My son, Dylan, celebrated his 16th birthday last Friday (the 16th).

Dylan's birthday wish was for the entire family to get together and go on a camping trip. He was hoping everyone would pitch tents but it was way too cold for that! So the family went in together and rented a log cabin in Jasper, Arkansas, which is a two-hour trip from our house.

Unfortunately, the entire family couldn't make the trip but we ended up with a nice size crowd anyway.

The cabin was nice (click here for the slideshow: photos change every 10 seconds)! The cabin had one bedroom, one full bath, and a loft. Sounds cozy until you realize there were fourteen of us!!! :) Believe it or not, everything worked out great. The bedroom had a double bed and the loft had a double bed, a twin bed and a double futon couch. The open living area also had a couch, three love seats, two of which were twin sleepers.

On Friday night, thirteen of us slept on beds or couches (birthday boy-Dylan-slept on the floor in his sleeping bag). And then on Saturday night, six family members went back home, so that left lots more room for us to spread out.

Should you ever want to vacation in the Ozarks, I highly recommend Deer Lodge Cabins.

The original plan was to do some hiking, some geocaching, and some fishing. There were three ponds on the property filled with bass, bream, catfish and sunperch. Unfortunately, the pond closest to the cabin was frozen solid and it was too cold to go check out the other two ponds. The kids had a blast walking on the ice and birthday boy, Dylan, eventually pressed his luck one too many times and fell through (see the pic to the right). He weighs 245 pounds so it didn't surprise me to see him fall through the ice. Teenagers are sooooo schmaaart!!!

After breakfast, everyone headed out to go on a hike and do some geocaching. I stayed behind at the cabin with Brady and a couple of my nieces. Like a bone head, I didn't pack Brady's hat and mittens, and it was bitterly cold. I took him outside after breakfast and he was miserable, so I knew it wouldn't be a wise idea to take him on a long hike.

The family came back a couple hours later and had many great pictures to show me (that's a waterfall of ice behind the boys!).

Later on that evening, my brothers started a fire in the fire pit and we all sat around roasting marshmallows and making S'mores.

Everybody had so much fun spending time together, that we've decided to plan a fishing trip next!

Thanks for reading!





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At long last, the Arizona Cardinals have made it to the Super Bowl.

That's a huge deal. How big a deal? Well the Cardinals have been in Chicago, St. Louis and now Arizona and have pretty well been rotten far more often than not. The team hasn't been to the Super Bowl, in fact, since the merger between the AFC and NFC created the NFL back in 1970.

Of all the teams that were part of that merger, the Cardinals are the last to make it to the Super Bowl. That's impressive stuff, particularly when you consider the Cardinals were underdogs throughout the playoffs.

Yes everyone knew the Cardinals would fold against Atlanta, then it went without saying that they'd be stopped by Carolina. Of course, the Cardinals never had a chance against the Eagles on Sunday night, right?

The Cardinals made it through the playoffs, of course, and are underdogs in the Super Bowl against a very good Pittsburgh Steelers team. Nothing against Pittsburgh, but I hope the Cardinals beat the odds once again and pull off an upset in the Super Bowl.

Why? I like underdogs and always have. I well remember watching a scrubby, laughable team called the Denver Broncos pull off unlikely victory after unlikely victory in 1977 and go to the 1978 Super Bowl (they lost to the Cowboys). I've been a Broncos fan ever since and this Cardinals team reminds me of that Broncos squad.

Arizona has gotten absolutely no respect all year long and has wound up in a position that many thought impossible going into the season. Hell, the Cardinals have been a laughing stock for as long as I can remember and I've been watching football since 1976 when I was seven-years-old.

It's always good to see an underdog wind up in the Super Bowl. Why? It gives fans of teams like the Browns, Lions, Texans and other teams with no winning tradition hope. Hell, if the Cardinals can make it to the Super Bowl, that means that just about any fan can sit back, grin and say, "Yeah, it'll be our year one day."

So, go Cardinals. I wish Denver would have made it to the Super Bowl, but seeing an underdog make it in is the next best thing.

Some gifts people give are pointless: Styling mousse to Dick Vitale. An all-you-can-eat card to Kate Moss. The BCS Championship given to Oklahoma or Florida.

It means nothing because the BCS has no credibility. Florida? Oklahoma? Who cares? Utah is the national champion.

The End. Roll credits.

Argue with this, please. I beg you. Find me anybody else that went undefeated. Thirteen-and-zero. Beat four ranked teams. Went to the Deep South and seal-clubbed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The same Alabama that was ranked No. 1 for five weeks. The same Alabama that went undefeated in the regular season. The same Alabama that Florida beat in order to get INTO the BCS Championship game in the first place.

FIND ME ANYBODY ELSE THAT WENT UNDEFEATED. THIRTEEN-AND-ZERO. BEAT FOUR RANKED TEAMS. WENT TO THE DEEP SOUTH AND SEAL-CLUBBED ALABAMA IN THE SUGAR BOWL.

Yeah, that's how it is now in the shameful, money-grubbing world of college football. If you're Florida and you beat Alabama, you get a seat in the title game. If you're Utah, you get a seat on your sofa.

Hey, remind me: What do they give out for one of those BCS things anyway? It's been so long since I cared. Something from Sears? This is the sixth year in the past 10 that the title has been in dispute under this cash-grab, fan-dis, monopoly that the BCS has created. Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

Just take a look at the teams that think they're worthy of being called national champs:

USC? Great year. Wonderful. Let's all go to SkyBar and celebrate. But it lost to Oregon State, a team Utah beat.

Texas? You think beating Ohio State by a nubby three points gets you the title? The Big Ten was 1-6 in bowl games! That's like pinning David Spade!

Florida and Oklahoma? They lost. Utah never did.

So that's it. Utah is the national champion. The Utes should probably have two now, actually. They went undefeated in 2004, too, and their coach still thinks they were the best team in the land. Smart fella named Urban Meyer. Coaches Florida now.

By the way, we're calling our title the "national" championship because it actually includes the whole nation­—all 119 Division I schools—unlike the BCS, which includes 66. Yeah, the BCS somehow eliminated the middleman—the NCAA. The conferences these schools play in take their dump trucks full of cash straight from the TV networks and fairness can go suck a lemon.

Nettie Tien

The Utes won't get the trophy they really deserve, so we gave them one of our own design.

Do me a favor. Call Ohio State president Gordon Gee and ask him why he won't support a playoff. He's one of the most powerful presidents in the NCAA. He could get it done. If he says anything other than, "We don't want to share the loot" then you know he's lying his bow tie off.

"This is not how we normally do things in America," says Utah president Michael Young. "In America, quality usually wins, not conspiracy. And there's a reason people usually enter into a conspiracy. It's money. You make money doing it. And those that are in on the conspiracy want to stay in and keep everybody else out."

Sure, BCS blowhards will hand you schlock about how the college football season is like a playoff, how it's an elimination tournament every week. Really? Well, how come Florida and Oklahoma weren't eliminated with their losses? Utah ran the table, beat everybody set in front of them, including Ala-damn-bama in no less than the Sugar Bowl, and gets the bagel.

Oh, by the way? It was Utah's eighth straight bowl win, the nation's longest streak. Among the losers during that run? Let's see USC, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and now the legendary Houndstooth Hats.

"What else do we have to prove?" asks Utah's magical quarterback, Brian Johnson. Good question. He and the Utes essentially whipped Alabama at home. Handed Nick Saban a garlic necklace to wear the entire offseason. Stepped on his team's neck 21-0 in the first three possessions and never looked back. Let's see. Who was it that was losing to Alabama until nearly six minutes into the fourth quarter? Oh, yeah. Florida.

What, you want the Utes to win a spelling bee? Make a prize-winning souffle? Knock up Angelina Jolie? What?

It just slays me. It really does.

Call Myles Brand, president of the asleep-at-the-wheel NCAA, and ask him if he and his greedy presidents are going to stand in defiance of president-elect Barack Obama, who wants a playoff and wants it yesterday.

Ask Brand what he's going to do if Obama starts asking the Justice Department to look into anti-trust hearings against the BCS. The Utah attorney general has already launched an investigation into that very thing. Or ask him what he'll do if Obama asks the Department of Education to consider withholding federal funds from these schools that have entered into this secret club called the BCS. You don't think playing in the title game means millions in general-fund donations for a school? That's as unfair as anything Title IX fought against.

Until all these people do the right thing, I'll be celebrating with the true national champions — the undefeated, untied Utah Utes. (Our new slogan: Utahk about a team!)

Lemonades for everybody!

My old friend and boss, Michael Tilley, sent this over to me today.

Yes, Tilley's new publication, The City Wire, has decided to pick up a column I write for my current employer that is picked up by about 20 publications in Arkansas. The City Wire is a bit of a first for us because it's entirely Internet-based while the rest of the publications that pick up my column are still primarily print-based.

What is unique, of course, is that I sent that column out today and Tilley put it up immediately, thus beating everyone else to the punch. I've known Tilley since my days as a business reporter at The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas in Springdale. He was the business editor of both The Morning News and the Southwest Times-Record in Fort Smith.

He's a good guy and I'm glad he's picking up my column. I hope he does very well with his new endeavor and, given his drive, intelligence and determination, I'm sure he will.

So, y'all go ahead and take a look at my column if you want to see The Hawg wearing a suit and grinning like an idiot. Heh, heh.

Yes, once again it's time to recognize the top Entrecard droppers of the month.

We had a lot of visitors here at The All Arkie Army in December and that's impressive seeing how the Christmas season kept a lot of people busy.

So, here are the top Entrecard visitors for December:



1. Crotchety Old Man -- and he's an All Arkie Army member, to boot! Yay!
2. BMWF1Blog
3. Of Trends and Aces
4. The Natural State Hawg -- Yes, the administrator of the All Arkie Army places a pitiful fourth on the "top droppers" list. Awful!
5. The Way I See It
6. Beyond Left Field
7. PaulsHealthBlog.com -- Yet another valued member of the All Arkie Army!
8. pamibe
9. The Half-Life of Linoleum
10. Political Conservatives -- a site run by two members of the All Arkie Army.

Thanks, folks. The visits are appreciated.

ARRA News Service: Jason Tolbert on the Tobert Report today ends year 2009 reporting on an Arkansas version of "Chicago style" politics. In summary, we have an elected constitutional officer who is Arkansas Chief Law enforcement officer advocating for and paying for a defeat of constitutional amendment in the past and now espousing that he can defend the very same amendment in a court case now challenging the amendment passed by the citizen's of Arkansas. And we thought their was no shame in Little Rock when Bill Clinton was AG. Below Jason explains about the latest "Dustin dust-up":

After seeing this photograph from the Arkansas Times of Attorney General Dustin McDaniel at a fundraiser for Arkansas Families First, the group formed to oppose Initiated Act 1, I decided to go down to the Arkansas Ethics Commission on my lunch break and take a look at their financial disclosure statements. My hunch was right.

The McDaniel Leadership PAC contributed $1,000 on October 28, 2008 to support Arkansas Families First in their campaign against Initiated Act 1. According to the PAC’s filing with the Arkansas Secretary of State, Dustin McDaniel serves as chairman of this PAC. (As a side note, fellow blogger Blake Rutherford serves as the treasurer.)

This is significant because as the Attorney General for Arkansas, McDaniel’s office now serves as the defense attorney in representing the state of Arkansas against the ACLU’s court challenge of Initiated Act 1. McDaniel’s Chief Deputy Attorney General Justin Allen told the Associated Press yesterday that his office will still be the ones defending the lawsuit.

I cannot help but wonder how someone who has contributed financially for a measure’s defeat can now be the advocate for the people of Arkansas in defense of that passed measure. I am certainly not a lawyer but referring to a borrowed copy of Howard Brill’s “Arkansas Professional and Judicial Ethics,” this appears to be a violation of Rule 1.7 defining a conflict of interest. The rule states “A concurrent conflict of interest exists if …. there is a significant risk that the representation of one of more clients will be materially limited … by a personal interest of the lawyer.”

Is this circumstance not a clear example of this definition? The rule goes on to discuss several requirements for a lawyer to overcome this conflict including if “each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing.” The clients in this case would be a people of Arkansas, particularly the 586,248 Arkansans who voted for the Act. I am not sure how McDaniel is going to pull that one off.

By Lisa Benson
H/T: ARRA News

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time. Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.” This is subject to change, however. In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while. For rants promote change, and change can be good—right? Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (I am told).

Clint Ashcraft has long known he'd like the opportunity to one day be the football coach at Conway High.

That day has now come.

The former Siloam Springs coach was hired by the Conway School District's Board of Education in a special meeting Thursday night. Ashcraft replaces Kenny Smith, who led the Wampus Cats the past 18 years and finished his tenure as the program's winningest coach with a 129-75 record before announcing his resignation last month.

"I'm elated to have this opportunity," Ashcraft said during a telephone interview Thursday. "It's a great community and a great location. I always thought it'd be a great job to be at Conway."

Read the entire story here.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The ever-growing Arkansas family has added a holiday bundle-of-joy to their brood.

That's right folks, Michelle Duggar, has given birth to her 18th child.

The Arkansas supermom delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. "She's just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters."

The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters.

Jim Bob Duggar said Michelle started having contractions Wednesday night. She needed the C-section, her third, because the baby was lying sideways. Jim Bob said both baby and mother were doing well Thursday night.

"We both would love to have more," he said. Jim Bob Duggar is 43, a year older than his wife. Their oldest child, Joshua, is 20.

The cable network TLC broadcasts a weekly show about the Duggars, called "Seventeen and Counting." Chris Finnegan of TLC — which handles public relations for the Duggar family — said the show's name would be updated to account for the latest addition to the family. He said TLC also will air a show Monday on the baby's delivery.

"Our whole family is excited about Jordyn's addition to our family," Jim Bob Duggar said. "She's just perfect in every way."

With the latest addition, the Duggars’ 18 natural children range in age from 20 years to one day old. Included in the mix are 10 boys and now eight girls — Joshua, twins Jana and John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, and Jordyn-Grace.

With two sets of twins, Michelle, has gone through 15 pregnancies that ended in 13 natural deliveries and two Caesarean sections.

Both Michelle and Jim Bob — a former state legislator who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives — are real estate agents. They claim their family is debt-free, with the entire bunch helping to build their 7,000-square-foot home in Tontitown. And they are enriched by a devout faith in their religion.

The Duggars are followers of the evangelical Christian movement called Quiverful, which teaches that children are God’s blessing and that husbands and wives should happily welcome every child they are given. In fact, the Duggars' website quotes, “Children are a heritage of the Lord” from verse 3 of the 123rd Psalm.

Source: here

Contributor: Laura Eilers, Junkfoodaholic.com

I absolutely hate cold weather.

Sadly, we've got a ton of it here in the Natural State tonight. Yes, old man winter decided to pay Arkansas a visit today and we've got a mess brewing.

I, The Hawg, have marked the spot on the latest map from the National Weather Service that shows I'm smack dab in the middle of all this rotten weather. We Saline County folks don't cope with this stuff well.

In fact, most Arkansans don't react well to ice covered roads. If a snow flake hits the ground and sticks, that's a sure sign it's time to shut the town down for a couple of days and wait for it to melt. We don't know how to drive on this stuff in Arkansas and I, for one, don't care to learn.

I'm hoping it works out that way tomorrow. We're supposed to get more sleet and freezing rain -- perhaps enough so that schools will be canceled and we'll get to stay home from work. The break won't last long, however -- it's supposed to be in the 40s by Wednesday and then in the 60s by Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Ah, that's how it is in Arkansas. Don't like the weather? Give it a minute and it will change.

Meanwhile, it's time to break out my favorite lawyer joke:

Friendly The Hawg: It's cold out there.

You: How cold is it, The Hawg?

Friendly The Hawg: So cold that I went downtown and the lawyers had their hands in their own pockets!

I've been lazy lately

Yes, I haven't been too active here or at The Natural State Hawg these past few days. To quote an e-mail I got a couple of years ago that still gives me a chuckle, "Oh well. It Christmas."

And because it Christmas, I've been busy with family and such. While I'm well aware that some people have been disappointed that my inane prattle hasn't been thrown around as often as it was just a few weeks ago, I'll be back to my old self before long.

Go ahead and click on the below commercial posted on YouTube and prepare to be amazed. Bear in mind that this guy is, apparently, a legitimate businessman in the Chicago area. I hope so because this has to be one of the top marketing schemes of all time.

If you want to check out this cat's Internet site, just click right here.

Here's Bella, our dachsador, busily doing, err, something.
Be sure to visit the other Wordless Wednesday participants (or submit something of your own) by clicking right here.