Hello, Again!

Well, Hello there!

How have you been?

I've been okay. I've been busy with various things but I had to stop blogging about those things for a while.
Why? you ask? Well, let me tell you. I started having HORRIBLE anxiety issues and I don't know if it was BECAUSE of blogging or if I just DECIDED that it was because of blogging. It was very weird. And it was so bad that I couldn't even read a blog or hear the word blog without getting short of breath and feeling very weird.

Weird, huh?

Buuuuuuut, I'm better now and have things to tell you. I know, lucky huh?

Lots of things have happened since I saw you last. I've embraced my curly hair. I haven't blown it out in like 3 months. That's one thing.

My stepson got married. To a girl named Misty. His name is Robbie. My husbands name is Robbie. My name is Misty. Also weird. I like to call them Robbie and Misty Pearson 2.0. Or all of us Robbie and Misty squared. No one acts like thats so clever. Probably because they think its so clever and they have nothing quite so clever to say back to me. So they just stand there looking at me like I have a snake on my head, which I don't. Because they have nothing as clever to say. Yes. I'm quite sure that's it. I'll post pictures later.

I started cleaning Terry Bradshaw's pool. I met him. He's nice. I saw these two little guys on the way to Mr Bradshaw's house.

So, there's that.

I got some new baby chicks. I got them from Larry, the bird man down the road. I told him I wanted ten baby chicks because I use an old rabbit hutch as a brooder. Last time I got twenty of them and they got so heavy they busted out the bottom. When they hatched he called me and I explained the whole ratty brooder thing to him. Then he must have forgotten because he said " I know you only wanted a dozen of them but can you take fifteen?" "Yeah, sure. I guess it'll be fine." I replied. When I picked them up he said "I had extra so I gave you four extra." I don't think he was listening to me. So all nineteen go in the rabbit hutch brooder. I went out one morning and found this in there.

Yeah, its belly is full of 4 baby chicks! Here's what happened with THAT.

Before I begin....If you are a member of PETA or are a small, impressionable child read this paragraph and ignore the rest of the post.
I found this adorable, chubby creature in my chicken brooder one morning and I was so excited to have such a lovely visitor grace my chickeny home that I exclaimed "Why, Hello little fella! Whatcha doin? Where's your mama? You don't know? Well, let me help you find her." Then, I dressed him up in a little sailor suit (unless you're one of those PETA people that thinks dressing up animals in a sailor suit is torture. Then, I totally didn't do that. I dont really know whats  acceptable PETA behavior.) and buckled him up in THE BACKSEAT, BECAUSE ITS SAFER. PETA wink. and we drove around looking for the poor things mother. Of course we stopped for a healthy lunch, first. I couldn't have him getting hungry. He wanted candy but I said "No. It will rot out your teeth." I said that firmly but softly so as not to traumatize him by diminishing his feelings. After lunch, I took him to the park where we played and played. Oh, how we played! He said "You're the BEST!" I thanked him and said he has pretty hair. Then, we found his mommy. She thought he looked adorable. She gave me a big hug, thanked me for bringing her baby back and they slithered off into the sunset....

THE END

Nothing else happened. The rest of this post is just me ranting about what a raw deal rodeo monkeys get. Really. Trust me.


Okay, now for everybody else:

I totally stole that idea from Jenny Lawson's book. What a great way to avoid ugly lawsuits or at the very least someone throwing snake blood on me when I wear my faux fur jackets. I'm not technically against real fur. I just can't afford it. But, I digress.

I was on my way to work at Pearson Pools, your one stop pool shop, one Saturday morning where I work with my husband. Don't be jealous. Seriously, working with your husband is not as fun as it sounds.
Anyway, I was leaving for work and went in to check on the chicks and that snake was in there. I called Robbie and yelled "There's a snake in the coop!!!!! What do I do???" To which he replied "REALLY? A snake?" (okay let me insert here about how I anticipated his worry and undying love for me and his masculine need to save me as a damsel in distress. What he really said is...) "Thats weird...but more importantly how is that going to affect my breakfast?" To which I said "Breakfast?!? Gotta go, bye!"

Then, I immediately called Melanie and yelled "There's a snake in my brooder!!! What do I do? What do I do?" To which she replied, much more helpfully than the breakfast retort I might add "Get an axe or a machete and kill it."

Me: I don't have an axe or a machete

Her: WHO doesn't have an axe or a machete?!?

Me: Well, obviously I don't have an axe or a machete

Her: Well, okay then. Go in and get a big kitchen knife

Me: I don't HAVE  a big chicken knife either!

Her: No! I said a big KITCHEN knife. You need something you can strike down on it to kill it

Me: ummmmmm.....yeah, I aint doing that. I am NOT putting my hand close enough to the snakes head to let it kill me. Never mind, I'll figure something out.

So, I run into the house and wake up my 19 year old son. "Jake, Jake wake up!!! There's a snake in the chicken coop!! Do you want to shoot it?" He groggily shakes his head no. So I say "Well, what do I do??" He says in his sleepy teenager voice very unhelpfully (He is his father's son after all.) "Why don't you just go kill it with something?" Geee.....why didn't I think of that? :/

So, now I realize I'm in this all alone. Me against the world....er...snake. So I think....Hmmmmmm....We have guns. Shotguns and rifles but I don't know where the shells are. We have a hundgun that I'm sure is loaded but I think 'What are my odds of actually hitting a snake with THAT and I'd probably blow out the whole bottom of the brooder and then I'd really be screwed. So I ditch that idea and go into the shop and see what I've got to work with. I have a shovel, a hoe, (no not a 'ho! Although, she'd probably be pretty tough and might actually be more helpful than the males of my household.) and a sledgehammer. A sledgehammer!! Oh I can work with those!

So, I take my tools and go back into the coop. I lift the lid and take the shovel and very swiftly strike down on the snake behind its head. Well, that just pissed him off. Pandemonium ensues. He strikes. I scream and run. He can't get out of the brooder because hes so full of chicken. I calm myself by realizing that he didn't actually strike at ME but at the shovel and snakes aren't by nature super smart and probably doesn't even realize that I'M the one trying to kill him. So I go back in and do it again. And one more time. (crappy shovel is a piece of crap at killing snakes.) I ditch the shovel and pick up the hoe (which incidentally is what I wanted to use in the first place until Melanie told me a kitchen knife was a MUCH better idea. pssssh) I use the hoe to pull him out of the brooder at a nice, safe, leisurely if you will, distance away from me. I toss him over the chicken yard fence and then strike down with the sledgehammer. He gets a knot on his body from the blow but that didn't kill him either so I whack a couple more times. Finally! I think I got him.

That took like 30 minutes and Robbie was all "Sooooo, are you bringing breakfast anytime soon?" The rest of the day was pretty uneventful so I won't bore you with all that. I did have an event in my yoga studio that afternoon where I told my friends about the snake incident. One friend was getting a migraine and I asked her if she wanted an aspirin or something and she said "No, I need someone to just chop my head off." Then she realized what she just said in light of the snake story, and after a seconds thought said "But, NOT YOU!!"   I did go out later and buy a machete, some long hedgetrimmers, some screen material to staple around the brooder, and some stuff called Snake Repellant. Its made with cinnamon and cloves and stuff. It smells really good. In fact, as I sprinkled it all over the place I thought that it really freshened up the smell of the whole chicken coop. I thought 'I am kicking some serious snake ass tonight!'

Don't buy snake repellant. The very next night I went out and found another snake EATING a chick!!! This is what happened to that one

Thank you long hedgetrimmers!

A couple nights later I found yet ANOTHER snake in the brooder! I didn't take a picture of that one. It looks the same as the other ones, so why bother.

The chicks have been released from the brooder at this time.

Just tonight, I go out and there's yet ANOTHER snake making its way into my coop. Dangit! What the heck? (Except I didn't say Dangit or heck. I think I also said some other things that I'm not proud of but just escape from your body when you see a snake.) So, I killed that one too, which was much scarier because its mouth or belly wasn't full of anything. It was dark and I had to run away and get a grip at one point. On top of that, there is poison ivy EVERYWHERE!. The only thing I can say is.....Stupid snake repellant!
I am, however, becoming quite proficient at snake removal. And ironically, I now have 10 baby chicks! So I guess it all worked out for the best.

So, that's what's been going on with me.

Hmmm...what else? Oh yeah. I almost went to jail. We started selling hot tubs at the store. I went to Arkansas on a business trip. My mom thought I was going to get lost there. I didn't. I almost killed myself on a zero turn radius lawn mower. Aaaaaaannnnddd I got instagram for my android phone!

To keep with the theme, I'm sharing a recipe. I may or may not have already shared it. I don't know. Pioneer Woman also recently shared this recipe but trust me. It was mine first! I got this recipe over 20 years ago from my mom. She and her friend made these for my dad's birthday one year and it was a HUGE hit. The friend started making them and selling them in her bar and refused to give me the recipe. My mom said "She wouldn't give you the recipe?!? What the heck/ (except my mom doesn't say heck) Its on the bottle of the hot sauce!" Its on the bottle of Franks RedHot to be exact.  But, I'll give it to you anyway so you don't have to read the tiny writing on the hot sauce bottle. Its because I care so much. You're welcome.

Hot Wings:

5# cut up chicken wing pieces (yes 5#. Trust me)
1 bottle of Franks RedHot sauce (NOT the buffalo wing sauce!)
about 2T butter
oil for frying

Fry the wings in the hot oil. drain on paper towels.
In a saucepan or microwave, heat up the hot sauce and butter. (Do NOT breathe!! Its hot and you'll choke on the fumes. I wish someone told me that little tidbit! Again. You're welcome) Put the wings in a large bowl and pour the sauce over them. Stir to coat the wings and serve with Ranch dressing. You can use Blue Cheese if you prefer but here in Texas we like our Ranch. Then, and this is important. Not quite as important as not breathing and choking, but almost. Set the bowl down in front of your hungry men and then move back and get your hands out of the way quickly!

Okay. So that's it for now. I'll catch you up later on everything else. In the meantime, tell me what you've been up to.

This post is linked to Fight Back Friday and Barn Hop. Check 'em out!

Its Like Buttah!!

Oh CRAP!!

I'm looking in the refrigerator and see that I only have about 1/4 cup of butter left and I still need to make a pie crust AND have some for buttering rolls! We can't have Thanksgiving with no pie and we for sure can't have Thanksgiving with unbuttered rolls, even though they are the crappy, stupid Brown n Serve!

I know, I know....Brown n Serve! pfffft!

Robbie specifically asked for those. I said "Seriously? Cuz I could make some really good ones homemade, some really good yeast rolls."
Nope. Brown N Serve. Fine. At least it'll save me some time. Okay.

Jake specifically asked for "Thanksgiving mac & cheese" which in reality is my mother in law's recipe. This is the recipe: She whips open a box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese every Thanksgiving for the kids that may or may not want her store bought potatoes and dressing to go along with her opened cans of corn and green beans.
Again I said "Seriously? Cuz I could make some homemade that'll be really awesome."
Nope. Velveeta. Okay, at least it'll save me some more time.

And then, I'm back in the fridge wondering what to do about the butter situation. We live 20 minutes outside of town and I'm not about to stop cooking to make a trip in and I know that nobody else will either. Hmmmmm....I wonder if I can make that quarter cup be enough for both? All I need to do is divide it smartly. I was a science major in college. I should be able to figure this out. Also, just FYI, I was secretary of the math club in high school. That's not really pertinent to this story or anything else in life really. But, I just like to throw that out there every now and then, when the opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, being secretary of the math club has no real benefits.

But, back to the butter. I tried different divisions. Maybe if I cut it THIS way? Nope. How about THAT way? Nope. No matter what I do or how I divide it, I STILL only have 1/4 cup of butter and it STILL isn't enough. *sigh* Thanksgiving is ruined.........But, wait!!!!!

I've heard of people making their own butter. And they weren't even amish!

I was in an antique store last spring with a friend and saw these cute, little, wooden butter churns. I said "oooooh, I need to get one and try making butter!" My friend said "......yeah, OR you could just use your blender. Its way faster."

In light of my current butter crisis, I pulled out some cream. Coffee be damned, we're in crisis mode here! I poured it into a bowl and used my whisk attachment on my mixer. All I did was whisk up the cream * take a little taste...don't judge...I dare you NOT to taste some freshly whipped cream! You can't, can you?* until it turns really crumbly and yellow. Then, I whisked it a little more until it turned into a solid lump.

You have to pour out the buttermilk.

PSA -  Please don't throw it away. Pour it into a clean jar for use in a recipe. Its not as acidic as the buttermilk you get at the store, so don't use it in place of buttermilk. Use it in place of regular milk.

After you pour out the buttermilk, dunk your lump of butter into an ice cold water bath. Then, massage the butter to try and get out some more of the buttermilk. If you skip this step, your butter will be rancid in a couple of days.

The whole thing only took about ten minutes! It was a miracle I tell you. A Thanksgiving miracle. I turned cream into butter. Not quite as impressive as Jesus turning water into wine, but hey! I'll take it.

So, what happened next? Well. Then angels started singing, Robbie said "Are you almost done with that? I'm trying to hear the game." and I yelled "Yeeee-Haww! I just made my own butter!!!!" and he said "Were they out at the store??"

He just doesn't get me. But, he DOES love a good, buttery Brown n Serve roll.

Brown n Serve! pffffffftttt!


And THAT is the story of how I saved Thanksgiving!

I must say....I'm feeling very super-heroish. Go try it and we can be super heroes together.

This post is linked to Fight Back Friday, Farmgirl Friday, Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, and Monday Mania Although, they'll probably kick me out because my husband made me heat up those stupid rolls!!

Love Is In The Air

Listen to this while you read the rest of this post.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing. There is love in the air. Its warm, springtime weather.......

Except its not.

Its overcast. The birds are all hunkered down (which reminds me, I need to put out birdseed later.), I haven't seen a bee in awhile, and Thanksgiving is later this week. BUT.......There is love in the air.

Just yesterday, this girl was just a baby.

Her name is Harley and she was sweet, cute, obnoxious, hyperactive, and beating up on this guy.

His name is Festus and he is literally hiding from her. He's a big lug. Not smart enough to realize he's not hidden in my lush, trumpet vine. Except its not. Don't judge my poor trumpet vine. We had a horrible drought this summer. In its defense though, this IS the lushest its been all summer.

Just yesterday, for real, I came home and saw a few strange dogs hanging around. I thought, 'hmmm...that's weird.' and Festus looked like we was guarding her. He was circling her with low growls coming from his throat, following her every movement. hmmmm....curious. Usually, he's good heartedly trying to get her off of him while she's pouncing on him.

Robbie was already home. When I walked in he said "I think somethings wrong with Harley. She looked funny." I immediately walked outside, worried,  to look at her and saw Festus licking her and rubbing his head on her like he was hugging her. Uh-Oh. She growled at him and he immediately backed up and sat down very attentively. Uh-Oh. That's different.

I walked back in and said "I think Festus is in love."

He doesn't leave her side. They are very cute little lovebirds.

(They've been swimming in our stock tank. They usually look much cleaner than this. Nah, not really. They are ALWAYS swimming in the tank.)

And I don't even KNOW who this little Casanova that just started hanging around is.

Since its not springtime and even though love is in the air, its cool out and a girls gotta feed the family! Its chilly outside and that made me think of chili.

Lucky for you, I'm posting it, cuz its gooooood!

You need:

1# of ground beef (grass fed of course)
1/2 chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can beans (any beans will do. just pick your favorite)
1 container of V8 Bold and Spicy
2T buckwheat flour (you could use any flour or thickening agent or none. Its up to you)
1/2 C water

spices to taste:
garlic
salt
pepper
chipotle chili powder
ground red pepper
cumin

In a semi large pot, brown ground beef (if you use grass fed, you won't have any grease to drain.) and saute the onion with it. Add everything else, except the flour and water, in the pot and let it simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix the flour with the water to make a roux. Add into the pot. stir it in and simmer, stirring occasionally until its the thickness you want.

Eat it while its hot.....like my dogs.

....Too far?

Yeah, I thought so.  Oh well, try the chili while I mourn the loss of my dog's innocence. It really is like having a teen aged daughter. Except its not. But, how would I know. I have boys. There's probably a girls mom somewhere right now blogging a picture of my son with a mustache calling him a casanova.....deep, huh?

This is linked to Sunday Night Soup Night, Barn Hop, and Monday Mania.  Check em out!

Summer Purse

When my son was about 10 or 11 he was on the swim team in our area. Our area only had a swim team for one summer. It was a great summer with a winning team, the Red River Racers. Before that, my son had played some t-ball, some coach pitch, a little b-ball. He is VERY big for his age. He was also very non-competitive..

Because he was so big, coaches would drool when they saw him. They almost begged him to be on their teams. He always said yes because he is also very social. The lure of playing with other boys was his siren song. His job in basketball ended up being to just stand in front of the goal and hold his arms up. "Don't do anything else!"

 Well, that's not fun so that didn't last long.

He became a little chubby. So, when another homeschool mom started talking swim team, I immediately signed him up. He could swim since he was 2, but this summer I thought it would be great for him to get out from in front of the video games, interact with other kids, clean up his stroke, and maybe lose a little baby fat. I did not care at all if he ever won a race.

Every morning, he got in the water, swam a few leisurely laps and played dolphin with another kid. Oh yeah, he would also walk the lane pretending to swim with his arms. So, they put him in the slow lane. Then every Saturday he would go to a swim meet, somewhere far away and leisurely swim a few laps while the other kids churned up the water. Needless to say he was always last. He was a huge frustration to his teammates, but Jake didn't even notice. He had a great time hanging out at the pool with his friends, running around, and enjoying snacks.

At one meet, he came up and asked me if I had any duct tape in my bag.
"No, why would I have duct tape?"
"My shoe broke and I want to fix it." It was  $2 flip flop from Walmart. The glue came loose so the strap came off.
I said "Oh Jake, that's okay, I got those at Wal-Mart. I'll just get you some more when we leave. Just go barefoot for now." So, I took his shoe and pressed the strap back onto the sole. Hmmmmm...that worked. Hey, it might hold. So I didn't go to Wal-Mart for more flip flops.
They lasted 2 more meets.

Then....the last meet.

Jake is swimming and......wait.....what is he doing? Oh My Gosh!!! He's actually competing! All the other parents are cheering for him. I'm screaming. Another dad is looking at me and says "Did you SEE that??????" "YES!!!" and he won. It was greatness...

A little later, he asks me for tape. Of course I don't have tape. So, I say "Just don't worry about it, right now. I promise we'll stop after the meet." He walks away. I don't see him again for about 30 minutes  and he has masking tape holding his shoe together. Its taped up like only a child can do. I laugh because I know he's been making the rounds asking other parents in a strange town if they have any tape. He must do this because his mother is negligent and doesn't carry tape around after she buys $2 shoes for her son and then makes him wear them even after he's told her they're dysfunctional.

ahhhh...tomato/tomotto

negligent/thrifty

So, I'm laughing at his redneckedness, but I'm also proud of his win so for a celebration lunch we stop at Chick-Fil-A, his choice. Now, we live out in the country, in a small town. We do not have a Chick-Fil-A. For this meet, we were in a big city. A city big enough for an indoor natatorium. My town is so small, I don't think the majority of people in it even know what the WORD natatorium is! That may sound mean. Come to my town and you'll see.

So, we're walking across the crowded parking lot on a Saturday afternoon. Him, in his taped up flip flops, and me carrying that very stylish handbag in the picture above. I bought it specifically for the summer. It was quite stylish in the day. Its a leather hobo bag with inlaid little jewels on either side of the handle. Its light in color and perfect for summer.

As we walk across the lot, Jake says to me very disdainfully..."We look like a couple of rednecks walking in here."
"WHAT??? Speak for yourself mr tape up man......How do you figure we look like rednecks? I, myself, am looking very stylish. Thank you very much."

"Well, my shoes have tape on them.... and you're carrying that PURSE!"

Does this make me a bad mom? I don't think so. It makes me laugh. Anything that makes me laugh can't be bad for my child....can it?

I just found that purse in my closet. That's what reminded me of that story......I think I'll start carrying it again. But, its fall so it probably WILL look rednecky...I think I will just keep it and carry it to his wedding.

That will make me laugh....so it must not be bad...right?

The Exotic Lands of Forestburg, TX

This is linked to Soulemama's This Moment  a single moment from the week. No words, just a photo to capture the moment. Here's mine from this week.

Hammock Fun

This Guy

enjoys a nice afternoon in  a hammock.

And this girl

ALSO enjoys a rousing hammock romp.

And betwixt the two, I fear there will be no more of this

*sigh*

Preparedness

My motto is: Its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I've been thinking about preparedness lately. What prompted that was a friend of mine, who seriously keeps up on all things political, told me a while back that food prices were going to rise drastically. Gas and corn prices are going up and those two things are interconnected with everything we eat. Well, I started noticing it coming true!! I'm sure you have too. So, I bought a small freezer and started gradually filling it up. My thoughts on this were solely to save money on groceries in the event of a depression or food lines like they had in Russia during the cold war. (That may sound crazy and paranoid, but it COULD happen....because at one time in history it DID happen.  Refer back to the first sentence in this post.)

Last night, I was reading another blog, Homestead Revival and she issued a challenge that really made me think and take my preparedness a step further. The challenge is basically to have a 3 day "stash" of ready to prepare meals in case of emergency. It really has nothing to do with anything political but more in the event of a natural or even a man made disaster. Its not unreasonable to think that a tornado (where I live), a hurricane, an earthquake, blizzard, or flood could knock out the power and water for a few days (or more!).  The reason for having 3 days of food set aside from the rest of the pantry is because its been shown that when a disaster occurs it takes about 3 days to overcome the emotional shock of it all. In those 3 days, a family still needs to eat and drink. So, the meals should be in their own containers, labeled, easy to find, and not touched until ready for use. They should be shelf stable and last at least 6 months. In fact, just to insure the food stays fresh, you should eat the food every 6 months and immediately re-stock. You wouldn't want to find out in the middle of a crisis that your food expired 2 years ago!!

In Amy's original post, the link I just shared with you, she challenges everyone to post just one meal they would put in their box.  You really should go check it out. Its really interesting to read the other entries. They are full of great ideas!

So, here are my ideas. 

First of all, in the event that I had no electricity, I would feel the need to quickly use up things from the freezer and the fridge. Also, I have chickens and a garden. So, depending on the time of the year, I would have eggs, veggies, and herbs available, maybe fruit too. We have some fruit and pecan trees on our place. I also use a propane stove so I can't imagine not having that available to use just because we may not have power or water.

All that being said, just to be fair and in the spirit of the exercise, I will assume none of those would be available. Not only that, if in fact, I was "shell shocked", I may need the comfort and simplicity of a meal at my fingertips that required no thought.  Assuming for whatever reason, my propane was unavailable or just being conserved I would build a fire outside. We have an abundance of wood that needs to be burned anyway. And it would probably add a fun, campy element that might help alleviate the stress.

So, here goes:

Breakfast is easy. I would have in my boxes instant oatmeal, cereal, almond milk, Nature's Path toaster pastries, canned or dried fruit, bottled water, tea bags and instant coffee. I would also add some shelf stable bacon for protein (Im not sure of the brand, but I get it from our health food co-op and its pretty good!) The protein is important. Otherwise, the rest of it is all carby ensuring sugar crashes and crankiness later. Crankiness is not conducive to survival!! :)

Lunch and Dinner are interchangeable. I'll have to think a little more on these. But, I know for a fact that one meal would be bean burritos. I got that idea from reading another post. And my family LOVES burritos. In that box, I would have a can of refried beans, flour tortillas, a can of enchilada sauce, canned cheese, a bag of tortilla chips and salsa.
Another meal will be a dutch oven chicken noodle soup. My husband has been bucking for a dutch oven for years anyway ever since he watched the movie Lonesome Dove the FIRST time. He wanted to be like Robert Duvall and cook biscuits in the ground and be surrounded by pot belly pigs. Number 1, I told him "Honey, maybe you should start off by learning to cook bisuits in the oven!!!" Number 2, he wanted these pigs to live with us in the house!! (His culinary experience currently consists of velveeta/rotel dip in the microwave and "cooking" pop tarts in the toaster.) He pushed hard for the pigs in the house. I told him he was welcome to have whatever animal his heart desires but none of them will be allowed to live in the house. He continued on to tell me that pot belly pigs are delicate and NEED to be in the house. All this until one day at the feed store buying horse feed, he saw a pen of baby pigs. He made a bee line over to the feed store worker and said "I see here that you have pot belly pigs. Now, they need to live in the house don't they?" as he glanced over at me smugly. The man replied "NO man! They're PIGS!" as I walked away snickering. After that, there was no more talk of biscuits and pigs. Now he just wants me to let him call me Lori Darling. I won't do that either........

Back to the soup. I found a good recipe for Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup here The Survival Mom.  It was kind of hard to find dutch oven recipes using only canned or dried foods. She has it all figured out already.

And one other thing I KNOW I will have in a box for a dessert is s'mores. We'll have the fire going and a stressful situation calls for a little fun and comfort food. S'mores are easy keepers, just a box of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars.

Have you given thought to "disaster meal kits"? What would yours be?

Growing Old-Graciously

I'm reading Connect With God every day. Its a wonderful daily devotional of sorts. Its written by Jentezen Franklin.

The entry for September 6 was so great I felt compelled to share it with you.
In Time out Ladies Dale Evans shares this prayer:

"Lord you know better than anybody that I'm getting older and will someday be old. Keep me from being talkative; from the fatal habit of thinking I've got to say something on every subject on every occasion. Release me from the need to straighten out everybody's affairs. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. I ask for grace to listen to the tales of others' pains, and to endure them with patience. But seal my lips when it comes to my own aches and pains, for they're increasing, and my love for rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I ask for improved mem-ory, but even more for a growing humility and a lessening cock-sureness when my memory seems to clash with the memory of others. Teach me that occasionally I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet. I don't want to be 'a saint' because some of them are so hard to live with - and a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Make me thoughtful, not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it; but you know, Lord, I still want to have a few friends at the end. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people, and give me the grace to tell them so. Amen."

Marriage

This is a picture of my husband and me. 

Not really. Its really Al and Peg Bundy. But, really. That's my husband and me.

But, I don't have red hair. I HAD red hair. When I was pregnant. It was fun! People thought my husband was having an affair! :)

This post is about marriage. Now, I'm not a marriage expert. But then again, I don't believe anyone else is either. Well, maybe Dr Laura is. I love Dr Laura!!

But, I HAVE been married for 21 years. My parents have been married for well over 40 years. Robbie's parents have been married to other people for over 30 years. And I have friends that have been married for over 20 years. Soooooo...I think I know a thing or two. And I think its an important topic.

The reason I think its soo important is because you see all the time on tv and celeb magazines about people getting married and just as quickly getting divorced. In some cases, the divorce is preceded by affairs.

I know, I know...who cares what the celebs are doing? But, it seems like a trend and I see young people being desensitized by it.

The real catalyst for this post came when I was talking to someone about our marriage. The person I was talking to is in his forties and longs desperately to be married. He's a sweet, hard working, good looking guy so its really baffling as to why he's never been married. But, I think I've figured out that he's romanticized it too much. I've seen the same thing with another friend that has commitment issues. She wants "the white picket fence" and the "perfect marriage". THAT is the problem. THAT is why people end up divorced. There really is no such thing as a "perfect marriage". I know that because there is no such thing as "perfect people". I'm not perfect. My husband is not perfect. And guess what? neither are you.

No offense. But, neither is your spouse. Or your future spouse. To expect anything different just isn't fair.

I told my friend that the reason my husband and I are still married is because neither of us would leave. Here's the argument we used to have.

Me: "If you don't like it, then just leave!!!!"

Robbie: "I'm not leaving!!! YOU leave!!"

Me: "I'm not leaving!!! YOU leave!!"

Robbie "Well, I'M not leaving! So shut up!"

Me: "YOU shut up!!!!"

because I have to have the last word. My mother knows what I'm talking 'bout. :)

I tell this story with a laugh, because that's where we've been. We aren't there anymore. We already know that neither of us is going to leave. When I told my friend this story (with laughter in my voice) he said "That's just sad.......That's no way to have a marriage....Is it?"

It made me wonder. For a minute, it made me feel bad about my marriage. I thought 'It must be. I've been married for 21 years. But, is it really good that we feel this way?' I've contemplated it for a week or two and this is the answer I'm giving myself and I'm sharing it with you.

YES!

That IS the way to a great marriage. THAT, my friend, is commitment! And commitment is the key ingredient to a long, successful marriage. You notice that I didn't say happy. Now, don't get me wrong and think I'm saying that marriage isn't happy. But, I AM saying that it isn't ALWAYS happy.

That's where I think the disconnect is. People think that it has to be always happy or else it isn't working. Then, they justify divorce or affairs or both. The really sad part is, that usually happens after having kids. Kids are tough on a marriage. But, then the kids are just an afterthought in the decision of divorce.

Anytime you put two people together with different life experiences, disagreements are going to happen.

People look at my husband and me and maybe think our marriage isn't great. We are very vocal about what we like and dislike. But, honestly, we don't pretend. What you see in us, is who we are. We don't behave any differently around other people than we behave at home. Well, there is no groping in public!! :)

There is nothing "hidden" at home. When people tell me that they never fight, I'm immediately suspicious. I think either a) they aren't being honest. b) one person is being "pushed over" and only one person in the marriage is truly happy. or c) both parties are suppressing their true emotions and something's about to blow.

I've seen all three happen. I've seen outwardly happy marriages end in divorce, affairs, and insecurity about one spouse leaving the other (hence the fear of speaking up and starting a fight).

The thing is, its okay to fight as long its mature. Its taken us a while to get to the mature point but I think we're there now. But, arguing maturely is inevitable in a long term relationship. Two people are never going to always see eye to eye. We shouldn't have to worry that our spouse will leave us if we speak up. Nor should they worry about us leaving them. Its also important for our kids to see that. Commitment is security.

When you're secure in a relationship, you can feel comfortable being yourself without fear of being left for someone "better".

By the way.....There isn't someone "better". We all have boogers and gas. And even Victoria's Secret models poop!!! :)

What are YOUR secrets to a successful marriage?

Wild Animal Kingdom!!!

It was like Wild Animal Kingdom at my house the other night!! No. It wasn't a longhorn stampede. It was just all out mayhem! Mayhem I tell you!!!!!!

It starts out with my usual going out to feed the horses and close my chicken coop. I let my chickens free range because I enjoy the healthy eggs so much. It grosses me out to think about my chickens being all cooped up and eating their own crap all day. They do that. They crap ALOT! You wouldn't think such a relatively small animal could poop that much. Then, they are pretty stupid and will peck at anything....including their own crap. So, I let them out to run around and catch bugs like they are supposed to. They feel good about it and I feel good about it. But, because they are so dumb, they don't really stay away from predators the way they should and they end up on other animal's supper table. Chickens are puh-retty tasty!! Everyone says so, including mr. hawk and mrs. skunk! :)

My labs don't really eat them. They just like to chase them. Chasing them is soooo much fun according to the labs and the chickens aren't smart enough to know that if they would just sit down and shut up they wouldn't be near as entertaining. So, I'm always losing one here and there. I don't ever really know about it until evening when I'm closing the coop door and I count them. For awhile now I've had 6 roosting in the coop and 2 that insist on roosting in my carport no matter how many times I carry them into the coop. They are rogue hens!!! And then I have about 20 chicks in a brooder that are a few weeks old.

So, back to the evening in question. I'm out at dusk feeding the horses and closing the coop door. I still have the 6 chickens and all the babies in the brooder. I close it all up and as I'm heading back to the house, I hear chicks, and birds, and what was that???? A chicken clucking? from in the trees? Surely not! But, Festus, my older male lab is positive that chickens are in the trees! Nuh-Uh, I say. Then, I say "Festus NO!!!" because he's right. Apparently, my last missing hen has been sitting on eggs these last few weeks and they just hatched!!! Well, the babies are making all sorts of ruckus and I just told you how much fun they are when they are noisy. In the dark no less.

So, I run into the house and grab a flashlight and come back out to see Festus with a baby chicken. I tell him to drop it. It looks like it is in the last death throes. I pick it up because I don't want them eating it. I pick it up and put it on the old hay netting in the back of my truck to get it up and out of the way thinking "I'll come back and check on it." Oh yeah, because by now, the mama chicken is running all around my yard squawking her head off being even more fun for the labs than the baby chicks!!! So I, and the dogs, are chasing this chicken around. I opened the coop door and we chased the mama into the coop. Yay!!!!!! One down. Now back to the baby.

When I get back to my truck, the baby is gone.......'What? Well crap!! One of the cats must have come and got it. Damn cats!'
Meanwhile, sirens are going off like crazy in the distance. Dogs start howling and now the coyotes are howling too! 'Oh Great!! that's all I need!' Then, I look over at the mama cat looking down at something. 'Aha!!! SHE has it!' I go over  to see and I look down and its a FROG! 'Okay, then where did it go? I wasn't gone that long. What the heck????' Then I find it behind the netting and its ALIVE!! YAY!!! So, I take it back to the coop. I put it in one of the nesting boxes. The baby is calling. The mama is calling. I think to myself 'Okay, they will find each other and all will be well. To be sure, I pick up the mama and put her in the nesting box with the baby. The mama leaves the box and roams all around the coop looking for her baby.....*sigh* I told you they were dumb....
Well, I can't leave the baby there all by itself in the dark or it will die of cold. So, I think 'I'll just put it in the brooder with the other chicks. I hope they don't kill it.' I don't know chick etiquette. So, I put the new chick in there and its so small its feet go through the hardware cloth. That won't work. So I make a new nesting box on the ground next to the brooder with the light on it. I walk away hoping the chick makes it because now the mama is roosting again with the other chickens.

So, I go back into the house feeling pretty good about saving the mama and one of her babies. I go into the bathroom to start getting ready for bed and through the window screen I hear more squeaking. 'Oh my gosh!!! more babies! I run outside and realize that I left my flashlight in the chicken coop. 'Crap!' again. So I go back to the coop and open it all back up for about the third time. Good news!! the mama is sitting on the baby! However, as soon as I open the coop door she jumps up and runs away.  Hey! great mama. Way to protect the baby....AND....not only did I leave my flashlight out there but I left it on...'Oh my!' I grab the light and I run back up to see my lab puppy, Harley, licking an egg and a dead chick on the ground. Its dead for real.....ick.....Then the squeaking is coming from a different chick that is almost dead. I know its dying because it has a whole in it that's oozing. yuck! 'Too slow, I didn't make it.' So, I head back into the house and then......wait......more squeaking!!! I run back over to see a very slobbery alive chick that I originally thought was dead. 'Way to keep kicking baby chick!!!!' I grab a towel out of my truck, dry it off, and head yet again with another baby chick AND an unhatched egg. Again, the mama jumps up and runs away. *sigh* poor babies have a stupid mother...... So, I put the slobbery chick in there with the dry chick and the egg, close the coop door and watch the mother come and sit on them. 'Yay!!!' again. With a sigh of relief, I head yet again to the house to get ready for bed.

I fall asleep feeling pretty good about myself. I didn't ever find the nest to check on more chicks but Festus seems to think we found them all and I believed him.

I'm sleeping pretty good and feel a cool breeze blow on my face as a cold front moves in bringing some much needed rain. Then, I hear poor Harley on the front porch being pelted with cold rain. *sigh* 'Can I leave her out there? Would that be wrong? Of course, it is. I'll have to bring her in.'

But wait!!! I have a shower curtain that's never even been opened! So, I go out in the rain to make a tent for her. All dry and warm...and back to bed to sleep in on a Sunday morning. Ahhhhh....feels good.

Meantime, yesterday, I bought some Yogi bedtime tea. It has valerian in it along with chamomile. It really works!!! So.....assuming you don't have wild animal kingdom mayhem at your house, or even if you do, that tea will help you sleep like a baby. A baby chick, a baby cat, a baby dog, baby frogs, lots of babies at my house!!!!!!!!!!! except none of them seem to want to sleep....hmmmmmm.....Okay, so maybe you'll just sleep like someone you just took some valium. :)

Whats Going On Right Now

Are you like me? I often wonder what other people are doing, especially in the evening. You know, when you drive past homes and you see soft lights in the windows and wonder "What are THEY doing?" Its why reality tv is so popular, I imagine.
When I was little, I used to imagine that I was starring in my own tv show for giants. In my imagination giants were greatly entertained by my antics as I went about my days.

So, Ive decided to share with you what Im doing right now.

Im sitting in my favorite chaise watching the Rangers play the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Its very exciting because its the first time in history the Rangers have gotten this far in the playoffs. The Rangers are winning, by the way, 3-0 in the top of the 4th inning.

I like to knit while I watch baseball. If you dont know me, I have to clue you in. I live in a tiny house out in the country. We have one tv and its in the living room. My husband has been bucking for a tv in the bouduoir for years...but that aint happenin'. But thats a crazy story for another day. He is also a HUGE sports fan. We have to watch all the Rangers games, all the Cowboys games, and all the major golf tournaments!
He recently started making some noise about college football but I nipped that in the bud pretty quickly!

So you can imagine that I get quite a bit of knitting done. Guess what everyones getting for Christmas?? :)

Right now, though, Im working on a baby blanket for my brother-in-law and his wife. They are expecting their second baby this winter. Awwwwww!

Leave a comment telling me what you're doing, cause you know, I want to know!

Meanwhile, I gotta get to work on that blanket! I hope the Giants find it entertaining.......

Go Rangers!!!

There's No Place Like Home

Hazel & Festus
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/50173102@N04/

Two nights ago, our a/c went out at 1:00am........

1:00am!!!!!!

Of course it doesn't go out in the middle of the day when air conditioning workers are actually ...working.

So, in the middle of the night I'm sleeping hard. When I say hard, I mean the sleep of the dead. I'm awakened by a loud, screeching noise. My sleep addled brain can't figure out what's making the noise so my body runs on auto-pilot and thinks the puppy needs to be let out. As I stumble into the living room to release the puppy from her carrier, I notice my son standing there using his phone as a flash light. That confuses me more. I'm standing there wondering why he's using his phone to make a loud, screechy noise. By then, I'm awake enough to realize it's neither him nor the puppy making that noise. Then, I realize its coming from the blower on the air conditioner.

I let the puppy out and go back into the bedroom to tell my husband the bad news and go back to sleep. He decides to check out the commotion and hits it. That must be a manly, technical thing to do. Just hit it.

Hitting it worked for about 15 seconds then it started up again. So, my manly, mechanical husband does what is required and hits it again...and again....and again.

By this point, I'm realizing that it's just insanity and I declare that it's crazy and I'm going to bed.

So, like a sane person, I wait until morning and call a repairman. Luckily he can fix it within a day or two but a motor needs to be ordered and we have to spend a night at the lovely Super 8 motel. Doncha just LOVE the Super 8???

Sometimes, you think how nice it would be to get away and stay at a hotel. Hotels are nice because someone comes in and cleans up after you, makes your bed, and towels magically appear in the bathroom. You can eat in bed and watch tv, leave your dirty towels on the floor, leave, come back, and the whole place is magically clean!!

Yeah. not this time. We were exhausted, hungry, and cranky. I just wanted to go home. We don't have the nicest house by any means. But, here's what we have that beats hotel convenience any day.

We have our whole family under one roof. (My son elected to not stay with us in our motel room and go to a friend's instead.) We have 2 yellow labs, kittens, baby chicks, fresh organic peaches growing on trees, horses, whipper-wills, the smell of fresh grass, the smell of cow (I love the smell of cow!!) peaceful-ness, a big porch with rocking chairs.

We also have dirty dishes, unfolded white clothes (I hate folding white clothes!!), chores, and unmade beds.

But, I wouldn't trade my un-tidy, little home for a hotel stay any day!!!

A tale of adventure!!

Once upon a time there was a young man. This man married a young lady and they had two very beautiful children. One child, a daughter, was a remarkabe beauty by all standards.  So much so that people would stop on the street and inquire about this girl. People gushed over her grace, charm, and just overall exquisiteness!!

What?

Really?

Are you sure???

Oh, okay, then... *sigh* I guess the girl just likes to think that, and this isn't really about the girl anyway so here's the story.

When the children were teens, the man sat the children down and said to them, as he occassionally did, "Kids! Ya'll are spoiled! We need to get back to basics!" Never mind that they really didn't have any money. They didn't live in a really nice house, or drive really nice cars. In fact, the mother liked to make the comment to the children when asked what social class they fit into "We are in poverty!" It wasn't really quite that bad either. *sigh* The adult child begins to think they exxagerate a little.

Anyway, because the children are spoiled and the father had recently watched an HBO program about Nostradamus... Remember Nostradamus? He was the guy that lived in the middle ages and predicted a lot of stuff that came true. He predicted Hitler and Stalin and also predicted that California would fall into the ocean and we would have WWW 3 by the year 2000, I think. It was the 80's when this was on. I've slept since then. But, back to the story.

So, because the children are spoiled and he had just seen this program, the father called another family meeting to tell the children about this program and inform the children of their spoiled-ness and declare that the whole family would be packing up and moving to Canada, a neutral country and will become hermits and live off the land! "Okay, Dad!" said the spoiled children. They really didn't think they were spoiled just so you know.

So, the parents took the children to their grandmother's house in Amarillo where they stayed a few weeks. The most beautiful girl in the world used that time to practice moving things with her mind. That didn't really work out in case you were wondering. She worked hard at it though!! The girl also refused to go see the movie the grandmother wanted to take them to see. The movie had really good reviews but the girl had been burned by that before. You see, she had seen Moonstruck. So, she wouldn't be sucked in by the critics again. The movie was ET. She has since seen the movie as an adult and it's really a very good movie. Huh.

While the children were busy at the grandmother's house, the parents went to Colorado and secured a home for the family. The father declared that he had been an uphosterer his entire adult life and needed a change. He shall become a bartender! "Okay Dad!" said the spoiled children. As a side note, it only just occurs to me that a hermit really can't make much money as a bartender. Huh.

So, the whole family moves into an extremely cool place in Colorado with a fantastic view of Pike's Peak. The father says "Kids, we're never going back to Texas!! We're going to continue moving north until we get to Canada where we will live in the mountains, be hermits, and live off the land." "Okay, Dad!" replied the spoiled children.

What a grand time that family had in Colorado!!! It was August so they drove up Pike's Peak, went fishing and caught the most delicious rainbow trout ever. They paid some good friends to help them move and the friends stayed a week and participated in the fun. The kids started school where they immediately made friends who said "decent" all the time. The kids thought that was a funny, "ordinary" thing to say and it cracked them up for years!!. Snow fell early. The kids being from Texas had never experienced such a thing and thought it was most exciting! The family lived on a mountain with some of their friends from school and on a weekend day, all the kids would go tubing down the mountain. It's like sledding on big, giant inner tubes. That was great fun for the spoiled children!!!

The family also brought their horses with them and would ride in the mountains of Colorado. They thought the scenery was breathtaking but they also liked to make fun of the silly Coloradoans because of what they called "ranches".  Silly Coloradoans need to come to Texas and see a ranch.

(disclaimer! This is not to offend anyone from Colorado!!! I love it there!! But, seriously......... You wanna see a ranch? I'll show you a ranch. I kid. It's funny cause its true! :)

Back to the story.  Do you need an intermission? Well, then go take one. You're reading! You can stop whenever you want. I'll wait......waiting....waiting......waiting....Okay, done?

The father during this time is going to bartending school. When the family first got to Colorado, there were millions of ads in the paper for bartenders. "Wow! this is going to be goldmine!!!" By the time the father finishes bartending school, the first snow had fallen and all the jobs had been taken. Bummer!!!!!

So, the money starts to get low. The parents are then rethinking their plan. The grandmother of the spoiled children said "Why don't ya'll come back home and stay with me??? I have a great, big, giant house with plenty of room for everyone!" Hmmmmmm, thinks the parents. Could we? Should we? Family meeting time!

"Kids, we can stay here and tough it out and continue with our plan or we can go back to Texas. What do ya'll want to do?" The spoiled children happily replied "Go back to Texas!!!!.......see our friends, and then come back and THEN continue on with the plan!" Between you and me, I don't think the children totally understood the situation.

To which, the parents responded "No, we stay or we go. Not both!" "Oh, hmmmmmm. Okay, I guess let's go back" said the kids.

So, the parents sold some plasma... Well, they needed money. The children waited all day outside the plasma bank because the parents had never given plasma before and didn't realize there would be urine samples involved. The father REALLY had to go tinkle when he got there..... Well, he just had a Dr Pepper. How was he supposed to know???? Don't judge.

The parents then sold a horse and loaded up all their belongings into a 3 horse trailer and pick-up truck along with 2 horses! They loaded up the spoiled children into a single cab and drove from Colorado to Dallas and stayed with the grandmother for awhile. There were more adventures following that move, involving a crazy uncle, homemade tamales, a crazy cousins boyfriend, a small house, and a rooster named Raoul. But, I'll save that for another day.

Suffice it to say, the children never felt spoiled but they did feel loved. In case you hadn't figure it out yet, I am the beautiful girl. OKAY, OKAY!!! I'll stop!!  and the father in the story is.....MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!

That was a great adventure! Our family didn't have a lot of money, but we sure had a lot of fun!! Thanks for all of it Dad and Happy Father's Day! I love you.

*another disclaimer -- No Coloradoans were hurt in the making of this true story. No animals were hurt either except for some delicious rainbow trout!! I don't think they mind though. I have only nice things to say about them.

What's Cool About Homeschooling

When my husband and I were just two starry eyed people in love, with our future ahead of us and talking about having kids as you do, he mentioned that he would like us to homeschool our kids. My reaction was a very sweet, "Nuh-Unh!!! That's freaky amish weird!!!"

I really didn't know anything about it at all. But, then we met some homeschoolers and they were very polite, smart, well-behaved kids.

I thought, 'hmmmmm.....'

Then, we watched a show called How'd They Do That? In that show, the family had 6 kids and the mom homeschooled them from 8-11am every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. After school, all the kids had to pack up and go work in the family restaurant. At the time the show aired, the 17 year old was teaching college and the 15 year old was working on his master's degree!!!

I said "I wanna do that!"

Alas, I'm not quite so ambitious and my 17 year old just graduated high school. He does work for us in our pool business, though. I like that. But, we didn't do school every single day like that mom did. But, that's really what I love about it. You can go at your own pace, or your child's as the case may be. A lot of people think they have to follow the public school's schedule. You Don't!!!!! That's the beauty! You can also learn whatever your child feels like learning. Those unschoolers are some of the smartest bunch of kids I know!

You might think Unschooling means they just sit around in their undies eating Cheetos and watching cartoons all day. Well....I suppose they actually COULD be in their undies eating Cheetos (that's a plus in my book!). I can assure you they are NOT watching cartoons all day. They are exploring their world and learning a heck of a lot about it.

This is not a bash on public schools. I went to public schools. Go Cardinals! Excuse me while I give a shout out to my Pottsboro homies! I turned out quite well, thank you very much.

But, I graduated not knowing what I want to be when I grow up. I also didn't learn to manage money, balance a checkbook, or vote. Those are pertinent things a person needs to learn before they go to college. My son may struggle with algebra but he knows the difference between a democrat and a republican. I was able to make sure he knows that. That's the real beauty of homeschooling.

Also, because he's been allowed to pursue his own interests instead of what the state says he needs to know he knew what path he wanted for his future by the time he was in the 8th grade. We were able to tailor his education around that. That has been profoundly beneficial. It'll also save money on college. No flipping around majors!

I also notice social benefits to homeschooling. You hear all the time about "socialization"."What about socialization? What about socialization?" Well, I think homeschooled kids are better socialized. That's because they are around a wide range of people on daily basis. They tend to be polite, respectful, and able to carry on a decent conversation with adults. They also tend to be a little naive of the real world. That's refreshing in a world of Jackass movies and sex education in schools. I have some friends whose homeschooled children just got married. Their wedding kiss was their FIRST kiss. Awwwww!!
My son didn't know about Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy until he was 13! He never even questioned them. (no, he's not retarded!! He's special!) Just kidding, he's sweet and trusting. I love that.

Homeschooling isn't always easy but I think the reward is worth the effort. I feel immensely blessed that I was able to experience the joy of shaping my son's education and giving him the gift of pursuing his own educational interests.

My Fondest Homeschooling Memories

As my darling baby boy just graduated from our homeschool high school, I'd like to share with you my favorite homeschooling moments.  Here's the Top 10 list:

10.  My husband holding my hand telling me I will be great at this when I felt completely overwhelmed.

9. My son actually ASKING if he can get started on his schoolwork when his new curriculum came in the mail in early August! *sigh....Be Still My Heart!*

8. Jake and I lying on our old couch that we moved onto the front porch (We got a new couch, so the old couch was out there only TEMPORARILY, lest you start making redneck jokes. GAH!! But, I must say, I LOVED it out there!) reading Harry Potter together. ( I love those books too!!)

7. Bookstores!

6. Flipping through curriculum catalogs and spending money wildly on curriculum that I barely used because I transferred my addiction to spending money on shoes to spending money on curriculum. Hmmmm....Now that he's graduated.........

5. Enrichment Classes. I really didn't like it much when I first started. I felt like the "tramp of Gainesville". But, the boy loved them so we went. Now, after 10 years of homeschooling I made such wonderful friends through those classes.

4. After hours of instruction and hours of my darling staring out the window with a glassy look in his eyes, I yelled at him that its very difficult to teach someone who doesn't want to learn. To demonstrate that, I gave him the wipey board markers and eraser and said "Here! You be me and I'll be you and you try to teach me something and I'll show you how hard it is!!!" He looked at me like I'd just lost my ever-loving mind and stood there with the marker and eraser in his hands staring at me like I just sprouted a monster from my belly. I said "Go On!!!! Be Me!!!!! Be Me!!!! and I'll be you!!" Then this is priceless.... He screamed  and threw the eraser across the room.......Well.......Okay.....maybe we need a little break. :) It still makes me laugh!! Homeschooling ain't perfect!

3. Scoring above average on the annual ITBS tests I made him take every year. YES!!! VINDICATION!!!!! We're going to take over the world!!!!!!   Oh! Sorry! I forgot where I was for a minute.

2. Going to the homeschool book fair with my good buddies Mel, Dani, and Barb with walkie-talkies and wine coolers in a backpack. We snuck into the ladies room to drink!!! Here's how it went....Barb and I are going to the bathroom, does anybody need to go? Over and Out. Roger, Roger. What's your Vector, Victor? What's your Clearance, Clarence. Ah!!!! Good Times! and you thought homeschooling would be boring! Here's a disclaimer....If anyone asks.....that didn't happen.(It really did, but who needs Big Brother getting all worked up about it? so.....shhhhhh!)


And finally........wait for it......wait for it......and for the number one fondest homeschooling memory...

1.  GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you, thank you! Do I get paid now??? What? No? What the Heck?? I was robbed! I was told that homeschooling a child would be very rewarding!! 

Okay, okay, I guess it was it's own reward......

My graduated baby!

Isn't this a sweet baby? He is my 17 year old son that just graduated high school! Not just any old high school either. Oh No...Homeschool High School!

He is very smart (For a boy!) He has mastered the ability to a bowl on his head. You can't really see in this picture but he is being held in the high chair by a lead rope. If you don't know what that is..It's the rope you use to lead a horse. Otherwise, he climbs out of the chair. See?? Smart! 

Even at a very young age, he enjoyed making noise, uh, I mean MUSIC!!

Accomplished Swimmer!

You can't see the horse he's riding but her name is Freckles. She was the best horse ever!! I bought her from a friend unseen because he said she was being neglected. Being big hearted as I am, I couldn't say no. We had to keep her a year putting weight on and trimming her feet (they looked like genie shoes!)before we could ever ride her. I took her to the round pen and discovered she is absolutely kid proof! Great Jake horse.

 That boy loves his Mama, uh, I mean MUSIC!!!! These are his senior pictures. He loves his long hair. I love his hair short!! He looks beautiful with short hair! He really does! If you are a cute girl reading this, please tell him to cut his hair! Please. He only listens to cute girls anymore. Look at the top few pictures again and let's all remember when he listened to his mama.......... *sigh*

I've enjoyed homeschooling immensely and I seriously love this boy!