Not much going on - Josh is doing well in school and thank goodness it's almost over! But... then starts the summer programs and band camp!!

I can't believe he'll be 16 in just a few short months... he has grown up way too fast.. I can remember bringing him home from the hospital... ah the joys he's given me!

The Shafer Zoo, including the 2 wild brown cottontail rabbits are all doing fine!

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Oh my where has time flown... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's has come and gone! The holidays were great and the snow on Christmas Eve was a special treat... actually we've had LOTS of snow this year... HOPEFULLY it's over and spring is right around the corner!

Josh is doing well and is going to California for spring break with the band - he's going to have a blast... I guess I could have volunteered to chaperone but I can't see myself on a charter bus getting NO sleep because of all those teenagers!

I'll update more later but didn't want everyone to think I didn't blog anymore!

Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!

Nothing much is new - Josh is still keeping very busy with the band and still marching since the Aledo Bearcats are now on their way to the semi-finals in 4A football! His next trip is Saturday after Thanksgiving where they travel to Midland, TX to root on the Bearcats! Last Friday night, 11/20/09, their game was at the new Cowboy Stadium... what a site that is especially the humongous (sp?) jumbo TV - that thing stretches from one 20yd line to the

Click here Aledo Bearcat Regiment to enjoy their performance at Cowboy Stadium! Enjoy!

Not much going on these days... Josh keeps us pretty busy with all his band practices, games and competitions! Congratulations to the Aledo High School Bearcat Regiment for placing in the Bands of America competition

Best in Class 2A
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Marching
Outstanding General Effect
Division One Rating

They have placed 2nd in the Regionals of UIL and they have Area competition on Saturday, 10/24 IF they place there then it's off to the State competition... For more information on the UIL:Music check out this link... UIL_Music

The Bearcat Regiment have been State finalists mutliple times before - so keep them in your prayers that they can repeat. State happens every 2 years so the next opportunity for Josh would be his JR year... they truly are incredible - they even have videos posted on youtube, check them out Bearcat_Regiment ... they have a very cool performance - the theme this year is "The Storm is Coming" .... so look for the video clips that are dated 2009 or have "RAIN" in the title.

Well better get this posted :) Hope everyone is having a great week!

Oh I am sooo bad on keeping this updated - but Josh has been keeping us busy with band - he has practice EVERY day of the week... Mondays 5-7pm; Tuesday - Friday 7am - 8:20am oh yeah and don't forget Tuesday evenings 4:30pm - 5:30pm! Then he has football games on Friday nights and in October has a marching competition EVERY Saturday... and so my Friday nights are either at the home games or waiting til nearly midnight to pick him up from away games!

Go Bearcats!

And for those of you not on Facebook - here is our handsome Joshua in his Aledo HS band uniform....

(In the stands) (Marching into the field pre-game)

Well I guess I better get this posted but to update on everything, horses are good, goats are good now (after their pit bull attack) and of course the Shafer Zoo (Duke, Storme, Piper and Norton) are doing well - oh yeah, Stormie turned 7 on Josh's birthday

Hope everyone is doing well! Will try to remember to post more pics of Josh as I get them :)

Oh my how time flies... I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I last blogged - I'm sooo terrible! Well let's see... Josh is about to start high school - I can't even believe that ... my baby is getting all grown up... he's in band again... and band camp started Monday and goes until the 21st... he's definitely going to start keeping us busy with football games and in the spring, soccer... We have a new addition to our classic car collection... I just got a 1967 Mustang Coupe (more pictures posted on Facebook)


I'll give a sneak peak... and remember it will be repainted in the future to Black.. the ideas are brewing and I'm sure it'll have some pale pink accents... it may appear a little girly but the engine will surprise you! Guess I'd better get this posted or else ....

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Oh my how times flies... I can't believe it's the middle of June already... Sorry it's been a while since my last post but with Josh finishing the 8th grade and then Memorial Day and now we've invested in an above ground pool - we spend a lot of time outside. I guess the most exciting things we've done are... James and I attended a friends wedding in May (see our cute picture)


And my sister, Kristin and I went to a Texas Rangers game and had tickets in the 9th row directly behind home plate - thanks to a member at the country club where Kristin's husband works... then while at the game there was a freakin' light delay - 1hr 41mins later the game resumed but we left after the initial hour and the game was on by the time we arrived home, needless to say the Rangers lost to the Dodgers.

I'm still in awe that Joshua will be starting high school in just a few short months - where has the time gone? Oh yeah and now he's almost 5'6" - he's starting to tower over me... where did my sweet baby go? He's still very sweet just a bit bigger!

Well, I guess I'll post this and TRY to keep this more updated.

Have a fun week!

Well, it's been awhile and I apologize, it's just been so hectic having family visiting - or living here (haha!) but all is good.

I'm a bit tired since Josh had to be at school today, 5/9, by 5am for his band trip to Fiesta Texas in San Antonio - oh yeah and their competition on Friday, 5/8, went well, all 3 bands received Superior Ratings and Best Band in Classification - I'm so proud of him as well as all the kids!

I won't be up too late tonight or maybe I won't go to bed since I have to pick him at school tomorrow, 5/10 around 2am! HOLY COW... I'm too old for that!

All is well, no one has been sick (knock on wood) and the Shafer Zoo is as crazy as ever!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!

Nothing much is going on - Josh is doing well from his oral surgery - don't think he lost too much wisdom! The only news is that the Shafer household will be OVERFLOWING as James' family is coming to visit... I don't know how I'm going to handle SIX more people... and then his dad (who is a sweetheart) is coming on March 29th for a week - so make that an additional 7 people - for a total of 14.... God give me strength! Then a week after the leave my parents come to town for a visit... I'm going to need a vacation!!!

All the four-legged creatures are doing good and the weather is finally turning nice.... so nice even that the Texas bluebonnets are making their appearance this year - considering last year we had that freak snow storm and a hard freeze!

Well, better get this published before it gets too late! Happy Spring

Joshua's oral surgery went well - he's still a bit swollen but doing good :) The Shafer Zoo is as crazy as ever - nothing much going on except I can't believe it's been almost 25 years since I graduated high school and that Josh will be starting high school in the fall... where has time gone?

Well I'll just post a picture of Josh with his cousin, CJ, they look so sweet -
Hope all is well with everyone - will post more later!

Well it appears that when James took some antibiotics for his tooth in January, it appears (still waiting on results) that the "good" antibiotics killed off the "good" antibodies in his stomach/intestines and that is what has been making him so ill. Yes, FINALLY got him to go to the Doctor's on Thursday. Now, we are pumping (hopefully) the right antibiotics back into this stomach as well as a lot of yogurt - he seems to be doing better, last night (2/6) was the first night he actually slept the entire night.... he says he's lost 20lbs but doesn't wish that kind of diet or misery on anyone not even an enemy!

Josh has Solo and Ensemble contest today - I hope he does well! He's scheduled to get his wisdom teeth removed on the 20th of this month and dang let me tell you dentist/oral surgeons are in cahoots for money.... and dental insurance isn't worth squat! It's going to cost $1700 and his dental insurance is only covering 50% but when I actually called the insurance company they told me the 'contracted fee' per tooth and anathesia... so NOW my question is if the "contracted fees" equal $1020 but we're being charge $1700 of which I have to pay $850 (50%) plus the $50 deductible - where the heck is the other $680 dollars going and it better get refunded back to me or I'm pitching a fit!!! So we'll wait and see...

Nothing much else is going on - the zoo is as crazy usual.... one day it'll calm down! Don't get me wrong I love the animals but there are those days (and there are many) that all their dang fur just drives me insane I guess I'm just anal like that - LOL

Well, better get this posted since James and my sister, Kristin, think I'm writing a book - ha!

Have a great week and Happy Valentines!

Well as usual not much is going on - James has been ill with a stomach virus/flu of sorts but you know he's too stubborn to go to the Doctor - so he'll just suffer! ha!

As far as the Shafer Zoo - all is good, Duke old as ever, Stormie fat as ever, Piper well, just Piper and Norton rotten as ever... Ginger and Buttercup mean as ever to Millie, Rusty is just Rusty and well Oreo is a snot as usual - stubborn a*** horse!

Now as far as Josh... he is going to a Valentine's Day dance with his girlfriend, Kenzie, on Friday the 13th (eewww) of February and then.... the next Friday, February 20th he is getting all his "wisdom" taken out - yes, my baby is having his wisdom teeth removed - he's NOT excited about it but such is life!

I still have my sanity for now with everyone here - amazing! ha!

Nothing else is new just trying to make sure no one else gets ill (i.e. Josh) as I realize I have a cold or something that one of the 3 children that are in my house brought home.... those nasty germ carriers! It's been over 5-6yrs since I've been sick and prior to that it was a good 8yrs before that.... outside of the allergies - oh well I'll survive.

I'll post more later - maybe I'll be able to get pics of Josh and Kenzie or Josh with puffy face from oral surgery - LOL... (he'll kill me for that but it's my job as a mom!)

Happy New Year to All

Not much has happened - all was pretty quiet (HA!) for the holidays - my house is no longer "quiet" -it's full of family :) which is a good thing. My sister and her family have finally officially moved from Alabama and so my is FULL... sorry everyone, there is NO VACANCY at the Shafer house.

Kids go back to school tomorrow, January 6th - it's about time, I don't ever remember have 2 weeks Christmas vacation and if I did it must be senility setting in - you know how it goes, old age... memory is one of the first to go!

Norton was a bit sad this year, Grandpa Terry wasn't able to come visit him, but Norton kept his chair toasty warm as you can see....


Josh had a pretty good Christmas... gift cards, video games, books, xbox360 (his own - so now he doesn't have to share with James) and of course a TON of OU Sooner stuff - he was thrilled!! Just check out the HUGE smiles on his face...

Well, all in all, it was a great Christmas especially since I was able to spend it with BOTH my sisters... and as far as new year's went... we accidentally froze the bottle of Asti - oops! We'll have it soon, I'm sure!

Happy New Year to All

Well, what can I say.... we had the most interesting night on 12/6/08... we had a once in a lifetime opportunity to track a buffalo! Yes, that's right, a buffalo!!!

A gentleman who lives about 1/2 mile north of us, had 3 and the daddy Buffalo got out... we tracked him for about 2 hours (with the owner and the Aledo Fire Dept) but then just when we thought we could have trapped him and into a stock trailer... he jumped a small fence and disappeared into the night once again! Dang was it cold outside as well.... I think we'll call Mr. Moritz (of course he owns a car dealership) later today to see what happened to his buffalo!

Woo hoo the OU Sooners won and Josh is excited as usual! Now OU will kick the gators butts!

Well, need to finish chores (oh joy)

Happy Holidays
The Shafer Family

Not much is going on - except my sister is moving from Alabama to Texas - woo hoo! Jason FINALLY got a golf job close to us :) It'll be nice to have all the boys and of course Ms Hollywood together for longer than a week!

All is well, the horses are doing well, except for this tremendous downpour, I'm sure they're trying NOT to float away - LOL... Josh is doing great, he's trying out for Region Band (wish him luck) and he is first chair with the trombone in his band (they're 3 at the middle school!) Their Christmas concert is December 16th - can't wait to hear it! Though Josh has been playing several times... he did a performance with the high school band and as a 1/2 time performance for the high school (who was in San Antonio at a competition - which they won!) Here's the link to the youtube sight to hear the middle school band - they're pretty good!
Aledo Middle School Band Performances

Hope all is well with everyone - will post more later!

Well not much is going on - Josh turned 14 this month and we don't mention James or my age on our birthdays - ha! The Zoo is doing good as is everyone else!

James has to go down to Orange, TX to do some disaster recovery work (server or 2) for Honeywell, I hope he doesn't see caskets floating like there was... Hurricane Ike did a number on that part of Texas we got lucky, we just had some misty rain and mild gusts - he remained about 100+ miles southeast of us but we saw the clouds churning and the sky was very gray and overcast.

I guess I'd better get this updated... and finish laundry so James has all the essentials!

Have a great week and of course... Happy Birthday to James (9/20)!!!

Not much is going on - Josh is "hating" alegebra for the simple fact that he had homework BEFORE school even started, then he had homework the 1st day of school and quiz by the 3rd day... guess that's what it means to be smart - LOL... other than that he has probably 6 classes or so with his little girlfriend so he enjoys that...

Just thought I'd share a couple of pictures - James didn't want to mow the little enclosed area in the backyard so we brought in our "lawnmowers" - and dang...


Oreo is the most inquisitive horse I've ever seen - Rusty got that way the 2nd time in but this first time he was more interested in eating!!!

Will post more later - have a great week!!! I have to go birthday shopping for the little smartie pants!

Well, I have been slacking but it's getting close to school starting and what is new this year is Josh is playing football - doesn't he look adorable and all grown up? LOL He's gonna make me get one of those fancy Canon EOS cameras that take 3-5 pics per second.. or maybe I'll just borrow my sister Misti's Nikon for his games... I can't believe he's going to be 14 in about 2 weeks, September 6th.... WOW how time flies!!!

Well our fence is finally done :) James and Brien did a GREAT job and our horses are finally home.. the goats don't seem to mind, I'm glad they're sharing the grass nicely... I must say that Oreo is the most curious horse I've ever met - should have named him Curious George - LOL... Rusty is laid back and is a cool horse... it's still pretty wild to see them out of my kitchen window... I guess I'm "country-fied" now!

We are all doing well as are ALL the animals, Duke, Storme, Piper, Norton, Skittles (dogs); Buttercup, Ginger and Mille (goats) and of course Oreo and Rusty (horses!)

Check out some of the pictures of the "Shafer Zoo/Farm" that James has taken...

Naptime for Oreo and Rusty

Oreo

What is Buttercup thinking? Gimme a treat? LOL oh please!!!

I'll try to keep this updated more often with pictures of Josh if nothing else!
Have a wonderful week and Love to all!

Just a few updated pictures of "Rusty" and Oreo... Not much else is going on - just busy with work and James and Brien busy on our pipe fence! Have a great summer!

James and "Rusty"


Marti and Oreo


This was a cool firework we got - it is supposed to look like a palm tree!

OK OK it's been almost a month... what can I say .... Nothing much is new except for our horses... Oreo and James' unknown named horse... I think we should call him Miller Lite - LOL or Whiskey... anyone have thoughts? Here are a couple of updated pictures - enjoy!!!



Josh is almost 14... how time flies!!! He passed 7th grade, like I ever doubted that and has gotten into Algebra I for 8th grade... smart boy! Well, I guess I'll get this posted so you all can see the horses.. more pictures to follow... considering this is ... "the Shafer Zoo" or should I say "the Shafer Farm" - LOL