What We've Been Up To

So you may have heard we've had a few weather problems lately.  Weather problems would depend on where you live and what kind of weather you're getting.  Our weather problems where we live include no rain since the middle of November.  None...zilch...nada.  The other half of the state is getting slammed with storms, hail and tornadoes.  Go figure.

We are also dealing with wild fires as the winds have been  violently blowing.  In fact, I had a thought today, "I remember when I thought 20 mph winds were high!" If you've been in wind where gusts are over 65 mph, 20 mph winds are a breeze...hehe...sorry...couldn't resist!

It's hard to try to capture the awesome power of the wind through a picture.  It just doesn't show the violence.  In this picture you can sort of see the leaves blowing.  And by the way, check out my dog.  He loves the wind.  He's so brave.

 Here's my porch with metal chairs.  It leads to the garage.  But wait...something is amiss...

 Can you just imagine for a second how hard the dang wind must blow to blow a metal chair up against the house on the porch into the garage!!!!  The day after, we went around and picked up all the nails from the shingles torn from the roof.  We picked up the metal roof vent that was ripped off the church next door to us and gently laid it at their door.  May I mention also that there is a thick layer of dirt on everything in my house?

Earlier you saw my sweet dog Buzz, bravely fighting the harsh wind. Well, here is our mighty hunter Rex. We got him and his sister a while back and shortly after having Trixie fixed, she disappeared. (sad pause)
Well, Rex has stuck around and not abandoned us mainly because we hadn't had him fixed yet...that is until last weekend...

He still is not speaking to us.  "Rex?  Rexie?  We love ya pal!  We are so proud of the dead mouse you killed in the shed and we are all depending on you to keep the spiders and bugs and other creepy crawlies out of the house".  Sigh. He won't even look at us without glaring!   At least he  has decided for the time being he will not abandon us despite "de-manning" him. 

 This is Roxy, our new addition.  She was kinda, sorta given/loaned to us for an undetermined amount of time.  I have to admit this girl has stolen my heart.  It's been reported in the past that I am deathly afraid of horses.  And while I am still getting to know her and trying to gain a little self confidence I am totally taken with her.  I love her!  I actually get on Roxy and ride her...by myself.

Of course you remember Buttercup.  She's just a baby so we asked around and found  a really great horse trainer who not only is training Buttercup but us as well.  She's coming along well in her training and is allowing people to ride her. He has taken her to his place so he can work with her as much as possible and last night we drove out there to see how she's doing and she was giving a baby girl a ride!  I'd say she's almost ready. 

 Here's Brandon riding Roxy, who is already broke and we are using her to become more comfortable with riding.  She's been a real trooper. 

 Did I mention I love her? But alas, I can not lie.  There is a person right in front of her that she is following dutifully.  But he did drop the lead rope after a few times around the pen and the next time I rode her I didn't need no stinkin' guide!  But I made sure someone was close just in case I (she) started freaking out (bucking, jumping, running, trotting, shaking, etc....) 

 Something else we've discovered...roping!  Here they are practicing and working it out with the rope. 

Now nothing around this house is safe! Please note I didn't take pictures of the boys roping each other around the ankles.

Oh Brandon

Today my oldest boy turned 16.  A few things I've learned about 16 year old boys:

• they can't wait to drive
• they get their days and nights confused
• they eat their weight at least 3 times a day
• they can sleep 20 hours a day if allowed
• they obsess about driving
• they are very, very strong

Well my 16 year old is no different.  He's actually who I learned most of this info from.  I guess this info could be used to describe 15 year olds better since he's only been 16 less than 24 hours.

Allow me to tell you a little about my Brandon.

 When he was a baby he was born with a head full of thick hair unlike his sister who was bald until the age of two.  When he was older, he would play for hours at a time lining up his metal Hot Wheel cars--or "Go-Go's" as he called them--in long lines around the house.  He was a good baby who threw up all the time.  And I don't mean a little spit up.  I'm talking projectile vomiting across the room.  It was heaven I tell ya.

 He used to grind his teeth at night and probably still does. He was also a cuddle bug and was always willing to give ya some lovin'. 

 As he got older, he developed his own personality.  He took his job as big brother very seriously and still does.  He feels it is his duty as a big brother to torture his little brother's endlessly in any way, form, and fashion.  This in turn drives his mother crazy as her youngest children constantly tattle and battle the older brother's constant teasing.

 The down side to his teasing is he thinks nothing of directing this teasing towards his beloved mother!  Endlessly!  Again...Heaven!  Seriously, he is so tender-hearted.  He is quick to take notice when someone is upset and tries to make them feel better and he is the first to apologize if he hurts someones feelings (well...except his brother's).

 He rubbs my shoulders almost daily (without being asked) and practically does anything we tell him to do.  He takes on a lot of responsibility and hardly complains about anything.  He's a darn hard worker and applies himself to whatever he takes on--even picking up horse poo--which he hates almost more than anything!

 He is very laid back, calm, soft spoken, and relaxed.  He's very comfortable around people and is confident in who he is.  He's not afraid to try new things and is usually pretty good at whatever he tries.  He loves to play the drums, computer games and ride the 4 wheeler.

His new challenge is learning to work with horses.  He has the privilege of working with a very gifted horse trainer who has taken Brandon under his wing. As usual, Brandon has applied himself wholly and doing very well.  For his birthday, he asked for a pair of boots. And an ipod. And a truck. So we bought him the boots. And moments after we got home...this is what walked out of his room:

Honestly, I hardly recognized him!  So can I just say I'm sorry right now?  I'm sorry to all the mother's who will nurse their daughter's broken hearts in the next coming years.  I'm so sorry. 

 

I'm so proud and honored to be his momma.

Happy Birthday Baby.

Wind Anyone?

So up here round these parts there seems to be alot of wind.  Alot.  I mean....ALOT.  Which would be great if you were say...a wind farmer. Or invested in wind technology.  But I'm not a wind farmer.  And as far as I know, we haven't invested in wind...yet.

But we did get the boys a trampoline for Christmas.  It's their third one to date and when our kids ask us for fun things like four wheelers and trampolines and BB Guns...we say YES!!  YES!!!  Cuz that's the kind of parents we are!  Fun lovin', dare devlin', breathe-through-the-pain kind of parents. Well, not me.  I'm the nail biter, freakazoid mom in the back ground yelling "Be careful!!" and "Wear your helmet!" and "Don't shoot your eye out!!!  as well as the dreaded, "The last thing I want to do on a Friday night is spend the evening in the ER" phrase as they jump, speed, wrestle, and shoot!

 So the wind...she blows.  She blows hard. So hard in fact, that when we shared our Christmas buy with locals, we were warned about securing the trampoline and heard various stories.  Stories like, "We bent re-bar around those bars and our trampoline still ended up upside down in a tree". 

 So instead of re-bar, my husband decided to use dog stakes.  They actually screw into the ground.

 They screw deep.  He then attached a chain to the top bar.

One on each side of the trampoline.  Seems to be doing the trick.  Not once have we walked out and found our beloved trampoline in  the tree.

 Chains are strong and steady. Wind proof so it seems.  25 to 40 mile per hour winds.

 Roof shingles apparently are not. We've had some winds with almost 45 to 50 mph gusts.  Roof shingles do not like winds that high.

 Neither do clothes lines. After a hard winter with cold winds they got a little saggy.  Saggy lines just won't do.  Saggy clothes lines have no room here.  Saggy clothes lines remind me too much...oh never mind!

 So after much nagging encouragement from me, my husband and boys came up with a brilliant idea to keep all most types of sagging lines from sneaking up on us. Saggy lines just can't handle the load...hahahahaaa. 

 He used a clamp thingy and attached it to the line so now when she starts to get a little...saggy, alls I have to do is start cranking.  Sigh...don't we wish it were just that easy? 

 Ta-da!!  Tight, straight lines once again!

And yes...I do wish it were that easy!!!  Ahem!!!