Football Fun

Saturday, we started the day bright and early, heading for Fayetteville to tailgate for one of the most anticipated games of the season for the Arkansas Razorbacks.  We played Alabama.  It was sold out and I couldn't have imagined how crowded it would be!  We had already planned to tailgate with our friends Steven and Shelly, but lucky for us, Steven's business had a tailgating party, with tons of free food, so we PIGGED OUT.  Anna has always said there is something weird about eating pork when you are pulling for the HOGS, but funny, everyone seems to be bar-b-qing pork!!  It was a blast and we had the BEST time! 

The Hogs played really well during the first half, but Alabama made adjustments (apparently) during half-time and came back to win by 4 points.  I was proud of Arkansas, playing that competative with the #1 ranked team in the country.  I love the Hogs!! Here are a few pictures...

My favorite player, Jake Bequette.  He is a defensive end, #91.... love. him.

Coach Bobby Petrino coming through our parking lot with the team.

Anna and Tyler, one of the cheerleaders that taught her cheerleading camp 2 years ago.

Tailgating 

Yummmm

 

I think this is such a cute cake...

A little closer up on the Hogs!

Fans calling their Hogs!

The blimp showed up....

And so did the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones.  (That's him in the blue coat)

Quarterback Ryan Mallett

and finally.....

Jake's favorite player, from Alabama, #22 Mark Ingram, former winner of the Heisman trophy.

It was a really good weekend. If we had won...it would have been a GREAT weekend!!!

Bye for now.......

Weekend of Football

So far we have had 2 ballgames this week and won them both!!  Tonight we (CHS) play Dardanelle at home.  Not sure how good of a team they have, but we beat the Jr. High 40-0 last night.  We will leave in the morning to head to Fayetteville for the Hog game against Alabama.  CBS is broadcasting the game, so maybe we will be on tv!!  Not likely.  

We have a catfish supper at church on Sunday and I have been assigned to bring a dessert......thinking Texas Sheet Cake.  

Here is the recipe:  

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

2 CUPS SUGAR
1/2 CUP BUTTERMILK
2 CUPS FLOUR
2 EGGS BEATEN
1 CUP BUTTER OR MARGARINE
1 TSP SODA
1 1/2 TSP CINNAMON
4 TB COCOA
1 TSP VANILLA
1 CUP WATER
SIFT SUGAR AND FLOUR INTO LARGE MIXING BOWL. COMBINE OLEO OR BUTTER, COCOA, AND WATER INTO SAUCEPAN AND BRING TO A RAPID BOIL:
POUR OVER SUGAR AND FLOUR AND MIX WELL. ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS IN ORDER AND BEAT THOROUGHLY. POUR INTO GREASED COOKIE SHEET (15 X 10) BAKE AT 4OO DEGREES FOR 2O MINUTES.
ICING-BRING ALL INGREDIENTS TO BOIL EXCEPT PECANS
BEAT WELL ADD PECANS AND POUR OVER CAKE WHILE HOT
1/2 CUP BUTTER OR MARGARINE
1 POUND PWDR SUGAR
4 TB COCOA
1 TSP VANILLA
6 TB MILK (1 CUP PECANS CHOPPED IF NOT SERVING NUT FREE)

 I also found this recipe on the internet and it sounds like a great fall treat.  Maybe try it for our next get together with friends.

 Harvest Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Apple and pear slices

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Gradually add the pumpkin, pie spice, vanilla and ginger; beat until smooth. Serve with fruit. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home
 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bye for now.....

Playing Catch Up

I know, I know, as if my Mama hasn't told me EVERY day....I'm a bad blogger!  Sometimes I just get in a funk and don't feel it, ya know?  Don't lie to me...I know I'm not the only one that just doesn't have it in them sometimes.  Well, today is a new day and I am going to blog you silly!!  I have pictures and more pictures, so be warned!

First off, Joe had a wonderful time on his trip to Peru.  By the second day of talking to him on the phone I was concerned, really concerned, that I was going to spend my retirement on a deserted mountain top in Peru.  Not that I would mind visiting Peru, just don't want to spend my dying days there.  But, alas, by the third day, I felt that my sunny days on the beach were secure once again!  Yay me!! Joe was touched by the need of the people in Peru.  They saw over 600 people in the time they were there and it was definitely an eye-opening experience for him.  He has asked me if I want to go to Africa next year with the same group and I'm considering it...

Here a few pictures from the trip...

Joe's cozy room

These are boats leaning against the sea wall....this is one of my favorite pics.

Ok, since my last post, we have had the Johnson County Fair, which, for Clarksville, is a BIG deal.  I always like to go to take pictures.  

 This is one of the "scarier" rides.  Anna loved it, Jake, not so much.

Anna and Jake have been keeping me pretty busy with both football and cheerleading.  Jake had his Jamboree game on Tuesday.  His team seems to be really good this year...a first for us!!  Tonight the Jr. High team plays in Dardanelle.    

Here are the Jr. High boys after running through their sign before the game against Charleston...

Anna and Shanae

Cookies

Arkansas plays Alabama this weekend in Fayetteville and I am worried, really worried..... We'll be there to enjoy the festivities, but I will be cautiously optimistic about our chances of beating the #1 team in the NATION!!  GO HOGS!!

I don't think I ever posted the kid's first day of school picture...so here it is....

Anna's cheerleading pictures...

Our first tailgate party in Fayetteville...

Anna and Jake

Jama, Anna and Layton

Anna and Tanner

Joe and Jake

The Blue Man Group calling the HOGS!!

If you know Jake, you know he is a big Georgia Bulldog fan.  Last Saturday was his 12th birthday and it just so happened that Arkansas was playing Georgia on tv.  Being the cool mom that I am (uhmmm), I made him a Georgia birthday cake.  He thought it was pretty neat and I had fun with it!

Happy Birthday Jake!!!

Sorry this was such a long post, but we have had A LOT of stuff going on.  Wish I could promise that I would do a better job of keeping up, but I can't.  This thing called "Life" takes up a lot  of my time and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Bye for now.....

Joe's Journey Day 1

Joe called me last night around 10 o'clock. I was so glad to hear his voice.  He sounded good, but somewhat tired.  They are staying in a town called Otuzco, Peru.  When I asked him how the hotel was, he laughed and said, "Well, let's put it this way...if we drove up to this hotel, you wouldn't get out!"  He knows me pretty well, I think.  Anyway, he said that they left Otuzco yesterday morning around 7 am and drove on a small dirt road for about 3 hours to a town called Escuela.  He said it was mountainous and beautiful.  He saw 130 patients.  There were a lot of patients with arthritis.  He said they farm on the sides of mountains that we wouldn't even be able to walk up.  He said they are very hard workers.  One woman traveled 6 hours to see a doctor.  I believe this was the lady he said was having congestive heart failure secondary to aortic stenosis, that she didn't know she had.  One man had been hit in the head with a rock of some sort when he was younger and was now having headaches.  Joe said you could see an obvious skull fracture in the top of his head that apparently was never seen by a doctor.  

The team seems to be really doing well.  Joe said that they had beef steak, salad and potatoes yesterday for lunch.  The breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs and flat bread.  The first night they arrived the serving pastor's brother-in-law, a chef, prepared lamb and chicken and last night they had Chinese food.  

Today they were headed to a different town, but I'm not sure of the name yet.  Hopefully he will call again tonight and give me another update.

It is still SO hot here.  My Dad said that if we don't hit 100 degrees today that it will be the first day all month that we haven't had triple digit temperatures.   We have had practically no rain and everything is crispy, dry. A cool front is predicted to come through tonight and bring the temperatures down to the low 90 degree mark.  I, for one, can't wait.

Since Joe is gone, I've decided to let the kids pick what is on the menu each night!  Last night we had Hamburger Helper.....this is, hands-down, their favorite meal EVER!!  Tonight, homemade pizza is the star!  We bought the personal size pizza crust, so everyone can have their favorite toppings. It should be fun playing in the kitchen with them tonight!  I'll remember to take pictures.

Our county fair begins tomorrow night.  It is a BIG deal in town and the kids are really excited.  It is always a good time for us.  Jake signs up for football on Thursday.  Other than that, we should have a pretty quiet week.  Looking forward to seeing Joe on Saturday afternoon.

Bye for now...

Joe's Journey

Joe left yesterday morning on a trip that I'm sure will change him forever.  He is going on his first medical mission trip to Trujillo, Peru.  He is really excited, but over the last couple days before he left, I could sense a little hesitation about leaving.  I hope, for him, it is the best experience of his life and that he comes back a better person than either of us expected because of what I know God is capable of doing.  

This past week was an unusual one for Joe.  Normally he moans and groans about the kids and me being on facebook whenever he is at home.  He thinks its "crazy" for us to want to talk to people on the computer!  Let's just say, he's not that fond of computers, unless, of course, it is to find a new grill, a new gadget for a tractor, a place to go on vacation...well, you get the point.  Anyway, earlier last week, we reluctantly decided that the best way for us to stay in touch while he was in Peru, was probably to get him an account on facebook. (Phone calls are $4.49/minute) At first I thought I'd make up some random name so that no one could recognize him, except me and the kids, and no one would try to request him to be a friend....clean, easy, no problem....but when it came to choosing a name for him, I just couldn't put another name.....call me crazy, wouldn't be the first time, but I just didn't want to be chatting with him and his name be Johnny Johnson.......that would just be really weird, so I gave him his real name.  By the first day he had 7 friend requests and he just looked at me and shook his head!  We only accepted one, our pastor, and now Joe is on facebook.  

I just talked to him and they made it safely and were heading to their hotel for a little rest before they start their first day.  He said the weather is about 67 degrees and it feels wonderful compared to the triple digit temps we have had here for the last 3 or 4 weeks.  

Out with the old, in with the new!!  School has started back and I am determined to get more organized!!  So, out with the old!!

School has started and so far I think both kids are enjoying it.  

Anna is ready to be in highschool, but still has one more year in junior high.  A lot of her friends are moving up this year and she is sad about that.  She decided on the first day of school to stop playing in the band.  The practice times were conflicting with the practice times of cheerleading and it was going to be really time consuming for her...more than she wanted.  Jake likes each of his 3 teachers in 6th grade.  His homeroom teacher is Mrs. Vire.  Anna had her in 6th grade and really liked her.  He signs up for football on Thursday.

We have had 2 birthdays since I last posted...man I didn't realize it had been so long...first it was Anna's day on August 1.....

This is Joe's cake..his birthday is August 12.  Jake and I decided to do a fun cake for him.  His Kubota tractor, John Deere lawn mower and Honda fourwheeler stole the show on his cake.  

A few more pictures....

last night just before sunset

I think she likes the corn I have been throwing out for her..

Our latest landscaping project..it was a Mother's Day present for ME!!  I know it probably doesn't look like much, but believe me....it is a BIG improvement!

Dixie is ready for fall.....it is too darn hot!!

 By for now....