Hiking

Today, I discovered that hiking is way more fun when I'm in shape. LOL We went out and hiked around a bit with the dogs and the boys and I thought I might die before we made it up and then back down! I was heaving and sweating and coughing... Yep, hiking is way more fun when I am in shape.

We Have Winner...

Holy Moly! I totally spaced out the drawing yesterday and I was sooooo excited because the participants this week were kidos!! Yea!!

So we just did the drawing and my youngest, Logan who is 6, drew the winner....

THE BIG WINNER IS..... ZACHARY!!! Whoooo hoooo!!!

The boys chose the prize and it's...

This is a great book published by Usborne books. The boys were tuned in when I read them Zachary's list. They heard that he likes Trains and so they thought he would like this book =) It's from their own book shelf =)

Congratulations Zachary!

We hope you all come back and participate again on Monday =)

XOXOXOX

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Our Family to Yours! We wish Everyone a Very Happy Thanksgiving =)

The Ladybug Clan~

Getting Ready

Thanksgiving is almost here!!

And with Thanksgiving, comes my birthday!

Hubby said he would take me to see Twilight for my Birthday.

Usually I don't get into the new fad books. Usually I steer clear... but one day I didn't have anything to read and there it was! So I bought it, read it and am now on the third book. I started them last week!

Now it is safe for me to go see the movie. I MUST always read the books first, before I see the movie. That's just the way I roll ;)

For Thanksgiving I'm making Green Bean Casserole. Yummmm...

And I'm bringing French Bread....

AND I'm making Cloud Biscuits, because I LOVE these with butter and honey =)

**Please don't forget to participate in Monday, With a Twist!**

Look Look!!

Take a look at the right hand side of my Blog!! I have a new Badge over there and I'm proud to announce that I am a NanoWrimo Winner in 2008!! I got my 50,000 word novel FINISHED and in record time I might add ;)

Of course it is a rough, rough first draft, but it is down on 'paper' and ready for editing!! I am so excited. I really never thought I would want to write a whole NOVEL. I thought that was really more for Hubby, but it turns out that I really ENJOYED writing this novel.

I LOVE to read and found that the actual writing of a book was almost as enjoyable to me as the reading of one! WOW!

Now I am enjoying going back and filling in more detail, adding better descriptions, ect. I can't wait until it's 'finished' and readable =) Then watch out Cuz!! You'll be readin it for me!! After all I don't have an editor yet ;)

And just for fun, In case you can't see the badge along the right hand side of my blog....

Monday, With a Twist!

It's Monday here at Ladybug Farm and today we have the 10 Things I Like About Me, with a Twist!

My friend Lori over at thatssogod has two little girls that want to participate in the 10 Things I Like About Me... In fact they are so excited they could hardly wait for Monday!! How GREAT is that!? Sooooooo I decided today would be 10 Things I Like About Me for MY boys =)

On with the show!

10 Things That BEN Likes About Him: (as told to me)

1. I like that I'm good at reading.
2. I like that I'm good at school.
3. I like that I'm good at drawing.
4. I like my green eyes. I'm happy to have green eyes.
5. I like that I'm good at playing video games.
6. I like that I'm good at swinging on the swing.
7. I like to make different things up. (or I like that I have a good imagination)
8. I like my hair. Cause I like to stick it up.
9. I like that I'm good at playing board games, like Clue.
10. I like that I'm good at coloring.

WOW that was actually HARD! He had a hard time coming up with things. That makes me so sad =( I was sure he would have a list as long as my arm... This is something we need to work on!

Onto LOGAN'S List! This one is like pulling teeth. I think he woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. There is nothing he likes about himself today =(

1. I like that I'm good at drawing.
2. I like that I'm good at making books.
3. I like that I'm strong.
4. I like that I'm good at gymnastics.
5. I like that I love my Mommy.
6. I like my bones.
7. I like my soul.
8. I like everything about me (here he is trying to get out of doing this...)
9. I like that I'm good at building things with Legos.
10. I like that I'm good at putting together costumes.

Whew! We did it =) My poor little boys, they have too much of me in them I'm afraid. We MUST do this more often, so they know it's wonderful to like things about themselves!!

Thank you Lori and girls for this great idea!!!

Now, either YOU write 10 things you like about YOU or have one or more of your kids write 10 things they like about themselves. Be sure to put your child's name at the bottom of their list, so I know which names to put in for the drawing for the Mystery Prize... on Friday!!

Onward!!

Jammies

Don't ya just love those days were you don't have to get dressed at all? But can stay in your jammies all day long?

That's the kind of day I had today. I stayed in my jammies and slept most of the day. Bliss...

Although I could do without the bad hair day...

Sick Day

Sigh...

I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck.

Lovely.

The boys have been so good while Hubby and I write our novels this month that I had planned to take them to the BEST book store EVER, The Book Exchange, in Missoula...

So I had to do that. I found the three books I wanted and sat on the bench, holding my head until the boys had their picks.

Sigh...

I think it's the flu...

Sigh...

My Hubby ROCKS!

Not only is he sooooo tall and handsome a totally BUILT, but he is a sweet, kind and loving man.


He is the BEST Dad I have ever seen. He loves his boys and gets right in there, playing the Superhero (well he thinks he IS a superhero...) going "hunting", teaching them about drawing, teaching them about being the best they can be, teaching them to be good men.




He works hard to provide for our family and it really upsets him when we struggle financially. He feels like he is letting us down whenever we are tight money wise. He takes it personally and then he thinks maybe he doesn't rock. But I always know better ;)

He goes out and does a job that he hates to be sure that we have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. I admire the strength that it takes to do this. I know many men that sit at home and play video games while their wives do all the work, but not my Hubby!

He rocks because his hands are big, callused, working man hands. I love my Hubby...



__________________________________________________________

We have another winner from It's Monday! Congrats to Loriann from thatssogod!! Head on over and congratulate her!!

And here is the fantastic Mystery Prize....


It's a hand knitted scarf. It's made out of organic cotton yarn in a pretty soft baby blue. I hope you enjoy it Loriann!! And thanks so much for playing my game =) Remember to give yourself a little love every day, not just on Ladybug Farm's Magic Monday ;)

I've been tagged!

Ooooh once again, I've been invited to play! I LOVE to play =)

Paula over at Paula's Place tagged me for another book related game. Since I love books, these games are so much fun! Now, if only I could come up with 7 people to tag..... Hmmmm....

Okay, the rules of the game are as follows:

Share seven random or weird book facts about yourself.

Then tag 7 other people. Notify them that they have been tagged and sit back and enjoy reading random and weird stuff about about them =) Fun right!?

Okay, on with the game!

1. I read and re-read books until their covers fall off!
2. My favorite books are books written in the times past... like way past, Middle Ages is my favorite.
3. I LOVE time travel books. At the top of my very short list is Diana Gabaldon. If you haven't ever read her, she is a MUST read!!
4. I LOVE books that are at least a 1000 pages. The thicker the better!
5. I can read a 200 page book in two days. (This confuses Hubby. He just doesn't understand how I manage, especially since I only read while in the bath tub or before bed...)
6. I LOVE reading to my kids. But I only like reading the story books. My oldest brings home learning books all the time and I find them boring. (I do read them out loud of course, they just bore me. Sad right?)
7. I prefer books that are bigger than your average paper back. I like them to be at least 5 x 8. Weird I know. Sometimes I will shop according to the books size, first I look at size, then I look at cover, then I read the back. I know, I'm weird =)

Fun right!? Now it's you're turn!

I tag:

1. Heather at Just We Three. This is my wonderful cousin and my 'nieces'...
2. Tara at Too Much Information. Head on over there and see her adorable Chloe! I check her site daily for my Chloe fix =)
3. jewelstreet at Jewel Street Designs. She makes fantastic jewelry! A very talented lady!!
4. Melissa at Laisy Daise Photography. I LOVE her site. Her photography is FANTASTIC!!
5. Sue at Living and Learning. This is such an interesting site! She is an American living in Japan!! Cool!!
6. Lori at thatsogod. Her daughter needs some prayers today so, pop on over and read about her...
7. Betty at Wiens World. She lives in Paraguay. I know, it's pretty awesome =)

Enjoy!!

Tonight...

I JUST took this photo. Hubby had Angus on his lap, then allowed him to get up on the table... where I am working on the computer and he is drawing. (We rarely use the table for eating. It's always full of our 'stuff'.)

Angus was so happy. He was wagging and wagging his tail, walking all over the table. Then he spotted this!! Oh he found a treasure!!

(In case you can't read the writing, it's a soft white eraser LOL)

All is Good...

In the world of Angus. His eye is looking so good! They took out the stitches today and though he still has an ulcer in there, at least his eye is once again, BROWN! No more zombie WHITE eye. Thank God!


Then my little guy was home sick today. He was supposed to be laying on the couch, resting. If I had been home that is exactly what would have happened... but today Hubby was home, while I ran Angus in to get his stitches out. And this is what happened while I was gone...

In this picture he is admiring how his cape blows in the wind =)

I especially LOVE the red socks!!

So Daddy's aren't the BEST at making sure there is resting going on... But they are the BEST at encouraging super hero time.

The other night I was working on my computer and the boys, all three of them, were busy doing something in the living room. I happened to glance up and there was Hubby, wearing the red cape from the photos above (it came to just ABOVE his waist) he had squeezed himself into one of their super hero shirts and was holding a green light saber... Please... He will NEVER grow up. Honestly? I don't want him to =)

**And a quick reminder. If you haven't posted on It's Monday! then you better get on and do it! The drawing will be held on Friday for the Mystery Prize. Trust me, it's a good one!!**

NanoWrimo

Okay, so I'm still doing the NanoWrimo thing. So is Hubby. We compete like crazy every day and so far I am managing to stay in the lead for number of words written. I am up to 40,248 words! Only 9,752 words left =) That makes me so happy. My story is pretty good, in my opinion anyway... Which isn't worth much right now because my brain is totally fried from all the writing. I can barely think of good ideas for my blog right now!

And don't get me started on my kitchen, or my laundry, or the state of my livingroom. It's bad. It's very very bad. But my book is good!

Now, I in awe of all my favorite authors more than I have ever been before. I can't imagine all the research it takes to write those 1,000 page books. It's remarkable. It's fascinating and I want to know more. So at least through all this I haven't hid my head in a sandy hole with my huge rear end sticking up in the sky!

I'm like... bring it on!!!

I think this might be what I was put here to do!!!

Cool, huh?

And just for fun, a picture of my little Angus. He is doing so great! He gets his stitched out tomorrow!!

It's Monday!

And here at Ladybug Farm, Monday is the 10 Things I Like About Me day =)

The "rules" are:

1) Please right 10 things YOU like about YOU in my comments.
2) Everyone that does this will have their name put into a hat on Friday for a drawing.
3) The winner of the drawing gets a Mystery Prize =)

It's as easy as that! I'll start with 10 Things I Like About Me:

1. I like my smile. It lights up my face.
2. I like all the colors in my hair, even the gray ones!! (I've been getting gray hairs since I was a senior in High School! But that's still better than my Dad who started losing his hair when he was a senior in High School! LOL)
3. I like my height, 5'5". Just right. The top of my chin rests just under Hubby's chin =) Makes for great huggin!!
4. I like how much fun I am to be around. (People tell me I have a 'bubbly personality'. As long as I'm not ditsy!!)
5. I like how forgetful I am. It makes for a good laugh now and then. Sometimes...
6. I like how creative I am.
7. I like that I can use words to draw a picture.
8. I like that I can take beautiful photos.
9. I like that I have good intuition.
10. I like that I have tons of loving family members around me all the time!!

Whew! I had to pound that one out!! I have gotten very creative since I've been writing this novel on NanoWrimo. I am supposed to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The end date is November 30th. I have 35,368 words so far!!! I'm sooooo close and I WILL finish by the 30th =)

Hunting Down at the Creek

Okay, we don't really hunt. There isn't one of us that would enjoy killing another animal. But the kids like to go "hunting" down at the creek for Goblins, Dragons and sometimes the odd Vampire. Oh woe to those Vampires hiding in our creek!! (We've been known to "hunt" raccoons. But that is because my kids think that raccoons are as big as our house and very mean. Don't ask me where they got that idea... LOL)

So I thought I would take you on a picture journey, of our journey!

First I wanted to get a good picture of our German Shepherd puppy, Bishop. We are very proud of him as we owned his mom and picked his dad. Total we had 15 puppies from this cross and decided to quit while we were ahead and keep this handsome guy. The Mom found a new home after she tried to EAT one of my goats... long story and not part of our picture journey, so I'll leave it at that!

It turned out it wasn't going to be easy to get a good picture of Bishop. He is NEVER still!!

Or I would get this...

So I decided to take pictures of the rest of the troop, making our way to the creek. (The creek is at one end of our property. We only have to walk a little bit to get there, but that is part of the fun!)


This is my youngest. He has his super hero get up under his jacket... you'll see it in a minute!

This is my oldest. Note... he has his Nerf dart gun. He is READY for some Goblin shootin!

Here is Hubby. He came armed with his video camera. Watch out Goblins, Dragons and Vampires!!

Another attempt to get a good shot of Bishop. And of course, just as I pressed the button, he took off!

Finally! I know you could hardly wait to see the super hero costume!! He is wearing his big brother's red under ware. Because Superman wears his under ware on the outside after all!!

And of course I couldn't resist a shot of my Angus. He is such a great model! Just look at how he poses!

Here is my 'smug' oldest boy. He had climbed the tree and was standing up there looking so proud! There is a better shot of his get-up coming soon!

Finally!! I got the shot I wanted! It was sooooo hard for him to stay still long enough for me to press the button =) He is only 5 months old what more could I expect of him?!

I took this one so you could see how much bigger Bishop is than Angus! They make quite a pair =)

Here's the oldest son's outfit. Camo pants, for hunting, a nice warm sweater and note the headband flashlight, around his waist! They always wear them this way. I LOVE it. (I just wish I could wear them around my waist! I'm lucky if they fit my fat head!!)

I LOVE this picture... A boy and his dog.

Hubby in a stare down with the camera... the camera won.

Okay, this post is getting too full of pictures, and I still have a few more I want to put up, so I'll just explain this... Hubby and Ben had gone across the creek, by way of this big tree. It isn't a tree that fell down, it just kind of lays across the creek like this, making a wonderful "bridge", if you are good at walking across bridges that are 10 feet above the creek!! Well Hubby and Ben are good at it. Bishop, Logan and I are not. But Bishop is far more adverturesome than either Logan or I, so he made the trek. Now he has to come back though.....

Here he is slinking across the tree... He decided he did NOT like water so wasn't about to just wade across....


Here he is... stuck. He is looking at Ben for some help.

Well since I was also trying to help him, and not just stand there like a lump, taking pictures, I missed the fantastic fall from the tree into the creek. He fell like a box of rocks. And as you can see the creek is fairly deep. It was up above Hubby's knees! But Hubby being the great man that he is, didn't hesitate to leap into the creek to save our Bishop!

And carry him from the creek, so he wouldn't have to get any wetter...

And then proceed to give Bishop lots of encouragement and let him know that he is a good boy.

Bishop will probably NEVER go down to the creek again. He was pretty mad about the whole thing. I doubt he will be a water dog after this!! LOL!

Poor Bishop...

The Bookworm Award!!

Oh Yea! I get to play! I was given this award by Paula over at Paula's Place! I love playing games =) So here we go!

Open the book closest to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment.

Turn to page 56....

Write out the fifth sentence, as well as the two to five sentences following.

Then pass this lovely little award onto five other people! Easy! Fun!! Share the love!!

Okay, the name of my book is Nights in Rodanthe, byNicholas Sparks. (By the way I have a real love/hate relationship with Mr. Nicholas Sparks. Why oh why does he have to write stories that make me blubber, hick-up and sob? He writes the kind of books that make tears and snot mix together on my face, it can be VERY unappealing for those around me. I try to be alone when I am finishing one of his books. I don't want to scare Hubby or the kids....)

Anyway, onto the excerpt...

"From the front seat, he grabbed the leather pouch containing his passport and tickets, but instead of going back inside, he made his way around the side of the house.

On the beach side the wind grew cold, and Paul paused for a moment to zip his jacket. Pinching the leather pouch beneath his arm, he tucked his hands into his jacket and bowed his head, feeling the breeze nip at his cheeks.

The sky remainded him of those he'd seen in Baltimore before snowstorms that tinted the world into shades of washed-out gray. In the distance, he could see a pelican gliding low over the water, it's wings unmoving, floating with the wind. He wondered where it would go when the storm hit full force."

I would like to pass this award on to the following people:
1. Heather at Just We 3.
2. Jewelstreet at Jewel Street Designs.
3. Betty at Wiens World.
4. Jillene at Jillene's Journal.
5. Loriann at thatssogod.

We Have a Winner!

Here at Ladybug Farm we had a drawing today.

On Monday, I posted a list of 10 things I like about Me and asked you all to make me a list of 10 things you like about YOU. I had 14 people make their lists!! Thank you to all that were courageous enough to join in. I hope you all come back this Monday and join in again.

And to those that just read and didn't feel comfortable posting, join in! We're all nice here. And we don't think you're braggin'. This is therapeutic in it's own way. And Lord knows we all need to feel good about ourselves, every day =)

So now it's time for everyone to join me in congratulating our winner this week!!

Drum roll.......... more drumming....... just a little more............

The Winner is, Life at Camellia Cottage!!! Please go to her blog and congratulate her on being the BIG WINNER!!

And the mystery prize is...

3 Hand knitted Washclothes!

Hubby came up with this. I have them all over the house. I've been knitting them like crazy, getting ready for Christmas. So, a big thanks to Hubby for coming up with this great idea =)

Here they are, one turquoise one and two white ones. They are nice and thick, just perfect for face washing =)

PLASTIC CONE

Why is it we can put a man on the moon, but we can't come up with a better plan for the dog who's had surgery than the PLASTIC CONE!?

Do you know how awkward it is to snuggle with a dog that is wearing a PLASTIC CONE? Do you know how hard it is to sleep with a dog, who is wearing a PLASTIC CONE, and also prefers to sleep on your FACE at night?

Well believe me when I say IT SUCKS! Someone needs to come up with a better idea than the PLASTIC CONE. Really, come on!

I'm not getting much sleep at night worrying about the PLASTIC CONE and whether it's cutting off circulation to his brain. Is he breathing? CAN he breathe with the PLASTIC CONE cutting across his neck? Does he know if he's breathing or not? Oh the agony!! Sigh...

Only 6 more days of the PLASTIC CONE.........

Plus it's really hard to play fetch with the PLASTIC CONE on....

Update on My Little Angus

Thank you all for your kind words and keeping Angus in your thought yesterday! Here's my little guy all surgeried up! The boys were pretty excited to see him, and even more excited because he looks like he has an eye patch on. My boys LOVE eye patches and they were convinced that Angus was going to need one. It seems they were right!

Angus was pretty groggy last night, but after a couple of hours of rest, he bounced right back and wanted to play fetch!! Of all things.

Of course I bundled him right up and off to bed we went. No fetching for the baby.

He has more medication than my Grandparents right now. I'll be dropping eye drops, antibiotics, and pain killers for quite a while. The pain killers make him tired, so we are trying to avoid that. I'm using LOTS of Essential Oils on him instead and they seem to help. Of course I don't put the oils IN his eyes, but on his back and feet. He loves them and they make him SMELL so good! I love that part!

So thanks to all for your help in Angus's fast recovery!! I know all the positive thoughts made it possible for him to come home last night.

**Now don't forget to go to this post "10 Things I like about Me" and be entered in my drawing for the Mystery Prize!!!**

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!

That's what I said last night when my little Angus woke me up at 11:30 pm whining and scratching at his eye.

"HOLY CRAP Hubby look at this!"

His entire eye was WHITE! And the tissue in the upper and lower eye lids was swollen and it seemed like it trying to PUSH his eye OUT!! HOLY CRAP!!

And to top it all off it was BLEEDING! His EYE was BLEEDING!! YUCK!!!

Hubby started freaking out, he was sure that he would wake up to an eyeball on the bed in the morning. I lied and told him I was sure that wouldn't happen. I got up and got a wet rag, wiped up the blood, grabbed the eye wash and rinsed the inside of the eye out. And what do I see but a HUGE ulcer!! AGAIN!? What the heck! His eye looked fine this weekend. On Monday I noticed it was weepy again and upped his eye drops and then last night, Tuesday, THIS!?

HOLY CRAP!

I got up early and met the vet (the good one here in town) at his door, I was there before he was! I handed my poor baby over to a horrified vet and he said they would help him.

I called a little bit ago and his wife (who is the other vet there) had looked at it and recommended that we take him to the optometrist for dogs over in Spokane.

Hmmmm, we can't make our house payment, I DOUBT that Hubby will go for this. I said what's plan B.

She said they could put him under and suture his third eyelid (which is down behind the bottom eyelid) to the upper eye lid and make a sort of bandage. Okay. That doesn't sound too bad.

I mean anything eye related sounds gross, but compared to driving over to Spokane and seeing the dog optometrist, this sounds do-able.

So he is still there and at 3:30 Mountain time he will go under and have a little surgery. They want to keep him over night, but I made a little bit of a fuss and they promised that if he wakes up and isn't too groggy they'll let me come and get him at 5:30.

So PLEASE PRAY FOR ANGUS PLEASE! Please oh please. He is such a little guy and we all love him so much. The boys will be so sad when they come home and he isn't here. We are all worried for him and a few prayers out there wouldn't hurt a thing!

I just couldn't take a picture of that eye this morning. I was afraid it would make you up chuck, seriously it's GROSS. But I'll be sure to update you tomorrow!

------------------ On a brighter note----------------

Thank you, for all the wonderful things you guys are coming up with about yourself!! I'm going to have quite a hat full =) This has been good for us I think. This may turn into a weekly drawing. It would be good for us to have to come up with 10 things we like about ourselves every week. And don't worry I don't think you're bragging at all! Shine girls, Shine!!