The Pioneer Woman I am Not

I think The Pioneer Woman is fabulous. Who doesn't? She is beautiful, knows how to manage her house and home, tame her cowboy and pull it all together with finesse on her blog. Even my own mother wants me to be like Ree. (hey, sweetie, now come in here and look at this girl's blog. i absolutely love it and i know you could have a blog like hers!!)

I do love photography and my little "punks" bring the greatest of joys to my life, but I don't have time to blog photoshop tips and I certainly don't possess that down home cooking instinct. Ree is a crack up, but try as I might, my funny gene is dormant. Also, I think people who homeschool are partially insane and you will never find a link for how to build a fence on my blog.

Most notably, Ree is a city girl countrified.

I, however, am a bonified country girl living who just happens to be living in the city.

I am a country girl at heart. Thus, when I go back to the farm I grew up on, it's like walking down a familiar dirt path with smells and scents and images that go down to the deepest part of my being.

I spent such an incredible spring break day yesterday with my kiddos out at Nana and Papas - it reminded me of who I really am, and sorry Ree (though you are amazing), that's not you.

The Details

What is so enjoyable, so satisfying....

.... about getting together for events such as Mom's Birthday?

We do the same activities practically every year.

Same rituals, same places, same people.

So how in the world do we squeeze so much fun out of it?

For me, it's all in the details.

Detail #1 - It was a beautiful evening. No rain! And lots of smiles.

Detail #2 - Mom is wearing her earrings that I bought for her birthday! I wasn't sure she'd like them - she can be PICKY!!! - but I think I scored!
Detail #3 - Ellie is always the first to hug her grandparents. She breaks into a run when she sees them and gives them big hugs, as though she hasn't seen them in two years. Sweet.Detail #4 - Luke, the only grandson, is the first to be ornery. And then he stays that way the entire night. He just can't help it. He adds some spice, that's for sure.

Detail #5 - Is it weird that I love the detail of sweat? Luke's hair is wet with sweat and in a few short years, when he is a stinky teen, I'm sure the sweat will be gross. But for now, I'm loving the sweat.Detail #6 - Luke always takes these occasions to give Lauren a huge kiss, apparently while putting her in a stranglehold too. She doesn't look too mad about it this time.Detail #7 - Papa always calls for a group picture. No matter where we are or how many people are there or how many people in the group, we take the dreaded group picture. It usually seems stressful at the time, but when I load my pictures, I'm always glad we did it. Detail #8 - Kami is always the first to be active. Here she is playing with Lauren on Lauren's new trampoline!!!Detail #9 - Kami being active again, this time playing basketball with cousin Hallie.

Detail #10 - Tom watching in the background, just being Tom. Quiet. Observant. Tom. Who I love.
Detail #11 - Kim's kids can't help but look beautiful at all times of the day. Here is Lauren in her adorable outfit. She's a cutie!
Detail #12 - Maggie Rae blowing bubbles. In her own little world. But too funny and talking up a storm. Stunning. Detail #13 - Scott loves his kids. It shows in his eyes.Detail #14 - He loves mine too. He is always so good to them.

Detail #15 - Ellie is wearing her "This is my lucky shirt" shirt. You can see it too well in the picture, but trust me, it's sooooo Ellie. Detail #16 - Look at their faces as they sing happy birthday to Nana! What a blessing!

Detail #17 - Nana turned 70 with grace and beauty and much love for her family.

Ellie and Papa on the Farm

Here is a video my dad posted on You Tube some months ago. It has had 8,195 views, Miniscule in terms of You Tube hits. But Huge in terms of how much I Love It.


It is a slice of time that Ellie and Papa spent together out on the farm "checking the whales."

When Ellie was 5, she really thought that Dad had a large farm of blue whales. And that he went out to check on them every morning, feeding them fish and other things. In her little big imagination, she thought that he would pet them and play with them.

So, one day he took her out to check the whales, and she found out that there were really no whales at all, but oil wells, and lots of cows, horses, rabbits, fences, hay, gates and other wonderful sights and smells you could imagine out on the farm.

Checking the wells became a fun thing for Ellie and Papa to do together and this is just a funny moment from one of their trips. (sorry Luke).

For me, it isn't the poopy moment caught on tape, it's the conversation between the two, Ellie's cute little voice, Papa's interest in all that's around them, the beautiful green of the farm where I grew up, and just remembering our girl at an age that has passed us by already.

For the Man Who Has Everything

Christmas and Birthdays for my Dad are next to impossible. You know how men are... when they want something, they usually just go get it! Leaving their loved ones going... well, how about another Hideaway Gift Card? Or maybe it should be Home Depot this year.

My dad is the kind of man that you really want to give to because he gives so much to you all year long. He takes care of his daughters. Just last week, he helped me install a new igniter on my oven (or should I say he installed it while I sat there and held the flashlight.)

He has two other loves besides me and my sister... 1) his grandkids and 2) music. As long as he's been a grandpa, he's been interested in getting those two loves together! He encourages us to get them in music lessons and even sits down with them and guides them through a practice. He takes us to piano concerts and when the kids play for him, he acts like he's listening to Beethoven.

Well, this Christmas, my sister came up with a brilliant idea for his Christmas gift: A music concert! We made up an invitation to give him on Christmas morning and the kids starting perfecting their "Papa songs." Luke and Maggie (who aren't in lessons yet) practiced their scales and notes. We found darling music note t-shirts at Target and when the thing we down... it was really cute, even with Ellie's scathing rendition of "Baa-Baa Blacksheep" on the untuned guitar.

A Father Missed

I know it sounds weird to say you miss someone you never knew. But with every cell in my body, I miss Tom's dad. I know him only from pictures and stories, but David, or Grandpa David, as the kids may have called him, is very much in my mind and heart.

There are times when I smile at his mischievous personality as I did the other night when Tom told the kids a Lucky the Fox story, a brand of stories about a rascal of a fox....a brand of stories concocted by Tom's dad and told to Tom and his brothers when they were little.

There are times my heart aches as it does the times that Tom has to again explain to the kids that he lost his dad when he himself was a little boy. They always want to know more about his dad.

There are times when I am alone driving in my car and I begin reflecting on all the special times we are missing with his Dad. I then feel like a ridiculous, emotional woman as I find myself crying tears over a man I never met! I think he would have loved going to the kids' sporting events, and I can just picture him teasing them and loving them. I miss him for the kids. I miss him for Tom. I miss him for Carolyn. And I miss him for myself.

There's A New Rae in Town

Ida Hope Rae-Rae to be Exact - Nana and Papa's new little Yorkshire terrier. Is she not the cutest 4 1/2 pound thing you have ever seen? They're going to call her Hope Rae, and I'm a little annoyed that now even the DOG can get in the Rae picture and I....... I am left out!!!! And as you can see below, Cosmo is pretty annoyed himself. You wouldn't think that a 12 year old 15 pound male would be intimidated by a 5 month old 4 pound baby puppy. But... Cosmo... he's been known to be spooked by leaves before. We'll see if he gets used to his new cousin. :)

Awesome Azaleas

One Cute Chick

Mom often gets on to me about doing too much. "Slow down!" she squawks. Well, I wonder where I get it? Here is one of the many activities my mom is involved in. Over the past few years, my mom and her friends have developed an act called "The Dixie Chicks." This group dresses up like beautiful, fluffy, yellow chickens (no I am not kidding), practices faithfully, and puts on darn good shows for different groups around town. Here are pictures of their Christmas production where they sang (bawked) their rendition of "Deck the Halls" and performed a Polynesian Christmas luau. They brought down the house and Nana's granddaughters were very proud of her, showering her with flowers after the performance.

Sweet and Gross

A Beautiful Birthday

What to do for Nana's birthday? Kim and I had planned a fancy schmancy dinner and cake. But Mom suggested going to Granny's house. Granny would fix up her usual brown beans with ham, skillet potatos, and cornbread. We didn't have to be asked twice!!! And truly, it couldn't have been a better way to celebrate Nana's birthday than being at Granny's cookie cutter shoe box of a house. The weather was perfect.... we spent a lot of time outside on her green lawn, just playing, nothing fancy of course. But that is part of the magic of granny's house. The sheer simplicity of it all. The old swing next door which all of us kids grew up playing on. The backyard that, while darling, can withstand any kind of digging and rooting around that the kiddos do. The porch swing in front that we played endless games on growing up. The red dominos in the Christmas tin that look just as shiny as they did 30 years ago. The box of white dominos, and the black ones too. Used to play countless games by Granny and Grandpa Ernie. And after all this time, not one of those dominos lost. The warmth and love that blanket you right when you walk in the door. The hugging arms and infectious smile of this amazing woman. Her giggles. Her cakes. The memories. The garden. The flowers. The old garage out back... filled with carefully stored toys and other old stuff. But she knows exactly where everything is and, I tell you, that is not a musty garage. So, although this started out as a blog about my mom, it turned into one about my Grandma Ida, who a stitch of years ago, gave birth to another amazing person, my mom. But I know my mom won't mind, because she thinks as dearly about her mother as I do. Mom, I am so thankful for the mother who raised you and made you into the wonderful, caring, thoughtful, sweeet and fabulous (See, I did not mention bossy) person that you are. Happy Happy Birthday! Your children and grandchildren love you deeply!!!!