Walk in the Woods...

Like to take a little walk with me?  I  usually walk around the farm through the woods for exercise most days when the weather is nice.  The trees are just about peak right now in color altho the leaves are falling fast and the wind is blowing.  Just grab a little jacket and come along with me on my walk...

Not sure what kind of tree this is along the fence line but it always turns this brilliant orange color. Let's turn along the woodline now. Okay?

I love how the leaves are strewn across our path...Look at the colors...  I wonder what's just around that bend in the path up there???

Up a little hill we must go.  Are you out of breath yet?  Let's keep going!

Oh lookie here!  Here's the turtle pond!  The pond is down - it's been so hot and dry this summer and we haven't caught up on our rainfall this year yet... Keep an eye out along the bank for snakes!

There's some kind of marker there on that tree - this must be the way!  Thank goodness!  I sure don't wanna get lost in the woods!

Deer antlers on this tree!  Wow.  Do you think maybe the Indians that used to inhabit this area put them there for some kind of marker???  Maybe!

The woods smell dark and dank and earthy and moist.  Let's keep going...

Oooo - I don't guess these are edible at all but they're kind of interesting-looking, aren't they?

Don't go through this way! There's an old gulch and creek down there over that little ridge.  Might be dangerous, might be snakes!  Sometimes the water's runnin' high!

But it looks like today it's running dry but you can see the water line on the trees.  There are lots of animal tracks in that sand there.

Here's a hickory nut tree that we moved from the deeps woods to this area.  I sure hope it makes it.  It was being swallowed up by all the trees and couldn't get any sun at all.

Looks like we're getting to end of our walk and we gotta kinda go around this big ole sweetgum tree.  It has a big hole in the front here that's sometimes full of water.

Look at this gorgeous, huge Hickory Nut Tree!  We've got several and they turn the most beautiful golden color in the fall!



Who's that there lurking in the woods with his chainsaw!  Hope there's not gonna be any funny business going on with that saw!

And here we are back at the farm house and the barn.  Thanks for going on my walk with me! Come back any time!!!

Thanksgiving 2010 at Momma's House

Ok, let's just admit it. I did BAD on posting my thanksgivings every day.  I had high hopes, but life was just too busy.  Oh, I have counted them and recounted them in my head, but they never made it to cyberspace. I'll try again next year.  We DID have a fabulous Thanksgiving. My brother drove here all the way from North Carolina - alone - his MIL is in bad health, and my brother's wife had to stay home and care for her. My sister came with her family, and all my kids were here. We had Thanksgiving at my folk's house.  As long as Mom wants to do it, that's what we'll do. Of course we all help her out with the food, etc., but the big get-togethers are at her house.

I have a few pics I'll show you...

above

My niece Jaci, me, Hayley, mom, my sis Lisa, and niece Taylor...

My sister Lisa, Me, and Mom

My oldest, Adam, and Dan, my brother.

 This is my brother, Dan!  He drove down to Texas straight thru so he could be with us!  I miss him so much!

Hayley and her Mema ...(My mom & dad always have invited Tony's folks over...)

Around the table, dad, mom, Lisa, Jaci, Tony, Adam (Taylor's boyfriend hiding), Taylor and her Dad & my BIL Wayne (Lisa's husband)

My Adam, Mema (Tony's mom), Tony and Hayley

Daddy attacking that Ham!  He had already done the turkey by the time I got my camera out.

 Hayley made the coconut pie this year - we burned one crust (cuz I wasn't watching it...) Grreat pie, honey!

Chickenfoot, anyone???  We had a tournament - I did win, once! That's all!  And you see my glass of tea sitting there?  Welp, I gave it a good wallop and sent it flying all over the table and my Mom!  Now, we would have all reckoned that it'd be my sister that would do that, but this time, it was ME!  Lisa, if you're reading, I love you, you graceful gazelle!!!  tee-hee!

And lastly, but certainly not leastly - Josh and Bug.

We had so much fun!  I can't wait for Christmas now - but I really think Thanksgiving and Christmas should be about 6 months apart so we can rest up in between holiday times!!!  Hope YOURS was a great as mine!  See you soon!

Keep your dress down!

Giving Thanks November 19

I have given up trying to post Thanksgivings every single day.  That's what I had planned on doing, but life gets in the way!

I had to go back to work 8 years ago.  Before I went back to work, I usually spent a day a week with my parents, one or the other or both.  We'd just visit and have lunch, Dad and I would work on a project I needed help with, Mom and I would go shopping or just piddling around.  One of my goals since cutting back to 3 days of work a week was to go back to spending time with my parents while I still have them and while they're still in good health.

 
Today I did that.  I spent the entire day with my mom.  Daddy was busy getting something fixed on their 5th wheel, and so Mom and I went to town.  I even took her to the DPS office to renew her driver's license.  She told me I didn't have to go but I told her she'd be bored waiting if I didn't go with her.  She laughed and said Yes she would!  We did that, we went to the Christmas store ( I could spend all morning there!), we ate at Spring Creek BBQ, went to a Christmas bazaar at a local farm and finished up at Ross and Beall's.  I took her home around suppertime.  We just had the BEST DAY!

I'm just SO thankful to have my mother.  She's an angel, I do believe, and I've been so blessed to have her in my life.  She and dad have always tried to lead their kids and grandkids in the ways of the Lord and be good examples to us.  I'm also thankful to be able to have time to spend with them again.  We've got lots of catchin' up to do! They're getting older - heck, we all are!  I intend to do this quite often. Mother has missed me.  I'm their only kid close enough to do this with.  What a wonderful day.  I think it did more for me than it did for mother!  Thank you God for my mama and daddy!

Giving Thanks November 16

Hello, my friends... Sorry I've been out of town and I have let my Giving Thanks posts go this past week. Shame on me.  I thought I'd have access to a computer and I could keep up, but I didn't.  So let me catch up now!

I am SO thankful this week for the close relationship that I have with my seester. I've been to see her this week!  She is 3 years younger than I - when we were young, we used to fight alot.  I was bossy, I was older, I always got blamed for our fusses, and she was taller, thinner and prettier than me!  She was in the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles and was their poster child because she was so beautiful. I wish I had a photo of her from back then. You'd all agree with me, too!  I was always SOOOOO proud of her, and Still AM!

As we got older, got married and started having our kiddos, we became closer and closer.  She is my best friend.  Is it hard for those of you who have more than one sister to pick just one of them to be closest to? I've always wondered.  Since I only have one sister, I guess I don't have to worry about it. 

We share everything.  She's been there for me through all my ups and downs, and I've been there for her.  Sometimes, we'll both pick up the phone and call each other at the same time.  Same thing with email.  We think about each other at the same time.  It's neat to be together with the family or friends and if someone says something funny or wierd or odd, we both look at each other.  She knows what I'm going to say before I say it, and I know her thoughts as well.  What a blessing she is and has been in my life!  Don't know what I'd do without her!  I thank God for her daily - we're sisters and best friends!  What could be better than that!  Coming from the same family and having the same 'baggage', the same parents, the same beliefs and ways of doing things gives us a bond that is so strong.  My daughter looks more like my sister than she does me. And that's okay.  We use to go places all together, and everyone assumed that my daughter belonged to my sister!  Here's a photo of my beautiful sister and her daughter...

This weekend, I am also thankful that the colors of Autumn are finally here!  The colors popped over the last day or two.  Since I've been traveling, I've been able to see a myriad of color up and down the highway and no two colors are alike!  God's been swishing through with His big ole paintbrush and dabbing a little color here and there, and it's just gorgeous!

Ok, I'm tired, my friends.  I'm still so tired, but I have to go to bed  Maybe tomorrow I can post more. I'm just absolutely exhausted.  Hope you all have a wonderful week and a blessed week.



Giving Thanks November 6

Today, I've spent a simple day doing regular simple things - routine, family, laundry, cooking, spending time with family.  I'm thankful for simple things - all the usual things of life, the things we do every single day.  I feel thankful because I know of people around me that don't have those things.  My husband works with a lady about my age that has absolutely NO family. NO ONE.  A home, a family, clothes that belong to my family that I wash, my hungry family that I have the privilege to cook for, ways to help my husband out here on the farm.  I am so happy to have all these busy, routine things to do because it means that I have a family, a home and a wonderfully blessed life that I'm living.  I feel so sorry for my husband's co-worker who has no one to wash for, no one to cook for, no one to spend the holidays with, no one to share one's hopes and dreams and children with. Simple things - that's what I'm thankful for today...

Just a few little simple things that I love.  There are so many more that I could list. It's the little things that mean so much.