In The Middle

This is my middle child.  She's a beautiful person inside and out.  She has a gigantic heart, and her kindness is unlike anything I've ever witnessed.  She has a deep desire to see that everyone feels loved around her.  She's sympathetic and perceptive. Wherever we go, she's the first to make new friends.  With a warm smile and a welcoming word, she makes everyone feel special. She is sensitive to the needs of others.

She's complex.  She cries easily when her feelings are hurt, but she's tough as nails when she's in trouble.  She takes her punishment like a man.  She's competitive and full of determination. She's the first to volunteer to try something new, and never looks back.  She's got guts.

My girl is a singer of hymns and a living room dancer. She's a flower picker, card designer, and a maker of bracelets. She's a mother to dolls, and a lover of animals.  She's a dog kisser, a cat cuddler, a chicken feeder, and a cowgirl.

She's a sister, and a protector, and a friend. She's a hand holder. She listens much, and laughs often.  She's fiercely loyal, and surrounds herself with friends.  She hates to be alone.

When she grows up, she wants to be a missionary, a mommy, and rancher's wife.

I just want her to stay little forever.

Crawdad Fishin'

My son is a bit of an "Old Soul".  I've often said that he's an 80 year old man trapped in a nine year old body.  He has more patience and concentration than most of his buddies, and he enjoys being outside for long stretches of time.  He can fish for hours without getting bored, and just when the fish start biting, his friends are ready to go home. Finding the right fishing buddy was a tough task for him.

He often begged us to take him fishing at the lake, but when our chores prevented us from going, we would make a compromise.  Instead of walking to the big lake down the road, we allowed him to go to the pasture in front of our house to explore the tiny little pond and wetlands that are fed by the water from our well.  The pond is shallow, and I could easily keep my eyes on him from the front window.

He would take his little fishing pole and practice casting it into the water.  Although there are no fish in the pond, he quickly discovered that it was loaded with crawdads, ducks, and all types of insects.  In short, it was the perfect playground for a little boy.

Over the years he has attempted to float across the pond in homemade rafts like Tom Sawyer, and tried to build bridges across the water.  He's searched for duck nests, and watched ducklings hatch and swim.  He's caught snakes, ladybugs, and dragonflies.  That little pond has been an outdoor schoolroom loaded with educational lessons for a young boy.

But the thing that draws my boy back week after week is the crawdad fishing.  He LOVES to catch crawdads. 

Today he felt so honored to have his "Grumpie" for a fishing buddy.  My dad bought him a new fishing net, and he was anxious to try it out.  After a quick raid of the refrigerator for hot dogs and turkey bait, my son loaded up the red wagon with "fishing" supplies: An Old Sweetlix tub, tackle box, fishing pole, crawdad trap, rope, net, and a chair.

The crawdad fishing was good today, and they were pulling them in left and right with hot dogs on the line.

Grumpie is an old pro at catching crawdads.

For once, my boy had a fishing buddy who didn't get bored after 10 minutes of fishing.  When they filled the bottom of the Sweetlix tub with crawdads, they called it a day, and considered it a success.

But then Grumpie took it a step further, and helped my son clean and cook all of the crawdads...something I would never dream of doing! Cooking crawdads requires A LOT of work for a little tiny piece of meat.

However, my son was beaming with pride as he recounted the details of eating the gourmet delicacies dipped in butter and garlic salt. I think it makes little boys feel like men when they bring home a meal that was harvested by the sweat of their own brow.

What a perfect day!

4th of July Highlights

I hope everyone had a fabulous Independence Day weekend! Ours was packed with activity. The All-Star tournament for my son's baseball team started on Saturday, and then we spent Sunday at church thanking God for this great nation, and singing old patriotic hymns. I don't know about you, but we always get a lump in our throat when we sing about those who have greatly sacrificed  so that we can enjoy our freedom today.

Monday, we went to our local 4th of July parade, and it was a beautiful morning for sitting in a lawn chair!

I think that small town parades are AWESOME! We always know lots of the people in the parade, and the kids catch candy, Otter Pops, and stickers, as the floats go by. Patriotism is big in our mountain communities!

 Here's a tiny glimpse of our parade through my lens:

Motorcycles and tractors are always a hit!

I could not stop laughing at the group of  ladies below who weren't afraid to flaunt their artificial bodies. They've got a great sense of humor, and each year they do something outrageous! They're a real crowd-pleaser.  You should have heard all of the whistles!

These men won first place for their portrayal of the "Buffalo Soldiers".  They sung an old Army song that sounded hauntingly beautiful as they rode by.  I've read that over 200,000 African American men served in the Civil War, and during peacetime, the Buffalo soldiers primary job became to protect settlers as they moved west into hostile territories.  They helped to build infrastructure for new settlements to encourage expansion in the west as well.  I'm definitely going to do more research about these fascinating men.

 

After the parade, we had to hustle to get to the baseball field in time for the big tournament.  As of today, we're still in it! Our son eats, breathes, and sleeps baseball, right now.  

 

After the game ended, my in-laws brought over a feast of delicious food, and we enjoyed dinner outside on the picnic table.  We ended the evening by having a bowl of homemade ice cream.  Because of fire danger, the fireworks were cancelled, but the lightning from the evening's monsoon storm was just as brilliant as fireworks.

Here we are with my husband's parents, having a lovely evening.

I hope your week is going well!

Nell

Happy 4th of July!



"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." -Psalm 33:12

I Could Be The Next "Great Bambino"

My moment in the sun came yesterday morning at approximately 10:47am.  Our family was at the baseball field having a little batting practice to prepare my son for his All-Star game that night.  My husband pitched a big bucket of balls to each child while the rest of us fielded balls in the outfield.

We were hot, sweaty, and ready to go when I spontaneously said, "Why don't you pitch a few to me for old-times sake, my Love?"

The kids giggled. They thought it would be funny to watch.

They ran in closer to the in-field, as if to say that their mom wasn't going to hit it very hard.  Totally insulting.

My footwear of choice: flip-flops.

I looked at my husband and said, "Throw me a good one!"

I smacked it into center field.  The kids went running back.  "That'll teach 'em! Never underestimate the power of  MOM."

The next hits: right field, center field, and then a foul ball.

I wiggled my bat.

"Throw me a zinger. I'm aiming for the fence!"

My husband gave me a nod. He brought the glove up close to his face as he adjusted the ball in his hand.  He spit a sunflower seed.  Next came the wind-up, and then the pitch!

As if in slow motion, the ball came hurling right down the pike.

I swung with all my might! The ball connected to the sweet spot on the bat and it went for a ride.

"Going, going, G-O-N-E!!!!!!"

It was over the fence!!!!!!

Here's the part where my husband and son rain on my parade.

"Technically... it went over on the first bounce."

 But that's still a LONG way!

My little smartypants son yelled, "Ground-rule double".

Whatever.

That was an AWESOME hit!  Let's face it.  I'm a 33 year old, slightly out of shape mother whose given birth to 3 children. I was wearing flip-flops. I haven't swung a bat in a several years! This was a career highlight for me! It could mean bragging rights for years! I hit a baseball over the fence!....in one bounce.

Am I going to be the next Babe Ruth? I can't answer that.  What I do know is that my muscles were so sore this morning that I could hardly get out of bed to get ready for church. It was the best pain I've ever felt though, because it came on the heels of a major-league accomplishment.

Just between you and me... I've been thinking of asking my husband to start calling me "Babe Ruth".  Maybe just "Babe" for short.  Do you think he'll honor this one little request? I doubt it because he thinks my head is already growing too big from this brief moment of triumph.

I can still hear the roar of the crowd, the smell of the grass, and feel of the dirt between my toes. Oh, the glory!

Still Basking in Victory,

Nell 
Babe Ruth

The Wallow Fire: Before and After

I just wanted to give everyone a very small glimpse of the massive devastation that the Wallow fire has caused to our beautiful mountain.  Last fall I took some gorgeous photos of Escudilla Mountain in all of it's splendor.  I blogged about it, and you can view a taste of it's beauty by clicking here.

Below are a few photos of Escudilla mountain before the fire, and one haunting photo taken after.

After the fire:

Credit: Kari Greer/ US Forest Service

The latest size estimates: 539,049 acres

Please continue to pray for our communities as we enter the Monsoon season.  Flash Floods, mud slides, and soil erosion are our next challenges to face.

Credit: Kari Greer/ US Forest Service

Stuff They Don't Tell You In The Parenting Books

There are a plethora of scenarios that aren't covered in the parenting books... uncharted territories that authors are too timid to tackle.  For this reason, we threw all the books out years ago! With nothing but the Bible and a bit of wisdom from the older generation, my husband and I decided to go commando with our parenting style.

No book can prepare you for the gross and embarrassing things that children are capable of.  For instance, while inspecting the bedroom cleaning of my children today, I happened upon a small deposit of petrified boogers on the wall next to one of their beds.  This was not a one-time incident, folks.  This was definitely a re-occurring event.  I was appalled! I was disturbed! And for once, I was at a complete loss for words.  What is the heart issue of a problem like this? Is it laziness, defiance, or fatigue? After the initial shock wore off, I had to excuse myself from the room.  I needed to time to think.  Justice had to be served, but my child's sad little eyes were pleading for mercy.

For some reason, the words of the camp counselor from "The Parent Trap" kept coming to mind:

"Let the punishment fit the crime!"

I think that a bowl of warm water, and a "Magic Eraser" sponge are in order here.  With some elbow grease and diligence, the walls of the bedroom, halls and kitchen should be sparkling in a jiffy.  And with any luck, the perpetrator of the crime will think twice before using the wall as a Kleenex.

Is this the right way to handle a crime of this magnitude? I don't know.  The Bible is silent on matters of snot, and I don't believe that the subject of booger wiping can be found in the index of a parenting book. So I'm just going to go with my gut on this one...and make sure that each child has a box of Kleenex located near their bed forever more.

Hi, my name is Nell, and I'm the parent of a (reformed) booger wiper.

Whew, it felt good to confess that.  There are no perfect children on this blog, only forgiven ones.

Always Keeping it Real,

Nell