Rabbits, Rodeos, Truck Doors, Chess, Baptisms and TV stars!

Only my family could manage to cram all that into 3 days!!

Have you ever been in a store, and the Dr Peppers were on sale? well that means there are NONE left, or worse, there are a few left adn they are in the VERY back. you cant reach them. not even if you stand on the bottom shelf. Sure, you could walk to the other side of the store and get a broom or mop to pull them down, BUT what if someone managed to snag the last two while you were gone? There is NOTHING on this isle to reach up in there with....

Thats when a kid comes in handy. You pick them up and shove them up in there.




And have THEM push the bottles down to you....




I almost blogged on Friday, but was too lazy to upload pictures. then again on Saturday, but that was a BUSY day. and yesterday was an amazing day - I just didnt have time :)


Lets see, BR took off Thursday and we drove a few hours to pick up the kids 4-H project, Bunnies.. or Rabbits as they are properly called. I think I got gyped, but everyone seems to think it will be okay. I was under the impression that californians had black ears, tails, feet and noses, these are grey. I still want a true black buck to breed to the 2 does I got. I also need another doe. But one of the does I have is due anyday now. So we will see what she has.

We are doing meat pens. Thats where you breed on Dec 17, get the babies, and pick out 3 that are as identicale as you can get. you show those 3. they need to be uniform in color, body size, weight, and meat production. Since I have to have 2 pens, I need to hedge my bets with 3 does. Incase one or more doesnt produce, or we have crappy litters.

Anyway, we also went and got Rayley some new boots. hers were too little. Her prefered choices were pink, then purple, then blue, yellow, green, and if I could find pink camoflauge that would trump them all.

this is what I found.



Bow got a new cowboy hat, which I dont have a picture of him in yet. but he also got to ride the mechanical bull at the store!



When we got home we had to finish up the rabbit pens, which meant ME getting inside a 2 ft box and stapiling wire up in there. Not as easy as it sounds. But I reckon if it will hold me, it will hold them. Plus, we had to move around some stuff at the hog pen, and go get some hay from the horse barn. When we were leaving to get that, Bowdrie had walked around to the other side of the truck, while I got some stuff off the back. I heard the door slam and him holler, not a blood curdiling scream, but a mad holler. I walked around to see what was wrong, fiquring he had shut the door on accident and couldnt open it. well, he had. ON his hand. his entire hand was in the door. By the time I got around there BR and all the kids were there. Bow was trying to pull his hand out. he wasnt hurting. YET. it didnt take but a second after we opened the door for him to start screamin. Once we got him calmed down and fiqured out nothing was broken he was good to go. He toted his ice pack around like a baby, laying his hand in it. But it wasnt long before he forgot about that too, so he could help give the rabbits hay and feed and water the hogs.




On Friday Rayley wore this:



They wear their school shirts on Fridays and so every week she tries to wear a differnt outfit but the same shirt. She is running out of ways to wear it..




On Saturday our church had a youth rodeo. So I took the kids to it. Rayley finally got to wear her new boots, she was VERY proud of them. She thought her daddy and I did a perfect job of picking them out.










The boys played football all evening- waiting on the rodeo to start, I had went early to help volunteer. They were soaking wet before it even started, and it was a chilly night. We finally got our winter weather- at least for a week. But they never slowed down.

So far all 3 of the oldest have managed to get wet as can be at the church. Rayley fell in to the creek/drain a few weeks ago. I reckon she wanted to baptize herself.


RFDTV was there, to record the service on Sunday and the youth rodeo on Saturday. They will be airing sometime in December, so if you get the channel, look for Jasper County Cowboy Church.

Its funny, noone was extra dressed up, and honestly noone paid the least bit of attention to the cameras. that tells you alot about the mindset of the people that are members there. They are just downhome people and dont get starstuck easily.








Sunday was a wonderful service. of course before we left my kids got into the cake that my Sister in Law had sent over here the night before. I really had forgotten all about it, and it was a half of a halloween cake. meaning BLACK icing. So they were dyed black. Bow got it ALL over him. and the boys and Rayleys lips were black. It took lots of scrubbing to get them half way normal. I told them to avoid the cameras at ALL costs!

It was amazing and uplifting. And we had a baptism service, where 16 or 17 people were baptized, including Brett and I. It was around 50* but the water was warm, which was nice. We were soaking wet, and went strait home for warm showers, since it was a spur of the moment thing and we were not prepared by bringing extra clothes.


This is what Bow does during church. He loves to go, and will help me carry the chairs to the arena, then helps me set them up, while all the other kids run off to play before services. He wants me to get settled in so he can get started playin!






these are from a few weeks ago. but same thing.. LOL





This is the stage that the church band plays on, Pastor Brady is on the far left.





and an RFDTV camera.



If you are looking for a church, and have just never felt comfertable in one, or always felt you were being judged, try finding a cowboy church. You dont have to be a cowboy, or even halfway rural to go, its just laid back and enjoyable. If the one you find is half as good as mine, you will wonder what took you so long to join. I have been to lots of churches in my life, and just never felt I was getting Gods word, or felt I was being judged constantly. The total opposite was true when I stepped foot in that arena. And lots of them are actually held in buildings, not everyone does theres in the middle of a Rodeo Arena. Or if you are not sure you want to go to one strait off, try finding them on RFDTV, they feature a differnt church each week.



After church was over, we came home, did a few chores, and the kids asked if they could play chess. I told them I didnt care, BUT, there were 2 rules. one, they had to include Rayley, and help her learn how. and two, they couldnt scream and holler at Bow, they just had to deal with him.

They played a few games, the winner would play the kid left out. and about the 3rd time Brett and Matt played, Brett hollered "you cant do that!" Matt said "yeah- I can." I fiqured I was fixing to have to stop an argument, so I hollered out my new 'shutup'. "yall read Psalms 39"

"Mom" Brett says "I'm not being rude or mean, I meant to say 'please dont do that' "
Matt asked him "why"

"cause if you do that, the game is over!- "(meaning Matt had whooped him) "lets change the rules a little"

Matt declined, and I also forbid it. He was ticked cause Matt had beat him 3 times in a row in less than 5 minutes.

They did help Rayley. she doesnt quite get it yet, but will soon enough, the boys were about her age when they learned. Of course, I am sure that my kids are the only ones that make Chess into a contact sport. And now with Bow around, he ends up hitting, biting, screaming, stealing peices, and terrorizing them. He doesnt understand that he cant play.

We still dont have any baby bunnies, I wonder if the breeder didnt get the week wrong.


I reckon I am gonna stop typin now. My wrist is hurting- I have some kind of a cyst on it, and it hurts to type much. Its nothing serious I'm sure, I fiqure its a ganglion or what ever type cyst, I just havent had the nerve to put a huge book on it and hit it with a hammer to desolve it. Plus, I need to get a few things done, I was asked on Friday to take over volunteer coordinator for Rayleys schools PTA. I said yes, since the two postitions I have on Bretts and Matts boards are not very time consuming.

But here are a few more pics from the Women in the Outdoors event.


This is the skulls of two gators, one died of natural causes and was about 12 foot long, the other died from lead poisoning (he was shot) and was a little smaller.




Notice the black/brown spots? those are 'war wounds' bruising from fights, that is in the bone, they are loose places, kinda weird.

and of course the teeth upclose. the teeth are really weird to feel. like hollow peices of plastic.




and of me holdin the gator again. :)







I had a picture of one about 15 feet off shore, but you couldnt see him. just his head was sticking out. he was about 10 feet from where the airboat was parked.




Here is Bow waterin the hogs a few months ago. He LOVES to go down and mess around with the animals.

Hello- Remember me???

Gosh, has it been that long?

Well, the last week has been spent much like the last time I wrote, cleaning rooms, and buying Matt new boots.. That kid goes through boots like a kid through candy... Its pathetic.. His new ones have Orange tops. and yes, he tucks his pants in.

I wont waste bandwidth appologizing for the hudini act, I couldnt explain it in a million years, BUT, I can tell you that everyday that I said "I'm gonna blog today" I would end up coming on here and then couldnt fiqure out where to start, fearing I'd write too long, or leave something out. so you got nothin...


We did get the living room painted its real pretty. I am proud of it. It took me a little while, And we moved the washer and dryer to my bathroom, taking out my garden tub. That was fun. We had to replumb, cut holes in the floor, and had to take the doors off the old laundry room to get the freezer in.

Then low and behold, our fridge went out. I kid you not. the thing just died.. Had to buy a new one.. Thats never a fun thing..

I have been doing the PTA still, only on 2 boards this year. but so far we have lots of great help, so its not hard. I am actually enjoying it.

We have made mums, sold T shirts and thats about it.


This is just one of the boards. But there are many of the same ladies on the other...


Bow is... just Bow.. I swear that kid is a riot. he is smart as a whip. Last night, BR came home and tracked in mud, well, I went and got the carpet cleaner, and Bow went strait for the mop and REFUSED to give it to me to clean with! He still doesnt talk much. He can say a few more words, but mostly he will just come and get you and drag you to where ever he feels he needs to be. Like the fridge. Then he hollers something you dont understand and you have to go through everything in the fridge to see what he wants to drink.


 

 





We had a Women in the Outdoors (a division of the National WIld Turkey Federation) workshop last saturday, and I got to do something my kids have NEVER done. and I am prayin they DONT do. at least not under proper adult supervision...



Yes its a baby gator, and no it wasnt dead...



I didnt quite top the buzzard, but I am making them think I did....


we had alot of fun, and hope the size of participants increases next year.




There was airboat rides, archery shooting, shotgunning, leather making, bird watching, tree identification, wild life tracking, nature photography, and a few other things.. PLUS lots of FOOD.
So, since I was on the committee, I really didnt do any of the workshops, I stuck around the front, keeping things running smooth..

Okay, I stuck around the food.. making sure it didnt go bad....




I told y'all that Rayley would be the first kicked out of school didnt I?

well, Brett has had a few 'close calls'... like the 3rd day, when he forgot to wear his belt, and they called me at 7:30 threatening to give him detention if he didnt have one before class took in at 7:55... When I explained that if I drove the 20 miles to town, he would be coming back home with me, and they would NOT be paid for him for the day, and he would NOT be doing detention, they agree'd to be a little lax the first week or so.

Then came the day I was running late, missed the bus, and Bow puked on Brett and we had to turn around and go home. I called the school, asked if he was understanding the policy correctly and he would get an hours detention for ME making him late. Yep. he would. Well, since I dont drop off and pick up my kids, due to the high deisel prices and the outragious amount I pay for school taxes, I politly told them to mark him absent for the day. He would just stay home. They decided since he was a 5th grader, its his first year at the new prison... I mean school, they would let me slide that one time.

And of course, him being late to class, because I refuse to allow him to carry 25 lbs of books all over the school all day and bring them all home with him, since he doesnt have time to go to his locker between classes and get back to the back building. I also declined after school detention. They are not punishing HIM, he hates to ride the bus for an hour and a half. They are punishing me. And I am not going to ground him for a week, I try to reseve my punishments for the actually severe things, like letting the hogs out, or not watering the chickens, or turning on the water, watering the chickens and not turning it off, so it uses 3,257 gallons of water or leaving the lid off 150 lbs of feed- when it rains 3 inches. you know the big stuff that actually will make him a better more responsible person.

DOnt get me wrong, being late is NOT responsible. BUT we have all been there. And he should strive to get to class on time. BUT, sometimes things happen.

Do the math. you have 8 classes, so, you have 8 chances a day to be late, times 5 days a week, for 6 weeks. I aint a mathamagiction, but thats 240 times, give or take a few, that you have to get somewhere ON time, with everything you need. Now, a normal work year, would be roughly 261 days. Right? give or take a few? so, are you telling me that MOST (I know there are some anal people out there who are 1 hour early to everything. ) people will work an ENTIRE year and NEVER be late, through their own fault or someone elses? I mean, NO flat tires, no dead battery, no tree across your driveway, NO electrical failure and broken alarm clock... so, most adults cant do this, OH wait, I said AND get there ON time with everything they need. meaning, no forgotten purse, grocery list, cell phone, earrings, belt, heck, I know some folks who forgot to change from their barn shoes to their work shoes... and yes, I have done it..

So, anyway, how many adults do you know that have made a year and not been late or forgotten a little something at home?

Now, dont get me wrong, I think if he is late he should get punished, I think there should be 3 warnings, BUT if its a habit, punish them. detention is great, but NOT after school. I cant afford to come and get him. PLUS, thats really not punishment for HIM. make him do it during lunch recess. not allowing him to play with his friends is more punishment than not having to ride the bus, even if I do scream and holler all the way home.

But, when he got that tardy, he had 3 days to do detention. I called and let them know he wouldnt be doing detention, they offered a day of ISS. (in school suspension) a full 8 hour day for being about 30 seconds late to class. I declined that also. I'm pretty sure that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment for an adult prisoner, so we aint doin it to my 10 year old. I told them to suspend him. "Miss a FULL day because he was a minute late?" they asked... "uhhhh yep.." why not? "well it will be unexcused" .... uhhh really?? so... it either costs THEM a hundred or so bucks for no butt in the chair, or me 15.00 for the diesel. I am votin for THEM to loose it...


They ended up working it where he could do his detention a week later, when I would be in town.
Fine by me.

oh and he wore a camoflague fleece jacket to school on a cold morning. and tried to wear it in a cold class. That was almost a suspension... although, I'm a bit confused on that one. The colors they can wear are Khaki, green, and brown... Apparently you cant wear them mixed... LOL seriously, I had told him to wear it on the bus, but to NOT wear it in school. He didnt listen. oh well...

Matt hasnt actually gotten in trouble. Now there was some bus stuff, but what do you expect when you put a bunch of kids on a bus with no adult with in slapping distance and leave them there for over an hour? It wasnt anything really bad, although Brett did have 2 pair of khaki uniform pants ruined with busted ink pens.. They never got any warnings or got in any trouble, but I knew if other kids were acting like drunk monkeys, mine would be right along side them. But that was easily solved, I went to the bus barn, and told them, if my kids get kicked off then they wont come to school, I am NOT driving them. PERIOD.

So we worked it out, so my kids sit by themselves and with only each other.


As a matter of fact, I just met with all the kids teachers, and somehow, my dear little hoover has them ALL bamboozled.. they think he is a great kid!! that he is nice, and sweet and helpful!! I think they have the wrong one identified, BUT I didnt want to push it too far.. LOL


Now, Rayley on the other hand.. that prediction was true. SHE - my sweet little princess, the adorable, softspoken, little pixie, has actually been the one to do something bad enough to get kicked out of school..

See, before I spoke to the bus driver and her boss, she was sitting with other little girls, well, one of them and her were talkin, Rayley said something, and the little girl turned around to answer, and in the process, she hit her in the nose with her hand... Rayley never even thought about it. She just (and I quote from Brett who saw the whole thing) "rared back and knocked the snot out of her"

Luckily, the bus driver saw it for what it was, a misunderstanding. and neither girl got in trouble. Brett said he jumped up adn grabbed Rayley, and the other girls sister came up and got her. The sat with their respective siblings and the other little girl wailed all the way home. Rayley on the other hand was not in the least repentant. She felt she had been wronged and took care of it.

Another day, Matt had missed the bus, and I saw some of Bretts homework on the table, so- I drove Matt in to school, dropped him off and took Brett his homework, a little girl was on the other side of the glass doors hollering that Rayley had RED INK all over her! so I rushed to her school. Not real sure what I would find.

I got there, asked to see her and they said she was at the nurses office. they were soaking her hair and wiping out red ink sure enough. her WHITE blonde hair... they got most of it. BUT, the ends around her face were still pink. She said "well, at least I didnt wear the purple outfit I had picked out- I would SOOOO not have matched..." WHEW!!
She was mad, dont get me wrong. but she took it pretty well. She did want to whoop the High Schooler who had thrown the broken pen though. I dont blame her, I did too.

When she got home that evening, she decided the best solution would be to just die the rest of her hair pink. so it all matched.. I opted to instead wash the dickens out of it and pray it came out.

But those are a few reasons to make them sit together. Heck, one time Brett sat in a seat that wasnt meant for him, and a kid had busted a red pen ALL over it. To pick on another kid. yep, Red does NOT come out of khaki.. the next time a kid wiped his hands on him, after breaking a pen to have a 'pen fight' with someone.
Plus the ignorance and fighting, and jumping and being silly. I just thought it was best to nip it in the bud.


The day I took Rayley to school, I told her teachers that after having 4 kids, I had learned not to argue over the little crap. That I promised she would always be clean, and her clothes would be clean, but I would not fight with her at 6 in the morning about what to wear. She would dress herself, so not to call CPS when she came in looking like Punky Brewster.

I also told them that if she ever came in and didnt have her hair fixed, it was to prove to her that she couldnt be a little brat in the mornings, I was NOT going to fight about it, she could get dressed and I'd do her hair, OR she could sulk and be snotty and go to school looking like a ragamuffin.. she did do that... ONCE.


Here are just a few of her outfits.


Here she is with her Homecoming mum. For those of you that aint from Texas, its a tradition to give your sweetheart a mum for the homecoming football game. The bigger and more flashy they are the better.... :) Her brothers have given her one every year since Brett was in Kindergarten. The get garters, the boys I mean. it has a smaller flower and less crap uhhh ribbons on it...





 



















I have been trying to find Rabbits for 4-H. I swear, people are selling these things for well over 150.00. I aint gonna pay that. PERIOD. I just want my kids to breed, raise and show the animals, I dont care about a ribbon. Thats where you get into the politics of it all. I aint got the money to waste for that. They are supposed to learn what makes a good meat rabbit, Not how to buy a grand champion ribbon. But alas, such is life... Our pigs are starting to get old enough to breed, and we got a new piglet the other day for meat. She is the cutest thing. I have been hatching out quail and chicks constantly- That incubator is sooo nice to have.

We did loose my pig of 17 years. Pork chop died from unknown reasons, it was a hard time for me, but such is life I reckon.. Duke the dog is getting on up there too, after that, I think I am just going to stick with eatable livestock...





These two are kinda old... Brett is the baby, and the one on the couch is PRE kids.. LOL


Anyway- here is a few more pictures:


Here is how my kids prefer to travel..



 
The kids rode with BR to his moms on the tractor, they LOVE to do this. I of course follow in the truck, Looks like the Darlins comin to town dont it?? (Please tell me you know who the Darlins are... )

This is them on the first day of school. Poor Bow, the thinks he is goin somewhere too.




And look at how he is copying Brett. Nothin gets past this kid. AT all.






Luckily these were not referals, instead it was permission for them to walk home with out me being there to pick them up from the bus...



I'll stop writing here. Its gotten longer than I wanted it to, and I've been interupted twice with BR's truck having problems. I had to drop everything earlier and go buy him some 5/16th nuts to fix his 18 wheeler with. He was at the shop, but they dont stock it. There were no mechanics there, so he was having to fix it himself. Then he called to meet him at the end of the driveway with a Mt Dew and an Apple. He still had more work to do, and needed a pick me up.

Plus the kids are home, and I have to fix them something to eat. Plus, its gonna take me another 3 hours to upload these pictures... Sorry some are so small.. I cant fiqure out how to make them bigger... They are bigger on facebook....