Mommy's Booby Baby

My baby Cote has got a fever today, and with that comes her being a Fuss-Bucket McGee.  Cote has an intense love for the boob on a regular basis, but on a day like this, she is completely attached.  If you have a maternal-type instinct like me, any baby showing interest in the "food plot" releases feel-good endorphin's   Whenever it is one of my babies, that goes about ten steps farther and makes me want to take pics of them at the breast and do big photo collages on the walls. There is no bond like the bond a baby has with her mothers boob, lol.

When a gal is sick, there is no better medicine than a mommy boob.

A little mad about her quality time being disturbed...

Until she realizes it's a photo-op and she immediately turns into her "mothers daughter".

I don't know if mom boobies have a special smell or what, but it is like a bear to honey in my house.

This is what "Baby Euphoria" looks like.

Even when I have a shirt on, she still has to try.

Our babies grow bigger every day, but that does not mean they ever reach a point that they don't need their Mommies.  To be honest, the opportunities to smell their sweet skin makes me hope that never changes.

An Hour At My Farm....

Numerous times during the day, I have to buzz outside to feed all the animals and check to make sure they are all behaving.  I was sicker than sick today and really was dreading going out, so I decided to take my camera along for a little initiative.  Hope you enjoy one of my hours in pictures!!!

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I am dreading going out, so I down a quick cup of coffee for a little "pick me up".

Fruit Loops for the poultry and a cooked squash for the piglets.  Spoiled rotten farm animals.

Max is super pumped to start chores!!!  These are his favorite times of day!

Trying to be pumped for chores.... would rather be snuggling with a warm blanket.

Max has the door open to the pig barn.  He is a hardcore farm hand.

I am greeted with a cute snout, judgmental eyes and an empty food bowl.

I love polka-dotted piggies!

Piglets get two scoops of pellets...

Two scoops of corn....

Two scoops of grain....

And some slop.  Ick.  Now I need to go fill the ten gallon bucket with water for them.

On my way to the spicket, I see that Max has unlocked the fence going into the chickens and the ducks again.  That dog won't quit trying to clean them!

No one even narked him out this time.  They just stand there looking naughty.

Yay.  The spicket is frozen.

It's a good thing I put one of these awesomely big farm sinks in my kitchen!

Pigs are now watered, covered in slop and given their treat!

Hermoine the kitty... 

Fed Ex guy came and Hermoine, Max and I gave him the grand tour.  Hermoine had to of course be carried everywhere.  Max wouldn't let the Fed Ex guy touch her.  Everyone out here has officially lost their minds.

Time to feed Max.  As you can see, he doesn't like this food.

But he loves this one.

So I pour it on top....

And he digs in!

Time to check on all of the naughty birds.

Which is evidently not a job I am allowed to do solo.

I just don't get how it can feel good to lay in the snow.

Fruit Loop treats everywhere!!!!!

Trying to get Max to leave.  He throws himself down like a wounded and depraved animal.  This dog is going to be the death of me.

Chicken waterer needs to be filled in my awesome sink as well!

Water Mongers

Inside the coop filling the feeders.  Chickens are BIG eaters!

I do not understand how this can be a comfortable way to lay an egg.... yet I see this every single day.

Max enjoying an eggy treat!

Smucked the thumb.  I'm as graceful as always.

Max.  You are not getting any more eggs.

But I will give you one of the treats I keep in my pocket!

We are so done with this round of chores!!!!  Time to go in and warm the heck up!

Worst part of working outside... coming in, taking your gear off and losing your socks in the boots!  Makes me angry every time!

Hot steamy coffee and a snuggly blanket should warm me right up!

Hope you enjoyed a peek at an hour on my farm!  Feel free to drop by anytime to lend a hand!!!

Seriously.  Drop by.

Is This For Real????

Lately I have been feeling like I got sucked into some sort of vortex.  Changes are a'happening in my home, and idea's are a'flying!

Let's start with me first of all.  I am stripping the black from my hair.  Keith loves loves loves dark hair and that is why I have kept it dark for so long, but a couple of weeks ago I asked myself what I like.... 

Well, I have no idea, but it isn't dark.  So I am waiting for the color stripping kit to get here, and I will soon begin the journey of pulling the black out.  I am not sure what is coming after yet, but it best not be black.

Now comes Gage.  First off, the kid is in hockey this year.  I know nothing about hockey and I had not encouraged it.  I told him he had to pick a sport and this is what he went ahead and chose.  Sooo basically.... we have an entire team working on helping him at this point.  I was sitting there thinking about it today, and to an outsider we probably seem like we are working towards the NHL *laughing*.  No.  What we are working towards is helping him skate as well as his peers, so he can keep up.  THAT is our big goal, my friends.  Not only that, but Gage is loving the attention.  He needs it and this has been helping a ton with his self confidence   

Now for my self confidence, not so much.  I have never felt more like a dolt than I do when trying to figure out this hockey stuff.  It is like my brain just cannot compute and organize the information, lol.

Gage's newest future endeavors are stand-up paddle boarding and golf this Spring/Summer. Who's kid is this????  My child was supposed to be artsy and listen to jazz.  He was going to be a painter and an anthropologist.  Instead, Gage is into sports.  So now I need to get skates and figure out when I am going to teach myself to skate in private lol.  Golf?  OMG... I have no idea how in the heckers I am going to pull that one off and stand-up paddle boarding????  For Pete's sake!  I need to keep working out if my butt is going to be that severely on display!

So instead of discouraging my child from doing things because I don't know how to do them, I will just have to deal with it and look like an idiot *shake my head*.  All I can do is hope people don't carry cameras on them when we are out and about.

Thankful

It is the day after Thanksgiving and I am still in a sort of food coma.  I love Thanksgiving... mostly for the turkey and stuffing.  Ohhh and the pumpkin pie.  I have never spent my time thinking about what Thanksgiving was really about; just focused on the food and keeping my rear out of the stores.

This year I took a little initiative and decided to take a moment each day and really think about my life.  Some would say I live a hard life, and ask me on the wrong day and I would agree.  If I sit here and just take a second to think though, I realize I live a pretty dang good life.  So basically I decided I would take an entire month of seconds and really contemplate on all of the positives of my days.

I realized that the things in my life that I am Thankful for are not actually things for the most part, but people.  I have never been one to hold material objects or money in high regard so this was sort of a refreshing reminder.  So every day on my Facebook page, I have written in detail what or whom I am Thankful for and for what reasons.  In some ways, my updates were extremely mushy, but there is no way to truly show someone the depths of your gratitude without mushing it up.

I decided to continue with my Thankful posts until the end of the month, and to be honest, I may even do it past Christmas.  With the holidays approaching, I think it is important to remind myself of all the people in our lives that have a place in my heart.  I want everyone to know that I recognize what they do for us and I appreciate every second of it.

This has been a good month for me.  A month of reminders.  A month of changes.  A month of Thanks.

Tonight I am Thankful to everyone who takes the time out of their day to read this particular Blog.  It means you are taking time to learn about me, my children and my families life.

Thank You

The Great Melting Pot

Here in Northern Minnesota almost all of the snow has melted!  Happiness is found in the warmth of the last day of hunting season, and with that the end of our dog Max's psychosis.  Max the dog, that is.

Yes everyone, we did get another dog.  Many of you remember the heartache we felt at the loss of Hank, the rescue Saint Bernard.  We went ahead and got Max a couple weeks after that, due to a major skunk infestation.  I was super nervous about getting another dog right away and I was quite frankly not ready.  One day I was online and some people had been tagging me in a photo on a local sell and swap site, so I went ahead and took a peek.  It was a picture of a young adult male Newfoundland/Black Lab mix.  I pondered on it and decided to write the owner and request his story.

Max had been put up for adoption in April 2012, after losing his 4 year old little boy to a house fire in a neighboring town.  He had only been a pup at the time and that June her family had decided to adopt him.  Things had gone really well over the Summer, but once Fall had hit and her teenage boys had gone back to school as well as extra-curriculars, Max had begun to struggle.  He was lonely.

I fell hook, line and sinker.  

Within two hours the owners brought him to our farm and we all started getting to know each other.  Max loves the kitties and sleeps with them and bathes them.  He loves the chickens and will wrangle them back into their fence.  He loves checking on the pigs and is obsessed with eating their milk replacer.  

Most of all, he loves the kids!!!!  When he see's Gage, his intelligent eyes light right up!  He could play for hours much like a puppy, but his extremely gentle with him.  He loves to lick Bo's whole face and tries to climb up in his carseat with him.  The sweetest is how he is with Cote.  One day I sat Cote on the ground to see how Max would react, and he dropped down to his belly and crawled over to lay his big head in her lap.  

He knew.

Everything has gone really well here until this hunting season.  That is when poor Max lost all sense of control.  We have struggled to rein his excitement over all things blaze orange.  Big deal, right?  Yeah, if we weren't completely surrounded by hunting cabins.  Max has spent his days chasing hunters, barking at cars and 4-wheelers and ultimately spending his day-times visiting the pigs in the barn.  No one is more excited than me right now that hunting season is yet again a year away.  We have now decided we are going to have to get the in-ground fencing for next year.

I do not have pics to post today because I have not actually taken any.  A part of me I think has been worried that I fell too hard last time and that I will jinx it with Max this time.  I think it has been long enough though, so I feel a photoshoot coming on for this Thanksgiving weekend!

Meeting New People

So I have been meeting a lot of new people lately.  I genuinely enjoy getting to know people and getting myself out there to meet folks.  I am one of those gals who truly believes you learn more from other people as you visit with them and hear their stories, than you ever will from a book. 

That being said, I have a tendency to keep personal things about myself hidden.  Sure, I will talk about my family and I will talk about views and opinions... but I am always scared to share what it is that makes me who I am.  Secrets, desires and dreams aplenty are kept to myself.  In the meantime I am literally dragging info from my new found friends.  In my brain, people are a puzzle in which I need to have every piece in my possesion before I can really begin.  I love hearing peoples stories and sometimes I think people like me because I let them talk.  I am a pretty easy person to talk to.  I absolutely don't judge and I offer advice if that is what my friends want. 

Sometimes there are situations where I do let someone in and it is just too much for them.  My family in general is overwhelming for new-comers, but then they start realizing just how far out of the box we live as well as think... well let's just say we are not for the faint of heart.  There have been some who have accepted the challenge and ultimately become a permanent member of our family, but not a ton.

I am not mean to our friends and I am not a yeller, but I will admit that we have a tendency to suck all of the energy right out of a room.  It is sometimes hard for people to get me to open up and I know that can be discouraging.  I have a problem with hermiting at home when my stress gets to be too much for me.

So circling to the beginning paragraph, we have some newcomers in our lives and there are a few I genuinely like so wish me luck that we don't scare them off with our antics ;)

I am Thankful for my 3 precious gifts.

Today I am Thankful that I was chosen to be the mother of my three gorgeous kiddo's.  There have been times I have asked myself why it was me that I was chosen... when I struggle with stress weight I cannot shed, when I see our light bank account, when I look at myself in the mirror and I look 48 rather than 28,   when my body is so sore I can't bend.  Then I realize I am fluffy because the kids like to cuddle my squishyness... I have had to fill my gas tank at least twice a week so I can bring the kids to therapies and classes....  most of the cracks on my face are laugh lines... and I still am able to carry my babies around; something I won't get to do for much longer.

I am not a perfect mom, but we laugh all day long.  We cuddle, we veg, we play, we read, and get to our appointments, and do learning activities.  I truly enjoy hanging out with my kids and doing stuff with them, as they are three of the best things that have ever happened to me.  Being a parent has been not just rewarding, but a blast!  The kids rotate turns to go shopping with me.  Even if they are naughty, we have a good time.  No lie though, I usually walk out of the store feeling like one of my lives has been scraped off. 

Our schedule is insane, but we try our best to keep it organized.  There is never enough hours in the day, but the kids have taught me to loosen up as there is always tomorrow.  I am really unorganized, but I keep trying to be better.  I haven't given up yet.  We are about to start hockey in our house so give me a couple of weeks, and see if I even have any hair left.

The people who have let the kids into their lives are always thankful they did.  They have a way of showing you what a gift they truly are.  They suck you in and wrap you right around their little fingers.  I think it is the simple fact that with them, there is no ulterior motives, they just truly want your love.  They are not trying to earn rewards, they are not trying to cover up a naughty deed... they just want that lovin'.  Don't get me wrong, once they are comfortable they will unleash the naughtiness monster, but the naughtiness and the love come hand in hand with them.  After all, they are kids...

We do not have a diagnosis for Bo and Cote, and with the suggestion of our Doctor, we have not been looking for one for over 2 years.  We don't need one, as it is not who the kids are.  What the kids need in order to survive are love from family and friends, therapies, life skills, learning activities and tons of playtime.  I am the sort of person who can and will do these things with fervor.  

Gage needed me to step up to the plate and Homeschool him, so I have.  I do not have a teaching degree, but I research every single day which methods will be best for him.  He is not the happiest about being Homeschooled, but every time we start our lessons or go to town and his SPD flares, I know in my heart it was the best decision.  I have caught a lot of flack from him, family and friends about Homeschooling, but I have stood my ground.  I see how far he has come educationally in just a couple of months, and the decision is made valid.  The strides in his education come with a price as his SPD has been a bit out of control, but we keep right on trucking through it.  We are in the midst of looking into a service dog for him and Bo, so that may just be the ticket for helping in amped up situations.  He is a good kid though, with great manners, and sociable personality and very lovable   I am a lucky mom.

The kids have taught me Patience by the boatloads.  Determination as we set our sights on a goal.  Stubbornness when they think they can weasel out of doing something.  Confidence as I walk with my children in public settings.  Strength as I fight for my childrens well being and rights.  Compassion as I attempt to guess how best to help them next.  Joy when I here Mom, Mama, or anything that sounds remotely like it.  Endearment when someone walks up to the children and talks to them.  Pride when I see someone won over by them.  Exuberance when they are befriended in any way.  LOVE when I set my eyes upon them or hear their little voices.

I was not always the type of person I am now.  My children molded me into this person, and my greatest hope is that I can make them proud and return the favor.


So today I am sharing how Thankful I am that it was ME who was chosen to receive this gift.