Swing Crazy

We get creative with our swinging around here, that's for certain.

And 5 kids for only 2 swings?  

Not a problem!

I love these kids.

Zoe Rocks

Lit.er.a.lly

Just check this out:

 Zoe Rocks from Carrie Beth on Vimeo.

This girl is hilarious.  She has seriously become a little daredevil.  Well, as much as a 17-month-old can be.  She loves swinging super high on the super high baby swing.  She is constantly on top of the table, or the island counter, or the back of the couch, which has no wall behind it to hold onto, or climbing the step ladder in the pantry, or jumping on (and off of) beds, or flipping over the couch, or climbing over people, as shown in these pictures that my sister Wendy took:

Holly - "Well, hi Zoe!"

Me- "Oh, sorry, um, haha."

Making sure Luke didn't get a foot in the face.

She has even just recently mastered climbing the 8-foot ladder to the loft in Ezra and Jiles's room.  She has definitely taken her share of spills (not on the ladder thankfully).  She was climbing out of her crib a few months ago, but one time got scared because she had climbed over the rail and was hanging on the side with her feet about a foot above the ground when we went in to check on her.  She was too scared to drop.  She doesn't even attempt climbing out anymore.  Thank goodness.  Weston was worried that that was going to make her scared to do other things.  Um, that would be a big fat nope.  She is definitely not afraid and is always trying to do things.  After all, she has to keep up with this lot:

Rodeo

The little town next to us is where we go to church.  It is also where we go to the rodeo.  

It is teeny tiny, in comparison to most rodeos, I suppose, but so is the town in comparison to most towns.

The kids love it.  

I must confess, though, that it is not my favorite thing.  I am not a cowgirl.  But I do like seeing the little ones dressed in their rootin' tootin' cowpoke gear.  I like the rodeo more every year I think, and try to get into more, at least for the kids' sake.

First there are kids' games: chase the chicken; feed sack races; egg toss...

Chase the chicken gets pretty intense.

Yee-haw, eh?

Spencer with his Indiana Jones hat (and pocket knife in his pocket) in the egg toss.

Go, Ezra!

Kate would rather watch from the side.

When the rodeo events begin there is a whole lotta watching.  Watching barrel racing, calf roping, steer riding, mutton bustin'...

Hot, sticky, ice cream face Jiles.

Callen and Kate

Some of the little cowpokes.

As soon as the sun drops behind that mountain things are going to get waaaaay cooler.

Watching the mutton bustin'.

3-year-old Clancy lasted about .03 seconds.  But, man, is he brave!  That's his dad on the right opening the gate.

Spencer's buddy, Cole, is about to try his hand on the steer's back.

That's going to hurt.  Johnny was limping at church the next day.

If you're wondering where our family was during all of the riding and participating and stuff, the answer is watching, eating, and sitting on the fence.  Except for little Ezra who totally busted a mutton.   (And wanted to bust it again and again.)

I got him on film (er, SD card).  Check him oouut!

Sunday Love-y Sunday

  

I LOVE Sunday afternoons.  LOVE them!  Home from church, pull out the earrings, fill the tummies...  

The best are warm Sunday afternoons, like this last one, when we can be outside on the tramp, drawing with chalk, wrestling, cuddling, reading, lounging.  Or on the front porch looking over the creek, listening to it, as we're rocking in the rocking chairs, kids giggling on the swing, and Rancher playing his guitar.  Heaven.  Really.  He feels it too, and looks at me with a smile of contentment.  I can tell he is really happy, like me. 

Kate really wrote all of that - Spencer is just about to finish writing his own name, because Kate didn't...because she was "writing them adding one letter at a time", said she.

Ezra's suns.

Can you grab the stick?

Kate did (with a little help from Daddy).

Ezra.

"I'm putting my feet up here cuz they hurt."

Woohoo, chubby legs Jiles.

3-person swing in the front yard.

{Our computer monitor died last Friday.  Totally died.  It was nice: flat screen; sorta wide; good color.  But it's dead - don't know the reason.  Weston dug our old monitor - circa 1980 - out of the dirty garage.  I am seriously so surprised that it actually came on.  It is horrid.  It is 2 feet deep, at least; it takes up the whole desk, so we have to type with the key pad in our lap.  There aren't any speakers.  The screen is only 13 x 9 1/2 inches big, AND it is super dark, so it is hard to see anything!  It makes photo editing right tricky.  It's annoying, and really not very fun to use.  But since I am a hardcore blogger (ha), I'm posting anyway.  (And, p.s., these pix were taken on the wrong setting on my camera, so they are grainy - I can barely tell on this dark screen...but I still like them...so therefore they are post-worthy, you know, worthy of posting.)}

Mud 'N Hay

Weather's warming. Snow's melting.

Things are getting

squashy

squeshy

squishy

squoshy

squushy

squcky

mucky

mucky

major yucky

yuddy yuddy

muddy.

But, of course, a dear friend to squishy mucky mud is a decent pair of mud boots, and the children inside of them.

Thank goodness for mud boots (and the children inside of them).

And thank goodness for brown pants.

Even if those brown pants are majorly slacking at the job of providing full leg coverage.

We'll still take 'em. And still thank goodness for them.

Sometimes that mucky mud befriends velcro shoes when mud boots are not adorned by a child when the encounter with mucky mud arises (as seen in above picture).

And now for the HAY portion of this "Mud 'N Hay" post.

Same day. Same muddy children.

However, as soon as they are exposed to the hay they seem a bit cleaner.

(Apologies to the cow(s) who may be getting a meal of muddy hay tomorrow.)

"Mom. Can you do dis?"

Ezra performs the awesomest finger tricks EVER.

.

Spencer is allergic to hay. And horses. And dust. And ranches in general.

Good thing that we live on a ranch with hay, and horses, and dust.

Spencer still manages to have fun.

See how much fun he's having?

He says that it's worth the sneezing. And the itchy, watery eyes. And not being able to breathe very good for five days.

Because he had 34 minutes of great fun on those hay bales.

We're keeping the albuterol inhaler people, and Linda with her suave salve, in business.

.

We love our life.

!