Saturday, January 31, 2015

January gone?

WOW!
January sure flew past. 
It was a crazy busy month for us. 

A wrestling tourney and a basketball tourney a week, not to mention at least one practice a week for each sport. 

Caden is doing great in wrestling.
The below pic is of a pin he did in something like less than 30 seconds. 


Basketball has been amazing as well.


The Hubby turned the big 50 and we had a little get together with friends that we both really enjoyed. 

Colton left on his European Adventure.
I couldn't hardly talk about it for a few days though because every time I did I just wanted to bawl. 

He is currently in Scotland going to school every day and touring the country side and city by night. 
He says the fish and chips are better than any he's ever had.
The whiskey is phenomenal and the beer tastes like American beer. 
The weather is a bit warmer than what we have here  - about 40ish during the day and freezing at night. This is where he is currently staying in Scotland. 
Pretty Amazing eh?

Biggest obstacle of being overseas is the freaking cell phone.
Our carrier has about the worst damn cell plan EVER!
50cents per text sent/received and an outrageous 1.99 a min to talk.
AND apparently Scotland does not have wifi like the US does. 
Needless to say we have not talked to him yet.
He's posted some stuff on facebook when he's manged to find wifi and is working on either emailing or putting his pictures on a cloud thing for me to get. 
Stay tuned for amazing pictures of Scotland. 


Dozer continues to grow.
He is almost 8 weeks old. 
About potty trained, but will have an accident occasionally. 
He and Dodger play continually.


later :)


Monday, January 19, 2015

Free day

For whatever reason the company I work for chooses to observe MLK day.
Fine with me, I'll take a paid day off. 

It's also either my sixth or seventh anniversary of having quit smoking.
Funny I can't remember how long it's been.
Guess it doesn't really matter. 
Good riddance, I say. 

In other news:

Caden has another wrestling tournament tomorrow after school.
He is stoked. 

The Hubby turns the big 50 on Friday.
Imagine that. 

Chyann has an actual "first date" on Saturday.
Her Daddy is nervous. 
He'd like her to take a friend as chaperon, interrogate the boy, show him that he has guns and a few other odd things that I have absolutely said NO to.
Should be interesting.

I'm confident Chyann will be fine. 
As for the boy, well we've known him for years and years. He is very nice.
All will be well, but you can't tell her Daddy that.
Deep breath.

Also we wont be having any damn double standards here.
What Colton got to do at 17, Chyann will have the opportunity to do at 17.
No if and's or buts about it - so there.

Nine days until Colton leaves.


Dozer is six weeks old now. 
Damn near as big as his Mother. 
He is a frisky cute pup.



Later folks, I'm off to enjoy the day :)

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Week in review:

What a week.

The lovely Chyann turned 17 on Tuesday!
She is an amazing young lady.
Strong, smart, beautiful, determined - the list goes on and on.
We couldn't be more proud of her.

(Jeff check out that sockeye in the window!)


Yesterday was Caden's first wrestling tournament in a nearby town.
I was so tense and felt like puking all three times he wrestled. 
My hands were even shaking.
Somehow managed to get a few decent pictures taken. 

The first match I think he was nervous and was unsure how to put the moves together to win, he lost 0 to 5. 
Second match he was ahead until the last second and ended up losing by one point - 5 to 6
Third match he figured it out and went into beast mode winning 12 to 4.
Caden is the boy in red.


The coaches and even other parents said Caden did wonderfully and shows some real talent.
Pretty damn exciting I tell you! 


The boys who wrestled in the tourney - except for the little boy in blue.


My big kids even came!


We actually got home before dark so Chyann and I decided to take a little ride. 
It was above freezing and our snow is melting - a little taste of the spring!
It was windy as hell too.

Maybe not the most ideal day to ride since the horses haven't been ridden since November, but that was ok. 
Jenny was super fresh and totally full of piss and vinegar. 
She gave Chyann a run for her money a time or two. 


I rode the ever trusty Scotch and enjoyed every moment. 



later :)

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sunday AM Coffee

Top of the Morning to ya!

What a week. Today I'm not doing anything but watching football and maybe napping on the couch.

Highlight of the week was yesterdays all day basketball tournament in our town.
The boys played hard, but unfortunately got their buts kicked all three games they played.
Two of the games went into overtime, but they just couldn't maintain their lead and ended up loosing.
Which is not a bad thing. Maybe they'll all spend a little more time practicing their ball handling skills instead of being mesmerized by their ipods/phones/tablets or whatever.

Technology is not a bad thing if, as with anything, it is used in moderation.
In talking to some of the mothers yesterday it seems most of them do not put a limit on how much screen time their kids get. One gal even seemed to brag that her kid was on his tablet from the moment he came home from school till bed.
Really? To me that is ridiculous.

Both the big kids attended Caden's games and left as soon as they were over. The Hubby and I stayed behind to help clean up.

When we arrived home I couldn't believe what was waiting for me.

Some back ground on the situation:
It's been damn cold here. Over night temps anywhere from -15 to -20 and daytime highs maybe up to zero and the WIND! The wind has been howling! School was even cancelled on Wednesday due to wind chill values in the -45* range.  So Dodger gets to come in the house and is either confined to the entryway with the other dogs when we are gone or with someone when they elsewhere in the house. Can't have the big lummox freezing outside now can we? He is pretty good, but will occasionally get a bit wiggly if left on his own.

However when the big kids came home they neglected to either confine the dogs to the entryway or keep an eye on them. They went on their merry way to their rooms leaving them with the run of the house.

Imagine my surprise when upon entering the house I find that the bowl of scraps that goes to the compost pile had been stolen off the counter and eaten - yes the bowl too. The container of bacon grease upended on the kitchen floor!

Container of bacon grease you ask? Well you've got to do something with it right? So it goes into an empty ice cream bucket when its still warm and pour able. When the container is full it goes to the trash. I'm not even kidding, the kitchen floor was more slick than an ice rink! How do you even go about cleaning that mess up? UGH. Fun times folks.


Next weekend will be Caden's first wrestling tournament. I'm excited!

Chyann will be 17 on Tuesday. Still can't get over that.

Colton actually has quite a few assignments that are due to be handed in before he leaves on the 28th and has been working on those. He's got all his gear ready for the trip. Yes, the events that occurred in France this last week are worrisome, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

later :)

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Animal Wednesday

That Dodger.


Casper is going to nail him one of these days. 
Dodger thinks that they are playing, but I'm pretty sure Casper doesn't think so.






Monday, January 5, 2015

Who knew?

A little background on the situation:
Our little dog Beegee is not spayed. 
She comes into heat about once a year for maybe two days at the most.
We've not owned a male dog or had any in the area that were not neutered until we got Dodger.
So..
Just before my Dad and Jeanne came for a visit the first part of October we got Dodger neutered because he was smelling around Beegee like she was going to be in heat soon.
Problem solved.

Wrong.
Yes he was neutered but apparently even after neutering a dog those pesky hormones remain in their system for about three weeks.
UGH.
So while my family visited that is all we saw when we went outside - Dodger attempting to mount Beegee because she'd stand for him all day long. 
Crimaney. Let me tell you that got old fast.
Anywho she was out of heat right after they left and life returned to normal - no more humping dogs.

We didn't realize Beegee was pregnant until about 10 days before she gave birth.
She was just huge all the sudden.
We figured there had to be about three pups in there. 

When she went into labor of course it was late on a Sunday night and we could immediately tell that there was going to be problems. 
After an hour of laboring she finally was pushing the first baby out. 
His head was all that she could deliver.
I went and got the Hubby and we/he somehow eased that pup out.
The pup was totally unresponsive.

The Hubby was the hero of the night because he was able to save him by preforming a bit of CPR, massage and all that.

Meet Dozer - so named because he bull dozed his way into life.
He is four weeks old today and damn near as big as his mother.


Of course the kids want to keep him, but I don't think so - really.


We do not need another dog.
The Hubby says he'll prob be the perfect sized dog, good tempered and not shed.
Maybe who knows  - or he could be the goofiest looking dog in creation.

Stay tuned for Dozer updates.
FYI - he was the only pup Beegee had. 

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Hello 2015!


I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday.
Me, I'm gad it's all done and over with.

We had a wonderful holiday, but the hustle and bustle of it all combined with our busy lives - which just seems to get busier all the time, wore me the hell out. 
Hence the mini blog vacation.

Colton is home now until he leaves for Europe on the 27th. 
You would not believe all that he is required to bring with him or the things he is prohibited from bringing or doing while in Europe.
For example no clothes with American symbols - flags or slogans - for bands/food/teams. 
Apparently they aren't to advertise/tell that they are even from America unless it's within the scope of the many interviews with local people that they are doing. 
That in and of itself makes me nervy. 

Chyann and Caden return to school tomorrow. 
Their holiday vacations from school seem to be getting shorter every year. 

Chyann will be the big 17 in a mere 10 days.
Is that incredible or what?! 
No idea what she wants to do this year for her birthday. 
Personally I'd like to take her skiing, but we'll see. 

Caden is entrenched in training and practicing for wrestling and basketball. 

His basketball team had their second tournament yesterday and it was amazing!
They played four games and won three of them. 
Which brought them a second place ribbon for the tourney. 
The team they lost to had some huge boys on their team and they were rotten sports. 
One boy I particularly wanted to whoop.
He'd trip our boys, smash into them knocking them to the ground and scream in their faces when he was guarding them. 
What an ass.
You'd think the refs would have seen more than what they called called on him, but I suppose they can't see it all. Still, it really burned me.

My kids thought I was obnoxious at games - shouting and telling the boys to find their man when on defense and get their arms up, but apparently I am a calm good basketball mother compared to some other ladies that we saw yesterday. 
One gal actually got kicked out of the game for cussing the refs and hollering at the kids on the court. 

Anywho, here's a little video of Caden making a good layup.


And getting a free throw in.
I'm still totally thrilled how much the boys have all improved from last year. 


In other news: We've finally got some snow on the ground.
(you'd think these ponies would have the sense to go into the barn, but no)


Just in time for it to get brutally cold out. 
With temps this week not expected to get much above zero and wicked wind chills anywhere from -20 to -50. It is going to be an ugly week. 

This morning I made some more of my red wine vinegar garlic jalapenos. 
Found a recipe online and gave it a bit of tweaking, these bad boys go well on every food.
From fried taters to salads - YUM!


Stay warm folks :)