A Rip in My Pants

Thinking back now, I seem to have bad luck with clothes and finding rips/breaking zippers in the bathroom. I have just discovered a rip in my pants. Don’t look, I will be changing them at lunch. That’s what I get for wearing my jeans anywhere at any time (this rip looks like a rip caused by barb wire). And its not just jeans, I’ve been known to do some pretty crazy things in my work clothes. I mean doesn’t everyone feed hay during lunch in their heels?? '

Speaking of heels, Miranda Lambert sang with some other girls on a show a while back and the song was .. wait, I just looked it up, the band is called Pistol Annies and they sang Hell on Heels. Oh wait, with a little more research here is the actual performance!!!! I love it, but I’m already a big fan of Miranda. And I can't wait to see more of them. It could be a combination of voices from Miranda - one girl sounds like Sheryl Crow, they are awesome!

Under My Fingernails!!

First off, I wash my hands, take pretty good care of myself, etc. But sitting at my desk this morning I’ve discovered something under the fingernails on my left hand. How odd. Where did it come from? What is it? It had to have happened between 7-8 this morning, after my shower… and I’ve washed my hands twice since then. Hum its brownish red in color and isn’t gritty. So the more I look under my nails the more disgusted I am. Hope you all have a laugh for the day. And check out my creation for dinner under the food page! Tate even ate it.

I Laughed

Many of you may know that I follow other people's blogs as well. People who inspire me, give me great ideas and make me laugh. I laugh at them, enjoy their comments and then laugh more at people who comment on their blogs. But you all should visit this blog. A Christian mother, businesswoman, photographer, chef, and much more, who had a blog post get way out of hand with comments. The end of the story is keeping things in perspective. I think that's what I was actually trying to accomplish the other day on the weight / children issue.

Everyone has their own perspective. Everyone has their own causes to support or issues that they find most important. And last but not least, it's not a matter not having enough time, it's a matter of fitting what's important to you in time that you have. No two people will have the same list. Yes, I would love to do more, be in more places and support more causes, but I can pretty much tell you on one hand the most important areas of my life and where I will spend my time. I admire those who can spread themselves out so much, but I wouldn't pass up feeding cattle every evening with the kids. That's my time to smile, learn, watch and be proud!!!

Rain Drops

It rained, I hate to brag because I know there are areas where it didn't! Later today under the Food page I will write about the pesto burgers I made last night. Can't tell you if they were any good, we are eating them at lunch today! Have a great day.

Weight to Children

There has been so much talk in my life recently about weight. Friends I know dieting, Ryan wanting to loose weight, me not really caring as long as my pants fit every day. But most importantly I think we need to remember the example we are setting for our children. I was always very conscious of my weight, wanted to be in shape, hated going clothes shopping because nothing fit right, and just plain jealous of what other people looked like. My heaviest and lightest weight in 10 years is 15 pounds apart. So I really have nothing to complain about and while I could stand to loose another 8 pounds...that's not my priority. I have become happy with the way I look and feel and how my clothes fit. Much less, I actually have a cute swim suit this year! (Thanks Mom)

But now that Tana is 2, it's made me think very hard about her. I want her to know that she is cute, I tell her she is beautiful all the time, because she is and she needs to know that. Kids need to hear things actually spoken, that they are loved, beautiful, you are proud of them, etc. While Tana's not as petite as some 2-year-olds, I don't want her to grow up and at 16 or 26 still have issues with her weight. I want her to be happy and proud of what she looks like just like I am. I haven't dyed my hair in three years, much less been on a regular exercise program and I typically eat what I want. Why...because I work, I work my butt off every day at home, carrying feed, moving round bale feeders, climbing on the back of the truck, doing fence work, and who knows what else. So it's not like I'm one of those that sits on the couch all day either. But I think it is very important for little girls to know that they are beautiful and that size does not matter. I completely understand that if you feel like you need to loose a few pounds for health reasons, or to set a goal, go for it, but there is a limit to when enough is enough and you have to look in the mirror and be happy.

When people ask me where I came from, how I got here and all of the opporutnities I was given in life I ask them if they remember the song that talks about sitting on daddy's lap and you can be anything you want to be. My family was that song. There wasn't a single person that told me I wasn't smart enough to do it, or couldn't do it or we couldn't afford it. If there is a will there is a way and you just get creative. I'll get off my soapbox now!!! Again children should be loved and everyone should be thankful. Not sure how I got from weight to children!

Spinach Dip

Lesson #1 - a very good sharp knife will not cut through a frozen package of spinach. Okay, I only wanted to make half of the dip and save the rest, be oh well, we made it all. And actually almost ate it all.

1 package frozen spinach - I heated it in the microwave and squeezed the water out.
1 block cream cheese - cubed and added to the spinach after you did step 1, back to the microwave to melt, mix well!!
seasonings -add whatever you want and mix well - we added red pepper flakes, onion powder and garlic powder.
add 1 cup of cheese - any will do - we added mozzarella, mix well.

In a different life I would have put the above mixture into my stone baking dish covered in cheese and in the over for a few moments until it bubbled and the cheese turned brown. But in my life we don't have time for some of those steps because a hungry husband cannot wait. Hum, that sounds like a great cookbook title!!!

Easter Weekend & More

There are more photos under the Family Page, but with Tana being a year older she didn't need much coaching in hunting Easter Eggs! Also, check out the pizzas under the food page that we made Friday night!

It's Monday all over again, but it's wet outside, so that makes it okay! We are waiting on six more calves to be born and will rearrange everybody in an effort to let the pastures green up. Good nights sleep, moisture in the ground and fun with the kids made for a great weekend!

Flashback

I stumbled upon some old photos....from when Ryan and I first met and the few weeks after!!!

This is a pasture in Oklahoma, so beautiful.

Remember I knew from very early on that this was going to be my husband some day...

And he even took a picture of me.

This was not so long ago, but when Tate got his new saddle. Ryan leaning on the fence with a beer in his hand watching Tate ride!

Cammarah

That's how Tana pronounces camera!!! She has now realized (ever since I made a really big deal over her first bicycle ride), that I'll take pictures of her at any time! After feeding the animals last night, she pulled out both her Radio Flyer Tricycle and her Huffy Bicycle (with training wheels) and pointed to the driver side door of the truck telling me cammarah. She wanted me to get the camera out before she started riding! Too cute, she's a mess.

I must report, the small wind the other night, the shower the next night and possibly the rabbits have taken a toll on the pepper plants. It's so sad I couldn't even take a picture. I'll check them tonight and report more later.

My mother-in-law makes a killer spaghetti pie and even though she won't touch it, makes several for us to take home! Thank you! And while I would love to share the recipe with you...I won't. It's going to be one that stays with us for a while, besides why would I want the recipe, she makes it!!!! There are just some things other people do better. Or maybe it just tastes better because I didn't spend the day in the kitchen cooking!

Foam Rollers & Sprinkles

My hair is getting rather long and it usually winds up under Ryan's head or in my arm pit before the night is over. So I had brilliant idea of purchasing foam rollers and rolling my hair. I slept great! But it wasn't until I began unrolling my hair this morning that I realized I made a big mistake. There is absolutely nothing you can do with this much hair that looks like it had a bad perm. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, not sure that I will ever be able to get my hair straight again!

It sprinkled last night!!!! How exciting, we didn't receive much snow this year, and have had no rain. While it was only enough to cover the dirt, here are a few pictures!

Yes I took pictures of the sprinkles and tiny droplets that fell off the building. We were so excited.

Check out some of the other pages, there are new pictures and stories there too!!!

Skint Knees, Pretty Dresses and Baby Calves

Tana is a spitting image of me, I guess it's time to admit it. She's a graceful as I am, can trip over a shadow, a rock, you name it. And that's exactly what she did on Saturday when we arrived at the church before the Ball-Williams wedding. And no, they were no relation to me. She tripped on the nicely paved parking lot, and skint her knee. It bled, but one of the bridesmaids had band aids. Tana and the Ball family have prepared for this special day for so long. The pretty dresses have been hanging in the house, the shoes in boxes and baskets ready. So the day came and Tana was so excited, she was so proud of her dress, her sparkly shoes and her skint knee. She showed it to everyone she knew.

She was beautiful. But while I spent the day following her around...I took no pictures, so I do hope that someone took a picture so that I can show it off.

Sunday we spent time with the cows, moving panels, counting calves and preparing for a load of yearlings coming in this week. Tana is very brave, she shows not much fear while walking amongst cows and groups of baby calves. She just wishes one would stand still long enough for her to pet them. She's so sweet, and when she does get scared she hides in the creep feeder and watches the calves watch her.

We also moved a small set of heifers to help eat the weeds on one of our pastures. Tana and I went down first and arranged gates, turned on water and tied the gates I wasn't strong enough to close. She loved watching the water trough fill up...she was actually dropping rocks in, but in the weather we have had, that won't hurt a thing. Later Ryan came down with the feed truck with heifers following. Tana stood at the water trough forever, until she looked up and saw a heifer staring at her. Ryan and I saw the whole thing, and while many parents would immediately pick up their child and run. That's just not us. We know our cattle, raised these girls and Tana helps feed every day. But the look on her face was priceless as she realized she hadn't moved or looked up in a while!

The garden is improving! 32 Jalapeno plants were not so gently planted last night. Tana helped! Half of them were uprooted in the containers and shoved in the dirt, the other half were beat with a small scoop. Will work on getting the rest of the plants this week and hope to have an updated picture soon!!!

No Sleep, Wind, Dirt and More

Well the only reason we lost sleep last night was because the wind blowing at 60 mph was loud, every metal star hanging on a nail had to be removed because they were tinking against the wall. Any piece of dirt not attached to roots is in South Texas by now and I'm sure people to the south will see interesting pieces of trash that probably originated in Canada! We are all miserable...include the cows. The electricity has been off and on, thank goodness Ryan's parents live in town and never mind when we crash their house! Prayers for those with fires and everybody better be careful.

Cousins

It is very important to me that Tana know her cousin Reign...why...because my cousins were my brothers and we all have memories. So you will love the photo below and all of those posted under family!!! Also, added a new critter. He's actually the second oldest of ten calves we've added to the herd the last few weeks and he's a good looking guy!!!

Pat Your Own Back

Sometimes you need to pat your own back. You know, find something that makes you feel good, worth something. So today I stumbled upon the article that featured this 'my' blog in Blogging Women and this is the description:

A true country woman, born and raised on a ranch, documenting the stories of building a ranch with her husband, raising children and enjoying life.


I've never felt better in my entire life!! That made me smile, once again!

Be thankful for what you have, even if it's not enough! I often forget to be thankful and remain stressed about the future.

Catch Up

Today I will have several posts, about the trip, family, food and more!!!! First, I love cast iron claw foot tubs, and in my future dream home, where we all have our own rooms and bathrooms, with a beautiful kitchen...I hope to have a claw foot tub in my bathroom... In East Texas it seems as though every other front yard has one with flowers in it!!! And they are not cheap. So yes, I took a flying trip to Tyler, with Tana getting car sick twice, but we still made great time. Then I got to see my cousins and Reign...you'll see picture of him later.

While I was in Tyler, Tana got to see my family and help...

Tana helped GG and PaPa (my mother's parents) plant their garden. You should really study these pictures, they have an amazing garden!!!! Check out family & food, I've got a few pictures posted there too, and more later today. Have a great week!!!

Our Beautiful Family

What else do you say? Two years ago I took a similar picture of just Ryan and Tate, so this was very special for us! And below, Tana found my shadow!!!! There are more photos under critters, a great recipe under food and a NEW PAGE!!!

Tate now has his own page of photos! He's done very well.