Where in the World?

I know this is my second post today, but I was just looking at my blog stats and I have two things I want to share.

First - my post last Saturday about french fries had over 800 views in 24 hours! What?! That's insane. I mean, they are good fries, but, really? My next most popular post has had about 900 views, but that's over a year's time, not a day.

They do look good, don't they?

So then I started looking at where my readers are located. So far this month, my little ol' blog has had 1825 views, and aside from the United States, you readers are located in the following countries:

Canada - 26

Mexico - 16

Australia - 9

Germany - 9

South Korea - 4

Argentina - 3

Malta - 3

Ukraine - 3

United Arab Emirates - 2

(I'd like to be cute and say I don't even know where UAE is,
but those of you who know I'm a news junkie would call me on it!)

That is way cool, y'all! I would love for you all to comment and let me know where you live. Especially you international readers. I'd love to hear from y'all! Maybe you'll see this and we can chat. I'd love to have a pen pal!

If you enjoy reading my blog, take a minute to sign up with Google + or to get email notifications. I'd really appreciate it!

Time to sign off and get the kids ready for bed. Hope you all have a wonderful night, too! Wherever you may be!

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Happy Birthday, Brack!

My baby turned nine on Sunday.  I'm not quite sure how or when it happened, but he grew up.  I had nothing to do with it.  It happened, quite frankly, against my will.  But, that's what kids do.  Grow.  At least he is growing up into a fine young gentleman!  He is a mama's boy, and this mama, is so proud he's mine!

 

Here's what he looks like to most people...

 

 

But THIS is the Brack we know and love!

Isn't he awesome?!

 

In honor of our little man, we hosted a birthday party last Saturday afternoon.  Brack loves, Loves, LOVES frogs, so I found a cute little frog invitation on Etsy and had it printed at my local print shop.  We were planning for an outside party, plus the creek in the front pasture is full of tadpoles and baby frogs, so it seemed the perfect choice.  (Said tadpoles now live in a tub full of pond water on my deck.  Don't ask.)

 

 

We had family and friends from church, homeschool co-op, and swim team.  The weather was absolutely perfect!  The kids began playing immediately, in fact, some didn't make it to the parking area...they demanded to be let out by the front pasture swing!  Since it was late in the afternoon, and it is such a long drive, I decided to serve light finger foods.  Brack picked his favorites Rotel dip (without the Rotel, of course) and lemonade pie.  (Have I ever told you about my kids who, after I took all three Wilton cake decorating classes, decided they don't like cake?)  I supplemented with party pizzas, BLT dip, chicken cheese ball and crudité.  Check back later this week for recipes.

 

After the kids played and we ate (OK, mainly the adults ate.  Like kids are really gonna slow down long enough...), we headed back outside for what has become a tradition at Brack's birthday parties - a piñata.  Usually I have one made to match the theme.  (I know that sounds really expensive, but there are people on Ebay and Etsy who make them for about $30.  They're $20 at Party City!)  As I mentioned, our theme this year was frogs, and Brack could not, would not mutilate a frog...even for candy...so we went with a colorful present-shaped piñata.  It was huge!  I think I spent more on the candy than I did on the rest of the food.

 

 

After much experience (and several near accidents), we have developed the perfect piñata protocol.  Everyone lines up smallest to biggest.  Brack gets the first hit, then passes the stick to the next person.  Everyone gets a hit.  If it hasn't busted yet, we go 'round again.  As they get older, it's going faster than it used to.  Gerald had to rehang it half-way through the line this year!  I give everyone brown paper sacks with their names already written on them.  DIY party favors!  How smart am I?!

 

 

Before Gerald hoisted the piñata...

 

And after...Notice how he took several steps back?!

 

Brack's friends know him so well.  He got lots of nice gifts including a couple of new Lego sets and a Nerf Super Blaster (no Buddy, it won't squirt water without batteries and Mama is slap out of AA's...and so is Walmart!).  My normally shy little boy held court as he tore into his presents!  (Hand written thank you notes are on the To Do list for this week.  Good manners are for boys, too!)

 

 

The day was full of family, friends and fun!

 

 

Cousins and besties...Jewell, Mary Reagan and Ann Welch.

 

 

The puppies are never far from the action!

 

The mad dash for candy...

 

 

Enjoying cool, lemonade pie.

After a hard day of playing, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all!

  

 So - I'll wrap it up with a few of my favorite pics of my favorite boy...

 

 

 

 

 

To borrow an original rhyme from my mother-in-law...

 

I love you little,

I love you big.

I love you like my little pig.

 

 

Happy 9th Birthday, Brack!  We love you!

 

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Easter Party 2014

The last six weeks have seen a lot of parties in Our Neck of the Woods.  I hosted my book club and Little Miss Manners in March.  In early April we threw a special birthday party for my mother and brother.  Last weekend, we hosted a big youth devo for the kids from church.  I'll post about that soon.  And this Saturday is Brack's birthday party!  But what I want to share with you today is our Easter party.

Since moving to the country eight years ago, we have hosted an annual family Easter egg hunt.  And when I say family, I mean extended family!  "Family" can mean those with Hilyer or Jones as a last name, but you will also find a handful of Donahoos (my SIL, Allison) or Gays (my SIL, Clancy).  Regardless of surname, holidays mean family, and this past Easter was no different.

 

 

 

Clancy with her parents, Mama Judy and Papa Don.

 

 

Clancy's "little" brother, John, and his wife, Holly.

 

Usually we have the party in the early afternoon and everyone brings dessert.  Yes, everyone.  It is a literal smorgasbord of delicacies and we all eat way too much.  But this year, we started a little later in the day, so everyone brought finger foods for an early supper and I made a lemon pound cake which you can read about here. 

 

 

My SIL's and I had a discussion as to whether the kids had outgrown hunting eggs.  One child (who will remain nameless for their own protection) said they had, but after floating it by the whole group, we were quickly told that they were NOT too old, so each child brought two dozen candy-filled eggs for the dads to hide.

 

(Side note: I'd love to be able to show you some pictures of beautifully and creatively decorated eggs at this point.  However, I have none.  I will honestly tell you that I have never decorated Easter eggs with my kids!  I have always been so busy cooking and preparing for the party that we just settle for the plastic ones.  After all, it's all about the candy, right?  My belief is that they probably will be too old next year to hunt for eggs, so we will spend some special time decorating eggs.  There.  I have written it down.  I have to do it now.  Hold me to it!)

 

While the kids were riding the go-cart in the front pasture, the daddies hid eggs out back.  Clancy's "little" brother, John, is about 6'5" and he stood on tip-toe to place them on braches and limbs.  My brother, Jon, placed them under the dogs lying in the yard, who promptly rolled over, cracked the eggs carefully and somehow managed to wrestle the candy out of the wrapper, thus leaving cracked eggs and candy wrappers for yours truly to pick up.  I even saw one of the men just chuck an egg out in the field.  I found it.  The next weekend when I was cutting grass.  Or should I say my blade found it.  Anyway, I digress.  The eggs were hidden, and subsequently found.

 

 

One of the guilty puppies parties.

 

After lots of food and play, we all settled in around the fire pit for a special devotional about the resurrection presented by Gerald.  The kids listened attentively and answered his questions as well.  I am so very proud of all of them and their ever-expanding Bible knowledge.

 

 

Gerald leading our devotional.

 

 

The kids listening to Gerald (and scratching the dog's tummy!).

 

 

Taking a cue from her big sister, Woocy, Smudge joins the group and gets a little lovin' from Chloe.

 



 

Me and my honey.

My youngest brother, David, and his wife, Allison.  (She had a day pass.)

 

 

My middle brother, Jon, obviously telling a story.  And by story, I mean a story!

 

 

My sweet parents, Mimi and PaPaw.

 

We had a wonderful afternoon.  The weather was perfect, and everyone enjoyed sitting outside to visit.  We are so extremely blessed to have such a large and close-knit family.  My kids love their cousins dearly and look forward to spending time together.  Having my SIL's families join us is just gravy.  Family is the most important thing, and we are blessed to have ours!

 

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Happy Birthday to you AND you!

We have a tradition in our family that on your birthday, we all get together and my Mama cooks your favorite meal.  Since it was Mama's birthday this month, I decided to host the party at our house.  My brother, Jon, has a birthday two days before her's, so I planned the gathering in honor of them both.

I set the dining room table for the adults.  I pulled out my always appropriate white tablecloth, and then dug around in my sewing closet until I found some spring colored fabric remnants, leftover from past home decorating projects.  I used these to add some color to the table setting.  I had actually already hemmed the pink gingham square and used it several years ago for something, and the green Greek key-styled pattern was bought for throw pillows in Brack's room.  (I ended up using a vintage tractor pattern instead, so this piece was perfect for last night.)  I simply trimmed the edges with my pinking shears.  It still may become pillows one day, or I may use it somewhere else.  You never know!  Simple white-on-white striped napkins complemented the other textiles I used.

Choosing a clean white pattern ('White Satin" by Nikko) for my everyday dishes was the best decision I ever made.  These are appropriate for any occasion, and over the years, I have collected lots of bright colored and patterned salad plates to mix and match.  For this dinner party, I pulled out my gold chargers that I usually use during Christmas and a brass pot for the plant I used as a centerpiece. Gold candleholders and gold-tipped flatware rounded out my place settings.  I've already confessed my weakness for colored stemware, and here you can see another one of my treasures - a pretty pink pattern called "Heritage" by Fostoria. 

I picked up a pretty little cyclamen at Lowe's to use as a centerpiece.  Cut flowers are pretty and I really like to gather seasonal cuttings from my yard when I can, but often I will choose a house plant or annuals that I can use again in another place.  This little plant now resides in our bathroom window, where it gets the perfect amount of filtered light!

Together, my brothers and I have six growing kids who are picky, but hearty eaters, so I spent all of Sunday afternoon preparing lots of food to suit every taste.  I slow-cooked a beef brisket which was really good.  I also had a smoked Boston butt, which the kids all enjoyed smothered in barbeque sauce.  Jon loves hashbrown casserole, so it made an appearance, as did green beans, a baked mac and cheese and kale coleslaw with garlic rolls on the side.  I tried a new recipe for squash and corn casserole on Friday night while my in-laws were visiting, and it was a tremendous hit!  It serves an army, so I added a little more cheese on top and reheated the leftovers.  We finished it off last night. I will share this recipe with you very soon!

For dessert, I made my go-to sour cream pound cake.  Always a hit, I served it with strawberries and Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream.  Gerald's mother had made him his favorite cake over the weekend - a yellow cake with poured chocolate icing (the kind that hardens when it cools).  He had tried to hide the leftovers, but the kids discovered it and polished that off, too!

After dinner, the kids led us in a devotional where they read several of their favorite passages. Copeland gave us a little talk about "not giving up and not giving in".  They also led us in several devotional songs.

Brack read from Genesis chapter 1 about the creation of man.

He ended with, "Cool story, huh?!"

Anne Welch did a great job leading singing!

After the devo, Jewell read a little tribute she wrote about Uncle Jon.

And Mary Reagan shared her "Ode to Mimi".

The birthday girl with three of her grandkids.

  

Copeland ended the evening with a prayer and thanked God for our family and for all the memories we were making.  Amen to that!

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How to Tie a Knot (Around Your Husband’s Neck)

Gerald is not easy to buy for.  He loves to read, but he’s pretty particular.  He’d rather re-read a book he likes for the fifth time rather than take a chance on a new author.  He’s an avid hunter, but he has everything he could possibly need to bag the big one.  Believe me.  I’ve seen it.  All of it.  Spread out on the floor of our bedroom the night before hunting season begins.  He likes to spend time outside, but I’ll leave it to him to pick out his own hiking boots.  Or all-weather hat.  Or four-wheeler.

 

He’s hard to buy for, so after thirteen years together, I’d pretty much used up all my good ideas.  But one day as I dug through the basket of reading material in the bathroom (come on, admit it – you have one too!), I found it!  I knew exactly what I would get him.  I came across a folded mess of torn-out pages from a magazine.  It appears that Field and Stream has set out to educate our men about everything from gutting a deer to choosing the best fishing hole to tying the perfect knot.  That’s right.  He had torn out pages about how to tie knots.  Clove hitch, bowline, trucker’s hitch.  Then I remembered how excited he got when his brother gave him a kit containing a little blue plastic thing-y and a short length of rope you could use to perfect your rope tying skills.  (You see, his brother, Lonnie, is a rappeller, so it is very important that his knots stay tied.  Even though Gerald has never come backward off the side of a bank building in downtown Huntsville, held only by a rope around his waist, I guess I can understand that he, too, wants good, strong knots.)

 

 

Anyway – I had my idea.  I would find him a nice little how-to book on tying knots.  You know - something for the hunter or fisherman.  I began to look online.  My simple Google search of “knot tying book” led me to several websites and magazine articles, but one book kept popping up – The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley.  It seems Mr. Ashley literally wrote the book on tying knots.  It was a great idea.  Brilliant!  I would buy him the definitive book on knots and then he could tie to his heart’s content.

 

 

Amazon had reprints, but they were nearly $100.  You could get an e-book copy for just a few bucks, but how much fun was that?  You couldn’t hold it in your lap as you tried your knots, or take it with you to the woods to work with while you waited for a big deer to cross in front of the tree stand.  No – I was going to get the real thing.  But you know me – I was going to get a good deal on it at the same time.  So I turned to my old friend, eBay.

I found several listings, but one stood out.  It was a first edition.  1944.  Apparently, the first owner (a Mr. Edward E. Martin, according to the name on the inside cover) had mastered every knot possible (or died trying) and was ready to part with his beloved copy.  Or more likely, Ole’ Ed’s granddaughter was cleaning out the attic after Ed passed on and figured that there was a sucker out there somewhere that would pay good money for an old, dusty tome.  Enter me.

 

I ended up paying about $75 for it.  Close to what they wanted for a newer edition, but can you really put a price on a good idea?  I mean it was about tying knots, for Pete’s sake.  And it was a first edition.  Enough said.  I PayPal-ed it and it was mine.  It arrived and it was a little dusty.  A tad bit musty, but not to worry.  Just last week I had seen Martha Stewart showing how to restore mildewed books.  All it takes it a wood box, some sand, charcoal and…  Well, surely my trash bag and dryer sheet would do the trick.

 

It was nice and clean come Christmas when I wrapped it up and stuck it under the tree.  He’d never guess what it was.  Best idea ever!  What would I do next year to top it?  Christmas morning came and the kids were finished opening their gifts and Gerald had opened the requisite shirts, wallet and cologne.  Ah – the piece de resistance.  He opened it and studied it.  “Oh!  A book about tying knots,” he said.  He flipped through the pages and smiled and then put it down.  “Open your gifts,” he said.  “Don’t you like it?”  I asked.  He assured me he did, but with much prodding, he finally admitted it was primarily about nautical knots.  But knots are knots, I told him.  I thought you just liked to learn to tie them, I said.  (Kinda like me and the Food Network.  I mean does he really think that I ever intend to make my own pâté?)  But apparently, if you can’t use it to tie on a fishing hook, secure a deer to the back of a rack or somehow save yourself from plunging off a mountain to your certain and painful death, it isn’t interesting to him.  Well, who knew?  Obviously, I didn’t.

Did you know a noose is a knot, too?  Just sayin'...

 

The book is now sitting on the bookshelf.  I think often about listing it to see how much I can get for it on eBay, but I just can’t.  It was such a good idea.  Or so it seemed.  Maybe one day, he’ll take up sailing.  Or maybe he won’t.  (Right now a simple square knot is sufficient to tie the boat to the dock at the lake.)  Maybe it’ll sit there until I’ve made all the homemade pâté we can stomach and I decide that I’ll take up knot tying.  Who knows.  But it’s there.  Just in case any of your husbands want to borrow it.

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Give it away, give it away, give it away now...

If you've ever met my father-in-law, Braxton Jones, then you know what a gentleman he is.  He is quiet and unassuming.  He has a way with children, especially babies.  And most importantly, he has a heart the size of the sun!  Most who know and love him, call him "Pop".

 

Early last fall, he was cleaning out and packing up some stuff to donate to charity when he came up with an idea.  Why should he just give the items to some charity when his church could use this as an opportunity to meet the needs of the community while showing them the love of Christ?  He asked around and found lots of others who felt the same way, so he began to make plans for a "Give Away Day" at the Oxford church of Christ. 

 

Members of the congregation began to organize their donations and the day before the event, tables were set up in the fellowship hall so that items could be divided by type and even size.

 

Clothes, shoes, coats, toys and even appliances were donated.

 

 

Several members of the Oxford congregation volunteered to help with both set up and running the event, as well as through making donations.  (That's my sweet little mother-in-law, Martha Jones, in blue!)

 

 

They had advertised in the newspaper and a little with flyers posted around the neighborhood and also sent information to various community organizations who could get the word out to those who were in need.  The turn-out was incredible!  Dozens and dozens of local families stopped by and were able to get some great items they really needed.  At no charge, whatsoever!

 

There was definitely something for everyone!

 

As I mentioned, there was no charge, but they did ask for those who took items to sign a guest registry.  These names and addresses will be used to let people know about future Give Away Days and other outreach projects the church may have, as well as to invite them to events like VBS and Gospel meetings.

Pop cleaning up at the end of the day.

Whatever was left at the end of the day (and there wasn't much) was packed up and donated to charity.  I guess a lot of time and energy could have been saved by just doing that in the first place, but Pop knew that there was a need and that we are commanded as Christians to fill that need. 

 

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."  Matthew 25:35-40

I think Pop is planning another Give Away Day for later this year.  I am already helping my kids to go through their clothes and toys to find items they can donate.  This time, we will be going to actually help the day of the event.  I want my children to see how much need there is in the world.  I want them to know how good it feels to help others.  I want them to understand how blessed they are.  And I want them to stand proudly next to their Pop, the man who has such a big heart and such a great idea!

 

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Our 8th Annual Halloween Party...The one with no pictures!

I know the title for today's post is a little long, but considering I started with "Our 8th Annual Halloween Party...The one that we spent months preparing for and then forgot to take a stinking picture of so we can never prove it really took place", what I ended up with sounds pretty good.  With that out of the way, please continue reading...

 

Ahhh, the rush of throwing a party.  The weeks of planning and preparing, cleaning and complaining, and most of all, completing much needed tasks.  Gerald will swear that the reason I throw a lot of parties is to get him to accomplish major projects!  True, we can always use a touch-up in the yard.  You know - fresh pine straw.  Trees trimmed.  A new fire pit.  You get the idea.  Fall is a really busy time of the year for us.  We entertain a lot during this season, so there's always a lot of work to be done.  This fall is no exception!

We hosted our 8th Annual Halloween Party on Saturday, November 2nd.  What started several years ago with just a few friends has grown to over 85 in attendance this year!  Despite all the hard work, we really look forward to this event each year - almost as much as our kids do!  Since I have no pictures to show you, we'll treat this post more as a tutorial than a show-and-tell. 

The get-together has really taken shape over the years so there is less planning to do, but still lots of preparation.  I used to make the invitations by hand.  The first year or two, I just printed them on Halloween paper.  Then I began to make them using my Cuttlebug.  It would take a couple of days to assemble them, but they were always so cute! As our guest list grew, it became pretty time-consuming and expensive to both make and mail them.  Then I discovered etsy!  I can purchase and download the invitation file and have them printed at my local copy shop for a total cost of about $25.  I hand most of them out personally at church and to friends.  Others get addressed on the back just like a postcard and then dropped in the mail.  Easy, Peasy!  Our guest list consists of mostly family and church friends plus the kids' friends from soccer, dance and swimming.  Here is this year's invitation.

In the past, we would schedule the party on the Saturday before Halloween, but one year we were rained out and had to postpone it a week.  It landed on the weekend we set our clocks back, so we had an extra hour to sleep after the big cleanup! It worked so well, we have kept it that way the last couple of years. 

I try to pick up my paper goods at 50% off the day after Halloween and put them up for the next year.  It really makes a difference when you are planning for around 100 people!  I tie them up in a trash bag and place them in the attic.  Works great!

For the last few years, I have made chili to serve as the main dish and then everyone else brings snacks and drinks.  We always seemed to be heavy on sweets, (not that that's necessarily a bad thing!) so this year, I broke it up according to last name.  It worked pretty good.  I made 12 batches of chili and my sister-in-law, Clancy, made another crockpot full.  We actually had a little left over this time, so we must have hit the magic number this year.  (Gerald and I go through the line last and a couple of years have had to literally scrape the bottom of the chili pot!)  I also make a ton of lemonade and serve it in drink dispensers so the kids can fix their own.  (My SIL, Allison, found a couple of toddlers standing underneath one funneling lemonade this year.  Ooopps!)

Gerald tried for several years to make a haunted hayride, but after hours and hours of prep-work, ghosts on zip-lines that never seemed to work at the last minute, or the (big) kids spotting the leaf blower that was supposed to sound like a chainsaw, he's finally given it up.  For now, at least!  And my dad's bird dogs that howl all night long at their own shadow couldn't be paid to bark when the hayride passes the barn.  None-the-less, the hayride is always a fun time and it usually takes at least a couple of turns around the our place and then around my parent's place to get everybody a ride.

Gerald works for hours laying a bonfire.  I understand the premise behind a classic bonfire is to just pile up wood and branches that are cut down throughout the year.  We always have at least a couple of those piles on our place at any given time.  But Gerald is a perfectionist.  He spends a great deal of time laying the fire so that it not only has great impact on lighting, but it also is low and wide enough to roast marshmallows.

In the past we have put up about 40 torches around the outside of the yard "proper" so that the kids wouldn't wander too far out.  The kids are growing up and after the incident last year - Oh!  I'm getting ahead of myself...As it was getting dark last year, Gerald was lighting the torches.  He stuck his index finger in one to fish out a wick.  When it got stuck, he twisted his finger around to get it out.  I'm standing in the yard talking when Ashlynn Daly runs up and says, "Miss Missy, my mom needs to see you in the kitchen.  NOW!"  As I head up the deck stairs into the house, I see big drops of blood on the wood.  I then find my husband leaning over the kitchen sink with Nurse (Joy) Daly attending!  He needed stitches, so Clancy ended up taking him to the emergency room while I ran the party.  My brothers handled the hayrides and bonfire, and believe it or not, it was so crowded, a lot of people never knew what happened!  We decided that since the kids were getting older, the torches weren't a necessity, so we didn't put them up this year.  (We will at Thanksgiving because my daddy likes to look at them while we roast marshmallows!)

This year's party was a total success.  Except for one thing.  I forgot to make a SINGLE picture.  I know.  But don't say I didn't warn you.  (See blog post numero uno!)  Those of you who were here can just think back to what a fun evening it was.  The rest of you - just imagine the most wonderful Halloween party you've ever attended.  Yeah, that's the one.  Nice visual, huh?  Great.  Now project those pictures on my blog.  Good job!  Thanks!

We're already looking forward to next year!  Think I'll go ahead and lay out my camera...

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I HEART...Deer Season

 

Everybody loves Wednesday, right?

The week's half over.  The weekend is on the way.

What's not to love?

Each Wednesday, I want to share something with you

that I absolutely love and can't live without! 

  

I'm sure you're probably scratching your head right now wondering why I love deer season, right?  Well, let me explain.  I'm not a hunter, but Gerald is.  And so is Jewell.  And Brack.  And they hunt about two hours south of here in Georgiana where Mimi (formerly known as my Mama) grew up.  So why do I love deer season?  Three out of four people that live in my house (and I'm not one of 'em) travel four hours round trip once a week for nearly three months.  You do the math!  That's a lot of Mommy time!

And to be honest, while I'm enjoying time to decorate for the holidays, knock out some Christmas shopping, cook what I want to eat (or not cook at all!) and just generally unwind, they're having a blast sleeping in a camper, fishing, hunting and eating out of gas station.  (YooHoos and Slim Jims, anyone?)  It's a win-win situation!

There's a lot of preparation leading up to deer season.  Before we had kids, Gerald would dump out all his hunting gear (and trust me, there is a LOT of it) in the middle of the living room floor and then handle each and every piece lovingly as he repacked it.  No joke.  Now that we have kids, it's not nearly as enjoyable or relaxing.  It takes both of us to get everything thrown into tubs that will fit on his trailer.

A couple of weekends before opening day, Gerald takes time to sight in the guns.  Now that the kids are older, they can help.  I even do a little target practice myself!
 

 

You won't see a lot of pictures of me in the blog because I'm usually behind the camera, but I thought I should add this one so people would believe me!  And if you zoom in, you'll see there's only one shot that didn't hit the kill zone!

 

 

My red-headed stranger getting in some target practice.

 

 

Brack and his buddy, Chase, showing off their results.

 

 

Jewell, the deer slayer!

(Yep!  The prissy, "little Missy" has killed three!) 

 

Ain't she cute?

Even Madison, Jewell's BFF, got in on the action!

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago on an absolutely beautiful fall day.  The kids had their buddies spend the day and they did everything from drive the go-cart, to target practice, to Crazy Loom, to girls vs. guys in basketball!  We made homemade pizzas for dinner and then roasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate by the fire pit.

Well - it all paid off.  The opening day of gun season is not until this weekend, but last weekend was Youth Hunt in Alabama.  Gerald and the kids had a lot of fun and while Brack missed one, he brought home the bacon venison with this big guy! 

 

  

And yes, I will let him hang it on his bedroom wall.  He's my baby, after all!  His Daddy is not so lucky...I'm staring up at his trophy buck as I type at the computer, way in the back of the house in the office!

 

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I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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