Thanks to Brenda blogging I decided to get off my butt and get a new post going. I have been lazy about blogging, not because nothing is going on, but because so much has been that I put it off too long..LOL..now, it's going to be a bit overwhelming..but lets see where to start.

7/18/08 We went to Lisa's wedding and it was so sweet and beautifully done. I don't "do" weddings if I can get away with it..LOL..but Lisa did such a great job planning hers that we enjoyed ourselves. So, she is officially Mrs. Josh Billingsley.(her last name didn't get any shorter..LOL)

7/19/08 Terri Sue and I took Scout and Skipper to Augusta to run barrels. This would be what I considered Skipper's first "official" barrel race with a lot of serious competition. He did well but it was slick and I didn't want him getting hurt by pushing him in the mud. We botched the second barrel but still had a decent time. We fell in the cracks for the money though. Terri and Scout had an off second barrel too, but did a nice job on the others.

7/25/08 Off to Menden for another barrel race. I love Menden because they have a women's and an open race giving two chances at the money. I had to buy Skipper a new bit two nights before at C&W Tack in Burton. A lot of the problem in Augusta was the bit. He didnt like the bit guards and always managed to get them IN his mouth and without the guards the bit pinched. So, I put him in a new bit and prayed it would work for him. We only got one ride in at home and it wasn't on  a pattern.
The bit worked great for him and we had two fantastic runs, The womens was good, but the Open was better. We ended up in the money with a 4th place in the 2ND!!! Division..I  was so stoked. Terri placed 4th in the 4th Division in the womens with Scout so we  both brought home money. It was 8 before we headed home, we had to wait on Cory to change the trailer tire, one of the glitches in our day, that and Scout breaking his bridle. That was an easy fix with Burton just a hop skip and jump away.
Oh, and Devon ran Skipper in the plug and was barely out of the money.
I got home around 9:30 and in bed by 11 only to be up again at 2am for the ApHC show in Sterling. Ugh..I thought I'd sleep on the way up and back, but no such luck. We did okay for me never handling the two horses I showed before. The baby was having a tantrum in the ring. She still placed but I could have strangled her for her behavior.LOL
I didn't manage to sleep on the way home either which wasn't good because Marty had planned what we call our "Triple H" night..LOL..Harley, Hotel and Hanky panky...starting as soon as I got home.
I found my second wind..showered, dressed, packed lightly and headed out for the open road to Springfield on the bike. First stop, Red Lobster. I just had to try the peach bourbon shrimp with bacon wrapped scallops. OMG...fantastic..just..fantastic. Next stop, Prissy's and thats all im sayin bout that..LOL..then onto the Ramada Limited where a jaccuzzi suite had our name on it. And the cuzzi was sweet..Especially after my horsey antics all weekend.
Breakfast at the hotel the next morning where we hung out til checkout..and a nice ride back home. The weather was beautiful, the bike was a blast as usual. It was just a fun night for just the two of us, and I did it all on very little sleep. Nothing new for me.All too soon we crossed over into the real world of laundry, dishes and mowing. sigh.
The sad part of our weekend was losing our dog Shadd while I was at the ApHC show. Marty just found him in the yard when he got home from work. We arent sure what happened. He may have been hit by a car earlier in the day but we were to late in the day finding him to do any real searching for injury etc. It wasn't hot, but just hot enough that Marty had to bury him right away. We had him scheduled to get fixed a few days later, it was a sad call to cancel that.

Not much new but a whole lot going on..lol..lets see. We didn't end up going to Build a Bear for Dallie's 8th Birthday- she wanted to do rides at the fair instead. So the kids worked the 4H booth and then Devon left for MO for almost a week and Desi waited on us to get to the fair. There was a lot of talk about how the fair is going downhill..can't say I disagree. It's sad. Dallie and Stevie each got a big cookie; swearing they could eat all of it which meant Marty and I ended up eating most of the cookies. lol..We let them ride rides but not without a little apprehension.

For the fourth we hung out at our usual spot for fireworks onlyt this time we decided to cook out for Dallies birthday and have cupcakes etc. We had a good time with the Paschall's and the Gerlemans.  Terri came for a bit. I baked far to many cupcakes (is there such a thing?) and made Dallie a cake. She wanted it to look like and exploding firework but in the end Marty said it looked like a nuclear warning sign..LOL...after he said that it really did. If he hadn't said that, Im sure it would have looked like a firework. Well pretty sure.
Marty took his Bike so that we (uh he) could run errands and not lose parking. Jennifer had only  been on one motorcycle in the past so she took a ride with Marty and  I think she could get hooked....on riding bikes, not Marty. all in all it was a nice 4th.

Saturday I rented some old movies for Desi. She loves mystical, magical and creepy so we rented Legend (back when Tom Cruise was cute) and Labrynth (from back when- oh who am I kidding? Was David Bowie ever cute? hmm, from back when people under 30 knew who Davie Bowie was) and she loved both movies but laughed at some of the graphics or lack of.

Sunday we worked the 4H booth again and stayed for the mud sling. Dallie and I had watched the Animal Encounters earlier in the day so she wanted to stay for the 5 o'clock show. We sat there a bit waiting and the AE guy passed around a snake that was in a tight ball. Lets just say that snake was pissed. I have never seen one balled up so tight. He gave it to the lady in front of me who put it in a pillowcase. Apparently the AE show people were taking the snake for them selves and when she took him out of the aquarium at her home he thought he was being fed and instead he was put in a pillow case and traveling. Terri showed up soon after to watch the show which turned out to be a magic show instead. Well guess who gets chosen to help out? Me, yeah me..I tried to sway him Terri's way but no luck. It was fun, and the guy snuck a kiss in which Dallie thought was funny, though he's lucky I didn't hit him with the sledgehammer that was part of the second act..lol..
After the show (which left me soaked) I sat with Dallie. Terri and Tiarra were sitting behind me and I asked the lady with the snake if I could see him again. Well she handed him to me and next thing I hear is THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP as Terri and Tiarra got the heck off the stands..LOl..what weenies. I didn't know anyone could move that fast.
Marty met up with us soon after to watch some of the mudsling. When Cathy beat out her husband  Kenny by about 50 feet we were laughing that someone would be doing dishes and laundry for a couple weeks.LOL. We didn't stay too long after the powder puff runs.

I tried to ride Jims mare after work last night. I had her all saddled up and ready to go when the rain started pouring out of no where. I was soaked, she was soaked and man, my saddle was soaked. She really thought we should end the lesson but I figured we couldn't really get any wetter so we kept going. I think she was still a little miffed about that this morning. The rain didn't last long though and as soon as I unsaddled the sun was out again. I was a bit miffed about that..LOL..

Later we took Devon in to football practice and rode the Harley around town a bit. I thought we were just dropping it off at the garage so I had flipflops on. Not a good idea to say the least, but with the higher footpegs you can keep from melting them on the engine. Im sure not passing up a chance to ride. We barely made it home in time for Nashville Star.

Next weekend we are going to the Harley Party at the fairgrounds. Who all's going? It's going to be a blast. I'd much rather do that than the fair but thats just me.(C'mon Brenda, are you Honda people to snobby for us? LOL)

until next time..Appy Trails and Harley Tales,

First off, Kittens kittens everywhere! We have five and they are at the age that they are all over the house..lol..They are fun and almost ready to go to homes. We are keeping one male for outside and the other is going to a new home when he gets big enough to fend for himself with their other cats.
All three girls still need homes soon so if you know of anyone wanting clean, litter trained house kittens with mousing instints (mom is a heck of a mouser) contact me. I can't get momma cat fixed until all the kittens are done with nursing.

Scrapper just got fixed and her front claws removed. Its the first time I have done this to the cats (the claws) but she is constantly clawing something, screens, furniture etc..Since she is rarely outside without us and still has her back claws she'll be fine. She had to stay at the vet though, longer than expected since she busted a claw in recovery and then we were late getting back from Chicago the next day. She lost a lot of weight and for a thin cat, that wasn't good, but she went straight to the food bowl when she got home, so it must just have been stress. She's been resting up high since, not wanting the kittens bugging her. I didn't even think about it but Marty said she probably thought we had the kittens now and got rid of her..sigh..now she knows better. Poor girl.

 

 Devon went to football camp last Sunday. I wondered how he would do away from home with people he didn't know. He has stayed in CA for weeks and been away from home but always with people he knew. Once we got him to the dorm, I couldn't believe that he couldn't wait for us to leave..LOL.. Anyway, Beneditine University in Lisle, IL is a really nice lil campus. Just big enough to feel like your on a campus but not overwhelming. Well, its bigger than I thought after walking around the whole morning..lol..

We got there a bit early for registration but they told us to go ahead and get him registered and he'd be done and settled. So, we signed all his forms, pictures, pizza, room key deposit, etc and got his T-shirt and room key.Then we went to the stadium he would be practicing at (I needed a restroom break really.lol) and onto the dorm room to get him settled. He ended up being on the second floor and his dormy wasn't there yet. So we put his stuff in a locker and went to eat. When we got back his dormy Branden was already settled in, really settled in...stuff everywhere..LOL..He is a third year camper and knew what to expect, since Devon was a first year, this was great.

 Now we know other things to bring next year, like my dorm fridge etc. We watched some parents carrying all but the kitchen sink, though one parent I believe did have a sink with them and im not kidding, seriously..lol. I don't think I'll be bringing a sink for him next year but maybe his Ipod, CD's, fridge, etc. In the paperwork they make it really clear NOT to bring anything of value or to do so at your own risk but after being there, it wasn't that big of a deal. The rooms are locked. The only person to worry about was your dormy and only one kid out of the whole camp this year got dismissed for stealing- and it was from his dorm mate. He was also sent home for being mouthy, something not tolerated at the camp at all. If Devon did something like that after having spent a Grand or so on camp I'd be seriously seriously pissed.

***Devon settled in, he and Branden took the bunks apart and moved things around to their taste. They did have air conditioning so Devon didn't need his fan, or so I thought, but they used the AC as a coolant for drinks. They didn't have a lot of time in their dorms so they didn't need TV or anything, though we have a travel one he could have taken but I think all that stuff takes away from "camp". The first night they did agility tests etc and ate their hearts out and walked the campus. They also swam a bit if they wanted too.

***The schedule pretty much went Breakfast-   2 hour practice-  short break--  Lunch-- short break -- 2 hour practice---  Dinner--- 2 Hour practice ---recreation time----Pizza delivery and consumption around 9pm----then lights out at 11._up again then breakfast at 7:45am
They also had to shower after EVERY practice. (thank god I smelled those boys after practice on the last day..whew..lol)
The food was all you can eat and even consisted of McDonalds, Subway..and so on.

Devon did get an injury the day before we picked him up. He was going to practice but a trainer walked by (they try to look all the kids over before practices) and saw the bruising and swelling in his knee. They called us to tell us he'd be sitting out at least on practice and lucky for Devon it was just the one. He still has bruising and I could tell he favored it on the last practice but he's fine.

 Many of the 1985 Superbowl Bears showed up and gave speeches and autographs (devon didn't want to wait in the lines so didn't get any) And a lot of college coaches were there helping which is fantastic if you are interested in being seen for College ball. Many of the kids that have been to camp before got invited to play for various colleges.

We picked him up on Thursday and he looked exhausted. He slept through breakfast again that morning. As did most of the players. You could just see how tired they all were and knew they had their butts worked off. We met Alex Brown who I am completely thrilled with. He ate lunch with Devon's table several times. He is so into the kids and cares about their futures. He gave a great speech before awards about motivation and importance of education. Then of course, pictures.

On the way home Marty wanted to stop at Conrad's Harley Dealership in Joliet. He had a T-shirt from there years ago with Stateville and Joliet prison on the back. Its getting old and he wanted to see if they still had some like that. Well....We ended up seeing the perfect bike for us and the price was better than what we had been looking at. So, I delved into my savings and we signed the papers and viola' we were officially parents of a Harley Dyna Glide. They also gave us pressie's like a Conrads shot glass, books, kickstand protector base, and a $25 gift card. I took the gift card and got clear glasses for night time and a T-Shirt..so basically Marty got a Harley and all I got was a lousy T- shirt..LOL. But, technically the bike is mine too. Oh and to tell you how tired Devon was from camp, he fell asleep on the couch at the Harley dealership.

 Poor Marty had to ride the bike all the way from Joliet with me following. He wasn't Harley ready- didn't have long sleeves, clear glasses etc. So when he got to the Dixie stop in Mclean I told him I was going to go ahead and get home (we'd been on the road since 4am) and since it would be getting dark soon he had to wear my clear glasses home..LOL. Hey, they worked..lol..By the time he got to Rushville he was freezing and had to stop to warm up a bit before coming the rest of the way home. It was around 8pm when he pulled in(just 20 minutes behind me) but we bundled up again for my first ride on it and took off for town.

We are done running for a bit, but still busy, the kids help at the Fair Wed, then Sunday also. Dallie has a B-day July 2nd and we are taking her out with a couple friends to Build a Bear workshop. Then by mid July, we are starting to add onto the house. Before then we are putting in carpet and repainting the hall and bathroom. While we were picking up Devon from camp, Scott put tile up on the cabinet walls in the kitchen. It looks awesome and the clean up will be so much easier. The bathroom is on the agenda for tiling too.

OK..now Im tired...so until next time...Happy Trails.

We had a fun ride last night on the new Harley. Marty and I, Cory and Terri, and Phil and Lori took off for Beardstown on the bikes to eat at the Mexican restaurant there and then we headed to Meredosia, Versailles, Mt. Sterling to home. Not a long jaunt but just right for a quick ride. Marty doesn't have a shield on the front yet so he was eating some pretty icky bugs..LOL. We had to pull over once because a firefly whacked him right in the middle of his glasses and SPLAT..across the lens.. I was watching them bounce of the front of him and it looked like a fireworks show..lol...
We had a good time and cant wait for a long day ride without deer and bugs. Luckily there werent any deer on this ride but its hard to watch for them so daytime is much much more relaxing.

Thats all for now..more on Devon's football camp later. He had a ball.

Lets see, last blog was before the 8th grade Spring dance.

Out of three dress choices she ended up finding and wanting to wear my prom dress. Go figure. She looked so pretty, I can't believe how she is growing up.

Then we got the clinic all moved to the new location.  It took several days but Saturday before we opened was the big move day.That was a fun day. We had my whole family, Mark and Jens whole family plus Mark's sisters' family all helping move on that Saturday. We were there for 12 hours and we got a lot done. The kids did fantatstic and played so well.
We love the new clinic, still getting kinks figured out, but we love it.

Then Desi had her 8th grade graduation. She's heading to HS. So now I have two kids in HS. She made honor roll all year and we are so proud of her.

She also had her 14th birthday which involved me taking her and two of her friends to the mall for a big shopping day last weekend. It was an entertaining day but the girls seemed to want to hang out in Hot Topic for the most part. They did learn to find some good deals though.

I got a new mare in for training that is like a painted elephant. LOL..she is six years old and didn't know how to lead or have a name for that matter. Now she does and has both but I haven't been able to get any riding on her  because of the weather.
Maybe this month will be different.

Jazzebell also had kittens a couple weeks ago. She's an inside cat that snuck outside twice and viola' kittens..Ugh. They are all really cute and healthy buggers though.

Yesterday Dr. Jen, Brenda Doolin and I took off to the quad cities to shop and have a ladies day. Pards was a hit where we all got a new pair of Cruel Girls. Then off to eat and the mall. We found some pretty good deals and did quite a bit of people watching, hit Gordmans and Khols before eating at IHOP. We left at 9am and I think  I rolled in the drive around midnight. Way too much fun, will have to do that again though Jen isn't sure Brenda will want to suffer though a day with us again..LOL..We could tell some stories but what happens during a ladies day, stays with the ladies...lol..mostly we were just big goofballs and don't want anyone to know how weird we are..LOL

We're going to try to plan a spa day next.

OH! a couple weeks ago Skipper and I went to Hamm's arena with Terri Sue and Gwen and T..we had a ball and he did fantastic with the speed events getting second to T and Cherokee.  and firts in pole bending.Skipper even made the front page of the Argus.

This week we are heading to the St. Louis Zoo. The kids and I have never been and Marty was really little when he went. We are taking Stevie too. She and Dallie are so excited that they go on the zoo website while talking on the phone about everything there. We are leaving Wednsday afternoon and staying at a hotel in Hazelwood with  an indoor pool so the kids can swim. Then off to the zoo first thing Thursday morning.

The 22nd Devon is heading to Alex Browns Chicago Bears football camp near Chicago. I think he's going to have a great time while working his ass off and learning some things. He'll be gone about a week. It's not an autograph camp, but they can get autographs of the Bears that are there if there is time between practices etc.

July we have Dallie's birthday.

Well, thats about all thats new with us, well exept that we are remodeling AGAIN. this time the living room. New carpet gets put down next week. Its looking so good. In July we hope to add on.

Okay thats really all..Pictures are in my pics

Hugs ya'll hope your having a good summer

And loved it! LOL.. had that big ole bed all to my self. I even had both pillows hehe...since Marty forgot to take his chiro-flow pillow. When he wakes up this morning he's going to wish he had it with him.

Marty and Devon went to Collinsville for his powerlifting competition. It was planned that I go, but I really wanted to make Nicks benefits, yeah..benefit(S)- two in one night, and didn't think we'd be back in time. So Devon and Marty went on a boys weekend. They need one anyway. Then Marty called last night to say he'd be lifting at 11 instead of 3 and more than likely will be home to go out with me...YEAH!

I tried to sleep in this morning  but 7 am is as far as I got. I tried to watch TV but couldn't really find anything. I thought about reading but the book I started was in the kitchen and I didn't quite want to get up- once I do..I'm up. I get distracted with stuff that needs done and forget I was going back to bed. Anyway Dallie finally came in, followed by two cats. Scrapper always comes in to sleep with me when Marty gets up,  (He doesn't like her in bed with us when we're sleeping b/c her purring wakes him up,this coming from a man that could sleep through a train wreck..lol..) so Scrapper did her usual morning cuddle.Jazzybell is Dallie's cat, she follows her everywhere and when I tell the girls its time to get up in the morning, Jazzy runs up the bunk ladder and starts nuzzling Dallie to get up. I appreciate the extra help since Dallie is a bear to wake up for school. So Dallie the cats and I watched some music videos before I decided I couldn't take laying around anymore and my body needed coffee.

No riding today but I did get to ride last weekend and got a ride in on the one day we had nice enough to ride last week. Terri thought it still might be too cold even though she was more bundled than Tiarra and I but with the other crappy weather this week, I'll take it.

     I ordered Desi's spring dance dress  online and she got a silver clutch at Gordman's Thursday to match her silver heels. Her dress is a deep maroon or cranberry kind of red and has silver braiding. Its so sassy. Of course she'll have on silver skull and crossbone jewelry because she cant be tooooo girly..LOL. She cracks me up.She wanted to shop local but I told her she would chance wearing the same dress as someone else. I got one of those teenage-whatever looks..but lo and behold..she found out two girls have the same dress.as each other(not Desi).oh the drama..LOL..so think she'll listen to me more now? nah..lol

I did get some news from my mother that my sister is yet again pregnant. Just what she needs, just what the world needs. My mother is raising her first son, her second son is autistic(she wont get him the help he needs) and she almost died having both babies- as did the babies. They were both very very premature. So of course, sure, have one more. Lets not forget the huge tumor on her liver that the doctors won't touch and the poisen in her system from bad teeth..but hey! They gave her prenatal vitamins so all should be well..

end vent..

Well, I'm planning a tub soak and then off to Btown for a Walmart trist then off to baby-sit the clinic for a bit.

See some of ya tonight!

It was beatiful yesterday wasn’t it? A bit chilly but hey, nothing is perfect.I swear Mother Nature gets more and more hormonal every year..LOL..some consistancy in the weather would be nice. Today looks good so far.

Gosh its been a while, over a month, since I’ve posted a blog. I think about posting every Saturday at least, and then I get side tracked.

Marty and I cleaned the yard last night. I don’t know how so much stuff accumulates outside in the winter but I threw a bunch of odd stuff away. We have some toddler/little kid outdoor toys to  find homes for. I will see if Heidi wants them for the girls.

We had a good Easter and Desi sang in the church choir. I haven’t been in church in forever. Its changed  A LOT. I did get a lot of hugs from ’veteran’ church members that remembered me. That was nice. And everyone is so friendly at the Nazarene Church in Beardstown. I met Devon’s friend Dwaynes family and Dwayne is staying over tonight.
Sandy made Easter dinner and I had a Easter Supper planned for when Marty got off work. Im so lucky I didn’t gain from pigging out that day.

And what was up with that weather? It was sunny at my house that afternoon, I drove to town to go to the store and we hit a hail store by the BP clear to Ayerco. Bye the time I finished pumping gas,  big fat snowflakes were coming down. Then onto the store for a short bit and home again to sunshine. I even walked the dogs. I wanted to ride but figured as soon as I saddled up and got Skippers and my boots on, the weather would change.

Devon has his driving permit. Watch out world! No seriously. He’s a good driver...and not because he’s  been country driving since oh...13. Easter morning I told him he could just drive to the 103 but then I started texting Jen and Mark and kids to wish them a Happy Easter and Devon ended up driving clear to Beardstown. Shows you how long it takes me to text someone..LOL..

Anyone seen that big fish on the curb on the 103/67 junction? What the heck is up with that? Did it fall out of the back of a fishermans truck? Did a big bird drop it? Did it rain fish instead of cats and dogs? I dunno, but its been there a long time and cracks us up everytime we see it.

The night before Easter we did Dave Rowlands surprise party at 67. I love love love that band..We had a ball dancing and Marty got a lil more tanked than planned. He drank a glass of water for every beer in hopes that he wouldn’t feel as crappy at 5 am when he had to get up for work. Lets just say..that didn’t work. The water seemed to accelerate the process..LOL..but damn he was fun. He started dancing with Vicki and I believe she blushed..He razzed her all evening in some form or another. Terri Sue says she loves it when Marty is having fun like that...yeah well NEXT time SHE can dance with him and hold him up..LOL..I swear my shoulder will never recover from the strain.
And lets just say..for future reference, if you ever go out the night before Easter, get the eggs filled and hid BEFORE you got out. LOL..Trust me, doing it at midnight after being out is not a good idea. Makes for an interesting Easter egg hunt though.

The highlight of that night though was Dave coming out at 67 in a candy ’necklace" style G-string and nothing else. And yes Dave, people were taking pictures. Maybe a video will show up on you tube eh?

I better get my morning going. I ran out of coffee at home but luckily I have to go to the clinic for a bit and I have coffee there. The good stuff. LOL.
I wish Mark and Jen weren’t going to be out of town. I hauled and unloaded 40- 80 pound bales of hay myself last night and my back and shoulder need some work. Monday can’t come soon enough..Hmm..anyone else look forward to Mondays? LOL.

I also have some cleaning to do when I get back..anyone else started their spring cleaning?

Happy Saturday all..have a good one.