Geese! Yes....Goosies!

So much has happened since I last blogged...durn the fact that blogging takes so much time and effort! I'll just start with current stuff because I can't go back in time right now.

So this last week was all about Moms and I had a great week celebrating the special ones in my life! Last week I was in Shiner for 3 days for work and my brother and I got to take my Mom out to dinner at a yummy restaurant and then followed up with fresh dewberry pie and ice cream! It was great to hang out with my whole family and just soak all that in.

We weren't planning on going anywhere for Mother's Day weekend, but literally on Friday, we decided to leave that night for Boyd. The tipping point was that Derrick had 2 customers he really needed to visit and deliver rifles to in the DFW area...it made sense for several reasons to take off.

The highlight of the weekend (next to getting to be with Grandma on Mother's Day of course!) included a trip to the Bowie Trade Days where Rhyder got a very special treat from his Grandma....2 little cutie cuddly cheepin' baby GEESE! :-) We ran into an old friend of the Ratliffs who sold birds and he had baby ducks and geese. Grandma zoned in immediately on the babies but thought the ducks were too fragile so decided on 2 geese. Rhyder was SO excited and over and over again he kept saying "Whoa!" and "Wow!"....therefore, Mommy's 2 geese picks were quickly named Whoa and Wow haha!

This was not for the geese...but its his very common Whoa or Wow look...adorable :)

Whoa, Wow, and all their friends

How fun to drive home with a goose!

Rhyder quickly became the Mother goose...they followed him everywhere he went 

Duck...Duck....Goose! Wait...I mean.... 

Best buds - geese in a dump truck - everyday occurrence, right? 

My Mother's Day favorite 

We brought them back to the Ratliffs and enjoyed them and then of course there was the decision...do they stay at the Ratliff Farm or come home for Rhyder to continue to enjoy while they are little..........so home they came. 

Didn't know the quail pen and all the bird apparatus would come in handy quite so soon :) 

What do you get when you get a rainstorm, a sandbox without the lid, and 2 baby geese? One happy and dirty boy! 

So we'll enjoy them while we can, and if a raccoon or snake or coyote or some other critter doesn't get to them first, our neighborhood pond just may inherit two mysterious geese. Not sure where those things came from! wink wink

Christmas 2013

Still trying to catch up quickly so I can document Rhyder's life but catch up to current so I can write with some depth. Here goes Christmas 2013!

Rhyder's first photos with Santa. He was quite fascinated with the adorable lil pony! 

I have a cute one of him looking at the camera, but this one is so much better. Wow! Its Santa! 

All the love and joy of Christmas gifts ready to give away! 

Me and my Christmas Love!

Awkward but adorably fun! 

Rhyder's first visit to Santa's Wonderland. 

He was mesmerized! He got to ride at the very front of the trailer standing on hay bales holding on to the trailer and LOVED it all

The Ratliff crew - what a special family!

What is this business? Its awesome! 

Is all this for ME? no baby boy...not all of it ;-)

Everyone else MUST love trucks as much as I do! Would YOU like to hold it?  

Rhyder and his Great Grandmother (Linda Ratliff's momma) - Nanny
He got her beautiful blue eyes - thank you Nanny! 

The Ratliff men with Granddad - Derrick's Great Grandfather 

The Ratliff kid crew!
Logan, Kelly, Cherise, Rhyder, Derrick, Austin, and Tricia

Grandma and Pappy!

The Ratliff holiday meals are unbeatable. SO much yumminess and calories!

Austin and Derrick got Warhead Sour Powder stuff in their stockings - awesome :)

Rhyder loves the farm! Real live horses - amazed!
Can't wait til he's old enough to really appreciate it!

Love this...getting gates with Daddy

Yay for Dovey & Dandee! On to the Kaspars...

Love this pic with cousin Kyle because I have a lot of memories as a child on that wooden rocking horse!

We look forward to Christopher's beautiful Christmas piano music every year...now we even have more musicisians with Ciera and Jennifer marrying in! 

My parents beautiful whimsically rustic Christmas tree!

Jason and Hali! To be married in June 2014 Whoop! 

The giant teddy bear Hali gave to Rhyder! :) Its hanging out in my old room in Shiner for Rhyder to visit, but its pretty awesome!

Rhyder and his great grandfather, Don Kaspar (Daddy Don to everyone!)

The biggest greatest game of Settlers of Catan at Agarita with the Kaspar Crew! Such a fun weekend to wrap up the Christmas vacation. 

November 2013....in February 2014 ha!

I'm pretty sad about how long its been since I last blogged. I've been copy/pasting my blogs into emails that I send to Rhyder so one day, he can follow the progress of his childhood. 

So much has happened since October that I'm not really sure where to start....guess I'l start in November :)

Rhyder turned the Big 1 on November 13th. We had a birthday party at our house for him involving close friends and family. I know he'll never remember the party, but I wanted it to be elaborate enough to make good photos so he'd have something to look back on as his fun first birthday party. I couldn't decide what theme to go with and finally I decided to go simple with primary colors and balloons. He'll have plenty of time to pick expensive themes as life goes on :)

I couldn't find any premade invites that I liked so I just made one :)

I practiced a lot for the cake but ended up with a balloon masterpiece haha

rainbow fruit tray, cute colorful table, and very colorful cupcakes

such a cute lil 1 year old!

Big 1!

First taste of cake ever....hmmmm... 

Yummy if I do say so myself! 

Yay for cake!

Our little family

Blessed by so many friends and family

4 Generations

Our "Little Man" is 1!

Then there was the rest of November which brought a lot of memories and a lot of firsts:

First time in Mommy's big bathtub

Lots of Aggie football fun! The year of Johnny Manziel

First roasted marshmellow! 

Daddy Don's birthday party and Thanksgiving celebration

Derrick dug out the pieces of their childhood gas powered 4 wheeler. Its now in our garage awaiting some TLC & repair :) (and allowing Rhyder to grow like 5 more years ha!)

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The classic Ratliff family photo of a boy in Pappy's feed truck

Helpin Daddy and Pappy with the hog trap

One of my faves!

Love this family photo...it was good enough to make the Christmas card :)