Never a Dull Moment

Seeing as how we have only manged to put a call into poison control once in our 11 years of parenting I figure we haven't done too bad. So, given the fact I had to call them again today wasn't so awful I suppose. Definitely could've been worse. Wonder if they keep tabs on how often you call that place.

For some reason...probably allergy related.....I felt less than wonderful today and even ran a low grade temp. Finding it difficult to move air this morning I went through the routine of trying to calm everything down and get to the point where I could breathe again. I suppose it kind of set the tone for the day though and I never really felt spiffy after that. By the time naptime rolled around our day's worth of My Father's World stuff was quickly going out the window and I began falling asleep everytime my head touched a soft spot. Having just finished up "Quarantine Boom"...... or better known as Corrie Ten Boom to the general populous..... it was a good break time point anyway and I figured we could afford to take a day's break before launching into CT Studd's life. So, I dozed while nursing Ivye and when I finally dozed off right in the middle of Aubrey's reading lesson I figured it was time to give it up and succumb to the sleepiness. So, with little boys still not asleep and opening and closing doors obnoxiously, all while going into fits of raging laughter, I climbed into bed with them to "enforce" the rules. All it took was a tiny hand woven through the strands of my hair to go back into my sleep induced comatose state. So, I slept for hours and finally awoke at 5 pm to an empty room. Probably not a good thing around here.

With little boys now roaming the house freely and somewhat unsupervised, since older children occupied the trampolines, I awoke to a few messes. None really out of the ordinary, or even alarming. Still trying to force the "feel betters" upon myself Evye met me in the hall and brings me a now empty bottle of mouthwash. This would be the exact same bottle I have repeatedly told them to screw the lid onto and place back in the cabinet where it actually belongs. Being that it is mostly fluoride....ummmm, why we called poison control the first time around 2 years ago...I figured I probably should put a call in and remind myself what we are in for. Oh yes....dare I forget...this would also be the same bottle that was now 1/2 empty due to Gavin's discovery of it yesterday. Least he didn't drink it. His 1/2 ended up on the floor. Of course, the same cannot be said of Garrett. Knowing it was 1/2 full...or 1/2 empty....I told Evye to go fill it up with water to where it had been before Garrett had gotten ahold of it. Confirmation, I suppose, of what I already pretty much knew. She goes and fills it up to the 1/2 way mark. Lovely. Like a complete moron I measure it out in a measuring cup and amazingly it came up to 8 oz. I guess when it's a 16 oz bottle that's about what you're gonna get when you measure out 1/2. Armed with bottle in hand I call Brad since, like any good parent, I couldn't find poison control's number anywhere. I found it quite funny that I got the exact same dude on the phone that I reached 2 years ago when placing the call. To my relief I didn't seem as recognizable to him as he did to me. We went through the procedure of age, what was consumed, how much, size of bottle and so on. Good news is that no ER trips were required, bad news is that it causes stomach upset. Oh the joy. I was instructed to once again dole out the Tums and shoot a glass of milk down him. Familiar with the routine I called him in from outside play to combat his self induced pH imbalance. Per Saul- the-poison-man's advice I watched for any signs of stomach upset and promptly left to feed all of our children a nice healthy whopping of Sonic for dinner, since I was far from feeling like fixing anything and we are out of most everything anyway. He ate ice cream...justified as more calcium intake for him.....and we made the trip back home. 1/2 way through the rest of his dinner he made a trip to the bathroom and, before notifying me of his condition, used I think what must have been the entire roll of toilet paper to try and wipe his "water poo poo". With complaints of a tummy ache and a few more trips to the bathroom....this time supervised.... his dinner went left unfinished....eagerly inhaled by little scavengers that had already completed their meals. More Tums and more milk for Garrett...this time chocolate no doubt, just to get him to drink it. Whatever it takes. Nearing 10pm and feeling no where near dealing with an onslaught of stomach issues in a kid I just stuck a diaper on him and tucked him into his beckoning bed. The same bed I discovered he had peed on during naptime in one of his rare bedwetting incidents. So, now stripping sheets I threw on some new ones and tucked him into bed once more. 10:30.

Hopefully "water poo poo" will not follow us into town tomorrow seeing as how the children and I are due to meet Brad bright and early at 8am as he comes off shift. We're supposed to make grocery rounds and run our twice monthly errands. It is my hope that we will not see every bathroom in the city of San Angelo tomorrow due to fluoride induced indigestion. May take some Tums and more milk along for good measure. Oh, the unexpected joys of parenting.

Worthy of Note

For the clueless....Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

One of the larger species of rattlesnake common to the arid Southwest United States. From the sheer standpoint of size it ranks as one of the world's largest and most dangerous snakes. The diamondback primarily feeds on small rodents, rabbits, birds, and almost anything alive that can be swallowed whole. The loud buzzing rattler sound coupled with a high rising and very threatening coil is usually ample identification information for those in the field. They are largely defensive and tend to stand their ground if provoked.A rattlesnake is classified as having hemotoxic venom that attacks the blood system of its prey.These serpents should be considered armed and dangerous with a well-developed fang and poison delivery system.

Snake description copied from this site.

Apparently they like chickens. He wasn't nearly as interested in the eggs as he was our smaller chickens. He had every intention of taking one out and, I suppose, devouring it. Grayson stumbled across him when he went out to collect eggs. There he laid curled up under the grid floor of the coop. He was coiled ready to strike at every passing chicken and with every thud of the coop floor. Since my shot is still not that great I feared if I tried getting him in the small opening from which his head protruded that the bullet would ricochet off the tin and come back to haunt me. And the spray of a shotgun would definitely not work. Shooting him through the metal grid was no good either since I feared the bullets there would pop back up at us. So, I called Brad and told him our tale. Of course, he is on the last 24 of a 72 hour shift since his 24 consisted of overtime. Seems that he is never here when the good stuff starts to roll. He happened to be wrestling a patient when I continued to call over and again so it took more than a few times to get through to him. Since no one was home that we could run to he put a call in to a fellow city council member and she and her husband came to our aid. Armed with a big barreled shotgun, much to the children's delight, we got to do some snake hunting. About the time they arrived the snake made his way under the covered floor portion of the coop. The little ones were all instructed to stay out of the pasture while Grayson, shotgun couple and I all circled round trying to hunt it down. Perfectly timed, shotgun man made his way around the back and the snake started his journey out from under the coop. His body just kept coming. Shotgun blasts filled the quiet air as a perfectly aimed bullet blew his head up. He still wiggled and continued slithering out from his hiding place so another blast rocketed through the air. The little children gathered with Evye, who now were all swinging on the gate at the front of the pasture, all clapped and cheered in their excitement. We drug the rest of him out with a hoe and then shotgun man asked where to deposit his still moving body. Knowing that dear gun loving husband would want to see him I instructed for him to hang it over the back fence. In his still nasty moving state he wiggled off the fence. Shotgun man's wife, now highly concerned for the children's safety, said more than once that she was not convinced it was dead just yet. He asked if we'd like his head just shot the rest of the way off to which she replied for everyone affirmatively. With that another huge "boom" shook the town and then the last "boom" vibrated the earth as he shot off the rest of his head. Younger children still swung from the gates and fences applauding their neighbor-now-turned-hero. Shotgun man and his wife left and the little ones were all allowed in to get a good look at the now pretty much headless snake. Grayson quickly went to work cutting off his rattles as a souvenir. Official results came in at 3 ft 1 inch long with a total of 7 rattles.

So, instead of our dear stupid chickens keeping them away like we had hoped they are now attracting them?????

I've now lost count at how many we have crossed paths with since being here. We're going on about 10 or so now in 2 years. A few weeks ago the gas guys were doing some work on a line in the field next door and heard a rather large one under the house across the way. All guys were called out to dig as well as Brad being asked to aid in their efforts of tracking it down. It burrowed under the house and was never found. Perhaps we found him today?

The Days Float By

Not alot to say right now. I think the hairbow making emptied the creative juices within. I'm not exactly sure why I remain so tired. Definitely not anemic and definitely not pregnant. Yes.....I did test. And ironically enough, I was entirely disappointed. How can she just be a mere 5 months old and me working my butt off to lose the extra rear and bat wings I seemed to have gained somewhere in the deal and still be so disappointed by only 1 little line on a test???? She is sitting well, crawling now and her tooth is big and bright....at the ripe old age of 5 months.

I fall miserably behind on here and then feel overwhelmed with trying to catch up. So much that goes on.....so much that is worth capturing with pen and paper. Like the fan that had a monkey thrown at it which therefore catapulted a blade off of it. That would be only the 2nd time we have lost a fan blade and had to replace it. How very grateful we are for the spare parts that came with the new fan we had to buy the first time around. Same fan too. It's been well broken in. And then the 300.00 blind that was opened a little too enthusiastically. This would be the 2nd one that has been rendered useless by children eagerly opening them up when naptime is over. 2 down 1 to go. Chalk that up to me and my obsessive compulsive disorder of needing any and all windows coverings thrown open and sunny during every waking moment. I am quite sure my children inherited the window OCD thing from me...or they just learned well. And the pathetic thing is that they are broken in the down position. So, in my need for a sunny, cheerful, well lit house I have found ways to redneck them up during daylight hours. In fact, my desire for a naturally lit house is so great that we do not even have window coverings of any sort on any of the children's windows. They sleep with their huge picture window uncovered and have just learned to sleep through lightening or whatever else shines through it. And Gavin, from his nursery crib, goes to bed talking to the bird in the nest outside his window and wakes up to greet the bird in the nest. I suppose the blind incident was a little more painful since all 3 window blinds were a total of 300.00 when we purchased them and when taking the 1st one to be repaired we were informed that 1 blind was now 300.00 alone. Needless to say we are living with lopsided blinds. Though these are in the bedroom I can't help but think it compliments the duct tape on the living room window well.

The garage sale never took place. God lead us in a totally different direction than we were headed so we walked in obedience to what we felt He was leading us to do. It took the entire van with only 2 rows of seats in it and filled to its uttermost capacity and then all of the bed of Brad's truck and some of the inside of it to haul it off. And we still have more stuff to go. It now sits loaded up yet again ready to make the next big trip into town. And to think that I thought we had decluttered. It feels good. Not only do we feel the grace of walking in obedience to what He told us to do but our lives are that much more unhindered due to a weightlessness that goes along with living simplistically and without the burden of stuff to care for.

Since my writing abilities seem to be lacking here lately I figured pictures......and a ton of them.....would suffice. So, here is what our most recent weeks have consisted of.

Hanging out at Nanny and Pawpaw's

Analyzing the low state of the tank and then promptly chunking rocks into it to see if they can get the water to rise by filling it up with....yes, you guessed it.....rocks.


Fitting everybody on the gator...minus a sleeping Ivye

Pawpaw shootin the bull with the boys and filling them up on nothing less than lifesavers. That's what Pawpaw's are for anyway.

Pretty days in the bus
"Daddy the busmaster"

Grayson doing the responsible big brother thing and pulling teeth in Brad's absence. He popped it out too. We were all too elated to remember to get any pics after the fact.

The chickens and their coop

Three hot girls....as in temp heat, that is.

Sunny days spent hard at work and play.

Finishing the swingset.....6 months after it was started

Cooling off her baby

Garrett showing Gavin some good moves

Gavin showing Garrett some better moves

His favorite shady spot...and yes, he knows quite well now that he must crawl at all times when someone is above him.

Very proud of his climbing ability

Loving on Thena

Hanging out while Daddy works

Climbing on his own these days

Sliding on his own these days too...he is quite convinced this is the funniest thing ever and will do it every waking hour of his day and laugh just as hard each and every time he goes down it. He seems oblivious to the fact that it shoots him off into the dirt at lightening force speeds every time he does it.

West Texas backyard play

Discovering life

The way he walked around the house all day

More messes

Beautiful days after church

Watching Daddy leave for work
Horse play

Pretty girl

I spy chickens....absolutely everywhere. They have now taken to roosting on the lawn mower handle, trash cans in the carport, the hay bales within the carport, and under the swings suspended from the trees branches. Oh yes, if the bus door is lefty open they think it is quite shady and cool within the bus.

Some of Daddy's helpers

Catching air

a pro at being airborn

Sunsets in blissfull freedom

Their view above the world...notice the passing horse and rider behind the tree


Their treetop view looking west. And all of those specs in the pasture are chickens.


Making sure the dirt is well swept

Baby Has A Tooth!!!!

One would think after 7 children going before that the novelty of milestones would wear off at some point or another. But each and every one are still such an amazing miracle to me and I love how interesting it is to see how different each one develops and how much of their own person they all are.

Ivye still seems so little tiny to me......maybe, I suppose, because she is so little tiny. She is a petite little thing with girly dainty little features. And with her bald little head and pierced little ears there's something about her that just says "tiny". Usually the first comment she gets after one hears her age is, "Well, she's just a tiny little thing, isn't she?" Gavin stayed small for a long while too. But somewhere in there he found food and is now holding his own very well in the wrestling matches that go on around here between the 4 little boys. He can jump on the trampoline with the best of them and is now climbing to new heights on the swingset and flying down the slide at breakneck speeds....the same slide that projects him off of the end of it and into the dirt at lightening force speeds. He has the bumps and bruises to prove it.

With Ivye having just had her 5 month birthday exactly a week a go today she is still just now only 5 months old. Teeth have never been known to show up in any of our children until, at the very least, 6 months but more usually around 11-12 months. So, as we played and danced with Ivye today in the middle of the living room floor I noticed some white on her bottom gum. I went to wipe it away thinking it was just a bit of spit up. When it refused to be wiped away I stuck my finger in to swipe it away. When swiping, my finger ran over that infamous rough edge that can only mean one thing. In my unbelieving state I laid her down quickly and pried open her gums to get a better look. There, to my utter shock and amazement, sat her bright shiny new tooth poking through her pink little gums. She set a record for the absolute earliest that any of our's have ever cut teeth.

She is now also rolling around from front to back and back to front like a pro and is almost completely sitting on her own. The differences in children are just amazing and such a miracle to me. We went from Gavin who did not sit up until he was 8 months old and not walking until 17 months to the baby following him cutting teeth and sitting at a mere 5 months. They have all developed in their own time but it is always such an amazing process to me to watch it unfold right before our eyes.

She continues to be the sweetest, happiest thing ever. I seriously think with each and every one that they just get happier and more fun. She captivates the world with her smiley little self as she sits perched in her wrap watching the world go by.

I love her tiny foot peeking out in this one