Fire, Fire, and FIRE

Between the hours of 11:00 A. M. Christmas Eve and noon on Christmas Day, we managed to have 3 fires in our house and our house is still standing. Here is a little synopsis of each:

FIRST FIRE: If you will recall, it was very cold here on Christmas Eve so before DW left for work, he lit a fire in our wood stove. Now we love that wood stove and use it to basically heat our entire house which is a good thing right. Well, the only problem is when the wind blows 40 mph and it is wet wind, the smoke has a tendency to come back down and spill into our house. This is what happened on Thursday. I was at my Mom's helping get the food ready for Christmas Eve night and my sister has stayed at my house with the girls. She calls and says the house is filling up with smoke. I call DW and he heads home to see what he can do about it. Well, sometimes, if you can get the fire hot enough, it will take the smoke back so he tried adding more wood. That only seemed to exacerbate the problem so then he decides he just needs to get the burning wood and coals out of the house. (This is not his first rodeo.) My sister said when she saw a burning log on my kitchen tile, she quickly moved the girls back to the back room. Because also I think DW was spewing a few expletives. Anyway, he managed to get it taken care of but we smelt like we had been at a campfire all weekend and my house smelled like we hosted INSIDE the house.

FIRE TWO: Christmas morning I managed to start a fire in our oven. I had put together a breakfast casserole the day before and all that needed to be done was to bake it. Well, on the 23rd we had the girls' family birthday and our good friend Amy brought the cutest Frosty miramac (spelling ?) plate with fabulous banana nut bread on it. Well, you know how things get crazy and you run out of room on your cabinets so you sometimes put things in your oven just to get them out of the way? Well, that is all good and fine except don't preheat the oven and leave that stuff in there. You will have melted and burning Frosty all over your oven racks and the bottom of your oven. You will also have to scrape him out - which is no easy task, just ask DW - before you can cook the breakfast casserole. All turned out well in the end. Everyone loved the casserole but poor Frosty is in hard melted junks probably at the bottom of the dumpster.

FIRE THREE: After the fire in the oven and before opening presents - my girls sleep late no matter if Santa has been there - DW decided to add more wood to our stove. As he was doing this, a coal fell out onto his oven mitt and managed to burn a hole through it.

I have pictures of my oven fire that hopefully I can post sometime but if you want to come by and smell my new parfume -Smoke`you are more than welcome to but I don't suggest you buy any for yourself. It is way overrated.

By the way, DW is a fire bug and has always loved fires but I think he maybe had enough this weekend. Happy New Year.

Turning 40 in Vegas

Finally, proof that I actually did take DW to Vegas for his 40th birthday and proof of how much FUN we had. We laughed and we laughed and then we laughed some more. Thank you Doug, Tammy, Dave, and Beck for making this a birthday to remember.

O, Lordy, what kind of surprise awaits DW?

There is a background story here. When we were leaving Sunday, these two came out with the same shirt on. Well, when they were little boys, their Mom always dressed them alike and of course, they hated it. I'm not sure they looked as adorable as they used to though.

Tambo is the next one to turn 40 but she doesn't think she wants to go to Vegas, she is thinking

blue water, sand, and cabana boys.

Pig Boots

" Wait for Me!!!"
The sisters and their pig boots

Headed to feed - oh yea, they don't walk, they ride the gator. Mom and Dad do the walking.

Putting the bucket up for the next feeding.

If you haven't already guessed, the pigs have made us spend lots of time together as a family -not that we didn't before, but feeding time has created lots of good memories for us.

Meet Buiddy and Patches

These are the newest members of our family - Buddy (the brown one) and Patches (the pink one with gray "patches"). Back in the middle of September we went to pig sales and purchased these prize pigs for Reagan to show at the County show in January. We are very excited and nervous pig owners. There is a lot a person needs to know about pigs.

1. Pigs get sunburned - especially the pink or white ones. Therefore you put sunscreen on them daily and you also call your brother in a panic to come help you put up tarps to protect these little creatures skin.

2. Feed your pigs eggs so their their skin will be pretty for showtime.

3. Their feed is more expensive than what you feed your own children.

4. Pigs sometimes have to eat yogurt because their digestive tracts are as sensitive as ours.

5. Pigs like toys to play with in their pens. Patches likes the rubber ball to push around with her snout and also the rubber ducky because he squeaks. Buddy isn't much into this but he likes to watch Patches play.

6. Each pig has their own personality. Patches likes to run. She runs around the back of the barn and back around and waits for you to tell her go. She constantly bites your boots and sniffs your legs. Buddy on the other hand would rather eat, drink, and sleep. He is your typical pig except that I do think he likes baths. This weekend we loaded the pigs in the trailer and Reagan and I scrubbed Patches and Buddy. We had a loofah sponges, Suave, and Joy. Reagan chased Patches around the trailer but Buddy stood quite still while I scrubbed him from snout to tail. (Of course he is a boy pig.) They were so shiny and beautiful after we were done. It was a lot easier than I anticipated.

7. You have to have pig boots or your entryway will smell like pig. All of us girls now have pig boots. I have to say I love to see Reagan and Henlee in theirs. I will try to get a picture and post it because it is the cutest thing ever. I will spare you the picture of me in mine.

8. You have to have good people that help you learn about pigs and don't mind when you call 5 times a day because your pig has diarrhea and is throwing up.

Yes, we love our pigs and I can't even tell you how responsible Reagan is with her pigs. She feeds every morning before school and then at night. She knows how many pounds of feed puts a pound on a pig. She knows that flaky skin will not show well and she baby oils them up. She knows that Buddy is a bit lazier and may need more walking because he is not as self-motivated as Patches. Life is good with our pigs and they are "some pigs". (Remember Wilbur from Charlotte's Web?)

Country Girls Are Going to the City

Most of you know but in case you missed the news brief, Reagan and I and friends are headed to see Taylor Swift and the Pickler tonight at the American Airlines Center. We have highly anticipated this day for MANY months. I will update you after the big night.

First Day of School....Four Weeks Later

I know I am a little behind times but blasted, that seems to be my life lately. Some things just have to take a back seat and blogging is one of them. Anyway, here is my sweet girls first day of school pictures. She is really enjoying school - except the going to bed early and getting up early. She is a child of her Mothers.

The whole family!! Look how thrilled Reagan is:)

We always come to town and take pictures with Aunt Joy and my Mom. It is just something we have done since preschool. A big day in all of our lives.

And this is the first picture of me with her ever on her first day of any school year.

And of course, Reagan with her teacher. I wonder how long Reagan is going to let me follow her into school to take her picture with her teacher. I will push until I can push no more.

Sweet Sixteen

Okay so here are the rest of my niece's sweet sixteenth birthday pictures. She is a wonderful young lady who everyone would love to have as their niece, but too bad, she is mine. She is funny, smart, loves God, loves her family, and knows where she is going (most of the time).

The Friday before her birthday we spent fishing at the creek. We had a blast. Thanks Rylee for letting me take you fishing.

She helped me fold clothes before we went to eat that night. Now that is pure love.

Lisa (her Mom and my sister) and the birthday girl
Her Dad arrives with her birthday present - her car.

2 little girls who adore her - pay attention Reagan and Henlee she is a fine example to follow.

Finally back home for a little birthday brownies.

Pics from the Summer Past

Girl's Night at the races.

These are pictures from our Port Aransas trip that we took at the end of June.

These two turn 40 this Fall.

Vance wore this shirt just for Lisa and Lee. Lisa and Lee arrived a day later than we did so this was just a little salt in the wound.

Group picture

The youngest of our crew.

On a mission to see who has taken her Fearless Fifteen book.

The Durants

Two of my favorite girls.

The Wagners

"I don't want this vacation to end!"

Me neither baby girl.

In late July, my Mom, Lisa, Bryce, Rylee, and Reagan struck out in the car and headed West. While in Arizona my Mom fell over a trash bag that the maid had left in the hallway and Lisa had to take her to the emergency room. We thought she had broken her arm and as a matter of fact when she returned to Texas and had it re-x-rayed, she had chipped it. No cast was needed and she is much better now. They had the best time in Winslow Arizona and came back singing "Take It Easy" by the Eagles.

And our Cousin Reunion at the first of August. I posted about our upcoming reunion a few weeks ago and how excited I was. Well, I think it surpassed everyone's expectations plus some. We are a fun family and have a great time when we are together. We floated the river, we played washers, some people skied (Bryce, Rylee, Reagan, DW, and Lee), and we karaoked until dawn.



Henlee thought we were pretty funny people.

And last but not least, we celebrated Rylee's 16th birthday!! We went fishing on Friday, Horny Toad Friday night, breakfast at Doughboys Saturday morning, dinner at Cirlce T, and breakfast at Momo's Sunday morning. It was rather festive all weekend.

Life

Life - that is what has been happening around our house lately, nothing big, just life. I don't really have anything particular to blog about today but I wanted a new post so here are my thoughts for the day:

1. You probably noticed my new song on my playlist, "People are Crazy" by Billy Currington. I love this song. I think it has a lot to say if you listen to the words. Basically, I think it says, always be kind and nice to people; regardless of how long or how short we know people, we do leave impressions.

2. I guess nobody liked my book idea because nobody participated. Therefore, I will tell you what I am reading whether you want to know or not. I am currently reading the latest book in the Gabriel Allon series written by Daniel Silva, "The Defector". Gabriel, an art restorer and an assassin for the Mossad (the Israeli intelligence office), is out to protect a Russian intelligence officer that helped him bring down the biggest arms dealer in history. A friend of mine started me on this series and brings me the books after he has read them. He says this is Silva's best book yet. I am twenty pages in and I think I agree.

3. We have started a new "allowance" program at our house. I don't really believe in allowances but I think this idea is a good way to teach Reagan about earning and the importance of saving. This is how it works: On Mondays she gets $1.00. She gets this regardless of whether she is good, bad, or ugly so it is her good, bad, or ugly dollar. Then as she completes tasks that her and I sat down and wrote and put dollar values on, I add to her allowance (for example, if she gives/takes a bath with Henlee and will wash her while I pick up around the house, then she earns at least $1.00 and can be up to $2.00). On Fridays or Saturdays, we count to see how much she earned and if she wants to buy something then she can use her money. Otherwise, it stays in the cup and on Sunday what she has left in the cup, she earns 10% interest on. (I wish my money was growing at 10%.)

I stole this idea from a friend of mine and I thought it was an excellent idea. She actually coined the phrase good, bad, or ugly dollar.

4. Reagan has actually been home this week - SURPRISE!! I loved having her home and visiting with her. She is growing up so fast.

5. Henlee is such a pill. She loves to be outside so she helps Daddy a lot, like spraying wasp nests, feeding the dog and cats, checking the cows, feeding the fish, etc. The other night I painted her fingernails and toes for the first time. She was so proud and was excited to show off her new toes. That same night she got my lip gloss and preceded to put it on. I tried to take a picture but my camera was dead. We had lip gloss from ear to ear and in each nostril.

6. This weekend we are having our cousin reunion. It used to be only the first cousins but now it has been decided to include everyone - my mom and her siblings, the first cousins and their children along with their children. At first I was reluctant to this idea because I am the youngest first cousin by 7 years and I am the one with young children that require extra tending. But after a little time to contemplate this, I am very excited. I love my aunts and uncle and my first counsins and I want my children to have the opportunity to love these people the way I do. Family is important.

7. I do have internet at my house now but now my dock for my camera is lost. If it is not one thing, it is another.

Have a super weekend and remember to smile and be nice to people.

Oh Gasp, An Asp!!

How many of you have seen the cute fuzzy little caterpillar (puss moth caterpillar) called an Asp? I hadn't until last night. Henlee was walking in the back door and grabbed the railing like she always does but she stopped on the second step and then she started screaming. I thought she had been stung by a wasp. I took her inside and right below her elbow a oval shaped welp appeared. I put Benadryl topical on it and then I gave her some liquid Benadryl. She is still screaming. DW comes home and then he goes outside to find the culprit that is making his little princess so upset. He found it all right. Right on the railing where Henlee had been. I start calling all my people - my sister, Joy, my brother-in-law, my sister again, Becky. Becky rushes over with Sting Kill and identifies the creature as an asp. We put ice, meat tenderizer, and then my sister calls back with info from the internet. The internet says that fine little hairs may still be inbedded in her arm and that we should put tape on it and jerk it off. What fun. We did this a few times - me, Becky, and DW. This all started at 6:30 P.M. and she was still crying off and on at 4:00 A. M. Also, she wouldn't let me put her down during this time so I ate, used the bathroom, etc. holding the little victim. She is much better this morning but you can still see the imprint of the asp on her arm. I went to wake Reagan this morning and she asked how her sister was and I told her better. She said good, she needed some sleep. I told her we all did.

If anyone wants to see what an asp looks like, I have it at the office.

4th of July Pics

Every year since Reagan was 6 months old, these kids have had their picture taken together. My child is such an amazon compared to her friends. The boy is 6months older than Reagan and his little sister is 2 years younger. His mother always jokes that Reagan can't wear heels at the wedding.

Oh and by the way, I still don't have internet service at my house. These pictures happened to be uploaded on my computer at work.