Camping Ain't What It Used To Be

Sooooo, it was a nice evening last Friday which meant only 1 thing--we'd be outside drinking and letting the kids run amuk with smores and sparklers.

Sooooo, after drinking for a few hours we realized it was getting late and the kids were up 2 hours past their bedtime. This is when Bryan got the bright idea of camping in the backyard.

I grew up camping in my backyard and was immediately onboard for this little "adventure". What we failed to realize in our drunken stupor is:

1. It was 10:30 at night, and therefore DARK outside.


2. Our tent is a complicated 2-room family tent.


3. The aforementioned complicated tent was brand new--never been out of the box. Translate: we had never set it up before.


4. We had been drinking more than we thought.

After wrestling with it for 2 hours, we finally finished and got the kids corralled into their "room".

The two older boys were great--they zonked right out. For the 3-year-old, it was party time. After he finally settled down, we realized our portion of the tent was over very lumpy ground--this is when I started to realize I'm not as young as I thought. Bryan & I tossed for the remainder of the night on our hard beds--I ended up with a big bruise on my child-rearing hips.

Needless to say, we got no sleep. When the sun came up at 5:30, our youngest woke the whole neighborhood up with "It's morning tiiiiiiime!! Wake up!!!" Ugh...

A few other things I didn't mention before--here is a picture of the tent.

Notice the orange extension cord? There is actually a special port in the tent for cords to run through. We had a fan, music, and laptop in that tent. My how times have changed...

Diabetic Coma

Now that I've woken up from my diabetic coma, let me show you what caused it:

THAT is the birthday cake I made for Bryan--I received more ooh's and aaah's from this lazy person's cake than from all the other cakes I've spent hours decorating. It looked even crazier with candles (that would be Bryan's jokester nephew, who is very happy I snapped this picture):

Bryan had a good birthday--his entire family showed up to cook, eat & have a few drinks. We had a good visit and the kids had a ball destroying playrooms and messing with the dogs outside. My parents were here in spirit: (keep in mind they live in the Cowtown USA)

Since Bryan's birthday is technically not until the 28th, I am withholding his present until it's official. (Payback for not letting me open any Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.)

That's For Your Lips?!

Only in Texas would I find something like this...



Check out the website at ilovechickenpoop.com

Memories and Regrets

Several weeks ago, I received a call from my Mom that my grandmother "Dorsey" wasn't doing good and probably wasn't going to make it through the rest of the week. Her health had been declining for the past 5 years, and she felt it was time to return home to God.

At that time, Bryan urged me to write her a letter with my fond memories of times together growing up. I put it off, and Dorsey miraculously bounced back and was doing absolutely great--back to her witty, feisty old self. Then I got another phone call a few weeks ago saying she had up and passed on. She never received that letter from me.

I never let her know about my fondest memories together. About how I dare not go through New Year's Day without eating black-eyed peas for good luck, lest she scold me. The fun times on the little go-kart at her house in Wildorado, and the time she took a corner too fast and dumped me out on the road. How she taught me to play Solitaire while watching The Price is Right, and the times my sister & I would fall asleep at her house waiting for Mom & Dad to come pick us up late at night to take us home.


We would have the most wonderful conversations--she had so many fun facts to share, and she knew the history of our family--I wish I had documented our family tree while she was still here with us. I wish I had called her more often just to talk. I wish I had taken the time to write and send that letter...


I know she is at peace now, but I miss her anyway.

Kids with Tattoos

Bryan and I both have tattoos (in somewhat inconspicuous places.) The boys are fascinated by them because they don't wash off. We've told them that they hurt like a thousand needles (to ward off any growing feelings of really wanting one by the time they are teenagers). So they run around all the time with their temporary tattoos--proudly showing them off to everyone: