More Than Just Out of Order

Yes, this post will be out of order, but after you read it, you may suspect I'm not just out of order, I might possibly be just a little bit out of my mind.

I promise I'll write an update post on the bees and set it to auto post too...with pictures....but first...

I picked up another hobby.

Please don't die from the shock. I need all three of my readers to justify my once a month writing fits.

Also, please don't die from the cuteness.

It started with an e-mail. Hubster was perusing Cr@ig$1i$t looking for a wood lathe and a drill press. He got...shall we say...distracted? Yes, distracted, that's what we'll call it. So he started last week e-mailing this person. The person said his listing was still available, that several people had called and said they were going to come get it, but no one had followed through. Then there was another e-mail when Hubster had the day off. The listing was still available. Hubster sent it to me...several times...and finally, I told him if he was looking for me to talk him out of it, he was barking up the wrong tree. He made me call Taximom and ask for her blessing...since it may potentially end up living at her house. Taximom, being the good sport and wonderful friend that she is, agreed...even after Taxidad gave her a look that I can only imagine was nothing short of "You have got to be kidding me." But he's a Kansas farm boy so we'll forgive him...he knows that of which he speaks. I've already talked her into the bees...and now this.

Finally, Friday afternoon I got a text while I was at the store picking up my free cake mix. (Thank you Duncan Hines. My hiney told me to tell you that.) Hubster said the listing was still there. I told him to call the guy back that we'd be there in an hour and a half.

When I got there, I was smitten, and I think you can imagine why:



She is a Jersey. And if you know anything about cows, Jersey's are sort of hard to come by. We've wanted one for years, but the current dairy market is severely depressed and this little girl was sent up the river instead of being fed to grow up and take her momma's place in the milking stanchion.

Now, for those who know me in real life, you might ask yourself how in the world we got her home, since we have to borrow Taxidad's truck all the time since we no longer own one of our own. I'll have you know that I rode home from the sale barn in grandpa's truck with a calf between my legs on more than one occasion. So I figured I'd pass the torch on to my own offspring. Yep, we loaded her in the back of my minivan:



Yes, that is poop on her hiney. If you don't know how bad calf poopies smell, let me assure you that they stink to high heaven. So we loaded her in the van, opened all the windows and drove an hour and a half to get her home. Brought back memories of my senior year, when I loaded my 4-H weiner pigs into the back of my 1972 Ford Pinto and took them home to the ranch. Good times.

She was a doll the whole way home and entertained the children with burping and farting games...B only beat her one round. She is also very smart...she pooped out the window at one point. Anyhow, we got her home and much to my surprise and delight, there was very little aftermath in my sweet little minivan and the good news is, we will not be having a cremation later this week.

Pretty sure my crappy neighbors will complain pretty soon, given that we are keeping her in the backyard with the chickens and all...but it's totally worth it:







If you haven't ever experienced the sheer joy and contentment of a bottle-fed calf chowing down her breakfast...well, you just haven't lived.

Dancing with Bees

I've been buried with school, both mine and the kids'. But I decided I needed a new hobby anyway. The following is courtesy of Taximom, pictures at some point, but I'm not going to wait to get that done before giving you the scoop:

Most of you know that Taxidad collected logs off the new stake property
back in January. Unbeknownst to him one of the cut logs had a
beehive in it. The very bottom of it had been cut open, exposing
the hive. I mentioned it to Momofalltrades, knowing she was interested in her
own hive.

After looking it over and discovering that it was an active hive, Momofalltrades
went into action. She researched on the internet and public library
to gain insight on how to capture these bees and move them into a
beekeeping hive. (Sorry, Clean Queen, but Momofalltrades will be on my handcart team.)

Late yesterday afternoon we FINALLY had an opportunity to try and
move those bees. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!! After donning some makeshift
clothing and netting we went to work. I am certain neighbors driving
by thought the aliens had landed. I know one car drove by a couple
of times - I'm certain it was because they needed to make another run
to Wal-Mart.

Momofalltrades began pulling out honeycomb while I attempted to do some
filming. After pulling out as much as she could, I began cutting out
what remaining combs that we could reach. We were able to locate and
move the brood combs - they have the developing babies. The hive was
much larger than we thought (it's huge!) and FILLED WITH HUNDREDS OF
BEES!

The next step was to attach the combs to frames, which are then
placed into their new hive. The bees really did not pay much
attention to us as they clung to the combs as well as the walls of
the old hive. After securing the combs and placing into the new hive
we proceeded to scoop bees out of the old hive. It was so cool to
reach your hand into the hive and scoop what bees you could out, and
then brush them into the new hive. This was going to take a while,
and it was getting dark, so we switched gears.

We then flipped (gently) the old hive upside down and placed a
portion of the new hive on top of the opening, and then banged on the
old hive with pieces of wood. A large number of the bees attached
themselves to the bottom of the new hive in a cluster. Hopefully the
queen was in that group. If she moves into the new hive, the rest
will follow. After about 10 minutes had to stop. It was really
beginning to get dark, and that is a dangerous time to mess with them.

We ended up placing the old hive open end down and on top of the new
hive. Hopefully the remaining bees will migrate to the new hive, and
those responsible for caring for the brood will do just that, and
that the queen will like her new home. If so, then the move is
done. If not, then Momofalltrades and I will sell tickets for folks to come and
watch us for round 2 of Dancing with the Bees!

They'll Be Here All Week...

Today in the car, J pipes up and says, "Mooooommy, I bvan sick!"
K replies, "It's CAR sick."
J: "I can't say aww(r)ah, so...no. It's bvan sick!"

We got a referral to an orthodontist right before Christmas for K during her regular dentist visit. Upon further investigation, the canine tooth we thought was pushing its way out behind her first molar turned out to be an incisor. Her canine teeth are growing toward one another and apparently, one of her permanent first molars has forgotten to show up to the party at all. So Miss K started her first round of orthodontia last week. We're just having Hubster's paychecks made out to Dr. Orthodontist for the next 4-6 years.

So today during lunch, B was telling me something about his drink choice and K kept having him repeat himself, finally, in frustration, he totally deadpans, "Mom, I think K needs an EARthodontist too."

Definition

This was the quote of the day:

B: "Dad, I forgot, what does 'amnesia' mean?"

Impromptu Field Trip

One of the best things about hs is the fun we have on Hubster's day off. He has Friday's off, so we hang. Last Friday, Hubster needed a piece of leather, so we went to the Tandy leather store and lo and behold, they had a museum in the store! My mom used to do some really beautiful leatherwork, so I was glad I brought the camera to show some of the incredible art we saw.

This immediately caught my attention:




Tell me that's not cool!





Yes, that is all leather.


It was too big to fit in my purse, or it would have come home with me...


Not a fan of the silver stitching, but LOOOOVE the birds.


I *need* the pheasant billfold for Hubster...how awesome is that thing?


If you don't think this didn't make me want to build something and cover it in giraffe printed cowhide...well, you'd be wrong.


It made for a fun afternoon.

Its Name Shall Be Monster

So the dog I bought Hubster? Yeah, he's pretty much my baby. Oh, sure, I let Hubster take him to Kansas a couple times so he can fulfill his only goal in life, but aside from that, he's more than happy to stay at home with me where he can tunnel under the coop to get at my chickens, dig under the fences so he can roam the neighborhood, jump on my couches and sleep in my laundry room.




It's a life of unspeakable luxury. Any other dog caught trying to eat my chickens would be dropped off at the pound. Even using Gramma's technique of tying the poor dead chicken round the blood thirsty dog's neck only resulted in a fun afternoon of "play with the poor dead chicken tied round my blood thirsty neck". Wildly unsuccessful by any measure.



Anyhow. The stupid dog stays. What can I say? His ears are impossibly soft.

I am not an indoor dog person. We've had several dogs in our 13 year marriage, and not one of them has been allowed to sleep in my house. But as the temperature here in Texas reached a bitter cold 30-something degrees *snort*, I went out to get another log for the fire and the blood thirsty killer followed me to the wood pile so I could hear his teeth chattering. No, I'm not kidding. The blood thirsty killer's teeth were literally chattering.

So now he sleeps in the laundry room. Much to his credit, he NEVER potties inside. Ever. He will howl and bark and tear the door off the hinges to avoid pooping in the laundry room. I may have to spend a fortune remodeling the laundry room, but I will not be cleaning up blood thirsty killer poop. So there's something in his favor.

The problem I have is that he is as determined to tear crap up as he is to dig to china out in the yard. We've lost several pairs of perfectly good shoes due to his ability to hide them for a midnight snack, and it's become my morning surprise to go see what he's gotten his teeth into during the night. It's just like Christmas, only, it sucks.

He commandeered a scruffy old pillow for his sleeping comfort, and since he didn't tear it up, I let him have it.



Then one day, I decided to fold an old sheet in half, add another pillow and an old blanket, sew up the side and make him a little doggie bed. Before Christmas, I saw the nicest doggie beds at Sam's Club, but patted myself on the back for my superior thrift when I saw the price tag. Besides, I reasoned, it probably wouldn't fit in my laundry room space anyway. Then Friday night, he tore my thrifty little doggie bed open and pulled out the pillows. Traitor.

So, I reasoned, I needed to wash the cover anyway, so I'd wash everything, put it all back and sew it back together. I messed with it most of the day Saturday, but the clean bed was worth it.

Until last night. The traitor ripped my thrifty little doggie bed into bits.

So, I could go buy the really pretty doggie bed I saw at Sam's Club, but, I reasoned, it still wasn't going to fit in the space allotted. I really need to be able to walk between the freezer and the doggie bed. So I'd make him a new one...
I have yards and yards and yards of fabric that Gramma gave me for my inheritance, I'll just get some of the upholstery velvet circa 1970 and a bit of the big bolt of corduroy and make him a tougher version...a bed more fitting for a blood thirsty traitor. Now, this may surprise some of you, my three readers, but I actually built a house once, with my own two hands. I am familiar with the term, "Measure twice, cut once". I'm also famous for winging it. Working without a net. Flying without a flight plan. Sewing without a pattern.



I sure am glad I didn't buy him one of those beds at Sam's Club that would have only taken up half that space.

*That* ought to fix him for being such a blood thirsty traitor.

A Monster Post

How about a whirl-wind catch up post? OK. Here we go.

A loooong while back I shot some darling photo's of J to serve as her new school year photo. Here are my favorites in random order:







And I had so much fun I dragged her sister out of bed and got this shot:



Over on the side bar in my Flikr stream are pictures from Halloween...we had Zorro, Princess Leah, and Snow White this year.



But my favorite thing from halloween was how J chose to rummage her candy haul:




Then I captured movie watching with Dad...I think they were watching Swiss Family Robinson, the giggles are because I scared the tar out of a little girl who was seriously engrossed in the show. (Note: We make it our policy to lock up all her clothes so she can never find them.)



I don't think I ever got around to posting pictures of the grand baby...yeah, she's only 6 months old now.





Aren't itty bitty baby feet just the best?



Back in November we had about three days of the most incredible colors, I got some very fun shots of the kids in the pile of leaves they made on the front lawn.

This wasn't my favorite of B, but it's grown on me:







I can't even begin to tell you how ticked off I was at the botched depth of field on this one. *sigh* I converted it to b/w and have it framed on my desk. I still love it. I just wish the focus on B's face were...well, there at all really...



Here are Thing One and Thing Two...of the baby shower fame:


That was a tough session. The only place in their house with any light was this tiny bathroom...but we managed to get some fun shots.

Then in early December, K had a *very* bad accident. She removed a bowl of Ramen Noodles from the microwave and lost control of the bowl.





I immediately began to use Hubster's cold laser on it and she was given a blessing. Today, two and a half weeks later, her leg looks like the tan peeled off, but no major scarring. It never even really got horrible looking after the blisters peeled off. Unfortunately, I didn't laser her toes as intensly as I did her leg. She will have scars on her toes, she still has open wounds across her toes, but they are healing. Here's a picture of the laser in use on the second day:



The very next day, my nephew graduated from Chiropractic College. He asked Hubster to hand him his diploma...it was very sweet...and I got to see my SIL...one of my very favorite people ever. Look at his cute little wife...aren't they just beyond sweet?







And I'll finish this monster post with a slew of Christmas photo's and a sentence that begins with a conjunction...just cause school's out and I'm feelin' lazy.

New Christmas aprons and comforter (on arm of couch):



Look close and you may be able to identify what we ate on Christmas Eve by the shmutz on B's shirt:

Shhhhhh.......

Remember this:

My Fist Day?

Well, Saturday will be:

My Last Day

Sort of.

Community College is so yesterday....well...it's so Saturday...but you know what I mean.

So I guess they'll be giving me a little scrap of paper and sending me on my way. In January, I'll be joining Texas A&M university as a transfer student in their BSBA program.

But for now, I have to finish up this week with testing and other such nonsense and just because I am a glutton for punishment, I'll be throwing a Christmas party for 150 guests. Good thing they put me in charge so I can delgate rather than actually do any of the real work...phew!

Cat in The Hat Baby Shower

There's a girl I know who's having twins. So when it came time to throw a baby shower for her, I kind of got a little crazy and we threw a Cat in The Hat themed party!

I started by downloading some Dr. Suess font and coming up with the invitations:

There are two things inside Tina's tummy,
so we're planning some food and some games that are funny.
Come bring yourselves, we know just what to do!
Come help us welcome Thing 1 and Thing 2!

and inside:

We've picked out a time:
and a date:
and a place:
...now all we need is to see your sweet face!

Though asking is usually a futility, we'd really appreciate an R.S.V.P.

I love that last part! I crack myself up sometimes!

Then I drew up a Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 and scanned them in, printed them out so they looked like a book.

Now for the decorations. I was so lucky to have a partner in crime. A very peppy partner in crime. Hi Peppy Partner in Crime...you now have your very own spiffy bloggy name type thing.

Anywho. She got into the spirit of things...big time! I told her my idea to have huge kites and string kite string all over the hall and goldfish in bowls for the centerpieces and random word strips from the book on the tablecloths and the red box and as much stuff as we could dream up from the book. I think I said it pretty much like that too, I was so excited. Well, she not only took that gigantic run-on sentence in stride and pretty much just did everything I imagined, but then she came up with a ton of cute and creative stuff on her own! We had goofy Suess tables and pictures and lamps and flower pots and punch! Yes, we had Pink Yink Ink Drink and True Blue Who Goo...and they were really pink and blue!!! And yes, our friend is having a boy AND a girl! How cute is that!?! And of course, there was cake. Don't be fooled by the photos. The idea was to make it look just like the one in the book, so it's made to look like a two story. But I'm here to tell you, that sucker is SIX layers of white with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting, topped off with marshmallow fondant. Notice the clever painting of the window, complete with Mom's foot, rain, sidewalk, goofy Suess trees...it was SO fun!

So here's the tour:

One of the kites, with string:


We only invited fun people. Definately upped the level of silliness:






We hung the painted sheets over the windows, so we could have a wet, wet, wet day:


More fun people and silliness...we were making babies!


No goldfish were harmed in the making of this baby shower...really. I promise.


We just had so much fun putting this together! Now I'm lying awake at night imagining all the other fun book themed parties I could throw!

What HAVE I Been Doing?

Lots. Plenty. That's for sure.

OK, I've been sitting here watching Grey's Anatomy and picking my toes. You caught me.

Actually I've been trying to keep my head above water...what with all the educational persuits around here. I've actually worked myself hard enough to earn a few days off, so I'll be posting some catch up action over the next few days..I think. So check in a few times and you might have something new to look at!

For now, here's a pic of my new do:



When I discovered that my ultra cool angular bob had been renamed the "Even-smaller-than-small-town-town mom's haircut" I drew the line and got something different. I don't love it as much, but it's better than being grouped in with the angular bob haircut groupies.