Hey there, Friends! I sincerely apologize for going reasonably MIA lately–there’s been a lot going on around here! How to explain? Well…
Have you ever gone through a season in life where it feels kind of like you’re trying riding the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair, and while you’re having fun riding in the controlled spins, you’re trying really hard not to drip ice cream on your cute new capris, and you’re on hold trying to reschedule a hair appointment for the fourth time before your split ends declare mutiny, and the salon picks up right about when the Baby decides he needs to go potty, but you know that there is no way you’ll be able to get off the ride in time to find him one?
Yeah. That.
Suffice it to say that I’ve missed you guys! I figure the best way to catch up is to share a few snippets from recent Instagrams. Y’all know about Instagram, right? “The fun, quirky way to share the photos of your life.”
I know quirky.
I bought a cow. I love her. She’s fun, and unconventional, and beautiful. She’s got personality, man! As of right now, she doesn’t have a name–I think we need to get to know each other a little better before committing to a name for life. I’ll happily entertain your suggestions, though.
Sons #2 & #4 think cows are okay and all, but they really prefer alpacas. The Baby is kind of known as the Alpaca Whisperer around the ranch that we hang out at most weeks.
We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to regularly volunteer at a local equine therapy ranch. The ranch fosters/rescues/rehabilitates horses, most of which go on to be therapy horses. This is sweet Ben. Ben was a champion fancy-but-I-forgot-the-name-of-the-breed show horse that decided he didn’t want to perform anymore. Due to his “show value,” Ben bounced around from trainer to trainer, and was subjected to some not-so-nice “re-training” methods over the course of a few years before ultimately landing on the ranch. Now, he’s in the right place and is on his way to becoming a great therapy horse.
We love hanging out on the ranch–it’s a very spiritual and peaceful place.
In Fashion News: Son #3 would like you to know that Tie-Dye & Plaid are the New Black.
My aunt from Denmark came for a stateside visit in which she was kind enough to come Up North to see us. (Along with a large chunk of our family.) In the midst of Operation Cleaning Frenzy, the Bacon Slayer took it upon himself decided to execute latest my inner-vision for the basement storage/office/gym/guestroom area. I took this photo 24 hours before our company arrived. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was having heart palpitations at the thought of asking relatives to sleep down there at that very moment.
Am I the only one that goes into full-on Panic Mode trying to organize the chaos before company comes calling? My family could care less because they “don’t come to see how clean the house is,” but I still get a little edgy in the final hours.
I took a few deep breaths and made a several Chicken Pot Pies to cope with the whole basement-organization thing. Pastry is good for the soul.
Strange things have been happening when I enter the laundry room and leave the boys to their own devices for a few minutes. Believe me, a few minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but to four boys? When Mom turns her back for a few minutes, it’s time to party.
The boys have taken to wrapping each other in blankets to make Boy Burritos–it’s really sweet. That is until they start shrieking while rolling each other around the house and accidently tripping and body slamming falling on each other.
The Baby likes to stir up his own brand of mischief. Here he is one morning when I caught him trying to make water balloons in the bathroom sink.
Daisy is acclimating nicely into our family. She’s sweet, a little anxious, and lot weird. She’s perfect for us.
Daisy likes to come with us when we visit our favorite farm–run by my BFF Nic–for our CSA share each week. Girlfriend grows some seriously good stuff!
My oldest baby is playing “up” on a high school level soccer team. He’s twelve. Some of these boys have 6 years and 60+ pounds on him. I try not to let that bother me when those big bruisers are charging my baby on the field. Thankfully, his team is full of fantastic young men, and my boy is holding his own just fine. Besides–it’s really fun to watch them play! So different watching the older kids play–it’s like a real game with skill and strategy and everything! Much different than the “amoeba ball” that the younger kids play.
But since we live in a small town, and it is high school soccer, we’re travelling all over the state for games. These photos were taken at a tournament in the ‘burbs around The Big City. We had to get up way to early to get there before the first game of the day.
But we were rewarded with a veritable glut of Starbucks fare. Big City Road Trips = Civilization = Starbucks on Every Corner
Yay!
Big City Road Trips also equate to Big City Shoe Shopping. Hooray for new shoes! No matter how impractical they are for my daily life, I can’t help but be drawn to fancy, girly heels. Preferably in patent leather.
The Winner!
These are going to look so awesome with a t-shirt and yoga pants.
Soccer, Starbucks, and shopping aside, the best part of a road trip is when we hit the two-lane rural highways that bring us home.
Home is exactly where I’ll be for awhile, so I promise that we’ll be seeing each other more often.
Have a great week, Friends! 🙂
Comments