good morning

most mornings, i wake thinking about how its too early and why does ripp have to have a job that involves an alarm. those mornings spent waking...dosing...waking...nope, still want to sleep...are the best! sunday morning was one of those mornings, with breakfast finally coming around 11 0'clock. oh, how i love sunday mornings. this morning, however, i woke up thinking about a road trip that took place about a year ago. we were one movie away from being back home after a day of driving from sandpoint, id. we had stopped in...somewhere in idaho and grabbed one last red box movie in desperation. a few minutes in, an emotional moment had my emotional daughter in tears, with a pesky little brother adding salt to the wound with his teasing and giggles. i remember being that tender-hearted as a little girl, with the same dose of bratty brother to go along with it. since my nerves were past fried, i left the moment to them and drove along in silence while it passed. an hour later, as we were pulling into the valley i once again heard sniffles coming from the back seat. i looked back to check on the girl and found her and the boy with tears running down their faces, trying hard to swallow the lumps in their throats. i wish i could put into the words the ten second video i have permanently burned into the just-for-snippets-of-life-that-i-will-NEVER-forget section of my brain. of watching him intensely focused on the movie with tears rolling down his cheeks, of watching him process exactly what was happening, then finally giving into the emotions and throwing his hands over his face while sobbing. it was precious and ironic. sweet and hilarious. he had just been handed a much needed dose of his own medicine and i loved every stinkin' second of it. we are loading up the car to make that trip again this weekend, and with the road being as long as last year, i am sure i can count on some tense and silly moments.

seems like just yesterday that the kids were running the neighborhood in 90+ degree weather, swimming with friends, bringing me home pet spiders. come to think of it, that was just yesterday. now they are in school-both of them for the entire day!!! and here i am, sitting at my computer just waiting for the door to open and the requests for popsicles and drinks to begin. i am amazed how quickly it got so quiet, just chloey's snoring and the hum of this here computer to keep me company. for about 6 more hours

then she, a 4th grader, and he, a 1st grader, will run through the door and summer will resume.

happy school to you!!!

back in the ranch

my ripp, killing minutes in the airport and obviously already missing home, sent me a text that read, "you should update your blog."

well...

the chicks are growing fast. their feathers are pretty, their legs are disgusting and they aren't laying yet. we are feeling like there may be a rooster among us, but we won't know until we finally hear him.

sisters roxy and sara joined the ranch a week ago and have returned it to its former glory. they have pretty large hoofs to fill, but i'm not worried. although we thought coco was pretty unique, i have realized that goats are just unique creatures. quirky, silly, sweet, needy and darn cute.

chloey is still here and can be found sprawling in the shade on most days. while the hitch in her hip seems to be getting worse and slowing her down, her enthusiasm for us and truck rides is still there.

finally, no ranch would be complete without a cow-dog. although she is gentle with the sisters and her affections seems sincere, i am still pretty sure that she'd eat the entire coop if given the chance.

oh, and the ranch hands around here? we still have them. one is sweating it out in the torturous texas heat and the other two are cooling off in a nearby pool. hope to see them soon.