Reincarnated As A Mother

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Holy Cow!

Really it should be Un-Holy Cows!
This evening, Byron and I slipped outside to quickly herd our two cows from the front acreage
to the back acreage (the 11 acres that burned up last summer-- the fence is finally fixed).
(click below to see the fire story)
http://reincarnatedasamother.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-too-close-for-comfort-close-call.html
Sounds easy, eh?
That's what we thought too.
45 minutes later...
45 minutes of us running around, or shall I say, getting majorly out-run by two
teenage cows that have now been nicknamed "Jail Break" and "Houdini"
because up until today they were constantly breaking through or jumping over the fence...
the same fence we couldn't get them to go near tonight!!!
 Byron either had a light bulb moment or a moment of desperation.
He went and got his trusty ol' motorcycle.
And Yee-haw... it was pure comedy.
He came soooo close to colliding with one of the cows.
 But it finally worked.
Phew!
While we were out communing with nature... we saw a momma Killdeer and four little babies.
Byron reached down and scooped up one of the little urchins... to the delight
of Reese and Greer.
 I'm happy to report, he released "Fuzzball" who was quickly reunited with his/her family.
When I was a kid growing up, we used to watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
Who needs TV at our house?  Our kids can get their sitcom fix watching mom and dad
unsuccessfully chase after cows... and get their wildlife fix walking outside.
Love it.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Party Central

Clearly we just don't know how to stop the party train. 
Even though Holland's birthday was last week and we've told
her over and over again she's too big for all out birthday parties,
we let her ask a friend or two for a night of pizza and fun.
Somehow that friend or two turned into 4 friends (what can I say, I'm a pushover).
We took the crew to a new place called Bounce.
 Personally, I think a better name for it would be Sweaty Socks...
 The girls slid down slides, battled each other with giant  padded batons...
 And pretty much ran around like wild hyenas.
We think they had fun.
Byron, Kean and I were exhausted just watching them.
Don't you think this picture is quite telling:  tired, sweaty girls who you know
were all gonna go home and sleep goooooood!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Afternoon

We all gathered at my mom and dad's house for a perfect afternoon of good food and good fun.
I love how my kids love their cousins and their cousins love my kids.

 Here's one of the few moments where Reese was actually holding still.
We adults spent a lot of time holding still-- it was a nice lazy afternoon.

 Dana and I clearly called each other in the a.m. to coordinate our attire...
 Momma Mia made a fabulous Easter meal (as always).
 It was about torture getting the kids to eat dinner first.  We hid candy filled eggs
throughout the house and you can see they were chomping at the bit...
I'm sorry to say my camera battery died after this one... so this is the best you get.
Trust me, they got TONS of goodies.  And even a golden egg each (filled with a few bucks from Grandpa).
Oh, to be a kid again.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Morn

Everyone in our house was pretty darn excited about Easter.
Even Keanut.
 That ol' sneaky Easter Bunny hid all of their baskets.
Kean's was the first one found... by big sis Holland.
 Holland's was tucked back in the corner of the kitchen cabinets... totally out of reach.
It took her a lot longer to spy it, than we expected.
 GiGi's was hidden behind the chips and crackers...
 And Reese's was at the bottom of the laundry basket (no, there were no dirty clothes in the basket).
 Byron introduced the children to the fine art of blowing up Peeps in the microwave.
 Kean got a cool pair of new shades that have a Velcro strap to keep him from ripping them off
in two seconds flat.  Now it takes him four seconds.
 And I introduced the girls to the age old art of using malted Easter eggs as lipstick.
Here's Greer with a lovely shade of blue.
 And finally, Reese got the princess tent she's been pining away for-- for months.
She even slept in it (with her legs jutting out a bit).
We went over to my mom's for Easter dinner and a cousin's egg hunt.
Stay tuned for those highlights.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Most Eggcellent!

 It's that time of year again, our tradition of dying fingertips, hands, shirts etc.
Oh, and eggs too.
 Poor Reese isn't feeling great today... but good enough to color eggs, thank goodness. :)
Happy Easter Eve!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

You Say It's Your Birthday!

We had a grand time at the restaurant Holland picked to celebrate her BIrtHdaY!
(We went to Fuddruckers)..
 We had quite the crowd with the cousins and family all there.
 Kean was the sleeping machine and snoozed up until the very end. 
Which is quite amazing considering how loud we all were.
 And you know it's a good party when there is a gumball machine.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Off to a Good Start...

We were up before the sun this morning.
Holland is just kind of excited about turning 10.
I have to share the sweetest moment... so far...
One of Holland's before school chores is to bring
Roxy, our bunny down from the playhouse to
her outside pen.
(We have to lock her up at night to keep her safe from the owls, hawks and the fox that
live on our property).
This morning, Greer got Roxy for Holland... saying:
"This is my first birthday present for you, since so far, all I've given you
is my love."

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Rodenator

Oh my!  I just came across this picture while looking for another one.
Yes, this is my dear, sweet husband -  out killing gophers.
Stop snickering, We really do live in the country - God's country, as I like to refer to it.
However, we were reminded last week that we are not quite in heaven (yet).
An hour after dinner, the water in my kitchen sink slowed down to a trickle... and then nothing, nada, zip.
It took Byron a few hours to solve the mystery.
Gophers, vols or prairie dogs-- whatever, had chewed through the wires to our well.
Fun stuff, especially for Byron.
Lot's of digging and pulling new wires etc.
Grandpa Bodily let us hook up to his well so we could have water since it took a few days to get fixed.
But I thought you'd love this pic....

Double Digits!

 Ten years ago tonight, Byron and I rushed to the hospital.
Our lives were forever changed with the arrival of our black haired beauty.
Yes, I did say black hair.  If she hadn't of come out of my body, I would've questioned where she came from.  Within a few months, her roots were very blond.  In fact, people actually stopped me in the store
to ask me if I was coloring my infant's hair!!!  We loved her crazy looks-- and dubbed her Cruella.
I can't believe little Miss Holland's 10th birthday is tomorrow!
And I'm wondering how in the world did we get here?
The two of us made 3 dozed cupcakes for her to take to school tomorrow.
 Grandpa and Grandma Bodily (our beloved neighbors) can't join us tomorrow,
so they came over tonight for left over cupcakes to celebrate a little early.
Holland didn't mind at all.
 Oh, I love this girl.  She's creative, fun and funny.
A few days ago, she and Greer surprised us with these fancy dresses.
My stash of garbage bags is quite depleted... but they sure had fun getting
all dressed up to do their chores.
 I  love how Holland is her sister's best friend.
I love how smart she is, how she thinks and how she is so sweet and helpful with Kean.
Happy Birthday dear Holland!
P.S.  You wonder what Kean thinks of all these crazy girls in the house!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Making Friends

Grocery shopping is turning into social time for Kean and I.
When he had his Oxygen on, we'd get stopped by all the old folks
so they could compare and contrast the Oxygen they were on with his little portable tank.
Now that he's no longer on Oxygen, I thought I'd be able to breeze in and out of the store.
Not so.
We now get stopped by folks wanting to talk about his hearing aids.
Case in point- this afternoon, a man in his 30's stopped us to ask how Kean lost his hearing.
Once he saw his face-- he said; "Oh."
I'm guessing that meant he realized he had Downs. 
Who knows.
But the guy turned out to be really nice.  He lost his hearing as a 2 year old after
a bout with Spinal Meningitis.
His hearing aids were clear-- not the cool little boy blue that Kean sports.
So if you see us in the store these days, we'll likely be chatting it up with strangers
and making new friends.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Oh to be young again...

For most of us, it's just Spring.
But for those in high school, like Mark here... it's Prom Time.
Mark is the son of some of our dearest friends in the world-- so
he's like a big brother to the girls. 
Poor guy, they bug him unmercifully.
Anyway, Byron let him borrow the ol' Mustang for Prom.
Sure brings back a ton of memories, even though high school was eons ago.
I bet Mark looked darn handsome in a tux.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Crazy Dreams

Ahhh, sweet sleep.  Welcome back.
Kean is doing fabulous.
Other than pulling off those new hearing aids... the kid is back to his old self.
Now for Reese.
She's had a few nightmares that have woken her up (and me too).
One of them, I have to share.
It's, shall we say, priceless.
She woke me up to tell me she had a bad dream.
Expecting monsters in the closet?
No, try this on for size...
She dreamt there were puppies in the closet.
Lots of 'em.
They were grey with blue eyes.
And they were eating pizza.
Anyone want to try and interpret this one?

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Hit The Road Jack...

They came and picked up the ol' Oxygen machine and all the
paraphernalia that went with it...
I won't miss that alarm going off in the beginning of the night,
the middle of the night and the end of the night.
Good grief, what a relief!
I will also now, hopefully, be able to find the energy to fix
this annoying blog problem and get back to my regular look.
Thanks for the patience.
P.S.  Greer turns 8 next month.
She told me yesterday that she will be so glad to finally have all that gum out of her body.
I was like, "what?"
Evidently, she was told way back that if you swallow gum, it takes about
seven years to get out of your system.
She figures she swallowed a lot of gum as a toddler and now it will finally be gone.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Free From The Wires

Breathing Free
Ahhhh, finally, a good night's rest.
No alarms.
I called the Doctor this morning to get a
release to turn in all of his Oxygen machines.
As far as I'm concerned, he's ready to
graduate to freedom.

 New Ears
Take a close look at his ears.
Yep.  He got hearing aids last week.
I thought we would be able to dodge those... but his E.N.T. felt his hearing loss was enough that he should have them... especially during these years when he's trying to learn to talk.
I haven't noticed that they've made a
huge difference but he's not fighting them as much as I had thought he would.

Sticky Residue
He still has some sticky residue on his
cheeks that I can't get rid of yet.
But that sure beats the Oxygen tubing, eh?

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Spring Break Shenanigans

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Byron took the girls snowmobiling on Friday.
They rode in about 16 miles to a hot springs and went swimming.
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They went with our friends', the Cooks.
We want to make it an annual trip.


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The girls spent much of the afternoon playing dressups.
Only this time, they had an interesting twist:  check out the "rags" below.
They were pretending to be super poor.
Strange, I remember pretending to be rich and famous when I was a kid.
Must be a sign of the times.
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And finally, here are a few snaps from their trip with my mom and the cousins to the zoo last week.
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