They are gonna be the death of me

I got up yesterday morning with a miagarane.
I have had them for years, and they are pretty constant. I would LOVE to just lay down in a dark room with no interuptions but that is not possible. So I deal with it. I wear sunglasses inside, I puke all day and I look like I am going to die. Smells make it worse and constant chatter kills me. But I deal with it. I dont expect sympothy, and I dont expect my family to alter their lives because my head hurts. It would be nice if they would not talk quite as much, but that is not gonna happen.
Since I didnt get much sleep the night before it probebly triggered it.

The good news is:
We finally got some pigs.

The bad news is:
We finally got some pigs.

My sister in law had seen a sign about 40 miles away. It said 'hogs and pigs for sale.' So we called. noone would ever call us back. Then she said maybe she got the wrong phone number. So BR and I loaded the kids up adn drove over there to see. We got there and come to find out, they had sold out last year. But just forgot to take down the sign. In their driveway. They had recently went BACK into the business. cause like me they went to tryin to find a butcherin hog and they cost so much and were so scarce. But all they had was a pregnant sow. Babies due in 3 months.


When we left there I called back a woman that has been pretty hard to get ahold of. She was finally home. Had 4 pigs left and wanted the astronomical price of 50.00 a pig.

well since pigs are scarce as hens teeth you gota pay the price. We told her we wanted 2. I told her I knew she was staying at the hospital with her sister, but if I brought her the money would she save the pigs till she could get home and we could meet. She said "I got lights in my barn, come on"
It was already 6:00. So, we drove past our house and headed to hers. 85 miles in the other direction. She said she had hampshires. These are the black pigs with a white stripe around their chest, back and front legs.

She had the runt male, he had a 'belt' but it was a little wonky. and the sows she had were all black. Not what we wanted, but beggers cant be choosers. Then we drove back home. BR went ahead and got 2 sows.
And he tells the kids, that due to them being so hard to find, and so expensive, we will not be butchering these 3. We will raise them and then breed them and butcher THEIR babies.
I agree in theory. But I want some REAL meat. not the crap I pay 4.50 a pound for at walmart that has no taste. And I want to see my grocery bill cut in half.

With this scenario we are talking August before we can breed. Around December before they drop, and August before I can butcher. Thats a year and a half.
I think if I come across one more, I am going to buy it. THEN if it looks better than his, we will keep mine for breeding, but one way or the other, I am getting me some pork chops come August. Come Hell or High water!

Almost 170 miles, nigh on 10 o'clock and we had to get them settled in.

Then I had to check on them through out the night. We are VERY scared of preditors. You remember the pics of the coyotes? Well, they were walking right through where we built the pen. ANd we couldnt move the pen closer to the house. You dont want a hog pen in your back yard. I promise.

Then I had to go to town and get feed yesterday morning. or rather 'pig starter' This stuff is high as a cats back. 18.00 for 50lbs. Thats outragious. We locked them up in the lean to the first night, and I went out and let them run around in the pen yesterday. When it came time to lock them back up, they were not going to do it.

But maybe if they are not locked up they will survive if a coyote gets in there. where as if they were it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.



Yesterday, while I was running around trying to put more wire on the gate (because the runt can get through it) and dealing with a few other things, including putting up groceries, (which is one of those things I despise). I always try to make the kids bring them in the house, its the constant trek back outside that kills me. I just hate it. Putting them up isnt as bad. but bringing them in is agervating to me. ANd its never ONE sack. just a run for 'bread and milk' for a family of 6 is at least 12 sacks.
I was tired, cranky and had already ran around town all day. I had also driven to the horse pasture, stole some hay, fed, and got an extra feed bucket, I had the afore mentioned miagraine and still had work to do. The wind was trying to take the cap off my head and I had a chatterbox and a leach following me. The phone rang. It was the nurse at school. At 2pm. Matt had a headache and wanted me to come and get him. He had about an hour left. I had JUST been in town for hours. And I was NOT driving back in. I dont get any quarter when my head hurts. I still have to run them all over town, cook supper, answer why the sky is blue and the leaves fall off trees, and referee fights all day. So I was a bit cranky. I told him to lay down till 3. It would be about 2:40 before I could get there anyway. It was threatening rain, I had feed in the back, milk to put up and Bow and Rayley had already stripped out of their clothes.

On my way up, with like my 4th trip of bags, I look down into this old tin bucket that was on the porch. The wind was blowing something feirce, huge gusts all day. and it lifted up some of the hay that was in it.

So I see this.





Great, my kids found a buzzards nest. And got the eggs. and are trying to incubate them! JUST my luck.

Then I got to wonderin. What has GREY eggs? I dont think anything does. Maybe a snake. which would be just about right.

I decided to make them get rid of the eggs. because if the bird had been off the nest, they were done for anyway. you have to keep eggs at a constant temp of around 100* for them to hatch. Snake eggs also have to stay warm, but I think they can go dormant for a while. Turtle eggs too. So if they get dug up or the ground freezes they will still be viable when it warms back up. bird eggs are the same way to a point. but dont last as long as turtle and snake eggs. Which look ALOT alike. of course snake eggs bounce so you can tell the differnce.

But, it just made me mad. Contrary to the way it looks, with 4 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 18 chickens(with 10 more on the way), 3 pigs, 2 horses and a potbellied pig, I am NOT running a zoo. And I dont want things hatching out up here that I wouldnt drag home on my own.


When I got it all unloaded and put up, I had to find Bow's shoes. Rayley 'thought' they were in her room so I went into there, which is a DISASTER, and glanced at this.




Do you see it?


See it now?



How about now?

Well, I will admit, I am still a little skittish since the crap they pulled on Presidents day, so, my blood pressure went up IMMEDIATLY! I am not one for catching a live snake. BUT there is 18 baby chicks (yes I have lost two) not 15 feet from where this one was. Chirping their little heads off. And I knew he could get through the cage. These kids had the nerve to bring a snake into the house, KNOWING they are not allowed to.
SO, I stomped,
with my barefoot
then I reached down and grabbed its head.




when my blood pressure goes up, my miagraine gets worse. That is also one of my triggers. any slight rise of blood pressure gets me. Now granted, sometimes I will be doing just fine, then all of a sudden I get a sudden pain in my head, everything goes black for a second and BOOM, my head is splitting in two.

But when I already have one, it can be a mild one. Just a sunglasses and please dont scream headache. But it can get worse with just a little stimulation. That is what happened.






Then I got REALLY mad. I dont know where my mind was. Seriously. I will blame it on the miagraine, having seen the eggs, that I NEVER wear my glasses and am blind as a bat, and the fact that I was just plumb tired. Preditors are on my mind, and its just one of those days. I had seen this thing in their rooms for months. And the first few times it gave me a little start. But, shortly thereafter it hits me that it looks fake. Today had just been one of those days. While checking out at walmart I had gotten 2 bags of oranges, they were 4.58. marked down to 1.89. So I got two 4lb bags, of course only one rang up right, so the lady was having to change it, and one of them came aloose- a dozen oranges went EVERYWHERE. We were chasing oranges from Hell to breakfast.

So as I was walking out to the hog pen, I decided to look IN the bucket. I was still apprehensive, incase a snake was in the eggs and it had hatched out. I was still wearing my sunglasses, while walking in and out of the house. And they are not prescription, so everything is blurry and dark.

This is what I found.




Last years plastic easter eggs that had Spiderman plastic on them that had been taken off. So they were just a slate grey color. I swore I had thrown these away.

Yep. I'm an idiot. but you have to admit, you'd be a little gunshy too if your kids brought home a buzzard.

Oh the chickens. As you know I got some larger breeds at the feedstore the other day. Well, I called back to ask if they would be getting in any banties. Not anytime soon, I could order and they would be in at the end of March. Well, you cant put day old babies in with month and a half old babies. they would peck them to death. I needed them quicker. So I went to Ideal's website and ordered some. I got 8 bantams, Cochins and just normal. These are soo cute. I got some called Frizzle Cochins. Their feathers turn up. like they stuck their finger (or beak) in an electric socket. Plus I ordered 2 Black Jersey Giant Roosters. I only need one, but you hate to only get one and it die. This will put me over my 25 birds that was my original goal, but not by much. They are coming in next Friday. The post office will call me when they get here. I am so excited!! THe banties will weigh about 2 pounds when grown. The Giants will be around 12. The average of my others is around 7 to 8.

Here are some of the babies I have now. It was right before we change the litter, so it looks bad. I change it at least once a day. ahhh more work for me!





Here are a few pics from the hog pen.


Not a great shot of them, but here are the newest additions.

At first it was just me and the youngest two. I was busy trying to get the gate secure, Rayley and Bow had been in and out of it about a dozen times, The wind was whipping and everytime they opened the chicken coop door it would slam into me. A peice of tin had already came at me like a guilotine and I was on the verge of just bringing the pigs in the house and lockin the kids outside.

Of course when I have my back turned my kids will get into stuff. Bow had already dumped out a 4 pound box of staples. ended up INSIDE a 2 foot section of rolled up chicken wire, and then he did this:



Yes, he is STUCK in the fence.





Later Rayley was telling Brett about him doing it and that mo-ron argued with her, telling her that noones head would get stuck in there. And then proceeded to show her that even his big ole jug would come out. He was wrong. But I didnt rescue him. he finally got loose, but almost lost an ear in the process.



******Oh, and while I am trying to write this blog, I am constantly fighting them off of me. They are fighting each other, trying to sit on top of me. wanting something to eat or drink, or just talking. I keep telling Rayley if she will get OFF the couch and play Bow will too. But she was standing on the edge of the couch. reading a book, leaned over the back. and asking me what each word was. She doesnt want ME to read it to her. She wants to read it to ME, but cant read yet. And she just wants to keep it away from Bow. She is just trying her hardest to aggitate him.
So, he is leaning over the back of the couch too. then he falls over the back. Into a box that has some Christmas decorations in it. A box that I have asked time and again to be taken outside. That my kids have continued to stack crap ON and in. Well they put their baseball helmet in there. And Bow flipped off the couch and into the box. landing perfectly with his head in the helmet. I swear. It was a once in a lifetime thing. And since he was okay, I couldnt help but laugh. He wasnt crying, he was just mad as a wet hen.



Yes, he is wearing a purple shirt and pastel striped shorts. Rayley dressed him this morning. the helmet was laying on its side over in that corner.

This is just what my days are like. They are CONSTANTLY into something. or messing up something. there is no such thing as sitting still, being good, or staying out of trouble.

******back to the hog pen yesterday.


ahhhhh he cant get to me!! Soooo nice!! Wonder if the hogs would survive if I left him out there?

Notice how bad the chip is in his tooth? It just breaks my heart that he did that!

I told the kids to go out and sit, the pigs were very skittish, and hogs stress really easy. But none of them were capable of sitting still. Except Matt. He got the closest to them and was able to touch one.

and I had a bucket of water that I poured out, the pigs had been rooting everywhere, I fiqured they might like the soft mud too.
But guess who got to it first?
Yep, my own wallerin hog...





By the time we got back to the house, Bow was having a melt down. He hadnt napped all day and just wanted to be held. I had to clean the kitchen, unload the dishwasher and cook supper.
I had came up the house before the rest with Bow to get this started. When they came in, not much was done. Bow was a walking, crying, climbing mess. I opened the dishwasher, he would climb in. or start pulling things out. I would get him out and he would then start dragging things off the table. The bread, some plates from lunch, or out of drawers and cabinets. IF he wasnt hanging on my legs making it impossible to walk.

When the guys and Rayley came in, Brett asked me if he could cook some of supper. I told him to have at it and went and sat down with Bow. With in minutes he was alseep. BRett cooked hamburger helper and it was good. I was very proud of him and it helped me out alot.

Of course the kids wouldnt shut up long enough at dinner to not wake Bow back up. But I did get to get the strawberries cut up for dessert and got to eat most of my food.

Now back to my kids and my days. After I got done here, I went and made lunch. While I had my back turned getting peanut butter out of the cabinet, Bow got into the jelly.. Before I knew it, he had it all over my hair.
So I did something I dont ever do when the kids are awake. Or try not to.
and NO I dont mean cuss. I will admit, I do that ALL the time.

I took a shower.

This is what I am blessed with each and every time I take a shower and they are awake.



They bang on the door, they open the door, they get into a an argument in the bathroom.

ANd yes, my bathroom is a mess.
its something else I cant do while the kids are awake. I cant clean it. While I am cleaning the shower, or picking up clothes, Bow is in the toilet. Or if I am cleaning the toilet, he is in the shower.
If I can keep him OUT of those places, he gets into my bathtub, that we have already decided I dont ever use and instead use as storage, and get out the stacks of newspapers that I put there, so they wont be scattered all over the house when he finds them. Since I buy 5 to 6 a week (for the coupons) , there is alot of paper in there. I started keeping them a few weeks ago, to line the chick brooder with. DO you know how many individual sheets are in a Sunday paper? If its not that he is unrolling rolls of toilet paper.

Today he hadnt scattered much. I thought. instead it was all in the bedroom floor. but my camera batteries were out. And I wasnt in the shower but about 5 minutes. just long enough to wash my hair. I swear!

a square peg in a round hole.

Gosh, its been a long time. I swear I have meant to come in and post. But its been a busy week. I dont know from what. Cause I have NOTHING to show for it. BUT it must have been busy, cause I havent had time to come in here. :)

not a whole lot has been happening. I did spend the last part of last week baking a cake for my mother in law. She loved it by the way. Since I made her cut it and eat it, she wants a picture blown up of it so she can hang it on the wall. She is a bubble off plumb.

That only took me two days. Then Saturday we spent the day driving to Lousianna to get our Taxes done. My Mother in Law Martha and I did that is.

Its not a bad drive. Its about 40 miles to the border, then 40 miles or so past that. BUT, once you cross the Sabine River into Louisianna the speed limit changes. HEre in Texas its 70. and 75 is the norm. my truck runs best anywhere from 76-78. So I try to accomedate it as much as possible. (hey, it keeps the injectors from rusting up. I swear it does).

BUT, once you cross that bridge you are sent into a world that is awful. Just AWFUL. the speed limit changes to 55. I kid you not. I drove for over 20 miles before I saw another soul. There was NOONE in front of me. Noone behind me, it was a flat road, no hairpin curves or switchbacks. Just regular driving and you cant go over 55. I tried. very hard. I would even set my cruise. Next thing I know, I would be going 80 again. I didnt know it was possible to count the leaves on the trees while driving. But if you are required to drive 55 you can.

And I think I know why they have decided to torture people in this way. Folks over yonder are too stupid to drive faster. They would be sitting at a crossroad, see me coming from a mile away, and then right about the time I would creep up on them, being passed by all manner of flying insects, they would jump right out in front of me. And, had I not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldnt belive it was possible in this day and age, with modern cars mind you, these people would manage to jump out in front of me, then they would slowly build up to 15mph. then 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50.

Yep, they wouldnt HIT 55. and it would take miles for them to reach the top speed of 50.

On the way back I was in a line with about 6 other cars from Texas. the closer we got to the border, the faster we would get. I know they were thinking the same thing I was. That if they didnt get back to the homeland fast they would end up having an anurisim.

When you could see that limestone Texas in the distance, everyone gas choked it.

Not 5 miles on the Heaven side, we all of a sudden slowed down to 50. I kid you not. we went from pert near 80 miles an hour to 50. We were trying to jump out and go around, but couldnt ever get a clear shot. And for some reason this ... person.. wouldnt get over on the shoulder to allow us to pass. This is something you DO in Texas. If you are incapable of driving the speedlimit, then get OVER. Its just the nice thing to do.

SO, eventually, one by one we all manage to get around this person. And what do we see as we pass? A Lousisanna licence plate. Wouldnt you know it. Its bad enough these people drive like mor-ons in their own state. Then they cross the border and act like they own the road over here.

I wonder if they ever made it to their destination. I cant imagine how long it would take to drive across the state, or even get to a good sized town driving that slow. I mean from Orange (75 miles south of me) to El Paso, is further, than from Orange to Chicago. I kid you not.

Oh, and while over yonder we went to a Dairy Queen. It was just Martha, me and Bow. We ate and as we were leaving I got Bow a malt. Well,[strike] Dumbdumb [/strike] Martha GAVE Bow his malt. to walk out with. I told her not to do it. But she didnt listen. Again, I said "dont do that!" and she said "aww why not, he's cute"
WHen he got it in his hands he took one look at it and headed for the back of the place! After 3 steps he did a face plant in the floor and chocolate malt went everywhere.
This woman raised 4 kids. How did she NOT see this catastrophe coming? It doesnt take a rocket surgeon to know that a one year old is going to fall. usually quickly.
I simply picked him up, and toted him out. she came out a few minutes later with a new malt- and said that the girls that worked there said there was no charge, he was too cute for words and they hoped he enjoyed it.


Sunday BR wanted to find a place for a hog pen. So we did. And he said that he would build my chicken coop finally. We will put it beside the hog pen.

THen today he decided that since no oil had been called in, he would just go to town and we would get the material to build it. So, we spent all day working on that.

We had some 6X6's left over that didnt burn in the old house. They are 80 years old. We have been saving them to put in the new addition, but decided to use them as fence posts. Since they are 16ft long we had to cut them with a chain saw, so we did that. No problem.

We had bought some hog pannel, So we are not stretching wire. Thats a plus, EXCEPT when you are using panels, they are NOT forgiving. You have to drill the post hole in the exact place that you need to put it. and make sure that you are not too far in or too far out.

We were putting down 8 of the large posts. Then will go back in with 3 inch posts and put them every 4 feet between the big posts. The pen is NOT square. By design. BR decided to make it an odd shape, I fiqure its cause he decided making somehting NOT square was easier than trying to make it square. It aint. But its 20 ft on the front, and the other sides are all 32. The pannels are 16 ft long and we have a 4 ft gate on the front. And it makes a dido on one side, I am not real sure why, I think its just for the fun of it.

When we went to town BR was rushing me in Tractor Supply. Asking why I was walking around, waht I was looking for. Typical man questions while shopping. I told him I wasnt sure, but there was SOMETHING we were not buying. Finally I gave up, went and paid for the hog panel and we went to Lowes. Then we realized that we hadnt bought a gate. I kid you not.

So I called to find out the price. Tractor Supply had been almost 20.00 cheaper on hog panel then Lowes. Well, they made up for it on the gates. 35.00 more. Of course we had already paid for our staples at Lowes and I had to go back in and buy the gate.

I also went by the feed store. I needed horse feed. and told her I would be buying chickens this year and asked when she needed my order. She said "now". They are already getting in chicks.

NOw, if you have never had chickens, there are a few things you need to know. First of all. you buy baby chicks. like 1-5 day old chicks. And they are pretty fragile. They have to stay warm. You cant just put a bowl of water in there. They will drown in it, and they have to have a special food. Plus, like all birds they dont discriminate when they poo. and dont mind walking, laying, eating or dying in it.

Thats another thing. Sometimes, baby chicks will just die. no reason. just die.

Oh and they have to stay warm. and I dont mean ' nice 70* warm' I mean like 95* with a heat lamp warm. But NOT too warm. cause they will bake. you cant warm up part of the cage and let the other part be normal temp. cause they will get to one part and freeze to death, or in the other part and bake.

These things really are DUMB. You've heard the saying "aint got the sense to get in out of the rain?" that came from a chicken. Cause baby chicks will look up at the sky if it rains and drown.

OH and there can be no breeze blowing on them. Yep. I am serious.

Plus, with their constant chirping, they are a HUGE draw for preditors. Snakes will come in and eat a whole brood in just a few minutes. I have had that happen.

Or minks, skunks, coons, coyotes, you name it, they will come.

SO, you have just a few options. I have had a coop in the past. and sucessfully raised chickens. I have also sucsessfully lost entire coop fulls of chickens. In just a single night. Adults, babies, roosters, ... you name it, they have been killed.

Anyway, your options.
You put them in a cage, in a coop (you cant let them just run loose, they have to be put in a small enclosure with a heat lamp), heat lamp, water, food, and protection from preditors.

or you bring them in the house, in said cage with all the periphinaila listed above. and some damn good candles. Cause chickens are nasty. and stink. And they NEVER shut up.

I have done both. I have a better survival rate in the house. But this house is so small. and I have too many kids. and I DONT want Bow to let them out. He DID let the Rabbit out more than once.

Well, its pretty cold out, and I just dont want them to freeze to death. Plus, I dont have electricity ran out there yet. I will be getting them soon, but not just yet.

The first year we moved here Amanda brought the kids some chicks for Easter one year. She fiqured I would be getting a coop soon, and I really was. I wanted one. Its just not been in the budget. well, we put them under the porch. In a cage. 2 nights went by, and the kids went out to feed them one night.

I had played a clown at the school all day and was in the shower. BR was in here in his recliner napping. Next thing I know, Brett and Matt bust through the door, screaming at me in the shower (they ran RIGHT past BR) to get my gun.

I had enough paste makeup on to choke a horse, it was running down my face, plus my hair had that spray color in it, that was running down my face, I was tired and hot and just wanted my shower. I couldnt see anything.

BR followed them in, and finally got out of them that a snake was in the cake with the chicks.

then he asked where Rayley was.
"watching the snake"

They had ran IN the house, and left a 1 1/2 year old Rayley outside with the snake.

When BR got out there she was kicking the side of the cage saying "supid nake, supid nake" (stupid snake).

He killed it, but it was too late for at least one of the bittys. after that I sent them to Amanda's and told her I would just have to wait.

Speaking of Rayley. While I was in tractor Supply today, they had their Christmas stuff on clearence. There was a board game about farm life. Well, while I was making supper she remembered it. She asked if she could go and get it. I told her it was dark. She said "I dont care, I aint scared of the dark"
I just looked at her.
she is better than the boys, but I have never sent her outside alone at night either. The boys wont even go to my room after dark, will NOT go to my bathroom, and still insist on taking a bath in THEIR bathroom, right off the living room with the door open.

So, she goes and gets on her jacket. Putting it on upside down. The waiste was up around her neck. Then her shoes and she was leaving.

She walked out the door, then came right back in and said "its dark out there"
So, I hit the door lock clicker for my truck and off she went. It turned on the interior lights.

She went out, got the game and came back in. Not scared at all. when she came back in, I tried to send one of the boys out with a bag of trash. There was NO way they would even think about it. They wouldnt even put it on the porch. I told them they should get down on their knees and bow down to her. She was more of a man then they were.

They just agree'd. and said they had no desire to die in the dark. They are such babies. LOL

so, tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping, and then, we have to work on the pen when he gets home from work. We got 7 of the big posts in the ground. and on the 7th one, the sheer pin broke in the dang auger. (can I tell you how much I LOVE an auger that runs off the tractor? its a GOD SEND)

So, BR dug that one by hand. The post hole diggers that we had to buy today (GGGRRRRR) did an 8 inch hole. So, he dug down 2 feet. It went quickly. I was suprised. So he went and got this HUGE post. They are a 6X6, 8 feet long and I swear they weigh so much I can barely pick up one end. and I toss bales of hay or sacks of feed all the time. I pick up my kids and they weigh about 60lbs. So, he is grunting and brings this thing over. (he used to BENCH press over 300 pounds, its not like he isnt strong), so, he drops it in the hole. and it just sits there.

its a 6X6. in an 8 inch hole. and it wont go in. Cause you cant fit a square peg in a round hole. He had to dig it out some more.

OH, and we were lucky, we did it on the right day. We had extra dirt. I HATE digging post holes and doing it when the moon is wrong and you end up with not enough dirt.

Dont know what I am talking about? well, if the moon is full, or maybe when its waning, (I never can remember, which is why I get excited when I have extra dirt), and you did a hole, you wont have enough dirt to fill it back up. I kid you not. Even if you put a post in that takes up most of the space where the dirt was. I am NOT kidding. Try it. take a tarp outside, Dig a hole, put all the dirt on the tarp and then try to fill it back up. You very well might have too much, or not enough. If you do it when its full, or waning, or waxing, or whichever, you will have TOO much dirt. Luckily, that is where we were today :)
We still have the 21 3inch posts to put in. and then nail up the panels. Then get feed and water troughs, and we are ready for some hogs. OH and build a lean to, cause they will need shade. They sunburn very easily.

I will be putting the chicken coop on the side of the hog pen. My goal is to be able to let them loose during the day. They can scratch around the place, and help keep the hog pen clean.

Then put them up at night. But I dont know how that will work. Darla has never seen a chicken. Duke has, but might start chasing and killing them if she is doing it.

I might have to build them a yard, fenced in and covered.

OH and I found some plans for a smoke house. made out of hydite (I know thats misspelled) blocks.

We need to get all this done. The 14th is when we start planting taters. And there is still some plowing to be done.


Oh, and here are some pics from Martha's cake.

I was disapointed in the writing. I wish I had gotten it even.. maybe next time.



Here is my drawing



and the first of 3 cakes that I am cutting and shaping



HEre it is with the crumb coat. Do you recognize it yet?
NO, its not a dress. OR a diaper. although Rayley was DETERMINED it was a diaper!


Here it is with the colors!
recognize it yet?



And me writing on it. Just to prove that I didnt pay good money for this monsterosity.

well I didnt pay good money, unless you count the icing (7 tubs.. I think, maybe more) 7 cake mixes, 6 vials of coloring paste, and a new spatula to smooth it right, (remember the baseball cake?... well, come to find out there is another way, and it involoves paper towells. ) LOL




Whoo-HOO!! after 16 hours. or was it more?? I dont know. I know it took me 2 full days to do it... anyway, after all that time, here is my FINISHED PRODUCT!









While I was uploading these photos, my great aunt called me. She needed to get her TV off the game channel. Not the game show network, the GAME channel.

I had just went over there last week. She had gotten it on input 2 somehow.

Just the next day she called me, she had done it again.

Tonight I spent over 15 minutes on the phone ( I know, cause I looked at the timer), trying to just get her to turn off the direct TV box. Now up until last week I had never even seen direct TV. I have dish, Great Aunt Etta has dish, My grandfather has dish. So, I can fix theirs. And do often. Luckily MIL got direct TV the other day and so I got to see the remote.

So, I told her hit the back button. She couldnt find it. So then I decided it was time to just turn off the satalite box. I told her to turn it off. So she keeps saying she was pushing it. Come to find out, she was pushing the off button on the TV. We went through this for 15 minutes. I never could convince her to turn off the box. Which I thought was the best thing. just start it all over. it wouldnt come back up on the game channel.

BUT SHE NEVER GOT IT! I swear, there should be an age limit on technology.

She just kept turning off the dang TV.

I even told her to sit down and do it all from the remote. No go. I could hear her creaking and groaning while getting up to hit the OTHER green button. the one on the SONY.

I am going to put lables on everything!