Wheat Harvest

 The wheat growing here abouts is just about all harvested. A week or so ago the kids and I went out to watch the neighbor harvest his wheat. I picked up my niece and nephew while walking over to the field.

Tyrel thinks boots are the ONLY thing to wear on your feet.  I have recently made him a very happy boy by making all his western shirts short sleeved. I wouldn't let him wear them every day because it's so hot. Also I would like him to not be pasty white. Thats also why I make him wear shorts when all he wants to wear is Wranglers. And cut offs don't count. Hey, vitamin D is good for you!

 I have no idea... Looks like Tyrel being silly, R telling me Hook Em Horns (Ahem Boomer Sooner to you young lady!) and K and Kimber arguing.

 We got to the edge of the field when he only had about 2 more runs (swipes? rows?) of the field to do.

 The kids all waved to the driver. He seemed amused (from what I could see of him) to have an audience.

Tyrel and R and K spent their time arguing whether it was a tractor or a combine. I told them "Yes". It is a tractor, that is a combine.

As he drove by and the wind blew the chaff over us, my kids and I had a talk about Psalm 1 and the ungodly being like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Then the kids all picked sunflowers for their Mama's.

In other news, my garden is growing better than it ever has before. I think it thrives on a certain amount of neglect. I've tried too much neglect in the past and it didn't do well, and too much water and attention in the past and it didn't do well. Yes I said TOO MUCH water in West Texas. I think I drown the seeds before they could sprout. Last year was too hot and dry for anything I think. About half the corn I planted is growing well. The other half Tyrel's donkey stuck his head through the fence and ate. But all in all God has blessed us so much with this years garden!

7 Years!

As of yesterday (May 28th) Stephen and I have been married for 7 wonderful years. A friend of ours (pictured below) said he couldn't believe it had been that long, he was thinking about a year and a half...because we act like it. Yes we do Ted, and I am so thankful.

So yes, we went to see Ted on Saturday. He tells everyone that we are his grandkids and our kids are his great grandkids. We might as well be. He is like family to us. He is an old horse trader, who has done about everything in his life. He was a ranch and rodeo cowboy (yes there IS a difference in most cases) as a young man. He can braid and tool leather beautifully. He can make saddles or just about anything with leather you want. He can draw. He was a sniper in Vietnam. He loves his grandkids and spoils and works them all at once. He is the one who gave us Tyrel's donkey. His advice was to put them out in the yard together and if there was screaming look out the window, if there was no blood, then don't worry about it.

 He had some puppies that the kids had fun playing with. And we went out driving on the Gator so Tyrel could show Ted how he is learning to drive.

 This horse is named Stickhorse. He is a great kid horse..... as long as you don't take his picture. Seriously. He was camera shy. This picture was taken and before it finished going "click" He was gone and Tyrel was caught by Ted before he hit the ground. Then Ted turned and told us sorry, he forgot to tell us not to take a picture.

 After we watered the horses Tyrel and Ted had to argue about whether Ted had sprayed him or if the HOSE sprayed him. Ted says the hose did. And Tyrel says Ted did. So they are both right.

Tyrel said "Yeah but I'm telling the truth and YOU are lying!"

 Then we went down to the spring and the guys looked at all the tracks around. Mostly wild hogs and horses.

While the kids and I explored. (Dakota was asleep in her carseat in the Gator)

 Sunday most of the folks from our home church were out of town so we went fishing! It was the first time we went since Tyrel's birthday. In July. It was pretty hot when we got there so the kids and I went and played in the water for a while. It got deep quick so I had to hold on to them pretty good, or I would have had Dakota out there with us.

 Daddy caught a fish as big as Dakota! She wanted to pet it. But since she sucks her fingers I wouldn't let her. Such a mean Mama.

 Both of the bigger kids really like fishing. I hope we go more often this year.

 Kimber isn't sure she wants to touch them yet though.

 But Tyrel doesn't have a problem with it.

 Stephen caught about 4 fish and I caught one. Unfortunately the kids didn't catch any, though Kimber did 'help' Daddy reel in the big one.

For supper yesterday we had some steak and corn on the cob and salad and peach cobbler to celebrate our anniversary. It was a fun, if interesting day! To start off right after Stephen left for work, the kids and I went to the big house (Stephen's parents house) to feed the kittens and such while they were gone. One of the kittens had died in the night so I had to deal with that. We have no idea what happened. So while I was dealing with that, Tyrel runs as fast as he can to the potty. He tends to wait until he CAN'T wait to go. He comes running right back out of the bathroom yelling there is a MOUSE in the toilet! I was thinking "great, another dead animal to deal with". For some reason I asked Tyrel "Is it dead?" He said no. Oh ok. A live mouse in the toilet. Just flushing it down crossed my mind, but I couldn't do it. It looked so scared and drowning would be a horrible way to die. So I caught it in a coffee can and let it go outside.

Then the kids and I loaded up in the pickup to run to town. I was wanting to do a nice dinner for our anniversary. I didn't want to drive all the way to the town we usually shop in though. So I headed to the closest grocery store, about 20 miles away. We are almost out of beef at the homeplace is why I did not just go to the freezer. So I get there and the meat they have out at the grocery store was MOLDY! I couldn't believe it. I didn't even want to buy their not moldy meat after I saw that. So I got some corn and stuff for peach cobbler and headed home and called Stephen to ask him to bring some steak home.

He had to go pick up a load in Ft. Worth this morning so he had me go pick him up at the highway, where he left his truck that evening. On the way up there I ran out of gas in the pickup. I had three barefoot children, was barefoot myself. I was about a mile and a half from the house and about a mile and a half from the highway. So I called my MIL (whom had been home maybe an hour?) and asked if they had any gas in a gas can. My FIL came and put a gascan worth of gas in the pickup. I got about a  mile down the road and thought I ran out of gas again. I thought there was no way unless the gas tank under the pickup had a leak. I looked behind us and didn't see any proof of that. So I called Stephen and he agreed that I shouldn't be out of gas. So he said for me to hit the gas tank with my hand a few times and try to start it again. So I did. And it worked. Which means our fuel pump is going out. So it was a fun day. But really none of it bothered me. I really thought the whole day was pretty funny.

So I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and thanked those who have sacrificed SO much for our country.

Here are some of the pictures I've taken of Ben and Paula since they've been engaged. Some of them we went out with the intention of taking engagement pictures, and some are just, "Hey this is a pretty place, lets take some engagement pictures real quick!" Some are silly, because well, we tend to be on the silly side most of the time. That's how we roll.



When we found the pitchfork (threek?) in the hay barn we couldn't resist.








Here we were just recreating one of my favorite engagement pictures ever. The original was of my cousin Tammy and her (now) husband. It fit them perfectly, but it's pretty cute for Ben and Paula as well.

 


They are being 'deer in the headlights'

 

You look lovely Paula dahling. :)




this one and the one above are two of my favorites.



And maybe this one too.





Stephen and Tommy were a tremendous amount of help as you can tell. :) They ambushed them without warning. It was pretty fun.



I mostly added this one because you can actually see how long Paula's hair is. She normally has it in a bun, but its sooo pretty and long.





Look! Green grass! It was in East Texas, but it's kinda sorta almost that green here now! Thank You Lord for the rain!

Congratulations Ben and Paula. I love ya'll!

Putting My Trust in God

After these past few weeks, I find myself having to run to God and put my trust in him so I don't fall into great amounts of fear. When I get on Facebook, it seems to be full of prayer requests. I stop and fervently pray for each one. I keep seeing God's hand and His Grace come through on each of them. It calms me. To know that he is in control. I have struggled with fear a lot in the past, so now I just have to keep turning to God, taking each thought captive, and put my trust in Him. Because really, what else can we do?
~~~~
I figured out a way, albeit slow and I can't edit them, to get pictures onto the computer. Here are some cute ones from the past several months.



See that cute boy on the left? He's my nephew. He's going to be a big brother in November. I'm excited.





Dakota, I think this is one of her 2 month pictures




I love this picture of Ben and Paula and Dakota. It was taken either the weekend before or the day before they got engaged. I can't remember now which it was.



Never Enough

No matter how much time you spend with those you love, no matter how close knit of a family you are, once you know that you won't get to see someone from your family again until your time on earth is over, the time you did have just doesn't seem like enough.
Until this past week I had never lost anyone REALLY close to me. I have lost grandparents, which is very hard, but when it's your brother it is something altogeher different.
I don't know if it is from being in a semi large family, or if it has to do with being homeschooled, or just the way we were parented, but my family has always been extremely close.
I didn't agree with the way my brother lived. In fact, our lifestyles were nearly polar opposite, but that didn't keep us from loving to be together and have fun. We always have so much fun together.
My older brother Bill died early Saturday morning. His 31st birthday will be April 29th, the day after Ben and Paula's wedding. Bill was always up for a good time, and loved to spend time with his family. I was on the phone with him right before I shot that deer the night before Dakota was born. He thought that was awesome. He loved to dare people to do things. Or he'd say if I did some goofy thing he'd give me a dollar and then ask to borrow a dollar. He loved to laugh and would do anything for a laugh. There are so many things now I wish I hadn't been too afraid to tell him. I DID tell him I loved him. But I wish I'd told him how proud I was that he was trying to get clean. I kept meaning to, but I never really thought this would happen. I thought I had time. I hope his 3 year old daughter will remember him. He loved her so much. I know this is rambly and random, I just needed to tell.... someone. Bill I love you so much. I will miss your laughter. I will miss your phone calls that lasted SOO long that I was looking for reasons to get off the phone so I could actually get something done. I'm sorry. I wouldn't try to get off the phone now. I'd love a call. Chris misses you. A lot. You were his best friend. Not having you to see when he gets out is going to be hard for him. I wish I could give him a hug. At least the rest of us have each other to lean on. I miss you so much brother, and I hope a day doesn't go by that I don't think of you.

Learning the Ropes

Yesterday evening as I was sitting here at the computer feeding Dakota, the phone rang. It was my MIL from out in the barn. She said I might want to grab a camera and get out there.

Tyrel and Kimber were helping with the barn chores. Kimber gathered the eggs and Granola asked Tyrel to get the calves in to the pen in the barn.

 She suggested he get the rope hanging in the barn to help him. Once I got out there I kinda gave him a few pointers on using a rope. Not that I am a great roper, but I did coil it for him and show him how to hold it.

 He chased the bigger calf  around and around the barn lot.

 He got discouraged and asked me to do it for him a few times. I told him he was doing great, and that me doing it for him wouldn't teach him to rope. He's seen Daddy do it enough that watching me wouldn't help. I just think he was surprised that it wasn't as easy as Daddy makes it look.

 He got it over the calf once, but didn't pull it tight and the calf went right on through. Eventually he got him chased into the barn.

 

                            Then he started on the smaller one. It was a little more his size. I was a little worried about him actually catching the bigger one.

 He got the rope over her (we need to work on where to hold the rope as I can see by the above picture).

 And hung on. He almost ran out of rope before he got a good hold on it.

 The calf wasn't very happy about having a rope on her.

 He pulled

 And pulled

 I told him to get up there closer to her.

 So he worked his way up the rope

 And pulled some more. Eventually I grabbed the end of the rope so the calf would quit getting farther from the barn, but I made him use his own muscle to get her closer. (You can see Granola chasing an ornery milk goat around behind him)

Finally, with a little help from Granola behind the calf, he got her pulled in. He was very proud. He had to go call his Daddy and tell him that he'd roped a calf. He got a rope burn, but I think he's kinda proud of it too. :)