It was 10:45 in the morning. My cell phone vibrated in my hand and I saw that one of my daughters was calling. My motherly instinct said, “Worry”! After all, my 14-year-old twin daughters and their best friend rode their bikes across town to feed and care for their FFA animal projects at the school’s agricultural barn. It was a short ride, but one that took them across a small highway. Well, as you know, we Mamas like to worry, and I’m an expert at it!
“What’s wrong?”, I abruptly answered.
“Mom do we have any chicken?”, asked Baby B
“Chicken?” I curiously replied.
“Yes, Mom. We want to make chicken spaghetti, but don’t worry. We’re going to ride our bikes to the grocery store to buy the other stuff.”
Let’s park here for a moment. My kids were offering to shop and cook. While my girls like to cook, they have never wanted to shop for the food, much less ride a bike to the store and spend their own money on said food. Were my girls abducted by aliens while they were bike riding? Were these industrious shopping and cooking teenagers really just extraterrestrial replacements?
I granted permission, promised to thaw the chicken, and started a litany of worried mother’s advisories: “Just be careful crossing the highway. Use the crosswalk. Don’t talk to strangers. Remember, bad people don't always look weird. Don’t ride against traffic. Stop at the stop signs. Call me when you get to the store. And…”
“We’ll be fine, Mom. Thanks! See ya later!” Baby B sang to me.
By the time the shoppers arrived home, I discovered that they had decided to do some additional shopping by first taking a detour to a feed store to buy a $15.00 can of fly spray. Apparently the barn had flies of biblical proportions, and they needed the expensive stuff to get rid of the infestation. After that, they rode their bikes to the grocery store and purchased all the ingredients for their lunch. Before riding home, they went back to the ag barn to spray those pesky flies.
By the time the shoppers arrived home, I discovered that they had decided to do some additional shopping by first taking a detour to a feed store to buy a $15.00 can of fly spray. Apparently the barn had flies of biblical proportions, and they needed the expensive stuff to get rid of the infestation. After that, they rode their bikes to the grocery store and purchased all the ingredients for their lunch. Before riding home, they went back to the ag barn to spray those pesky flies.
Finally, about an hour after that phone call, they arrived home hot, thirsty, and hungry. Amazingly, I was never asked to cook the casserole dish that they had planned. (I just helped a bit here and there.) And about an hour after their arrival, we were all eating delicious Teenage Style Chicken Spaghetti. YUMMM!!!
We've made bird houses...
painted pots and repotted plants...
Shopped for tennies and school supplies, and did our weekly coupon-bargain grocery shopping... 
We had the thrill of new kittens, visited friends and had friends visit us, and we've done a whole lot of other wonderfully mundane things!
Flying from a rope swing hung from the branches of an ancient Cypress and dropping into the cool, cool Frio is loads of fun! This is, of course, an activity for the young and under-100-pounds group. My 43-year-old arms don't quite hold my swinging body from a tiny rope too gracefully!
TUBIN' THE FRIO! The river was pretty low this year, as we haven't had too much rain. Still we found places to float. We're very dedicated tubers!!!!
