first days of school....

I should have posted this last week!

But here I am, way late, as usual.

Macy and Eli's first day of school, last Friday.

Yes, Eli is WAY tall and Macy is WAY short!

So it goes, here on the ranch.

And here are Lucy and Isaiah on their first day of homeschool enrichment classes!

(A couple weeks ago.)

(Isaiah is severely addicted to his cowboy boots, even on hot days....with shorts on.)

Oh, these kids!!!

neked african man

If there is any inkling of good that comes from the death of a loved one, it's this.

 Family and friends flock together and hold on tight to one another.

And stories flood the air of the one who was sadly lost,

 and the resulting tears and laughter are such good medicine.

So very good.

As we were grudgingly plowing through those first dark hours of the sudden passing of my father-in-law,

we locked arms with each other and poured over photos and the precious memories attached to them.

And I want to share with you one of many funny stories.

(I'm certain this offend someone. Just deal with it.)

This is a funny family story that we laugh hysterically at every time it's told.

I just wish my father-in-law could tell it to you,

because he would no doubt embellish it to make it all the more funny!

My in-laws spent a lot of time in Kenya, Africa, on the mission field over the years.

SO many lives redeemed and changed because of their work there!

I hate that I never took the opportunity to go with them.

Especially because of the naked African man.

You see,

in the little town near where they served, there was a man,

a naked man, who walked up and down the main street, pulling a rope.

A naked man, pulling a rope.

Up and down the road he went, day after day.

And in a horribly ornery missionary-moment, my father-in-law even 

ran over his rope with the car, just to see what would happen.

It didn't even seem to faze the poor guy.

Then one day, news got around town that Naked Man Pulling a Rope died.

So sad!

But, without a missed beat, another man took his place.

That's right, another naked man resumed pulling the rope through that little Kenyan town.

 The End.

(Is that funny and twisted or what?!)

I'm so sorry.

fancy friday night plans

It's Friday night and even though we had many exciting invitations to grand events,

we decided to stay home.

Actually, all four big kids and K-Man had plans,

so it was just the Littles and me holding down the fort.

They hauled out the dress-up box and had an absolute ball!

Note to self:  Buy Isaiah some manly costumes, ASAP.

Anyway, it was fun watching them laugh hysterically at each other.

And that beats fancy Friday night plans any day.

cowboy, hedgehog, and a scrappy hen

Goodness, the weather here is positively marvelous, wonderful, and much-preferred by your's truly.

I'd like to order 365 days of this, please.

Thank you.

And we are spending sooooo much time outside.

THAT makes everyone happy.

In every way.

Especially ME, because my house is staying semi-clean.

(Emphasis on the semi.)

Anyway, here's a quick pictorial of our Thursday night:

Bike-riding is the activity of choice these days.

Our resident Chinese cowboy.

(Please note the ONE cowboy boot.)

(I have no idea what that's about.)

Scrappy hen on our much-needed-to-be-painted back porch stairs.

Cowboy, in full uniform!

Zeke, in a very serious pose.

Sarah arrived with an ice-cream bucket.

Sans any ice-cream inside.

It was a hedgehog.

Honestly, I think it's the freakiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

Zeke thought so, too.

Gasp.  I am really creeped out by this thing.  REALLY.

Moving on to more pleasant creatures.
A lovely hen in front of her red house.
Much better.

Isaiah finally lassoed me.

And did what's soooo politically incorrect.

He pulled a plastic gun on me.

Oh, the travesty! 

I happen to think it's perfectly fine for boys to be BOYS.

And that was my Thursday night.
All of that happened in the course of about one hour.



And the fun continues!

fun-filled weekend

My goodness, what a weekend!

Here's a partial pictorial:

Blackberry cobbler.

Isaiah going outside to play...with his mask...because his face was cold.

Brenden came home!

And here he is brushing his teeth in my KITCHEN because all the bathrooms were full.

#lifeinabigfamily

Here I am at the laundry mat.

Because my washing machine died. (More on that later.)

I have a new fondness for this way of doing laundry.

Knocked out four loads in nothing flat.

Note to self: save up for four washing machines.

All my kids, and two girlfriends, invaded my kitchen and took over completely.

Brotherly love.

Motherly love.

And now he's heading back to school.

Wahhhh.

*********

OH, and I have a funny Macy story.

She got a job at a little Chinese restaurant near our house.

She worked her first shift last night...

And when K-Man picked her up, she told him she was making $2.50 an hour.

He was quite alarmed by that and asked her exactly what they said...

and she said, "they said they are paying me $10.  

I worked four hours...so, that's $2.50 an hour....is that too much?"

Oh my WORD.

So, I marched in there this afternoon for her second shift,

introduced myself (with a Mama Bear attitude), and asked them HOW MUCH exactly

they were paying her.

(We seriously thought they were taking advantage of her!)

Very sweetly the gal said,

"$10 an hour."

Hahahahaha.

Gotta love the many things lost in translation.

*********

And that's about it, folks.

I hope your weekend was great, too!

our halloween [a pictorial]

First off,

I feel the need to tell you that I got up at 4:15 this morning

(on purpose!)

to bake 12 loaves of bread.

Fun times!!

Moving on.

So here's the deal.

I no likey Halloween so much.

Not because I am morally opposed or anything.

But because I'm lazy.

When it comes to dragging my kids around in costumes that I have either

paid good-hard-dollars for...or spent hours making,

yes, I admit it.

I'm lazy that way.

Sooooo,

to make up for not trick-or-treating...

I made a scavenger hunt!

Here's the pictorial:

(A short break to take a pic of Nick and Dino.)

The kiddos had a blast!  

Then we made chili-cheese taquitos for dinner.

AND,

caramel popcorn.

More on that later!