Protecting the Girls

Last night, in the dead of night, the dog barked.

I mean, after acting half crazed this afternoon and barking all evening and then barking insanely much around eight thirty pm, my dog was driving my crazy.

My eldest, after seeing that his mama was about to have a meltdown because it had taken he and his three  brothers TWO HOURS to clean the living room (that wasn't even that messy, I know that is hard to believe, but it's true) he took it upon himself to clean out the kitty litter.

That's how I know he knew he needed to do something grand to make sure I knew he had heard me.  No one likes to clean kitty litter.

Not only did S1 clean the kitty litter, he even pulled on his boots to take the kitty litter right out to the dumpster.

He came pounding back up to the house, burst through the door, uttered the word "Opossum" and headed straight for the gun cabinet.

We have an all out hate of the opossum animal.  You may have read about my dramatic war with one in the Praise and Coffee Magazine in Spring 2011.  Earlier this year an opossum snuck into our chicken coop and killed my most favorite chicken, Holly Hoppie.

She could only hop on one leg, her other leg was non working.  We returned home one night from church and heard Holly's death cry.  The boys and I cried for days.

I hate opossums.

Anyhow, S1 went charging for the gun cabinet.

He got loaded up and with S2 at his side, the stormed outside to protect our girls - our chickens.

S3 and S4 stood on the porch...one was wearing jeans, winter boots and a tshirt.  One was wearing undies, a tshirt and bare feet.  The stood perfectly still to wait for the death shot.

The nasty opossum was in our SHED.  The shed I spoke of last night that is stocked with ice cream. In this shed also sleeps chickens...they don't like to be far from the ice cream either.  They know that's where the good food is.

I had been in that shed TWICE that very afternoon.

Whether I was in there for ice cream or not I do not need to say.

At this moment, with two boys standing on the porch clinging to each other, with one son running around with a flashlight and one son loaded with a gun and a dog barking insanely much, my husband pulled in the driveway.

He was told by four excited boy voices what was going on.

I just smiled sweetly and said, "Welcome home, baby."

He grinned as he pulled out his gun and went to join the boys.

The opossum was shot.  My husband informs me I should be nice and not put the picture on the blog.  I think of Kellyn and how she still goes on and on about the boars head post.

Then I thought of Kellyn and how she went on and on about the boar's head so I just texted the photo to her.  She was stuck in a meeting last night, she needed the photo.

Becca tells me she is not interested in the tail being sent to her either.

But here is the information I will give you about the nasty opossum that was attempting to kill my chicken and then steal our ice cream.  S1 is (gasp!) two inches shorter than me (DO NOT tell him I admitted this fact) and that opossum was as long as his waist to his boot.

Not a one of us have ever seen such a huge monster.

It was such a great shot that my husband said we could eat it for dinner.  NO WAY!!!!

Sigh.

Anyhow...

i am thankful for my boys who protect the girls - the chickies and their mama....

I'm THAT Mom - the one of Hillbilly Recipes

Kellyn, you may not want to read this.

Every morning that I drop the boys off at school, a troop of boys come out to greet me at S2's classroom.  I love it.  There are four of them total, including my S2.  S3 and S4 make a big deal out of giving all four them high fives and hugs that are so big they can lift them up off the ground - yes, my six and seven year old lifting their older brother and friends up off the ground in a hug.

Only my boys.

Anyhow, recently Jonathan - one of the four - actually stopped me before the morning greetins.  "Can you tell me how to make squirrel?" he asked.

Now, there are lots of things running through my mind but the biggest was this...

I have officially become a hillbilly.

Jonathan continued...and this I loved..."Because my mom says she doesn't know how to cook it and I know you do so you could tell her how to cook it and then we could finally eat some!"

I know Jonathan's mom...and I'm sorry...I just couldn't resist.  "Well, honey, you just get that squirrel as clean as you and your brothers can then you have your mom stick it in the crock pot with a bunch of cream of mushroom soup and cook it till it's tender."

His eyes were adoring.  He was thrilled.

"Great!" he nodded solemnly.  "Can you tell my mom that?"

"I sure will," I promised.

I did not, however, tell his mom - or Jonathan - that when one cooks squirrel like that it ends up looking like this.......

Yummy, huh?

No matter how carefully it is cleaned, when it is done cooking you will in fact find bits of hair still on it's cooked meat.

And that your boys, looking at that tiny bit of meat that doesn't even take up half a dinner plate, will think it is the best looking dinner ever.  

They will carefully carve off bits of the meat and savor every bite, pronouncing they have the best cook in the whole world and their brother to be the best shot.  And the cook (being the mother) will do the motherly thing and make sure all her boys have all the food they can eat - sacrificing her share of the meat to the hunter who provided the meat.

The funny thing is THE WEEK this happened to me - Jonathan asking me about how to cook squirrel - another friend sent me a picture of her son eating...SQUIRREL.  She knew I would appreciate such a picture...and understand her horror.

When the weekend was over, I asked Jonathan how it had gone eating his squirrel.  "Well," he said, "My mom says we would need a whole lot of squirrels to feed us all so it may take some time.  But then we'll make it like how you told my mom!"

Excuses To Be Late To School

I have decided to offer our services to you.

Need a new original excuse to be late to school? Just look up Life With Four Boys...Coffee Please and I'll keep a running tally on all sorts of great excuses.

As an added bonus, I will include serious ailments to come up with in case you need a day off.

Take today as an example.

Tuesday night is football practice.  This week we had a late Sunday night because S1 shot ANOTHER doe with his bow and we didn't get to bed till after ten.  Then Monday was practice and Daddy, S1 and S2 had to watch highlights of S2's game.  Twice.  Tuesday was practice and we all went along, Moma walked the track during practice or helped a crying S3 with homework.  We ate back straps for a special dinner and didn't get to bed till nine.

Enter Wednesday.

It's cold, so it's hard to wake up.

It's spirit week for homecoming so there are specific clothes to search for...and a realization that we do not own any T-shirts sporting any singing groups or stars.

S2 was going to pack a knife in his lunch to cut up the venison he wanted to bring to school to eat for lunch.  Thankfully, S1 and I caught it and raised all kinds of fear in the rest of the boys of bringing a knife to school.

We then had to cut up venison for lunch.

Butter and honey sandwiches suddenly are not liked and much coaxing was needed to convince S4 that yes, his lunch would be good.

Moma got  totally slightly distracted watching about the new iphone4s just released...but then she caught all the boys watching too so she had to turn the news off.

S4 then had to hug every single stuffed animal goodbye.  This is the first day he's not allowed to bring his stuffed friends to school.  He usually brings about four or five.  Every. Single. One. was hugged and lined up perfectly on the dining room table to greet him upon his arrival home.

Here's the best part....as we were leaving the driveway, the chicken literally would not move to let us pass and drive down the driveway.

I can not make this stuff up.

We dropped the boys off to school, where I have not a clue what to make for dinner because I am too tired to think anymore.  Wednesday does that to me.

S4 began to let me know his finger was beginning to hurt so badly and perhaps wondered if I thought he would be all right to be at school all day with such an injury.

I made it out of the school at 8:11.  School starts at 8:10.

Feel free to use all and any excuses.....

But be sure to check out your kiddos lunches.  I was in the kitchen with them and missed the knife.  What makes perfect sense to them does not always fly at school.

A Monster Buck

S1 was determined he was going to get buck this year. We had been hearing about a 12 point buck and my sister in law nearly hit it one morning (I won't tell you what Hubs, my brother, and S1 had to say about her braking for it instead of speeding up to hit it.) She said it was the biggest buck she had ever seen....and she would know. My brother is an avid hunter and is the one who takes S1 on his hunts.

S1 had worked hard at staying quiet and sitting at his stand or in the tree for more than an hour at a time (hard work for an eleven year old on a cold day).

He had a chance for a doe and her yearlings. But he missed. Three times. And was crushed.

One rainy dark cold dank nasty night, we were sitting all warm and cozy in the house finishing dinner when we heard a shot.

Close.

We waited a bit and then we heard another shot.

I sent a text to our neighbor and it hadn't been Trav. We heard the four wheeler and knew it was someone very very close to us.

I kept an eye on face book and it wasn't long before I seen it was my friend across the field's husband, Matt.

Matt had gotten the elusive big buck. Who turned out to be an 11 point. That scored 154.5 inches.

I wondered how S1 would take the news. I mean, he had big dreams for this buck. Daddy had promised him we would get it mounted if he shot it.

And the neighbor had gotten it.

Not any neighbor. A neighbor who had kept S1 and S2 busy this fall with wood and odd chores, paying them well so S1 could go on his hunt this winter. He and his wife had taken very good care of the boys and the boys thought the world of them.

Andrew was quiet for a bit before he began to grin. "Well, if anyone should get it, it should be Mr. Matt. He deserves to get such a big deer."

He then asked me every five minutes or less if we could go see it.

There are moments when you are proud of your kids. So much so you just nearly burst with joy over them.

That was this night.

He could have been angry or bitter, although I didn't think he would be. Instead he was probably almost as excited as Matt. Seriously. Mr. Matt turned out to be the most famous guy at school the next day, thanks to S1. Our property borders their's and S1 was thrilled THIS buck had been on OUR property too and that his FRIEND Mr. Matt had shot it. And HE got his picture taken with it.

I didn't mind that I was the only girl in the garage with a bunch of guys I didn't know so my boys could see this historic buck. Or at least, didn't mind too much. But this smile made my day...heck, it made the hunting season.

Congratulations again to a great hunter, Matt Rairigh.

Take a moment to meet my friend (his wife) Kristi. She has two little girls and since her life is so different then mine (just in that she has adorable girls and I have rowdy boys....but even my boys are super impressed with their girls...now THAT is saying a LOT), I always look forward to any fb updates the girl has to offer.

Follow Kristi's BRAND NEW blog REALITY CHECK! Life's a Gift....Really.

Moma is on the Prayer List.....

Isn't it great to know that your kids spill their guts in Sunday school?

Yah, I am too. To know they feel they can bring anything to the table to ask their teachers and friends to pray to God with them to an answer for prayer.

For instance, when S1 goes to Sunday school and when asked if he has a prayer requests he says “Please pray for my Moma. She doesn't realize that it's sparrow season all year long so when I ask to go out and hunt she says “no, it's not season for anything” and then I can't go. But it IS hunting season for sparrows and I don't want to talk back to her so please pray for her.”
Yup, he did that to me.

And both teachers stopped me at two separate times to let me know, and then they talked with me about it together. Yah, I just love their concern.

Husband got laughing hard about it all. “Now that is thinking! He puts you on the prayer request list and BAM, prayer answered by God.”

S1's First Hunting Thrill

Today we are turning the blog over to S1, he will recount his first hunting thrill.

S1 begins with.....

It all started when I was putting up a ground blind and S2 lost his shoe in a leaf pile behind the ground blind when a deer walked out of the field.

I told S2 and S3 to stay by the ground blind to look for S2's shoe while I RAN for the house. I was sure it might be the best day of my life. I grabbed my bow and ran back to the field. S2 told me that the deer was hiding in some brush at the end of our property line.

I came up over the top of the hill and I never knew that a six point buck was staring at me. The buck ran into the neighbor's field. With sadness, I walked over to a tree where many bucks have passed by. I waited and waited and two does came out. It was getting very dark and I watched the deer for about 15 minutes and I spooked them a couple times. Finally when they were about to leave, I took a shot that I should have never shot. The deer was 32 yards away and I shot thru grass. I thought I was having a heart attack. And I have yet to find my arrow.

My uncle came over to help me look for it, and even an experienced hunter like him never found no blood or no arrow. Wish me luck next time.

S1 Can Hunt !

Over the weekend, my Dad took S1 to hunter’s safety. It was an all day Sunday, test Monday evening sort of class. Husband had a church obligation and I, well, I just wasn’t sure they would appreciate me showing up with S2, S3 and S4 in tow for hunter’s safety! S1 loved the class. He says he never knew learning could be so much fun!

On Sunday night, he could hardly stop talking about the class and all he had to learn and know. He sat at the table studying until I made him go to bed, only I am sure he was still studying in bed too. When I got the boys up in the morning, before he was even dressed he was spouting all sorts of information to me. When he packed his back pack, he made sure he had all his notes safely tucked into his back pack and checked it a few times for good measure.

He was sure the school day would take forever.

When he got home, he gave me his lunch box. It was nearly full. This boy is on his way to out eating his daddy so I was shocked. I offered him a piece of cake. “Oh no, I’m fine, I’m not really hungry. I have been studying all day, Moma, and I didn’t get as much studying done as I thought I would. Do you think I’ll be okay?”

I assured him he would be fine, amazed he was so nervous he couldn’t eat!

When the boys had finished with the cake (keep in mind, it doesn’t take too long. S3 had handed me his glasses, slipped from his coat that still had the back pack attached to it, let it fall to the ground and had cake in his hand in mere short milliseconds), and the dog had gotten to eat all the ‘oops’, I told the boys to hop in the suburban to drive to my parents for S1’s class. S1 RAN as fast as he could to get in, hollering at his brothers to get in, he buckled his brother in record moments and we were off.

I am sure the ride took him forever!

When we arrived to my parents, he jumped out and hurried into the house where, to his horror, his grandpa wasn’t even home from work yet. My mom offered him food and then nearly dropped the sandwich she was making when he turned down the fresh chicken sandwich.

S1 began to pace.

I got the boys loaded up to head home to finish our dinner making when in pulled my Dad, his truck nearly overflowing with manure to be spread on the field. The horror and panic in S1’s face at the sight of that truck was laughable. I knew my Dad would leave the manure for later in the week, but S1 didn’t yet. He trotted after the truck and I am sure my Dad would have had that truck unloaded in lightening speed if he found out it had to be unloaded before he could go!

Instead my Dad loaded S1 into the 49 Panel truck with the cool horn and the turquoise visor and headed to town with him.

They arrived home at 9:45, 45 minutes after my bedtime, not to mention my Dad’s. S4 was awake with me; sure S1 would forget to make it home so while I putted about the house he worked on making his letters. When my Dad pulled in, S4 was all about throwing open the front door and screeching his happy hellos.

S1 was beaming. I wasn’t sure he could grin much more. He had left his pacing self behind and now this boy in front of me was strutting into the house, strutting about showing me all his papers that say he passed. Since he was four he has lived for this day, when he was finally able to officially hunt. I am sure we will be getting his license today and all the brush he has painstakingly moved away for a good shot of a deer. Any deer he gets will seem a monster to him, I am sure. But there really is a monster buck out in our field and I would love for him to shoot it. How thrilling would that be?

Extra special thanks to my wonderful Dad, who truly made S1’s dreams come true. S1 had the most fun spending time with you…….

And one more note, thanks to my hubby for my lap top so I can type out this blog while the main big computer with everything on it is infected with some sort of nasty awful virus. Thanks to RR to working on it for me, you know I'd be hopelessly lost without you for it!