Friday, January 30, 2009

Boredom overtakes us...

So, this is what happens when you get bored. This all happened before the kids left for school. I woke up tired and have been restless all day. I was looking for people to pick on.


This is Sierra showing me her "talent".
This is Evan getting puppy love before school. He was tired too.
This is Grammy. Not happy that I was picking on her, but I thought I would mousse her hair into a mohawk. Evan thought it was great!
I really need to get a life!!!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The birds and the bees...or is it termites?

Today, I went to the breeders to pick up Faith. It was an interesting and very educational trip. The plan was that I would come over, help her do another breeding on Faith, and then be able to bring Faith home. Our breeder does most of her breedings by artificial insemination.
NOTE TO ALL READERS: This might get a little detailed about breeding. Read with caution.

So, we bring the male in the room with Faith. He was really excited to see her. We let him get a little frisky with her and then when he mounts her, the breeder basically uses a plastic vagina to get the specimen. When that is done, I held Faith while she injects the semen into her cervix. Why do we do it this way? Let me explain: When dogs breed the natural way you only get about 20% of the semen to get to the cervix. By artificial insemination, you get the full 100%. So, that being done, we took the very last droplet of semen and put it under the microscope to see the motility of the sperm. It was incredible! There were thousands of them, and that was just in one tiny droplet!!
Anyways, the breeder insisted that I bring her microscope home and show the kids. She said it would be so educational for them. I didn't really think my kids would be interested, but I brought it home anyways.
Sierra was very interested, so I let her see and then explained what she was looking at. Here is our conversation:

Sierra-What is that?
Me-Those are little fishy like things that boys have in their bodies to help make babies.
Sierra-THOSE are babies?
Me-No, not yet. They have to go into the mommy's tummy and the mommy has eggs that the fishy things meet. Then they make a baby together.
Sierra-The mom lays eggs?
Me-No, the fishy things and the eggs meet and touch and then they make babies. The fishy things are like tadpoles.
Sierra-Oh, can I see again?
Me-Yes, does this make sense?
Sierra-No, but I see the termites in the picture!!!
Grammy asnwers because mommy is laughing too hard!
Grammy-No, Sierra not termites; tadpoles.
Sierra-Oh.

Papa comes in and Sierra tells him that she is looking in the picture thingy and she sees termites!!

Oh brother! I knew I should have just not shown her the sperm!!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

When good intentions go wrong

Today has been a busy but fun day. Sierra had school so Grammy and I took her and then we went to the grocery store. Papa and Evan stayed at home to work on Evan's racecar track. After school, we got lunch provided to us thanks to Sierra's teachers. They put together a salad bar lunch for us moms. It was great. When we got home, Papa and Evan decided we needed to go into town to look for more cars for the racetrack. We went to a bunch of different places and were told we needed to order them online. Feeling a little discouraged, we made our way over to Cold Stone to drown our sorrows in ice cream.
We were almost home when we looked over at our neighbors and saw one of the new cows in their llama field. Whoops! Papa and I got our boots on and went to try and coax him back to our pasture. Our neighbor was just coming home when we got to her back pasture. We went into the llama pen, but the llamas didn't like that very much. Finally the neighbor came out and told us they were just curious, but wouldn't hurt us. Their biggest male, Cowboy, came over to me and put his lips on my forehead to sniff me. It was very creepy! Finally, Papa, the neighbor and I got the cow corraled into a little pen. Papa went to get the trailer so we could load him up and get him home. Oh no, he didn't want to do that, so he jumped thru the neighbors fence and started going away from our field. Great! I was hoofin it thru the fields chasing this cow, who by now I have dubbed with the name BH (butt-head), towards neighbors that I have never met. Of course they aren't home, but their 130 lb Rottweiller was!! Yikes, was I going to become Rotty food? Luckily, the dog was more interested in chasing the cow and trying to herd it for me. No, doggie, don't chase it down the driveway towards the road! Oh crap, now what? How do I get between it and the road when it is about 10 feet ahead of me and it starts to run? I know-call Grammy and ask her to jump in the car and come and block the driveway! I finally get the cow to go towards another neighbors driveway. Grammy blocked of the road and the neighbors were home so they came out and helped me. We got the cow into their front pasture! Yes! We are home free now! About this time, Papa shows up with the trailer and the cow decides to jump thru this fence. Grammy drives up the road, honking her horn, yelling out the window-Yaw, Yaw, go back, go back!! She literally ran the cow back up the road, driving along side it and yelling. It was hilarious!! The cow came back up the driveway, back into the fenced in pen and we got the hot fence on in time. The cow did try a few times more to get out, but it started getting a really good shock. This hot fence was really hot.
By this time, I have been chasing this cow for about an hour all thru the fields and woods. I am really exhausted! We drive back to our house to get hay for the cow and leave it at the neighbors. My thought is, I have done enough! Gordon gets to deal with this cow when he gets home tomorrow!!
Papa and I went out and fixed the fence that the cow went thru at our place, fed the rest of the animals, took out garbage and recycle, and headed inside for a nice warm dinner. Now it is time for bed. My legs still feel like rubber from walking so much thru the fields.
Can you believe that when I talked to Gordon on the phone later he actually asked me if I have come up with names for the four new cows? Only for the black one that I chased all over...$%@#$%#$%*&!!!!!

A day of quiet and peace...sort of

I have argued in my mind several times today if I should write this post. I know my great friend, Tiffani reads this and I don't want to make her mad or jealous or anything, but I decided she has a new baby, whom I would love to be snuggling right now, so she just has to deal with it.
On Friday, Gordon made a smokin deal with a guy on Craigslist to buy four beef cows from him. The only problem was that he lives down in Toutle, WA which is about a 4 hour drive from here. We had plans to go to our friends house Saturday night for dinner, so Gordon and the guy agreed to a Sunday beef exchange day.
At 4:30am on Sunday, Gordon woke me up to help him get Sierra ready to go. (Yes, my kids wanted to go with him to get the cows.) So, up I go, get them ready, and send them out the door. At last! Peace and quiet. I don't have to get up until 7:30 to get ready to go to church, so back to bed I go. Only my mind didn't cooperate with my body and I couldn't fall back to sleep. Are you kidding? I had three more hours of sleep I could get and my mind said no!!! Anyways, I got up around 6:30 and went out to feed animals. It was about 20 degrees out and the wind was blowing. That woke me up in a hurry. Anyways, I got them all taken care of and got ready for church. Grammy and I enjoyed church together; although it was a little strange not having to go pick up kids in their classrooms after. We decided to go do a little shopping and maybe go to a movie. We were having so much fun shopping without kids that we decided not to watch a movie and just have a fun shopping day. We finally got home around 4pm. Whew! I was exhausted! We were only home about a half hour and the guys and kids got home with the new cows. There goes our peace and quiet!
We ended the evening by going out to dinner at the Nuthouse. There were only a few people in there, so the waitress gave my kids brooms and told them to start sweeping all of the nut shells into a pile. The kids loved this! When we got ready to leave, she gave them $.50 for the candy machine and thanked them for their help. All in all-it was a great day!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Have you ever?

Have You Ever?
Here's a little ditty going around the blogosphere. You are supposed to highlight the things you have done, and supposedly this is a list of things that people should do in life before they die. The stuff in red is the stuff I have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Junior High & High School-Flute)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/ world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (No, thanks. Rubber bands break.)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea(Gee, that sounds safe.)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked(No, thank you, I choose to live)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (Hello, we have our own pool!)
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (back in Junior High youth group)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Brainard, MN)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving/ snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served in a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood/ platelets
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy(Gordon and I were just discussing why I have kept my stuffed animals.)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (I was "let go". That is different)
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (from an airplane)
80. Published a book
81. Been to the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (Junior High 4-H club)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone(who hasn't?)
99. Been stung by a bee

Let's pray for puppies

Today we took Faith to the vet for a progesterone test. We are going to be breeding her with a beautiful yellow male named Pheonix. If everything looks good, we will breed her next week. Then we wait 63 days for a litter of beautiful yellow labradors. Our breeder has been breeding labs for 30 years. She really knows what she is doing. She studies the geneology of the dogs and makes really nice, healthy, hip and eye certified litters of puppies. I am hoping to get 8-12 puppies out of this breeding. I will definitely keep you posted. If we breed her next week, she will be due around the 29th of March.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

To heck with rules.

Well, Grammy and Papa are here. They came with more bags and treasures than they do when they come for a month. Wait; are they staying a month? Holy crapola! Just kidding. They are staying until the 5th of February. That means my kids won't listen to us, they will eat a bunch of candy, stay up late, and generally be little demon spawns until then. Yep. It must be great to be a grandparent. Sugar em up, spoil them rotten, and then run for the hills. Thanks a lot, Grammy and Papa!!!

Not really. We are glad to have you up here. We enjoy it and so do the kids. Thanks for showing them so much love!!!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I've done it now!

Well, I have done it now. Remember my little "incident" with the dog food and the wash machine? Well, now my wash machine isn't working!! It fills up with water and drains the water, but it doesn't agitate or spin the water out of the clothes. Now I have a load of soap clumped, soaked clothes sitting in a pile in the laundry room sink with no way to get them cleaned and dry. Yes, I know I can do it the old fashioned way, but seriously; after the last couple of weeks doing major cleaning and organizing in the house, I refuse to do it. So, it is a good thing Papa is coming tomorrow. I already have a project for him. Yeah!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

I am so stupid sometimes...

So today has been a hectic day, with church, running errands in town, and having Cheyanne spend last night and all day with us today. I have had a headache since I woke up. I think that it comes with age. I never used to have headaches and now I have them all the time. Anyways, when we got home this afternoon, I decided I would start a load of laundry before coming into the kitchen and taking some Advil. I start the wash machine, put in a load of clothes, and then grab the soap and put a scoop of that in. Sounds about normal, right? Yeah, well, not really. Instead of grabbing the laundry soap, I grabbed a full scoop of dog food that was sitting on the counter next to the soap. I didn't realize it until I had poured the whole thing in the clothes with water already up past the clothing. Duh!!! What a dork!! It was interesting trying to pick out all of the dog food before starting the load up again. Some days, I probably shouldn't even get out of bed!!!

This is Cheyannie! (They dont know that I wrote this....shhh!)

Let's start out with a little "about me". I am Cheyanne. I am Tracie and Gordon's FAVORITE niece. Haha just kidding. But they do love me :] I am 14 years old and I enjoy long walks on the beach, taking long bubble baths, getting caught in the rain, and most importantly making everyone laugh. (By now you should have figured out that that was a joke.) But really I love to make everyone laugh and enjoy life as much as possible. So I am not here to tell you about me, I am here to tell you about how much I love my aunt and uncle. Or as Tracie would call it "sucking up" ;]

Uncle G is the most comfy guy to sit in a chair with. I like to sit on him in his favorite chair and bug him. Hahahaha Uncle G is a very funny dude and is a very inspirational person. I LOVE YOU MAN!!! (english cucumber)

Tracie....well.....I don't know what to say. Just Kidding! I love baking cookies with you, oh wait I bake the cookies while you read your Hobby Farms magazines. And I love every minute of it :] <------- that was not sucking up Auntie Tracie!! I love doing nails and massaging your feet <---- now that was sucking up. It basically comes down to I LOVE MY AUNTIE TRACIE!!


This truely was posted by Cheyanne. I can prove it because they couldn't think of something this funny.


-Konrad (Cheyanne)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Basketball

Today, Evan had his first basketball game. I think we have finally found a sport that Evan isn't great at. He looked really lost out there today. I was having a great time watching him try. His heart is in the right place, but I think he is a little confused still. Maybe by the end of the season he will get better, but today was a wake-up call for him. He isn't great at every sport. That is ok. It is a tough lesson to learn though. Keep your chin up boy! You are great at soccer and football, and in time, basketball will get better too.
PS. Nobody tell Evan I said he wasn't that great! It will crush him.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Tired...

Gordon and I have been working strong for 3 days on cleaning and organizing the upstairs where the kids have "free run". OMG-my kids are pigs!!! Not really, I love them to death, but really need to teach them about cleanliness. Yes, they take baths and wash their hands after going potty. They even brush their teeth. But when it comes to putting away toys or hanging up clothes, they don't get it! Gordon and I have been purging a ton of things. You would be amazed at how many broken toys or toys with missing parts we ended up throwing away. It has been three days and we haven't even gotten to Sierra's room yet. Holy crap! I might die of exhaustion before then.

On another note, the big, ugly, scary thing that I killed the other night turned out to be a Nutria. Look it up, they are ugly!And the really good news is, "where there is one, there is many!" Yee-haw, bring it on! I've got my shovel and I'm ready to do more Kung-Fu Panda whacking!!!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

From cuddles to YUCK!! EWW!!

So, my last post was so sweet. Getting to cuddle Drew. Now I am posting about the opposite. This evening after dinner I went out to do farm chores in the dark. The dogs came with me and started going crazy. They had something cornered in the dark by the garage. I couldn't see what it was so I ran to grab a flashlight. When I turned the light in the direction of the dark, this big, ugly, yucky thing was staring at me. I freaked out, grabbed the shovel and started whacking away. Of course, I was yelling my Kung-Fu Panda yell the whole time. High-ya, ya...die, sucker, die...
I killed it and had to take a few pictures to prove to Gordon that I am a tough cookie. (like he doesn't already know that.) Anyways, I won't post the picture. It is ugly!! I don't know what it is for sure, but I plan to ask around and find out!! I want braggin' rights to this kill!

Yeah for me. I got to hold Drew!

Today promised to be a busy day. I got the kids off to school and headed to run errands and go pick up our pork from the butcher. I also had to package pork to go back to Illinois for a customer. I was so pumped about making sure I got everything done before I had to pick Sierra up at school, that I finished way early. So, I called Tiffani and asked if I could come and "squish" baby Drew. I was so excited that she didn't have something else going on. I went over and cuddled with Drew for about 20 minutes or so. I tell you; nothing feels better than newborn cuddles. Wow! I was in heaven!!! The pictures are horrible of me, but you can see that Drew loves me. He was giving me kisses. (yes, I know, he was just rooting around for food, but let me enjoy my fantasy!) Anyways, thanks Tiff, for letting me get my "squishy's" in. Now I need more!!!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Surprise!

So I get up this morning and go to let the dogs out to go potty. As I open the door I see one of our cows, Sophie, looking up and bellowing and none of the chickens are out wandering around the coup. Hmm? Then I look up...

A gorgeous, huge bald eagle is sitting in the trees just above the chicken coup and the cow is giving me a warning to watch the dogs. How sweet! I watched the eagle and the dogs while they were going potty. If I felt that the eagle was thinking of swooping down to get one of my little ones, I would have started screaming like a banshee to scare it off. Of course, it just sat there but you can never be to sure! Dogs safe for now!!!
Then I go in to check my e-mails and look out the window and here is another immature bald eagle sitting on our fence post out by our driveway. I don't think I have ever been so in awe.
I grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures. It has been really dark and foggy here this morning so the pictures are not great, but you get the idea of how close they were. Look at how far down the wings are compared to the body. Absolutely amazing!!! I sat on my front porch taking pictures and just held my breath. In my opinion, I got an awesome surprise this morning. It has made the thought of me doing laundry and cleanup all day not so bad.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The "F" word

I know we all can write a book about the funny things that our kids say, but I thought I would share this one with all of you.
As I said before, we have had a busy couple of days. This morning started out with tired kids from the sleepover at our house, but we got everyone up and out the door for basketball. After two hours of that, we went to the auction to see about getting more beef. We were there for about two hours, didn't find anything, so we decided to come home. Gordon and I started work on the office again while Sierra started coloring and doing her "crafts". We hadn't heard from Evan in a while so I went to check on him and found him sound asleep on the couch. He had to be very tired to fall asleep. He doesn't usually do that during the day. Anways, we decided to go out to dinner at El Nopal's in Sumas.
While sitting and enjoying our meal, I noticed that Evan's nails are getting long and told him we needed to cut them. Gordon asked to see his nails and he held up his whole hand. He said he didn't want to just put up his long middle finger. I asked him why. He gave me a look that said I was dumber than a box of rocks and said, "because that is the bad word." I asked him what he meant and he just shook his head. Gordon leaned over and asked him to tell him. Evan leaned over and whispered,
"it's the (f) word; it means FORD."
Gordon and I could hardly contain our laughter, but Evan was dead serious. I guess it is a good thing he thinks that is what it means!
PS-No, it is not Evan's birthday. I just used this picture from his actual birthday this summer because it was also at El Nopal's and I thought it was a cute picture.

Friday, January 9, 2009

I feel so organized!

Even though we still have a long way to go, we have made tremendous progress on the office/craft room. We have about 8 paper bags full of burnable papers, 3 huge bags of garbage, and a large box full of donatable items. I even have a box of stuff for my friend Holly. She is always making themed baskets for different people and I am donating to her cause. Whohoo Holly!!
While Gordon and I have been extremely busy, the kids have been entertained by Jacob and Anna and it has been great. We took a break to go to the Nuthouse for dinner (yes, I know, our place is really the nuthouse.) When Gordon gets done feeding animals we are going to all watch Speedracer together. Maybe we can wear the kids out even more than they are!

Back again

I didn't post yesterday. I spent the day on the couch with achy bones. I didn't feel all that great and my body just ached. Maybe it was sympathy pains for Tiff going thru the after birth contractions. I don't know.
Anyways, I am back!! Today the kids don't have school due to flooding in the area. They didn't have school yesterday either so they are getting restless. We invited Jacob and Anna over for the day and they are going to spend the night and we will take the boys to basketball tomorrow. It will be a fun day for the kids.
Gordon and I will continue cleaning and organizing the office since I took the day off yesterday. More later...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Attack of the pack rats!!!

Ok, so not really an attack of the pack rats; more of attacking the pack rats! Today, Gordon and I have decided to start tackling the job of cleaning out the office/craft room. I am a pack rat. I admit it! It isn't so much that I keep a ton of craft stuff. More like I didn't have enough storage room and bins to put it all in so it just gets thrown around my craft room. Gordon and our friend Greg built shelves in the closet at the beginning of summer 08. I just haven't gotten around to doing any clean up yet because there were so many other important things to do. Like swim in the pool with the kids, play with farm animals, gardening, and lots of other things that sound way more fun than cleaning and organizing.
Anyway, today became the day. We have been working since this morning and are making good headway. I also am dealing with an upset stomach, so it is making it go slower than normal. I sure hope I don't get the stomach flu. It has been going around. I think I am done for today, but tomorrow we will be doing more of the same until we get it done.
Wish me luck!!
BTW, if anyone wants to come and help, my door is always open!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Amazing...

Yesterday I got the exciting opportunity to be part of my great friend's labor and delivery. Since you all know that my children are adopted, I have never been part of that process. I was thrilled when my great friend, Tiffani, told me a few years ago that she wanted me to be present for the birth of her twin boys. I was amazed and excited. But guess what...they were born when I was in Portland (three weeks early!!) I thought for sure I missed my opportunity, but Tiffani is a fertile Myrtle and got pregnant again. No, it wasn't planned.


So, Sunday night, I off-loaded my children to my friend Jennifer's house and I went to spend the night with Tiffani and Marty so we could go in early to the hospital. We didn't actually get admitted until 11:30am so things were a little bit behind what we thought they would be. Tiff was induced at 2:30, but things progressed slowly. After a very long day, Andrew Martin Stauffer was born at 11:39pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. I got to briefly see him before he was taken into the nursery. He was having labored breathing so they wanted to check him out. Turns out he has an air bubble pushing on his lung and it needs to work its way out, so they have him on oxygen. He is fine and beautiful and I can't wait to hold him!


Tiffani and Marty-I love you guys. You have no idea what an amazing experience that was for me. To be a part of something that most women take for granted, was absolutely a gift from heaven to me. Tiff- you are my hero. You are so strong and awesome. I love you! Welcome baby Drew!!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Bowling day

Today after church, we went bowling. Our good friends, the Roosma's, invited us to go bowling. That was their kids' Christmas present to our kids. Of course, the adults got to play also. We had two lanes, one with bumpers and one without. I wanted to play on the lane with bumpers, but I was told I had to "buck up" and be an adult. How rude!!!

We played two games and had a blast. I decided that I won both games because the object of the game is to get the lowest score, right? Ok, so maybe not. I pretty much was just the entertainment of the day! Sierra and Evan had a blast and both did really well. It was a fun time by all.

Thanks so much, Bill, Jenn, Jacob and Anna. We challenge you to another round sometime soon!

Friday, January 2, 2009

That kind of day

Do you ever have one of those days where everything goes wrong? I seriously thought I would be starting out 2009 in great style. I would get the house cleaned up from Christmas, start working on cleaning up my office/craft room, get all the laundry done, maybe even be adventurous enough to organize my kitchen cupboards.

Yeah, right!!!

I started off my morning taking care of animals. Since it snowed again last night, I made sure the animals all had a sufficient amount of water. I drug two 5 gallon buckets worth of water to the pigs. As I turned around to set the bucket down, two of the pigs fought over the water bucket and knocked it over. All righty then! More water coming up! (I can't wait for butcher day.) Then I labored thru giving the cows hay and cleaning up all the hay on the ground just to have Buttercup toss her head and knock a whole bunch of hay back onto the ground. All righty then! More hay cleanup! The goats were good. Thanks goats! As I walked out of the barn to go to the chicken coup, I noticed water all around the ground by the big yard hydrant that waters the cows. It didn't look right, so I turned off the water. That means hauling more water to the cows also. All righty then! The chickens had no food, no water and barely any shavings in their nesting boxes, plus 26 eggs already laid for the morning. I fed, watered and collected eggs and then gave them more shavings in their nests. I turned around to put the shavings away and heard a scratching noise. I turned around and one of the chickens was up in a nesting box trying to get comfortable to lay an egg and was throwing shavings all over the place. All righty then! No more shavings for you today!

Do you think I am done yet? Nooooooo. I come into the house and one of the dogs had pooped on the laundry room floor. I got tissue to clean it up and bent over to pick it up. As I was bent over I heard a noise. I looked upside down between my legs and see Puma, the little dog, peeing on the floor not even 2 feet from me! All righty then! Cleaning up pee!

Since then I have been cleaning up the house. Every time I turn around the kids have another mess! I think I give up. I'm going to go watch a movie with the kids and veg for awhile.
CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!!!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

To all my friends and family

2009 glasses After prayerful and thoughtful consideration, I have decided to renew all of your friendship contracts for 2009. I hereby declare my signature at the bottom of all your contracts! Just remember the fine print...

Be the type of friend or family member that you want others to be to you. Make God proud every day. Love with every fiber of your being.

I love you all. Cheers to a great friendship in 2009!!!

Blow Kiss