Christmas and Phone dump

Happy New Year! I hope 2014 has been good to you so far.

Here's a few pics from our family Christmas.  Why is it that I never seem to get enough pictures??  Just too busy drinking cocktails having fun.

We had a great time laughing with my side of the fam, and lovin' on my sisters kiddo's.  Here are the sweet twins.  They absolutely love sitting down for a book.  The thing is, you have to read it fast, because they'll hop up and get another before you get to the end.

 

Here's Kadyn in the bath.  Such a cutie with that huge smile!!!!

After a long Christmas day, this sweet boy was not ready to leave everyone and go to bed. With tears in his eyes he walked up to whatahusband and said, "Will you please read me a story before bed?"

"Of course! Pick out a book and let's go."

Well, Skyler picked out the longest, smallest print book you've ever seen. (Whatahusband walked right into that one, eh?) The Jungle Book for kids. But he faithfully read every word in his booming baritone voice. And was even corrected a few times by the pronunciation police. "No, no, you say it mow-glee, Uncle Russell. MOW-GUH-LEE."

Back at the ranch, my little kitty killers are keeping warm by trying to catch birds. They are usually WAY to far away to actually reach them, but they still try. On new years eve, this pile of feathers showed up outside our doorway. They got a cardinal!

All three of them were huddled around the pile of feathers, proudly showing us that they infact were the ones responsible for this.  Munch and Toonces had feathers stuck in their fur. I was so happy for them!

They licked the feathers for hours. Getting every last drop I suppose. haha

On New years eve night, Whatahusband proved that he is the cat whisperer.  They flocked to him like he had catnip cologne. It's only a matter of time before we are "the cat people" - heaven help us.

And finally, this super cold weather has been WICKED...we are miserable.  We huddle up at night and drink hot cocoa, praying for summer and worrying about our cats outside. Ok, so I worry about them. I know they're fine, but it's so cold!! I want to sneak them into the laundry room, but I always get caught. The only one I'm not worried about is this long haired girl - - she has grown this amazing winter coat, and she is constanly pearching on the lawn mower or kitty house showing it off.  We just love her!!

Turkey day

So many things to be thankful for this year! Norman and the kitties survived, mainly because of our awesome doggy sitter, and although the dog house looked like a frat party had been thrown in there, they were all alive and happy when we arrived back home.

We had an awesome time in San Antonio with whatahusbands family.  This was only my second family thanksgiving as an official member, but I am feeling like part of the clan these days. Example: I pinched a few butts and blamed it on my sistil. :)  (these were not random butts, these were family butts.)

Random photo op in the parking lot of H-E-B in front of Whatahusbands favorite beer. I just realized "Never say die" is the slogan. That is serious.

One of the very special things we did while we were there was to visit the family Ranch, Stoney Hollow.  The fam is always telling stories about times at the Ranch growing up, and it was really cool to see it in person. It's getting a much needed facelift (see giant construction vehicle we are sitting on), but in a few months it will be back in shape for a whole new generation of kiddo's to make memories. 

Look at these sweet babies!! My nieces. We are the three blondes swimming in a sea of brown. The distance is so far when we're apart, but the times are so sweet when we are together. 

 

My sistil! Love her.

 

Back at the house, my little helpers and I made their uncle's bday "cheesy cake".

They are phenomenal stirrers...and tasters.

And this is the sweetest ever. See that white powder on Whatahusbands face, hair, and shoulders? These girls have been talking about pranking him for probably a year now.  Scheming. Coming up with ideas. Getting up the courage to finally prank him...and they did it! Powdered sugar on the head when he was sleeping. They're on their way to being in the family prakin' business.

My gosh, I made it that whole trip without a big family picture!! I always do that. Dang. Next time!

The guests

Poor norman. His fence and house got him MUCH more than he bargained for.

The photos tell it so much better than i ever could....

I'm going to file this as a win :)

A house for Normy!

I love love love living in the country. Best decision we've ever made. However, it makes pet care a bit tricky.  So, with the holidays coming up, and our ever growing number of pets, we gave ourselves a deadline: all pet related work must be completed by thanksgiving.  With the excavation almost complete, we are nearly ready to put up the property fencing to keep Normy safe while he's at the Ranch alone. The kitties can get in and out of the fence very easily since it's cattle fencing, so unfortunately, he will not be safe from them.

Crafty DIY projects are in my wheelhouse, so I sat first chair on this project.  I scoured craigslist for days...and this beauty popped up.

"Used dog house. Great for a very large dog or dogs. Made of cedar and insulated with a heat lamp. It takes 4 men to move, so its disassembled for pickup. $50"

SOLD!!!


We unloaded the pieces onto the driveway, and started the re-do.

I picked up a $2 can of oops! paint from lowes, and along with a few other cans we had lying around, I put on a fresh coat in a new color scheme.

Then we assembled it!
The cats are (of course) very interested.

I added a barn wood awning, and a horseshoe to give it some swagger. :)

And in case you didn't already notice, this house is GINORMOUS.  It's big enough for a person to live in.  We had no idea how big it was until we assembled it.  In the photo below, I am standing next to the house.  Huge.

And here he is, the king, Norman Man, enjoying his new digs. Retirement is treating him pretty well, I'd say.

Next we added the plastic winter door to keep out the rain and cold breeze. Done!!

Total cost: $60 buckaroos!!!  What a steal!! And I just love it!!

Fall

Fall is here!!
I just love this weather. And so do all my animals. I know I have been posting about my kitties a bunch lately, but I don't care...I love them! They make me so happy :)

They are growing and growing.  Remember when they were this tiny??

Now they are 7(ish) months old.  Munch is our lizard hunter. He's been hanging around the wood pile everyday.  His count is one...tail that is. I know he has high hopes to get a WHOLE lizard before winter comes.

The comedian in the trio is Mungo.  He is ALWAYS posing for the camera.

If I don't give my full attention to him, he lets me know.

And last but not least, we have the lady of the group.  She is the typical siamese cat.  Grumpy, picky, and never smiles for the camera.  And she HATES playing with her brothers.

Norman's update will come in a day or so...he's about to get a new (used) dog house with a heater and a fenced yard!  He is so happy when he's outside - I know he'll love being out there all day long.


We had a hard freeze last weekend and, sadly, it killed many of my plants and all of my garden. But - the ranch has given us quite a show to keep me from being too sad. This tree reminds me so much of the falls I used to have growing up in Kansas!

 

 Happy Fall!! 

The latest

Been a while since my last update, but have no fear! This month was well documented.

First of all, this month was the 9th birthday of our beloved puppy Norman! He is 9 years old, getting greyer everyday...but still going strong. Happy Birthday Norms!

Norman has kinda been hating his life because the kitties have decided that they LOVE him. And I mean love with a capitol L. This poor dog can't even go poop without two little friends following him around.  Eating in peace? This is also not something he can do anymore. They are always there...keeping my poor anti-social dog company whether he likes it or not.

It's getting colder here, and my kitties needed a warmer place to stay...so the winter house was built!  My friend sent me a post from pinterest on how to build a outdoor kitty house out of tubs and hay. This is my version. A tub in a dog house surrounded with hay. Norman can't turn around in his house anymore, so this was a perfect reuse.

As you can see, there is a space that has been dug out at the very top of the house. That was toonces. She apparently wanted her own space.

The boys are still loving hanging out in the gutters on the roof.  And they have all turned into snuggle buddies with me....yes!

In other news, we have finally started our excavation project in the back of the house. The drainage is terrible back there (the house flooded right after we moved in. Worst. Night. Ever.) and we needed to fix it before the rainy season started. We still have alot of work ahead of us, but atleast the grading is done!

Here's the before....

And after.

The bobcat was SUPER fun! I really enjoyed that part of the work.

The next big project will be building a fence for Norms for the holidays. And a bigger dog house. :)