Great Read

I'm currently reading a wonderful book "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. For those of you who haven't heard about it, there's a link to an excerpt in the right hand column of my blog, look for the book. You can also go to http//www.thelastlecture.com/ and actually watch the video.

Pumpkin Update

Random

I really don't care for spiders, but this weekend while outside I couldn't help but become intrigued by the web and the dueling granddaddy long legs. I actually wanted to get a closer picture of the spider in the web, but my lense is short and I will openly admit that I was scared the stupid thing would jump on me.

Tis the Season...

Hunting that is.. Kenny has bought a 2 person tree stand and had the girls in it this weekend. They can all three fit in it. He fit both the girls with safety harnesses and put wood panels on the sides for safety. The girls were so excited and insisted on climbing it with him multiple times this weekend. It will be interesting to see how neat Kenny really thinks it is the first time they go out and the girls are talking, giggling, telling him they have to go pee, etc. I cant wait! I took pictures, but I'm still unable to post them. Tomorrow I'll insert pictures into all of my posts from today.

Who's Who

After the most recent pictures I posted of the girls, I've been asked by several "Who's cat?". It's our cat, a stray that showed up as a kitten a couple of months ago and had never left. The girls have named her "Whiskers". We also have a dog that we inherited from they Downings when they moved to Virginia Beach. His name is "CoCo", named by their daughter Destiny. He is a Cocker Spaniel, very sweet dog. We also have 1 hermit crab, had 2 ,but 1 died yesterday. I got them at the Amish auction for the girls. I had no thoughts on the life expectancy, but wow that was short.

I'll post pictures in a bit, for some reason I'm having trouble with that today. I also have a new pic of the pumpkin, spider pics (random I know) and new pictures of big Daddy and Ellie that I'll write about later.

Heaven Sent

OK, so you now how in a movie two people see each other and instantaneously fall in love. There's usually a golden aura color surrounding both of them, like they were sent from heaven. That's how I felt this weekend when Kenny got our new dishwasher installed. I swear I think I heard an angelic choir in the background when I ran the first load. It was serendipitous.... I'm pretty sure a few tears fell as I looked at a clean glass that I pulled out of the new beautiful, heavenly machine.

OK so I know I'm being dramatic, but seriously we haven't had a dishwasher since I belittled our last one and it quit... what 2 months or so ago, felt like an eternity. We are in business now, with one exception.. We also got a garbage disposal this weekend and the install is not going so well. Kenny, my stud husband, insists on doing everything himself and I'm very thankful he is so talented. I'm sure he'll get it all squared away soon..... (fingers crossed).

The Lone Pumpkin

Last year we dumped our rotting pumpkins out by the fence line. I had bought 6 or 7 varieties. (OK, so I do love pumpkins). Anyway, we now have a pumpkin growing. I'm going to post a picture of it weekly. It appears it's going to be a traditional orange pumpkin not the heirloom type. We have decided that next year we are going to plant a pumpkin patch. Then everyone can bring the kids out and pick a pumpkin. Have I mentioned that I LOVE fall.....

To be or not to be..... that is the question

Let me know what you think about the new layout, should I keep it or go back to the old?

Outside this Weekend

Treasures from the Auction

And, so....

I know everyone has been anticipating this blog, curious if Kenny and I are still married with three children. But first I must explain the delay in blogging. Chloe got sick Saturday night and so I’ve been home, holding her lil baby butt for the past 3 days. Thankfully, her fever broke today and she is feeling much better. I’ll spare you all the details, but it must be put in writing, for viewing by Chloe when she is older, that today I scraped her poop out of her diaper with a wooden popsicle stick, and delivered it to the lab. Nothing like a good ole stool sample for humility sake….:).

My mom and I faired the weather at the Amish auction, with our umbrellas, ponchos, raincoats and rubber boots. A testament that we were indeed much more prepared than most of the attendees who were in shorts, flip flops, etc. Early in the morning, before the rain began, people stared at our boots and looked at us like we were crazy… then the torrential down pour(s) began. I must say I would’ve stared at us too; we looked hideous in our boots. Obtaining the boots was the hard part. Friday night I went to Target and called TJ Maxx in search of rubber boots and rain ponchos. No such luck there… what the heck? I always see these cute leopard, polka dot and stripe pattern rubber boots at the store, but not now. I begrudgingly called Wal-Mart and of course they have both. I get to the store, only to discover that the only ponchos in the store are NASCAR. I must apologize if I offend anyone, but nothing screams redneck like NASCAR. I had my choice of NASCAR on the front or Dale Earnhart #3. I just knew there had to be more options, so I found a sales clerk and inquired. She said I should try the hunting dept that maybe there are some camouflage ones back there. Perfect… redneck options 1 and 2. In my desperation I did go to the hunting dept and they were sold out. So I went with the Dale Earnhart #3 Poncho, because it only had small font on the front. The poncho itself was black, so I took a black sharpie and covered in the #3 and Dale’s name. Kenny said “I don’t know which is more redneck, the NASCAR poncho, or you coloring it in with a sharpie”. OK, point taken. So onto the boots, the only option was black boots with an army green sole on bottom. My mother will attest that those boots were the most uncomfortable shoes either of us has ever worn in our lives. Just the same, we arrived around 8:00 and left at 5:00. We had a great time, met a lot of people and had some good conversation with the Amish. I bought some old crocks and watering cans to plant flowers in. I’ll post picture of my treasures later.

I called Kenny about 11:30; he was in the car with the girls on the way home from the fair. He said they had to leave early because there was a torrential down pour. The girls were in the back seat, stripped down to their underwear and diaper. No, I’m not kidding. Kenny said that they were all so wet by the time they made it back to the car, that he had to take all of their clothes off. He said poor Chloe looked like a drowned rat. Of course Kenneth Malcolm knew full well that it was going to rain, but didn’t take any rain coats, umbrellas etc. “Preparation” is such a silly thought. Regardless the girls of course had a blast, saw all of the animals, etc.

So yes, we are still married and still have three beautiful, crazy girls…

Wild and Crazy Weekend

It's time for the annual Amish Auction in Clarita, Oklahoma to be held this Saturday. The auction is held on acreage owned by one of the Amish men. The Amish make homemade goods, furniture, quilts, lots of great food, etc. They also allow outside vendors to come in. All of the proceeds benefit the Amish School. I am giddy at the thought, I love everything about it. I will admit that it is typically miserably hot and humid and this year proves to be much worse. With hurricane Ike approaching they are forecasting 7 inches of rain in that area. I'm all the more excited... that maybe most people will be detoured given the weather, leaving that much more for me to peruse through. I'm going to buy some rain boots tonight and a rain poncho. I've told a couple of people at work that I'm attending. Their reaction was comical, "Wow Tamatha you really know how to get wild and crazy on the weekend, sound fun... in the rain, hot, porta potties, etc".

Enough about me, now to the most comical part of this weekend. I had originally arranged for someone to keep the girls as it is an all day event. I'll leave around 6:00 am and get back at 6:00 pm. Kenny thought he had prior commitments with the school, but has since discovered that he doesn't. So he decided he will keep the girls. Kenny is great with the girls but he has never kept Chloe for more than a couple of hours as she is indeed a "Mommas girl". Anyways, he first said he was going to take the girls to Calvin to my parents house. I said "Hey slick, my mom will be with me at the Amish action, so you don't have the dump them off at Grandmas house option and run and disappear into the woods all day". That stumped him...until yesterday he told me that he has decided to take the girls to the state fair. OK, if you have children I know you will understand the logistics of packing up three girls, stroller, diapers, bottles, snacks etc and taking them to the fair... a fairly complex task. Kenny is going to laugh (roll in laughter, actually) when I tell him I think I should make a card to put in Madelyn and Ellie's pocket that has their name, our name and a phone number to call if they get lost. Kenny again is very responsible, but he also walks 20mph and is often not cognizant that our children are lagging 2 miles behind him. In any event this weekend should prove to be entertainment for all involved. I'll let you all know how it turns out and if we end the weekend with all 3 children...

Good TV

OK, for those of you who don't watch the TV show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" on TLC, you should. Jon and Kate have a set of sextuplet's and a set of twins, and the show is a documentary of sorts of their life. It comes on Monday nights at 8:00 pm central standard time. Kenny and I watch it every week. It makes me feel sane and normal as I watch them deal with their children and bicker back and forth. In fact it's watching Jon and Kate's interactions with each other that is the most entertaining! If you haven't seen it, you should give it a watch...

Naughty Tot

Ms. Chloe bug starting crawling on Sunday. So cute and so funny, very robotic and methodical in nature right now. I'm sure by the end of today she'll be a crawling machine. Chloe will be 9 months old this coming Saturday. She is so funny, such a monkey. She decided she wasn't the least bit interested in baby food, so we skipped that and went straight to table food. She then decided that she didn't really care to eat in her high chair, she prefers to sit in our lap and see that she is eating off of our plate with our silverware...... I know... she is a naughty tot! She also has a mouth full of teeth, 6 teeth. She looks hilarious, she's so tiny and then she opens her mouth and has a full set of dentures, 2 bottom and 4 top (2 front, 2 eye). She also has a smile that will make you melt.

Ellie update: In addition to the mismatched socks, she has also decided she wants to wear one pigtail on one side of her head and leave the hair on the opposite side down. She's a nut!

Madelyn update: She is her sweet, considerate self, she loves animals and all kinds of bugs. She is constantly helping Big Daddy or I with something. She loves to wash dishes! She certainly didn't inherit that from me..

Nix the Status Quo

Ellie Kate has decided that she wants to wear two different socks to school each day. Today she wore one with primary colored hearts and one hot pink hello kitty sock. I love it that she is her own crazy self. For those of you who have a free spirit on your hands, you should check out littlemissmatched.com

Hunting with Big Daddy

The girls went dove hunting with Big Daddy this weekend. They were in full camo with camo hats that had a pink bow. They went to Pauls Valley and went with Craig Ensey and his three children. I asked Madelyn if Kenny shot any birds. Madelyn said he only shot one ,that he shot a lot but didn't hit any. I love it! Kenny said he told the girls they were going to have to try a different approach on their next trip as they were running everywhere and of course talking and giggling. I'll post pictures later. I have to admit if you would've asked me 10 years ago if I would be married to a hillbilly and sending my children hunting with my hillbilly husband, I would've laughed and said you were crazy. I must admit I love him heart and soul, hillbilly and all. Needless to say my parents are getting a big laugh out of this.