happy halloween!

carvin' pumpkins

My niece wanted to carve pumpkins as part of her birthday celebration.  Everyone got their own pumpkin and there were some idea books around to help spark our imagination or use as templates.  You know the drill - scoop and carve.

We were all getting into it...

...even Mom!

I got my idea from one of the idea books but the template no longer existed so I free handed it.  Check out all the awesome work we did.

How did your pumpkin carving turn out this year?

birthday girls

The trip to Kansas last weekend was to help celebrate the birthday of my two favorite girls - my two nieces!  There's quite a difference in their ages - 18 and 2 - but not much difference in the celebrating.

There was blowing out of candles...

and of course opening of presents...

I can't believe one is 2 already.  I was getting engaged when we found out about her.

I can't believe the other one is 18 already.  I was in my Freshman year of college when she was born.  YIKES!

Happy birthday Kylie and Maddy!!!

I love you both!

shopping with sean???

There are definitely some drawbacks to this snowbird thing.  You have two houses - and therefore two closets - to contend with.  We're trying to keep a set of clothes in Maine and a set in Texas.  Sometimes we forget what's at the other house.  Fall and spring really are transition seasons so you need some summer clothes in Texas and some winter clothes in Maine still.

I've been trying to get Sean to expand his wardrobe so I don't have to pack and move all his clothes each time we make the move.  It backfired a little bit this time - for Sean, not me.  Sean finally joined me in Texas this past weekend.  He stayed behind a couple of extra weeks as he had some things to wrap up.  He tried hard to not pack up his whole closet this time around.

Yesterday afternoon, he realized he had no shorts, t-shirts or casual shoes in Texas.  It's still pretty warm down here and he pretty much lives in those so he suggested we go shopping last night after work (which NEVER happens).  First stop was DSW for some shoes (my fav!!).  After picking out 2 pairs of shoes (with a lot of input by me), he suggested we look for some shoes for me.

WHAT???  SERIOUSLY???

He always complains I have too many shoes.  I guess he was feeling guilty that he was getting some and I wasn't.  I didn't find any I couldn't live without so we headed to the next store on the lookout for shorts.  It's really hard to find shorts at the end of October.  I thought there would be tons on the sale racks but the stores where we went had pretty much already sent their inventory away for the season.

We actually did find some though.  Yet again, Sean suggested I look for some clothes for me (I'm a little light on warmer weather clothes here too).  He'd probably hate me for saying this but he was even a trooper and watched my fashion show and provided input on what I should get.  It was definitely a very fun evening with my honey!

What has your honey done for you lately that you were surprised by but oh so enjoyed?

unwanted guests

You may remember Duke recently had an adventure at a ranch (if you don't remember you can read about it here).  Well, he seemed to bring back a few friends with him or possibly he picked them up while I was in Tampa last week.  Duke and I headed up to Kansas over the weekend to visit my Mom and the rest of the clan.  Seems he brought these friends along and shared them with Buddy.

This required several baths and a hack job hair cut for Duke by me.

Can you guess what these friends are?

If you guessed fleas, you would be right.  I think we successfully have gotten rid of them now but Duke looks a little silly with his haircut and is constantly shivering.  I think I may have gotten a little carried away, but actually I blame Amy since her shears didn't have any guards (I'm not quite the professional she is).

finding warmth...and critters

Last week I had to go to Tampa for work which meant I had to go into an office.  They keep the offices so cold all the time - winter or summer.  Ok, so maybe I'm just always cold.  I typically never leave the house without a shawl but with the move down to Texas and such, I found myself in Tampa without one.  So, at lunch I decided to head outside to find a spot to warm up and enjoy my lunch.

I grabbed my lunch, slipped off my shoes, sat in the grass and ate my salad.  About half way through my lunch I started hearing noises - little footsteps.  I finally figured it out when I saw part of the tree move.

This started creeping me out so I packed up my trash and headed back into the office for my next meeting.  That's when I ran into this laying in the grass.  Not understanding why it was there or how exactly it got there.

Critters totally creep me out (especially lizardy ones) - how about you?

c bar ranch - chow time

I'm always amazed by the orchestra that happens with each meal at trail ride.

The amount of people there for each meal and the quantity of food is crazy. This is just one of the maybe six fridges they have full of food.

Add in a giant smoker and some giant trash barrel deep fryers...

and you are on your way to feed these hungry riders.

After a quick prayer...

it's time for the cowboys to chow down.

We were on potato duty for dinner Saturday night. We totally rocked it! I sold everyone on Cowboy Beans on their tater.

People enjoyed recounting their riding stories from the day on into the night listening to the sounds of the DJ.

What picnic would be complete without a nice bonfire?

They probably served 150 people each meal this trail ride and the food is always SOOOO good! What's the most people you've ever cooked a meal for? Me - it was 12. I've had larger parties but I totally catered those.

c bar ranch - according to duke

Momma let me come back and guest blog!  I went to a ranch with my friend Mattie.  We chilled in the grass…

took a swim in the "tank"…

met some new friends…

tried to stay cool while hanging with the horses…

and took a nap.

Mom even tried to catch a few zzzzz's.

We even got some cow tails as a snack.  I gave mine a shot but it wasn't my favorite.  I let Mattie finish it.  She really liked it.

Wow!  It's a good thing that chair didn't fall over.  I didn't realize it was leaning so much when I crawled up under it.

I also got to take my first, what mom called, "big dog car ride" in the truck.   It was a lot of fun but I think I'll stick with Mom's lap INSIDE the truck.

I can't wait to go back.  Hopefully next time my friends Dumas and Pete will get to go too!

Woof!  ~Duke

c bar ranch

One of my friend's parents has a ranch outside of Waco, Texas.  Back in the day, they had horses that they rented out for trail rides and we would go riding a couple of times a year to ride their horses.  They don't rent horses anymore.  BOO!!!

However, twice a year they have a trail ride where people from all over the country in these obnoxious rigs…

young…

and old…

with fancy chaps…

come to ride their horses on their land.

My friends Tamara and Elizabeth go down and help out with each Trail Ride and I go along when I'm in town.  The last ride was this past weekend and we headed down to help out.   Not sure we did all that much helping this time but it's always a blast to head to the ranch to spend some country time.

If you have horses you totally need to head off to the C Bar Ranch for the trail ride.  If you don't have horses, they also offer camping and nature hikes, too.  Check them out!  They're great people, with big hearts and amazing land.