The Power of a Kiss

A mother's kiss is magic. When a brand new mother kisses her newborn for the very first time something magical happens. It instantly binds that tiny little heart that is beating wildly to hers. It is that bond that prevents her from doing rash things to said child for the fist 5 years of it's life.

Only a mother's kiss can make it all better when a 3 year old drops his cookie and it breaks. The 3 year old magically becomes OK with having two cookies instead of just one.

A mother's kiss has magical healing powers. They can magically suck the pain out of most minor bumps and scrapes.

A mother's kiss can make a 5 year old girl all better after her friends were mean to her at the park or at church (DRAMA!).

A mother's kiss, when paired with a short prayer and a quick verse of I am a Child of God at

2 am, can make even the scariest of bad dreams go away.

A mother's kiss can magically turn into raspberries when those lips find a cute naked tummy. Suddenly those raspberries render all those obnoxious battery operated toys that have mysteriously crept into your house useless for at least an hour as all the children line up for their turn at the fun game.

I'm starting to pray now that when I have teenagers my kisses will be more desirable than any smelly boy or girl's ever could be. Think it will work? I sure hope so.

A kiss is the only thing I know that can make a mother who has just dropped her 18 month old off at nursery for the first time feel better when he does not cry when she leaves. Doesn't he know he's supposed to miss you terribly when you're gone? Doesn't he know he's supposed to through a terrible fit because all he wants is you? All the other kids do. But it's OK. Just gather that cute little boy up and give those sweet little lips one gigantic kiss and your heart will be soaring all the way through your magically peaceful church meetings. You know, the ones you have not been able to actually listen to for about a year.

Now that's power!

A mother's kiss makes 7 1/2 months old stop crying after their mean older sister takes away the crumb they've worked for 5 minutes trying to get a taste of.

A mother's kiss has magical sleep inducing powers. After the good night kiss even the most wide awake, hyper child can settle down and get ready for sleep.

A mother's kiss can over power tears of most any kind. When the tears start flowing all it take is a kiss to find the magic shut off valve.

You know what else kisses can do? A quick one on the forehead can determine that the reason your 3 year old has gone potty 3 times during the night before 3 am is because he has a fever and not because he drank too much water before bed.

And no, the reason he has a fever is not because he was standing in the rain looking at the water without his coat on (where was that child's mother? tisk, tisk, tisk). That was weeks ago and it was not my fault. I was trying desperately to get him into the car but he was just too fascinated with the little rain droplets on the water.

Poor Dubs! Feel better soon buddy.

Baby Update

Welcome to Talk about Tuesday. To see what everyone else is chatting about visit

The Lazy Organizer

I know, I know I talk about this cute baby a lot. Too much even. But hey, do you blame me? He is growing up and changing so fast. I feel like I'm missing it, yet I'm here all the time. Things that used to be so new and cool are now everyday occurrences. I hate that my caboose is having all these milestones. That means I will never see my baby sit up for he first time ever again. And do you see those cute little white things in his mouth? No not the apple slice, THE TEETH!!!!

My baby has teeth!

It's all very exciting and full of cuteness, but I have to say it's a bit depressing too. With Doodle the first everything was splendid bliss. Nothing less.

With Baby Cakes I just want to keep him little forever. It's really a sad feeling. I went into having this baby ready to cherish every moment knowing it will probably be my last. I cuddled him more and just held him close for the sake of holding him. Even if he was kicking and screaming trying to get loose. Somehow this time I'm stuck in fast forward. He's growing up way too fast. I can't handle it.He has the cutest little makeshift crawl going on. He gets on his hands and knees and rocks himself back and forth for a few seconds. Like he's revving up his engines, ready to take off. Then he launches himself forward in a grand belly flop and ends up a few inches closer to the crumb on the carpet he is intent on eating. Then he lifts himself up on hands and knees again, rocks and launch.

Knees, rock, launch, repeat.

It's really funny to watch.

He can pull himself up on little things like the dishwasher or my lap if I'm sitting on the floor. It's very sweet when I'm sitting there and he's on the other side of the room. Next thing you know he's climbing onto my lap. I love that.

The only problem is he keeps getting himself stuck in the most awkward places. Under chairs, dishwashers, the big baby toy. He must see crumbs that looks particularly enticing. He goes in for the kill and can't seem to back himself out.
So my question to you is this:

How can I make time stand still?

Monte Cristo

Prepare to be stunned.

After the parade on Pioneer Day we went camping at the most scenic campground I have ever seen. We go here every year and every year it gets better and better. The colors are so vivid and bright. I did not adjust these pictures with photoshop. These are the actual pictures, untouched. In fact, i don't even know how to use photoshop.

The greens are so vivid they seem to be ready to just bust open with color any second.

The foliage is tall and majestic. Every inch of ground is covered in bright green grass and other fun things for 7 1/2 month olds to eat.

The hill sides are covered with mountain wild flowers. The kids were walking around with fist fulls all week end long.

There were beautiful hikes to be had. There were funky shaped trees to climb.

There were lots of cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and sister in laws and brother in laws to play with and talk to all weekend long.

There were the perfect balance of pine trees and aspen trees.

There were the most beautiful flush toilets you have ever seen, a must have in any good camp ground.
And look at this. Beano is smiling for a picture! This is a rare sight indeed. If you wonder why there are not many photos of Beano on my blog it is not because I don't love him as much as my other kids. It's because he will not hold still for a photo. He hides his face or makes an awful glaring look that I'm ashamed to share with the world. Isn't he gorgeous.


The only thing missing was Mr Bird's mom.

This was the first Family camp out with out her. I felt the sting of that and know the others did as well. Her laughter did not ring in the trees.

She did not steel just a bite of grandpa's s'moore. She did not gather the wild flowers with her little Doodle. She did not have Deja (her cute little dogchild) at her heals for a trip to the bathroom.

She did not have her ball hat and hoodie all bundled up by the fire. She was not busy making dinner in the motor home. The kids did not crawl into bed with her in the morning.

I am trying so hard to teach my kids about the loss of their dear grandma and how everything will be ok. How we can all be together as en eternal family and how I can't wait for that day. Some days it almost seems bearable...almost.

Miles and Miles

I decided this week that I have a new dream for next year.

I want to be in a parade!

I want to ride on a float or a fire truck or a cool old fashioned car.

I want to be part of the pomp and parade!

I want to join the celebration and be part of something bigger than myself.

I want to feel the spirit of our great nation and our pioneer ancestors. I have never been in a parade. I think it's time to change that.

When I was a kid I think I may have seen a total of one parade. Then I married Mr. Bird. His family goes to the Pioneer Day parade every year. Plus we go to the 4th of July parade in our home town. Our kids love it. We went to the Pioneer day parade in Ogden this year with Mr Bird's sister and his brother. The kids got to play with their cousins and enjoy a little bit of rich Utah culture and history.

It was fabulous. I watched the faces of the people in the parade and all of a sudden I wanted to be there. I want to go up the street clapping and singing and smiling and waving and sweating for miles and miles.

I want my kids to be a part of it all. I want them to feel the history and learn about why we have them. I want to smell the horse poop and be glad I'm not the one with the giant pooper scooper. I want to make lasting memories with my little ones before they are not so little any more. I want to be talking at Thanks Giving when they are all grown and have kids of their own and I want them to say,

"Remember the year we were in the parade?"

"Ya, remember the huge pile I almost stepped in?"

"That was fun!"

I want them to know what the people on the floats are feeling when they see the parade the next time. I want my kids to enjoy their childhood. I want to be part of their childhood and see their little faces as they explore all these new and wonderful things. I love celebrations. I love seeing other enjoy them too. I love family traditions. I love the Parade!

Did I mention this is how I want to be brought to my grave? The coolest horse drawn hearse I've ever seen.

Memories

This seemed like a really fun thing to do...I saw it on someone else's blog and thought I would give it a try. It will only be fun if people play along. Thanks. Here's how you do it

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Are Horses Vegetarians?

OK, I can admit when I'm wrong. Take a look at this one of a kind horse!

I thought I'd never see a horse eat a cheese burger! But do you blame him? I would not want to live my whole life without one either!

Go patches!

Horses are Vegetarians

I was going through some pictures the other day. I do that when I start to feel hormonal. I get really sentimental. I start remembering my life when I only had one child. Life was easy then. She was cute and had no other monsters to get into trouble with. Look how cute and little she was. I was 7 months prego with Beano. I had no idea what adding another child to the mix would do. It's like adding Baking Soda to Vinegar. Want a fun experiment? Try that! Just be prepared to clean up big mess. Most of the time that is what I'm doing, cleaning up big messes

that I didn't make!

I digress. This post is really about the horses. I found these photos from 4th of July, 2003. These are some of my favorite pictures of all times. Time first time I saw them I laughed so hard I cried.

We had a BBQ at our house and had tons of left over watermelon rinds and corn on the cob. The horses loved our left overs. Doodle and her Uncle Steve had fun feeding the horses all those yummy left overs.

Until they came to the hot dogs that is.

You see, these hot dogs were your standard super market variety made from pork, chicken and beef. Plus heaven only know what fillers are in there. I don't want to know, thank you. I'm not listening to you! (Fingers in my ears, eyes closed, yelling LALALALALALALA!)

And horses are vegetarians!


They don't eat pork, chicken or beef, thank you VERY much!


Unless a sweet little one year old princess gives it to them!

I just have to say I had never seen a horse make that face before. I was still really new to the horse scene. Like I said I laughed so hard I cried. I have since found out what makes horses do that. Want to know? OK, I'll tell you.
It turns out horses have a very sensitive sense of smell. they also have olfactories (smellers) in their very sensitive lips. When they catch a whiff of something new or offencive they curl their lips like that to get a better smell.

Weird, huh?
There, see, you learn something new everyday!

Welcome Home!

My sweetest little nephew Bradley came home from his LDS mission a few weeks ago. He went to the Portugal, Porta Mission. Ok, maybe he's not quite so little anymore. He has always been the sweetest boy though. Our kids LOVE him to death. They loved it when Bradly would come babysit before he left. He would play with them and wrestle and was always interested in what they were doing. Baby Cakes was born while he was gone. This is the first time they met. Baby Cakes is just kinda looking at him like, "Who are you, ya, you could be fun!" I just have to say

WE LOVE YOU BRADLEY!

We're so glad you're home!

Attack of the endless zucchini

This stuff is taking over my garden and my kitchen and my thoughts and my LIFE!

What on earth am I to do with so much of this stuff?!? When I was younger you would not catch me looking cross eyed at the stuff. If my mom made it for dinner I thought it was a fate worse than death. I HATED IT! But she made me eat it anyway. Then a few years ago I started to tolerate it. Now I really enjoy it. I enjoy it enough to plant it in my garden. The first year I planted it I planted 2 plants and I was over run with the stuff. I could not give it away fast enough. I could not make enough zucchini bread. From then on I vowed I'd never plant more than one zucchini a year. Well, this year I had helpers helping me start my little seeds in our yogurt cups in the house about 2 weeks before we were planning to transplant them outside. Our cute little plants sprouted very nicely in their cups. When the time was right and they all had their second set of leaves we made the move to the great outdoors. They took off. The only problem is the cup we had marked as yellow squash turned out to be a zucchini plant. Plus the one marked zucchini turned out to be zucchini too. So now I have zucchini coming out my ears, but no yellow squash. *cry* I have 7 sitting on my counter ready to be eaten and more that will be ready to be picked tomorrow and the next day and the next day and on and on. So I have been racking my brain with creative ways to eat the stuff. Here are a few of my ideas.

* Grate it with a cheese grater into your favorite spaghetti sauce just before you start to heat it up. the kids will never know it's there!

* Grate it into taco filling. We had this tonight with chicken tacos. It worked really well. Beef ones would work too. I sauteed garlic and onions then added the diced chicken. As the chicken was browning I grated the zucchini right into the pan. By the time the chicken was done so was the zucchini. I added 1/2 a taco seasoning packet. I rolled the filling up in tortillas with cheese, lettuce, sour cream and diced tomatoes (also from the garden). It was out of this world, crazy good.

* Top homemade pizza with thinly sliced zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and olives for a healthy veggie pizza. Or add pepperoni too if you like!

* Slice into 1/4 inch circles and saute in a little olive oil with onions and garlic. When it is nearly done throw in a freshly diced tomato. Cook just until the tomato is warmed, not too long or the tomato will get mushy and gross. Season with salt and pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese for a yummy side dish. Don't over cook the zucchini or it will get really slimy.

* Zucchini boats. Cut a few in half length wise and scoop out the innards. Mash the innards (is that a word) in a bowl with a clove of fresh crushed garlic and salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs (I make my own bread crumbs from the heals of our bread loaves. I put them in the blender until they are crumbs). Scoop this mixture back into the hollowed out zucchinis (like deviled eggs). Bake at 350 until tender. Or you can through them on the grill to cook with your burgers for a great BBQ side.

* Slice thinly and add them to your omelet with other fresh veggies and cheese.

* The classic zucchini bread, of course.

* Grate one up into most any baked item. Brownies, corn bread, just try what you like. If the kids ask what the funny green things are lie, lie like there is no tomorrow. Tell them you have no clue how those mysterious green bits got in there. Assure them it still tastes good. And it will. You can not even taste them, unless you go over board, of course.

* Add to soups like beef stew, chicken noodle. But who really eats soup in this heat? Not me!

* Who can forget fried zucchini?

* Dice and freeze for later use.

* If all else fails give them away.

* If you neighbors will not take them any more take them to church with you and sneak them into the cars whose windows are down. Tie a cute note to it and pretend it came from someone else.

What do you do with your zucchini? What is your favorite way to eat it? Do you eat it? Or do you gag at the mere thought of the stuff. Help me come up with other awesome ways to eat this overly excited vegetable.

Mindless Ramblings

I have no access to my photos! Mr. bird, HELP!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

What is a blogger to do? What is a blog post without pictures? Just mindless ramblings I guess. So that is what we're getting today; mindless ramblings of a stay at home, thirty something year old crazy homeschooling mom of 4 little monsters. By the way, when I call my children monsters it is with the most love and affection possible. Elmo is a little monster too and look at how many people love him. I really do love my monsters and I think they are the cutest things ever, even cuter than Elmo. I just need to share some of the funny things I hear them say so I can remember them in years to come.

Beano: "Doodle, baby cake's mouth is full of suckers!"

I come screaming while running down the hall to my tiny baby, "Who gave the baby suckers?!?"

Beano: "No, see, he has no teeth, all he has are suckers."

Let me translate: GUMS. With which to SUCK, you know suckers.

Here's another for you.

Beano: "Doodle, let's play make-up"

Doodle: "But we don't have any make-up to play with."

Beano: "No, let's MAKE-UP a game to play."

Translation: Let's play make believe, use our imaginations, pretend to be something we are not, you know MAKE-UP!

Say tuned for another edition of Mindless ramblings and funny Kid Quotes!

To see what others are talking about this fabulous Tuesday visit The Lazy Organizer.

That's a funny name for a pipe!

This is one of the many things I LOVE about Mr. Bird. I remember the first year we were married, my car died. I had no clue what was wrong. I just assumed we'd call a tow truck and have it towed to the shop. They'd fix it, call us to come get it and we'd pay them a load of our hard earned cash. We'd take it home and go about our lives as usual. Well, Mr Bird had other plans. He tried starting it again, listening very closely to the car. Within seconds he says, "It's the starter." OK, so now we'd call the tow truck, right?

WRONG!

He called his dad instead and had him bring a tow rope. What is a tow rope you ask? It is a fancy name for a chain you hook to a truck and to the car you want to pull. The truck pulls the car. The car has a driver in it to brake when the truck brakes and to steer. The car stays in neutral. It's kinda scary driving down the road in the car being towed that way. We end up dangerously close to the truck in front. I always have visions of the chain snapping and flying up through the windshield. In any case it is free. All you have to do is find a willing family member to help bail you out. And you have to be willing to bail out any one of your family members at any time. So when Jay told me he'd get his dad to tow us home I asked, "Don't you mean to the shop so we can get it fixed?!?" Wrong again. You see, it was JUST the starter. It would be a piece of cake to fix himself. I thought,

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"You realize I want to DRIVE this car around? I don't want any parts falling out while I am driving down the road." He assured me it would all be OK. So he bought the part at Checker Auto and within an hour it was installed and ready to go. It started like a dream. To my amazement that car never had a problem with the starter ever again. I was floored that an ordinary person like my sweet hubby could do something himself that I would never have dreamed of even contemplating doing. He has done this too many times to count in our marriage. He has fixed leaky pipes, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, sprinklers, cars. He even remodeled the bathroom in our first house entirely by himself. He laid the linoleum, installed a new tub, toilet and sink and built a tile shower. When he is not quite sure how to do a project he buys a book, reads it, then does it. And it works! We have more car repair manuals and home improvement books to count. I love that about him. He is not afraid to take on a new challenge. And it usually ends up saving us a ton of cash. All we have to buy are the parts. This particular quality came in handy again this week. I was at my sister's house picking up her daughter so we could all go swimming. We got back out to the smoldering hot car and turned the key, waiting for the blast of cold air from the AC. The blast of air came, but that was all. It was as dead as a doornail. We figured it was the starter again (different car this time). My sweet sister loaded us all in her 16 passenger van and drove us the 2 miles back to our house. Swimming was canceled. Bummer, I know. By now I knew the protocol. Mr Bird would have his Brother-in-Law tow the beast home. He took the day off work today and got up early this morning and got the part from our beloved Checker Auto. Within an hour it was installed and it started like a dream. I went out to offer him a bowl of cereal and I found Doodle under the beast with her daddy. I caught him showing her the exhaust pipe and telling her what it was. She laughed and said,

"That's a funny name for a pipe!"

Now we have a whole day to play with Mr Bird. What should we do first? The possibilities are endless!

OREO Anyone?

Don't adjust your screen, there is nothing wrong with this picture. I know, I know you're saying there is something very wrong with that OREO, that

it is not like any OREO you have ever seen.

Well, let me tell you with this crispy little cookie everything is right! Have you ever noticed that with traditional OREOs some people like only the white cream in the middle and some people only like the little chocolate cookies? I personally only like the little chocolate cookies. The white cream seems like sweet shortening and I can hardly gag it down. Doodle on the other hand loves the cream and hands over the cookies to me. We make the perfect OREO eating duo.
Let me tell you, the makers of OREO have solved this widespread dilemma for good. All they had to do was turn the cookie inside out! They put the vanilla on the outside and the chocolate on the inside! Perfect. Now the cream does not taste like flavorless sweet goop. It is way better than frosting. You want to know why? Because it actually tastes like fudge. That's right,

rich decadent fudge.

And the little cookies on the outside and perfectly crisp and delightful. Put them together and it is the perfect OREO. Needless to say I will not be going back to the old OREO anytime soon.


Disclaimer: I am in no way advertising for the OREO corporation (although I could be). All thoughts expressed in this thread are the sloe opinion of the writer. I can not be held responsible for your going out and buying a package of these decadent goodies and eating the entire package within 10 minutes, nor the consequential stomach ache that will ensue because of such behavior. Enjoy at your own risk.

To see what everyone else is chatting about visit the Lazy Organizer.

God Bless the USA

I wanted to post about our 4th of July festivities. I kept thinking about the wonderful day we had. About how we woke up at 6 am and ran in the 5 K. About the parade and the BBQ at our house that lasted 7 hours.

About the fireworks and how Baby Cakes LOVED his first fireworks display. About the fun water fight we had in the back yard. About all the fun and celebrating we did.

But somehow it all felt trivial. But not really. I wanted to write about what this country means to me. I kept thinking about all the men who have fought to defend this great country. I kept thinking of the wives and mothers and children of those men waiting at home for their brave soldiers.

I thought of the ones who never saw their beloved soldier ever again. What pain and tears and yet honor they must have felt.

I thought of the founding Fathers and the great love and respect I have for them. They truly were inspired men with such vision for his blessed land.

I just became overwhelmed with reverence and respect and it started to seem silly to write about our festivities. I have never personally felt the pain of losing a loved one to war. I feel like I have so much that I take for granted every day.

How many soldiers are fighting right this minute so I can be sitting here in my safe home watching fireworks and eating watermelon? I am so thankful for those men.

Then Mr. Bird' s sister sent this email. I read it and cried. Those men were inspired! Thanks Mama Lis!

Independence Day Thought
"If our nation’s Founders could visit us on this, our 232nd Independence Day, what would they make of us? What would they declare of us?
"A hint can be discerned in a letter from John Adams to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, 1776, as the Declaration of Independence had just been approved. 'It ought to be commemorated,' said the man who would become our second president, 'as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Day's Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.'
"Americans have maintained the 'Pomp and Parade' for more than two centuries now, and the 'Bonfires and Illuminations’ are commonplace, but how often do we recognize Independence Day as ‘the Day of Deliverance?’ How often do we honor it with ‘solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty’? How often do we contemplate the cost of our freedom, 'the Toil and Blood and Treasure?'"

So Independence day will continue to be one of my most favorite days of the year. I will continue to eat hamburgers and potato salad and watermelon and flag cake. I will continue to watch the parade with a lump in my throat. I will continue to watch the magnificent firework displays. But to add to the festivities I will thank God for my freedom and for all the men who have made this land free. I will praise God for this beautiful country and try even harder to do my part to make it better for my kids and their kids and on and on. I will say at the top of my voice

GOD BLESS THE USA!

A Little Slice of Heaven

Are you looking for something fancy and festive to make for your 4Th of July BBQ? How 'bout this sweet little number. She is practically perfect in every way. A light flaky crust, fresh juicy succulent strawberries topped with homemade whipped cream. That's right, you heard me, no cool whip here baby. Now don't get me wrong, cool whip has it's place and heaven knows I've eaten my share of it in my day. But for these sweet ripe berries

only real cream will do.

I made this particular pie a couple of weeks ago for our anniversary. Between Mr. Bird, myself and all the kidletts we downed the whole thing in less than 10 minutes. This recipe actually makes 2 pies so you will have plenty to share at a BBQ. And no, we did not eat 2 whole pies, our neighbor across the street had just had her baby so I took one of them over there for them to enjoy. Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
2 9 inch pie shells, baked
2 lbs strawberries
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
1 (3 oz) package strawberry flavored gelatin

In a small pan, mix together the sugar and the corn starch; make sure to blend corn starch in completely or you will have lumps or strings in your filling. Add boiling water and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture, stir until smooth. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Layer strawberries (remove tops and slice in half) and filling in the baked pie shell. Make three layers of each. Place strawberries in the shell being sure to heap in the middle. Refrigerate until set.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks.

See, now wasn't that easy?
Add dollops of whipped cream around the perimeter of the pie and one large dollop in the middle. To make it more festive add a blueberry to each whipped cream dollop. Can you tell I like the word dollop? You know what else I really like?

This Pie!

Baby Boy!

Look at this cute little thing! He is almost as cute as my baby, almost. This is Mr. Bird's dad's new baby Fox Trotter. He was born last week. Aren't they the shiniest most beautiful horses ever? Grandpa was out of town (that always seems to happen when his horses are foaling!) last week when Shar went over to the house to check on things for him.

When she got there she found more than she bargained for. It's a good thing horses can just kinda do their thing without much need for help from their humans. It's a good thing she didn't start hyperventilating and begging for an epidural. There would have been no one there to help her out of her pickle. In Grandpa's defence he was born 3 weeks early. He was planning on being home in plenty of time for the birth. When Shar found this cute little guy he was not even standing yet and it was very apparent that he was born just that morning.

This new little guy is our horse, Shadow's brother. Misty is their mother. They are all the sweetest horses. They are all so good with the kids. I think it's because we start out the day they are born bringing the kids over and letting them touch the baby and feel it's mouth and belly and feet. It is so fun looking at their tiny feet. It's like when your girlfriend has a new baby and you go over to welcome the new bundle to the world. You just have to check out the glorious tininess of all the cute fingers and toes.

To see what others are talking about this fabulous Tuesday visit The Lazy Organizer. This week we are supposed to be talking about our home tours but we really don't have anything that exciting going on around here. We do have a few things in the works that we are very excited about. We have the plans all drawn up for a new garage! Bye, bye car port! We are just waiting for the city to approves them before we start building. When things get going I'll post before and after shots. Plus I am wanting to redo the boy's room and the living room. Maybe next month I'll have something to show everyone about all our projects.