July 2016 (some of it)

 Silly boys.  Ranger thinks he is just as big as Scout and Reno.  He kind of is. No being a baby for that little guy!

 Rodeo Candy = green tongue

 Ranger's new pal Ivey B.  

Sadly this is the only pic I took at swimming lessons.  Scout kept up with the big girls again this year.  Reno decided that he did love the water after all and would start swimming.  Ranger decided that he doesn't need help from anyone.  He fell in the pool at least twice a day.  He holds his breath so unfortunately he doesn't have a bit of fear.  Mama does though!

Ranger decided that he was going to wear Reno's boots.  Then he decided that one's boots must have spurs.  He's proud of himself anyway.

 Frosty.......well that's actually a post in itself.  I will have to back track and share his story sometime.  He is this little girl's world.  Fourth of July she dolled him up and rode in the parade.  We were unsure of how he would act so Trail walked along with her.  Next year he'll just have to ride too.

 We catch live rabbits!

 We shoot rabbits!

 We throw our hat on sideways and take on the world!

Scout fought hard to win the flag race buckle at Lazbuddie Lasso Days! She and Beech Nut (Dad's head/calf horse) came a long ways this year.  She did great learning to ride him.

 Reno and that trusty, Tug Boat sailed to winning pretty much everything.  He received the buckle for Barrels and The All Around.  He accumulated more points that any other kiddo at the play days.  We get in the car to leave that evening and he says, "Mama, what's all around?".  He'e happy either way.

We were also pretty social at the play days.  Kids and parents.  There has to be something bright to come out of sitting in the heat, wind, dirt, and late evenings.

 All dressed up the next morning to show of those buckles.

 Haircut #1 - no problem

Haircut #2 - screaming fit in front of a packed barber shop

We can't have him looking like a girl, so Riley managed to get it taken care of.  He didn't care for being blown off with the air compressor, so not sure how haircut #3 will go.

 We are starting to get a few brown eggs from the first 4 little red hens we bought back in March.  That whole, having nasty little chickens in a swimming pool in the garage is finally paying off.

 Don't get me wrong, I love a successful, bountiful garden, but it's really giving me a run for my money.  My kitchen counters are continuously covered up and I'm calling friends to take some. We also preserve.  Thank heavens the kids can run the Food Saver.   

Little Entrepreneurs

Scout is always dreaming up something she can make and sell.  Her first choice is to be a fine artist and she regularly finds pieces of wood and paints them up.  I always tell her to make something that people really need or can use up.  

She always begs to do a lemonade stand.  If you are like me, the whole idea is just kind of ehh....... So for some odd reason, must of been feeling pretty laid back, I let her and Carly attempt the lemonade thing.

These four whipped up homemade cookies for their lemonade stand.  Of course, I am the one that stayed in the kitchen baking them.  Oh well, they did put lots of work into their stand.  

Ranger is shall we say, a hands-on kind of guy!  It's mostly a full-time job keeping his hands out of everything.

 The sweetest thing.......the girls get all set up and wait for their first customer.  Not long until this work pick-up goes by.  I see him go on past, but then turn around and come back.   Tyler Bridges was their first customer.

They made $9 each for just a couple of hours.  It helps greatly when your Dad and Grandpa stop by.  

Um, I guess this is considered a perk of living in a tiny town and right on the highway!

I say next year we increase a garden a bit and sell produce!

Scout is 8!

Happy 8th Birthday Scoutie!!  

I honestly can't believe that our girl is already 8!  The other day I saw someone post about their kiddo having spent half of her time with them already.  Ugh!  I'm not ready for my kids getting bigger, but I'm thankful that they are healthy and growing.

This year I had a dainty little girls only party in mind.  Turns out that what Scout really wanted was a feedyard party.  I was thinking oh goody I won't have to clean my house so much.  Uh, it is much easier to clean that to drag everything that you need for a party up to the feedyard.  

The girl made her own "s'more" party favors.  I typed up a little card and she and her brothers put them together with a little help from their Gigi.

These two guys are big pals.  It might have to do with Trail always giving him coke, candy, brownie.....any type of sugar!

 So like I was just saying....... When there is a coke (or even Ginger Ale) to be had, this is what you will see.  His face will be attached!  ha ha

 Scout got her 1st sewing machine which we are both super excited about.  Of course our summer has been a little busy and we haven't cracked it out just yet, but we are hoping for a visit from Granny Great soon.  I think it will be so special for her Great Grandma to teach her to sew.

 I present to you the Townsend grandsons.  

Pake Adams(17), Reno Smith(5), Ranger Smith(1), Trail Townsend and Tate Adams(14)

 The birthday girl made it to the top of the rope.

 She pretty well made her own dream catchers.  We will be making a few changes and putting them in her room.

 I remember her Dad giving me a bad time about something, so he got the job of lighting the candles.  Yeah right.

 The 5 of us!

Ranger wasn't going to be left out of cupcakes and ice cream.  Thanks Papa for helping a little guy out!

There are pictures that I missed.  We played kick ball boys against girls.  Boys (as in Riley Smith) cheated, as usual.  I missed the expressions of a few astonished folks when we turned out the little pigs for the kids to chase.  I missed water fight pics.  Riley Smith gets a little carried away.  I'm certain you do not want to be in a water fight with him.  He doesn't get people wet.  He tries to drown them.  He will fuss that I've gone into such detail about this, claiming it isn't near as bad as I make it sound.  It is!  Instead of folks leaving and saying goodbye, they were running for their vehicles.  He was chasing them with a big orange water cooler full of water.  The mental picture is better than any photograph I could offer.  ha ha

Happy Birthday Scout Girl!! 

Life Happens!

So it dawned on me just this morning that I feel like Facebook has replaced the blog for me and I'm not sure I want that to happen.  As I sit here begging children to do schoolwork I thought I'd give it a go.......for today!

A friend took this pic!  It's my guy watching our girl play softball.  Even though I know nothing about it, I am really starting to love it.  

This guy, well he's something else.  To be completely honest, he's trouble.  End of story.  But he can also be lovable and sweet.  He is his mom and sister made over.  The hashtag #rangerissochill is gone, most likely never to return.  Ha!

 

Reno Man!!  Well first of all he's obsessed with turkeys.  Wild Turkeys.  He wants to hunt them.  So he's also obsessed with hunting.  Any kind of hunting.  He started out with a bb gun and quickly talked his Dad into using a .22!  He wants to play a hunting game on my phone 24/7.  He probably hunts in his dreams.  In pics, he is the one that will be making a goofy face.  Always!  He also has lots of girlie influence.  I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Our girl Scout is a great friend and helper.  It's like having another little mama around here, which is wonderful.  She loves her cousins and she loves being wild and crazy too!  She is becoming quite the little athlete.  We've already played our second year of basketball and softball.

These kids are a load of fun.  I will say I'm pretty tired out at the end of every day, but I love  every minute of it!

Ranger Lee is 1!

Ranger Lee aka "Baby"!  

We did have a little trouble settling on a name for this squirt.  It wasn't like Reno where it just clicked and that was it.  The kids and I had to call this fella something before he arrived.  It just became "Baby" and even after he was born we continued to call him that.  

It probably explains why when he was about 2 weeks old Scout says, "What did we name Baby?".  A little shocked I answered, "Ranger Lee".  She says, "Ah man, I wanted to name him Spur!". We got a pretty good laugh out of that.  

Mimi would continually correct me from using Baby instead of his name.  He probably should thank her that someday he won't have to answer to Baby Smith.  You hear lots of unique names and nicknames these days, but I haven't come across a grown man called Baby.  I think his name goes well with Scout and Reno. 

Lee is after Riley's paternal grandmother Francis Lee.  I had asked for names from his family before but never remembered that this was her middle name.  A short time before he was born I asked for names again and we tried our first name choices with the different middle name choices.  Ranger Lee is a winner.  Frannie was a very neat, talented woman.

This baby is wise beyond his year about selfies and chocolate chip cookies!

The Townsend, Adams, and Smith cousins!

Farm animal and tractor theme party!!

There wasn't even a moment of hesitation with this boy.  He dove right in!

Brother and sister wanted to help, but he really didn't need it.  

Mimi wanted him to stop eating before he had a tummy ache!

He was pretty well covered in that blue icing, so we took a dip in the sink.

Presents, presents, presents!  Thank goodness for sister's help.  

Jennison loving on our Mesa Dog.

Ranger discovered that he loved the trampoline on the day of his party.  We can no longer leave the stool out by it. He is super dangerous because he no longer crawls, but stands up and runs.

The Riley Smith Family!

Loving his baby bedroll from Gigi for about 2 seconds!

This little man has been such a joy.  He is pretty easy to deal with.  Most of all he loves to eat and to be outside!!

Happy Birthday!