We Love......

Rainbows! This one came out a few weeks ago after an afternoon rain. There was actually a double rainbow. The kids loved it! In Miss Finley's words, "It's a beautiful day."

Happy Birthday......

To ME!!!!!!!!!!! It's been a great one!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things.......

We celebrated Ramma's life on Wednesday. I have to say, it was truly wonderful. If you can feel happy on a funeral day, we absolutely did. It was such a bittersweet day. We said goodbye but talked, laughed, and smiled about a great lady that will be missed. All 18 of her grandchildren were there and each one of her six children's families had someone speak during her service. Her grandson that is a minister also did her sermon. One point he made was my favorite part of the whole day. Ramma was one of those people that are just GOOD, down to her core. She had true Christian faith, lived her whole life with kind words, and always seemed to be happy-even when facing tragedy. She chose to see the good in ALL people. He said that she wasn't super human. She just made a choice to live in Christ and be a wonderful human being. He said we all have the same in us. We all have the capacity inside of us to be like Ramma! It was such a great message. We saw so many family members and the kids got to play on Ramma's infamous stairs one last time. These stairs that go up to the extra bedrooms have been run up, fallen, jumped, and slid on for probably 60 years, at least! It was a beautiful day in honor of a beautiful lady. She was a gem.


I always love to see people post things that they have found that they love. I've decided to post some of my favorite things. First of all, this is a little piece of heaven. If you've never had creamer of this kind in your coffee, I suggest you do so. I don't drink coffee but about four or five times a month and it's usually because my mom is here and she fixed it. We always buy fat free french vanilla, but I found this Nestle Cinnamon Vanilla Creme and it is LOVELY! Yum! It's like morning dessert. And it does last quite a while in the fridge.

My kids are quite fond of these little pretzel Goldfish. I don't know if they are new, but we have never had them. They are a perfect snack with an apple or a handful of dried cranberries.

These are from a little craft project I did for my sister's guest bedroom. I actually copied the idea off another blog. They are just blank canvases that I painted turquoise and I used three different shaped bowls to make the circles. I think they are cute. They look great in the bedroom, too.

These are new and boy are they ever so yummy. Very soft graham edge, very yum chocolate center, and only 100 cals! I could eat the whole box. In one sitting. But that would be 600 calories and then I'd have to skip lunch.

This is not my favorite thing to do, Actually, I hate doing it. But it is sooooo good when you get the end result. I buy whole chickens on sale, boil them, and debone. It is a crappy job, but the meat is so great and is wonderful in quesadillas, enchiladas, chicken spaghetti, chicken salad, or just really anything you want to use it for. It also freezes perfectly. It leaves great broth in the pot, too, that can be used for lots of stuff. My friend, Tracy, would never in her life attempt to do this. Maybe I should boil a chicken for her. Maybe she would make me a pie in return. Hmmmm.

This is my latest necklace creation. I found a lady online that makes me these Tech pendants on Scrabble tiles. They are so cute. I just got six more pendants in this week and I plan on making several to sell. They are super cute.

A River Runs Through It

When I am visiting Ruidoso in the summers, I always walk down the river. It is so peaceful-you can hear the water running, the birds, and sometimes people's voices. I always think of how Kyle's family has spent so many years of fun in this river. Generations since the 1940's have played in the water, moved rocks, splashed, fallen down-hours upon endless hours of fun. They have watched their children's children come and play in this same river. They have been brought there as infants, grown into children, then into adults-some lived long lives, and some were cut too short. But the rocks are still the same ones that have always been there. Every generation has seen these exact same rocks. The rocks have been silent witness to this little family dynasty. The world has changed, the people have come and gone, but the rocks never have. Can you imagine how many times little boys in this family have stood right at that very spot and tossed pebbles into the river?

I can't walk down the river at the cabins that I don't think about one of my favorite shows, A River Runs Through It. The end is my favorite part....................................

"But when I am alone in the half light of the canyon all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul, and memories. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."

Lots of words. A lifetime of words. A family's words. The ones we miss the most-their words are there, too.

Ramma's life is alot like this river. She thrived on memories. She was a timeless raindrop, dripping joy and hope on all the people she met. And eventually, her long life merged into a river. Ninety-two years, wrapping herself in the love of a family. A family that grew up in this river. A family's very own river. A family's very own rocks. And under these rocks are voices. Some of the voices are theirs.

We miss you, Ramma.

Mary Lois Gowdy Ledbetter

June 18, 1917 - September 20, 2009

Trivia

Name that Actor??? Anybody? One hint.........Dillon High School.........................Yes, It's Riggins from the series Friday Night Lights. Brandi saw him tonight at the Tech/UT game in Austin. Cool, huh!!!

Thursday Tidbits

It was a busy day today-aren't they all?!? I actually made it to the gym, took kids to school, picked kids up, bought two pairs of jeans(darn miracle), took the dog to the vet, went to the bank, and went to a soccer scrimmage. Kyle even took us to eat after the game so I got out of cooking tonight! What a nice way to end the day, not having to wash dishes. We have an exciting weekend ahead of keeping Miss Campbell for the WHOLE weekend, watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D, our first soccer game, watching the Tech game(cross your fingers), and church!


Also, I haven't mentioned it because I'm so sad, but Kyle's grandmother, Ramma, who stays in Ruidoso during the summers, is very ill. After several months of kidney issues, she has decided that she will no longer choose to participate in dialysis. She is 92 years old and is a most wonderful lady. We have all visited her, told her how much we love her, and she is at peace with her decision. All of her remaining children are in Morton by her side. Please pray for her to be comfortable and at peace during her remaining days. There aren't many people better than this spectacular woman.


I wish you all a pleasant and blessed weekend with your family and friends.

House Guest

Yes, there is definitely a story here. It's pretty good. Pretty funny. Oh, the love of a sister............

So picture this. Brandi, dressed in business attire, in Amarillo, Texas(she was supposed to be working), asking the employees of Spencer's Gifts where she might find a cut out of Edward Cullen. Rewind for just a moment. Unless you've been under a rock, Edward is the dreamy vampire from Twilight. I love the Twilight saga. I am having a Twilight birthday party. Judge me if you must. Brandi was bound and determined to find a life size Edward cut out for the party that we didn't have to pay $15 to ship. It takes alot to ship a six foot vampire, people. Now, back to Spencers in Amarillo. So they tell her to check out a music store in the mall. She heads to the mall(still supposed to be working) and holy hogwarts, there he stands. With a his mysterious pale faced beauty. She pays and asks for a big sack. "We don't have sacks that big!" So she pics Ed up, places him under her arm(see above photo), and heads through the Amarillo mall. With her head down. In her heels. With a cardboard vampire in tow. I think my sister loves me. Or she wants something? I wonder if she left him in the front seat of her car, would it deter a car thief? Perhaps. If they knew anything about Twilight, they would realize Edward can read minds and he would already know they were going to steal the car.

And this is my reaction to the vampire sighting. (Why, mother, didn't ya'll have my tonsils removed? I do have good teeth, though.) I couldn't stop smiling. He was very tall. Brandi hid it in Slade's room and he died laughing when he saw Edward at his computer desk.

And this is my "serious" face, plus Jerilynn thought I looked really thin here, which is always a plus. BTW, do ya'll like my new haircut. I had a good hair day yesterday. I'm pretty sure Edward looks best in dark blue. And I will have you know, suffice it to say, I am NOT as white as a vampire. I will try to remember this the next time I'm at the pool. I am officially darker than the Cullen family. Do you think he's reading my mind in this picture???

And the girls didn't care about the cardboard vampire in the kitchen. They just looked at him and continued on their merrily little way. He does stun you when you walk into the room and see him. For a fraction of a second, you think to yourself, "who's here?" And I got Kyle really good when he got home last night. He turned on the light in our bedroom and it scared the beegeezee's out of him. He was mad at me for a few minutes. I needed an asthma inhaler to catch my breath from laughing so hard! My kids are now used to Edward being around. He's just here, looking good in his dark blue shirt, waiting for my bday party.

Slade is excited that Edward holds several degrees in biology. Slade has always been very scientific-minded. Or he is just acting as crazy as his mother acts about Twilight. It's all in good fun. Gotta have some fun in this life. My friend told me I needed Twilighter's anonymous. I think she's right! Afterall, I do have a six foot, cardboard, very serious looking vampire in my house.

Scrapbooking 101

My best friend, Shauna, and I are longtime scrapbooking buddies. We don't get to see each other often-she lives in Brownfield, teaches school in Wellman, has been blessed with the the jr.high cheerleaders along with being in charge of the concession stand, has three kids, and until a few weeks ago was producing large amounts of breast milk. Are you seeing why we are mainly phone friends these days??? Anyways, we did manage to sneak a day together before school started to wrap ourselves in creativity. Her husband was gone on his annual Colorado fishing trip and I packed my scrapbook goodies, my two blonde kids, and a red suitcase and we drove to Brownfield to spend the night. If you have never experienced scrapbooking with four kids, one baby, and a newborn chihuahua, you are missing out!!!

This is our scrapbooking set up in the middle of the living room. I personally like to "borrow" her neat supplies and such. Why is it always more fun to see what everyone else has? We do some scrapping, change diapers, eat pizza, watch good DVR'd movies, referee fighting children, feed animals, clean up spills, eat desert, etc.

And these are the snuggle bunnies. No, they were just "pretending" to go to bed. Sleep comes few and far between during these little get-togethers.

Child #1-you purchase an awesome changing table stocked with the latest diapering supplies, new minky changing pad cover, and matching baskets. You actually use the pathetic wipes that the hospital sends home that you have to wet with warm water because you aren't supposed to use Huggies wipes on their bottoms yet.

Child #2- the changing table comes out again but is not fully stocked because you only use it about 50% of the time. You mainly change the baby on the bed while trying to entertain your oldest child whose whining for mom's attention. You purchase the "sensitive" Huggies wipes this time because it's quicker that the hospital manual wetting wipes.

Child #3-who needs a changing table when you have a recliner, floor, back of the car, counter top, or couch. You realize the changing table makes a fantastic book shelf and toy bin which works perfectly because your third child is sharing a room with the second and you need to utilize the space. You throw away those hospital wipes because they are crap, and you bust out the Sam's wipes! $13 for a box that contains ten packages-hot dog!!!

This is the reality.

They don't always act this sweet in the backseat! These were the smiles before I took them to the park and the scalding hot slide left them with third degree burns. There should be a warning sign, really.

Finley, aka "Baby Hog", with baby Owen.

Keeping themselves busy. We don't know what goes on in the garage. What happens in the garage, stays in the garage. Poor cat.

And we took a trip to the Wellman Diner to meet the concession stand food rep people in the midst of our scrapping extravaganza. Does anyone know how many hotdogs people might eat at a six-man football game? We didn't know either.

Just Pics, Ya'll

I just wanted to post some random cute pics tonight. They were just hodge podge and really are just too sweet not to mention. We have officially sprinted into fall and are busy as little bees. Don't you love fall!?! It is getting cool in the evenings here, leaves are starting to loose their summer green shine, football is in full-on mode, all kinds of holiday decorations are filling the shelves in stores. I love it!!! I feel the need to start buying pumpkin spice candles and digging out my good jeans, for goodness sakes!

These are my sweet kiddos after church one Sunday. I was shocked to learn that Finley will no longer be allowed in the nursery during services-she graduated to HEROS, which is "big kid" childcare now! I was very disturbed by this. Oh, yes and the potty training is coming along beautifully. She is trained. We are good to go!

This is Fin's birthday dress that Stephanie made her. She thought she needed to wear her western boots with it. After being at the Tech game last weekend and seeing the college gals wearing boots with tube top dresses, I believe Finley has a flare for what is in-style.

My boys stopped for a pose while on their way to the Monster Truck Show this summer.

Max is on hiatus from the Smart house. He is enjoying life in a second grade classroom for a couple of months with one of my good friends. We will get him back on the holidays for a visit. We miss him, but momma don't miss cleaning the cage! He is a very sweet guy, little long tailed devil.

Finley's first day of 3-yr-old preschool. She loves it. She is an excellent cutter.

Still trying to squeeze some swimming out of summer. My kids are absolute water babies. Finley is even swimming to us without a life jacket. Slade is a full blown fish. He is an excellent snorkeler. Slade is lovin' first grade. Doing lots of math he tells me. His teacher is a doll. We've started gymnastics, music, soccer. I feel like a taxi most days and can't seem to get everything done. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Did I mention that I'm head over heels for these two Smarties!?!

And this might be one of the cutest skirts I've ever laid eyes upon!

Roller Derby

Not everyone can be lucky enough to have a Cita.

Especially one that rides a Wiggle Racer with you!

Really good Cita's are hard to come by. And they bring books and cookies when they visit. Some people have fortune, some have fame. We have Cita-which makes us the richest folks in town. Aren't we lucky!!!

Raider Power!

Nana and Chey-Anne-I'm her favorite!

Lovin' on mom during the game.

My little Tech cheerleader loved the game!

Slade was in awe-our seats are by the local meteorologist for the ABC news channel. Made the game for Slade!

I wonder if Slade is watching the game or thinking about F5 tornadoes?

Gettin' jiggy with it!?!

Finley holding London

Rex and Slade

Photo session bf the game-Kyle scored a parking pass! yay

The Smarties!

I love these two!!! They have my heart.