that I have discussed these people of the past many times in Sunday school and felt pretty smug about them.  Look at how bad they are!!!!  I would never complain if the Lord expected me to leave my home, and live in a tent in a wilderness for years and years.  Yeah right.  His lesson changed my whole attitude.  I felt the spirit and knew that I must have some faith in my husband and in my Heavenly Father.  No, I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that the Lord rarely blesses those who complain.  I must remind myself of this because life isn't easy hardly ever.
     Speaking of meetings, I was mad at Chlo the other week because she skipped out at FHE.  I had to know what it was that she felt was so important that it couldn't wait.  She had been spreading lotion in a locket that whole time.  Well, I cannot say that I understand the meaning of all of that.  She also came in the house the other day.  She was lovingly trying to help a little moth.  She made a nice home for the moth with soft grass in a jar.  She named the moth "Feathers" and gave me all kinds of instructions on the proper care of Feathers.  Needless to say, I don't think Feathers is still ok in her jar.  I haven't wanted to share this information with Chlo, because she will definitely move on to other pets.
     Mo has also been difficult to sleep with lately because he insists on bringing and sleeping with his cars.  One night when I was in Cedar, and Ryan was away, I decided to just leave him in my bed.  The problem was, he kept driving cars on me and waking me up.  This seriously happened all night until he finally settled down at around 3am.  I have had many unpleasant nights with Mo.  I hope my next baby sleeps well like Chlo or Jams.
     This last week at the ranch, Ammon and his family came up too.  Oak hung out with Bowen and Hayden and I kept finding different cups and bottles of baby frogs around the trailer.  They also had a great time catching frogs in the cool of the night.  I was also shocked to find a squirrel foot in my sink as I was cleaning it out.  I was equally shocked to find the rest of the squirrel in the fridge.  I questioned Ryan about this.  He explained that he had every intention of eating the squirrel because he hadn't had squirrel for awhile.  However, he had forgotten about it, so the dogs were welcome to it.  Wow....I think I am in for some interesting adventures at the Bundy ranch.