the farm graft......

Since I'm not as talented on the intra-net as my dear husband I am unable to post a chart graft like I would like to of my enthusiasm about the farm. It started out high with the goats, went up a little as we got the chickens, went down a bit with all the poop, went up a bit with the purchase of the baby chicks, it evens out at this point. It stays even with the purchase of the calves. Goes up as I see the calves and bottle feed them, goes down as I see how much energy it is zapping from my husband who has to get out to the farm at 5 A.M. Goes down even more with the smell (warning: its all downhill from here), goes down with the death of our first calf, down with my brother leaving to Europe for 10 (yes thats ten) days (Jeff has to go out to South Weber twice a day with him gone). Plummets with the death of cow #2, #3, and #4.

They are dropping like flies out there. They have caught pneumonia due to the weather going from abnormally cool to outrageously hot. Why can't we just be happy with a dog I say?

Celebration week......

So in the lump sum of six days we have celebrated an anniversary (our 14th), Fathers Day, Jeffs Birthday (his 37th), and killed a rat. For Fathers Day I had the kids decorate some ties for Jeff. Being the good sport that he is, he wore two at the same time.
This is the rat that my mother reported seeing in the garage while she watched the kids on our anniversary. My mom exaggerates a tad so we figured she really saw a baby mouse. Looks like we were wrong, we caught this hum dinger on Fathers Day. It turns out that after my kids heard my mom talk about it they started spreading dog food around to "lure" it into the garage. Thankfully it didn't make it in the house. (Please remember that our back yard has a huge field behind it and I think thats where all these varmits are coming from).
And this is not a pound of bacon sitting on my bed, this is the fabulous "bacon wallet" that Jill sent Jeff for his birthday. The best part is that she suggested that this would be a great place to store all his farm earnings. We are still laughing. Thanks Jill, it was a hit.

some pictures of where Jeff is in his spare (and not so spare) time....

Can you believe that the two farm boys (Jeff and John) bought eight new calves? They have to be bottle fed twice a day. I am begging for the animal buying to stop, its turning weird.but they are cute. kinda. (they slober lots and look for udders under each calf. They are all boys so I think it can get a little iffy when the kids watch if you know what I mean)
Abby and the farm dog, Rocky
Em with Geronimo and Gilly the Billy
Can you believe how big the chicks got? The two white ones are turkeys. The farmers think our Thanksgiving is going to be free range this year. Yeah right. And the best part of a farm is the fashion that goes with it.

Jason the BULLY

Okay, I need some help with this one....... We all know that Gilly has an imaginary friend (named Jason) who is usually an okay guy. He treats Gilly pretty great and he runs really fast. On occasion, he can be a twerp, like the times he tells Gill to say bad things and then messes up his room but for the most part I like the guy.....except.....well, the other night Gill started telling me that Jason punched him in the eyeball and at times he is kind of mean. So here is the dilemma...What do you tell your kid when he is being bullied by someone who is a fragment of their imagination?

6 cows, 13 chickens, 5 goats, 2 turkeys, and a......

(this picture really doesn't have much to do with this post but I am noting for the record that I feel really bad for this chicken)
SNAKE! Yup, Em caught the first snake of the season. She came walking in the house with it all wound around her arm. Ick, ick, ick! Oh my _____ (insert profanity here)! What am I going to do? We aren't zoned for a zoo.

Memorial Day

So I just finished reading my sister (who journals every waking moment) blog and it inspired me to write my own Memorial Day entry. These are my grandparents that I miss the most, I think of them daily.

Rulon Williams

Oh Grandpa, thank you for sneaking me nickles from your plastic coin holder when I was little. I will always miss your big worker hands and your tin hat. From you I learned what hard work was and regardless it needed to be done. I also learned that even when you don't have any money you still need to pay your tithing. I love that when he saw me, I knew by the look on his face that I was the favorite (sorry Michele, Rachel and John. You really can't deny it though).

Viola Ruby Williams

Grandma was the pure picture of love. In her quiet way, she always made everyone feel loved. Whenever one of us made her laugh she would just smile a big grin and look the other way. I will always remember playing with her "falsies" down in the basement. She looked so fragile and loved watching trashy television shows like Silk Stockings.

Angus Stevens

I didn't get to know Grandpa very well since he died when I was just little but I do remember him standing on his head. His legacy lives on through his children who are fabulous people. I know its because of him that my dad is such a hard worker and has such great business foresight.

Lona Stevens

My dear Grandma Stevens, always so happy to see me and Michele. The food, oh my, the food. She was a fabulous cook and there was always fresh food out when we would come. At Christmas time she would always have a flocked white tree and everyone would cram into her house for a Christmas tradition that continues to this day. I will always remember her smell and her funny sense of humor.

Nan Jones

Now this was one fine lady. In the short time I knew her she made an impression on me, I always felt like I was the favorite grand daughter-in-law. Well, come to find out I guess everyone felt like they were the favorite. I am impressed with how she so could smile right down to your soul and you felt and instant connection.

Jerry Jacobs

The most handsome grandfather I have. With a beautiful white head of thick hair and a twinkle in his eye, you knew this guy was pure class. When I look at Jeff I see Grandpa Jacobs more than I see anyone. Jerrys drive to succeed and have a loving family, his love of fine things, and his charisma are all alive today through his grandson.

Jetta Jacobs

Grandma we will always miss your raking at the cabin. I am sorry that I never got to meet you but Jeff mindlessly humms and rakes while we are camping.

My date to the dinosaur park

With all the end-of-school field trips the girls have been going on I decided that it was time I took Gilly to the one place he asks to go every morning: the dinosaur park. Imagine my surprise when he started naming the different dinos (not many were correct but he did get a few). At first he was a little scared because of the large speakers hidden in the trees blaring live dino sounds (Pam, this is NOT a good place for Milly).As you can see, he was a bit frightened of the T-Rex, this was as close as he would get. He kept asking "Are dey real?" or "Is dat real blood?" He found a tatoe bug that I ended up carting around in my purse so he could take it home to Em.He thought this one was pretty safe because it was a cartoon.

And by the end of the trip his courage increased although not by much.

one of THOSE days

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the days where you only have time to mop instead of getting down on your hands and knees (sorry mom, hope your not reading this) because there is just to much to do? Or when you go get your kids a special treat and all they do is say "ehhh...why did ____ get two (that cost $1 each) and I only got one (that cost 5x that)?" only to be followed up by a tantrum because they all want what the other got in addition to what they got. Or a day when your BFF stands you up three times in one day (uh, yeah whats up with that?). Well, welcome to my Tuesday. At least I got the new Flight of the Conchords CD.

**special note: yes, I know it could be ALOT worse but that doesn't change the fact that I want to break my kids arms off and beat them with it.

Gilly and his friend Hey-suess

Last night I was at YW when I remembered something I needed Jeff to do so I called home from the phone at the Church. At home we have a phone that has a talking caller ID but it only says what is displayed on the screen so when I called it looked like this: Church of Jesus. Gilly heard it and thought Jesus was calling so he answered: "Hi Jesus". I think he was more than disappointed to hear me cracking up on the other end. Now fast forward to this afternoon.....after a long trip to the store and running different errands Gill wanted to go to Toys Are Us. I said NO, he stuck his tongue out at me and I told him that we for sure weren't going to get a toy with that behavior. He then said (while looking up at the sky) :

Gilly: Jesus, my mom is the meanest mom!

Me: uhh, who are you talking to?

Gilly: Mom, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to my friend Jesus.

And then thankfully he fell asleep.

I guess Jesus is my friend to.

swimwear.....

The kids wanted to try out their new goggles...in the shower.
Abby and Em kept suctioning the goggles to their faces and pulling them off. Can you say Petechial hemorrhage?
I love how they got all fogged up in the hot water.
Oh, and these are my new shoes I got for mothers day (I really need a pedicure).

The Horse Lisper

Em's front tooth has been loose for a few weeks but it feels as if it has been loose for months because she has been very nervous about it coming out. It almost feels like I have a newborn again, what with the 3 A.M. wakings of her being scared that she will swallow it.Well, as the story goes, she was hanging out with her friend Marley and here is how she excitedly puts it: "Marley just wacked me in the face and my tooth popped out!" There was no pain or blood due to the fact that it was hanging by a thread.

And since it is her front tooth she now talks with a lisp.

Sidenote: Please take note of a few things in this picture: a lock of hair that is shorter (she got some gum in her hair at school and thought it'd be easier to cut it out)

and

BBQ sauce on each shoulder (Mom, I think its best if I just wipe my face on my shoulders because then if I get hungry again for pig ribs I can just lick my shirt)

Happy Birthday post #2

Em got eight new chicks for the farm. Abby, Beth, and Emma decided to name most of them: Sunnyside Up, Hugo, Omlet, and Sam (thats all I remember). Thank you to Emma, Beth, and Abby (it seems that Em isn't as creative as those three, she named her new goat that Uncle John gave her Emily).
The great thing about trick candles is they offer the picture taker the opportunity to get a great shot.
Getting ready to eat her pig ribs

At this moment the only song running through my brain is "Sunrise, Sunset" from fiddler on the roof. What a great day!

Happy Birthday Em!

Sunday we celebrated Em's 7th Birthday..... This is Em's cake, I was frightened when I first saw it because it had pink frosting but lucky me, she didn't even notice.
This is Em's favorite feast. At her request we had pig ribs, little smokies, g'ma sugars pasta salad, and cowboy beans. As you can see, thats all she ate. (sidenote on the ribs: Jeff made the sauce and rub and from scratch. From what I hear, they were delish).

And this is the Birthday girl after her shower jumping on the bed in her new shark jams and awesome Australia horse socks. She actually wore those socks three days in a row (with capris mind you) and I had to force her to take them off to wash them. Needless to say they were a hit (Thank you aunt Jen Jen).

The girl who loved to fish......

So I caught Em and Braxton catching fish from the aquarium and putting them in the tap filled sink. Now, having an aquarium takes a little bit of maintenance. I test for ammonia, chlorine, and other chemicals monthly, it has to be just right for the fish to thrive. The one thing I learned is to NEVER use straight tap water. Maybe this is why all our fish are dropping like flies.

I requested that Em say the eulogy for a few of them before I flushed, it went a little like this:
"Heavenly Father, please help our fish have a good time on their way to the sewer, amen."

Public Transportation

So we took the new Frontrunner this Wednesday evening to SLC to meet Jeff and have some dinner. Family Fun at its finest. Let me make this clear....I am not a fan of public transportation when 1. its free, and 2. it involves the public. We arrived thinking we would get a seat (we even thought we'd get one on top, Ha!) and have a pleasurable ride. It was packed like sardines and most of the seats were taken up by either 3 year olds or teenagers, not a one of them willing to give up their seat for the old man standing beside me or the pregnant lady squished between me and the kids. I learned my lesson....Free public transportation=the communities finest. Well, at least dinner was good.