Cowboys and Milk

Today I am surrounded by cowboys. At first, there was just one, but the other potential wranglers realized how much fun they were missing, and as soon as breakfast was over, they changed out of their "I support Breastfeeding" t-shirts (which, incidentally, they plan to wear ONLY when we are going somewhere with a LOT of people) and came back in jeans and button-up plaid shirts. Except Sammy, he doesn't have any plain jeans, and he lamented, "My only jeans have pooh on dem and they're NOT just plain!" I informed him that most cowboys really wear Carharts and he put on his Carhart overalls. I know cowboys that wear Carharts, don't you? The overalls only lasted for 10 minutes, and then Sam was back in his indian costume so the cowboys would have someone to attack. But I am getting ahead of myself. The breakfast--you know, the one that inspired all the cowboys--well, here are only a few snatches of the dialogue that occurred. I wish I had a tape recorder on during breakfast--today was a riot.

Joe:What is this?
Cowboy Gid: Oh, that's cream cheese. It's purdy good. That's purdy much all we eat out west. 'Cept for cactus and jerky.
Joe: You eat cactus? They have that at Stokes! (our local grocery store)
Gid: Yep. I have to shoot out the spines with mah pistol. 'Cept I don't have a gun, so sometimes I hafta pull 'em out with mah hands.

Mom: What do you want to drink?
Gideon (to Joseph):What do cowboys drink?
Joe: Whiskey.
Gid: What else?
Dad: Coffee
Gid: Do they drink milk?
Joe: No
Dad: Yes they do! All the time, just not when they're on the trail.
Gid: I'll have water.

Cowboy Gid: I found the horse. It was stuck in a cactus.
Dad: Stuck in a cactus?
Gid: Yep. It had a name tag on it.
Dad: Oh? What was it's name?
Gid: (thinking) Bright Star
Dad:That's a nice name! I like it.
Gid: Well, I didn't name it. It was on the tag.

Dad: How many girls do ya have down there in the west?
Gid: Well, Four.
Dad: That's quite a few!
Gid: Soon I'm gonna have seven I think.

Gid: I'm the captain of all the cowboys. Pecos Bill is mah brother ya know.
Dad: What do you do when the coyotes come try to get your cattle?
Gid: We just have an electric fence. Every time the get close then, ZAP, they just get shocked to death. Then they're dead.
Joe: Do you ever find dead ones in the morning?
Gid: Yep. Every mornin'

Dad: What else do you do?
Gid: Well, when the cattle get sick we have to test their blood. We have a shotgun that has a big needle on the end. The needle sticks out. So then we poke it into the cattle and get a blood sample.
Dad: Oh.
Gid: And we can tell if they're sick. If the blood is yellow, then they're gonna die. If it's red, they're okay. And if it's green, they're half dead.

Dad:What do you do when they're sick?
Gid: We just take 'em to their mom, and she gives 'em some milk.
Dad: Does that work?
Gid: Yep! Every time. They just get a sip, and "Poof" they're all better!!
(disclaimer: I'm glad my kids think that mom milk fixes everything, but I do not follow the same practice as cowboy Gid's cows, even though my in-laws think I do :-)

Mud

I think the thing I like the most about building a new house is that you get to have a new house after. One you designed yourself. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's why people do it. And I have to admit, I like our house, and the custom stuff in it. But I have issues with the yard--the layout has promise, to be sure,, and the driveway is aesthetically pleasing (did I spell that right?). The neighbors are scenic (even the dairy is far enough away), the view of Logan is very good at inducing sleep, and we have lots of space, but overall, the yard just squelches. That's right. I said squelches. We have mud EVERYWHERE and the worst part is SPRING HASN'T STARTED YET! I have to say I am very concerned.
Every morning, we try to complete any outdoor duties (like feeding the horse) before the daily mud thaw. If only all the errands of the day were complete before 8:00 a.m.. . . . . but alas, the inevitable treks up and down the muddy lane leave rut after new rut, only interrupted by the freeze at night. After the freeze, the ruts are like little hurdles all over the driveway. This makes taking the trash down potentially fatal. The van brings huge batches of mud into the garage with each new trip, and the mud never has time to dry. The garage is almost as deep in mud as the front yard--making trips the freezer require mud shoes (which incidentally I keep very easily accessible). I have a hard time encouraging my kids to play outside, because I know what will happen.
I could go on and on and on, but I just summarize by saying, I long for the day when landscaping can end the squelch. The end.

We Un-Got a Dog

After two weeks of trial, we have decided, with sadness, that Waldo is not going to be a permanent member of our family. He likes to bite too much. The last two weeks have been an eye-opener for us as we have realized that our boys REALLY need to learn respect for personal boundaries.
Waldo has helped to teach them this, but we are going to need to get a dog that doesn't bite children as a first line of defense. Thankfully, the owners were aware that we needed a two-week trial, and will be taking him back on Sunday. I've also realized that dogs can be a lot of fun when they don't have muddy feet. Thanks for all your notes of congratulations! Maybe we'll get a dog again sometime soon.