April showers bring May flowers...and muddy boys!

It was a rainy spring day in Kansas...just a few years ago. Today I was looking for some pictures that I KNOW are on my hard drive, but I found these gems instead.  To put the date in perspective, the rascally-looking redhead in the picture is now 6'7" tall and I am really not sure which of my twins this is. Once they were a little older, I could easily tell the difference. (Yeah, right--I still mix them up.)

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

These two little boys will soon be 17 and I hope to recreate this picture!!...but they can wear pants...yeah.

My kids have grown up tagging along with me on the tractor or in the truck as I take care of farm chores. These two little guys were really fun together as two carseats can go in a hay swather and the little guys just sleep through the day! But they rarely were able to hang out with their daddy. He works at the bank during the week, and when he is home on weekends, he had a huge "to-do" list that would be slowed down by having little guys tagging along.

But let me tell you about a day that they hung out with daddy.  It was spring and the little guys were about 4 years old. Their older siblings were in school and I was craving a day by myself, so Daddy agreed to have them hang with him. I had a very productive day and was actually happy to have them all arrive home about naptime.  As they unloaded from the truck, with smiles and hugs, I asked, "How was your day? What did you do with Daddy?"

They jumped up and down and screamed, "We watched Daddy screw a new hooker in the truck!"

WHAT?!  Ummmm....Honey....you probably better explain...and FAST!

After a full minute of laughing--in which the little boys joined in wholeheartedly--my husband explained that in little boy talk a "hooker" is the ball that the trailer hooks onto on the back of the truck!

This is my husband's "new hooker!"

I had been driving a trailer that is called a gooseneck--it connects to a ball in the bed of the pickup truck. My husband needed to use a smaller trailer and ours is called a bumper-hitch type--which means it hooks to the ball located on the bumper! So the little boys got to find the tools in the shop and "watch Daddy screw a new hooker" into the bumper of the truck!!

Out of the mouths of babes...

Halloween 1995

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but little kids do love to dress up. While looking through photos recently, I came across the pictures of Halloween 1995. That year, my twins were born just 11 days before Halloween, and my mom was still staying with us, helping me to keep my head above water!

She stayed home rocking the little baby boys, while my husband and I took the three older kids trick-or-treating. Halloween in the country is not the same as in town. There are fewer houses and you must drive from house to house. Once you arrive, you better plan on staying for a bit to visit about how big the children are and other important things in a small town. One major plus for country trick-or-treating is that you know everyone you visit so you can eat the homemade treats, and you usually make a very good haul at each house!

That year, the kids were characters from the Wizard of Oz! Meghan was 4 years old and wanted to be the Good Witch Glenda.

Allie was 2 years old and was a cute little Dorothy. She wasn't really too pleased with the piggy tails, but they did look very sweet on her!

Trent was a year old and was the Cowardly Lion. He didn't like the headpiece at all, but was willing to wear it when bribed with candy!

Grandma claims that as soon as we left, the twins started fussing and she HAD to pick them up and rock them the entire time! That is just fine with me, but I think she just wanted to snuggle Tyler and Eric a bit more before she went home the next day, leaving our family to try to cope! Let me be very honest, she was to return frequently to help with my sanity through the next year.

Times change--my nest is not empty, just chaotic!

These are my little girls. They are "sugar and spice and everything nice".....okay, if you believe that I have some ocean front property in eastern Kansas I would like to sell you!  But seriously, that nursery rhyme might be too cheesy and general for today's little girls, but I must admit that girls are intrinsically different from boys.

I was raised by a strong mom who didn't let anyone tell her a "girl" couldn't do whatever she wanted to do! So my sister and I grew up thinking that we could do anything, be anyone! Consequently, both of us are deeply involved in ranching and we both love it! So when I had two beautiful little girls, I was totally comfortable. I know how girls think; how to motivate them; how to comfort them.

Then along came Trent, Tyler and Eric! Those boys rocked my world....rocked it to pieces at times! Boys are born knowing the sound a tractor makes and how to dig a hole nearly to china in the sandbox, often flinging sand at their sisters who are quietly playing with their own trucks in the corner, making little fields and irrigating sprigs of grass stuck in the sand.  To be fair, I tell you about my girls playing with trucks and tractors, but my boys also played with barbies....they used them as GUNS! One leg up and one leg down, hold the body and they make a passable gun--with imagination!

Size 13 basketball shoes, after a day of washing cattle--not allowed in the hotel room! 'Nuff said!

Boys play differently, work differently, grow in a different way and even smell different! Boys also change the whole structure of a family. Girls are a bit more physical and loud when there are brothers in the mix. I had girls first, so they are the leaders of the family, telling the younger brothers how to dress, how to act and where to take their dates on Friday night.

But today, we move Girl #2 to the dormitory at college, to join her older sister in the "grown-up" world (or nearly grown-up)! That leaves me at home with four men: a 17 year old senior, two 15 year old sophomores and a husband. I will survive, but it will mean some major changes in the house!

Usually when a child grows up and leaves home, it means Mom can back off on the amount of food cooked each evening. With three young men playing sports and working on the ranch, I will not be cooking in small saucepans anytime soon! In addition, I will still be buying milk 8 gallons at a time! This week alone, we've gone through more than a gallon at each meal--I've been to the grocery store twice to purchase 8 gallons each time!

The biggest change is that I won't be as tuned in to the politics at the school. My girls could tell me exactly what was going on in each class, every day. Either the boys are oblivious to the social happenings, or they don't care and won't be telling Mom! I'll have to call the girls in college to find out what is happening at our high school!

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for our girls in college. Meghan is in her junior year and is really maturing into an amazing young woman and Allie is excited for her small town world to expand! I loved college and am thrilled to watch my kids grow through the experience. I guess I'll have to make a few more trips to the college town for coffee and girl-time!

Good luck, my ladies! We are very proud of you both--and love you so much! Have fun in college and don't forget about your old Mama at home with the boys.

Children's Honesty, or lack thereof!

Children are refreshingly honest—unless you’re the mother. Then, I’m sure there are times that you wish they’d tell a little white lie every now and again.

One day, while fixing supper in the kitchen, I hear a small crash (we prioritize the crashes at our house:  small, slight, large and huge) in the living room and the voice of one of the twins starting to cry. Within seconds, footsteps are heard heading toward the kitchen and one of the twins rounds the corner hollering “Push” through huge tears and a very red face. I immediately pick him up and hold him close as the second boy comes into the kitchen a bit slower, but crying nearly as hard.

I hold them both and once they calm down, I ask what happened. Since they are only two years old and not very adept at talking yet, they are unable to clearly explain the circumstances, but I get the main point—that one pushed the other.

Hoping to clear up the mess, I call an older sibling into the kitchen and ask if they saw what happened. She explains that the “boy in red” grabbed the toy from the “boy in green” and the boy in green pushed the other down. I look at the boys on my lap and realize that the boy I had taken to be the pushee, is really the pusher…he had run into the room telling on himself! “Push, push”…means “I pushed him!”

This is a FEW years ago...my kids and a couple cousins thrown in for good measure. Notice the nose picker up front! Not going to mention names.....

Honesty. When do kids lose it, though? Somewhere after age two, they seem to find that often that honesty can get them into trouble and they start inventing stories to answer the Number One Dumbest Question that a parent can ask, “Alright, what happened here?”

Answers range from, “I didn’t do it” to “I saw him…he did it”—even though “he” has just awakened from his nap and was nowhere near the scene of the incident. And we have somehow gained a kid in our family. His name is “Notme”…I have not officially met this child, but he is in my house quite frequently and leaves a trail of havoc. When I do find this kid, I’m sending him back to his own house as he is only involved in destruction around here. Clearly his parents need to use more discipline. I know MY kids would never pull stunts like what he’s done!

"I really love you, Mama"

Those magic words to every mom—the ones that make us sit down and weep—are “Mama, I love you.”

Today my son told me just where I rank. Next to bedtime, my favorite time of the day is naptime, and this afternoon I sat in the recliner and read a book I’ve been wanting to get to while the short people of my house slept.

About 2 hours after laying them down, they slowly start to straggle from their beds and make their way down the stairs to find something to eat. First out of bed today was the 3 year old boy. He snuck down the stairs very quietly, in his mismatched socks and hand-me-down training pants with the pink and purple bows. His copper colored hair was messed and slightly sweaty, scrunched into a style that can only be properly called “bed-head.”

He sleepily crawled into my lap, put his head on my chest and settled into my arms. I savored the moment, as I know there aren’t many of these left as my little boy grows into a man. But this afternoon, he is still a little boy wanting his mama’s comfort.

After a minute or two of snuggling while I read another page, he put his hand (that vaguely smelled of play dough) on my cheek to get my attention. He looked right into my eyes and said, “I really love you, Mama.”

I smiled the smile familiar to all moms—the one that says you could float into the air, but instead you hold tightly to your little person and smile for them alone. I said, “Thank you, son. I love you too, very much.”

I kissed his hair and breathed in the scent that only a little boy has—something like sand box and outdoor smell mingled with kid shampoo and bubble gum.

Then he smiled from genuine pleasure, looked straight into my eyes again and stroked my hand as he said with honesty and true depth of feeling,   “I really love macaroni, too.”

My "little boy" will turn 17 next weekend. 

There you have it. I know just where I rank! Boy, way up there with macaroni! I feel deeply blessed.

Originally written in September 1997. Reflections is a section of the blog "Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch" that looks back at the time when my kids were little. I wrote for myself then--so I could remember some of the wonderful, cute and crazy things that they said or did. I hoped one day to share these stories and they fit into this blog beautifully. So I hope you enjoy them for what they are--a glimpse into my life a few years ago. I begin this section with my favorite story--"I really love you, Mama."