Happy 11th Anniversary!

11 years ago, I woke up to pouring down rain, the fuse box kept tripping while I was trying to blow-dry my hair, my windshield wipers malfunctioned on the highway during a downpour while driving at 55mph, my make-up appointment ran long, my hair appointment ran long, the photographer was almost two hours late, our ceremony upstairs at the location started without my knowledge while I was downstairs making final preparations, our music to walk back down the aisle wouldn't play on the CD player, the limo never showed, and I didn't get to eat any of my own wedding cake.

11 years ago, I woke up knowing I was going to marry my best friend. I could only laugh at the mishaps, knowing they'd make for a great wedding day story later. I was surrounded by good family and friends, who were ready to help as needed, and who worked really hard to make sure our day was as special as possible.

11 years ago, we'd just purchased a house and had very limited funds with which to honeymoon with. We spent a week in Vegas, and the only money we gambled with was the $20 Dan got from my uncle for singing an Elvis song karaoke. We ate McD's and Krispy Kreme nearly the entire time (it was cheap!), and had to explain over and over again that yes, we were honeymooning in Vegas, but no, we did not get married there. *grin*

11 years ago, I welcomed the beginning of my new life, as a wife, with dreams of the family we would build together. I had no idea where the road would lead, but I was confident I had the best person possible at my side to travel it with.

11 years, 3 amazing kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and an aquatic turtle later, I'd say we've carved out a pretty decent path for ourselves! Thank you to those who were there 11 years ago, and thank you to those who have joined us along the way.

Happy 11th Anniversary to you, Danny! The road hasn't always been smooth, but we've always been a team and figured it out. I love you!

Tractor Pulls and Face Painting

We went back to the fair on Sunday so Connor could participate in the championship round of the Mutton Busting, after qualifying earlier in the month. We got to the fair early in the day, so we'd have plenty of time to get him signed up, and also so we'd have plenty of time to look around at all the stuff we normally don't have time to see because we're too busy on rides! After we got Connor registered, we noticed they were getting ready to do the kid tractor pulls, so we got the kids signed up (it was free!). The farther you pedal, the heavier the weight gets






The starting weight is predetermined based on the child's age. If they make a full pull (reaching the distance of 25ft with the weight at the top of the incline plane), they qualify for another round. Emily came about two pedals shy of making a full pull in the 1st round. Connor and Jared both qualified for the 2nd round. Neither of the boys qualified for the 3rd round. It was pretty funny to see these little kids on pedal tractors, pulling all that weight! The only kid that made it into the 4th round was 7 years old (I think), and pulled 250lbs!

After the tractor pull, we viewed a bunch of the livestock, then got faces painted (again, for free!)








I didn't get any pictures of Connor in the Mutton Busting championship round (I did take video, but it won't load!), but I can tell you he lasted 3.78 seconds. Not quite as good as his first ride earlier in the month, and not good enough to qualify him for the top 10 (who got to ride one last time to "fight" for top 3 places), but he had a wonderful time, and is really looking forward to next year so he can try again!

Dog Gang

I was out taking pictures of the gardens over the weekend, and when I turned around to head back into the house, I saw my two dogs, side by side, staring at me. (Charlie looked away at the last minute, but believe me, he'd been staring! LOL)


Normally, they're running around the yard together, so I'll be honest and say I hesitated mid-step to see them just standing there, STARING at me! I called them both, but they just stood there. Then I said, "What do you two think you're doing, huh??" then they ran over with tails wagging before heading off to chase each other around the yard. All was right with the world again. But I've got my eye on those two...

Gardens Week 16

We have one pumpkin that's almost entirely orange


Look at the difference a week makes!


Our biggest pumpkin is probably slightly bigger than a soccer ball? It's not even the tiniest bit orange, so I'm hopeful it'll continue to gain some size for a bit longer. I guess we'll see!


Our tiniest pumpkin is nearly orange as well, and I think the cucumbers might be as big as they're going to get


There's some definate color change since last week, but no growth!


The vining plants' leaves have really started to rot and die off, but I'm assured that's normal at this point. We still have a ton of leafy carrot greens in Connor's gardens, but no sign of any actual carrots beyond a few weeks ago. The lettuce is still producing, but the leaves aren't growing nearly as big as they were just a few weeks ago! I'm thinking there probably isn't much time until the gardens are done for the season!

Bloopers!

This summer/fall we...

...attended Dan's work picnic and Connor flew out of the water slide so fast he nearly ended up on his head:


...attended Dan's work picnic and participated in a balloon toss:


...had a play date at a friend's house and channeled a bit of Paris Hilton:


...learned how to dive off the diving board, but pulled off a few spectacular belly flops first (with the bright red belly to prove it):


...visisted the dentist:


...went to the fair with friends, who despite the look on her face, ended up enjoying the slide:


...won a creepy doll in a $1 grab bag:


...posed with a creepy doll we won in a $1 grab bag:

Emily the hairstylist

Em was playing with my hair the other night while I was reading a chapter to the kids before bed, and this is what she ended up doing to my hair:


I think it turned out pretty neat! I'll have to try to recreate in HER hair!

Gardens Week 15

Some of the pumpkins continue to turn orange... This is a comparison of the same pumpkin from last week to this week:


It's weird, because there is a pumpkin I was originally doing growth comparison pictures of, but after a couple of weeks, it totally stopped growing, so I stopped taking comparison pictures. But then there are some pumpkins that were just "BABIES" at the time I was taking pictures of the one, and they're now considerably bigger! I wonder what triggers some to grow, and some to stop? We have a few pumpkins I was actually planning on cutting off the vines as "babies", because the vines were growing a little out of control, and I'm glad I didn't, because they ended up being the bigger sized pumpkins!

And then there's THIS pumpkin, which is quite tiny (softball size, maybe?), and has been the same size for WEEKS AND WEEKS... The cucumber has grown quite a bit since week 12, though!


Last week, the two existing butternut squash were both the same size. This week, one started dying off, and the other grew like crazy in only a week!


I think we officially have 13 pumpkins, 1 butternut squash, the lettuce is still producing, the beans have died off, 6 cucumbers (we've eaten two, so we HAD 8), and probably around 40-50 carrots should they ever bother to ripen... Not quite as well as we'd thought we'd do, but not bad for a first attempt, and it's truly been very fun!

SSSSSSSSSnake!

We took the kids to the Woodland Park Zoo just before school started, and we came to this exhibit with a green snake in it. It was just laying there, not moving, until the minute all three kids were clustered around looking at it, and then it suddenly rose up to be face to face with them


Emily said, "Hey, this is just like in Harry Potter!" and the boys suddenly started speaking Parsaltongue (their own little version of it, anyway). And then people started pushing and shoving up to the glass to see the snake, when suddenly the glass disappeared and they all fell in! Okay okay, so the glass didn't disappear and no one fell in, but people DID start pushing and shoving to get a look at the snake as it truly appeared to be interacting with the kids.

We all need little Harry Potter moments in our life, right? (Right, Kaci?? XOXO)

Mutton Busting!

Connor participated in the Mutton Busting competition at the local fair last week. He was SOOO amped up in line! (I had a video to share of him while waiting in line for his turn, telling me was going to hold on for ten hours, but it won't load! POUT!)


He was happily petting the sheep that WEREN'T in the current line up to be ridden


Last year, when they called his name, Connor screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and took off running the other way. This year, he kept telling me, "I sure wish they'd hurry up and let me have my turn!!"

My friend Jami used my camera to get this picture from where she was sitting in the audience

I paid for the professional pictures so we'd have better documentation of the event:




Most kids were face down, clinging on for dear life. Connor was looking forward, SMILING as he rode! hahahaha! The lady who printed out the picture for me even commented on it, while showing it around to the other people working the booth (where you could buy t-shirts, pictures, etc).


After the kids fall off, a cowboy gathers them up and runs them out of the arena back to the parent. Connor was totally laughing! He loved riding the sheep, and immediately begged to do it again!


Winning the GOLD medal for a 5.4 second ride. GO CONNOR! (another purchased picture). According to Connor, "You just ride the sheep to the end, jump off, and then you win!"


Posing with yet another cowboy after his big win!


Connor gets to participate in the championship round on the last day of the fair. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for him!

Tell Me What You Did Today

Connor's teacher sent home this little poem last week, and I LOVED it!

Tell Me What You Did Today

When children come home at the end of the day,
The question they're asked as they scurry to play is,
"Tell me what you did today?"
And the answer they give makes you sigh with dismay,
"Nothing, I did nothing today."
Perhaps nothing means that I played with blocks,
or counted to 10 with Mr. Fox.
Maybe I painted a picture of red or blue,
Or heard a story about a mouse that flew.
Maybe today was the very first time
that my scissors followed a very straight line.
Maybe I led a song from beginning to end,
Or played with a special, brand new friend.
When you're 5 and your heart has wings,
"Nothing" can mean so many things!

Sigh...

Doesn't he look too little to be on the "big kid" bus??

Taylor Swift!!

My friend Jami and I took the three girls to see Taylor Swift in our area last week. What an AMAZING concert! It was everything I'd hoped it would be, and more. It was all three of the girls' first concert (Em's been to some smaller ones with her daddy, but NOTHING big like this was!) and it was such a great experience!

Right off the bat, they got to pose for a picture with the mascott of a local country radio station


Then they got to make signs using supplies provided by a different local country radio station




We stood in line forever and a day to get t-shirts, and ended up bumping into another classmate!


Next, was standing in line to purchase food, and finding our way to our seats. You know you're in the nosebleed section when you literally can't go up any higher because the WALL is behind you! LOL


As high up as we were, we had a view straight down to the stage without any heads blocking us, so I really have no complaints!


Well, I WILL complain about how HOT it was in the building, and probably even MORE hot up where we were, since heat rises... I would have loved a hand-held battery operated fan or something in one hand, but it was what it was. We made the best of it! We were just really sweaty and thirsty by the end. LOL! I will also complain about the $25 parking "CASH ONLY", which was quite unexpected, but again, we made the best of it (and thankfully had enough cash between the two of us! I'd planned for $15 and figured it wouldn't be any more than THAT!).

TAYLOR SWIFT!!!!!


Multiple dress changes (with "side" acts on stage during each change so there was never any weird down-time)










There were even more, but my camera had an "exhausted battery" (so said my camera screen!) 3/4 of the way through the concert. POUT!!!!!!!!!!

Emily LOVED this ballet routine, which happened during one of Taylor's costume changes


The stage was always quite elaborate with background/back-up dancers and "skit" type lead-ups into songs


(Em was jealous of the girl that got to wear this wedding gown!)


Partway through the concert, Taylor moved back onto a platform with a lit-up tree near the back of the audience and did some slower numbers.


The girls wilted quite a bit at this point, from heat, and from all the dancing/singing/cheering/standing they'd been doing


The show was full of fireworks, confetti, flashing lights, etc!


There were also acrobats dangling from giant bells, balconies floating up in the air over the audience, etc. I didn't get any of THAT stuff, thanks to the "exhausted battery"... But it's fresh in my mind, and Em's still talking about it all!

Not everyone was as appreciative of the loud music and cheering as we were! hahaha!


The next day, Em cowgirl'd up for school, wearing her new t-shirt.


Two HUGE thumbs up for this concert!! It was so fun to share the experience with Emily and our good friends.