The Price of Happiness

Yes the title of this post & even the picture is a little misleading. If you are sitting back, wagging your finger, and clucking your tongue at me right now, well, just keep it up. There is ample material in this family for you to sit back and shack your head at; trust me on this one, I live here! Luke was having a fussy morning and his communication with me can get him very frustrated. I think he has been talking to his Papa too much about me, but we won’t go there. Anyway, back at the ranch, Luke wants ALL the suckers. I, trying to be a “good” mama won’t let him have all of the suckers. That would make him sick! Turns out, he just wanted to “hold” them. That is just what he did. He ate one, but just had to hold all the others. Gee, I have no idea where he would get this controlling nature from!!!! Let me think…….. :-P

Off To School They Go

Our morning is filled with cinnamon rolls, hair that needs to be styled, lunches to be packed, and full backpacks. Mama is always thankful that Papa stays home with her on the first day of school. Besides Mama always being emotional that first day of school, his help is always great. As Mama is cleaning up breakfast & finishing lunches, Papa is measuring girls on the wall in the laundry room. Our Kayanna has really grown in the last year.

With full bellies, back packs, and excitement for the day, we head off to school.

Kayanna & Mrs. Dobbs - 2nd Grade

Kayanna & her buddies

Abigail & Miss T - 5th Grade...Wow!

Look at those books...someone has a full year of learning!

As the bell rings and classes begin, the school year begins.

As the girls were settling into school, Luke was settling into life with just Mama again. He is lovin' all the attention again. Although the summer must have been hard on him. Today after lunch he asked if he could rest. He happily crawled up in his bed and took his nap.

Thus begins another school year and season.

Pioneer Woman Wanna Be

I am totally addicted to the Pioneer Woman's website. It could be that she is livin' a life I would LOVE to live, or maybe it is the kitchen she has to create killer recipes, or maybe it is because she gets to live in wide open spaces with country & cattle surrounding her, or maybe seeing her whole family horse back together working cattle, or that her man gets to work in wranglers everyday! Heck, just pick a reason, it doesn't matter. She is the reason I have to repent of coveting on a regular basis! Anytime I need to cook something now, I consult Pioneer Woman to see if she has done it, before I look anywhere else. I consult her first because, I know she has tried & perfected what she puts on her website. Secondly, she makes it "idiot-proof" with pictures. There is nothin' like someone holdin' your hand through a new recipe. Her photos offer a sense of security through uncharted recipes! Which brings me to the most fabulous cinnamon rolls ever.....according to me. My girlfriend needed cinnamon rolls for the teachers & parents for the first day of school. I knew exactly what to do, Pioneer Woman here I come. As I cooked I got so engrossed in my imitation of her that I even had to take pictures (on my point & shoot camera). She would've been proud! They say imitation is a form of flattery, so there you have it!

I am a Pioneer Woman Wanna Be!

I wonder if they have a support group for this addiction!

Red vs Blue

Aaron, my baseball-crazed man, got a fabulous opportunity that he wasn't about to pass up. For him that would be a win-win situation when it comes to “the game”. For this native Buckeye, it would be the Reds (Ohio) vs. the Dodgers (California)! The opportunity arose for great seats to watch the Reds vs. the Dodgers, in LA. He snatched them, we jumped into the car, (Note: I was a very good passenger ~ see Wild Rides), and we enjoyed a fabulous, action filled, spirited game this evening. There is NEVER a dull game with my man around.
Check out our view! Wow!!

Dot Dot

I love to laugh at myself. I am glad I do,

because I give myself plenty of opportunities for such laughter!

Today's outburst of laughter was contributed to my

"dot dot" moment.

I was trying to type something up with my girlfriend/better part of my brain, when I suggested we put a "dot dot" there. My sweet & gracious girlfriend never missed a beat, we kept right on working. Then my "dot dot" comment caught up with my brain. There is a lag time, that I wish wasn't present, but work with whatcha got! So the laughter starts....dot dot.....that would be a colon! Oh my!

:

The colon (:) is a punctuation mark consisting of

two equally sized dots (dot dot)

centered on the same vertical line.

I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise

from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth." ~Quincy Jones

Go have a "dot dot" moment for yourself!

Cut, Color, & Fun

I love getting my hair cut & bleached for so many reasons. I get my full vision back, due to the fact it had been impaired by the bangs I let get too long. I get texture back by bleaching it, not to mention my man loves me blonde ~ yes, he would love me as a brunette, but heck, blondes have more fun (so they say)! Also, when we get together my girls are thrilled because that means the get to see their very good friends. Ok, so returned vision, texture/blonde, buddy time, and last but my absolute favorite reason I love to get cut & colored is time with Debbie. Debbie was a hairdresser for over 30 years and finally stopped doing hair. She has continued to do mine for the sheer fact that I am a “pity” case! She feels sorry for me & can’t stand to look at me with a bad cut. I have NO problem being her “pity” case. We have the sweetest time when we get together. We share coffee, stories, struggles, Jesus, and laughter every time we get together. It is a cherished & precious time for both of us. Not to mention a source of pride for Debbie as she steps back & looks at the masterpiece she pulls off with this hair of mine! I am so thankful she took pity on me.
The girls getting to play with their buddies!

Love these girls.

Luke taking P-Nut for a spin! Yikes~He is so handsome!

Luke takin' Mama for a spin! Yee-haw! Sit down, hold on, & shut up!

I love this time!

The Adventures of Indestructible Hope

As promised, here is the story of how our precious Hope was able to run herself over with a golf cart. Are you scratching your head with raised eyebrows???? Yeah, so are her parents! HOW does one run over themselves with a golf cart? There might be several ways to accomplish such a feat, but we will only cover Hopie’s execution of this adventure.
Hopie states that if you are driving along in the golf chart, foot on the gas pedal, and turning the wheel left, that you are able to reach out and touch the front left tire that is moving. We all know that there is an invisible traction field on those front left tires, as they are in motion, causing an irresistible urge in her to touch it. So touch she must! As she touches it, the tire has enough momentum & power behind it to yank her right out of the driver seat and pull her arm under it. As if that weren’t enough. There is the back of the golf cart that we haven’t even addressed yet! Oh yeah! Once out of the golf cart, the back tire runs over her back, hence the tire mark across the back of her white shirt. She is stinkin’ killin’ me!
We are so thankful for her being okay through all this. The crazy thing is that she had her wits about her enough to jump up, chase down the moving golf cart, jump back in & drive it back up to the house! CRAZY! Again, we are thankful she is ok. I do believe I am seeing a pattern of having to learn things the hard way! That is a story I am well acquainted with.
I just wish I could see her guardian angels in heaven as they head to work on protecting her. I get this picture of an angel hugging his dear angel wife as if he will never see her again, knowing he is about to clock in on Hopie’s watch!

She is fabulous!!!!

Back In Saddle

The children took a break from riding, or maybe Mama got pre-occupied with her riding, or life happened….who knows exactly! Needless to say, they had stopped riding and wanted to go back to it. I knew what to do to fix this predicament. Mention to my cowboy buddy Ben that some children wanted to ride Little Bit. Knowing his soft heart for children with a desire to ride a horse, I might have foreseen the outcome. ;-) We got those children in a saddle asap! Ben is wonderful about making sure children get to ride when they have a desire. So the children are thrilled and Little Bit gets some exercise. It is a win win situation!
My cautious, rule abiding Abigail, listening intently to instruction.

Luke enjoying a friendly new colt.

My Hope trying to get Little Bit to lope!

There are reasons we don't give Hope spurs!

Luke finding something to entertain himself with.

Sweet times!

Dodger Town & Wild Rides

My man loves the game of baseball. He isn’t just a nonchalant spectator but a serious lover of the game! He will go at any given opportunity. Well tonight was one of those opportunities. He had four tickets in some awesome seats for a Dodger game. We called up our buddies the Cobbs and made a date. Grandma Kay was available to babysit the grandchildren & off we went.
There is just something about being at a ballgame. The crowd, the energy, the Dodger dogs……. We had a blast. The game was excellent and had you on your feet several times. I love games like that! Stand up sit down fight, fight, fight……oops, wrong sport! Take me out to the ball game……that is more like it! :D
So as we head home from LA, I have learned to just hold on, sit back & SHUT UP when my man is driving! He knows what he is doing, so let him drive woman! I just pray I am living right and we get home safe! ;-P
Well, Aaron's driving was not the only exciting part of our trip home. We call to check on the children and find out about another wild ride that happened. Can you guess……….
Yep, Hope! Somehow she managed to run over herself in the golf chart at Mom’s. We will save the “fabulous” (there is that word again) details for another post ~ see Adventures of Indestructible Hope!!! We will tease you with a picture of the shirt she was wearing when the ride took place!

WOW, is all I can say!

8 years of fun & Hope

Today my baby girl turned 8! She is the one we call "Fabulous" & for good reason! That is the adjective that rolls off my lips in all sorts of circumstances we find ourselves with Hopie. So we are celebrating this girl’s life & that she still has it! She has had some close calls. Living life to the fullest comes at a price! I am so thankful for my Hope! She is my daily dose of lovin’. That girl can hug & kiss on ya like no other! Brace yourself when you see her comin’ at ya with one of those “Abshire” hugs! Yeah, she is her Mama in soooo many ways. My parents have assured me that they survived, as I will! They sure do enjoy the laugh at the pay back I am getting’ for what I did to them. All I can say is I am in for it!!!! So here are some pictures from my FABULOUS Hope’s birthday celebration.
She helped Mama with the cupcakes!

This is the birthday crew getting ready for pizza, of course!

We are girls, we have to do nails!!!

And get our groove on with Juast Dance!

Oh yeah, one handsome little devil was allowed!

Headed to Long Meadow

Long Meadow is one of the highlights of my summer. Out of the city, the smell of pine, Pearl, cowboy buddies, cattle, & lots of stars! The trip this weekend had a little excitement to it. On Sunday morning Ben & I set out to mend the fence around Long Meadow. It took us all morning. I had a blast learning how to mend fences. I think I was looking for places to mend just so I could do it! So it was noon before we headed back to the cabin. Ben wasn't feelin' too hot & needed something to eat. We had been talking about the rattle snakes that were in the area when what do I hear.........Yep, a stinkin' rattle snake! My first encounter I'll have you know! Ben doesn’t hear it right away; I am looking for it, & flippin’ out on the inside. Ben is determined to smack it with his rope! This is the same light-headed, dizzy, can’t hear the snake cowboy, which wants to get close enough to smack it with his rope! Are you stinkin’ serious?! I want out of there. At this time it is only Ben & I at the cabin, so if he gets bit I have no help to run for. I am feelin’ quiet inadequate in my snake bite first aid! So I am yellin’ at Ben to get away, but noooo he is gonna kill that critter. Lo and behold, Ben smacks that rattle snake and breaks its back. He steps on its head and cuts it off before I can yell, “Boy Howdy!”
Ben is my hero!


Long Meadow

Does anyone else see an old indian hot tub in this picture?! :)