Merry Christmas!

Ralphie and Me Mugging

Our Newest Client

Milo- Isn't he just the cutest thing! And loves to walk, and play fetch.

What a sweetie!

We get to play with Milo all weekend! Yay!

Wanna go for a walk?

Go get it, Milo!

Memories

I had a memory flash back. I want to share.

I was bout 12 at my friend's house. Her mom was a bit of an eccentric, and I loved her. She was an artist and marched to her own drummer.

One time my friend and I were playing a game, or just hanging out and in she came with a plate of fresh green apples and cheddar cheese cut up for us to eat. Just because.

That has always stuck with me. I must think of that at least once every month or two, here almost 40 years later. It is about love. Sometimes when I spontaniously make coffee cake or brownies for my boys, I think of this and her.

This is love. :)

Snow in Houston!

We had snow in Houston!

Yes, a dusting, but enough to get us South Texans excited!

Boomer has the Christmas Spirit..

A friend brought over antlers for the dogs.... I am not sure Boomer is into this, but he liked the food served. :)

Matthew Kelly and Cindy Kelly

Got to meet Matthew Kelly this weekend and he gave an awesome talk at the Lighthouse Catholic Media Annual Confernece.

What a weekend! more later...

Government

Quotes

I am finding just the most cool quotes from John Holt and Charlotte Mason. I have been imagingin what it would be like if the two met at a dinner party. I would want CS Lewis there, too,I think.

Anyway I will be posting these as I run across the gems..

Enjoy!

Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.
John Holt

“The Life of the Mind grows upon Ideas––Now that life, which we call education, receives only one kind of sustenance; it grows upon ideas. You may go through years of so-called 'education' without getting a single vital idea; and that is why many a well-fed body carries about a feeble, starved intelligence; and no society for the prevention of cruelty to children cries shame on the parents.” Vol 3 pg 80 Charlotte Mason

People should be free to find or make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have.
John Holt

More Quotes

When you choose to be pleasant and positive in the
way you treat others, you have also chosen,
in most cases, how you are going to be treated by others.


~Zig Ziglar

This is ME!

Home Again

Got home this evening- pine cones and branches blanket our driveway and yard.

House is yucky smelling.

Power is ON!

Found load of laundery in the washer I left 5 days ago.

Threw out everything in the fridge. Restocked with basics. Have to face the 3 freezers soon. Power was out for 5 days, so can't risk eating it.

Neighbors helped so much.

Glad to be home.

Feeling lucky.

In our own beds tonight. Many people aren't. You have seen the news- people on the coast have no homes.

Tired and ready for normalcy.

Very blessed to have my parents 4 hours away. Went and saw my dad in nursing home while there. Boys saw the place for the first time.

Surreal that my father LIVES there. He probably won't come home. So hard to wrap my mind around.

Went to lovely vigil Mass there in country parish. Tropical Storm Ike came through, and half way through the power went out. Candle light service.

We are blessed and thankful in this storm that very few lives were lost.

I thought of another Palin Chicken answer!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: It wanted to join the old rooster and clean out the henhouse!

(I love blogs.. you can post whatever nonesense pops into your head! lol)

The "S" Word.... :)

(Click on picture for larger view)


My boys love the comics and they keep convincing them not to go to school! Here is one more.. thanks Maria P

Why did the chicken cross the road: Sarah Palin

I noticed on the 'chicken list' that Sarah was not included.

I would love to hear your creative answers to why the Sarah Palin chicken crossed the road! Post yours in comments!

Here's mine:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: I cleaned out the chicken coop on this side of the road, now I need to clean up the roosters on the other side!

New Alaska Licence Plate

Why did the chicken cross the road?

MC CAIN: The chicken crossed the road because it realized the importance of crossing the isle to get things done. Or in this case the road.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time
for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOE BIDEN: I can't say for sure why that chicken is crossing the road, but I will say, that as soon as that chicken arrives on the other side I will personally take the lead to procesute that chicken for war crimes and any other poultry infractions I can think of, but this is not for vengence.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that
little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely
qualified to ensure right from Day One! that every chicken in this
country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this
really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the
road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or
not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle
ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see
the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What
is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road,
I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled
about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain
against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black
chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't
realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the
road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road.
What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not
taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems,
which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having
the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of
life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive
across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a
chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other
side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty!
You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking
American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that
chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell
my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave
me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a
toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not
been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the
road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good
enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we
will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart
warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went
on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing
roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not
only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of
eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash........reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did
the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Good News- Sort Of

I thought I was having a major hot flash last night, it just wouldn't stop. I finally went to bed and got up this morning to my dh informing me the downstairs AC went out so he slept upstairs.

Gee, Thanks for telling me! Last night I kept sayin to all the males' Is it hot in here?" and they were very non-committal since they hear that from me all the time.

It wasn't just ME!

Party Night! Congrats Sarah Palin

From the moment she walked on stage in this cavernous bear pit, bandbox smart in cream jacket, trim black skirt and black heels, she proved that John McCain knew exactly what he was doing when he picked her as running mate.

Hair piled into a slight beehive – more Sarah White House than Amy Winehouse – she blinked and smiled behind her geeky spectacles as the vast crowd went ballistic.

Click for article

Wagging Tails Welcoming!

Stephen shot this video of what he says is the typical reaction of me pulling up in the driveway. I was outside talking to my dh before coming in, but the dogs had all heard the garage door go up! That is left to right, Ralphie, Booomer and Abbey (the latter is staying with us while her owners travel this weekend to Florida to see their new grandson!)