a brief catch up.

* I have written this 3 times. and deleted it 3 times.

I didnt mean to, I just hit the wrong button while trying to edit my pics and it deletes. I dont know how to get it back. I am near tears. This has been such a great day, BUT this has killed it. WEll that and BR called me to come get him, his truck is broke down again. This is the 4th time in a little over a week.

Well, its been a while, again....

The boys started practicing for allstars. Every night for about 3 hours. Till around 10. Our first game is Saturday, so we need the practice.

I have been working on Rayleys cake. Its supposed to have a tiara on it. I made about 6 of them. The first one has stayed together perfectly, BUT I dont like it. at all.

The second one stayed together, BUT, it wasnt smooth. I was still learning how to use the gumpaste.

The third, fourth and fifth, wouldnt stick together. OR they would stick together, I'd let them dry overnight and when I tried to take off the wax paper they would fall apart.

This is the second Tiara, I drew a pattern and then rolled out the gumpaste to match it.

I was very proud of it, until I picked it up to set it on the butter dish to dry in a rounded shape.

This is what happened:

notice the one on the left? that was the second one to die.

Then, I got it all together, reglued it with gumpaste and put it on. WHEW~

Now its time to paint my gelatin butterfly. The body is gumpaste. Not bad. This all edible cake might just look good after all.

Once I got that done, it was time to paint it. I was impressed. The gold was very nice, and I thought it looked pretty good.

After it dried, it fell apart too.





So, I decided to just roll out some purple gumpaste and stick the tiara on it. NOT what I wanted, it looks like crap, but its there.

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

This has been one of those weeks where nothing you do seems to come out right. Brett was supposed to do some of their laundry, we were trying to clean in preperation of my dad coming. They had a dozen loads they could do, instead he picked towells. about a dozen VERY large towells. He was just being lazy. He doesnt realize that he now had to do the towells- that I would have done myself- PLUS his clothes.


Well, someone, (I am guessing its our friend N.M.- short for NOT ME) put it on small load, and someone else didnt check. so he broke my washer.

it was full of water and wouldnt do a thing. I had to drag out 125 pounds of wet towells. and get the water out of the washer.

BR tried to see if he could fix it. picked it up, messed with the belt, which was fine, and then accidentaly dropped it.

It started working. I had been in tears.



Mid week, the washer stopped working again. Things were just awful to start with, so I was at the end of my rope. When that washer wouldnt start I just started praying. Begging God to help me get through it. Telling him I knew that he wouldnt give me more than I could handle, but I was starting to loose it.

IT started. I kid you not.

we had our yearly homecoming last weekend. It was nice to visit with all the old folks. Of course, it came on the same day I had to go to town and do a car wash to raise money for allstars. But I managed to get both done, and brought tater salad and snap beans to the picnic.



Rayleys party turned out nice, she got about 4 outfits for school, and 2 new pair of boots. My sister in law got her a pair of tennis shoes for school, I told her that the boots I got where size 12 and to get that. She did. Unfortunatly, Rayley is now wearing a 12. She grew over night.

From Blogger Pictures

The cake didnt travel well. It wasnt quite held like it should have been. Of course if you ask BR its all my fault, my driving, the way I boxed it, that I was breathing too hard... whatever..

From Blogger Pictures

I did brush her hair before we left, and she was cute. But when we got there she decided to run around like a hoodlum....



She had asked for no toys. she didnt want to clean them up and I was glad I am tired of telling her to clean them up!

She did get toys, some folks dont listen. Her wish was answered though, She got firepower!!

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

and then something for her feminine side.

From Blogger Pictures

Of course we did have drama before the party, almost making us miss it all together, or at least making the boys miss it all together.



It all started earlier in the week, I took the boys grey pants, washed them, scrubbed them by hand, and got them spotless. Then I dried them, folded them, and handed them to them. Telling them "put these up, you can wear your white pants to practice all week, and keep these clean."

So fast forward to Saturday morning. On Friday night, I told them to find their stuff. They said they did. I saw everything except the pants. Cause they were in the drawer right?

well, Saturday morning I asked for another uniform check, we were short one pair of pants. So off on the pant hunt we went. Or they did.

3 hours later I explained taht with one pair missing, it meant that NOONE played ball. PERIOD.

They had already been jerked out of ball, I had to make a trip to Houston on wend for my aunt and told my mom and them that they had to water and feed the pigs 2 times while I was gone. They failed to do it period. It was 100*. To say I was livid was an understatement.

But their coach begged me to let them play. So I did. Then they loose their pants.

I refused to just 'stop and buy another pair'. The shirts and hats alone were 60.00 per kid. Then the Deisel I had to waste to drive to town for 8 practices, plus Saturdays car wash.

Not to mention the fluids I lost sitting at the ball park for 3 hours a night, in 100 degree heat, watching them act like drunk monkeys on the field.

So about 10 minutes BEFORE the party started, that we had to leave and get to, they finally found the pants. NOT in the same drawer that the first pair were in, instead they were in a differnt drawer. One they keep momentoes in.

they were allowed to go.

THEN, once we got home from the party it was time to haul butt, We had to drive 40 miles the other side of Jasper, we live 20 on this side.

My dad was in for the weekend, so he was able to go with us. Or was too polite to decline the invitation. He was blessed to see us practice on Friday night.


Dont get me wrong, I commend the coaches for taking the time to do an allstar team. But I have to say that its not in your best intrest if you are not well versed in baseball to not take advise from those who are. OR at least read the rule book.

To say they were clueless would be an understatement. At our first practice, we were bad.

The only way I can describe it is:

You know the show 'Bad News Bears'? At the begining when they were just really awful. before they got the girl who could pitch? they would have whipped us. At the begining of the show. before they learned teamwork and all that mushy stuff. Luckily, we were consistant. because at 10:00 pm Friday night, we were still the same.

We went an entire week, and no one played the same position twice. None of the kids knew where they were playing. and of the 5 pitchers who made the team, 3 were used. 2 kids who had never seen the top of the mound were put in to pitch.

And the catchers were no differnt. 2 made the team, and they played the infield. A kid who had caught a few times, 2 years ago, against a pitching machine was used.

The line up didnt fair much better, One of the power hitters was first up. Kids who were consistant hitters and baserunners were at the bottom of the lineup.

He took our first pitcher and had him pitch 44 pitches. Then took him out. That put him having to wait another 4 days before he could pitch again. Our next game was Tuesday.

The next ones he took out at 20. so they could pitch again.

But it didnt matter, We walked in all but about 6 earned runs. Well, not even walked them in, I think we walked in a few. The rest were 'stole' by past balls.

Our catcher couldnt stop anything. a strike, a throw, a ball. They all went past him.

It got so bad that by the second inning, the coach for the other team was having his kids bat left handed. Or bunt.

Of course, by now Brett got brought in. I dont even know how many runs we were down by. well over a dozen plus. like 17-18. Bases were loaded, no outs, the kid at bat had 3 balls on him, and no strikes. He throws in a pitch, it gets past the catcher, and in comes a run. on a STRIKE! this happened all night. But the beautiful one was when we had two outs, a bunt was laid down, neither first base or third base tried to get it, down runs Brett. He scoops it up, turns to throw to first and there is first laying flat of his back, he had tripped over the base.

So he turns to home, a kid was running in. the catcher is turned around adjusting his padding.

Finally we get out of the inning.

This crap goes on and on. The last inning they are heading out, the coach calls back a kid. This kid had made or assisted in almost every out. Had been chattering to the infield the whole time (ie '1 out plays at first' or ' 2 outs, play at any base'), was a consistant player. He called him out and told another to come in. His nephew. And I hear... I kid you not " Cant I just go home? I'm bored and dont wana play."

Luckily we were able to eventually go home. the last inning at our bat we got 3 runs, so the final score was 24-3.


Monday we pretended to practice again.

Then Tuesday was our next game, It was a double elmination tournament for district champs.

We batted first. And got runs on the board. Brett was pitching. He did a pretty good job. He had a few mistakes. BUT, when you throw strikes and the catcher doesnt catch them, its obvious that you wont win the game.

The coach pitched Brett every pitch he could. plus a few. At this age, a kid can only pitch 75 pitches. Brett pitched 79.

He got a few outs. In that last inning he pitched he caught 2 pop up flys to get the outs.

We were able to get out of his last inning with the score being 8 to 8. He didnt walk anyone in, but if he threw a ball, the other team learned quickly that you could steal home, cause the catcher didnt catch the ball.

Brett also got on first. no outs, and a kid that can hit was coming up. the coach made him steal to second. my slow as molasses kid didnt make it. No idiot sends a slow kid to second, when a hitter is up to bat, with NO outs.

I take that back, ONLY an idiot sends a slow kid to second, when a hitter is up to bat, with NO outs.

guess what happened next? yep. this kid walked the next 4 kids. had he left Brett alone, we would have had one less out adn one more point at the end of the first inning.

We had a good game at first. Then they just laid it down. Brett was out as pitcher, and they got a few runs on us.

But thats not the worse part. Matt sat the bench for the first few innings. Then he sent him out. He was put in the 3rd slot batting and in right field. This was during Bretts 3 up 3 down inning. where he caught the 2 popups on the pitchers mound. Then they went up to bat. The coaches sent in the wrong kid in Matts place.

The other team didnt catch it. it was a 3 up 3 down inning.

Then he took Matt back out and put him on the bench. You cant do that. you have to play each kid, and they have to bat.

So 3 differnt men went and told the coach. SO then he sends him up in the kids place that went in instead of him at the other bat. NO CAN DO. if you read the rules, you would know this.

THis time the other team caught it. Matt had 2 strikes and 3 balls. full count.

They had a meeting of the minds at the plate, and I say that with complete levity.

Come to find out Matt wasnt allowed to bat. Of course, we had already told them this. 2 of the guys in the stands knew it and told them. Not just regular joes. But the coach that ours had two scrimages against and learned all he knew from, and a guy on the board of JYBA.

they pulled Matt out, put the original kid in and he struck out. That was the extent of Matts playing for the night.

He had ran hundreds of bases, slid till he had skin lost and strawberries everywhere, rug burn and bruises, been hit by countless balls, hit hundreds of balls, Sweated and cried, worked harder than I have ever seen him work. to play for 7 minutes and get taken out of his only bat. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. He was as good as anyone out there, (this coming from OTHERS, not just me) and better than quite a few. But he had been treated like crap.

The coach actually told the people that went there to tell him "but I put him in"

NO he didnt.

SO, the coach that had tried to help said "since your other Byerly boy didnt bat,
you can protest the game". We died laughing. why would we protest? for more of the same torture? LOL

One inning actually ended with the bases loaded, and the coach sent one of the slower running players to steal home. they got him in a rundown. well not a real rundown, more of a throw, gotcha type situation. He was WAY too slow to even be stealing.

and the bases were LOADED!!

It was just pathetic.

We lost 8 to 14. But we did try, for the most part. Our poor catcher caught EVERY inning. THis is one of the boys that played catcher in the regular season. He isnt bad at it. But if they took the pitcher out at 75 pitches in the 3rd inning, then the catcher needs to come out too. He has thrown BACK to the pitcher EVERY pitch, plus a few down the lines.. This poor kid was exhusted, but gave it his all the entire game.

I am glad its over. And more than a handful of people asked BR to coach next year. a few dads even offered to help him coach. People asked him if we could meet at the ballpark to practice, just play around, but learn something.

They had seen what BR tried to do, and were happy with it.

this week has been much of the same. I have been getting up early and pickin in the garden, shucking corn and putting it up. Yesterday alone was over 100 ears of corn.

I have done peas, maters, squash, corn and cucumbers this week. Last week, I was staying out till 10:30 and then getting up around 5:30 to get in the gardens. and its been SOOO hot. easily into the 103 plus range. Some days it was 110 heat index.


and being the mean mom I am, I make my kids help. EVERY time I am in a field they are helping. if I am cleaning, pealing, silking, cutting etc, they are helping.

From Blogger Pictures

And yes, I am a slave driver.



and this is what else I have done.

9 out of 10 eggs hatched, for 9 new chicks, and my sister in laws quail started hatching.

aint they cute??

thats a normal size chicken egg and the quail eggs.

From Blogger Pictures

And I just had to show a cute little quail with a real chicken egg.

From Blogger Pictures

Here is a 3 day old chick, beside the 2 day old quail.
The chick came out of that egg, the quail is now in it.

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

Again, I just thought it was cute to put the quail in the larger egg. It doesnt use it as a home, or wasnt born out of it, or anything like that. I just had a newly hatched chicken egg laying around, and a new baby quail and thought I'd show the size difference.




Oh, and this morning, Brett came into the living room, I was trying to watch the news, but instead was bombarded by crap about Micheal Jackson. I think that South Korea could have bombed New York and they'd still worry about Micheal ODing on demoral.

So, Brett comes in and sits down. He looks at the TV and says "THATS Micheal Jackson?"

"yep, who did you think it was?"

"oh, I have seen her... I mean him before, but thought it was a woman, with really bad hair... that maybe she had that armadillo disease or something"

He was refering to Lepordsy.

"no baby, that is the one and only Micheal Jackson"

"I thought Micheal Jackson was black"

"he was born that way"

"is that his real nose?"

"no... "

"Didnt that really pretty woman die yesterday too?"

"you mean Farrah Fawcett?"

"yeah, that one that was before my time.. why aint they talkin about her? At least she was pretty, and didnt act weird..."



I gotta say, I couldnt have said it better myself.

Heck, Ed McMahon was just a passing thought at the end of broadcasts. Farrah was cast to the side with in minutes of Micheals heart attack. And sadly, HUNDREDS of hometown heros, loving fathers, mothers, grandparents, children and innocent babies died yesterday without a peep in the news. Instead we cant get away from a pedophile with serious identity issues.

lexicon, emoticon, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other

Well, this stupid computer is SOOO slow. plus, I am adicted to farm town on facebook, and I have just kinda been lazy. got back to doing crossword puzzles. BR doesnt seem to take offence at crossword puzzles quite like he does me being on the computer.

But, when I got stumped on a 10 letter word for lexicon, I decided I needed to do something less intelectual. I used to do crossword puzzles all the time. I did one a day. I got them in the newspaper and did them with my coffee.

Kids just suck out your braincells. Thats all there is to it.

And mine are just about through with me. Next they will get BR. He thinks I am full of it. But his time will come.

We or rather they did vacation bible school Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Last night was parents night, so BR and I went. Rayleys class did a song. Except Rayley. She just stood there and stared. with the 'look' on her face. about half way through it you saw her cut her eyes to the right. Matt was sitting on the front row. Apparently he was talking to her. But she stood there. The other kids did their hand motions, jumped when they were supposed to and sang their little hearts out. My kid stood there stock still, like she was auditioning for a part in a play of maniquens. BR asked what was wrong. If she had stage fright. then we saw her cut her eyes. I said "no, she is mad about something"

He agreed. We didnt know what she was mad about, but she was mad. Everyone else thought she had stage fright and walked up to say something about it. She didnt quite have the deer in the headlights look. She had the "I am going to kill you with my stare" look. Everyone in this house knows that look. Outsiders dont. they cant get past the cuteness.

Brett and Matts class did a short bible verse. It was almost like speedreading. you couldnt understand what they said. AT all.

Of course BR and I saw lots of folks we never see. So we got to visit and catch up with everyone. We enjoyed it. ABout 3/4 of the way through I had to take Bow out. He had clapped, and danced, and had a grand old time, but then he was tired of being in my lap, and wanted down. So he could be with the other kids. So I took him outside, where he could run and jump and crawl and make noise.

Once it was over I stood outside and talked to everyone as they came out. Telling most of them that no, Rayley was mad about something, not scared out of her mind. Mostly cause they couldnt belive a Byerly would be shy and had to comment on it..

finally BR came out with her. And said "I fiqured out what it was"
Come to find out, when her class went up, she had steped up on the first step on the stage, and her teacher had moved her to the front, not on the stage, but on the floor. She was in plain site, everyone could see her and it was honestly a prime position. the kids in back couldnt be seen. BUT it pissed her off. She had wanted to be on stage. So she chose to 'punish' everyone by not singing. instead she looked like an idiot. Serves her right.

We went down to the fellowship hall and I was able to see more people who were begining to think I was dead. I used to see these people all the time when I worked at the store. But not anymore. I am not one for invitin folks to the house. Usually its such a mess that I am ashamed. but most times I just am too lazy to deal wiht company. :)

One of the ladies that was working with the kids came up and told me that Rayley had told her she wanted to find me, and asked her to help. Then for added measure she circled her hand around her face and said "she's the one that looks like me, has my hair, only its shorter and is taller" the lady assured her that she did indeed know me, and they'd find me eventually.

One time I was standing talking to someone and a little beige blur was running by. I reached out adn scooped it up. It was Bow. The boys had been toting him, but he had got loose.

I have been working on Rayleys cake. Trying a few differnt ideas. So far I am working with gumpaste and gelatin. I hope I can come up with something cute.


OH and I got a phone call the other day. One of the board members for the baseball association asked me if Matt could play on the 10 year old allstars. I said yes. I couldnt take it away from him. Then it dawned on me. Matt is 9. I asked if they meant Brett. He said the paper said Matt. but since Brett is 10 and Matt is 9, maybe it was a mistake. Since our coach had confused them all year, I thought it might be.

He said he would look into it and check it out.
Last night the coach called me. Asked if Matt could play. I explained the situation to him. trying to make sure that I didnt bring the wrong kid out there and them want the other one.
Neither boy was exceptional. Heck, neither was really allstar material, but, there wasnt alot out there that was.

I tried to call our coach, he wouldnt return my calls. So I called the other coach. He said that ours didnt even turn in an allstar list.

Noone on our team was nominated. Well CRAP. So, I called around. Finally I got the explination that the list was given to someone on the board, they didnt know these kids period, and the person I was talking to said that he had been talking to him and the man in charge had made the comment "I cleaned it up a little, knew one was out of town, and couldnt play, took him off, and took off the kid they had listed double" SO, my contact said maybe that was the problem. BOTH were on, but it looked like a double and they took one off.

OR like I said, maybe they only wanted one, and Matt was it. OR they wanted one and BRett was it. BUT what do you do?? seriously? I wouldnt take it away from either boy to give it to the other. thats in NO way fair. The coach told me that if that was the case, he wanted both boys. BUT who wants to play when you really wernt who they wanted and just there because someone had their head in their ass? seriously?

I swear, even when I am NOT involoved I get drawn into drama. Just pulled smooth into it. I reckon I just attract chaos. I'd rather attract winning lottery tickets, or unmarked bills falling out of an airplane, but we deal with the hand were delt I reckon.

Not much has been happenin around here. I went to the school for a few hours, worked on some stuff, have put up beans and taters, and have been working on getting the house in order.


Today we went and picked snap beans. there are bullnettles EVERYWHERE. usually at least 2 of the 4 kids end up in it at some point.

So we were driving over there and Both Brett and Matt had 2 bottles of water. and they were chugging it down. Finally I asked them WHY they were drinking that hot water (it had been IN the truck) so quick? and so much of it? It was bound to make them sick.

"You always tell us to be prepared, so we are preparing for the worst"
"what? crashing in the desert in the 1/10 of a mile between here and there?"
"no, getting in bullnettle- We need to be able to take care of it if we get in it"

I couldnt do anything except shake my head, seriously....

So, we are out there, and get down one row, Up another and back down yet another. On the last row, with 25 feet left to go, Rayley starts screaming BLOODY murder. you would have thought that she had been bitten by a snake. there, was the most pitiful excuse for a bullnettle you have ever seen. Now, out by the corn, there are bullnettles 4 foot high, and as big around as a grown man. in the bean patch, where we were, there are some so big you couldnt hide them under a washtub.

But sticking out of the ground, was a stem with about 2 leaves on it. Leave it to Rayley to find they durn thing. ANd they are not just in the walking path, they are IN the plants.

Well, she is screaming like she is being scalped with a dull rock, and there is nothing to do about it.

Then, Brett says: "Rayley, do you want me to pee on your foot?"

I thought it was kinda sweet. I mean seriously, these kids fight like cats and dogs, but when they need to help each other they are willing to do it. That means alot.
Maybe some of what I am teaching them is sinking in. They will stand together when times are tough.

When we had about 5 plants left, Bow, who had been picking as many leaves off the plants as he could, decided to walk RIGHT over one. it got him on the toe. He screamed for a little while. Then someone pulled a dumdum out of their pocket and he was happy.


Apparently the cures for bullnettle stings is either urinate on the offending spot, OR get a sucker. I bet there are LOTS of folks out there who wished they had known about the sugary cure well before now.


Now I have to get up and get ready, Brett's teacher's husband died suddenly of a massive heartattack on Tuesday, Tonight is the veiwing, and he wants to go and pay his respects. BR promised to keep the kids while I take him in.


And tomorrow we start baseball practice again.

OH and for those of you that stuck around to read the rest of the blog before checking out the thesaraus its "VOCABULARY"

My Little Pony

My mom called me the other day. Would I make my cousins daughters cake for her 4th birthday.

I asked what she wanted. "anything horses, she loves horses or My Little Pony's"
So I racked my brain (this was a quick endevor) and this is what I came up with.
Buy a color book and do something out of it.











Yep, I pick the easiest one.

I am lazy after all.

Her favorite colors are pink and purple.

Today started off with a PTA meeting. Then I had to go grocery shopping. Then I came home to get the cake done. This is not easy with 4 kids wanting to 'help' or watching your every move. OR standing there with drool falling from their mouths while they wait for a slight bit of icing to drop.

I started out with 6 cakes in 2 cake pans.



Then cut them out.

The kids were SOOO not impressed.
Until they started to see it taking shape.


Finally after about 9 hours and 2 days I got done.

I made 3 batches of icing.

mixed up 9 differnt colors of icing.

and I came up with this:

Now I am too tired to do anything except go to bed. Good night :)

OH yeah. I am tellin you, I LOVE this picasa!! its amazing. I have never been able to keep up wiht pictures like this. I am learning how to use it and this thing is IDIOT proof. Believe me. I am living proof!! All of thse pictures were even sent here FROM it. If it contiues to be as great as it is, I will be able to say that every cloud has a silver lining.

No I didnt run away to Las Vegas....

I didnt mean to abandon y'all. My 'puter has tried to die. It kept doing weird stuff, so being the computer guru that I am I decided it was time to reinstall XP. BAD move... I did TRY to save everything, BUT apparently was unsucsessful. BUT the dad gum thing STILL wasnt working.. So I went to a website, got some free tech help. They said it probaly needed cleaning. But told me not to do it. You should always take a laptop to a certified professional. WELL, again, in my infanite wisdom I decided that any idiot could dust the inside of a computer. even those that swear to our husbands that we CANT dust a ceiling fan cause we are too short. I mean I fixed a dishwasher didnt I?

Needless to say, 9 teeny tiny screws, a box of Q tips, bottle of alcohol, and a few cuss words later, here we are.... running cooler and faster than we have in a VERY long time. I would be proud of me, but that would just be vain....

so, whats happened in the last half month? hmm....

the kids had their last game, Matt did great, although he was hit in the knee by a line drive and we thought he had broken his leg. Once we fiqured out he could walk again BR asked if he wanted out of the game.. (he was coaching) Matt said NO. and made a great play a little while later! I was very proud of him. He had been crying and in obvious pain. Brett did a very good job too. We did loose, by one point. But both boys got hits, caught balls and got outs. The team played better in the last few games than they had all dang year.

I made a VERY large cake. THis took a few days.




the board its sitting on 3foot by 3 foot board. I had asked BR to cut it, the next day Rayley and I did it. She really did help me. I measured it out and she held the plum line thing while I snapped it. Then we fired up the table saw and cut it. It was 10 cakes, 2 per pan and 5 pans. I had to get my grandfather to come over in his car and we loaded it into the trunk. It was the only way to get it to town.



Brett popped a kid in the mouth after the game was over. He had been hitting everyone in the dugout, cussing them, plus various other stuff during the game. And everyone on the team had wanted to do it for most of the year. and then hit Matt on his bad knee. He then proceeded to step on Bretts feet and bump chests with him. According to witness' Brett told him to step away. He didnt, so Brett let him know he was serious. It wasnt a fight. It was one off center punch and the kid folded like a lawn chair. I dont even think he bled. The shock is what got him. Noone else has ever hit him before. He just gets away with torturing everyone.

We fiqured it was over. Till the next day at school. The kids MOM came into the classroom, and told Brett "you have it comming" Brett asked "what?" she said " You'll find out, Pete knows what it is, and you'll find out"

Now, come to find out, Petes twin sister was going to beat up Brett at school on Friday. The last day of school. being the true Redneck I am it took alot of will power to just call the school. I called the principal at home. Told her and said that nothing had better happen.

It was somewhat taken care of, there was no fight. The mom didnt even show up for the parties on Thursday. And I didnt land in jail either. Of course, on the last day of school, which I didnt attend, she did show up, and managed to threaten Matt in the same manner, but since he was leaving to go home he didnt try to talk to anyone about it.

The case is not closed, but I am attempting to not become a Jerry Springer contestant, so I am trying to deal with it in a way that goes against the grain..

Lets see... what else... OH, babies!! NO NOT ME!
chickens!!

We had some babies hatch out. I had put around 40 eggs in the incubator, and Rayley and I got to see this happen :)

About 2 hours later it looked like this:

it wasnt long before we started seeing this :

Pretty cool huh?





Since the kids had their last ball game, then the last few weeks of school, its been pretty busy around here. They had their carnival at school, I got to take Rayley and she got to play while I worked the concession stand. The school really puts on a great carnival for the kids. The blow up things you run and jump on, face painting, bowling, and lots of various other games.

I am trying to remember everything we have done. Oh, I put up pert near 40 quarts of taters. Of course before I could wash, cut up , boil, and pressure cook them, we had to plow them up and pick them. It was a bad year for taters. They should have been out of the ground a month ago. We didnt get near as many as we should have. We planted enough to feed an army.

The kids helped me alot. We all pulled, BR took off that morning to help. Then the kids and I put them up. Rayley helped to wash, and she really did stand at that sink and wash every tater. The boys cut them up. They did a pretty good job, but it wasnt very uniform, and they played alot.

I finally finished thosearound 1am.

Bow has really enjoyed having the kids home and so has Rayley. If I give them the chance they are out the door and playin. Bowdrie too. He follows them everywhere and refuses to be left inside while they play.

BR and I went grocery shopping on monday. with all 4 kids. then we went to Lowes and got the stuff to put a switch out in the coop/sty. that way I could put the new chicks out there in their brooder and not have the actual lights on all day and night, just their heatlamp. We decided to put a light out at Wilburs pen too. So we got all the stuff we needed and came home. Then it dawned on BR. we had forgotten the actual flood light assembly... I had to drive the 20 miles BACK into town to get it.

But we did get it done and got the chicks out of the house. OH, here are some pics of them. About 40 eggs, and we had 24 hatch. I might have had more hatch,but took them out pretty quick after the last hatchers, I was scared of a rotting egg. 3 of those didnt make it much past hatching, so I ended up with 21.

I am soooo glad that they are outside, and hope they are safe. But I am mostly just glad they are outside!






dont you just love this ones markings?



Once they were out of the incubator, my sister in law brought over a bunch of quail eggs (they are SOOO tiny!!) and a few more chicken eggs, so I am back in the hatchin business. I hope. today we lost power for a few hours, thats not a good thing for hatchin eggs. you HAVE to keep a steady temp of 99.5.

Oh that same SIL and BIL took the kids camping the weekend before school was out. They went basicly to a mud hole. On purpose. They took the 4 wheelers, 4 wheel drives and tents. and 3 kids. I wished them luck and laughed as they left...

They had a blast, Rayley really enjoyed it, she is fearless anyway, and has always loved riding the 4 wheeler. And anything her Uncle Luke does she will gladly try.
They did relate a story to us.

On the way home they were playing I spy.
Luke was driving, Amanda was in the passenger seat and all three kids were in the back. Rayley right behind Amanda and then the boys in the middle and behind Luke.

It got to Rayley's turn and she said "I spy two donkeys on my left." Amanda and Luke both tried to see them out the drivers side, then looked to the passenger side, since she is only 4 and might not know her directions yet. she just kept on saying it. "I spy two donkeys on my left"

At first they tried to tell her they didnt see them. then they just agree'd t humor her, and it was a few seconds before it dawned on Luke. Brett and Matt were on her left. Amanda said he had to pull over he was laughing so hard.

After everyone got home on the day before school was out, the kids stayed outside and played, when I got supper ready I went outside, The kids had been out playing basketball and BR had came home but hadnt made it into the house.They had roped him into playing P.I.G. Rayley and Bow were just running around playing in the dirt.

Well, they said he was. It took a second to find him.
BR had just been bitching at me about driving full speed up our driveway that has ruts and holes the size of the grand canyon in it. Telling me how I was ruining my shocks.. I thought that was what shocks were for.... Apparently Bow decided to check them out.

Yes, he is in a diaper.



BUT HONESTLY, do you want to have to wash clothes that look like this 3 or 4 times a day? Cause that is what it would be.
Hell, what do I care. Judge all you want. when you get to # 4, you realize, cute clothes and adorable presentable babies laying in your living room floor are something magazines show you to make you crazy.



DOnt get me wrong. If we go to town, my kids all have on shirts, pants, socks and shoes. And they are 99.8% of the time very very presentable. BUT, at home, we dont get all formal. Aint no sense in dressin nice for the hogs.

Even Rayley aint afraid to get dirty.



Actually, Bow had went outside dressed, but once he got in the dirt, the boys thought about it and decided it would be best to strip him down, that way I wouldnt yell. They are so thoughtful.. if they had just remembered WHERE they stripped him down and brought in the clothes....

Here are pics of my babies on the day before school was out. I cant belive they will be in 5th and 4th grade next year.

Matt is such a fun child, he is ALWAYS joking and picking at you. You will think he is being serious, and get mad, but come to find out, he is just pickin. I cant belive he is now a 4th grader...



Brett is going into 5th. He is my biggest help. I dont think I could do half the things I do with out his help. THere are times when he is the north end of a south bound mule, but he does have a heart of gold, and goes out of his way to help you.

He got all commended on his taks tests. (Matt got one commended and scored high on the other) But that brings up another subject. WHY if you can get commeded on a taks test, do you never even TRY during the year? and thats all it is, he doesnt try.
Like I told Matt when he brought home the 'most improved in Math' award for 2 years running. If you can do it at the end of the year, you CAN do it at the start...




It is true that the years fly by. Sadly, I cant sit here and remember them when they were little. I think my memory is faulty. I dont remember their smell, or the way they felt. I hate myself for that, I can remember snippets or something that happened, a small story, or a funny thing they did. I am just glad that there are times when they are still willing to set in my lap and hug me. At least until Bow sees them and pushes them out.

Speaking of loosing memories.... One of the things I lost when I redid my computer, was my Photoelf. I loved that program. Unfortunatly it costs money and I cant afford to rebuy it. I copied the program before I rebooted, but it didnt take or something.. :(

But, I googled "free picture resizer" and this program came up called Picasa 3. I DownLoaded it today. I havent fiqured out much on it yet, I cant get the MB of the pics down to a workable size yet, BUT, I love the way I can organize the pics, and it seems to be a pretty smooth program, I cant promise its a perfect program, but it seems pretty neat so far to me. and it will upload a picture strait to your blog!

I might be happy with this one, if I can fiqure it out :)

I did fiqure out how to resize the pics, and you can do an entire FOLDER full at once!! OMG! that is SOOO nice!!

I also got a call, my cousin wants me to make her 4 year old a cake for her birthday. Anything to do with a horse. She loves horses. Stupid me, I said yes. Then I had to come up with what I was going to do. But its my first paying gig. 35.00. that paid for supplies, so I am happy.
I promise to post pictures. I hope to get it done pretty soon. its due Saturday, BUT, tomorrow I have a PTA meeting (yes, we work through the summer..... ) and I have snap beans to pick and more than likely maters to stake and work on. possibly corn to pile dirt on. We got a torrentail downpour today, nigh on 3 inches. it tore down some folks corn fields. I know our maters are drowning in water, as are the cukes and okra. The corn didnt have much dirt on it to start with.

Speaking of the dishwasher. We did get it going. Then I went to use it the next day. It wouldnt work. Froze up again. So, I taught Brett how to turn off the breaker, unscrewed the bottom panel and turnedthe motor a few times, had him pop the breakers and it started right up. We did this for about a week and a half. A slight pain in the rear, but MUCH better than handwashing dishes. I didnt tell BR I was having to do this. Cause his solution would be to buy a new one. Yesterday when we did all those taters I had alot of dishes from the day before, and the kids eating all day (while I was TRYING to cook,) and I also decided it was a good day to clean out the kitchen. And I mean EVERYTHING. I cleaned blackskillets, pots, pans, things we never use, you name it we spent 4 hours cleaning it. I ended up running 5 loads through the dishwasher and it started up each and every time. That is a beautiful feeling. I need to take the motor out, clean it up real good and regrease it. The grease goes bad after a little while and starts to literly gunk up the works.






Now between writing this, cleaning the kitchen, getting the house to bed, and having to read the instructions to learn to resize a picture its after 1:45 and I have to be up by 6 to get to the school for my PTA meeting... So I am going to BED!

Identity Crisis

we have been having all sorts of identiy crisis' here lately.

Bow: He cant decide which sport to play, right now he has a plastic bowling pin, a baseball glove and a small plastic football, he is putting the football on the ground, hitting it with the pin and then running to catch it with the glove.



Rayley: This child is one of a kind. she cant help but be. She is surrounded by boys. she goes in and puts on all kinds of necklaces, tutus, or evening dresses adn then goes out to find worms and snakes with the boys. She gets mad when they wont let her climb a tree, yet her fake heals are not exactly climbing friendly. She hates that she is the only girl, having to sleep in her room by herself, and getting that big ole space all for just her.

She also eats like a horse. I swear she is wormy. This kid eats more than 3 normal kids. BUT, aside from her feet (size 11) and her legs (size 5 is getting too short) she is too little for clothes her age.


This Tree: It survived the hurricane. two as a matter of fact, and when we logged. We logged all the pines out here, and I think it was hit by a falling tree at that time. Plus, when you log it can put the other trees into shock. Its poor top was knocked out during Ike. No, it was during Rita.. yeah. Rita almost killed it.
Anyway, it thought it was just a normal tree. Nope. Not with my kids.

But it seems to be coming back pretty good. It would do better if we would get the bush out from underneath it.


Its a magnolia tree. Big pretty white flowers. See the one about 2/3 of the way up? It will be relevent later.
here is Bow walking under it, looking for his brothers and sister.

The chickens: This was supposed to be a Hen. But she acts more like a rooster, but doesnt have wattles. I am currently asking the experts about her/him/it. Hopefully I will find out soon.



I can assure you, it would rather be a hen, cause I dont need two roosters and BR had me buy him a Jersey Giant rooster. If its a rooster then he will be taking up residence in the freezer. MAJOR identity crisis...

The boys: they want to play baseball, yet they wont practice at home. They want to help us build stuff or cook, yet they refuse to help with the prep work or clean up.

And they are apparently part monkey.





This was actually taken when they were told to GET DOWN. THey had already started their decent. Do you see the flower that I told you to remember?



I had made them get down. I told them I didnt care next week, but we had TWO games left. TWO GAMES. I didnt want a broke arm or leg!!

they were standing on branches that are smaller around than my wrist. Matt was in cowboy boots. and I KNOW that Bretts shoes wernt tied. PLUS, they were pulling the flowers and cones off and throwing them down. Bombing Rayley. If one of them was jerking on the branch the other was standing on, it could have been a catastrophy.

Our baseball team: All year we have not totaly been IN the game. Till last night. The powers that be decided that our 4 teams would have a playoff. Putting everyone on equal ground. It was a single elimination tournament. 2 teams play, the winner goes into the winners bracket, the looser into the loosers bracket.

Well, we got out there and actually PLAYED. In the top of the 2nd inning we were up 7 to 2.
Once we got to the bottom of the 2nd though, we had walked 3 and allowed one hit. This made it 7 to 4. The team we were playing has been pretty good all year.
They got another run on a bad throw. making it 7 to 5, with the 6th run walked to 1st.
Then Brett came in to pitch. the first kid hit, getting to first. The second hit, right to Matt at shortstop. It was a force play. He fielded the ball and stepped on base, but it was after a little confusion, he wanted to tag the runner, went after him, did tag him then stepped on base.

Brett had went to the mound with only one out. Matts out made it two. Then there was a hit, Brett fielded it, overthrew first, and first overthrew 3rd, they did this until the kid came home. since there was a kid on base already it was 8-7.
The next kid hit into an out, but the damage was done.

we went back up to bat in the 3rd, down by one. It was Hoover up first. He swung at the ball. And I am VERY happy with this. because this is the first year he has even done that. But he did strike out. Come to find out, when he got back to the dugout, the other kids were griping at him about it. I didnt know this part, All I knew was the dad in the dugout told me that Matt had thrown his glove. Well I was PISSED. We dont play that game. So, I told Matt he was in trouble for that. Well, come to find out, the other kids were running their heads about him striking out. Since he had HIT in the first inning, AND gotten in a few runs, I only explained to him that we dont throw fits. Instead you tell those kids that ALSO struck out, to shut up. OR ask them just what THEY Did to help the team. All but 2 of our boys batted twice. This means 19 at bats. 4 hit the ball. 1 was thrown out before he got to first. 6 of them were walked, two walked twice (brett and another), and other than the 2 that walked, NOONE else made it to base twice. They ALL struck out. at least once.

Anyway, in the 3rd, there was 4 kids go up. one was walked, the other 3 struck out. Matt was very upset. his team convinced him that it was his fault. And sadly, the adult that was IN the dugout didnt aliviate the problem. he tattled on Matt to me. Which was fine, I did need to know. Because I dont allow it at all. Whip them after the game, but during the game we stick together. BUT, tell me the whole story.

Of course, this is the same adult that tattled on me. or so the kids said. They heard him. I think the whole thing is funny.

See, Matt forgot his bat one night. I actually now know how it happened. It was the night they were running laps. The boys didnt get their stuff together, they left it, to run their laps. Well, while they were running, some of the team ran, some went out and played pitch to each other. Matts bat was handy, and they picked it up. I do remember hollerin at someone to quit trying to trip the other kids with the bat as they ran. He had ranout to centerfeild with the bat.

Anyway, it got left there. Another coach picked it up. I appriciate this. I have done it myself. I have picked up bats, gloves, batting gloves, balls, helmets, another teams scorebook, all kinds of stuff. I always bring it right back with me, or if there is a phone number try to call the owner. I have a black box that stays in the back of my truck, I keep ALL baseball stuff in there. Mine and the others I find.

Well, this coach brought the bat home. This is understandable. And I appriciate him picking it up. Starting 3 nights later, we (BR and I) started asking every coach on our field (there are 4 teams) and other feilds if they have seen the bat. its bright orange.

Everyone said no. Finally we asked the last coach in our league, he told BR that he didnt have it, but another coach (one we had already asked and one that had coached Brett before) had said he found one in the outfield. So the next game I sent Matt to ask that coach. He said that he didnt have it, but his assistant did. So Matt asked him if he had an orange reflex bat with his name engraved on the handle. He said yes and Matt asked him to bring it next game.

It doesnt say MATT on the handle, it says BYERLY. And very few people out there dont know us. For one, my kids are identified as 'BYERLY' on the field, by other parents who cant tell them apart (and sometimes by me) , for two, every coach is told at every game: 'Mrs Byerly has the books, take her your lineup' and our coach uses last names on the lineup, not first names. Also, when its time to leave, you can hear me holler "BYERLY'S LOAD UP!!" all over the park. or so I have been told. Personally I dont belive it.

Anyway, when asked by someone if we got our bat back, I said yes. Then he said "are you sure its yours?" well, aside from the fact that its bright orange, there are only about 3 of them out there like it because its an expensive bat, AND it says BYERLY on the handle, I was the only one missing a bat of that description. But I picked it up, and said "yep, see, it says BYERLY on the handle, which confuses me, cause there aint a whole lot of *#!$*^@ Byerlys out here, you'd think if someone picked it up and took it home, they'd at least see that and try to ask if it was ours."

And I was telling the truth, speaking from the heart. I will NOT excuse the fact that my child forgot it, didnt take care of it, and basicly was careless. But you show me a 8 or 9 year old that isnt. Heck, half the stuff I find at the ballpark, belongs to an ADULT. I mean if any parent out there can prove to me that thier child hasnt left something at home, at school, at the park, in the car, outside, what ever, then I will retract my statements. But I am pretty sure that you cant. Kids forget. And although I am IN the habit of checking the dugouts after EVERY game, (hence me finding owners for misplaced items), I didnt check the field. So I missed that this one was missing.

Anyway, my kids overheard this adult, telling the other adult that had the bat, what I said. No big deal, I am pretty strait forward. Of course, it offended the other guy. who said "well, I picked that SOB up by the visitors dugout, and took it home, if she has a problem with it, she can talk to me". as much as I appriciate him bring it back and being honest. I do have a slight problem.

Honestly, I dont know how it got BY the visitors dugout, we were home team that night. But, the whole thing was rediculous. We are at a ballpark, during the little leauge season and a game had just ended. I am pretty sure, whoever dropped their bat, will be back. And if its NOT a kid on your team, it is more than likely a kid on the OTHER team. A quick look at the score book will tell you which team it was, and since our coach uses last names, it will tell you that it was either batter number 2, or batter 5. A B. Byerly adn an M. Byerly.

BUT, if this is out of your realm of comprehension, or too difficult, you could always take it to the concession stand. Where the guys who run it went to school with BR and I, and actually BR was best friends with one of, when they were in school. They could have at least pointed you in the right direction of a Byerly missin a bat. Since thats the FIRST place we asked.


I dont think this guy is a bad person, I know his wife and love her to death, and I dont think they were tryin to steal a bat. I just dont know why it was so dang difficult to get it back.




And finally ME: I am not having an identiy crisis perse. BUT the kids are confusing me with a maid. its THEIR responsibility to keep up with thier uniforms. I made this rule at the start of the season, when I handed them a mesh bag and asked them to assist me in not loosing their stuff. All I asked was that they put their uniforms IN the bag, I would wash, dry and put them back. Then they would ALWAYS be right there.

This is a VERY hard thing to do apparently. Anyway, since they wouldnt help me, I told them I aint messin with it. They have to wash them and keep up with them. All weekend I told them to get their uniforms together. They ignored me, or halfassed did it. THEN, yesterday came. I had even asked them yesterday morning to please make sure their uniforms were close and together, shoes included, because I just had a feeling.

They instead opted to go out and sit on the porch to wait on my MIL.

At 4pm I called the daycare. The kids wernt home yet (20-30 minutes late) and we had to leave here at 4:30 to make it to town by 5. I already was too late to buy feed. I called the daycare. My MIL wasnt there, she was at walmart buying groceries for the daycare. Well, she gets off at 3. She buys groceries on the clock, in the morning. But anyway, I knew there was NO way she could get them home, even if she walked in the door right then, in time for me to get them back to town for a 5:30 ballgame. we have to be there by 5. Usually I dont care if the kids are late. If we dont have plans or somewhere to go its not a big deal. I do appriciate a phone call telling me that you will be late though... BUT today they needed to be home quickly. Of course I didnt tell her this, she is usually only late on Fridays, when she gets paid and runs and pays a few bills. I never thought it would be an issue.

so, I tried to search out their uniforms. If they were not on the same team, it would be easier for them to skip, BUT, they are, and if they dont show, and one other kid doesnt show, then we are one down and have to forfit.

PLUS, I have the books. I had to at least drive in and drop them off. AND, its the championship game. I really do need to teach them a lesson, by NOT going behind them and fixing everything. I really do. But dang it. When it affects other people you cant. GGGGGGRRRRRRR

So I started searching. The shirts were easy. The pants, were too, and the belts were with the pants. One pair of socks was there, and another sock. not its mate, but another sock. So I had to search for that sock. THEN came the shoes. I had seen 2 on the floor of the boys room the day before. I went and got them. And one was by the front door. I got it. Then I proceeded to search the entire house for another shoe. Starting in the livingroom. That was the logical choice. I mean one was found in here.. right??

Not under the chair, the couch, the other chair, not in the toyboy, under the fishtanks, in the laundry basket, Not in the kitchen, the launry room or my room. And it wasnt in Rayleys room. I know. I tore it apart.

No, after 35 minutes, I found it under Bretts bed. 30 feet from its mate. To say I could have bit a nail in two was an understatement.

I got it all together, loaded up Bow, Rayley had went to daycare, and we hauled butt to town. I got there at about 8 minutes till 5. She was JUST walking in the door from the store. Still had to unload it all. It was a good thing I called and asked about them at 4. Cause we would have missed it for sure if I had waited on them to show up.

I loaded them up, told them to dress on the way and we got to the ballpark in time. Of course, this could have been one day when we were late. We didnt have an ump. One of the dads ended up doing it. Not a good position to be in. His son is playing, and he has to be fair, -- if it were me, I'd be harder on my sons team, so I looked more fair. Its just common knowledge that if its a close call, you go in favor of the other team if your kid is playing on one. Thats the only way to look fair, even though your not really being fair... But its the way its called most times.

But he did a great job. Noone else would do it. And he really was a pretty good ump. even if my baby did strike out. Of course, since he swung at all 3, I couldnt argue the calls.... But we started 30 minutes late. By then Bow was already on my nerve. I usually have a hour and a half to 2 hours where he is somewhat good. We ate into that time pretty bad with the 6:07 start time.

OH and to add to my blood pressure. Tomorrow is carnival at school. Its a Right choice event. That means you have to NOT get more than 21 points off during a 6 weeks to go.

Well, Matt didnt, he got like an 87. Brett DID, he had like a 76. Fine. I had told them the whole time to be good, to keep on the strait and narrow, or they wouldnt get to go. Brett just ignored me. He kept on talking. Matt got off his normal points. SO, Brett has known he didnt get to go. Matt has known he did.

Then came the H1N1 virus, and them canceling all school activities. So they cancled the carnival. they hoped to make it up later. Later has came. its tomorrow. yesterday Brett and Matt came home, Brett gets to go. Matt on the otherhand doesnt. WHY? no this is not a case of mistaken identity. THIS is a case of ..... I dont know...

Come to find out, the principal decided that if the kids had improved their conduct in this last 6 weeks, they DID indeed get to go. If they had NOT, or if they had gotten worse, (getting a potential C for the 6th 6 weeks) they wouldnt get to go. Since there is no right choice event for the 6th 6 weeks they just combined the two.

Well, Matt hasnt gotten an abnormal amount of points off this 6 weeks. And Brett has been better. So Brett gets to go, Matt on the other hand doesnt. Because he did get caught with that menecing popsicle stick. And was suspended for a day. So, his teacher put him on the "not going" list.

Being the parent I am, I decided that if neither of my kids were going, I wasnt going to go and help. I know thats selfish of me, but, ..... Oh well.
Then it hit me. Matt had been good during the time he was supposed to.He was suspended during the 6th 6 weeks, and if the carnival had happened when it was supposed to, he would have gotten to go. He earned the right to go. and he has been punished already for the other incident. Plus, when Brett said he got to go, I was floored. I called and asked. I fiqure the worst that can happen is they take it AWAY from Brett, who doesnt deserve it anyway. The Assistant principal is checking into it for me.

we shall see how that ends up...


Oh and the dishwasher. I havent cut into the cabinet yet. The reason?: everytime I get the chance, BR is home.
Of course, I am getting tired of hearing "dishwasher guru, have you given up on it?" everytime he walks by it sticking half out of the wall. I wanted to get to it this week. But Bow wont let me alone, I have 6 cakes to make, and possibly will be at the school all day tomorrow.

Maybe next week I can get some time alone. *fingers crossed*

snakes 0 us 5

Bow is currently 'swiffering' my carpet. I usually stop him when he gets a broom or such. But I am just so glad to have him on the floor that I am allowing him his fun.

He woke up at 1am yesterday morning, and puked. in my bed.

He has a fever. after he quit puking, and I had gotten his fever down I finally got him to sleep. I was sitting here, had done up the laundry that he messed up, cleaned up the floor, and fed him some fruit cocktail. Anyway, I was sitting here, and was trying to decide if I could catch a quick nap before it was time to get the big kids up for school. About the time I decide to try it, I could hear my alarm going off. Its set a few minutes early for the snooze effect. He has literly been in my lap for 34 hours. Twice I got him down. The first time he went to sleep, and I was able to get the kids up and going and then BR held him while I cooked supper last night, but other than that he hasnt gotten up. He is a laplander anyway, but whe he feels bad, he is REALLY clingy.

I would get him to sleep, but inevitably I would have to go potty. And when I did put him down he would wake up and cry.

Anyway, thats been my last 2 days.

earlier in the week I sent the boys out to practice pitching. They went out and said they kept smelling something. Finally they looked. In their backstop, which is made of deer netting, was a snake. It was about 3 feet long. Just a chicken snake, but it had tangled itself up in there.

A few days later, we were out working on the boar pen, Wilbur is starting to get old enough to fiqure out he is a boy, and we need to seperate them, and kept smelling something dead. this is a different smell than the soured corn that usually perments from the hog pen. Brett got to looking. Sure enough, there was a 4 foot snake. we fiqure it was a chicken snake, but it was closer to decomposed than to identifiable. We fiqure the dogs killed this one. no other explination is plausable.

So counting the spreading adder and the copperhead, plus the small one in the netting, thats 4 snakes, in a short period of time, that we have killed or have been killed. not a good record when you concider we have lived up here for 4 years and never seen a snake, except the 2 hognose snakes the boys got down in the back of the pasture.

That was on Saturday. We built our fence, and got it done. Now we just have to build the gate.

Sunday we went over and helped my father in law start his fence for his mule. I told you about that right? He called me, said he was buying a mule, needed a round pen, trailer and such? Cause he didnt have a way to haul it or place to put it. He has a pasture for his horses, BUT, the mule is onery, and if you let him go on a few acres you will never see him again.

Anyway, off we went to build that. Bow had a blast he thinks anytime the tractor is running its a great day.

He helped his dad drive for a little while, And Brett got to run the bucket while we loaded stuff into it. He did pretty good.

We only got half the posts put in the ground. He is using pipe, and although we had been asked to come over and do it a week before, nothing was ready for us to get started. The pipe wasnt cut, the string wasnt pulled, nothing was measured. heck, the pipe wasnt even pulled up to where we were putting it in. Instead we got to go on an easter egg hunt for it, in the overgrown weeds and poisen Ivy. Since I couldnt pick it up, they had to. and now BR has poisen ivy on him.

when we got home we were messing around outside, and found ANOTHER snake. this one was in the backstop too. but it was closer to 5 foot long. You couldnt even pull it out. BR told Brett to cut it out and so he did, then brought it down to the pigs. Rayley got mad because noone would let her bring it down.

I just wonder, since we have killed 2, and had 3 die-that we know of, how many more are out there? I blame it on having chickens. I know they are after eggs.

Matter of fact, I called my mother in law yesterday. I asked what was up. "we are just killing snakes" come to find out, she had torn down a wrens nest about 4 times in her laundry room and dog trot, but then it snuck around and nested in an old plow on the front porch. She didnt know it until the babies hatched, and now snakes are coming up.. It was just rat snake, but it was about 4 foot long, and coming across the yard as my sister in law, who always goes barefoot was walking out to her truck. After Suzie (and I quote) "jumped 4 foot in the air, squeeled and did a back flip" she killed it.

So, I reckon its the season for them.

Ball season is winding down, and I have to make a baseball field cake. The boys are not practicing much at home, therefor they are sucking on the field. Both pitched this week. Managing only a few strike outs and allowing some hits. Since most of our team could care less about being out there, we just threw the ball around and let them score.

Brett is getting good at drawing the ball to him on base though. He loves to screw with the pitcher and get the ball thrown away so he can steal a base or allow a score. Of course it fits, since he loves to agitate people so much.

I finally got that party planned, and now I just have to get the cakes made. We are just going to collect money (why do I say we?? I mean ME) then I will buy soda's and pizza. we will set up a tent and enjoy our end of year party at the ballpark.

Then comes the hard cakes. The boys asked me to bake them each a cake for their last day of school. I said I would. Now, I am in a pickle. I dont know WHAT to bake. We are the bulldogs, so I might try to do a bulldog cake.


And the National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet is well underway. We had our meeting for it last week. BR went with me and had some great ideas. We are selling tickets now.

I also talked to a friend. We met because our boys are on the same team. she does taxidermy. So, I found the perfect gift for Martha and Elray. She loves coons, and he hunts them. We are going to get a coon stuffed for them.
I got all the other kids on board, so we will split the cost and come out much cheaper in the long run.

BR and I also went to the cemetary working this weekend. Here we have community cemetaries, you go a few times a year, do a cleanup, and then sometimes there is a buisiness meeting. We are trying to fix it so you have to have an ancester IN the cemetary to be burried there. It only makes sense. This cemetary has been there for hundreds of years. BUT, new people are moving in, or just buying lake houses, then they find out there is a free cemetary and want in. Well, we cant get more land, so we are running out fast. Folks are just dying to get it. So we had to change the bylaws.

we voted last year to change it, agreed on what it should say and then proceeded to accept it. I tried to help, since I have written bylaws before, but because I am under 60, I dont have the intelegence needed to form a complete thought or opinion.

So, they handed out the new sections. I pointed out some problems with the first. both in grammer (yes, I CAN find grammer mistakes) and what made a loophole in the intent of the changes. THen, came the line and I quote "... you must have a direct decendant burried here....."

Well, I know that not everyone does geneology. But, everyone SHOULD know what a decendant is. Its YOUR children and childrens children.

This was pointed out. We even said just say "you must BE a decendent of someone previously interned..." but no. Instead we had all of them saying it was fine. Okay. At this entire meeting there was ONE couple that would be elegable after these new bylaws went into effect. They had a daughter burried there. The rest of us were screwed.

They finally put in ancesters. still swearing that both words meant the same thing. And I swear the woman that is president was staring dagers at me. Her sister or cousin or something even walked over to me and tried to tell me how I was wrong and that it all meant the same thing, and I should just let those that had more expierence and education handle it. To say I saw red is an understatement. Whats sad is, aside from BR and myself, one other woman, and a cousin and his wife, who are in their 50's. Noone else there is under 70. Now, if their own kids and grandkids cant be bothered to show up for the meetings and dinner on the grounds, who do they think will be taking care of the cemetary when they are gone? Seriously?


Even my own grandfather was adamant about the fact that I was wrong. That BR was wrong, and a handful of others. And noone could convince these people any differnt. even when BR looked up ANCESTOR on his phone and gave them the definiton. They said their 'dictionary book' at home said differently. Like because he used a phone to go to dictionary.com it somehow made the definition an antonym.

They never did get it right, and we left there with it added as "....with a direct decendant or ancestor burried here......" thinking back, that opens it up to inlaws being burried there because thier daughter or son who is the spouse of someone with direct linage is burried there. THus bringing in the exact people that we were trying to keep out. Its not like we are trying to be mean. But there is very limited land. And no way to get more. unless we steal it through eminent domain. And I am not in the habit of acting like an out of control goverment. I wouldnt want someone walking up to me and telling me they were taking MY land because they couldnt take care of business. I would not accept that gracefully.

The food was good, and I did have one person come up and thank me for arguing about the word decendant. They said I was right, and they were proud that someone as young as I am is willing to be involoved out there. Its a sad day when you are thanked for taking care of those who came before you and built everything that you take for granted.

I just have to wonder, at what age do they think I will become intelegent enough to speak in their presence? seriously. These were not the only issues with the new bylaws, it was just the most glaring.

When we left there, we went and dug taters. We only did one row, seeing if they were about ready. They are getting there, and we got a few messes. There is nothing better than eating something you grew with your own hands.

Oh and my chicken eggs are still in the incubator. They are on days 10 and 9. I candled them a few days ago, and will do so again tonight. At that time there was only three out of the 40 plus that were clear, or unfertilized. I did break one yesterday. It was devoloping nicely. Till it splattered. But, maybe I now have that out of the way, and the rest of the hatch will go smoothly.

The rest of my week is supposed to be slow. I actually havent left the house since Tuesday. And other than going in for a function at the kids school on Friday, I dont have to.