This is my baby.  She's nothing but sweetness, and sugar. Yesterday she had a very bad day.  Her big brother went to his friend's house to play, and her big sister went to a fairy princess birthday party, and it was all so unfair to this four year old child. Not only did they take away her two bestest friends in the whole world, but she couldn't go along with them.  As Anne Shirley would say, she was "in the depths of despair".  My baby cried that she didn't have anyone to play with, and I melted.  I took her shopping with me and got her gummy bears and kool-aid bottles and let her sit up front in the truck, but it was a distant second place to having her siblings to play with.  She's lost without them!  The minute we went to pick them up, she was grinning from ear to ear and greeted them as if they had been apart for decades.  They even saved her some little trinkets from their adventures, which tells me that they were thinking about her too! I'm so glad that my kids love each other.  I hope that bond lasts forever.

Gone Fishin'

The men in my family have fishing on the brain. My husband's buddy has a little aluminum boat that's been sitting unused for years.  The guys went over to his house, rescued the boat, cleaned it up, and have been taking it out on the lake ever since.  Our boy thinks fishing is the funnest thing on earth right now, and has spent all of his lawn mowing money on fishing lures.  My husband gave him an old tackle box that was passed down from his grandfather, and I think it may be an antique.

It doesn't matter to my son, he just thinks it's cool to have a tackle box. Now he's on a mission to fill it with lures that catch the "big ones".  He also has one of my husband's old fishing poles, and a few hooks, lures and bobbers that he pillaged from my husband's tackle box.

I think I know what he'll be getting for his birthday.  Even though his supplies are slim pickins, he's caught trout, bass, catfish, and a sunfish with his meager beginnings.  Yesterday he loaded up his pole, and net into his backpack and did a whole lot of fishing with his best buddy across the lake.  There's nothing funner to a young boy than spending two summer days casting a line with a good friend.  I'm so glad he enjoys the simple pleasures in life.  I imagine boys have been "drowning worms" together for thousands of years, yet fishing never seems to go out of style. The peaceful quiet of the lake, the glass- like surface of the water, and the thought that the next cast could be the one that hooks a monster fish, keeps the guys motivated and makes the experience one worth repeating.

Dog Days of Summer

As much as the kids enjoy irrigating, I think that our dogs are the ones that have the most fun.  If we tell them we're going to irrigate, they dart out to the truck and wait for us to get going.  Boone loves water more than a Labrador does, and when given the choice to walk on dry land, or straight up the middle of the irrigation ditch, he'll choose the ditch every time.

Chigger, on the other hand, prefers to stay dry.  So unless the temperature is above 100 degrees, he bounces over the irrigation ditches.

When the grass gets this tall, he has a hard time seeing where he's going, so he has to bounce through the pasture like Tigger.  This was the only shot I could get of him.  Usually all I see is the tip of his tail.  He depends on Boone, his trusty sidekick, to lead the way like a bulldozer clearing a path.  Poor little guy!

After Boone is good and wet, he finds something dead and stinky to roll in, and then he feels like a new dog!

Boone is pushing 14 years old, and is living the retired cowdog life.  His back legs just aren't what they used to be from years of leaping in and out of the back of the truck, and up and down hay bales.  Today, for the very first time, we had to help him get out of the irrigation ditch after a number of failed attempts.  It breaks my heart to see him getting older!

But as long as he's willing to go, we'll keep taking him along with us. We have to lift him in and out of the back of the truck, and I think it humiliates the poor guy.  He may be old, but he's still got his pride!  He'll be so crippled up tomorrow that he'll probably lay around the house all day, but a day of fun in the water is worth it! Just look at this Happy Dog!  Tonight his paws will move a mile a minute as he dreams about herding cattle and taking a swim in the irrigation ditch.

Another beautiful summer day on the mountain has come to an end.

A Trip to the Torture Chair

I had my semi-annual teeth cleaning appointment today. I received my "cavity free" status on the chart and got high marks for gum health and superior brushing skills, but I still didn't enjoy the experience.  No amount of praise makes up for the torture I endure in the chair, and I've finally pin-pointed the reasons why the whole thing is humiliating.

1. As soon as I arrive, the hygienist puts a bib on me, and I feel like a 3 year old. Then she takes me for a "ride" in the chair.  That "ride" trick works on my 4 year old, but I'm too old to fall for it.

2. After I'm laying back in the chair, and feeling a bit vulnerable, she shines the "Interrogation Light" in my eyes and starts the questioning.

"Have you been brushing twice a day?"
"Yes." (I aced that one!)

"Are you flossing every day?"
(Awkward silence)
Uhhhhhh.... at least 3 or 4 days a week.....more if I eat corn on the cob."

Now I'm feeling like an inadequate flosser, and start to shrink down in the chair and the bib hits my chin.  I feel like I've confessed a grievous sin, and look to the hygienist for a little sympathy but I see nothing but a blank stare from behind the mask.  Then she scolds me. 

"Every other day is a good start, but ideally, you should be flossing daily."

"I'll be sure and put that on my 2011 New Year's Resolution List" I reply sarcastically.

3. Next she asks me to be her "helper" and run the suction instrument.  I don't want to be her "helper".  I pay good money for a teeth cleaning, and unless I'm getting some sort of discount for running the sucker, then I'd rather not.  But since she has the Interrogation light in my eyes and I'm wearing a bib, I don't feel empowered to fight, so I hold the hose.  Then I pretend to care when she shows me how to run it.

4. She begins to clean my teeth, and asks me open ended questions while she has two hands, a mirror, and a scraper in my mouth.  Hygienists should only ask questions that can be answered with a nod of the head when they are working on you.  She wants to know how my husband and I came to make the decision to home school our children.  Really???? Do you have an hour? This cannot be answered in the two second break that her fingers aren't shoved in my mouth. 

5. She gets polishing paste on my lips, and water squirts down the side of my mouth like drool and then she wipes it with a gauze the way I clean off my kids' faces after they eat Popsicles.

6.  After it's all said and done, she hands me a "goody bag" with a new toothbrush, travel sized toothpaste, and a thing of floss, like it's supposed to make up for everything bad that's been done to me.  I want to tell her that the floss is probably going to last me the full six months until I see her again, but instead I ask her for two.  She doesn't have to know that I'll use the other one to cut cinnamon roll dough into perfectly beautiful slices.  That will be my secret.  Hee He Heee. I consider it as payment for running the suction for her.

7. When I'm herded up to the front desk, the scheduler asks me what I'm doing on Wednesday, January 5th 2011 at 10 am.  Ummmmm.... I don't know.  I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow, let alone what I'll be doing in 6 months.  "I guess I'll be coming here on January 5th.  It's a date!"

You know, I didn't even get to pick out of the treasure box, or get a sticker for having perfect teeth.  As soon as I got out of there, my husband called to see if I had any cavities, and I felt like I was 5 years old again.  "No, I didn't have a single cavity....does that mean you're going to take me to Dairy Queen as a reward?"

5 Random Things

1.  I've been leading and incredibly busy life the last few weeks, and I was feeling under the weather at the same time, which made me cranky, irritable and downright miserable. Because of the aforementioned 10,00 activities and simultaneous stomach flu, I fell behind in the following areas:

     A. Laundry- My son ran out of underwear.

     B. Facebook- I know nothing, I've written nothing. 

     C. Blogging- My mother has been cracking the whip about my "slacking".

     D. Pulling weeds- Give 'em an inch, they'll take the whole yard.  'Nuff said.

2. One of my 10,000 activities has included the editing of my brother's 4 billion page thesis paper for his Master's Degree.  I've poured my blood, sweat and tears into this paper and now know everything there is to know about Volunteer Leadership in Non- Profit Organizations.  I'm serious.....ask me anything.  I know it all!  He sends me chapters and then I rip them apart, slice and dice the sentences, and turn them into fabulous word pictures. This weekend, he decided to get me a little gift to say "Thanks".  Here's what he got me:

What we have here is a 150 ton, 2 feet tall cement cowboy boot planter.  I herniated a disc just moving it to the front porch.  Not everyone can pull off one of these planters.  You've got to have the right attitude about it or it will never work for you.  You have to have a certain level of confidence that says, "I can have a cement cowboy boot in my front yard, but you can't."  It's a little like having gnomes in your yard.  I have awesome friends with great looking gnomes on their porches, but some old people look ridiculous with a gnome in their rock gardens, and it  just looks like trailer trash.  You have to own the gnome, not just have it. It's all about the confidence factor.  If you're cool, you can sport anything on your front porch. 

3. We went down to the blistering hot valley to see our family this weekend, and I thought my flesh was going to melt off.  Why do we do this in the summer? I don't know. My kids had a ball swimming the days away, and getting spoiled rotten by my folks. I had the hugest flashback from childhood when one of my parents used the good ole' scotchbrite yellow and green sponge to wipe off the kids' faces after lunch.  I HATED the dreaded yellow sponge when I was growing up. It always smelled funky, and tasted even worse! My youngest has been out of diapers for 2 1/2 years now, but I still keep wet wipes on hand so that I can clean my kids faces with them.  I had to secretly laugh when they got the "old school" facial treatment.

4. My Dad is AWESOME, and he found four amazing galvanized buckets to give to me.  I just planted them today, and I'm debating on where or how to display them.  Here are a few pics of my treasures:

5. I snagged a metal John Wayne picture that my poor brother was going to have to put in a garage sale.  His bride- to- be is in the process of deciding what will stay in his house, and what will go once they get married.  So far, it looks like 97.4% of his stuff is in the garage sale pile. Poor guy.  Because I have no shame, I rescued "The Duke" from his horrid fate, and he will be hanging on a wall in my home very soon.  Who doesn't like The Duke??

Thanks for letting me share a few of my new treasures with y'all.  (No, I'm not from Texas, but I wish I was so I could have big hair and say "y'all" and "sugar bean" every 2 minutes.) 

A Day for the Gals

Today was a day for the ladies. My mom and I got to spend the entire afternoon having fun together.   First we went to a bridal shower for my future sister- in- Law and had a ball watching her open gifts for her new home.  I really think that all wives need to have a shower every 10- 20 years so we can update all of the housewares that are worn-out, out of style, or broken. Can I get an Amen, sisters?  I'd like some new linens and my mom needs new dishes.  Yellow daisy print went out of style many years ago.  Wouldn't that be fun?  Now I realize that a few of the items I registered for ten years ago were frivolous, while there were other items that I desperately needed and didn't know it yet.  I think every wife's registry would change dramatically with ten years of on- the- job experience under our belts.   

Here's a picture of me, my sister- in- law to be, and my mother at the shower.

Here's a dog at the shower that my mom fell in love with and wanted to keep forever.

Here's one of my signature self portraits that my mom and I do on occasion.  Not bad!

The Bridal shower had a few games to play, and let's just say that I didn't bring my "A" game today.   We had to guess how many candies were in the jar, and I haphazardly scribbled down an answer in the thousands......the three thousands to be exact.  The answer was five hundred and something.  I was WAY off!  What in the world was I thinking?  I think someone spiked the iced tea or something. Then I bombed a "How Well do you know the Bride" test.  I can see that I'm going to have to start forwarding her those "Twenty Questions" e-mails that I get sometimes. I mean, it's the only real way to get to know people on a deeper level, right?  Ha Ha. Just kidding.  I'm going to generate a "How well do you know Nell" test, and see how many she gets right.  Besides, squeezing information out of my brother is like trying to get info from an FBI agent.  He's way too tight lipped. So we may have embarrassed him a time or two with sensitive information, but is that really any reason to kick us out of the loop???  All in all, it was a great day to imagine  what my brother's new life will look like in a few months, and I'm excited to get to add a sister to the "Circle of Trust".

Feeling Crafty?

This weekend I'll be attending a Bridal Shower for my Sister-in-Law to be, and I'm so excited!  We got her a gift from the registry, but in addition to her main present, I wanted to make her something a little bit special from me.  Here's what I came up with.  I bought her a cookie dough scoop, which is one of my most favorite kitchen gadgets.  It makes every cookie round and uniform in size, and I love it!  Then I found a little wedding gown to slip over the top of it for $1.00!  I couldn't get her a cookie dough scoop without any recipes to use it with, so I decided to make her a scrappy little "Cookie Recipe" book with some of our family's favorite cookie recipes in it.

It's not quite finished, but you'll get the idea.  I just have to embellish it a little more to glam it up a bit!

Every page is completely different, using a hodge podge of scrap papers and things from my button jar.

I typed up each recipe small enough to fit on a 3X5 card.

It's a personalized little gift that she can tuck away with her other cookbooks. I hope she likes it!