A Mamma Monday... just two days late

Hello friends and neighbors,

I get up this morning and check in with my favorite people via the blog scene only to find the gauntlet has been thrown. Started out as a soft and lovely morning, birds singing, squirrels squeaking, coffee hot in the Venti size cup. Now, I have been called out, called out by a buddy, a sister, kin, let me just say Woman I have not even had my coffee yet! So Miss Heather here is my attempt to buddy blog for Mamma Mondays!

So here it goes, reading is a big deal in our home. With three kids it takes on a whole added arena to bed time. Predominantly our reading is at bed time only because we have to work 8 to 5, Monday through Friday but on the weekend we try to get at least a couple of reading moments locked and loaded for the day. Anyway the kids love books and so do I. Like so many parents you introduce to your kids the stories you loved as a child. I am not any different.

Dr Suess is an all time favorite, we too have "Oh, the places you will go" , "Green Eggs and Ham", "Cat in the Hat" to name a few. The kids have more books than I do. I love books and now Emma has discovered the library. She will be getting her own library card for her birthday. She is awestruck you can go to a building and take home any book she wants and come back to get more. I love to read them to the kids but by far the books that the twins and Emma are into is anything dinosaur. Let's see on the list for this year are:

• Dinosaur Roar (Completely memorized, I don't even have to look at the pages)
• How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight (I have this one memorized as well)
• How Does a Dinosaur Gets Well
• How Does a Dinosaur Go to School
• Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (this book is cool, it has little books inside the big book that Velcro into place.)
• Polar Express
• Puff the Magic Dragon
• 5 minute fairy tales (this is fraudulent title, it takes at least 20 minutes to read any of the stories in this book, I think it is to tease the parents)
• Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes
• Our Solar System (Emma is big on this one)

So there Vitamin D, how did I do? :o) Hee Hee

A Touch of Country Living

One of the many things I do during the day is drive. In reference to the previous post, yes I have broken a wee bitty law or two in my day. (Before you hit the comment button and give me a little poke in the ribs take a look in the mirror.) In the big picture, not as heinous as the worst possible scenario could be but none the less I need to be a little more careful for the safety of my brood and others. Ok, let’s get off the PSA train and move to another area of my driving, what I actually see on my travels.

I have been reluctant to actually give out the location of where I live, not because I don’t like or feel ashamed, but for safety reasons. As much fun as this blogging adventure is, I wanted to keep some anonymity however my husband blew the top of that jar in his blogging adventure. So now the cat is out of the bag, I thought I would share a visual of the things I see on a daily basis with the kids on our way to work/school.

My definition of country is living on a minimum of 35 acres with a head of cattle, herd of horses or some other livestock, riding the ATV around the fence line with spare barb wire and u-nails checking for holes. The nearest neighbor can be seen with binoculars and the cats are chasing rabbits or gophers for most of the day. Where we live is what I would call quasi-country, and that is because I live in a subdivision in the middle of a walnut orchard. It is just enough country for me and I like being there a lot. I have wonderful neighbors, a great home for my kids, quiet streets, occasional play by play football from my front porch, and an exceptional, talented young man who comes twice a month to help my husband with yard work. I get piece of mind that my kids will be going to a great elementary school, small stores, and friendly smiles. I get the chorus of toads in the evening, mallards roaming the empty lots, Red tailed hawks, owls, bats, cats, howling neighbor dogs, skunks (mostly the smell tells me they are around), and Yellow-billed magpies.

Magpies, let me just tell you about these little, brash birds. My observations lead me to believe they have a club, a club of young, punk birds looking for trouble. They like to dodge cars, hang out in the middle of the road, and cause general driving mayhem. I believe they know when I am driving and send the word out. Not a day has gone by when these brutes are hogging the man made pathways with their silliness. I am human look at me drive, now bird get out of my way! I have many small moments of panic because I think they will not move out from in front of the van. That in itself is another topic.

Back to the point, here are some moving pictures of the sights I see on my travels. There will be more to come as the year progresses, but for now enjoy.

This is great but if only I had the camera the other day.

Kids, please meet the Deputy

Yes, it is true. As you can extrapulate from the title of this segment of my chaotic life I got a ticket. Now most people say I did not deserve the ticket but in this case I own it 100%. Just a little tip for those of you folks who may not know, they radar EVERYBODY! He was on the opposite side of the road coming toward me and he was running the radar the whole way. Pleasant man, polite, a true blue example of what the public would want in a Deputy patrolling our fine streets.

I was merging onto another street and had to push it to get witht he current flow of traffic and before I could resume normal operating speed, BAM, I was hit with radar. I was busted, knew it as soon as I saw the lights, pulled over before he had to blow the horn. The kids however were asking what I was doing so I explained that Mommy broke the law and the deputy was comming to talk to Mommy. So here comes the deputy, poised for action on the passenger side of the car, the kids are yelling hello, who are you, why are we stopped. He checks the kids to make sure they are suited up in the car seats, they don't miss a trick and thank goodness. He says, "you were going a little fast" and I say "Yes, you are absolutely right" why fight? He is the enforcer of the law and I am the breaker of the law, perfect relationship as I see it.

So after asking permission to get my bag for my license, and permission to get into the glove box (always ask permission, they are a gittery folk and who can blame them) he writes the ticket and I ask the usual questions, can I pay online, can I go to traffic school, yes and yes, my wonderful miss E pipes up from the back of the car and says, "Are you my mommy's friend?" He laughs and says isn't she cute, all I can say is "Yes Em, the deputy is mommy's friend, he tells mommy to drive safe".

Folks, show your support for our fine peace officers roaming the streets doing the best that they can, drive safe, and know I just got someone else off the hook for getting a ticket.