Mr. Cowboy's Dream

Ever since Mr. Cowboy was a little boy, he has always wanted a bulldog. While growing up his family raised Pit Bulls. Close to bulldogs, but not quite. When he met me he told me how he wanted a bulldog. I only had a Brodi dog. He is a mutt dog, the best kind. Brodi is now 9 years old. I can't believe it. Three years ago, a friend of mine had a lab that had puppies. And for Christmas she gave us one. Sorry Mr. Cowboy, not a bulldog. We got Bear. My most beloved big dog. I love him dearly and miss him to this very day. There will never be another bear dog. Ever since Bear left us, Brodi and I have been really big babies. Brodi hates to be alone. And I really miss my big lovable dog that the kids all could climb on. So, now Mr. Cowboy might actually get his dream.

We have been looking at English Bulldogs for a long time. We read about all the health issues and behaviors of the English Bulldog. I was really beginning not to want one at all. They would have higher doctor bills than the kids. All the while I was hoping that Bear would just show up. But to my deeply saddened heart, he has not. So, Mr. Cowboy found him a bulldog. It's an Olde English Bulldogge. They are a bit taller than the standard English Bulldog. They also do not have all the health issues. We found Mr. Cowboy's dog at Millennium Bulldogges. Mr. Cowboy fell in love with Dallas, one of the females. She is a cutie. Mr. Cowboy loved her face and her body build. I really think that the Olde English Bulldogges look like a shorter American Bulldog. But anyway, to make a long story short, we emailed Millennium Bulldogges and Dallas had just had a litter of puppies. They were four weeks old. But they were all sold. Except for one, one puppy that was not really for sale. It was the stud's owner's number one pick female out of the litter. He offered the puppy to us. After a long talk with Mr. Cowboy and a lot of emails to Millennium Bulldogges, we decided to get the puppy. Here she is at one week old. Mr. Cowboy got these pictures and he wasn't too sure about her. He wanted a brindle, not a solid red dog. But this puppy was really well bred. So, we talked a bit more. Then Millennium Bulldogges emailed us 4 week old pictures. Just look at how cute she is. So stout and chunky. How can you not love puppies? I am not sure who that girl was, but the puppy is adorable. She also looks kinda laid back. I have my fingers crossed. Her best bulldogge impression. After more emails and more questions, we finally decided to buy her for sure. Mr. Cowboy is on a plane today headed for Ontario Canada, to pick up his Bulldogge. Here she is at eight weeks old. Oh dear, I think I might have to hold this puppy all day long. Oh that sweet face. I am sure I will be saying that when I am cleaning up messes on the floor. Sigh. But I do have to say, when I potty trained Bear, he only had one accident. So, I am hoping this puppy will be the same. We are thinking of naming her, Millennium's Southern Belle. Big Cowpoke wanted to name her Anna Belle. We will have to see. Her registered name has to have the name of the kennel where she was bred. It's what they do so you know where the dog came from. Mr. Cowboy wants to name is dog kennel either, Deep South Bullogges or Mossy Oak Bulldogges. I liked Deep South, it goes with the Southern Belle name. Anyway, wish Mr. Cowboy luck in Canada. I told him he had to take pictures of him and the puppy at Niagara Falls.

Right before Mr. Cowboy left, he asked me, "What is Niagara Falls anyway?" Oh my dear sweet innocent Cowboy. He has never traveled North before. Never farther north than Memphis. He has not traveled much. But, I am sure I sound the same when I ask questions about rodeo. I am clueless when it comes to that. I love him and his cute questions.

Veteran's Day

I am a bit late on this post. But I believe being late is the story of my life. I am never on time for anything. It's not that I don't want to be on time, it's just that things come up on the way, and I get slowed down. But anyway, on to Veteran's day. Big Cowpoke's school put on a wonderful presentation. They had invited the Veteran's from the community and introduced them and said what branch of the military they served in. Then the boy scouts did a presenting of the colors. Aren't they cute? The boy on the left with the long hair, is Big Cowpoke's best friend. I am not sure why he has long hair, his dad has super short hair? They presented the colors. Big Cowpoke was so serious. He kept his hands straight down on his sides. He was all work and no play. They saluted the flag while saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We even had an invocation. Good old small schools. Nobody can stop us from saying prayers in schools. Speaking of small....... That right there is the entire High School. Yep, that is 9th grade through 12th grade. They just make it past half court. Last time I heard there were about 400 students in the school, Pre-K through 12th grade. It's good and bad being this small. One bad thing is that there isn't a music program. I love music. At the Veteran's Day Program they invited a musical group from a bigger school in the next Parish over. They are the Show Choir and Band. They were so very awesome. When I was in high school I sang in an A Capella group kinda like this one. Well, minus the band. But they were really good. Listening to this group made me miss the good old days of singing in High School. I will have to invest in some music lessons for the Cowpokes. I think it's important. Well, this show choir and band did a lot of patriotic songs. I recorded one. It was just the girls singing, but it was really good.Big Cowpoke told me he wanted to play the guitar. I will have to look into this. How young is too young for guitar lessons? I think his fingers need to be able to pluck the strings. Well, all in all the program was really wonderful. I am so thankful for the people who serve and have served our country. With out them we would not have what we do today. Great job Big Cowpoke. You did a fantastic job. If you ask Big Cowpoke what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you, "A U.S. Marine!"

Wild Donkey Training and Dancing

The Cowpokes in these parts are really good Wild Donkey Trainers. They can tame even the wildest of beasts. You can not even tell that two weeks ago neither of those donkeys would let you touch them. Now look at those little burros. Big Cowpoke can give Stormy hugs. (Note, I did not name the Donkeys). Little Cowpoke can give Misty hugs. They can even get the donkeys to put their heads down and follow them. Stormy and Misty really just wanted some scratching. Little Cowpoke had to do some convincing, to get them to follow. "Come on Donkeys! Follow me!!"Misty turns to Stormy and says, "Do you think we should go? Those two legged animals are weird.""Yeah good idea Stormy, we will just stay back a bit and watch those two legged animals. They are sure different.""What is he doing?" "How does he get his hoof to go up that high? Can you do that Misty?""Umf....Nope, I can't get my leg up that high! I am telling you those two legged animals are very weird and bendy.""Whoa, whoa!! What is this. It looks like the Hokey Pokey. You put your right hoof in you put your back hoof in and you shake it all around.....""You do the Donkey Pokey and you turn yourself around........." "Few....I am tired. Lets go back to the barn and wait for some food. I am not sure I can keep up with those two legs."

Going Up

Oh the Joy! I got home the other day and this is what I found in my back yard. It does not take much to bring me some joy. Just some old rusty pipe and some tilled up dirt. The Arena is almost all framed up. We entrusted the help of our good friend Freddy. I fed him some lunch. The man ate 5 hot dogs and some mac and cheese. I am doomed when my boys get older. I also brought some lunch out to the crazy bunch. They were having a blast. I think I might just get these kids some brown boxes and some dirt for Christmas. They all really had too much fun. Cowpokette worked up quite a thirst. She was working very hard. She is such a ham. I could just squeeze those cheeks. But enough babies, back to work. We only had the machine until 4 o'clock. It had to be back before dark. So, our arena is now in a horseshoe shape. Which is alright. The end that is not finished is the end that will have the roping boxes. I would love some advice on the roping boxes. I know they are supposed to be 16ft deep and 10 feet wide. And the left box is supposed to be 40 feet off the right fence. But we are having some talk about the holding pens and how they should work. I guess it would help if any of us were ropers. Mr. Cowboy has only been in a box a handful of times, and me, yeah never. We have looked up a bunch of arenas, but we still are not 100% sure on what we are going to do. I guess it will all work out, somehow. While we were all hard at work the Cowpokes were hard a play. They Cowpokes went and got their Rodeo play set and brought it into the arena. They are so cute. And look at those Donkeys. They are trying hard to look like they don't care what those Cowpokes are doing. It did not take long for the donkeys to sucker the Cowpokes into scratching their necks. These donkeys were wild about a month ago. Now look at those tame things. They will let the boys climb all over them. I wonder if those donkeys will still be my Cowpoke's friends when they start tracking them on Peanut. They sure are sweet. I am so excited about our arena. Mr. Cowboy had big plans on riding a bunch of horses. I can't wait. I told him I could be his assistant trainer and tack them all up for him.

Freddy

We have made a new friend with in the past few months. His name is Freddy and he is from Del Carmen, Mexico. He is working as a pipe fitter in the small town near us. He goes to church with us. We pick him up every Sunday. I love talking to him. Well, I try to talk to him. My Spanish is really rusty. But he is very forgiving of my poor Spanish. With in the last three Months, Freddy has really come a long way with his English. He can carry conversations and he is getting better and better at understanding what we are saying. Here we all are after Church last Sunday. I love Little Cowpoke laying on the bottom. This wasn't supposed to be a "sexy" family shoot, it was just a regular family shoot. Big Cowpoke was trying to get in on "bringing Sexy back" too. Boys are so silly. Cowpokette really likes Freddy and Freddy really likes her too. He keeps telling us that he wants to take her to Mexico. I just smile and say, "No way Jose!!" Freddy just laughs. He loves her blonde hair and her blue eyes. He wanted a picture of her that showed her eyes, but it was way to sunny out. I will have to print one from a while back that shows her blue eyes. Freddy has six kids of his own. He said he also has three grand babies. Freddy is going to be going back to Mexico in a few weeks. But he is only going back for about three months. Then he will come back and work some more. Freddy is a hard worker and we will miss having him around. While he is gone I will have to get some Spanish tapes and listen to them. That way I can impress him with my eloquent speaking when he gets back.

I Heart Peanut and Joe

I bet everyone is so tired of me talking about Peanut, but I just can't stop. I really love our little sorrel horse. Yesterday the kids had off school. Which I think is a plot to make all the SAHMs not go vote. Because really, who is going to drag all their kids to go and vote. I had to wait until Mr. Cowboy got home from work. Okay, well, I will get off my soap box. Now, since there is "never anything to do and life is so boring" says Big Cowpoke. I got Peanut out for the boys to ride. Little Cowpoke had to go first. He always has to go first. I think it has to do with him being a middle child. So, Little Cowpoke went first and Big Cowpoke went inside to play online at PBS kids. So, here is what Peanut and my Little Cowpoke did. They practiced whoa. And trotting. They were so cute!! Little Cowpoke loves to ride. I actually let him walk away from me and around a cone and then back to me. I was nervous, but Peanut and Little Cowpoke weren't. So, I got them on video. It's not the best video, but Little Cowpoke is sure cute!!I think Little Cowpoke did an awesome job. He even rode around the cones I put up for barrels. He trotted in between the cones. Peanut was so good at stopping when Little Cowpoke wanted to stop. I am so excited to finally have a really good kid's horse. I have been searching for ever for a really good old gelding. Oh, and because I have not posted a picture of Joe in a long time. I must. I have to show everyone how huge he is. Here he is with Little Cowpoke. Joe is all fluffy for the winter time. I love it. Here Joe is walking around the yard with Big Cowpoke. They played outside for hours. I swear Joe sticks around the kids better than the dog does. Just look at that rump. He sure has grown up. He will be one year old in January. We will have to have a birthday party for him.

We're Going to the Bazaar!

The day after Halloween we went to the Bazaar. The small town where Mr. Cowboy grew up in, has this annual bazaar. It is so much fun.

Despite their faces, they did have fun. They both get grouchy when they don't get enough sleep. And the night before was horrible. But how can someone not have fun when there is so much food to be had?This is the giant Jambalaya pot. The man told me that they used 28 pounds of dry rice. That is a lot. And let me tell you that pot was huge. It was so cool. Then there was the enormous corn dogs. Those are the kids' favorites. And all of Mr. Cowboy's Aunts made some home made ice cream.

The ice cream was the best. I love home made ice cream. So did the Cowpokes. I really love the funnel cakes. They called them fuddles, or something like that. I am not sure? But it was sure good. Now for the real Bazaar fun. There were the traditional bounce houses. The boys always love those. The energy levels that kids have. It's crazy. Then there was the train ride. This is Little Cowpoke's favorite thing about the bazaar. Big Cowpoke just chilled out. It's a really long train ride. The boys did it twice. Then there were the 25 cent games.

You had to stand back when Little Cowpoke was throwing the darts. He would blindly chuck the darts. Big Cowpoke did a bit better. But neither Cowpoke got any balloons popped. This is a fun game too. See that boy standing there. Let me tell ya, that green bean bag, yeah, it hit that boy right in the face. Sorry! My Cowpoke's don't play baseball. But he does rope. You would think he had better aim. Here is Mr. Cowboy watching the boys play. Hubba Hubba. I love it when get dresses all nice. Mr. Cowboy thinks he is fat. I think he looks perfect. There was also a silent auction, where I tried to win some tall pots. I could really use some of these. And there was a live auction. They were auctioning off 20 acres of crop dusting. We could use that. But it went for like 800 bucks. Those people in that small town sure had some deep pockets. Mr. Cowboy told me that they were all "oil money". I guess that is what you get for living on the Gulf of Mexico. I sure wish we could have one of those oil thingies in my back yard. The Bazaar was a lot of fun and the Cowpokes all had a wonderful time. Now, all I have to do today is get out and vote. What a day, what a day.