singing in the rain

we had a small rain shower pop up this morning at the ranch as we were enjoying our panpakes (no, that's not a typo...that's what cale calls them). so when my children said "can we go outside in the rain" this morning, i said "no". and then i thought "why the heck not?". go... play... dance... so they did! and they loved it!!!








by the way, cale is rehearsing for the dockers "i wear no pants" commercial. if you look closely, you'll notice the lovely pink shoes... really, cale?

buggie and millie watched the fun from inside... one wishing she was playing in the rain, too, and the other relishing her dryness. by the way... bug thinks the big dog is belongs to her. um... no, that's my big dog!













p.s. i love my new camera!

and then there were...

NONE! that's right, all the baby purple martins are gone... they flew the coop. ah, ha, ha, ha (you're laughing too, i know you are!).

let me tell you a little story (and i'll take the scenic route) leading up to the p.m. graduation...

so saturday morning i got up (early) and went to sit in my recliner. on my way to the chair, i noticed a p.m. baby sitting on the porch. did it fall out of the nest? or is it learning to fly? awwww... how sweet. i remembered my mother-in-law saying "wouldn't it be neat if you got to see their first flight"? i pondered the thought while staring out the window, all snug in my chair. then i decided i'd go check on my garden. what's that got to do with the baby bird, you ask? just wait... so, out in the backyard i go. as i approach the garden, i am suddenly aware of loud "chirping" eerily near me. i glance to my left, just up from the horizon, to see a bird flying quickly toward me. crazy bird. then, i hear the "chirping" again... only this time it sounds a little more irritated. i (again) glance to my left, and see a bird flying toward me. only this time, it is intently flying at me, like it wants to play "chicken". what the heck? this bird is after me. so what do i do? take of running, of course. the bird chases me... to the porch. when i make it to the porch, i'm thinking about the bird trying to attack me, not the fact that my flip-flops are wet from the dew on the grass, or the fact that concrete can be a tad slippery when it gets wet... now, i'll let you use your imagination (hope you're enjoying this).

i'm not sad to see the p.m. babies go. they left the poop. it would have been nice if they'd done a little clean-up, but don't worry little p.m.'s... i'll get it...

hooray for the kiddie park!

friday night we loaded up the circus and headed for the "kiddie park" in bartlesville. when we told the kiddos what we were doing, cale wanted to know if there were gonna be lots of cats there... ah, ha, ha... he's so funny! so anyway... yes, it was hot. yes, they were up past bedtime. yes, they passed out on the ride home. yes, we might be a little bit nuts for taking them, but...




there were bumper cars...


and a roller coaster (that even the big kids love)...




and a carousel with daddy...







and buggie-sized cars...



and yummy snow cones (that we should have just had a straw for)...





and speed boats...




and even a buggie-sized buggy!

what more could one circus ask for?

meet the quints...

these are the purple martin (hereafter knows as p.m.) babies that are being raised by their little p.m. parents on our front porch. 2 days ago, all we could see was their little beaks peeking over the side. and now look at them, all grown up, getting big and brave... i'm so proud... (sniff, sniff).

every year the p.m. parents come to one of the corners of our front porch. why the porch on our ranch? why not the neighbors... there's no one there. whatever... so, this is the 4th year in a row we've "assisted" the little p.m. parents in welcoming new p.m. babies into our neck of the woods. we've usually had three or four, but as you can see, this year we have five. by the way, i use the term "assisted" very loosely... we just give them a home, wash the poop off the porch (frequently), and avoid the front door at all costs (for fear of being divebombed)... that's all.

yes, we keep knocking the nest down, but they keep coming back. this time (as usual) they built their nest and had eggs before we realized it. gracie had an ever-lovin' (yet another word that might not be one, but i've just used it so now it is...) meltdown when daddy said he was going to take out the nest. she "knew" there were babies in it. of course, she was right... so we left it. what would you have done? is this one of those times you teach your children about the laws of nature? ok, so it's not a law of nature, but you know what i mean. we could've told her what poppy always says... "it's just part of life". oh well, i guess it's a good little science lesson. anyway, daddy couldn't bear to take down the nest with gracie melting, so now here we are.

hopefully, soon enough, they'll be venturing out on their own to fly, eat bugs, and poop somewhere else. until then, we'll just keep doing what we're doing... hope they appreciate it...

party, party, party!

i picked everyone up tonight and the following conversation occured on the way home... (you're thinking "what now?" and rightfully so knowing us)...

grace says "hey mom, i've got the best idea"... "what's that?"... "i think we should have a big party tonight and invite everyone we know" she replies. "um, gracie... i don't think that's gonna happen tonight." "but mom, it would be so much fun, and we can make some decorations and eat pie!" "gracie, why do we need to have a party? what are we gonna celebrate?" "i don't know..." she says, "do we need a reason?"

so, i start thinking... hhmmm... the girl has a point. do we need a reason? really? we could celebrate that it is wednesday... or that it is june 16th... or that daddy is coming home (even though he's only been at the office since this morning). in case you're wondering, the final answer is... no. no, we don't need a reason! so, i agreed to a seriously scaled down version of the party gracie was already having in her head... this time it's gonna be just us... and some homemade decorations... and some pizza. the best part was when they got to surprise daddy.

then, things really started getting crazy! that's right, we are a crazy circus! lily ate an entire piece of pizza (yes, you read that right)... porkchop ate his fair share as usual with two drinks (a capri sun in one hand and koolaid in the other)... and gracie busted out the worm (you know, the dance???) in the middle of the living room floor. at that point, we had to shut it down for fear of the sheriff showing up. maybe we should rethink mid-week parties... nah, maybe we'll just go outside for a while.

so, out we went to see how the garden has grown since yesterday... take a peek. i think i need a bigger garden box...

i turn around from taking garden pics to find millie laying in the sandbox while gracie and cale are playing. she's so sweet! and no, don't even ask, cause you can't have her. (now tucker, that's another story... just don't tell kyle).


whew... what a night this has been! an impromptu party, out surveying the ranch, and a big dog (our livestock) who thinks she's one of the babies... i'm going to bed. nite.

she played with what?

i started writing to tell you about my new camera, but my hubby is watching seinfeld and they are talking about urinals... i had a flashback... so, i'll share...

one night, many moons ago, when gracie was little (probably 2-ish) we went out to dinner with our family. we're all sitting at the table and gracie decides she needs to go potty. at that point, i was rather preggers with cale, so kyle offered to take gracie... to the mens restroom. so, off they go. when they return a few minutes later, kyle's face tells me there's something going on. he tries to prepare me with "now honey, don't freak out"... what can happen in the restroom, i wonder? i've never been in the men's restroom, but how bad can it be? did she see something? did she play in the toilet? uuuhhhhh... no. kyle proceeds to tell me that while he was "otherwise occupied," gracie was playing with... well, the urinal mint (this is the part where everyone but me starts laughing hysterically). so i think ok... why's that a big deal? what's a urinal mint? they have breath mints in the bathroom? why? then he tells me... now, i could explain it, but it wouldn't do it justice, so i'll let you imagine my monumental freak out. our family, the entire family, was quite amused (acutally, most of them were crying from laughing so hard). i, on the other hand, was not... not so funny to the mama. he assured me that he'd washed her hands about a hundred times... like that's supposed to make me feel better. really?

aahhhh... good times...

now that i've gotten off on that little side story (which i hope you thoroughly enjoyed), i'll have to save camera info for another time. i'll just say that i love it and am so excited to be taking lots of pics... but not of urinals... or mints...

ahhhh... the slip 'n' slide

well, the slip 'n' slide is back. oh goodness no, not for me, but for my babies! and i must say, it is better than it was when i was little (one of the few things!). back then, we had to use a sprinkler... our own. now, they have built in sprinklers! what the heck? what happened to a tarp, sprinkler, and some baby soap? right, aunt b? i know, i'm sure they've been fancy-schmancy (and yes, that's a word... cause i just used it) for a while now, but i've not had the need for a slip 'n' slide for quite some time... i'll refrain from telling you just how long.

as you can see, gracie and cale loved it! their sweet daddy had them lay on the slide and he pushed them... many times.

lily had fun playing in the spray and pool at the end. actually, she was just eating grass...

gracie and cale had a little trouble with the whole "run and then slide", so daddy decided to show them how it's done...

and no, that's not an action shot... that's where his ride came to an end.

garden update

check out my garden!

i am so proud of us! my tomatoes have taken off and the zucchini and squash are "growing like weeds" (ahhh, ha, ha, haaaa!). sorry... couldn't help myself. anyway, the zucchini and squash have little buds all over them. there are lots of grape tomatoes and one cherry tomato so far. i know no one is as excited as i am, but play along, would ya?

this weekend we were at a birthday party for one of gracie's little friends and i experienced (for the first time) garden envy. it was also their first garden, but was 5 times the size of mine, and in full growing mode. it was awesome. i just stood and stared in total awe. it's definitely making me rethink next years' garden. look out, honey, next year we are going bigger! focus honey... garden... not boobs.

gracie's handiwork...

honestly, i don't know what to say other than, one day gracie will pay dearly for doing these things to him. minnie said we should warn little gracie... i (politely, of course) reminded my mama that no one warned me.

the night the circus went to a baseball game...

i know it's been a couple of days since i've blogged, but i've got a pretty good excuse... the internet has been down out at the ranch... sometimes it's rough living in the country... all sizes of spiders, critters, snakes (doesn't really matter what kind or how big... they give me the creeps!), satellite tv that stops working when the wind blows, and now the sketchy internet... even with all those cons, i still don't want to move back to town!

now, i've got a little story for you. it involves the circus, a baseball game, and one tired mama & daddy...

on a very recent thursday night, we took the fam to a local baseball game. what, you ask, would possess you to do such a thing? the answer is... not a clue... maybe we can plead insanity...



anyway, it started out ok. we had hot dogs, chatted with our friends, ate cotton candy. and then the game started... first, cale wouldn't sit. then, lily needed to eat. then, gracie needed to go potty. and then... and then...

after much debate (should we stay or go?), we decided to take them for dippin dots and to sit on the grass over by the outfield. good idea, right? no. cale dumped out his dippin dots, and then screamed cause he wanted more. some mommies (the very sweet and patient kind) would use this moment to explain to their child why we don't dump out our ice cream in the pretty grass, ask them not to do it again, and then probably buy another bowl. however, i am not that mommy! instead, i told him if he wanted more, he could scoop up what he'd just poured out, and eat it... so he did... and daddy helped him pick out the grass. i think i made my point! score one for the mama!!!

by the time we got porkchop squared away with the dippin dots, buggie had already swatted at the bowl of pears i was feeding her and managed to get it on me... twice. then came the home run that landed 3 feet behind lily! you know that scary moment when you realize there are people running at you and you have no idea why (remember, i was feeding her, not watching the game)... well, it was all because of the little bitty baseball speeding our way. lily, who was totally unfazed by all the chaos, proceeded to swat the bowl one more time and managed to get the remainder of the pears down the front of my shirt, running between my boobs, and all over my shorts. at this point, it was getting comical. i was done... and i mean done! kyle is usually the one who gets up (no matter what else is going on) and announces we're leaving. this time, it was me. and i meant it... right then. no, we're not stopping to play on the playground. no, we're not stopping for another drink. we practically ran for the car, loaded up the circus, and headed out of town. and, no, they didn't fall asleep on the way home...

the end

how big are you?

how often do you have those moments when you stop, look at your babies, and realize they're growing up? i had one of those moments with each of my kids today... and now i'm a little sad. i don't want them to be babies forever, but i'm not ready for them to be "big" either! i'm just really starting to settle into my ringmaster position...

i was watching gracie talk to a friend this afternoon, and was struck by how grown up she looks... just since this morning. maybe it was the haircut... or the way she talks like a little adult... or... i could keep going, but the point is, she has grown up so much in such a short amount of time.

cale and i were in the car and when i handed him his drink, he said "thanks mom" instead of "sanks mama"... i don't want him to have speech issues... really! it's just so cute! like when he reminds me that he doesn't like "muh-stud"... i usually ask him if he wants mustard just to hear him say it. and, it really makes me sad that he doesn't say "sank you much" anymore, which was one of my favorites.

and then there's buggie... the realization about her came at the moment i had the following thought (as she was wailing): "what is this? really, lily? wait a minute... she's not fussing... is she mad? no... is this what a buggie fit is gonna look like? she's not big enough to try to assert any independence... holy crap... she is... and she's doing just that!!!"

can we finish having fits with one (cale, when you stop screaming, then we'll discuss...) before the next one (lily, get that out of your mouth...) starts? really? is that too much to ask? suddenly, i'm feeling better... not very sad anymore... i am, kind of... but not really...