I apologize for not posting this sooner... but along came some hail that damaged our kale, and rained enough to sail a schooner! (Pardon my rhyming... I'm a poet and I didn't know it! XD)
A couple weeks ago, our family took a trip out to a pasture in the Flint Hills. It was a gorgeous evening, and after some 4-wheeler riding, we had a cookout.
And, for those of you who think Kansas is a big desert...
We'll ignore the fact that this was soon after the pastures were burned and the green was beginning to come up. (Well, that and spring rains.)
Why burn pastures, you ask? Good question!
When you normally think of prairie/pastures, what do you think of? A sea of dead, brown grass?
The pastures are burned to get rid of the dead grass so that green grass will grow for the cattle. (There's more reasons that I'm not going to go into/I don't know. Sound cool? Check out Ashleigh's post)
Anyway.
After our 4-wheeler ride, we came back to where Daddy had started a fire and cooked some link sausage.
After eating, Kordell took me over a hill to see his cows and calves.
This little guy is Gil; boy, he's grown!
Then we came back to eat some s'mores. (I mean, you can't have a campfire without s'mores, can you?! Don't answer that question.)
One of my first memories of you is when the guys were wrestling in the family room, you and I would be sitting in the comfy chairs watching them. I wanted to join them so bad, but I was scared to because they were so rough. Then you would give me a smile and tell me to go play, and you made sure they weren't too rough with me.
I also remember you taking me to get my booster shots. I was scared to death, but you sat right beside me and tried to keep my attention off the needle and the pain even though it didn't work.
I remember rinsing dishes while you washed them, and how proud you made me feel when I could stand at the sink without a chair.
I remember filling my hands with suds, and smearing them on your face and neck. I had no idea how you would react, but you in turn did the same to me, and it turned being a sud-war, ending with us giggling so hard and suds on the kitchen walls.
You taught me how to read, how to add and subtract, how to tell time and how to tie my shoes when I was little, then how to play the piano, how to do laundry, how to marinade a steak and how to plant and care for a garden when I got older.
You have been patient with me even when I was a little twerp when I was little and when I've been grumpy.
You and Daddy taught me what true beauty is, by telling and showing; that "man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart". Y'all were and are my role models, and you've lived up to that.
You've taught me life lessons, and have brought me up to know the Lord and what it is to know Him.
Another month has come and gone. Can you believe it?
Life/Random:
-The baseball season started for the KC Royals!!
-Palm Sunday; a group of us from the area went to some nursing homes to sing the Golden Belt songs. :)
-The guys found David, a horned toad, out in a pasture (well, my sis named him David, but all the rest of us call him Steve. B-))
In case you were wondering, they did take him back where they found him. ;)
-Easter Sunday: a sunrise service at 6:40 AM, with a delicious potluck breakfast afterward.
Plus, a family gathering in the afternoon.
The sunrise; it was so cloudy, we didn't get to see the sun. ;P
-I got to meet Emily, an amazing gal from WA state!
-During school, in the dining room, Kordell would pick up my camera and take several random pictures. For several days straight. I have a strange twin.
-Rain. Lots and lots of rain.
-It's that time of year again: time for the crop dusters to be flying around everywhere and the sprayers to go flying down the road. (I also was informed of another meaning for the term 'crop duster'. I won't go into the details.)
-I was introduced to these amazing yet sad songs:
-The lilacs bloomed! For some reason, our tulips didn't. :(
-My birthday!! :D
-A dear friend visiting from out of state.
Books:
Finished: But Not Forsaken by Helen Good Brenneman: 3 stars
------------- A Question of Honor by Jesseca Wheaton: 5 stars Gift Horse by Dandi Daley Mackall: 5 stars Friendly Foal by Dandi Daley Mackall: 5 stars Buckskin Bandit by Dandi Daley Mackall: 4.5 stars The Calling of Emily Evans by Janette Oke: 3 stars Heart of the Wilderness by Janette Oke: 3.5 stars Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver: 3 stars Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: 2 stars Sunlight and Shadows (unpublished)by Livi Jane: 4.5 stars Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson: 4 stars Angry Water by Bernard Palmer: 3.5 stars
------------- Started: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson The Timber Wolf by Paul Hutchens
Snippets:
So, I didn't really do much writing at all this month... I'll just pick something random from a random doc. ;P
Ok, this is from JW! I had a lot of fun writing this scene:
He walked up the stairs, past five-year-old Katie’s room, and into the bedroom he shared with Joey. He had just stopped beside the bed and unscrewed the lid of the shaving cream jar when he heard the floor creak behind him. He whirled around, nearly upsetting the cream, and sighing when he saw his father leaning against the door post.
“You scared me!” He exclaimed in a whisper.
Dad smiled apologetically. “I wanted to see this,” he whispered back with a smirk.
Joey shrugged, smiled, and turned back to his brother. Joey lay on his back, and one of his hands lay underneath his head, the other flopped out beside him, palm up. Perfect! Jerry slowly dipped the spoon into the jar, brought out a dollop of shaving cream, and slowly, carefully, placed the cream on Joey’s outstretched hand. Now for the feather. He set the jar and spoon down on the nightstand between the two beds and picked up a feather he had pulled from his pillow the night before.
He turned back to Joey’s bed. Jerry leaned over the bed, paused and glanced in his father’s direction with a look that said, this is going to be good! Then tickled Joey’s nose with the feather.
Joey’s eyes fluttered, but never opened.
“Try again,” Dad urged in a whisper.
Jerry tickled Joey’s nose. This time he got results.
Joey’s hand came up and, on its way to scratching his itching nose, caught Jerry’s chin. Joey then brought his hand up and rubbed his nose, and promptly dropped back to sleep.
****
Once in the bathroom, Joey went straight to the mirror and gasped at what he saw, a large grin spreading across his face. “Hey, look!” he exclaimed. “I’m Santy Claus!”
Jerry rolled his eyes. “Santa Claus, Joey.”
“Santy Claus.”
“Santa Claus.”
“Santy Claus.”
“Santa Claus.”
“Boys!”
Both boys jumped at their father’s warning voice. Then Jerry grinned slyly and said, “Dad, which do you think it is? Santa Claus or Santy Claus?”
Dad thought for a moment, then replied, “Neither.”
Jerry grinned triumphantly at Joey. “See?”
“He never agreed with you, Jerry.”
“But he didn’t agree with you either, which is what I was wanting anyway.” Jerry smirked mischievously.
Music:
The visiting friend that I mentioned can yodel amazingly.
So that kinda got us in a yodeling craze.
We found this:
I don't know a word that he's saying, but his yodeling blows me away. ;P Or, if you'd like more of a "normal" video of yodeling:
And there's the month of April in a nutshell. (Speaking of nuts, I had pecan pie for my birthday instead of cake. ^_^)
