Elk Hunting Trip

The boys and I invited ourselves to go on Brady's Elk hunting trip. We didn't want him to get too lonely on his week long visit with his Uncle Greg and Aunt Maria in Ridgeway, CO. However, things didn't go quite as we had expected. This is a picture of Brady staring at his stuck truck on the first day. Not to worry, in a matter of minutes a one armed smiling angel came to our rescue and pulled us out. Needless to say, that was the only day the boys and I actually went "hunting" with him. We kept ourselves busy by swimming in the hot springs at Ouray, a day in Telluride and a day in Ridgeway, of course. I'm just sayin' don't feel too bad.
The boys did find time for a snowball fight that day.

Nice one Jay!
Charlie has a great arm, too!
I LOVE Maria and Pearl! Two of the nicest girls you will ever meet! While we were there Maria and Greg insisted we stay one night at The Historic Weisbaden Lodge. It is in Ouray, Co. and has a flowing natural hot springs vapor cave. God's version of a steam-room. It was amazing!
Did I mention this is Ralph Lauren's Ranch, the RRL Ranch.
Brady's Uncle Greg took him to the best spots on the ranch to hunt.
After five days of hard hunting Brady did get an Elk. I am beginning to figure out why they are called trophies.

Love is Blind!

Currently, we now have as many pets as kids! One thing leads to another around here. It all started with Molly, then Brady "needed" a hunting dog PoGo our Springer Spaniel, next we inherited Newton another Yorkie. PoGo was allowed to run free around our property since she was booted out of the house for bad behavior. Run free she did, and she was quite popular around the neighborhood with many suitors. We were blessed with eight panting puppies on the first day of summer. Thankfully, we found homes for seven of the puppies. One of the puppies is in heaven because of me and I don't want to talk about it. So don't ask! This brings us to our fourth pet, Camille. Did I mention one of the homes for a puppy was ours. We now have PoGo and Camille in a pen.

The last two winters we have had some unwanted guests. Thankfully, not Galveston rats, but rodents none the less. I was blaming them on Newton, one of our Yorkies, claiming he was making friends with the mice even though it was his dog food they were eating. (Side note... Yorkies were bred by the working men of North England, who developed the breed for catching the terrible mice and rats that infested clothing mills and mine shafts. Evidently, Molly and Newton didn't get the memo.) I have set traps, put the dog food in plastic storage containers, consulted neighbors for their mice advice, ect. The consensus was we needed a cat. The road we live on has several wild cats living in the ditches, so I told Brady I should just go pick up one and bring it home. His response was, " if you do that please tell me when and I will grab the camera and film it." From that, I deduced that was not a good idea and would not go well. I didn't want to be uploaded to YouTube wrangling a wild cat.

I know at this point you are thinking "woman, just call an exterminator". Turns out we don't have one in our town. Surprise! Surprise! I did get a number for one that lives in another town and have been calling him for many months. He almost came by one evening two months ago but canceled at the last minute, sigh.

Our fifth and "final" pet is a kitty, Ginger. One of our sweet friends from church gave us one of her barn cat's kittens. She is quite friendly, I have noticed more cats hanging around our house and even a goose in the garage (a story for another day). Then it occurred to me that maybe when Pogo was running around our house the wild cats were staying away and that is why we have had mice for the last two winters (exactly how long PoGo has been running around!) Anyway, it is too late to get rid of Ginger as we have all fallen in love. I have a soft spot for her because I don't think she can see very well so, I thought we should change her name to Love. No, really, she is blind as a cat, I mean bat! Oh yeah, we have those too!

Beauty Tips for my Daughters

1. Pretty is as pretty does.
2. Eat raw fruits and vegetables (and sprouted flax seed) everyday. If God made it, it is good for you to eat.
   
3. Smile! Don't take yourself too seriously. Laugh at yourself.
4. Sweat a little or alot everyday. Drink your water, especially my little desert mouse.
5. Don't say anything about someone that you wouldn't want said about yourself.
6. Read your Bible and pray everyday. HIM shining through you is very beautiful!
7. Compliment and encourage others.
8. Use sunscreen! (When you are old like me :) Don't buy expensive age defying junk! Use "retin a" and a cheap nighttime moisturizer.
9. Clothe yourself with dignity and humility.
10. Don't compare yourself to others. You are a beautiful unique snowflake!
    

The Summer of Charlie

July 22nd Charlie turned 4. That week Riley had been watching Cupcake Wars, I think, and was inspired to make Charlie's Birthday cake and cupcakes per his request of Transformers. His birthday wish which he said aloud was for "a real live grandmother." Who was sitting right next to him. When he opened his eyes I said pointing to Mimi "look Charlie your wish came true!"


Charlie loves swimming! This summer he learned to swim without floaties and was brave enough to jump off the diving board and go down the slide! He started pre-school this year and loves it. He goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30 to 11:00. He wishes it were everyday!
When we went to Colorado this summer he did really great hiking. I think next year he will be ready for the big Mohawk hike! He also loves to "go on adventures" with Bailee when she takes him exploring outside.
Of course he and Jay love to go bird hunting and prairie dog shooting with daddy. I must also take this opportunity to share the new way Charlie has shown me to view each day. One morning when we were getting ready for school he asked me if I wanted to suck seed? What? Ohhhh, succeed! Yes, today I want to succeed and NOT suck seed! If you do have to suck seed some days may they be sunflowers!!!

One of the other funny things Charlie did this summer was cut his own hair. I thought I had almost made it through five kids without a haircut story. One night we all sat down to dinner, prayed and I look over at Charlie's adorable face and notice something is not quite right. "Charlie did you cut your hair?" "Yes." Knowing I had a mess to clean up somewhere in the house, "Where did you cut your hair?" pointing to the top of his head Charlie said "here and here" as if I hadn't notice. We could not stop laughing all through dinner. Charlie immediately stopped laughing when Brady whipped out the clippers! He cried for a little bit because he was worried he wouldn't be handsome. I still think he's handsome with his buzz but, I don't think he will be cutting his own hair for awhile.

How to make a bad hair day good!

Dear Riley, Hallie and Bailee,

I wanted you girls to know there is a way to make a bad hair day good, besides throwing on a cap which is usually my remedy of choice. If you know me at all, you know this isn't going to be about hair styling techniques. I'm sorry to say, I haven't known how to "fix" my hair since the eighties. Even then pictures of my hair makes you laugh. From the time I was old enough to use two mirrors to view the back of my head, I was horrified to find out I have a cowlick the size of Texas. I have struggled with covering that "bald spot" ever since. It was then I gave up on allowing my hair to make or break my day. It says somewhere in 1st Corinthians that a woman's hair is her glory? We can safely say my hair is not my glory.

Turning the proverbial "bad hair day" around happens inside your head and not on top of your head. It is easier to control your thoughts and attitudes than the hairs on our head. I'm so glad we have control over something in our life, in my 38 years I finally figured out that the only thing we can control is our own thoughts.

Hallie is 11

I am very behind on The Brady Bunch current events. I feel like my kids have felt this past week as their teachers have asked them to write about their summer. I shall begin with Hallie's birthday...


We made her favorite cake, Strawberry with Strawberry Icing, she helped decorate it of course. She loves to be in the kitchen and is always there to help me with dinner. She makes fabulous guacamole!
I asked her if she wanted to have a BIG short swim party with lots of friends or a smaller slumber party?

She chose the smaller slumber party with her closest friends!I love these girls! She played softball with all of them this summer and just started dance class with them, too!
Her favorite color right now is purple. She collects rings, the bigger the better. She is also playing the drums again this year. She also loves to read, I think she has read The Percy Jackson series three times!Also this summer PoGo had eight puppies!!! All but one are gone and Hallie is so glad that there was one left. It just happens to be one of her favorites, Camille. Hallie has been so good about taking care of them feeding, bathing, training and even cleaning out their pen! As a reward for cleaning out their pen Hallie got to drive the "arctic cat" around the house. She might be a little bit like her mom because she likes to drive fast! I am very proud of this young lady if you couldn't already tell!

Daily Dethroning

When Brady and I lived in North Carolina we went to Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. Our Pulpit preacher was having health issues so Dr. Gary Chapman the marriage and family minister at the time stepped up as interim pastor. The very same Gary Chapman who wrote The Five Love Languages. That man doesn't know me from Adam or Eve, but I love him and learned so much from him for the year he took over.

The sermon I remember the most and still try to implement into my life even today was about the throne we have in our lives. Dr. Chapman was explaining the difference between an effective fruit bearing Christian and a defeated non-fruit bearing Christian. He is an extremely practical and bottom line kinda person so, this concept is easy to understand. Either God is on "The Throne" in your life or you are on "The Throne." If God is on the throne you are His to use, to bless and to be a blessing to others. If I am on the throne I am serving my own interests and desires. It is very difficult to serve others when you are on a throne! The other difficult thing to do when you are on a throne is to dethrone yourself. Has there ever been a King or Queen in all of history who chose to depose themselves? However, it can be done! It needs to be done daily!

Not long after I heard this sermon and after it had laid heavy on my heart I made up this dorky little poem that I would say in the mornings or whenever I've noticed that I'd plopped my hiney down on the throne again. "You be on the throne today in all I do and all I say!"