English as a Something Language

Well, we're still without a camera, but I thought I'd at least attempt to keep our (3) loyal followers up-to-date with all of our exotic, excruciatingly interesting, amazingly exciting adventures!

I must be in an adjectivial mode. BTW: I think I just made that word up, but that's just the type of crazy, seat-of-the-pants excitement you get around here!!!!!!

Enough, enough of the English grammar.

You know that no one EVER uses English grammar after they're out of school... or so goes the rumor among English grammar-burdened farmboys in north-central Arkansas.
I envision those poor, weary farmboys hunched over with stacks of dependent clauses piled on their backs, their knees creaking under the weight of those lazy, useless clauses that can't take care of themselves. Nonetheless, the Arkansas farmboys try so desperately to teach them how to stand alone like the well-behaved, independent clauses grazing peacefully in the pasture.
Being a farmboy or -- the macho, older brother term -- ranch hand is taxing enough without the never-ending burden of your mother shoveling heaping loads of adverbs, adjectives and conjunctions into your wheelbarrow, while those pesky active and passive voices are constantly yelling at you. No wonder the desire for English grammar falls so quickly to the manure pile. It's not really necessary. It's far more effective to just grunt and point, right!

(Did anyone catch my split infinitive? I bet those grammar-hating farmboys didn't!)

By and large, my children speak the southern version of English language properly, probably from hearing it spoken properly by most of their relatives. Interestingly enough, they have somehow developed a Pavlovian flinch associated with them daring to use the word "ain't". I can't figure where that came from.

I guess by now y'all might have picked up the idea that they aren't very fond of studying grammar, English or otherwise. I, on the other hand, adore it. I come by it honestly, from my dear Mother, the queen of English Grammar. She and I -- and probably both of my sisters -- thoroughly enjoyed James Kilpatrick's newspaper column entitled "The Writer's Art". The column took sloppy writers to task in an extremely humorous way, but alas, only those who paid attention to their grammar lessons were able to delight in Mr. Kilpatrick's sly, grammatical wit.

(If you didn't pay attention when learning punctuation, you didn't remember that you need to put quotation marks around the title of a newspaper article, didya?)

The English language is a wonderful creation. I'm not so naive to think that everyone is going to love English grammar or that they'll even need to use it as an integral part of their lives. However, if you can't understand rudimentary sentence structure, you're going to have a really hard time deciphering complicated sentence structure in the Word of God. If there was ever a reason to take grammar seriously, this would be it. My grammatically proper mother taught me this eye-opening truth, and I'm so thankful I caught hold of it. God does all things well, even the things we might not like or do well, and He has a reason for everything he created... mosquitos, cockroaches, rats, English grammar, etc.

Those Arkansas farmboys are still plowing through their seemingly endless rows of prepositional phrases needing to be set off with parentheses and making sure the subjects and verbs are in agreement, all the while carrying those lazy dependent clauses around.

Now if we could just keep those active and passive voices quiet!

Katie the English Grammar Lady

Grammar Discaimer: I know for a fact that there are sentences ending with prepositions, possibly dangling participles and probably many more grammatical no-no's in this post. However, I chose to write this so it would be pleasantly readable to all who managed to make it to the ever-lovin' end. Please forgive me, and please don't tell Mr. Kilpatrick!

Our Merciful God

To those of you who hadn't heard, we were in a pretty serious car accident. The amazing thing is that none of us - Benny, Andrew, Joey and I - were seriously hurt. We know that it was truly the hand of our very merciful God that kept us safe that drizzly morning. The Excursion was totalled, but it was a small price to pay for the lives and health of my boys and me.

Well, alot of people have asked me to post pictures of our totalled Excursion. So, I am.

Please enjoy this interactive post entitled: "What It's Like To Be In A Car Crash"

This lovely view is from the driver's seat. Imagine your vehicle sliding backwards across both lanes, but remember that you aren't actually controlling the vehicle, because it's doing whatever it full well pleases!! I honestly felt like I was on a really bad amusement park ride.

Put your imagination glasses back on, kids, and flip this image upside-down so you can exerience climbing out of a vehicle through the rear window while the vehicle is upside down. Better yet, just flip your monitor over! I have no idea why I chose to go all the way to the rear window, when my window was already conveniently busted out for me. My much more rational sons calmly exited through their conveniently-busted-out window!

Here she lies, may she rest in peace.

Just to beat the issue completely to death, here's one more view.

BTW: We are thoroughly impressed with the safety and reliability of the FORD EXCURSION. So, just in case there are any FORD executives reading this post who need a big, big family to test drive a big reliable vehicle for them, they'll know that we think FORD EXCURSIONS are the best vehicle ever.

(This is eerily reminiscent of my high school cheerleading memories!)

Enough of my foolishness. We are truly thankful to the Lord for his miraculous provision and can't say that enough.

THANK YOU, LORD!!!

We're Alive!

To all (3) of our adoring fans...yes, we are alive! Alive and quite well, actually. I just haven't taken the time to download the oh-so-blurry pictures from my phone to my computer. Yup, I've resorted to taking pictures with my cheesy phone, thus the tres fromage picture quality you are now beholding.

Note to all French speakers: I'm quite sure that tres fromage is not an accurate translation for very cheesy, but it's late, and I'm too lazy to pull up an actual translator online, so it'll have to do. To use a very bad pun...pardon my French.

Well, we got another order of...can you guess....I'm sure it will be a huge surprise...could it be....

CHICKS!!!!

I'm only putting the text in bold and adding exclamation points for my sweet husband's sake. He's ALWAYS excited to get chicks. I was rather disconsolate at the idea of raising out yet another batch of broilers* when Robert so thoughtfully tried to cheer me up with the pronouncement that I really would be happy about this when the freezer was full of chicken. I responded rather sulkily that it was 10 long weeks until that happened. Nonetheless, we are actively taking care of our newest little brood and all is going quite well, despite my earlier whinyness.

*Broilers are chickens grown for meat-as opposed to layers grown for eggs. We purchase Cornish-Rock crosses that grow astonishingly quickly, have fewer feathers for easier plucking, and are dumb as rocks. Have you ever seen the movie Chicken Run? These chickens are hypnotically drawn to feed just like the birds in the movie. Some people have lovingly nicknamed them Frankenstein birds... I guess you just have to see them waddle, I mean walk, to get the comparison.

The cutest little chicken handler in all of Arkansas! We can only hope and pray that the little chickie survived.

Oh no! Sam has intense competition for cutest chicken handler! It's hard to believe that cute little chick will soon be one of the Frankenstein birds...it looks so normal.


We surely won't insult Andrew with the dreaded "c" word used above. I'm just happy I got him smiling this time instead of the my-puppy-just-got-ran-over look he had on his face last time!



If you feel the need to compare the two pictures, click here:http://crackercountry.blogspot.com/2009/07/baby-chicksrandom-pics.html


Benny has decided that at the ripe old age of 11, he needs to smile very discreetly.

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O.K., on to the next project. As part of our desire to be self sufficient, Robert wants us to start learning to cook on an open fire. He was a very good example and made the first meal for us. We enjoyed delicious chili without using electricity or propane, and the weather was perfect for an outdoor meal cooked over the fire. I made beef stew the next night, and it turned out very well. The biscuits didn't. I'm going to have to work on figuring out how hot a pan actually is before I try biscuits over the fire again! Well, a few days later, I woke up to my precious son, Daniel, cooking breakfast over the fire for his little brothers and sister.










Yummy eggs and grits.

He even had them set the table and everything! I was very impressed, and very appreciative.

Well, I wish I had more pictures to share, but I will be working on that!

Hope y'all enjoyed the post!

Mama

Catching Up

Well, since we are still camera-less, and I've pretty much run out of old pictures to post, this post will have to be less visually stimulating. It's actually going to be less stimulating in all respects because life has been kind of boring lately, just the day-to-day living that life is really all about.

We have had a few spots of excitement in our life, though. My good friend, Maria from Ohio, came and visited with us last week. We had a really nice time fellowshipping with a likeminded believer. She got to see our mini-farm -- and right now it is a really mini-farm, since the cows are being pastured elsewhere and we don't have pigs at this time. It was still alot of fun and the garden gave us plenty of work to do.

Well, I thought I didn't have any pictures to post, but then I remembered that I do have a few of the little kids that Maria took with her cell phone. They did an art project with her that included paper, scissors, crayons and glue. They were thrilled that she actually wanted to sit there and do art projects with them --unlike their glue-hating mother! Anyway, here are the few pictures that I do have:

Joey with his bull -- I think it's quite artistic for a five year old!

Sam with his alligator. I'm sure he had a little help. He made a baby and a mama alligator. Everything, and I mean everything, is a daddy, a mama or a baby to Sam.


Rachel with her cut-and-glued R. She finished cutting-and-gluing the rest of her name and it proudly hangs over her bed. She is so totally girly! The only thing that could have made this project better was glitter, or maybe butterflies.

Sam just being...Sam.

We also finished making our portable chicken pens. The broilers are now residing in chicken luxury with new, fresh grass beneath their scratchy little feet every day. Um, a small disclaimer. That we I used at the beginning of the sentence is a collective we. I didn't actually help build the chicken pens, but I sure enjoyed watching our good friend Allen show the boys how to do it!

Maybe I can get a few pictures of the new pens and try to post them. I have a feeling that plenty of pictures will be taken when part of my wonderful family arrives next week, because they LOOOOVE cameras!

So, I hope all (3) of our faithful readers will be waiting with bated breath for a new post chock full of pictures, and I surely don't want to disappoint the masses. Until next time, then, goodbye!

R.G.'s Complaint

So, the other day R.G. was looking at one of the adorable posts on the blog and we had the following conversation:

R.G. - "Why do you always have to do 'cute' posts about little kids going on adventures or fuzzy baby chicks?"

Me - "Because I happen to like cute posts featuring cute little kids and fuzzy animals, and so do most of our readers, considering most of our readers are related to them."

The cute little kids, that is. No evolutionists on THIS blog!

R.G. - "Why can't you post nitty-gritty pictures of us loading up logs to take to the lumber mill, you know, when one of the logs almost broke Michael Doolin's leg?"

R.G. must live his life through the lens of a 1930's film reel.

Me - "I think that whole broken leg comment answers that question."

So, I have been poring through our pictures, looking for wild-west, homesteading, depression-era looking pictures, just to make my dear eldest son happy.

Here are the results:

Burning Bush...I mean brush

More brush burning

R.G. looking sufficiently cowboy-ish, I hope.

GRANDMOTHER DISCLAIMER: DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE GOING TO GET OVERLY WORRIED

After hearing the descriptions of R.G.'s and Matthew's experiences burning brush on the ranch where they work, I think they are the ones who need to be taking the pictures. I guess it's the norm to drive a backhoe into a giant, flaming pile of brush and hope and pray that the backhoe keeps working long enough for you to drive it out of the giant, flaming pile of brush.

Anyway, enough of that. Here are some more not-cute-at-all pictures.

A big buck that came to our deer feeder.

R.G. looking like Alvin York, except I'm not sure Alvin York actually ever ate a piece of meat that big.


Standing precariously close to the edge of a 150 ft. drop off at Hawksbill Crag overlooking the Buffalo River.



Matthew's antlers off one of the deer he killed this past winter.



R.G. asked me to add this picture, to make sure everyone knew that this was no bonfire...it was an all-out-raging-20-ft-high brush burn.

Well, I hope these pictures were sufficiently, um. Arkansaw. I guess I could have posted them all in sepia tones, that would have probably made Mr. No Electricity happier. Nevertheless, I shall attempt to post a few more grimy, sweaty photos in the future.

posted by Mama

Baby Chicks/Random Pics

A couple of weeks ago, we received 225 - yes, that's 225 - baby chicks from our favorite hatchery. We are raising out 100 meat birds, and we got 50 more layers that will hopefully start laying this winter. The rest of the chicks are some that we ordered for other people. I'm so glad that Robert was here when the chicks came. He is far more dutiful and detailed when it comes to getting chicks started the right way. Robert actually enjoys taking each chick out of the box, making sure it gets its own drink of sugar water, tenderly putting it in the brooder, etc. I just want to get it DONE! Anyway, we have had great success with these chicks so far, having only lost 3 or 4 out of 225! I attribute this to my husband's diligence while he was here and his insistence on our diligence after he went back on the road. I'm very thankful for Robert's desire that his family do things "decently and in order"!

Sam is inspecting the merchandise.

Robert and Benny making sure everyone is happy and healthy.


This is not the best picture...and I have NO IDEA WHAT IS UP WITH ANDREW!!!

Obviously, the chicks came when the Doolins were here. Julia loved the chicks, even if she isn't an animal lover!

Joey loved the chicks, too!



One of Robert's favorite pastimes--watching animals get settled in.

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RANDOM PICTURES

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Matthew tenderly caressing one of his favorite things -- ammo.

Sorry about the background mess. These are Matthew's and Daniel's dresser shelves.

Robert isn't too happy with this picture, but you need it to go with the next picture.

The burgers are ready!

I think Sam was threatening someone with the water hose.

Mama and Rachel picking the endless banana peppers in the garden.

Daniel and Benny playing a tension-filled game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Looks like Benny won this round!

Joey and Sam thought Michael was a great substitute for a playground!

Hope you enjoyed the Baby Chicks/Random Pics!

Posted by Mama

My Sister Is In Labor!

My older sister, Beth, is in active labor! We would deeply appreciate your prayers for her and the baby.

Katie

The Doolin Gang

We had some more visitors recently. The Wonderful Doolin Siblings --Michael and Julia--came and helped out for a week this July. I purposely said helped out rather than visited, because we Millers feel pretty guilty for all the incredible help they gave us. We hope they enjoyed themselves, because we really enjoyed the time we had with them!

Making green tomato salsa. Julia really seemed to like this. She put it on everything!

Sam and Mama making dessert

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PICKING BLACKBERRIES

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THE REWARDS OF OUR LABOR!

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I think Julia took this picture to make me feel good. She actually made the blackberry jam. I just stood there holding it!

The kids ate the 8 pints of homemade jam up in about a week and a half.

(I might have helped a little)

Mealtime

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THE NEXT BIG PROJECT

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Robert begins making much-needed shelves for the shed. He was greatly assisted by Daniel and Michael.

Benny helped his Daddy, too!

The finished product...ready to be filled with Rubbermaid containers!

Rachel and Julia making jalapeno poppers.

Devotions time --They weren't supposed to notice the camera!

R.G. and his good friend Michael -- dressed in Miller style, as usual!

Sweet Julia reading a book to the little ones. Sam figured he could see better if he sat ON the table.

Snapping green beans.

Well, as you can see by the pictures, we had a great time with Michael and Julia. We would be honored if they ever decided to come back and visit.

posted be Mama