Life on the ranch

Our "after Christmas" trip to the ranch is sadly over. We love going there and spending time with everyone. It's good to see Uncle Stanley and Aunt Diane, Michael, Nicole, Christopher and Kristin. And, of course, we love the hunting. This year was a time of firsts. First year that neither of the girls were able to go with us, and Cj's first kill. He did so well and is still excited about it.

My cousin, Michael, presented me with my first deer mount. Its so cool! Not the mack daddy, but not bad for a girl. Michael caught an armadillo and drug it out of its hole for all to see. That was, achem, strange. (but a first)We were visited by what we lovingly refer to as "the Martie Party". Its a loud, crazy bunch of Moore's that love the ranch - did I mention they were loud? :) Its Martie, (my birth father), his wife Christine (which would be my birth step mother), Jason and Yesenia (my half brother and his wife), their daughter Scarlett (cutie patootie), Matthew (another half brother) and his girlfriend, Areli. They are always fun, but a little loud. (for hunting)

Scarlett - too cute!

Then, of course, just when we are packing up and getting ready to leave (so we can actually make an extra stop in San Antonio and still get home before midnight), Mike has to shoot some freak nasty that he had spotted on the deer cam the day before. Because of Cjs smack down, and Mike's ambush, it took us until 3pm to get everything cleaned and put up to even think about heading home. I voted to hang out in San Antonio Tuesday night to rest before heading home on Wednesday, but was overruled. Oh well, another road trip it is!
Thanks to Uncle Stanley and Aunt Diane for their gracious hospitality. To Martie and Ms. Chris for the use of their camper, and to south Texas for another exciting few days in the wild.

Birthday wishes....

What a great day already. Sam was able to come by for a while and open gifts and spend some time with us which is always wonderful. Love you, Sam!

We sang "Happy Birthday" to CJ and had cake (sortof). It fell apart when I was getting it out of the pan, so it looks more like biscuits and gravy (with sprinkles, of course) but it tasted good which is all that matters. I'm not bitter about my lack of baking skills.

Besides, my Grandma always said that if a cake didn't fall apart, it wasn't any good. That's the hope I'm holding on to!

Then Mark came by to wish Carly (and us, but mostly Carly) a Merry Christmas and just hang out for a couple of hours til he had to get back to his fam.

All in all, we have had a very Merry Christmas. We hope you and yours did as well......

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!

Christmas is here and I hope everyone has an awesome day with family and friends! We had fun last night with the Smith's on the levee watching the bon fires. Its always a blast even though Carly couldn't actually participate. To walk up the levee wall would be just too much on that new knee she got from Santa.

Then we are up this morning and gifts are opened and now the birthday cake is in the oven. Yep, Cj's 9 today! I can't believe he's growing up so fast. So, the rest of the day will be spent with family and friends, and trying to figure out what to do with all the new stuff that we have to fit into our already crowded lives. Ahhhh, the joy of the season!

**Birthday is celebrated after lunch, so birthday pics will follow.....

Workin it!

Here's Carly. Working the new knee and texting at the same time. She and I agree (along with Beck) that God loves texting. Its just a great thing.

Carly had some breakthroughs in therapy this week. She can straighten her leg completely, can make a full rotation on the stationary bike and can pick it up by herself - almost. Its the little things, but she's doing great!

Bro Wayne visited her while at therapy so he gave her his best coach pep talk. We love Bro Wayne.

Busy Thursday

Today, Carly went back to school. Wow! A huge accomplishment. She's doing great! Came home a little tired, but other than that, she's great. (even though she's making a funny face!)

After getting the kids to school, I sorted through some gifts, wrapped what was not wrapped, made a list of any last minute gifts and headed to the church to serve. What an amazing site! I was asked to help sort gifts into boy/girl categories and age groups. For the past few weeks, at our services, we have been collecting toys for children in the inner city and who are less fortunate. Can I tell you, our church is a giving church! They represented! We sorted thousands of toys. Toys for boys, toys for girls, toys for babies, toys for teens.....it was crazy, but in an amazing way. I can't wait until this weekend when we get to bless a child with a toy. Its going to be so cool!

Then, CJ came home with a list of things he needs for his Class party tomorrow. (yes, tomorrow)So, we made cupcakes tonight. We made birthday cupcakes. I know its Christmas and all, but its also his birthday, so we're making birthday cupcakes.

So, some time, between sorting toys, wrapping gifts and making cupcakes, I get a picture text from Paula. She and Becky pretty much know me as good as anyone, but this one got me. The subject of the text was "Wanna go?". So I was mortified when I opened the picture, and it was this....Ever since I was a small child, I have had a horrible fear of birds. Any kind. Ducks, chickens, live ones, dead ones. Its so strange, and I'm at peace with that. Fair's are kinda creepy to me anyway, but to add birds???? ON PURPOSE???? Someone is just sick. I'm sure this would be a great time for someone, but not me! No, Paula, you are on your own with this one!

Carly's free!

Our visit to the doc went better than expected! She was anticipating getting the cast off, and getting a new one on. In fact, we were prepared. What we were not prepared for was getting there and the doctor telling her its time to start walking and physical therapy! She is so excited! The leg looks great! Just needed a good bath. She was fitted for a limited range motion brace (with hinges and all)! She's just like Forrest Gump! She starts therapy today and we can't wait to see what fun things they have in store for us! A few pics from the morning.

Carly, just after they cut the cast off - waiting for x-rays....this scar drew some attention!

Carly and her doctor.

Dr. Frierson. He's the best....and looks so young...(hehe, inside joke!)

Excited about our news and ready to go home.

Carly's Night Out....

Twas the night before... the next "big" dr visit and Carly's friend calls to let her know the school's band Christmas concert is tonight. Carly had mentioned she'd like to go. Unsure if she would return to school before the holiday, she wanted to hear the band and see her friends. So I loaded her up and we went. It was awesome! She was able to see some of her friends, visit with some teachers and even got a shout out from her band director. She misses being in school with her friends. She'll be back soon...... a few pics from last night.

Carly with her friends, Elizabeth, her bff Lily and Alaina

Carly with her friend, Deva (the absolute, coolest name on the planet!)

NOEL....

This is something that I had to post about! This is in one of the neighbor's yards. They are so brave. They put this out every year! I mean, like clock work.....Thanksgiving is over and they are out putting up the "NOEL" in their front yard. However, it never fails.....the closer it gets to Christmas, someone, every year, just as they have put it out, has come in the night and switched the letters around to read "LEON". The neighbors don't take it down in anger or put it away in disgust. They just fix it right back and it stays out all season. That's dedication to the holiday. I don't know these neighbors, but I should. They have to be good people.

Kings or Wise Guys?

Three of the amazing guys at the Baton Rouge Dream Center where we have been serving for almost a year now. These guys are the 3 Kings in our Christmas play that I'm sure Carole and I will blog about next Sunday/Monday! What a crazy day yesterday in Kids church! We had 30 kids sign in and get name tags and at the end of the day, one of our volunteers counted 60 something kids! They always have such a great time and we are gearing up for the Christmas blowout that starts this Saturday and will flood over into Sunday! WOW! It is gonna be great!

picture courtesy of Carole Turner

Snow in South LA!

We woke up this morning to a little precipitation. Its really pretty to sit inside and watch it snow while sipping on my cup of hot coffee! Makes me feel like I'm back in North GA! I love watching the snow. But, I do not like having to get out in it! It's cold, wet and nasty. So far, they have not closed schools for the kids and CJ is supposed to head to Nola today for a field trip. Just waiting to see if we are still on. Here are a few pics from inside my warm house!

This picture was taken shortly after 6am....

This was about 6:45am as the sun was coming up.This is our backyard covered with snow. The little prints that cut through the middle of the picture? Yes, that's CJ's footprints. He couldn't stand it. He ran to the little tree and back - in his pjs.

No school.....

Well, it seems Carly's on a temporarily permanent snow day. She is getting very bored at home and her school work is piling up. We haven't heard from her homebound teacher and its been two weeks. The school is trying to get someone set up but it has not happened yet. So our days are spent like this....

I just clean around her and help her with what school work she can do. We tried to go to school today. I drove her up there and she was ready to go to class when the Guidance Counselor told us that the school can't take her in her wheelchair. She's too much of a risk for getting bumped and injured. Oh well...we tried.