BOW FAMILY ADVENTURES

Sunday, August 31, 2008

more from T.S.

  1. What lives in outer space? "Aleelans" (spelled phonetically)


  2. Do you want to go to outer space? "Yes, but I need a suit so I can float around."


  3. "This tree is going to grow big." Why? "Because I tee-teed on it."


  4. At Chicken Express: "How do they get the food so fast?"

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Otis

Sadie now has a second lamb. Otis joined us this week. He is a fine wool cross. He's a little rough looking right now, but has potential. T.S. was very excited that Sadie let him lead Leonard.


The Clubhouse Rocks

The kids have been working on their "clubhouse" this week. I use the term loosely because it is really just an area by the lilac bush and the corner of the house. They have hung "no trespassing" signs and really gotten it organized--toys hanging from branches and shoe boxes filled with stuff. It has really been fun to watch them work together (with no fights) to build their area.
T.S. wasn't going to let Tryce play in there with him because, "No one is allowed but me and Sadie." I convinced him it was okay to let really good friends come play. The three boys even had me set up a table for a picnic over there. Here are pictures from their Open House which they hosted last night. Yes, that's Sadie's microphone she used to give the tour.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Bulls

I'm sure you guys are either tired of reading what T.S. says, or you think we make it up. Here's a conversation out in the pens while Sadie was working with her lambs.

"GeGe, that calf is going to grow into a bull."
"No, I don't think so."
"Yeah, see, it's got horns."

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Things to Ponder

Over the past few days, T.S. has had a lot of interesting questions and thoughts. Here is a sampling.
  • Do donkeys need horseshoes?

  • Are you supposed to be going this fast yet, Mama? (from the booster seat in the car)

  • When asked, do you need a towel to dry that car you just washed, "No, I shook it off."
  • He is also convinced that he and Tryce can ride Tryce's 4-wheeler to school next year and that they can get it in the air and do flips. (apparently he didn't take notes on four-wheeler safety on the 4th of July)
  • In Wal Mart he kept asking for everything he saw. When I continued to answer no, he announced, "I sure do want a lot of things."

Even though he is turning into quite a backseat driver, it is really fun to hear his thoughts as we go down the road and to look back and see him playing air guitar to the radio. I'm definitely going to have to start writing down what he says in the car. If we'd have written it all down from the start we'd have quite a book deal.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Hello, Third Grade!

Sadie started third grade today. All went well and she was very excited when she got off of the bus this afternoon. She reports that the best part of the day was recess when they got to swing from the "vines" hanging from the trees. Apparently some of the smaller branches hang down at just the right height to really swing on them. Sadie also seemed pleased that they have moved over to the "big kid" playground.

Another highlight of the day was being "Pirate of the Day." She gets to be it again tomorrow since they didn't have time to do much work today. The theme for the third grade class is pirates--the whole elementary has a fantasy theme. Way cool stuff in the third grade classroom. We are looking forward to a fun challenging year.


T.S. Said:

So, T.S. comes in the door and says, "Tunia can pull a wagon, right?"

Tunia is Petunia, our very old dog.

"No, I don't think so, " said Robby.

"I think her can," said T.S. in a sing-song voice with a look on his face and grin that can't even be described. And with that, he went back outside.



Thankfully, he hadn't hitched Petunia to the wagon, just her leash. I'm sure if he could have persuaded the dog to come over he would have gotten it done.

He had a great day today playing with Tryce. They are working on being friends with the donkey. Both boys helped pick the garden and check the chickens. Lots of adventures are in store for those two this year.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

T.S. Let Us Take His Picture

Just thought we'd share...

Friday, August 22, 2008

You Just Never Know


You never know what might happen next around here. Tonight, Robby stepped out on our side porch to put steaks on to grill and heard/saw a rattle snake. He ended up shooting it with a shotgun (not my weapon of choice, but hey, I wasn't the one doing the job). Then he cut off the head and got the rattles. It was pretty big and had 9 rattles and a button. T.S. really wanted to cook it. Thankfully Robby voted no.

A Little Off the Sides

Sadie had another first today. She got to help rough shear Leonard. Apparently you need a haircut a few weeks before the show.

Free at Last

The last few days we have been watching the chicks get a little braver. We figured that one would escape any day, so we moved them outside to their pen today. It was fun to watch them "spread their wings" once they had room to move outside. Chicks that are figuring out they can fly are good entertainment. Notice how much their feathers have changed since we first got them. The chickens in the neighboring pen haven't even noticed them yet.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Learning with Leonard

Sadie and Robby have really started working with Leonard. They are trying to get him ready to show in time for the Tri-State Fair in September. Today we learned the importance of good footwear when dealing with hooved animals. Leonard and Sadie are doing great--we all have to remember this is the first time for both of them.

The Last Hurrah

The last two days have been busy ones trying to get one last fun thing into our summer. Yesterday the Johnson gang came to play, paint, giggle and enjoy the zoo. Today we had to go to the dentist, buy shoes, buy a shirt to show our lamb in, buy new boots (Sadie chose red with baby blue tops--the tops have hearts, too) and buy groceries.

If you were to ask Sadie and T.S., the most important part of our day was the trip to Jump-n-Jive. We had already planned the outing before the Miss Happy contest. Part of Sadie's "prize" for being second-runner up was two passes to Jump-n-Jive--this made the trip even better. The kids had a ball jumping and sliding. They were tired and sweaty by the time we left.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Why? Why not???

For those of you wondering why we thought we needed a donkey (see "Zoo Update" below), let me explain.

  1. He was free.
  2. We were told he doesn't need any supplemental feed--he'll graze on grass and weeds.
  3. Donkeys are supposed to be good at protecting other animals from coyotes. With our show lambs in the pens, they are protected, but the donkey will be "extra" security. He'll also serve as a body guard for the calves.
  4. He is pretty cute and there is a possibility we could someday break him and ride him--thus fulfilling Sadie's dream of owning a horse...sort of.
  5. I really am debating the whole zoo thing...we could have school groups, a petting zoo, t-shirts, cotton candy, souvenirs...I can see the possibilities now.

Zoo Update

The newest zoo member arrived today. We are excited to introduce Tom the donkey. (The kids wanted to name him Duncan, but he was already named) T.S.'s calf, Tiger, was chasing him around the pens earlier today. We are still working on setting our admission prices and hours of operation. Right now, we might offer an incentive to come visit. The first three visitors get their choice of a rat or Bantam roosters to take home.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Our Little Miss Happy

Well, tonight was the big night. Sadie has looked forward to it all week. We practiced our introduction, the dance and how we would answer questions. She was VERY excited. We are proud to report that Sadie is the Little Miss Happy Second Runner-up. I have never seen anyone more excited to be the 2nd Runner-up in my life. She was so proud and happy; she was very pleased that her friend Madison was crowned Little Miss Happy. It was a fun evening. She has relived it several times and is already planning what she'll say next year.

As parents we were so proud. It is amazing how grown-up she looked up on the stage. Sadie did her best--which was a fantastic job. She handled it all with grace and maturity.

T.S. Said:

Today T.S. asked me where I was getting ready to go--this is the conversation that followed. "Timbuktu"
"Timbuktu?"
"Yes, Timbuktu."
"Oh, where Sadie went yesterday."

He makes us laugh a little more every day.

Cheep Cheep


Today we picked up the newest additions to the zoo. We now are the proud owners of 5 Leghorn chicks and 5 Rhode Island Red chicks. Sadie was taken with them as soon as they brought them out of the back of the feed store. They are currently residing in a plastic tub in the kitchen until they can go out to the chicken pen. I had forgotten how cute and fun new chicks are.

(Zoo Tally: 1 fish, 1 gerbil, 1 rat [that is on notice for possible eviction], 1 dog, 2 calves, 1 lamb, 14 chickens)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

T.S. Says Funny Things

Today at lunch I was telling mom that I had cleaned out the empty chicken hut for the arrival of our new chicks Thursday. I told her that I had dumped all of the "hay and poop" under the trees out by the garden.

"Did you mommy? Did you really poop?" asked T.S.

To which I replied, "No, I dumped the hay and poop by the trees."

"Oh, you just pretended to poop," was his response.

For those of you that don't know, it was a goal of his at the first of the summer to take care of all of his bathroom business outside. After two unsuccessful attempts at "poop," he thankfully abandoned that dream.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bug Update

This morning Sadie said, "Mom did Dad tell you one of the bugs got out last night?"
To which I replied, "No, Did you catch it?"
"No, he's around here somewhere."

I kind of forgot about the bug, until it scared me in the kitchen. I re-caught it, but it lost a leg in the process.

"Mom was it in my room? Poor, poor bug. He's missing a leg. If I were a bug, I'd miss a leg, too," said T.S. "Will it grow back?" T.S. had to take the lid off of a plastic container to observe this; I hope he got the lid back on.


I think the bugs are headed to the freezer.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Cool Bugs!

One morning at the lake, T.S. was greeted by a really interesting looking bug on our "front porch" (that's what he called the area in front of the tent that had a tarp over it). We caught it to show everyone. Sadie later found another one on top of our "porch". Here is a picture with Sadie holding the bugs.

Robby looked them up and they are Long-horned Beetles that feed on tree bark, sap, leaves, etc. He found this really cool site called Bug Guide that helps you identify insects: http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
After more research, we found out these are Cottonwood Borers--I think the name says it all. An interesting fact: the larvae of the Cottonwood Borers take 2-3 years to reach full maturity; they eat the inside of the tree bark while maturing.
If you are intersted, here is another insect ID site where you can read more: http://www.insectidentification.org/

These insects have huge chewing mouth parts. They had pierced holes in the Ziploc bag by morning. We put the bag in another bag and by afternoon they had one corner of the original bag torn out. Way cool!

Fun in the Sun



Wow--what a weekend! We traveled to Ute Lake in New Mexico on Thursday for a weekend of fun in the sun. It was a combination church trip and celebration of Bodacious Bonza Bottler Day. We had so much fun as a family and with our friends whom we consider family.

Thursday evening we set up the tents but didn't get a chance to get on the water because of weather. Every evening we had to come in off of the lake because of the threat of storms. We were fortunate that the storms missed us; but did see some incredible lightning on Saturday evening.

On Friday everyone had a chance to go tubing behind the boat, ride the jet ski and swim in the cove. It is priceless to see Robby and the kids on the tube--grins from ear to ear. We heard everything from "Faster!" to "That was totally wicked!" So much fun.

On Saturday we awoke to a choppy lake so we found a cove that was protected on 3 sides and enjoyed swimming to shore and exploring. The kids even figured out how to bring rocks back from shore in their life jackets--crazy! Fortunately the lake did calm a little so there was a chance for more tubing followed by an afternoon fishing expedition with the Mercers. It was pretty hot, so no luck fishing, but we did see two deer on shore. Sadie topped her day off with a canoe ride.


Sunday was another fun day of tubing behind the jet ski and playing in the water in our cove. The kids were really disappointed when it was time to get out and pack up to go home. Every morning and evening we enjoyed great food and fellowship with all of our friends. We made some great memories and are looking forward to the next trip.





Special thanks to our friends the McBrooms for sharing their boat and toys with us. Also to the Mercers for taking us fishing. Odoms--we had fun--Thanks for the canoe rides; Sadie is hooked. Most importantly thanks for sharing the weekend with us. We had fun hanging out, eating and playing. I asked the kids what their favorite part was and neither could choose a favorite, they liked it all. We are ready for the next outing, just call.

For those of you who are wondering what Bonza Bottler Day is, go to the link and check it out--http://www.bonzabottlerday.com/. We started celebrating it with our friends this year and have really enjoyed our time together each month. I encourage everyone to start celebrating--it gives you a reason to get together with your friends once a month.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Picnic


Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Ceta Canyon for our annual church picnic. We all enjoyed fishing at the pond and in the creek. Robby and the kids had fun swimming. We all had fun with our friends and had some great food--even zucchini pie (kind of like apple, but not really). I took a few pictures of Sadie's flips off of the diving board, but they didn't turn out--she has turned into quite a fish this summer.

Sadie's fish picture wasn't her biggest fish, it is just the one I had the camera ready for. If you look really closely in the water behind her you can see fish. We could see lots of fish from the bank. Robby got wet when he had to go into the pond after his pole. His action photos are of him and the catfish that took his pole in. I wasn't ready with the camera to get a picture of him going into the pond, but it was funny and made quite an impression on the kids that were with us. One of our friends' little boys that is 4 said he "wanted to go swimming and catch a fish like T.S.'s dad did."

Robby is very patient with all of us when it comes to fishing. Three things to note:

  1. Sadie baits her own line and tries really hard to get the fish off of the hook by herself

  2. T.S. does not to like to be photographed lately (that's why there aren't any great ones of him.) He was there and he did catch some fish; he just refused to have his picture made with the catch.

  3. I do not take my own fish off of the line (I do bait the hook, though).

We enjoyed our time together as a family and with our church family.