My Name's "Whoa, Damnit!"

As I can recall only one thing sets 6th grade apart from the others in middle school.

Tommy.Jack.Savage.

Now, you may think to yourself, "Who in the world is Tommy Jack Savage?" You may recall, from my previous Piggy Tales posts, an old gray mare by the name of Frosty. Well, as I grew, so did my search for adventure. Frosty was NOT a challenge. I needed EXCITEMENT. I needed something FIESTY. I needed something DANGEROUS.

Enter Tommy Jack Savage into my life.



He was a three year old green gelding with TONS of spunk. I spent more time on MY backside than on his. Every chance he got, he bucked. He ran away with me. He was ill-tempered, ill-mannered, and spirited. We got along FAMOUSLY. I loved that big old leggy baby. He was MINE. ALL MINE.

I took him to the 4-H fair that year. In amongst all of the professionally trained horses, we stuck out like a sore hoof. Instead of calmly, smoothly loping around the arena, we RACED. We galloped wherever TJ damn well pleased around the perimeter of the ring, nearly causing the demise of one judge who looked like he was having ZERO fun. We may not have placed that year, but we were made for each other. I was never one of those kids whose parents did the work for them. For one thing, my parents wouldn't be caught DEAD on that big galoot. We did the work ourselves and we grew together.

**Nota Bene: TJ is still alive and well. He is now 18 and LOVES my girls. Check out this post for pictures of the infamous big guy himself.

On Becoming a Woman

Fifth grade. On the verge of being a teenager. No longer a child, in my mind. I know that it was a rough time for my parents. For me too, for that matter. I have always been a bit...outspoken. Never the type to bite my tongue. That caused a rift between my mom and I, which I regret to this day. Dad used to say that it was because we were so much alike. I look back and agree entirely. There were good times though too.

I started playing sports in fifth grade. Volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter, then softball in the spring. I liked sports. Heck, I STILL like sports. I prefer to play a sport over a cardio workout any day.

I wasn't too great at any of them, but I LOVED softball. In volleyball and basketball, I always ran around crazy, never quite understanding completely. On the diamond though, that was a COMPLETELY different story. My place was behind the plate. There, I knew what EVERYONE was doing. For some unexplainable reason, I adored having a softball hurled at me and having a sweaty old man breathing down my backside. "STRRRIIIIIIKE!" was my favorite word. My mom played softball too, when she was younger. She was always the bad ass behind the plate too. :o) I was always proud that we shared that ONE thing.

I should probably add that my dad coached me. It was a bit of a love/hate thing. I loved that my dad was involved in my activities, but MAN! It was ROUGH!! Just sayin'. He coached me on our school basketball team. I was TERRIBLE, so it was okay that he made me ride the pine a lot. It was always said that I spent more time on the floor than on my feet. I guess that my nickname (Hubs calls me Gracie basically to mock my complete lack of finesse.) was in the cards even way back then.

All of this culminated to the 5th grade end of the softball season party. My mom and dad offered to host a swim party at our house. Keep in mind, our house was pretty much a kid's dream, complete with go-kart, horse, riding trails, swimming pool, and pond. It was going to be a great time. Lo and behold, the day of the party came and so did a visitor (the FIRST time this particular visitor graced me with her presence). Any woman reading this can pretty much guess which visitor I am referring to. Any eleven year old girl with a swim party's worst nightmare. So while my guests were due to arrive in a few hours, I was learning the ins and outs of womanhood. To this day, I VIVIDLY recall my dramatic younger self crying to my mother, "I don't WANT to be a girl! I want to be a boy!" As if my theatrics were going to make EVERYTHING go away instantly... Needless to say, the party guests arrived and I had ALMOST as much fun as if everything were "normal". Thank goodness all of the guests were girls as well.

So the end of the school year ended, and I was officially on the brink of womanhood.

"Em" is for Motorcycle.

Hubs got his bike back from the buddy who was borrowing it. Em had to have some photos taken with it. And as much as I hate to look hillbilly with a picture of my child on a motorcycle, I HAD to take it. She so rarely asks for her picture taken!

Daddy with his girls

Girl after his own heart

Hell on Wheels.

And no, she HAD not brushed her hair yet. Cute, huh? Oh well, life's too short to wait for the PERFECT photo op. :o)

Homeschool Swap

This summer, I participated in a Homeschool Swap. Now, you may say, "But you don't homeschool!" But I am considering it. STRONGLY. So while scouring many different sites for information, I happened upon The Homeschool Post and found this swap. So, I thought to myself, "Self, this sounds like fun!" I love getting mail and making new friends, so I signed myself up. And into my life came Renae Deckard. My Homeschool Swap swapper. We found that we have a lot in common, including impeccable taste in naming children. :o) Both of us have Emmas, which I guess shouldn't be surprising, since it seems as though 90% share our fondness for the name. I digress, here are the goodies that Renae found for me for just $15!

And might I say, that vase looks just FAB with my milk glass collection!

It was GREAT "meeting" you, Renae. I will think of you often! Especially when I indulge in Twizzlers!

Off the Face of the Earth

A friend of mine let me know nicely that I have been neglecting dear old blog. So here I am, back at it...quickly, however, since I SHOULD be making dinner for the hubs and kids. :o) So what, in a nutshell, has been keeping me from blogville??

Sick kids. Yes. I said it. Sick kids! Mine! Sick! I can hardly believe it myself, since Emma has only been sick once (other than a cold here and there) in her 4 years so far. We have been so blessed with our healthy little ones. Way to go, mama's milk! You have done a wonderful job thus far. :-D

Visits with the aunt. Rob's aunt Delaney (who is 18 years younger than he is) came to stay with us for a week. Last week consisted of me trying to entertain a 15 year old. I'm not sure how I did, but I hope that the 4 year old and 1 year old didn't drive her TOO crazy. We had a lot of fun. We went and saw Beezus and Ramona (I <3ed it), went to the zoo, went on a picnic in the park, and went to the splash pad. We also took her to a local haunt called Tyeger's Pizza. I cannot describe how delicious their pizza it. Mmmmm...It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! :-P

We've also been on a plight to find Emma a new preschool, since ours had to close due to budget cuts. :o( We will definitely miss Miss Leslie and the rest of Emma's classmates this year. But we have a new preschool lined up. I just have my fingers crossed that it works out since our selection in this little one horse town is sort of slim. :o/

Clothes shopping for Em.

Rearranging furniture. Moving another desk into our living room. It definitely doesn't look designer in here with the crapton of furniture crammed in the tiny little spce, but I needed it in here to work with Emma on her schoolwork.

So what else...Evelyn is talking now. Sort of. She says, "Hi, Dad" and "dog." No sign of "Mama" anywhere. :o(

Planning a trip. A trip that is happening in about a month. But we don't know where. A touch last minute, ya think? Any suggestions??? Need someplace historical with water nearby. Must be a house with a pool since my girls are water junkies. :o)

Also looking for a dance class for the Dancing Queen.

Checking out some new websites:
Paperback Swap
Click

to sign up and get me a free book! "Andrea Peterson" MUST be in your referred by box! You know you want to help a fellow blogger out!
and
Becoming an ambassador of Barefoot Books
Click here to shop around!
Yeah...I'm a book nerd...

Oh yeah, and I MUST get out of the house soon. The walls are closing in on me.

Okay! Well, that's about it. For all of you that were thinking that I was off on some extravagant holiday or even a top secret mission, I am so sorry to disappoint you! We've just been busy living the Peterson life!