1. For reasons known only to himself, your baby has decided he no longer requires sleep. Not only has he forsaken naptime, he has also decided that nighttime hours are the best time to be awake. Wide awake. He has slept through the night since he was nine months old, allowing you the luxury of a full night's sleep, which in turn allows you to act like a normal person during the day.

Goodbye normal person. Hello coffee pot.

2. Your husband and older children moved cows on the mountain today. Your favorite place to ride. Your favorite place to be during the summer. The baby is a bit grumpy (obviously) and there is no way you are taking him horseback for several hours.

You are staying home...with a grumpy child.

3. When your husband and children return, the first thing your husband says as he walks through the door is,"Do I smell smoke?" You take a couple sniffs, because you know that in your sleep-deprived state there is a possibility you could have missed smoke inside your house. Nope, no smoke. The only thing you smell is the roast you put in the oven for dinner. And it is definitely not burning. Harrumph!

(By the way, honey, what are your plans for dinner tonight?)

The only redeeming moment thus far today is that your husband snapped a few photos of your son while they were cowboying.

This boy has grown so much this summer. He's gaining confidence while horseback. He's taking on more responsibility around the house (hallelujah!). He's almost excited about going back to school. Almost.

Love that I can glimpse the changes in him through these snapshots.

Love that my husband thought to take his camera with him today.

Maybe I will forgive him for the comment on my cooking and allow him to have dinner with the family tonight.

Maybe.

Lately, we have had an increase in the rodent population around here. Yuck! I can cope with a lot of things on the ranch, but rodents are not one of them. Consequently, we've increased our feline population. My kids are thrilled to have kittens running around. I have discovered there is no faster way to tame a kitten (or cat) than turn the poor things loose amidst four children who are determined to befriend the new kitty.

First we have this sweet little kitty.

She is rather small, but also adorable. My daughter carries her around like this kitty is one of her dolls. The kitty doesn't seem to mind. The kids have named her Skippyjon Jones. (Have you read those books by Judy Schachner? Hilarious.) Isn't she sweet? Keep her sweet little face in mind as I introduce you to our other kitten.

Our second kitty is named Pete the Barn Cat, after the cat in the Hank the Cowdog series. She is also sweet and playful and the kids have spent hours playing with her.

A brief aside in case you are confused by the names: Yes, both of these female kittens have male names. In our defense, have you ever tried to determine the sex of a very small kitten? I'm convinced it is nearly impossible unless the letters "DVM" follow your name. For the record, the only letters that follow my name are "aka". For example, my name is Kim aka mom, cook, maid, laundress, or referree.

Now back to Pete the Barn Cat. Pete requires a bit of special care on our part. The kids are careful to lavish him with a little extra T.L.C. because we are afraid that the other cats may pick on him. The dogs may even poke fun at him. Pete is perfectly healthy; he has no physical ailments. But, here's the problem: Pete isn't in danger of winning any beauty contests.

That is a face that only four cat-crazy kids can love, don't you think?

We have a small pasture behind our home that typically holds a few misfits. On occasion you might find a lame horse or a lame steer. Sometimes you might find a handful of leppies (orphaned calves). The older (read: spoiled) horses can often be found in this field.

Right now we have a rather odd assortment, ranging from a young baby calf and it's mama (in the middle of the photo) to the two calves that you see front and center.

The black calf on the right is in this field with his mama. (She is directly behind him in the photo.) They are in this field because the mama cow came up lame a couple of months ago.

The white calf on the left made his way to this field because his mama was sick. Unforutnately, we weren't able to save the cow. Normally, if a calf loses his mama we move that calf into a special pen in the corrals and then we care for it. It is then officially a leppy. But, this calf didn't need to change pens. The black calf's mama adopted him. How cool is that?

She lets both calves nurse from her udder and doesn't seem to mind one bit. In order to provide enough milk for both calves we have left her on the irrigated pasture, allowing her to eat fresh green grass all day long.

We have a couple of leppies we are taking care of this summer. The kids feed them, give them fresh water and keep a close eye on them throughout the day. And yet, no matter how hard we try, they still look like leppies. They are a little smaller and don't look quite as robust as the calves who are spending the summer with their mama.

Nothing can compare with a mama cow taking care of her calf...or calves.

Gathering steers was the first order of business this morning. Hazy and a bit dusty, but the temperature was cool, making for a perfect short ride.

This short ride gave us a moment to enjoy the calm at the beginning of a new day. I love these quiet mornings; even the steers were quiet, content to just amble across the fields.

It was a time to enjoy being outside with a good horse and a good dog, eyeing a good set of steers. A chance to remember that cowboying is our favorite thing to do. I took a moment to say a quick prayer of gratitude and count my blessings.

A reminder that I love what we do.

Time for another recipe! I enjoy trying new recipes; sometimes I hit upon a winner and sometimes...well, sometimes the recipe just doesn't work for my family. Most of the time I tweak the recipe just a bit. Either because I don't have all of the listed ingredients and there is no way I am driving to town for one or two items. Or because I think it will taste better with just a smidgen of this or pinch of that. There are also the few times when I break down and make the recipe exactly as it's written. Each of these receips made their debut at our dinner table last night and I didn't tweak a thing!

The steaks were delicious and so easy! No tweaking necessary. Mesquite seasoning has a great flavor. It doesn't overwhelm the steak, just gives it a nice kick.

The biscuits were a last minute addition to the menu. They were chosen solely based on the recipe title. Easiest-Ever Biscuits. Can't go wrong there! They were easy to throw together and tasted scrumptious, but they are a bit heavy and very filling.

Finally, we have the salad. I have to admit that I did change this one just a bit. I increased the number of cucmbers simply because my garden is overflowing with cucumbers right now. Other than that I prepared it as originally written. Grilled vegetables have a delightful flavor, so I knew my family would enjoy this salad. Next time I make this recipe though, I think I will either alter or omit the dressing. I didn't necessarily love the pairing of a red wine vinegar with the grilled veggies. The salad was still yummy and the bowl was scraped clean, which is a definite plus.

The kids and I have spent many hours reading this summer.  We have enjoyed several trips to the library, too many orders from Amazon and many, many hours snuggled together reading and listening to great stories. Here are a few books we have enjoyed lately.

These first two books focus on the popular topic of where our food comes from. Each book explains in a fun and easy manner about the ingredients for classic (and kid-friendly) desserts. Recipes included!

All in Just One Cookie by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Timothy Bush. There is a lot of information packed into this book. My older boys enjoy reading all of the sidebars on each page and my younger kids prefer to have me just read the storyline. Either way, it's a fun way to learn about the ingredients for the yummy chocolate chip recipe found in the back of the book. Goodman explains to readers exactly how each of the ingredients in her recipe is harvested and the process it takes before being added to the mixing bowl. For example, she explains how flowers on the vanilla vine are turned into the vanilla extract found in nearly all chocolate chip cookie recipes.

If Goodman's book proves to be a bit too much information for the younger child, Marjorie Price's books are a good alternative. Faster paced, with a bit of humor and yet the message comes through quite clearly: A lot of work goes into our food before it arrives on the shelves of the grocery store.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World written and illustrated by Marjorie Price.

How to Make a Cherry Pie and see the U.S.A. written and illustrated by Marjorie Price.

My youngest is enjoying books with pictures of other babies. He points out their body parts, such as hair, ears or eyes and then points to his hair and ears. He saves the eyes for Mom, happily jabbing his chubby little finger into my eye. ouch! Fortunately I long ago memorized these stories, so while the ability to actually see the pages would be nice, it is not a necessity.

Happy Baby series by Roger Priddy

Baby 123 by DK Publishing

Reading with my children is one of my favorite things, but I always look forward to the end of the day when I grab a book from my nightstand and settle into read for a few minutes. This is one of my favorite times of the day.

Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain is a great read. Honestly, I almost didn't read it. I knew the gist of the storyline and knew it had the potential of being a tear-jerker. After making the decision to have my old dog put down a couple of months ago, I wasn't sure I could get through this book without a few tears falling onto the pages. The loss of my beloved dog was still a little too fresh. (It's still too fresh; a few tears just landed on my keyboard.)  I was right, it was difficult to read Stein's book however, I am glad I did. It is a quick read with a fast-moving story line. Enzo the dog, is the narrator and although this may seem farfetched in places, it's a wonderful change of pace from the usual story narration (you know, human narrators!). If you are a dog-lover, this is a must read.

This easy-to-read book is full of encouragement, inspiration, humor and advice. Run Like a Mother is co-authored by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea. Between these two authors they ably cover topics for beginning runners or even experienced runners who are attempting to set a personal record in a marathon. Are any of you runners? Considering becoming a runner? This is a great book to get you started and keep you moving.

Finally, I am about a third of the way through Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Not exactly light summer reading, I know. I had several people recommend this book to me in the span of a month. Not one to ignore a highly-recommended book I decided to see what all of the fuss is about. Have you read any of Rand's works? I read a few excerpts of her work while I was in college, but due to the effect four children have had on my memory-retention abilities, I recall very little of what I read back then.

How about you? Discovered any great books this summer? I'd love to hear about them.

Earlier this week, I was visiting with some people from the eastern United States. We were talking about cattle and what type of land we run our cattle on. I explained that my family and I live in the high desert, which means a lot of brush.

Brush? From their mildly bewildered looks I could tell I needed to do a little more explaining.

Sage brush, rabbit brush, bitter brush…you know, BRUSH!

I am always amazed at the heights some brush can reach. If you are on foot, it feels as though you are walking through a maze. On horseback it is more manageable, but you have to keep a close eye on the calves to make sure they don’t get turned around and headed the wrong way. Brush provides habitat for game fowl and other wildlife.

It also provides the ideal setting for a giant game of bovine hide and seek.

Last weekend my husband and I took the kids camping. It was delightful. There were trees, running water, shade and cooler temperatures.

We had a grand time! The kids were in their element playing in the dirt, collecting their treasures (rocks and sticks) and marveling over the wildflowers.

My son practiced (and practiced and practiced...) the fine art of skipping rocks.

He was much better at rock splashing than rock skipping.

At ranch headquarters, where we live, the fields that aren't under irrigation are turning brown. Fire season has begun. We keep an eye out for lightening storms which often lead to smoke on the horizon. We talk about our fire plan: buildings or haystacks that are particularly vulnerable to fire and where the Cat is currently parked in case we need to start making fire lines.

So, to be on the mountain amidst all of this beautiful green was a wonderful mini-vacay for us. We played in the water, found beauty in ordinary rocks and stopped to smell the flowers, so to speak. We didn't relax completely though. My husband I could often be seen glancing at the sky watching for gathering storm clouds; always looking for plumes of smoke.

Steak salad is a staple on our summer menu. Although I prepare several different versions of steak salad, this one is currently at the top of my family's list of favorites. My kids think the neatest thing about this salad is that it is arranged in rows. My daughter prefers that her salads are not "mixed up". She likes to arrange all of the steak and veggies in separate areas of her plate. The boys don't necessarily mind if I toss a salad before I put it on the table, but given the option they prefer to do their own tossing...while making volcano noises. Prompting me to remind them of Table Manner #27: No Volcano Noises at the Table. (Surely you have this rule at your house, too?)

The vinaigrette is flavorful with a nice kick from the smoked paprika. I like to pass the vinaigrette at the table as opposed to drizzling the entire salad, only because the kids like to do it themselves or skip it altogether. Either way is fine with me, as long as they eat! Well, eat and be mindful of Table Manner #27, of course!

Enjoy!