Do you see that guy? He is the most wonderful man ever. The other day we took the dog for a walk together. It was great us just walking and talking. Then we rounded the corner and he saw a car backing out a parking space and noticed they had a flat tire. My man jogged on over and waved them down to tell them they had a flat. They said thanks and started to park their car again. We were about to continue our walk when he said, 'I should go help that guy out'. Ok.. it was in the 20's that day. My man and this older gentleman changed the tire fairly quickly. And in no time we were continuing our walk. I was so proud of my man. He is like this all the time. And I say that completely honestly. He is the nicest guy ever and I love him so much. I am so happy God made him for me. I will stop gushing now. Have a happy day. Sabrina
My man and I were sittin' around watching TV with the Bobo and we heard a weird noise. We both looked at each other with the look of 'What was that weird noise?'. Then a slight pause from me of... oh I hope he hops up first to check it out. It really is survival island at our home. But just then I realized what is was.... Firetrucks.... I yelled 'SANTA'. And ran to the front door. Honest to goodness it was like this scene in Elf.
So the 3 of us ran outside and saw all the various trucks and golf carts drive by decorated and music blaring. No joke the music is LOUD. I feel sorry for those with babies. But then I don't care because, hello, it's SANTA driving through the neighborhood.
Can you see is glove? It has 3 fingers and a thumb like Mickey Mouse.
I kept nudging my little guy saying 'look, wave, say Merry Christmas'. He did do a little wave. But he wasn't near as excited as me. You see, he still believes in Santa. But he has been asking all of us if we do. I think the word is getting out at school about the fat man. This is the one area of learning the cold hard truth of life I leave to my kid's peers. They will get the 'sex ed' talk at home. (I'll make my man do that job too) but I will not be the one to tarnish the Christmas spirit.
Oh, before you get all bent out of shape about keeping Christ in Christmas. Yes, we do that. We have been doing family devotions and celebrating Advent. Christ has had more 'air time' than Santa in our home. But santa is still fun to do. Afterall, this might be our last year.
Where was the Peanut you ask??? Across the street at a sleep over. We asked the next morning 'Did you see santa?' Oh yeah, she replied and 'he brought us presents' she said with with glee. Although she no longer believes, she will rake in the goodies for the benefit of others. She is so selfless that one.
Last weekend I went to a cookie exchange at my friend Rindy's house. Go over to her site, KitchenKlique, to get a look at her gorgeous house and all the awesome food we had. Rindy's friend Sarah coordinates the exchange with her. Both ladies are wonderful hostesses and amazingly creative. I made chocolate peanut clusters which I will post later. Oh, and check out BigRedKitchen's post on Rindy & Sarah's cookie exchange.
This past weekend I was in charge of organizing riders from our barn to be in the local Christmas parade. I had never done this before. Let me fill you in on what I learned. * First, find out how many horses the owner of the barn wants to take. You see, I put an open sign up sheet out. We ended up having to do three loads of horses. *Don't put ribbons in the ponies braided hair the night before. The ponies shake them out and they end up in the poo. *Don't worry about everyone matching because it will be so cold the children will need their coats on anyway. *Have someone to pick up poop during the parade. I did not have this arranged. It turns out there is a poo crew. There was a small group that came around after all the horses and picked up poo. Ewww. But somebody's got to do it. I wonder if 'Got Poo?' is their slogan. Here are some photos of the parade.
pacing the ponies waiting for another load to arrive.
going down the path to get to the parade route, we had to stop traffic twice
you see that poor boy in the black coat? This was not his idea of fun on a Saturday morning. But he was a team player and made it through the whole parade and tossed out candy.
waiting for the parade to begin. Brrr it was so cold.
finally the parade begins. That is my man and my girl.
A couple of months ago I went away for the weekend with a friend, P, and her daughter, Chicken Fried (cause that's the song she likes). We went to Bull Pasture Mountain Ranch. There we had a weekend in the autumn mountains and all the trail riding we could handle.
We arrived Friday afternoon and had time to do a short trail ride before dinner. All the food was prepared for us on an open campfire. We stayed in a lovely cabin with private outhouse. It is the one in the title picture.
sunrise from our cabin
Saturday we got up early for breakfast. The two things I remember about breakfast are the cooked apples (AMAZING) and the cowboy coffee.
can you see the peculator on top of the rock on the fire?
Hmmm Cowboy coffee this is a brew that isn't offered at Starbucks. They just told me it was a little stronger than regular coffee and it is cooked on the open fire. Fine by me as I am not a morning person. You know, it was pretty good. And yes it was stronger than I normally have. Then they dropped the bomb.... they put a horseshoe in during the brew. I threw up a little in my mouth. And I didn't have the hustpa to ask if it was a new or dirty old horseshoe. 'Cause you see we were surrounded by cowboys. In full cowboy regalia... the hats, the chaps, vests, bandannas and even a bolo tie or two. We on the other hand were in our tasteful english riding attire with riding helmets. Needless to say the three of us stood out. Not to mention that P and Chicken Fried have accents of the UK persuasion.
Chicken Fried and P
Onto the riding. We rode a total of about 8 hours on Saturday. The trails were well marked and we could ride at our leisure. The scenery was gorgeous. The fall colors were breath-taking. And I mean in a good way not a bad way like Elaine on Seinfeld. See...
Sunday was our last day. And we went off the ranch for a trail ride sponsored by the local volunteer fire department. Again surrounded by cowboys. This ride was a little different, we had to stick together as a group. And I ain't talkin' about a wee little group. I'm talkin about a big group of 50+. And we would stop VERY OFTEN to let everyone gather around. Our first stop was about 10 minutes into the ride. I'm thinking oh perhaps some others are joining us. Oh, no. It was the first of many stops for everyone to drink.first stop
Seriously?!?! Yep, little groups would cluster and pass around a bottle. I didn't ask. Probably moonshine. Who knows. Then we would ride a bit and stop to chat and drink.
I think you get the picture. P, Chicken Fried and I did not participate in the drink part. I'm a crappy horse rider on my own, I don't need to add alcohol. P is too civilized (I could learn a thing or two) and Chicken Fried is underage. At one point I think our guide was a little lost in the woods, literally. But we finally found our way back to where lunch was served. All in all the ride was nice.
Again the views were amazing. But a ride that could have/ should have taken an hour, took 3 1/2!
After lunch, which was good even for meatloaf, we loaded up our horses and drove home. It was a great weekend away the accommodations and food at Bull Pasture Mountain Ranch were awesome. And the trails were fun. I would definitely do it again if P and Chicken Fried invited me. 'Cause I can only go with them since they own the horses.
Here are a couple of things that came home from school last week. They are a couple of projects from Thanksgiving they had to do in class. This is the Bobo's, he is in 3rd grade.
Here is what it says since handwriting is not a strong point. And neither are my photography skills for that matter.
I'm too fat please don't eat me. I have three children. please don't eat me. Please fine we want (spelled won't) to eat with you. Ok! I'll go. I am on a diet but who cares. We have diet coke and Diet Mountain Dew. Yummmm.
Oh, it only gets better. Here is the Peanut's Thanksgiving project. Her class (5th grade) was divided up into groups. They were given the sales papers for local grocery stores. They had to come up with a Thanksgiving menu from the fliers and stay under $75. Here is the menu her group came up with. I know my photography leaves alot to be desired. Actually, it is just flat out bad. But the kids planned a great meal. Just look at the dessert selection 2 pumpkin pies, an apple pie, ice cream, Klondike bars and Redi-whip. How great is that? And the drink selections...Yellow tail wine and Michelob beer. All I can say is that at least it wasn't just my kid there planning this meal. On the plus side they came in under budget. And I would eat with this group anytime.
I just love when I get a glimpse into the minds of my kids. Have a happy day. Sabrina
Here are some more football pictures. My boy, Bobo, looks over this blog more than anyone I know. He is very conscience of the number of his pictures And for the autumn season football took up most of his time. Here is what we experienced.
We watched him sit and sit and sit. Then we would get to see him in action for 10 minutes.
Go Bobo go!
We are very proud of him. He improved throughout the season. I didn't take many pictures because we had a family friend who is an amazing photographer at the games taking pictures. We have a DVD of the season. It is awesome. So, for this blog you get to experience my low quality photos. Oh, and I didn't take any pictures during practices. I should have. Hindsite is 20/20, as the saying goes.
