Tis the Season again!

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Tis the Season....

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Thanksgiving Day

We spent Thanksgiving Day at BT's grandparent's house in Gilmer. I had only one request of the whole day....get a family photo so I can order my Christmas Cards. Did that happen? Of course not....
Everytime I needed BT he'd disappear and re-appear with 3 cookies in his mouth. When I could finally catch Ken, she refused to co-operate. Kam, poor thing, just plastered a smile across her face whether I was around with the camera or not, guess you can never be too safe. Sissy and Will tried their best to help, but no Christmas card worthy shots were captured. We did, however, manage to get a few fun ones....

Kam's got a man!!

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What are my girls thankful for?

We asked the girls to tell us everything they are thankful for. This is what we got:

Kamryn

Mom & Brian
God
Sissy
Shelter (yes, that is the word she used)
Food
Krawl
Comet & Abbi
Goats
Clothes
Cousin Alli


Kennedy

Sissy
Christmas Trees
Sissy
Kamryn
Sissy
That flowers smell good
Sissy
Christmas decorations
Sissy
Clothes
Sissy
Ballerinas
Sissy
When mom packs her a lunch (she despises cafeteria food)
Sissy
Cartoons
Sissy
Paper
Sissy
Our house
Sissy
All the stuff inside our house
Sissy
Hair
Sissy
Blankets
Sissy
Krawl
Sissy

For those of you who may not know, Sissy is what the girls call their grandmother.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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Merry Christmas Kam & Ken!

Kam's only request for Christmas this year was a horse. She specifically wanted a red one white on it and wanted to name it Comet. Ken only wants what Kam wants, as usual, and wasn't specific.

So, BT, being the wonderful father he is, searched high and low for the perfect horse for our girls. Right when we were ready to give up, he found not one, but two! We weren't expecting to find two. They are beautiful quarter horses. Abby is the white one and Comet is the red one. Abby is Comet's mother. Comet's name was Cinnamon but when my niece Alli told us Kam wanted her horse to be named Comet, we changed it.

Bt and Pop decided to pick them up Friday after work. They were so excited. Sissy had Ken and picked Kam up at home when she got off the bus. She then took them to her house. The plan was to hide the horses until Christmas morning, so when Sissy got to her house with the girls and saw BT and his dad unloading one, she made a U turn in the middle of the road and rushed back to my house!! Oh My!! We were so lucky the girls didn't see! Anyway, the horse trailer could only hold one at a time so BT had to make 2 trips. In the mean time, I took Kam to her friend Katie's to spend the night.
When BT got home with the second one, it was dark, the wind was blowing and the temperature dropped significantly. Only my niece Alli was in on the surprise. She had to be...she can smell a horse a mile away!! There's no tricking her!
Saturday morning, we rushed to the farm to check on the horses....we moved the round pen behind PaPa's barn and set it up for them. They are so loving...
Ken saw them and wanted the red one! Oh no!! So, thinking on my toes, I explained that the solid white one with beautiful blue eyes was a unicorn at the north pole and Santa brought the two in the middle of the night. I further explained that she used to be a princess horse and Santa took her unicorn horn off when he brought her. This worked wonderfully. Ken told everyone that her horse is a princess unicorn. Perfect! Ken loved on Abby and asked her dad "Is Christmas over?"
At noon we picked up Kam. I was so excited my stomach hurt. We told her we needed to check the goats for a minute and walked out to where the horses were. She was stunned. She asked "Are those ours?" She had tears in her eyes and the biggest smile on her face. She was so happy. As BT walked her in the round pen on her horse she never stopped smiling.
Kam & Ken don't seem to care that this is practically all they are getting for Christmas.
I'm am so happy we were able to give this gift to our children. The glow on Kam's face and the insistent need Ken had to stay with her horse are priceless. Hopefully they will be together for many years.

Why is Right the right way to Write?

My mother-in-law noticed last night that Ken is trying(struggling, actually) to write right-handed. This is a concern because she is left-handed. No one else in my house is, and we have never thought twice about it. It is no big deal for us. Ken even said that she is "supposed" to write with her right hand. We corrected her and said she can write with whichever hand she chooses. Learning to read and write is a challenge in itself without throwing in this and making her feel insecure about it.

So this morning when I dropped her off at pre-k I asked her teacher if she is being taught to write right-handed. Sure enough, she has been. Poor little thing has been struggling. Last night she was trying just to learn how to hold the pencil in her right hand. This is just not OK. I was floored. I stearnly told the teacher that Ken is left-handed and will not be taught to write with her right hand. She apologized and said she never noticed Ken is left-handed and will not be forced to use her right hand. How could her teacher not recognize this?! I'm just appaled.

I did some research this morning.
Did you know that only 7-10% of our population is left-handed and the majority of those are male, therefore leaving a very minute number of left-handed females?

* 4 of 5 of the designers that created the original MacIntosh computer were left-handed.
* Left-handed people can see underwater easier than right-handed people, therefore excel in swimming.
* Left-handed people excel at Tennis, e.g. Martina Navratilnova is a lefty.
* There is a Lefthanders Day-Aug. 13th
* Left-handed people are known to be more intelligent, better looking, more imaginative, and have more multiple talents then right-handed people.

Check out all these amazing people that are (or were) left-handed:

Ted Koppel Sir Paul McCartney
Prince William Queen Mother
Hans Christian Anderson Leonardo De Vinci
Charlie Chaplin Billy The Kid
Julius Caesar Winston Churchill
George Bush Bill Clinton
Aristotle
Alexander The Great
Joan of Arc Judy Garland
Ronald Raegan Goldie Hawn
Drew Barrymore Jim Carey Mozart

Actually, many of our past presidents were left-handed. I've only listed a few.

I realize this is a rather long, rambling entry, but I am truly upset about this. I feel so bad for Ken and hope her teacher embraces her left-handedness. Girls have so much to worry about as it is and she will, in her life time, be insecure about so many things; this is just unacceptable.

http://www.lefthandersday.com/

Just because

I love this picture. It is of the "old" animals being noisy.

New Additions!

Meet our newest additions!








The little brown one is a Nigerian Dwarf Goat. The curly white one is an Angora Goat and the black one is just a sheep-notice all the twigs stuck to his wool...he won't let us get too close yet...although he did eat out of a can I was holding yesterday.

We love them!
PaPa asked Kam to bring the little one in to see him while he exercised inside. No need to tell a child twice to bring a goat in the house. She was thrilled to. Granny...not so much. She wasn't too fond of the little fellow roaming around in the living room. I think PaPa likes all the recent action on his farm.

Total farm count, to date:

1 horse
2 Nubian goats
1 Pygmy goat
1 Nigerian Dwarf goat
1 Angora Goat
1 Sheep

Saturday Scare

Saturday morning was "clean-up" day at church so BT went to do that and I stayed home with the girls and Krawl. It was a beautiful morning, so I put Krawl outside (he has never left the yard...) I fixed ham and eggs for the girls then they watched cartoons while I cleaned out Ken's closet. Every time I walked by the door, I could see Krawl...usually standing on top of a flowerpot with his hair blowing in the wind, so I knew he was OK. BT came home and asked "Where's Krawl?" I responded "Oh he's fine....enjoying being outside." Next thing I know there is a knock at the door. It is Kam's friend Katie that lives a street over in our neighborhood. She informs me that she saw Krawl chasing the mail lady down the street past her house. Can this be? No way. Must have been some other hairless Chinese Crested with one bad leg, black skin, white hair, and bad teeth....not OUR Krawl! He has never left the yard!!
So, BT hops in the car and goes to search for him while I roam around our street yelling for him. Imagine BT riding the streets of Diana yelling "Krawl, Krawl, come on Krawl...." and a woman still in her PJ's walking aimlessly up and down the street hollering the same. What a sight we must have been. Anyway, BT came home empty handed. By this time I'm near hysterical. I just knew someone snatched him. Who wouldn't want a beautiful hairless dog that doesn't like children and limps?
I decided to drive around, certain BT just missed him. I drove by the same little boys playing football in their yard 8 times crying out the window for Krawl each time. BT and the girls walked up and down the street searching. Finally, we gave up.
The girls got in the car with me and we came home. BT stopped to flirt with our new neighbor from California to explain why we appear so crazy. To his surprise, she totally understood. They lost their dog temporarily just after moving here. I was inside crying since all this was my fault for leaving him outside in the first place and I knew BT was going to let me have it when he came back in.
KT and I were in the bathroom and I looked up and there stands BT with KRAWL!! We were so happy! I think BT had tears in his eyes!! BT said he looked down the street to see Krawl make the curve running as fast as he could! He must have been lost! He was so scared, filthy, and shaking all over. (well, the shaking part is normal, he has no hair.) Poor Krawl. He was exhausted. We took him with us when we left and he curled up in the backseat. He didn't even care to look out the window like he usually does. He was just so happy to not be alone. Poor little fellow.

Merry Christmas!!!

Yes....already.
I have become Granny's "go-to" Christmas elf for her Christmas tree decorating. I actually enjoy it very much. She makes us each feel needed in her own special way. Why it must be put up on November 7th, I have no idea, but we do what Granny asks with a smile. This year marks the 2nd annual decorate-Granny's-tree day. Friday evening I rushed home to put on a Christmas shirt (long sleeve was all I had....OMG the stifling heat of Granny & PaPa's house nearly caused a heat stoke) and matching socks that said "Ho Ho Ho" all over them with lovely red flats. I knew Granny would be pleased; and yes, she was. Especially with the shoes!!
I needed BT to haul in the tree but he was summonsed to wrap a pipe in the barn first.
Let me tell you a little about Granny's tree last year. I truly did the best I could do with what I had to work with. She purchased the tree from her long time friend for $20.00. It must be said that her friend is legally blind and it was obvious that Granny did not open the box and inspect her purchase in advance. The tree was missing approximately 1/3 of it's limbs. There were gaping holes throughout the tree. Thankfully, Granny never throws anything away, so we had tons of artificial red poinsettias to stuff in the bare spots. Granny was convinced Mrs. R. gave her a great deal....I tried to convince her to take it back and get a refund. She wouldn't have it. She loved her tree.
So this year I was so excited to hear that Krystal gave Granny her old tree. Yeah!

This tree would be great!! This tree, along with the new ornaments Granny has been purchasing throughout the year will make this tree the best yet!
Ok, so BT finished his honeydo's outside and brought in the tree. The base was little wobbly, and with the dozens of grandchildren that grace Granny and PaPa's home at Christmas, BT and I decided to Duck Tape it for added stability. We asked Granny for the tape and she replied " OK honey, let me get it out of the fridge." The refrigerator. Yes. Granny keeps all her tape in the refrigerator. Sure enough, the roll of Duck Tape was nice and cool.

So a couple hours later, we finish the tree. I must say it is beautiful. I'm so glad Granny and PaPa are proud of it. She wanted to be sure it would be ready for the family to see at Thanksgiving, and it is. Here it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE WILL

Uncle Will,

You're the best uncle ever!
Have a great weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGlVeYSfOg

Love,

Kam & Ken

My girls

My girls are so different. I rushed home last night to get ready for our softball game and the girls were ready to go. Kam brought a journal and a pencil. She is usually quite and loves to write and draw. Ken chose to bring her LeapPad, which is a good choice, but she feels it necessary to look like Paris Hilton while reading. Or doing anything, really. She had on celebrity style shades, a hat, beads, and high heel wedge flip flops that she can't even walk in.

Election Day 2008

Wow. What a day today will be. Everyone please say a prayer for our country!! I'm ashamed to say this but I don't think I've ever really given the presidential election a second thought, sadly just assuming one person can't make a difference....but one prayer CAN make a difference.


Please keep in mind that:

McCain favors keeping the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance; he has voted three times in favor of Senate legislation to affirm the reference.
Obama made this statement "....while both non-religious and religious people have a right to the public square, those of us of religious faith [have to] translate our language into a universal language that can appeal to everybody." Why would we "translate" our religous beleifs to "appeal to everybody"?
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McCain is Pro-Life and has always voted against abortion.

Obama wants to insure that abortion is always an option.
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McCain supports the death penalty for federal crimes. He supports the execution of child rapists and terrorists.

Obama says the death penalty "does little to deter crime." How can that be when the criminal is dead?!
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McCain beleives that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Obama does not beleive that Federal law should not discriminate against gay and lesbian couples, thus supporting civil union between them.
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There are just a few of the differences between this year's candidates so, please, for the sake of our country, please make your decision wisely!!

Downward Facing Dog

So, Brian and I have been trying to live a healthier lifestyle. For the past 2 months, I have been working out most days on my lunch hour and Brian has been getting up earlier (at 4a.m.) and working out with our neighbor, Jon. We seldom eat out anymore and I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in 7 days exactly(Even at the movie theatre Saturday night I exhibited extreme willpower and had a Sprite).

We have decided that Yoga would be a great way to releive stress, so I bought a DVD on Ebay. Last night it became a family event. The girls were so cute yoga'ing.

Rock-n-Roll Cheerleader

Yes, those pink things attached to her head are ponytails. She's a Rock-n-Roll Cheerleader!
Friday night was the first time Brian and I have ever taken our children trick-or-treating. We left treat bags on our front porch for kids that would come by and took Ken out.
Kam went with her dad and other siblings, so it was just the three of us. It made us really nervous....we would have felt better if Kam was there, but we managed. Ken was so excited! (And brave...) We were surprised she did it, but she never hesitated..just kept her eye on the prize. I snapped a few pics of her on the prowl.