Bundy Chompings

     We had a nice Thanksgiving this year! Thanksgiving day was a total hoot because we went to Marylynn and Dave's house. Marylynn and Dave are a lot of fun.
     Last week started off pretty typical. The kids had school and my desire was to get things in order. I was so glad that all of the extra activities had been cancelled last week. No dance, YW activities, and no guitar lessons. That excited me tons. The kids went to school on Mondee and Tuesdee and were out the rest of the week.
     Mo still had his tantrums going in full swing. Ryan got up with him one night and tried really hard to put a stop to them by putting a barrier up against our bedroom door. He wanted Mo to know that Mom was just unavailable and that he was going to have to deal with going back to sleep without her. This didn't work for a long time, but he did finally give up after a good hour of tantrum bawling. Weaning him has been a horrible nightmare. He got all bent out of shape one day because I needed to shower and he didn't want to let me out of his sight. I made him a piece of toast as a distraction and planned on hurrying really fast. Well, I wasn't out of the shower before he was shoving shredded up, and smashed pieces of toast under the door. He was also rolling shotgun shells under there to keep tabs on me. Nice Mo. He just wants to have some kind of interaction with Mom at all times. He also has learned to yell "cheese" when he is hungry. I hear him yell "CHEESE" quite often. It is fun that he is learning to communicate.
     We headed south on Wednesdee and Ryan still had to stop at his job in Ivins and work for awhile. He put the girls and Oak to work digging a hole that could only be done by hand, and he hopped on his skidsteer. The kids timed themselves and dug for ten minutes a turn. Chlo just kind of skivied around the place and Mo was no help either. We worked until the hole was dug and then drove down to Dave's place in Beaver Dam. The kids don't get to spend enough time with Dave's kids. We rarely see them, but Brett is Sager's age. Maysa is Rooshkie's age, Dally and Jazzerz are close to the same age, Oak and Bronco are the same age, and Mo and Payton are the same age too. With the exception of Mo and Payton who don't know how to interact yet (except maybe to clobber each other in passing) the kids get along great. Jerusha, Jazz, and Oak all ended up spending the night. With the exception of Rooshkie and Maysa who giggle-goofed until one-ish they all went to bed for Marylynn too.
     Dave had decided to do a deep-pit roasted turkey, plus they wanted Ryan to fry one. We showed up the next day and Ryan got his turkey frying. I had gotten up early and made a few pies, and I only messed one of them up. I don't know what it is, but when I cook in Carol's kitchen my cooking skills get left at the door. It is rare when I can get something to turn out. Anyhow, Marylynn had made rolls, and stuffing, and all of her food was from scratch. Everything was delish. Ryan's turkey is always really savory and the deep pit turkey was excellent too. It was great. Chlo, over the last couple of years has absolutely refused to eat anything at Thanksgiving dinner...all she got during this round was a big plate of corn. I guess we are making some improvements.
     Marylynn had put together a piñata for the kids to bat around at. She had simply put some prizes in a box, and we put a rope through the top. Leeroy and Wyatt then bounced it up and down and round and round while everyone swung and missed over and over. I finally told Sags to go and hit Leeroy and Wyatt first, and then maybe she would have a chance at the piñata. She was too nice and wouldn't do it. When it was finally broke it was hilarious what Marylynn had included in the prizes. Apparently a store was going out of business in Delta and she had bought most of the merchandise. There were cheap and dum looking sunglasses for most of the kids, and cassette tapes galore. I was surprised to see that Chlo had ended up with a New Kids on the Block Christmas album from the 80's. I had that tape In the 80's for sure. Marylynn and I put it in one of her old clock radio's and began blasting it out of the kitchen. Watching all of the cowboys try to talk over it made me realize how dumb it was. Why, why did I like them so much in the 80's? We finally couldn't handle it anymore, watching them shout over it and turned it off. It was hilarious though. For some reason it was comical to see them try to have a serious discussion about guns, tranny's or whatever with New Kids on the Block blaring.
     We also set off rockets and this ended up being so much fun. The rockets would go really high and a parachute would float down somewhere and the kids would scramble to get it. At one point one of the parachute's landed in a tree. Jams being an adventuresome gal began climbing the tree to try to reach the parachute. Dave yelled at her to hold still and he shot the branch that was holding the parachute out of the tree. I don't know why, but I found the whole situation hilarious... (she wasn't even remotely close to reaching the parachute at this point).
     Some cows also got onto the Casablanca golf course on Thanksgiving and so some of the men had to leave early. I asked Arden if it was Big Dummy and he shrugged. Carol chimed in that Big Dummy regularly checks the electric fence and eagerly gets in if it is off. Arden claims that they went over there, but couldn't find anything. It was probably Big Dummy. He is smart, and he likes the golf course. According to Arden, he is patient and knows how to hide too.
     Ryan and the guys went out to rope cows on Friday. They caught about nine head and brought them to the ranch. They cows were of course scared, and upset as all get out. I had to laugh because there are a few cows that have ropes permanently stuck around their horns down there. I asked Cliven about it, and he explained that the cowboys had roped and caught these cows, but that they were too wild and mean to allow them to get the ropes off. So, they just look dumb and eager as they come up to eat, unawares that there is still a rope around their horns.
     Stetsy has been bottle feeding a heffer calf that is way little, and spunky. She is tons of fun. She chases everyone around and bunts them until they get her a bottle. After the bottle she chases everyone in sight because she wants more. She kicks and frolicks around.   Stetsy named her Sassy, and she is really playful. I will include some pictures of the kids giving her a bottle. She was tons of fun. I need to get my niece Lyvia down to meet Sassy. Lyvia is scared of cows and makes my brother check under the bed, not for monsters...but for cows. She refuses to sing about cows mooing on Old MacDonald's farm too. Sassy would either scare her, or help her get over her fears. I think it is worth a shot.
      On Saturday, I took the kids into the melon patch to pick melons. It was such a beautiful day down there. I thoroughly enjoyed getting out and filling the van full of melons. Mo has kind of become obsessed with melons lately. He calls them "lo lo" and he loves them. He is especially crazy about watermelon. We had one of Cliven's melons in the kitchen last week and he rolled around and around on that melon and begged and begged for lo lo. Ryan of course cut him a piece and he would just demand more and more. Personally, I like the Bundy casaba's, and the Crenshaw's are full of flavor. Anyhow, Mo went nuts in the melon patch. All of the lo lo's were about more than he could handle. He and the other kids then went chasing ladybugs around. They had all sorts of pet ladybugs when all was said and done.
     Mo was on a naughty streak yesterday. Luckily he and Chlo slept through all of Sunday school, but when he got home he began his days work. He pulled Chlo's hair, dumped a huge bag of cereal, and came in and threw a tantrum while Ryan and I were trying to catch up on some sleep. He also threw his bowl of soup across the room. My Dad texted me later on that evening inquiring as to what Mo needed for a treat. Here is that dialogue...
Dad: Ask the mo man what he is hankering for in the treat dept?
Me: He deserves a kick in the pants, not a treat.
Dad: True but he will get a treat
Me: He smooshed an apple into the carpet, pulled Chlo's hair, and had to be taken out of Sacrament mtg....a treat for all that?
Dad: 2 treats
Me: He just threw his bowl of soup too. He is making me scowl.
Dad: He is making me smile
Me: I won't be buying him any treats in the near future that is for sure
Dad: Gma and I can't wait to get him a treat
Me: A monster is being created.
     Perhaps I will send him to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days and we shall see how excited they are to buy him treats when he is throwing bowls of soup across their kitchen. He might even hit Sara Inez Porter in the clock.