All Good Things Must Come to an End

T-Ball Season has come to a close.  Well, except for closing ceremonies on June 15th.  I'll try to snag some pictures if the opportunity presents itself.  But, for now, here are some photos from the end of season Yankees Team Party.

Every team party has to come complete with a cake to celebrate......and.....

 A jump house!  With water no less!  Here the kids are anxiously waiting for it to be filled with air and water so they can begin to have fun.

 I love these two pictures of Caleb.  I was able to zoom in with my camera to catch them.  There is something truly genuine about his smile and the joy he is feeling.  When he poses for me, he smiles most of the time.  But, to capture a great time on film without his knowledge is cool.

At a quick look, you would think Caleb is not in this picture.  But, I assure you he is.  He is under the feet of those climbing up the stairs.  When coach said, "get in!"  Boy did they!  All the kids piled in and were literally trampling each other to get to the top of the bounce house and slide down in the water.  I was about to run to Caleb and pull him out from under the wrath of little feet when his head popped up and I knew he was okay.  Whew!

He had a blast!

Over......

and over.....

and over.....

again.

The end of t-ball is really bitter sweet.  Caleb developed a camaraderie with his team mates and that was fun to watch.  In particular, he really like to hang out and toss the ball with Jaime.  Jaime's mom and I traded phone numbers in hopes that we can get them together to hang out some time this summer.  

Until closing ceremonies,

Momma/Pam

Theater Arts Awards

Randy loves being a part of the drama/theater arts program at Tuloso Midway High School.  He's played some very fun and interesting roles along the way.  At the drama awards banquet for the 2011-2012 acting year, Randy was the recipient of three awards:

* Best Actor

* Most Memorable Scene

* National Leadership Award

The best actor award and the most memorable scene awards come from the votes of the entire theater and drama department.  So, basically, these awards came to him via his peers who share a love for the theater as well.

The National Leadership Award is one he was given/nominated for by the Counselor at the school.  Without understanding exactly what it is at this point in time it's hard to describe it, but he was told that it is one that could lead to receiving a scholarship, which is a very cool thing.

A prideful moment.  I'm very proud of Randy and all that he has accomplished this year.  Way to go Randy!  We look forward to next year and what roles the theater department will bring your way....

Love and Hugs,

Pam

Something New

Something I've prayed about for quite a while now has finally come to be.  I'm still not exactly certain just how it's going to go, but what I am certain of is that God is in it and He is guiding me down a new path.  I'm really excited to share it with you!

In the past week, the birth of Joy810 has finally come to be.  What is Joy810 do you ask?  Well, it's another blog, but it is a special blog.  It's not a place for all the highlights of the Parker folks and the ins and outs of our life on the ranch.  This blog was specifically created to share those taps and tugs that God Himself puts on my heart.  It's a journey of sorts and I would feel so blessed if you would join me over there from time to time.

I have always wanted to write.  I dabbled in fiction writing a long time ago.  When the door to blogging was opened for me, I was really excited to jump in and give it a whirl.  It's fun to share with our family who can't be here every day, all the things that are happening in our life.

But, I still felt there was something more for me to do.  I was blessing my family, but I knew that God expected more of me.  But how?  Doing what?

The first blog post at Joy810 gives a detailed explanation as to how it came to be.  To make your way over, just give Joy810 a click......

I hope you are in some way blessed by this new venture.

Walk with the King,

Pam

Cow Check-Up

It's already been ten days since we moved our twin cows to the pasture in Mathis.  For the last couple of days we've been trying to figure out a time to run by there and check on them.   Today was a warm day so we waited until things cooled off outside a bit and then we took a ride over there.   Johnny decided to let Penny ride along in the back of the truck.  We really didn't intend on taking Honey with us, but after being pulled out of the back of the truck, she immediately hopped back in.  So, we decided to give it a try and pray she didn't hop out and get hurt.  She did not.  Whew.

Several times in the last few weeks Johnny has been taking Honey, Penny and Caleb for a ride around the neighborhood.  Penny loves going for a truck ride and it seems Honey is beginning to enjoy that also.  Of course, Caleb's reasoning is that he gets to sit in the back of the truck with them.  Don't panic folks, dad is creeping along at a very slow speed.

Here are some photo's from today's cow check-up:

Honk the horn and they come a' running:

The red one in the center is one of our twins:

And here's the other twin, the white one in the center:

We brought some cubes with us and Johnny tossed them all around on the ground for them to snack on:

Caleb gets a little more brave all the time.  Today he really wanted to get out of the truck and stand with dad.  Johnny and I were very cautious because rattlesnakes have been since in this area.  We want to keep Caleb safe, but let him have fun, too:

Here's our girl again.  Johnny said he thought she looked like she was doing good, maybe a little better than the red one.

I received confirmation that yes, this cow in the center, with the black and bits of red swirled in, is the mother of our twin girls:

Here our red one, staring me down:

Johnny let Caleb ride in the back of the pick up through the pasture land and until we made it back to the main rode.  Every time I looked into the side mirror, he had his arm wrapped around Honey and a sweet smile on his face.  I held my arm out the window and tried my best to capture a snapshot of it, without dropping my camera on the ground!

Here he is feeling the wind on his hand and trying not to get dirt in his eyes:

Here he has his arm wrapped around Honey and he looks so sad, but it really was only because of the dirt flying around and getting in his eyes:

See what I mean?  I tried to get his smiling face, but at least you can tell by the sparkle in his eyes that he's having a blast!

When we dropped the cows off ten days ago, our nephew Bryan tried to get Caleb to drink water from the well.  He didn't want to.  But for some reason today he wanted to give it a try so dad pulled over to let him.

Back in the truck and one more smile for the road.....

This was the first time Honey had been further than the end of our block.  Johnny stopped for gas on the way there and said she was shaking like a leaf.  I laughed a little bit and said, well, the last time she had a long ride in a vehicle we brought her home and the time before that, someone threw her in a ditch.  I know dogs supposedly don't have long term memory, and I'm certain she was nervous because she was doing something she'd never done before.  I think she really did enjoy it once she calmed down....

Until next time....

Love and blessings,

Pam

It's a Wrap!!

I think one of Randy's favorite parts of school is his theater class and the drama department.  If there are auditions for a play, you can place your bets that Randy will be there.

The play they competed with for the 2012 UIL Competition was Teach Me How to Cry by Patricia Joudry.

Randy had the part of Mr. Henderson, a salesman, husband, and father who didn't seem very successful at his job, which caused his family to move around a lot.  I was able to capture a snapshot of him after the play was over.  No flash photography during the play!!

The play choice this time around was very dramatic.  Lots of emotional scene's and I guess if you think about the name of the play, was meant to lead some of the characters towards crying, or trying not to cry.

Randy as Mr. Henderson:

 I tried so hard to get a group picture.  But, the lighting was bad and I just couldn't not see well enough to know that my camera wasn't in the best of focus.  Needless to say, every group shot I took ended up fuzzy.  I'm putting them here anyway, so we can at least admire the cast of kids through the fuzz.

I'm really proud of Randy and of course the entire cast for a job well done.  

In His Name,

Pam

Cows on the M-o-o-o-v-v-v-e-e-e

With the current prices of hay and the lack of grass in our own pastures, we've opted to move two of our cows to some pasture land in Mathis.  The twins are hang out with my brother-in-law's cows and we also hope that they will get bred in the process.

Here they are just before the move.  Getting big aren't they?  They sure are a pretty set of heifers.

Loading up - my brother-in-law, Harold and Johnny as they try to work the twins into the cattle trailer.

It only took a few minutes of cajoling to get them in there.

After arriving to the pasture in Mathis, it only took a few honks of the horn to "call" the other cows.  It's was interesting watching them - - as they watched us.  Haha!

A pretty group....

They were sure were curious about the trailer.  Or maybe it was our girls inside they were inspecting.

Once the guys unloaded the twins, it didn't take long for them to run off into the brush.  Ours are the one's in the center-right of the picture - the white and red one.

This heifer was a very curious one - came up close, checking us out.

If I remember correctly, this is the momma to our twins.  I asked if they would remember each other, but the guys just shrugged their shoulders uncertain.  ;o)

We followed them on down the road a piece to the water-hole.  Caleb wanted to see that they found the water.

One donkey in the mix.

And here was our last peek at our twins before we left for home.  They found water and seemed to be pretty happy hanging out with each other, amongst the others.

It's my understanding that we'll leave them there until August or early September.  It's important to move the cows out of that pasture land before deer hunting season starts.   Our goal is to drive out and make sure all are well about once every week or two.  

Walking with the King,

Pam

Wordless Wednesday - Snowy