St. Patty's Day

- From left to right, Kendall, Emi, Abi, Billy, Haylee and Cohen.
It just so happens that on St. Patrick's Day we went to my friend Patty's house to inspect her chicken coop. What can I say, when I commit to something, I seriously commit. How funny is it though that we were at Patty's on St. Patty's?
After the annual Mom's Club picnic at the park a small group of us went over to check out Patty's spread. I had asked about coming over to see her chicken coop (which actually houses 2 chickens, 2 ducks and 2 bunnies) and she was gracious enough to invite the whole lot of us over to see the animals. She also has 4 horses (Mark, Buddy, Dante and Cheyenne a mini horse) and 2 dogs. So the kids got to run around, throw back a case of juice boxes and ride Buddy the horse. I can't help it..."Merry Christmas, this is Buddy. What's your favorite color?" Okay, I feel better. Buddy is a super sweet guy. He was really good with all the kids and they loved him. It was a love fest! I loved her chickens and the coop.

Open Ranch Day at the Double Check

We took a leisurely Saturday morning drive out to the Double Check Ranch recently. The ranch itself is somewhere west of Dudleyville, AZ, however the address is from Winkleman. There really is no point to that comment other than the simple fact that I like the names of said towns. That being said, the reason for our drive: chickens. Cluck, cluck. I have always wanted to have a turkey just for a pet. I have no idea why, but it's true. As a consolation prize Travis has jumped on the backyard chicken bandwagon and we're off. That was all I needed. So Double Check supplies all natural grass-fed beef and fresh eggs to a couple restaurants in the Tucson area and some local farmers markets up here. From their website I learned of Open Ranch Day. A day, once a month, when they invite their patrons to come check things out at the ranch. Sarah (so nice) and her husband are gracious enough to have complete strangers invade their home on a regular basis and she had some great insight on chicken husbandry for me. I like to be enlightened from a practical perspective before diving into things, doesn't always mean I will use the advice...It just makes it easier for everyone else to say, "I told you so" afterward.
The ranch was beautiful and we learned all sorts of things. Including how they process the beef right there in the backyard. Sounds gruesome, but it was actually really fascinating to see. I also got some first hand advice on how to go about raising hens. Very useful. The little chickadee's (3) should be arriving at home this weekend!

This is Katherine (Paul & Sarah's little girl), she found a book about princess Emily in the back of our car and Abi and Triton were all to happy to hear a story.

Moo.

Checking out the pasture.

Sarah, giving the kids a lesson about what grasses they plant for the cattle to eat. What weeds the cattle choose not to eat and the differences between the two. Cows have four tummy's and just because it's green does not mean they like it. They also burp, a lot.

It was a really nice day. I saw an adopt-a-highway sign... The Crafty Ladies of Dudleyville. I think our three chickens have to be referred to as such. The ranch website, just in case. www.doublecheckranch.com

Kitties, Marshmallows, Birthdays and a Goodbye...

We went to play at "Mama Trisha's" (Squishy's new name for Grandma) last week. The kiddos are crazy for her spoiled rotten kitty's Jack & Annie. Fortunately, spoiled in this case means they are just as crazy about getting attention as Billy & Abi are about giving it. So everything works out perfectly! It turned into a taco dinner party for Great Grandma's birthday and a final goodbye to the fire-truck, dingo, ranch truck, whatever affectionate name you held dear for the bright red 2000 Dodge Durango we proudly rolled around town in. (Silent YEA!) All said and done, it was an amazing car. It was shockingly reliable and red. A very nice gentleman by the name a Miguel bought it to drive his family back to Puerta Vallarta in. I always thought it would be nice to retire in a tropical beach town. Let's hope they all made it safely.






Ahhhhhh...... We drove Squish home from the hospital in this car. We bought it from our dear friends Tony & Violet (who have also since moved on to the bustling beach metropolis of San Fran). It made a funny noise every time the automatic door locks engaged that made everyone in the jump jump. Kinda sounded like the Aflac duck....



Annie.


Jack - he thinks he's actually a jaguar.





Roasting marshmallows. It's sort of a tradition at Grandma's. Hard to tell in these little pictures, but the progression up there is Billy's flaming marshmallow that he was trying so hard to blow out, funny kid.

Adios 503-PHT! Peace Out.

Spring Fever

I think spring is officially here. At least here as in, here in the valley, maybe not middle America yet... Anyhow, we thought it was a perfect spring day for a photo shoot and I am still loving all the new camera lenses I "borrowed" from my dad. Still learning how to use them. I need LOTS of practice and who better to practice with? Hmm?

Clockwise from top: Abi & Law; Zoe Kate; Zoe, Emi & Abi; and Billy.

One of our 3 stops. An entrance gate to a farm across the street from Auntie M's house. I love the row of Pecan trees all down the canal.

Billy & Law, this is one of my favorites because they would be the ones to happily wander down a railroad track until there was no one left in sight.

The next stop was an abandoned strip of railroad in the middle of nowhere. We were just driving past and I love how photographers use them. I am not a photographer and none of these pictures turned out the way I had imagined. It's harder to do than it looks, especially with six kids.

And finally, a sheep farm near Florence. It was so pretty out there. They sky was aqua blue and the grass and sheep were the perfect contrast. Even the mountains in the distance had snow! Very rural. Everyone knows how I love rural. At any rate they make a pretty cute crowd if I do say so. Poor Max is grimacing in the picture above because the fence that I insisted could not be electric, actually was. It was made of plastic twine didn't seem harmful to me at the time, but I have since learned that IS really what electric fences are made from. It zapped him and I told him it was probably just the hair on his belly that got pinched in the fibers....HA! Poor guy.

At the DogWash

One day when poor old Rusty Buckets is but a distant memory I will look back at this and remember fondly what an awesome dog he was. I am positive I will not remember the reason why he needed this bath. He smells like something dead all the time. I am being completely honest! It's foul and it's wrong, but we love him and so we decided he needed a little attention in the hygiene department and here we go....

He was such a good sport. That could have only meant that even he was tired of the stink he was emitting. He let the kids soak and scrub him. He let Travis trim his nails (wow) and he let me brush his coat for an hour. About the only thing he didn't let us do was brush his teeth. I have since decided that must be where the noxious odor is coming from because now he smells like dead roses.