What's been goin' on

You might think that because I pretty much dropped out of the blogosphere for three months that I just didn't have anything going on worth blogging about. Au contraire!! The last three months of 2010 simply flew by!
September was mostly spent trying to get accustomed to our new schedule. We enrolled our kids in the local public school for the very first time this school year and it has taken some getting used to. None of our family are morning people, so mornings are struggles because we simply don't want to get up while it's still dark outside! But the kids love it...especially our youngest, who is a fifth grader.
The first six weeks she was chosen by her teacher as the "Wildcat Kid." She made straight A's and had perfect citizenship! (I would like to see what she would have been chosen as if her teacher had seen her at home for six weeks! HA!)

She was invited to a special breakfast with the other Wildcat Kids and got to have her picture taken with the mascot.




Although a karate girl in her heart, I did get Morgan hooked on the Dallas Cowboys. She even picked a favorite player and made a commemorative jersey!




Near the end of the the local high school's football season, the fifth graders were invited to come sing the Star Spangled Banner before one of their home games.


Halloween weekend found our family at our church's Trunk or Treat event. Lot of candy and lots of fun. Not to mention a couple cool characters!




In November I made this very cool zippered pouch as a gift for one of my girls' friends. With a gift card inside it was the perfect birthday gift!


For Veteran's Day, the fifth graders put on a program full of narrative and music. Morgan sang a duet with a friend at the beginning. Have I mentioned my girl can sing? One of the things they did to decorate was make some stars to honor veterans, past and present, that are friends and family.






On a more practical note, I sold my refrigerator that I was in love with. We bought it when we built our house and it was sized for the space it was in. There was no way it was going to fit in the rental. *sniff*


Right before Thanksgiving break, the fifth graders (busy, aren't they?) had Native American Day. The whole day was devoted to studying and being immersed in Native American culture. Morgan even got a new name! I love how teachers can integrate learning and fun so effortlessly!






In December we celebrated my boy's 12th birthday. Unbelievable! He got exactly what he asked for but I think he was still surprised!


And finally, in the midst of getting ready to move I got a chance to have an afternoon with one of my best friends from high school. I hadn't seen her in about 17 years! It was a wonderful time. We ate, talked, got our nails done, talked, went to Starbucks, talked...well, you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, I didn't take any! Of course I wish I had now, but at the time I just wanted to concentrate on getting caught up! However, before I left to meet her I did take a picture of myself. I knew it would probably be the last chance before we moved that I wouldn't be wearing clothes covered in dust from cleaning out closets!


So, that's about it! The last quarter of 2010! I can't wait to see what 2011 holds!

Moto Morgan

Cowboys and Indians

I'm a little behind in posting these. They're from Thanksgiving weekend at Ron's grandad's house. Morgan found these figures and was entertained for a good while.

After I took her photo, she arranged them just how she wanted them...

and snapped some of her own pics.

Fun!

Karate Kids!

Introducing our new green belt!

and our new brown belt!

We are so proud of these kiddos and the level of commitment it takes to get this far. We know they have it in them to go all the way to black belt!

Happy Homemaker Monday

Thanks to Sandra for hosting!


The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's been wonderful! Sunny and 70s.


One of my simple pleasures:
Opening the windows and letting in the breeze.


On my bedside table:
iPod


On my TV:
No TV here.



On the menu for tonight:
Tonight we had leftover chili and tomorrow we're having pinto beans and cornbread.



On my To Do List:
Laundry, laundry, laundry.



New Recipe I tried last week:
I made PW's chili. Very good!

In the craft basket:
Nothing, but it's time to start getting creative again.



Looking forward to:
Heaven!


Homemaking Tip for this week:
When the litter box is stinking up the mudroon, throw the cat outside!



Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
Hmm...I wish I could pick one, but I just haven't been reading them. Not enough time right now.


Favorite photo from last week:
Morgan with Roland Osborne. Never heard of him? Look for him on You Tube. He's awesome!

Lesson learned the past few days:

That my timing is not the same as God's timing.



On my Prayer List:
Friends
Family
Fellow bloggers



Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Just one more thing

Here's a cool video I've been wanting to share with you guys. It's from our trip to Waco. We visited a science and history museum that had an awesome bubble room. I would have shared this in one of my previous 253 posts about Waco, but I couldn't figure out how to embed into a blog post.

Today I finally figured it out. Go me!!




Morgan in bubble from Leigh Williams on Vimeo.

My baby is 9 today

Morgan is a child of extremes. She loves hard, but has a quick temper. She's extremely confident about her abilities in some areas, but needs much reassurance in others.

She loves animals, and is very tenderhearted toward them.

But she can be pretty fierce when the situation calls for it.

She knows she's loved and it builds her up.
She's her mother's daughter in so many ways. We can't imagine her being anyone but who she is!

Happy Birthday to our little monkey!

Happy Homemaker Monday

Visit Sandra at her blog Diary of a SAHM.

On my bedside table: 

My iPod 

On my TV:

no TV here

On the menu for tonight:

Chicken Caesar Salad with homemade croutons and dressing

On my To Do List: 

Laundry and ironing. 

New Recipe I tried last week: 

I said I was going to try something new, but never did. :( 

In the craft basket:

My craft basket is completely empty. However, I've learned lots of cool things about my new iMac.

Looking forward to: 

My 11yo, Maddy, getting well. Five days of fever and listlessness is too long! 

Homemaking Tip for this week:

Every house should have a pressure washer, or access to one. It made cleaning my window screens easy and fast. 

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):

Book Whisperer 

Favorite photo from last week:

Morgan sparring with Master Pahanish

Lesson learned the past few days: 

Trust your instincts when it comes to your children.

On my Prayer List: 

My husband and children

Our church leaders

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: 

"Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your laws remain true today, for everything serves your plans." Psalm 119:90-91 (NLT)

Supergirl to the rescue!

One of the drawbacks of living where we do is that we get a lot of stray dogs dropped off out here.

One afternoon a VERY pregnant dog showed up. I was at a loss. I couldn't imagine who would do such a thing, but she was here now. She was pretty skittish, not really wanting too much attention. We put out some food for her and waited to see what would happen.

Then one day, she was gone. Just like that. I had no idea where she could have gone and I didn't have any spare time to comb the countryside for her.

A few days later, she was back. And skinny. We had no idea where her puppies were. But we soon found out when we noticed she was vehemently guarding the culvert at the end of our driveway. We took a peek in there, and sure enough, there were several wriggling masses down there.

I thought, "Good job, Momma Dog. Nobody can get to them." The culvert was barely wide enough to fit Momma Dog and it was crushed at one end, so there was only one way in and out. Then came the bad news. It started raining. And raining. And raining. The culvert was flooding and there was no where for the puppies to go. Momma Dog was freaking out and so was I. I couldn't just let those puppies drown, right?

We spent a good hour or so trying to open the culvert on the crushed end so we could get them out. But no matter how we tried, that thing was not coming open.

So in came Supergirl. She crawled through that mud-filled culvert while Daddy held Momma Dog back. She pushed a bowl ahead of her and loaded up those soaking wet and freezing cold babies.

There were seven in all. 
Unfortunately, Momma Dog could not get over her protectiveness of her new pups, so we had to take them all to the Humane Society. But Morgan did her part to save them all!

Is this considered cruelty to animals?