Cuteness=Trouble

If anyone hasn't seen the lolcatz, they are an experience. You will laugh, you will cry . . . ok, you will just laugh. They are some kinda funny.





I saw this one and immediately thought of my girls. Especially Adeline. She is a disaster area, but she is so cute while she destroys my house--unfolding clothes I am trying to fold, spreading plastic baggies, books, toys, paper, etc all over the house, coloring herself (or walls) when she manages to get a hold of a marker---that it is rather difficult to actually get mad at her. Or she pulls her "sad face" that could melt the heart of the most hardened disciplinarian.

Just look at her:
Ok, so that isn't really the sad face, I wish I had captured it, but she looked away and her lips stopped pouting (the stinker!). But can you please notice the single tear rolling down her cheek? (click on the picture to enlarge if you need to) It will kill you, I am telling you. And she has that single tear mastered. It is a powerful skill. (I only pray she uses her power for good and not for evil!)

And then there is this mess . . .
Now I ask you--what am I to do with that?

Send help! I cannot help but melt before the cute

more lolcatz

What Happens . . .

. . . when you turn a five year old loose with a camera while you are doing farm work?

I will give you a hint: Think of where a five year old's eye level is.

Another hint: she was following us as we pushed hay bales.

Give up?

This is what happens:

Notice the central point of that photo? yeah, that is just really flattering. gotta love shots like that.

And this one:
again, the grass is in there, and our backsides are in there--but our heads have gone missing.
there are about 34 more of those photos--but I won't torment you with that many shots of my derriere.

and next time I turn Lil Bit loose, I will make sure that I am wearing cute clothes, not farm work attire. and that I am posing, not pushing a 1000 lb round bale up a hill.

tomorrow I will post pretty photos, I promise.

If This is Your Cat . . .

Please Get Him ASAP!



and for anyone who has somehow managed to not see one of these, even in photos, that would be an opossum, not a cat

We Are Picassos

And slightly nuts . . .
We have fun withe "photo booth" on my mac computer.

Lost in Thought

Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion: movement that goes on forever. Usually referring to any closed system that produces more energy than it consumes. Such a device or system would be in violation of the law of conservation of energy which states that energy can never be created or destroyed, and is therefore impossible.

The scientists who assert that perpetual motion is impossible have never met a chocolate lab.

Specifically, our chocolate lab. Kallie (short for Kallos, Greek word meaning beautiful) is always moving. Even when she is sitting still--which usually only happens when we have put her in a "stay"--she literally vibrates.

It doesn't matter what dog . . . or child . . . or horse I call, Kallie comes running, shoves her nose in my hand and pleades "pet me, pet me!" Kallie was a rescue dog, had been pretty neglected (because she didn't stay puppy-sized the person didn't want her any more). Like most rescue dogs, truly appreciates the love that is lavished upon her.

When I run in the morning, I run about 3 miles. Pi (our shepherd mix--also a rescue dog, of sorts. she was a barn dog, and very well cared for--but didn't have her own family or much attention.) comes, too, and she runs about 3 miles. Maybe 3.2 due to scent trails she finds.


Kallie runs about 6 miles because she does so much back and forth. Especially if she finds a stick. Sticks are Kallie's obsession. She loves twigs, branches, and would probably carry entire trees around if she could.

Actually, I think that might be a tree she has there. And it lasted about 4 minutes before being broken up into many twig-sized sections. That is about 3 minutes and 50 seconds longer than most sticks last.

Kallie is a great dog. Loving, loyal, and a constant source of energy amusement

Lessons in the Art of Fence Climbing

Farm life has its own set of lessons, its own daily norm. When Morgan was younger, we lived in a neighborhood and we had a yellow line part way down the driveway that she wasn't allowed to cross. Our house was on a court, but I still didn't want her darting out in front of a car, and the line was a great visual. We called it the DMZ or "de-morganized zone". (Can you tell that Chris and I both grew up in military families?)

With Adeline, there is no yellow line. We live a few hundred yards of gravel drive from the road. I could sit on the porch, finish a cherry coke, possibly a fried green tomato, and still catch her a good 50 yards from the road even if she was booking it as fast as her petite little body could take her. Not that I would ever let her get that far.


Also with Adeline, I am not always her main teacher, the way I was with Morgan. Morgan often takes that role, and I sit back, take photos, and enjoy every moment of the sisterly bonding that is occuring. I have two sisters of my own, and I know how precious those relationships are to me.

Molly and I shared a room most of our growing up years, just like Morgan and Adeline. I remember talking at night and in the morning, just like I hear my girls do (well, Morgan talks, Adeline giggles). Molly and I were almost always together--whether I wanted her tagging along after my friends or not--and I wouldn't change a moment of that now.

I didn't have the same opportunities with Becky and I love that our lives have again converged. She is an incredible person that lights up the room whenever she enters. And, as we have been told, all three sisters increase the decibel level in any room we enter (raises a Mimosa to her sisters). That is a trait that has definitely passed on to the next generation.

Morgan is an incredible big sister, and Addie adores her, imitates her. This day, Adeline wanted to learn how to climb a fence and Morgan showed her. It was one of the many precious moments I get to witness.


And Adeline gets to grow up in a world that is bound by horse fencing. And she now knows how to climb it.
I am slightly terrified.

Child Labor--A Look Back

Chris and I have been passing off our work for a long time. That is why you have kids, right? So you don't have to work anymore and can just sit around and watch tv and eat junk food. Here is Lil Bit mowing our yard at age two--look at the determination on her face. (At least she has shorts and shoes on--see, I do actually fully dress my kids sometimes.)

Child Labor

We decided Bitty Bit wasn't pulling her weight around here. She is only 17 months old, so we knew she couldn't push hay bales around like her big sister. There were many other chores that just were unsuitable for such a young Bit. Painting fence is too messy, mopping floors is too slick, etc. After much pondering, we decided that mowing the yard would be a great job for Bitty Bit. It is outdoors and the mower does most of the work. Perfect! She seemed to really enjoy her new job, only getting frustrated a couple times when the mower got stuck.
I took some photos to memorialize the occasion.


I really should put shoes on that child. And pants. Oh, wait, I did. They just came off at some point during the day.
(and that red mark on her leg is stain from some wildberries she and Lil Bit were collecting--they didn't eat any thankfully and I quickly distracted them with something else)


Considering how many acres we have--this might take a while.

Back When Chris Was Slightly Less Old

(Since his birthday is this week, and I posted that really attractive photo of him on Monday, I thought I would share one of him from a couple years ago. We are in Alaska in this photo--in case the sign on the wall didn't give that away! And since this is all in parentheses, I am not really talking and this is still a Wordless Wednesday.)

A Taylor Made Experience

Lil Bit's world is forever altered. And Auntie Molly is the coolest aunt ever.

Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration, at least the first one. But only slight. (And please notice the adorable cowgirl hat--a gift from her very cool "Aunt" Ashley).

Molly, through her friend Natalia (Thank you Natalia!!), secured tickets for Lil Bit to a Taylor Swift concert. And not just the concert: to the Meet and Greet as well.

the concert:




Lil Bit is actually crying here. She does that when she gets overwhelmed with happiness. How precious is that??

And here is the meeting:

Taylor twirled Morgan's hair and commented, "I think we have the same hair." (I agree--it is very similar.)

Morgan told Taylor, "Sometimes I put on my flower girl dresses and run around the farm and pretend I am you." (Taylor thought this was very sweet, apparently.)
Lil Bit does do that:

for those who are unfamiliar with Taylor Swift and don't understand what flower girl dresses have to do with her . . .

Christopher is Old

Well, older than me, at least. Which means I am still firmly ensconced in the "trophy wife" position (I am only three years younger--but I cling to that). I plan on still claiming that title even when I am 50. Or 90.


Aaaand, back to topic.
Christopher's birthday is this week and I hope he enjoys every minute. And that his office pulls some great pranks on him doesn't pull too many pranks on him.

Christopher--every birthday, every anniversary we have together is a reminder of how blessed I am, we are. I never imagined such happiness, or at least never thought that was a realistic idea. You are still my knight in shining armor. You still amaze me every day. You still make me smile every day. And laughter is always present because I finally lowered my expectations enough to laugh at "engineering humor" because you always know how to crack me up.

I love you, Christopher. And to show you how much, I picked the most flattering photo I could find of you . .. .

(he is the "blue steel" on the right)

Two of Our Favorite People

Not Morgan and Adeline, although they are of course our two favorite people. In this post we are talking about Dan and Robin--our friends who gave us a night out and watched the Bits while we were gone. Even if we hadn't liked them already, we would have adored them after that. (ok, if we hadn't liked them already, we wouldn't have left our kids with them, negating that whole idea of liking them after the fact. but let's not get caught up in technicalities.)

I made the crust and pizza sauce (from tomatoes in our garden), and let the kids decorate with Dan and Robin's assistance.

Even Adeline helped. Morgan had all the mushrooms perfectly aligned, Adeline told her older sister to get over that and then just put mushrooms wherever she felt like.

Mushrooms, artichoke hearts, black olives, onions, and peppers (from our garden, too).




See that little red smudge in the crook of Addie's arm? That would be pizza sauce. Considering they are still just putting toppings on, it doesn't bode well for that shirt, does it?

At this point, there are no more pictures of the pizza, because Chris and I left on our date. There are no pictures of that either because two adults sitting at a table eating Portuguese food and drinking wine is not really all that interesting (the food was wonderful, though, I must say). Besides, I think the people at the next table might have resented me handing them my camera and asking them to take photographs.

Our Two Equestrian Bits

(horrid picture of my horse, Annie--she would be mad at me for posting it if she had access to the internet)

You can't tell, really, but I would like everyone to know that Adeline is actually wearing breeches. Breeches which she apparently outgrew this month. Breeches, but no footwear. She really needs to be careful around the barn.

We lead Adeline around the yard several times--she was probably on the horse over 10 minutes--and she still didn't want to dismount. The first few laps around she just sat up there, with a smile but quiet. The last couple of laps she chatted away as we walked along.


And now a look back to Morgan at the exact same age (and on the same horse--Annie).

Both of my girls absolutely love riding. But look how different they are! Especially the hair. (and we thought Morgan had curly hair!)


And for those of you who care about things like this--Adeline is sitting on my Australian saddle on Annie. (say that fast "Addie in the Aussie on Annie. Addie in the Aussie on Annie.") It is a little worse for wear cosmetically, but it is the best saddle I have ever ridden in. I highly recommend Aussie saddles for trail riding or all around pleasure riding. (I have even jumped in this and not had a problem.)

My Husband is Amazing

His skin is darker, too.

because he did this over the weekend . . .







anyone who has painted fence knows how much work is involved. Not just in the painting, but in the cleanup. I think Chris is still scrubbing paint off his skin.

I am amazing, too, just so you know. You won't believe the feat I accomplished this morning . . .

I

French

Braided

Morgan's

Hair.

I know, you are doubting. I would--it is just too amazing. But here is proof.


I totally think my accomplishment, sloppy though it may be, tops Christopher's. Don't you?

Trail Deer

aka Debbie Doe (as named by Robin)


I think if we had dangled carrots or apple cores off of our backpacks, she might have followed us to the parking lot, hopped in the back of the truck, and come home with us.


Debbie had obviously become very accustomed to people camping at this site and leaving food behind. There were times she was less than 10 feet from me. It was neat, but also sad, as she doesn't seem to know how to be a wild animal anymore. Which means she will be in trouble when winter comes and hikers don't venture by anymore. But, hopefully she will re-adapt and will be there to steal leftover apple cores and such from next years adventurists.