"X marks the spot" Chancee's Chatterings

we are still stuck on pirates, Caib, helping Chance, built him a sword. Why spend money on toys for little boys? Sticks and wire are so much more appealing, and they NEVER out grow it.

On guard, Matey. Notice me X on me shirt? No, that's not to give you a better target to slay me poor self, That is so you will know that I am a true buccaneer " I'm not to fond of me Jolly Roger so I've changed me flag to an X, savvy? Besides all me booty was stolen and the only real treasure around here is meself. Any scallywag who'll not be believing me is the son of a biscuit eater and can walk the plank!!! Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

Early the other morning Chance came in with an X he'd drawn all by himself on his under shirt. Roger asked him what the X was for and he looked at Roger completely disgusted.

"Da.a.d! I'm a pirate!!!!" He says

"And the X means..?" questions Dad.

"sigh, I know where the treasure is."

"Oh I thought maybe you were the treasure." says Dad

With a look of thought and liking the idea Chance replies "Uh...... Yeah. That, too"

Shiver Me Timbers, Matey!!

Uh..... hmmm..... Now how do you suppose.......???? Or more appropiately, Who do you suppose........??







Oh, Well......Of Course.

She's Your Dog!!! but..........

I love animals, I always have. I grew up in a non agricultural environment with cats and dogs as pets, and then I married a rancher. I've raised countless doggie lambs I've mothered orphaned calves. We've owned to many dogs to count and it's only fair to say I've loved everyone of them even Gutsy the goat.


But, please don't think I'm irresponsible and cruel when I allow my children the benefit of learning to "Make it" in this life when I give them full responsibility for their own animals. If it's a lamb or a calf the possibility that they will loose the animal to death is quite a bit higher then if they are given a dog or a cat.


We happen to be dog people, and have learned how beneficial cats are when left to defend for themselves. In 15 years I have never had a mouse in my house.


Also understand that the reason we are dog people is not because we love the unbelievable loyalty, fun loving, bouncy, irresistible wagging of the tail personalities of dogs. (though that's a nice benefit) Our dogs are literally considered livestock. We rely on them to help with the herding. They are responsible for helping with the cows, rounding up strays, putting ornery old cows in their place, eating the scraps from lunch, keeping us company when we're out on our own, and even listening to us cuss and holler obscenities (at least some of us) without judging us or thinking ill of us. I would have to say we couldn't make it with out our beloved dogs. And so, we have a dog for every member of the family, almost.

So, the day this batch of puppies was born was a Saturday morning. What a surprise NINE new little puppies that we hadn't even suspected. At least none of us had until two days before when Caib was out feeding his dog, Sandy, and he looked down at her and thought to himself,

"She looks to fat to just be fat."


Of course he didn't tell us that until after all nine puppies were present and accounted for just minutes before He and Braden were leaving with Dad to go to a basketball game in some neighboring community two hours away. So after feeding the rest of us, I filled up a jug of water to take out to my chickens and headed out to water and feed the chickens. I have to admit, I wasn't very excited about having 9 puppies to deal with but, that didn't stop me from deciding to go and peek in on them. When I got to the haystack where the puppies little burrow was I grimaced and stared discouragingly down at the poor wet little helpless things. I could tell that not one of them would survive if I didn't step in and help this first time mother out. But, I have to admit I toyed with the idea of letting nature take it's course. I even called Roger and he told me not to worry about them. So I went back into the house....less then an hour later I walked back out and the situation appeared worse. I couldn't help it I gathered the durn things up and took the whole brood as well as the mother in the house beside the wood stove to help warm them and dry them.


An hour later I took mother and nine healthy little puppies back out to their burrow and left them to fend for themselves That's all the involvement I've had in these little balls of fur. the two littlest didn't survive but now we have 7 bouncing little Australian shepherd mix puppies that are ready to be sold. We'll see how Caib handles this. I told him every penny he earns by selling them is his to keep (Big incentive).
I tell you this simply because There is purpose in animals I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned about becoming "Christ like" Through watching, caring for,and being involved with animals. Especially lambs. I am so grateful that we are given every opportunity in this life to learn to become more then we are. We have been given incredible amounts of trust from a loving Father in Heaven. I'm thankful for His plan that directs us on a path filled with joy if we stick to the path. It floors me to know that he was aware of the mistakes that we would make and that There would be pain and sorrow and suffering that we would all go through and yet in order to improve and learn and become what He knows we can become we had to come here and experience this life.

Therefore........

Caib has seven puppies for sale!

:D

Caibs Comments.

As I sat down to design the vinyl lettering for Chance's quote I got to thinking it would be fun to have a wall of quotes by my kids. Which lead to,me,trying to think of what I could use as quotes from each of my kids.

The first thing that popped into my mind was:

"Go lay down"
-Caib Brian-

Explanation: Caib has always been a very temperamental child. He has been corrected MANY times for yelling at his siblings. He always seems to be able to recognize when he needs to calm down and fix the way he handles himself. This is one of his fixes. When someone (usually Braden) begins irritating him to the point he feels like exploding or attacking he turns to them and says, "Go lay down."

For those of you who don't know where that comes from or can't put it into context ;) That's what Caibs dad tells the dogs when they are in the way.

Very unique to Caib. I LOVE the way he has learned to control himself in his own way. He never would take my suggestions. He just always comes up with his own and puts them into action.

I'm going to have to think about the other three kids for a day or two and see what quotes I can come up with for each of them.

I've Struck Gold!!!

You know I'm a little biased, but I think you'll understand.....

last Friday was the Klondike. Braden and Caib were both going. My boys love to camp!!!!! As they were busily rushing around getting ready and waiting for Dad to get home because Dad was going, too. Caib had told his leaders (unknownst to dad) that his dad was going and so they were counting on him to drive. Dad probably would have opted out until he learned what Caib had done...It made him feel good to know that his boys wanted him to come. Soooo......as they waited I heard Caib mumbling to himself and nonchalantly moved in closer to here him. He was counting on his fingers

"Let's see 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. That's 7, and 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18...."

Then he turned to Chance and said,

"I'll be 18 when you get to go on the Klondike!! That means I can go with you your first year Chance!!"

"Are You sure, Caib?" Says I, " Won't you be too cool at 18 to go?"

"Are you kidding me I won't be too cool, I LOVE to camp!!"

You know I think I believe that kid. This is the kid that spent all afternoon Saturday after he got home from the Klondike Spray painting Rocks to look like Gold and burying them in the yard and then making a treasure map, wrinkled, burned around the edges and everything so that Chance could discover a hidden treasure. He then took the little gold pan we have and took it out with Chance so that they could do a little prospecting. I don't know about you but I would have LOVED a big brother like that to grow up with. And then Sunday when we went down to Big Holler to see the spring run off I discovered they had brought the gold pan with them so that they could really pan for gold. I'm telling ya....Someday we're gonna strike it rich!!!! Chance already has!!!! What a brother!

Not to leave out Braden. He helped with the gold, too. It just takes Caib to get him involved. Here's a quick one on Braden, (So You Know how great he is) Yesterday a friend called and wanted the older boys to go to the park and play games with them. I'm a bit leery about the park and hanging out type stuff. I've seen it lead to a lot of trouble so I told Braden I didn't think it was a good Idea.

"Alright" Says Braden though I could tell he really wanted to go.

"You also have a couple of grades you need to bring up. Says I, "Hows that going?". He promptly went in checked his grades on the computer and pulled out his home work.

He then pestered me a little more about going to the park again since his chores and homework were done so I had him call and talk to his dad. Dad told him no, too. I knew he was disappointed but he understood why and later that afternoon when we ran to the store to get some "must have" pencil lead for mechanical pencils he said to me,

"Mom, Have you noticed that I'm trying to not complain as much when you and Dad tell me No?"

When you've got good kids you just can't help but feel consumed with gratitude!!

That's not saying they ain't got their problems, but hey, who doesn't

Big Rocks

Please Help Us We Can Do!!

Every time Chance is asked to say a prayer he always begins with "Heavenly Father, Thank thee for our blessings and please help us we can do." he never says what it is he wants help doing, it's just "Please help us we can do." He's been doing this for as long as I can remember. We've never discouraged him from saying it or tried to get him to add anything to it we just smile and know that it's a "Chance thing".

So... a few nights ago After prayers Chance lied down on the floor with his blanket and I noticed that he was getting ready to drift off to sleep so I said immediately,

"Chance, get up and get your pajamas on and use the bathroom before you fall to sleep." (He falls to sleep almost every night on the floor still dressed.)

"I can't!!!" He whines, "I'm to tired and my legs ache" (He says this every time I catch him before he falls asleep)

sigh, "Chance" Says I, " Every time you pray you ask Heavenly Father to please help us do. How do you expect Him to help you "do" if you just lay there? Now get up and do!"

To my surprise he looked up at me, a look of comprehension slowly covered his face and he jumped up and went in to get his P.J.'S on.

I've been trying to find a good quote to use for one of my walls. I believe I've found the quote I want.

"Please help us we can do."
-Chance Brian-
and surrounding the quote will be pictures of my children as they DO!

I'm so grateful for sweet whisperings that help us teach our children. I know that I didn't come up with that one on my own. How I pray that my children will learn to Do the will of the Lord.

Long Weekend

I'm sooo frustrated!! We spent last Friday and Saturday in Logan at the first annual Cache valley Cowboy Rendezvous Braden and Caib were both featured poets and performed on stage with the Bar J Wranglers. I took pictures and they are on my computer but they went into a program I don't usually use so I can't figure out how to get them to load onto blogger. GRRRR!!!

We had a really good time, Though. They asked the boys if they would come to the Youth Cowboy Poetry contest and recite a poem and give the kids some pointers on performing. They both recited a poem and Braden got up and talked to the kids for a minute about a few things. I was really impressed with him. He did a great job. He encouraged the kids to talk with the cowboy poets who were at the Rendezvous and get pointers from them. He told them to listen closely to the judges and do what they say because the judges want you to succeed. He then told them that the most important thing was to not quit. To continue writing and reciting poetry. I'm surprised at how easy it is for Braden to get up on stage. He's comfortable and really enjoys it. Caib did a great job, too. He tends to get a little more nervous then Braden and really dosen't "like" getting on stage but that kid has an amazing ability to memorize stuff and he has such a unique way of presenting his poems that it's fun to watch him. He's very dry!!

And...Thanks to my sister for watching the three littlest kids they had a great time, too, although Chance keeps reassuring me that he really, really missed me.