Happy Birthday, Little Pumpkin!

It’s hard for me to believe that my not-so-little girl turned 3 this October.  This year we celebrated Tacy’s birthday at the local pumpkin patch.

We are so lucky to have this pumpkin patch nearby.  It is such a fun place to visit each autumn.  Since the older monkeys’ birthdays fall in the the spring and summer, we have never had the chance to host a party here, but Tacy’s October birthday is just right for a party in the patch.

I especially love that I didn’t have the task of cleaning house before the party!  Instead I was able to focus on preparing a few snacks and some pink pumpkin decorations.  I served apple slices with a creamy, caramel dip and some “Harvest Hash” made of various cereals, pretzels, candy corn, and Reese’s Pieces.

As a special keepsake for Tacy, I had the party guests leave thumbprint pumpkins on a canvas that I painted to look like a pumpkin patch.

This pumpkin patch was loaded with activities for the kids to enjoy.  There were hayrides and corn mazes and everything in between!

Tacy’s favorite thing to play on was the horse swings.  She rode this little horse quite a while.

Tacy also had fun climbing and swinging in the hay barn.

The kids were having so much fun playing that it was difficult to round everyone up for cake and presents.

I know you were probably expecting great things from me as far as cake decorating goes, but we had been in Canton, Texas the 2 days prior to Tacy’s party, so I didn’t have time to decorate a fancy cake.  Tacy didn’t seem to mind, though.  Her only request was that the cake was pink on the inside.

Tacy received several cute books this year.  She also got a Barbie, art supplies, Kinetic Sand, a guitar, a toy puppy, a doll, a toy keyboard, Legos, and some clothes.

She even got a how-to book on babysitting grandpas.

While we were in Canton, I picked up matching T-shirts for me and Tacy.

Lucy made a couple of popsicle stick dolls and wrote the sweetest birthday note for Tacy.  It almost made me cry.

Tacy really enjoyed getting to spend her birthday playing with cousins and friends.

Happy birthday, sweet Tacy Mae.  We love you so much!

Lindsey

Mutton Busted

Hello, all.  I thought I’d take a few minutes today to tell you about our exciting rodeo weekend. 

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of ours informed us of a local rodeo in which children were invited to try riding sheep.  Mutton busting they call it.  Years ago the Tool Man was a part-time cowboy, so he jumped at the opportunity to sign Lucy up for a wild ride.  Even though Lucy is 99% princess, she willingly accepted the challenge.  So last weekend our family, along with my mom and dad, headed out in the triple digit heat to watch our little cowgirl in action.

Here’s a breakdown of how the evening progressed.

We arrived at the rodeo grounds an hour before show time to get Lucy signed up.  While Lucy busied herself sucking down a grape slush, Dad pinned the number on her back.

Is this not the cutest little cowgirl you’ve ever seen?!  She was so anxious to ride, but we still had an hour to kill before the rodeo began.  I felt bad for Lucy having to wait so long in those dark, hot jeans, but such is the life of a cowgirl I guess.

Did I mention that it was 100 degrees?  And not a cloud nor shade in sight!  At the ticket booth there was a sign that said there would be no refunds in the event of a rain-out.  We joked that we should be so lucky.

Then we waited and waited.

And we sweat, and we waited.

For an hour we melted and waited.

Finally the time drew near for the rodeo to start, but just before show time something strange happened.  The wind started to blow, and the sky started to darken.  Here and there, we saw flashes of lightning.  It was at that point that I hopped off the metal bleachers and ushered the monkeys to the car.

Then the bottom fell out.

It rained and rained and rained.  A good old fashioned toad strangler.

It rained so much and so long that we decided to leave the rodeo grounds and go to dinner with my mom and dad.

About the time we finished our meal the rain let up.  It was nearly 8:30 at this point, so my mom and dad decided to call it a night, but we rode back over to the rodeo area to give it one more shot.

We made it back to the arena about five minutes before the rodeo got kicked off.  We tiptoed to the stands through the wet, squishy grass, carefully avoiding puddles that were deeper than the soles of our tennis shoes.  Luckily, we managed to find some plastic grocery sacks in my car, so we could sit on the bleachers without getting our bums wet.

After all the waiting, it was finally it was time for the show to start!  The rodeo drill team (who knew there was such a thing) opened things up by parading American flags around the arena on horseback.  Lucy and Tacy watched with wide eyes as the horses marched around in figure eights.

First on the program were the boys riding the young horses.  The muddy ground made for quite an interesting show.

After a good half hour of horse bucking, we heard the long-awaited call for the sheep riders to get in line.  Yay!  For an instant Lucy hesitated and flung her arms tightly around my neck, but she was easily convinced to go line up with Dad.

Lucy was about 12th in line for mutton busting.  Ty, Tacy, and I waited in the stands watching as children, one by one, fell off their sheep to their muddy demise. 

Moments before it was Lucy’s turn, I snuck behind the fence and snapped a picture of the happy cowgirl…

In retrospect, I think it was the mud that got to her.

Like I said earlier, she’s 99% princess, and about 30 seconds before her number was called, Lucy’s princess nature took over.  Wild horses couldn’t have drug Lucy onto one of those wet sheep.  She’s one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever known, and there was nothing the Tool Man or I could have said to convince Lucy to mount that sheep.

Trust me.

We tried.

It was a long, quiet ride home.  We pulled into our garage at 10:00 that night, wet, tired, and aggravated.  Nobody dared mention mutton busting.  In fact, it’s been two weeks since the rodeo, and we still don’t talk about it.  I’m sure this will be one of those tales that we will laugh about in the future, but we are not there yet.  Right now all we remember is how we paid good money to wait nearly 5 hours in the heat, humidity, lightning, and rain for a sheep ride that wasn’t.  Talk about anti-climatic!

Lindsey

Shoo Fly

Ahhh, summer!

It’s the closest I get to “time off.”

I am often asked if we take a summer break from homeschooling.  Yes, we take a break, but the reason may not be what you think.

Our summer break is more for my own sanity than for the kid’s pleasure.  I do believe I’d go crazy if we did school twelve months a year.   My brain desperately needs the time to recuperate, recharge, and relax.  Taking a summer vacation also gives me the chance to tackle various projects around the house like:  cleaning out closets, organizing clutter, purging the ever-increasing mountain of toys, making jelly, completing craft projects, sewing for the girls, and planning birthday parties.

I also have the tough job of keeping the monkeys occupied throughout the summer.  While I could think of hundreds of household chores to keep them busy, the monkeys are none too thrilled with the thought of doing housework all summer.  I can’t say that I blame them, but I do make them do their fair share.  A few chores that the monkeys help with include: laundry, pet care, mopping, wiping down bathrooms, watering plants, and dusting.  Their leisure time is spent sleeping late, swimming, playing Wii, riding four-wheelers, digging in a dirt pile, building with Legos, and aggravating each other.

Occasionally I try to sneak in a little education during the summer.  A while back I told y’all that I am trying to incorporate nature study into our academic work.  (See this post.)  While I am not planning any formal nature studies for the kids this summer, I would like to send them out to observe and explore creation from time to time.  And I’ve noticed that sometimes, if you keep your eyes and ears open, opportunities for nature studies knock on your door.

Literally.

A few weeks ago there was a very strange looking critter clinging to the back door of our house.  I’d never seen an insect with such a long, slender tail.  It was the perfect specimen for a nature study!

Being insect ignorant, I had to use Google to help me identify this creature as a mayfly.  Once I had a name for this bug, I did a little reading online, so I would have some information to share with the monkeys.  I even found a couple of short, informative videos about mayflies for the monkeys to watch.

The monkeys thought the mayfly was a neat looking critter.  They eagerly got out their nature journals and started sketching with their watercolor pencils.  What was particularly cool is that this mayfly molted on our door leaving an empty exoskeleton for the monkeys to examine.

Lucy especially loves nature journaling.  She never tires of adding pictures to her notebook, sketching everything from sunsets to pinecones.  I’m very encouraged by her enthusiasm for nature study.

During our brief study we all learned that mayflies are pretty amazing critters.  A few interesting facts:

• Mayflies live the majority of their lives (up to 3 years)underwater as nymphs (immature insects).
• Once the mayfly develops into an adult, it leaves the water for the land.
• Enormous swarms of mayflies emerging from the waters of the Mississippi River have actually been detected by weather radar.  Wow, that’s a lot of bugs!
• The adult mayfly typically lives only 1-2 days.  There are some species of adult mayflies that live only live 5 minutes!
• Adult mayflies exist only to reproduce, hence they do not have functioning mouths.

I tell you, the more we do nature studies, the more I like them!  The monkeys definitely enjoy them too.  It almost makes me want to get started on our new school year, so we can dive deeper into outdoor learning.

Almost.

For now I think I’ll be content to enjoy the rest of my summer.

Lindsey

A Walk on the Wild Side

Sometimes I get tired of being the bad guy around here.  And by “bad guy” I mean the person who is always making the monkeys be quiet, do their school work, mind their manners, and tidy their rooms.  Let’s face it, when it’s time to have fun, I’m usually not the person the kids come running to.  That’s ok.  I understand that “having fun” is not necessarily at the top of my job description.

But once in a while I enjoy surprising the monkeys with a little pleasure, like treating them to a trip to our local zoo.  Boy were they excited to go!

Truth be told, our local zoo is not the greatest zoo ever.  The landscaping needed some tlc.  Several cages were vacant.  Quite a few exhibits were closed.  But a subpar zoo is better than no zoo at all, right?

Of all the animals we saw on our zoo excursion, I have to say that birds were my favorite, particularly the bald eagles and this guy.  Have you ever seen such beauty in all your life!  His tail was magnificent, and he knew it.  I guess there is some truth to the old adage, “Proud as a peacock.”  I’ve been wanting a peacock of my own for quite some time, and seeing this gorgeous guy reminded me why.

Lucy, who is quite used to being around poultry, was eager to get to know this gaggle.

A landscaper working nearby warned Lucy that the geese may turn on her and try to attack, but these geese were quite docile compared to the ones in our own backyard.  Our birds honk and hiss and chase when the kids get near them.

As usual, Tacy was so well behaved.  She was content to ride quietly in her stroller as we made our way around the facilities, silently observing the animals at each exhibit.

I think Tacy enjoyed our field trip, but she never expressed much interest in anything.  She’d watch the animals through the fences with about as much expression as one who was watching a can of beans.

The exhibit that got the kids most excited was the reptile house.  Lucy squealed like a pig upon seeing the first snake up close.  Ty had a blast trying to locate the snakes and lizards in their tanks.  Some of those critters were great hiders, unlike the two beasts below.

There were quite a few tortoises who lived at the zoo, and the kids liked watching them creep around on their toes.  Lucy quickly spotted a baby tortoise, and before I knew it, she had her arm shoved through the fence, up to her armpit, petting its back.  I am happy to report that Lucy returned home with all 10 fingers. 

A portion of the zoo was dedicated to animals of the Louisiana Purchase.  Here the kids discovered a teepee replica.  (Or is it a wigwam?? I never know the difference.)  Ty quickly hopped in for a photo op, but Lucy was little wary.

What zoo trip would be complete without a couple of hungry, hungry hippos?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that if the hippos decided to charge that a measly fence and shrubbery could hold them back.

I’m so glad I decided to treat my monkeys to a day of leisure!   We all enjoyed our “free” day, as the kids like to call it.  I think it would benefit us all if I incorporated a few more of these “free” days into our schedule.  The monkeys have already decided where they would like to visit next… the safari park.  Lucy is dying to get up close and personal with a zebra.

Lindsey

Snow Day–Part II

Can y’all believe we had not one, but two snow days last week??  Well, technically, I guess the first one was more of a sleet day, but on day two we had really for real snow!

My monkeys had just as much fun playing in the snow as they did in the ice the day before.

Lucy especially enjoyed all the white fluff.  She was less than one year old the last time we had any significant snow, and she has been dying to make a snow angel for years.  At last her wish came true!

She left tiny snow angels scattered all around our yard.

Of course the monkeys had to build a snowman.   Actually, Ty did most of the work himself.  Lucy had a hard time getting the snow to stick together, so she quickly lost interest.

Have you ever seen anyone give a snowman a haircut??

Leave it to Ty, the creative genius, to use grapes for eyes and buttons.  Oops!  Looks like this snowman lost an eye before I snapped the picture.

The Tool Man entertained himself by capturing all the fun on camera with his drone.

You know that no snow day would be complete without a good natured snowball fight.  Even I, the serious, sensible mom, hurled a snowball or two.  Although, I quickly surrendered after I caught one with my teeth!  I mean it.  I literally caught a snowball in my mouth.  (If you’re wondering, the Tool Man is the one who threw it at me.)

Lucy discovered that, in a pinch, a garbage can lid makes a pretty good sled.

If you’re wondering where Tacy was during all this snowy fun, she was warm and toasty in her crib enjoying a long winter nap.  Hmmm.  Sounds like a great way to pass the afternoon if you ask me!

Lindsey

Snow Day

Gotta love Louisiana!  It’s probably the only place on earth where an eighth of an inch of slushy precipitation shuts down commerce, sends drivers headed for the ditches, and leaves school children home, running wild and free.  Such was the scene in our corner of the world this week.

Personally, I hate this wintry weather.  Give me 90 degrees any day!  But my monkeys couldn’t have been more excited about the slush and flurries.  They eagerly watched the weather, running back and forth between windows to see whether there was more accumulation in the front yard or the back.  Imagine their delight when the kids woke Tuesday morning to see the ground covered in a thin, crunchy layer of snow.  (Actually, it was really just sleet, but, honestly, as long as it was white and frozen, the monkeys really didn’t care about the particulars.)

As soon as they had gobbled down their breakfasts, the monkeys donned their warmest camouflage coveralls (‘cause that’s the way we roll here in Louisiana) and headed outside with the Tool Man for some redneck fun.

Before my crew could decide what to do first, cousin Taylor came over with a sled that her dad made. 

Pop quiz time!  How do rednecks pull homemade sleds?  Behind four-wheelers and golf carts, of course.  And they always let their Chihuahuas ride shotgun!

Without a doubt, Lucy was the biggest fan of the sled.  When her Uncle Brian finally tired of dragging her behind the four-wheeler, Taylor stepped in and became her mule!

It was only a matter of time before the Tool Man’s redneck ingenuity took over and made the connection between snow skiing and water skiing.

Have you ever seen anything more ridiculous in all your life?!  Frozen water skiing!  Surely this will be an Olympic sport before long, and the official uniform shall be camouflage and rubber boots.

Ty was a natural at the sport, skiing with ease behind our golf cart.  Then the Tool man decided to give it a go.  First, he tried it behind the four-wheeler, but he kept losing his momentum every time the machine shifted gears.

He finally found his groove behind the golf cart.  I still can’t believe he trusted me to be his driver!  (Yes, I drove the cart and took these pictures at the same time.  I’m quite talented like that.)

With all of the activity, the kids worked up quite an appetite.  Luckily, they found some of nature’s popsicles hanging in the woods.

Even Tacy Mae enjoyed the cold, crisp air, wrapped snug as a bug riding with me on the golf cart.  She cried when when we finally took her back inside.

So, I guess that was our snow day for the next 3-4 years.  It certainly was full of excitement.  I know the monkeys will never forget the fun they had slipping and sliding in our icy winter wonderland. Y’all stay warm!

Lindsey