Sunday, May 17, 2015

A couple weeks ago Chloe was put on the A/B Honor Roll for all three years at Wynne Junior High.  Go Chloe!  We are looking forward to rounding out the year, the summer plans and getting ready for high school.

Thankfully we are done pulling eggs from the next to raise Salmon Faverolle chickens.  I think Harmon said there are about 18 new salmon's and we ended up also raising about 8 cross breed chickens.  After a couple of times pulling eggs off the nest, we figured out what a Salmon egg looks like compared to my other pullet hens.  Anyway, Chloe got some recent photos of them.  They are what we call teenagers and hopefully in the fall we will get to add some of these egg layers to our brood.  Thanks to Memaw and Granddad for helping us raise a new batch!  We plan to share many of these with Martin and Kara next door who've, I think, finished their new chicken coop.

Chloe on her birthday at Colby's having the traditional chocolate fudge cake with cousins August, Katie Bradshaw,
Whit in the back, Chloe and Stella

Our teenage Salmon's at Grandad's

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That's one ugly cross breed rooster....just saying....

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Chloe at the honor roll assembly at junior high....go Chloe!

Chloe at the awards assembly

You've seen this rooster before but he's a great example of the beauty of the Salmon Faverolle Rooster

The female Salmon

Happy 14th Birthday to Chloe, Birdeye

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Happy Birthday Chloe!  It's hard to believe that she can get her license to drive with a parent now!  We've had a really busy week with Mother's Day lunch at our house Sunday and her birthday Thursday and we had our family birthday party over at Harmon and Jeanie's this year.  (A huge thanks to them and Kara for making the delicious spaghetti and salad for last night's partee :)). 

I added some photos of the past two weekends too. Chloe's got a couple more weeks of school then Kara and I will take Stella, Chloe and cousin Audrey to NYC for a show, museums etc.  This summer Chloe will do Junior Golf (maybe a lesson in there too), go to a camp in Little Rock for the publications staff (yay, she was one of 5 chosen in her class) and a week at Ferncliff with Audrey.  It'll be a busy summer for sure.

Thank goodness after 22 plus years of being in the Smith family, I got action footage of the infamous Indian Leg Wrestling
match that Memaw has been legendary for.  Here she is battling oldest grandson Whit.  She won can't you tell?

At the beginning of the war...Look at Granddad watching the action....lol!!

Chloe went down to Memaw of course.

Here she is battling August.  She won again.

And Stella was the last to loose.  That's Memaw 4, grandkids 0

Chloe and Stella helping August with charades behind the scenes on Mother's Day

August loves Chloe's games...this is Pictionary, of course

Stella's a big game player too!

Chloe's new game with the dogs is to get a muffin pan and cover each
one with a treat and a toy.  Makes for a fun time for the dogs.

Whit ran off at the last minute.  Looks like Jackie's having a good time...

Chloe and Buddy from the Dog-a-Roo at Shelby Farms last Saturday...they participated
in the Look-a-like contest but didn't win.  SO cute!

Buddy got a gold star for being on his best behavior at the dog festival.  He does have
some social issues but he did great.

Chloe at her final track meet of 8th grade with Elizabeth Moon, Chloe and Kyra Dobson

Biscuit at the Parkin Archeological State Park yesterday

Chloe wanted her cake done like this sketch of the Lord of the Rings'
Legolas...it says, "if you can read this, the dwarf fell off".

Kara and the kids and I wrote cute poems about Chloe turning 14, they were all darling.  Memaw had a huge puzzle-style
scavenger hunt game,  the kids loved it.  Memaw always has really good games.

Chloe and I went to Parkin Archaeological State Park Saturday to learn out to make fire, rope, rugs and eat from
a dutch oven over a camp fire.  It was a really good program.  Chloe and I love Discovery Channel's Naked and
Afraid show that we were really into making rope and fire.  The show puts two strangers into a remote place of the
world without clothes, food or water for 21 days to survive.  It's a really fun show to watch and makes us
so thankful for shelter and electricity.

We made had the tools to make fire from a bow drill and here's Chloe
starting one from using flint and steel to create a spark onto charcoal
paper.  It was a really good experience.  And I'm off to Walmart to get us
a fire starter kit for this summer when we go to Village Creek with the dogs.

Chloe and Buddy

Mother's Day at church, August got to help with the offering.  He did great!

Chloe LOVED her cake made by Cathy Helton

Aunt Kara does it again, gets Chloe a top favorite gift...Business cards
that have her number for animal boarding and training.  Chloe loved it!

We got her this JRRTolkien shirt and she loves it.  It says "that's what I'm Tolkien about".

Chloe told some really good stories during her birthday party.  She's a
better story teller than me thank goodness.

Fosters and....

Friday, May 8, 2015

Happy Birthday to my fabulous mom!  She's a young 40 today!

I thought I'd blog about our fosters...Ava, a shepherd mix, about 1 year old, spayed, vaccinated, hw negative....house broken, crate trained and great with kids, dogs and cats and of course, humans.

A female badly neglected pit was thrown over our fence at the vet clinic Tuesday....she's SO SWEET as most neglected dogs are.  She's hw negative, spayed and living in my isolation run.  She has broken teeth, an ear that is healing but was nearly severed off and multiple bite wounds.  Harmon thinks she had puppies recently (dang it).  A very sweet girl; Chloe will soon begin training her and we will proof her around dogs, cats and kids.

Awww the Afghan...last summer, before Buddy, I filled out an application for adoption for a rescue Afghan...well this guy came up three days ago in Nashville.  He's about 8 years old, has heartworms and ehrlichia.  He's apparently a clown and very very sweet.  Do you realize the timing of this adoption?  Not good but we will make room.  Chloe said he reminds her of Tu Jague.

Let me know if you are ready for a sweet rescued pet (not the afghan) and I'll get them to you somehow.  SPAY/NEUTER PEOPLE!

The Ava-a-nator

The pit, no name yet but sweet as a lollipop.  She's got broken teeth, an ear healing and multiple bite wounds

This is Pharaoh when he got out of the Nashville pound two weeks ago...pitiful boy.  We will
pick him up next week. 

Oklahoma City trip, 2015

Friday, May 1, 2015

This post may end up being entirely photos but it's been a busy two weeks.  I went to Oklahoma City last week to see Glenn, my 88 year old grandfather who had just found out his lymphoma went to his brain.  I got a full quality hour with him that Wednesday and he died the next day.  I somehow got to be in there when he passed with my grandmother, dad and my aunt Janet.  It truly was one of the most precious moments of my life.  I'll never forget it.  I feel like he's been watching over me ever since, it is a good feeling.  Reminds me of when Chloe and Maggie passed, very precious people in my life.

His funeral was the following Monday so I went on to the state PTA convention in Ft. Smith Friday and attended my high school best friend Barbie Barton Greer's son's bat mitzvah (more on that later) and Jackie and I did the Oklahoma City Half Marathon on Sunday.  Whew, a busy weekend but we made it. I learned a few good tips about eating at a Bat Mitzvah before a half that consisited of chili dogs and mexican food...don't do it.  Stick to pasta and other LOW FAT foods...it was a torturous Sunday afternoon to say the least.  Our time was really good though, 2:20 isn't bad with a ten minute portapotty stop, just saying....

Then this week we tackled AP Math and English projects, worked in the yard and most especially at Bettie's next door, went to Kara's to watch the derby then to a classmate of Jackie's brother's wedding Saturday in Wynne.  It's been busy.

This Sunday Chloe and I are fired up about hosting Mother's Day manicotti and playing Jimmy Fallon's charades and box of lies, it should be a fun weekend.

Next Thursday is Chloe's 14th birfday and we will have a party with Kara's crew on Friday, May 15 and hopefully mom can come over from Little Rock and partee with us.  More Fallon games etc.

More blogging on the dogs around HERE to come! :)

Avery Jacobs, Chloe and Rex Jacobs at Cameron's wedding, dang
blurry Droid camera phone!

Chloe in the courtyard this morning with Gumball and Buddy

Saturday May 2nd bike ride from Beth and Stan's, Stan, Beth, Cecelia, Jackie, Kyle, Joy and me (taking the photo)
We went about 25 miles

Jed Jacobs and Jackie at Cameron's wedding Saturday night in Wynne

LOL on this poem, read it and make sure you have used it because
I was laughing so hard this morning I nearly peed my pants!
Chloe's birthday poem for me

Champagne toast in Beth's brand new kitchen next door....pictured are me, Beth, Kara and Ashley

Buddy in Bettie's convertible, I drive it at least once a week, we
went to pick up Chloe from school with the top down!  Chloe was
SO embarrassed but I loved every minute of it of course!

Chloe with the purse my best friend Wendy hand made for her birthday!

Katie, Stella, Chloe and Julia decorating my birthday cake, so sweet!

Sherry Barton, me and Barbie Barton Greer at Jake's dinner party after the bat mitzvah

This is blurry but taken about 5 years old in OKC at a buffet place, Chloe and I were in town for some reason and so was
Grandmother and Grandad so we met them for lunch I think it was 2010.  Chloe, Glenn and Audrey

Mom and Gary have an abundance of wild turkeys and deer in their neighborhood.  This was Thursday morning on a training run

I went ahead and went to Ft Smith for the state PTA convention and
they had a circus crew doing the entertainment during the luncheon
with a Star Wars theme.... I sent this to Kara for August

Me, Stephanie and Stormy Martin at Jake's bat mitzvah

The OKC half, once again blurry photos from my phone dang it...there were over 25,000 people there for the full,
half, and 5 K

Azaleas Winnie Bob planted many years ago

Courtyard azaleas

I'm going to call this vinca growing in the courtyard with a little poison ivy