How Close Was That?

The Prairie Family has company! My nephew and oldest sister came to town on Tuesday. We have had fun playing already, even though the weather has been sketchy. The first day they were here The Nephew went fishing 3 times! : ) We all went to the reservoir next to our house the third time. If it wasn't windy out I think we would have had a campfire too. We still had fun though.

We didn't catch anything but the evening was beautiful and worth being outside and touching worms. : )

Yesterday we had an adventure to town and I got to go to a movie in the movie theater! This only happens 2-3 times a year for The Prairie Mama, so it is an exciting experience! (I am so laughing at the fact that I am actually writing this! We're easily pleased by the little things here on The Prairie.) My sister and I saw The Proposal...SO cute! And The Nephew saw another movie...um, don't remember what.

Today was The Big Adventure day. The most desired activity of their trip was The Prairie Daddy's offer to go up to Foster Reservoir. Foster is our reservoir (or at least the water in it is ours) up on Carter Mountain. It is a 45 minute drive on 4-wheelers and it is in the Shoshone National Forest. It is one of my favorite places to go...pristine, wild and gorgeous.

I checked the weather before we left and knew that there was a good chance the skies would change in a hurry while on the mountain. We took along a picnic lunch and headed out with plenty of rain gear (just in case).

This is what the skies looked like when we left. This is Carter Mountain. See where the rock face meets the tree line in the middle right of the mountain? That is where Foster Reservoir is!

Here is a view looking back down toward the ranch

Here is my oldest sister and her son

Here The Nephew and I are...and the back of The Prairie Daddy's head

Cool views...

The 4-wheeler fleet

The Prairie Family

And this is what started happening in the skies...

Foster Reservoir

Check out this storm cloud
We were all standing around, enjoying lunch and then all of the sudden some lightening struck and like surround sound the roaring thunder went from one direction all the way around us. It was crazy. We looked at each other and simultaneously agreed it was time to get off the mountain...fast.

As we were loading up I offered rain coats and everyone took me up on it. We bundled up and at this point it began to sprinkle. We got on the 4-wheelers and headed out. The pace was much quicker on the way out then on the way in. We stopped for a bit to let my nephew catch up. I was driving my sister and The Prairie Daddy was driving The Prairie Kid. Lightning struck about 1/3 of a mile away and my sister and I jumped and gasped like never before.

We switched me from driving my sister to driving my nephew just to make sure we were really keeping pace. He was cautiously making his way down but at this point the lightening was so close and surrounding us and we knew the downpour was quickly inevitable. It was crazy at times that we were not getting rained on but we were literally surrounded by storm in all directions.

Soon we weren't just surrounded...we were in it. It was an exhilarating trek down the mountain. There were places that we were sliding on the mud like we were on an ice rink! I felt like I was in a video game it was so fast, surreal and adventurous. When we hit paved road again I "floored it" and hit 50mph in no time at all.

When we got home we were all soaked on our pant legs and our adrenaline was soaring. It continued to rain for a long time after. We had so much fun going over the details of our trip. At one point my sister shared she about lost control of the 4-wheeler and started to tip. She stuck her foot out and caught herself and pushed herself onto all 4 wheels again. Whew! We just made some memories to last a lifetime!

On Tuesday when I drove to Billings to pick my family up we went shopping for a little while. I treated myself to something I've wanted for quite awhile. Even though Prairie Life can be hard, dirty work, who says you can't look cute at the same time? Well, I debated on whether to wear these on the trip this morning but when my sister needed a pair and I could let her use my black ones it made the decision for me. So, I definitely got these broke in this morning!

A Boy And His Dog

I was reminded today of some cute pictures I took of The Prairie Kid and Jack this month. I haven't given you updates on Jack lately. Doesn't mean life with him is uneventful!

The shock collar came back in the mail and worked for a week and kicked the bucket again. Oh joy! I learned my lesson about buying a product for too cheap from another country (yes, even Canada was a risk!) on eBay. I put a want ad in the local bulletin (our town is too small to have a newspaper so we have a classified ad bulletin we can post info in) for a remote shock collar. We still need one that is for sure! Why, you ask?

Last Thursday I had to give the dog a bath because the overwhelming smell of rotting dead animal in his coat about knocked me out when I went to let him out of his kennel in the morning. He must have gotten into something the evening before and The Prairie Daddy was the one that put him to bed. That evening the phone rang and it was a neighbor (remember, neighbors around The Prairie are not right next door). "Do you have a dog?" Sheepishly I replied, "yes." "Well, he was trying to kill baby deer and I put him in a horse trailer. If he hadn't of been so friendly I would have killed him." I was humiliated. I apologized profusely and headed down the road to get Jack. He has been on "lock down" since then.

But even though there are still trials, Jack has been a trooper with The Prairie Kid. The Prairie Kid is still learning about respecting Jack and thinking about how he'd like it if someone treated him the way he is treating the dog. Jack pals around with The Prairie Kid nonetheless and hasn't responded inappropriately to the torture before we intervene. The Prairie Kid has also liked pretending that he is a dog. I caught these pics of him at the beginning of the month wearing the shock collar and mimicking Jack's behavior.

And this is what reminded me that I had those pics today...just my two kids taking a little rest.

Prairie Warning: You Can't Say I Didn't Tell You

We are enjoying a steady flow of visitors on The Prairie this season. We had several flow through during the Spring and now we're into the Summer group. This past week my cousin and his wife from California were traveling through. The Prairie Kid sees new people as an opportunity for new play-victims (smart kid). He must know that new people have energy available to play things that Mom and Dad are worn out on.

The first "play date" was a pretty simple one that didn't require a whole lot from The Big Cousin. They built a ranch together on the family room floor.

Then The Prairie Kid decided that he was going to make The Big Cousin a bull...in a pen. So much for plastic bulls the size of a stick of gum on the family room floor.

Here is The Prairie Kid locking up his new bovine:

But then The Bovine turned into a crazy monster! Run Prairie Kid!

The Prairie Kid was obviously not worried about The Monster... the hands on the hips tell me that he was really reminding The Big Cousin that he was a bull in a pen, not a monster.

And what do you do with bulls? Buck them out of course!

Hmmm, maybe there was more to the reason that The Big Cousin and his wife only wanted to stay two nights on The Prairie.

Move Along Lil' Doggies

Hey Boss! Hep! Hep! HEP! Come on cows! God cows!


That would be the sound on The Prairie this morning. I woke up this morning not having any idea that right away my plans would change. As soon as I plopped down on the big comfy recliner looking out the french doors over The Prairie with my coffee and journal and Bible the phone rang. It was The Prairie Daddy and I had 30 minutes to be at the barn if I wanted to help move cows. I raced to get ready and wake up The Prairie Kid and to the barn we went. The Prairie Kid and I were on one 4-wheeler, The Prairie Daddy on another, and a nephew and his friend on the third. The other nephew and my brother-in-law saddled up a couple of horses. We headed out from the barn corrals and ended up well past our house. It was probably 2 1/2 - 3 miles overall.

Here we are less than half way

And this is a picture of The Prairie Kid and me

And again...

Here is one of the nephews and his friend

My cutie lil' cowboy

Looking back at The Prairie Daddy. Check out that grass! Praise God!

The Kids (and Patch, the dog)

Get along lil' doggies (or cows)

Taking a break while The Prairie Daddy counted the cows going through a gate

My brother-in-law and his youngest boy

Chatting

Almost there!

Ta-da-la! You're there! Enjoy that grass!

It was a gorgeous morning. A little brisk but beautifully sunny and green after some great rain yesterday. I am sorry that my cousins who were in town the past two days weren't here for this morning. They left about 30 minutes before I got the phone call. Bummer. At least they're enjoying Yellowstone today!

Busted!

Did you know The Prairie Kid has 3 basic "needs" in life? He seems to be in a position to be quite content to survive with these 3 things:
1. Gum
2. Chapstick
3. Money
I forgot to tell you that a few weeks ago he brought in a play wallet that I hadn't seen for awhile. When he opened it up I did a double take...there was real money in there! And it wasn't a couple dollars. I asked him to show me what he had. Out came a...$20...and another....$20....and...a $50! The 3 year old Prairie Kid had $90 in his wallet! I got my wallet out and asked him if he'd trade me. He agreed, so we traded $1 for each of his big bills. How did The Prairie Daddy and I miss the fact that $90 was missing out of one of our wallets?
This past week there were a few mornings that suddenly I realized The Prairie Kid had a mouth full of gum. Where did he get it? I thought out of my purse...but it was hanging up in the mud room out of reach. Did he climb the shoe shelves and get some off of the top shelf in the mudroom cabinet? Maybe.
Then I was cleaning house for my cousins to come to town and I was putting miscellaneous annoying toys in places that would hide them from sight. And that is when I found this...

So, he had somehow gotten a whole pack and had it stashed. Well, at least I am kept on my toes and not allowed to slack off as a mom!

Who Am I And What Am I Doing Here?

Now that the marathon is over I think my brain turned to mush along with my body. I am usually up on the date, the events of the week, who I am, etc. Not so much the case these days.

Did you know that June 30th is not two weeks from June 23rd? I didn't. Last night I was telling friends that there is a concert on Friday, June 28th in two weeks. First of all, June 28th is a Sunday, and secondly, Friday is 2 days away. What happened to me? Then, I had it set in my head that my sister and nephew would be here in two weeks...June 30th. That is next week! Wow. It's probably a good thing my car is in the shop because I don't know if I should even be allowed to drive!

Last night The Prairie Daddy was in the Passion Play. There is an awesome ministry called Mission Adventures at Cowboys With A Mission. Molly the Marvelous and her hubby Dave the Dynamic run this program. A youth group can bring their kids to the CWAM base and the MA program trains them for five days for a short term mission. Then they all head up to the Crow reservation in Montana and serve for 5 days. Sweet, eh? Well, they also put on the Passion Play for the groups. My hubbers was invited to play Pilate. The play was moving and intense. They all did a great job.

The Prairie Kid was off playing with other kids when the play got started. But as it moved outside and Jesus was sentenced to crucifixion, The Prairie Kid and another boy had migrated our direction. They had stripped Jesus down to a loin cloth and there was fake blood all over him as they reenacted the guards beating him all the way to the place where they nailed him to the cross. On the ride home The Prairie Kid kept asking "Why they bang that man? Who that they bang?"

W had to explain to him that they really didn't "bang" that man, who is Mr. Chad. It was pretend. But that is what really happened to Jesus. And we talked about how Jesus didn't stay dead, but rose again on the 3rd day. We talked about how His perfect blood gives us the way to be friends with God. I am starting to see the wheels turning in The Prairie Kid's head about all of this. Yay! But he's not quite got it yet...this morning when he was thanking God for his cinnamon toast he said, "Dear Jesus, pray for Jeremy and...Mom, what's that guy who got banged?" And we went over it again. : )

The Stones Rolling

This video is long overdue. This is the video of The Prairie Kid and his group's performance at the final Galaxy program in April. This was his first ever performance in front of an audience like this. I think the head count for the night was 110 people. If it weren't for the break dancer and big kids behind him I think he might have participated more. The little girls are hilarious though!