The Ling Blings - the happenings of one crazy family

The Berry Pickers

2008-06-20T10:01:00.003-05:00

Katie and I went blueberry and blackberry picking yesterday with some friends and it was so much fun!!! The berry patch was up north kinda by the barn where Katie rides. At first we were worried that we couldn't go because a huge storm came through and it was raining like crazy but the berry patch had gotten no rain and it actually was nice because it was cloudy. We ended up with quite the stash of blueberries and blackberries. Now I am on a mission to have my mom make some yummy blackberry cobbler!!!

I'm A Winner!!!!

2008-06-12T21:13:00.004-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Summer is here and we are so busy doing all kinds of fun stuff. I think Katie has grown gills and fins because she is always in the pool and loves to swim all the time. Chris is super busy with work and will be seeing what seems like the entire state over the month of June. As for me, well I am just enjoying my time with Katie. Oh, and I also secured a job (part-time) at Katie's school starting in August!!! Our new addition to the the family (Rebel) is doing great. He goes out walking with me at least once a day and I think we are almost ready to start running together. And....I posted a photo that I took of him on a Photographers website and won Photo of the week!!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the picture I just thought "Oh wow, that's my picture....that's my Rebel!" And then it hit me and I went running into Chris' office to tell him. In the grand scheme of things it is not really that big of a deal but I don't think I have ever won anything! Here is the screen shot of the weekly newsletter that goes out that has my "big" win news on it!!!

Who Are These Two?

2008-06-02T13:06:00.006-05:00

We have two new people in the house!!! Well.....actually that is really Katie. She got her braces off today and also decided to go all out and get a major haircut too!!! I know that I am her mother but, I think she looks way too darn cute. We really do have a new family member and his name is Rebel. He is a chocolate lab and is just a little over one year. Rebel comes to us from Georgia/Chandler. My cousin Matt is proudly serving our country as an Army Ranger and will be leaving soon for a destination not so pleasant. So, Rebel has come to live with the crazy Lingafelter family where he is already being spoiled and called Katie's new best friend. Here are some pictures of the new dynamic duo.

Splash Day Fun

2008-06-02T09:39:00.004-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I was sick (doesn't happen ever!!!) and really just didn't feel like doing much of anything. I'm all better now so I have lots of catching up to do.

Last Friday was Katie's second grade splash day and she had so much fun. The kids get to play outside all day long with water guns, slip-n-slides, water slides and a ton of other kinds of toys. The weather was great...lots of sun and warm temperatures. Here are some pictures that kinda sum up the day.

Horses & Photos

2008-05-21T17:26:00.004-05:00

So if you are one of those people (Jeff!!!) who don't believe in lots of pictures in one post, this post is not for you. Today Katie played hookie from school (she has been working so hard on her research paper for LEAP) today and we went out to the barn for some fun. I hadn't taken very many pictures of Katie and Mister Hennessy since they began riding again after his surgery. Part of the reason for this is that we are thinking of selling him and that thought is hard. I also took the camera today because I needed to take a picture of Shane riding a horse that he is going to be showing in a big national Appaloosa show. The picture might be going in an ad in one of the Appaloosa magazines!!!!! I am so excited that one of my pictures might actually be in a magazine. Total dream come true if it happens. I will post the picture that they chose and if it is going in the ad later. Anyway, here are some of the shots that I took of Katie and all of our horses (Mister Hennessy - riding, Able - the Paint horse and Chad).

10 Rules

2008-05-15T06:25:00.001-05:00

This totally sounds like the rules Chris will come up with when it is time for Katie to start dating. Although I am sure that he will try to keep her to her promise she made as a 4 year old to either never marry or just marry her daddy!

By W. Bruce Cameron

Rule One:
If you pull into my driveway and honk, you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two:
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not stare at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three:
I realize it is fashionable for boys your age to wear pants that fall off their hips. Don't take this as an insult, but you and your friends are complete idiots. Still, I propose this compromise: If you come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, I will not object. But to ensure that your pants do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten them securely to your waist.

Rule Four:
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate: when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five:
For you and I to get to know each other, custom says we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is: "early."

Rule Six:
I have no doubts that you are a popular fellow with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven:
As you and I sit waiting for my daughter to appear, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you do not date a teenaged girl. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process than can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Just relax and enjoy my glare, or, better yet, do something useful, like rotate my tires.

Rule Eight:
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter:
* Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool.
* Places where there is darkness.
* Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness.
* Places warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose-down parka zipped up to her throat.
* Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chainsaws are ok.

Places that are appropriate:
* Church
* A retirement home (the elderly love visiting teenagers)
* Our living room

Rule Nine:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dim-witted has-been, but on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres of dense woods.

Rule Ten:
Be afraid, Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my exposure to Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head urge me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit the car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car -- there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Field Day Fun

2008-05-09T22:29:00.006-05:00

Katie had Field Day today and I was able to go up to the school for a little bit to take some pictures. All the kids had a blast playing the games and competing against one another. Here are some of the pics that I took.....I just love the look on Katie's face in some of them.

A Gerbil Tale - Part 3?????

2008-05-09T22:09:00.002-05:00

Yep....as the title would lead you to believe, Stanley once again escaped his pod-like gerbil home for wide open spaces. The whole scene went down like this.

We arrive home at about 9:30pm from a lovely evening of dining and mall shopping with the Damaske family. We enter our home through the garage and I go into my office with Katie and Chris goes to his home away from home...the bathroom. After showing Katie pictures I took of her from field day (post will be here shortly) I walk out into the living room just in time to see something run out from under the TV and under the couch. I am sad to say but I kinda gave a girly scream and said "There's a mouse in the house!!!" Chris immediately begins to freak thinking we have a mouse loose which is so yuck! Sidenote....we recently watched a show on Discovery Channel called "Verminators". It is about pest control people and after watching it you really see how sick and gross bugs and rodents are in your house. So anyway, I grab the flashlight to get a better look under the couch. I suddenly recognize my small little furry friend as Stanley, at least I was hoping it was him. Chris and Katie go to his cage and sure enough the little lid is open. We were smarter this time! Chris grabbed Katie's butterfly net and I grabbed the broom and we flushed him out in only about 10 minutes!! Upon inspecting his cage better, we saw that he had chewed a hole through the plastic so that the lid popped up! So at this point I am wondering if he has some kind of super gerbil teeth and intelligence because before the pet store he might have been in some kind of lab???

I Love My Mom

2008-05-07T18:23:00.002-05:00

My mom is so dang funny! She sends me an email that says "Geek Alert" today and this is the picture that I find!!

Apparently her glasses broke first thing in the morning and she only had the one pair. She took some band aides and attached the two pieces of glasses together and wore them like that for the entire day at work. Her boss took the picture!

You Stay Classy San Diego

2008-05-05T12:48:00.020-05:00

What an awesome trip I had in San Diego. The city is just fabulous and packed with tons to do. The weather was a little bit on the cool side for a couple of days but Saturday was beautiful.

Tribute to the military

Lots and lots of Navy stuff in San Diego. The city has really done an outstanding job at honoring our nations Navy.

Chris in front of the Midway!

I wonder what he sees up there?

This is a park that is a tribute to Bob Hope and his entertainment of the troops.

The San Diego Zoo

Wow...what a great zoo. The animals were amazing and the layout of the zoo was so cool. I don't even know how many miles I walked while at the zoo but it was for sure alot! Take a look at some of the animals that I saw.

It was breakfast time for this Python - almost finished with his rat!

This is the view from my sky shuttle - you know I was freaking out being up so high!

Not sure what this is exactly but thought it was kinda cute!

Seeing the polar bears was awesome!!

Who knew that they liked to eat carrots?

And drink bottled water?

One of several groups of baby ducks I saw during the day.

A view of the sky shuttle

Hello hippo!

When I got to these Zebras they were going at it! What a rowdy crew!

One very wrinkled elephant who might need to look into some Botox

Porcupines get mail at the San Diego Zoo?

Awesome views of the gorillas

Seeing the Pandas was great

If you look really close you can see the baby panda in the tree.

This Meerkat was standing up and when I put my camera to my eye to take his picture this is the pose he decided to give me? Not sure what magazine he thought I was working for?

Cute little Koala Bear

This mother duck and her babies decided to walk right in the middle of the road at the front of the zoo causing a major backup of zoo traffic!

The pictures are kinda blurry but this baby was giving this older guy such a hard time. Everytime he tried to move away, the baby would go right to him and bite him on the face..ouch!

San Diego's Nature

San Diego has some of the most beautiful plants and trees. Seaport Village was just across the street from the hotel and it had such wonderful landscaping.

The first two pictures are of a tree called the Naked Coral Tree. It either has leaves on it or flowers.

Red Bull Air Races

Nothing is cooler than this! If you want to know more about it click on this Red Bull Air Races

The guys who fly these airplanes are soooo crazy. Everything about it is exciting...the noise, the crowd and all of the flying.

Coronado

So I took a trolly tour of San Diego one day and one of the stops was Coronado. What a great place. People think it is an island but it is really an isthmus. Anyway, I went to see the Hotel Del Coronado and it was fab.

If you have to exercise while on vacation this is for sure the way to do it!

This is a famous tree called the "Dragon Tree"

Thought I might as well try out the timer on the camera!

This guy was such a "stick in the mud" when I tried to take his picture!

Random San Diego Shots

I guess the port-o-potties in San Diego are haunted?

A true Elvis fan - the picture does not do his bike justice and you can't hear the incredibly loud Elvis music blaring from his bike speakers.

Side trip to La Jolla

Just when I didn't think anything could be better than San Diego, Chris takes me up to La Jolla! The town is beautiful, the coast is beautiful and of course Torrey Pines Golf Course is there and hosting this years US Open which is the most beautiful thing to Chris!!!

These little ground squirrels were everywhere.

The next pictures are of a tree that Chris loves.

Pictures from the awesome Torrey Pines Golf Course

Air Advertising
Just in case you don't understand....

The Tag Along

2008-04-30T08:54:00.004-05:00

That is what you can describe me as for the next four days. I am outta here and going to tag along with Chris to San Diego!!! Yippee....I am so excited because I have never been there before. I am planning on taking stupid amounts of pictures while I am there so I should have plenty to post when I come back. The Red Bull Air Races will be going on too so I am thinking about going to that too.

Neighbor Jeff.....cut me some slack and please don't send me mean emails regarding the lack of posting while I am gone. I am on vacation. Of course, it is nothing like a two week cruise or African safari like you go on but hey, we can't all be world travelers like you!!

You Light Up My Life

2008-04-28T21:13:00.002-05:00

Chris was so busy this weekend. He decided to redo our outside lighting in the front yard and add some lighting to the backyard. I think he did an awesome job and you can schedule your appointment with me to have Chris come and install your outdoor lighting too!! Here are some pictures of his handywork (sorry for the blur....I can only hold my hand still for so long with such a long shutter speed).

Homeless Signs

2008-04-28T14:18:00.003-05:00

So I regularly visit another blog that is so funny. It always has random stuff on it and today were pictures of homeless signs. While I don't think being homeless is funny.....these signs are clever and would make me want to give them some money!

A Gerbil Tale - Part 2

2008-04-27T20:53:00.002-05:00

Ok, Ok....so it took me a little bit longer to finish the gerbil tale....sorry! Let's see, where did I last leave off? Oh yeah, Chris had just captured Stanley after the pants incident in the closet, Stanley then decided to bite Chris' finger and Chris let go of him! Stanley decided this was his last chance to make a run for it and have wide open spaces for living. Stanley boldly went where no gerbil had gone before....he went under our bed. After taking out all four under-bed plastic totes filled with clothes that we never wear we could see Stanley. Chris had his ridiculously large mag flashlight spotlighting him like a criminal. I was on the other side of the bed talking sweet nothings to him with the hopes of luring him into his little carry case. Katie was on top of the bed with a shirt poised and ready to throw the shirt on top of him incase he ran out that way. Let me stop the story here and just tell you a couple of things about gerbils that you might not know: 1) gerbils can run like crazy, I mean they are so crazy fast! 2) gerbils can totally leap up so high that you would think that they have little springs on the bottom of their feet!! So, back to the story, Chris' spotlight and my sweet nothings were not working on Stanley. After a while I think he kinda got bored and decided to make a run for it to go under the treadmill. Of course he did this so quickly that we were not able to catch him! In the meantime, Chris had gone to the garage to get some heavy duty thick work gloves on to be prepared to catch him again! Let's just make a long story short! For the next 45minutes Stanley gave chase by running underneath the bed and then alternating by running under the treadmill. Finally, somehow Chris grabbed him and kept a hold on him with his heavy duty gloves and proceeded to deposit him back in his pod-like home!!! In the end, many calories were burned on our part and both Chris and I were completely drenched in sweat from all the hard work!!!

Daddy Cool

2008-04-22T14:07:00.001-05:00

The male lead singer's dancing moves remind me of Chris when we were first dating and would go out to the dance clubs!! Chris was for sure....."Daddy Cool"!

Thank You Mother Earth

2008-04-22T08:20:00.006-05:00

Happy Earth Day!!! Katie was very excited that it was Earth Day today. She is just such a lover of nature and she was on a mission today to do things that would be helpful to Mother Earth.

1. Wear t-shirt to remind everyone to "Think Green" and do their part to help out!

2. Take time to stop and admire some of Mother Earth's beautiful gifts like flowers.

3. Pack a lunch that required nothing to be thrown in the trash - all food in re-usable containers and a napkin made of cloth that could be washed!

4. Walk to school so that our car emissions would not pollute the air!

Kathleen ROCKS!!!!

2008-04-21T12:28:00.001-05:00

I truly have the best hairdresser ever!!! Not only is she super sweet, cute and comes to my house to cut my hair but.....she cuts hair so AWESOME!!!!

I felt the need for change.......I felt the need for a little style......this is what I have now!!

A Gerbil Tale

2008-04-21T10:34:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, in a house that looked like ours, a small tiny black gerbil named Stanley decided that he was going to escape the confinements of his pod-like gerbil house and head out for bigger, wide open spaces! Now, Stanley didn't tell anyone that he was going to do this. As a matter of fact, he decided to make a run for it in the middle of the night so that nobody would know. The next morning an unsuspecting caretaker of Stanley realized that he had escaped! The hunt was on for one small tiny black gerbil. For quite a long time, the other people living in the house looked and looked for Stanley. Under all the furniture was checked, all the closets were checked, all of the bedrooms were checked but still, Stanley was no where to be found. Alas, the search was called off. Well, around 9:00pm that night as one mother was collecting towels off of the bathroom floor (I guess a messy towel fairy lives in this house too!) low and behold something tiny and black runs straight across the bathroom floor! The mother let out a quick EEEKK and then realized that Stanley's travels had led him to the Master Bathroom. So, all of the previous search party gathered in the bathroom to rescue and put Stanley back into his safe pod-like gerbil home. Stanley on the other hand, had a different thought! Stanley shot into the Master Closet do hide amongst all of the shoes! Chris being a master huntsman decided to go in after him! With the closet door closed....the hunt began! It didn't take long for Stanley to come out but he had the element of surprise on his side when he decided to run up one pant leg of Chris' and then back down the other! Alas, he was caught and Chris was the victor! That is, until Stanley bit Chris in the finger so hard that he was immediately dropped on the floor only to scamper away now into the Master Bedroom!!

How do you think this story ends? You will have to check back tomorrow to see!

PS- Chris' finger is fine....a little blood, no stitches required although he is now starting to foam at the mouth a little bit!!

All Hail The Palm Tree

2008-04-20T17:10:00.003-05:00

Chris bought an incredible palm tree for the backyard to replace the banana plants! It is such a great tree and I can't wait for it to grow a little bit more. Of course, being the Lingafelter way, the new tree had to be photographed after the planting was finished!

Is It Summer Yet?

2008-04-20T15:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. There was tons of sun and it was around 85 degrees. The summer-like weather inspired Katie to put on her bathing suit and get in the water. I don't know what the temperature of the sprinklers were but I do know that the pool was 69 degrees. The cold water didn't really stop her although the look on her face when she was falling off the mat shows me that she thought it was going to be cold!!!

On Ice?

2008-04-17T08:20:00.004-05:00

I can't even describe in how many ways this is wrong?! Something about this is just down right freaky?! People actually pay to watch this?

Amazing!

2008-04-17T08:04:00.004-05:00

These people take it to a different level when they decide to build a sandcastle!

Babies, Babies & More Babies

2008-04-16T21:10:00.002-05:00

No...we are not having a baby!! I did however get to go out to the barn the other day and take pictures of all of the 2008 foals that have arrived so far!! They are all just so cute and sweet. I am really trying to practice my "horse" pictures. Who knew there was so much to getting a good shot of the animal. So many things to worry about....the ears being up and pointed, the neck lowered if you are shooting them from the side, making sure the sun is behind you when you take their picture so they don't look flat. All of those are hard enough to do with a well trained horse but trying to get the babies to comply is sometimes dang near impossible!! Here are some of my favorite shots!!

Loving Life With Photoshop

2008-04-11T22:30:00.002-05:00

It's like a whole new world now that I have a copy of Photoshop (I mean PHOTOSHOP...not Photoshop Elements!). Who knew that there were so many cool actions that you can do with your photos? I seriously think that I could stay up all night just playing around with pictures. Here is a cool example of what it can do to your pictures. This is one of my recent favorite photos. I thought I would try to make it look a little old timey....what do you think? You can see a larger version if you click on the actual picture.

A Man and His Power Washer

2008-04-11T21:48:00.002-05:00

I think the pictures just about say it all!!

Katie Lingafelter - Assistant Principal

2008-04-11T13:44:00.003-05:00

To repeat Katie's words....."Today has been the best day of my life!!!" and believe it or not it was not horse related!!! Katie got to be the Assistant Principal at her school today. The current AP is Mrs. Holmes and she is just such an awesome person. She ordered Katie an official name tag! Katie also got to do the morning announcements at her school. For those of you "old school" people out there reading, announcements are now televised and not just over the loudspeaker. Katie did such a great job with the announcements.....see the video below. Mrs. Holmes also took Katie and her friend Kylie out to lunch to Chick Fil A. We are just so lucky for Katie to be able to go to such a great school!

Two Favorite People of The Day

2008-04-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

My two favorite people today are my brother (Paxton) and Chris Wise!! Both of you guys rock!!! Thanks for the software hookup!!!

Nothing But Love

2008-04-07T20:51:00.007-05:00

Three things I love today......the beautiful 80 degree sunny weather, my awesome Canon 40D camera, and going to the park with my baby girl!!

Katie and I went to the park this afternoon to find some sticks for her school windchime project. I couldn't pass up bringing my camera along for some nice outside pictures. Please excuse her hair in the pictures....we took the jeep to the park and as you can tell from the pics, her hair was quite the flowing mane in the jeep!

One of Katie's loves is to swing. We had the best time taking pictures of her swinging. You can see it is just pure joy!!

We also decided to try out the sports action setting on my camera to see if we could catch the anatomy of jumping out of the swing....here is the result!!

There was also this really big looking baby swing and of course we couldn't pass up trying it out too!!

Check It Out

2008-03-28T14:53:00.005-05:00

For those of you who like messing around with your photos but don't have a good program...check out the Photoshop Express website. It is free and you can edit and make nice galleries for your photos. I have Photoshop Elements and use it all the time and one day I will have the real Photoshop (as soon as I have about $800 to spare) but this website is great too. I used it for the slideshow that you can see if you click on Katie's picture that says "Favorites". Hopefully the weather will turn nice and I can get outside and start taking more pictures.

Back At The Barn

2008-03-27T13:48:00.003-05:00

....that is where Mister Hennessy is!!! Yippee!!! Surgery went well and after spending a couple of days at the equine hospital, he is back at the barn now. He is still on "stall" rest for the next two weeks. I surprised Katie yesterday after school with a trip to go see him at the hospital. She had made the sweetest get well card for him. Not too much else going on here. I want to take some outside pictures but the wind has been just too killer to even try...maybe next week?!

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T21:58:00.007-05:00

Happy Easter!!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. We had a great one with lots of food and lots of Easter egg hunting. Chris treated us to his awesome pancakes this morning for breakfast. What a treat! We went to hear my brother talk at church and he did so good! We then came home for Easter dinner which was very good if I may say so myself. Afterwards the big Easter egg hunts were on! My mom and Katie were the best at finding eggs!!

Also, for the second year in a row, some bunny (ha, ha!) has put plastic eggs in our yard filled with prizes! Katie absolutely loves it and I just want to say that if you are the "bunny", THANKS....it is awesome!

Making pancakes!

Katie looking pretty in her Easter dress.

Scenes from "The Big Hunt"

A little showing, A little swimming & A whole lotta spurring

2008-03-23T21:21:00.009-05:00

What a fun two days Katie and I had in Ardmore at the QH show. This was kinda the last hurray for Katie and Mister Hennessy for a while since he is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. We are so looking forward to a speedy recovery for him. While they were not big winners this time, their performance improved from the Fort Worth show and we had so much fun!! Crazy stuff did happen though. We ended up bunking up with Abbey and her mom for Thursday and Friday night instead of driving back and forth. The girls had a blast and giggled and acted crazy till way too late in the night on Thursday night. When we came back from the show on Friday we noticed that our door was left wide open which made us not too happy as you might expect. Well, we decided to let the girls swim while Kimberly went to complain about our door being left open. A little bit later Kimberly came to the pool area to let me know that now the door was completely messed up and that they couldn't get it opened and that we would just have to wait till the morning to get it opened. Mind you, all of our stuff was in the room and the girls were in wet bathing suits with no clothes. Long story short.....they ended up sawing the door down!!!! That's right....sawed that baby right down! Good news, we ended up staying for two night for $0!!!

Katie and Abbey being silly

Katie and Cara playing with her hat

My English superstar looking good and two pointing in the English Eq pattern!!

Katie giving Mister Hennessy some loving before Showmanship

And here is a picture of what I meant by "a whole lotta spurring"!!! Nothing works better than a pair of English spurs and a pair of Western spurs. This is was before the English classes in the warmup. Obviously it was at the end of the day and somebody (Mister Hennessy) was tired and needed just a little extra to get him going!!

Think Good Horsey Vibes

2008-03-19T12:33:00.004-05:00

So the news came today....Mister Hennessey will be going under the knife next Tuesday! While we are bummed that it has to be done, we are also glad that there is a fix for his problem. He is going to get re-nerved. He has had this done before back in 2005 and did great so we are expecting the same this time. For those of you going "huh?" basically the vet will make 4 cuts in his front feet and cut the nerves so that he will not feel anything. Another piece of good news is that if we give him something called "Bute" Katie can ride him up to Monday night before he goes in!!! We went out to the barn this last weekend and I took some pictures of her riding him thinking this would be the last time for about a month but, Katie is going to sneak in one more show this weekend in Ardmore on good ol' Mister Hennessey before the big surgery day! Anyway, here are the pics and of course I had to throw in a couple of "Lucky" the barn dog!!

We Have A New Champion!!

2008-03-07T09:35:00.001-06:00

All I can say is that he did it with lots of pizazz!!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

2008-03-07T08:20:00.004-06:00

No, I have not gone crazy yet and still think it is Christmas. However, the snow came down yesterday like it was Christmas Eve in Colorado. The snowflakes were as big as cotton balls....it was amazing!!! Another amazing fact is that the day before it was 67 degrees outside and Chris was sweating on the golf course. Of course the day before that it snowed and then the day before that it was in the mid 70's!!! I guess Mother Nature is a bit confused....does she want a beautiful white blanket of snow covering the ground or beautiful spring flowers?

Katie and her friend Courtney that lives next door had a great time playing in the snow. There was even enough of the white stuff to build a snowman. They also had fun trying to see how much snow that they could catch in their mouths!! Later on in the day as Chris was trying to get some of our plants back in the garage (he had moved them out thinking winter was over...silly him) a snow fight began. I must say that Chris is a great snow ball thrower and managed to get at least two inside the house by the back door where I was standing!

Winning Photos

2008-02-22T20:46:00.002-06:00

We finally got our pictures that we ordered from the Fort Worth show!!

Satisfied

2008-02-17T11:47:00.002-06:00

That is the word to describe how I feel today because last night my great husband got me Guitar Hero!!!! Now, I can rock out anytime day or night!!!! Word to the wise....if you have never played it before, DO NOT!!! It is one of those games that you will just want to play over and over and over!!!

Neighbor Jeff & The Polar Plunge

2008-02-16T10:37:00.003-06:00

All I can say is "WOW"!!! Neighbor Jeff stood up to the challenge when it came to the polar plunge. It was way cold outside (ok..J.Ha...not Chicago cold) but it was cold and a little sleet was falling. I didn't get an exact pool temp but it was in the low 50's. I don't really want to say much else because the video really says it all!!

Addiction

2008-02-16T10:22:00.005-06:00

That is the word for what I am feeling about Guitar Hero!!!! I love that game. After an extremely rough start (being booed off stage twice) I finally got the hang of it and made through two songs. I was so proud of myself until Jeff and Paxton played a really fast song!!! Anyway, I totally have the need to go buy that game and just try to rock out all day long! Here are some pictures of us rocking out!!

Live....For One Night Only!!!

2008-02-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

Ok...polar plunge fans....you voted and now tonight your vote will actually count! For those of you that have no clue, a while back I put up a poll for who should do the next polar plunge. The winner of that poll was Neighbor Jeff. Now he has had plenty of "cold" time to do this polar plunge but always seemed to busy. Then, the weather turned spring-like and it just didn't seem like it could be a true polar plunge with it being warm outside. Well, the cold front is moving through today and so tonight is the night for Neighbor Jeff's polar plunge. Of course it wouldn't be complete without photos and video which will be posted so keep checking back sometime tomorrow for it!!!

All You Need Is Love

2008-02-14T11:29:00.007-06:00

In honor of it being Valentine's Day I thought I would post pictures that represent "love" to me!!!

Run Baby Run

2008-02-12T16:37:00.000-06:00

The other day after Katie's lesson we went to look at another new foal that arrived last Sunday! She is such a cutie. I snapped this picture while she was running and I think it is so funny to see her legs all crazy!

Nothing But Horse Pictures

2008-02-06T21:30:00.000-06:00

Beautiful Babies

So I just can't get enough of my new camera!!!!! I am so in love!! Today I went out to the barn to ride and was so excited to take my new camera along. I feel bad because I didn't take a single picture of Mister Hennessy today. However, I did get some shots of Chad and Abel and the new foal out at the barn. And before anyone freaks out......we did NOT buy another horse. I just think the little foal is just so cute and he is so super friendly too. If anyone reading this wants a horse...buy this one...he is great!! I actually think neighbor Jeff should buy it for Naomi!!!

Abel

Chad

Lots of Ears

Mom & Baby

Fashion Police

2008-02-06T21:16:00.000-06:00

I don't really have to much to say about this except for what kind of look do you think she was going for in this outfit? Anyone care to give this look a name????? Of course I think she looks cute as ever no matter what!

100 yr old Lady on 100th Day of School

2008-02-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

This is Katie dressed up as a 100 year old lady on the 100th day of school. The last time she did this was in kindergarten and it was so much fun. She also had to bring 100 items in a bag and of course in Katie fashion she choose her second passion.....BUGS! That's right she took 100 plastic bugs to school. I'm sure her teacher was thrilled.

How Creative!

2008-02-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

One of Katie's homework projects for Leap this week was to learn some new "Master Words". Part of her homework was to write a story about a treasure chest using the following words: ornate, curiously, marvelous, pry and tarnished. This is the story that she came up with all by herself...no help from me (even with the spelling)! Just click on the picture to make it bigger.

Fort Worth Video

2008-02-04T23:19:00.000-06:00

A big high five to Chris for all of his efforts on shooting video of Katie at the horse show this past weekend. He did such a great job and totally saved the day since pictures were yucky! I also want to say "Thanks" to mom and Nini for coming out and watching Katie on Friday and Sunday. She was so glad that you came out to support her. I also want to give a big "Thanks" to Shane for teaching Katie how to be the great rider that she is....we couldn't do it without you!!

Oh Happy Day!!!!

2008-02-04T20:19:00.000-06:00

My terrible frowny day has turned upside down to a smiley day!! I got my Valentines Day present early from Chris!!!!!

Bow down to the new awesome camera....the Canon 40D

This camera is so amazing. I just can't wait to start using it. I just don't have words to describe how happy I am! Chris is just simply the greatest!!!!

Something So Sad

2008-02-04T12:05:00.000-06:00

Such a sad day for me today! So as I mentioned before my camera had a complete meltdown at the Ft. Worth show. I was upset but remained positive as I had a warranty on the camera and thought I would just pop into Wolf camera and leave it for a couple of days to get fixed. I was totally taken surprise when I was informed that they would gladly take my camera for repair under my extended warranty BUT......it would take 8 weeks!!! Then he hit me with another bomb....if it has to go to the manufacturer (Sony) it could take even another 8 weeks!!! 4 months with no camera????!!!!!! So here I am left with my little Nikon camera....don't be looking for alot of pictures in the blogs to come! Ok...I think I am done with my pity party now!

Whew.....It's Over

2008-02-03T16:24:00.000-06:00

We have finally made it back home from the show in Fort Worth. All I can say is "WOW"!!!!! We are just so proud of how great Katie did at her first Quarter Horse show. She ended up winning first place by both judges in Showmanship, third place in Western Walk Trot by one judge, first place by one judge in English Walk Trot and second place by one judge in English Walk Trot. Not too bad for her first time out. I never in a million years would have guessed that she would be doing this six months ago!!! She has come such a long way in a short time. Now for the bad news....my camera totally had a major meltdown and I got very few pictures from the show. Something is totally off with the focus and most of the pictures were blurry!!!! This of course for me is a total loss because I am such a picture freak but what can you do?? We did manage to get some good video though. That will be coming!!

Hello FIRST PLACE

2008-02-01T21:04:00.001-06:00

Katie was so awesome today!!!! In her first class which was showmanship she won first place by both judges!!!!!! Of course lots of tears were flowing from her super proud mom and dad. It was such a wonderful way to start the day. She took third place in her walk trot class from one of the judges and we were happy about that too!!! Mister Hennessy was tired and didn't really want to go. Tomorrow is just one class that is not really a judged class and then Sunday we are going to kick some Hunter Under Saddle butt!!!!! I hate that there are no pictures! Speaking of that, my camera has decided to act up so I'm not even sure of the quality of the pictures that will be coming.

Until tomorrow....

Fort Worth Update #2

2008-02-01T06:26:00.000-06:00

Big day today. Both Katie and I are showing in two classes!!! Katie will do great because she is such an awesome rider. Me on the other hand....well lets just say that this post has taken way too long due to my lack of keyboarding ability due to hands that shake constantly. I am so nervous that I don't even know what could have possessed me to sign up for this in the first place. I don't care if I win.....I just don't want to be in last!!!! If I don't say anything about me in my next update, take it that I came in last!

Sorry that there are no pictures. I have taken some but I failed to bring my card reader so that I could download them. I will flood the blog with pictures either on Sunday or Monday.

Until next time......

Fort Worth Update #1

2008-01-30T22:30:00.001-06:00

Sorry but I will warn you in advance that there are no pictures for this update. Katie got in two great practice rides so things are looking good. She is supposed to do trail tomorrow but we're not sure that is going to happen. She has not practiced trail alot so she is going to do the warmup and if she doesn't feel good about it than she is going to scratch! Mister Hennessy will also be doing the western riding with Shane (our trainer) ....they are going to do great. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow night! Off to bed for now because it is already after 10:00pm and we have a 6:00am wake up call!!!

PS - WE MISS YOU CHRIS!!!!!!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!

2008-01-27T07:35:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to my super sweet and awesome mom. She is for sure the best mom that a girl could ever ask for!!!

Nothing But Bragging

2008-01-25T15:58:00.000-06:00

I will warn you ahead of time this post is nothing but complete bragging about my awesome daughter so if you don't want to hear it...don't read any farther.

Today was such a great day for Katie. Not only did she get another all A report card (she has yet to make anything below an A) she was also accepted into the school's LEAP program today!!! The LEAP program is for gifted students and it is so hard to get into! She had to go through 8 different tests and other observations!!!! We are so proud of our super smart little girl!!!

Questions of the Day?????

2008-01-24T16:05:00.001-06:00

Do you think that Katie feels the need to "feed" off of her horse because she wasn't breastfeed as a baby?

What secrets can a dog tell that would be so funny?

Is Chico really a terminator (check out the eye) here to save our family from some kind of doom?

That Dog!!

2008-01-24T08:40:00.000-06:00

Snickers is such a funny little dog. I feel like changing her name to "Shadow" because everywhere I go in the house she is sure to follow. It doesn't matter if she is super comfortable and sleeping...if she hears me move to another room she goes too. I couldn't imagine living life like that but hey, she obviously thinks I am the greatest owner ever. I was working on some pictures the other night and I guess I wasn't giving her enough attention because she would not stop pawing at me. I decided that maybe she too wanted her picture taken. After our impromptu doggie modeling shot this is the best pic!

Limo Rides & Fine Dining

2008-01-23T12:30:00.000-06:00

Because of everyone who bought something from Katie's fundraiser this fall, she was able to have her first limo ride today at school!! She was so excited about getting picked up from school and taken to lunch in a limo. She was the only one in her class to get to do it. Eleven kids and one principal squeezed in the limo and headed off to a very fancy lunch of Chick Fil A!!! Below are the pictures from the event!

Better Late Than Never

2008-01-21T20:59:00.000-06:00

We went back to Chandler right after Christmas and thankfully the weather was much better. The sun was out and it was warm and so we got to go out and see the new cows and some of the horses. Of course whenever we are at Aunt Ty's, Paxton always comes up with some hair brain idea that usually involves the animals. During the summer it was him trying to get on one of the horses that was not broke yet. This time however, he thought he would run into the herd of cows!

Pop and Katie on the other hand decided to go for the more mellow route with hanging out with the cows!

This photo I just thought was cool because of all the bare trees. This is what happens when you live in the big city and most of the trees are small....you think big ones are cool!

A Man and His Horse

2008-01-21T10:25:00.000-06:00

So I have downloaded a trial version of a new program that changes digital pictures. It is the coolest program ever!!! Here is a recent picture that I took of Chris out at the barn while visiting our new babies (Sorry Abel, but only your body made it into the picture!!!) Maybe Chris could be the next Marlboro man?

The original picture taken is below.

OHHHH 80's

2008-01-18T20:29:00.000-06:00

For your listening pleasure.....enjoy these two 80's videos!!! You know that you will have these stuck in your head for the next few days!! The 80's were just so........well the only word is ......HAIRY!

I Don't Even Know What To Say????!!!!

2008-01-16T18:37:00.000-06:00

This is too much!!! Just so it is on record....if my daughter ever even thinks about dating or hanging out with anyone like this guy she will not leave the house for her entire life!!!!

http://view.break.com/433536 - Watch more free videos

Last Minute Update on Horse Trip in Atlanta

2008-01-16T16:46:00.001-06:00

Oh my goodness....it is snowing in Atlanta where Chris and Coco are! Here is a picture of Coco looking out the window at the snow!!

One Horse's Trip to Atlanta

2008-01-16T15:47:00.000-06:00

Katie saw a commercial recently where a little girl hid a stuffed animal in her dad's bag when he went on a business trip out of town. Katie thought that was a great idea and decided to put her horse "Coco" in Chris' bag. Coco has had quite the adventure in Atlanta with Chris.

Here is Coco looking out of the window in Chris' room. He is on the 46th floor of the hotel!!

Here is Coco on her way to Mortons for a little dinner

Coco having her picture made in front of Pres. Bush's picture

Enjoying fine dining at Mortons

Time to go to sleep with a full belly (I'm sure that she had to give the remote back to Chris promptly after the picture!)

Ahhh Nature

2008-01-14T19:04:00.000-06:00

Katie and I watched some Jeff Corwin and Crocodile Hunter this evening and it made me feel like posting some of my own nature photographs. Here are some of my previous attempts at photographing nature!!!

Go Ahead...Call Us Crazy

2008-01-14T18:41:00.000-06:00

Guess what? You will never believe it!!! We have another horse. Yep, it's true, we are now the proud owner of a paint. He is just the cutest and sweetest thing ever. His name is Abel and he can be found hanging around the pasture at Shane's place with Chad (our other baby horse)! It's amazing how we have gone from a non-horse family to a family of three in just a short matter of time. We really have to be done now as it might be scary if the number of horses we own is larger than the number of people in our family especially since we live in the city and we don't have our own ranch. I took more pictures the other day but soon realized that my shadow was invading almost all of the shots so, never fear my friends, the poor horse will soon have another photo shoot so that he too may grace the virtual pages of the blog. For now, you can enjoy this picture of Abel and Katie and I think part of Chad is in the picture too!!

Sad Day at the Lingafelter Household

2008-01-13T19:07:00.000-06:00

Oh what a terrible day it was today!!! First, Katie's beloved praying mantis was found dead. We kinda knew it was coming though as we had read a couple of days ago that death usually happens in December for Mantis' who have laid egg sacs. We now have 3 egg sacs that should be hatching in the spring. At least her legacy will live on with her offspring. Secondly, what in the world happened to our Cowboys? Everyone knows that I am a huge Romo lover but, he kinda made me mad today with his "not at the top of his game" playing! The whole Jessica/Cabo thing will never die out now. We for sure would have won if he had just taken me to Cabo!!!

On a completely different note....to my virtual running/training partners (Jen - Chicago and neighbor Jen) I did two miles today! I know neighbor Jen did some too....Jen Chicago what about you? I was thinking if we had to post our weekly totals maybe that would keep us motivated...what do you think? Anyone else is more than welcome to join us!!

Congrats Neighbor Jeff!

2008-01-07T14:20:00.000-06:00

Congrats to neighbor Jeff for winning the poll on who should do the polar plunge next. Jeff, please feel free to tell me when you are available to jump into my extremely cold swimming pool. Our door or back gate is open to you and your family to do this at your leisure. Please be aware that it will be on video for all to see!!

Superstar Reader

2008-01-06T19:53:00.000-06:00

I can't not even begin to express how proud I am of Katie's reading. Tonight she finished the longest book that she has ever read all by herself. She decided to check out Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder from the school library. She finished the book tonight....all 362 pages read by her alone.

Katie's First Open Horse Show

2008-01-05T20:10:00.000-06:00

Katie went to her very first open horse show today and did great and had loads of fun too!! It was great practice for her upcoming show in Fort Worth. She rode in so many classes today that I think her little legs are going to be very tired even tomorrow. Here are some pictures from the day today....video will be coming soon!

Chris getting things all polished and shiny for the big day

Shane giving Katie some last minute instructions

Katie showing Mister Hennessy in the halter class

Katie's friend Abbey showing in the halter class

Katie's friend Molly showing in the halter class

Katie riding in one of the western classes

Katie hearing her number called for second place!!

Katie's fan club!!

Katie showing in one of the english classes

All of the ribbons that she won today

My Little Reader

2008-01-03T22:38:00.000-06:00

This is what I get when I ask Katie to do her reading but she really wishes she could be riding Mister Hennessy.....

Katie's Insect Pride and Joy

2008-01-02T19:05:00.000-06:00

Katie is just crazy about bugs and her Praying Mantis is her pride and joy when it comes to bugs. Today we decided to see if we could video the Mantis catching a cricket for dinner!!! Check out the Mantis' combat skills against the cricket!!!

You only thought you loved High School Musical?

2007-12-27T22:13:00.001-06:00

For those of you that have seen High School Musical....you've heard the songs but never quite like this!!! Katie got the Wii High School Musical game and all the family had to try it out. Words can't describe it, you will just have to watch and listen.

Christmas Morning

2007-12-27T21:46:00.001-06:00

Here is just a little sample of the excitement of Christmas morning at our house!

Present Opening Practice Run

2007-12-24T08:16:00.001-06:00

We went over to YaYa's house last night to eat, visit and open some presents with the McMillian family, Paxton & Abby, YaYa & Mr. Steve. Mom had soooo much yummy food all over the house! My stomach is still full. After we ate and chatted for a while the kids decided that it was time to open presents. They all loved what they opened up!

Yummy treats!

Mom's tree with snow village

Katie, Brooke & Skyler getting ready to open

Brooke opening Hannah Montanna stuff

Skyler opening Transformers

Katie with her new Breyer Vet (we aren't sure what Paxton is doing in the background?!)

Ohhhh Fudge!

2007-12-21T13:23:00.000-06:00

I think I have now lost count on the number of double batches of fudge that I have made. Who knew that someone like me ( a non-cooking individual) could actually make something that everybody thinks tastes good. At first I was having fun and even excited about all of the fudge making. But, as more and more requests came in, all I could think about was all of the constant stirring I would be having to do and all of the chocolate that was right before me that I would have to try not to eat!! In the end though it has all been worth it!!

Katie's 2nd Grade Christmas Party

2007-12-20T15:45:00.001-06:00

Katie had her school Christmas party and it was fun!!! Here are the pictures from the party!!! We missed you DAD!

Getting ready for the party to start!

Christmas Jingo - The Game

The intense look of a girl who really wants to win Christmas Jingo

The look of a joyous victory!!

Making a beautiful ornament!

We're Expecting!!!

2007-12-15T16:57:00.000-06:00

The big day should happen sometime in the spring!!! These kind of things only happen to Katie (the bug girl)! Our Mr. Mantis is really Ms. Mantis as she has laid an egg sac! Our hundreds of baby mantises should be here in the spring!!

Here is a picture of the egg sac.

POLAR PLUNGE!

2007-12-14T22:07:00.000-06:00

The video says it all!! Katie makes a cameo appearance in the middle. Chris' commentary is priceless especially at the very end!

A Side Note: It was also pouring down rain!

A Little Christmas Cheer

2007-12-14T14:22:00.000-06:00

Katie wrote her annual letter to Santa telling him how she has been this year and what she wants. She even drew him a couple of pictures. I take her picture with the letter and the addressed envelope every year. It is so fun to see how she has grown from one year to the next.

In an effort to continue to promote Christmas cheer here at the house (some person not to be named doesn't have much cheer) I decided that baking sugar cookies and decorating them while listening to Christmas music would be fun! Who knew that Chris was a master Christmas cookie decorator?

Go Marines!!!

2007-12-14T08:31:00.001-06:00

Who knew that you could do such things with guns? The end part is pretty cool!!!

Solving The Worlds Problems.....

2007-12-10T20:38:00.001-06:00

They looked so serious in this picture.....like they are either trying to solve the world's problems or figure out a way to have their parents buy more horse stuff!!!

Katie Riding Mister Hennessy

2007-12-10T20:33:00.001-06:00

When we went out the other day Mister Hennessy was fresh and so we put him in the round pen to tire him out a little bit and he was so funny!! He was running and kicking....I think that was the spunkiest (is this even a word?) that we have ever seen him.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures from Katie riding the other day. She just looked so good in them that I couldn't resist putting them up!

Talking with the Big Guy

2007-12-06T20:19:00.000-06:00

Katie made her annual trip to visit Santa at Stonebriar mall tonight. She asked him for the Seabiscuit Breyer horse. I can't believe how grown up she looks with Santa!!!

We've Been Elfed Too

2007-12-05T14:45:00.000-06:00

I thought this was so funny on Paxton's blog that I had to do it too!!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1174612422

Spider Horse & Mr. Mantis

2007-12-03T07:58:00.000-06:00

Who is that masked horse?

This is Mr. Mantis. YaYa found him for Katie while Chris and I were in Las Vegas. Katie being the bug fanatic that she is decided that we needed to keep him as a pet. So one trip to Petsmart later and he has his own little home and some yummy crickets to eat. This was Mr. Mantis this morning enjoying his breakfast......YUCK!

Progress

2007-12-02T21:48:00.001-06:00

One slightly used Quarter Horse..........more money than I want to say!

Boarding and training the Quarter Horse........more money than you would think!

Progress........PRICELESS!!!!!

Thanksgiving is so YUMMY

2007-11-23T21:16:00.000-06:00

Mom once again outdid herself on the food for Thanksgiving! I was very thankful that I was around my awesome family but, I am not going to lie.....I was really thankful for my mom's good cooking. Here are just a couple of shots of some of the food I was especially thankful for!

1. Mom's Turkey.....there is nothing better

2. Cornbread stuffing - the picture below is the pre-cooked picture

3. Cream cheese strawberry dip....yum

4. Aunt Grace's chocolate pie recipe.......just want to eat the entire pie by myself!

And we get to do it all over again tomorrow at Aunt Ty's house!! Yippee!!!

SURPRISE!!!

2007-11-19T21:05:00.000-06:00

Surprise....we are the proud parents of new bouncing baby boy!!!! Well.....he isn't a brand new baby but still a baby!!! His name is A Blazing Selection with his barn name being Chad. He is quite the sweetie and I think pretty cute too!!! Yes, I think we might have really gone nuts but at least we are happy and nuts!!! Thanks so much to Shane for selling us his baby that he said he would never sell. He of course will be spoiled just like Mister Hennessy. Here are some pictures of the new baby!!

I couldn't leave out posting some new pictures of Mister Hennessy!! Katie rode today and also practiced showmanship.

Top Reason To Work From Home

2007-11-14T13:14:00.000-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen the top reason why it is good to work from home is this......

Nothing like hanging out in the hot tub listening to some tunes on your iPod!!

Horses Are Amazing!

2007-11-14T09:10:00.000-06:00

Check out this amazing horse!!!

Katie Lingafelter or Velvet Brown?

2007-11-14T08:27:00.000-06:00

Today was dress up as your favorite book character day at school. Katie was so excited because she wanted to dress up in her English riding clothes as Velvet Brown from National Velvet. Of course we had to bring out Butterscotch for a few pictures too! Many of you know this but some of you don't....Katie runs and wins the Grand Nationals almost everyday through our house!! She usually is riding a dapple gray horse name Seashore!! The imagination that she has is awesome. Here are some pictures that I took this morning.

Tagged By Jeni

2007-11-14T08:03:00.000-06:00

I was tagged by Jeni Rawlins on her blog to write (i think?) six things about me that people don't probably already know. I don't know if I have six things but I will try....

1. I love 80's New Wave music. Now Chris obviously knows this about me because he has to endure it when he is home and I am cleaning the house! Nothing will get you mopping in a good grove like some Yaz!!! I pretty much love all of New Wave. New Order is one of my favorites. There is only one bad downside to New Wave and that is most New Wave bands totally suck in concert. You can't imagine my disappointment when I finally got to see New Order in concert and it was blah!! I guess it is hard to be exciting in concert when your music is mostly computerized.

2. When I was but a young little girl, I entered the Little Miss Texarkana pageant. What possessed me to do that is beyond me. I think I was 10 or something. The funny thing about that is that I wouldn't buy a really frilly dress for the pageant like you are supposed to wear because I really didn't like wearing dresses that much anyway. My mom even took out a full page ad in the program!!

3. I was in a music video that aired only once on MTV back in the 90's! Chris doesn't believe me on this one but it is true...I swear. I was going to college in Denton and used to always go to Rick's Place to watch a local college band called Tripping Daisy. Rick's Place was a very small college bar and when Tripping Daisy had their 15 minutes of fame they decided to film a video at one of their concerts at Rick's Place. I indeed was at that concert dancing on the bar! The video only aired once that I know of on a late Sunday night program the MTV used to have on alternative music.

4. I have absolutely no memory of my mom being pregnant with my brother Paxton. Now some of you may think that is not uncommon but I was ten years old when my mom was pregnant with my brother and I remember just about everything else about that year. Maybe I thought that if I pretended it wasn't true that it wouldn't really happen? Who knows ? I must say that I have an awesome brother and I am really glad that he is here. I guess in my ten year old mind I wasn't as happy about it or as my mom likes to think.....I was just way to busy with my ten year old social life to notice!

5. I have a weirdness about walking down stairs. I have no problem at all walking up the stairs but I hate walking down stairs because I always feel like someone creepy is at the top of the stairs watching me walk down and I can't see them. This strange phobia started in Texarkana in our creepy house. My bedroom was upstairs and I swear it always felt like someone was watching me from the top of the stairs. I don't think I ever walked down those stairs even once. I always ran down them as fast as I could.

6. My favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird and for most of my pregnancy Katie's name was going to be Scout! Chris really likes the book to so we had originally decided to name her after the character in the book. My mom also had a hard time naming me and went through several before ending up with what I have now. Originally, my mom wanted to name me Jade because Mick Jagger had named his daughter that!

Whew.....they might not be the most interesting facts but there are my six.

Gotta Love Small Miracles and Awesome Mothers

2007-11-07T16:05:00.001-06:00

What do those two things have in common you say? Her name is Ann Hobson and she is my mom who just also happens to be the best mother in the entire universe. My mom sends me an email today about this program that recovers pictures off of messed up flash cards. $29 later and one downloaded program from the internet and I now have Katie's missing birthday pictures and Halloween pictures! So I am now feeling lots of love for the mom!!!! Here are some of the missing pictures!!!

Major Problem

2007-11-01T14:03:00.001-05:00

Well, last night I was going to do a big blog update with loads of pictures from Katie's birthday, Halloween and such and guess what? Total flash card malfunction!!!!! All of my pictures were gone. I thought I was actually going to be sick when it finally hit me that they were gone. Now I am going to have to somehow re-create Katie's birthday and Halloween!

Horse Crazy Girls

2007-10-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

Katie had her friend Abbey come and spend the weekend with her last weekend and the girls had way too much fun. Katie loves have a friend that is as horse crazy as she is. I was working on the computer and when I went out to see what they were doing this is what I found in the kitchen....Abbey longeing Katie all through the kitchen....it was so funny!!!

Pumpkin Carving Contest 2007

2007-10-28T15:47:00.000-05:00

It was a very tough competition this year! We had a new competitor this year....Abby who I thought did awesome for her rookie year. Her pumpkin was great. The big event was held at my mom's new house and her neighbors were the judges. So...at last her is how it all played out.....

   7th Place

   6th Place

   5th Place

   4th Place

   3rd Place

   2nd Place

   1st Place

What is Red and Blue All Over?

2007-10-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

It's Katie's hair on crazy hair day!! I thought it turned out so cute. The braids were so funny when she walked because they had a little bounce to them. Everybody was calling her Pipi Longstocking and she had no clue who that was.

Happy Birthday Kathie

2007-10-19T06:35:00.000-05:00

A very special "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" goes out to Kathie today! Katie and I hope that you have a wonderful day and that you make Ric and Chris pamper you all day and rub your feet for the whole afternoon! We love ya!

Happy Birthday to Ric

2007-10-14T21:01:00.000-05:00

A very special "Happy Birthday" goes out to Ric for his birthday!!!! We hope you have a wonderful day!