Peace, Love, and Football....(and wet dogs)

Once again, busy busy busy....not complaining, mind you, but life here on the ranch has been pretty darn hectic.  My boyfriend (aka husband) is the assistant coach of our football team, and I think I've said before, our two oldest boys play on the team, and our youngest, Lizzie, is the stat girl....so needless to say, we're on the go a lot right now.  I like it though, because the fall is pretty much our only slow time at the ranch.  So the football and volleyball games are sort of mini vacations for us!  Our closest game is an hour and a half drive from us, the farthest is about 5 hours from here!  AND...we're going into the championships, so we'll probably travel farther than that!  Have I mentioned that I do love this though!?!  lol

Fall is finally here though and I'm loving this weather.  It stayed warm a lot longer than usual, so finally the leaves are falling and the nights are cool.  However, fall weather means some moisture, some moisture means WET DOGS!  ugh.....I sooo wish I had a mud room that we could lock them in at night, instead of my house!  oh well, such is life.....

Where's Waldo? (or Tracey for that matter)

hhhmmmm...what excuse can I ponder up for why I've been away from my blog for so long.  "I'm such a busy mother and housewife that I forgot", no. "I now have THREE kids in high school and I just forgot", no. "We were so busy this summer putting up hay and entertaining company, I forgot", no.  "The dog ate my homework", aaahhh No.  Okay, no excuses, the simple fact is "all of the above".  We all know how life gets away from us, and I've learned that lesson to the extreme lately.  Our family lost a much loved uncle last week and a couple from our small town were killed by a drunk driver last week.  Life got away.   I think things like this tend to make us want to slow down and savor the gifts.  Gifts like our children, our spouses, our homes, our jobs, our pets, our health....everything.  So, I pledge to slow down.  (don't have a heart attack, I'm really going to try). 
So!  For starters!  Today is Tuesday, I will go to town with my boyfriend/husband, pick up a repaired tractor tire, fit in a much needed "date" lunch, purchase the last of the show supplies for fair, get a new can of hairspray (a girl can't go to Fair without some Good Hairspray), get some more dog food, remember to purchase stock in the dog food company when I get home, and maybe tan (brown fat is SOOOO much better looking than white fat)!  Then I'll come home, fix dinner, do the dishes (no dishwasher in this house), finish the daily laundry, help the kids finish fitting their fair steers, jump into bed with my boyfriend and lay in bed and think about what's going to happen tomorrow.......UGH, exhausted already.

George, Reba, and Lee Ann, in five days......Woo Hoo!  We're taking off Thursday after school for the Big City of Portland, Or!  It'll take us about 6 hours to drive there.  Friday night we're going to "THE" concert and I'm so excited!  I'm not excited for myself (although I am hoping to get a nice toush shot of the Big Guy), but I'm excited for my kids.  Colten (16) and Lizzie (14) have always loved the Big Guy.  Colten swore up and down, when he was a wee one, that when he grew up he was moving to Texas to work on George Strait's ranch....LOL.

Ya know, I've been thinking.....I know that we'll be only a couple of fans in a huge venue - but we do count.  I can imagine that so many of the people that will be there have a "story" about George.  "I saw him in Tahoe when I was in College", "Remember when he had to cancel his appearance at our county fair", "You can't beat a classic George song when you ask your honey to dance", and my favorite "I love his wranglers".  I wish that there were some way that we could convey how much it means to us "civilians" to be able to witness such an awesome event.  Now I know that this isn't like the Presidential Inauguration or anything....but to us simple country folk - it's even Better!  I'm breaking out my best pair of cute jeans, getting a new shirt, and polishing my boots for this one!  (while during the election coverage, I sat on the couch in my pj's, flipping between CNN and "House Hunters" - No Comparison)

Any how....excited to go see my guy.  But will definately miss my boyfriend (aka husband) while I'm gone.  "Take care of the cows Honey, Momma's going to town!".....

Rose and Shone! (vs Rise and Shine)

I Love Sundays!  Woke up early, went to sunday school and church, checked heifers on the way home - yet another new addition to the ranch - now relaxing at home!  March Madness is in full swing in this house, so guess I'll go take a nap! lol

Ya know, we really should relish our Sunday afternoon naps.  Seriously, it's an important time for this momma to catch up on much needed sleep without feeling guilty!  Colten and Lizzie are headed out to ride.  There's a cow with a calf that isn't sucking.  Austen is headed out to work with his 4-H steer, and Shannon (aka boyfriend) is finally taking a break while watching a little bball.  I just love Sundays!

little bit of this.....little bit of that.....

ugh....been sick lately - migraine and other troubles....this momma is not used to be down so it's been pretty rough.

Good news though - babies are dropping all over the place.  The heifers are starting to calve now so it's time for all of those fun nightime checks! lol - really it's not so bad, it's pretty peaceful when you're able to get up at midnight and three am and sneak the truck out to look at the momma's.  We haven't had any problems yet, which is such a great thing.  Shannon bought some really awesome heifer bulls last year and it looks like they did their jobs well!
Basketball is over now, so it's time to work, work, work, with the 4-H steers.  The kids are pretty excited about their picks this year.  I think Colten Ben's is going to be a really good one.  Our judge is Jeannie Yardly from the mid-west.  She came out last year and did a really good job for us.  I know it's a while away - September - but fair time is always the Best time of year!

Time Flies.....

I once saw a stamp with this saying on it:  Times fun when you're having flies! (and there were two frogs on it)......Well, that may be true, but Time flies when you're having fun too!

Too long since my last blog....need to get better about that.  We are starting to calve here...already have 12 on the ground (only 388 to go!).  The #2 bull got out and I guess he did some business before we got him back in!  LOL

Things are going to get really busy in the next few weeks, so we're going to steal away for the weekend.  We don't really get much family time away from the ranch, so I'm really excited to have them ALL TO MYSELF!!!  No equipment, dogs, Papa, cows, - nothing - to take away their attention!  ;)  That makes this momma happy.

Our middle boy - Colten Ben - turns 16 tomorrow!  After his basketball game he's going to head to town (klamath falls) to go bowling with friends.  Can you believe that?  He wants to do something with his friends,,,,not his momma and daddy!  The nerve of that 16 year old boy!  hmph.
oh well....hehe....I know he'll have a good time.  Then we'll be leaving friday morning to head somewhere - we're not quite sure yet....just somewhere where it might be warm and where we can have some adventures!  I'll let ya know how it went!!!