Battle Chicken

Well, our roosters (and hens too) were getting pecked to death by each other, so Ryan decided to let our rooster roam our horse corrals and the barn area. This has turned out to be quite entertaining for me. First of all, call me a city girl if you want, but I just think it is so funny/interesting that the thing just is content to strut around our back property all day long. He stays within the property (with the exception of two days ago when he went a-calling over to the ladies in the chicken coop). For a few hours at least, he paced back and forth in front of the window. Anyway. The first night he was out, Ryan said that Maisey was sleeping on the barn floor and the rooster had stolen her bed (up on the haystack--its a Maisey-sized burrow she's dug out for herself. . . ) So, I had to check it out for myself. (Okay, really lame here) So I went outside, in the cold, with a flashlight, at 11PM and there was Maisey curled up in the middle of the garden and yep, you guessed it, the rooster was cozily squatting away up on the haystack.

But, sadly, it hasn't been all fun and games. This crazy rooster likes to intimidate Annie and Carson. It chased Annie twice before her dad and Dennis taught her how to assert herself with the barn animals. It involves an uber-confident persona and a long stick. She's learning quickly. Carson, on the other hand, is utterly defenseless. The rooster had him down on the ground and had backed up and rammed him twice before Mr. Droubay reached him. It did not go well for the rooster. Then, today, the rooster was crowing and I crowed back, just to amuse myself. He ignored me. I walked away and heard him chasing me. We had a chat about that.

Then, Ryan decided to rope the chicken. I happened to have a camera and preserved the moment for all to enjoy:



So, yesterday, Annie and I were discussing the rooster and I said it was time to name him. She has been wanting to name the baby "Nemo" for about two weeks now, so I suggested that this might be a better name for the rooster than for the baby. Oh no, she said. The baby was now going to be named "T-Rex" and the rooster's name was "Battle Chicken."

Battle Chicken? nice.

So, thus concludes the anecdote regarding Battle Chicken. It has it all: suspense, humor, violence, triumph, and perhaps a smidgeon of boredom for the reader.

Thank you for your attention.

You may need to admit you have a problem when. . .

Your darling 2-year old refers to diet Dr. Pepper as "Mama's ba-ba."

ha ha ha.

I'll NEVER give it up!. . . . . . . .

Funny Funny Annie

Okay, I'm ready to move on from The Mullet.

Ryan and I went to DC last weekend and it was great! I went for business but we managed to fit in a little fun while we were there. My boss and I were up on the Hill on Friday visiting with the offices of our representatives and senators. It went well and I learned a lot. Ryan hung out on the Mall that day and had a good time. We spent some time on Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery. This was an amazing experience. I won't wax too poetically about it, but suffice it to say, I walked (waddled) away very humble and grateful for the unbelievable sacrifices men and women of our (and others) country have made for the life I enjoy daily. We also spent some time at the Smithsonian--Museum of Natural History, tried the National Archives but the line was loooooong (about 2 hours) just to get in. Then we went to try and find paintings by Charles Russell (Ryan's fave) at the Museums of Art, but to no avail. We did see some good stuff there, however. I've been to DC and specifically the Smithsonian several times when I was younger, so I've probably seen most of it already, but I was bummed that Ryan didn't get into the Archives. Well, we made a commitment to come back with our kids when they are older. Annie would have just LOVED the Museum of Natural History. Cool stuff.

Anyway, back to funny Annie. She has said some funny stuff the last few days and I wanted to share. Richard, please forgive me for this one, but it's too great to not share. I was driving Annie to preschool on Monday morning and she said nonchalantly, "Grandpa drives too fast." I was a little taken aback. "How do you know this?" She continued: "Well, because when he was taking me to school on Friday (they stayed with Ryan's parents while we were gone), he was driving too fast." "Yes, Annie," I continued, "but how do you KNOW he was driving too fast?"

"The policeman told him to slow down!"

nice.

"And then he told Grandpa he could go."

busted.

So, being the kind and respectful daughter-in-law that I am (chuckle chuckle), I immediately dialed him and inquired as to whether or not he had made an unscheduled stop on the way to drop Annie off at school on Friday.

He had.

priceless. just priceless.

Then, later that day, I was doing some work, and she came up to me and said, "Mom, is Darryl Hannah nice?" WHAT? HOW? Where? Darryl Hannah? Where do they get this stuff? She continued: "How about Tim Curry? Is he nice?" I busted up laughing. I had finally figured it out. She has a video (and loves the previews) that she has been watching that has a preview for a movie they did together (I think it's the Munsters or something like that) and the voice-over says the actor and actress's names and they're the monster mommy and daddy. Fair question. So we had a nice chat about what actors and actresses do, and how the people they pretend to be might be nice or not so nice, but they are probably nice people, etcetera.

It was just really funny to hear my four year old say these people's names randomly like they live down the street. Too funny!

Kids are hilarious!