Never thought we'd do it--now we wouldn't be without it. Homeschooling is a calling and a lifestyle. But it turns out that it's not really about "school", is it? It's about life and growth and stretching and keeping on. No turning back...no turning back..... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:06:00 -0600 Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:06:00 -0600 Hey all!  I am moving over to Blogger.  I do not have enough time or brain cells left to figure out the configuration over here and there is a lot more I would like to add to my blog.  So, I checked it out at Blogger and it seemed to be more at my technological level (which is really really remedial).  So, you can check me out over there from now on, at http://underthegrowlight.blogspot.com . I'll still be checking in with my friends over here.  Thanks to Gena and Paul for getting HSB up and available to all of us!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/465070/ Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/465070/ I remember being at my parents' house awhile back and both my parents were dashing around swatting at little moths like insane people.  If one little moth was spotted, they were both out of their seats, jumping after it, chasing it down the stairs to the basement like cheetahs after a gazelle.  It was ridiculous.  And being the incredibly discreet manners-goddess that I am, I'm sure I said so at the time.  "You people are a bunch of flakes.  Can't we have some form of civilized dining with you without this ridiculous safari going on at the same time?" or some equivalent delicate repartee. So, then in the fall, Mom and Dad are here and I open my big cabinet in the kitchen/kennel/laundry/rooster area and a little moth flies out and my mom's eyes turn red and she hisses--"YouhaveMOTHS!" and she's on it like white on rice.   And I say something like, "yeah, I know. But, I do not have time to deal with that right now."  And I shut the door to the moth incubator cabinet. So then, I have the moth situation the day before Christmas, which I have already blogged about.  And it still continues.  My little moth traps from Lowes, that cost $5 for two little pieces of sticky cardboard, which #3 could have made at home as a nature study project, have caught a total of two moths.  Two moths is two weeks.  Meantime, I have smashed four moths and wiped out multiple desicated corpses.  So I open the Rubbermaid container holding two bags of twisted, clipped rice and one bag of rubber-banded barley.  The rice has lots and lots of teeny weeny dust particles in it.  This doesn't seem normal and then I notice the tell-tale webbing in the bag and then as I unclip the bag, I notice the telltale larvae/grub things clinging to the plastic bag.  Then I notice that the rubbermaid lid is coated with webbing.  Oh, I get it!  I trapped the moths in the Rubbermaid to set up housekeeping with enough food to keep them going for 2000 generations!  Great.  Then I notice that the moths can eat through any and all plastic bags.  So now I am throwing out un-opened bags of rice, because there are tell-tale little holes with tell-tale little moth teethmarks around the edges and tell-tale little wormy things that I can pop with my fingers, but really prefer not to.   Well, animal rights activists, I hate to tell you this--But, I started hauling all their sorry little grub-butts out to the compost bin.  I figure they can just tough out January in the compost.  I figure if your little body is the diameter of a coated paper clip, your life expectancy out there is about 3.5 minutes, and that just makes me worried giddy.  Can I say that if they were bigger, it would be really fun to throw them to the chickens?  One of our favorite summer games is "Find the tomato worms".  Nothing more fun than chickens on a tomato worm! I have a great idea!  It's going down to zero tonight, so Sir John, the rooster, will be joining us in the kitchen for several days--I'll just put him in the cabinet with the food.  He can scare the doodee out of the moths.  Oh, forgot--he's almost blind.  Blind rooster--closed cabinet full of food--probably not.  I'll just have to chase those suckers down and kill them as often as possible.  I wonder if my mom would come home from Florida to help me? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/463678/ Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/463678/ Just a quickie before I hit the hay (in more ways than one.) I've gotta get to bed earlier, so's I can get up earlier...anyhoo When I got home from the weekend cropfest, Handyman had a good dinner ready, the house was greatly improved and the breezeway/feedroom was totally overhauled with new shelving--fabulous.  We sat down to eat the great dinner and then began dispersing throughout the house as is our habit after dinner.  Little Bitty (#3) was coming out of the kitchen/laundry/kennel/rooster domicile area and wham! Slammed down onto the vinyl floor right in front of the refrigerator, flat on her face.  She fell so fast that her mouth hit the floor.  Her front tooth took a big bite out of the inside of her upper lip--so ouchy.  I had trouble even getting her to eat the popsicle that I keep on hand for just such moments.  It took awhile, but finally got something cold in there.  Her lip was swollen on the inside like she'd just done three rounds with Ali. When I went into the kitchen later to finish up, I could tell the floor was very slippery under my sock-feet.  Like glass...what was up with that?  Handyman had gone to bed already, but I bugged him...Did you clean the kitchen floor while I was gone?  Uh....yeah.  With what, Pledge? No, just those wet swiffer things.  Okay folks.  Here's the deal...apparently we are so far removed from sanitary floor conditions, that my children will have to re-learn to walk on a CLEAN floor.  It seems that the annual build-up of dog spit, melted snow, spilled milk, orange juice and pop have provided a safety factor for us.  Now that that "texturization" has been heinously dissolved by the evil "Mr. Clean", we need to be aware and prepared! I am so glad he bought me those stretchy tread-things for my boots, for Christmas.  I know just where to practice with them.  Girls, wear your helmets!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/462126/ Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:26:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/462126/ Yep, I was gone all weekend.  It's my once-a-year scrapbook weekend with my BFF and compatriots.  We snipped and clipped and stuck and clucked until our fingers were little sticky stubs.  It was a blast.  Probably one of my better ones.  Handyman came home way early on Thursday and his job was cancelled on Friday, so I got to leave after lunch on Friday and not return until Sunday night!  BFF couldn't come until Saturday morning, so I had my loaded MP3 (another cool hand-me-down) all loaded with Christian music, and I must admit, my Shania Twain greatest hits CD.  I was jamming along all by my lonesome when some poor lady started talking to me and didn't quite get why I wasn't even looking up.  Fortunately she saw little wires dangling from my head and tapped me on the shoulder.  It was so hard not to belt out "Man!  I feel like a woman!" at the top of my voice.  I scrapped Thomas the Tank Engine pages, lots of horse pages--documenting my past, which was really fun and then a bunch of Handyman's cool work shots from over the years.  He's shot major league sports, major league hot rods and travelled to really neat places, mostly while I was home being major league pregnant! He was great about sending me, even though we didn't get to watch the playoff game together.  Bummer for us.  Colts are always bad after a bye week.  Sure would like to see those Pats get their bums kicked. Great news!  The garden catalogs have arrived and I'm loving it.  This year we are expanding.  We really have to because the manure piles have overflowed the plot from last summer.  We want a strawberry bed, a sunflower bed, the regular garden bed--maybe some corn again.  And each child wants a plot to do of her very own, which I think is a great idea!  I gotta get my tomato seeds going earlier this year.  I crave the smell of tomato plants.  I don't care if they ever get planted in the ground (okay I do care), I just love to smell those little devils as they grow.  I kneel down and sniff and know that there is a God and he does love me and summer will probably come to this forsaken state. My parents have fled the state, but the forget something(s) important--namely two large co-dependent dogs.  Oops.  Poor Handyman.  I was gone all weekend and he had three kids, three cats and four dogs in the house--two of whom need to be touching you in some fashion most of the time.  Did I mention that we don't have dog fence and so our dogs go out on leashes after dark.  Four dogs is a little cumbersome at 11 pm.  Then there's that rooster, back in the kitchen shower. There was some heavy spiritual happenings here today as #1 decided to rededicate her life to Christ!  How cool is that?!  She just felt a touch from the Lord and took care of business on her own.  She came into the kitchen and asked me to turn off the radio for a moment, knowing that that was a supreme request since Rush had already started.  Fortunately, I did not hesitate in this moment of maternal devotion because then she told me that she was so happy and what she had done.  How touching it was and I am very thankful. I am trying not to define myself as a homeschooler anymore.  Although homeschooling can consume your life so easily, I do not want it to be the majority of who I am anymore.  I love homeschooling or at least the parts that don't involve workbooks.  I love that my kids love us and want to be here and I love those ah-ha moments.  But we are so much more than that.  Just as most adults don't want to define themselves by their jobs--We are Christians.  We are conservatives.  We are hobby-farmers.  We like to cook and read and knit and laugh.  We ride horses and have chickens and we are teaching our children at home.  It's not who I am.  Just something we have chosen to do.  I have long hair and love sarcasm (when it doesn't hurt) and I'm climbing out of a bunch of debt and I am completely in love with my husband.  I train horses, a little.  I train dogs more.  I could probably train cats if I wanted and I'm pretty sure I can train children.  I love movies and my children don't need to leave me all day to learn enough to compete in the world.  I scrapbook and pretend I'm still young enough to sing (I need more cowbell.)  Homeschooling isn't who I am.  It's something I believe in, something I do and would fight for but I don't want my kids to remember me as their teacher.  I don't want to build memories of sitting at a table with workbooks.  I just want it to be a natural part of parenting (the full-body impact part).  It's got to be different than the crazy, contorted institutional version, or why do it? Sorry to ramble. I'll be back on with daily entries this week poking fun at frozen horse doots, chickens in the kitchen and dog bumper cars in the hallway.  Gotta go, the dog needs covered up again!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/461484/ Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/461484/ To me, stall cleaning is a spiritual experience.  And not in the sense of, "Oh God, do I have to keep doing this?"  or "Oh God, how can they produce this much?"  Whenever I clean stalls (every morning), I think, this must be what God feels like with me. He is sorting through my life, picking out the piles of yuck, here and there, thinking--"Good grief, Child.  Not more.  I thought we dealt with this already."  He's not angry.  Just diligent.  More piles, more cleaning.  Fact of life.   I'm not mad that there are piles.  That's what they do.  Part of keeping animals is cleaning up the mess, day after day after day.  I am pleased when the stall is clean.  It makes me feel good.  I am a good keeper for them, to provide a nice, dry bed.   Then in my analogy, I have to add the chickens.  Because in my barn, there is usually a hen who is very anxious to get to the manure piles before me.  The hens can usually lead me to the piles that have been camouflaged with sawdust.  I might miss them, except there's a hen, dutifully uncovering them.  So today I thought, (I am so deep), that the hen is the Holy Spirit.  I have tried my best to cover up some of the yuck; to make it blend in.  But there's that Holy Spirit, not missing one blemish.  But uncovering the mess, for my benefit, actually.  Bringing it out in the open, so the Lord can deal with me and it.  I would rather the piles stay covered, but that diligent Spirit is bringing them out, allowing the Lord to take it all away. Something about a barn, makes a lot of big things, a lot simpler.  Cleaning stalls is good therapy. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/458129/ Wed, 9 Jan 2008 09:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/458129/ Yes, my book review of Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength.  Handyman brought it home for me, unexpectedly, and it was either that or a Midwest Living magazine from 2003.  Since most of my reading is done, in the "reading room", in 30 second bursts between dressing Polly Pockets, throwing the tennis ball, expounding on the virtues of putting your boots in the boot trays, and hauling animal manure, my reading has got to be concise!  At a scalding pace of 2.3 paragraphs four and a half times a day, I'm a book blazer! Anyway, the book is quietly inspiring.  I enjoy the football history and the peek into Tony's personal life.  I appreciate his fallibility and human-ness.  Mostly I am inspired by the seemingly small things that have made his life different, things that I can do too.  I really like that he openly seeks God, often, but never gets the big voice or the dramatic moment.  He watches for the burning bush, but like me, mostly gets the muted curb of events that directs your course of action without fanfare or display.  It is pleasurable to me to see a Christian on a world stage whose Christianity is pervasive and priority one, yet his daily walk is not some amazing, supernatural thing.  It's just everyday faith--same questions, bigger issues than mine certainly, but consistency and directional effort are what pay off--and motivate me.  His players play for him out of admiration and respect, not fear or intimidation.  I was struck the other day thinking how only one of my children has played a team sport and that was one season of pre-little league with a coach who was our friend.  She did great, but frankly it was pre-skill play, if you know what I mean.  Now, I am not a team sport endorser, by any stretch, but while reading Coach Dungy's book, I recognized some value to the whole team thing for my household.  We are a little flock of big individualists here.  Often I see us as all being in separate boats on the same bay, during our days, almost parallel lives; which I think is bad.  So, how can I use Coach's book to impact my flock and make it more team-like? I have valued independence too much, sometimes to my children's detriment, I think.  I pushed #1 too hard as a little one, to not need me.  I mistook independence for strength and I think pushing her away from me, emotionally sometimes, had a reverse impact which I am still struggling with.  I'm working on this philosophy for 2008 that rolls in some Coach Dungy, some Flylady (not just the cleaning parts), some John Lyons (horse trainer), Michael Pearl and a little Phyllis Diller.  What I'm seeing is, as usual, I need to work on me.  I need to keep providing a great example working around here, but I also need to build a team out of these little hoodlums, one with a central focus or several actually.  But grammar and history are not the core.   I don't remember when I learned about adverbial phrases, but I can tell you that the lack of that knowledge has not been a detriment to my personhood. Sometimes I worry that I'm just coming up with creative ways to give myself a bye on subjects my kids want to avoid, but really it's just more out-of-the-institutional-box reality.  I would venture to guess that 98% of the population could use more character building and less grammar instruction.  More family time laughing, even if folding laundry, and less time writing essays.  I came across a lot of old papers yesterday (and pictures, hee hee) and found stuff I couldn't remember doing, but stuff that seemed is completely worthless to my life.  Graded papers that at one time tried to shape and mold me, that now I know were just silly.  Stuff that justifies the institution.  I look forward to the time when college becomes much more a la carte, without the ridiculous hoops we all have been through. I see I have rambled off topic.  But remember, there's always more!  I am now reading Coach Dungy's book with #1.  I want her to see "ordinary" faith, in action with a famous person.  The book is very reader friendly, for tweens on up.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/457431/ Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/457431/ As a rabid homeschooler, I feel it my obligation to report that I heard on the radio, multiple times today, that Mike Huckabee has been endorsed by the New Hampshire NEA.    That seals the deal for me--not that I was a Huckabee supporter anyway--I am very wary of anyone who uses his faith as a badge in politics.  But the official endorsement by the largest branch of the Democratic party aka NEA, is an absolute no-way for this gal.  FYI: Fred Thompson has some great stuff on YouTube.  One, in particular, is long, but frankly, the issues facing our country cannot be handled in 20 second sound bites.  If you're interested, take the time to watch the address to the Iowa voters that Fred put on this week.  It is 17 minutes long, but frankly, the future of our country and our children is worth your time.       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456991/ Mon, 7 Jan 2008 14:43:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456991/ This was the weirdest Christmas year.  I think I got two books!  This is unheard of--and the books were: Tasha Tudor's dollhouse (a coffee table book) and The Injured Horse--a reference book for owners.  Not exactly your bedside comfort tome.  Weird!  I did get 37 calendars, though.  Currently we have three calendars in the kitchen--the absolutely required Welsh Corgi calendar (had to get it at Petsmart AFTER Christmas!), the Pioneer Woman calendar (www.thepioneerwoman.com), and the free horse calendar that you get from your enquine vet after you spend thousands of dollars with him.  So no matter which way I turn in the kitchen, I cannot escape the date and the mammals that are relying on me for food and manure removal. We still have a rooster calendar from my mom, a "Mom" calendar by Boynton that has thousands of little slots to write your responsibilities each month, and a three month revolving calendar from my dad, who apparently thinks I need to get a firmer grasp on the passage of time.  I think I still owe him for that last load of sawdust.  I also picked up one of those mini-calendars for my office, of Caribbean beaches.  The pictures are fabulous and just what I need to get through midwestern winters, except now that it's up, I cannot make out the dates from across the room--and my office is not more than 10' across.  Oh, and #2 got a sweet little mousie lady calendar.  Speaking of little mousies, there was one in the chicken scratch bag yesterday, taking a little snooze.  Did I mention we have a cat that must weigh 15 lbs?  Perhaps his time at the buffet bar is interrupting his predatory responsibilities...but I digress. Book reviews:  Handyman brought home for me, around my birthday time, Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength.  I had considered getting it from the library, but hadn't made the effort yet, what with the $687 fine hanging over my head for a video called Tone Your Thighs in 30 Days or something.  Anyway, he brought it home and I was bogged down in a biography of Queen Elizabeth II, so I picked it up, in the "reading room".  It has been very enjoyable, especially if you know any names in football in the last 20 years or so.  Tony has worked with lots of the big names and many of the very successful ones.  His philosophies are practical and not preachy at all.  One of his main priorities is doing the routine stuff better than anyone else does it, the little things, the simple things.  That's surely something I could apply here... ...like putting the laundry AWAY before anymore shows up.  Like sweeping the floor before a backhoe is necessary.  This, of course, will require WALKING AWAY from the computer before the food burns, etc.  Gotta go hay. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456769/ Mon, 7 Jan 2008 07:14:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456769/ Okay, because the moths seem to have been eradicated and the flies are in remission, I've decided to buckle down and talk about serious issues.  Resolutions and priorities.  Yes, I like to make New Year's resolutions, although this year my enthusiasm has waned somewhat.  Must be the mud.  I like resolutions.  I like blank pages.  I like mulligans.  Gives me hope.  I keep wondering if my positive outlook will wilt as I get older.  I used to wonder if I was positive-minded or if it was just an act, an efficient form of denial. (See old blog on fake it 'til you make it.) After spending time around my inlaws, it's always necessary to a) get out and watch George Carlin videos and b)practice a hobby of any sort.  Now, I have loved my inlaws for almost 20 years.  They are kind and generous.   My MIL, in particular, is a negative person.  It's so disappointing because she can be cheerful, but the underlying current is always defeat.  Always has been, my husband and BIL tell me.  It's grating.  She has no reason to be, at all.  She had an idyllic rural childhood, was popular in school, etc.  She reveres her parents and is healthy as a horse.  She has never wanted, really.  She got to build her first home, had nice things, but did work when the boys went to high school and beyond.   But she has no appreciation for her situation, at all. I think part of it is my FIL.  He had a sad childhood.  Not abused, but certainly emotionally abandoned, several times and ways.  Very closed-off most of the time.  Now he is old and crabby and it makes me sad for the girls to know him as this.  I'm sure his closed-off-ness has made my MIL starved for affection, attention, companionship.  And now that she has catered to him for a long time, there's no changing it.  He has no responsibilities, no hobbies, no interests and she won't make/take time to do anything but fret and worry and have self-pity. It's kind of a whirlpool of depression that we have to wade in and out of, warily.  On the other hand, my grandma is the same age as my FIL.  She has had breast cancer and two knee replacements.  Now this woman became a widow at age 40 with a 5 yr. old and a 17 yr. old (my mom.)  She didn't have a college education and she couldn't drive.  It was 1956.  She came from a relatively poor family, but close-knit.  She put herself through LPN school and learned to drive.  She worked in nursing homes until I had children and retired as a licensed social worker when she was 70.  She lives on the most minimum of incomes, with help from my parents and my uncle and aunt, drives, sews and quilts and takes classes and volunteers at a community co-op where she sells her wares.  She plays bunco, gardens and could not live without a canine companion.  Until this summer, she was driving 3 hrs. one-way to see her doctor, where she used to live!! What's the difference here?  I have become firmly convinced over the years that the difference is hobbies, or interests.  My grandma has lots of reasons to get out of bed each day.  Her pet needs her and her hobbies are little mountains of accomplishment that have admirers when she finishes.  She doesn't make enough money of them to warrant the time spent, so the reward is not financial.  But she creates and completes.  Admiration and flattery are the icing on the cake.  Her mother was a tailor on the side, so sewing is a family tradition that she has done since childhood, but quilting is new, and detailed.  My grandma has two sisters (she is the oldest.) The second sister is also a quilter, collects antique glass and has taken up painting in the last 10 years.  The youngest sister, who has no hobbies (and a traumatic life) is the most aged of them all.  Like my FIL, she has no hobbies.  No reasons to do anything but sleepwalk through the day meeting the most basic needs.  Now, I would also argue that the faithlife is almost non-existent in these, as well.  My in-laws do go to church often.  But there is no daily walk of faith, no reliance on prayer or God or interest in such as important, although they would tell you that they definitely believe in God and Jesus.  I've struggled with whether I should be witnessing to my in-laws more about a stronger reliance on God.  But it just seems hopeless (this from a "positive" person.)  I guess that doesn't say a lot for my faith. My point here was to encourage everyone to have some hobby.  A hobby that doesn't require leaving your house.  Find things that can travel with you, like handcrafts--knitting, crocheting, woodcarving, whatever.  Encourage and cultivate these in your children.  I think that this is crucial for a variety of reasons.  Our lives have become soooooo easy and comfortable.  We don't have to grow or harvest or butcher anything for our daily existence.  Our children struggle not to meet basic needs.  They need to see repeated, continuous effort that ends in a completion, with something to show for it--in something besides paper pushing, and games on tv are not it.  Michael Pearl has a great article this month about getting off video games, with some excellent recommendations in it.  Go to www.nogreaterjoy.org and it's right at the top of the page.  I know most people are not lucky enough to live the rural/muddy life that I get to live...poor things.  So extra effort has to be made by you suburbanites to get your kids out into life.  People are hardwired to accomplish, especially boys.  We don't have to harvest wheat and put up hay anymore and that's why we see young people doing insane things like base jumping and land luge-ing.  Yikes, check those out on You Tube. (We're sticking with needlework, here.) Anyway, my priorities/resolutions: Don't become old and crabby.  I don't think it's a requirement.  I want to be happy and appreciative, even if I hurt.  I want to be an example of kind Christianity, because I wish there were more elderly examples around me. (And I gave birth to a baby at age 40, so I will be an old grandma.)  I want to continue to be interested in the world around me, including voting against nationalized health care whenever possible--and I am self-employed, so I do know what this involves!  I want to value and encourage interests for each of my children that they can do their entire lives.  This does not involve computer/electronic equipment.  This does not involve thousands of dollars of investment.  These should be things that they can do anywhere, anytime, at any income level. I want to appreciate everything I have.  My health, food in two refrigerators, bills paid, hardworking husband, heated mattress pad, a large variety of animal manures and high-speed internet.  You get the idea.  I will not harp on my kitchen situation.  I will be glad that the rooster has a place to stay when it is freezing, that is convenient to me and easily cleaned.  I will be glad that Handyman bought those little boot trays to hold all 24 pairs of boots on a given day. Today's list of things I like about my kids:  They are enthusiastic and creative.  They are energizer kids.   They are watching me every moment to soak up whatever I am putting out there.  Heaven help us!  The spotlight's on me, again. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456286/ Sun, 6 Jan 2008 06:50:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/456286/ Yeah, it's not a real inspiring title, but it's reality here.  Last winter when the snow got too deep for the lawnmower to pull the trailers full of manure to the garden, we had to come up with another way to haul that black/green gold to the tomato beds.  So Handyman being the genius that he is, came home from Menards with a large, heavy, plastic sled.  The tag had a lovely illustration of a deer carcass haphazardly slung across said sled, but we had bigger plans!  Hitch up two children and numerous small dogs and voila!  Poop sled!  Yeeeha!  This year, it's gotten even better.  Now we have an ATV!  I swear, we must look rich to the outside world.  We are just the grateful beneficiaries of terrific friends, who have cool stuff!  Handyman's friend Mark races ATV's with his son, who has now gone away to boarding school.  Their very first, little-guy ATV was lonely and unloved in the barn next to the big, manly, racing ATV's.  So Mark sent it to us, for free!  It's perfect for us girls!  It has electric start and no clutch.  We love it.  It's so little, it kills Handyman's tail bone when he rides it further than 20 yards, so he has to kneel on the seat.  He sort of looks like those one-legged skiers. Anyway, now we throw the rope of the poop sled over the back of the ATV seat and away we go.  We had to convince #3 that she really shouldn't ride the poop sled when it's full.  Her head is about as high as the top of the muck tubs and with all the joyous high-speed bouncing, her hat can get a little, well, you know.  Sooooo, she rides the sled back to the barn, after it has unloaded its glorious cargo. I was hauling and emptying the sled all by myself the other day and wondering if we should do some kind of cool paint job--a la "Primp" my ride.  I know that's not the real title, but I am not going there.  I called Handyman and asked him if anyone would go for a show called "Primp" my poop ride.  He did not get it at all.  What?  What does that mean?  My wicked humor was lost on him.  I don't know if those flame painter guys could do flaming manure piles or something on my itty-bitty ATV.  Too bad you can't see it!    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/453972/ Wed, 2 Jan 2008 09:01:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netherfieldmom/453972/