More Beautiful Weather

Another beautiful spring day - very warm at 85° - and we decided to ride horses later this afternoon and brought along Morgan's friend, Clayton. They've grown up together, Clayton's family moving just a few houses over when they were just a few months old.

Brooke & Honeybee






Morgan & Punkin

Morgan, Clayton, & Punkin

A rare occurance - Brooke has allowed someone else the coveted position of riding Honeybee. :^D Amazing the things that happen in spring!


As "the ropers" were practicing in the arena, the kids rode in the side and back pastures. When they were finished riding, Morgan and Clayton went to sit on the little deck over the pond in the side pasture. I thought this was a sweet shot of them talking together. (Note the heavy covering of green pine pollen on the water - it's covering everything now and making all the allergy sufferers miserable.)

Spring is in the Air

I just love spring. Here's a beautiful picture of a flower tree (type unknown by me - anyone?) taken in front of a church going from one barn to the other. They have these all over and it looks like it is covered in snowballs! Not a dogwood. Not a pear. Those I can identify.

I will try to take some pictures of all the beautiful azaleas as well to post. I generally don't like azaleas - it's really a pretty ugly bush, IMO, but while they are blooming, they're really showy. My favorites are the less common deep maroon ones - but everyone around here seems to have the ordinary fuscia. I've seen advertisings for yellow ones, but I've never seen a yellow azalea. And all the bridal wreath is in bloom as well - really gorgeous!

The one thing I miss from New Jersey is the forsythia in spring. We don't have that down here.

Spring in Louisiana lasts such a short time - the beautiful flowers and mild weather quickly gives way to green, green, and more green, and heat and humidity. The weather should be unbearably hot by May and will last through October at least. So I'm going to enjoy spring while it lasts!

Happy Birthday

Today is my Mama's birthday. She would have been 78 today. I have been a bit sad tonight, missing her. I found a music video site that let you add them to your blog. Josh Groban's song Where You Are has always reminded me of Mama. So it is here now, in her honor. I will always love you, Mama.

Pure Bliss

We've had a very unusual weekend. First, no horse shows. That makes three weekends in a row. Very unusual. Very unusual indeed.

Second, this weekend Morgan spent Friday night with her Aunt Connie, whose husband is out of state visiting his folks. They spent all Friday night scrapbooking. Like mother, like daughter! Then Saturday night, Brooke spent the night with Connie. Brooke, Morgan, and Connie scrapbooked again until about 11, then Morgan came home so Brooke and Connie could have their one-on-one night.

Third, this morning I went to church without anyone else in my family. That is really unusual. Both girls went to church with Aunt Connie and spent the day with her - scrapbooking again! Can you see it's a family trait? :^D

When Brooke came home this afternoon to feed the horses, we stopped first at the library. Brooke picked up her stack of books. Notice a definite "animal" theme here?

She's got some deep reading, there. Hmm....now let's look at Mama's selections....

Definite "light reading" mode, you think?

After feeding the horses, Brooke went back to Connie's. She and Morgan will spend the night together tonight, coming home early tomorrow because they have school to do and Connie has to go to work. So tonight we have NO KIDS! That's the most unusual thing of all!

So Steve called on his way home from work and said, "I need to stop at Walgreen's." I'm so glad he called! I am in a definite "need chocolate" mode. So I asked, "Could you bring me home some chocolate.....

....and this is what the man brings! Is there any wonder I married him? He's simply the best!

So, quiet night....chocolate.....books......what more does a girl need?

My bestest friend

Tonight my very bestest friend got to come along with Brooke and I while we went to the barn to take care of the horses. Delilah looked so cute in her hat! She adores riding in the car. She was disappointed to learn that Brooke had called shotgun first, as she does prefer to ride in the front seat, but she decided to make the most of the trip.

I've had many dogs in my life, but only one Delilah. She is my heart. I don't know what I will do when she is not with me anymore. :^(

Scrapbooking with Buddies

I was supposed to go to a big scrapbooking crop with a bunch of friends, but it was cancelled. How disappointing. So two friends and I decided to get together at my house and crop all by ourselves. Here are Janet, myself, and Angie, hard at work.


Okay, Janet was making a face. Here's a better one of her...

Janet's daughter, Mariah, came to keep Brooke company. Here she is with Delilah. I love her dimples.

Old Friends from Texas

Later tonight, we had some friends from Texas come visit. I went to school with Danny and we were best friends. He met his wife, Missy, the summer before our senior year and brought her over for me to "approve" before he'd start dating her. After we were all married, they bought a house right around the corner from ours and we were all four together much of the time. We'd eat dinner, play Uno until all hours of the night, and laugh. How we'd laugh! They had the first child and 10 months later, we had Joshua. Unfortunately by this time we were in New Jersey and we missed them terribly. When we moved back, their son Page and Joshua were inseparable friends until they moved to Texas when Page was six years old. We have visited back and forth, but I still miss them.

This is our crew back in 1998 - Steve, Morgan, Brooke, Desiree', Page, Joshua, Paul - Danny and Missy are in the back. I'm behind the lens, as usual.

I cannot believe our kids are so grown up now - Page is almost 20 and Josh is 19. And we still laugh when we all get together. When I speak with Joshua, he will be sad he missed their visit - he is in Miami on vacation before leaving for boot camp in two weeks.

Nonstop talking with this crew - and talking with your hands IS mandatory!

Ginger and Missy

We can't even stop laughing for a picture.

Steve and Danny, always in deep, philosophical discussions.

This handsome dude is their oldest, Page. He's the quiet one of the bunch. I hear he makes up for it chatting on the computer. :^)

What a beautiful young lady Desiree' has become.

And last, but not least, is Paul. He's the musician of the family - he plays five and is in a couple of different bands at school - marching, jazz, and I can't remember what else.

There is nothing like catching up with old friends. It was sad to when it was time for them to leave. Perhaps one day we'll buy land near them in Texas and we'll be together again - playing Uno and laughing the night away!

Silly Willies

Today I went to see the surgeon and my laparoscopic cholecystectomy is scheduled for next Friday, 3/23. Brooke sent Steve into the exam room to remind me that I had an all-day tea and scrapbooking event on the 24th. So I talked to the nurse about when I could reschedule, but then Steve wouldn't be off work. So we kept the date. I still am tentatively planning to have everyone over for scrapbooking, nixing the paninis for dinner and having everyone either bring their own suppers or they can get take-out. Backup plans are in the works to move scrapbooking just three doors down to my SIL's if I'm not feeling up to it. :^D Scrapbooking after surgery - a girl must have her priorities, right?



Here are some pictures of my silly girls. Morgan was going for the "Cirq de Soleil" look.




Brooke was trying for "pensive." Hmm.....

The Absentee Blogger

Well, it's been almost a week since I've posted - shame on me! We had quite a boring, yet relaxing weekend. Steve, the girls, and I all went to church together - that hasn't happened in quite a few weeks with horse shows and illnesses and such.



But Monday was quite a day. We did school and then in the late afternoon, I had an episode of chest pain that was quite intense. It lasted for about 20 minutes and then suddenly disappeared. Steve took Brooke to choir practice and then he and Morgan went to take care of the horses. They hadn't been gone long when the pain returned, even stronger than before. It took my breath.



I called Steve and gasped that the pain had returned and he said, "I'm coming home now" and hung up. I called a friend and asked her to pray for me. She stayed on the phone until Steve came home. The pain just kept getting worse. I thought I was going to die.



Steve, my loving nurse, came in and took one look at me (at this time writhing in pain on the bathroom floor) and said, "You're either having a heart attack or it's your gallbladder. YOU are going to the hospital." Since Steve works with the sickest of the sick, when he recommends going to the hospital, it always concerns me. So off we went....



Want to insure a very prolonged ER visit? Go in complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath! Although the ER was very full and I did have to sit and wait for about an hour. It doesn't do to know too much - I kept asking Steve what the window was for the administration of TNK in the event I WAS having a heart attack.



They finally put me in a cardiac room (the lady who took my information put it on a "medicine" sheet when she should have put it on a chest pain sheet - a nurse was reviewing the sheets, saw my symptoms, and called me back as soon as she saw that), hooked me to heart monitors, and did an EKG and chest x-ray. And drew blood. Lots of blood.



The good news - my cardiac workup was negative. But my blood work showed elevated liver enzymes and they sent me for an ultrasound. I have gallstones. I'm too young for gallstones! Actually, I guess I'm not. And it does run in my family. They did a few more blood tests and called the surgeon and he said to send me home to follow up with him in his office on Thursday.



So now I have a surgery consult tomorrow. I don't want to have surgery! The only surgery I've ever had was oral surgery for an impacted tooth. I'm afraid it'll be downhill from now on. So I'm researching alternatives on the internet. If anyone has had gallbladder stones and used a non-surgical remedy, PLEASE let me know! I'd be very interested.



Okay, since I haven't taken any pictures, I'll have to post some taken by Brooke. She gave the ferret a bath and we laughed at him rubbing around on the sofa to fluff himself up. The cats, of course, were very interested in his grooming process.

Scrapbook Club Night

I have spent yesterday and today frantically cleaning my house in preparation for my scrap club tonight. Having the stomach flu for six days really did a number on my house. It's messy on a good day. Not only did I get the house clean, but I also managed to go through and organize my scrap desk. Not that any scrapbooking actually occurs on the desktop - it's way too small. But now my "piles" are organized and there is method to my madness.

Here is a picture of the layout we did at the class. We used metallic pencils and in real life, the flowers shimmer and are very pretty.

Class was fun and ended fairly early. Early enough for me to finish the layouts for Brooke and Joshua. I have books for me and Steve, and separate books for each of the three children. When I do a layout for my book, I duplicate it for the kids' books - or at least the kids who are in those particular pictures.

And - ta da - the dirt is finished. And the grand total is......174 loads of dirt. Steve cannot believe it was so much. It must have given him a headache because he didn't say much after that and went to bed. Now to have a compaction test by the parish and we can call the plumbers. I feel like a start has been made.

Warm Fuzzies

This picture is in response to my homeschooling group's blog challenge. We were supposed to take a picture of our socks. :^D Most of my socks are boring white, but this pair reveals one of my deep secrets - I love Snoopy! I receive a daily Peanuts comic strip and have so far collected three of the Complete Peanuts compilations. I also have one coveted pair of Snoopy PJs and I know I'll be sad when I've worn them completely out. When I saw Snoopy socks at Walmart this past Christmas, I was in heaven! They had six different pair and my plan was to buy three one paycheck and three the next. Alas, when I went back for the final three, they were sold out! Next time I'll just blow the budget and get all six pair at once. (Just kidding, Steve!) This love of Snoopy goes back to my childhood and I even had books of the original strips when the kids were very young (and Lucy and Linus weren't even born yet)!

I chose this particular pair because the wish for snow is one of every young person (and many old) in Louisiana. Perhaps every ten years or so, we will be blessed with a light dusting of the white stuff. People literally will wake their children from their beds if it happens in the middle of the night. So while the rest of the US is digging out of snow, here in Louisiana, with buds on the trees and temperatures in the 70's, I'm still wishing for snow.

So now you know my deep, dark secrets!

That's Deep, Man!

Dirt. We have lots and lots of dirt. I guess I should say loads and loads - more than 100. Tomorrow should finish the dirt deliveries. You can see how high it is compared to our neighbor's fence.

I'm actually standing on a small mound of topsoil that they pushed out of the way to bring in clay. When I'm standing on the ground, the dirt comes higher than my waist. Yes, I'm a little less than 5'2", but 36.5" is still DEEP DIRT!

Okay, now that's not dirt. :^D That's the longhorn mama and baby on the road to our barn. Brooke has wanted to take a picture of the calf for me to post since I started the blog. So, here ya go, Brookie-girl!

The Suffering Blog

My blog is suffering from lack-o-post-itis. I have had an off-again-on-again stomach virus since Thursday. I'm ready for it to be gone. So here's a picture taken by Brooke of a very smoking looking sunset. This was taken in the McDonald's parking lot on the way from one barn to the other.

Last night Morgan made Baked Lasagna (almost completely) all by herself. This is the recipe I've used for Lasagna since I made it my first time at 14. I completely omit the salt from this recipe - it's salty enough with all the cheese.

River Road Recipes Baked Lasagna

1 pound ground beef

1 clove minced garlic

1 tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tbsp. basil

2 cups tomatoes

2 six-ounce cans tomato paste

1 ten-ounce package lasagna noodles

24 ounces small curd cottage cheese

2 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. parsley

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded

Brown meat. Add garlic, parsley, basil, tomatoes, and paste. Simmer, uncovered, until thick, about 45 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally. Cook noodles until tender; drain; rinse in cold water. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, pepper, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. Place half of noodles in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Spread with half cheese mixture, top with half the mozzarella, and half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Life and Death, Through Morgan's Eyes

While we were at the barn, Morgan took my camera and snapped these photos. The first is a picture of a little yearling at the barn. This little filly is so full of life, so exuberant in how she frisks about and explores her world. The girls love to walk over to her little pasture and watch her.

On the other hand, we have a picture of death. Two male turkeys who, instead of mating, spent their days fighting each other and all the other turkeys, male and female. The barn owner shot them before they killed other turkeys in the flock, and so mating could occur and life could continue.

I found Morgan's two pictures very poignant, even if she didn't mean them to be.

Sleepy Sunday

I was still sick Sunday, so we didn't go to church and we didn't go to the horse show. We just stayed home and I laid on the sofa all day. Here's a picture Brooke took yesterday at the horse

farm yesterday - oddly, it's not of a horse!

Many minis

Yesterday and today, the girls and I were at a craft show with my Stampin' Up! business. Next to the craft show was a miniature horse farm.

They invited Brooke and her friend over to see the horses.

They have about 80 horses and are currently expecting about 30 babies within the next month. They were so cute! Thanks to the D'Armond's for letting the girls' visit. Here's the website to the mini horse farm: www.darmondslittlestangels.com.

She's a lady

Here's a picture of Brooke's now famous cat, Libby. What a ladylike pose!

The Cat Who Went To Texas

Libby, as viewed through her new creation, the Mini Blind Peek-a-Boo Window

Okay, since no one will want to know about my day today (sick with stomach flu - who wants to read a blog about that - YUCK), I will post a requested story - The Cat Who Went To Texas, starring Libby Connelly.

"Once upon a time, there was a tiny kitty who was cruelly dropped in a church parking lot on a sweltering summer day with her sister. A royla family of animal lovers happened to be leaving the church lot after service and saw one of the kitties fall from the top of a truck in motion. While the car was still rolling, noble Prince Joshua leaps from the vehicle, runs to rescue kitty #1, lobs it gently to his princess sister in the back seat, and rushes for the second. Kitty #2 was quite fiesty, hissing and scratching at her rescuer, not one bit appreciative of the gesture.

A friendly fellow church-goer witnesses this bit of heroism and asks what we plan to do with the two kitties. I tell her that I will bring them home, only to be sentenced to divorce court on the following day. :^D She offers to take one home and picks Kitty #1. Of course. We exchange phone numbers so we can keep tabs on the sisters. Home we go with Feisty Kitty #2. The princesses in the back seat squabble about who gets to hold the tiny kitty in distress. Until Princess Morgan discovers the vile temper of the rescued kitty. After scratches and bites, she willingly surrenders the prize to Princess Brooke.

Tiny baby Libby

The young princesses quickly name her Libby, short for Lady Liberty, since she was rescued on July 3. Since Libby was very tiny, about 4-5 weeks old, we put her in the royal bathroom with a tiny litter box and some food. It is discovered by the royal purveyor of animal medicinals that she has enormous blisters on the bottom of her tiny paws from being on the concrete parking lot in the 100+° heat on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Treatment with the appropriate potions quickly follows.

Princess Morgan and Baby Libby

Libby heals of her wounds and Princess Brooke implores His Majesty, King Steve, for Lady Liberty to be made a permanent member of the royal household. Being the wise and loving king he is, (and made soft by tears of the princesses) he aquieses. Princess Brooke set about to thoroughly spoil Libby, and it was thus. So all was peaceful in the kingdom for more than a year. (Okay, maybe not so peaceful, as Lady Liberty found delight in torturing Lady KitKat and Lord Isaiah, the other royal felines.)

Until that terribly day, Princess Brooke's 12th birthday. A royal celebration was in order and the first of the honored guests, Lady Zoe of Tams, arrived. The Queen was doing the royal wash and checked the clothes in the dryer. Finding them still sodden, she closed the dryer door and turned it on. Queen Ginger, Princess Brooke, and Lady Zoe all trek to the lot were, earlier in the week, a ceremonial ground breaking had been held. The ladies collected all manner of cook-out paraphernalia and quickly returned to the castle. Upon our return trip, we see Princess Morgan holding Libby and sobbing hysterically. The Queen and Princess Brooke run to find Libby very warm, panting heavily, and bleeding profusely from her mouth. All manner of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued and the Queen and her entourage rushed Libby to the vet's.

Upon arrival, Libby's temperature was 107°, only because that was as high as the thermometer went. She was given fluids and steroids and put on an ice pack. She stays the weekend at the vet's office and, although the medical staff doubted her mental capacity after so high a temperature, she seemed to recover without incident. She arrived back home Monday morning to a very grateful Princess Brooke, who was thankful beyond all comprehension that such a big God would answer her lowly prayers for her small kitty.

The Thursday following, the royal family was to take a tour of the Kingdom of Texas, beginning in the great realm of Houston and ending in the humble Palestine for a wedding for the very first Ginger C., royal aunt of King Steve. Princess Brooke, heartbroken to think she must leave her kitty who is still recovering from The Horrible Dryer Incident, begs her royal father to allow Libby to accompany us on our journey. Being the wise and loving king he is, (and made soft by tears of the princesses) he aquieses.

And so it was, on the cold, sunny Sunday morning of the wedding, that we could not find Libby before leaving the hostel (um....I mean hotel). A frantic search of the room is made, looking everywhere, even moving all the furniture in the hostelry. The King and Princess Morgan leave for the wedding without the Queen and Princess Brooke. They continue to search, assisted by the common folk from the Outer Realm of Wisconsin and the humble hostel servants (I mean, hotel staff). The King and Morgan return from the wedding to assist in the search. The King, on his hunt, finds three other kitties among the cactus and tall grass of the surrounding countryside, but no Libby. Sadly, we leave Texas without Lady Liberty.

It was a long, tearful trip back to the castle that Sunday night. Many prayers were said by the Royal Family, as well as friends and family. But, alas, we could stay no longer because the King's presence was required at the hospital. Late Monday night, the phone rang. It was the first Ginger C. calling - the hostel had discovered Lady Liberty! She had been found in the very same hotel room in which we were staying! She had found a lovely hiding spot within the box spring of one of the beds. A poor, weary traveler had the misfortune to rent this room after earlier leaving a nearby hotel in which he was found to share a room with a BAT! So he soon settled his tired head on the mattress and began hearing meowing! He must have felt he was in some Dr. Seuss nightmare: I will not sleep here with a bat, I will not sleep here with a cat....

Libby, the night she was rescued from the hotel by nobel Cousin Jim.

She looks none the worse for wear, does she?

The following morning, the royal carriage brought the Queen and both Princesses (this time accompanied by Royal Poodle Abrial for safety reasons ) returned to the noble village of Palestine where Libby was reunited with Princess Brooke, who was once again very grateful and thankful beyond all comprehension that such a big God would answer (again) her lowly prayers for her small kitty.

Lady Liberty was so glad to be home and she vowed to never go to Texas again!

The End!"