Change of Plan

Well, for the last two days, I've been trying to get a picture of our new truck, but with the time change, Darrell always gets home after dark. I will eventually post pics of the trucks for you, but until then I thought I'd share some of the out takes from our own family photo shoot.

I knew automatically that I wanted to do something with all of us wearing jeans and boots. We were trying to find a time that we could all go out around sunset and do this. I'd arranged for a friend to take the pics and we were set. We nixed the idea a couple of days ahead of time. It was going to just be too hard with nap times and driving to the location I wanted. Darrell suggested we do them out in Mississippi. Perfect! I know the exact location I want to use, and it's literally a short walk from grandma's house. His aunt (who lives next door to grandma) graciously agreed to press the shutter button for me so I wouldnt be running back and forth with a timer.

Not really as easy as you'd think. I really think next year, I'm going to talk to Darrell about having them done by a professional (one that isnt me). The majority of images looked like these.

Truck For Sale

Anyone want to buy a used truck? We have one for sale. :D She's been with Darrell and I for 8 1/2 wonderful years. She was my first big purchase as a married woman and ever! She's been so good to us. This ol' truck faithfully hauled wood, pine needles, lumber, furniture, and children the entire time we owned her. She's been a good truck. Here lately though, she's been getting pretty tired. She uses more gas and oil and sometimes needs to be sweet talked into starting on cold mornings. I'm sure she'll make some high school kid very happy one day, but for us, it's time to say goodbye. I'm sorry I can't say I'll miss her. Frankly we need something with a back seat, something with better gas mileage, and something that will start every time the key turns. I'm excited to say, we purchased her last weekend. She's a transplant from Mississippi. Her previous owner was a woman, and told me in confidence that this baby performs best when driven by a woman. ;) Darrell said she was so happy to be sporting her new Texas tags yesterday. She sure is puuurty. Here's hoping she'll be as faithful as the one before.

Out with the OLD




In with the NEW

Gross things...

my husband does.

1. Picks up and kills roaches with his bare hands.

Okay, so that's just one, there are many others but I don't want this to be an embarrassment for him. Oh and don't get me wrong... I adore him for rescuing me from these disgusting freaks of nature. He is my hero when it comes to any kind of creepy crawly. I spotted an extremely large sized roach on our end table tonight and instead of proceeding to locate a shoe in order to smash is, he instead reached over and just grabbed it off the table. That act alone sent shivers down my spine, and I retreated to the other room saying "ewww, ewww, ewww" the whole way.

Titles

On a rare night out tonight, Darrell and I sat on a bench in a restaurant and listened to group after group being called to their tables. We sat around, people watching while he patiently listened as I grumbled about how hungry I was.

At one point the hostess announced "Smith, party of five, your table is now available" and I looked at Darrell and said, you know, that's what we are now. Well, not NOW, we're on a date without kids, but as a family... we're now a party of five. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it. Then I said, "Duh! I totally should have called my blog "Party of Five". So much catchier and shorter than the current title. He just laughed and smiled with an expression that communicated a mix between, "man I married a goofy woman" and "sure honey whatever you think". Oh well.. what's in a name... right?

What do you think? Would "Party of Five" be better or am I goofy for thinking the title of my blog is really that big of a deal, or that anyone would really give a hoot one way or the other.

Girls Night Out

I just love nights where a handful of women escape the confines of our homes, can gather around food, and share stories of motherhood and wifehood (not sure if that's even a word, but it totally should be). Tonight we celebrated a friend's 31st birthday. We all got a little treat and escaped our normal evening routines for some "girl talk". It was refreshing to just laugh, share and remember that we are not alone in the awesome challenge of raising godly children. Some of us have bigger tasks than others (dependent on child temperament) but we all struggle, and sharing stories, struggles, ideas, and just getting to know each other a little more intimately is so encouraging (or scary, some of my friends are way trashier than I am! Ha!). I think it's bed time, I'm got a little too happy with the punctuation in that last sentence. I think the sugar from my cheesecake is finally being introduced into my blood.

It's a Nasty Job

.... but I'd rather do it, than pay someone else. Ha! We just finished another long night of making sausage. At least it's forcing me to keep my kitchen clean.

Next time Darrell shoots a deer, I hope he considers the week ahead, and whether or not we have the time to do all this over again, or the money to pay someone else to do it.

We've tried some of the sausage already (just fried it in a pan). Yum!

Yum!

Remember that deer Darrell killed on Saturday? He (and some pig from somewhere) were ground into sausage meat tonight. It's late, no details, but had to post, cause it's NaBloPoMo. :D