NASCAR!!!!!!!

A little late on this post... This was two weeks ago -

Thursday after school we loaded up the RV and headed to Fort Worth for a weekend of food, fun and racing....

Sue and Jason are moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico and asked us if we wanted to use their in-field camping spot for the NASCAR race at the Texas Motor Speedway. We could not pass that up - there is a 10 year waiting list to get these spots!

We had a great spot just after turn two... If you taped the race go back and see if you can spot our boxing kangaroo flag in the infield.

This is a special photo David took - it shows the Boxing Kangaroo flag and Marcos Ambrose (#27) - the only Australian NASCAR driver.

We rented "kangaroo tv" (no kidding that is really the name) for the kids so they could watch the race on a small tv screen and tune into the drivers talking to the pit crew. Actually it was really cool to hear the drivers talking as the cars zip past you.

It rained Saturday and Sunday but we stayed on Monday and got to see the race.

I am a Jeff Gordon fan (#24) while David and Emily root for Jimmy Johnson (#48) and Allie likes Joey Logano (#20) the Home Depot Car. It was a great time - would have been better if Jeff Gordon had won!

I could not resist....

I spied it at the checkout stand at Tractor Supply and just had to try it...

I really like Grandpa's comment...

"If ya got dry lips, put chicken poop on 'em so you won't lick 'em!"

Some much needed, super dooper space for the girls

I have been bugging David to help me build a new chicken house for a few months now. I just wanted something a bit bigger than the chick box we built when the chickens were small. Now that the girls are laying they really need more space and some nice nesting boxes for their precious eggs.



As always, David has totally out done himself on this project. Not only is the new place super cute, but it has plenty of nesting boxes, roosting and storage space. In fact there is room for at least another 15 chickens! :)

As with ever project David does, appearance is as important as functionality. I think it is super cute!

Tender and Annie trying out their new roosting space

Tender checking out the new nesting boxes... Hopefully she will start to lay her eggs in them and not all over the yard like she does now.

Thank you so much for all your hard work David - I know the girls are going to love their new house as much as I do!!!

The Easter Bunny brought what???

The Easter Bunny took full advantage of us living in the country this year and brought the girls these adorable mallard ducks.


They will get along great with the chickens and will love swimming the the tank once they are a little bigger. Until then, they will be hanging out in the "chick box" since the "girls" moved into their brand new, super dooper chicken house David built them.

Erica's "Operation Chicken Hatch"... exciting news!

I LOVE my chickens. I really do! They are very therapeutic to me. When I am stressed, I can sit and watch them scratching around for a few minutes and I feel much more at easy. Sort of smelling the roses I guess. So when a friend wanted to hatch a few chicks in her homemade incubator, I was very excited. Erica lives in town and can't keep the chicks so they will be coming to live with us a few days after they arrive.

Because our rooster actually turned out to be a hen (it stared laying eggs!). I sweet talked a neighbor out of three fertile eggs for Erica to hatch. The science of hatching eggs can be very complicated and I could not have hand picked anyone more diligent for the job if I had tried. Erica has done TONS of research and is updating the progress on her blog every few days.

Today, Erica has some great news just 8 days into the process. I won't spoil it for her by telling you, but I will let you read for yourself! Operation Chicken Hatch - day 8

Emily turns 15

My little girl is growing up so fast. It seems like just the other day she was just learning to walk. Now she is talking about taking driver's ed and what kind of car she wants.... I just want to cry!!!!!



For the past few years Emily has wanted to spend her birthday having a nice dinner with her family instead of having a party. The past two years she has picked The Olive Garden but this year she opted for The Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Day trip to Aggieland

Allie is trying out for the meat judging team at her school. The team will compete against other schools at area competitions. Meat Judging is just that, the judging (grading) of meat. The kids look at pig, beef and lamb carcases/cuts of meat and judge the quality based on set criteria. As part of her training she and some of her classmates got to go to Texas A&M University for a clinic this past Saturday. The Meat Science program at Texas A&M University is ranked #1 in the nation by Meat and Poultry Magazine for their training and research in meat science.

Emily and I went along so we could spend a few hours checking out the campus. She had never been so she really loved it. It has really grown since I was there in 1990. She would ask me where something was and I really had to think... :)

The famous "Dixie Chicken"

Em just had to take a photo with this sigh. Eli L. Whitely is the author of the FFA Creed. Emily won first place in "creed speaking" back in November.

Love where the "poop" goes! :)

We went to the Bonfire Memorial. It was pretty amazing. A very fitting memorial for the Aggie's that lost their lives.

Christopher Breen and Jeremy Frampton both died in the bonfire accident. They were classmates with our friend, Stu McMullen. Stu holds a charity bonfire every hear in their honor. David and I were one of the sponsors for it this past year.

We also got to visit with Mom & Dad and my cousins that were showing their goats in the county fair. It was a packed day - but we had a great time.
It was a very busy day - But we had a GREAT time!!

Spring Break Camping

We spent the first few days of spring break camping with the usual crowd. We had a great time and the weather was WONDERFUL. We went to Pecan Park in San Marcos and did not have any issues with the owners this time. Yea!!!

In case you can't tell, we have a lot of fun together!

Puppies anyone?

If you are looking for lab puppies look no farther...

Emily and Amanda's Grandmother's dog, Chica, had a litter on Sunday. There are four boys and two girls. Chocolate, Black and Yellow.

Emily happened to be spending the night during the big event and got to help deliver them. What a great experience for her!

Allie was super anxious to see them so we went over Sunday for a visit.

Let me know if you want one.... :)

Getting ready for Easter??

Maybe it was the snow last week, or maybe the "girls" just know it is getting close to Easter, but they got busy and laid two little blue/green egg yesterday!

Won't be long now until we have them coming on a regular basis and I can share. :)