Creepy Crawlies

Wow! I can't believe it's time for school again! What a summer! The two pics above are the last swim & playday before school started. It's been awhile since I've blogged. Life seems like a roller coaster, ups, downs, and it never slows to let us off.

The creepy and crawlies are really on the move. Seems like everytime we go outside the boys catch something. Most of the pictures are self-explanatory. At least I don't have to worry about the kids keeping them. We have found horny toads, snakes, crickets, a baby MOLE, lizards, and of course there's Hammy. There's never a lack of creepies to be hunted around here. But I can sleep better knowing the boys can't keep them. Eventually they have to be released...unless they go AWOL and we never find them. We do have a couple of snakes that have gotten away. When the kids were smaller I picked up Noah's sleeping bag to roll it up after a sleepover. It seemed too heavy, and I figured out that was because there was a HUGE toad inside. Noah had slept with it in this sleeping bag. We're absolutely sure that we named that little man right.

You might be a redneck if the neighbor comes to get supper in a tractor. Well, at least we're in good company. Odd recognizes odd!

We do have a new resident. Rastus joined the funny farm last week. Pay close attention to his eyes. They remind us of a tired old man. His eyes seem hazel, and unlike the other pigs' eyes. He's only a couple of months older than the girls, but he weighs close to 100 lbs. He is ALOT of pig! He had had a long trip here , and was so tired when he got here, we had to literally dump him out of the kennel. The three little pigs are no longer the three musketeers. Now they remind me of the nursery rhyme of the pig that squealed "wee, wee, wee" all the way home. A friend gave us a bunch of apples, and they each make sure they get more than their fair share. One evening this week, we threw apples to them, and Rastus was after an apple that Porkchop wanted. She jumped him and and latched onto his ear. I believe we could have had a hippie hog with an earring if we wanted to. But we don't want him to get a complex, so we'll just stick with the traditional notches in their ears. Rastus sleeps across the dog house, and the girls sleep behind him. They don't seem to mind, unless we're yelling "Soo-wee." They're learning to come to call. Their ears flap when they're excited and running. Benny weighed the girls. Porkchop weighed 60 lbs, Sausage weighed 70 lbs, and Sowly weighed 80 lbs. I've truly never had animals who grew so fast. They're sure little porkers!!

Xavier started football this year. He's having a blast! His position is the strong-side guard and outside linebacker. I haven't seen Benny so excited about anything in the past. I'm glad he is. It gives him and Xavier something special in common. He looks just like a little man, and I can't stand it that he's growing up so fast! That little toot! Can't keep them young forever!

AWOL & Getting Even

This week has been like most of our other weeks. Some good...some bad...and some ugly.

We woke Monday morning to sobbing and frantic searching. Sierra's pet hampster "Hammy" had escaped. He had gone AWOL and was nowhere to be found! (Sisi is like the girl on the animaniacs who says, "I'll love you ad hug you and squeeze you and call you George..." Here's a picture of her with our poor five year old Poodle Champ who has been a good sport WAY too long!) We looked and looked, but to no avail. We put a little bowl of food and water out, and set Hammy's wheel on the floor by Sisi's bed. The rest of the day was tragic, and Sierra mourned her loss.

Last weekend brought more rain. We've been praying for rain for the crops at Circleback. God has opened the heavens, and Rusty and Billy can't remember a year their crops looked so good. On the flip side, though, our driveway is hard dirt. When it rains, it's soft dirt. When it floods, it's nothing short of mud pie. Monday afternoon, I got our van stuck in the driveway so deep, the mud came up to the bottom of the van doors. No one could visit, and no one could escape. Since Benny was at the fire station, we got to wait until he came in to pull me out. One word of advice...always follow the ruts...don't try to make new ones!

Things rocked along until this weekend. Enter the ugly part... Benny's dad ordered cattle to run out on the land he bought from Pop. Being a Baker, Deck is the culprit who passed the "Baker luck" to us. His cattle came 11 hours late. They had to unload in the dark. He didn't get as many cattle as he ordered, and 15 were bulls instead of steer. In order to sell them for beef, they needed to be castrated to fatten them up. Weekend before last, Benny and Deck tried to bulldog the cattle against the fence, but they were too wild. So last weekend, Deck and Dexter built a chute to pin them in. This weekend, the plans were to castrate the steers and tag all of their ears. Benny, Deck, Nancy, Xavier, Noah, and Bo (a cousin) took the challenge. A few hard knocks and a FULL day of work later, all the steers sang soprano. Noah got bucked off the four wheeler and shot a few FEET in the air. He also got a couple of cattle that backed against the closing gate he was holding that put goose eggs on his head. He's a tough one, and hung in there. Benny got kicked in the knee, and that sent him over the deep end. From what I can tell by the stoires, he picked a 300+ lb. bull up off the ground and threw him in the chute after it kicked Benny in the knee. Both are quarantined today with the mad cow disease, but expected to make a full recovery!

Church went well today. We had a good crowd. Everyone was feeling better, and it was a good worship service.

We all got naps and aren't as cranky now. After we had some wits about us, we noticed a piece under the edge of the couch chewed up. Because of the fibro, I have trouble getting in the floor. So Benny lifted the couch, and I held it there. Guess who we found?!?!?!? HAMMY!!! He was curled up under the couch in a pocket of lining. Needless to say, Hammy's in solitary confinement again, and Sierra's once again happy to have a pet to pamper.

So all's well at the Baker house once again. Hammy's safe and the kids are hornery as ever. We have 349 hours and 4 minutes until school starts, and counting down! Have a great rest of the summer!