I'll admit I'm a thief!

As I was surfing today, I ran across this on another blog and thought I'd share it with you all.

Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take 'no' for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideas. They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give. HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Please pass this along to all your women friends and relatives to remind them just how amazing they are. I just did.

Sledding on the Farm

Well, I guess winter is here to stay, and with it always comes sled riding. Now, I am never in any way, shape or form ever excited about being cold, so Roger gets the fun job of taking Logan sled riding all winter. He actually has just as much fun. This time he had a little company as my brother Chris and my neice and nephew, McKayla and Christopher, came over to the farm. We invited my other brother Shawn to come over with his boys, too, but since we're in the middle of football season, and the Steelers were playing this past Sunday afternoon, his choice was quite obvious and he and his boys opted to watch the game instead. Wise choice in my mind as it was only 18 degrees outside, but tropical like conditions where my sister-in-law Amanda and I were watching the sledders from the car, lol. Our five sledders didn't seem to mind the cold, though, and we heard lots of screaming and laughing going on outside. A funny thing about sled riding down a hill on the farm, I did hear my husband tell my brother that he needed to make sure he kept his sled from going to the left as Roger had recently spred some manure on that particular field at the bottom of the hill right before it snowed.

Roger and Logan surveying the hill before the first descent.

Woo Hoo!!!

Christopher and Logan starting one of many walks up the hill.

Chris and Roger striking a pose the one time I came outta the car to take some shots.

Christopher never slowed down a bit as McKayla and their dad trudge behind him.

Logan and her Pappy making the final walk of the day up the hill before calling it quits, until the next time of course!

MY NEW SCRAPBLOG

Oh, no, like I need another craft project, but I couldn't resist. I seem to never have the time to do any serious scrapbooking anymore, but maybe one weekend outta the year, so when I found this site I had to give it a whirl. It's fast (well, now that I have DSL, lol), it's fun, and it's soooo easy. Everything you need is onsite, no cutting, glueing, measuring....IT'S GREAT!! You can even order your creations in a variety of ways...booklets, postcards, or print them out yourself. I probably should've done a Christmas theme, but I liked this layout and started it when I wasn't even beginning to think about Christmas.

LET'S BLAME WAL-MART???

You know, over the years Wal-Mart in my opinion has gotten a pretty raw deal from us Americans. We all want the best product possible for the lowest price possible, yet.......Wal-Mart, who has given us exactly what we have asked for, has been blamed for the closings of lots of small businesses; maybe, maybe not. They've been blamed for gobbling up the market by offering lower prices; maybe, maybe not. They've been blamed for --- I even hate to use this word --- discriminating against women in their work force; maybe, maybe not. But tonight as I listened to the NYC news (which by the way Wal-Mart has yet to get me local channels), I once again am absolutely amazed at the idiocy of some human beings in this country. The NYC District Attorney actually held a press conference and suggested that the blame in the horrible tragedy that resulted in the death of a maintenance man was actually the fault of Wal-Mart because they didn't take the necessary steps to stop this from happening. WHAT????? That's like saying if I get in my car to go get groceries and some drunk driver crashes in to me and I'm killed, that it was my fault actually because I didn't take the necessary steps to stop it from happening, i.e., not leaving my house, or possibly driving around in an army tank, or maybe I should have gone to a fortune teller and then I would've known that that drunk driver was going to hit me and I could have avoided the whole situation. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE???? Here's a novel idea. How about blaming the selfish, greedy mob that stormed the doors and then trampled that poor man to death? I'm sorry, people, but if we agree with the NYC DA (which I emphatically 100 percent not in a million years every will) what are we teaching our kids about personal responsibility? I'll tell you what we're teaching them. Don't worry, honey, you can do whatever you want 'cause we're just gonna blame Wal-Mart. Shoot me now!!! But, oh, wait, if you shoot me and you bought that gun at Wal-Mart............

Thanksgiving 11-27-08

Well, this Thanksgiving had a few bumps in the road. First off, we were supposed to spend it down in North Carolina with Roger's side of the family, and unfortunately after getting everything ready and packed Wednesday morning (and yes, we had everything in the car and were minutes from leaving), Roger finally realized that he was way too sick to make the trip, which probably would've taken us twice as long to get there with all the stops we were going to have to make, lol, and so within five minutes of finishing packing everything into the car, we turned right around and unpacked everything out of the car. Besides that, the weather was absolutely horrible, and since I didn't get my new car before we left {booooo}, we didn't have very good tires on the old one and that would've made the trip even more of a white knuckle experience. So Leyna, Logie and I went over to mom and dad's without Roger, to his relief, so he could be alone in peace and quiet for the day, and the remaining 11 of us had a fantastic meal (it really does taste better every year), and then had a little photo session afterwards which everyone just LOVED!! Josh, Jake, Christopher and Logan were on their best behavior. We all have so much to be thankful for and our family really has been blessed.

This is how Roger spent his Thanksgiving

What's left of the 2008 bird!

Since we had an extra seat, we invited Frosty to eat.

46th Thanksgiving together for Mom & Dad.

Shelley, Shawn, Jake and Josh

Chris and Christopher

Logan and Leyna

Nanny, Logan and Mommy

Granny, Logan, Nanny and Mommy

All the Girls!

And all the Boys!

Logan and her Granny Julie

We even invited some of our "special" friends.

And of course our Home Boys!

Leyna and her 3 cousins playing a little Candyland.

And that sweetheart Josh playing a game of Candyland with his littlest cousin Logan.

Gotcha Day for Kelsi Rose

Oh, for cryin' outloud, one more time, lol. Julie and Patrick are a couple with the same adoption agency as Roger and I...EAC, Inc. They are in China right now and have just met their new daughter, Kelsi Rose. Click on the link below and it will take you to their adoption blog. Once in the blog, go to Travel Log and enjoy the photos!!

http://www.journeytokelsirose.com

Happy 40th Birthday, Shawn!

Ah, yes, now there's 3 of us down and 1 more to go

until the big 4-0!

A day at Rim Rock and Jake's Rocks

This past fall, which now seems soooo far away, Chris, Amanda, McKayla and Christopher, and Roger, Logan and I went out to Kinzua one Sunday afternoon (9-21-08) just to enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. We cooked some hamburgers and hotdogs, but first Chris and Roger had to make their own spatula because that was the one thing we forgot to bring. Chris poses with their invention in one of the following pictures. We even put the kids up to harassing a few folks who were protesting any future drilling that may or may not be happening at the state park by letting them yell "Drill, Baby, Drill" as we walked by. There was a lot of hiking, which some had more trouble with than others, not mentioning any names. Everyone played on lots of rocks and basically had a pretty good time. I just got the pictures from being developed and they turned out so good, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post a few even though it was a couple months ago. Besides, it was nice to be reminded of how great the weather was this spring and summer seeing how it's going to be freezing for the next five months, lol

Round 2

As if Monday wasn't bad enough! lol

Let It Snow!

Take a look at what we woke up to this morning! And it's still snowing. I think when it's all said and done, out first significant snowfall this year could be around a foot and a half to two feet. Oh, well, so it begins. And for those of you down south (you know who you are), in nine days we'll be coming your way and we may be bringing a little surprise with us so that we all can have a white Thanksgiving!