Cosette, the Goofy

I wanted a red poodle. Badly. I discovered Cosette when she was just a teeny tiny little thing. She was SO adorable!!! I had planned to name my red Poodle Jezebel, kind of in keeping with the "bad girls of the Bible" we had evidently started with Delilah.

Here she is at 2 weeks of age. She didn't look like a Jezebel. She was way too sweet! So Steve pulled up a list of French names (even though Poodles didn't originate in France, but in Germany where they were bred as water retrievers - blame the German hunters for the strange show clip, as they started it). He got to the C's and said, "Cosette!" Our whole family loves Les Miserables, so it seemed very appropriate. Since Cosette's character in the musical sings a song, "Castle on a Cloud," we decided that should be her registered name. So she is Gineve's Chateau sur un Nuage.

And here she is when we picked her up in Ohio. She was only 7 weeks old, but she already weighed over 13 pounds!

Delilah traveled with us to pick Cosette up. Look how tiny Cosette was next to Delilah! Now she is quite a big larger than Delilah!

Cosette is a big goofball. She makes everyone laugh. She teases Abrial constantly by hiding her toys when she leaves the room for a drink of water. She adores Steve, practically crawling in his lap to give him kisses. Here she is trying to win a "longest tongue" contest.

Okay, she's up to something now. I can just see it in her eyes.

Here she comes! Cosette on the attack! Look out! :::giggle:::

I love my big, red goofball. I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Abrial Takes a Turn

Hi everybody! I'm Abrial and I told The Lady that I wanted to be the blogger today. The Lady took us Poodles for a walk to The New House. Here I am guarding the door of The New House.

Here's my Mommy, Delilah. Isn't she beautiful? She's The Lady's favorite - but I don't mind. Delilah is my favorite, too.

Here's my sister, Cosette. She's my favorite sister. Even though she steals my toys. But I love her anyway.

Between The Old House and The New House is this lovely little path through the woods. I thought you might like to explore it with me.

Hurry up!

Keep your nose to the ground! You never know what you might sniff out here in the woods! We like chasing rabbits and squirrels. But we never catch anything.

Hey! We caught something this time! It's a Girl! We like Girl! She gives us yummy Poodle Cookies - and the best belly rubs!

And here we are, back at The New House! I'm glad you got to explore the woods with us! I need to get back to guarding The New House now! Bye!

Happy Birthday, Brooke!

My darling Brooke is 13 today. I cannot believe that it has been 13 years since I was blessed with my first daughter. Brooke is such an intelligent, funny, responsible, beautiful young lady. I'm so glad God gave her to us! Happy 13th, sweet girl!

This morning Brooke and Abrial participated in the 4-H Purebred Dog Show during our parish fair. Although Abrial was a bit timid and Brooke nervous, they both did very well. We all had fun watching all the other dogs.

This evening Brooke, Morgan, and I went to our homeschool group's high school football homecoming game. We won! This year we are undefeated!

After the game, one family hosted a homecoming celebration at their house and invited EVERYONE! There were over 100 people in attendance! They live in the middle of a cane field on 55 acres and it was gorgeous! They built a huge bonfire and the kids had fun roasting marshmallows and warming themselves by the fire, as temperatures had turned a bit nippy - at least by South Louisiana standards. There were hot dogs and hamburgers and all sorts of things to eat. Coffee for the grownups and great conversation. I think the adults had as much fun as the kids! I hope they do this again soon!

A Very Busy Friday

Today was a crazy busy day. First we woke up before the sun to get ready and leave for Joshua's "A" school graduation in Gulfport, MS. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law followed us over. We arrived on the base for his ceremony, which was pretty laid-back compared to his boot camp graduation. It was very small, held in a small auditorium, and was short on formality as compared to other Navy events.







Joshua's group received a special coin for achieving CO's Blue, a special unit recognition for excellence in all areas. Joshua was also an honors graduate and received a double advancement, which was wonderful. We were so very proud of him.







Here's my Seabee! Click here for great information about the Seabees and what they do.

Shaking hands all around with all the commanders and instructors. Even people in the audience who were retired Navy stood to shake hands with our newest Seabees. It was very touching.

Here's Joshua's whole group.


After the ceremony was over, we went to eat brunch at Cracker Barrel. Then Joshua and his friend, who is also a Navy Seabee, drove to the base outside of New Orleans, where both boys will drill, for Joshua to be checked in. We drove on home.


We all wanted a nap, but instead we cleaned horse stalls, then everyone went home for baths before going our separate ways. Steve took Brooke to a choir concert in one direction, while I took Morgan to her pep rally in another. I was awarded custody of the camera. :^D

Here's Morgan performing at her first pep rally. She's the tiniest one on the squad. She is on the junior varsity squad and they only cheer at the junior varsity basketball games. But varsity cheerleaders wanted the JV girls to be included in the homecoming pep rally.

Here are some of our JV girls.

Our homeschooling group has grown to the point where we have a tackle football team and we are members of a Christian athletic association and we play private schools all over south Louisiana.

Morgan, the flyer! Sorry about everyone's glowing eyes. The light in the gym at night was awful and I tried to fix the eyes, but they still glowed. :^) Something to work on in my photography.

New House

There's a new house in the neighborhood.









Okay, so it's not a house. It's another porta-potty. The people who bought the lot across the street are gearing up to start their house. It'll be fun to watch another house go up. I am looking forward to watching from MY new house!




Patience. Patience.

Professor Stewart Answers Your Most Pressing Question

Why Are Cats Smarter Than Dogs?

10. Dogs come when you call them. Cats take a message and get back to you.

9. Dogs will let you give them a bath without taking out a contract on your life.

8. Dogs will bark to wake you up if the house is on fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door.

7. Dogs will bring you your slippers or the evening newspaper. Cats might bring you a dead mouse.

6. Dogs will play Frisbee with you all afternoon. Cats will take a three-hour nap.

5. Dogs will sit on the car seat next to you. Cats have to have their own private box or they will not go at all.

4. Dogs will greet you and lick your face when you come home from work. Cats will be mad that you went to work at all.

3. Dogs will sit, lie down, and heel on command. Cats will smirk and walk away.

2. Dogs will tilt their heads and listen whenever you talk. Cats will yawn and close their eyes.

And the number one reason cats are smarter than dogs...

1. Dogs will give you unconditional love forever. Cats will make you pay for every mistake you've ever made since the day you were born.

Maximillion's Sunflowers

A sure sign of fall....



A riotous profusion of Maximillion's Sunflowers all along the roadways and in ditches.



These are along the road to the barn and they are TALL!




Brooke got out to pick some (they stink, she discovered - picking not recommended) and some of them were twice as tall as she is.




I love how the light of the setting sun lit up these lovely flowers.

Where Does It Come From?

I just don't understand it.

I have Poodles. Poodles do not shed.

Yet I have this white hair all over everything.

On my clothes. On my bed. On the mirror. In my pancake syrup. (We had breakfast for supper tonight.)

But I just cannot understand why.

Another Loofah Dog Commercial

Okay, for whatever reason, the commercial came up last night and now won't work. So here's the link: Loofah Dog Commercial.

Loofah Dog Commercial

Okay, this commercial worked last night, but now it won't load. So I just deleted it and will add a link to the commercial. Watch it - it's cute!

Loofah Dog Commercial #1

My Dogs are Not Spoiled

My youngest child is 11. She no longer plays with toys. But we still have a toy box in our house. In it, you will find at least half a dozen tennis balls, a stuffed blue mouse, a stuffed toy that looks like a jack, three small, brightly-colored teddy bears, a couple of large knuckle bones, and other assorted toys - all for the Poodles.

Of my three girls, Abrial is my toy-hound. She loves to chase tennis balls with or without a human participant, plays with toys, chews on toys, hides toys in her crate. She just loves toys.

Delilah only has one toy - a squeaky pink bone from when she was a puppy. She will chase a tennis ball, but she doesn't carry them around or play with them by herself. She is a one-toy Poodle - she loves Squeaky Bone.

Cosette will occasionally chew on a knuckle bone, but she doesn't play with toys. She doesn't "get" what a game of fetch is all about. You show her the ball and she jumps around and gets all excited, you throw the ball, and she runs to it, looks at it, and runs back, as if to say, "There it is! Why did you throw it away? What is this game about, anyway?" She sees the others chasing tennis balls, but she just doesn't get it. Maybe she's fetch-disabled.

What Cosette DOES is steal toys. But only from Abrial. Never does she steal Squeaky Bone from Delilah. Delilah is the Alpha Poodle in our house. She is the Mother to the other Poodles. Abrial might try to steal the Squeaky Bone, but never Cosette. (Cosette would be the Omega Poodle in the household.)

Abrial will be lying in the floor, listening to a history lesson, chewing on a toy. Delilah is sleeping on the sofa. Cosette is sleeping on the floor. Abrial leaves for a sip of water and the second her fluffy tail disappears around the corner, Cosette bolts up from her nap, nabs the toy, zips to her crate, then returns and lies back in her napping spot. Abrial comes back from the water bowl and is puzzled at the cosmic disappearance of her toy. After a search in the living room, she will then wander to Cosette's crate where she'll find the stolen goods. I love to watch this game. It's hilarious.


A few weeks ago while at the pet store buying food for the Poodles, I saw that they had a bucket of Loofah Dogs. I've seen these on the Petsmart (or was it Petco) commercial and thought they were cute.

Because Abrial had not been feeling well (she had a bladder infection) and had been spending more time in her crate, I decided to pick one up for her. But Abrial never had the chance to enjoy her new toy.

Not long after I brought Loofah Dog into the house, he was nabbed by Cosette. But not just to hide in her crate. She LOVES Loofah Dog. We'll be in the kitchen and hear her squeak it. She loves him so much, she has loved off his tail! She sleeps with him in her crate and carries him around. He's her new best buddy.

Field Trip

Today we went on a homeschool field trip to a place called LIGO. It stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. It measures distortions in space-time.

The website (that you can get to by clicking on the link above) says this: "LIGO is an instrument for sensing the presence of matter, whether shining or dark, in the distant reaches of the cosmos. LIGO does this by detecting the gravitational waves -- ripples in the force of gravity -- created by violent events such as the collisions of stars and the vibrations of black holes."

It was fascinating to think that such a very technological observatory was near enough for us to visit (Louisiana isn't exactly the first place you think of for astrophysics). They had a wonderful educational program and one of the tour guides is a homeschooling mom to a 13-year-old girl!

We got to do an experiment about light, color, and film that was really fun. Here are some pictures from the lab.

First the kids (okay, and the grown-ups too - Steve got to come with us - see him in the background?) colored something on a sheet of black construction paper, then immerse the paper in a pan of water. They drop one drop of clear nail polish onto the surface of the water, and carefully remove the paper. The drop spreads out on the surface of the water to form a clear film. But light travels through the film and bounces back up, and you see colors on the film on the black paper! Very cool!

Here's Morgan's. She drew the heart in crayon, but the sparkly appearance is from the nail polish film that has covered her heart - it appeared coppery in places and purple and gold in other places. Really neat! Try this at home! We will!

Brooke and her friend, S. are waiting for the nail polish. Depending on if you got the thin nail polish or the thicker nail polish, your results would be different from your lab buddy's.

Z. is dropping the nail polish on her creation. We made sure to wear our safety glasses! You never know when nail polish will fly into your eyes while doing experiments! :::wink:::

We went through the Science Education Center, where they had 40 hands on exhibits that all demonstrated different aspects of the workings of LIGO - we learned about light and sound waves, weight and the effect on motion, film, sound reflection, and lots more. I think Steve and I had as much fun (if not more) than the kids!

For those in the Pacific Northwest, there is a LIGO in Richland, WA. It is a wonderful field trip (definitely geared more for older kids, though). Go! You won't regret it!

Fatty Cat

So far, this has been a very busy week. Monday - chorale practice for Brooke, cheerleading for Morgan. Tuesday - chorale concert for Brooke (she didn't tell me about this until Monday). Wednesday - homeschooling 4-H and piano lessons. Horses - everyday, of course.

While I was waiting for the girls to get back from piano lessons (that is, thankfully, in walking distance), I turned around and saw Libby in the shoe box that Brooke left in the hallway Tuesday after putting on her "granny shoes" as she calls them. I had to get the camera. Here's the first shot.





But it really doesn't give the full effect. Look at this shot....




You can't even see the box from this angle! I just thought it was hilarious! Libby, you really need to go on a diet!

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Pilaf

I love to cook. But I'm one of those "follows a recipe every time" cooks. There are a very few recipes that I have either tossed together on my own or improvised a lot on. I am definitely a rule (and recipe) follower.


But necessity is the mother of invention, they say. I need to go grocery shopping. Badly. I look through the cupboards. Rice. Okay, that'll work. What goes well with rice? Beans. Hmm....it's now 6:30 p.m. Not nearly enough time for beans. Lentils! Those are quick. But Steve hates lentils. What to do? I pull out the lentils anyway.



So I throw in a little of this and a little of that. Twenty minutes later, I served supper. I served Steve's. He says, "Hey. What is this?" "Do you not like it?" I ask. "No. I love it! This is delicious! What is it?" I do not work well under pressure. So I blurted out, "Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pilaf!" It worked for him. "I love it! You must make this again." So I am sharing it here so I will be able to make it again! I loved it. Steve loved it. Both girls loved it. We had no left-overs. It is vegan, so I can serve it to my daddy! It's definitely a winner.

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Pilaf

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 red bell pepper, chopped

a handful of baby carrots, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup long-grain rice

1/2 cup brown lentils

2 cups water

a handful of frozen peas

Saute' vegetables in olive oil in a skillet (that has a tight-fitting lid) for about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir around for a few minutes. Add lentils, water, and peas. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook, covered, for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender. Season as desired. I used salt, pepper, Tony Chachere's seasoning, and some Pampered Chef rosemary herb seasoning.

That's it! Simple! And my lentil-hating husband asked for it for the next day! (He was disappointed. My family left none for the next day.)

Sleeping Beauty

One of my Very Favorite People in the Whole Wide World would have to be my friend, Joy. My mama and I moved to this town when I was three and Joy was just six months old. We lived on the same street with three houses between us. Joy was my living baby doll and the sister I didn't have all rolled into one. I adored her.

The love remained as we grew. Even though we had other friends, we were always close. We would fight, but we'd make up again. Just like sisters. She was my maid of honor and I was her matron of honor.

She now lives about an hour away and has children pretty close in age to Brooke and Morgan - a girl and a boy. Two years ago, when her youngest was about seven, God gave her a special surprise.

That surprise is Jenna. Joy and Jenna came to visit today. Joy and I went to the new house and Morgan and Jenna were swinging, then then went inside to watch Spirit. And then she fell asleep. Doesn't she look just like a baby angel? Look at those long eyelashes and adorable ringlets.

She looks just like my Living Baby Doll from years ago. :^) I love you, Joy. And all your beautiful children. But THIS one, you can leave at my house forever and always!