My Tulip Tree is Blooming!

My tulip tree finally bloomed! I bought the tree nearly 10 years ago when I was delivering mail with some money I had received. An elderly neighbor of ours when I was growing up planted one and we watched it grow as we did. One day she called by Mom-all excited-her tulip tree was finally blooming! Today I finally understand her joy! I can only see 2 blooms at the moment-and they are really up high. When we added on to the porch last year-Jeff wanted to cut it down-but I talked him into just kinda building around it-so far so good! Now it might just get to stay!!

Newest pic of the garden-although it was taken on 4/5. We are due some really tough weather here shortly-and we fertilized and plowed them for the 2nd time yesterday-so I'll try and remember to take a new pic in a few days! Everything is growing like weeds this year-we are SO very thankful to God! We tend to get a little tickled at each other-we'll walk down and check on it in the morning (I'm still in fear the deer will find it and wipe us out like they did last year!)-when we check again in the evening-we can see the growth from earlier in the day! It really is amazing! Kaytlynn & Mady played in the corn yesterday-just running up and down the rows. I can't wait for it to be taller than them and really watch them play in it. We kept catching Kaytlynn just laying out in the rows-staring up at the sky-oh the days of being young!!

Kylee's First Tractor Ride!

Kylee got to ride the tractor with Grandpa for the first time today-she LOVED it!! I was worried the loudness of it would scare her-but no way! She wouldn't go to Alana or me-she wanted to stay on with Grandpa! She is crawling all over the place-pulling up and beginning to let go-and now has 4 teeth and 2 more nearly here and she is still so little-not quite 15 lbs yet!
Wow-have we had rain this last week-3 1/2 inches yesterday alone! Jordan had his 8th birthday party yesterday here at our house-it was planned for outside with the moonwalk-but not happening with all the rain! And to top it off-our lights had gone out 7 times since Friday afternoon! Luckily-they did stay on for the party-and haven't gone out again!
We got out this morning and planted a little in the garden-got the tomatoes-peppers-some comfrey I'd ordered-some dent corn and Jacob's cattle beans in. We had to finally stop-the ground is just soupy-it's so wet. I really don't want to complain about the rain-we went so long last summer without any! But the warm sunshine we got today was SO nice! And we are heading down to the beach in the morning for a few nights! We are packed and ready-we'll do some fishing and just hang out and relax a little bit. The beach always seems to have such a calming effect on both of us!
Have a great Spring Break-we're sure gonna try!

Spring is Arriving Early on the Farm!

The 3 eggs we collected today-one of each color!! I am so tickled! Finally got a green one after all these months. And even better news-we have 3 turkey eggs as well!! And a litter of bunnies was born today, too! And all this while I was at work! Jeff is having all the fun! He got the big tiller up and running today and tilled up our big garden-it hasn't been worked in several years-and also got his Mom's tilled as well. She was ready to go buy seeds and start planting!
Jeff is nearly finished with the greenhouse, too! It is looking great! Even better when you realize most of the materials were free-Yeah! And he picked up the steer from the locker plant last Friday-282 lbs of fresh beef! YUMMY! We had t-bones the first night-not much bigger than the size of your palm-just the right serving size! And very tender! Had round steak the other night-good eatin', too!
We've got several home improvement jobs to do in the next few weeks-got to get to our bathroom first. Got a leak somewhere in there-and the old gardentub is just getting to be a little bit difficult for Jeff to get out of-so we're gonna take it out and tile in a walk in shower-It'll be really nice when it's done. Also want to move the stove and frig around-so we can get a new frig-ours is over 15 years old and in a pretty tight space-so they will swap places so we can get a side by side. We've also got to replace some yard and garden fences before we plant.
The weather's been warm-then cool-then rainy-I'm ready for some sunshine and warm-It's comin' and then it'll be HOT. Have a good one!

Rain & Storm Damage

The high winds and rain-we got 2.2 inches!!-late Friday night and into Saturday caused one of the dead trees to fall onto the back yard fence-which just happens to be a pasture fence as well! But the cows weren't able to reach it-so they couldn't escape. But that didn't stop them on Friday morning-they somehow managed to get the pasture gate opened and Jeff's brother-in-law Donald called to say they were in his yard. No damage done-they are like a herd of puppies-just call 'em and they come running-kicking their heels up the whole way like it's some sort of cute little game to be escape artists!

Part of the tree fell across the fence and onto the kids trampoline-it was like a different playground for them-tunnels everywhere! Country kids can find fun in everything-not to mention all the mud puddles from all the rain we've been getting!!

Well-we now have one of the newest members of the LJH cheerleading squad living next door-Congrats to Hailey-she made the squad for next year!! We are SO proud of you! She was nervous-but at least she didn't have a panic attack this year like she did before drill team try-outs last year! It'll be a busy summer for her-and most likely for us as well!

We finally pulled up the brocolli plants and fed them to the cows this week. They had given all they could-I didn't think they were ever gonna stop making-but that's ok by me! I love brocolli! We'd picked up a few cauliflower plants-so we put them in their place. It's way too wet to even begin thinking about getting anything planted. We bought seed potatoes-but they will have to wait until it dries up a little. We aren't expecting any rain this week-so far- and it should be fairly warm-70's some days. Some of the fruit trees in the area are starting to bloom-my redbud in the front yard is starting as well. I really wish we had the bee hive already and didn't have to wait until the end of April to go pick them up. The tomato plants we started from seed are the most beautiful ones I think we've ever had. They are growing strong and healthy looking-looking forward to the fresh tomatoes they'll make this summer!

Father(Grandfather!) / Daughter Dance

Mady came home from school last week with a note for her Grandpa-an invitation to her school's Father/Daughter Dance! She wanted him to take her-not Uncle Randy or Uncle Ricky. So they had a date tonight! MaMa made her a special dress and Grandpa bought her stockings, new shoes, and a corsage! She was very excited! We'll see how the evening goes!

Jordan and Kylee enjoying a few moments together before we left for school yesterday. She's pulling herself up and standing against everything she can!

We've had a busy week around here-and MORE rain-thank you Lord! Monday started out with Jeff butchering the biggest hog-along with Titus' help. She was quite a big pig-so it took the guys all day and then some of the next. We don't know what we'd have done without Titus' help-he made things much easier for Jeff! The bacon is in the smokehouse now!

Jeff took the steer to the locker plant yesterday-so we'll have fresh beef next week as well! God is SO good! This is the reason we raise our own meat-we know what they've been fed and are processed in a dignified way. We are healthier because if it!

Tomorrow we'll spend the day in Conroe-gotta have new tires on my truck along with an oil change and new windshield wipers-I HATE to buy tires-one of my pet peeves-just don't like to spend money on them! Jeff needs new work boots-and I'm gonna get him an MP3 player for Valentines. I think he'll enjoy it while riding the tractor and while he's about his day. He wants to get a new pump for the well and get it back up and working. We haven't used it for years-even had dismantled the whole top part and gotten rid of it-so we need the motor and all. We need to find some more hay that we don't have to pay an arm and leg for!

Oh-and I ordered myself an eReader-should be here next week. I'm really looking forward to learning how to use it. I have the Kindle app on my laptop-but it isn't always easy sitting and reading from it. And this way the grandkids can have my laptop and I can still read.

We've started some tomatoes from seed and so far-they seem to be doing good. We bought a grow light to put on them last weekend and they are now getting their first true leaves. We planted Brandywine, Delicious, and Creole. We bought the seed potatoes last weekend as well-but we haven't gotten the ground even disced up yet-it'll get done when it gets done!

Garden Produce Bounty!

The first head of cabbage we've ever raised!! We've got 7 more out there!

More carrots-look at the one on the right-it had 4 seperate roots!

The broccoli just won't quit-no complaining here, though! We cut the main heads weeks ago-and the side shoots just keep coming!

The pictures speak for themselves!! The garden is doing great at the moment and we've been getting RAIN!! It actually is MUDDY around here!! We've got to get the big gardens disced up and ready to plant-too wet right now though-Blessings !!!!

The hens aren't laying at all-might get 1 egg a day. I'm thinking on getting some chicks real soon-and just starting over. The steer is just about ready to go to the locker plant-Jeff will probably call and make him an appointment next week. The hog is ready to butcher-we're just waiting on a good cold day to do the deed. Fresh link sausage will be SO good!

My Doc visit went well this week-I lost 10 lbs! Yeah!!In 1 month! The Doc said to keep on doing what I'm doing-borderline diabetes is enough to make a lifestyle eating change. Carbs are my issue-and boy do I love my potatoes, pasta and of course-Jeff's homemade bread. It's been tough-but I have to do this for my own health!

Have a great weekend!

A Day at the Beach!

This is the last large head of broccoli from the garden-along with the carrots I pulled just to thin them out. It made a pint size full bag in the freezer. Yummy!!

Shorty has been wanting to take a trip down to the beach to do a little salt water fishing-so we got up early yesterday morning and made the drive down. It was a beautiful day-but the fish weren't biting. :( Jeff did catch a rat Red-not legal size-so he was returned to the Intercoastal Canal.

Shorty's catch of the day-a very small Whiting-which also was returned-this time to the Gulf. We tried fishing in 3 different spots-including Roll Over Pass-with no luck at all-but we really had a great day of fun!

This is the Cross at the end of Hwy 124 in High Island when you hit the beach. It was such a wonderful site-even with the Sea Gull perched on top!

Well-my Christmas break is nearly over-back to work on Monday! We did absolutely nothing for New Year's-we were in bed by 9:00pm! We'd been really busy all day and didn't even make it to Church for the celebration there. And no New Year resolutions here as well-we just don't do them.

We are having dog trouble again-we've got a few hens missing-Jeff actually found one of them-the dog was after her again-she survived and is back in with the rest of the flock. Lucy is starting to show so we are expecting a litter of pigs at the end of February-yeah!

My Doc visits have shown that some of the problems I've been having may be due to me developing early sign of diabetes. Seems my blood work is coming back that my body is having a little trouble with the carbs I'm eating-so I'm on Meds and cutting back on the carbs and go back to the doc in a month to see if there's been any change and/or weight loss. We'll see-I really love my pasta-rice-potatoes, etc!!!

Have a great start to your New Year!

Christmas Eve-Eve!

Maybe not the best title-but I guess it fits well!! We've been busy-but not too much-and not nearly as much as usual for the season! I believe we are finished with all parties and such-and only have Christmas Eve and Sunday's worship service left. Wednesday we had the kids hayride then the youth group's Christmas party-it went very well! The cookie above was from their party.

No more office for me til next year-yeah! We go back to work on the 9th of Jan-kids go back the next day-so I am looking forward to a nice long break! I'm up at Mom's right now-Jeff's out hunting again-we'll go home in a bit-I have to start getting some cooking done-you know the no bake fruit cake and the no-bake cookies from every year!! Honestly-I do want to get some of the actual baking done-cause with Christmas being on Sunday this year-it will make things a little different-but what a wonderful day to celebrate our Savior's birth!

Well-it seems we ended up with not 1-but 2 new roosters. Both are young-one is trying to crow-that awful-yet wonderful noise!-and 4 new hens. Jeff's mom decided she just didn't want to fool with them anymore-so we inherited them. But I do so miss the beautiful one I had! We had 1 litter of rabbits-going to have to breed back the other 2 does that didn't kindle. The calves are doing great-I still need to get a pic of Coccoa-she is so tiny and cute! Jeff took the small turkey and put it in with the bigger ones yesterday-but the hen kept beating her up-but the tom was trying to protect her. He went ahead and turned her out into the yard-he'd let the other chickens out for the first time since the rooster disapeared. It was so funny-that turkey follows him all over the yard! We went into the garden to check on things in there-I put 3 quarts of broccoli in the freezer!-and she stood at the gate waiting on him to come back out. When he fed her-he poured her feed back in the cage she's been in-she came up to it-stuck her neck in and Jeff just picked her up and put her back in! The hogs are growing as well-one's daysare becoming numbered-she'll be sausage before too long! Oh-and we got right at 4 inches of rain Wednesday night-the pond is full again! Praise God-now if we can just find hay at a price that is not so jacked up in price-it has just really gotten out of hand this year! We need to put Deisel in the barn and start feeding him out so he can go to the locker plant. He'll still be small-but the Dexter's don't get big.

We also had a wonderful surprise visit on Tuesday from one of Jeff's family friends. Regina ( I wouldn't do that to you with the nickname!) and her son, Ben, droppped by-we haven't seen her in years and had a great visit. She's living in Katy with her family and her brother, David, is in San Antonio. Jeff got to talk to him and we hope to stay in touch!

We are supposed to have some sunshine today-so I'll try to get out and take some pics of how things are going.

Happy Thanksgiving-A few Days Late!

I sure hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to spend it with family and friends! We spent my week off mostly at Mom & Shorty's with Jeff hunting. We went home Wednesday evening-came back on Thursday evening-back home Friday evening-then back up here tonight after a call from my brother that he had finally gotten a deer-so Jeff's helping him with it and I'll go back to work from here in the morning.

A few of our monkeys-with Randy being the biggest one of all!!

These pictures are of one of the big oak trees that stood in our back yard. It was one of at least 2 that we've lost so far this year to the drought. I was holding out that maybe it would come back in the Spring-but when we got home on Friday-a pretty good size limb was laying in the driveway. So I sucked it up and said Ok-I knew it had to come down. We left for a little while on Saturday morning to run some errands-in the rain!!!!-We got nearly 2 inches-praise God!Anyway-Jeff and I both noticed that with all the wind we were having, that the tree was beginning to lean-so it HAD to go and quickly. Jeff cut it down after Church-it had so many limbs and depending on which way it started to fall-it was just too close to the house for comfort. This one fell right where he wanted it as well-He is so talented!!

We are still waiting on Glory to have her calf-I really thought it would be sometime this last week-but she's still holding on. We've almost run out of meat in the freezer from the last calf butchered-so Diesel's days are really becoming numbered. None of the rabbits kindled-so I rebred them-should be due in another 2 weeks. Our friends picked up the 2 pigs we've been holding for them-boy is it much quieter-those 2 were very noisy! The garden is looking better than any I can remember in years past-too bad that the cold weather is going to put an end to some of it!! We are picking small red tomatoes almost everyday and they are still blooming. We had to cover lots of it before we left tonight cause the temps could go below freezing in the morning. We have tiny heads of cabbage and little heads of brocolli coming on. The snow peas have grown taller than their fence-but haven't started blooming yet and the peppers are still going strong-I put up 2 and a half more pints of them this week as well. These I put through my little chopper with a little onion instead of just slicing them.

I really didn't do any of the Black Friday shopping this year. I did go to Baskin's around 9:30, and there were no more people shopping than normal-so I tried my luck at the Outlet Mall in Livingston and treated myself to a new purse and wallet-just to get back to the camper and have the strap on the old one break-guess it was time for a new one anyway!

We put up the tree on Thursday as well-but I didn't put the ornaments on it until today. We haven't put any lights up outside yet either-but we'll get to it sometime. We also got the flour sifter in that I won off of eBay to go in our Hoosier cabinet. It was the correct measurements-but after a little research, we've found that it has to be taken apart to install it. So now Jeff will have to undo all he did a few weeks ago on it to see if he can figure out how this thing goes in and works. The bin itself will hold nearly 50 lbs of flour! It'll be so cool when we get it into working condition! I just love this piece-we bought it 10 years ago in Montgomery and have always planned to restore it to its' original glory. Jeff did repair the roll tops on it and did a great job-now I'll be looking for the sugar sifter, the recipe book holder a few other gadgets that were kinda standard on these cabinets.

Our high school football team is still going strong and is one game away from playing for the State Championship-same as last year! We are really thinking on making the trip to Dallas this year if they make it that far! We'll take Jordan with us if we go-he is really looking forward to it.

I have 3 weeks and 3 and a half days till my Christmas break. I'm looking forward to it-we won't go back to work for awhile-might even make it to the beach for a few days! The next few weeks are always so busy with Church activities and other things going on-it's easy to lose track of what Christmas is all about. I've really tried to make an effort this year to slow down and not let myself or family get too caught up in everything that's going on. I guess that is why I always enjoy the Christmas Eve Candlelight service. It is a time of worship and fellowship that allows me to slow down and honor Christ first and foremost! May your next few weeks be filled with His love and Spirit!! Have a great week!

Garden Pics & Happy Cows!

Sugar & Oreo enjoying the grass I pulled from the garden this afternoon. They're eating out of one of the troughs Jeff made from the hollow tree he cut down. He's made 2 planters from pieces as well.

Here's a picture of the baby turkey we hatched in the incubator-SHE'S getting so big!

Broccoli plants growing!

Cabbage plants growing!

The carrots are in the lower right side bed-The squash-Jordan & Suzanne planted the seeds-are in the upper left-and the snow peas are growing up the fence at the top!

Well-no baby rabbits, yet. I forgot to add the extra days-I only added 28 days. One has pulled fur-so hopefully tomorrow.

We had Homecoming at Church today-we had well over 100 people-had to pull out a few folding chairs to seat folks! It's always great to see some of the older people-but sad to think of the ones we've lost this year. We had one couple come "home" from Missouri-it was great to see Danny & Linda! And of course-LOTS of good home cookin'!

We are planning to take the Youth Group to see the movie "Courageous" on Tuesday night. Minnie & family tried to go see it tonight-the Texan Theatre is showing it for free-but they couldn't get in. We had plans for Wednesday-the last night-but decided we might better try for Tuesday instead. It'll be hard for me to get from work-and picking up Hailey from Drill team practice-on time to leave. Gonna try not to worry about it!

Have a great week!

Wow! Time is flying by-Again!

We got to work again on the greenhouse today-yeah! Jeff got it framed in and Curtis, Jr came by before dark and they got the glass put in! It's looking good. We've got to go get the plastic for the roof now and decide what we will put at the bottom below the glass pieces.

I spent part of Tuesday afternoon trying to get this tomato plant up and back into the cage-it is loaded with tomatoes and blooms! It-and a few others-survived our HOT summer and are now blooming and making tomatoes like crazy! We have 2 other ones that look very much like this-one I've been able to work a little on-the other I haven't gotten close to as of yet. This one will be inside the greenhouse-so hopefully it will keep producing through the winter.
The rest of the garden is doing wonderful-I need to take some pictures of it as well-but my camera isn't taking very good pictures these days. I've asked Santa for a new one already! ;) All the pics I take with it are just fuzzy and it has a very low zoom on it-I can't get close ups like I want too. Anyway-the broccoli has finally taken off-along with the cabbage. The brussel sprouts are still a little slow-the carrots are doing well and the jalapeno peppers just won't stop-they are still blooming as well. The beets never did come up and the lettuce is a little spotty-but they were all old seed-so anything from them was good. We've gotten a little rain almost once a week this last month and you can really begin to see the difference in things. Our first cold front hit Thursday-if you want to call it that-and we lit the first fire in the wood heater last night. I love to watch it burning!

The cows are doing well-I just wish we had more grass for them! We keep rotating pastures and give them a roll of hay every now and then-but it just isn't enough somedays. They love to see me working in the garden-cause they know I'm gonna throw the grass over the fence to them and will stand there and hollar at me to give them more-they are SO spoiled. Glory is due to have her calf around Thanksgiving-I need to check for a more precise date. Oreo is growing like a weed and I can't wait for her to have a buddy to run and play with-they can be SO cute! The 2 rabbits are bred-and have been busy building their nests-they are due to kindle in the next day or 2. This will be the first litters since summer began because of the heat. The pair of turkeys are growing nicely and the kids just love to hear the tom gobble. The one we hatched in the incubator is growing very fast as well-we moved her (hopefully!) into a cage next to the older ones so they can start becoming aquainted and won't fight when we add her to the flock! We did finally get 3 more Aracauna hens 4 weeks ago-but no eggs yet. Actually, we haven't really been getting any to speak of-be glad when they start laying again. It's almost time to start all that holiday baking!

The youth group at church is going well. We had our first big outing and they all had a ball. One of our parents took a bad fall from a horse today and had to be Life Flighted into Herman in Houston-but she's gonna be OK-has 5 broken ribs. Please keep Paige in your prayers-Korey told me tonight that her Mom might get to come home tomorrow.

Jeff is hoping to get the hayfield cut this next week-it has gotten enough rain over the last few weeks to really make it come on and grow!! Hopefully it'll make more than the 11 1/2 rolls that it did earlier in the Spring. I think we only have 1 more roll from our half of the cutting. Shorty still has several-but since he sold all his cows-I don't know why he is holding on to it. Guess he's waiting to buy more cows. We still would like to get the milk cow-but until it rains a little more-and I guess we get rid of a cow-we really don't have the pasture for one. Diesel will be going to the locker plant after the first of the year-but we'll have 2 more calves with the one due in a few weeks. I don't know-we'll just see what happens!

New Dexter Calf!

What a wonderful surprise! We came home from Church today to find her! We had gone out this morning to check on Sugar-only to have her lick Jeff's hand and arm to pieces-then she has the calf while we're at Church. Anyway-Oreo is a little heifer and oh so cute! She is half Dexter and half Hereford. This is Fozzie's first calf and Glory is due around Thanksgiving.
We did get a little rain the first of this past week-but just about all the results of it are gone. It was really cool yesterday morning-but was 22 degrees warmer this morning. It's gonna be warm the rest of this week and another cool front is due in by the end of the week-hopefully with a little rain.
We brought the 2 sheets of glass home yesterday for the greenhouse. Jeff started working on it again on Friday and got the old sliding glass door from the house put up for 1 side. We've been working on getting the garden cleaned up so we can plant some stuff-we just seem to keep running out of time. We've bought tomatoes-broccoli (2x's)-brussel sprouts and cabbage plants and still have loads of seeds left over from the spring we want to get planted.
We have all but decided on getting a milk cow. The price of milk is outrageous-but the cows aren't cheap, either! Since we do live on quite a tight budget-we've got to find something very inexpensive. Any excess milk can be fed to the pigs and we might have found someone who will allow us to bred them with. Also have another lead on just buying a young boar-but will have to do some more checking on that! A friend was going to try to pick us up some new Araucauna hens at the Bird Show in Conroe today-but she called and said she didn't see any really nice ones to get -so we'll keep looking! I really miss having a few green eggs!

Has this Much Time Really Gone Past??

I don't believe I've ever let this much time go by without posting! We've been terribly busy-but I've taken pictures-just never had gotten around to sitting down and posting them. The drought is just about to take away any chance of the garden surviving-that and the deer!! They have got me SOOO upset! The green beans were right at ready to pick-I checked them on a Thursday afternoon and decided they could be picked on Saturday morning-only to find out the deer found them sometime that night or the next. The also have eaten all the peas. Every time we think we might get a handful-they beat us to them! We have a scarecrow-a flag-a noisy pie tin-stinky perfume-that did work for a few days-and we'll be putting the hair from our haircuts out this evening. The corn looks awful-just from no rain and the heat-but Jeff does have several little watermelons coming on-hopefully the deer won't find them. We're planning to dig the potatoes this evening or first thing in the morning. My boss gave us 2 small bags of potatoes and I canned 5 quarts of them. Every little bit counts! We've gotten several BEAUTIFUL tomatoes, a few squash and peppers from the garden here next to the house and the cucumbers are just loaded with little ones-hopefully we'll be making pickles before too long! Here is the second hen who has hatched off her bitties-only 5 this time-but she's a really good mom and taking very good care of them. Wish we could put her down on the ground-but just can't take the chance of something getting them. Jeff killed a 5 foot chicken snake-with my help!-last Saturday. It was between this cage and a cage of just born baby rabbits. Guess it took just a few minutes too long to decide which it wanted for breakfast-TOO BAD!!

This our beautiful granddaughter, Hailey, ready to go to her first dance. The fifth graders were invited to a Junior High Dance to get aquainted. She said she didn't dance with any boys-just hung out with her friends and had a good time. Oh-and she did make the LJH Trojan Belles Drill Team!!

One of the squash growing in the garden. I thought I was planting plenty-but wish now I had planted more-Guess we can try again in the fall.

Another varmit Jeff caught! They will not stay out of the feed! They will tear into every sack in the shed overnight. He also trapped a possum a few days before this on got caught-but something else is up to it again.

This is possibly the BIGGEST project we've been working on. The roof was leaking badly in the camper-so Jeff decided to re-roof it. A friend of Shorty's works for a rubber roofing company and got most of the materials for us! Thanks so much!! Anyway-there were several rotted parts in the ceiling-so that had to be repaired first. And of course-the first night everything was off of it and covered with tarps was 1 of the nights we did get some rain! It rained in on us twice that night! He did finally get it finished and then decided to bring it home last Friday-only to find out that it was terribly rotten along the bottom. Jeff was worried it wasn't going to even make it home in one piece. It did-and they've been replacing walls all weekend-and it is looking great now! We plan to start doing some camping and already have reservations here on the lake in 2 weeks and a week long trip to Caddo State Park in July. It's really hard to make plans this summer because of the arrival of Baby Kylie. Only God knows for sure when she'll make her appearance. Alana is getting very tired-but she has less than a month left to go. It doesn't help too much when both of her kids have a stomach virus right now!

I'll finish for now-still have LOTS of thoughts running through my head of things I've just remembered-but it would take the rest of the afternoon to get it all down!! God Bless!!

Busy Days and Flying Time?

This is what TIRED looks like!! Jeff had SUCH a busy week-details later-and Hailey has been in Drill Team try-outs 3 days this week-And Friday night just went by with out them! Pictures posted backward-but this is what the backyard looks like after several hours of putting down the mushroom compost then laying down squares of grass. We have decided that we have had enough of the sand in the backyard-it's so bad right now because of the lack of rain-that we have planted San Augustine around in the yard. Jeff, Alana and Mady picked up 100 squares on Friday-but we could sure use another 100 plus to cover up more of the sand!

This is what it looked like before the compost and grass was layed. Did you notice the hens in the picture above? They have truely become "free-range"-they are let out each morning-then shut up at night for their own protection! We have 1 hen who is setting at the moment on 10 eggs-she's got 2 more weeks to go! Hopefully she'll do better than we did!

And we had another tooth pulling tonight-Cayden has had a loose tooth for weeks now-Jeff tried to pull it a week or so ago-no go. She decided it WAS coming out tonight! It was really loose-but just wouldn't let go!

After 2 good pulls-the 3rd one finally got it out-she was SO happy! This is her first one-and Jordan was just way too far ahead of her!

We've been really busy trying to get the garden growing-LOTS of watering! I don't even want to think about next month's water bill :( We've finally coaxed a few things to come up in the big garden-lots of peas and green beans and the corn is popping up in rows!! We intended to get the scarecrow up and out there to day-but didn't get to it. The deer have been known to wipe the gardens in that area of the property out over night! So we have to get a hold on it before they do! Jeff has a few watermelons coming up-the first potatoes were very spotty-the second planting is doing much better and Jeff's mom replanted in the spaces that didn't come up-and this morning-they were poking up as well! YEAH!!

Tomorrow at church will be a very important day-we will hear the pastor that the search committee has chosen. What we know of him is really great and we are very much looking foward to meeting him and his family. We will have a fellowship meal after the morning service to get to know them a little better. Lots of prayer has gone into this and we know that God will let us know what decision needs to be made. I have just one more lesson left in the Beth Moore Bible study we've been doing on Thursday nights-it's the first one I ever had the pleasure to be involved in. I've learned alot about the life of David!

Guess I'll close for now-we are trying to get some food cooked for tomorrow's meal-got a peach cobler in the oven-from last years peaches! Jeff's gonna make some yeast rolls and we'll get a few other side dishes together. Tomorrow will be another busy day!! God Bless!

Girl in Hole/Girl on Pole

Cayden-she climbed down in the whole Grandpa had dug for the new corner post-then-

She climbs up the post after Grandpa sets it in the hole! What a monkey!

The section of new fence! This side is next to the garden-a few feet out from the old fence-so the garden should be safe!!

We transplanted the new Hibiscus next to the new back steps last-along with the gardenias that came up on their own-hopefully they'll all make it! Oh-and 1 Live Oak tree from Jeff's mom. The garden is looking great-the tomatoes are loving the warmer weather. The peppers are slow to adjust-but they should snap out of it OK. We have a few potatoes up-along with a few beets and carrots. We planted more potatoes and carrots on Tuesday. Can't plant anything else until April 1st-so we have to wait til the end of next week to start planting the corn, green beans, and peas.

The chicks are holding their own-we did lose one-but it was the one that we didn't think would survive. Lucy is growing like a weed-and has grown used to our voices. When we get close to the pasture gate-she's starts grunting and running around her pen. She's so cute.

We still need lots of rain, though. We have slight chance around the middle of next week-hope we get some!!

Great Spring Break!

Fresh-homegrown grilled hamburgers & link sausage-YumYum!!

Here are the bitties we hatched-only got 7-of 'em-and 2 aren't doing very well-but we'll take 'em!

Here are the snow peas-they are finally taking off-with the help of a few daily visits from the water hose-I sure hate to have to start watering already!

And 1 of the 20 or so tomatoes we planted this week-Early Girl-Beef Steak-Rutgers-Celebrity-Big Boy and 1 Black Cherry.

And 3 days worth of eggs-Aren't they a welcome sight-No more store bought ones for awhile!!

Well the week did go by fast-as usual-and we never did make it to the lake to go fishing-but it was way too windy this week to get the boat out on the water. We worked on a small section of fence, planted the tomatoes and peppers-bell, jalapeno and a type to pickle, stayed 1 night at Mom and Shorty's, went to the Livestock Show, Jeff gave blood, bought groceries, etc.-So we did keep busy. The kids all seem to be ready to go back to school tomorrow. We sure do need it to rain, though!!

WANTED-For Having TOO Much Fun!!!

Jeff, me, Jordan & Cayden-At the Houston Livestock Show on Monday.

Jordan-Bull Rider

Cayden-Bull Rider

We took Jordan & Cayden down to Houston for the Livestock Show-they had a blast! We spent most of the time at the AgVenture area they had set up for kids. We did get to see the Dexter Show-but there weren't as many entries as I was expecting! I did get to meet one of the ladies who has alot to do with the association and she is going to try to help us get Fozzie's paperwork straight-no promises-but has a few ideas on some things we can do!

The eggs in the incubator are due to hatch tomorrow-and some are beginning to move around-the eggs will start moving and rolling around as the chicks begin to peck their way out-we've even heard some cheeps coming from inside! It is SO hard not to open the lid and check for the beginnings of cracks-but you aren't supposed to open it and let the humidity out.
We got a few tomatoes planted this afternoon-lots more for tomorrow.Got the strawberries in their bed also. The phone just started ringing and we weren't able to get it all finished. Jordan & Kaytlynn were really busy helping-she just loves being in the garden!

It has gotten a little quieter-Sugar and Cheyenne seemed to have gotten over each other for the most part. It is always so hard when it is time to wean them. We got less than an eighth of an inch of rain yesterday-boy we got caught up in some all the way to Houston-so we've started watering the little bit we've planted already. And there's no chance of any the rest of the week-good for Spring Break-but not for the pastures or the garden. We might try to take the boat out on the lake tomorrow-at least it's a thought for now!

Happy New Year!!

Here is a pic of our big boy, Jordan, who has now lost 3 of his teeth-He's about to break the tooth fairy here at the holidays!! He is SO sweet! And here is a pic of the bed we treated ourselves to-We upgraded to a queen size-we've always had a full size. It also has a footboard with a cross engraved in it. We bought a new memory foam mattress set too-it felt pretty good sleeping on it last night!

Another busy week-but I go back to work on Monday-maybe things will settle down and get back to the normal routine. Shorty and Mom are still needing alot of our time-his blood sugar has been way over 400 today and Mom had to call in his home health care nurse. He has an infection and hasn't been taking the antibiotics prescribed to him and really giving everyone a hard time! Mom is improving daily-but is still stubborn about doing somethings on her own. She has a check up on Thursday afternoon-Jeff will have to drive her-we'll probally stay with them the night.

We put another roll of hay out this morning-we've been feeding bale hay for the last few days-but it's a little colder today and the next few-so we put out a roll. The hens are still laying only 1egg every other day-but lots of combs are beginning to turn red-so I'm looking foward to more eggs anyday now. Jeff brought the welding machine home-so with help will soon be starting on the squeeze shoot. We were planning to work on getting more firewood today-but that hasn't happened either. We got to bed around 1:00am from the New Year's Eve party at church-we had a good time-although I really had no intention of staying til midnight-I had a really great time-we played Taboo with a group of 10 people or so. Jeff and I aren't game players-but this was fun and a change for us.

The garden is looking great-we've pulled some onions-ones that the cows haven't reached through and ate the tops out of-and the broccoli is starting to make little heads. It'll be time to start tilling and getting the beds ready in a few weeks! We've got several cardinals and lots of little wrens coming to the feeders.

Well the day is coming to an end-not the typical way we spend New Year's-but it has been a little quiet today and we needed that!! Have a great one!!