Ramblings

I'VE JUST BEEN BUSY

2012-02-09T20:56:40Z

Yep, that about sums it up.

In trying to explain why I haven't been blogging much as of late, in a somewhat simple Little Critters fashion, I've just been busy.

Busy with what, you ask?

Well, let me tell you...

1. Planning a valentine's banquet for our church. It has been somewhat time absorbing, but a ton of fun, and it sort of takes me back to my event planner days. Does it make me want to be an event planner again? NO. But does it help me remember the realities of being an event planner? YES. Which is why the answer to that first question is NO. But it is kind of fun to stretch my event planning muscle.

2. Taking care of one sick kiddo... Little Blue Eyes has been battling a cold this week. Nothing too earth-shattering, but sick kids always make life a little more challenging.

3. Taking Miss Peaches to the allergist... Yesterday. As we suspected, she does have a nut allergy. It seems to not be severe, though, which is good. The allergist said to bring her back when she's 6 or 7 to have her re-tested. It was at this point that I informed the allergist that there will never be a point where she turns 6 or 7, because I am determined to keep her my precious little three-year-old forever because I just can't fathom a day when she won't be my 'little' girl anymore. Somehow I know that day when she's 6 or 7 and we're back visiting the allergist is going to come all too quickly, despite my protesting.

Before I dive into a tailspin over how quickly my kids are growing up, let's move onto #4...

4. Planning music and playing music for church. Busy busy, but fun fun.

5. Celebrating my sister's twentieth anniversary of being 30. Yesterday morning, my other sisters, our mom, the kids and I snuck onto her property at about 8 a.m. and surprised her with egg bake, coffee cake, and a basket of wine and wine-related goodies. Among them were these cocktail napkins...

...which give me a wonderful tickle everytime I look at them. You can find them here, along with other entertaining supplies that will give you a giggle.

How I went from Little Critter books to alcohol and cocktail napkins in one post is beyond me, yet here we are. Before I think about it too much, let's move on to #6...

6. Taking Miss Peaches to her first ice skating lesson...

7. Enjoying our unseasonably, wonderfully warm winter, and even sneaking out one day to capture some frosty foliage photos...

8. In between all of this, I've been sleeping like a baby on my new water pillow. I love it so much, I had to tell you about it. Water bed? No, thank you. Water pillow? Yes, please! Seriously. I highly recommend.

So, I've just been busy. What about y'all? What have you been up to?

The Trenches

2012-02-03T00:31:27Z

The trenches.

Yes.

I believe my husband and I are in that time of our lives that some people affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) refer to as 'the trenches'.

That time when you're... nose-to-the-grindstone... work-to-feed-your-family... try-to-be-good-people... operate-on-less-than-optimal-amounts-of-sleep... figuring-out-how-to-be-parents... get-sick-a-lot-because-you-are-around-little-kids-all-the-time... constantly-entertained/overstimulated-by-little-ones-cruising-around-your-world... mode.

We're so there.

Today was a particularly stressful day, for no reason in particular. It was particularly unparticular, is what it was. At one point I resolved to find the blog of someone who lives in Hawaii so that I could live vicariously through them and fuel the dream that I could one day live there, or at least vacation there. It seemed like a ray of hope, finding that blog.

Yes, it was one of those kinds of days, when you just can't shake the itch that you'd really just like to be somewhere else. Yes, it was one of those kinds of days, when I will freely admit that I accidentally grabbed my cranky pants and slipped them on this morning. Yes, it was one of those kinds of days...

Yet, for some reason, when my partner in these here trenches returned home from work, sighed, and began telling me how he had just gotten shocked by our electrical horse fence (which could stop a stampeding buffalo, by the way), while he was scooting underneath it, which dropped him to his knees on the ice and concrete, we both began to laugh.

Yes, it was that kind of laugh, the kind you laugh when you are sharing a little snippet of your day, perhaps a somewhat difficult (or shocking) part of your day, and you just have to laugh and shake your head about it, because what else can you do? Yes, it was that kind of laugh, as if to say, "Hey, we can do this. We are doing this. Trenches shmenches..." And then you break out into Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe.

Okay, maybe not on that last part, but I am totally singing it in my head right now, and that counts for somethin'.

So, yeah.

Trenches.

Trenches shmenches.

Being in the trenches isn't so bad.

And it's definitely better together.

Things we do in the winter when we're bored...

2012-01-27T19:53:59Z

Around here, we're kind of all about the family time. When we're not working, we spend pretty much every waking moment doing something together as a family, even if it's just hanging out at home. It's just who we are. Mr. Blue Eyes and I would rather spend time together and with our kids over doing just about anything else apart, so we stick pretty tight.

Now that our kids are no longer babies, it's been a lot easier to leave the nest with our little birdies. Last summer we had a really fun trip to Nebraska, for a family wedding, had another family wedding in which Miss Peaches was the flower girl, and even embarked on the misadventures of goat ownership. We also squeezed in enough time to have a pretty decent garden, which doesn't sound like such a big deal, but when your kids finally get to the age where you can let them wander around freely with you outdoors, it makes life a whole lot easier.

In the winter, however, recreation becomes a little more challenging. Every once in awhile we venture out in the evenings or weekends for a little fun, but for the most part, we're still pretty content to tinker around at home. We do things like...

...giving Timber his first bath in about four years.

It was entertaining for us.

I don't think Timber agreed. Poor old doggy.

You may be aware that a lot of Minnesotans like to go ice fishing in the winter. We too like to fish in the winter, but instead of freezing our hineys off on a frozen lake, we like to go...

...cat fishing.

(And just in case you're wondering, yes, it is 'catch and release'.)

I'm guessing you may also be familiar with how some people like to go skiing in the winter. One of these days we'll probably take the kids on their first ski trip. For now, we're prepping Little Blue Eyes...

...by giving him some quality training time on the Nordic Track.

(I can't seem to stay in control on that thing, but my five-year-old can. Go figure.)

And, when we're really bored, we like to stick the kids out the door in their tank top and shorts...

...and see how long they can stand it. We're prepping them for the 'Polar Bear Club'. In February we're going to have them start practicing the cold water plunge in the horse's water tank. But don't worry... It has a tank heater in it.

(Just kidding, on this last one. Except for, well, the one time when I snapped this picture. But it was totally her idea. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly her idea, but she was happy to play along.)

What about you? What have you been keeping busy with this winter?

Regarding Henry

2012-01-24T00:00:50Z

First of all, if you are interested in learning how Henry came to live here on our farm, read this. And then read this. And then... Read this. And then type 'Henry' in the search box here on my site, and read all those posts, and you should pretty much be up to speed on all things regarding Henry.

(You may want to grab a cup of joe and settle in before you do so.)

It's a brutal fact that Henry simply doesn't get as much face time here on my blog. It's a cruel truth. It's an unfortunate side effect of being a completely black animal. He's harder to photograph.

It's easier to photograph him when there's snow on the ground, particularly when it's on his face, and the sun is shining. The problem with this is, I'm usually not outside during the day in the frigid winter weather, with my camera, to catch him in this state, so I don't get too many photos of him.

But that doesn't make it right.

So, today, to make it up to him, I'm dedicating my post to sharing some less brutal truths about Henry. I'm sure he'll be delighted when he reads this.

First of all...

...I present this photo to make two points...

1) It truly is quite difficult to get a photo of an entirely black dog. I just needed to prove my point.

2) Henry enjoys eating horse poop just as much as Burley does. But Burley catches the limelight when it comes to my horse poop posts because a) he has seniority; b) he holds still while I photograph him; 3) he photographs so much better.

It's a cruel truth.

But I've already established that.

More about Henry...

He's pretty much sweetness all around, except when it comes to strange men he doesn't know. Then he's kind of a jerk. We're careful to try to not let him be out cruising around when we know someone Henry doesn't know might be stopping in. If it weren't for his otherwise exceedingly sweet nature, this might have bought him a ticket out off the farm, but we're trying to help him get over it instead.

When he first came here, he was a little bit oblivious about certain 'farm dog' things. This dog did not hunt. He frolicked and sniffed around, but that was about it. Since then, Burley has trained him to be a finely tuned hunting machine.

Kind of.

He doesn't hold a candle to Burley's skunk, raccoon and miscellaneous vermin hunting skills, but he has greatly improved.

He's pretty well-behaved on a leash, for a dog who is almost never walked on a leash, but he's kind of a big clutz otherwise. Burley, despite his size, can daintily walk through and area and not disturb a thing. Henry can stand in one place and knock down everything around him.

Whereas Burley and Timber are content to lounge around and take naps on their own, Henry is much more prone to full-contact, with anyone who will lay still long enough. If you get down on his level, he will lay himself across you like a heavy blanket and stay there until you say, "Uncle."

True to his breeding, he is a total water dog. He has actually taught Burley, a previous water-phobe, to enjoy the water a bit on hot summer days. It is the water in our dredge ditch, which is pretty grody, mind you, so I don't particularly appreciate this habit, but I get it.

Bottom line...

...he's a good doggy, and we love his black, black self.

Snow Falling on Farm

2012-01-21T18:00:48Z

Yesterday (and continuing off and on throughout the weekend) marks the first real snowfall of the entire winter. It was so beautiful, I had to sneak out and take a few pictures.

It was perfectly serene.

It was perfectly sparkly.

It coated our imperfectly kept farmyard with a little magic.

And to be honest, it's made all the more perfect by the fact that it is past the middle of January! I think all the Minnesotans are breathing a collective sigh of relief that we can enjoy some snow for two(ish) short months intead of four or five.

(Knock on wood.)

I walked outside to find Burley, sitting on his furry hiney, just gazing off into the horizon, totally enjoying the peacefully snow day. Even the animals enjoyed the perfect little dust of magic.

Remind me of this if we're buried under six feet of snow in March.

Apron Strings

2012-01-21T00:00:42Z

This morning I 'urged' the kids to do a little tidying up in their rooms. Then I went on about my business in the other rooms of the house. I should've known, when Miss Peaches came out and asked me to help her tie her apron strings, that she meant business about cleaning up, but I didn't have enough presence of mind to notice.

About a half hour later, she came and got me to show me her room, and this is what it looked like...

Pretty impressive for a three-year-old, huh?

(Actually, I think that's pretty impressive for any age!)

Apparently she has inherited my organizational genes.

Yes, we have her sleeping arrangement rotated so that she sleeps the opposite direction on her bed. It gives us room for all her snuggly stuffed animals to sleep up there with her, and also gives more space in her quite small room. It's a cozy little nook!

Her brother, on the other hand, told me he has his room just the way he wants it...

Uffda.

We may have some work to do here.

Wednesday Random

2012-01-18T20:22:29Z

1. Winter has finally befallen our part of the country. Not really much snow to speak of, but it's seriously cold. For some reason this eases my conscience. As much as we have all fully enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, I was starting to feel a little guilty. I mean, no one deserves to live in Minnesota and enjoy weather that comfortable in December and January. It was just unnatural. Wonderful. But unnatural.

2. I hosted a Pampered Chef party last evening, and it was perfectly lovely. Lots of ladies and Miss Peaches, one little boy, a baby and really good food. A couple months ago I thought to myself, "You know, the middle of January is always such a drudgery, I'm going to plan something fun." So I did. And it was.

3. We celebrated Mr. Blue Eyes birthday. Sometimes I withold gushing about how awesome I think my husband is because I don't want be boastful, but he is. He's so awesome. We had a great weekend together as a family, then he helped me in innumerable ways to get ready for the Pampered Chef party last night. He's the best.

4. The drop shadow angle on all the post photos here on my site is -56. I just thought I would share that, in case any inquiring minds wanted to know.

5. I had to take Little Blue Eyes in for his five-year check-up yesterday. It was an adventure. He had to pee in a cup for one of the routine tests, and he did really well until I told him to stop peeing so I could move the cup out of the way. He couldn't stop, then panicked a little and peed all over my hand, the toilet and the wall behind the toilet before getting things realigned. He did great for his finger prick, but the shots were a little rough. Miss Peaches, on the other hand, who observed the whole ordeal, could not hardly stand to see what was being done to her brother. During both the finger prick and the shots, she just about lost her composure. It was sweet. Traumatizing, but sweet.

6. Between a couple of social engagements on Sunday, Mr. Blue Eyes' birthday, and the party I threw last night, I've consumed about two blocks of cream cheese. It was good but it was filling. Weaning myself off of it is going to be a little rough.

7. Getting five children to all nap at the same time is my happy place.

8. I'm planning on working off all my cream cheese intake by tackling the organization and clean-up of our basement, which contains all the clothes that the kids have grown out of, all the clothes they will grow into, all the toys I have banished from the main part of our house (the loud, annoying, or simply un-played-with ones), and about fifty-seven other random things that have been shoved down there over the last couple years. I'm not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to achieving, God willing, new heights of organization and cleanliness.

I say 'God willing' because I know... I know how true the phrase, "Man plans, God laughs," is. I know that I have this big basement clean-out plan on my radar, but it's very possible that our household will be plagued by another flu bug, or we'll get side-tracked with social responsibilities, or a tornado will hit our house, or my husband will surprise me with a trip to Hawaii and I will be whisked away.

If any of those scenarios plays out, I'm hoping it's the last one.

A gal can dream.

Some Things Never Change

2012-01-14T15:38:50Z

It has been a really odd winter, in that we really haven't had a winter. The snow you see on the ground in this photo (taken this morning) is about as much snow as we've had at one time -- less than an inch -- all season.

It's sort of wonderful. It feels as though springtime is right around the corner.

But it's also weird.

On the other hand, you'll be happy to know some things around here never change. You'll be happy to know, it's been just cold enough for some certain winter traditions to still occur. You'll be happy to know...

...it has been just cold enough for Burley to enjoy his usual wintertime horse poopcicles.

Aren't you happy to know this?

I am.

I'm so happy.

I'm so happy to know, in a world where everything seems to change and progress so quickly, some things stay the same. It's strangely, disturbingly comforting.

What I do wonder, though, is what is it about frozen horse poop that's so special? When the weather is warm, the dogs don't give horse poop a second look. But when it's frozen? Watch out. They're all over it like white on rice.

Is it kind of like sugar cookies, which are somehow better when they're frozen? Now I'm going to think about horse poop every time I eat frozen sugar cookies.

And so are you.

You're welcome.

In case this isn't enough 'dogs eating horse poop' discussion for you, here are the links to other posts in which I have chronicled this phenomenon. I like to write about it once a year or so, just as a reality check for those of you who think I lead a totally glamourous life here out in the country.

(hah hah)

They're dogs. I'm not.

Tis the Season

Memory Lane

2012-01-11T23:46:05Z

On Christmas Day, Mr. Blue Eyes emerged from the basement with a tote full of old pictures. At first I was a bit grouchy about it... I wasn't in the mood -- in my sickly state -- to peruse through old pictures and waltz down memory lane. But, thankfully, my husband sometimes knows what I need better than I do, and soon I was enjoying looking at old Christmas photos, pictures from Colorado, and all manner of other random pictures I had shoved into that tote over the last decade or so.

I totally, totally, totally felt like Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. You know, when he accidentally locks himself in the attic and ends up watching old reels of their family home movies. I totally felt like that. I can even hear Ray Charles singing That Spirit of Christmas when I think about it.

Oh, and by the way, if you don't know what song That Spirit of Christmas is, go download it from iTunes or listen to it on YouTube. Seriously. Do it. And when you do it, I dare you to not feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's not possible... to not feel... all warm and fuzzy inside... when you listen to that song.

It just isn't.

Anyhow, one fun find were some photos on a CD from a day when we were living in Colorado, pre-children, and took the dogs for a drive in the mountains.

Oh, Colorado mountains... How I love them. They speak of home to me.

Have you ever felt connected to a place in a way that just defies words or explanation? There are two places I feel this way about... 1) The farm I grew up on. 2) The area of Colorado where we lived. Those two places, they draw me in. I feel as if I could lay my head on their earth and feel completely...

At home.

Connected.

Rooted.

I don't know if I can explain it anymore than that.

So, we were driving along, up in the timberline, hoping to catch a glimpse of some wildlife, maybe a moose, or if we were really lucky, some elk. And what do we come upon?

Cows.

Yep, cows.

But not just any cows! No. They were wild mountain cows. Yes. Yes they were. Very dangerous and intriguing creatures...

...with, um... tags in their ears.

Moving on...

Burles was with. He was but a young pup back then.

When I look at this photo, for some reason I just want to say, "My, what big eyes you have..."

Lucy and Timber too...

They were quite possibly the most traveled beagles in the continental USA. Between our travels and their own free-wheeling escapades -- which occurred whenever they escaped the confines of their pen, which was more often than one might think -- they were two well-traveled hounds.

Lucy...

I look at this picture and feel like she's still with us. I wrote about our beloved Lucy awhile back...

"She was the first dog that Mr. Blue Eyes and I ever had. I got her from a shelter after we'd been dating for about six months. She was abused and traumatized and was overwhelmingly scared of strangers. I was having a rough year at school, living with some dope-smokers, not knowing exactly where I was headed in life. We needed each other.

But she wasn't exactly the most obedient or giving dog. She was more into her beagle needs than anything. She ran away when we visited the farm, hunting rabbits at the neighbor's houses and who-knows-where-else, she howled ALL. THE. TIME. when we walked her in town. When she wasn't obsessively compulsively hunting or freaking out at strangers, she was sleeping under the bed, no doubt dreaming about rabbits or food or something else that appealed to her beagle nature.

Don't get me wrong, Lucy was special to us. She just wasn't exactly the loyal, stick-by-your side kind of dog that some dogs are. But she did teach me one thing, and I think I'll always be thankful to her for that: Perseverance.

Not only was Lucy abused, but she also developed Lyme's disease about halfway through her life. Not long after that, her hips started to give out and we found out she had Cushings disease, a very dibilitating disease that causes muscles to break down and sends surges of hormones through the body, which didn't help her already sensitive state of mind. Despite all of this, she persevered. Every SINGLE day she did what she was meant to do as her little beagle self... She hunted. She howled. She sniffed the ground. Even in the last couple years when her hind legs were beginning to drag and she looked as if the end was right around the corner, she made her rounds around our property and sometimes to the neighbor's (especially if they were roasting meat of some kind outside) and did what she loved, what she was meant to do."

I think I kind of needed that little Lucy reminder today. The new year may have dealt us a couple rough hands thus far, but we can persevere -- joyfully, even! -- and do what we're meant to do.

Now I'm off to quite possibly listen to That Spirit of Christmas a half dozen or so times before I can move on with my life. I need a 'warm and fuzzy' fix.

Good Gravy

2012-01-09T23:00:08Z

After about three weeks of battling cold symptoms, the most painful of which was a constant sore throat (oh, and hives from amoxicillin... I almost forgot about that), I am happy to say today I am feeling like a million bucks. I attribute this to several things...

Olive leaf extract. Look into it. Give it a try. I've just started using it, so I can't give any personal testimonials, other than to say I've felt progressively better every day for the past three days I've used it.

Sunday church service. It was good. Powerful. The fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters was much needed and appreciated.

My mom's gravy and a good nap. Mom invited us over for lunch after church yesterday. I don't think I've ever told you this, but my mom is... definitively... officially... the best cook on the planet. I'm not the only one who thinks so. I don't know what she does to make things so delicious (although I'm pretty sure it involves butter and bacon grease) and I don't ask because I like to remain blissfully unaware. All I know is it's good. Curative, even. For lunch, we had meatballs in rich, savory brown gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, and some really good, grainy bread. I devoured two platefuls. Then I slinked into the living room, layed myself right in the perfect sunshine that was warming up the couch, convinced Cheech to come snuggle with me, and proceeded to take the best nap I've had in ages. By evening my sore throat was all but gone, and this morning I awoke feeling refreshed.

Olive leaf, church, mom's gravy, some sunshine and Cheech. Seems it was just what I needed.

I prefer to accredit my healthy state mostly to the gravy.

You may think I'm a little misled.

But you've never tried my mom's gravy.