Decade Party

The birthday boys

Donna, my twin cousin and my sister by another mother, just hosted a Decades Party for her dad and her boyfriend.  Her dad, James, was turning 80 and her boyfriend, David, was turning 50.  It was such a cute idea to host the two parties together.  Shelley, Donna's sister in law.....my cousin in law.... and our sister by another mother, helped to host the party.

Donna, me and Shelley

"French" Pumpkin Cake

You don't know it yet but you have waited all your life for this cake.  It is the best "go to" fall cake you will ever taste.  It's moist, delicious and looks beautiful on your cake stand.

It's a "Boot"iful Halloween

Last year I posted about how hard it is to decorate a western home for Halloween.  Here is an update for a few new ideas.  Have fun.....

Festus, Got to Love Him

I love watching old westerns.  The other day I was watching Gunsmoke and the whole episode was about good old Festus.  He cracks me up.  His character comes across as an old Tennessee ridge runner but if you really listen to some of his comments he is much smarter than the average cowboy.

This would be so cute framed in a little boy's room.

A Sunrise Tailgate Breakfast

Texas sunrise at the Howell Ranch

It may be 105 outside but come every Sept.1 the Howell cousins gather at the Howell Ranch for the annual dove hunt.  We all share wonderful childhood memories of being at our grandparents house on opening day of dove season.  There would be lots of men in camo, gun shots sounding in the pasture, the sound of Jerry Lewis on TV for the MD Marathon, and the smell of chicken fried steak and coconut cream pie in the kitchen of the farm house.

The Bomb at North Park

Three quotes that have stuck in my brain over the years.

1.  "Your Freedom Stops at the End of Your Nose."
      Mr.  Hughes
     American Government Class

2.  "Trash in, Trash out"
      Robert Wheat
      Poetry Baptist Church

3. "You Have to Stand for Something, or You'll Fall for Anything"
     Aaron Tippin,


Yesterday

I loaded up with Kathy and her sister Debby for a fun filled shopping day at North Park Mall.  If you are from the Dallas area you already know all about North Park Mall   Great shopping, beautiful decorations, high end stores, and home to the real Santa during Christmas.  Of course, it goes without saying, it's a great place to people watch, too.

A North Park tradition

Friends Don't Let Friends Wear the Wrong Cowboy Hat

As most of you know, I love anything cowboy!  I found an old cowboy hat box last weekend in Stephenville, Texas.  It was marked $5 and my heart skipped a beat.  When I opened the box and found the original felt hat in the box I thought I was having a heart attack.  When I asked about the price it was priced incorrectly.  I got it for $20 and I was happy to get it for that.  I didn't need it and really had no place to put it but I LOVED it and it needed a good home.

When I got home I rounded up all the cowboy hats I had in the house.  I've never thrown away any of Bill's cowboy hats and I have others that belonged to my grandparents, Evan, and I even found one that was a souvenir from the Texas Prison Rodeo.  I decided to decorate my guest bathroom using all the hats.  I found some old ads for cowboy hats and some rules for wearing cowboy hats.  I love the way the bathroom turned out.....

Cowboy hats placed above the vanity in my guest bathroom.

In between some of the hats are old rodeo playing cards and an old western belt.

I love this vintage child's cowboy hat.   It is displayed with some old cowboy hat ads.

Here's the hat box that started the redecorating of the bathroom.  The felt hat next to it was the one I found in the box.

Remember if you live in Texas.......Here are the Cowboy Hat Rules

1.  A black felt cowboy hat can be worn any time of the year.

2.  A straw cowboy hat is only worn between Easter and the beginning of the State Fair.

3.  After the State Fair begins you only wear felt hats till Easter.



Friends don't let friends wear the wrong cowboy hat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet the Teacher

And so it begins.....well......it really started about 3-4 weeks ago.  Every teacher starts thinking about the theme she will use in her classroom.  Sports????  Western????  Mickey Mouse????  I even saw a sock monkey theme at Mardels this week.  For the last 13 years of my teaching career, I had a western theme in my classroom.

The old red tub came out of my grandparent's farm house.

Cowboy Blackberry Cobbler

Summer time in Texas means three things....sweet tea, Blue Bell ice cream and cobblers made with fresh fruit.  I loaded up this blackberry cobbler in our big rig (as in truck and horse trailer) one weekend as we headed to a roping. 

The Road Goes on Forever.....But the "Parties" Never End.....

 Ok....it's been awhile....things happen.  I know we have broken the blogging posting rules by not blogging at least once a week or once a month.  So I'm going to catch you up on what's been going on since our last post!

December 

Our two families celebrating Christmas together!
(Husbands taking the pictures)

January

We started working on the shower and wedding for Kathy's precious daughter, Katy.

February

Katy and Austin's Shower

Vintage Travel was the theme for the bridal shower.  I set up this old suitcase and placed an old
license plate, several old hotel soaps, and vintage travel postcards inside the suitcase.  Each guest was given a postcard
to write down their best marriage advice on one side and their favorite place to travel on the other side.  The   refreshments were all named after a country.