Part of our Halloween costumes

OK, I am going to take NO MORE than 3 minutes to blog. I am exhausted, and I can think of so many things in the last couple of weeks to talk about, but I have been too beat by the time I get a moment to type about it, and I am equally as tired tonight!! I thought I would show you what a few of my dear family members were for Halloween. First of all, I need to tell you that as I made the whole fam stand still for a picture, my camera DIED, so I had to get someone else to take a picture of them. I am HOPING that I find someone that got a picture of Garrett, and I will post it as soon as I get it! He was Joe Dirt, complete with a mullet, and looked very close to the real thing! Then you have Gra, who decided that she wanted to be a clown! Well, I had a friend's clown costume, and we had rigged a hoola hoop on the inside, so she looked very real! NOPE... that wouldn't DO, because it didn't "FEEL" right, don't you love OCD? So, I had to MAKE a clown costume. The one you see at the left is the result of me staying up until 2:30, and my mom adding the sleeves the next day while I was at school! Then, to right, you will see old Shaney boy, donning his hair and tatts. To show you the difference and Shane and our family's personalities, I have also added the picture of our family in TX, wearing the EXACT same tattoo sleeves... Same tatts, different Fowler boys... see the difference? A picture is worth a THOUSAND words!!
SOOOO, I am going to bed now!! I hope you all each have a GREAT night!! I've got LOTS of things to talk about, if I can ever find the time and energy to do it!! Sign into my guest book if you haven't or leave me a comment!! Have a great night!! Thanks for sharing a moment in the life of the chicken farmer's wife! love to all!! Jerri

Is it time?

Is it just me or do you think it is time that Shane fix the horse pen fence? It is about TWENTY degrees outside, and our heat is not working. I am wearing gloves, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and a toboggan, and that is IN the house. The kids heat is working fine upstairs, buy I am afraid by morning, it will feel like Antarctica down here!! So I am getting ready to do my nightly routine and go to bed. Part of that routine includes letting Sadie in to sleep in the bathroom (her hair is pretty short, AND, if someone ever broke in, I am pretty hopeful that she'd kill them), and letting Lilli out one last time. I let her out, and she starts growling. I can hear something that sounds like a tyrannosaurus eating tree tops, but I am not ABOUT to turn on the light. Just about then, something at the edge of the porch triggers the motion detector on the light and it comes on. This is what scared me to DEATH!!!

YEP!! That is Lucky!! He is the same horse you saw a few days ago that was in the front yard! He was returned to his pen, but VOILA, he is a bit Houdini like, I see!! I got my flu shot today, had my hair cut and colored, and got to see precious Cooper Thomas Fort tonight. He is a GORGEOUS baby!! I could have sat and rocked all night!!! I am beat, and better go and find the Sand Man!! I hope you all have had a great day and thanks for sharing a moment in the life of the chicken farmer's wife! love to all!! Jerri

Tag- I'm it?!?

OK, I am not exactly sure how Kristi decided that *I* was worthy of tagging, but alas... here I am!! Here is the "tag" and the guidelines to follow. I will tell you 7 things you may or may not know about me, and then I tag 7 people to do the same, and I add their list of sites, in the event you'd like to see what their 7 bits of personal trivia is!! OK... let the madness begin... Let's see... 1- In college, I was an AOII (that last letter is supposed to be Pi, by the way), and an AGR little sis. I LOVED going to college and being Greek. I had a hard time in college at first, and I can't be sure that I'd have stayed without it!!

2- I wish my Dad had known my kids and Shane. Sometimes 1 of them will do something, and it will make me think about what he'd have thought about it. This month marks the year, when I have now been without him longer than I had him...

3- I can still do the splits. I know... fat and all... strange isn't it? And furthermore... HOW did I discover that I maintained that skill?

4- My inlaws have "traditions" at Christmas, that I prefer to call "rules". Each Christmas, we go to Shane's aunt's for Christmas Eve. Only the "INLAWS" do the dishes. It is not a secret. The adult females will even say, "I don't have to do the dishes, I am not an inlaw". THEN, in case that's not bad enough, you are assigned a table. The "head" table is for the matriarch, patriarch, etc. Well, Shane is the oldest grandchild, so since MeMaw died this spring, he is slated to move into the room with the head table. Now, I didn't say, "WE would be moving to the head table", I said, "SHANE". OK, AGE wise, Cary would be next after the next person died, before I would, because he is older than me, so Shanan and I would be in the next room, while Cary and Shane would be eating somewhere else. Shane and I have already reviewed this situation. He moves sans me, he GOES sans me... I don't think it's too much to ask to eat with your wife of the eve of Jesus' birth, but that's just me. OHHHH, and one last "tradition" is that you get in LINE to fill your plates, according to birth order as well. What this means for mothers of young children, is that you cannot fill their plates while you are getting yours. SOOOO, I would be behind Cary, who is behind Shane, but Garrett and Gra, even when they were little, couldn't eat, until I filled my plate, went and set it at my "name tag" and then got back up and got in line where their ages would place them. I didn't have hot food for about the first 8 years of their lives!!

5- I like to embroidery. I added a picture of some burp cloths I did tonight. If you'll remember the surprise supper we had for my friend, Bev, a few weeks ago, they are for her. They didn't decide until about yesterday, what they were going to name this sweet baby, so I haven't been able to do anything with his name on them until tonight!! I am going to hold him tomorrow, Lord willing, after my cut and color!!

6- I rode "The Zipper" at the fair without knowing that I was pregnant with Garrett. I guess that explains a LOT!! That was the LAST time I have been on a fair ride, and that was in '95!!

7- I lasted 8 seconds on a mechanical bull in Mexico. I was with Paige Parker and our kids, and Terry and Shane were out SCUBA diving, so I thought I'd live on the edge!! **Note to self** if I ever am stupid enough to get on one of these creatures again, wear a jogging bra!!

OK!!! What do you guys think? That wasn't too painful!! I am now going to "tag" 7 folks, and see if I can learn some fun stuff about them too!! Have a great night and thanks for sharing some random moments in the life of the prissy chicken's life!! love to all!! Jerri

Journey to our Baby!!

4 Colley's & A Baby

The R Family Diaries

Hair Today

http://serendipitysunrise.blogspot.com/

Bringing Lucy Home!!
Our Texas Fowlers

Free range chicken... I mean HORSE

Living in the country, you are never sure what you may see. You'll see this picture, and think "Ah, a lovely picture of a horse, grazing in the field, it's picturesque, it looks as if it's sunset, or maybe sunrise". OK, you probably won't think ANY of those words, but roll with it, k? Anyway, YES, that would be such a pleasant picture to see when you gaze out upon your field, but alas... that's not where I was gazing!! This is the view from my FRONT PORCH this morning when I let Lilli out. YES, that IS our horse, and YES, he DOES have a field, but he wasn't in it. Lucky decided the grass was greener I guess, so this is where I found him this morning!! Free range horse? I guess!! Now, at least there is just one of him, because there have been MANY times, that Shane would be off state trooping somewhere, my neighbor would call or come down, I'd be on my way to Concord Baptist Church in a dress, and have to hike it up to my thighs, to get my legs across the 4 wheeler to chase the 55 GOATS back into their pen when they got out. One as opposed to 55, is an easier task!! Here is another fun photo that I snapped today!!

This is a picture of Sadie, our dog that adopted us. It was no secret when we got her, that wherever she was before, she was a princess. How she landed in Fruit Hill, we'll never know, but she is TRULY a sweet heart. At first, I was a bit nervous about her being here, but now, it feels like she's always been ours! Tonight when I went to the car to get my jump drive and a few books out of it, She was laying on one of the shelves on a book case in the garage just shivering. It is supposed to get to almost freezing tonight, and each time the door is open, she DOES try to get in, so I thought I'd let her in and see what happened. She went IMMEDIATELY to Lilli's bed and circled it about 3 times, before twisting her big self into a position to lie down. Now remember, Lilli weighs in at 4 1/2 lbs. and I'd say Sadie is about 65 lbs. She didn't even CONSIDER the floor!! She just laid there and looked at Lilli while she was being the big "Alpha dog" and barking like a maniac. Lilli hadn't been in the bed all night, but I think she is going to hate Sadie before it's all over!!

Well guys, I am beat... Shane and I divided the houses today, so I only walked 2, but the boots KILL my feet!! I hope you all had a GREAT weekend and have a SUPER week!! Thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife! Love to all!! JA

And the winner is...

Again, I want to thank EVERYONE that gave me chicken recipes. I DID try all of them, and although they were all VERY good, I think Sara's was just a LITTLE over the top. Of course, when you have cream cheese AND whipping cream in the same recipe, can it be bad at all?!?! hee hee Here is a picture of the prize that she won. I don't know if you can see what it really is, but it is a make-up bag with smaller bags that velcro in and out of the middle section... It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself!! Of course, the next picture is of Sara HOLDING the bag after I gave it to her tonight... Please, if you have other recipes, I'd LOVE to try them, as we are ALWAYS looking for new ways to fix the almighty "yard bird"!!

It's been a great weekend, but I wasn't too sure how it was going to end up, after the way it started! Thursday night, I made the executive decision to start the belly dancing class, and thanks to the 6 of you that voted!! I will send you the pictures that I take to your personal email addresses with my take on the whole thing!! All of you silent readers will just have to wonder!! :) :) ANYWAY... I rode home with my windows down and my moon roof to the van OPEN about 1/2 way. No big deal, I closed them when I got home and locked the doors... EXCEPT... I FORGOT about the roof part. AGAIN, no big deal, unless the cat gets on the van and jumps down into it. OR, unless it RAINS all night!!! When we opened the doors to go to school, it was DISASTROUS!! There was about 1-1 1/2 inches of water in the cup holders between the 2 front seats, water was STANDING on our seats, and EVERYTHING was wet!! No time to wet/dry vacuum it up, so off we went. Of course, it was FREEZING this particular morning, so I had the seat warmers on as well, as we were SOPPING up all of the water with our butts!! When I got out at school, you could see the steam coming from my back side. It was quite a sight I am sure!!

Although the beginning was a little rocky, so far, the rest has been good! Tonight we had a video scavenger hunt with our Sunday School class! First, we ate at the Woods' house, then we got our envelopes with our team members, got the rules, got our lists and video cameras, and we were off!! Husbands and wives couldn't be on the same team, (which is always good to make sure there is no not getting along), and we began our adventure!! My team members were Lisa, Ty, and Tim!! They were all a LOT of fun!! We even ended up at fellow blogger's house Rhea's, for her husband to sing, "I'm a little teapot" for us!! Everyone had a GREAT attitude, and it was just a GREAT time!! I will have to admit my faux pas, and I was MORTIFIED by it! One of the items on the list was "Find a deacon on the list who has been married for over 30 years. They must kiss on camera, and say how they have been able to stay together that long". Well, we all thought of one, and we looked his number up in the phone book. I call and begin the conversation with, "Hi, is this Mrs. Haile? This is Jerri Annette Crenshaw Fowler" and continued on. She asked me again who it was, and I continued with what we were doing, and what our task was. (I KNEW these people knew me, because I graduated with their daughter, had been to their house before, the works!!) At the end of the conversation, the woman says, "I'm sorry, but you must have the wrong number. You must want the OTHER Mrs. Haile. My husband is dead." She was very nice, but I felt SOOOOO bad. Not only did I tell her my FIRST name, but she also knew my middle, maiden, last, church, and cell phone number!!! Don't you LOVE being a dork? I am very good at it! I will have to take her cookies or something this week!!

Well, I am going to get in the tub before getting in the bed. I hope everyone has had a GREAT weekend and thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife!! love to all!! JA

P.S. Sara, Amy, Shanan, Anissa, Traci and Kristi-I'll send pictures from our next class!! Thanks again!!

Does this new feature work?

OK... still not enough votes to go public, so I'll give it a few more days. Belly dancing, or no belly dancing? There is supposed to be a new feature that I have added, so that instead of having to go "ALL the way to a different page" you hopefully will be able to post a comment just below the blog entry for that day. I can't see it-I think because it is from my own computer, and it recognizes me-so I don't know if I have successfully added the comment feature below it or not! I guess time will tell! Have a great night, and let me hear from you if I haven't!! love to all!! Jerri