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!!!

Angel Kiss

Once upon a time there a sweet, little boy that was born with a little spot on his right cheek.  The spot on his little cheek was where an angel kissed him when he was sent from Heaven.  The angels would miss him so much when he came to be with his mommy, they couldn't resist a little kiss good bye.

 As the boy got older, his mommy reminded him about his Angel Kiss when he asked.  It didn't seem to bother him too much until he noticed that at school, the other kids would ask him about his angel kiss.

 He was still a sweet boy.  He loved sports and family.  He liked to make friends and spend alot of time outside playing with them.  But he noticed as he got older that the Angel Kiss was getting darker.  And he began to feel different from other kids.  And he started to feel embarrassed to be around other people because they would stare or look away quickly.

His mommy would feel sad because she knew he was special but she did not want her boy to feel bad and feel different.  So she started watching the way he was treated and started talking to the boy about removing the Angel Kiss if he wanted. The boy's mommy saw that he was shy around others.  He was very quite and tried to hide his Angel Kiss behind long hair and hats and he would duck his head.

 He said he wanted to remove it and they went to a very nice doctor who said it probably was a good idea to remove it because when he got much older and became a man, there was a good chance the Angel Kiss could become dangerous.  

 

So after a morning in surgery, the boy's Angel Kiss was removed.  The mommy was a little sad as she remembered when the boy was a baby and she would kiss the Angel Kiss. 

But now the boy is happy.  He is more outgoing, he talks more, and he is joking more.  He feels more confident and in just a short week, he has healed so quickly and clean.  It looks wonderful and when his mommy looks at him, after seeing him for 14 years with his Angel Kiss, she tries to remember what is different because he looks slightly like the baby with the Angel Kiss.  And the mommy is sad for only a moment until she sees how happy the boy is and how handsome the boy is.  And she knows that even thought the Angel Kiss is no longer showing on his face, he still is a special boy with an Angel Kiss on his heart that will never be removed.

The End

This Bucking Horse

 Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are starting to get Buttercup trained.  This is also known as breaking a horse.  She's only 2 yrs so we start by putting a blanket on her and after a while she behaves so well we try a saddle on her.  She doesn't even react to the saddle on her back and after a chunk of time goes by smoothly, we try to a kiddo.  The lightest of us right now is my Trey.

 Little do we know, we have fast forwarded about a month's time in getting a horse ready to ride.  Little did we know...

 So here is Trey riding Buttercup.  She's doing so well!  Nice and gentle.

 They are both doing such a good job.

 Dad is leading and so far so good. 

 Buttercup gets loving and rewards from Dennis for doing such a great job. 

 She did such a great job, we try a little more.  What's the harm?  She's doing great...

 Yay Ryan!!  The wind is starting to pick up a little here.  And so far, everything is going so well.  Usually it takes about 2 or 3 months I guess to get to this point.  Our smart horse is doing so good, she managed all of this in about 4 hours!

 Hi Ryan!!!  Doing great buddy!  So good in fact that we decided to take her out of the corral and into the fenced line. Looking back, that may have not been the best plan...

 The wind blew Dennis' hat off and she missed her footing.  Next thing we knew...Ryan was bucked off!  He's fine thankfully!  And after I assured myself he was fine, I remember to snap some photos.  Cuz that's what I do!

 She bucked, and she bucked, and she ran, and her saddle twisted.  That spooked her even more and she kept stumbling on her saddle. 

 She finally cornered herself in the corral and Dennis calmed her enough to slip her saddle off.

 Poor thing.  She sure had a scare.  And we did too!  Dennis got her settled and calmed a little.  We loved on her and learned a thing or two.

 Bucking horses are not fun.  Bucking horses are scary and powerful and unpredictable.  Don't worry though.  We got her hooves fixed and called in a professional.  Buttercup is being trained and we are also.  As the trainer teaches her, he teaches us as well.  All turned out okay thankfully!

Then a few of us (who shall remain un-named) may have gone inside and changed their pants.

Blessings in Disguise

This blog was created to keep my family updated on the happenings with us since we have moved so far from them.  It was to chronicle the adventures which can be construed as mishaps while our family that has lived in the Big City our whole lives, learns to live in the country.  And when I say mishaps...I mean things that don't go quite according to plan.  Sound familiar?

My point is that if you're a passer-by and happen to be reading this, it may appear to be random nonsense.  I apologize for that and you have the blessed option to hit that arrow or close key.  And if you're a friend or family member, I also apologize for this random nonsense and for the fact that you are obligated to read my nonsense and even like it!!! Muhahahaw!!! 

On to my next point.  It seems to me lately, that there are so many crazy things going on in the world right now.  The future is uncertain and scary.  People around the world are suffering.  War is growing around the world and doesn't look like it will be ending any time soon.  Many families deal with war everyday while their loved ones fight.  I am ashamed to say that in my world, I do not have a personal, direct connection to the war or the sufferings going on around the world. My biggest concern is if we have clean clothes to wear to work/school tomorrow or creamer for my coffee in the morning.  It put some things in perspective for me when I was listening to a church sermon and the preacher was talking about people in another country asking him if it was true that people in America had houses to put their cars in at night.  And rooms to put their clothes in while some families shared one room houses.  I have so much.  I am so blessed. 

So one day after cleaning his room, my son asked me to come see something on his wall.  And this is what we saw:

Some of you may know what this is right away.  It took me a minute.  Black mold (cue music).  It is here I will avoid the embarrassment of telling how long this was covered due to my son's mess...could have been a week (does it look like it's only been there for a week?) or could have been months...and we'll just stop there.

Before I knew it, this is what we were dealing with.  Now, it could have been so much worse.  You hear horror stories of homes that are unlivable due to mold.  I figured the whole wall would have to be replaced and we would be out on the streets or living in the suburban for weeks until they raised the all clear sign.  We had to take a couple days off work while the nice men cleaned it, killed it, cut it, sealed it, built it, textured it, and painted it.  It was a mess...I was a mess.  Dust was EVERYWHERE!!!  And I was stressing out about my boy who has asthma.  Luckily he was not the one staying in the room when the mold was growing for...uh...however long it was growing and no one showed any signs of being sick.

 So it could have been worse but at the time, I was NOT OKAY!!!   "Why me? Why now?" I whined.  "Can't we ever catch a break???"  I moaned.  "Seems like something ALWAYS has to be going on around here" I cried.  Poor me.

What I didn't know, was that while the nice men were fixing the root cause of the problem (inadequate plumbing causing  the washing machine water to splash inside the wall) they noticed one tiny, little insignificant detail about my dryer:

 Can you see that prong?  Can you see how it is burned and melted around the prong?

 What they saw before plugging in my dryer after working on the mold...was a plug gone bad man!  Our dryer plug was secretly plotting on burning my house down!!!  Ackkkk!!!!  I don't know much about cords and mold and fire but I do know that a burned plug is bad.  Very, very bad.  So we cut him loose.  There is no tolerance in this house for dryer plugs-or ANY plug for that matter- gone bad!  My husband replaced him.  Just like that!  Let that be a warning! Us Tarvers are cold hearted!  Ice...

So in the midst of the nightmare mold, and as painful as it was for me to take a day or two off work, relaxing and watching movies while the nice men repaired the wall, I found it to be a blessing in disguise.  My family is safe, my belongings are safe and it's all thanks to some Toxic Black Mold.  See how things work out?

Seriously, in the big scheme of things, I know I am blessed and that I have it good.  And I can't tell you how thankful I am. I haven't always been here, and know it won't always be like this. I have suffered too.  But like I said before, lately I hear strangers, friends, and family suffering and asking themselves (and I'm asking too) why things are happening the way they are.  Why do things go wrong?  Why does it seem sometimes that things just fall apart and never look like they will get better?  Well, sometimes --not always--but sometimes there is a silver lining.  Something that in a moment, gives you chills and clarity at the same time.  A moment when you realize that something happened for a reason.  And that Someone was looking out for you and working for the greater good. 

Amen.

My Pretzel Boy

First of all, let me just say I post this with permission of my Pretzel Boy.  As a matter of fact, I specifically asked him if I could put this in my blog and his response was, "Sure mom, I don't care what people think of me."  Please note no children were harmed in the photographing of this blog post.

Since he was a baby, his flexibility was amazing.  I could twist this child any which way.  I could put his feet behind his head and practically fold him in half.  This would be considered odd because his father, on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being highly flexible), would range somewhere between a 2 and 3 while I used to be around an 8...emphasis on used to be!

It seems he has not lost that flexing ability at all in the last 13 years...

 He is scooting himself with his feet behind his head.  Now this may make some squeamish,  let me inform you that while he may not sit exactly like this all the time, he does sit with a foot routinely wrapped around his body.  When just sitting and relaxing in the chair watching TV, he does have a habit of contorting his body in unnatural poses but it was not until recently that we discovered this talent...

 It's just not right...

If You Give Teenage Boys Snow...

If you give teenage boys some snow, they'll want to go play in it.  And by play, I mean torture each other by doing everything in their power to ram, throw and smush snow onto their brother's skin.  When The Great Storm of 2010 came 2 weeks ago, it was way too cold to go play in it.  The wind chill was down to negative 17 on some days.  But we had a pretty mild day where we could go outside for more than 30 seconds without feeling like our noses and fingers were going to burn and fall off.

 So we thought we'd get a little play time in before the snow melted.  As you can see, the torture begins.

 Can I just say there is actually very little time in our household currently where a teenage boy is not torturing another teenage boy?  I have 3.  There is very little peace here right now.

 The snow was very powdery and had melted a bit the day before.  That night we had a hard freeze so there were layers of compacted, dry, powdery snow.  It sort of exploded into a powder when thrown.  I have to admit, it was kinda cool...

 Note the two on the right.  Okay...now note the one on the left...umhmmm. I give him props for trying.  A quick, "NO" did the trick and he found another target quickly...

 Unfortunately they were too engrossed with each other to notice him coming...

 Uh Oh!!!  Man down!!!  Man down!!!  Please understand this is a daily endeavor in my home.  I have learned not to panic and to remain calm unless there is blood or a body part bending in a manner in which it shouldn't.

 This is my baby.  Can you see that there is snow inside his hood?  Can I just say he is not happy!!! That is not a smile folks. After I got him up and dusted off, he decided he had enough and went to go thaw in the shower.  Now don't you worry...he's just fine.

 Here's Ryan making a snow angel.  Um...Ryan?  I think you're supposed to be on your other side.  Might work better...

 Okay...try that.  We are from South Texas.  We get no snow.  We are learning...

 TaDahhhhh!!!  A snow angel.

 Now it is big brother's turn.  By this time, we'd been out for about 15 minutes.  We were having a good time but my feet were starting to burn and it was cold!!!  So I made us all go inside. I know...I'm such a buzz kill man!

 I guess they were feeling a little guilty about torturing the little brother so Ryan helps his brother up in a rare moment.

 So this is it for the snow!  It melted in the next two days and we soon discovered that the beauty of snow is but a moment compared to the gray, dirty, slushy, icky, mess of melting snow.  I'm still cleaning my floors...and car...and laundry...

But for a moment, it was beautiful!