Aha, Maybe We are Getting it After All!

It is a parents perrogative to chuckle about the incidentals in the life of their little one's, right?  We can find humor is so many things we encounter, leading to wonderful memories.  We must be careful though, to not embarrass our said little one's with our laughter. 

This morning Johnny and I were getting ready for the day and laughing once again about our home school lesson from a few days ago.  "nnn," "uuu," "ttt."   "ACORN!"   It still tickles us, well, me anyway, days later as we recall the story.

I walk out of the bathroom to see Caleb laying in bed, wide awake.  I think, hmmm, how long has he been awake?   He says, "mom, come here."  I walk over, lean down to look at him.  He says, "nnn," "uuu," "ttt."   "Nut."

Ah, yes.  Long enough, that's how long he's been awake.  I did my best to make light of the situation and express how proud I was that he knew how to sound out and spell nut.

Note to self...

"Self?"
"Yes?"
"In the future, watch what you say and when.  Okay?"
"Okay.  Sounds like a plan."

The bible tells us to do the same...

He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."  Proverbs 21:23

A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.  Proverbs 17:27

God's blessings until next time!

"MMooommm, Come Here!"

I hear this a lot throughout the day....never knowing what to expect.  Most days is just simple request.  "I'm thirsty," or "Can I have a snack," or maybe it's to view the very interesting spider that has developed an intricate web outside our front door.  Today though was different. 

"Mom, come here," says Caleb peaking in through the front door.
"Ok, just a minute," says mom as she finishes her task and dries her hands on a towel.
"Mom, come here and see the snake!" says Caleb peaking his head through the door again.
"WHAT!  A snake!  Why didn't you say so the first time?"
"I don't know.  It's just a little one.  And it's gone now," replies Caleb.

On we go to investigate outside and try our best to lay eyes on the slithering creature once again.  "What color was it I ask?"  "Bright," he says.  "Yellow, or green."  Hmmm, maybe he's not really sure, I think, sounding a bit confused myself.  Maybe it was just a lizard I tell myself. 

Our outside search was futile so in the house and to the computer we went.  Google was our dear friend as we searched for snakes in Texas and found a few pictures.  Of course, none of them were the snake HE saw this morning.   Not the right color, they were all too big.  I tried to explain that I didn't need him to tell me the size, just the color of it.

Alas....a mom then worries every time she opens the door.  Will another snake find it's way into our house.  It's been a year now since the last time and I promise, Johnny, I will move if one takes up residence inside our home yet again.

The little-snake-that-we-never-found remains unidentified and hopefully never to be seen again.

Sigh....a day in the life of a country mom.

Golf, Soccer, AND Baseball!

Caleb loves them all and some days doesn't get enough.  It's a good thing Johnny is a sports guy or we'd be in trouble!   Here's a video of Caleb "pitching" to dad.  I wish my video techniques were a bit better.  Maybe once I learn to tweak them on the software I have they will be better.  But for now, overlook the wobblies and enjoy!  Oh, and do your best to ignore the noises from the dogs wrestling around my feet.  Sigh...

Here we wanted to show mom just how HIGH we could throw the ball....But a dratted grass burr got stuck to our shirt and sorta ruined the moment!  Hee hee!



Some more of "pitching" and catching.  Of course, you can't overlook his attempt at proper technique....watch that rear leg come up in the air....LOVE IT!

 

So, this was our evening last night, that is until it got dark.  A little bit of exercise is always good.  My main duty - shagging balls!   LOL

Til later,

Pam

Hot Chocolate Anyone??

To say my concession stand experience was interesting would be putting it mildly.  I think that those who have worked the concession before have a hidden agenda for the newbies that come into their domain.  Let's initiate them with gusto! 

My first assignment last night was to roll sausage and fajita meat into tortillas and wrap with foil.  That task was uneventful and flowed quite well, if I do say so myself.  I then said, "Pam", (that's what I call myself when I'm having one of those conversations in my head), "you can do this.  This is NOT so bad after all!" 

My second task was to mix hot chocolate.  Once again, how bad can that be?  Well, when it was all said and done, let's just say it was pretty bad.  I had a 6th grader as my partner (cute kid and an awesome worker named Dustin!) and together we were to measure out hot cocoa mix into white styrofoam cups, add the appropriate amount of water, and stir.  Doesn't sound like too hard a task does it?   It becomes hard when you have the other workers standing at their concession windows (4 or 5 of them), shouting out requests for "2 hot chocolates," "I need 4 hot chocolates," etc.  My job was to make them and deliver them to the window making the request. 

If you've ever made hot chocolate at home in your own kitchen, you might remember that it takes a little bit of time to adequately stir the powder into the hot water.  A little bit more time than we had between requests!  I literally stood at the counter and stirred cup after cup of hot chocolate for 2 1/2 hours.  No break....I was even wearing it as one of the dear concession workers decided the back of my shirt and pants would look snazzy with about a 1/2 cup of hot cocoa poured down the back.  Luckily with my layered attire for the evening I didn't get burned. 

Finally, the other workers realized that it was taking too much time for Pam (and her assistants) to deliver hot cocoa to their windows and they started to come get them.  Honestly, did they want me to keep stiring or waste time walking back and forth?  It was the craziest experience I've ever had.  I still do not understand why we didn't mix a LARGE container of hot cocoa all at once and just fill cups, but unless you are running the show (or want to run the show next year), you keep your mouth shut and do what they tell ya!  LOL 

I will say, when the last ounce of hot chocolate powder was poured into the last white styroam cup I shouted with joy, "Thank you, Jesus!  Praise God!"  And with only a few stares in my direction at my-out-of-place outburst, the rest of the folks in the room cheered for me, and for the 3 others who eventually had to step in and stir along side me when my 6th grade helper decided that working a window was more to his liking.   After a ten minute break and some serious stretching to try to work out the pain and kinks in my back - at 9:18 I moved onto Frito Pies, Hotdogs, and Nacho's.  A much easier task and more to MY liking.

So, my math skills did not come into play on this night in the concession stand.  Whew!  Not sure I could have handled THAT stress along with all the stiring...

God bless one and all,
Pam

TGIF and all that Jazz!

It's finally Friday, but before we sing our "yeah is Friday" song, we have to get through the day.  First we'll get in some Kindergarden.  Yesterday's session was pretty intense with learning how to sound out words and beginner reading worksheets.  I can only hope that today is a little less on the intense side.  To say who was more proud of our accomplishments yesterday, me or Caleb, would be a hard one to call.  We were both grinning from ear to ear!  Sun, nut, Ann, Sam, have become our next best friends!!!

I can only chuckle at Caleb's imagination.  One of our new words we are learning is "nut".  We sound it out... "nnnn," "uuuu," "tttt," then put it together and say, "Acorn!!"  Well, at least according to Caleb that's what we say.  He's having a little trouble understanding the sounding out method....he can sound out quite a few words, but doesn't quite understand the putting the sounds together part.  So for now, I try not to gigle every time we say, "nnnn," "uuuu," "tttt," and he shouts, with great enthusiasm, "ACORN!"

An hour long appointment at a nutritionist awaits us later today. My healthy living changes began again back in Jun/July.  To that point I'd kept off 19 of the lbs I'd lost.  I have a system and while it's not always foolproof, I'm making slow progress.   My weight loss to date is now 35 lbs down.   In enters John with his desire to lose about 10 lbs and get healthier in order to feel better.  Kudo's to John for making the decision.  It's hard to get to that point.  Lord, I know.  His method and my current method aren't exactly in sync.  I count calories and exercise.  He's read up on it and has learned that low carb can be more ideal for the body.  Switching gears in mid-stream is not an easy thing for me.  But, because he wants to do this for us, I'm willing to try.  So, our trip to the nutritionist begins our journey in learning how to do this in the best way.  I already cry myself to sleep over the loss of rice, potatoe's, pasta, bread, sigh.....We can do this.  Well, I know John can - as he's been doing it.  I'm sensing it's going to be a LITTLE harder for ME!  Ha ha!

This mom gets to work the concession stand at the football game tonight.  With the weather as cool as it's been, I'm not really looking forward to it.  It is the last game of the season and I figured I needed to serve one of these events at least.  Randy's band receives $ from the concession stand to help the band.   I should do my part, right?  To guess whether it will be cold in there, or warm, I have no idea.  Let's just hope my math skills come back quickly and my brain loses the hazy fog that it tends to move around in on a daily basis!!

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place.  And He was praying there.  Mark 1:35  

If only we could all remember to do this every day...Reading today's devotional in my "Journey" was like a shake to my world.  How can my day go any better than if I were to start it by spending time with my Lord...?  I don't think it can.

In His Name,
Pam

Papalote's Wildlife!!

Barking dogs are often an indicator that something is going on around the house.  Some days it's nothing, or at least nothing that I can see with my own eyes.  Other times it's a sick racoon, a rattle snake in the middle of the yard, or a couple of wild turkeys romping through the back yard.  We've had an entire LARGE herd of cattle trapse past down the street and a couple of times our neighbors miniature ponies have come for a visit.   We can't forget the blue indigo snakes that randomly come to visit.   My most favorite animal to see in Papalote??    A teenage kangaroo.  Yes, KANGAROO!!    Deer, cattle, racoons, snakes, etc are all pretty common... But a kangaroo, not so much.  We later learned that the poor thing had gotten away from a nearby ranch.  When I saw it, it looked scared to death. I didn't think fast enough to get a decent picture, but my neighbor was with me so I have a witness! I wish Caleb had been big enough to understand what was there - he would have loved it!

Today we had a coyote.  Yes, in broad daylight.  He was out in the back pasture and not the least bit afraid of us.  I did my best to yell and try to scare him off, but he just decided to move a few more steps IN my direction.  Needless to say I scurried back to my porch and the safety of my back door if needed.  LOL   After a few minutes he was gone, disappearing into the brush.   

Then, the evening brought about two crazed deer.  We were heading home after dark (after soccer practice), in separate vehicles when I realized Johnny's vehicle was moving rather slow.  The reason?  Two deer were scampering along size Johnny's truck, on the road.  As he slowed down, they went ahead of him desperately trying to get through the ditch and over the fence to find their way into hiding.  They couldn't do it.  The eventually turned around and went past my vehicle.  I prayed that they could make their way back over the fence and we wouldn't see them dead on the road the next day. 

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.   Genesis 1:24-25

God created it all for us!  And to be an observer of His wonderful creations every day is a blessing!!
 
Love and hugs,
Pam

Small Accomplishments Can Create Such Big Smiles

This morning Caleb decided to dress himself right away when getting up.  Nothing sweeter than a cheaky grin when one can now "almost" button their britches on their own.  I wish I could say he went on to accomplish the task, but, the smile he gave me when he realized he had the button 1/2 way through, well, just too sweet a moment to pass up.  He might as well have gotten it all the way through for the feeling of accomplishment he had and the look of joy on his face!  Of course, the first thing he said was, "I gotta show Dad this!"

Then I realized why we were getting dressed.  We wanted to drive the Gator and "mow" for dad.   The poor Gator sat idle for a long while as it needed a new battery.  Trying to decide if he was still small enough for it we procrastinated in buying one.  A couple weeks ago Johnny picked one up and once again it is Caleb's new best friend.  He "mows" every day for dad and yesterday even put my mail in the mail box for me, and brought me the mail later in the day. 

To hear him laugh and giggle as he rides through the yard with Honey chasing him - priceless!   They go in a circle, around the garage, over the driveway, around the house.  With the windows open on a cool day like today I can especially hear the giggl'n.   Puts a smile on my face every time.

We can't forget our old girl, Penny, who has much patience for Caleb, but zero tolerance for Honey.  She takes her job very seriously in ruling the roost around here!  No one better step out of line or else!

Signing off!
Pam