Interfere not in the affairs of Dragons....

Dragons come in many forms.  They are cleverly hidden.  Let me take you on a short journey of a few I have run into lately.
It is no secret that at my house, we are all "Pot-heads", i.e. Harry Potter fans.  We are all still too young to even think of a midnight showing.  And quite frankly that is usually when the freaks come out, you know, things that go bump in the night.
So we opted for a Monday morning matinee, first movie out of the box!  We bought our tickets early (didn't need to, but it made us feel special) and donned our glasses.  The movie hiccuped several times in the first couple of minutes, then it stuttered, it paused and then went black.  Several times.  I stepped out of the theater to check and the second time, I was offered a refund.  Yes, I do believe I will.  I signed up for the refund and went back to the theater.  My children were not unattended, let me make that perfectly clear. We had been joined by another family and were sitting in a large group that took up one plus rows. 
In the end, we sort of saw the movie.  We will likely see it again.  I found out that after our disaster of a screening, the theater stopped selling Potter tickets for the day.  On the way home, the children told me about the dragon. 
They hadn't spoken earlier, because my Mama Bear would have emerged, searched out the dragon and vanquished it in a flurry of large words and pointed insults.  Bet you didn't know that I am a WereBear!
The kids said that when I went out of the theater (when the film had stalled out, mind you) the boys (my twins and another) had chatted.  Hey, kids talk.  They talk at dinner, they talk while in the shower and they talk during movies.  That is why we went to a matinee.  It was the "kid hour".  When the children had chatted, a dragon disguised as a women in front of them, had turned and said, "Shut the F--- up!"  Except she didn't use dash marks.
I was so angry!  Of course kids talk, in a kid movie!  It isn't as if we took them to an adult movie or even an evening showing.  We took them to see a kid's movie based on a kid's book!!!  So this dragon had a lot of nerve and I wish the children had told me earlier.  Then again maybe not.  I might be in jail right now!

Another type of dragon we have is quite common for us, but is actually an endangered species: Horned Lizards, or as we call them, Horned toads.  We are lucky enough to have a very healthy population at our home.  We catch them and play with them, as they are fairly gentle creatures.  We always return them to their home.  Today, I had a rare chance to see something most people will never, ever see; an infant horned lizard.

He was maybe the size of a nickle.  That is a half inch standard garden hose next to him.  He had almost no horns or spikes, just bumps.  I returned him back to his area, a place where he fit under weeds, like I stand under a tree.  For more information on horned lizards go HERE.

So, may the dragons in your life be the kind that scurries through the dirt and not the kind that drops f-bombs on your kids!

And how was your day?

Harry Potter's room, had he not been raised a muggle...

We finished the room.  It is everything he wanted and more.  There are two details that haven't been completely finished, so sue me!  I was a tribe leader for VBS all this week and add on a fund raiser for cheer squad, well, you get the picture.  I have the Mirror of Erised sitting in my garage awaiting Pop-pop to hang it on some serious stud mounts.  It is old and heavy, just like the real thing.  I also need to paint the trunk in proper Gryffindor colors.  In case anyone is wondering, all the real candles have had their wicks removed and the rest are LED faux candles.  They are fabulous, they even smell like vanilla candles!  The room is a delightful flight of fancy, but in the end, let us heed wise words:

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that." - Albus Dumbledore

And how was your day?

Woman Power and Santa Claus

My days are never, ever empty.  I am filled with trips to cheer practice, VBS, swimming pools and horse show practice.  I can hitch a trailer (and back it up, thank you very much), load cranky horses, fix the strap on stiff swim fins and even...help build a fence.
I say help, because my husband and I both have come to  conclusions about our fleeting youth and hired help to make the fence.  It started out as a project for a friend's fiance.  I had a section of fence that was down a lot and it kept grounding out my hot charger.  I had him come out and walk it, give me an estimate and we filed it away, planning our projects (I will have flower pots in the front yard, etc.).
Enter an extremely tense conflict with a neighbor.  The fence line is now in error and posts are going up in my pasture.  Personally, loosing 10-20 feet of pasture isn't a grave concern, t-posts without fencing are.  The horses don't see them since they are new, and the potential for injury is there.  My horses are just like me, accident prone.
So, project planning changed and one afternoon I found a section of fence line unhooked from a corner post and I knew that fence building had to become a priority.
The young man I had planned on doing the building was getting some great hours with his real job and was unable to come any time soon.  Step in his fiance (my friend), her friend and a great friend of mine who lives on a farm.  Let's face it, I have horses and poultry, but no true farming experience.  When Jenny does a fence, it is measured in miles!
I admit, we did a great job.  In two days we had sunk and concreted two telephone poles to act as corner posts, pounded in 12 t posts (into hard pan soil) and about 12 rebar posts in between.  We then took heavy wire (think bard wire without the barbs) and using a truck and 'come-a-long' stretched that puppy tight.  Twice.  We used post clips, insulators and very fun tools.  We did it with laughter, beer, soda and sunburn!  We did it while the horses stuck their heads into truck windows and while the kids ran water to and from.
In short terms, we rocked it.
The second half of this post goes to my son, William, who makes life a grand adventure.  Yesterday morning, we were waiting on a delivery of t-posts and William was schooling Amanda on checkers, I sorted through bags of hand-me-downs and came across a costume.  William was thrilled.  He had to put it on, now. He wore it the whole day.  He wore it to VBS.

He was so happy.  In the end, I was delighted with him and watched with joy as he made so many people smile.

And how was your day?

More Mystical Room

More work on the Harry Potter Room    

I got the two tables for three dollars each at a yard sale.  They needed some paint and I am going to add some more touches.  The dresser was Conner's already, it just took some paint and stencils.
The last is our playroom door.  I thought it would make a lovely Mirror of Erised.  I love to decorate, and this time, well, with Harry Potter theme, I am all in.  I think I am having more fun than Conner!  Nothing wrong with that.  A fun room doesn't have to cost bunches.  All said and done, this room is costing less than 200.  The joy of it is you don't have to fork it all out at once.  Make use of Goodwill and other thrift stores.  I found all sorts of items that we are going to be adding to his room that I picked up for a song.  I did opt for store bought drapes, rather than sewing my own.  I figured he could use the privacy more than I needed to save a buck.  As soon as the paint is dry, the drapes will go up along with the wall hangings.
We support Gryffindor......and the Chudley Cannons! 
And how was your day?