More kid pics!

So, here are some recent pictures taken of my five children. It was a cold but sunny day, so it was perfect for taking nice clear pictures. This was the day of Logan's "head banging" but all the pictures are from before that incident.

There's not much more to say other than enjoy the pictures....they are especially for the far away grandparents!

Here are the horses in the distance - the ones that caused the runaway dog!

Regardless of my recent facebook status I wouldn't give any of them away....despite the tempting offers=) On the other hand I when I woke up this morning I found that Boomer had eaten the two pounds of hamburg left out to thaw on the counter (second time this has happened), and when I leaned over to scoop the cat up some food she jumped up and hit me full on the nose with her head....so the dog and cat are still free game!

The Grody Story

Today is one of those post when my proud mother's heart finds itself tripping over my weak, queasy stomach....

Thanks to a great friend (!), Zachery was given a gift....a gift of roadkill. Last week he inherited a dead raccoon....I know, this is a great story, isn't it? Over the next couple of days he figured out and successfully did manage to skin it....tail, paws, and head still attached, just like he wanted. I really do think it's cool, I really do. But just that LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!

I mean, look! It's absolutely gross!! But it is good for him and I am proud of watching him conquer the task and figure out how to do it, I've even given nice compliments and pet the skin of it once he was finished. Monica won't even touch it and whenever it is mentioned she declares it a gross, yucky thing. Now, while I agree with her, I am trying to still let Zach know how cool I really DO think it is that he's done this....So please, don't judge me when I tell you that when I found it, laying bloody side down on his school desk with his laptop gently nestled between it's four claws, I told him to get that thing outside and went up the stairs hollering, "I'm going to go puke now...." I'm trying....I really am!

Logan's Story

I am interrupting the previously scheduled blog post to bring you this bit of news. Logan has a concussion....=( The short version is that he will probably be just fine, but if you're up for the longer version you can read the rest of this post!

Yesterday the kids and I went for a walk down to one of their favorite local places....the railroad tracks. I took my camera, as usual, and we braved the chilly but sunny weather. Zach loaded the youngest two kids into the wagon and hooked them to Boomers collar - that's one picture I should have taken but didn't! He pulls them with absolutely no problem!

We noticed the horses in one of the distant pastures as soon as we got there but thankfully Boomer didn't pay them much attention at the time since I let him off the leash. The kids climbed around on the trees and played while I took turns taking pictures of the girls.... and of the boys....
I had fun doing that - that is until we wanted to do some pictures up in a big tree and the three younger kids all were on the verge of a panic attack while the older two and I tried to get them situated. But the results were worth it I think!
And now for where the story gets interesting....Once the pictures were over Monica and Alana wanted to walk down the tracks a bit further to where the horses were. Zach and Logan headed the other direction back to the bridge since they enjoy playing around under the tracks. Jesse decided he wanted to see the horses too, so we slowly began to make our way over but the girls were way ahead of us. Right about this time Monica and I both noticed that Boomer seemed to spot the horses and he took off! The herd of horses, 8 or 10 of them, began to literally gallop away up a cliff in the distance as Boomer chased them. Of course, by this time, Monica and I are both hollering and calling and hollering and calling....he would NOT listen. Then suddenly when he was just about to disappear from our sight up over the top of the cliff he turned, looked at us, and decided to come home. (*Can I just say for a moment that I hate, I HATE when a dog doesn't come when called....the only thing more useless is a kid that won't come when called! I have no patience for either one) Needless to say, when he finally returned he realized just how much of a pet peeve that is for me!!!!

As I am dragging the unwilling 120 pound dog down the tracks I am hollering for Zach to bring me the leash. Well, by the time he finally hears me I was back to the tracks. I asked Zach if he hadn't heard me hollering, and he said no, that Logan had fallen and he was crying. At this time I also realized that Jesse was crying since I had left him alone to go get ding bat. I hooked the leash on the dog, gave Zach strict instructions not to let him go, and went to see Logan. He was still crying and just looked quite shaken up, he had fallen on the ice and hit his head hard. All I knew at the time was that I wanted to get us all back to the house and be done with this excursion that so quickly had gone from good to rotten.

This time Zach pulled Logan and Jesse in the wagon while I walked the dog and made him heel every step of the way home. By the time we got back Logan was still feeling terrible, his head was pounding. I had him lay on the couch and looked him over for everything I could think of, a bruise, his pupils, was he dizzy, did he feel sick to his stomach, etc. In the middle of all this he asked me how he hit his head....he couldn't remember. I gave him some Tylenol and watched him really closely for the next couple hours. By evening time he was his normal self and seemed fine. However, when it was time to go to bed he complained again of his head.

Around 3am he came to my room, once again in tears. His head was pounding and he felt sick to his stomach. I sat with him, told him to be still and keep his eyes closed, and prayed. Shortly after that he threw up....Around 4am I called my mom, in the dark of night when you are a parent alone things can look pretty bleak! She wasn't there - silly parents of mine were out walking since it was 6am their time. And, of course, the person I most wanted is in Wyoming....

We each managed to get a bit more sleep and this morning I took him in to see the doctor. He was feeling much better by that time but I just needed some one else to look at him. They determined that we would keep a close eye on him for the next few days. If we lived far away from the hospital they would have gone ahead with a CT scan, but she told me just to take him into the ER myself if I had any doubts or if something wasn't right over the next little while.

Right now he is laying on the floor with Alana listening to a story on tape. He isn't quite himself and just asked if he could have something for his head which is still hurting. The big no-no right now would be a second bump, the doctor said then he really could be in trouble. So....that's the story in a not so small nutshell=) Thank you for those of you who will pray! Matthew has been offered a bit more work in WY so he is staying another week, I have 8 more days to go!!!

Randy's visit

Last week, on the day of THE birthday to be exact, a surprise walked through the door! Matthew's oldest brother, Randy, came out for a visit=) We had a super time while he was here just visiting and catching up. We didn't do a whole lot during the time he was here, he was happy to just go with Matthew and join in whatever he was doing, or hang out with the kids here at the house.

It was a real treat for the kids to have some time with Uncle Randy, the younger two had only seen him one other time this past May when we were visiting Maine. They hit it off then and seemed to pick right back up where they left on when he was here. They seemed to never give him a moment of peace....Alana especially enjoyed using him as her climbing post=)

Randy brought each of the kids something - a special gift that had been picked with each one in mind. Monica was given a pink Red Sox baseballl hat, and Alana and Jesse were given giant sized pens which they think are way cool! Logan was given something really neat - a baseball glove that was Uncle Randy himself had used. Then Zachery's was cooler still - he got a buck knife that had been Randy's for about 30 years. Matthew remembers being a boy and wanting the cool new knife his big brother had. Needless to say it was pretty special=) The next day Logan had more fun playing catch than he ever had before!

Chances are he went home tired=) Anyway, thanks Uncle Randy, for coming all this way and staying with us for a week. We loved having you here....there were a few sad faces the morning after you left!

My Matthew

So today is day #3 of Matthew being gone....=( He is up in Oshoto, WY for the week staying with Jared and Sarah Berg, our friends. There is a man in their church who needed some work done so he offered Matthew the job and he will be up there working for the rest of the week. I debated going up with him as we are always welcome ( and always have a blast ) at their house, but it really would have made for a complicated schedule both for Matthew as well as the kids and I. So here we sit....biding our time until Daddy comes home. The days seem to go by so much more slowly for me when I don't have his coming home in the evening to look forward to. The kids and I manage, things still run the same, we are all just fine....I just miss him. Of course, then when I think about missing him it sort of makes me glad in a weird way. There are those who do not miss their husbands but rather look forward to them being gone, and there are those serving our country whose husbands get shipped out and are gone for 8 months - making our time away from each other quite inconsequential. So, I am glad I miss him and can know that he will be back soon and we will be most happy to be back together=) Of course there's the possibility of him staying a second week....but let's cross that bridge IF we get there! So, because he's gone and because I have a picture file full of pictures of him, I'm going to post some=) Last week for his birthday I put together a slide show that contained some of these pics so now those of you who couldn't come can still enjoy a peek!
Love you, honey! Thanks for all you do to provide for and take care of our family! See you soon=) XOXO

Adventures in Nature

Yet another home school activity our family has been able to do is called "Adventures in Nature" and is sponsored by Wind Cave National Park which borders both Hot Springs and Buffalo Gap. Every other Tuesday kids ages 3-10 are invited to attend a 2 hour activity time where they learn more about nature, specifically related to Wind Cave.

We went last week and the theme was migration and hibernation. It was pretty fun for the little three and definitely geared to small kids. They were each asked to a draw a picture of their own home which led to talking about the different homes and habitats the park animals have. It's was bit too 'green' and 'eco-' driven for my tastes but thankfully they were not pushing the evolution agenda so we may go a few more times.

They had several different activities planned for the kids - all about animals. Here one of the park rangers read a story about a turtle to the varied (polite way of saying interesting and weird) group.

Then another one of the rangers pulled out a bin full of animal skins for the kids to look over. This part they LOVED! The animals had all been hit by a car (even a buffalo....that had to hurt), and the kids job was to feel them and determine if it was their winter coat or summer coat.

They also took them outside for a couple games that were....um, silly, to say the least.Then we went on a small hike where the rangers pointed out things of interest and different animal tracks and dwellings of the deer, antelope, buffalo, foxes, mountain lions, rabbits, ground hogs, bats, etc. which are all animals found in Wind Cave National Park.

Most of the time the older two have several different activities geared for teens, while the younger ones don't have as many fun opportunities so it was a treat to have something just for them. Mommy is their usual entertainment=)

Monica's rough life....

A view from last Sunday afternoon....

The other day when Alana and I sat down on top of Monica she decided to get the camera and chronicle her rough life....silly girl!