Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Monday afternoon we came home from school and the kids were playing outside. I was going through the mail and Ellie came in. "Mama, can I have some water?" I said,"Water? Why do you need water?" she replied "Oh I just need some." Very cool. Then I noticed a greasiness to her face and that she was holding her hands weird. "What's on your face?" with a look of complete innocence "I don't know..." "Ellie, WHAT is on your face???" at which point I pulled her closer and smelled bug spray. {We keep it on the front porch} "Ellie is that bug spray on your face?" the sobs begin "YESSS!!! It's tastes BAD. I need some water." So I consoled her and told her it was ok and rushed to the bathroom to wash her face and hands and get water. I got her all cleaned up and I am telling her the whole time that it's ok but bug spray can make her sick and she shouldn't spray it on herself. "I didn't spray it." she told me. "Who sprayed the bug spray?" "Mason." "Ellie, Mason cannot even spray bug spray and he was not on the porch. Tell me the truth." She INSISTED, "MASON DID IT!" "Ok, go to your room." I follow her to her room and tell her that she needs to tell the truth and that I am not mad about the bug spray but she IS going to be in trouble if she lies to me. That's her story and she's sticking with it. About this time, Brandon and Mason walk in. In one last ditch effort I say "Ok, Ellie, I am going to smell Mason's hands. If they smell like bug spray, I will believe you. If they don't smell like bug spray, you are in time-out." Stinker that she is, she didn't even blink. She might as well have said "I. AIN'T. SKEERD!" So I smell Mason's hands and as you can probably guess, they smelled like dirty little boy, but NOT BUG SPRAY. Ok she's in time-out. Tears ensue. So after her 4 minutes I go back in and give her one more shot at the truth. "Ellie, this is your last chance or you are getting 4 more minutes. Who sprayed the bug spray?" "I did Mama. Can I give you a hug? I love you." Way to change the subject! So I told her that I don't like lying and that Mama's always know the truth. Then she lied to Brandon about something else last night.
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NEWS ON THE HERD:
I know news about Jennifer the cowgirl thrills you so I thought I'd share...We have two new babies. One had been expected for many weeks but the other was a surprise last night. We all got to ride out on the four wheeler last night and see it. When we went out there it was still wet and we think it took it's first steps for us! It is TINY. I think Lucy is bigger than this cow! We also think it might be a little early.
Also, today I am sending my first cows to slaughter. As you can tell, we all have a sort of relationship with these cows. I mean, they all have NAMES! But I am realistic about it and they are not pets. We have two cows that we've been planning to eat for quite some time. Being that I am trying to keep things REAL and eat local, how much more local can I get??? I haven't had a good steak in a while so somebody fire up the grill!
It's the circle of life. Sometimes I get frustrated with farm life and think how much easier things would be if we lived in a neighborhood. In Gallatin. With sidewalks. But then there are times when I realize my kids will have so many experiences that I never had. And they do have the best of both worlds since they can always go to Gallatin and ride bikes at Nana and Poppop's!
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I made another trip to the Mennonite produce market for some veggies and fruit. YUM! I also bought some stuff for a co-worker. I got cantelope, squash, peas, and corn for $6. Ellie helped me shell peas and shuck corn. I told her she could take the shells and husks to the cows so she made about 90 trips from the front porch to the gate. She took two peas shells at a time! I told her if she would wait she could take a whole bucket to them, but she told me they were very hungry so she needed to get the shells to them right away.

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This morning, Brandon got Mason up and turned on Mickey Mouse for him. Brandon said, "You want to watch Mickey Mouse?" "AAALLL RIGHT!" I went to check on him and he said "HI MOM!" I found him sitting on the arm of Brandon's recliner, knees bent, feet up, pretending to talk on the REAL phone that he had taken off the hook."Hed doh?" THAT KID!

Ellie's birthday is coming up. She requested a "friend party" at Imagination Station. {10 am Saturday- Imagination Station in BG Fitness for Women on Lover's Lane. Join us!} She has requested 3 different cakes. First was Dora, then Backyardigans and then yesterday it was rainbow with blue icing??? I went with Backyardigans with blue icing and thankfully this morning she said "My birthday is Saturday. And I will have a Backyardigans cake!" SCORE! It should be a fun weekend. Brandon's dad and Linda are coming tomorrow to hang out with us for the evening and Ellie is super excited about that. Everyone except Brandon's brother and his family is coming. Hopefully we will be able to make some time to get up to IN to visit very soon.