Wog Dog Blog - Squirrel Hunter

Today was a monumental day at our house.  Since we got KC a year and a half ago, she has chased squirrels with a fierce obsession.  She has made all of us who walk her, despise squirrels.  KC has made us run at break neck speeds and leap over bushes in a single bound.  I swear the squirrels frolic right in front of KC on purpose and mock her as she runs them up a tree!  Bonnie who has tree-hugger tendencies recently told me that she wants an “I Hate Squirrels” T-shirt.  Dan said he hopes one day she would actually catch a squirrel.  Well, today was the day!  She was barking and causing a big commotion outside so I sent Bonnie to check on her.  Bonnie starts freaking out and yelling, “KC caught a squirrel!”  We all raced outside and KC had a squirrel in her mouth.  She just kind of pranced around with it.  Typically, if we give her a bone, she goes outside and buries it.  I don’t think she really knew what to do with the squirrel.  She is a Tree Walker Coon Hound and is raised to hunt.  She is one of the best breeds for hunting that you can have but this was her first successful hunt and we are also untrained what to do next.  

When I was young, a friend of my brothers would go squirrel hunting and I actually ate some fried squirrel before.  I thought today, if times ever get really tough, KC could help bring home the bacon (literally) and help keep all the Wogs fed!  LOL Yes I know this is totally upsetting or grossing some people out but it’s the circle of life is all!  Squirrels are overpopulated in our area and they personally have driven me to the brink of insanity.  When I was pregnant with Bonnie and lived in our stilt house, squirrels moved into the floor, underneath the house and would keep me up all night running around and scratching. Then the little buggers started chewing through our PVC pipes and we would have all these leaks.  I prayed to God to help me figure out how the little critters were getting in the floor.  I was standing outside on the steps, and swoosh I saw the squirrel go in this tiny little whole on the side of a column.  I was wishing I had a gun in my hand to finish the little animal off.  Dan patched the place of entry, along with fixing the water pipes a few times and all was well after that but it did leave me with a bitterness and murderous thoughts about all the sleepless nights the intruding squirrel family caused me.

We decided we needed to get the squirrel away from KC so she wouldn’t tear it up in the back yard.  You would think at least one out of five kids would be upset or even traumatized by the experience but they were all like proud parents.  Yes, it’s weird but I understood.  She has attempted to a catch a squirrel hundreds of times and finally accomplished her life’s purpose!  She finally dropped it and I threw a bag over it and tried to grab it to dispose of it.  The critter was warm and totally freaked me out and I screamed and KC grabbed the tail and ran off again in the bushes.  My mother in law was over and took charge.  She corned KC and got the squirrel and put it in the bag.  The kids were sad like we took KC’s prize but it was the best thing to do.  I texted Dan a picture and he proudly showed everyone in his office and was puffed up with pride in his hound dog!  It might just be me, but I think KC is walking with a new swagger, feeling pretty satisfied with herself!

STAR WARS Phantom Menace 3D

There are things in your life that stand out and will always forever!  I vividly remember going to see the original Star Wars movie, (episode 4, A New Hope) with my parents when I was a kid (Yes I am older than I look, LOL!)  The first time Bubba ever saw a Star Wars movie was when he just turned 4 and we took him to see Episode 3 (yes I am rethinking that decision for sure.  It sounds so ridiculous now but it didn’t at the time because Bubba was so obsessed with Star Wars) 

Yesterday was an Epic day for the Wogs!  The Phantom Menace was re-leased in 3D and Bubba wanted to go see it with his best friend from preschool Ryan.  They had previously had Star Wars bonding as little kids!  Bubba started his day with a flag football game, a Pop Warner football from the Godard’s and then dashed to the theater for the big Star Wars moment.  I emailed the fam about going if the time worked out.  We were quite excited that THE James McDonald was going to be there at the same time!!  (Does a birthday get any better than that? Isn’t that the best gift possible?)  As if to make the day even more epic, BOTH James and Jesse were sporting the now famous, Wog Blog T-shirts!  It was like a major clash of goodness all at once! 

I picked up my nephew Isaac and rushed to the theater!  Dan got there early to save seats while I got the kids situated at home.  It was such an awesome surprise to have Uncle Bill and William there too!  We really dominated the whole theater with the Szarmacks, Ashmores, Burdettes and Porters were there too!  Poor Kennedy was either really tired or freaked out with the 3D action.  We are thinking this may be his first movie and oh what a perfect one to see first!

When the Star Wars music came on, I had to choke back tears of joy!  I sat next to William and Bubs asked me if he was alive when it originally came out and William said he felt old because Bubba wasn’t (it was released in 1999)  William and I both cringed the whole movie and plotted the assassination of Jar Jar Binks.  

My brother Billy can’t stand Jar Jar and actually re-edited a whole movie cutting him out as much as possible.  I think William actually tweeted something like “What was George Lucas thinking?”  and I agreed.  What an irritating character.  We also lamented about what a shame it was that Qui Gon Jinn and Darth Maul were killed off in episode 1.  They were awesome characters.  We were secretly hoping that the plot would miraculous change and Darth Maul would slice Jar Jar binks into the shaft of death.

The 3D Glasses were so cool.  They had a picture of Darth Maul’s eyes on the arms of the glasses.  Bubba is obsessed with 3D glasses.  Mysteriously I ended up with about 6 pair in my purse.  I didn’t make a big deal about Bubba lifting them from the theater because it was his birthday celebration after all.  The film ended and Bubba got another gift, a Star Wars Xbox game from the Altenbachs!  Now we are only left counting down the days until they release Episode 2, Attack of the Clones.  Let’s just hope and pray that James McDonald will be at that showing as well!

Daddy's Home!!!

Twice a year, Dan has to go out of town for several days.  I always think it’s a royal waste of corporate money.  I dread it so much.  I think mainly it’s the thought of being responsible for the 5 kids and the dog.  The dog is the biggest problem because walking her is not enough.  Dan rides her on the bike for 5 miles and then she is the perfect dog with her halo on straight!  Dan lectured the kid to step it up and help me while he is gone. I am not a morning person at all and I am very spoiled.  Dan gets up with all the kids everyday while I sleep in. He feeds them all, packs their lunches and quietly slips a cup of coffee on my side table and I sit in brief silence, waking up slowly. 

The first morning, I got jolted awake by a door slamming.   I looked at the clock and it was 7 AM.  I was really hoping all the kids were still at home!  I stumbled downstairs and was pleasantly surprised.  Maggie had made breakfast, Annie was busy packing everyone’s lunch (she is the one who slammed the door getting juice boxes in the outside refrigerator!)  Maggie even turned on my coffee and it was ready to drink, praise Jesus!! 

The second morning I woke up to something burning.  I freaked, RAN downstairs and it was only a waffle and after scraping it, it was still edible!  The third day, things went a little side-ways.  I had to break up a fight, we were cramming spelling, Bible verses, hunting folders and running late.  I was so glad it was my last morning alone to manage the masses!

The kids were so excited for the Dad to be home.  They turned out all the lights and yelled surprise and all on their own, made him a special treat of yogurt, cream cheese, whip cream and other mysterious ingredients that was really good surprisingly!  After we got the little kids to bed, Dan and I had a quick date to catch up on the quantity of events that transpired while he was out of town for 4 days.  We went to Burrito Gallery and when we came home, a good song came on the radio and we had a mini-dance party in the car.  I told him our neighbors probably think we are even weirder with the bass booming out of the car.  I always have a new appreciation for Dan after his trips.  We are blessed to be a good team and the thought of not having him around is daunting!  I don’t know how people do this.  I think of my friend Chandra whose husband is in the Navy and has a lot of kids too! ! I am so happy to have my family intact again and to be a survivor!

Jaguars

God is so good to our flag football program!  We have had many Jaguar players as guest speakers at halftime, over the last three years and all of them have been exceptional, like Paul Frase, Tom McManus, Kyle Brady and Jeff Loggerman!  Last week, we were very blessed to have our former Jacksonville Jaguar quarterback, David Garrard come out and speak to our players.  He is good friends with Kyle Brady who is one of our coaches. David thought he was just coming out to speak to Kyle’s team.  He was a little surprised to find out he was our halftime speaker! 

I was pretty stunned at how awesome he was.  He was such a passionate speaker and preached the gospel!  He has an awesome testimony of getting saved in a fast food restaurant with the team chaplain!  I told him afterwards that I think he may be called to be a preacher because he was so anointed!  He couldn’t have been nicer to all the kids and to the star-struck parents.  I thought one Dad was going to break down and cry when he was talking to David.  It was hilarious, “Its  a true honor to meet you!  You are one of the greats….”   He signed footballs, jerseys and took a ton of pictures with people.  He brought his little boy with him who was adorable and Bonnie and her friends babysat him while David spoke! 

I sure wish things could have worked out different for David Garrard and the Jags.  He is such a fine representative for our team and our city.  Not to get the haters all going but it would have also been nice if we would have drafted Tim Tebow.  I kind of think that Jack Del Rio may not be on the staff of the Broncos had Tim been with the Jags.  Everyone knows he doesn’t throw the football properly but the intangibles of faith and leadership could have made a huge difference for our Jags.  I pray that the new owner and coaches will make the Jaguars a winning team and will also recruit fine examples like David Garrard!

Little Scholars

When I signed up Bubba for Pop Warner, I did think it was strange that they wanted a report card.  I didn’t give it much thought, I just checked it off the requirement list and never thought of it again.  I don’t know much about Pop Warner and honestly was pleasantly surprised at how nice our experience was.  I have heard horror stories and had resisted letting Bubba participate for years.  I even started a flag football league to try to satisfy him but it didn’t work!  I was so fearful of him getting injured or abused mentally.  I finally relented after I read Tim Tebow’s book so Bubba should really be thankful for Timmy!  LOL

At one of the games, I was handed a packet of information about Bubba being accepted as a Little Scholar.  I was very excited and proud of him.  Basically you have to have a minimum grade of 96% to qualify and be active in your community. They recognized Bubba and the other Little Scholars at the homecoming party, calling each out on the field, explaining that they are in the 1% of the almost half a million participants in the world.  

A few weeks ago we got an invitation in the mail for a Little Scholars Banquet.  We RSVPed and went last Saturday night.  It was quite a big affair.  It was in a beautiful historic room at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, which was the old train station.  All the kids and parents were dressed up and they presented each kid with awards, a T-shirt and a bag of treats (their favorite!)  They also gave cash scholarships too.  Now I am really going to motivate Bubba to make good grades!!  I was very proud of Bubba who has always cared about his grades and always gives 100% effort in everything he does!  Dan and I so enjoyed just being alone with Bubba and spending time with him on our night out!  The older the kids get the more I realize how they will be our best friends!  I don’t know what the future holds for Bubba but I know God has a plan and it’s going to be good!  I just pray it has something to do with football! 

Ed's Bike Pick-Up

I few weeks ago, I thought I was so cool and would make Ed’s day by riding my bike to pick him up from school.  I got his helmet and rode like crazy to his school.  I was so ridiculously excited to see him and for him to find out I rode my bike.  I have just recently realized that I must exercise more if I am going to have the energy to raise all these kids.  It sure takes an effort and takes up more time than I wish but I am dedicated to the cause!

Ed came out and I was standing there with his helmet and he asked me where my truck was.  I told him I was going to ride him home on the bike.  I didn’t quite get the reaction I was going for.  He kept checking the carpool line as if I had abandoned the truck there.  He was never really jazzed about it and I was quite disappointed.  I did it a few more times on crazy beautiful 70 degree winter days!  Last Wednesday, I picked him up in the truck and he starts hassling me about why I didn’t pick him up on the bike….geez, I can’t win! 

Friday was early release for my other kids.  I had a grandiose idea for all of us to bike up to Ed’s school and surprise him.  It was going to be tight because I only had 15 minutes between pick-ups.  That blasted Penman road light almost ruined it for everyone.  I call that light really bad names %$#&@#.....  Lord forgive me!   It turned red after a half of a car made it through so I thought quickly, and went straight through the light instead of turning and parked at the elementary school behind my house.  My kids busted a move, jumped the fence, grabbed the helmets, dodged the dog and rode their little hearts out!  I think the thought of little Ed standing on the curb drove them to ride faster and faster.  We pulled in at 1 PM on the button and I was sure I was going to pass out.

Ed was more than stoked to see his sibs!  Not really sure I got the whole story, but his face was painted up like “Captain Morgan??”  Isn’t that the alcohol dude?  Well, anyway, we rode home and Ed was so excited and chitchatted relentless all the way home!  It was a fun memory and I could hardly walk the rest of the day from all this fun exercise….can we please have a cold snap soon so I can drive again! :)

Happy 4th Birthday Eddie!

 It’s pretty unbelievable that it’s been 4 years since I was sure I would have a nervous breakdown having a 5^th kid.  Eddie arrived a little after midnight and just missed being born on my Aunt Pat’s birthday.  My doctor had to do an emergency C-section so it delayed Ed’s arrival!   He did manage to barely arrive in the January month.  We have all our 5 kids within the first six months of the year and each kid is featured on their birth month on the familycalendar all by themselves!  Eddie didn't infringe on Bubba's month and gets to start off every year for us!

My mom decided to give Eddie a set of walkie-talkies.  Dan was sitting in our room and Eddie says, "Daddy you're awesome, Roger, Roger!"  It was so funny!  We put him to bed that night and I let him keep one walkie-talkie not really thinking it all through.  I went downstairs to watch a movie with Dan, Bonnie and Bubs and a few minutes later, we started hearing the other walkie talkie…”Daddy, DADDDDYYY!”  Dan looks at me and says. “REALLY??”  For the next 30 minutes, he would call one of us and we would tell him to go to sleep.  It was really hilarious!

I was really excited about taking cupcakes into his class.  I have never hung out in his class and it was really precious.  He was so excited to see me and all his friends were very interested in “Eddie’s mom!”  I got to finally meet, Roscoe, Ethan, Mason and all Eddie’s classmates!  We passed out cupcakes, and the whole class sang happy birthday to Ed.  They had music time and story time and the class was so organized, calm and peaceful and I was really impressed!!

Then the madness began!  Mysteriously one of the balloons I got Ed was missing out of the truck and I am assuming it took flight when we opened the door.  All the five Wogs loaded up and headed to Chick-fil-A!  We parked and we heard loud horn blowing and hollering and some of Bonnie’s friends pulled in to wish Ed a Happy Birthday!  I noticed there was more than usual people in Chick as I was saving four tables.  I saw some people I knew and found out it was a school’s spirit night and IT WAS PACKED!  Ed was in Chick-fil-A heaven playing in the play yard and I was sweating praying someone would show up soon and occupy these tables that people were stalking.  I exchanged some spirited texts with Dan about his tardiness and finally everyone arrived.  We slammed down some chicken, and a mound of waffle fries and finally got to the cupcakes!  Hats off to Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Paul, Aunt Mary and Eddie's cousins for braving the chaos!

The Chick Cow that has tormented Ed since birth came out and Ed was a very brave 4 year old and even posed for a picture.  We got out of there as soon as we finished up to free up the tables for the hordes of school spirit people standing around glaring at us.  I got to he door and some person behind me stepped on the balloon and poof it flew up to the sky to join the other balloon that mysteriously escaped.  Before Ed had a meltdown at his balloonless state, we swung by the store and bought the exact same balloons and we prayed he would never know the truth.  I don’t think Ed realizes his “Happy Birthday Party” is over for another year.

I have loved having Eddie so much and I'm so thankful that God knew I need another little boy!! He makes me laugh everyday while he is bossing me around or singing or being funny!  We have bought him hundreds of matchbox cars and watched countless episodes of Little Einstein, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Mickey Mouse!  I don’t know what God has planned for our little surprise blessing but I know it’s going to be something big and bold!!  He was well named after his great-grandfather who loved to sing, joke and most of all love freely!  Happy Birthday to my baby boy, Eddie!