There are boys...and then there are Boys with Brothers!

I told the boys to put away their clean clothes and to pick up their room. Now, under direct whip and chair, they can complete this job in under thirty minutes. However, within an hour, there was a terrible thud. The silence grew. I rushed upstairs with the call of, "What was that?"
"Nothing," was the chorused reply.
I charged up the stairs and swung into the twins' room. No boys. Just a broken table and chair.
I called for the boys and from under beds and out of closets they came. Shame and fear written on their guilty faces.
"How did this happen?"
I was immediately assaulted by three different versions and three different culprits. There was finger pointing, denial and anger.
After examining the debris field I came to the conclusion that they table had died in a bunk bed related incident. I think they were jumping from the upper bunk to the table.
Why? Why would three boys do this?
Were they trying to ride the ceiling fan, again?
Were the launching stuffed animals from the fan?
I try not to ask why too many times. I stopped asking after they all hung out of a second story window with hard hats on. When they put Conner in the dryer. When they crawled out on to the back porch roof.
I have had to rescue Conner from the washing machine (with James cheerfully sitting on the shut lid). I had to rescue Conner from the freezer, and that one scared me. I put a lock on the freezer after that.
And also after that, the boys stole the key and we were locked out of our food for three days until one of them "found" the keys. Which was a miracle seeing as they were hidden in his sock drawer.
Now, those with only one son will wonder why my boys do these things. But there is a difference between a boy and a boy with brothers.
We did get the remains of the table into the hallway. We will see if Pop-pop will be able to fix it.
Total time on putting away the clothes and cleaning the room: 4 hours 45 minutes. A new record.
I am not raising sons, I am raising Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Twins are Seven!!!!!!!

Well, the twins are seven! It is hard to comprehend. While they still want hugs when they fall. I still kiss them good night. I find mittens and fix zippers. But, as I look at them, running, playing and working at school, I realize that they are pursuing independence. The "I an do it, Mama!" has gone to ab unspoken realization, that they just do what ever it is they need, they don't have to show me or prove anything.
It hurts in a small way, but on another front, I cheer these victories. These were my preemies, my way early boys who were expected to have lengthy difficulties.
That is hard to imagine them as less than the normal little boys they are. I watch the mock gun battle with cap guns. I see them digging a whole to the center of the earth, running through a pasture with a magnet to find metal.
They are my happy, wonderful boys. They have grown away from the handicaps of their birth and merely go through what every active boy struggles with: being nice to their sister, sharing, finishing their dinner.
Happy birthday my beautiful boys!

Thanksgiving.....dirt dessert

Yummy, what does everyone want on Thanksgiving? Dirt dessert!
Caitlyn was in charge of dessert this year. She made her famous brownies with the peanut butter chips in them. She also made fabulous dirt dessert cups. These, for those who aren't in the know, are cute cups that look like flower pots. They are complete with flowers and worms. In reality it is crushed cookies, chocolate pudding and some more of the cookies. Add a gummy worm and top with a fake flower. Not only are they yummy, they are so pretty, too!

Before dinner we all had a feisty game of basket-ball. It was everyone against Steve and William. Steve simply stood by the lowered hoop and stuck the ball in. William had the ball taken away one to many times and got his uber-intense look and was like mad man. Tears from Caitlyn, Conner and Will for miscellaneous fouls. James stripped down to his shirt and continued to play after everyone left.

We snacked, we ate, we snacked, we had dinner, and we had dessert. We were miserable, but oh so happy. We enjoyed watching the new Star Trek movie together (ok, new Kirk is way easy on the eyes).
After the kids were home and in bed, Steve had his traditional leftover plate while I stared at him like he was insane.
On Friday the kids helped us decorate. With their superb help we got it ALL up! All of the outdoor lights, two trees and multiple swags.

Saturday was generally a lazy day. The kids helped me take the dogs for a walk at the walking park to get to know Mom's dogs better. I am happy to report that the alphas appear to be reaching a middle ground and we are hopeful for full integration in December!

On Sunday, it SNOWED! Cool, huh!
It hasn't snowed this early since the year of the sick pony:
http://chaosmayhemandtrouble.blogspot.com/2007/11/cold-winter-storm-plus-sick-pony-equals.html

So, winter finally rolls in and we are excited for Christmas!

And how was your day?

Thanksgiving...........

We had a fun Thanksgiving at Mom's house. The kids played a very heated game of basketball and Will dressed for the occasion. He wore a white button down shirt, dress pants and a vest.

The following is thanks to Dean Koontz, "Santa's Evil Twin"


"Well, now Thanksgiving is safely past,
more turkey eaten this year than last,
more stuffing stuffed, more yams jammed
into out mouths, and using both hands,
coleslaw in slews, biscuits by twos,
all of us too fat to fit in our shoes."

Yup, that is how I feel, sitting on the couch wanting to explode!

Volleyball

Oh wow! The improvement in the girls is undeniable. When they first started, most of the girls couldn't serve or get the ball returned. With just a two week span, the girls have gotten a calm and serious demeanor.
They are doing great! Caitlyn served all five that were allotted to her! And smoked them all. She scored the winning points for her team's second game.
Even better, it is fun to watch the girls encourage each other. This is a team sport with the emphasis TEAM!

Go Hitters!

Fine Jewlery

Today Conner came up to me and said, "Look, it matches. It's for you!"

He then handed me a fine necklace made of hand dyed pasta noodles and strung on the finest twine. True to his word, the colors matched nicely with my blue shirt.

So, everywhere I went today, I sported my fine necklace of blue and green pasta.

Take that, Tiffany's!

HAY!

Recently hay was baled in the field just south of us. It sparked a field trip.

Country sleep overs

Caitlyn had her friend, Saralyn, spend the night. At first glance, it seems like a normal thing. They all had dinner. They watched a movie. They went to bed. They giggled and whispered for about an hour. They fell asleep.
It is in the morning that is becomes apparent that mine is not a normal household.
Up early to get dressed, eat smoothies and do chores. Which means, feed chickens and ducks. Move ducks from pen. Feed horses.
Ok, not to bad. They come back inside for pancakes (and to shout my own virtues, I put chocolate chips and reeses pieces in them!).
Then they played for a bit. And then........I had them clean out the barn. They scooped, the wheelbarrowed, they shoveled.
But the reward? See for yourself!

Conner and his response

Ok, I didn't get a post in yesterday due to internet connection errors....so, two for today!

Yesterday Conner needed re-evaluated for his speech language at school. Our SLP, Mrs. Mary Kay is a wonderful woman. She is calm and kind and has a gift with children. Her forms of therapy go beyond science into a true art form.

I sat as she gently guided Conner through the evaluation. She quizzed him on various pictures, getting him to say certain words that are troublesome.

I was a bit shocked, though, as one point to hear him exclaim, "That's evil."
I have seen these testing cards before I couldn't think of anything that would have prompted that response.
I heard him again, "Mom says they're evil."

And then it dawned on me....he had gotten to the picture of the clown. What a good boy and Mary Kay had a chuckle, too.

Hmmmmm, advanced science from a First Grader

When my sweet little cherubs arrive home they instinctively know that I have missed them. In an effort to make up for a kid free day, they kindly disperse their jackets and back-packs in a wide area to make up for their absence.
As I scooped, gathered and grabbed all of the these various items (not to put away, that would be too kind, and I am not! But to be dumped on the offender's head) I accidentally spilled Jim's bag.
Out spilled three weeks worth of graded papers, flyers from past school events, a library book and two items of Tupperware.
Curious, I recognized one as a container that held Spanish rice, his lunch.
But the other one mystified me.
Now, it had a reddish stain in it that recalled spaghetti lunches, but that was well over a week ago. As we know, no first grader would ever, ever leave a food container sitting unwashed for so long.
Upon closer inspection I began to wonder if it wasn't a science experiment, it did have the look of a penicillin farm.
I held it and looked up to see James watching me.
With a sweet, charming grin, he said, "That's for you." And then ran laughing to chase a brother outside.
Nice.
Little does he know, tomorrow I am going to short sheet his bed. So there.

And how was your day?

WARNING GRUESOME HALLOWEEN PHOTOS!

Yes, I am behind on posts.
Halloween was a blast and the kids scored MAJOR candy.
Caitlyn wanted to be a zombie, and I must say she acted the part well.
Will was an Army guy
James was a cop who didn't know how to duck (hence the bullet wound)
and Conner was Harry Potter, it suited him well.

Just a heads up........Somethings everyone should know..

Cyberstalking

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Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk someone.

It has been defined as the use of information and communications technology, particularly the Internet, by an individual or group of individuals, to harass another individual, group of individuals, or organization. The behavior includes false accusations, monitoring, the transmission of threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sexual purposes, and gathering information for harassment purposes. The harassment must be such that a reasonable person, in possession of the same information, would regard it as sufficient to cause another reasonable person distress.

and

A true cyberstalker’s intent is to harm their intended victim using the anonymity and untraceable distance of technology.

Question: What is cyberstalking?

Answer: Cyberstalking is a technologically-based “attack” on one person who has been targeted specifically for that attack for reasons of anger, revenge or control.


Cyberstalking is mych like bullying....let's all work to make the world a better place.

Mice are Nice?

My boys are big strapping boys. They are large for their age, especially if you tack on the prematurity. They run willy nilly after horned toads and lizards, they play with stick bugs and keep moving the ever present rubber snake in an attempt to scare the Mama.
So I figured, when I saw Will running to the house, eyes wide, feed bucket thrown up behind him, that there must have been something significant in the barn.
Now, Shiloh (the grouchy gelding) usually keeps the barn free of cats, dogs, annoying birds and large cowboys, so I didn't consider whatever was out there to be a large threat. Maybe a skunk? I would back away from one of them.
So what did William find? Four fuzzy half grown mice running aimlessly in the chicken feed tub. They were barely two inches long. Granted mice bite and scurry quickly, but they are hardly a foe worthy of retreat.
Had James been out there (he was still in the house, insisting that ever zipper, snap and velcro closure be fastened on his parka) he would have given the mice a thump and thrown them to the chickens (which is what I did).
But Will wasn't going to be a part of the thumping process. He gladly cheered his hen on when the mice were tossed in the coop, but he didn't want to see the enemy secured.
I can only imagine what is going to happen when the giant rat from last winter comes back! :)

And how was your day?

Grrrrrrr sometimes you just have to let it out......

Ok, I am driven to my electronic diary, my venting board.
No, the kids didn't do anything.
No, the animals having done anything....unless you count Moe having impaction colic Saturday night. He is fine now, just had to walk him (and walk, and walk) him through it.
You see, I had a business partner. She was willing to keep all the tax paperwork and filing. Or so I thought. Apparently she hasn't filed anything since the tax cert opened, and now that the partnership is over, has been ignoring all the letters being sent to her by the taxation board. So, they call me. There are about 5 or 6 reports that were never filed and guess what??? Five dollars a report for being late. I can't close down the old tax account until these are cleared.
In a sense, I have to do clean up fro someone else's stupidity and immaturity.
Makes you want to reach out and slap someone.
Luckily, business has been consistent and I can pay the taxes.......but it is the nature of having to clean up a mess deliberately left to you by someone that really is angry and petty.
And if I would to try and call said person to clear this up.....it would all be my fault, she would cry and then call my husband at work to complain. Lovely.
So, I am sitting, working on some orders, waiting for the very nice lady at Taxation to call me back and get all of it mailed to me, because I can be grown up enough about it.


WAIT, a phone call!
ok, I am calm.

Dominga at Taxation and Revenue is my new friend, God Bless you Ma'am for you wonderful help and for going the extra mile!! BLESS YOU!

Twins...................

When my twins still slept under my heart, I could feel their movements and knew when they touched. At first they would lurch away from one another, strangers in a shared space, but as the weeks went by, they touched and bumped constantly. On the ultrasound, I could see them grabbing hands and touching faces, content with knowing they were together.
After their birth, they spent several days apart, each on a separate but similar journey to survive in this cold and dry world. Then after they stabilized, they were put together again and in a short moment, their hands found one another again. They would sleep with fingers stretched, touching one another's faces. They would reach, and stroke and let their fingers drifted over the other. The foreign feeding tubes and eye shields were often slid off and pulled out by the curious fingers.
As they grew large, we moved them to separate cribs, always in sight of each other, but not in touching distance because they would keep each other awake.



During rest times, they often stretched on the floor together, toes tapping legs, hands touching heads. When separated, they would inquire for one another and voice their frustrations at being alone.
When we started them with "big boy" beds, they each had a mattress on the floor, and invariably, we would find that they had rolled, to the center, to touch once again.
They grew even more, and at school, during nap time, they would often stray towards one another, seeking the comfort of that one they had know before birth.

They changed, they grasped their individuality. They had separate beds, different tastes, different clothes. The sought change, they explored at different levels. They sought each other in moments of difficulty and joy.


And now....they are six, gazing firmly at seven. They have touched briefly with reason, but don't fully grasp it. They stand firm with each other, but on occasion against each other. They cheer each other, they support each other and they compete with one another.


And yet....................and yet, the last several nights, when I steal quietly into their rooms, to stroke their soft faces, to kiss their heads and whisper goodnight................they have once again sought each other out. Sometimes on the top bunk, sometimes snugged in the cave like bottom bunk. Arms, draped over each other, fingers seeking that familiar other, legs sprawled and their breathing matching.............as they did when they were new.

Shakespeare quote.....

I mentioned on my facebook page, that Shakespeare was a universal man, his thoughts and writings are as applicable today, as they were years ago.

I found some of my books, and was excited to see that, despite many moves, my copy of the Riverside Shakespeare, unabridged, is still with me.

This one seems to suit my life right now:

"..It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying, nothing."

Macbeth, act 5 v 26

Macbeth, for those who haven't read it, is a woeful tale of ambition and deceit. It is in the story of a previously honorable manwho is lead down a road of fantasy, most in his own head, that leads him to commit dark and terrible acts. Acts that he feels justified about. It is in the end, when his wife commits suicide to escape her conscience, that he realizes the futility of his actions and utters these words. However, like a glacier, his actions are unstoppable. He knows he turned off the correct path, but is incapable of turning around, he crossed a line with his actions and internally understands this.

Yes, this is a departure from my whimsical reflections of my family, but after posting a couple of "overly educated" quotes on Face Book, and getting told that I made other people look stupid (not my intent) I decided, well, my blog is my own! So I can fill it as I wish..............


"As you wish........" (movie quote, The Princess Bride, loved it!)

Laundry Loot

Into every Mother's life, laundry must fall.
In mine, there remains the mystery of
Laundry Loot.
These are all things that I have collected that
have gone through my wash.
Not included are handfuls of dessicated fuzzy wuzzies,
one lizard tail, innumerable flowers, twigs and branches.
Here are the highlights.

Keys

Hardware, not mine.

Money, foreign, domestic and fake

Toys

items to help me "stone wash"

And finally, Huh?

A vinyl shamrock
a seashell (???)
a corn on the cob holder
a bird leg band
and what I think are G.I. Joe's dog tags

Only in my world

Only in my world, do I have a Houdini dog that removes the front panels of wire crates.....

Do I get great satisfaction in running over a snake- multiple times.....

Learn that you can't wear chap stick on a riding lawn mower without the grit blowing back on you and sticking to your lips.

do I have to crate my dog for chasing remote controlled cars.

and only in my world, does James come up to me and say...

"Mom, he's doing it again."
"Doing what? Who?"
"that guy in the mirror, he keeps copying me." followed by gales of laughter.

and I am still searching for where they hid the fake snake.....

and the icing on this grand four tiered cake......

I got a summons for Jury Duty....again.

I think I have gotten a summons at least once a year since the twins were born. One year on my deferment papers I gave the kids occupations: Eater of paper, clogger of toilets, she who falls going up the stairs. They deferred me very quickly that year.
This year I may do something completely different. I might just give my blog address as my reason for my mulligan. I do have a friend her marched her four kids to the courthouse to ask for her deferment.

Now, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to be on a jury and make sure the criminals get their max time. I am a hanging Bob. But why now when I have four young kids? Who will load batteries in the R/C cars? Do the laundry, make a snack and scrub the mystery stain off the wall?
I'll bet it won't be the Court Clerk!

*wink wink* and how was your day?

Holly the Levitating Dog

Conner now is FIVE and he so wanted to start sleeping on his top bunk.
We set him up with his stuff and then thought, poor Holly, she always like to snuggle with Conner
when he went to bed.
We shouldn't have worried.

The ins and outs

My car stalled the other day. Not fun and while I have trusty Bruno (the 15 passenger van) I do like to drive a car that doesn't require a loan to fill the tank. We are guessing it is a clogged fuel filter or something. And yes, to those who mentioned it to me.....we put gas in it.

Cricket ate about seven eggs that she stole off of the counter. They were unwashed and direct from the coop. So after several days of her having a constant stream of......hmmm....output, a call to the vet was placed. I really like the folks at Caprock Vet. It is very easy to explain my issues to them without sounding like I need a huggie jacket (comes with the men in white coats). We are guessing that dear Cricket has salmonella posioning. When I went to pick up the meds for her, they casked if Holly needed some as well. I replied no, Holly doesn't steal eggs, she steals crayons. Her philosphy is, eat crayons and poop a rainbow.

My Mom's dog is also having out put issues and it was a bit of a hassal to get things straightened out. Apparently our town of Portales, doesn't sell kaopectat in pill form. And you can't give dogs Immonium AD. Mom's dog is stressed because Mom had the nerve to visit my sister in sandy Eggo. Haven't seen her and the kids for a little over a year. The one time the poor woman tries to take a vacation.... And apparently Tess (the dog) had her issues when Aunt Claudia was visitng over at my place. This is very unlike Tess and I am sure her guilt over that is making her worse.

Oh, and I am not officially the worst mom ever. I was driving the kids over to Mom's barn to feed her horses. Being in Bruno, James decided he didn't need the seatbelt while off the road. I stop, sliding a bit on our fresh rain (thanks, God!) and SLAM! Face, throat, nose and chest into the front dash. I will have a lot of fun explaining those bruises to CPS.

And how was your day?

Weapons of a Rural Homemaker

Ok, so the boys went to pick strawberries. They came to the door to show me the Larry (toad) they found. I asked them to please put Larry back. Then they come running into the house screaming, snake.

I go out and move the Larry (soon to be eaten by the snake) and hear a rattle and see the edge of the snake. I ask the kids to bring me the shovel. They give me a broom and a flat rake. The snake goes under the fence, into the back yard and under the grill. I hear it rattle, but I see the head and it looks like a bull snake.

I can't get it with just a rake and the kids can't find the shovel. I get the fire extinguisher from the laundry room and blast under the grill. it comes flying out. I cover it with the extinguisher which super chills it. Then I beat it to death with the rake. I take it out, find the shovel which was on the side of the fence, and take off it's head. Bull snake. The body is still moving and it currently entertaining the chickens in the pen. After the sun goes down and the body stops twitching, the birds will eat it. I buried the head.

I need a new fire extinguisher.

Girly Cake

Recently Caitlyn,decided to make a cake. All I did was turn the oven on and put the cake in (and out of course!) The girl did all the rest, including clean up. I am so proud of her. And incidentily, the cake was perfect...very very tastey.

Twin Swim

The twins are getting great treatment at the city pool swim lessons.

James is in tan/green and Will is in Blue/white. Psssst....they are swimming in the deep end!

Girl Soccer too!

Claire grabs a half time hug from her mom

Caitlyn mugs for me at half time

U-8 girl play on a larger field..she's the one in pink taking on the one in blue.

Last Day of Soccer

Will scoring one of his many goals.

Jim gets down to business and racks up some points.

Conner did get a goal. I love this picture.
He is a four year old and should be on a U-5 team, but
he so loves to play with his brothers that he is on a U-6 team.
All of the other players he is against are two years older.
And from the look of this picture..he's doing A-OK!

Last day of Pre-K Water Fun Party

Conner had a wonderful day on the last day of school. As the tradition is in Dora, the final day of pre-school is all about fun. The playground is flooded, they have hoses and sprinklers and water guns. They used the hose in the sand box to create rivers and lakes. They also figured out to haul the hose up on to the play equipment to make a water slide.
The day also featured pizza and cupcakes.
My hat goes off the Ms. Patty and Ms. Kellie for giving us another fantastic year!

My graduation boys.........

My lovely and sweet twin boys graduated on May 14th.
They sang very cute songs and each had a poem about an animal.
James knew all of the lines, it was so cute to watch him mouthing the words.
When asked, Will remarked that he wanted to be a cowboy and James couldn't decide between being a cop or a robber.
They had a wonderful year with Ms. Leisa.

ahhhh.....spring

Two days worth of eggs.....
Hens that are laying....
selling eggs for $2.00/dz
Priceless

Wildlife of the southwest

I received this email showing some of the varied wildlife in the southwest.

Take a look at what shows up at a stock tank in dry weather. Be sure and check all of them.

For those of you that have never hunted in South Texas , sometimes we post motion detector cameras at our feeders/tanks to see what is going on.

Will's Translation

No pictures because Caitlyn busted my camera :(
But I have a funny story.
At church, the older kids (K-5th) go to a program we have called KidsTown. There is singing and crafts and they memorize a Bible verse and repeat it the next week to earn tickets. Tickets are later cashed in for some incredible prizes!
The verse last week was from Isaiah "Thought the grass withers and the flowers fade, the word of our God remains forever" Isaiah 40:8
When asked to repeat it yesterday, Will had his own translation:
"The grass is dead, the flowers are fake but the word of our God stays around."
After we all finished laughing, we gave him his tickets.
That's my boy....right to the point.

Cursed........

The kids and I spent a wonderful evening at the Altursa Spaghetti dinner, guests of Steve and Donna Tuttle. The kids adore "the TuttleMan" and hang all over him. Caitlyn enjoys her time with Ms. Donna.

Mr. Tuttle had to go and ask, "so what crazy thing has happened in you life, lately?" He knows of all of the random and bizarre stuff that goes on. I made the cosmic mistake of saying, "Gosh, nothing really."

Not ten minutes go by before my phone rings and it is Jori. She and Corry aren't home but Andrea (the sitter) just informed them that the horses were loose and in the front yard. I raced the kids to the van, convinced Horse-That-Only-Walks (Dad) to go faster and we drove over to the house.

Jori had beat us there and she managed to get the horses into the round pen. Her gelding, Ruler, had been over to visit Bella, so Corry took the big guy home. Jori used the old bucket of feed lure and the others followed fairly dolicily. Caitlyn and I walked the fence with flash lights and found one down wire and an open gate. Shiloh has a nasty habit of rocking the gate and it is likely that he opened it by mistake. It is now tied.

To make the whole event even funnier, Kathy and Billy, newly arrived from Georgia and the new youth minister at church, were with Jori and Corry. Both like horses, but have little experience with them. I guess at one point Ruler blasted by like a freight train with Bella and Moe in tow. Billy openly admits that he grabbed Corry and swung him around so that he could be behind him! I admit, Ruler coming at me would make me duck!

So, never ask me if anything has happened, and if you do....wait ten minutes!