A Hero In All Of Us

4 years old is a MAGICAL time when little girls want to be princesses and little boys want to be heros. Right now, we are surrounded by Spider Man undies, X-Men toothbrushes, Batman bubblebath, and Mr. Incredible dinner plates. Everytime Hayden wants to show me his "spidey webs" I smile.

We have our own private garbage dump on the farm. That's what you do when the nearest "waste management facility" is who-knows-where and you live on 4,000 acres. Yes....I said four THOUSAND. There is an enormous hole in the ground where we throw all our garbage, burn it, and then (someday) will cover it up. Hayden loves to "go to the dump".

The other day, after gutting closets and "de-cluttering" I had three bags to take to the dump, so I took Hayden with me.

I backed-up to the enormous crater and popped the trunk. Lining the bags up onto the ground, I handed an empty box to Hayden so he could contribute in the "Trash-Dumping Ceremony". I LOVE getting rid of clutter, and I do it frequently. It chokes me when it's in my house and in my way. I feel a sort of cleansing effect when I am free of it. (Can I add ORGANIZING to my list of hobbies?)

Three times, I swung a bag over my head in the air while shouting the count-down:
ONE.....TWO.....THREEEEEEEE!

Each time, Hayden watched in amazement as I hurled the bag into the pit. After finishing my dramatic display, I clapped, cheered, and yelled, "Okay Hayden, now it's your turn!"

A look of seriousness washed over his face and he marched courageously over to the rim of the cavernous abyss (while holding his box).
He stood a few feet from the edge and peered off into the horizon. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath...

(I am NOT making this up!)

Bravely and with conviction he proclaimed,

"To Infinity...and BEYOND!"

With all his super-human strength (and with a full-body twist), he hurled the empty box out into space.

Laughing, we gave each other Hi-Fives, got back in the car, and went home.

I don't think the obsession with super-heroes ever fully goes away. Why else would we have so many box office hits with Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four? I think we all continue to believe in heroes and that even when things look hopeless, good will always conquer evil.

Who is YOUR hero?

Honest Self-Reflection.

I wonder if Hayden knows himself better at age 4 than I know myself at 30.

The following is an actual conversation that took place last night at bedtime. The part of Ben will be represented by "Daddy".

Hayden: Daddy, I can sound like a birdie....TWEET, TWEET, TWEET!
Daddy: Oh good job! Now what does a dog say?
Hayden: WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!

Daddy: And what does a a cow say?
Hadyen: MOOOO......MOOOOO!

Daddy: And what does Hayden say?
Hayden: Hayden says "I don' WANNA eat my dinner!"

If you have been around Hayden at dinner time, you will realize how hillarious this is, especially coming out of HIS mouth! Every other meal is fine, but dinner is always a battle.

Sometimes I wish adults were in the habit of being that honest with themselves and about the world.

Where Do Babies Come From?

I've developed a new talent recently and I amaze my husband EVERY TIME! (Not as much as when I juggled sixlets and gumballs in the air with my mouth on our first date. THAT was way more impressive!

I have now developed the ninja-like ability to swat flies with my bare hands. I have a dozen fly-swatters, but I can't always get to those in time. Living on a farm this time of year involves a constant battle with insects. One has to adapt for survival, which is why my family is very pleased with this newly developed gift.

I've been wondering lately, though....

Where are the BABY flies?

I've seen babies of other insect varieties:

*Baby wasps-when we broke off the nest and opened it.
*Baby spiders-as I was vacuumming them up while renovating the farm house.
*Baby crickets-those were everywhere until the exterminator started visiting.
*Baby praying mantis-sitting on the herbs in my garden. Although, there were two until after the wind storm....I think one blew away.

I have searched and searched, but I have yet to see a baby fly. The way I understand it, they only live for, like, 4 days. You would have to accomplish a lot of things in four days. This creates all kinds of questions in my mind:

Where are the nests?

Where do they hatch?

What do they look like when they hatch?

How big are they when they are "born"?

Why do they wait at the door to rush into the house, only to sit in the windows trying to escape (once they've made it in)?

When Hayden was a baby, he was TERRIFIED of flies. Now, he weilds a nasty fly swatter and goes on random "fly-hunting" trips to the french doors on occasion.

Someday, I hope to pass on my Ninja ability to posterity.

Pivotal Necessity

Back in "the old days" (and still in some parts of the world and country), farmers used to rely on the weather to sustain their crops. If there was a serious drought, then say good-bye to your crop and your income.

Now, in this area there is a LOT of water running in an aquifer under the ground. It's there all the time, SO on the farms throughout this area Center Pivot Irrigation is the watering method of choice (unless it's a pecan grove, which uses Localized Sprinkler Irrigation).

For a history lesson on irrigation and definitions of Irrigation practices throughout the world, click HERE.

When you're up in the sky in an airplane, and you see all the circles on the ground below, then you can be sure that those crops are watered with Center Pivot Irrigation. For a complete descritpion of how it works, click on the link above....or just think of a compass (the kind that draws circles).

Here are some interesting things about pivots that you may not already know, unless you've lived on a farm...

*You can program the pivots to complete one rotation as fast or as slow as needed (anywhere between 8hrs and a few weeks).

*The water flow is amazing: 900 gallons per minute.

*If you take a sprinkler head off, it makes a great High-Pressure Car Washing hose.

*The pivots come in a variety of sizes but the ones on this farm and the farms in this valley are almost 1200 feet long (that's about 4 football fields) and covers a 125-acre crop.

*The best part: Pivots make it possible for ONE person to farm what used to take DOZENS of people to maintain.

There's more technology used, out here in the middle of nowhere, than you might think.

Field Of Dreams

Just in case you were wondering what a brand new field of corn looks like...

~Photos by Nancy

"Git Along, Little Dawgie!"

~Photo by Nancy

Have you ever read the children's book "Flap Your Wings" by P.D. Eastman?

It's about two little birds who come home to their nest to find a huge egg sitting there. Where did it come from? A little boy, while walking along a path by the lake, found the wayward egg on the path and put it into the nest, assuming that's where it came from.

The birds adopt the egg and sit on it until it hatches. It's a baby aligator. Despite their differences in appearance, the birds love and care for the baby aligator, and name him Junior. They feed him worms and bugs, making Junior the world's first VEGAN aligator. Junior grows and grows.

One day, they decide he's too big for the nest and they attempt to teach him how to fly. As they push him out of the nest, they encouragingly shout, "Flap your wings, Junior....Flap your WINGS!"

Of course, Junior falls like a rock...but he falls right into the pond where he is instantly happy in the water. The bird couple realizes that in the water is where he belongs and that it is the place where he is most happy.

I thought of this story as Jack was disappearing down the driveway in the truck. He went to live on a cattle ranch.

We loved having Jack as our dog, but we realized recently that we had to get rid of him. There are many reasons why he was not going to be a good family dog, and why he was better suited on a Ranch. Now, instead of chasing cars, he will be able to heard cattle. Have you ever seen those dogs work? They are so happy! We realized that's where Jack's instinct wants to be.

We know he will be happier and that that's where he belongs, but we miss him already.

"Flap your wings, Jack....Flap your wings!"

Vintage-Style Patchwork Quilt

If you know me well, or have been to my house, then you know that I am a sucker for Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids.

Just because I love the style does NOT mean, however that I buy everything in my house from PB...I just use them as my inspiration and have become a good "copy cat."

Lately I have been checking out PBK's vintage-style quilts and secretly admiring them. Now that we live on a farm (and I speak French), we have somewhat of a french country-style flare in our interior decor. I have been planning the kids' bedrooms, but have run into some problems.

Problem #1: How do I plan for the gender and bedroom decor when we don't have all of our kids in the house yet. How many boys? How many girls? Who will share a room? I need to coordinate the colors at least a LITTLE, but who and with what? (Okay, okay, I know....I take interior decorating a little serious, but you get my point.)

Problem #2: I can't find any of these popular-styled quilts anywhere but through PBK, much less for under $200 for a twin. I'm going to have to buy a few of these at a time to make sure they are coordinated, at least a little.

Problem #3: I don't quilt. I've tried. It's not "my thing." Quilting all those teeny-tiny stitches....It stresses me out just thinking about it.

Pondering this in my mind for days, I was suddenly introduced (by CJane) to a blog by KM. This girl has talent! As I browsed around her fabulous website, I came across instructions for vintage-style patchwork quilts that she so generously shared with the world. I feel blessed, so I'm passing it on to you. You know, just in case some of you are looking for answers to YOUR prayers about quilts, as I know so many of you are. :-)

I'm not a quilter, but I can sew. If you can sew straight lines on a sewing machine, then you can make this quilt. Kelly does a great job of sharing tips and tricks and gives step-by-step instructions with pictures.

She will tell you the secrets of how to get the quilting stitch look, as well as how to give the quilt that textured shrink look, and more! Her instructions are for a baby quilt, but you can use the idea for a twin quilt too...just add more squares when you're laying out the squares. How big? I've heard it's a good idea to use a FLAT SHEET of the size you want (just rememeber to make allowances for how much of the square the seams will take up when sewing (1/4 inch on each side of each square).

If you would like just the Patchwork Baby Quilt Instructions, then click HERE.

If you would like to visit her blog site, which is rich in information about her other projects, then click HERE.

Thank You, Kelly!

Corn or Green Beans?

Have you ever noticed that when people taste some kind of exotic meat (like rattlesnake or aligator or grubs), they describe it by saying, "It tastes like chicken." If our diets were comprised of mostly rattlesnake, then would we describe chicken as tasting like rattlesnake? Hmmmmm....

Today, after a trip to town, Ben drove into one of the corn fields before taking me to the house.

"You've gotta see something."

This isnt' the first time I've heard this. Infact, I hear it all the time. He gets a funny look on his face and acts all giddy and excited. Then, I am left in suspense, wondering what it will be this time.

"Pins and needles, Baby....pins and needles!"

Jumping out of the car, he said, "wait here" and disappeared into the corn field. The corn really IS "as high as an elephant's eye" this time of year. Those song writers really knew what they were talking about!

A few feet into the edge of the field, I could see one of the stalks shake back and forth and although I couldn't SEE Ben, I knew where he was. And then he appeared; walking back to the car with two teeny-tiny ears of corn. I thought they looked funny with their little fluffs of corn silk hair popping out of the top of the thick leaves.

Handing me one he said, "Okay, now peel it."

I felt like I was peeling a hairy banana. Once we got most of the outer leaves off he said, "Okay, now eat it...corn silk and all!"

We chomped into the 5-inch long corn cob. It was SOOOO good. Sweet and juicy, it popped and crunched in our mouths as we chewed. Infact, we grabbed two more for the road.

"I know this taste," I pondered as we drove away. "It tastes like fresh home-grown green beans....but crunchier."

Weird.

A corn on the cob that tastes just like green beans?

I just don't know what to believe anymore.

"LIONS....and Tigers, and Bears...Oh MY!"

What's with the Wizard of Oz theme this week? It's just working out that way.....

Scary?

Ironic?

YES!

Yesterday, as Ben was driving around the farm and checking out what's been going on during our absence, he drove by many fields and pivots. The corn is getting high and in some fields is taller than me.

As he was driving, his path was crossed by a MOUNTAIN LION running across the road in front of him and into the safe obscurity of the dense field of corn.

He took a second to catch his breath.

Continuing on within 30 feet a pack of coyotes ran across the path in front of him. Coyotes=BAD. Rabid coyotes have been killing baby calves, and trying to get at farm dogs around the area.

Since Ben drives the farm with his AR-15 on his lap, he jumped out of the truck, aimed, and shot the fifth coyote that ran across the small road.

ps: Before you call PETA, let's remember that this is a farm. This is a very different culture than "the burbs". It's tougher, and people carry guns on their laps for safety (NOT safety from people, that is). I am NOT in favor of cosmetic animal testing or the way KFC treats their chickens, but I am ALSO not in favor of coyotes over-running the farm, killing the livestock, and coming into our yard while my son is playing. Yes, that happens.

He checked to make sure it was dead before leaving the area. He told the other guys on the farm and everyone returned to the scene immediately.

The coyote was GONE!

The spot was marked by blood-stained dirt, but it was clear what had happend to the coyote when they followed a trail of blood and very BIG cat tracks into the field of corn.

"If you've got one Mountain Lion, then you've got a dozen on this farm!" advised one farmer.

That's it.....call "Fish and Feathers" (our nickname for the Department of Fish and Wildlife)...it's time to control the Mountain Lion population!

You know, Mountain Lions ARE very beautiful and majestic animals....just NOT as beautiful in my back yard or when killing the calves.

"I'm Afraid We're Not In Kansas Anymore..."

No, I have not given up on blogging, nor will I EVER run out of stuff to talk about in farm life. Our past week was spent in Kansas City, Missouri, but now.....

....We're BAAAAAAACK!

So, enjoy this Top Ten List of memories from KC (NOT to be confused with KFC):

#10. Being stalked by the creepy guy when I was all alone at the pool (minding my own business in my bikini) trying to get a tan. That was NOT cool!


#9. Finally having an opportunity to wear my most favorite-est, chunkiest, heaviest, coolest wooden disco platform shoes ever! (Not a lot of times where these are appropriate on the farm!)





#8. Whitnessing Mike, secure in his manhood, painting his toenails to match the bride's. That's SASSY!





#7. Embracing my "scumness" after playing President into the wee hours of the morning for four days.

Serendipity

Check out these cool pictures that 14 year-old Tori captured while playing with my camera.

"Tori: I see a budding photography talent, girlfriend!"

#6. Eating Ben and Jerry's "Phish Food" ice cream for breakfast.



#5. Watching Tori get her ears pierced a second time.
Question for Tori: "So, do I get a Mafia nickname too, or is that just for the boys? You know that (I myself, having my second piercing at age 13) would have voted a confident "YES", had I been invited into the huddle. Think about it!"





#4. Playing Checkers at The Cracker Barrel:

(Ben is worried about losing his Checkers champion crown...I can see it on his face!)

#3. Stuffing our faces with 14 different kinds of meat at the Brazillian Rodizio Grill. Eventhough I moaned the rest of the night in "I-ate-too-much agony" and had to be careful not to laugh too hard out of fear of exploding under the pressure, would I have chosen to do anything else besides spend such a great evening with friends? Nao Obrigado!



#2. Being with Buddies!
("Um....did anyone else realize the wedding photographer was being silly behind us?")






#1. Sharing a day with our friends, believing it was their wedding day, and then realizing at the reception (along with everyone else) that they had already been married for two months after a trip to Vegas?

Priceless!

"Congradulations Jimmy and Lesa.....Ya got us...and we're SO happy for you!"