Random Juneness...

I am so overwhelmed about even starting to blog the almost 300 pics from our trip that I will just do some random June things here!

An apple doesn't stand a chance in this house...now Caleb has followed suit and been an apple lover! It is nice to hand him the whole thing and not have much left--even parts of the core are gone--see pic.
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Peaches don't fair much better. I have taken at least 5 great pics of the boys eating peaches this month.
Watermelon...must the same--just haven't snapped many pics of that YET.

We had a great trip to the lake with my parents this month. The boys were sufficiently worn out at 8ish and we came home--see pics.

I love summer!

Jeb loves to make fun of me about how much I hate winter, but now that it is summer in full-swing I am reminded of why I hate winter so much again! We are having fun swimming, doing Bible school, and generally living outdoors.

I also need to confess one more thing I keep being reminded of lately. I hate cooking too. Honestly, it is starting to seem like I may not be a true Southern lady somewhere deep down. I care nothing for Paula Deen and her cooking shenanigans; I hate being in the kitchen completely; I don't like fried chicken; I feel horrible when I gossip and hate when I get to doing that or get sucked in by someone else doing it (don't even think you don't); I don't like scrap booking; I don't really like shopping....I'll keep thinking on this...

However, I am very southern when it comes to a few things...and I'll keep thinking about this...
I love sweet tea and ALWAYS have some on hand...
I enjoy having my toenails painted year-round and hate to go out if they are not painted...and I like having lipstick on...
I love having fun and being loud, laughing a lot, the lake/the outdoors, watermelon, peaches, smiling, and laughing and eating a lot of good food-- especially when I don't have to cook it!

Some other notes:


Vicki, my not so little, little sister in the Big Brother Big Sister program graduated this year! I am beyond proud of her accomplishment. She is doing a lot of great things and having many "firsts" for her family--we are all proud. We have been friends since she was in 5th grade!

What is it with boys and puddles? Even Caleb is in love with a puddle when he spots one. He gets in with all 4's!


After a particularly rough day with Jeb I decided that he and I needed some time to have fun together just the 2 of us...so we had a slumber party in our playroom. Caleb only stayed for a few mins even though he is in the pic. We had all you can eat candy and tea (pure sugar)and watched movies on our pull-out couch. He ate about a zillion peachies and 10 pieces of bubble gum. He finally sacked out at 11pm. He thought it was the best thing ever. I promise he would not have gone to Disney if I had asked him to leave. I am going to do it again this summer for sure!

Summer is flying by...

I am bummed...Summer is already moving TOO quickly...mid-June...already? YUCK.

We had a great time on Memorial Day with family at the lake. My cuz's are all in love(well, almost all of them) and they have chosen some real winners! I will be thrilled with these choices if they join our family. My aunt did some cloggging, which was entertaining and should be on Youtube for sure. We ate some good food and the boys looked dashing in lake gear. Cay even loved that freezin' water. They caught about 100 fish--no joke...Jonas had one out every few seconds. The boys even caught this very tiny baby turtle in the woods. Poor little thing. They did finally release it!

We had fun having many of our friends over to ride the pony, hike to the waterfall, pet the dogs/donkey, churn ice cream, eat pizza, picnic, and visit with the goats. It was very fun! This is one of the highlights of my year when we open up the farm and share all the lovely pets that God has blessed us with.



Caleb got his first haircut and he was GREAT. It did helped that I saved the first sucker for haircuts. I always have something up my sleeve. Gum will not be introduced until potty-training time!

Whew..it's hot and other thoughts...

Every year it is like my body has to re-adjust to the heat. The first few weeks I feel so sluggish it is like there is something wrong with me!

It is fun to have my water bugs back in the creek, the pool and the lake! Caleb thinks it is really cool to jump in and out of the pool and climb in and out at the steps. Jeb went off the diving board on his first trip to the pool (no vest on) and swam to the ladder...I, of course, was right there beside him...just in case...in fact, one time I tried to help him and he pushed me away...yikes..he is growing up!

We had fun hanging out at the pool with Granny and Myra and Randy. They are so sweet and we are so blessed to have them close. Their new Quizno's will be opening soon on Hwy 81 in Anderson! We can't wait for the VIP pary! We are VIP--hee hee! The good news is they have turkey--so Jeb will eat.

Our cuz's moved to El Paso, but we are SKYPING them now! It is fun stuff. It was not that hard to hook up and Jeb and Noah also chatted this morning. Jeb showed him a lot of animals!

I have 2 new wrinkles. I have had smile wrinkles for a while and I am cool with that since they are in a GOOD place. Now, I have 2 wrinkles around my eyes---I guess from squinting...so sad. My new resolution is to wear a hat every time I am outside this summer--or so I am going to endeavor to anyway. I think my face gets too much sun since the boys want to go out all morning and all afternoon and all evening these days.

I have been thinking more about trusting God and his sovereignty this new year. It is a daily thing to cast all my cares on him and not take them back! I have been reading Come Thirsty by Max Lucado and his chapter on angels really made me think today. Angels are truly one of the hardest God-cepts for me to grasp. I mean it seems cooky to think about angels walking or flying or whatever around me and such...I am glad since that means that God is with me, but it is still odd to believe. Oh well, such is faith itself, believing when you can't see...I think it is great that God says that angels...

guard those who fear him (Psa. 34:7)
rescue us
are in charge of us wherever we go (Psa. 91:11)
can wake us up and tell us what to do (Acts 12:7)
encamp all around us and deliver us (Psa. 34:7)
are stunned by us?? WOW...(1 Peter 1:12)
discuss God's wonderful plans for us--even though they were never saved--since they were never lost) Eph 3:10
are rejoicing and applauding with God (Luke 15:10)

I think knowing all this I should not have trouble trusting God...he sends his mighty and many angels to guard me all day? What a thought.

No Spring Chickens

No Spring Chickens...
But we do have a good looking new calves this spring. Jeb and I have a favorite cow, Daisy. We have loved that spotted cow since she showed up here one day. Jonas has a thing for Black Angus cattle, which he should since they make more money, BUT Jeb and I like to just look at them and she is so spotted and so tall and good lookin'. He bought her on a whim and I have been begging Jonas to keep her "one more month" to give her a chance to have another baby this year. When they don't produce, Jonas culls um' no matter how much we like um'...as Jeb says--"Mama, don't cry--that's just what we do...the baby's have to go when they get big enough...that's just what we do." It was hard for me to let go of her last calf--Ben...well,we named him that and low and behold if in a few months Jonas tells us it is going to have to be Benette...but anyway, it looked like a Ben from where we were.

So, FINALLY this past week or two Daisy put this good looking little fella (we think--she is a good mother and won't let us close) on the ground. She's here for another season--yeah, making our pasture look diverse. I know it must be hard on her being different from most, but she is a good one and I am glad that Jonas heeded my woman's intuition to WAIT!

On that note, I am going to call Jonas the impatient farmer now. He also thought that his melons and his squash were not coming up from the seeds he planted. So he rushed off to the store to get some plants that were already germinated...even though...I asked him to wait and just see and water and fertilize. So, he put some donkey poop on um' and set up some sprinklers and as you would very well know...I was right again...they are all coming up...poor little things are just growing off the sides everywhere where he shoved them aside to put in his prettier, fancier models of bought plants. Folks, if you need squash just stop by here. I will have a bumper crop of squash...you can choose from the fancy plants, or the cast-offs, but either way I think we are going to have a bunch. I will be making some serious squash casseroles! J's garden is really looking spiffy this year. We lined it with some sunflowers. Jeb and I tried to plant sunflowers last year, but neglected to move off the fence line far enough so our horse PJ's coat looked shiny and spiffy all summer since he so enjoyed our efforts over the fence. My grandmother always planted sunflowers so if they make it this year, it will be a nice memory for me to think about as I ride by each day.

This is Minnie the cow. She is Minnie because she is so small.



Daddy caught this rat snake. He was so proud.

This week we thought that we heard Sgt., our new not-so-small pup, out of the fence. We ran through the yard (*Jeb rode his Jeep) and took off on the golf cart to find him...
On the way, Jeb said, “Mama I prayed while I was riding my Jeep to the garage that Sgt. Would be okay.” Now that was a good moment…to know that my child knows where to go if he has a problem.


The other day when I said that my stomach hurt Jeb quickly replied, “evidently you are consumpated.” Jonas asked what that meant and he says quickly, “something about your poop not coming out.” I thought that was so funny…really I was not consumpated just so you know.



The other day Jeb got mad at me and I went to look for him...he was out on the porch and was sulking with Sarah. She is one lucky dog. He adores her and Caleb thinks she is the best thing EVER. He can now shout her name.

Granny and Daisy Visit the Farm...

My grandmother has a dear woman that helps to care for her. As Daisy says, "Your Granny is my best friend. We have such a good time together, shopping, eating out, getting our hair done, and grocery shopping." She even takes her to the doc some and best of all, brought her up here on afternoon to see our family and play with us here on our turf. They had a great time. Daisy came scared to dogs and left wanting to take Baily home with her. She even petted our donkey and goats. Granny enjoyed seeing my plants and watching the boys run around and seeing all their toys. It was great fun!

Caleb got dedicated at church on Mother's Day. What a blessing to know God and have his wisdom for raising kids. What a blessing to be in a church that provides such a fun place for kids to know God!

We had a fun picnic at Jeb and Lily's school after they got out week before last. They are so cute together and so silly.

The Calf-napping Saga

The Calf-napping Saga

Jonas and me really got ourselves in a mess the other night. It is sad that FOR ONCE to capture all this I did NOT have a camera. So, you will have to use your God-given imagination.

It is HAY season here in May so Jonas and his Dad and Mayor Jimmy have been out and about baling hay and Jonas has been bushhogging as well. So, after dinner we were SUPPOSED to go for a relaxing ride through the pasture to return the tractor to the shed and give Daddy a ride back home on the golf cart. I loaded up the kids (and Jeb's new sperm whale--Jeb collects Shleich animal toys), had the 2 dogs, and we were off. About halfway there our donkey (who apparently has strong mothering instincts that we DO indeed need to get fulfilled--funny that was in one of my lasts blogs)...had STOLEN and taken as her own a brand new (with umbilical cord attached) calf. So, Jonas jumps off and chases donkey and calf all over and finally tackles the calf and gets it. I whip the golf cart around almost dumping all my cargo and Jonas and the calf get on the back. The donkey chases us for a while and then we go from cow to cow looking for someone to take interest in the baby. THEN, the baby runs through the barbed wire to the horses and the chase ensues again. Now it is RAINING...I still have 2 dogs, a cart full of poop, 2 kids and a sperm whale that Jeb is worried to death is going to fall out of the cubby I threw it in (I am driving like mad.)



While Jonas does some more chasing, I, in my flip flops (more poop everywhere) and in the rain get the donkey to come to the fence and I put her in with the horses. So, then we get the calf again and just stay in one place for a while...arguing about what to do--take the calf in and bottle feed it or turn in loose, and hope for the best?? Dark was coming and so was the rain. So, then we rode some more hoping some mother would come since the calf was barely mooing by now...finally, a mother with a bag almost touching the ground came up...she was READY to unload some milk--if you have nursed...imagine your milk coming in and not being able to get rid of it for an entire DAY! So, the Diego Rescue was complete. Jeb and I were thrilled to play Dora and Diego for the day and Caleb is just stunned silent from the excitement of the EZ GO golf cart whipping it around the pasture and folks he WAS IN A CARSEAT--so what that it is bungeed and roped in there...it holds...we tested it tonight and it works like a charm. So, in closing the pioneer woman can have her fancy horses and her Marlboro man...I'll keep my EZ Go Golf Cart(it holds 2 kids and a sperm whale and my man with a calf on the back)--I am just "The Redneck Woman".



The pictures I did add are just randoms.
Jeb took those 2 of me and Jonas in our cowboy hats one afternoon! Too funny. I have been on Jonas for YEARS to get his perfect ears covered up.

The tree is the beautiful site from my treadmill.