Goodbye Hair

One of my friends, who had Catie in her 3-4 year old class, mentioned to me that my lovely Catie was voted most likely to cut her own hair.  She is five now and every time I brought my sweet sunshine into daycare with all of her hair intact I felt a small sense of accomplishment.  This accomplishment lasted until President's Day (insert dramatic music here).  Catie and Buck were having a grand time on President's Day since school was out, but I was trying to get ready to go see one of my customers that day.  They are a child friendly customer, of course.  Then I noticed the pencil box full of hair.  "Catie, what is in that box?"....."Hair"....."Whose hair?"..."Me and Buck's".  Greeeeeaaaaat.  Hair dressers do not work on President's Day.  I was then forced to take my hairless sunshine to my friend who originally told me that she would cut her hair so that she could temporarily fix it until I could get a hair appointment.  Sigh.....

The good new is that she looks terribly adorable with her hair short.  When people ask her why she cut her hair her response is "I like it showt".  Now, she has decided that she wants to grow her hair out again.  Perfect.  At least I will be able to fix her hair again, and giant bows are comforting!

Pinot's Pallet Woke the Inner Artist in ME!!!!!

My delightful friend, Jamie, wanted to get me out of the house for some "girl time".  She booked us a spot at Pinot's Pallet to paint one of my favorite paintings, Starry Night.  Well, I'm no Van Gogh (mainly because I have both ears intact), but I'd say it came out nicely.  It was fairly easy too.  The painting has my personal hidden meanings in it and is proudly displayed in my living room for all to see.  Jamie placed hers in her bathroom which makes the loo experience especially nice at her house.  After the experience at Pinot's Pallet I decided that I was an artist/painter.  Jamie bought my paint supplies for my birthday and I went to work on my first painting for my mother.  Mother's Day was approaching and it is virtually impossible to get a woman who has everything a gift she would really enjoy.  Her place of happiness is in Taos, NM and it is her sweet house.  I took a picture of it when I was there last in hope that I could copy it in paint.  One thought before I painted it was to "grid" it and make it look exactly like the picture, but I felt it was more "artistic" if I did it without the grid (plus, the canvas didn't measure out equally to the picture so I couldn't do it anyway without distortion).  I think it turned out ok, but Suga (my mom) adored it!  Mission accomplished.....how comforting!



We Are Dog People

I grew up always having animals in my home.  My mother was told by numerous friends that we (kids) all had allergies and should get rid of our pets, but she believed it would make our immune systems stronger.  Plus, she adored our pets and wouldn't think twice about getting rid of them.  I am so grateful she instilled the compassion in me that I have for animals.  I can only hope that I will give that to my children as well.  The dogs in our house are just like our fellow family members.  It isn't odd that they are found lounging on the couch during the day or sleeping with the kids in their beds at night.  The dogs are a great affection back up too.  If you feel like you need a hug and all the humans are crabby that day then you will always have a dog who will be happy to snuggle up with you.  I'm sure other animals are too, but I'm having trouble crossing over to the cat world.  It seems every day I'm chasing a cat away from the little bird nest in one of my hanging plants, and it reminds me how innocent and kind my dogs are to other living things....at least they are when I'm paying attention to them.  Dogs are comforting!

I'm a Dog Owner; Therefore, I'm a Vet

My long time driving partner, Marty, likes to go with my other driving friend, Pinto, to my neighbor's house for a play date with their dogs. When I know I'm going to be driving for a long time for work that day the dogs will get their beloved play date. One day my friend rang me and sounded frantic on the the other end of the phone. Apparently, there was a dog fight and Marty got the tip of his ear ripped off. When I went to pick the dogs up, my friend was frantically mopping her house and her hair and clothes looked disheveled. She was panicked and afraid I would be angry with her, because my sweet dog got his ear ripped off. I was ok with it, but it was my friend who should have been the frustrated one. Every time Marty shook his head blood would splatter about her house. I tried to ease the situation by making a band aid for Marty with scooby doo band aids and gauze. I also informed my friend that if there should ever be a murder at her house the CSI investigators will be very confused by all the canine blood remnants. She wasn't entertained.

When I got Marty to the vet they admired my scooby band aid fix on Marty's ear. They stitched him up and when two weeks went by and he was supposed to get the stitches out I took them out myself to save money. I'm thinking I missed my Veterinarian calling. At least I know that I don't panic when my dog gets hurt and needs my assistance, and that is comforting.

The Art of Marshmallow Roasting is not Lost

I can not remember the last time I had roasted marshmallows with my children. Luckily, my neighbors had the goods for the job and we were able to enjoy the warm, sweet, goo of marshmallows again. Another positive, no one poked their eyes out with sticks. That night when we got home I felt a slight drip in the back of my throat. The kids seemed to be coughing a little more too. I immediately went to the store to prepare for the allergy season that was approaching. Spring is great except for that pollen that makes my family and I miserable but makes the the world prettier. No problem....I'm prepared this year. I'm comforting.

Moody Gardens are Happy Gardens

Poppie decided he would leave Suga for a weekend for a hunting trip with friends

so Suga decided to take me and the kids to Moody Gardens! I had never been, but heard it was a fantastic place for kids. Being it wintertime I was in the mood to get out of the house. Off to Galveston we went!

Buck and Catie are not usually thought of as

underprivileged, but on this trip we realize

d they had never had room service. Suga immediately decided (since we had Poppie's card) that this is something they needed to become talented, accomplished adults.

After the wonderful breakfast in the room we went to the Aquarium to become one with the fish.

After the fish we moved to a different "pyramid"

and checked out some bones and found a nice man laying on a couch. He didn't say much,

but I felt we had a connection.

Then it was off to the fast-moving, speedy, exciting, paddle wheel boat. I'd say it took the

kids about five minutes before they said they were bored and wanted to get off. Forty-five minutes later we were able to get off the boat.

Finally we finished the weekend with a dinner at Gaido's and then a swim in the hotel INDOOR pool. We had a fantastic weekend....thanks to Suga and Poppie's card. Poppie's card is very comforting.

Snow in Texas?

I am super behind on my blogging these days. Let's just say being busy with kids, work, and being a mediocre mother has kept me from my blog account. Let's just say! Okay, we live in Texas and it.....wait for it......SNOWED! One of the most amazing things about this event is that we had just returned from our ski trip in Taos with snow up to our eyeballs and this little powder made my kids act like it was fairy dust falling from the sky. If any of that snow sticks, then it is a snow day for all Texans! The most excitement for me is being able to light the fire in our fireplace for the first time. Keep in mind I am female so I used one of those paper logs you get at Lowe's. It produces minimal heat and is strictly for the cozy feel of a fire in the fireplace! How's that for comforting?!