I'm sorry...

Caution: some pictures may cause dry heaving, dizziness, and fainting. Turn back now if you don't think you can handle a little animal poo...



Okay, so I'm sorry I have to post this but this is about the country life after all and sometimes it's not all blue skies and sunsets, capiche?


So we have noticed that a fox (or two) has been hanging out in the back wheat field and I've tried to get him on camera but he's a little...sly...haha. Sorry--I couldn't resist! Get it? Sly fox!! Hehe, anyway, I will keep trying to get him on camera but it may take some time on my part. Like getting get my booty out of bed before the sun gets all the way up. So anyway, the night before last we found this on our patio:

"What the heck is that?" "It looks like something left us a present," my husband says. So guess who gets the pleasure of disposing of this present? Me??? Heck no! I have kids to do that! Heh.

So then this morning I am walking my husband out to kiss him goodbye when low and behold!!! There is this:


Another one!!!! Now, I don't know if it's that fox coming up here and sneaking around like there's nothing better to do with his life but leave poo on our patio and sidewalk but I am not appreciating his little gifts. My hubby thinks it could be a skunk but really we've been there (more on that later) and I'm not smelling him. And believe me...I would smell him. That scent is permanently burned into my brain like nobodies business!!


So anyway! I guess it could be a cat but don't they usually use litter boxes or sand or something? And this totally makes me rethink my whole "I really want chickens" idea because don't foxes LIKE to EAT chickens????


Well, I apologize if I may have caused some type of long term damage because I showed some animal poo on my sidewalk. Truly I am.

On another note, I am going out of town to visit some family we left behind in the big city and we are meeting half way to bring my niece and nephew back with us for two weeks to experience the country life. We are very excited. So I won't be posting for a few days. Stick with me though. As my way of apologizing for today, I promise I will post pictures of reckless child behavior and irresponsible parenting when I get back on Monday! How's that?



Now I'm going to go enjoy my coffee in my favorite mug before I have to do the million things it takes to get a family of 6 out of town so we can bring back 2 more kids...crazy much??

Yes I am, thanks for askin'!



Have a nice weekend everyone!

Storm Shelter

Last night we were supposed to go see a fireworks show in a town about 25 miles away. We made the drive out there only to discover that the show was tonight...hehe. So we picked up ice cream cones for everyone and drove back home! My point is I was going to do a post on the fireworks today but since we didn't see any, I thought I would show you guys our storm shelter.



Since we're from the big city we have never seen a storm shelter much less even know they existed really. In the big city we never really had any weather that would require any kind of shelter. So when we moved up here and saw that such a big part of the planning of the house went into the storm shelter we thought it curious and a little red flag popped up in my head.



The little shelter sits just to the side of the house directly in line of the door. That's convenient isn't it?

The storm shelter and I have sort of a love hate relationship. I hate how unsightly it is but I love that it's there when we need it to keep us safe from severe weather and especially...tornadoes!!!

It's not really all that pretty but I'd take it during a storm any day. There is a flower bed in front of it that has that vine that is growing out of control. That's the vine I was pulling the other day when I found that brown spider so I abandoned that. As far as I know the little guy still resides there.

Here's Ryan opening the door. He volunteered to help me today. I hate the loud screeching of the pulleys as the door is being opened or closed but love that it is weighted down to help keep it closed in the case of severe weather or...tornadoes!!!!

Hi Ryan!! Okay, why don't you go on down into the damp, dark, moist, bug infested shelter and I'll follow after you get the lights on and let me know it's all clear. "Aw mama, do I hafta?" Hey!!! I gotta take the pictures okay???? Geez!

Be careful honey!! As you can see the stairs are dark but there is a light switch at the bottom. The stairs are also covered with grass, dirt and ~shudders~ bugs! This is where I believe that during severe weather or...tornadoes!!!..I will be so scared out of my mind I won't mind running underground into a cement room and locking myself in with who-knows-what kind of creepy crawlies...heh heh....

Isn't that lovely? It's a little damp because we've had a little bit of rain and it smells musty.

Here I round the corner from the stairs and it's a flashback to the 70's!!!

Outdated kitchen chairs and a pack n play. Most of it is worn and a little moldy but it will probably be nice to be able to sit on something other than the ground since there are bugs EVERYWHERE!!! I'm beginning to think I may have some kind of bug phobia!! I am relieved they are all dead though.

A cute little bench with some lawn chairs. Not sure how many people would use this shelter since it's right by our house but I'd welcome anyone who needed it...there's plenty of seating!

Not sure I'd trust that plug. That pipe is our air from above the ground.

Not sure what happened here but the stuffings coming out! I call NOT sitting on this chair in case of severe weather or...tornadoes!!!!

Here is a little shelf that has a few survival items in it. I can say it probably needs to be updated a little...

Hmmmm....what's in there anyway????

This was already in here folks...candles, matches in a bag inside a glass jar, toilet paper...wait a minute!!!! Toilet paper???? How long are we going to be down here anyway????

Going to have to get some flashlights and water down here too I guess. Maybe a game?? Any ideas???

EEEKKKKK!!!! Spider alert!!! It's okay! He was dead. Actually...all the bugs down here are dead...that's a little disturbing...hmmm....

I swept up all the dead bugs and grass and dirt and I've had about enough of this place!

Time to go! Ahhh...daylight and blue sky. I hope to never have to use this shelter but I can't ignore that it's here for a reason. So far the severe weather and ...tornadoes!!!! have missed us completely while other areas of the state have been hit pretty hard.

So there you have it. Oh...and if anyone has any ideas on how we're going to get our dog, Buzz down here...sharing is caring!!

Randomness...

The situation is that my husband landed this job last December. So he moved up here and brought my oldest and youngest son to live in the country with him while my daughter and middle son and I stayed behind in the big city until she graduated high school and he finished out the year with all his friends. We traveled back and forth for six months seeing each other about once a month. During a few of those visits, boxes were unpacked and with the help of my dearest and bestest friend, we set up my family's new home. The problem is that we moved to a house about half the footage of what we were living in. So I have a few dozen boxes that I have no where to put or store. Most of it is my scrapbook stuff and my husband's computer stuff. Needless to say, I have a problem because there is no way I'm getting rid of my scrapbook stuff!



I have no idea where to start! The boxes that are left now have stuff we need or used previously yet has no home to go into at the present moment.

Oh dear! At the risk of offending some, I am showing you the mess I have to deal with. Sad times!! I avoid this area like the plague. The boxes on the left are a combination of my scrapbook things and my daughter's things. She's going off to college in a couple of months and we have no idea what to do with them. She doesn't really have a room at the moment. Just this bed you see along with the dresser. She shares a closet with one of her brothers and sleeps with all this stuff! I don't even know where to start. That may be why I started this blog thingy--it keeps me from dealing with where to put all this stuff. By the way, I purged sooooooo much stuff before our move and it still wasn't enough!

These are empty boxes. Well, there may be packing paper inside them also which is most likely harboring all kinds of rodents, pests and bugs at the moment. One problem we have found is the country does not have the convenience of the big city in being able to get rid of waste as easily. I used to break down boxes, trash the paper in our twice weekly trash pick up and not be bothered by it again. Here in the country, we have trash pick up once a week and believe me we fill that sucker up!!! So there is no where to go dump this trash that I know of at least so it sits here gathering creepy crawlies and houses things like this:

This is a big ugly red wasp of some sort! There are many going in and out of this box so there likely is a love shack in there growing and growing! The longer these sit, the worse they get! ~sigh~

On another note, this here is wheat. I think. Yes, I believe it is. It has been growing around us since we made our first move up here in December/January. We have been watching it grow around us and enjoying the peacefulness of whatever it is.

We were quite excited about watching it get harvested. Everywhere you go, there seems to be this growing! Pretty sure it's wheat!

So tall, and pretty and green.

When the wind blows--which it does up here--it looked like an ocean with waves. So peaceful.

My husband recently came back to the big city to pick up the rest of his family (me, the girl and the middle boy) and while he was gone, all of the wheat was harvested....so we missed it. Dangit!!! Now we have this dry brown stuff everywhere.

I really don't know what they do with it now. It's the bottom of the stalk and it is about a foot and a half tall.

I wonder if that's why we are dealing with so many creepy crawlies here lately. They just harvested so maybe all of these bugs were run from their home in the sea of wheat into my house!

Makes me a little nervous about fireworks in a couple of weeks. I wonder how fast this would burn? It's right behind our home!

Oh! Here's a picture of a fake owl in our garage to keep the barn swallows away. I think he should be fired!!! He's made friends with the little boogers!!! When I first got here my boys and husband were knocking down their nest and the cute little birdies would just rebuild it. I was heart broken for them. "They just want to settle down somewhere and have babies" I would cry when they whacked any beginnings of their home down with the broom. Poor birdies! But after about a week, I understood.

This is what they do:

And this:

What a mess. Not to mention anytime we went out to our cars we scared them half to death which in turn they would come swooping down at us scaring us half to death!!! They finally got the hint and went elsewhere to raise their babies...

By the way. This....

is a HUGE reason why I love living in the country! This was our sunset last night!!!

Creepy Crawlies

So after a week of being in the country there are a few things I've found that I love.

The traffic for instance. There is none! Not a bit! And if there is some slowpoke slowing you down, you just pass them and they actually wave with their whole hand--not just a finger! I don't mean a slowpoke in a bad way but you know...things like hay trailers and tractors!

A couple of days ago I had to go to the grocery store which is in the next town about 8 miles away or so. By the time I was ready to go, it was almost 5:00 and out of habit, for just a moment, I thought about not going because it was traffic hour and in the big city that equals torture! But wait! I don't live in the city anymore...no problemo!

I also love the peacefulness of a small town. The breeze blows softly, and even though it may smell like cow poo, it's quiet, and there's hardly any road noise like sirens, horns, cars or stereos.

One thing I do NOT like is the bugs! Oh the bugs! They are everywhere and they all seem, quite badly, to want to get into the house!!! As Trey put it, "We have alot of creepy crawlies; that's what we have!" Yes we do! It never occurred to me we'd have to deal with bugs! I know, I know...



Here is one we found in the house today. It sort of looks like another we've found but it actually looks like it has a stinger! It was about an inch or so long. Yuck!!

Well, we all know what this is! This little bugger was found right inside my front door on the wall. It matches almost perfectly to our dark wood floors. Trey found it right after I told them we needed to keep the front door closed so bugs don't get in. Ahhh...poetic justice how I love thee :)

This guy was found outside (thank goodness) in the garden by the storm shelter (more on that later). I was pulling up some sort of vine that was going crazy and out he popped. I was pretty much done on that area for the day! I still don't know what kind it is but don't have a problem staying as far away as possible.

This is sort of like the one we found in our house except with out the scary stinger!

Please don’t even ask about this hairy fellow! Oh my goodness! Thankfully, my husband is the one who ran into this guy. This one may have sent me over the edge. Packing and running!!!

So far we have only suffered a few itchy bites. Maybe spiders, maybe not but one thing I do know is Benadryl gel is on the top of my shopping list! We are learning to shake our shoes out and be on the lookout before we grab or touch anything.

Hey, at least it's not snakes...right? Right? Heh...

My Girl Is All Grown Up

Oh dear...

Today my first born child is 18. She's legal! How the heck did this happen? I am NOT old enough to have an 18 year old child. I just gave birth to her for heaven's sake! It went by so fast! Can someone please tell me how this happened?

Just look at her. Look at those eyes. Lord help me! This girl stole my heart 18 years ago and never gave it back!

I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. I was actually terrified of having a girl because I wasn't what you'd call "a little angel". Now I know that may be difficult to believe but it's true. In fact, I feared my exasperated mother's words, "I hope someday you have a child just...like...you!" It wasn't long before I discovered my daughter was a wonderful creature with her own mind, ideas and outlook. She was actually...dare I say...quite wonderful!

Sadly, it's almost time to let her go. I just don't think my heart can take it!! Just look at her! I'm in love with her quirkiness. Her sense of humor keeps me laughing daily and she allows me to see the world in a whole new light. What's a mother to do? I may not make it folks...

She has transformed from a beautiful baby girl into a beautiful young woman. She is brilliant, funny, talented, full of life and quite honestly, delightful to be around. It's a true pleasure, privilege, and an honor to be her mother.

Look out world...here comes my baby!!

Mowing

Yesterday we worked in the yard. We mowed, and mowed, and mowed. Did I mention we mowed? Well, I didn't mow. My boys mowed. Here's a picture of my baby mowing. He lasted all of 20 minutes...and that's rounding up.

Here he is again. That's alot of yard to mow! Big Brother Brandon comes to the rescue. He finishes up the front while Ryan takes on the back.

Hey boys??? Boys!!!

Don't forget my swing!!! Guys????

It actually ended up quite lovely and I enjoyed my swing this morning with my coffee thanks for asking.

Today was a different story. Dad had to get out there and help with the higher, thicker weeds.

The younger boys were quite lost and threw fits about not being able to help mow...NOT!!!

"Can we throw sticks in the burn barrel dad? Huh? Can we?"

Why yes, those weeds are up to my husbands thighs!

"Mom, can we PLEEEAAASSSEEE get a riding lawn mower and let me drive it til my heart's content??"