Christmas shopping & Birthdays

I am done shopping!! You would think so since Christmas is next week, right? I had to take the afternoon off of work so I could go shop, how sad is that. Anyway, after several hours off shopping I crossed everything off of my list and was home by 6pm. I was also shocked at how busy it was on a Wed. afternoon--apparently everyone else had the same idea to avoid the crowds. I had a few frazzled moments, but survived. I found lots of sales, which meant more presents for Paige. She's the easiest to shop for!


We do need to say Happy Birthday to Aunt Bobbi today--I hear she has the day off so hopefully it was a restful one. Also, Happy Birthday to 'Uncle' James tomorrow. Jayden is next week. I feel bad for all of you who have birthdays so close to Christmas. I hope everyone wraps your presents in wrapping paper that is not Christmas colored. Speaking of birthdays, some Cowboy has a significant birthday in one month exactly. I have 30 days to plan for a big 30 day. . .

Christmas Card Photo

Here is the official Christmas photo for 2008. It took lots of bribing to get her to even sit still for 10 seconds. I think I took about 25 pictures and 2 were usable. I am now understanding why photographers make so much money.

More Snow ?

So the weatherman is screaming Snow, Blizzard, Beware!!! Our plan for the weekend is to hibernate at home and not do anything. Since we are doing that I am sure the storm will miss us! But either way, we will be baking cookies and snuggling by the fire. I am hoping to post some pictures soon. Have a good weekend all and stay warm!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my parents who today are celebrating 28 years of being together! I'll dig out the old embarrasing wedding photo to show later :) Have a good day Mom & Dad. We love you.

Pink Boots

Monday night was the Christmas Stroll in Bowman. The stores stay open late, Santa's there, hayrides down Mainstreet in the horse drawn wagon, the band strolls around and plays, etc. Very nice and cheery. We took Paige to participate in two things--Santa and the hayrides. The hayride was an immediate success because there were horses. Papa Rick, Paige, and myself did the first loop. I did not realize a hay wagon was the junior high hang out--that was a little annoying. Anyway, Paige loved it and didn't want to get off. So her Dad did the second round while I window shopped. I took her to see Santa--big mistake. Got to the door way and she disappeared behind my legs. She wouldn't even walk over and take a candy cane from him. So we don't have any pictures with Santa to post. Oh well, I don't blame her since I remember being petrified of him as well.

We found her Dad in the western store boot shopping. We left with our wallets a lot lighter, a big pair of black boots, and a super cute pair of little pink boots for Paige. Forget about wrapping them up under the tree, they had to stay on her feet. So we cut the tags off and went with it. She didn't want to take them off this morning at Kim's and no one had better even touch them or look at them because they were her new pink boots. She seemed to think her little friend Kyler was going to take them. I guess I didn't really need to waste money on other shoes because I think its all she's going to wear until her toes pop out of the ends!

Happy Thankgiving!

Happy Thankgiving all! We were fortunate enough to spend the day with our family in Williston. We drove up with Rick and Jane to see the Clarke family last night. Our trip is brief and only one day since we all have to work tomorrow. We just finished are fabulous meal--Bobbi made a great turkey and trimmings. We are all resting before heading back to Bowman with our full bellies. Miss Paige ate a ton and has the stained shirt with chocolate ice cream all down the front to prove it. The 'kids' all filled up the little picnic table--even Dani who is taller than me. I think its funny how the three Clarke girls took one side and Paige had one whole side to herself!

Matt the horse

So its official, my daughter loves horses. Its probably not going to get any better since today she got her first official ride with Daddy . Considering she's two and a half; that's a long time time to wait for your official horse ride. She has sat on quite a few of them; even done the circus ponies, but those aren't 'real' horses since they aren't Daddy's. Cowboy has this huge horse named Matt. He's very nice if you can get over the fact that he is the size of a small elephant. But for non-horse people like myself, he's pretty gentle and not too scary. I don't even mind feeding him if I have to. He's one of the few horses in the world whose pen I will actually get into and not fear for my life.

Well today Matt made his winter trip back to our house and will hang out here until spring when he is needed to move cattle at Cowboy's work. This means Paige and I will have to go feed him on the weekends if Cowboy is gone at the ranch--which thrills Paige. She runs for the door in the morning if it means going to feed a horse. The bonus is also now that if it's warm enough out and Daddy's home; they can go for a ride. She was so excited today to get to ride a real horse. She has stick ponies and the edge of the recliner that she rides like a horse, but after today I have a feeling they might not cut if anymore.