Our Aweful Beautiful Life

It's kind of surreal to realize I get to celebrate Mother's day. Honestly, I'm just happy that I've still got a mother I can share this special day with and thank her for all the things she's taught me over the years. She's still the one I want to talk to when I'm in a bad mood (unless she's brutally honest, then I'd rather just talk to Dad!), the one I lean on for sound advice, and the one I call first when the kids are sick to see if it warrants a call to the doctors office. I'm pretty sure I'll be one lost puppy when she's gone...but for now, we're soaking it up together. I can honestly say I couldn't ask for a better Mom/best friend. It's true what they say about girls growing into women and their mom's having a dual role later in life. I'm pretty darn pleased with the dual role woman I got placed in my life. And I'm hopeful that someday I get to share in that same dual role with my daughter. She completed my...

Well, after two months of fighting illness and decline, we had to make the tough decision to put Murphy down today. It wasn't easy -- but we'd seen steady decline and you have to consider the dogs health vs. our own need/want to have the pet in our life. We have had Murphy for nearly 7 years -- since he was 8 1/2 weeks old. Our first baby, if you will. I know that sounds cliche, and trust me, having grown up on a busy road out on the farm, we weren't used to having a dog as a pet for more than a few months, maybe years, at a time. They'd run away. They'd get hit. Whatever the case, they didn't seem to stick around long. And aside from Heidi and now Rocky, I don't quite recall a love this strong for a pet. Well, aside from my pigs...I loved them each summer, but that was different. When I was two, (I think) my Grandpa Hall gave me my first dog - Heidi. She was a beautiful beagle and she hung out with us until I was in late elementary school, perhaps 6th gra...

Most kids would flinch when given a lemon to suck on or a shot of lemon juice. Not our kids. They walk around the dining room sucking on a bottle of lime juice. HAHAHA :) We're normal. Really. We are.

Saturday we got to welcome home four beautiful black calves. Colton and I stayed up late Friday night in his bed arguing over names -- but I think we've come to a nice compromise. I wanted to name them after Purdue-ish things. He wanted to name them after the Falcons. When he quickly realized he only knows two Falcons, Jacob and Silas, the argument didn't last long. Meet Mackey, Pete, Silas & Jacob -- our newest additions! Not only do I love having animals as part of our landscape, but I love the lessons that they teach my kids and the responsibility to care for them. I loved watching their curiosity this morning as Grandpa, Jason & Rossco helped to put them in the barn. Grandpa is so excited to share his love of farm animals with the kids! We are so blessed to have these opportunities, and even more blessed to have parents who share in our love for farming and agriculture! Colton has been so excited, and we are both excited to watch Colton take an a...

Just a quick update that Murphy is back to his normal self. He is barking at the windows when we have visitors, jumping up on our bed at night, and racing us up the stairs. He has made a complete turn around. Special thanks to my awesome Uncle Marc for helping to provide me peace of mind when ole Murph wasn't well, and to Creekside Animal clinic for helping to diagnose and make Murph better.

It's been a doozey around here lately. I'm not sure what's gotten into Colton, but holy cow, the kid has been on fire here recently. A few of the things that have caused me to stifle a laugh...and let a few slip.. -- "Mom, I wasn't even going fast on the gator. (ugh, huge over exaggerated sigh) I mean, I was going the speedlimit, and she um, she just fell off" -- "Um, your house is weird and it kind of smells funny." -- to Uncle Trent on his first ever spend the night adventure. Think he'll be invited back?? -- "Trent. Uh (looking around, with that weird "what the heck" expression on his face), you don't have anything nice" - same night, same adventure. Trent's a saint of a Godfather! -- "Mom, can I use my cuss finger to show you something?" -- yes, he got in BIG trouble late last week for mimicing someone flipping the bird. At least now he's well aware... -- For the last year or more, we've...

Good thing he doesn't typically read this blog or I'm sure that post title would go straight to his head. Beyond that, this is my sly way of working in a "Holy Shit Kim turned 30" post without blatantly screaming it to the world. (Which, isn't that the reason Birthday's are so fun anyway??)  Well, regardless,...it's not about me, it's about Hubs. He did a fantastic job with me turning 30. All of it...the emotional wreck I have been in the couple of weeks leading up to the big day, the surprise party he threw me (yes, he did...more to come on that), the gift he gave me, the evening he spent with my family on my actual birthday. The man did well. The only bad thing, is that I'll be forever indebted to him. At least until his next birthday...then maybe I'll be off the hook. My birthday was on a Tuesday this year, so Friday evening before my birthday, I was EXTREMELY antsy. I had no idea what our plans were for the whole weekend, and for crying o...