Shoot Me!: 8

Another great meme brought to us by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. Every Thursday post a picture of you with a child, spouse, friend or even by yourself. If you are thinking this challenge is too hard, then this is exactly the challenge you need. Do you have thousands of pictures and you are in none of them? How is that good to your children or loved ones? It’s time you got in the picture, you’ll be glad you did!

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." ~Clara Ortega

Yes, he's my brother.  Yes, I love him very much.  Yes, there were times growing up I thought I couldn't live with him.  But now, I think I couldn't live without him!  Here's to you "Mr. Master Brad"!  (Yes, he used to MAKE me call him that or else he would tickle me until I thought I was dying!)

Bullfighting: Dos

The fights! (I almost hate saying that!) The thing is, this is less of a true "fight", and more of a "dance". I know, I know, I'm likely to get virtual tomatoes thrown at me for saying that. Diehard fans probably will not appreciate my analogy. But...I'm a girl, this is my blog, so you're getting my lowly opinion of the sport. Which I never knew I enjoyed until this past weekend. ;) I'm NOT an expert, I've only ever been to one of these events in my lifetime (though I've been to MANY rodeos), but I have been a wee bit educated by Brad over the past few months. It is my understanding the fighters earn points by being as close to the bull as possible (without getting hurt) and putting on a great show. They're there to please the crowd. I'm not trying to play down the danger factor though! I mean, I don't want to be in an arena with a bull that would rather tear me up like a rag doll as to look at me! Those bulls are heavy and full of energy! And that barrel the clown is in that the fighters can use as a barrier...it is surrounded by 200 lbs of steel. So...when the fighter gets pinned against the fence by the barrel and the bull is head butting it for all he's worth...just think how fun that would be! Yeah, I don't have that much testosterone in me that I feel the need to jump right in! ;)

One more thing...sorry about the poor quality of these photos! I'm not set up to photograph bullfights! I needed a MUCH larger flash (as in not on my camera, but separate units) and a faster lense. The lense I REALLY would have like to have had there is only about 10k so...yeah, no awesome pics from me! But you can get the idea of what's going on.

Pre-show warm up/ mind clearing.

Various scenes from before the first fight.

Of course Old Glory and the national anthem.  And "Soul Man" the clown.

Opening the first gate...let the games begin!

More "games"...the guy in the large photo - he's doing a back flip over the bull! The bulls were usually the most mad when they first came barreling out of the shoot. And that's when this fighter did his flip. The crowd was impressed! I SO wish I could have captured the flip over the bull better. Maybe once Brad makes a jillion dollars he can buy me that sweet lense and flash to be the photographer at his events! ;) (keep dreaming, Kristen, keep dreaming!)

That middle photo - ouch!

More entertainment after the 3 long-goes. "Soul Man" had three contestants eat a banana and dance to some funky music out in the middle of the arena. He had three rounds of dance-offs and after each dance-off one contestant was picked off. But the dancers didn't know it - except for the one's that were picked off. Since they were blindfolded they didn't really know what was going on. At the end only one girl was left dancing by herself. Of course the crowd was cheering her on, Soul Man was leading her to believe another contestant was dancing better than her, so she tried even harder. At the end she was un-blindfolded and realized she was out there all by herself and was quite embarrassed. But the crowd loved it and had a great time.

Back to bullfighting...remember what I said about the barrel...it's over 200 lbs.  That guy is trying to keep from getting crushed between it and the fence.  With a mad bull hitting it has hard as he can!

Last fight of the envening...this fighter was the winner!

Giving out awards at the end of the night. In the top photo is, Brad, "Soul Man" the clown, and Sandy, the three co-founders. I am VERY proud of what they have accomplished in getting this started. I am looking forward to attending more bullfights. The first ones will be here in TX but eventually they will be held in other states. You know I'll be posting when the next fights will be!

Now for a little more something you didn't know you didn't know..."Soul Man" was the featured soldier in a music video "Castles in the Sand".  Thank you to all American Soldiers who keep fighting so that we can enjoy the freedoms this country have to offer!  Click HERE to see the video.

Bullfighting: Uno

This past weekend was the inaugural Federation of Freestyle Bullfighters bullfight in Stephenville, TX.  So...what does that mean to me??  Well, since you asked, my brother is one of the co-founders.  To say that Brad and his partners have put a million hours in to getting this started would be an understatement.  They have worked incredibly hard and I am so proud of what they have accomplished.

A little info. about American bullfighting - this is NOT the same as Spanish bullfighting.  These bulls do NOT get hurt or killed during or after the fights.  The object of the fight is for the cowboy to "dance" as close to the bull as possible without getting hurt.  We are not in the business of hurting any animals!

Bullfighting: Dos and Tres will come later!  These are only photos from before the event!

Several hours before show time my Dad and I went up to the arena to check things out and help out if we could.  I don't think Brad appreciated me playing paparazzi...at least that's how he looks in the first photo.  That's ok - one day he'll appreciate this.

Various paraphernalia from the pre-show.  The Grand-Champion, Reserve Champion, and Co-Founders received belt buckles.  Our Dad is putting the buckle on Brad's belt for him.  Badges, and "bullfighting gear". 

Last minute pre-show instructions from Brad, Sandy, and "Mr. T"

Our Dad with Pat - she's kept Brad's books for several years now.  She's like an extension of our family.  And yep, she was just as excited to be there as the rest of us!  The bullfighters getting gussied up in one of the boxes.

Now for some of the super cute cowboys and cowgirls in attendance!

  Cowboy Jacob 

Cowgirl Lia (and her bling)

Cowboys Trace & Trevin

Oh look!!  It's Papa and Nana!

Cowboy Jacob and Cowboy Trevin had enough of this whole sitting thing - they needed to run off some energy.  Papa was happy to watch them so the rest of us could watch the bulls and fighters.

And yes, Lesha, David, and I were in attendance too!  We just weren't as documented as some of the others.  Funny how that happens.

Coming next:  The Fights!

Hair!

I know, I know, I know...one of these days I'll be pulling my hair out as I do Lia's hair for the millionth time in one day...but for now...I'M SO EXCITED!  I could actually put a wee bit of Lia's hair in a little ponytail thing smack dab on the top of her head and it looked so cute!  I've eaten a lot of crow since Lia came into my life.  And I'm not ashamed to admit that.  One thing I thought I would NEVER do is put one of those "stupid looking ponytail things smack dab on the top of my kids head".  Well, well, well...that bit of crow never tasted so good. ;)  It may have looked crazy to me on other people's daughters, but on mine....well, I was just a puddle of mush oooing over how cute she looked.  Humm...wonder if anyone will look at Lia and think "If I ever have a daughter I'll NEVER do that"?  Nah...she's just too stinking cute.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Shoot Me!: 7

Another great meme brought to us by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. Every Thursday post a picture of you with a child, spouse, friend or even by yourself. If you are thinking this challenge is too hard, then this is exactly the challenge you need. Do you have thousands of pictures and you are in none of them? How is that good to your children or loved ones? It’s time you got in the picture, you’ll be glad you did!

Yes, yes, this photo débuted in the last post but I'm using it again - it represents the most exciting event of this past week! So shoot me if you don't like it. (heh, I crack myself up) It's me* with the lovely and talented Rae of Hardly Utopia. For those of you who don't already "know" her - you really SHOULD go check her out. She's a ray of sunshine, a breath of fresh air, a real joy to get to know. Yeah, you could say we hit it off in real life as well as we did through the internet.  And the rest of her fam...well, they were really super cool too!

Rae and Co.

Oh the fun we did have!!  Rae - yes, THE Rae of Hardly Utopia and her crew just spent some time in our neck of the woods.  If you read her post about missing T-boy you will know Papa, T-boy, and West got stranded in TX due to "vehicle malfunction".  The malfunction happened close to where we live so what's a person to do??  We came swooping in to save the day - or provide some entertainment, or something like that.  What we didn't plan on was the largest "snowstorm" in the last 25 years!  Or the lost electricity!  But that's OK - Pizza Hut delivers (or not, but that's a whole other story) - so we had a party!

We ate pizza...

We visited...

We got to know eachother a little better...

And the kids did play!

Sunday we put on our "Sunday go to Meetin'" clothes, and went to meeting.

Pip checks out Lia's Reece's but she's not interested in sharing.  She's not feeling the love - even if it is Valentine's Day.  I don't like to share my Reece's either - she's her mother's daughter.

T-boy and Jacob though, they did feel the love.  And shared secrets.  And ran to the tank (aka pond for those of you who aren't native Texans) to throw sticks in as parents were trying to get 25 dozen kids all strapped into their seat belts.  T-boy and Jacob were more into having fun. 

And look - here's more of us in our Sunday best...

Top - David & I with Lia

Rae with Pip

Jacob, Bee, T-boy

Bottom L - Papa, Nana, Kit-Kat, Jax

Bottom R - US!! ;)

We missed getting West in the pics - he was WAY to cool for all the foolishness called picture taking.  That's OK West - we still liked having you around - your coolness and all!!

And then Sunday night - that's when the REAL hurricane hit - it worked out quite nicely though...while it was storming in one room...the adults got to watch the Olympics in the other room across the hall!  T-boy and Jacob decide they are tigers, Bee puts Lia in her "crib" and gives her food, while Rae and Papa root on the Americans.  It *may* have gotten loud.  Just saying. 

And the romance - ohhhh the romance!  These relationships are just budding.  And we're going to cultivate them.  Can you imagine how cute their kids will be!  Both relationships involve "older women".  That's ok - they can train their men up right.

And Pip, my Pip.  This little guy stole my heart!  Sorry David - my heart belongs to another man now.  Pip, I NEED you in my life.  Something tells me your Mom wouldn't let you move down here though.  Mother's tend to get in the way of relationships sometimes don't they.  That's ok - you're betrothed to my daughter so you'll always have an important place in my life.

Y'all come back now - ya' hear!

P.S.  Read Rae's review of her time with us by clicking HERE.

Guess Who...

we just got to spend a couple of days with!  Oh the fun that was had...by kids and adults alike.  Initially I told her "y'all were like a breath of fresh air".  But the truth is...it was like hurricane! 

And the hurricane party was awesome!

Shoot Me!: 6

Another great meme brought to us by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. Every Thursday post a picture of you with a child, spouse, friend or even by yourself. If you are thinking this challenge is to hard, then this is exactly the challenge you need. Do you have thousands of pictures and you are in none of them? How is that good to your children or loved ones? It’s time you got in the picture, you’ll be glad you did!

We had the largest snowstorm of the last quarter century this past Friday.  Really!  Seriously - it's been 25 years since we've had this much snow - all 5 inches of it!  Can you say exciting (or chaotic).  The problem...well...we haven't had heat in our house for 4 days except for our fireplace and one small space heater that gets moved around from room to room.  Yeah, our heater went kaput on us.  Nice timing don't you think!  No big deal, until we lost electricity.  The fireplace only heats up so much space, which does NOT include bedrooms & bathrooms, nor does it heat water or cook food.  Enter superheroes Shelly & Nathan!  They came swooping to our rescue.  But it was no "boring" rescue - they made sure we had fun too!  Jacob got to build a snowman (of sorts) with Nathan and have a snowball fight with Shelly.  Mom (that would be me) got to hold Lia as she was having NOTHING to do with that white stuff of the ground.  I think she has some deep seeded issues left over from her horrifying plunge into the snow on our trip to Minnesota back in December.  That whole "horrifying plunge" thing is me being a bit sarcastic....she did fall, she did think it was horrifying, we did pick her up (after taking pictures of course) and take her to the safe arms of Grandpa S. He was waiting to rescue his little princess in the warm and cozy house.  Without further ado...I present to you...Me* with Lia, Jacob, and the first snowman/thing ever built with Jacob's help.

Oh...and did y'all know snow is REALLY bright??  As in I could hardly open my eyes to look at the camera.  I know, I know, I'm the only one who's ever experienced this. ;)

The rest of the story...we got our power back on in the evening just in time to invite some very special guests over for supper.  Stay tuned for details about that...later!  Some of you will be jealous of who I got to play with (well, my kids got to play with her kids)  and I got to visit with her.  ;) ...others of you know who it was and can imagine what sort of chaos ensued.  We'll just say a great time was had by all!  Anyone care to guess who it was?  No spilling the beans from those who have insider info.  ;)

17 months

Our baby turned 17 months this past Sunday!  Where has the time gone?  She's been such a doll and made our hearts so happy.  Just wanted to post these couple of pictures before more time gets away.  I have more I'll get up later, but for now, this smiling face will be at the top of my blog.  I love you baby girl!

Shoot Me!: 5

Another great meme brought to us by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. Every Thursday post a picture of you with a child, spouse, friend or even by yourself. If you are thinking this challenge is too hard, then this is exactly the challenge you need. Do you have thousands of pictures and you are in none of them? How is that good to your children or loved ones? It’s time you got in the picture, you’ll be glad you did!

One of my best friends, Shauna (from Life With Boys), and her family came to visit this past weekend. We made plans to go to Canton Saturday but it was way too cold for that so we came up with "Plan B" - the local bowling alley. Something to do indoors, would let all the boys get their energy out, and the adults could have fun too. None of us (adults) have been bowling in 15'ish years and the boys had never been so this promised to be entertaining if nothing else. As fate would have it, there were so many people at the alley we couldn't get a lane and it would be several hours before one came open for us. So..."Plan C" - (drum roll please) - indoor playground at Chick-fil-a!! At least we didn't have to go to McDonalds - we do have standards! You know you live in an exciting town when the bowling alley is to full and you have to resort to a fast food joint as your entertainment! Oh well, the boys thought it was great getting to play on the indoor equipment and the adults got to visit uninterrupted! If the kids were happy, the parents were happy. All's well that ends well - right?? ;)

Who Moved My Cheese??

More appropriately, who moved my eggs?? After both kids were fed a large breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and milk yesterday I decided it was my turn to eat breakfast - I do try to do that from time to time. I got my eggs all nice and cooked just how I like them and was finally able to sit down and enjoy them. It's a RARE thing for me to actually have a hot breakfast. Of course as soon as I sat down Jacob needed attention. As every mother knows - kids come first so off I go to take care of him -leaving my nice plate of eggs on the table steaming hot. "Oh well", I think, "they'll be good when I get back in 10 seconds". Fifteen seconds later I return to find...

Yes, Lia climbed on top of the table and went to town.  She thought it was great.  Guess eggs will be part of her breakfast more often.  So...I just drank my milk and waited for lunch.  What's a Mom to do??

Giveaway!!

Darcie from "Life's Unfolding Story" is hosting a giveaway in honor of her second Blogaversary! I've been following this awesome lady for close to 2 years now and she has inspired me to want to become a better Mom and Wife. Her posts always make me feel all warm and fuzzy ;). I would say one of my favorite aspects of her blog is her "Lessons Learned" - usually on Wednesdays. Thank you Darcie for being you and sharing a little piece of yourself with us on a regular basis! I think it's safe to say you inspire us all!

Tea Time!

Lia's ready for tea parties! Well, maybe not really, but she sure does enjoy playing with her tea set that sings and dances for her.