The view from my kitchen window while doing dishes: Ben and Rich (and Maggie tagging along). Going for a walk on the Ranch.

We had an amazing wind storm on The Ranch last night.

...all night long, in fact.

So strong, actually that it blew the dog house an entire foot away from its original spot (with Maggie inside of it). This 90-year old cottage we live in is built with adobe brick and I have to say that "I'm a believer" when it comes to adobe brick. I felt so safe in our strong (seemingly immovable) little cottage with the flagstone floor.

It made me think of a few of the old farm and ranch houses we've cleaned up and lived in since we moved out of the city.

When I walked through this house for the first time (a year and a half ago) I felt like I was going to puke.

It was SO gross and dirty...and stinky.

When we started to clean it up to live in, we actually had to vacuum all the walls and ceilings before we could even paint. I felt like I was in a cave (straight off the set of an Indiana Jones movie) as I vacuumed away the canopies of spiderwebs and dirt surrounding me.

It's a far step from the giant 5,000 square-foot, brand new six bedroom basement house we left in the suburbs.

I loved that house....

...and I cried hard (alone in my car) as I pulled away from it for the very last time.

I'm a House Snob.

(I'll admit it.)

...and I always have been.

I would have always chosen the brand new cookie-cutter house with all the modern tricks and upgrades LONG before I would have chosen an old farm house in need of a little TLC.

...okay, a LOT of TLC.

But now (especially decorated inside and out with hundreds of white lights and dozens of strands of red Christmas berries) I look at our beloved little 900-square foot "Cottage" with love and appreciation.

Now, I sit here on our lovely couch and find myself drifting away in thought about what stories this house would have to tell if it could. Were babies born in this room? Did someone die in this room? Did someone come home from war in this room?

As I painted the cabinets in the hall, I took each drawer out individually to prep. Under the bottom cabinet drawer I noticed a signature of whomever handmade those cabinets and added them to the hall when the house was only 30 years old:

Well F.C.7 1952, I don't know who you are, but I would like you to know that your cabinets now hold linens and baskets of lightbulbs and flashlights. Also, your special "signature drawer" now holds much-loved stuffed animals for my kids. Thank you!

I can honestly say, "I LOVE this house."

I LOVE this house!

It is cozy and strong and safe and warm when the wind is pounding outside...

I can also say that I've learned something that has changed my life:

Having the new house with all its bells and whistles and "energy efficient" amenities is wonderful!

But loving and caring for the old house and discovering its personality and charm is wonderful also. Despite the absence of the dishwasher, I can stand at my kitchen window and quietly listen to the stories it wants to tell me while I play in the soapy water.

And at the end of the day, I'm the one responsible for making it comfortable for my family.

Because it doesn't matter where I live. If my family is there, then it's our home.

Our front door (Maggie wanted to be in the picture.)

PS: Everyone told me I was crazy for painting the front door red (until they saw it, that is). But, I'm sorry....it was powder blue before and I just couldn't walk through a powder blue front door every day.

I just couldn't.

(...and I couldn't find anyone around here who did vinyl lettering, so the Welcome lettering was painted by moi. I printed it off of the computer and then sketched it.)

Stepping Stones: They sit under the tree by the front door.

The Family Room

Dining Area

Looking at the Front Door (standing in the doorway to the kitchen/laundry)

"A Letter to Teddy...."

Hayden's Teddy Bear that was purchased for him the week before his birth.

(He still sleeps with it.)

* * *

Dear Teddy,

I hope you know that I only regularly wash you in the washing machine as a favor, so that you stay smelling fresh and clean.

You did NOT have to freak me out by sitting up and staring at me when I reached to open the dryer and get you out after your usual "blow-drying" session.

When you do things like that, don't you realize that it takes me back to my childhood days and makes me believe (once again) that teddy bears are alive (thus, touching my heart with just a wee bit of guilt)?

Thankfully, that guilt only lasted for a second (until I snapped out of temporary fantasyland and remembered that I am an unbelieving adult now).

...wait...then, why am I writing a letter to a teddy bear?

(DOH!)

STILL.....

Don't let it happen again!

Rink Rats

Hayden watching "Stick Time" (hockey) and drinking hot chocolate with a buddy after the public session.

This group of birthday party girls (ages 5-7) decided to "teach" Hayden how to skate. He played along. He also let them all go on the ice first while saying, "Ladies first." He then turned around and yelled, "MOM! AM I BEING A GENTLEMAN?"

My new skating buddy.

When Hayden tried to get "whiny" I led him out to the hockey box and then left him there. After hitting everyone up for a "free ride" he finally came out of the box and got back to work. His attitude always seemed to improve when he had to figure it out himself. All of a sudden, he was magically having a great time.

Grandpa came to visit. Public sessions are usually very entertaining to observe.

The key is to start 'em young. In this case: 10 months old.






As I soared around the sheet of ice, Ella would giggle while feeling the wind on her face and the butterflies in her tummy....I think she liked it.

And, at the end of the day, Hayden is always ready to "strike a pose"

(of course).

Too Busy For Photo Ops

I've decided.....

That you can usually tell how busy I am (at a particular activity) by how many pictures I take.

And when we have a Fall Feast....

And invite 25 friends....

And make Pumpkin Cheesecake, Lemon Torte, and Apple Pie Turnovers....

And burry Chicken, Beef and a quarter of a Pig in the ground to slowly cook over the course of a couple of days.....

(yes, it's being served off the tailgate of a ranch truck...

...and yes, that's a work glove being used as a potholder...)

I simply have no time to take any more than just a few pictures of the entire day.

(..and now you've seen all of them.)

* * *

But living on a Ranch sure does set the stage for Fall:

We set up the tables in one of the shops because the crisp Fall breeze was just a wee-bit breezy for our plates of food.

As we sat and chatted, we listed to the cows mooing in the nearby corrals.

Four hours later I stood outside in the center of the Headquarters, gazed at the canopy of stars above, and listened to the group of kids play hide-and-seek in the darkness.

"No Pictures, Please!"

Although I DID have to take a picture to prove that our bionic garden is still producing beautiful squash....

Which sort of makes up for this:

We planted more than FIVE hills of pumpkins....
And enough seed to produce over 30-50 pumpkins.
(We were trying to have a pumpkin patch for our little Fall Festival.)
Unfortunately, this (above) was the one and only pumpkin to make it to the party.


It has got to be the ugliest pumpkin I have ever seen, but it sits proudly on our porch now.

Live and Learn...A Painful But Effective Lesson

Here's a little lesson in Ranch life....

...and another reason why we shoot or run over every rattle snake we see.

This is Scooby:

Scooby is a rescue dog that was adopted from a pound in Tucson. I love Scooby because he is such a loveable, affectionate, playful, sweet dog.

He's a Ranch Dog now...

...Hayden's Ranch Dog.

He didn't bark at first. He lived in the city (maybe in an apartment) and was obviously well taken-care of, but he's a wanderer (probably how he ended up as a stray at the pound) and the 10,000-acre ranch has been a heavenly place for him. I'm not sure if he wore a shock collar or what, but it wasn't until a month after being on the ranch that he finally "found" his bark. He seemed so much happier and I was so happy FOR him.

We aren't sure how old he is but I'm guessing he's pretty young. We're talking a PUP here. I thought it was funny every time I looked out the window to see Scooby chasing lizards and turtles in the bushes. ("Cute puppy.")

Well, Scooby snooped in the wrong bush yesterday, 'cause he was bitten by a rattlesnake. For a review of our local snakes on the ranch click HERE. I talked about hemotoxins and neurotoxins and how these beasts have deadly effects on humans (especially considering how far away we are from hospitals, you can understand why everyone kills every rattlesnake they come in contact with. It's one of the reasons why ranchers carry guns every time they ride and everywhere they drive. It's the main reason why I carry a Glock on my walks).

The strange thing I've learned is that the snakes effect humans differently than animals. Those hemotoxins and neurotoxins will kill a human, but will not necessarily have the same effect on animals. One of the barn kitties is living proof of that. Instead, the animal swells up like a Goodyear Blimp and then metabolizes the poison within a few days. Every time we drive out to look at the cattle, we usually see at least one or two cows with deformed faces where a rattlesnake has surprised them while grazing.

They always look terrible.

This is what Scooby looked like this morning when I went out to check on him:

You can see the two fang marks across the bridge of his snout:

Right now, I'm counting on his youth to get him through this...but I think I'll slip him some Benadryl today anyway.

You can see why every kid living at the Ranch Headquarters is taught frequently about the dangers of snakes and how to avoid them. Every time a snake is slain it turns into another life lesson for the kids: They watch it (from a safe distance) strike while it's coiled, they watch the different ways to kill it and then are given the rattle to play with after they help us burry the head.

I've heard people tell me that after this happens to one of their ranch dogs, that dog becomes the best SNAKE DOG for the rest of their lives. Even the tiniest of baby rattlers will forever set off the barking alarm.

...so that's a bonus.

*

*

*

*UPDATE: I slipped Scooby his Benadryl inside a Hot Dog and I must say he was skipping around when he saw the "treat." No really, he skips...it's the cutest thing. He was acting much more chipper than he was this morning. I do have to admit, though that it looks really strange to see his normal-looking body skipping around with a big Marshmallow Puff head. I'll keep you posted.

"You Might Be A Redneck...." (part 4)

If the lettering on the side of your semi

includes cardboard and tape....

...Yoooooou might be a redneck!

(We passed this guy a few times in order to get the right shot...Ben was completely embarrassed, but I JUST couldn't let this one get away.)

Busted!

Ella, caught red-handed.

Whenever it gets reeeeally quiet.....

...and nobody has seen Ella for a while....

I can usually walk into the bathroom and find her sitting next to the toilet paper.

Sometimes she's unrolling it. Sometimes she's eating it. And sometimes she is looking for the extra stash behind the toilet (above).

At eight months old, she already KNOWS she isn't supposed to be playing with it. The other day she spotted me coming down the hall and tried to close the door before I could get into the bathroom to stop her. That's when I realized "She's pretty FAST when she wants to be!"

* * *

The most recent discovery was when I found THIS in the bathroom. However, the guilty party had already fled the scene of the crime:

Upon further investigation, though I discovered THIS incriminating evidence:

I decided to go forensic and snap some pictures for documentation.

Common Interests

When I was pregnant with Hayden I was scared to find out we were having a boy.

I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to handle a boy.

I thought I could relate much easier to girls:

The hair,

The nail polish,

The cute shoes.

I remembered back to those gender anxieties when I first found out Ella was going to be a girl.

Now, I had become so used to having a little boy decorating the house with mini cars and plastic dinosaurs that I wasn't really sure how I was going to adjust to having a girl:

The emotion,

The emotion,

The emotion.

(anyway)

One of my favorite things has become watching my kids play together. Hayden is always quick to entertain Ella, and Ella thinks everything Hayden does is the funniest, most fascinating thing she has ever seen. Considering she only has eight months of experience, perhaps it IS the mst fascinating thing she has ever seen. Yesterday they designed a dinosaur zoo together in the hallway and ended up playing for an hour, which reassured me that it would all work out.

* * *

In this scene, the part of the "King of the Dinosaurs" will be played by Hayden:

The part of the Dinosaur Zoo Keeper will be played by Buzz Lightyear:

...and the part of the "Giant Gorilla Baby" (Hayden's idea) will be played by Ella:

Eventually, Ella lost interest in chewing on plastic dinosaurs and headed for the bathroom toilet paper roll (to do some unraveling).

My Birthday at Paradise Cove in Malibu

I think Hayden liked playing on the beach for three hours....

And then, my brother and sister Barb (below) watched the kids while Ben and I went for a walk on the beach. Perfect!

"It's A Small World After All"

Hayden and his new Indian best friend

I have a son who loves to make new friends.

It's beautiful, actually.

He's sweet, tender, sensitive and fascinated by becoming best pals with whoever he meets. It forces me to come out of my naturally shy and guarded shell when he strikes up random conversations with the nearest soul.

Disneyland was no different.

Never in his life had he ever been surrounded by so many fresh potential friends.

And despite our frequent (frank and serious) conversations about "strangers" I found myself constantly listening to his amazing ability to mingle (especially with fellow victims of the dreaded wait in line). The spaces were tight and most people spent their energy just trying not to bump into the person next to them or stare too much at anyone in particular. Not MY son, though. For example:

(Actual Conversation)

Hayden: So! Have you been on this ride before?

Me: (Here we go again!)

Soon-to-be-pal: Yes I have (a little shocked that someone was engaging them in conversation).

Hayden: Well, is it fast or slow?

Soon-to-be-pal: It's slow.

Hayden: (Laying-on the timid voice) I'm a little bit nervous because I've never been on this ride before. What's it like?

Soon-to-be-pal: Oh don't worry! (relaxed and sympathetic) You'll be okay....the ride is like....

And VOILA! The (initially) reluctant stranger is now smiling, enthusiastically giving my 6-year-old a pep-talk and cheering him on. Soon, others start to chime in and it becomes a group interaction. The encounters usually last throughout the wait in line and end with a thumbs-up or a high-five (initiated by my social butterfly). Before you know it, everyone is smiling and chuckling. I just smile and nod and make sure we don't trip while stepping into the tiny flying elephant.

Watching my son effortlessly do something that is so difficult for me is humbling. He has a gift.

It was during a long wait for "It's a Small World" that I was especially touched. You know the ride: The boat voyage that takes you across all the continents around the world while you watch dolls singing and dancing and celebrating the idea that (at the end of the day) we are all just people; that despite our different cultures and languages we can come together as brothers and sisters and love each other. I went on it for the first time when I was four years old. I still remember it and let me tell you I was MESMERIZED! Granted, as a child hundreds of animatronic dolls seem magical, while as an adult they seem just a teensy bit creepy...BUT I can appreciate the message.

Of course, there was a line. So of course, my son scoped-out his next best friend.

He found him: A little boy (just 5 years old) who's family immigrated to the US from India 10 years ago. He was shy, but Hayden soon broke down the walls and they were buddies. While tending to Ella in the sling and keeping her happy enough to slowly drift off to dreamland, I didn't really pay much attention to the conversations until we were almost boarding the boat. "Hey, maybe we can ride together!" I heard Hayden organize the seating arrangement and before I knew it, Hayden was sitting in the front row with his new best friend while I sat in the second row with his mother.

We chatted throughout the entire trip. We talked about different cultures and countries, about immigrating to the Melting Pot and still teaching children about their ancestral heritage. She asked me about serving a mission in the culturally-diverse Montreal. Her name was Nuni and she explained how all her children are bi-lingual since she refuses to speak English in the home and refuses to speak anything BUT English outside the home. I asked her about her experiences of coming to the "Land of the Free" and she lovingly pointed out the Indian dolls (to the boys) dancing and swaying their heads side-to-side. She expressed her love of this ride, her eyes sparkling as she explained how overwhelmed she was the first time she saw it.

And in an instant we were back outside in the light of the setting sun.

The ride was over.

As we stepped out of the boat we joyfully said our good-byes and went our separate ways, smiling.

We never saw them again.

The next day I had to explain to Hayden that we couldn't go play at their house because we didn't know where they were.

"We were just there at the same place at the same time. We crossed paths for a half-hour and now we are miles and miles apart." I did the best I could to explain, but I found myself tripping over my own tongue, unable to adequately explain to him the importance of that beautiful experience.

After a moment of contemplative silence he stated, "I liked my new friend."

Then, I thought about the words to the song and realized that I never thought a ride at Disneyland could make me want to cry.

* * *

There is just one moon and one golden sun

And a smile means friendship to everyone.

Though the mountains divide

And the oceans are wide

It's a small world after all!

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears

It's a world of hopes, it's a world of fears

There's so much that we share

That is why we're aware

It's a small small world.

Disneyland Apologies

Hippie Ella: Chilling in the shuttle while entering Disneyland

Dear Hayden and Ella (in the future);

In case it ever comes up in therapy, I'm going to apologize now for not taking ANY pictures during your first visit to Disneyland.

But let's face it, we were too busy having fun and riding rides, weren't we? Especially when the three of us diehards stayed in Fantasy Land for over four hours while everyone else went back to the hotel for a nap. Carrying Ella in the sling and pushing Hayden around in the baby stroller, we were just too preoccupied scoping out Small World to even THINK about busting out the camera and finding just the right angle. Besides, I had run out of hands and arms. I hope this supports the fact that I love you more than my camera.

I would also like to apologize for taking you on three of the scariest rides first. You see, it was empty at 8am and Pirates of the Carribean doesn't even OFFER the fast pass. We had to go on that (and Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion) first. Sorry that it freaked you out and made you wonder for a moment if we had brought you to Hell for our family trip. I hope I made it up to you. (I think the fact that you later told me Pirates was your favorite ride was a good sign.)

I would like to remind you, though, Hayden, that I did in fact give up my fast pass TWICE for you so that you could take my turn and ride Star Tours over and over again. You're Welcome!

At least I pulled it together enough to take Before and After pictures of you both. I think these photos speak for themselves.

Love,

Mom

BEFORE:

(Buying Tickets at 7am)

AFTER:

(Leaving Disneyland at Midnight)

PS: Next time, let's get the three-day pass: 16 hours in one day was too much!