We have a Great Pyrenees. He will be three years old this coming November. Right now he's looking like he has the mange, but he doesn't. He's just shedding his huge winter coat. Still. And he spends all day laying in the dirt.
Welcome!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Our Great Pyrenees
We have a Great Pyrenees. He will be three years old this coming November. Right now he's looking like he has the mange, but he doesn't. He's just shedding his huge winter coat. Still. And he spends all day laying in the dirt.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Story of Sabina Mary Rooch, my Great-great grandmother
While doing some family history several months ago, I found some cousins of my dad who had some information I didn't. I was able to help them a little, too. Here is the story of one of my great-great grandmas. A city girl thrown into county life, she lost two sons and her husband at fairly young ages. The following is an unedited, short biography.
"Sabina Mary Rooch was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 28, 1849.She was the first child of J. Fredrick Rooch and Eva Marie Gunther. She came to San Fransisco in 1851 or 1852 and in 1860 went to Anaheim with the original colonists.
She married Daniel Sorensen on May 17, 1866 in Los Angeles and they had seven children. They settled on the land that Daniel and his brothers Christian and Anton bought from Pio Pico, the last Spanish Governor of California. At this time this area was int he middle of no where and it was hot and dusty. Sabina was a city girl and this had to be a traumatic experience for her. She not only took care of her husband and children, but also took care of the household chores for her husbands two brothers and 6-8 ranch hands for the main meal in the afternoon.
Even with all the men around, she had trouble getting some things done. She would ask and ask for someone to cut some wood for her stove and she was usually ignored. One day she stopped asking and let the wood run out. That afternoon she went outside and clanged the bell for dinner and all the men came running for their meal. They came in the house and she was sitting in her chair. They all stood there silent looking at the table. It had one platter with a pigs tail on it. They turned to her and she said, "No wood, no dinner."
She was always having to chase the pigs from her vegetable garden because the pens needed fixing. Many times she asked for the pends to be fixed but to no avail. One day she saw them in her garden and instead of chasing them, she grabbed a gun, went outside and shot every one of them. She went into the house and sat down. The men hearing the shots came running. They saw the dead pigs in the garden and went into the house to check on her. She said "If someone will remove the dead pigs from the garden I will get a vegetable for our dinner but it will be a cold day in hell before we will have any pork."
Frustrations were many for this young girl. Needless to say it was a hard life for her and this is probably the reason Daniel sold his interests in this land to his brother. Sabina and family returned to Anaheim in 1876.
Two of her children, Frederick and Willie, preceded her in death. Her daughter Sophie preferred a more cosmopolitan life and moved to San Fransisco, though she maintained a home in Los angeles also. The others remained in Southern California. She moved to Los Angeles about 1910 and remained there until her death on August 25, 1918. She is at the Inglewood Park Cemetary."
I'm not sure who wrote this; I'm assuming it was her daughter Sophie, or possibly daughter Pauline.
Family history can be so interesting. I love having accounts of life before my time. It makes me appreciate the modern conveniences I have (like a clothes washing machine, a car, and modern medicine), but also makes me wish I was born a hundred and fifty years ago, when life was a little simpler.
I do like my modern medicine, though.
(If you are reading this and think we might be related, by all means please email me or leave a comment!)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Summer Fun
The kids are in swim lessons again. I know they are going to regress over the winter, and they have come so far in just a short amount of time. I don't have to get in the water this time. Yay!
Got back from Girl's Camp. Not much to say about that, and no pictures, either. I was part of the kitchen help, and once again worked with some good ladies. I had a great time.
"The Magic Treehouse" idea for keeping the kids up on reading and learning was a complete flop. However, the library has been a great place to go. I'm afraid that Will hasn't done much reading yet, and that means a loss of skills. I'll have to put him through a mini reading boot camp of sorts to freshen his brain before school starts.
I have been debating over whether or not to put the kids in soccer. All the good things that come from sports, like teamwork, physical fitness, and commitment to a team and practice are valuable experiences. However, I live far away and I don't want to be a soccer mom. Or football mom, or fill-in-the-blank-with-another-sport kind of mom. Not yet. Not until I see some real begging and pleading. After giving it some thought, I've decided to start my own cross country team. All of my kids enjoy running, and it doesn't cost much. We can have daily practice as we run a lap around our 3/4 mile track. I will try and find a suitable fun run this fall and enter them in. They'll get the physical fitness part of it, they'll get the sticking to a commitment part of it, and they'll get the personal competition part of it. They won't get much teamwork because running this style is a solo sport. But, you know? I feel like we get a lot of teamwork training because of the age of my kids being so close, and because of our very close living conditions. Anyone in my area interested in having our own fun runs, let me know. If I can't find anything suitable (distance and schedule), I might be throwing one together before it gets too cold.
On a related note, I have started training for a mud run. Only a 5k, because I think that's all I can handle right now. Time without children is non-existent, so if I wake up before everyone else I can squeeze out 30-40 minutes of alone time. I'm trying out the "Couch to 5k" program via my iPhone app "C25K" which lets you run to your own music while a voice tells you when to run and walk. Actually training for something is the only way I seem to keep myself motivated right now. I know once I get into it I'll be back to my usually fit self. I've had a rough year. Starting now, the next 12 months will be better.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Gone Fishin'. Sort of.
Be back in the blogging world this weekend when I get back from some time away from technology.
That does not refer to the fact that I sometimes randomly lose my telephone capabilities.
Or to the fact that Sunday morning my satellite Internet was down, my phone was down, and we will never, ever have cell phone reception where I live. No, this is the self imposed kind of technology break, that includes some time camping in the mountains.
I'm ready. Just as soon as I find my air mattress.
What? My hips bruise if I sleep on the ground.
Back soon!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Long Overdue House Update: Lots of Pictures, Very Few Details
Find Three Things Wrong With Things Picture
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Care and Feeding of Barncats (No Barn Needed)
- To take care of the eyes, I took a warm wash cloth to clean out their eyes twice a day. I think they bonded to me... the wet wash cloth must have felt like a mommy cat's tongue. Now they won't leave me alone. I also put drops in their eyes. I used some of my kids' pink-eye drops. One drop in each eye, twice a day for two days. I bumped it up to two drops twice a day when their eyeballs didn't fall out, and the goopiness cleared up in about five days. Ryan said that any farm supply store worth it's salt will have OTC antibiotics for animals, usually in paste form. Don't quote me on that fact though, as I had access to my small supply of left over tobramycin.
- I fed them dry cat food, mixed with a little wet for the first week we had them. They got the hang of dry food pretty quickly.
- They don't care for skim milk as much as they do heavy cream. I give them a little cream everyday. Just a little, so they'll stick around and find this to be a happy place.
- We named them Steve. All of them. That way, if one should disappear (hello, coyotes!), the kids won't be too attached to one in particular.
- The kids have done a great job desensitizing them. The rub them, carry them everywhere, sometimes pull their tails (never okay and always get busted for that one...), and generally call them "kitty" and try to nickname them, and put them on stuff. Tricycles, baskets, and the fence are some favorites.
- They are sleeping in our trailer in one of the under compartments. They are off the ground and have a safe place to get away from the kids, if needed. At first we locked them up so their little mews wouldn't attract bigger prey animals. After a few weeks we leave the door open on their "house."
- They came trained for a litterbox. There is a box in their house, but in the next few weeks I'm going to spread some kitty litter on the ground and see if they'll start using one of the vast area of our dirt property.
Kids Helping in the Kitchen: Cupcakes
Yesterday I went to my parent's house to swim and make cupcakes. Frozen cupcakes are good! I made three cake mixes, just following the directions on the back.
The kids love to help in the kitchen, but they are often detrimental to the project and just get in the way.
However, (this is my genius showing up, right now!) I made each cake mix in a gallon zippie bag.
- There were NO dishes or mixer to clean.
- The kids helped by massaging the bags until the mixes were mixed.
- When it was time to pour the mix into the muffin pan, I snipped the corner and piped in the mix. No mess on the pan!
I'm sure this isn't new, but for me it is, and it's going to become a permanant feature in our home.
(PS- Can't wait to have my own kitchen!)
Friday, July 16, 2010
Breathe Deeply, or Crack-up?
- Uses two pairs of scissors to open a jelly packet. In my bedroom.
- Spills tomato soup all over the kids table, the floor, and Kacy. Because he is running and falls over Will. Whom he is chasing. In our trailer.
- He spills juice in the bathroom. I hear, "Oopsie- daisy. (Pause) Uh, Mom? I need a wittle help here."
- He falls off the couch and hurts his arm.
- He falls down the three stairs we have and hurts his body. Because he is jumping from the top.
- He puts his boots on to go outside, realizes they are full of dirt, takes them off and proceeds to dump the dirt onto the floor. He looks up at me when he realizes that what he did wasn't quite right, brushes some of the dirt around with his hand and with eyes averted mumbles, "Well, it's not too bad." (It IS bad! VERY BAD. I had just mopped the night before.)
- He plays with a tape measure (that I've taken away from him once already) and stretches it up and up and up... and into the ceiling fan. It was on. Try it. But watch your fingers and everyone's heads around you. Fair warning.
- And last, but not least, he finds my dull kitchen scissors and gives Jessie a haircut.
- Oh, but wait! While I'm trying my best not to kill him, I notice he had also cut his already short hair. He has a bald spot right on top of his head.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Day Trip To Morro Bay and Cayucos, CA
A Word Of Advice
If someone in your family is working with any form of fiberglass insulation, and you do their laundry, make sure YOUR undies are NOT in the wash with their work clothes.
Love,
Itchybum
Monday, July 12, 2010
Rafting with Kern River Tours
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Newborn Photography; My First Shoot
Monday, July 5, 2010
Kid Quotes
Whenever I publish my blog into book form and look back at years past, some of my favorite entries are the ones with the little details about my kids. I heard some fun (for me) quotes this weekend.
From Will to everyone in the car after the fireworks show:
"Wasn't the bowling alley awesome? That was my favorite part!"
Me:"We didn't go to the bowling alley."
Will: "Ya, you know, it went BOOM, BOOM, BOOM and was all bright!"
Me: "You mean the grand finale?"
Will: "Ya, that! The grand finale."
From Jessie, as she was palying and stood up only to hit her head on a board.
"Oh, snap." (Thank-you Chicken Little movie.)
From Kacy and Jessie as we pulled into the parking lot at church:
Jessie: "My daddy's here! Yea!"
Kacy: "I don't see his truck."
Jessie: "Yes he is. His truck right there."
Kacy: "No, that's not dad's truck. That truck is all clean and shiny. Dad's is really dirty."
Ryan had, in fact, taken his truck to the carwash this week. The first time in a long time.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Happy Independance Day!
Friday, July 2, 2010
New Photography Gear; a Worklight and A Backdrop
At the beginning of June, a friend of mine asked me to take a few pictures of her baby, who was due later that month. Mindi's baby girl was born last week! Ever since she mentioned it, I've been planning and plotting, and I'm almost ready. A trip to the fabric store will get me set, I think. In preparation, I've been looking up some lighting information and looking at lots and lots of pictures others have taken of newborns, courtesy of Flickr. I am developing a taste, which I hope translates into a style. We'll see what happens with her cute baby, but for now, I am experimenting on my dirty, unkempt, lovely offspring. I bought a background stand with two backdrops. (The cluttered trailer and the joshua trees/dirt get old after awhile.) The stand is portable and came with a bag. It's really easy to set up.
I started with the black background because I thought it would get less dirty, and because there are a few pictures I'm drawn too that have the all black background. I used my bathroom in the "big house" because that is where we work out and it has a rug. It's the least dirty of anywhere I know. (The trailer is too small to attempt the stand.)
I used the open southwest facing window, at about 6:30pm. It was too bright. I should have closed it. It's frosted glass and would have diffused perfectly. Lesson learned. I also have a daylight rated CFL. I have since diffused that, too. I'm not interested in strobes, but I thought a supplemental light might be nice in case the available light is a little weak.
I got better with the boys- the girls background had to be burned to even out the background. With the boys' pictures, I exposed for the background, so that there was minimal post-processing required. It is so much nicer just to get it right .
Now, if I would have made sure they had clean shirts, combed hair, and no juice "mush-mashes," these pictures would almost be good! The boys found the safety glasses and thought they were SO COOL.
I might go buy a tarp and then lay out the white background, and practice with that. And when I do, I'll make sure my little models are groomed!