Rain

I always seem to forget how much I love the rain.

I love the sound of it on the roof as I sit curled up with a good book. I love the sound of rain hitting the leaves as I run outside in the rain just for fun of running though the rain.

I love the smell of rain hitting the hot cement, and warm dirt. The smell of all the plants opening up and receiving the rain, it's a wonderful smell, one I wish I could bottle up and put in my candles. :D

One of my favorite things about living in Houston was all the rain that we got. Yeah, there were times when it went a few weeks without raining and yes there were those times where I did not want to see one more drop of rain!

I loved it when it would rain all day, it would be cloudy and over cast and I sit on my bed with some type of reading and a cup of something hot to drink. Be it a history book or a useless quick read, there is just something about being curled up with a good book and coffee or hot chocolate.

These are still things I can enjoy in the country, but not as much. Knowing that we need to keep an eye on the amount of rain we get in case a low animal area floods, or keep an eye on any so to be new moms, for it never seems to fail that an animal will decided that in the rain is the best time to have a baby.

Some people like their snow, I like my rain! :D And really enjoyed the thirty minutes or so that we got last night and am praying that we will get more over the next few days. :D

It's Raining!!

For the first time in June it's raining! Normally June is our wet month and we get more then our fair share of rain, well this year after a very soggy spring we didn't get any rain for over a month. We are now sitting here with some kids running out and standing in the rain, because they haven't been able to do so for "ever so long".

Now, how long it will last and how much we have is yet to be seen. Hopefully we will get some more between now and Saturday night, so that we can shoot some fireworks. :D

Oh, but not a gully washer! We need the goats to stay happy right now! lol

Happy Birthday Libs!!

Thankfully she's not old enough to kill me for using her nickname here. :D

Seven years ago God blessed us with a wonderful addition to our family. There was only one drawback--she didn't want to be born on my birthday, it was as if she was telling us she wanted to be different and her own little person.

After just having two years of getting used to a boy in the house, it took a little getting used to when we had another girl, but we were VERY happy to have another girl. Little did we know that she would grow up for the next seven years as the youngest girl. In our house it's not the youngest that gets spoiled it's the youngest girl. :D Libby is the youngest and boy does she know it! She thinks she can flash a smile on that cute chubby, freckled covered face of hers and get whatever she wants. And most of the time she is correct. lol All she needs to ask is "Mommy, I want these pony tails because they are pretty can I have them?" with a cute smile and she's got them. lol Or "Daddy, if I get one more quarter I can buy coffee the next time we go to Central Market, can I go get some from your car?" with a kiss, it's hers.

Even with being spoiled rotten she is a very loving and caring girl. When ever someone is hurt, upset, way to busy to do anything, or even angry, she is there to help you in what ever way she can. To make your life easier and more enjoyable. What ever you need doing to get it there she will do. If it's scrub the bathroom she'll do it, if it's watch the toddlers she'll do it. It it's to just sit there and hug ask her and it's done. She is a blessing and sometimes shames me greatly by showing me what I should do and how I should be treating my siblings. I sometimes think she should be in my spot as the oldest, because she does a much better job of it at the age of seven then I do at after 20 years of being the oldest!

What we also didn't know before she was born was that pink and frogs can mix wonderfully, at least they can for Liberty. The idea that if you kiss a frog and he will turn in to a prince has been proven a myth time and time again, because princess Liberty has tried many a time with her frogs and has yet to come up with one true prince. (Maybe it's an age thing.) Be that as it may she still loves her frogs. Ask her about frogs and she will give you an ear full! Be careful after a hard rain or you might end up with a frog in your face and a demand to kiss it! And if you are ever visiting you will make her week if you bring her some frogs (Ask some good friends of ours!).

She loves her animals to death (if you didn't already catch that with the frogs) she will help you tend the animals almost any time it is needed with no questions asked. She loves her goats with a passion and again will one day better me in another area--Goat keeping. Even now she is great with showing, milking, feeding, and enjoying them. She loves them and is truly a farm girl!

Truth be told, even with frogs being stuffed in my face (thankfully, I have yet to find them in my bed!) and her getting neigh unto everything she wants, I am thankful that God blessed us with her, I don't know what life would be like without her, she is a blessing in more than one way and I enjoy sharing my days with her. :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIBERTY FAITH!!

Update on Judah

Well, that got home pretty quickly for an ER run. I forget sometimes that Navasota is not that far from us, and are pretty good at getting people in and out in a decent amount of time. (Just don't talk history with one of the ER Docs. I here he can run circles around you!!)

Apperently I was correct in my guess that it didn't need stiches. But I did forget that you can't stri-strip an eyelid. lol Now, if I had thought about supergule, I would have been right on. :D

From what I am told Judah did very well, laying on the table allowing them to fix his eye lid with no more then a wimper. And was a huge hit with the docs and nurses, but who can blame them with his blond hair and huge blue eyes? With just the right look he could make the scroucge do anything for him! lol

He cam home and showed it off to everyone, with Noah looking on, very proud as if he had Judah well! As soon as the newness wore off he was at it again with Noah fighting and trying to prove who was the best swordsmen.

It did accure to us that Judah is the oldest that a boy in the Carlson family has been before he had to go to the ER for an injury. Let's just hope he keeps it at one visit!!!

Boys! Sometimes amaze me what they can do. With just the four boys I have enough knowladge about cvuts, bumps, and scratches to become a nurse! I can tell you when it needs stiches, staples, stri-strips or glue. But, right now I think I will stick with trying to keep them from killing each other and giving us older people in the family gray hair. :D

Happy Father's Day!!

And I mean it this time! :D

Thank you dad for being the best dad there is!

For doing many different things for me, taking me places, dealing with me, teaching me, etc. :D For taking me to the zoo, museums, stores, Ballgames (Astros or Rice games), or out to eat on special days. Thank you for taking me/us to goat shows, other farms, farm stores, and gun shows, etc.

Thank you for teaching me many different things, each and everything important though they differ with the time, the place, and my age.

Thank you for teaching me about history, so that I would know what it is that has shaped our country, our family, and our lives. For making it so that I enjoy it and it's not just something I do to learn from other's mistakes. Rather it's something I do because I want to learn about it all, something that you have instilled in me.

Thanks for taking the time over the past decade to teach me about baseball, how it's played, how to keep score, how to enjoy it and love it for its fun and not its money. For the love of the game and time with you. Thank you for sitting through many an Astros’ lose, for spending hours before and after games to get autographs, for buying more tickets, cards, books, and other baseball stuff then any one person might need. Thank you for holding me and doing you best to make me feel better when Pujols hits a home run and I cry for two days over a GAME! Thank you for giving me the love of the sport, the enjoyment of keeping score, and the pleasure of collecting cards.

Thanks for teaching me about gun safety, how to shoot a shotgun and blow up pumpkins, how to shot a handgun without harming myself or anyone else for that matter, how to clean a gun and load one.

Thank you for teaching me about computers and other electronics. Or was that just so you wouldn't have to deal with them?

Thanks for working hard to give me the joy of reading, even though I gave you and mom fits about it for years.

Thanks for being there when I need you. When I am about to blow it with a sibling (even if I don't show that I am listening, I do appreciate it then even if I don’t say it then), when as a child I lost a toy or hurt myself or more recently when I wanted more books, money, or candy.

Thank you for being there to comfort me when I need it. Being it a time when I get in a fight with a sibling, get hurt, when the Astros lose in the play-offs, or I am crumpy from lack of sleep or caffeine

Thanks for the things you have taught me and given us in the country. From getting goats, running a dairy, to shooting fireworks and animal care (be it the fun of loving and playing with them or the sadness of putting them down). Thank you for taking a step that was not want you thought you would ever do and giving us this new life of country living and enjoyment!

Thanks for being the dad that I can go to when I have problems to solve, when I want to buy yet another book, something pleasurable to share, or to enjoy a few minutes of baseball on a Monday night.

I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU!!! :D

Happy Father's Day?!?!?!?

Yeah right! lol

So, we did let dad sleep in this morning, mom and I did go searching all of Houston and the Woodlands for his favorite beer, The kids got him candy, coffee, and other gifts and I have yet to give him my gift, not to mention we are cooking one of his favorite dinners. :D

But I think Judah and Noah gave him a father's day gift he never thought about. lol We, I don't think he thought about it 21 years ago, it's just not those things you think about when your first child is born (esp. when it's a girl) and then when your first son is born after six girls, you think you've got it covered (at least that's what they say) but sometimes life throws you a curve ball. lol

Noah and Judah were sword fighting and apparently Noah hit Judah in the head with his "sword" and Judah came in crying-more like sniffling "Noah hit me!!". So Judah is going in for his first set of stitches ever!

O.K., so yes Christin and I did do sword fights, arm wrestling, and other tom foolery, and yes I have been known for giving siblings black eyes, and yes we have had to do ER injury trips for the girls (all thanks to one person!). But at least we had the decency to wait for a non-important dad day! :D

Anyways....

I Hate It When....

A printer thinks it knows how to do something better then I do!! I have grown to hate those massages that say "Are you sure you want to follow through with this action? If you do so you might brake the printer or void your warranty". or "By doing this action your task will not be completed and you might upset the nervous system of the printer or your computer."

O.K. so I added a little to each one, but those are the gist of the warnings and sometimes that is what I feel like the warnings are saying. They are almost as bad as my siblings! lol

Silence

This may sound weird to anyone who lives in a house hold with less than a dozen people, but then that would be nothing new for me to blog about, correct? lol

Today 8 members of our family are off doing a farm day. There are four of my siblings here with me--Sara (15), Emma (11), Liberty (6) and Noah (4). I was left to make sure that plain yogurt got made for Saturday's markets and to sleep in since I was up LATE last night. Sara and Emma were left to get chores done, Liberty and Noah were left to make it easier on those who went, and they were the ones we knew could be left here to play by themselves for hours. :D

It's kind of amazing what you can do with over half the family gone. I got to sleep in late, do a batch of yogurt, laundry, laze around on the computer, read a 320 page book and generally feel lazy.

Now, to go make good use of the rest of the time that the family will be gone. :D Since I expect them back at the earliest in two hours, I had better be hurrying. lol Oh, and I need to put some music on, this quite is starting to get to me!

Farm Sitting

Two weeks ago some very good friends of ours asked me to farm sit while they went to the reenactment of Brice's Crossing. I gladly agreed to do so, and headed over to their place Monday the 8th.

We went over what I had to do chore wise and drove around their property to see what new things they had done since the last time I was there in February. All in all it looked to be a fairly easy job and something I knew my sisters would love to help me with.

Make sure that all automatic waters were on and working, make sure the automatic feeders were full, double check fences to make sure the animals stayed in the correct pen or on the correct side of the fence, and pick all veggies from their 1/2 acre garden that were ripe. No biggie! I would get to drive the mule, bring a sister or two to help and have it knocked out with an hour, something I could easily handle!

But as happens a lot in life I learned that things are easier said than done. lol

On the first day, one of their dogs decided to disappear. We are guessing she went to make a nest for herself since she is due to have puppies any day now. But knowing where she was would have made me feel better. :D But I never saw hide or tail of her, so the owner said to not worry about it either she was fine and there was nothing she would let us do about it or she wasn't and there was nothing I could do about.

Then on day two I had to go get the cows back on the correct side of the fence, it took a few minutes but it was something to show how my life has changed in the past five years.

On day three the cows got out again, I did the same as I did on day two muttering under my breath "Chasing cows? At the age of 15 I KNEW that is what I was going to be doing when I was 20. YEAH RIGHT!!!" A few minutes later I notice that all the cows are in the other neighbor’s back 40 aces! Great!! More cow chasing, I just need to figure out how to handle this!

On day four I went to try and corral some lose cows, the entire time muttering "Good fences make good neighbors" and "Chasing cows?!? Am I dreaming this? Man has my life changed!" I never did get them on the correct side of the fence, but our friends said to leave them there and they would pay the man back.

Then yesterday on my last day of farm sitting I pull into the pasture to check the hogs (who are due any day to have piglets), I look up to see one of the cows lose on the correct property of all things! Not to mention all the other cows are in their pen happily grazing on grass! Am I seeing things? No, they are all their, thanks to their neighbor (I am guessing), I went to check the fence and found that it was fixed.

On my way back the mule decided that dusk would be the perfect time to finish its gas supply. So, there I sat at the back end of 40 acres out of gas and realize I have to go the front end of the 40 acres to get the gas. So, I hike myself up there thankful that I enjoy walking and realizing it would be the perfect time to thank God for mules and the gas that keeps them running. It took about ten minutes, but in those ten minutes it was enough for the sun to completely set and for me to realize that pasture and woods are just as enjoyable in the dark as they are during the day. :D

Other then the cows deciding that they didn't want to be on their side of the fence and the dog disappearing, all went well. We had some of the best strawberries ever, as well as some great farm fresh green beans three nights in a row. :D And on top of that I was able to help some friends while they went on vacation.

Did I learn anything this week, besides the fact that I should check the gas on all vehicles I am driving before I go anywhere? Yes, I learned that we need to make sure our fence is solid if we ever get cattle and that my life has changed drastically in the past five years!!

Just To Let You Know....

Life in the country is not as quite as you would think! :D Honestly anyone who thinks that it is should visit for a few days; they would get an ear full!!

Cows bawling, goats maaaing, dogs howling, donkeys calling, crickets chirping, frogs rabbeting, wind in the trees.

And when they all or half decide to do it all at the same time, as was happening on my trip from the dairy to the house a few minutes ago, it can cause a maddening cacophony.

But all in all, it's better than horns honking, radios blaring, people screaming, and tires screeching. So I guess I shouldn't complain and just close my window is I want a good night sleep. lol

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Even though she might kill me, (she has already given me the look once today) I am going to say this anyways.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

We love you and hope that you have/will enjoy your birthday!! :D

Liberty

Yesterday I was not feeling well. So, all I did was rotate laundry, read, and watch T.V.. This past weekend we upgraded our cable so that we could get the Astros and RFDTV. Also in the upgrade we got Tuner Classic Movies, one of my favorite channels. At nine they happened to be playing one of my favorite movies "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington".

This movie has been a favorite in our family for a very long time and is one of the movies I will watch over and over again, it never gets old for me. When we went to D.C., we watched it two or three times in the four days we were on the road. Just all the monuments, ideas and thoughts that are in this movie made certain aspects of D.C. more enjoyable and real to us. :D

At one point in the movie when Jefferson Smith is talking with his secretary Saunders, he says something that I always remember and is one of my favorite quotes in the entire movie and is one of the best ways to explain why I study history.

"You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that."

Oh, I Forgot!

So, this past Saturday on my way to Gorgan's Mill Farmer's market I have Linnea in the front next to me asleep, Noah right behind me non-stop talking and all my product and stuff for my both in my little geo. (Which, I might say I have gotten quite good at driving!)

AS I am leaving the Magnolia area, driving straight into the sun, something I think everyone hates doing, but something I am still learning to deal with. And to my right I see two dogs running on the side of the road, I check behind me to see how close the person behind me is driving, since I had just noticed they we either about to pass me or ride my tail.

As I look back at the dogs, I decided to put on my breaks knowing that they could come running out and I don't want the guy behind me to hit me! (That is my worst fear and the biggest thing that kept me from driving sooner). Right as I am about to hit the brakes a deer runs about a car and half length in front of me! I really hit the clutch and break then! It was running so fast I didn't have a problem and I didn't even wake up Linnea!

Boy did that scare me! I had pictures in my mind as it is running in front of me of a deer on my hood, my car totaled (small car and medium deer do not go well together!) and I was thinking how I would explain to dad and mom that I got to market late that day! lol

I will tell you I can laugh about it now, but I was a wee bit scared when it happened and was a little jumpy the rest of the drive there.

I think that was my fun and learning experience for the day!

Ummmm.....

I've been trying to think of things to post about and can come up with nothing, so I think I will just ramble for the sake of a post! (I can't believe I just said that!)

It's amazing what little things you never thing about, but going without a washer seems like a little thing until you have to do so. For some people it's no big deal and honestly if I were living by myself it would not be that big of a problem, I would just run to the laundry mat once a week and be fine. But in our family if we did that then we would be there all day spending oodles of money and then spend all of the next day folding it and putting it away.

Last Friday night mom found a washer on Craig's list. It looked to be the perfect washer, there was only one problem! It was over two hours away! So, mom called and talked with them we were really getting to the point where we NEEDED a washer, almost two days without doing laundry in our house can cause some major problems! After talking with them they offered to bring the washer to market for her. :D

So, I am now trying my best to catch up, make sure everyone has clean clothes; all diapers are washed so that everyone is happy. But I am also trying to hang as much as possible on the line. I LOVE the smell of line dried clothes, and down here were it is so humid most of the year we have a small window of time when we can do that. We can usually do it for about a month in the spring and a month in the fall. But with this wonderful weather that we have been having the time of line drying clothes has gone far longer than I can remember it ever going. Normally I am done with line drying by the beginning of May and here I am at the beginning of June and enjoying every minute of it, even if it does cause more work for me. :D

Now, I am praying that our front loader gets fixed SUPER fast and that the time of line drying last even longer. :D