I think I've been doing something terribly wrong.


I've been making huge mistakes.


I've been embarrassing all of mankind.


Worse...


I've been embarrassing hippies & free spirits alike?


You see I always sign out my post with..."Peace, Love, & The first witty/interesting thing that comes to my mind."
But someone brough it to my attention that that is all backwards...Ok actually the person that brought it to my attention was a 2 year old girl, that was playing in the dirt with Scout.

And her pants read: "Love, Peace"

What???

Have I been lied too?

Has someone played a cruel joke that could be harmful to my blogging career? Or worse my reputation?

Nobody wants a bad blogging reputation...

I am really at a loss for words now. Everything that I have been standing for (Peace & Love) is now on the verge of being untrue? Of being a lie? Of being a misinterpretation of what makes the world go round?

I don't know.

I feel so lost.

Pray for me.

Peace, Love,.....

Or

Love, peace,.....

And......manufactureres that think they can disrupt the order of the way a lowly blogger thinks.

Sweet T

Farewell Summer

Chili mornings remind me whats near,
That summer is gone and fall is almost here.


No more long days in the heat
Rather shorter, cooler days that bring relief.



No more vacations across the country, Instead running the sport "cross country."


Instead of baking in the sun,
I labor in a classroom, until the work is done.




No more long Rodeo nights,

Instead I'll see many a football field, brightened by lights.

Green leaves will turn brown,

Until they all at last fall to the ground.

Should this make me sad?

I guess not, because I find myself glad.

Yes, I find myself doing well,

Because I know of all the memories this summer has held.

Peace, Love, & Hello Endless Days of Raking Up Leaves

Sweet T

Father & Son

Moments between a Father & a son...

What is said during these moments?


Words of wisdom?

Words of instruction?

The world may never know....

Peace, Love, & Times I wish I was a fly on the wall

Sweet T

Kids Gone Wild

What do you do when your bored?

Do you knit a sweater?
Do you bake a cake?
Run a mile?
Watch TV?
Plot?
Think about your future?
Run 3 miles?
Take a nap?
Paint your nails?
Build a house...out of LEGO's?
Paint a masterpiece?
Eat?
Eat some more?
Make up clever comebacks?

Well whatever you find to do in your boredtime, I bet nothing is as interesting, or as lame, as what we Townsend kids do...

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you...we were pretending we were smoking pipes.

Now don't go into hysteria, these aren't real pipes, they are smoldering sticks.

Could this be considered creative?

Could this be considered a mentally unstable activity?

I don't know but I prefer to think of it as very imaginative.

Peace, Love, & Freakishly creative kids

Sweet T

Big Bad Dudes

Welcome to Alpine!!!

Home of Big Bend National Park!
Home of some of the biggest cactus you'll ever see!
Home of wild, western country!
And home of miniature horses?

Alpine = Cowboy country...does cowboy country = miniature horses?
It must at Sul Ross University, because there were the little, tiny things everywhere.

Most people think that little, tiny miniature horses means cute, approachable creatures...well these people are very, very wrong...

See this big, bad dude? (Well not literally...it's more a state of mind for him...not body.)
He eyed me the whole time I was taking his picture, and never smiled once. He just sat there frozen with anger...ready to attack at any moment. And even though there was a 10 foot fence separating us, I was frozen with fear.

So even though I was frozen with fear...I slowly backed away from this savage creature, and then ran to my Mother crying afraid the little devil would jump the fence & come after me.

I'm still dealing with my fear of miniature horses, but don't worry it's getting better everyday.

After dealing with the "leader" of the pack, so to speak, I met the "lamb" of the pack.

Adorable right? Well...at least a little bit...if you have an imagination...
But look at that mane! Have you ever seen such a head of hair before??

He was quite friendly too...and he loved Trail.

Trail desperately wanted to ride him. But I told him no...after the incident with the other miniature horse, I'm now wary of anything small, and semi-cute.

But this Mini-horse obviously had a heart of gold because he was decent enough to pose for me, every time I commanded him too...Thank you cute/ugly mini horse.

Alpine has many sites to behold, but the miniature horses are something you will defiantly never forget. This could be one 0f two reasons:

1) They scare you, & for the next week you have nightmares of little horses with long manes & fangs.

or

2) They steel your heart & you now want to go into the Mini-horse raising business.

Peace, Love, & Looks can be deceiving

Sweet T

Do you like Sweet T?

Sweet T.

When many of you read this title you probably think I am very egotistical, because I call myself "Sweet T" even though I assure you that is not the case, even though my mother sometimes seems to think I have a big head...I have no idea why she thinks that? My heads not big, it's perfect.

Anyways I am Sweet T because of my dear friend Justin Schacher.

You see in Lazbuddie there is another Summer, that is a year younger than me...Now how in the world in a high school of 50+ students there is another girl named Summer I'll never know. It's probably because Summer is possibly the coolest name ever. Just kidding we all know Truvy Jones is the coolest name ever....

But anyways we were sitting in class one day and My teacher was handing out papers and since there are two Summers, there tended to be confusion when she would call out "Summer!" especially because both of us are blonde Summer's...I know I just stereotyped myself but this situation called for it...and anyways she started calling me "Summer T." well that would have worked fine for me, but it didn't seem to work for Justin so he just spouted off "Sweet T."

And the name has stuck ever since....

Now I know that's not a big elaborate interesting story, but I'll never forget it....mostly because then the other kids in class started being clever and changing it to "Bitter T", "Stupid T" and other cute little things like that...And since "Bitter T" isn't a good blog name, I was fast to say "I love Sweet T!"

And now I'll bless you with pictures of my nick-name giver and best friend...

No matter how hard I tried, the moron wouldn't let me take his picture. He must be camera shy....don't worry I'll get him past that phobia.

Still no luck...OK, now he's just being down right rude...who cares if I'm annoying him while he's eating & watching the rodeo?

Aha! I caught him, wearing Trails hat that is too small for him. Your welcome Justin.

Now Justin is great, and the whole family loves him...except, Scout.

I don't know what the deal is? Everyone time Justin get within 5 feet of her she practically goes into shock. Clinging on the nearest person by, and not looking up, afraid Justin will talk to her.

But somehow Justin is obviously good with kids, because before the night was over he had her doubled over with laughter...

How did he do it you ask?

Simple...It was Bubbles...and Scout loves bubbles.

So now everyone loves Justin...even Scout.

So thanks Justin for the nick-name that's stuck and fits me perfectly because I'm so sweet! Just kidding....I still can't believe my Mom thinks I have a big head...

Peace, Love, & I'm so glad I'm not "Bitter T"

Day of Firsts & Lasts

Today was a day of Firsts...

Autumns First day of High School.
Autumns First day at Lazbuddie High School.
Trails First day at Lazbuddie Elemenentary.
Autumns & Mine First day back at Cross Country. ( And yes it was as bad as I had imagined.)
My First day of my Senior year.

Today was a day of Lasts...
My Last, first day of High School.
Autumns Last, first day being a Freshman.
Trails Last, first day of being a 1st grader. (Hopefully....just kidding.)

But one thing that was nothing new was the picture taking. It happens every year without fail.

In the same spot.
Under the same tree.
Same faces.
Same time.

The only thing different? The grade & age.


Trail on his first day of 1st grade...accompanied with the same cheesey smile that we have all grown to love.

And also proudly supporting the Orange & Black Attack BackPack...Lazbuddie colors of course.

And Autumn on the first day of High School as a freshman, proudly supporting possibly the coolest outfit ever...Does she look like a freshman? Does she look older than me? Because people think that alot...I don't like it...She's also taller than me...I don't like that either...Oh well, at least I got the brains...(*wink*wink*)

This is me on my first day as a Senior...Proudly the supporting the fake smile and lazy eye I can't seem to shake.

And this is all of us. (See I told you she was taller than me...)

And this is Me & Autumn driving away...

And this is us pulling out of the driveway...

With the number of pictures my mother took of us leaving, you woulda thought we were leaving never to return.

Peace, Love, & First Day Photo Shoots

Sweet T

The Smell of School

Ahh the fresh scent of school days...
Just the thought of waking up early in the morning, eating a nutritious breakfast of Wheaties and orange juice, and then heading down the road to the schoolhouse brings back many, many previous memories of schooldays...

Some of my memories are good...

Seeing old friends & rekindling old friendships.
Making fun of the teachers.
Getting an A on that "tough" test.
Making fun of the teachers.
Accomplishing a year well done.

Some of my memories are...well just plain embarrassing...

Hitting your head on the top locker (EVERY DAY) because you were assigned a bottom locker.
Falling in the school cafeteria on the very first day. (It was rainy out.)
Getting caught making fun of the teacher. (Over & over again.)
Getting an F on the "easy" test.

AND....many, many more memories...too many in fact to mention, but all in all school is fun, and well worth the long hours we put into it. And I guess it's beneficial in the long run...I guess.

Tomorrow I'll bless y'all with pictures of the blessed event, because there will be many, my Mother gets pictures crazy...and I'll also bless y'all with pictures of her crying because its unavoidable on most any occasion where her kids become a year older, so to speak.

So as some of you either send your kids off to school, watch kids go off to school and rejoice because they are no longer running down your street begging to mowe your lawn, or you are going off to school yourself, remember that there are good memories with school so make some!

Peace, Love, & Rekindling my relationship with cafeteria food

Sweet T

Blame the Fellow Blogger

Now a fellow blogger of mine who's name I will not mention, (but she is my Aunt, and she has a daughter named Scout...) has mentioned that when she thinks of mountains, the first thing that comes to her mind is nothing other than...shopping!


Also being a fellow "born to shop" girl, I am in total agreement with this bloggers who's name I cannot mention. And so yes we did do our fair share of shopping while we were at the mountains, while the boys were sleeping and fishing.

Well I guess it could be called shopping? But most of our shopping was done at restaurants.

Where I spent the majority of my time trying to figure out what my Mother was saying?

What? You want to bash that woman's window out for taking you parking spot?

No Mother, I don't think that would be a good idea.

So after I pulled my Mom away from the bat section of the local Wal-Mart we went to Mexican Market store...



Where they were having a Jesus SALE...what's a Jesus SALE? Can anyone tell me? I honestly have no idea what that is...but they were SALEing things like this...

And this...

And even these...

But my favorites would have to be these...


Yes, Iron Javelinas have a special place in my heart.

Peace, Love, & Iron Pigs that could cause tetanus if your not careful.

Sweet T

Tale of The Net

Fishing.
Catching fish.
Fly fishing.
Fishing with your bare hands.

Really no matter how you put it, or anyway you catch it, boys love to fish. And when you mess with there fishing...well lets just say they get angry.

You see, Trail has a huge net. A huge fishing net, that he loves dearly. He takes it to the cabin with us every year with the hopes of catching the biggest fish man has ever seen. This year he was as close to this "dream" as he has ever been (according to him) but it ended in tragedy...

This is the beginning of the end for the net. Trail was trying with all his might to hold on the beloved fishing net, but his strength was no match for the roaring waters. (Literally, they were roaring...I think the huge amounts of rain had something to do with that...maybe.)

So the roaring waters won. Trail lost. The net bent.

And Trail was angry...

For about five minutes, and then he found a fishing pole. Guys are so dramatic.

Peace, Love, & An Unnatural Love for Fishing

Sweet T

Sleepy Mountain

Mountains. Whats the first thing that comes to your mind when I say mountains?


Beautiful scenery?

Fresh mountain air?

Pure water from the stream?

Hiking a mountain?

Hiking a trail up a mountain?

S'mores roasted over a roaring fire at sundown?

S'mores roasted over a roaring fire anytime of the day?


Well naturally these are all probably things that come to your mind when I say, mountains.
Well when you say mountains to my daddy, probably the first thing that comes to his mind is this:

Ahh, peace at last.

Peace, Love, & Hours of Interrupted Sleep (which I will not proceed to do as well...)

Sweet T

Kickball. New Mexico Style!

Springer, Texas. Home of...well...pretty much Mimi & Preston, and a bunch of Texans that are just passing through heading to the mountains, which was the label we fell under when we went there last weekend. But nevermind the fact that we are Texans, Mimi & Preston still allowed us in their home, fed us well, and let us play kickball to our hearts content...which wasn't very long considering we had just eaten' about everything in their pantry.

Anyways...The Epic Kickball Game. Boys Vs. Girls. The Winners? Depends on who you ask...and since I'm the one writing here I will tell you, It was most certainly the girls!

And let me tell ya...this game was full of drama & emotion.
There were tears.

That is why Riley is running away from the camera. He was weeping uncontrollably because he just doesn't take loosing to a bunch of dainty girls very well.

There were high kicks.

And I hope after posting this picture, I don't get one of those "high kicks" to the face. Pray for me.

There was skilled ball handling. (From skilled grandma's.)

She could manuever that ball at a mad pace...Watch out for Mimi.

There was smack talking.

Don't let the "smile" for you, theres an explanation for that: If he didn't laugh, he would cry.

There were victories.

My Mother goes a little overboard with the whole winning thing, or more so, the whole beating Riley's team thing. Nothing wrong with a little healthy brother/sister in-law competition...but seriously Mama, go a little easy on 'em next time.

And there were (at times) crazy pregnant ladies, trying to knock down their husbands.

Tori, although she couldn't actually play, definatley aided in our win, because she would do everthing she had to to get Riley out...even if it involved pinning him down.

So thanks to Mimi & Preston who sure know how to show us a New Mexico good time!

Peace, Love, & Grown Men Don't Cry? Ha, yea right!

Sweet T

Ranch Rodeos

Now as you may know, during the summer vacation months we are swamped with rodeos. Nearly every weekend their is a rodeo to be a goin' to...and not just any rodeo, a RANCH rodeo...If you have never seen a Ranch Rodeo I strongly suggest that you make it a point to go see one in the near future...It will change your life.

In the Ranch Rodeos there are the following events:

1) The Double-Muggin'

And no this is not a form of armed robbery. It is where there are two sets of cowboys horseback (Double). Both pairs of cowboys must head & heel a steer, than tie him down(muggin'.) It's a pretty interesting event that can get real wild, real fast. Lookin' at this picture it makes you wonder...How many cowboys does it take to tie down a steer??



2) The Sortin'.

This is where one man goes into a big herd of cattle and drives out (one at a time) 3 - 5 head in 2 minutes, while the other men, (or ladies in the case above) hold the other cattle from crossing the line. Sounds like a walk in the park huh? Yea Right! The sortin' is probably one of the toughest events in the whole rodeo, because its stressful for the cowboys as well as their wives...There have been times when I thought I was gonna have to sedate My Mom & Tori...

3) The Brandin'

You see, in my opinion the brandin' is the most stressful event, because it either goes great, or goes so bad your afraid to watch...which explains why I have no pictures of this event. Because everytime we brand it's either in a hard to watch spot, or I feel so sick I can't watch. (and the last time we did this event, I insisted on taking pictures and then we didn't do so hot, so now I'm against taking pictures of the brandin'...or even watching for that matter...No I'm not superstitious?!)

Anyways...the brandin' is where there are a bunch of mama cows, and a bunch of baby cows in a tiny makeshift pen. The main goal of this event is for one cowboy a horseback, to go in the herd and heel two baby cows (seperately) and bring them back to the "fire" (the fire is actually baby powder in a bucket) while other cowboys flank the calf, and another one brands it...all in 2 minutes...Cowboys all over America have shed many tears over this event...Just kidding, cowboys don't cry unless theres no food on the table, or if they have to go to the mall.

4) The Bronc Ridin'.

This is an event beloved by all...except, it seems, for the bronc riders wife, can't imagine why? But anyways...this event is pretty self explanatory, "Ride as ride can" for 8 seconds. This is a one man event...duh?

and finally.....

5) The Wild Cow Milkin'!!

Definatley one of my favorite events, but that is because I am not out in the pen runnin' around trying to wrestle a wild, mean, Mama cow.

And speakin of runnin'...

The cowboys do alot of running in this event.




They run to rope her...

They run to mug her...

They run to catch her...

They run the bottle (preferably) full of milk back to the judges circle...

And after they have gotten the rope off the cows neck, they run away from her...Naturally.

So anyway here is a little glimpse of what we do most everyweekend...we love it and I hope after you've read this post (Probably the longest blog post I've ever written! It must be my dedication & love for RANCH rodeo...) you love it as well.

Peace, Love, & future fun for all of you at Ranch Rodeos!

Sweet T