Shopping Trip & SICKIES

We had a fun weekend-mostly. We have to go to "the big city" to get anything Wal-Mart doesn't sell. We needed 2 things and ended up getting 3. 1. Dresses for the girls for my cousins wedding and for the little girls to be in a little king and queen contest being held in our small town in Sept. 2. Football shoes, jersey, mouth guard and sox for Bean.

We divided and conquered. The Captain took the boys to get the football stuff, while I took the girls to Von Maur to get dresses. We ONLY looked at the clearance rack. They each picked about 4 or 5 dresses and tried every one on. It was so fun to watch! I kept my mouth SHUT on my opinions and truly let them pick out what THEY wanted not what I wanted-tough to do LOL! $60 grand total!

Purchase #3.....We just "happened" by a western store and wandered in. WyWy REFUSED to leave without all his garb to include hat, boots, black leather vest, shirt with pearlized buttons and new Wranglers. He will also be in the little king contest. Once he tried it all on-there was NO PEELING IT OFF so here he is standing ON the counter at the register as the cashier scans the items.He slept with everything and has for several nights. We were FINALLY able to peel it all off of him Monday night.

Aw-Bell got a fever Friday night and has been sick since. MyMy started a fever Saturday but isn't near as sick. Sunday, I noticed Aw-Bell's breathing pattern change and so I felt a trip to the ER was in order. Since birth, she has struggled with pneumonia and lung issues. I took both girls in but you can tell which one is the sicker.After the chest x-ray, it was determined that she has pneumonia again. She's SUCH a tough little girl. Even having her throat swabbed and blood drawn, she didn't make a peep-proof she was super sick. We have been doing breathing treatments, antibiotics & ibuprofen but she STILL has a fever so I am taking her back in this morning.

I have accepted that this may mean our Florida vacation is cancelled. I know God has a plan for everything and its just a vacation. Her health is MUCH more important.The ER was freezing so the nurse snuggled us all in a blankie!

CHAPS 101!

Twas a chilly day on the farm.... TOO WET to plant the remaining soybeans.
So, The Captain and I rounded up 2 last minute bbsitters and decided to get on the HOG and RIDE! With a high of 65 degrees...it was a day when I needed these...MY LEATHERS PEEPS.

In my life PRE-CAPTAIN, I would have NEVER imagined or FATHOMED myself ever owning a pair of chaps. In fact, I would have been down right REPULSED at the suggestion. BUT, the CAPTAIN has a power over me like no other.

These PUPS are NOT the easiest to get in either. Thank GOD for my large family or I never would get em on.

For me, THIGH EXTENSION CHAPS ARE A MUST. Larger thighs inherited at birth. Aren't they groovy? Sits right on the inner thigh for thigh breathation.You must unzip and unsnap both sides before you pour yourself into them.
Notice WYWY's winter gloves? HAD THOSE ON for 3 days now-oh the stank!
WyWy's thought: "IS MAMA EVER GONNA SQUEEZE IN THOSE BAD BOYS?"Time to sit down, suck it in and try to zip up the legs....."you can do it MAMA!"How many kids does it take to get mommy into these? "How are we gonna do this guys?"Thanks to Bean's help-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! (notice Bit But?)
Last step, get boots on, earplugs in, helmet, shades, gloves & jacket on.
Motorcycle NECESSITIES-In my jacket-IPOD, clinique lipgloss, cash, gum, camera, ibuprofen & cell phone.

We had a nice ride. It was a benefit poker run for Tyler Rieth a 5 year old boy who aspirated and died. The money raised will go to 2 other area children with heart problems. You stop at several places and each one you get a card to add to your poker hand. Best and worst hands win money. We only went to 3 stops before we felt the pull of the six littles.

We met a VERY KIND lady named "DO DA" YES, that is her name. Both her body & Her bike were colorfully decorated with flowers & hearts and a scarf. She was so welcoming. We knew noone else on the ride except for meeting her.

THEN, we ran into our VERY FIRST SOCIAL worker at the first stop-Tyler was her cousin. We reminised about the DAY SHE DELIVERED 2 DAY OLD MY MY to our house-her first foster baby delivery ever and our first foster baby to be received.

We stopped by Dollar General on our way home and got each of the 6 littles a "treasure." SIX BUCKS WELL SPENT!

It was just enough time away to reconnect with The Captain.

I'm STILL SMILING at the thought of cuddling on the bike with The CAPTAIN!

CH CH CH CHANGES...

We've been having a lot of CHANGES goin' on ROUND HERE TODAY!

CHANGE #!...

Jamie offered to babysit the kids when she came in town this weekend to visit her parents for MDay. The Captain is KNEE-DEEP in planting soybeans right now and there was just no way for him to get away. SO..I took "T" out on a date to eat and shop. We closed down TJ MAXX, GORDMAN'S AND TARGET! We ended our night with some apple dippers and fries from McDonalds. We did a LOT of giggling! I'll share my bargains in a later post :)

Here we are ALL GUSSIED UP in our WAL-MART DRESSES READY 2 GO on our date!
Mine $14-T's $3 clearance 2 years ago.

Here we are at Panera Bread. T-with her MANGO SMOOTHIE and me with my ICED MOCHA!CHANGE #2...


Summer time for my boys means butchering... I MEAN...Mama DOES THEIR HAIR CUTS! All with a $5 kit from DOLLAR GENERAL! I figure if I mess up, it'll grow back right??? BEAN-the FIRST VICTIM...

BeforeAFTER

Change #3.....

BYE BYE BIRDIES! Our baby chicks ARE NO LONGER CUTE (and they stink up my garage)!! SO, my friend Deb and her daughter Liz came and took 10 of the 12 chickens to raise and then BUTCHER. I asked her if I could come and watch and she said "sure." Although I know I COULD NEVER KILL MY FRIEND-whether he tastes good or not! But it would be kind of cool to see her do it-I know I'm twisted.

So we have 2 hens that will be DOING THEIR THING and laying eggs hopefully in a few months (if they survive the dogs that is)!Change #4......

My My is NO LONGER AFRAID OF bugs, frogs or creepy crawlies! She was the only one of the 4 littles to BRAVE catching this frog today! SHE WAS SO PROUD OF HERSELF and her new friend "LUCY." Why "LUCY" you ask?

(if you look closely at Lucy's little front right hand-it is pressed up against the window just BEGGING for help!)When The CAPTAIN told her that we would have to let the frog LOOSE, this was the NO!!!! reaction followed by tears and her saying "I DON'T WANT TO LET HER LOOSEY." Then she smiled and said "that's it, I'll call her LUCY." Get it? CHANGE #5...THE ONE THAT BRINGS TEARS>>>>>

As I was shaving Bean and Bit But's heads, Our sweet little WY WY begged for a haircut. He goes to the same stylist I do, we have always been SO PROUD OF HIS HAIR. Let's face it, God gave the boy good hair! SO..I made the call to THE CAPTAIN (remember he's on tractor planting beans) and he gave the GO AHEAD.Here he is 1/2 way through the cut.He was itching from all the hair so I rinsed him off in the shower and VOILA!!!His baby curls are gone *sniff sniff*. He can still be a CHRISTIAN COUNTRY MUSIC ROCK STAR with short hair right?CHANGE #6....

Meet Kure. She has the same EXACT birthday/year as our little MY MY. For Mother's Day, I asked THE CAPTAIN if we could sponsor an ETHIOPIAN child through WORLD VISION for 1 year. THIS IS THE BEST GIFT I could ask for. My heart is with the orphan, it's INGRAINED In my SOUL.

Kure is 4 and has lost both parents to AIDS. She & 2 other siblings are cared for by her older teen brother. The $35 a month we send will help with food, shelter, medicine, school and all her basic needs. We will also be sending her LOTS of letters!

Praying you all have a FABULOUS and BLESSED Mother's Day! I have some surprises in store for my kids-I'll tell ya' later :)

Autopsy, Guests & Easter!

Friday night was such a blessing-my cousin Mark from North Carolina came to THE RANCH for a visit. It was his first time to meet the 6 littles! They really "roughed him up." He has no kids YET so he was VERY LAID BACK with them!Here we are Me, THE CAPTAIN and MARK :) On our way out to an "ADULT" dinner!Oh, what to say about Jamie! She is an angel! She goes on vacation with us-she's THE BOMB! She lives in Iowa now but when she was in college-the summer I had 4 babies (i was KOO KOO FOR COCOA PUFFS then)-she helped me out on her summer break. She still comes home to visit her family and we were BLESSED THAT SHE OFFERED to watch the kiddos & color eggs with them while we were at dinner!

This is Steve-we'd adopt him if we could-just a great guy ALL AROUND!

He came to assist Jamie with THE TRIBE-they love him!Here are our RESURRECTION COOKIES being removed from the tomb! HE'S ALIVE!Some liked them-some didn't! It was an AWESOME way to celebrate the meaning of Easter!We went to our church egg hunt Saturday-it was a beautiful day!When all eggs were hatched-we had 5 that didn't. The 2 big kids donned their gloves & did autopsies on the eggs and this is what we found inside. The chicks were alive and fully developed but just didn't have the strength to peck out. There are many reasons this could have happened which we studied. It was sad but a good life lesson. I will admit-we all teared up at the sight of this but knew it was God's plan.At just 3 days old-our 12 SURVIVOR PEEPS are already losing their fluff and getting real feathers! God is just so amazing-his creations astound me!Easter morning was fun. We missed The Captain and The Oldest. We didn't however, miss Wy Wy's KOOKY Shananigans. He had slight difficulty opening his basket with his winter gloves on. He did wear them, his bandaid, John Deere Green shorts & John Deere shirt ALL DAY.We had a YUMMY breakfast of home made cinnamon rolls (brought by Mark-made by his mom Mary) and hard boiled eggs. We celebrated THE RISEN SAVIOR at home & then we watched the animated EASTER STORY pretty much all day! We missed The Captain a lot-we are very thankful we got to visit with him on the web cam. I cooked a traditional ham dinner which we all enjoyed! It was a great weekend!

Big News-GAP MERGES WITH JOHN DEERE!

I will be the first to admit my family is a little "off".

It did alarm yet not surprise me as we drove into the parking lot of my Aunts 70th surprise party to see this....... My 64 year old uncle wearing a PRAIRIE HAT. Despite the "NONSENSE" we went ahead and parked the car.It was such a blessing to be with so many of the people I love all at once! We celebrated 5 special birthdays. My uncles, My Mom's, My 2 Cousins and My Aunt's 70th.Me with my brother and Barb!My darling niece with My My.One of the highlights for me BESIDES being with those I love was these.....

Peanut butter and jelly cupcakes with peanut butter frosting-the bomb!Then there was the big belly contest. I think the pregnant girl lost to her dad and my dad.Then there was the "CUZIN" photo shoot-LOVE IT!Then there were these 6 monkeys hanging around...

Then there was an OWIE to AW-Bells sweet knee which my Aunt promptly bandaged-she carries bandaids in her purse-so sweet. The six littles were all super good during dinner and since we WERE in "THE BIG CITY", we had some must needed SHOPPING to attend to. After putting MyMy's white sandals on that morning & noticing her toes were hanging over the edge-that was the priority.

SO began the HUNT FOR WHITE SANDALS FOR MY MY. I went to all the stores in the mall while THE CAPTAIN kept the 6 littles entertained in the play area. I found sandals (and many more un-needed purchases) at the last store-yay!

All was well and we promised them one last ride on the escalator (cause that's what us country folk do fer fun) & headed to the car. See the Captain standing at the bottom? Doesn't he look hot holding that Gap bag? I love the way his bag matches his cowboy boots and wranglers.

We got in the car and THATS WHEN IT HIT-Wy Wy-completely losing his mind with a constant scream. He had APPARENTLY seen some JOHN DEERE sandals (he thinks ANYTHING green or yellow is JD) in The Gap and was in a terrible state because we did not purchase these for him-problem was, we never knew they existed. He screamed for a good mile past the mall when THE CAPTAIN whipped a U E (uturn peeps). What a good daddy.

I ran my rear into The Gap in search of those sandals and there they were... John Deere green & $5.99. When I got back in the party bus-his PIGGYS were a danglin! Just dying to put those babies on. Do you noticed the GLAZED look he has-almost as if JOHN DEERE GREEN is his drug. It was only 35 degrees here today or he would have worn em' to church this morning.Here's the little farmer all decked out today after church in his new shirt & the John Deere yellow plastic bandaid from a Dr. kit he's been wearing for 5 days! His lunchtime prayer was precious. He prayed for the big truck, the combine, the big tractor and the little tractor and of course THE HEADER. He is a trip!

This may be our last photo as a family of 9 (the oldest not pictured). Only 4 more days til' our 17 baby chicks join our crazy nest.

I will be VENTING about adoption soon-just don't have the energy tonight-this post WORE ME OUT!