The Photog Begins...

My newest child arrived yesterday. I'm so excited! These are some straight out of camera shots we took last night in between rain showers just before the sun went down.

I used to do a fair amount of film photography, but I'm not so much with the notebooks and the running back and forth to the lab to develop film. I'm all about the instant gratification of digital. And since my new child is the culmination of several birthdays, Christmases and Mother's Day with no presents...I'm about dang ready for some instant gratification.




Notice the sharp,clear picture of the "Gahteraid" mustache she's sporting? Classy.



I love me some bokeh.



My how tall you are getting.

And since I'm celebrating the end of shutter delay in my photography life, some action shots:



Focus is off, but this shot more than makes up for it:



I've missed far to much booty shaking in my pre-DSLR days.

But the best thing of all is finally being able to capture the subtle expressions that I've been missing all these years.

Garden Winding Down

The hot hot hot Texas sun is doing it's thing on my garden and so we are just about done with fresh from the garden produce.


Gosh I love macro shots...


There will be more where that came from soon. My new to me camera should be arriving any day now. Thanks Brandi! Couldn't have gotten it done without your kindness and generosity. I can't wait to finally have the tool to get all the awesome shots that I see allllll the time but slip past my poor Cannon point and shoot. Shutter delay kills shots of fast moving children like nobody's business. Within the next few days, the blog will probably become just another photog blog! LOL Oh well, that will make the grandparents happy. And me. It will make me very happy. I'm always needing more outlets for my creativity.

More Fluff Balls

The two hens I got from Freecycle like to set on eggs...a lot. So here's the newest batch of fluff balls. There are actually three, but one is already hiding under momma....like this one is trying to do...


Here's number three...look close...


These chicks are actually from my other hens...the surrogate momma is sorta scrawny and I'm not really wanting to pass along her gene pool, so these will hopefully be Aracauna crosses. I'm now finding myself in need of a new chicken pen...and my next big project will be raising some broilers.

Father's Day

A bit late, but I should chronicle the addition of the latest family member here. Hubster has always wanted a German Shorthair Pointer. They are a sporting dog and not the most common thing to try and find. When you do find them, they cost a bit and then flying them to where you might be able to pick them up costs even more. I got lucky and found a man who had his dogs flown to him and then decided he'd like to have a litter...thus making it so he wouldn't have to have a new dog flown to him when his got too old for hunting. He ended up with 9, so he posted them on a little corner of the internet and with my supa Google skillz I found them and was pleased to see that he not only didn't want a million dollars for them but that he lived close enough that I could drive there and back in a day. So under the cover of a Boy Scout field trip, I loaded up the girls and went to pick him up. Hubster was not overly surprised that wanted to get him a dog for Father's Day, but was surprised that we actually GOT him a dog for Father's Day! He decided to call him "Q". Do you see it?



He could just as well have gone with "8", but then the Bond nod would be lost...


I don't generally care much about his hunting dogs, but I really, really love this one.



Look at those eyes. Now if he just won't eat any more chickens, I'll love him a whole lot more.

Bath Hoodie

My Church has a wonderful program that promotes friendships and care for the needs of sisters called Visiting Teaching. Basically, every woman is assigned a partner with whom she visits four or five sisters each month. In turn, each woman also has two sisters who visit her each month...clear as mud? When B was born, my visiting teacher also happened to be my pediatrician. This sweet woman just loves children and had difficulty carrying pregnancies to term. She and her husband would have liked to have had a very large family, but they were so thankful to have finally gotten the two darling children they finally were able to have. So, on top of being a doctor and mom, she was my visiting teacher. Shortly after B was born, she made me one of these hooded bath towels. It always touched my heart that this woman, who could likely afford anything she wanted to give as a gift, chose to give us the one thing she was short on: Her time. I still have that gift and have used it with all three babies, it's in very rough shape now, but I'll never part with it.

Last night, at the ripe old age of 33, I became a grandmother. The situation is not the happiest, but we have hopes that it will improve. The mother is very young and has a string of psychological challenges. Long story short, it has been best for us to stay in the background as we support our son as he tries to cope with the situation.

At any rate, sad and worried as I am for the situation, I wanted to show our new grand-daughter that we do love her more than she may ever know, and wouldn't you know it, I thought of that gift given by a thoughtful and loving visiting teacher over 9 years ago. So I sat down this morning and made this:



The only thing I ever disliked about the one that was given to me was that the hood quickly became too small...I blame the kids for that. ;O) So I made this one adjustable. The buttons keep it small for now and when she's bigger, they can simply undo them and the hood will be larger.





I think it turned out really cute. I'm so hoping M will be able to bring her for a visit so I can take some newborn shots here in the next couple weeks.



And by the way, if you are over the age of fifteen hours old, you may not call me Grandma.

Bounty

Here's tonight's harvest:



And there are a few more things waiting for us down there:










But the chickens are unhappy with the heat and are going on strike.

The Tail End

Yesterday, Hubster and I decided that Commencement exercises were created by people who have two or fewer kids. It's fun to see her so excited to move onto the next phase of her life. She was 5 when Hubster and I got married, and her graduation marks the end...the end of something I can't quite put my finger on. We're the child support-ed, not the child support-er, so, it isn't that. The nest is obviously not empty, so it's not that. Maybe it is that the negotiations with the ex-spouse are officially over. That part hasn't been too tough for a while now, but even so, I guess it's just the idea that they are all adults now and make their own choices and be cognizant of everything that needs to go into and results from, those choices. I no longer feel the weight of being responsible for them pressing down on me.



Don't get me wrong, I've always felt that we were a family, I've always done for my step-kids as though they were my own, but I always did feel a deep responsibility to their mother. That sense of responsibility has really made a separation in the past couple of years. Teenagers are tough. I can't pretend I didn't wish on more than one occasion that their mother would have had to deal with them instead of me. Being the Disneyland parent sounded pretty good sometimes. But overall, I'm just glad to be moving into a new relationship with my now grown step kids. Instead of feeling compelled to teach, I am looking forward to sitting back and letting them come to me for advice. Instead of feeling the need to set guidelines and enforce rules, I am looking forward to letting natural consequences take over and leave me as the sympathetic ear.

I know it's not really the end of anything to me, but it still feels like a new beginning.

Horse Poop

I grew up loving horses and having horses, I've always wanted kids, but never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever imagine waking up with horse poop in my bed:




Lucky for me it only looks realistic and the manufacturer didn't feel the need to make it smell realistic.

I Have A New Hobby

My friend the Super Amazing Mary-Kay Lady introduced me to the world of coupons. I needed something more to do, what with me idling away all those hours picking my toes. So now, I spend some serious time clipping and snipping and reading ad previews trying to score some free toothpaste or make some change on deoderant. "Buying" free stuff and making money to shop just makes my girlish heart go pitter-patter.

We almost had a tragedy of the poultry kind today in the chicken pen. Four off the little fluff balls got trapped under the feed pan which then got half buried in dirt. Poor little guys were sweaty but OK when I discovered their plight and freed them from their eminent tomb.

I'm really struggling with finding my summer time groove. So many things I need and want to be doing, so little energy and motivation to actually do them! I putter in the garden...which is ROCKING this year! And I've managed to keep the grass mowed, but even though Hubster's ex will be in town in a week, and E will be here on Tuesday, I can't seem to motivate myself to get the house in order. Taxi Mom made me a deal of the organizational sort...trading off time at each other's houses to calm the clutter. Taxi Mom is the product of a military background...she married a military man...I would not hesitate to lick ice cream off her floor on any given day...I suspect she's being her usual wonderful self and just sees my plight and has vowed to help me out without making me feel bad. I won't tell her I know what she's up to if you don't...K?

My hometown got hit by a tornado yesterday! I told E I guess I'm glad I moved to Texas! We've only had to hide out once during our time here, and that was this spring when a huge hail storm went through. The tornado was headed right for us, but as they are wont to do, it dissipated before it hit town. Gramma said the sky was black, not the eerie green it gets when a tornado forms down here. I sure feel bad for the folks in Windsor who got hit. Dense population and intense storms are never a good combination.

I'll try and update with pictures of the garden and some non-sense of the kid variety soon. We've got plenty of that going on around here!

So I Lied...

I have no idea why I procrastinate so. Finals went fine, and I've been picking my toes for two weeks now. Nothing goin' on round here. Well, unless you count this stuff:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Or this stuff:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

(Nothing like an AIRPLANE HANGAR in your HOUSE!)

Or this stuff:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

And just yesterday, this happened:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Yup. A whole lotta nothin' going on around here!

I Promise...

I'll check back in after finals. I have two of them tomorrow and the other two are early next week. I finally managed to get ONE B on a calculus test! Go me! Now if I can just avoid failing the final, I'll get out of there with my precious, hard earned C.

Ruining Our Bad Reputation

In the car as we pull into Church:

Mom of All Trades: "Wow! We are TEN minutes early!"
B: "Ohhhh cr@p."
D: "Yeah, we've got a reputation to uphold, don't we B?"

Singing Our Own Song

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

It totally cracks me up that it sounds like she says "Evewy where we tease him!" I tried to capture some "Aaahhhhhssss cweam" goodness for everyone, but she enunciated today. That is one word that doesn't sound at all good in Texan...

The best one is "Jack and Jiwl wen' up-a-hiwl, fetch-a-pay-o-wader, Jack faw' down, bwoke him cw-own and Jiwl came barrowing af'er. Now him up a-fas'-as-him can go-o, wen' to bed and busted him head wif bin-awound-a-papah." But I could only get "Pock-a-Posey-Posey" uploaded before I ran out of bandwidth, so you'll have to wait on Jack and Jill until next month. Here's her version of Ring Around the Rosey, (with K in the background some):


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Happy Campers

Now, how long do you think THIS lasted?

It was harder for Mom than it was for (most) of the kids.

How DO I Do It?

I was asked that twice today. Well, actually, they asked how DO you do it...referring to me. I don't usually give it much thought, because frankly, a lot of days I just feel like a slug. I know I'm busy and all, but some days I just don't feel busy. And other days I want to pull the covers back over my head to avoid the busy. So here's how I juggle full time school for me and homeschooling two and a half kids: I've made friends with imperfection.

See, as a kid, I always had this feeling I could be perfect. I could do everything that was expected of me, some nice stuff for others and keep myself out of trouble. No matter what I did, I expected that I would be the best at it. Not being the best at absolutely everything was simply crushing to me. Yep. I put the fun in dysfunctional. Then I got married and unleashed my perfection on raising a family. And of course, being the second wife, I had to prove I really was the best wife. Too bad no one ever told me that life is a marathon and not a sprint. Over the years, I have found myself sprinted to exhaustion on more than one occasion. Lucky for me, I'm not dumb and I do have a lazy side, so I have learned to ease up some. Some. Mostly in the area of laundry and cleaning. Anyone who sees my house on a regular basis would never guess at the perfectionism that lies beneath this calm exterior. I have learned to step over the laundry piles and let the dishes sit in the sink out of sheer need. See, I figure that educating myself and my children, well, that's probably more important than folded laundry, and being calm and loving towards my kids is probably more important than my need for a clean living room with no PILES of stuff.

I'm not that fru fru high energy mom who hovers over her kids and fills their days with stimulating activity. I'm not that mom who does "school at home". I'm not that mom who volunteers for everything. I do what I do because of some simple time structure during my days, a little planning at night and a whole lot of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. I try and handle certain tasks only on certain days and I don't beat myself up if I don't get around to them. I try and keep to a loose schedule to keep our studies on track, but I don't beat myself up (much) if we don't get as far as I'd like. I try to read my scriptures before I fall asleep at night. I try and do my studying the night before I have class and a few hours on the weekends. I try and have the kids help keep the living room from looking horrible and I try to keep the kitchen from utter chaos. I let the rest of it go. I get to it when I can. My neighbors hate me because I have the worst yard on the block. Oh well. I serve in my church calling and I try and find things to show my kids how to serve others. I guess if it bothered them that much they'd offer to cut my grass.

There are lots and lots and lots of things that I can do better. Being forced to embrace my own imperfections is a daily reminder of why I need to depend on my Savior. It's comforting to finally know that my imperfections are built in and it is not within my ability to perfect them through any amount of will power.

RE: The Heatherless Chickens

They are pretty ugly, aren't they? They are called Turken's, but I think the official breed name is Hungarian Naked Necks. They are all little boys, included at no charge to keep a small order of little girls warm. I guess having "heatherless" necks makes them easy to tell apart from the girls. I'm thinking it also means a clear "target" once they reach 8-10 pounds.

The Little Red Hen

I spend all day very busy, feeding the children, cleaning the house and washing the clothes. (Well, OK, maybe not so much with the cleaning and laundry but I feed the children at least ONE square meal every day.) When I ask for help cooking, "Not I" say the little pigs kids. When I ask for help with the cleaning, "Not I" say the little pigs kids. When I ask for help with the laundry, "Not I" say the little pigs kids. So when I said, "Who wants to help me go pick up my latest Freecycle find?", all the little pigs except one said "Not I", and frankly, the one who "WOULD WIKE TO GO HEWP" hasn't been the greatest traveling partner lately. The worst part is, the kid will not ease up off my back. She tells me that my precious Freecycle finds are "UGwy 'cause 'dem don't hab HEATHERS on dem necks!" I dunno. I guess she kinda has a point.

It Has to Be Said...

Taxi Dad, I think your tractor's $exy. Especially when it's parked at my house. It told me it likes living here and saving me from copious amounts of physical labor. I give it the attention it needs and the challenge it craves. I'm sorry, I know it hurts being Dear John'ed by your John Deere.




And really, who would want to dig this:


with this:


when you can dig it with the help of a big, strong, tractor?