Ahh!

The days are just flying by.

It seems like last week, but it was really last month, that my cousin Shannon asked if Ruthie and Guilford could come and spend the night this weekend while she was away at a conference.  I said absolutely.  And they've been here all day. 

In fact, they're upstairs sleeping right now.

We've had a fun/long/busy/exhausting day.

#1: We woke up....it seems like I'm always tired....even when I get enough sleep.....I guess the days are so filled and busy that I don't really catch up.  Oh well.

#2: We had to run out and check cows (the four kids and me)....No new babies today.....kind of a relief since we had 11 or 12 yesterday.    Matt was out spreading fertilizer on the hay fields right after he ate breakfast because of the rain that was headed our way....
         This (checking cows) resulted in something we wouldn't discover until three hours later......

#3: Matt finished, came home, and we all headed into town to run some errands.  It all turned out fine...the kids were pretty good.  Ruthie has proven may times today that she is a LIFESAVER! What a great kid! She's so awesome and always willing to help...whether it's me or to occupy the kids.  I love her!

#4: Our trip to town resulted in Clarence crying because I let him pick out only one can of pop at the store - he wanted "lots of root beer", which I wouldn't give in to.

#5: We drove into the yard to find about 75 cows running around the yard, most of them eating beet pulp.

(This was the result of checking cows this morning...Clarence is the "main gate man", but his double-checking hasn't quite kicked in yet, and he missed latching the gate correctly....which resulted in the mess of cows running everywhere.)
#6: I almost died because of this.

#7:  Mostly because of all the running and yelling I did trying to chase them in.  This was the most exhausting part of my day. 

It's not something I'd like to repeat every day.  It took about 45 minutes to chase the cows back in.  Which brings me back to Ruthie.  Have I mentioned yet that I love her?  She brought the kids into the house (where it's safe) and played with them until I came in to feed the kids - about an hour later.  I don't know how I would've ever managed to help Matt chase all the cows back in and worry about the safety of my children.  Obviously, I wouldn't have been much help to Matt had Ruthie not been here.

#8:  Ate dinner.  All three little kids napped.  So did Matt.  I thought about it.  Then finished washing dishes. 

#9: We baked cookies.  Delicious peanut butter/oatmeal/choc. chip cookies. They're my favorite!  I shouldn't really say "we". Ruthie pretty much did it herself; I washed dishes some more, then gave the little kids snacks and such....

#10: We made homemade pizzas for supper.....one of my favorite meals!

#11: I got my "Pioneer Woman Cooks" Cookbook (#2) in the mail today.  I'm loving it.

#12: All three kids got baths; Clarence was quite naughty off and on throughout the afternoon.  Which resulted in no pop after supper while the other kids got to drink theirs.  He wasn't happy.  Neither was I.  We'll both live, though. 

#13: It's only 10-ish and I'm so ready for bed.


Goodnight, all.

Sleep tight.

We've got another wild day again tomorrow.  My cousin Savannah's bridal shower in the morning and a benefit for the baby daughter of my kids' babysitter in the evening.  I'm so happy Ruthie's here to go with me, especially since I'll be trying to help with the shower, and I'll definitely be more help with her there than if she wasn't going to be there.  She's so helpful, and I'm so thankful!

Sleep tight!