MY BIG SECRET!!! HUSH!!!!!!!

So the boys wanted to go outside and it was just me and ALL the boys. SOOOOOOOOO...I donned the wrap and put Q in it so the big boys could go play on the tree house!

I know that I probably didn't put the wrap on exactly right, but I was darned close! And hey for those of you men out there saying there goes his masculinity, what would you have done to keep the baby warm and let your big boys go outside? Huh?

NOTHIN'! That's what I thought!

I ROCK!

Daddy + Baby + Late Night Olympics =

The drawer incident

I was digging around in my junk drawer looking for something when out of the blue little Wubba came flying over and grabbed the drawer to swing from it.  It was truly a tarzan move.  Impressive really. 

Anyway, the drawer broke and the only thing that saved him from a good bump on the head was the fact that I still had a hold of it.  Pop took the drawer to repair it but I think Wubba likes it better this way.  I keep finding him in the same spot.  Take a look.

The making of a nursery

Little Q's arrival happened so quickly that I had no time to whip his nursery into shape.  I kept reminding myself to relax, that it would get done in time.  But I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  I know he still bunks with us but I wanted to complete a space just for him.  I think I am nesting after the fact. 

This is a shot of the guest bedroom.  I still had Christmas decorations stored in there as well as tons of baby items given to us by fantastic family and friends.

Daddy and Wubba put the crib together.  It is an important job for a big brother.  Bubba got to help Daddy put the crib together before Wubba was born.  Now it's Wubba's turn!

Aunt DW gave us Southern Gentleman's crib bedding, lamp shade and valances long before we had any clue we would have another baby boy.  When I opened up the storage box, I was just amazed at how perfect it is!  Thanks DW!

One of my girlfriends gave us the "Q" sign.  I love it!

What do you think of the place?

Laundromats are not for sissies!

You know that the washing machine quit at Four Sisters Farm. (sigh) You know that I (Handy Grammy) tried to fix it but couldn't. But the laundry in a household of four adults and three children (one an infant) doesn't stop just because there is no handy way to wash it.

We had one week to dirty, spit up on, etc. as many clothes and linens as possible before the repairman would be back with the pump to fix the washer.

Enter the laundromat...I'm not sure who owns/manages the local one but it's not the nicest place to spend an afternoon. I wasn't sure that the clothes would actually be clean when I was finished there. As I loaded up machines and put quarter after quarter into the things, I encountered several broken machines (two of which were not marked and took some of my quarters before I figured it out and one of which had standing, stinky water in it) and tried to selectively set things where they wouldn't fall into pools of sticky spots of partially dried liquid detergent or fabric softner.

Farm Chick had EJ help her get set up there one afternoon while I stayed with the cowboys...

then Pop and I took a turn.

I can hardly believe how much it costs to wash a load at a laundromat ($1.75 for a small top loader, $2.50 for a "normal-sized" front loader, or $5.00 for a double-sized)...and we had to wash a BUNCH of loads...then we had to dry them! I quit counting the quarters after a while and got my exercise picking up clothes and putting them back into the dryer with the door that would NOT stay closed.

I'm guessing that a person could easily make payments on a washer and dryer instead of feeding quarters into machines and be done with it. It's possible that hauling laundry makes me grumpy...all I know is I'll be happy to use the washer when it's fixed. And that's all I have to say about that.

I'm Farm Chick and I'm a Matchaholic!

Seriously, I have a sickness.  I can't stop.  I LOVE to put my boys in matching clothes.  I come by it honest.  I can't tell you how many times the Four Sisters were dressed the same for Christmas Eve church.  There came a point when we were too cool to match anymore.  I know that point will come with my boys and until then...I shall dress them alike.  My greatest struggle right now is locating clothes that fit the boys ages 1 month to 4 years.  Old Navy has my back as they consider their "Baby Boys" section to be Newborn to 5T.  I have two sets of matching shirts on order.  I am giddy at the thought!

Commitment

Only a Pop and Grammy would continue to work on a tree house in the FREEZING cold.

Sweet Dreams - Sweet Schemes

Bubba recently outsmarted/outlasted his mom and did NOT take the daily nap...so after dinner, he drifted off. I'm thinking that he was busy making some plans when he fell asleep.

Here are some possibilities for what was on his mind:

• How can I best avoid naps in the future? Maybe form a coalition called Kids Against Naps (KAN)?
• I think the tree house needs another level. I'll have to talk to Pop about that.
• I'm thinking that snacks are better than meals - maybe I should start a kids' group against actual meal time...if Aunt DW can have a club for Moms Against Mini Vans (MAMV), then maybe I can have a Kids Against Sit Down Dinners (KASDD) or Kids Into Mini Meals (KIMM) or maybe Kids Eat All the Time (KEAT). Surely I can find some research to support my theory that it's better for kids to snack all day.
• I think I might have to figure out a way to make global warming ACTUALLY happen so that I can put an end to winter, being stuck in the house, and can go get in the tree house.
• I wonder if Grammy is right about God making me grow when I eat good food and get some sleep...maybe I can grow without napping...zzzzz

Someday he'll want a nap and won't get to take one...probably because a four-year-old will be working hard to stay awake and keep everyone around him awake as well. Is that an injustice or what!?!

Confessions of a local IDIOT

Ok, so here's the deal I know that most people don't like to share their short comings and stupidity. Well for the sake of a good laugh I'll be sharing my recent funny situation.

I know that you all think that I'm perfect, however I'm not! I know, I know, you're all shocked! But I recently got a speeding ticket in our small town. The cop told me that the easiest way for me to pay was NOT on the Internet (because they'd charge a use-fee), but to just go to the municipal court and pay the clerk (the court is in the police department). So Good little citizen me, EJ, went to the police department and had my check to pay my restitution in hand. I went to the window in which I thought I was to pay and slid my check across the desk. She quickly told me that the court was down the hall. So I went down the hall, and after searching like a fool for 5 minutes and asking a second time where it was I finally found it. Went to the door and read all the signs which read:

"Please turn all cell phones off or on vibrate"
"DO NOT approach the bench/judge while court is in session unless you're called on."
"Sign-in with name, address, phone number and you'll be called on."

So dutiful me, I signed in and filled in the necessary columns.

I surveyed the room and found that there was about 20 people waiting in chairs facing the "bench" where the judge, clerk, and and officer were HOLDING COURT!

HOLY HECK, I JUST WANTED TO PAY A STINKIN' SPEEDING TICKET!

Most of these people waiting had NOT had a shower in the last week. I was the only one who was wearing anything that was clean let alone resembling nice (other than the judge, clerk and officer).

So I took a seat in the back; feeling quite out of place listening to the charges that were being brought against these people. Here's a short list of them:
* procession of drug paraphernalia
* contempt of court
* DUI
etc...

AGAIN....AAAAWWWKKKKKWWWAAAARRRRRRDDDD!

So when the officer came back to pick up the sign-in sheet that my name was on, which of course would mean that I would soon be up. At this point, not really looking forward to standing up in front of everyone to just say, "I was speeding and here's my money..." So I quickly went over to the officer and whispered, "I just have a speeding ticket that I need to pay, is this REALLY where I need to be to pay?" Perplexed and thinking surely I can't be in the right place!??!! He took pity on me and said to follow him to the desk to pay the bill. At this point, I'm thinking that the lady who sent me to this place at the first window I was at was wrong and we were going back there for me to pay (or so I was hoping). So I stepped out the door and held it open for him, to which he just pointed for me to follow him , then I realized, UP TO THE FRONT where the judge and clerk were. Great!

So I followed. Trying to be as small as possible, as the judge was talking to a defendant not more than 5-6 feet away from me. I had given the officer my payment and ticket and he was processing the payment. For me NOT FAST ENOUGH, nothing would have been fast enough. It seemed like an eternity and that all the eyes in the room were on me. All that I could think was about the second sign I read about NOT approaching the bench unless the judge called on me. Well after the judge was done with that defendant, he looked right at me; at least I think he did, because he was severely cross eyed it made it difficult to tell if he was looking at me or the clerk. He said "...can I help you?" Again, trying to be a fly on the wall, I quickly and quietly responded, "oh sorry, no uh..." and just pointed to the officer that was filled out my receipt (in hindsight I don't know why I would have thought that he would have known that I was pointing or where I was pointing). Content with that answer he went back to his work and the officer was done. I grabbed my receipt and RAN (NOT like I stole something, but swiftly) out of the court.

So the lesson learned here should be to NOT SPEED AGAIN...or not pay speeding tickets in that way again. HOW AWKWARD.

Progress...Remodel Update

Pop's been a bit distracted lately with some tree house planning and construction. The grandkids are delighted and I have to admit so am I. We can hardly wait until the weather warms up a bit so we can enjoy it. Pop has big plans for sort of a "Tree House Village" with several tree houses connected by a bridge. There is a climbing wall and a zip line in the plans as well.

In spite of the tree house and wedding plans, we have managed to finally pull the kitchen cabinets together...they have been functional for quite a while but we needed handles, toe kicks, and crown molding. Pop, Grammy, Bubba, and Wubba all worked together to get things done.  Bubba enjoyed running the vacuum to clean up the mess when Grammy ran the drill to install the handles - he said it was really loud!  It came together quite nicely!  Take a peek...

Gag Order

I want to tell you all about Pretty Princess and Romeo's wedding.  It is going to be SO gorgeous.  Pretty Princess is creative with an eye for all things darling. 

However, I musn't start talking.  I might give away important details...it's best if I keep my yapper totally shut.  You will have to stay tuned to the blog in late June. 

I'll be talking then...and sharing pictures.

Handy Grammy

I think Farm Chick may have started something with her blog about failures here at Four Sisters Farm.

I started a load of laundry this morning and the washer sounded funny...funny peculiar - not funny "ha ha" (Are you hearing me WKRP in Cincinnati fans? I know I'm dating myself). Then the crazy thing quit and displayed a error code. Great. So I pulled the washer out and got busy. (Note to Farm Chick - I'm adhering to the "woman code" and not divulging everything I found under and behind the washer some of it may or may not have been mine.)

After unscrewing umpteen screws on the back of the machine with Pop's screwdriver-socket-looking thingy, I found that I couldn't get to what I needed to; so I checked out the front - just two screws later (there used to be three but someone has been in there before me) I found what I needed...figures. I put the back of the washer back on and got busy.

I found the trouble-shooting guide inside the door I removed and the list of error codes...now I felt like I was getting somewhere! Lookout repairmen everywhere! I'm after your job! Ha!

I opened up the tube looking thing where the drain filter is and found...well...lots of water first of all. Good thing I had a load of dirty towels so close to the washer, huh?

There was so much water, I had to get a couple of things to catch it in. The dish also came in handy to collect all the stuff from the filter.

For all my trouble, I received $2.14, two baby mittens, a baby sock that used to be yellow, one button, a key to who knows what (possibly Doc's pickup??), two rusted drill bits, three screws, one nut, a used staple (also rusted), and a variety of twigs, lint, and goo.

After all that, I put back together the front of the washer and started my load again. I'd like to tell you that all was good with my appliance repair but the darn thing still doesn't work right and I ended up having to drain all the water from the load again...manually...but at least there wasn't any more gunk in it...just clean laundry water that actually smelled nice and was warm.

I've set up the service call for tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted.

I am...Handy Grammy.

Many Parts Are Edible

Recently when EJ and Farm Chick were gone and the Cowboys were in good hands with us (Grammy and Pop), we had an interesting food (I use the term loosely) adventure. Pop took the Cowboys for a walk one afternoon and Bubba came back to the house with a handful of weeds. He was adamant that he was going to “cook” them and eat them. Pop just shrugged his shoulders and said, “He’s been carrying them around for more than half an hour to get them home and cook them.” Being the reasonable Grammy that I am, I said, “Okay.”

So we put them in a little water (after washing them thoroughly, of course) and microwaved them a while. Pop and I smelled them and I thought maybe our little connoisseur had picked up some dill…Pop thought it was sage…Pop’s a connoisseur too.

So Bubba got out his fork (I love Pop’s expression here) to taste his concoction. He concluded that it wasn’t “done” and needed to be “cooked” longer wrapped in a dishtowel and maybe eaten with ice cream (hmm).


So he wrapped it in a towel and let it cook…

And tried it again.

And yet again.

He even tried it with a little peanut butter which all of us connoisseurs know makes everything taste good…sort of like ketchup, right?


Not so much. He hasn’t brought anything in from the field since. Oh well. Who knows where this will go. Maybe Bubba will be some sort of health food guru some day. Remember Ewell Gibbons and the pine tree? Many parts are edible. (They just might not taste so great.)

Howdy Partner!

Q is the youngest of the cowboys.  We borrowed the bandana and hat from John Wayne (the boys' build a bear) so we could dress him up.  I know I am his momma, but seriously, isn't he the cutest little cowboy you've ever seen?