Holy Moly

Holy Moly, I missed another night, didn't I?!  The kiddos asked me to lay with them last night to help them go to sleep. I said I would for a little bit and hours later I woke up, startled and unsure of where I was. I stumbled across the hall, trying not to run into anything, and drifted back to a fitful sleep. Needless to say, a blog post was the furthest thing from my mind.
Today was a gorgeous day. One of those Spring days that you wait all winter for. Considering that it has been blowing and freezing for DAYS and that we woke to snow on the ground yesterday, today took us by surprise. S jumped right up this morning and went to work with Meme and Papa. M, T, and I took a bit longer to get going. At least I did. After a leisurely breakfast (oatmeal for them, toast for me) we spent some time in the barn. The goats don't know what to think of T. They can't figure out why he is so much smaller than the rest of us. But what freaks them out the most are the cats. The dogs they hate, but the cats scare them. Which is just funny. After we were done in the barn, we went down to where S, Meme and Papa were feeding the cows. Papa let T "drive" the tractor. This delighted the little man so much that when it was over he acted like he couldn't believe it had happened. He kept turning his hands up and saying, "I drive twactoe" in this great voice he has when he is being silly. We then went into the hospital where there are two calves to feed. They are both quite reluctant to take the bottle, so they have to be "drenched" which means a tube is stuck down their throats and the contents of the bottle is drained into them. It sounds rough, but they don't seem to mind as much as you would think.
I needed to go grocery shopping today. S thought stretching fence sounded better than a day at the market with Mom, so he stayed behind to do that. M and T came along though. Going grocery shopping sounds fairly easy, right? Well, it's not. I am an organic shopper. Which is a hard thing to be around here. When growing season starts and farmers' markets come to town, it is so easy. We live in a food mecca. But only during the growing season. All the other seasons it requires a drive of at least thirty-five minutes. Depending on which town I decide to drive to. The longer drive is an hour. But being able to go into a Vitamin Cottage is so worth it. I was able to stock up on all of our favorite goodies. The freezer now has a few new items and the cupboards are refreshed. I love Vitamin Cottage. It was a frequent stop in Fort Collins. We would shop there one to three times a week. The best thing about not having it close by is my wallet stays full longer! We met a fellow former Front Ranger working at our Western Slope Vitamin Cottage. When she asked what brought us to this side of the mountains and I said simply, "Space", she just smiled and said she knew what I meant. That was what had brought them over as well. I guess I have traded convenience in for a little more room for the children to grow and for me to grow as well. After all, a thirty-five minute drive through the country when you are surrounded by beautiful views of the Rockies beats a thirty-five minute drive to go six miles through a congested city any day of the week.