Wrangling At The Farm

Today I had the fun of kid wrangling, what I like to call, my farm kids. 
I always have a good time with these kids.  

Today, we started out with an impromptu run to Ames to go to Borders.  Thanks to Avery's gift cards, each of the kids got to pick out a book.  I also picked up a magazine for myself.  I'll talk more about it later. 
But here's your hint....CUPCAKES!  :)

Anyway, after Borders, we went out for supper at my favorite Mexican restaurant....El Azteca.  It was enjoyed by all 4 of us!

Once we get back to the farm, Avery had to take care of her chores, and feed her calf.  His name started out as Hop-Scotch, when she first thought it was a girl.  But, when she learned it is actually a boy, she changed his name to Whoops.  However, I tried to get her to change the name to 'Wrangler'.  I'm thinking it might have to be the name of the next dog at the farm....once dad find what he wants.  {Please take note of the name mom and dad!}

Here's Avery with Whoops.  

Carson wanted in on a picture too.

 

The kids wanted to take my picture with Whoops.

This guy could not be distracted from his food!  He literally licked the bowl clean, and kept hoping there was more in there.  He kept moving around the bowl, and wouldn't stand still for the picture.  Therefore, you get a picture of his rump. 

{He had a pretty messy backside.  That's what you get with calves.  But I thought I'd cover it up for you.}

Oh, and be sure to watch your step!

While Avery was rolling up the water hose, Carson wanted to have a little photo shoot for himself.  He sure hammed it up!  Here's a fun one.  Who knew that this cowboy would love to have his picture taken!

 

On our way out of the barn, Avery stopped to have a little fun as well.

We were greeted by this big guy as we stepped out of the barn door.

Across the drive are these ladies.  They were finishing up their supper....and thinking we were bringing them more.

Sadly, we disappointed them.

If it wasn't raining on us, and a big mess in the yard, their little sister Keegan would have joined us.  However, she opted to stay inside, watching a movie.

One of these days, I need to get myself some mud boots.  This is 2 times within a few weeks that I could have used some.  

What do you think about these?  Is there a rule against being stylish on the farm?  :)

Dog-Gone Good Weekend

February 12 is a very special day to me. 

It's my BIRTHDAY!

This year, I turned 31 years young.  :)

But to begin my birthday weekend,

I had a pet wrangling job I got asked about last week.  So I have been spending what extra time I do have in the company of these pups.

{Sorry about the weird eyes....it was actually kind of dark, and I didn't want the dogs to go too crazy by turning on more lights.  And yes, they were just sitting like this.  I quickly grabbed my camera before they decided to move!}

Anyway, my birthday celebration started out on Friday night.

After a last minute invite sent out to some friends, we had supper at my favorite Mexican restaurant. 

Following that up, I went to another friend's house for a late night kid wrangling gig, so the parents could go out.

Saturday night was a fundraiser for some other friends.  They are in the process of adopting 2 boys from another country. 
It was an enjoyable time.  Great food, great friends, good music, and it was my birthday!

I had the pleasure of assisting with decorations.  I will post about that later...hopefully borrowing some pictures as well. 

Sunday I headed northeast to Cedar Falls, for my youngest nephews baptism.  I was a 'stand-in' God-parent, as the official God-parent lives in North Dakota.

Carter was sure one handsome little dude!

After the baptism, everyone went back to the farm for dinner, dessert, and chatting time.

But eventually, we all had to make our way back to our own places. 

It was a great birthday weekend!

Summer Days - June

Wow.  What a summer this has been.  I think I can honestly say that so far in my life, this has been my busiest summer to date.  But, it sure has been an enjoyable one. 

June started with me recruiting at my target schools for our program.  The turnout/response this year was amazing!  I can't wait to begin serving these students.  I am most definitely looking forward to a successful year.

The first Sunday in June (June 6) I found myself up at a friend's lake house.  It was a quick, but very enjoyable trip.

The next weekend (June 12) I had a friends wedding, as well as hung out with this dude all weekend.

The next week (June 16-23) I was pet/house wrangling for a week,

in addition to having our new recruits on campus for 2 days

(June 15-16).

I think they all had a great time.  I know I did!

That weekend (which brings us to June 18-20, I got to welcome home my China sister and her family...

and see my other nephew as well! 

I also celebrated Father's Day, with the family, but had to leave early to go pick up students.

The days of June 20-25 we hosted rising seniors and juniors, and June 27-July 1, we hosted rising sophomores and freshmen on campus for an Early Outreach Program at Iowa State University.  The purpose of EOP is to expose the students to what ISU has to offer, and what life on a campus might be like.

Inbetween the EOPs, I ran back to the farm again (June 25-27).

Finally after the students return home on July 1, June is done!  :)

Doggie Paddle

Just a reminder while house/pet wrangling:

When you are having fun taking pictures of this...

and this...

but you should be keeping your eye on her...

don't turn your back to take more pictures of this...

to eventually hear a splash, and find little Lucy swimming in this...

and realizing she isn't quite sure about what to do...

but she swims across and I help her out once she gets to the rocks...

and she ends up looking like this...

poor Lucy!

I wonder if she will try to take a swim again. 

If she does, she'll be ready for it!

My Week So Far...

So far this week, as of Wednesday evening, I have.....

Wrangled this kiddo....

Hosted Supper Club....

 

 

If you look closely, you can see my friend/neighbor Amy in the window of my place. I went outside to get some pictures of these clouds.  The picture doesn't do them justice.  They were just big and fluffy, with some great coloring during the sunset.

Cleaned the kitchen for my cleaning gig.....

Had 2 groups of students on campus Tuesday and Wednesday.....

And dog, horse, and house wrangling job began tonight....

This little fur ball is Lucy.  She's the newest member of the house.  The owners haven't even had her for a week yet. I get to have lots of fun with her!  And yes, she is very small.  She looks funny playing in the grass.  She is just so little!!

 This pooch is Molly.  I couldn't get a picture of her.  She was toooooo active.  She wanted to play......with Lucy.  It seems that Molly thinks Lucy is her little play toy.

 Yet another difficult picture to get...Molly and Lucy together.  Here you can see the size difference in them....I think.  Hopefully I will get a better one, since I will be wrangling here until next week.

The rest of the week:

Thursday:  Finally in the office for the day.  Followed by some more kid wrangling at night.

Friday:  Attending a funeral service for a friend's mom.
Heading back to the farm to welcome my China sister and her family home.

Saturday: Play with my niece and nephews!!!

Sunday:  Church.  Father's Day Dinner with the fam.  Take off early afternoon to pick up students for a week long program on campus.

It's gonna be a busy few days....well, couple of weeks....but it keeps me going for now!

Gnome Sweet Gnome

This past Saturday, I met a friend and 3 of her kiddos (husband and baby were back at the hotel for nap time) at Reiman Gardens.  The theme for the gardens this year are gnomes!  There are 24 little gnomes spread throughout the place.  But if you were with us, you would have heard them referred to as elves and dwarfs.  The kiddos couldn't remember gnomes.  It was cute.

The weather was gorgeous...and it actually got a little hot.  In the end, we did not find all 24 of the little gnomes.  The kiddos started getting hot and were wanting some water.  But we did find 20 gnomes, in addition to the world's largest gnome.

Here are a few pictures from the day...including the cute kiddos.

Our first stop of the day, the Butterfly Wing.

Next stop, the Conservatory.  In here there are tropical plants, flowers, a waterfall, and a display of 'trees' made from recycled bottls.  It was actually very neat.

In the Town and Country Garden, I really liked this little (ok...big) trellis.

I also like the use of old gates to dress up the garden beds.

And now for some of my favorite gnomes.

The World's Largest Gnome.  This fella stands 15 feet tall! 

At the end of our 'tour', we all headed back to hotel where my friend and her fam were staying.  I volunteered to watch her kids, so she and her husband could go on a date and enjoy Ames. 

For watching 4 kids (one of them being about 4 months old) in a hotel room, it was great.  Since they stayed at the Holiday Inn, where kids eat free, the 3 older kids and I ate supper in the Cardinal Cafe.  The little guy just hung out in his carseat until it was time for his bottle.

If you are in the Ames/Central Iowa area, be sure to check out Reiman Gardens.  Sadly, it does cost to get in...actually seems like a rip-off...but it was an enjoyable time.  Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time so you get your moneys worth.

30th Birthday Bash(es)

Even though my official 30th brithday didn't happen until Friday, I was surprised a couple of times before then.


To start out my birthday bashes, I was greeted with this tasty cake while on a school visit for work.
It was delicious! It reminded me of the cakes that my grandma use to make for us when we were kids. They were of professional quality, that took lots of time and love.


Thursday night, I was scheduled to wrangle some kiddos that I have watched many times before. However, when I arrived to their house, I walked in to a surprise party for me! It was awesome! There were at least 6 families there that I kid wrangle for. It was a great time!


Friday arrived bright and early (well, technically still dark). For some reason, my brother got this crazy hair-brained idea that he would be the first one to wish me 'happy birthday'.....but at 3:25 AM!!! Yup. He decided to call me while he was making one of his longer hauling runs. The call woke me up, but I didn't answer it. I knew I wouldn't be making sense that early in the morning. So I just let him leave me a message. :) But it would have been funny if I actually answered!

So after going back to sleep at 3:27am, I was up and in Ames by 7am for a much needed chiropractic adjustment. When I finally got back to my place, it was just in time....since my parents and Carson were already there. It was fun to see mom and dad, but especially the little dude.

He's a pretty good kid. He slept for almost 3 hours while here, so not a whole lot of playing time with him. Oh well. Any little time with him is precious. Some day we will get to be rough and tough and have a fun time.

Friday night, there was another gathering of friends. It was a fun time of just hanging out, chatting, and watching the opening to the Olympics. At some point during the night, Joy (who hosted the party) said it was time to open gifts. I didn't really want to stop the fun that was going on, but did anyway. All the gifts were fantastic. But there is one gift that stood out the most. I was told I had to open it last as well. It was this gift. Because I was hanging with Joy and Scott's 2 youngest kiddos in the afternoon, I saw this gift sitting on the dining room table. So when I began opening the card, I was guessing it was from them. The outside of the card said " A sister is a best friend with a lifetime guarantee.' I was then thinking....I'm glad the boys still call me their sister. (I have lived with this family off and on for a few years...and the boys call me their sister.) It wasn't until I opened the card that I finally realized who it was really from. GINA!!! She apparently emailed Joy a week or 2 ago and they had this planned out. Gina even had Joy write in the card for me. And I guess that is why I had to open this gift last. It went from me crying at reading the card...to laughing when I saw what she got me! What a crazy sister!

I think it was a couple few weeks ago when I was talking go Gina on the phone that I said 'why don't you get me a drill for my birthday'. Just being sarcastic and funny. But what does she do?She gets me a drill! What an emotional gift it was. But I love it! And I love Gina too!

All in all, it was a great 30th birthday. Little did I know how much people would bless me with their love and gifts. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me during my next 30 years.

In tribute to my next 30 years, here are the lyrics to the the song that Tim McGraw sings.

My Next Thirty Years - by Tim McGraw

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord, have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey, my next thirty years, I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
And I'll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty yers, I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here in my next thrity years

Oh, my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years