Oklahoma is OK!!

While Michael, J&J are headed off to Springfield,MO for the Homeschool National Basketball Tournament, Jeffrey and Josiah and I decided to stay in Oklahoma with my sister and spend the week. It was a tough choice to stay. I really LOVE watching J&J play basketball, but the reality is that they will probably only be playing a total of 4 or 5 hours all week long. The rest of the time we would have to be hanging out at the gym or the hotel with thousands of other people. There are 35 different courts all around Springfield where the games will be played, so that would mean LOTS more time just hangin' at gyms than we had at the state tournament. So, we decided to stay here and play.

Today, we cashed in big on Chick-Fil-A coupons and other freebies. The CFA here in OK has a "Repeat Reciept Day" where if you keep your receipt from a certain day in Feb. you can come back any day in March and get the exact thing for free! What a deal!! So combine that with 3 other coupons for free food that Julie and I had and you get all this food and drinks....(this pic was taken with my camera phone, which accounts for the wierd margins)

for $10. We also traded one of the kid's meal prizes (which was a Reader Rabbit CD) for an ice cream that all the kids shared. Then we went and picked up two free movies and Blockbuster and Redbox which we're going to employ tomorrow when my sister and I have a big "baking day". Gotta love freebies! I'm getting Julie hooked on cheapness...um I mean frugality! We scored several 25 cent Colgate toothpastes and $1.19 Tom's natural toothpastes and free Garnier Nutrisse shampoo and hair products last weekend. Her comment was "Yeah, I can see how this can be addictive!" No joke!!

They even make metal look good! Brace yourself!

Yesterday was a big day in our family life. We made the trip to the orthodontist and the braces came on! J&J were really excited about it. I think I can safely say their enthusiasm has waned significantly now that their mouths hurt and they can't eat all the things they are used to eating. In fact, Jeremy made a comment that was funny. He said "I feel like I'm now a toddler again instead of a teenager! I have to have really soft foods and everything cut up into smaller pieces!" I'm thinking about going to get some Gerber Graduates for them! They've had plenty of applesauce, yogurt, smoothies, etc. Junk food is coming to a screeching halt as well. No chips, popcorn, hard or sticky candy, gum, etc. We'll take this opportunity to form new habits, esp. eating small bites and chewing food slowly (I'm thrilled about that!) and eating good foods. Even green smoothies!



We went to Pappasitos right before the appt. 'cuz my sister and her crew were in town. I'm sooo glad we did! I'm glad J&J were able to really enjoy a yummy meal before the braces. I really have no idea about how much pain to expect, having never been in this situation before. Michael said he vividly remembered the pain of braces and the desperate longing for a hamburger. Couldn't eat them for a while b/c his teeth hurt.



Jeremy told me last night that he prayed that the "Heavenly Dentist" would come and give him some anesthetic and move all his teeth really quickly so this could be over with soon. We'll pray that's true as well!



And I must say, they look handsome, even with mouths full of metal! And I'm not surprised, they've got a good gene pool (even though crooked teeth also float in that gene pool!)

Jonathan-before

Jonathan-after. He choose red braces.

Jeremy-before.

Jeremy after. He chose black. They can change colors when they go back if they want.

Gloria, Gloria... I think he's got your number!!

Jackson did it. He did something I didn't think he would do, though I'm not sure WHY I thought that! He killed a chicken yesterday. Super sad day. He got out in the morning and I wasn't thinking to put the chickens in the coop. "He's not going to bother them", I thought. WRONG! A couple of hours later, I was on my way to Walgreens (with the boys at home) when Jonathan called me with the horrible news. Why is it that these things happen when the mom's not home???!!!


Well, let me tell you, if I didn't care about Jackson as much as I do, we would not have a dog today. I was so mad! Sometimes this circle of life thing really stinks! At least the fox that killed our other girls was hungry, Jackson was bored and looking for a thrill. Urgh!!! Could someone please send "The Dog Whisperer" to my house to talk some sense into my dog!!
Gloria was the Rhode Island red. Here's a picture of her.

From L-R, Comet, Pocahantas, and Gloria

Thankfully, the other girls and Hawkeye, the rooster-hey where were YOU when all this was going on??!!-are all still present and accounted for.

My bloggin' boy

Jeffrey's caught the fever! He's been on me for months to let him get a blog. Last weekend while we were at mom and dad's, his cousin showed him how to do it. So, if you got an email from farmboytx inviting you to a blog, that's Jeffrey. If you want to read his blog and didn't get an invitation, just leave a comment here with your email address and we'll add you to his list.

Way to go, Jeffrey!

The fighting Texas Aggie Band

One of the super cool things about Texas A&M (well, there's thousands!) but one that stands out is the band. Only, it's not "the band"! It's the "Pride of Aggie Land World Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band". Saturday afternoon, the FTAMB did a free performance for the public to honor the 75th Annual Bandmasters conference. Since we were in town (like we have been for the past 4 weekends!! :-)), I took the boys. My sis and her kiddos were in town as well, so we got to bring a girlie along!

Here the band is making their famous "Marching T" (for Texas A&M, in case you can't figure that one out!)

Everyone waiting for the band. Some more patiently than others!!

Gotta love having cousins!! Isn't this a totally cute pic!

Controlled chaos on the field. The boys kept saying "How do they not bump into each other??!!" Lots and lots of practice!

Here's the kiddos at the fountain at the Memorial Student Center.

Girlie legs get tired faster than boy legs! So, big strong legs got to track a tired cousin across campus. Here they are in front of the Academic building. It was so fun walking around the campus (the small part that we saw) and telling the boys about the buildings where I had classes. It's been a while since I've been on campus. I'd forgotten how pretty it is!

Our address..

isn't changing this year!! Yippee! We found out last week for sure that we are able to renew our lease for another year. I guess the owners aren't coming back this year. I can't say I'm sorry about that. It really doesn't seem like we've been here a year already and I can't imagine moving. It's just starting to feel like home! I'm thrilled that we get to enjoy this beautiful homestead for another year!

The situation gets "sticky"

The ongoing saga of the mouse....

Well, Mr Trapmeister and his brothers have proven themselves wholly inadequate in trapping Baby Mousey. The problem is that Little M is too small to make the trap snap. He's excellent at eating the peanut butter off of the traps and walking away. The boys think he's just like the mouse in Tale of Desperaux fighting his way through all the traps. I'm of the opinion that this has become more the Tale of the Desperate, so we're going to the next level! Since I've not seen this mouse adding any gourmet spices to my food making my meals worthy of fantastic reviews simply by pulling my hair, the war is on!!

This weekend we got "sticky" traps so when Little M runs across it, that's it. Game over. Cat food! We put one in the pantry and three in the laundry room. I've also pretty much done all I can to stay out of the laundry room. Thankfully, Michael and the boys are really the ones to do the laundry anyway. But knowing that Little M is here, there and everywhere in the laundry room, I really don't want to run across him!! Or have him run across me-even grosser! So, the best logical solution....let someone else do the laundry and feed the dog! Easy choice!


Many times yesterday Josiah went to check the traps. He came back bummed every time. "Man, no mouse!" But this morning.....guess what! Little M was found. Jeffrey shouted the victory this morning, "We got him! We got him!". That was great until he started waving the trap around running around to show everyone. I can't remember how many times I asked him, "PLEASE, Jeffrey I DON'T want to see him on the trap!!!" After everyone saw him, the boys took the trap out to Trixie and Snowflake. The problem...the trap is very sticky! How do you get the mouse off it? Answer...not without losing some of its bodyparts. That's all I'm saying about that! Trixie got the prize, 'cuz she was in the right place at the right time!

Hopefully, that's the end of this drama! I guess I better get back to the laundry!