Adventuring out West!!!

Tomorrow we will set off on an adventure, yet again!

Pops will arrive at the airport around lunchtime, we'll pick him up with a freshly packed case of clothing and we'll be on our way! Pops has two conferences to work in Southern California. So, the kids and I are tagging along on the very long drive to soak in the experience!

We will be in Anaheim for the first half of the week and will finish the week in San Diego. I suspect that on the day that he has "off" in the middle of the week we will make an attempt at seeing "The Mouse." Bump loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon, so it might be a hit for even him! Tinkerbell is fresh on both girls' minds and Bud will love roller coastering and rolling his eyes at princesses. If we go, my question is: "NOW, can we never return??" I know - what a stick in the mud I am! I am just really not a fan of the craziness of Disney.

I am, however, looking forward to returning to the San Diego Zoo! I really thought that it was all that it was hyped up to be. I liked their layout, the bus system in the zoo, the overhead sky tram, the panda exhibit... yes, the list could go on and on! I am also looking forward to the beach. Oh, how I have missed the ocean. The sounds, the smells, the feel of the spray on your face, the sand between your toes pulling away in the tide... Yep - I'm ready!!

So - if this is where we are going... any suggestions??

• Legoland - what is it, what did you think of it?
• Museums - which ones are great for kids AND adults?
• Beaches - ones to hit/ones to stay clear of?
• Disney - what here must we do/see/try??
• other places????

Holy Long Hiatus, Batman!

Don't even know where to begin... Yes, you were very quiet like my last post requested for the birds... but they are long gone, and so are we!! Sometime around July 1st, we moved from the little acreage after selling the calves, finding homes for the ducks and chickens and (sadly) finding a new home for the little dog. We didn't find another rental or a house to purchase, so we moved ourselves back into our 5th Wheel Travel Trailer and all our earthly non-essential possessions into a storage facility about 1/2 mile from our RV park. I sort of thought it would last a month or so...

It was a very hot summer. We wished for a quick drive up into the mountains or out to the Pacific Coast!! Instead, we made some good friends, visited the Science Museum of OKC often, did some visiting with family in Nebraska, Illinois and Ohio, read lots of books and spent lots of time at the library, kids went to VBS and Totus Tuus at church, they took swimming lessons, the girls went to a week-long choral camp, we went to a couple of rodeos and otherwise just had a fun time together!

We have been continuing the fun this fall and have learned a lot (including a bit on stringed instruments), played much, visited The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, a ski resort off-season in Avon, CO, Zion National Park in Utah, a variety of things in Las Vegas including attending the PBR Finals and a day trip to Death Valley National Park, a quick stop visiting some of our friends we met in Oregon that have moved to Arizona and finally the long haul home to "home sweet home, RV" through New Mexico - a new state for most of us - and the panhandle of Texas, where we made a quick stop in Groom, TX to see the ginormus cross on the interstate. We thought we would be done traveling for a while after that long jaunt!!

But, what d'ya know... we did a fair amount of traveling back and forth to Nebraska - soon to be home to our family again! Pops took a new position with the company he has been working with since 2007!! This new position will have a fair amount of traveling and he will need to be near an airport!! We are hunting for a great place to live and are ready to sell our RV, again!! It has been good, but it seems everyone is ready for a little space again. Hopefully, we can settle into a new home before the first of the year... it's good to have goals, right!?!

So, that is where we are... in transition, yet again!!!

There are many pictures to share (I suppose that happens after a 5 month hiatus...) so, I have some in a slide show here... you'd be scrolling forever to see these 54 I have chosen to share for now!!  Enjoy!

A Family Treehouse June 2012 -Oct 2012 - free slideshow maker with music

Wordless Wednesday: Do Not Disturb (the front porch)!

Child's Art for Sale!

A quick update: YIKES! We are house hunting in earnest... our landlord accepted an offer and has a contract to sell this house. So, we will be moving in early July or sooner. Such is the reason for my absence on the WWW... I will try to get on here to post some fun as I am able - for now, I can't commit to every day during the week - I'll see what I can do! Without much further ado - here's a bit of fun to share:

Yesterday was a beautiful day. In the morning, Blossom drew some pictures. After lunch she decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand. But, the old lemonade stand is Branch's and she really wanted to do her own thing. So, she dragged the little picnic table out in the yard across the driveway and "set up shop" and let everyone know she was open for business and would have a nice guard dog.

Pops said, "Say, wha?" Yea, gather up your money... Blossom has opened for business, you had better go find out what she is selling!

I snuck around the side of the house and took a few quick pictures before letting my presence be known! I thought she was so cute sitting out there with her big ol' pink piggy bank! I was wondering, though... how were her papers staying still in the Oklahoma breeze!?!

Well, all of the art was stored in a box behind her and she was bringing each piece out for a look. So, she started with showing her animal art.

The bottom one is a tree with a nest on a branch and a mama and papa bird who are caring for their 4 eggs. She was pretty thrilled to tell me about that one! There is a black bunny rabbit there and I am not sure what kind of bird the one under Pops' hand is. Oh, and I think that maybe there is the skirt of a fairy on the one under the bunny...

She continued to show all of the pieces - they are stashed in her box on the ground. She would announce what it was and then laid it on the table. (I love how Branch is grinning in this one! She is definitely remembering her first entrepreneurial tries with her lemonade stand!)

I helped Blossom a bit and told her it might work to her advantage to think about what her customer might like to have for art in their space. She thought Pops would like the barn or the horse best. Here she is re-presenting her horse...

She was telling a bit about what kind it was. Pops wanted to know if the horse was foundered.

She responded, "Well, right here is where I put on its shoes. Don't you see them?"

Pops decided to go with the horse and Branch put the rest of her art away. Pops was getting ready to pay for his choice...

 and Blossom pushed her piggy bank forward for him to fill 'er up.

He put in several coins and she watched like a hawk! Next customer, Branch! She wanted to see the fairies that Blossom had available.

Blossom laid out her three favorites and Branch pointed to this one and said, I want that one...

then pointed to another one and said she liked it, TOO! So, she made her purchase of two pieces of art.

Blossom was thrilled and put the coins right in her bank! I ended up purchasing the fairy still in her hand and another animal, after I went inside to get a "paper dollar" after she sighed when Branch walked away and she muttered, "I was really wanting some paper dollars for my beautiful art."

After my purchase, I put together a plate of cookies and sent them out for her next customers... Bud and Bump went out with a fist full of coins. Bud bought most of her art - all but two pieces. Bump bought one and she was left to sit at her table with one lone piece of art. She continued to send in messengers about the last one is about to go, don't miss out! I was really wondering how long she would sit outside without a buyer!! She probably sat there (with a plate of cookies) for 20-25 minutes before the UPS driver pulled up!

They worked a trade of sorts. Blossom was generous and gave her newest customer a complimentary piece of her prized (and signed) art since she was "new" and the UPS driver ooohed and aaahed appropriately. She promised she would take it home and proudly display it on her refrigerator. Then she went into her truck and brought out a little treat dog bone for the little guard dog! 

Blossom started today with making art. She plans to have another afternoon sale if you are available to stop by, I bet she'll be open! (Or she'll open just for you!) She hopes the UPS driver will be back today and will make a purchase! You go girl!!

Focus Pocus Friday: Happy 65th Anniversary!

I haven't gotten my laptop all squared away, so I don't have access to the photo that I did want for today... I have a picture from about 3 years ago that I wanted to share. But, this one will have to do. It is from 4 years ago! This is the big three treekids with Pops' grandparents, who are celebrating 65 year of marriage this year!! There is a celebration this weekend in their honor. What a wonderful wonderful and amazing thing in this day and age where people get "married" for a month or a year and call it quits. Here we have 65 years of marriage!!

65, people!! 

Pops and I got married when I was 22 years old. To be married 65 years, I will have to get to the ripe old age of 87!! Hoping I make it!! Pops will have to be 89 and turning 90 the following fall!! WOW! Yikes, eh? Well, whatever the age when you make to 65 years of marriage - that is spectacular!!

Congratulations, Great-Grandma Maryann and Great-Grandpa Richard!!!!!

Lost in somewhere-Land?

Okey Dokey... Just in to say - I am STILL here, we have not blown away in an Oklahoma Tornado or other big wind (and let me TELL you... these big winds can be BIG! I had forgotten, living in an Oregon town with an average wind speed of 2.1667 mph!!); we have not been washed away by the 6+ inches of rain that we received over the coarse of 2 days (our little run-off pond is looking quite a bit better thanks to that rain, though)! We are still here plugging away.

You wanna know why I was absent all last week?

The whole answer and nothing but the truth answer?

OK - that's what I'll give you, just know that you can skip the whole story and be satisfied by "I am a mom with a busy set of 4 children, a funny farm, home learning, etc... and all of that got in the way of my blogging." OR, you can continue to read, but I leave that up to you and hold you responsible for the information that fogs up your brain. Amen, alleluia, where's the tylenol.

OK - all the way back to the "beginning of the end." I posted on Friday April 20th a "Focus Pocus Magic Moment" on our iMac - a big ol' imac computer that has easy access to old photos. As I finished the post, I saved it and went to use my macbook on the coffee table where I have cookies enabled that help a whole lot with things like finding that site that had the linky tool to allow link ups with my post. I was busy working away and nearly ready to head out with the family to the library book sale - so the treekids could gorge themselves on $0.25 books! I was hurrying and UPS arrived with my Amazon.com order for a couple computer games that work with a mac. Pops hollers that he wishes he would have known I was ordering from them since he needed a book ordered so that he could read it before a meeting that he was having to attend (ironically, he's on a plane for that destination today). I finished up my post and began the hunt for his book.

The book would not ship from amazon for 2-3 weeks. If you do the math, he would be flying away before the book would even ship. So, that wouldn't work. BN.com has the book in a nook book and paper available to be here within 3 business days. While the nook book would be instant, it wasn't charged AND Pops likes to use his red pen and mark up a book to his liking. SO, I began to hunt for an online coupon. I should have just ordered it, but I didn't. I felt that I needed to save a WHOLE dollar on my purchase. (That was a lot of wasted time for a dollar and I had to end up buying another item to get that discount - I was planning on purchasing it, but just not quite yet.) As I was trying to finish up my order, Bump came running into the room and I put up my arm to hold his enthusiastic and loving self back a bit but he swung his arm a little wide and with that... WHOOOOOSH... He knocked over my little bottle of diet coke. (That I did not have the lid screwed onto, that Pops had suggested and chastised me for not doing. I do not like the extra fizziness that seems to be in bottled soda. So, I usually pour it into a cup with ice - I think I would likely have had the same situation occur.) There was a towel laying there that I used to mop it up. I got everything mostly dried. I shooed everyone outside and I took off the back of the laptop and mopped up the teeny amount of coke and then took to it with a hair dryer (as suggested online on my iMac, now sitting alongside.) They recommended allowing the computer to sit and dry out for a week or so. I have not had the time to put it back together and turn it on. Because once I do turn that computer back on, I will be transferring all pictures immediately to my external hard drive. I don't know if things will short out after I turn it on, I don't know if there was much if any damage done. BUT, I know that it has been a stress this past week. I could have gotten on here and just told all about it like I am now...

BUT, we also had an additional stress added to our life! Our landlord decided to go ahead and put the property up for sale. SO, we have had about 8 showings in the first week. I hope that things either slooooooooooow down or they sell it so that we know what we are up against and can just move on. We have considered buying the property, but there are still many things to consider as far as if it will work out for us or not. My "computer time" this past week has not been used for blogging. I have been hunting for A.) a new rental acreage and B.) the Perfect home to purchase. I haven't found either, yet. I think that we will either need to change our search criteria or redefine "perfect"!!!

I am usually a photo blogger and rarely just post my novels. But, I haven't many current photos on this picture to make a nice picture story... So, I will just share this photo from May of 2008. I thought that my old dog looked old then... when I see her now - sheesh, she looks almost like a pup in this picture!!

I hope to get my laptop back together with photos all saved onto a external hard drive tonight - but it might have to wait until tomorrow night! Cross your fingers that I can retrieve my photos!!

Mabel the Heifer's Reply

After Bump gave Mabel the cattle whispers... she thought about what he had to say for a minute and then...

She responded in this manner:

She really busted a move to show her stuff and let him know that she was the main event, eh?!

She was running - coming and going - but NOT stopping and being still!

And when she ran out of steam,

She licked her nose. (In all fairness, she learned it from Levi picking his nose. And I share only because this blog is an accurate historic record of the lives of our family. I must say that picking his nose is something that he is good at right now. Well, Bump is good at sticking his finger in his nose and digging around - not too good at retrieval of things!)

She stops fussin' in her nose when told, just like Bump. But, goes right back at it after stopping for a moment!

and... I've Had the Time of My Li -i-i- ife

I decided I would ask Bump's help with telling about this set of pictures. He stood next to me and I asked questions...
ELM: So, what is in these pictures?

Bump: Yah, me!

ELM: What else is there?

Bump: That's me and that's a cow. I wanna see ME!

ELM: What are you doing with the calf in these pictures?

Bump: I wanted to go see.

ELM: What did you want to go see?

Pops pulls into the drive and Bump has no interest in talking anymore!!

So, I guess I will just explain that this was all after Bump was trying to ride his "bull" and Pops was trying to help make it happen!

He came to make friends and see if he couldn't use a little cattle whispering to convince this little heifer to let him practice being a big tough cowboy on her back.

She does just a little bit of bucking - not too much and not too hard. Plenty to give a little thrill if he can get on!!

He just loves going out and being with the calves. He wants to be out there often and I have had to put a child proof door knob cover on the door knob to keep in inside. He figured out the dead bolt the other day and I searched the house looking for him - he had been playing with his little football guys and had now disappeared. Eventually, I found him on the front porch putting his "boo-ks" (sounds like boot without the "t"!!) on to go out and see the calves. (No worries, all the big treekids know how and are able to open the door in case of a fire or something.)

So, this boy is havin' the TIME OF HIS LIFE living with his own bottle calves on the yard, angus mama cows and calves to the west, and shorthorn mama cows and calves to the south. All he needs is a pen of bucking stock to try out. I think he might like to have a horse and a good rope to give that a go, too. We'll have to see how well he can work his daddy to get what he wants!

And for now... he'll just hang out and do his cattle whispering.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Projected Date: 8-9 months from now

Ride 'em Cowboy!!

I am so behind on photos... I took this grouping of photos several weeks ago and have been meaning to crop and such to load and share. Bump loves to say, "Go see calves. Ride 'em?"

So, out they went to feed the bottles. Pops tried to keep "Mabel" still by feeding her and trying to get Bump up there at the same time!

I think it is so funny that as soon as he is on the calf, he throws one arm up in the air... This day, he rode with his left being the free arm!

This boy needs a bull rope to hold onto!!

I think he might have been happier with something to hold onto, anyway!

Oh, never mind! He rides with two free arms just fine!

Pops didn't really want him to fall off and onto his head, so he was right there to grab him when he started dippin' to the side a bit!

I think that Bump thought it was a fun time whether he had the bull rope or not!

Yes, sir! That boy begged to ride again, and again, and again!! Poor ol' Pops chased that calf around and around the pen to give Bump a good ride or two... or ten!! Now, I'll just be quiet and let you enjoy the sillyness and fun and the smiles!

They had a good time and have tried many more times to get that calf rode!

Pops' outfit brought to you by: Treekids slipper purchase 2 Christmas' ago, standard Hane's socks, Cabella's t-shirt for Father's Day 3 years ago, Adidas shorts for the hot day. Yes, he DOES have the appropriate jeans, boot socks, boots, shirts, etc... apparently heat goes with shorts and slippers!! I make no claims on his fashion statements!! (In all fairness, there are mornings that I run out to help feed calves in pajama pants, a sweatshirt and cowboy boots[or maybe flip-flops!] before running back inside to shower!)