Good ol' days

Okay, Look at that adorable face, what is not to love. So, I was thinking the other day at church, "hmm, Addie is now ten months old, pretty soon she will be in her twenties. " With that thought I looked around and realized what a lucky girl Addie is... there sure are some cute, adorable little boys out there. One may laugh and think, "gees mom, don't rush it,"
but it was just the other day (or so it seems) that my two little girls were just babies. Hold on to these hectic days girls, they are wonderful, packed, and exhausting, but they will be something you will smile at as you get older.

"And we headed off into the sunset"....

Saturday was a fun filled day. We, (Don, Katie, Scott and I) were going horseback riding but first we met Beth, Jarom and Addie and had breakfast at IHOP. Happily, with our pancake filled tummies we headed off to the horse ranch. When we got there, the place was full of people so we were not going to make our appointed time..... No problem, Don felt the call of nature and so had I, so Don ask the cowboy where the public bath room was. The guy looks at us with a smirk and pointed up into the woods at the....outhouse.

You have got to be kidding!

Now listen folks, I am not a snob and I actually have used an outhouse when I was a little girl visiting my relatives in Illinois but this place was a dump. IN outhouse ratings on a score from 1 -10 it was a sub zero. But ya gotta go, ya gotta go, if you know what I mean so my hero goes trudging off while I do the two step waiting to see what the Out come was. Hee, hee.

Don comes back out in a few minutes and he isn't grinning, as he walks past me and heads to our suburban. I watch him perplexed as he comes back and hands me a butt load of napkins from Subway. "Your going to need it", he tells me as he rubs disinfectant on his hands. In the meanwhile, back at the ranch, there are two people, (Husband and Wife) waiting in the dump pile for their time at the horses. The guy is looking at the ground with a grin on his face but heck if Don can do it, so can I. When I walk past him I smell the place before I get to it and this is what was waiting on the other side.

Now, the place must have been visited from a lot of unsuspecting, happy campers, with pancake filled tummies just waiting to come out. Puts a whole new meaning on PROJECTILE if you know what I mean. I look over thinking I am going to see Sears and Roebucks, nope,..... BEll South. Don, I love ya man, for giving me all those napkins. Has anybody read the experience of the woman going to the bathroom and didn't line the toilet, as her fat thighs trembled with the exertion of staying away from the toilet. Yep, I was there..... Finished, I go past the husband and wife, who are both now grinning looking at the interesting trash on the ground.

At last they are ready to start saddling everyone up on the horses. A whole bunch of people get saddled up and then Katie, Scott and Don...... but there was no horse for Sherry :( I was going to have to wait. But heck, I am an adult and so I paste a smile on my face and smile as everyone heads off into the sunset... there they go....

First I walk around with my camera swinging on my arm but I notice that the man and woman that was sitting in the dump pile had left so I go and find a place and sit down waiting for my turn at the horses. ( I was supposed to get an hour but instead got only thirty minutes). In the meanwhile this party of very classy women come up with about 7 little debutantes for a party and they ask the same cowboy if there is a table they can set up for the cake and gifts. (I wish I had taken pictures but didn't). I look where I am sitting at, ( a bunch of logs circling a dump site) and realize I am in the only area with a place to sit up. So I mosey on up and walk away while the woman starts kicking cans and trash into a circle. ( I really wanted to sit there and watch all the women's reaction to the place and when the little girls needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't). There is an old card table to the side and they spread a plastic table cloth over it and bring out this adorable cake with all kinds of plastic horses on it. I leave them to their problem and I decide to take pictures and this is what I took.

A Picture of this friendly horse.

Here is another picture of the friendly horse.

Okay, now I am getting bored.

I take one last picture of the friendly horse and see Don, Katie, Scott and rest of group heading back. I finally get to saddle up and take my ride which I had to admit was a lot of fun. I had a sweet horse named Lace and she was an angel. Needless to say, this is one of those trips that you look back on later on and laugh about. I grin as we walk off and I see a woman with a grim look on her face headed back from the outhouse.

the horse.... after a whiff of the breeze from the outhouse

WELCOME!

Scott and Boggie, they both look pretty pleased with each other, don't they!

Today we added a new member to our family. Jordan, Scott's girlfriend, gave Scott a beautiful, white, German Shepherd! Her name is Boggie and she is quite the little charmer. Already we have fallen in love with this smart puppy. Of course if her ears, paws and tail are any indication she won't be small forever.

Addie fell in love with the newest member of the family, she stretched her arms towards Boggie and said "dag":)

UAH

Okay, sometimes I think if you voice a wish out loud their must be angels around listening. Every time my children start a semester at college I am so proud of them but also I would give my eye teeth if I could be going. Years ago I went directly from school to work, but when I started to work at Motorola I was able to go to college with the company paying for it. I loved it, and unlike school I was totally devoted and made A's until I met Don.... My A's went down to a B and I did finish the quarter but went after and received my MRS degree. The next 25 years, as all stay at home mom's know, were devoted to Husband, children, family and church. Don't get me wrong I love doing that also but now..... Now I get to start doing a little something for me. My sister Joan told me that mom was telling her about a program that is called Con't. Education at UAH. The teacher's are retired teachers, professors, etc who donate their time and talents. They offer a whole range of classes: French, Spanish, German, Economics, etc. My sister Joan could not go, she has a lot going on and already takes art classes, but I called my friend Sandy, who I must say is adventurous and did not hesitate to say YES, she would take the class with me. Of course, at the moment she thought I meant like the next year or so, but in less than four days we were going to our first class which is the 7 habits of Highly Effective People by S. Covey. I love that Class and Sandy did too so she called Diane another great friend and told her about it now we all three go. Sandy and I are only taking two classes, and Diane one, but we love it a lot. We laugh a lot and it is just fun being me without a title for one day. Just learning and hanging with the girls.... Oh, and Sandy and I also signed up to volunteer at the Republican Headquarters. That's an exciting place to be. So my busy schedule just got a lot busier but I couldn't be happier. I ask my World Lit. teacher if she would teach a class on creative writing and she said she would seriously think about it. I can't wait till the next quarter. The fact is life is what we make it, how we perceive it, and what dreams we let catch flight. :)

From the time that Beth entered Kindergarten I would take a picture of their first day of school, so here is mine and Sandy's.