Double Gaffaw

 

Bigun doesn't have eyes when he smiles

 

Jess and Jord

 

Gaming with Nini

 

LW and CL

 

Gather around me

 

Thankful Burns

 

Claude and Padre

 

R and R

 

Turkey Time in TN

After two great meals and many calories another Thanksgiving is almost in the books. The Mousecreek clan had a great time of food and fellowship with two great groups of folks. We have so many blessings that is suffice to say we are a blessed bunch of Foxes.

Krazy Kamp

Vintage just wrapped up her role as Ivan the Terrible in Krazy Kamp an elementary school musical. She did a magnificant job and really made us proud. My baby girl is growing up and I realize our time is so short. It seems like a few days ago that she was learning to walk and this weekend she really impressed us all. She is fearless of rejection and is hilarious on the stage. I am proud of you Vintage.

Holiday Stress and Pumpkin Pie

So it goes without saying that the holiday season adds its own flavor of stress. Of course the garden variety we deal with in the USA are trivial at best. We worry about things like the perfect gift idea, making it to all the meals at each family unit, how many days we get off work, Christmas bonuses, holiday pounds, what movie to see, etc etc. The rest of the world worries about clean drinking water, disease, shelter, war, etc, etc. I think you get the idea. So when you stressed out of your mind this season, suck it up and be thankful that we live in the most blessed place on earth. Mom if you are reading this bring a pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving so I won't stress over it.

Vintage and Ron

 

LW with Kenneth and Patsy

 

Vintage and Claude

 

Vintage and her gifts

 

 

Vintage

The minds of 3rd graders amaze me at times. Last year my sister-in-law decided to pick up and move off to Utah for the ski season. She decided to put all her stuff in storage and get rid of items she no longer needed. Once such item was a green hat similar to something seen at the Kentucky Derby atop some wealthy woman's head. My daughter saw the hat and asked if she could save it from the landfill. It sat in her room for months until her school had crazy hat day. I really didn't hear much about the day at school wearing the hat, but later that week a story filtered back that was hilarious. Upon entering a third grade class a few students commented about the decoration my loving daughter was displaying. She told the class with a beaming smile that her aunt gave it to her and it was vintage. The class labeled my daughter with a nickname of vintage. This is now a word that had been stricken from the Fox vernacular. The mention of vintage can illicit tears quicker than a viewing of Bambi's mom getting blasted.

Pickel and Son

So I have established that the Fox clan doesn't make many landfill trips, but a close friend of mine, Mr. Pickel, needed the usage of my dad's truck. Since my dad is very protective it seemed like a good reason to tag along with Pickel. When we arrived at the dump a nice enough blue haired lady greeted us with a warm hello. She also informed us that the dump only takes cold hard cash. This required a mad dash to the nearest ATM for some cabbage before the dump closed its gates. As we rolled back in at break neck speed, I rolled down the driver's window and said Pickel as loud as possible. The sign next to the garbage lady's window said "say name loud". We then navigated the labyrinth of muddy road to the top of garbage hill and unloaded. As we pulled down the hill you have to pull back on the scales and weigh to determine your total payment. As soon as the truck hit the scales Pickel bounded from the truck and trotted over with his $20 to pay the bill. Ok, so I just happen to be a few years younger than Mr. Pickel and yes I have some grey hair. Mr. Pickel keeps his hair short and I assume has aged pretty well. I am a dude and really haven't given our looks much thought. The little white haird vixen looked up and I blurted Pickel. She looked at Mr. Pickel and said "awwww Pickel and son". I was stunned beyond words. As we drove away I repeated the falsity that this obviously half blind lady had spewed. OMG do I look old enough to be his dad. It goes without saying how happy Mr. Pickel was about the obvious mistake and I am quite sure he skipped up the driveway when I dropped him off. I am not sure but as I drove away I thought he said bye dad.....

Who needs the dump?

I remember as a young Fox making a weekly sojourn to the one and only Bradley County landfill or as we knew it "The Dump". The best part was the miniscule chance that we might also visit the animal shelter, aka the pound, that adjoins the dump. As a child I never really did the math about why the pound was so conveniently located beside the dump. So enough about the reason I enjoyed going, but on to the the real reason for this masterpiece. Since my family has relocated to the Mousecreek the need for the dump trips have almost vanished. I know what you are thinking, the city picks up the trash now. That really only covers household refuse of the common type. My family produces garbage at an astonishing rate. I would wager we create as many cubic yards of stinkiness as any family within 100 miles. The other items we dispose of don't fall into the common household variety. I'm talking about big items like broken washing machines, old swing sets, box springs, mattresses, loose wire, scrap wood, and a 12 pack of diet cokes. All of the items I just listed were thrown to the side of the road for the city monthly pickup except for the cokes. These items last only hours in our neighborhood. It's like ants to a picnic, as soon as the items hit the road various people stop and grab them. We must dispose of some really good stuff because most of it's gone before daylight. This brings me to the 12 pack of cokes and how they went missing. I was unloading some groceries from the family van and couldn't carry everything on one load. I sat the 12 pack just inside the magical line of free for the taking. I return from my 2 minute jaunt inside and the cokes are gone. I mean vanished without a trace with no hope of their safe return. So the rule around the Mousecreek house is if it's left near the road it's fair game. I have no need for the dump because we have the Bermuda Triangle of refuse at our house.

Extended Burns Clan

Our extended family about 2 years ago

Anyone for a Pickel?

Charlie and LW

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Go Brady!

I love the Pats and have for about the last 6 years. Yes, it's been easy to root for a winner, but I shall follow them even when the chips are down. If you love the Pats then you also have to love the field general extraordinaire, Mr. Tom Brady. So the real question is how did I get away with naming my son Brady? Well the LW actually liked that name and asked my thoughts about naming our son Brady. My counter was let use my name and Brady together to create Christian Brady Fox. I get a son named after me and he has the name of my football super hero...OMG it was a match made in heaven. So tonight is the game of all games, the Colts vs the Pats. I am ready for a battle and if the Lord is willing the Pats will be victorious. I thought it would be good to twist real life with the Foxes and football into what I call a love story of the ages. Good Luck Tom Brady and good night Christian Brady, daddy is staying up to watch the game.

I aint Ja Mama

LW finished up her masters in massive savings today by attending 2 more coupon classes. Since I am the Elder Fox and our house has fallen into a dilapidated state, thanks Ella Sue Osment for that great word, it was necessary for me to stay behind and do some home repairs. Even without the advanced classes I was ready for some coupon deals. My first trip was to Bi-Lo for a few things. My total is shown below and I am quite happy with the first attempt.

Bill without any Discounts $106.00
BI-LO Bonus Savings and Coupons $74.14
Total Bill with Tax $36.50

I bought 2 big packs of chicken, 6 boxes of frozen pancakes, carpet fresh, tissues, 2 boxes of Kashi cereal, 4 Kashi frozen meals, 4 tubs of Country Crock, Bertoli Pasta Sauce, Box of Sun Crystal sweetener, 6 cans of Progesso Soup.

Not to bad for a first attempt but I know we can do better.

woot

I bought this watch on woot.com because it keeps exact time by synching with a satellite in the heavans. What I wasn't told is that the watch itself is large enough to make my tiny hands look even smaller. This watch would look big on Andre the Giants arm.

Sam Houston and Bigun

Grocery Bills Beware!

The Elder Fox and his loving wife attended the Time 2 $ave Couponing 101 class last night. From this point forward the Loving Wife will be referred to as just LW, and I will use EF for my elder self. The youngest of our brood reminds me of the cartoon character chicken little, therefore to ease typing, he shall be refer ed to as CL. My dearest daughter is nine going on fourteen and she loves to think of herself as a pre-teen. I think we shall call her PT or possibly vintage, but that story will be told soon enough. So I rambling here but my grammar is abysmal and commas are dropped like F bombs at a VFW. The LW is attending the advanced class for all things coupon related. We have set our expectations low so as to not be disappointed. I will post our trips and how much we saved etc.

On Lock Down

The Foxes just discovered that we were robbed over the last few weeks. The thieves stole my riding mower and who know what else. Please say a prayer that the person who stole it decides that mowing the lawn is a crappy job and brings it back home.

At the apple orchard