Never too young to learn to shave.

One is never too young to Shave....

Kassie & Ryan gave Chase the cutest little play shaving kit. He was so proud and felt so grown up. It was very important to him that I take some photos. Now he does it in the shower but that first day he had it all set up in his room ....sitting on his favorite Spiderman chair with the little mirror that came with it.

Water Pressure!

Wow I didn't realize how bad our water pressure was getting. Yesterday a super kind neighbor with a backhoe came over to help Greg with a water line leak. The problem was out at a hydrant. They dug this huge..deep hole to find the problem. Can you just picture my 6'3" husband in the bucket of the backhoe...lowered down 7 or 8 foot to work on the line. Wow they found that it was not the hydrant at all but a galvanized piece of pipe totally eaten away by our Colorado monster dirt. 5 hours in the freezing weather and now I have water pressure....wow lots of water pressure. It doesn't take to much for me to be happy.

Washer filled so fast that I did 3 loads in just over an hour.
We were able to run the dishwasher and shower at one time.
My next electric bill should be quite a bit lower.
I won't be nagging my husband about it anymore.
Well that is good reason enough...I'll quit with that.
Happy day to you all

Thankful Thursday

Every Thursday night I get a little emotional. I am so thankful to still have 2 grandmothers who I love dearly. I am also thankful that my girls have had the opportunity to know and love their Great Grandmothers... better known as Momom and Gram.
Momom has allowed me to pamper her every Thursday for the last 20 years in the salon. She is so spunky for her 85 years. You know acrylic nails....hair color...she is one hip grandma. I cherish this time we get to spend together each week.

My Gram 88 is so special also. She is very conservative and still lives on the ranch with her dog and cat. I don't get to spend as much time with her but she has taught me so many life lessons (they both have). She does allow me to give her a perm a couple of times a year and I give her mini pedicures as often as I can.
I was just thinking of how much impact they have had in my life and I hope that when I grow up I can be the perfect combination of them.

New Years!

Really this is going to be a great year! I just know it! I am so sure of it.... Kassie cooked New Years Eve dinner for all of us...yep all by herself. Country fried steak...mashed taters.....cheesecake...I helped her a little with the gravy. The kids helped her set the table and fix it up real cute with personalized napkins.

Yep those are red napkins. I had to giggle they were a christmas gift and don't match at all but the kids had so much fun personalizing them..so I had to love it.

Wait a minute....they don't say I love You Mom or Happy New Year.....It reads Happy Birthday to Ryan....Oh so that's the reason for the Super duper good meal by a 16 year old who doesn't set foot into the kitchen. Hmm.. Just kidding. We enjoyed this delicious meal and played games until midnight.

My favorite part was how they used my new cooler to put the pop in....Yep you will know me right away when I show up at the next Roping or picnic with my new cooler (Christmas Gift from my brother-in-law Mo..Thanks Mo)..isn't it so cute..and practical. Carry my drinks in it to the Rodeo and then water my horse with it..He He Click below to see it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Oooops!

I finally started putting away MY Christmas gifts this evening....Oh my I got so many cool things. So I open up the box that has the cool Popcorn bowls....Aren't they cool...

So I find the Christmas bag with the popcorn. So excited I popped it into the Micro...punch in 3 minutes and keep putting away gifts.

All the sudden I smelled my popcorn........burned.

I couldn't believe I did that...no biggie I opened up another bag and put it in the micro for a little less time. No for real! I did it again....Thank goodness the third time is a charm ...after the whole house smelled like burned popcorn we had golden yummy cooked just right popcorn.

Have a good laugh on me!

Simple Pleasure

I woke up this morning with all this ambition....made a pot of coffee sat down to drink it and realized I felt pretty much like#*&@. At that point I scratched off baking from my list of things to do....I was feeling better already so I marked off cleaning my house too.... heck my cleaning lady was just here on Friday...wow now the headache was going away too....had my second cup of java and turned on the TV and sat in my chair with a blanket watched a movie.....That was fun while it lasted then the little ones woke up. I got them up fed them breakfast and settled them down to a movie.....yep back to my chair I went to watch a little HGTV. I did get just a little motivated after lunch and did some things around here but pretty much made this day into a pamper me day. I did take time to hold my little Annie (mini Aussie Pup) every chance I got. Now this was a simple pleasure day!

I wish you all a very safe and happy holiday.

Don't forget the reason for the season!

Enjoy your family and friends!

Final Countdown

Wow ladies it's almost here...yep have most of the packages wrapped and under the tree. Spent last Sunday baking cookies and will bake some more today and a few other goodies. Our cookies must have hit the spot because there aren't many left...oops.

Here is my right hand man when we bake. Madison loves to bake and she does a great job. She and I each made a double batch of our famous sugar cookies. She made plain ones and I made Chocolate. I came across this great recipe for sugar cookies that you make with a cake mix...oh my gosh so yummy. If you are really nice to me I just mite share it with you...it's so easy, and quick...and they taste so good.....

By the time we finished we had most of the kitchen table covered with these little guys. The little ones couldn't wait to decorate them so I mixed up my favorite glaze in pretty colors. We let the little ones decorate some for them....

needless to say I didn't get any decorated that day I was too tired. Today I will bake some more so I have some for all our Christmas.

Work was crazy this week I had appointments booked back to back with no breaks so I could be off and running to Kassie's basketball tourney....

Grown-up Christmas List

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee.
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies.

Well, I'm all grown-up now,
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child,
But my heart still can dream.
So here's my lifelong wish,
My grown-up christmas list.
Not for myself,
But for a world in need.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown-up christmas list.

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree.
Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown-up christmas list.
My only lifelong wish.
This is my grown-up christmas list

Christmas Tree

Slacker....

So I have been slacking a little. Too much going on here to write about. Maddie and I went to pick out just the right tree for us....for the next 10 years haha! We went chucked on down to the Walmart...(Only store in our town to shop) we were looking for a tall....strong....real good looking one. There it was a 9 foot tall not to fat perfect Christmas tree for us to put all our old ragged ornaments we love so much on. We just can't wait to put it up.
I am sitting her looking at my precious little Christmas lists from my darlings. I am actually not overwhelmed this time...Amen. I feel like I am getting a jump start on the Holiday....planning what kind of creations I can come up with in the kitchen. I should be able to bake up a storm this year with 4 helpers instead of 2. I am so feeling like Paula Dean this season. I think that all this inspiration came from me finding the 2 lost boxes of Christmas decorations that I had stored under the bed 2 years ago just so I could find them....right? That moves me on to New Years ....I am going to get more organized in 2009! Sending love to all my blogging sistas.

Busy Busy Busy

Last week was a busy one and this one even busier. Made it through Halloween! Our High School students put on a great Safe House with games and trick or treating and even a haunted house. Kassie and her Beau Ryan gave out candy with their FFA friends.

Starting to look forward to Thanksgiving because it is such a family time for me. Headed to my nephews college football game on Saturday in Pueblo. He has done such a great job this season.Psst.....I will blog the game Sunday.

Sharing a few of my Halloween fun with you all...

Bring you up to speed on my life

This is for my family and friends who I have neglected in the past 7 months. In March a fella we know called me one evening and asked me to take him to pick up his kids in Pueblo. We picked them up and were almost home at 1am when he told the kids that they would be staying with us for a few days while he got his house ready for them. I'm thinking to myself...I don't know if I am up to this but go along with it. I will call them Jim and Sue for their privacy. Jim was 6 and Sue 10 at that time and the poor little ones were so scared and here they were left with us. I will add that Sue has Cerebral Palsy and is wheelchair bound. She has severe spastic quadriplegia. Anyway the cutest little kids and so polite and thankful for us coming for them. Anyway the kids got us trained right away on how to take care of them and I helped their dad enroll them in school. After they were with us for around 5 weeks their dad went to jail and their mom hadn't called or came so I had no choice but to go to DSS because the children had medical needs that I did not have authorization to help them with. They have been with us for 7 months now and are doing well. These two little ones have really touched our lives and we hope we have been good for them also. We had to go through training and all that to be a foster family so the kids could stay with us in our home. We don't know how long they will be with us but it makes us feel good to be able to help them out. Our girls have been so good to help and teach the kids about farm life (they came from the city). That is a great report card when you have the chance to see your own kids helping others and being responsible young adults. Greg's family and my family have been so good to accept the kids and help out. We are surely blessed and we know the lord brought these little darlings to us for a reason. Maybe it was to make us appreciate how wealthy we are even if we don't have a lot of $$$$$$.

Hard time saying goodby to Summer

Today I am having the hardest darn time seeing my flowers dead and the thought of no more weekend rodeos is killing me. I know that when one door closes another one opens but I am really holding on to this one. Maybe it is knowing that my oldest daughter is a Jr. in High School and slowly slipping out of my nest. So here I sit blogging or blubbering. This photo really hits me on how this portion of my life is flying right by. I remember when I watched my little Kassie come flying in at 6 years old in the same arena...to that same barrel

Now she is all grown up...that's enough of my pitty party so now I will get siked up for Basketball season and go on.

I will get my simple pleasures from reading your blogs and knowing someone out there is still able to ride and enjoying a little bit of warm weather.

toodles

A Day in my Life

Why I love my life.....I wake up at 5:30am so I can have the first little one on her bus by 6:30am. The showers start running...kids going through the morning ritual to get gussied up for school. Mind you we have a 1st grader, 5th grader,7th grader and a Junior in HS. My hubby drives a school bus so he leaves before 6:00am each morning. I load the last three on the bus at 5 till 7. I grab my much needed java and head out to take care of the animals. After my barnyard has their breakfast I check my e-mail then hit the shower. I love my career at a Day Spa in town. I pamper women until 3:20 when the first little one gets off the bus....next one at 4:10...then load them up in the car to go pick up the next from volleyball practice.....take her to the HS to join the oldest for basketball open gym. Then I hurry home to get the little ones on their homework while I cook supper.......by then my sweetheart has the horses all fed and watered....one of us goes into town to pick up the big girls and usually a gallon of milk. Seems like this family goes through a bunch of milk. We get the little ones in bed by 8:30 pm. Help with any homework the big girls have. Finally...my sweetie and I hash out our day and plan the next few over a cup of coffee(my hubby makes the best coffee). After a hot bath I head to bed. I thank God for all my blessings and tell myself....This is why I love my life!

Angie