I Lost Count

I lost count of the days now. Not just the days, but the days! The days that I have been nicotine free.

Let me think out loud just a minute and then I'll let you know. Ok - my last one was on the - hmm...let me get to the calendar...April 4th was 7 days...so...March something...got it...March 27th was the last time that I smoked. So my first day of no nicotine was March 28th, 2008.

I tell ya, it has been a struggle. I have avoided all the things that I used to do. Sit at the computer - light one up. After every meal - light one up. I had more reasons to light one up than stars in the sky. PIT i FULL

Today has been kinda rough but I've made it this far.

We have a few things going on that is taking up lots of our thoughts.

1. We have got to buy another vehicle. This is pretty funny because we are vehicle poor. I mean it. If we put all of our vehicles in our yard, it would look like a used car lot. Gotta think again, so that I can tell you exactly how many we have. Our green hunting truck, there's the Dodge, then there's the truck that my mom has at her house (it was my dad's), then there is our SUV that is falling apart little by little. Ok, there's only 4 of them but isn't that enough. LOL Oh yeah, there is also the patrol car when Superman isn't working. Yep - like I said, a used car lot.

2. A graduation is in the very near future. My sister's baby is graduating from high school. We want to go to the graduation and spend a little bit of time with my sister and then we want to use the rest of the week as our vacation. So we have to plan for someone to feed the horses while we are gone, someone to feed the cats and clean the litter boxes. We have to board the dogs. Oh yeah, and now that we have a special needs cat, we have to find someone that can give Dusty his insulin shots twice a day.

3. I have a huge list of things that need to be caught up on. I think it may be easier to just throw the list away and start over.

I think that's all for now. I am gradually getting back to the computer so please be patient with me. Thank you very much for your support!

Here Lately

Here lately I've been busy. I know - Imagine that! I've been trying to figure out what has me so busy.
Could it be that I homeschool 3 boys or maybe we have 3 horses, 4 cats, 2 dogs? Maybe it's the bike riding we've been doing lately or the window cleaning that I started a couple of days ago. Maybe it's our Boy Scout Troop or running errands here and there. Maybe it's all the time spent in the kitchen. Oh who knows. LOL It's ok though, it's just that time of year.

I do know that my laundry is not even close to what it used to be. I discovered GoodNites. Yes, we have a bed wetter and it's not the end of the world. I sure thought it was the end of the world when I was washing his sheets and blankets every day of the week. Since we have discovered GoodNites all of that has stopped. Now our youngest child has his special pajamas and he is so proud. You can find out more by going to the GoodNites website.

Five to seven million kids in the United States wet the bed.
20% of 4- to 12-year-olds wet the bed.
Bedwetting is more common among boys than girls–about 2/3 of kids who wet the bed are boys. 72% of kids who wet the bed will outgrow it by the time they're 11–99% by age 15.

Living in the Real World

We all know that once the weekend is gone that Monday comes along. It's a fact. Not one that much of us like but it happens. And once again I find myself asking - where did the weekend go? I wonder where the weekends go because we stay busy. We always seem to run from here to there and back again. I'm not so much the runner in the family, it's more Superman than me. The boys are all fine with staying home or being on the go. I really think they prefer to stay home than running from here to there. However, there are times when they will ask if we are going anywhere. I try to post our schedule (appointments) on the calendar and I do a pretty good job of it. I just don't post things like buying groceries or horse feed or things like that.

Yes, it's Monday. I used to really dread Mondays. That's when I worked in the real world. Now that I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) and a WAHM (work at home mom), I don't dread Mondays anymore. Funny how I said the real world. What exactly is the real world?
For me the real world consist of rolling out of bed at a decent hour, doing the brush teeth and make bed thing. Next I'm trying to get things a little organized for our daily school lessons, while I am waking the boys up and reminding them to get their chores completed. They're pretty good with their chores, so that's the easy part. Doing this and that for all the critters, such as feeding, cleaning the litter boxes, opening gates for horses and so on... Next, I'm giving a bottle to our baby squirrel while making sure that the boys clean the table and do their dishes after they eat breakfast. Then we're off to school where we talk about Columbus sailing the ocean blue, counting from 1 to 200 and figuring out what number comes before and after. We work on growing plants, examining plant cells, work on cursive writing, figure out the plot, setting and characters of a story. We work on spelling words and telling time. We do addition, subtraction and we multiply and we divide. We do fractions and we count beans. We draw and we color. I think it would have been easier to just say there isn't anything that we don't work on.
Some days we all walk to the mailbox together. Some days we run errands and read road signs. Everyday we laugh! No matter how bad the day is - we still find something to laugh at.
We eat lunch and we clean up our mess. We add some more and count some more beans. We count coins and we try to talk in Spanish. We run, we jump and we sword fight. Some days I'm toting a cat like a baby trying to get them out of the bathroom while answering 900 questions. Some days I'm feeding the baby squirrel while trying to wash my hands. One just never knows around here. LOL

Schools out and we all run our separate ways. Me to the barn and then to the kitchen. The boys? Oh they scatter in all different directions.
We all sit down to supper and we laugh and giggle and we talk about our day. We all do the cleaning up from supper and then we all scatter again. The boys scatter off to get their showers and do any homework that they have. Then they find us and hopefully we all can sit down to a movie or to another family conversation or even for some quiet time to read a book.

Bedtime. For everyone except me. Of course I am the one that has the most problem going to sleep. I take the time that everyone is asleep as my quiet time, my time to relax and finally read my emails, clean off my desk, do a little dusting, maybe even some laundry. Now I'm thinking, just how many hours are in the day anyway. LOL

In the morning we start all over again. That brings me to another question. Isn't it time for me to get some sleep? Yeah - I think so!
Goodnight all!

Signing a Petition

Have you ever signed a petition? Have you ever spoke up for something that you believe in? Have you ever wanted to speak up for something that you believe in and never did? Make a difference now and sign a petition.

You can help Stop Dog Fighting. You can tell your friends and family about this petition and ask them to send a message to their representatives in support of the Federal Dog Protection Act?

Stop Dog Fighting

Thank you!

No Place Like Home

There's no place like home. No matter how near or how far, there's no place like home.
Once again we take things for granted and just don't realize that our boys haven't experienced some of the most common things in life. Security is one of them. Having a place to call home and being able to actually go home. Missing someone or something and then finally seeing and being with them again.

All the way from the airport the boys kept saying they couldn't wait to get home and they were glad to be back in Florida. When we pulled up to our gate the boys jumped out of the car and were just full of excitement. We all grabbed bags from the car so that we could get it unpacked and get inside. MJ and JD kept asking if they could go over and get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Once inside we sent them on their way to Granny Karen's to get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Later, Granny Karen called me and told me all about the hugs that the boys gave the dogs. They missed the dogs and were really glad to see them. Our boys have never had a home to come home to or pets who missed them or anyone to miss them. Oh the love that they are feeling now.
MJ and JD ran into the house with Mindy and Molly in tow. It was loud and the boys and the dogs were jumping everywhere. So silly! Then they were all off to fine all the cats. Once everyone was found and hugs were given out things began to settle down.

WW, JD and MJ walked around the house checking things out. Maybe to see if everything was just like we left it. They were really worried about all the animals on Thursday when we were getting ready to leave. They were worried that the horses would starve to death and no one would pet the cats and on and on...When we got back home they saw that everything was just fine and they were ok after that.

I am glad that we have these boys and I am glad that we are able to show them love and give them security. We are not rich in monetary value, however, we are extremely rich in love and value. Families need that more than money!

Rah Rah Sish Ka Bah

Ok I admit it - I have boys. They are all boys too! Today after class JD wanted to play softball or was it baseball. I can't keep them separate - they are both played with a bat and a ball. LOL WW and MJ didn't want to play softball, they wanted to play Frisbee. JD tried his best to tell me that I needed to enroll them in, in, something - he just couldn't get it out. I spoke up and said "You mean I need to enroll them in ballet?". "Yes mom, then they can stand around and jump and cheer and say Rah Rah Sish Boom Bah"! He was making fun of his brothers and calling them little sissies. It got a good laugh out of us all and JD and WW ran around the house cheering. But soon this got old and they ran outside. Only they know what they played, I tried to stay out of it and have my time.

Another good day for homeschooling. I never did get my little thing made with the pockets on it. I have an idea in my head about it, but I just can't get it out of my head. Once it's ready to come out, well I suppose it will come out.

I managed to catch the boys studying 2 times today. JD had to take all of his books to show his dad and he had to tell his dad all about class. WW and JD sat down before bedtime and had their books out and was going over them. I was impressed, shocked and proud. I certainly hope this keeps up.

After supper tonight, I walked around the yard and believe it or not, I actually took the camera with me. I sure did! Aren't you proud of me? So with that said and done, I have added a picture of our pound puppy - Rocko. In case you don't want to browse over and read about Rocko, here is a great silly picture of him. We were told that he is about 2 years old. We seem to think that he is younger than 2 years old, because he just acts immature and silly. More on the puppy side. He is wonderful with the kids and they sure do love him. Every once in a while he wants to herd the horses but our horses don't have much to do with that. They just kinda stand there an look at him as if to ask "You want us to do what?".


Now this is Molly, she is the queen of Beagles - better known as Daddy's Little Girl. What she has under her chin is a dog toy that was given to us when we first got Molly. She nurses on this thing, it's her pacifier when she wants to settle down and go to sleep. We call it Rudy - originally it started out as a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with a tennis ball in the end of it. Molly has never tried to tear it up at all, but some of our other inside dogs have teased her with it. You can tell her to go find Rudy and she will search the whole house until he has been rescued.



Mindy is our Schnauzer that came to live with us from a dear sweet lady that living in the Villages which is South of Ocala. It's a huge retirement community that is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Ms. Martha (90 something years old) couldn't care for Mindy anymore and ask her caregiver to call me because she knew that I would take care of Mindy. When Mindy came to live with us, her pads were as gentle as a new born pup. Not anymore - she isn't a city dog now. LOL I mean just look at her. She is dirty from playing in the pasture with Rocko. And she is in terrible need of a hair cut. She's as happy as she can be! And that's what counts.

OMG! I just looked at the time. What happened? It was just 9 o:clock. Ok, I'll have to show off the horse pictures and the club house and the 4 wheeler trailer another day. As for me - I'm off to bed. TTFN

The Story of Rocco

About a month ago we had to have our big German Shepard put down. We hated it so bad and we still miss him a lot. So I have been thinking the last couple of days about getting another outside dog. I was thinking on the lines of getting one from an animal shelter that would otherwise be euthanized. I had even began to look online at some of the shelters in our area. I must have been sending some really heavy thoughts because Superman said night before last that he missed having an outside dog. ESP? I don't know - maybe we just know each other. And get this, I had even called and ask about a dog but she had already been adopted - that's when the shelter told me about Rocco. Last night we talked about it and I showed him a picture of Rocco. I told him the adoption fee was $30 and he told me just to go over and get him. I did! Me and the boys picked Rocco up today at about 11am. The boys fell in love with him when they first saw him and were ready to load him in the car right then.

The paperwork was completed and Rocco loaded right up in the car, laid down and every once in a while I could see his face in my rear view mirror and I swear he was smiling. Once we got home the boys opened the back of the car (actually an SUV) and out jumped Rocco and off they all ran to play. Now Rocco isn't too fond of the horses. But having herd dog in him - well, he's supposed to herd. I'm sure with a few little lessons about getting along with others that Rocco will work out just fine. He gets along wonderful with our little dogs.

Rocco was found at the animal shelter by a lady that loved dogs. She adopted him and took him home to play with her Peekapoo. They played together and had a great time. The lady and her husband started the process of a divorce and he would not let her have the 2 dogs when she moved. One day she went to the house where they lived and she took Rocco and the Peekapoo. Why? Because they were chained, thirsty and starving. She knew that she could not care for the dogs so she took them to the shelter in hopes that someone would adopt them. The Peekapoo was adopted within a few days but Rocco's time was running out. His status was urgent! He was to be euthanized this morning. Not any more - not him!

I can't save them all but I can do my fair share. Do your share and help an animal in a shelter. Make a donation, adopt a cat, dog, ferret, rabbit or whatever there is to adopt. But once you adopt them, take care of them.

Safe Pet Food

A wonderful friend of mine brought this to my attention.

Most Commercial Grade Pet Food Companies use by-products which is in fact dead, diseased and dying animals from processing or rendering plants. That means that the animals that died at a veterinarian hospital are put into a freezer and later picked up by the processing and rendering plants where they grind them up and sell them to the commercial pet food companies to use in our pet food as by-products. Each sick or diseased animal some full of antibiotics some full of cancer, rare diseases, bacterial infections, etc. are now ground up and sold and to commercial grade pet food companies.

You can read a lot more about this information The Truth about Pet Food

I suggest you also visit Flint River Ranch