Will someone please push the "Pause" button

I feel like Dorothy in the tornado..........Last week Hunter had a softball tournament, it was Boswell Homecoming, McKenna had make-up games, Clint was busy in the hayfield, work was spiraling out of control, and I was right in the middle of it all. On my way to work, I called my Mom (Hunter was staying with her during the day while we worked) I made arrangements for who and what time she would be picked up for the games. I called Clint to relay the message to make sure he knew if he had "pick-up" duty or I called to find out what field and what time. The weekend came and it was blazing hot, we went to the parade and came home to cool off, just to find out someone was coming Sunday to look at the house. I flew through a major tidy-up session in time to head to the rodeo Saturday night. Hunter got too hot at the rodeo only to throw up right on the streets of Boswell during the street dance, actually not on the street, I made her dash behind the Dixie (am I a bad mom for doing that? I didn't want to look at vomit and didn't think anyone else did either.) Anyway, we went home. Turned the air on high and went to bed. Sunday, Hunter and I stayed in our pjs until 11 a.m. She didn't feel well and I had odds and ends to tidy up for the visitors. They came, they saw, they went. No word on an offer.
Fast forward to today, off to work, busy Monday as usual. Clint sent a text, he's sick - can't breathe! Send him to Walgreen's for allergy meds. He buys a sack full of various cold, allergy, flu and cough meds! Just like a guy!! McKenna started playoffs tonight. We won! Yeah! Play again tomorrow night. On my way home, my week was running through my head: Tuesday - ballgame, Wednesday - get Alumni stuff ready for Saturdays meeting, Thursday: ballgame, Friday - holiday from work (yeah!) - ballgame - decorate for VBS that starts Sunday, Saturday - Bennington Homecoming, Alumni meeting and finish decorating for VBS and Sunday - 1st night of VBS Yeah! I love VBS!!!
And is all boils down to the title - "Will someone PLEASE PRESS PAUSE" (so I can at least take a breath!)

Spread your wings and fly

Ok, where do you draw the line? I have 2 nest-fuls of baby birds on my porch. They are at the age of getting ready to leave the nest. So far, I have rescued 5 from the jowls of my bassett houndDuchess and 1 was not so lucky, Jed, my heeler, is just too quick. Isn't that ridiculous? Not only do I have to race the dogs to them, I have to go indoors and drag the bar stool out to the porch, climb up on top of it, stand up so I can reach the nest to return them. Clint is sure I have lost my ever-lovin mind. His philosphy is if they die, that's one less that will be back next year. According to my "bird expert" husband, where the bird is born is where it returns the next year to have its nest.

Anyway, it really has got me thinking...Which one am I? Am I the brave baby bird that tries to fly first? I mean, none of them are experts right? Can they see below? If so, how brave they are to fly down to an awaiting, salivating huge dog? Am I the second bird that waits to see what happens to the first one? You know he is thinking, "Hey, I'm gonna see how Bob does before I jump." Or am I the LAST bird out of the nest. The "Safest" one? Do you think he leaves the nest because he is lonely? Don't you wonder if he thinks, "Hey, I think I'll stay here and kick back with the pad all to myself?"

Which bird are you? The brave one? The most cautious? Makes you think, huh?

Home Sweet Home

Hi ya'll. We're backkkkk!!!!!! Who ever thought I could miss Boswell, Oklahoma so much! We had a wonderful weekend, but man, we are so glad to be home. The closer we got, the faster Clint drove! Kinda like a horse headin for home! We went to the Ft. Worth Zoo Monday and it was fantastic! We all decided we'd like to go back but prefer a cooler month. The animals were out but most were lazily lying around the cool water. Smart animals! They probably were laughing at the dumb humans walking around in the 100 degree heat looking at them! Here is a picture of me and the girls.

I suggested we stop at Cabela's on the way home because we have a gift card from Christmas we hadn't spent so that took up a very precious hour of our time! Clint actually let me spend it all on myself so I picked up a gun strap and carrying bag for the new shotgun he bought me for Christmas last year. Long story, just know I had to take up hunting last year to be able to spend time with Clint and I got addicted!!! More on that later!

Hope all are staying cool!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! While I took my boards Clint got to drive Hunter and Sydney around Houston! Needless to say, when he picked me up, he was as worn out as I was after the 3.5 hour exam. Those two girls are a hand full!!! Having to entertain two "tweens" is a job, Clint explained. He took them to Golden Corral for lunch and he said they came to the table with a small bowl of mac n cheese and a little bit of mashed potatoes! He made them go back for some "substance" he said! Ha, would have loved to have been there! Welcome to a mom's world, honey!

My exam was excruciating! Keep your fingers crossed, it will be 7 weeks before I know the results.

We are back in Ft. Worth and planning a trip to the zoo on Monday. I let Clint kick back for a while and I headed to the pool with the girls! They are having a blast, gosh, I wouldn't go back to being a pre-teen for anything! We are having pizza via room service tonight and watching a movie in our pjs! Sounds like fun to me!

I am excited about beginning the Beth Moore on-line summer Siesta bible study. Head over to the LPM blog to learn more. "Me, myself, and Lies" is the title. It is going to be fantastic, her studies always are!!

That's all I have for today! I will post our zoo visit tomorrow.

Tomorrow's the BIG DAY!

Hey guys, I'm sitting in the internet cafe at the hotel in Houston, Texas! Gosh, it is SOOO Hot! Tomorrow is the big exam, pray extra hard for me tonight and tomorrow. I have had this day circled on my calendar since August of last year and it finally arrived! I wasn't nervous until the drive down, I realized I had only 1 book with me! Yikes! I have lugged around two different book bags stuffed to the gills with books for the last year, it almost made me feel queasy!! I have been so wrapped up with the date that I almost forgot tomorrow is Father's Day. Luckily, I did get my cards out but just a few minutes ago I read Mammy's post over at cometomammys.blogspot.com. Mammy is a very dear friend and her post today about her Dad made me a little teary-eyed. I am very thankful for my Dad. Though he doesn't want to be mentioned or photographed for my blog, I am gonna mention him today of all days! (He thinks the Chinese maffia or something is monitoring my blog - yeah right! Me, little ole me from podunk Oklahoma!! It's a hilarious joke with me and my mom) Ha Ha. Love you Dad - You are very special to me. I can count on my Dad for encouragement, love, advice - whether I think I need it or not, physical help, and lessons in loyalty and family. He is a wonderful mentor, father, Pepaw, and husband to my wonderful mother. I'm thankful for my Dad today and everyday. He was the last person I saw today before I headed out, he hugged me and sweetly whispered, "Go get'm Babe!" Love you Daddy! Happy Father's Day.!
Speaking of Fathers, I better go rescue my kiddos, Clint is watching them at the pool!!

Random Thoughts

Today is a catch up day for me...Catching up on some studying, laundry, other house work (lots since I was gone all weekend) and most of all sleep. I had 2 hours of sleep Friday night and then slept with my 5 year old niece Saturday night, so needless to say, I needed some catch up!

I read a neat blog a while back that had a series of sentences to finish. They went something like this.......



Today, I am thankful for....My amazing family. Each member brings unique characteristics to a large web of love. My niece Sydney traveled with me to and from Wichita this weekend and we talked a lot. She is such a sweet, loving teen. She loves music and had a blast with her Mimi as we "rocked out to some tunes!"



Today, I feel like.... I am ready for the week. This week is the final week leading up to my CMD Certification Boards. If you are reading this, please pray for me as I prepare for the exam. I can't wait for it to be over, yet I am extremely nervous!



Tomorrow I want to... Have a good day at work. Then I want to come home and have supper with my husband. A friend gave us some fresh squash and cabbage so I am going to cook something good!! Have I mentioned I have loved cooking lately. I think it's the Weight Watcher thing, looking at all the great recipes. Yummy!



I find this amazing... My friend Bethany taught her miniature pot bellied pig, Priscilla, to sit! Can you believe that! She says, "Sit Prissy, sit!" and when she sits Bet gives her a cheerio and says "Good Girl!" It is the cutest thing I have ever seen!



I am looking forward to...A lot of things, building a new house next to my parents, Fall!! (I hate hot weather!), taking my photography class, hopefully having a baby, becoming an aunt again when my bro and SIL have a baby, starting a new Bible study "Me, Myself and Lies" , and having some free time to catch up on my scrapbooking!



Share your random thoughts with me! Look forward to hearing from you!



Mimi

It's Hot!

Hey ya'll! It's been a few days since I blogged last. Lots have happened since I checked in last. My mom broke her arm this week. She is in a sling for 8 weeks. Bless her heart, it is her right arm too. She is a "do-er" person and it has been hard for her to reduce her activity.

Sydney and I headed out Friday afternoon for Wichita Falls. We explored some of the towns between Boswell and Wichita - there really are some quaint little country towns! We found a scrapbook store we both simply loved!! My Tahoe was loaded down with "garage sale stuff." Each year my sister and I along with our cousins have a "family" yard sale. We stayed up Friday night getting the garage ready and finally all fell into bed at 2 a.m. It was a VERY short night, or should I say "nap." We were up and at'em at 4:30!!! We did really well but it was SO HOT!!! We had a great time together. We always do. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Something yummy for your tummy

UMMMM...........
Is all I can say. I made Clint's favorite cornbread tonight for supper. I had fixed ribs and red beans. Clint claims he can't eat red beans without cornbread and I was feeling rather comfortable in the kitchen (it could be the fact that I was supposed to be studying but my brain hurt and I needed a break) so I decided to make my mom's mexican cornbread. And my mom doesn't do things from a box - we're talking scratch here!!
It turned out very well so I thought I would pass along the recipe...

Pat's Mexican Cornbread

3 C. Cornmeal mix
1 dash Salt
4 eggs
2 C. milk
3-6 jalapenos, diced
1 can drained whole kernel corn
1 C. vegetable oil
1 C. Chopped onion
2 C. grated cheese

Mix all ingredients except cheese. Pour 1/2 batter into a prepared, heated iron skillet that has a small amount of veg oil in it. (I always put the skillet with the oil in the oven while its preheating, the batter should "sizzle" when poured in.) Put a layer of cheese on top of the batter. Then, add 1/2 batter on top of cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Yummy!

In the midst of it all...

This week was very eventful in the Pierce household. To sum it up - lots of laughter, giggling, eating, hanging out, and fun!! Did I mention it included 3 very energetic "pre-teens?" This week Sydney, my niece, came home with my parents from Wichita to stay 2 weeks. Every summer for a few years now, she stays on the farm for part of her summer vacation. Her cousins, McKenna and Hunter, (my darlins) go to Granni's also so they can all "hang-out, swim, and drive my mother crazy." We, unfortunately, had a death in the family also this week. Mom's aunt in Odessa, Aunt Mutt, passed away. (She is who I am named after and I have been told have a personality a lot like hers.) So....Dad and Mom were going to have to go out of town for the funeral - that means "who keeps the tweens?? MIMI and CLINT!!!!
The first night was exciting - they all piled into Hunter's room and made palletts in the floor and watched movies until they fell asleep. They stayed home while I went to work and pretty much watched TV all day. Is there such a thing as "TV overload?" When I got home, much to my suprise, the entire house was clean!! WHOA! Who are these kids and what did you do with mine!! It was very nice. We had dinner and then got outside and played some baseball. They slept in the living room that night and Sydney, who was recovering from a spider bite, woke me during the night to come look at the gunk coming out of her leg. Don't get me wrong, if you have something gross and icky, I'm your girl, but at 1 in the morning - have mercy, child!!!! I stumbled into the living room trying to put my glasses on and sure enough, it was icky all over the place! We got that patched up and back to bed I went. When I got up the next morning to go to work I so desperately wanted to wake them all up and make them be sleepy like I was!!! Randy came and got them and took them swimming the next day, I thought for sure that would wear them out. I think these kids are like the Energizer bunny - they keep going and going!! After supper, they piled into McKenna's room and when I went to bed they were watching scary movies and screaming at the top of their lungs!! I asked Clint if I could sneak outside and scare them through the window and he said "Only if you want to stay up all night with them." Good point, honey!! They had a good time together and though I yelled sometimes at them, Mimi and Clint had a good time too!! Reflecting on the week, I hope someday they look back on these moments and say, "Remember how much fun we had when we were kids...." Love you guys!!