Bell County Fair Photography

The Bell County fair is coming up soon in February. Jolee is gathering all her things up and getting ready for it. This year she entered into photography, crafting which is scrapbooking and making a pie. 

She had to turn in her two photos for it last Monday. She had to physically take the photos herself then I had to submit them online and then we will have to mount them on foam board and take them this weekend to the fair so they can be judged.

She had to take one photo of wildlife and one photo of plant/flora. So, I took her out to the horse barn and let her take some photos. 

She walked around and took photos. 

Haha, she had a fun time taking the photos. 

She ended up submitting this one for plant/flora of this cactus

And this one for animal wildlife. 

These turned out great! 

I hope she will get a ribbon! But I told her the county fair is pretty hard competition so she may not get a ribbon, but we shall see!

A Wintery Mix

This cold weather has got us all being lazy like Tippy.

Winter is in full swing. Ugh. I don't like winter. I like to chase 70....70 degrees that is. We've already had two bouts of cold "snowy" weather or a chance of snow. But surprisingly no snow for us here in Central Texas. We usually get atleast one snow or dusting of snow every year but it has gotten down in the 20's and that's cold for us. Thankfully no I’ve this year! We have been stuck in the house and using our fire place a lot. I'm ready for spring!

This chick in her glasses!

This is what boredom looks like. Jewell likes to sit upside down in the seat when we sit in the car waiting on Jolee to finish with her horse lessons or Jaina to finish with her baton lessons. 

Haha, she looks like she is wearing a dunce hat. Before Christmas break, they were studying different Christmas traditions around the world and wearing a pointed hat is one of those traditions, so they made some at school and she got to wear it home.

I bought a game stick during Christmas that has over 54000 games on it to keep Jolee and Jewell entertained. It's a lot of fun. Jewell likes to play on it, but I think Justin and I play on it more than them because we like to play Mario Kart and try and beat each other. Lol. It keeps us entertained when we're all cooped up in the house together. 

A New Years Birthday

Back in December we celebrated Allie's birthday. 

The girls and I took him to Chili's to eat. The girls love to go there to eat. 

Then we went to Freddie's for dessert. Since it was New Years Day there was not much of a choice since everything was closed but we all like the ice cream there, so it was a win!

We sang Happy Birthday.

Ate ice cream. We each got something different.

Then gave him his gifts. It wasn't much but wanted to celebrate him. The girls gave him a gift card, some cat treats and some framed photo Christmas ornaments, fridge magnet photos and Jewell painted him a dino! 

Then I had a big surprise for the girls. Justin was working at the station and drove the fire truck to Freddie's to eat and say hi. The girls were so surprised! 

Then we headed home. It was a fun evening! 

Happy Birthday!

 

What's Up Chicken Butt

Hehe, Look at this little chicken butt. Lol obviously her pants were a little too tight. She said "Mom, I don't like these pants my butt crack was showing all day at school." She does not like jeans and prefers leggings anyways to wear at school butt her little crack was too cute not to share!

Jewell got Go Fish and Old Maid for Christmas. Almost every night after dinner the girls and I play a few rounds of Go Fish and when it's just me and Jewell we like to play Old Maid. We've had a lot of fun with these cards.

Being silly on the ipad

I've always said, Jaina looks like if me and Grandma Carolyn got together and had a baby, lol. These two are spitting images of each other in the face and body with a little of me mixed in. She has Grandma Carolyn laugh too. 

Jolee and Jewell well we all know they definitely favor Justin! 

 

Jolee and Lenny

I found my new favorite photo of Jolee. I absolutely love this picture! 

She looks SO beautiful in this picture.

While Tim and Linda were down visiting, they went and watched Jolee ride. They said she looks like a natural up there on that horse. I had to work so I didn't get to go watch her. Jolee said she got in trouble by the instructor for trotting her horse when she wasn't supposed to, lol. 
I love that she is finally getting to take lessons and that she loves it! It's great animal therapy. 

Jewell ran around the barn and chanced ducks. 

Two Peas in a Pod

 I can't believe we have had Stormi for over a year now. He is coming up on his 2 birthday. He's been a great pet for Jolee. She LOVES him to death. I don't know what we are going to do if something ever happens to him. As you know we had no intentions of keeping him as a pet but here we are. He's like a dog. He goes in and out of the doggie door. He eats actual dog food out of the dog bowl! When he's hungry he will nug you for a snack with his nose usually into my ankle or sometimes he will stand up on his hind legs and beg for a snack. He eats crackers, Goldfish, chips, any kind of carbs, candy, chocolate, fruit, cookies and of course grains and grass. Basically, everything he is not supposed to eat, lol. He plays chase with the cats when he's in a mood and sleeps in his little crate in Jolee's room every night. He gets up every morning when Jolee does and comes hopping out of her room to go outside to the bathroom. He does not go to the bathroom in the house. We got him nurtured a few months ago and he's calmed down a lot and no longer tries to hump her or the pillow, lol. He spends most of his time outside and then somehow magically knows when she gets home from school and hops back into the house to see her. We allow him to roam free in the back yard. We take our chances on something getting him but he is bigger than some dogs so I don't think anything will swoop down and get him. He has only gotten out of the fence twice but now that he is nurtured, he pretty much stays put. When Jolee calls him, he comes running to her. He sure does love her and shows it by making circles around her feet and making grunting noises. They are two peas in a pod! 

Christmas with Grandpa and Linda

In the afternoon Grandpa Tim and Linda arrived. The girls were so excited to see them. They brought in all their Christmas presents and Christmas presents from Grandpa Do Do and Richard. 

They got settled in; we talked for a bit while the girls anxiously waited to open their gifts. 

We of course had to take a few pictures by the tree 

And a family picture

Then the girls got right down to business

Jaina and Jolee both got diamonds from Grandma DoDo and Richard. Jolee got a real diamond necklace, and Jaina got a pair of real diamond earrings. They were SO surprised and just couldn't believe it.

They also got lots of money, jewelry boxes, gift cards and a lot more

Jewell got a Barbie, some money, a new outfit, and lots of toys, necklace and braclet

After opening gifts we cleaned up, took naps and had prime rib for dinner. Justin just couldn't get over the prime rib, lol. It was really good.

Tim and Linda stayed for about a week. They took care of the girls while we worked.

They took them shopping and had fun with them at the house.

We went to Texas Roadhouse and ate one night.

We enjoyed our time with them while they were here, and we were all sad to see them go. 

Between work and our busy schedules, it took me about two weeks to take down all the Christmas decorations.

Another Christmas down and in the books. 

It was a fun and very fast holiday season.