They Got the Whole World in Their Hands........

Sometimes in life it just feels like you have a lot on your shoulders. It seems where ever you turn there is more (laundry) things to do. I do not think that there is ever a time when you can just sit down and say, "I have everything finished. There is not a single thing left for me to do." I have instructed help with this. I have been living in my house now for about 2 years and it's a disaster area!! How can one accumulate so many "treasures". My sister has introduced me to Fly Lady. I have started her program and I have accomplished a lot of things. My sink is shinny and my dishwasher, well it still needs unloaded, and I am not wearing my shoes, but I do have a shinny sink!! I think it's kinda neat having a cleaning "coach". It kinda lifts the world off my shoulders.

Or I can just enlist Big Cowpoke to hold it up for me. Wow, that is nice to have someone take on the load once and a while. But as you can see Cowpokes can get distracted. He couldn't hold onto it for too long. Then I must get some stronger shoulders. I am sure glad I have back up!! Back up that puts dirty clothes in the washer, unloads the dishwasher, and puts away the food after dinner so I won't snack on it and go over my calorie limit. I am sure glad I have my back up. Thank you for being there for me!!

There are also times when you just have to forget about holding up the whole world on you shoulders and just go out and have a good time. Which I do often trying to avoid my household duties.

I challenge all of you to stop what you are doing, (not before commenting please) an go out and have some fun!!!

A Close Shave

From a past incident from Little Cowpoke. I have decided to give him a shaving kit. This kit has a rubber razor and cherry shaving cream. I bet you didn't know that a 2 year old needed to shave!
He was so proud of himself for putting on his shaving cream. So serious. He had to concentrate really hard. Little Cowpoke had to make sure he got all the hairs off. Can't be all scratchy when rubbing up against his blanket. Don't forget the upper lip!!One last spot!! And I think he has got it all. I really have never seen him so serious. He was in deep thought. This kid thinks he is 21. After he gets out of the shower he has to has deodorant on and he loves to smell good. He prefers Cool Water cologne. Then he likes to have his hair spiked with gel. I think I am in trouble. He is high maintenance at 2!!

Brodi Dog

I have this dog. He is very special. I have had him for 8 years now. He is a wonderful boy. He loves love, and loves to be pampered. At times I have thought of him as a large house cat. He lounges around the house taking lots of naps and he is ever so emotional. His face has so many expressions. I am not saying this just because he is mine, he really is a special dog. He is not like a real dog. He has been this way since I got him. I found my first love, Brodi, at the young age of 5 months old. He was at the dog pound. He was the last one of the litter. I walked into the pound and looked at all the other barking dogs and I was thinking, "I don't want any of these loud jumpy dogs." Until I looked at the kennel behind the door. It was him. Just sitting there all sweet. He never jumped up or even barked. When I took him into a room to play, he just wanted up on my lap to be petted and loved. That was just the beginning of a long friendship.

I took him home and have loved him ever since. We have been on many adventures together. Brodi and I have traveled cross country a few times, and he loves to go to horse shows, and he has been in his fair share of dog shows. I just love that dog!

He has a great personality. If you look closely to that picture you will notice his left paw slightly lifted. He is being a wimp here. Telling me how his paw hurts. There is really nothing wrong with it. He just wants you to feel bad for him. He is a faker!!! And then look at that pathetic face. He is giving me that look of "please pay attention to me mom". Brodi is really a funny dog.

What I love the most about Brodi is how lazy he is. I love how he is always up for a good nap. But he is not a normal dog. He can not just nap on the hard floor. He prefers my bed, but he is dirty so he is not aloud in my bed. So, when he can not sneak into my bed, he sleeps elsewhere. Here is my Jack Rabbit dog. It's a new breed. They love to sleep with their legs up. I actually think he was really trying so hard to fit on the kids' beanbag. Ahhh yes. That is better more comfy. That is my Brodi dog. Just as long as he is comfortable. I think he looks like a rabbit, with big back legs!! He is such a good boy. I couldn't imagine a day with out him. He is defiantly part of the family.

I've Been Tagged.

I have never been tagged before!! This is my first time. It was sent to me by a really fun girl over at St. Fairstead. I love reading about her farm live!! She has great pictures too. But here it goes. This was pretty fun.


Two names you go by: Andrea or MOM!!!
Two things you are wearing right now: PJ pants and an old T-shirt.
Two of your favorite things to do: Riding my horse and Tickling my kids.
Two things you want very badly: A digital SLR and to loose 30 pounds!!
Two favorite pets you have had/have: Brodi dog and my horse that I had three years ago, Strapper Nick
Two people you think will fill this out: Amanda because she has "nothing" to blog about and Lori over at A Cowboy's Wife.
Two things you ate today: Special K with Strawberries and milk.
Two people you last talked to today: Big Grandma and Little Cowpoke.
Two things you’re doing tomorrow: Going to a Mardi Gras Parade.
Two longest car rides: While growing up my mom would drive us from Ohio to the cost of California every summer and a drive from Louisiana to Northwest Ohio.
Two favorite holidays: Thanksgiving and Easter.
Two favorite beverages: Water and Cranberry Apple juice.

There I've done it. Now you all know about me. I know I know I am just too wild and crazy. I do need to calm down some more!! Thanks for having me do this Ang! Y'all come back now ya hear!

Pig Show

I have never been to a pig show before. I have a friend who's son shows three pigs. I was so excited to go and see them. I got there late, of coarse, so I missed the three shows, but I was on time for the showmanship portion of the competition. It was really neat. People shave their pigs and get them all greased up and then walk them around the arena. It is really cool. My friend's son got one first, one second, and one third place. He did really well!! I learned a lot about pigs. One even peed on me, gross!!!

Here is the "showman" with his male pig. I forget his name. He also had two females named Evangeline and Dumbo. Here he is trying to get comfy!! I can't get over how big they are!!Finally he got comfy. He just stretched out and went to sleep. After some time, Little Cowpoke got brave enough to go and pet the pig. He was really greasy and his hair was shaved, so he felt really spiky. In this photo he is sitting like a dog. It's really cute!!"Does someone want to feed me?" I just think he is really cute. Look at those sweet eyes. I even rubbed his snout. I think I am in love!! I want a pig!! I can't wait for my kids to show pigs! I am so excited. My next photos are not very good. I have no idea what was up with my camera? So they are out of focus. But it shows how the pigs are shown.
You walk around with a little whip and make them turn and do all sorts of things. The girl in the pink won the class. Here he is going in front of the judge. Showmanship is hard. You have to have a calm pig that will walk slow and listen to you. All in all, my friend had a great show day. He did a fantastic job!!

Little Cowpoke

There is something special about a middle child. I am not one, but I have been around them a lot. Little Cowpoke is a middle child. He is a good sport about being the middle child. He is full of life and joy. It doesn't take much to please him. He loves the attention that is given to him. Little Cowpoke is also very artistic. He thinks "outside the box". Always coming up with new ways to play games or ways to beat up his older brother. I knew I was in trouble when he was just 2 years old and he stood up on a chair to get at his brother's height to punch him better. All in all he is a real joy to have a round. I love his laugh. I love how he talks, or mumbles. I love how he has a sweet soft spot for his little sister. There defiantly something special about the middle child.
He is always good for a laugh. I can count on him to bring joy to any situation. He shares too!! He always lets his siblings go first. Always thinking of others. He also has a love of trucks. Trucks that can pull, trucks that can go off roading. Old trucks and new trucks. He really loves lunch trucks. Here he is showing his artistic side. (my sister took this photo at lunch one day.)Is there any other way to eat a hot dog?Little Cowpoke is also very adventurous. He is not afraid of anything. He loves to live free and go fast. I just love this kid. He cracks me up. I love his adventurous spirit. I just love my middle child.

Things That Go Bump in The Night!

Last night, well really early this morning, our mare, Blaze had a little baby girl!!! I am so excited. We bred her to our stud, Red. We were really hoping for a paint baby with some color, but she came with no spots. She will have some white on her legs but non on her body. Which came as a big surprise for us being that this mare has always had colored babies. Yet, she is cute non the less. Let me introduce you to the proud momma. Her name is Blaze and she is a breeding stock paint. Which means she is a paint horse but she doesn't have any spots. She is 10 years old and a really wonderful momma. She loves to be a mom. She is winking for the picture. She loves her privacy too. Blaze does not like any horse around her. At first she didn't want us around her. She was hogging the baby and would not let us see her. But this curious little girl wanted to know who came to see her. She wouldn't let her mom stand in her way of some photos. She is a brave little girl. Wanting to see what Little Cowpoke and I were doing. See the momma pinning her ears at the other mares. She is saying, "Stay Away!!" She really wanted to know what we were doing. Such a sweet girl!! I love the young curiosity.She definitely knows how to use those legs. She walked around her mom and over to us and back. That is a lot of walking for only about 5 hours old!! They are so sweet!! I just love new babies and their mommas.Then I just had fun playing with some pictures. I am far from a photo shop queen, but I hope someday to be. I love it. She so loves to have her picture taken. A little model in the making!Here she really looks little. All stocky like a good cow horse should be!This is the curliest tail I have ever seen. She already loves to have pretty hair. I can see how high maintenance she is going to be.

After all her pictures she was plum tuckered out. She just laid down for a nap.

She is so tiny. I cannot believe it!!!Here Little Cowpoke stands and watches the foal. He really wanted to pet her. She needs a name. Any of you have any suggestions?Out like a light. We decided to leave them alone. They both looked sleepy. Thanks for stopping by, Y'all come back now ya hear.

Camping Out

For Christmas the boys got this really great tent from Santa. It is a shark tent. The boys have been begging me to put it up. So, the other night while they were in the tub I thought I would do it, all by myself. It seemed simple enough. It only had two polls that came with it, so, come on how hard can it be? Well I put the first poll in and about .5 seconds after that I was yelling, "Mr. Cowboy, could you please some and help me?" It was challenging for my small blonde mind! He had it up on no time. This tent is awesome.

Here are the two boys standing in front of it. It has fins, a dorsal fin, gills teeth, eye balls, a fish in his mouth, and lots of room. They were really excited about the camp out. Here the shark has eaten Big Cowpoke right up!! Oh dear!! I can sit inside this tent it is so roomy!! Little Cowpoke hid in the back with is Passie and Blanket. We had him broke of the passie until Cowpokette came into our lives. We will take it from him again, sometime.

The next day after the great camp out was Aggie Day at Big Cowpoke's school. We got to watch hogs shown and goats, and some calves too. There was a dog show too. Big Cowpoke wanted to show both our dogs, Bear and Brodi. So we loaded them all up and went to Aggie Day. It was so neat. Little Cowpoke was very impressed with the hogs. He couldn't believe how big they were. It was cute to hear him say, "WOW look how big!!" Big Cowpoke took the dogs in all sorts of categories. We didn't win any ribbons. Oh well, they were superstars to me. I forgot to take pictures. But I did get one on the way home of Big Cowpoke and Brodi.

They were both tuckered out. How sweet Brodi is. And to think he was so jealous when Big Cowpoke was born. And again, thumb sucking. We are trying to stop that too. Now onto dinner. Yum. Two of my favorite things, noodles and cheese. This is my lasagna roll ups. You make lasagna but roll it all up and cook it standing up. Oh it is so yummy. I used a recipe off the back of my ranch dressing bottle. Oh it is so delicious.
Here they all are snuggled together after baking. Oh this is so yummy. I didn't put any meat in it and you were supposed to put spinach. But oh well, it was good non the less. Mr. Cowboy wasn't too sure about it but has been up for seconds. I ate two, not in my diet plan but I will walk it off tonight. But that is all for now. Y'all come back now ya hear.

First Timer

While we were out west in the mountains we had to go skiing. Mr. Cowboy does not ski. He snowboards. I have tried that and I am not good at it at all. I spent the whole day on my rear end and on my knees. I ended up wet, cold, and bruised. So, I went back to skiing. Much better. But Mr. Cowboy is crazy so he feels the need to snowboard. This year Big Cowpoke was old enough to come with us. He was so excited. We got up semi early and headed up to the slopes. Here is Big Cowpoke with his skis. Look how tiny they are. It was sooo cute. It was a beautiful day up there. The temperature was a whopping 6 degrees. Crazy!! It was really cold. Mr. Cowboy and my brother in law head up to some black diamond trails and Big Cowpoke and I hit up the bunny slope. It was fun and a challenge. The majority of the first three times down were spent like this........ He is smiling here but the most of the time he was saying, "I can't do it!! Wuahhhhh!" But he got up and tried again. He was such a trooper. He really did get great at falling. At one point he said, "This is how I stop!" and he would hit the ground. I tried to explain that there was a much less painful and cold way of doing it!! So, as the day went on this is what happened. He mastered the pizza position. He finally realized that this is the best way for him to stop. He actually was going really fast his last two runs. Big Cowpoke got brave and mastered the french fry position. This he figured out made him go really fast and he loved that. Then he would "pizza" and slow down. He even got good at turning. Awhhh, it was so rewarding to see him learn and then really love it. He was so sad when the lifts closed. Here are my brother in law (in the yellow) and Mr. Cowboy in the blue. Don't they look warm? I tried to get some pictures of them snowboarding but my camera battery froze. That is how crazy cold it was. When we left the car thermometer said it was 2 degrees!! Yikes. I can't believe we were out in that. This is Mr. Cowboy last year. He rode on a rip tie thingy. It started way up the mountain. It was to let you know what the Olympic skiers felt like, or something like that. He is a dare devil. You can see where he started from. Oh it makes me nervous. Well, anyway I was happy to get back home and warm up. Cowpokette was happy to see her dad. She is such a Daddy's girl. She has some crazy hair!! I love it. So wild and free!! But that was part of our snow fun. I actually wanted to go back the next day and ski again, but we couldn't. Next year we will go some more!! I am so excited to go back. Until next time, y'all come back now ya here.