Beware Of Dog!

They look sacred to death...huh? I thought this was such a cute picture.

Speaking of DOG..........

Remember Higgin's the cute little 2 pound Chihuahua that Bradley rescued from the shelter?? Higgin's so enjoys his kibbles and his snacks, that he is no longer the petite size of two pounds, nope he weighs in at a whopping 5 pounds now!! He has not grown any, well except in the tummy, so all three pounds of his weight gain has made him a little pudgy!! That's ok, weight gain around the Pugh house is a touchy subject right now, so we will not point fingers...right Jeremy?? :0)

Do any of you watch the Greatest American Dog on Wednesday evenings? I love that show and I would love to train Higgin's to go on that show. We have been working on sitting when he wants a snack, and other cute little things that would make everyone go awwwwww!!

The problem that we have is....this is embarrsing...goodness....I can't get him to control....you know....his urges....uugghhh....he is humping everything! There I said it, it's out in the open, the shame!

He needs to be fixed, but the problem with that is Jeremy does not want to fix him. So here begins the battle of the sexes. I am pretty sure that the only way he is going to stop this shameful bad habit of his, is to make him go through the big snip, snip. Any suggestions or any other ways to make him stop, beside surgery? Any and all suggestions will be helpful because I hate screaming at him when he engages in this little indiscretion!

He such a little spoiled rotten precious baby and I love him so much...this is coming from a total cat lover, which is the past has professed not much love in the dog area. I think Higgin's has a little cat in him...that's why I love him so!!

Proud Mama Of Crazy Lions!!!

I know, I know...I have not posted in awhile, and to be completely honest, I have no excuse for not posting. I guess it has been one of those procrastination weeks!

As you know, my two oldest started high school this year. DJ tried out for Football and made the team!! He is a line backer and I am not sure offensively or defensively, but I do know he is a line backer! Bradley also tried out for football, but when coach said no more Dr. Peppers and after the first morning of weight lifting, Bradley decided that it was not for him!

The high school that they attend is Cannon County High School and the school mascot is the Lion. Here is a couple of pictures I caught of them, and when I say caught, I mean I had to catch them smiling. It is so hard to take picture of them smiling, so I had to resort to the mom tactics...I will not wash your clothes, you will have to pay your own insurance and I will never let you leave the house unless you smile!! It worked....kinda of......

My babies....all grown up!! Sniff....

Patrice Needs.....

OK here is little bit of fun.....(I must be bored!)

Go to Google and type in your name and "needs" after it and see what comes up!

Here are my favorite top 10!!

1. Patrice needs.....to watch herself. Nothing wrong with being assertive.
2. Patrice needs....to come to California. Ok-dokey!!
3. Patrice needs.... to bring it to the table. What shall I bring??
4. Patrice needs....thesis writing motivation. Come on people!
5. Patrice needs....an HBO show or something. This was the best one yet!
6. Patrice NEEDS....us desperately. Am I that bad off...and who is US??
7. Patrice needs..... a latte. (Or a glass of wine, depending on when you read this).
8. Patrice needs....our information. I'm waiting...give me some info!!
9. Patrice needs....to get evaluated for cartilage damage in the jaw joint. I know that I talk a lot...but my goodness, how did Google know this??
10. Patrice needs....to prepare a little better. WOW, these are hitting close to home!!

Well there you go, my top 10 needs list! I am a little devastated that not one of them said

Patrice needs....MONEY!!

What does Google know anyways!!

Look...It's A BLUMP!!

Jeremy, Joey and me were scooting around town today running errands. I am lying down in the front seat with a major headache, Jeremy is driving (which was not helping my head) and Joey is talking non-stop, which by the way, is not good for a headache either!!

All of the sudden, Joey is pointing outside up in the sky saying looks "it's a blump"! Of course Jeremy and I do not see anything because of the trees, and I am asking Joey what a blump is, and he is looking at me like I am nuts, "a blump", he keeps saying, "you know you see them in the sky at races!" either my head is really killing me or I just do not understand what a blump is. By this time, Joey is ill with us and still because of the trees we can not see a blump, what ever that may be.

All of the sudden Joey yells again..."there it is, the blump!!" We finally saw it.....the blump....was a Goodyear Blimp!! He he he he he!! Too funny! Of course, I did not have my camera to take a picture, but I immediately laughed and said I could not wait to add that to the blog! Joey response was UUGGHHHHH! Sorry Joey to funny not to pass on!!

Ramblings....

It's been a long weekend of mostly nothing happening. I say that like we have totally exciting weekends after the other, but in reality, not much goes on. most weekends. Jeremy did have the weekend off, so that was nice.

Saturday started off with hauling goats to Opossum Holler, the local sales barn. Since gas went sky high our feed bill has went through the roof. Our solution was to take off some goats, to reduce the feed bill and hopefully make some cash to boot. WRONG!! Prices were way down, but we sold eight of the goats anyways. Ughh, I hate getting rid of them, but it is a sacrifice for the farm, at least that is what I told the load that went away on Saturday morning. I was giving them the martyr speech trying to make them feel better....I am not sure it worked, but I felt better, especially after I left and went off, leaving the dirty deed to Jeremy and the boys!

After that we cleaned some rubbish away from the eggs huts to alleviate anymore unwanted serpents! That's an experience I do not want to deal with again. Snakes and rats are the two things I hate to deal with, both in my book are equally scary, but something about a snake makes you really nervous. After the eggs huts were cleaned and the area around them weeded, all felt better, especially the chickens! Actually we got a few more eggs than usual this weekend, so the snake must of really been chowing down! Goodness!

Today, has been the usually Sunday church day. The choir at our church performed the 3:16 musical, which was totally fantastic! After church we have been kicking it around the house, not doing to much of anything. We did watch Nim's Island, which was really cute.

So that is our weekend in a nut shell, not to much going on, but actually that is a good thing, it's good to just unwind sometimes!

Look What Was Lurking In The Egg Hut

Each night while we feed up and milk the dairy goat, Bradley always gets my small bantam hen and puts her in the egg hut so that she does not get ate during the night, why she does not get in there on her own each night baffles us, maybe she likes the extra attention!

While I was in the Dominican, mysteriously eggs were disappearing. Macy, the chocolate lab was being shamelessly blamed for the crime, but look at the real culprit!!

Last night when Bradley went to put the hen up he almost set her on top of a 4 foot snake!! It scared the mess out of me! Bradley ran inside and grabbed the gun and shot it's head off, along with the back of the egg hut!

The snake actually had an egg in it's throat, but when Bradley shot it, the egg along with it's head left!!

So Macy, being the a good dog, took it well and forgave us for our bad judgement of her. I rewarded her well with fresh goat milk this morning! All is well!!

So one of the agenda's this weekend, a remodel of the egg hut!

Middle Children's Day

A day for everything! I ran across a website today where it listed special days of the month and today is Middle Children's Day, a day to celebrate your middle child or children!! Older children and younger children do not have a day, this is special just to them!

So I am going to take this opportunity to talk about Bradley, our middle child!

Bradley was born on January 31, 1994 at 2:31 in the morning, after a very quick labor where we feared that we might not make it to the hospital, Bradley arrived! Bradley loved to wake up every two hours and still loves to make his presence known!

One of my favorite memories of Bradley was when he was around two years old is, when he hated to take naps. He was so afraid that he was going to miss something, but if he missed his nap he was a total bear in the evenings, so naps were a must!! Everyday I would put him down and everyday after a few moments of silence, I would catch him sneaking down the hall with his hands over his eyes. He felt that if he could not see me, then I could not see him, thus resulting in no nap!! To his horror each and everyday I would catch him and send him back to him room where he would eventually fall asleep! So precious!

Another favorite memory of him as a young boy was when he started kindergarten. He was so excited to go to school and would wake up early and talk non-stop all the way to school. In the afternoon when I would pick him up, he would walk out of his classroom and growl...yes, literally growl out loud. We could not speak to him because he would bite our heads off. As soon as we would pull of out the school parking lot, he would fall asleep. After an hour or two of sleeping, he would wake up and talk non-stop again about his day! See how important that nap was when he was a baby!!!

What makes Bradley so special today is that his love of animals is touching and his dog Bandit is the apple of his eye. Bradley also loves anything that involves guns! He has an extensive gun collection and if you ask him what he will do when he grows up, it will involve a career that involves a gun! The most special thing about Bradley is that he loves his mom so much! Of course he may not like to admit that to anyone because that may tarnish that redneck rebel image of his, but he loves me!!

Of course to this day, Bradley needs his sleep or he is grumpy and to bring back one of those special childhood memories, Friday was his first day of high school. When he got home, the scowl on his face told me to ask questions about his first day of high school after he had a nap!!

Happy Middle Children's Day, Bradley....We love you!!

Boring, Weekend Update, New Adventures

Ok, I have not been posting much lately and was told yesterday that I was being boring!! Me boring...NEVER....but in the blogging world, yes, I guess I have been. There has been so much going on that I have not taken time to sit and fill everyone in on things that are going on in our neck of the woods!

First off, WOW, it's nice to have a teenage driver in the house! Did I just say that?? I swore that I was not going to let him drive or get his licence right when he turned 16, I was going to make him wait a few months. Oh me or my, it's so nice to have a teenage driver in the house...oops, I said it again! Anyhoo, it has really saved me...I did not know how much time I was spending driving them around, to everything and everywhere! The house has been really quite also, I never get to be here when the kids are away, because I am always driving them!! Nice!

So what have I been doing with my quite, at home, not driving the kids everywhere time? Well, at first nothing, but then I started going through things that we would no longer use or need and started Ebaying again. So far, cha ching, I'm making money! Whoo hoo!

DJ and Bradley were gone all weekend on a Youth Retreat, so Joey was bored, (no one to fight with). So my weekend consisted of mainly sitting at the computer and shooing off Joey because he was bored and wanted something to do and wanted to go somewhere....anywhere. I have never seen Joey so wide eyed and bushy tailed on a Sunday morning ready for church, I guess the weekend home alone, really got to him!!

Yesterday afternoon, our key group at church had a get together, so I dragged my cuz Annette along with me since her hubby and Jeremy had to work this weekend for some food, fellowship and fun. It was a blast and we really enjoyed ourselves! Thanks choogs, for going!! :)

After that....shall I say......gasp...we went to Wally World on a Sunday evening! The horror!! That place was a crowded mad house and everyone that was in the store was in the school aisle! Those blasted last minute school shoppers! Yep, we were one of them! After fighting the mob in the school aisles, I think everyone made there way to the checkout at the same time, so again another mob at the checkout! Have you ever wondered why Wally's has 40 checkout lanes and only 5 open? I hate that place!!

So why was I there fighting crowds for school supplies, when I home school and I could go during the day with the kids to get their things without the crowds? Well here is the new adventure part in the title...DJ and Bradley have gone to High School!! Yes, the newest members of Cannon County High! Each year, since DJ has been in the 9th grade we have asked him if he wanted to go to high school and each year he has said no, until this year. He felt that he wanted to go thinking that maybe it would prepare him for college a little more. So after much discussion about the subject, we enrolled him! We asked Bradley and he did not want to, which was a little bit of a shock, since he is such the social butterfly. So last Wednesday we went to enroll DJ and Bradley changed his mind. Friday was the first full day, and DJ really enjoyed it, Bradley a tad grumpy, but maybe today will be different! Can't wait for them to get home, so I can grill them about their day!!

I know this post has been all over the place, but I guess since I have been lazy and not posting much lately, I had to cover more!!

Another First

Yesterday we picked up DJ's first vehicle, a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder. Oh my is he ever so proud. Here is a picture of it and two of him driving away in it. This is another tearful, first for mom, so here it is, Sniff.....

I Walk By Faith

It has been a few days since I have last posted. My thoughts are all over the place lately and I can not seem to get focused.

Sunday we sung a song in church called I Walk By faith:

I walk by faith each step by faith
To live by faith I put my trust in You
I walk by faith each step by faith
To live by faith I put my trust in You

Every step I take is a step in faith
No weapon formed against me shall prosper
And every prayer I make is a prayer of faith
If my God is for me who can be against me

These words to this song have been ringing in my ear since then and I am wanting to make sure that I am in fact walking in faith and putting my trust in Him each step. It has been some touch times in my life the past couple of months and I have had to make tough decisions and I know the decision have been right ones, but tough never the less.

I do not question anymore the right or wrong of my actions, but question where I go from here. The mission trip has been a real eye opener and I feel the Lord calling me to a different direction, but question the when and the how. Granted, that's not stepping in faith and trusting, but goodness, I can not help it!!

Also there is another mission trip in October to New York that I am praying about. Again, I feel that I am suppose to be there, but struggling with it some. Be in prayer for me about this trip and the when and how of my other struggles!

Humbly I Accept This Award!!

Wow, my first award!! Yippee! Thanks Jeanette for giving me my first award!

The rules for this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs.

4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for the nonimee on their blog.

I choose these blogs to receive this award:

1. April @ To Live Is To Love

2. Katie @ When Hello Means Saying Goodbye

3. Matt @ Rise Rise

4. 4 Fun boys

5. Michael & Helen's Travels

These blogs are some of my favorite blogs to read, I hope that you enjoy them also!

DJ's Driving!

It's official, DJ has his driving licences! He did great yesterday during his test, and the instructor said that we did a wonderful job teaching him! I will have to admit, I did not do a good job teaching him, because I never let him drive. Jeremy, Jeremy's parents and Jeremy's siblings did a great job teaching him to drive! When DJ was in Florida, he drove constantly and also drove manual cars. They live in the city, so he got tons of experience driving through traffic, where here it's all long distance country driving and back roads, so we are so thankful for those two weeks he had in Florida!!

He was so excited and I knew immediately when we walked in after histest that he did it, because of his smile! I wish I could of caught him with my camera, but Jeremy banned anymore pictures because it was not cool for a mom to be taking pictures! Ughh! Oh well, my thoughts on that is I earned the right to take pictures when I birthed them! Men!!

Here is one of DJ driving out of the parking lot with the instructor.

This one is after he got his licences. Jeremy and I sat in the back seat and let Joey sit up front with him!

Here is DJ leaving this morning. He is going to the lake with friends and this is the first official time that he is driving by himself! Sniff......