How could I?

How could I possibly post the upcoming pictures. It should not be done. No it should not. I should not post them about, when your mother is out. Oh... sorry, broke into a little Dr. Seuss there.


No I should not post these pictures... But I am going to anyway.

Sunday morning we woke up to snow.

Monday morning we woke up to snow.

This afternoon it snowed some more. Hey, I wasn't really even complaining. That is until the wind started to blow. I was enjoying the spring storm for the moisture it was bringing. But nooooooooo it had to go and start blowing.

Isn't this pretty? What? You don't think so? Come on, it doesn't get much prettier than this. In the middle of the picture there is a small herd of antelope, seriously, there is. They trotted right by my house and told me just how much they are enjoying the weather today.

I Love Photoshop

Along with my new dSLR I treated myself to Photoshop. I love photography and can't wait to take it a little further, thank you Photoshop for getting me a step closer. The main picture on my blog was one I set up. Yes... we really do have that many pairs of jeans. Crazy thing is those are just the kids jeans, no adult ones in the whole lot of them. Good grief Charlie Brown.

Here is the "before".

And here is the "after".

Any suggestions on what to do with all those worn out jeans? Advice welcome!

Very Very Interesting

My dear lineman got me a dSLR camera for my birthday. Actually he said just to just go get one, same thing really. I picked myself out a Nikon D80 and couldn't wait for the day it arrived. When UPS showed up I think the guy was a little nervous that I was going to hug him - hey I was excited, what can I say? I unpacked it with the excitement of a little boy opening up a toy on Christmas. I carefully unwrapped each item and oooed and awwwwed over every little thing. I put the battery on the charger first thing. Then I inserted the memory card and waited for the battery to be ready........... waiting...... waiting....... waiting..... FINALLY!


So I was off on my new journey with a SLR. Well, let's back up a few.... I had been reading and reading for more than a month trying to assimilate the information on shutter speeds, apertures, F-stops, you name it. I figured I would at least have some idea what I was doing.

The first few pictures I just set the camera to Auto. Humpf, what kind of fun is that? Why did I buy a nice SLR if I was only going to put it on Auto? So I switched the camera to Shutter speeds and started snapping. Oh my oh my. All I can say is thank you to the people that developed the digital camera. If I had to pay for film I wouldn't have taken another picture. I must have taken 100 bad pictures in that very first day! No kidding.

Most of those pictures I chose to delete - you're welcome. But there was this one that I chose to save. Check it out.

My crazy little cowpoke would not even so much as slow down for me to take his picture. With that slow shutter speed I managed to catch what looks like a ghost in the pic. Very interesting for sure.

• Camera: Nikon D80
• Exposure: 1 second
• F-stop: f/13
• ISO: 400

Forever in Blue Jeans

Forever in Blue Jeans

Money talks
But it don't sing and dance
And it don't walk
And long as I can have you here with me
I'd much rather be
Forever in blue jeans

Honey's sweet
But it ain't nothin' next to baby's treat
And if you pardon me
I'd like to say
We'll do okay
Forever in blue jeans

Yes, I do believe this is the theme song of my life! With three boys and a hubby all in Wranglers it will always be "Forever in blue jeans".

That's okay with me too. The problem is that Wrangler has yet to make a pair of jeans my boys can't wear out.

They usually look like this.

Up or down, makes no difference, still holes in the knees.

Looks like it runs in the family.

Have no fear, at least the boys will look good on Sunday.

Little Red Riding Hood meets Hansel & Gretel

The return trip home was during the day, but I think the preferred method of travel in the future will be at night. Poor little man was tired of sitting in that car seat and boy was he not afraid to let it be known.

We were in the mountains when he decided he must have a bottle. I don't know but he sure is demanding. Are bottles that good? Apparently! Well, I found the neatest place to stop on this little two lane. Oh, by the way little two lane in Colorado means narrow, NOT lightly traveled. There was a playground for the boys to play on - really I was just wanting them to burn off some of that "trapped in the car energy". They played for a little bit and then went on to more "boy"appropraite activities. Yup, rocks. They scurried all over the mountain side in search of the perfect rocks.

My middle punk must have had litteraly a ton of rocks all placed inside the front pocket of his red hooded sweatshirt. It was hanging so low in the front it looked like it might win and take the poor kid down. The older one took off running calling for the middle punk to follow. Poor kid. He started off at a trot only to realize he was losing part of his load. He stopped to pick up a few of the errant rocks only for more to fall out when he bent down. He picked those up, shoved them in that red sweatshirt and took off at a trot once more. Here they come. More little rocks and pebbles falling onto the ground. After about ten feet he has a perfect little trail behind him. He stopped to pick up a few that fell leaving most behind. Oh the predicament! Brother is going ahead without him but he needs his rocks too. Ultimately he opted for brother. Some of the rocks stayed in that red sweatshirt but he sure did make a nice trail on the mountain side from the ones that fell out.

Yup, Little Red Riding Hood meets Hansel and Gretel!

One Last Day

How we ever fit so much fun into such a short amount of time is a mystery to me! It was a grand time to be together for a bit. The lineman sure got his boy time in! There was one major problem with the whole trip. Lineman kept taking the camera away from me and taking pictures... of me. What? Since when did I give approval to be in a picture. That is the whole point in being the one with the camera - it seriously limits the amount of photos you are in. Well, I suppose when the boys are all grown up they may want to know what I looked liked when I was in my 20's. Oh no, I can see the comments coming already.

A walk by the river

What a nice day for a walk by the Durango river. The boys got new scooters from the lineman. They went and went and went. And there were no injuries.... are these my crazy boys? I guess they were containing themselves.

Hangin' with Dad

Little man loves his dad, no doubt.

Blue eyes, dimples, dad's hat... the perfect combination!

On the Job

What a blast all the boys had at the substation. Lots of snow makes for great puddles after the melt off.

Have rock. Must throw.
Ready to roll!

Get this kid a hard hat already!

My Life is a Song: Track 2

I drove all night to get to you,

Is that alright

I drove all night


Wow, what a drive. The boys and I were going to head to Durango Saturday morning for spring break to see hubby but I upped it to Friday afternoon instead. We stopped for dinner only an hour into our trip. Not a good start I was thinking. I figured as soon as I got tired I would try to find a town with a hotel. Well, one town would pass and then the next. Would you say I am stubborn? Hmmm probably. So, we did manage to do the drive in one shot. When three boys are asleep you've got to take advantage of that! Actually they weren't all asleep. The oldest boy is quite a talker!!!! I learned a lot about penguins. Oh so much about penguins! I have to say I was impressed with all that he retained about them and other animals as well!

Well, just because I drove straight through last night I am not saying it was easy. For the last 2 hours it was solid deer and elk. And when you're tired did you ever notice how everything looks like deer and elk. And I mean everything! Really, fences do like like elk. And mailboxes? Now mailboxes really look like elk! I must have slowed down for at least 50 mailboxes last night. Hey, you never know when one of those is going to jump out into the road.

And another thing - We know that "the grass is always greener on the other side". I have now made up my new saying..."The grass is always greener right next to the road". I think the elk and the deer just sit on the roadside to mock us. I can just see them having a conversation with one another. I think it goes something like this, "Here comes a truck, let's see how slow we can make 'em go." "Ha ha, made 'em look" "Ha ha, two for flinching!"

Yes, we made it here in one piece but the next time you slow down for a mailbox think of me.

He's All Penguin

Briger's class has been studying penguins for four weeks now. They had a "Penguin Party" for all to come enjoy what the kids had to share. The sang an adorable penguin song that is now stuck in my head and which I sing to myself quite regularly now.

They broke into groups to talk about each type of penguin. Bridger and his good friend Isaac were in charge of the Chinstrap Penguins.

They had a little "rap" song about the Chinstrap. Bridger, our little musician was really getting into it. Nope, this kid is not shy! I am kicking myself for not taking my camcorder to record it.
Of course I was trying to keep Bode from sounding like a herd of penguins so I would not have been able to record anything anyway. I was thankful Isaac's mom took these pictures, otherwise the only memory I have would have been of Bode sucking on my finger. Hey I had to keep him quiet somehow!

A Mom's Duty

Well, we know that Bode has had his trouble with his eczema and that we are doing all we can to alleviate the situation for him. One thing the doctor said is to get a humidifier. Check. But still, the humidity in the house stays on the dry side with the heater running all the time. Usually the humidity hangs around the 20% side, ugh, did you hear your skin just crack? We keep the humidifier right next to his crib (in our room). I usually take a shower and leave the door open between the bathroom and bedroom to let all that steam escape where it can be of more use....



Well, a few nights ago I took a long hot shower. When I got out of the shower and looked into the bedroom I saw a canopy of trees, a waterfall, a toucan, butterflies fluttering around, a light mist hanging in the room. I had achieved the perfect rainforest right there in the bedroom. The humidifier had a reading of 71%. Actually, that part is real. Here it was one night at 67%.



So, I have concluded the absolute importance of my showers. They should be very long and very hot. I know, I know. It seems a high price to pay for my son to keep him feeling well. That's just the kind of mom I am. I am willing to suffer through numerous long and hot showers just for his benefit. What a good mom am I. Well, the humidity is dropping, I had better go get in the shower. Of course it is all for Bode, yes all for Bode.

Mythical Creatures

A mermaid.


The Loch Ness Monster.


A yeti.


Big Foot.


Hubby. Oh wait! Nevermind!



The boys and I all enjoyed having the boss around for the weekend. Oh, wait. The boss has always been here. The better half? Nope, still here. Oh, you get the idea. Here are some pics from this weekend.

Poor guy drove ALL NIGHT LONG to get home. I think he got home when most farmers are just getting their coffee poured. Love this pic. A sleepless night makes for a perfect nap!

Awwww... time with the little man!Is there any boy out there that doesn't want to oil their boots up. The boys asked all week if they could do this. No siree. Not with me. "Just you wait until your father comes home!"

Yes, that's a fire extinguisher.... Hey our fire district is way far away. Worse than that? Their fire truck is so old it can barely make it up one of the hills standing in the way to our house. Why is the extinguisher in the living room? No clue, except that I do have all boys. Can that be my explanation for every weird thing that happens around here???

So much for signs of spring...

Spring. Oh, spring. Where did you go. Why would you show signs of yourself to only say goodbye so quick? Okay, okay, you get it. Bluebirds were here - now they are gone. Grass was showing itself - now it's gone. We had three days of frost up here but lets just look at the silver lining here folks.... There are not many things in winter prettier than a hoar frost.

Here is what we woke up to this morning.

The trees were looking so good, although green would have looked awfully nice too!

This was a major hoar frost from back in November. The poor, poor aspen tree. You are looking at the tops of the branches... are they suppose to point down? Ugh, get this weight off me!

That is a good 2 1/2 inches of frost. Somehow it looks prettier in November than it does in March. Hmmm, go figure.

Coulee Races: Part 2

If you recall from reading Coulee Races: Part 1 you will notice I said sometimes it's not all smiles at the bottom of the coulee. Especially when the preferred method of descent is face first. Yup, you guessed it... here is what happens when your brother is driving, you're not sitting down, the wagon hits a rock, you go flying..... and hit a rock with your face.

Coulee Races: Part 1

Is there anything better to play in than a coulee? The boys could spend hours and hours here! Sledding, big wheels, bikes, you name it. This is one of the favorites - in the wagon.

The preferred method of descent...... face first of course.

The faster the better. This is how it usually ends.
But always a smile at the end.

Well, usually that is.....

And do it over again!

Bluebirds

Yesterday my mom calls and says "guess what I saw this morning?" "A robin" I replied (as I know she can't wait for the first robin to appear). She didn't see a robin so my second guess was a bluebird. Yup, she saw a bluebird in the morning. Ahhh, the feeling that spring could be around the corner.

Well, I am driving home yesterday and I didn't see one bluebird, but at least 25! I counted several times but there were so many it was hard to count. About an hour later the beautiful bluebirds made their way to our house. These two were hanging out at the snow fence as if to say, "Okay, we're here, you don't need this anymore." I was trying to zoom in on this guy on the post when through my view finder I saw a flutter of birds. I pressed the shutter and managed to get a total of FIVE bluebirds in the one shot. See if you can find all five of them.
Ahhhh, spring is on it's way.

My Life is a Song: Track 1

The germs in the house go round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The germs in the house go round and round,
All through the house

Isn't that the way winter can go sometimes? Colter was sick, then Bode (who is still fighting it), and now Bridger is getting it. Ugh. Should we buy stock in cold medicines?

Oh please don't tell me we will have to go to the doctor again.

Instead of frequent flyer miles maybe we could accumulate frequent fever points?
Recurrent runny nose points?
Scores of sneezes points?
Numerous nausea points?
Copious coughing points?

Hmm, I could be on to something here.

Get Your Imagination Ready

Yesterday I had to go to the hardware store to pick up a few items I needed for a project I am working on. I went to the paint section and picked out two extendable painters poles, then I proceeded down to the plumbing isle. There I was in search of two plunger ends that I would later attach to the painters poles. I picked out two suitable plunger ends that would fit the poles perfectly.

Colter asked what these cup like things were. I told him they were ear muffs and put one over each ear. He thought that was neat enough and asked if he could carry them instead of putting them in the cart. So he carried them and we headed for the checkout.

We are walking through the store and I see a person smile at us. Hey, who wouldn't smile, there are some cute kids with me. A little further and another person smiles at us. Hmmm. Well, I am sure they smile as if to say, "brave woman, all boys". Okay, no problem. We go a little further and a man looks at us and this time we get an actual, out loud chuckle. A chuckle? Why would someone chuckle at us? Is there something in my teeth? Of course not. I am a mom of boys, think quick! Obviously it is the kid with the plunger attachments..... I turn around and sure enough there is Colt with the plungers............... placed perfectly on his chest.

Big Wheels & Air Guitar

They boys enjoyed the good weather yesterday with a few big wheel races down the coulee.

Bridger had to get in a little air guitar on top of the propane tank. I'm sure he's doin' a little Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

What a morning

Ugh, that time change didn't do us any favors here. Sunday wasn't bad but Monday morning was awful. I must have hit the snooze alarm half a dozen times. Of course it didn't help I was holding my alarm clock (read: cell phone) in my hand, no need to even reach to the table. Hubby finally called and woke me up, good thing too.

Oldest boy was in bed with me...seems to crawl in in the middle of the night with me none the wiser. It took four tries to wake him up, usaully he is up WAY before me. I got his clothes for him since we were running behind. I look over while he is getting dressed and he is so tired that he is putting on his underwear.... on top of his other underwear!

Then, in my most convincing voice I tell him the hot lunch choices at school: cheese pizza or mini corn dogs. I was sure he would go for this as I was so convincing, maybe even go for liver and onions, that's how convincing I was. But noooooo. He wants a cold lunch. Why does he want cold lunch? Because of the cute notes I put in there for him. Why oh why did I ever start that? Of all the mornings for me to make a cold lunch... I'm stumbling around, late on time, puffy eyes, lines on my face from the sheets... not a pretty picture. But sure, I'll make a cold lunch for you...

The kid and his faithful dog wait for the bus...... with plenty of time to spare.

Oh, and before there are any comments about me being such a sleepy head this morning.... how many times did you get up and feed a baby in the middle of the night?

A Bad Sign?

Is it a bad sign when you walk into the doctors office and immediately the nurse says, "Hey, how are you guys doing"? We have been to the doctor so much lately the nurse would probably stop us at the grocery store to have a chat.

Our first visit in the past two weeks was for Bode's regular Well Baby Check-up, so no big deal. Then two days later we were in for Colter. When he was at gymnastics he managed to slam his finger in a heavy metal door. Yikes! Did it ever look disgusting! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that one. Then a few days later we were at the doctor again for Bode's skin. And Friday we were at the doctor again for Bode. He has been running a fever and more irritable than you want to know about. So...his first ear infection, welcome to the club, Bode.

Amazing Riding

This is something I had watched some time ago and I just thought I would post it on here. It is quite amazing. I can remeber being at my mom's B&B, walking to find the horses early in the morning and not having a bridle or halter. I would usually pull off my sweatshirt, tie it around my horses neck, hop on bareback and bring her up to the house. It is a real neat feeling, but when the horses are frisky (common in the early morning with the fresh air) it can also be a little unnerving...

But let me tell you, it looked nothing like this. It was more like get her pointed toward the house, head out at a run and hope the other horses running side by side don't get her too excited!

Patience

Yes, Gramma Mary has patience. Well, I guess all Gramma's do. When you look in the dictionary you'll find this: grandmother, n., the mother of one's father or mother. Puh-leeze. Is that all the better they could do? How about: grandmother, one who posses great patience, love, wisdom. One who is kind, gentle and makes a child feel so special. One who has more patience than said childs mother or father. Now this I like.

Yes, I love my children. Yes, I want the best for them. Yes, we sit and play games, read together and play together. But.... when it comes to cooking, this mom is really lacking! I would just rather get the cooking done and get it on the table. Now, on the other hand, gramma's have patience. More than I have for sure!

So this pictures definition: love, all wrapped up in patience. Thank you Gramma Mary.

Ready for his close up!

It has taken time, frustration, doctors visits, discomfort, itching, lotions and potions, guessing, fear and more....

But Bode is ready for his close up! Yeah!

We have been using the steriod cream on him for 3 days and the improvement in incredible! I was not sure if I should post the before or after first in the order here.... I think you'll see why I opted for the "after" photo......

BEFORE

BEFORE

How we got there.....

My favorite item in this product line is the oatmeal Soothing Bath Treatment. It looks just like a packet of oatmeal..... I don't think you want this for breakfast though! You sprinkle it in the bath water and then the water strangly looks like something you should NOT be bathing in. But then a little time passes and suddenly you can feel the smooth skin. It really is a great product, I finally found it at Walgreens and I plan to go back and buy the store out of them!

The doc said we could use this for little flare-ups and I did use it on his entire back yesterday. It seemed to help some. Now for THE BEST PRODUCT of all!!! I was so happy when doc got us a prescription for this steriod cream! Bode's skin responded to it immediately. He was so uncomfortable and itchy and in pain before. Now he is one happy camper. Look at that first picture again and you can see just how happy he is to be feeling better!

Now I am keeping HUGE amounts of lotion on his skin. When I say HUGE, I mean HUGE! Whatever it takes to keep this little guy happy!