March Madness

When YOU think of March Madness, I bet you think of the big dance and all the schools sending their boys to play basketball to get to the sweet sixteen, elite eight, final four, etc... When I think of March Madness, I think of those things, too, but in a TOTALLY different context. I always think of filling out my brackets in conjunction with just about missing the whole "get to the hospital" part of having a baby.

On Sunday, March 13, 2005, our sweet Blossom was born on the floor of the elevator lobby on the labor and delivery floor at the hospital, (just an hour or so after the brackets were available online). That is due, in a large part, to March Madness. Pops and I always fill out a set or two or three of brackets and compete against each other for no prize other than bragging rights. (I have been the proud braggart many many many many years...) It took some time to get our old slow printer to get brackets printed out on high quality color prints! Sheesh, draft in black and white might have gotten us a room at least!! Anyway, March Madness is definitely a fun time in our family and this day, March 13, is a special day for our Blossom.

This year, we had a party - but it was early, last Thursday! Geemah wanted to join the fun and what child would turn down the option of a party EARLY to open a few presents!?!! Not ANY of my children!! So, party we did with two other families that we have met... both homeschooling families and one currently is living an RV Life adventure and the other (we met last summer) has settled in the area and has hung up their RV Life for now, just as we have. It was a ton of fun! Now, I think I'll just close my proverbial mouth and share the pictures!!

Everyone begins singing and she wonders if she should join in!?!!!

Find mom with the camera and smile when you are feeling unsure of what you should do!!

Make a wish... a GOOD 7 year old wish!

Blow out the candles... a "7" and 6 magic wand candles!

TOO MANY A few presents to open... this one is from Aunt JoJo who is in Illinois and

couldn't join in the fun, this year. But, I think Blossom is EX.CIT.ED that there is one from Aunt JoJo!!

"Toy Story" is kind of a big deal for our family... Bump LOVES the characters. Blossom loves Jessie

(the doll pictured above) and is always running off with Bump's Jessie doll...

Aunt JoJo solves the problem with a Jessie doll for Blossom.

(Seems as though Bump is struggling with HER having a Jessie doll. He thinks it should be his!!

Sigh... Working on it!)

Group Kid Photo...

(some of the children ARE missing from the photo - total 11 at the party, 2 stayed at home to avoid germ spread!!)

that they all enjoyed so much more the "silly face" time!!

Happy Happy Happy 7th Birthday, Blossom!!

We love you and all the March Madness you bring!!

Back to Reality

Well, it is official. Geemah has gone home. We have been struggling to get back to "normal" and it is always very hard for the treekids!!

When most company comes for purely a visit, I tend to let the house go a bit in order to enjoy the company. That means that I have... at least 7 or 8 loads of laundry to start (after the 4 I have done since Geemah left - and she ran 3 or 4 loads while she was here! REMIND ME, dear friends, to always keep up with AT LEAST the laundry while I have company!!) and the rest of the cleaning can be done quickly with the help of the treekids.

Well, it SHOULD be able to be completed quickly! But, they suffer from post-company-let-down. They are all in a funk around here. There are long faces, "we're bored" statements, "where's Geemah?" from Bump, and the general discontent that comes after the excitement of Geemah's visit. Along with the post-company-let-down, there is the "WHAT? We have to do something that looks like real life or real book learning? WHAT? I think that my toes can drag in this dirt a little longer..."

This is my lovely mom. I love her! Isn't she just great?!?!

I dropped her off at the airport in OKC on Saturday.

The kids and Pops stayed home... Branch couldn't contain

her "So long, see ya next month" tears.

It was a GREAT visit that none of us wanted to end!

So, things that would normally take us 20 minutes are taking 2 hours... and here it is, the end of the day and I am finally getting back to my computer. I love reality - and it seems that I like it uninterrupted. However, I love the interruption!! What a contradiction.

Anyone have any great awesome tips to share about how they keep reality going while they have company at their house? Somehow, the under the bed area shouldn't be packed full of laundry worn for 30 minutes, toys played with for 20 seconds and the like. Laundry SHOULD be dropped in the appropriate sorting basket... How do you accomplish this in your larger families?!?!!! Do you just have to put on the "mean mom" hat all day long to keep it in tip top shape, or have you found some other great motivational methods!?! Please do share!!

In the mean time, I will be missing my mom... and waiting anxiously for her return (with my dad) next month! FUN FUN FUN!! (So, pony up those tips quickly so we don't do this craziness again, next month!!)

The Call (Part Two)

I truly am sorry to have not gotten back to the horn here to share more of the calf story. We have just been having fun being with Geemah and doing some other things. BUT - I am here to tell some more of this crazy story that we call our life! So, put YOUR seat belts on ... here we go!

CLANG... CLANG... CLANG...

OH, NO! The gate on the back of that trailer swung wide open! I muttered under my breath, "Good thing THEY didn't buy any cattle tonight. Sheesh, who doesn't shut the gate and make sure it is latched before heading out." We sauntered over to the truck and when we were nearly there, I pushed the unlock button on my keyless remote key fob. Fancy that! I like the lights to come on as we are arriving so I can see if anyone is lurking around. (I guess I'm cautious, that way.)

And, you would NOT believe how good my cautiousness turned out to be!

As soon as my headlamps turned on, a red angus cow went running across the beams... SHOOT! That trailer DID have cattle in it! Oh, no! There is another one up on the highway! The cars driving along the very narrow (with next to no shoulder) highway at 65 mph came to a complete stop.

Pops ran back into the sale barn office to let them know. Then he and another guy went running and chasing cattle back toward the pens. I got everyone situated in their respective safety belt and turned the truck around so that the headlamps could shine on the cow that Pops and his new teammate were chasing!

A cowboy and cowgirl on horseback went tearing out to the highway, readying their loops to throw around a neck.

Pops and his teammate got their cow ran up to the pens and the cowboys in there got her where she needed to go while Pops and his teammate went looking for more loose cattle.

I drove over to the pens to get ourselves out of the way and to be where I needed to be to pick up our bottle calf when all the commotion died down and the cowboys could get the right calf out of the pens for us and into our large dog kennel (yes, I DO find that humorous!!)

While we were waiting, the rest of the cows were brought over and set up in their very own cozy pen. Safe from the moving traffic!

It wasn't long before we were being backed up and put into place to receive our calf. OH, my! What a cute little thing we had purchased! The children decided while it was pitch black out that our new little black baby bull calf would be called Buckley.

But, as they were pushing the calf into the dog kennel, Branch said, "I don't think that calf looks very black to me. I think it might be a red one."

(Look! His hair is the color of STRAW!!!)

Either way, that calf was secured - with the latch on the kennel door and the tailgate of the pickup- and we were on our way!

Well, on our way, right after we stopped along side a truck and trailer to ask if he'd checked the latch on the back of his trailer door!! He said he was out double checking everything before taking off to get to Minnesota! SMART!!

We got the calf home, out of the truck and settled into its straw right after Pops helped it into our world!

The Call (Part One)

We have been talking about getting a bottle calf (or two or three or however many will fit around the pens!) for quite a while. Well, ever since we moved here to this acreage - only a few miles from the sale barn!!

So, the last few weeks we have made little attempts at our bottle calf endeavor. Pops took the kids to the sale barn where they had a great lunch and missed the selling of the bottle calves!! Oops! So, we learned what time the littlest calves were sold.

Last week, while Pops was out of town, I decided to "let my fingers do the walking" and I called down to the sale barn to see if there were any bottle calves being sold. Nothing to buy to feed a bottle.

So, I was asked if I would like to be put on a list. Uh, well, sure! Put us on a list and let us know if anyone needs a home for a bottle calf!

So, two days later... Pops got home from Georgia, we were finishing eating our supper and my phone rang.

"Is this Erica?" barked through my phone. "Yes," I responded tentatively. "Well, we've got a black baby bull down here at the sale barn. Do you want it?" "Uhmmmm. Well, hey, you know what? My husband is right here, why don't you talk to him!"

So, they tell Pops the same story and he wants more information about this calf and they don't really seem to know anymore - like even how many days old this calf is!!

They tell him that the calf is headed into the sale ring right now and what is our top bid if we want him. Pops gives them our top dollar and the person on the other line says "I'll call ya right back if ya get it" and hangs up. All this starts at about 7:00 on a Friday evening. This is a "special" sale at the sale barn.

We realize that if we actually get this calf, we are not prepared! So, we get to throwing all the dishes into the dishwasher and Pops calls the local Tractor Supply Company and we discover that they will be closing at 8:00.

We wait 10 minutes and don't hear back from the sale barn, Pops assumes that we have been outbid. I continue to get the kitchen in order and shoo the kids off to get their socks and shoes on! Bump has heard the conversation about cows at the sale barn and wants to go! So, we'll go anyway.

About 10 minutes later, the phone rings. "You got the bull." They proceeded to tell me the price, which was $120 less than our top dollar bid!! But, now we had to dig the large dog kennel out of the garage and toss it into the truck, load us all into the truck, and get to TSC before it closed to get bedding (straw), bottles, milk replacer and maybe some colostrum since we have no idea how old this calf is!

We jet up to the bigger town to get the supplies we need and Pops calls them to let them know we are on our way and we will be rolling into their parking lot as they are going to be shutting and locking their doors. He asked if they would be so kind as to collect the few things that we will need to purchase and have them at the registers - and they happily provided that wonderful service for us!

We arrived in the parking lot and the customer service employee was waiting at the door for us. Pops ran inside, paid the bill and threw it all in the bed of the truck. Then we raced on back toward the sale barn to get THERE before they closed up shop! We pulled in and got our calf paid for, and had a bit of time to go and sit and see the end of the sale - about 8 or so heifers left to sell.

At the end of the sale, we gathered ourselves up and headed back out to the truck to get in line to pick up our purchase. But, as we were walking out of the front doors, we watched a truck with its cattle trailer going awfully fast and stop short, make a right hand turn onto the highway and then... CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!

More of the story tomorrow - Geemah's flight arrives in a few hours, we are so excited to have her come and stay for a while!! But, I need to get supper started and a few other things done... suspense is good for you!!