The store or the goat?

Which costs more, owning a few goats or buying milk from the store? What if you have a family of 6 milk drinkers, and one soymilk drinker? Can the soymilker with an allergy to cow's milk drink goat's milk without incident? I don't know folks, but we're fixing to find out. More at 10:00.

P.S.

Apparently, if you don't like the nickname given to you by Nickname Generator, just go back later and try again. I just entered the same info as earlier, and this time I have been named "Hottie Yoyo".

The Name Game

Dictionary.com defines nickname as "a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity". Some people like their nicknames, some don't. Some nicknames are obvious, some are just bizarre. Some of us have nicknames we've carried all our lives...whether we like it or not! Some people are known only by their nickname, while others have nicknames that they don't even know about! And still some have never had a nickname. If you are included in the last group, and have always wanted a nickname, today is YOUR day, baby! Just surf on over to Nickname Generator answer a few questions and then BAM! You've got a nickname. It's great...try it. I did. And do you know what nickname it gave me? No, of course you don't. The nickname generator dubbed me..."Tabbaaraq". What the heck is that? Is that even pronounceable? Good night nurse! That is a sound, not a name! Not to be easily put off, I tried another name. I decided to try the name Eric Smith, in an effort to name my newest brother in law. Something a little more creative than the painfully obvious "Smitty". Well, the Nickname Generator is creative, rest assured. The nickname it generated for Eric Smith is...Poison Bananas. I'm not kidding, although I am laughing. Posion Bananas. What do you say to that? How???? How on earth do you get Poison Bananas from Eric Smith? Well, if nothing else, Nickname Generator is fun. Try it and let me know what they name YOU!
In closing, here are some of the nicknames I've collected over the years....Enjoy!

Ro,Ron,Rhonda-Roo,Rhonda-Ron,Jaws,Newanda,Do-ron,Perky,Randa Schmanda(or Randa, for short),Rotunda,RJ , and Ghandi (yes, Ghandi)

I also answer to the name Robin which is my sister's name.

The Family Bed

A few years back...well, about 10 years back actually, Wyatt and I saw a documentary type show that we found to be rather...interesting. It was about attached parenting and "the family bed." As you might guess from the the term, the family bed is the one bed where ALL the family members sleep together. Well, actually, it was a bunch of regular size beds pushed together to form a BIG honking mattress. Each person did have there own "bedspace". In any case while I appreciate strong realtionships between parents and children, I am not a family bed gal. Neither is my husband a family bed guy. Yet, you'd never know this if you peeked in our bedroom each morning. We've never alone. Their's ALWAYS a small person with us. They sometimes sneak in during the night. Other times they're sick or crying....fell out of bed, bad dream, gotta pee...whatever the drama may be, they end up in our bed. And every now and then they're bold and just climb in laughing. What does it take y'all? A fence around the bed? Surely they'd climbed over or dig under. Each morning Wyatt and I wake up all creaky. Somebody help us!

Final Word on Water

So, I never did get back to the computer the other day when our pipe burst and we had to turn the water off. Here's how it all turned out. My husband stopped by his brother's office on the way to work to get the name and number or a good plumber. Shortly after he left, one of the guys (Wes McGee) from the office came out to the house and fixed our broken pipe! How cool is that? What a guy! Only in small town USA, baby!

Water, water EVERYWHERE!

No, not really everywhere. Just the basement. There's no water in other places like the faucets, shower, bathtub, toilet, washing machine. Just the basement. Yep, the outdoor spigot burst. Family of 7, no water. We are a sitcom.

Wild Kingdom

A few minutes ago, a bird flew over my head. Yes, I'm inside my house. No, we don't have any windows or doors open. Yet, a bird made its way into our house. This explains the breeze I feel when I walk down the hall from the bedrooms to the living room.

The Mom Song by Anita Renfroe

Moms everywhere, enjoy!

It's Snowing in the Pines.....

Ok...it was snowing in the pines. Now it's melting in the pines. But it was really pretty to watch for the few hours we had it. And my kids loved it! Well, sort. Ben and Sam, who had never seen snow before, had sort of a love/hate reaction to it. Sam loved it until he fell in it and discovered it was wet. Ben had a similar reaction when realized that snow will make your hair wet. Both boys came to the front door WAILING..."I want to come in!!!!" As they peeled off their wet socks, Ben whimpered, "It feels like I have some Snow Disease!"

Click here to see a Mississippi snowman at McLelan Farm!

Here is your mission...

A while back my husband wrote an article about Black Tongue. If you don't know what Black Tongue is, I'll just tell ya....it's when your tongue turns black. He had hopes to be listed as the number one source for Black Tongue on Google.com. So far he is at #19.

Here is your mission, should you choose to accept. Click here to visit my hubby's blog article about Black Tongue.

You will make him a very happy man.

Funny Sam

Liz's (1st grade) wrtiting assignment today was to write a poem about her brother Sam. Here's what she wrote and I must say it's pretty darn cute!

FUNNY SAM by Elizabeth Roberts

Funny Sam, What are you doing?
Funny Sam found a clam
The funny clam said "Funny Sam!"
and Funny Sam said "Funny clam!"

Blueberry Jam Postponed

The Blueberry Jam scheduled for Tuesday the 15th was canceled due to the overwhelming laundry needs plaguing this household. I was, once again, forced to buy more grape jelly while gallons of bluerries sit in my freezer. (what a cross, I know.) Hopefully, the Jam will take place tomorrow or Saturday.
And no, this isn't my laundry. This pile wants to be as big as my piles of laundry when it grows up. If I only had this much laundry to do, I believe I'd do a little laundry dance. Can I get an "Amen!"? However, I'd rather wash tons of laundry than clean tons of toilets. Or backseats of the minivan...ew.

Jammin'

Today, I'm jammin'. Blueberry jammin. I notice the other day that we still have a truckload of blueberries in the feezer, yet I keep buying more grape jelly whenever we run out. Now, that's just downright wacky! So, today, we jam. Here's our recipe: try it, you'll like it, everybody does it. Oh, scratch that last part.

Blueberry Lime Jam
4 1/2 cups blueberries
1 pkg. powdered pectin
5 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. grate lime peel
1/3 cup lime juice.

Crush bluberries one layer at a time. Combine with pectin in large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Stir in grated lime peel and lime juice. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring CONSTANTLY. (don't stop, you'll regret it) Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust 2 peice caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. Yeild: about 3 pints

p.s. If you skip the lime and lime juice, be sure to use only 4 cups of sugar. Otherwise you will have jam too sweet for anyone over the age of 10.

Lemons In My Water

SEE!!!! Didn't I tell you how very fun and cool it would be? How many times a day do I say, "Get OUT of the refrigerator!"....many times!! And of course there's the big honking coffee cup. AND lemons in the water pitcher! I love lemons in my water!I just love it...Thanks Stephanie!

Face Lift!

I'm soooooooo excited! My blog is getting a facelift! Or maybe that's a header-lift. Or a header-change? In any case, my blog will have a new look shortly and I just can't wait. My girlfriend Elysa's awesome and talented sister-in-law Stephanie at That Girl Designz did it for me. Wait till you see it! You'll say "Yep! That looks about right!"

Another GREAT Book!

If you've not yet read this book, READ IT. It's awesome. Totally likeable characters and also some annoying characters that we all recognize. (You know, the people in your life that often leave you with your mouth hanging open and thinking "WHAT???Did she really just say that? How can she think that's ok?" )The author has a GREAT writing style. She had me within 2 pages. This book is not a romance novel.(which, in my opinion, is the first great thing about it.) It's about real life issues of a mom with "affluenza" who learns having it all means giving it all away. Check it out.

Everything...

Uh-huh. Don't you just love Michael Buble?

Thanks!

Ok,today it is winter again. Thank you , Lord! Let's get back to business, shall we?

Could I get some cheese to go with this?

OK. I'm tired. Someone has been sick in this house for about 4 or 5 weeks now. I'm ready for a little breather. And yes, I know some people never get better and some people don't have any children and some people don't have a home and on and on and on. I know. I'm not saying I have it so tough, I'm just saying I'm tired.

And could we get a cool breeze here? It's January. Why am I sweating?

Winter on the Lake

Although it's crazy cold here (21 degrees!) today, I'm happy to report that our backyard birds have not gone south. Or maybe I should say "more South". Souther? In any case, out my window today are about 7 goldfinches, a few Carolina Chickadess and our Cardinal. I'd take a picture, but none of our cameras work.

FINALLY....WINTER!!!!

Winter has finally arrived in Mississippi. It is presently 35 degrees. 27 with the Wind Chill. See, it really is winter! Winter winter, not just "southern winter". Tonight the temp is supposed to drop down to 21 degrees. YIKES! I know some of you living up North just shrug that off, but we could all die down here. We are delicate, now! Fragile, delicate southern belles, dadgummit! Thankfully I've not forgotten how to dress for this weather, so I'm good. I hope the rest of my friends figure it out, because I'm sure not going outside to tell 'em. And no, this is not a picture of our lake. It isn't snowing. But I can dream, can't I?