Trying to catch up

Before I start in with catching up to Christmas and such I figured I better back up because I've taken a couple hundred pictures in the last month. So I'm gonna back up to Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving this year was spent at my cousins house. They moved here from Colorado and wanted to host this year. The boys were very excited to see that in the front yard they found a zip line attached to some trees. And somehow my 70 year old mother took a bet to do it herself.


I love that about her!!!!


Hopped right on and went a flyin'. These are kind of priceless memories right here, what great facial expressions.


And then my sister hopped on, skirt and all. Pretty great to see, considering last year at this time she was bald from chemo and finishing radiation for breast cancer!


My 16 year old niece had to jump in the action as well.


And the good part about having a brother is he can drag you back up the hill, so that he can fling you back down the line, secretly hoping you might fall off. It's a brother thing!

Away in Coors Light Can

Well I'm trying to catch up on my life, and seriously I could write a new blog entry with photos every single day, it's just that whole time thing that seems to be a challenge.

Last Friday, my good demo friends Brenda and Kristen, and I had our holiday Stamp Camp.
No it's nothing like band camp....

Part of our stamp camps are a demonstration section, where we show our customers some trick or tip about stamping. This go around we decided to show everyone the rage of using Coors Light can to sharpen your punches and in return you get a punched out blue piece of tin.

But here's the funny (at least to me) part:
We rent a church hall for our event ant they were in full Christmas mode.
And little did we realize that when Brenda started her demo, she was standing in front of the manger with a Coors Light Can.


"And the wise woman brought gold, frankencence, and Coors Light for the baby Jesus."


But see Brenda didn't know how ironicly funny the whole thing looked. She did an amazing demo that impressed everyone.


She did a great step by step demo.



I think the one and all was impressed with her ability to turn a beer can into a card.

Good Job B.!!!

Help!!!

Okay I need some good Karma here folks. I've lost the cord that connects my camera to my laptop and you know what the means???

No NEW photos, no new blog entries, no nothing.

I've exhausted every possible option. I mean how do you lose something that you use all the time???????????????

So send some good luck my way!!!!

I'm having blogging deprivation!

This may be disturbing to younger viewers and the elderly

It's hunting season in our neck of the woods.

A time for men and their sons to bond and commune with nature.

A time to kill a large animal with horns, and fill my freezer with meat I will never eat.

A time to explain yet again why there will never be a deer head mounted on the wall in my living room.

A time for my husband to grow out all his facial hair and look like the unabomber.

A time for clothing that only has camouflage or blaze orange in it.

A time for the male species to not shower for a week.

A time for me to be VERY glad he leaves to do this.

A time for me to send one of my camera's along and tell the men, "take some good pictures", and secretly hope they don't really come home with pictures of dead deer and gut piles.

A time for me to take the camera after they come home and load the pictures on my computer and find pictures like this:








And then I find something like this. Something that makes me cringe as the mother. Something that reconfirms that testosterone and dumb boy humor are not a good combination. Something that makes me feel like I am getting nowhere with these children.

Something that makes me think...."where the heck was your dad?????"

Something that confirms my sister in law is NOT on my side. And neither is my mother in law-cuz I hear her in the background too.

Something that makes me glad my brother in law knows nothing about my blog.


**I'm warning you, there is nothing pretty about this**
**If you have never been mooned, or you would find something like that offensive YOU SHOULD NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO**





I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry.

Seriously people I am trying to raise them better than this, but I cannot be blamed for their behavior when they are away from me.

And, yes...it cracked me up....but that's not the point!!!!

Friends...Part 2

Do you know what friends don't do? When someone says they don't like your second choice for a blog background, well then it's just time to ignore them.

And Kathy...I'm not scared away that easily. I'm a labor and delivery nurse....I deal with irrational people in pain all of the time. My skin in a little thicker than that. And don't even get me started on dealing with doctors.....

I will say that I do value your honesty however, it's kind of refreshing. I may not always listen to you, but I do hear you.

Don't worry I'll have a Christmas theme for you to analyze soon!

Friends...

Do you know what friends do for each other?

They listen...

Even if they have never met.

So today...I listened.

So Kathy, this is for you.
I listened to your request. I heard you "shout out" and be very honest that you didn't like my background and that is was so very hard to read my clever and touching stories about absolutely nothing.

See Kathy is the only one out there that ever validates me. Comments on all my posts. Makes me feel like someone out there is listening, reading, wasting her precious time. She is my sista, my peeps, my voice of reason...okay a bit much, but....

Kathy, I respect your opinion, your brutal honesty that my background sucked, so sista, I listened.

Will this one do???

Do you remember...

when I started this blog because I was a stamper? Do you?
Have you been with me that long?

Sweet!

Because I've kind of forgotten. I got sidetracked with you know, like...real life.

And that whole blogging stampers world got pretty competitive. And I got a little overwhelmed.

But I've been tinkering here and there and thought I'd share with you what I made out of this:


Ta-da:


Yep, 24 Christmas cards out of a Simply Scrappin' Kit. Not a single bit of stamping involved on one of them.
I'm hosting a class next week so my customers can make a set too!

Sorry such a short post. Quick day!!!
Take care!

Unnaturally natural

Well almost immediately after pitching my little fit (see previous post), I decided to try one more time--and it's like the computer Gods heard me. So let's all just pretend like I didn't act like one of my kids when they can't find something. Like I actually continued to act like an adult and not vent my frustrations out here in Bloggerville.

And while we are at it, let's pretend that there isn't snow outside this morning, and that I'm 3 inches taller and have Jennifer Garner's body from Alias, and that I have a live in chef and Pilate's instructor. I mean, if we are going to pretend, let's do it up good!

Wow, ticked off and delusional--a lethal combination!!!

Now on to our regularly scheduled post:

I've been spending a lot of time out at my friend Tammy's farm. Riding horses, feeding horses, attending to dogs, cats, and chickens while Tammy takes a much needed respite.

The farm provides lots of photographic opportunities. Some scenic, some sweet, some funny, and some just downright disturbing.

We are going to start with downright disturbing.

**PLEASE NOTE**
You are officially being warning about the following photographs, and the unnatural act you are about to witness.
I merely photographed what I had to witness.

See out on the farm, love knows no bounds. You can't stop certain feeling or urges. Nature, well sometimes it's just unnatural.













Yes, what you think is about to happen, is going to happen.

"Come here my pet. I cannot resist your beauty. I most have you....right here...right now. I don't care who sees us."







"Of course I love you. You are the only one for me."







"Later. I left a $20 by your water dish."


**I'm sorry you had you witness this, but I'm more sorry that I had to watch it happen in real life."**

Ticked off

Okay, I'm officially ticked off!!!!!!!!!

I've been so very busy the last 2 weeks. And this morning was my morning to spend at the computer. Uploading to the blog, sending pictures people are waiting on, etc.

But I can't get anything uploaded to blogger!!!!!


GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! Stomping feet, rolling on floor, utter frustration. And I can't figure out if it's my laptop or a blogger problem.

Okay, I keep trying...................

but right now......I'm just plain ol' ticked off!!!!!

My Aurora Morning

Well, in the last few weeks I have been spending a lot of time on horseback. Regularly meeting up with my friends with horses and loading them into trailers and hauling them to state parks with horseback riding trails, and then enjoying the fall colors here in Minnesota for the day.

Last Tuesday was no different. Showed up to my friend Tammy's house about 7:45am to load horses. But that morning would prove to be slightly more eventful. See when we headed out to the pasture, this is what we found:

A brand new little filly about 2 hours old.

And here's the thing----it was a huge surprise!!! See Tammy didn't know that she was pregnant. Slightly alarming to a woman that raises and trains horses for a living. See, this little girls momma, well she's a pretty big horse and she hid her pregnancy very well. And poor thing, I've been running her up and down hills, trudged her through water, sliding down a muddy slope with her sliding down behind me, and she never complained.

And she never exhibited usual horse signs of an impeding deliver. No agitation, no dropped utters filling with milk, no restlessness. Nope just went out to pasture one night, and had a baby.


Oh my goodness, is that not one of the cutest things you have ever seen in your life?


Hello blogging friends I'd like to officially have you meet Kat's Aurora Morning (and her momma Cheyenne).
She's named after me and the Greek goddess of the dawn. Is she not one of the most beautiful creatures on earth?


Her momma is half Morgan and half Arabian. And her Daddy (at least the one we think is her Daddy) is a full blooded Arabian.


Are you stuck on the "think her Daddy" part? Yeah, see we shouldn't really be having foals right now. And 11 months ago, neither of the stallions got loose to spread their love seed. Which means Cheyenne backed herself up to the electric fence, and Daddy and her made beautiful love through the fence (that's what we are telling Aurora-that is the product of a beautiful night of love, not some lustful night through a fence).


Oh my goodness, I am in LOVE with this little girl!


I mean look at her adorable little pink nose, and the cute little whiskers on her chin.



You should feel her mane and her ears--heaven on earth!


And look at those eyelashes!


And seeing a new baby nurse is so very sweet. The little tongue sticking out and little slurping sounds.


And then after your belly gets full, you get very very sleepy.


Sweet dreams honey. You were the best surprise I've ever found.

Blowin' in the wind

So it's another week that has blown by.

Just wanted to post a little something for my garden. I love my grasses this time of year!

We are off to visit Nick's family for the weekend, and I will return next week.

Have a safe and happy weekend all!

Happy Trails.....

Anybody miss me?

Wow, it was a busy week last week. And it had a theme:

Horses, horses, and more horses.

I've been fortunate enough to have been going on some amazing trail rides with some really great ladies in the last couple of weeks. Getting to see fall in Minnesota on horseback has been AMAZING.
I thought I'd share with you some of the snapshots I've been able to grab.

They pale in comparison to the real thing, but it will give you a little taste of what I've been seeing.


Here's our group. I'm the second from the left, you can barely see me peeking around back there.
This was a gorgeous stop at the top of one of the trails in the middle of a pine forest. Look at all way the needles that have fallen blanket this part of the trail.


When you look up doing this part of the trail, this is what you will see. Amazing how pine needles can be so beautiful.


We are just past the peak of the season for fall color here. Truly magnificent array of yellows, oranges, and red.


This is a sight that just makes you take a deep breath and drink it in. It is quite a hike up to this point. If you are not fond of heights this is not the trail ride for you. Part of what makes Minnesota great this time of year is the harvesting of the fields because they add a whole extra dimension of color and texture.


If you look way over on the left side of this picture, see those little spots. Those are our trailers. Yeah, we are way the heck up there.


Time to take one last look because you know what? What goes up must come down. And when it has rained 2 days before this the trail gets rather muddy. Which means you get to dismount and walk, slide, sludge, your way down the trail with a 1200 pound animal walking, sliding, sludging her way down the GIANT hill.

I have more to share in the coming days. Happy Monday all.

My boys have a new past time.

Writing their own comic books....and (without my knowledge)selling them to the neighbors....quite successfully might I add.

Little con artists got me to make a bunch of copies of it to sell to their "friends", and their "friends parents".

See, the 2 neighbor boys helped with some of the story line, so they were supposed to get copies. Little did I know, they decided to be little entrepreneurs and sell some of the copies door to door.

I'm not sure whether to be proud or totally embarrassed.

The main characters are a group of super hero's called "The Boxers Boys".

Gotta love superheros that save the world in their boxer shorts.

Anyway for your viewing pleasure, may I present:

"HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?" (Ehhhhhhhh......Nooooooo.)






Yikes...the wedgenator. Makes my butt hurt just thinking about it.







Totally confused yet?
Good.....I never said any of it made any sense.



And Lord help us all,
this is the title of the next installment:

I'm currently taking orders for advanced autographed copies.

Good morning!

"Hey...

Got any apples?"

"Seriously...

What's up with the silver thing in your hand?" "Holy crap, what's up with the flashing light?"

"No....I'm serious...

where are the goods lady?" "What? I have something hanging out of my mouth? I know, I know. I'm cool, you know, like the cowboys that hang a piece of grass out of their mouth? Yeah I'm going for that."
"Now back to the apples....where are they?"

"I'm getting so bored here,

I have narcalepsy you know? No seriously....sometimes I fall asleep standing up."

"Oh, it's a camera?

"Here, this is my good side. Everyone says so."

"Forget it...I give up...

I have a high metabolism, I need to eat every 30 seconds. I'll just eat some grass, since you're just standing there doing nothing with that stupid thing in your hands."


"What....

I have something hanging out of my mouth again????"





Welcome to mornings at my house. This is what I find in my backyard every morning.

Please ignore the half finished perennial bed with all the dying flowers. It's a work in progress. Just concentrate on the horse.

Actually, this is what I spend a lot of my day looking at:

Just a bunch of horse's....