hi.

still here.still alive.

living life.doing stuff.

like always.

didn't mean to not post for 3 weeks.  it just happened that way.

we've been canning, and taking trips to california, and doing laundry, and playing, and canning some more, and going to school, and chopping wood, and changing diapers,  and trying to figure out how to keep my oldest from having so many asthma attacks, and loving each other, and breaking up fights, and cleaning house, and feeding chickens and goats, and all of that other life stuff that we all do everyday.

it's great.life's great.  

i want to add blogging to that list again. cuz i like blogging.

we went to a sweet produce stand in the country where those of us who didn't grow a garden this year can load up on fruits and veggies like those that did do a garden this year.   (we're every other year gardeners it seems like.  we either have a baby or a garden.  this year: baby.) we got lots of green peppers and tomatoes and onions and jalepeno peppers for salsa.   and we got 10 dozen ears of corn.

they also had a field of zinnias that were so pretty.  they were in the same place that the sunflowers were in last year.   

10 dozen corn =  lots of schucking/husking (what do you call it?)

the kids like to eat them raw.

and back at the ranch over these last few weeks (presented in a rather random fashion)...

 canning = eating lots of cold cereal...

ezra goes to Kindergarten 2 days one week and 3 days the other week.  he loves it, but i love having him at home.  i crave homeschooling.  if only our school wasn't so awesome.  haha.  i do some schooling at home anyway, because i like it that much...

hanging laundry is a little trickier these days with 2 very dependent littles... 

 i tried using the dryer because it was getting so hard to hang out a load, but it doesn't dry.  so my hanging out clothes because i like to so much has become hanging out clothes because that is how they have to get dry now...

kate, the girl that does not like to get her hair fixed, asked me to curl her hair!  big time shocker.

she is also the girl that does not like to get her picture taken unless she is in the mood (as demonstrated in the photo below where she was not in the mood)...

 jiles's hair gets longer...

he couldn't find his boots one day, so he put on some flip flops...

(ouch)

kate writes stories, or reads every night before bed...

she also started piano lessons...

 weston has been busy chopping wood whenever he is not doing ranch stuff, getting us ready for a cold winter...

the bugs have been really bad this year, and i heard someone say that when the bugs are really bad, it's going to be a hard winter.  is that true?

weston has also been getting the hay stacked and stocked in the hay shelters...

we all gathered around to watch, even zoe this time...

spencer's cleats are his school shoes these days...

jiles is like a faithful ranch dog.  he sits on the 4-wheeler waiting for the rancher to come along, and every time an engine starts up he feels like he has to be going along...

grandma gives cute little grandkids horsey rides...

we have 2 new neighbors...

well temporarily.  

my ma and pa are staying right next to us in the ranch guest house.  love.

they just sold their house and are in the process of getting another one.

and i cut jiles's hair!...

 it was so long and knotty and o.o.c.  not the best job, but you try cutting a crazy active 2-year-old's hair.  it's hard.

we hit the vineyard today and picked basically 2 truck loads (well grandparents picked most of them while i chased jiles half the time) sleep time now.  everyone else is.  asleep, that is.  gotta wake up and get going on juicing.

fun season.