New Surroundings!

I've chosen new digs in which to place my words of wisdom (that's OBVIOUSLY a joke!). What do you think of the new layout? If you choose to do so, take part in the poll on the right. Sorry the font is so light... I couldn't figure out how to change the color of it.

The Talent is Staggering!

Last night, in an effort to delay the bedtime routine, Bub decided to share his new talent with us. We already knew he was an expert at the armpit farts, but he wanted to show us that he could do it with the back of his knee as well! Sis told him that he should do it for our church kids' talent show this year. He then told us that his REAL talent was to do a whole song with armpit farts (I don't let them say the word "fart," but armpit "toots" don't have the same effect!).

So, he "played" us a song, and I IMMEDIATELY guessed "Mary had a little lamb." He then moved on to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Not to be left out, Sis then whistled a lovely tune of "Jesus Love Me."

That was all they could showcase before Don and I made them go to bed... they were quite amused with themselves, though!

Speaking of talents, Sis and I were in a ladies' clothing store at the mall over the weekend, and she started explaining that since everyone had a different "body type" (her words, not mine), then some clothes were more appropriate than others for people to wear. After I agreed with her, she went on: "Like your dress you have on, for example, Mom. It's probably not the best one for your body type, because it makes you little a little bit fat." And you know, she was right in that it wasn't the most flattering cut! What a talent of artistic ability and honesty all in one! :D

Trip Down Memory Lane

I've mentioned (numerous times) about rearranging my house... we remodeled it a year and a half ago (well, we moved back home a year and a half ago... it was about a one year project overall), and I'm just now going through some boxes that I've had hidden in a corner of my basement since we originally moved in five years ago!!! In cleaning, I found 2 disposable cameras and a roll of film that had never been developed. Last week we took those 3 things, as well as Sis's disposable camera that she took to kid's camp (she lost the other one at camp), to be developed. I'm awed at how the memories came FLOODING back when I got the pictures developed!!! Sis and Bub were so cute... and little! I look so tired!!!! :D

What I really liked was a picture of Sis when she was little with a group of other babies from our church we went to at the time. It was before Bub was even born, and I think they were doing some sort of Cradle Roll group picture. The picture not only has Sis in it, but 3 of her cousins, and a group of babies who are still her friends now. I love that! Here is one of the pictures...

Great picture quality, huh??? Sis is the baby in the front row on the left. She's sitting next to one cousin, and two of her triplet cousins are on the right in the back row! She is still friends with the other little girl in the back row, as well as the baby girl in the "jean skirt" in the front row. In fact, here's a picture of that little girl at church camp this summer that Sis took...



Recognize her in the face? And in the background is the little sister of the cousin sitting by Sis in the above picture (the little sister wasn't even born yet in the top picture!).

I'll post more newly discovered "old" pics of Sis and Bub later!

Kozy Shack

Don and I were recently at some friends' parent's house and we commented on how COZY their family room was. So we've completely rearranged our living area, in hopes of our home becoming more cozy. I posted pictures from our family room (which is in our basement) last week, but we have been struggling with how to arrange our Great Room. It seemed like a good idea when we remodeled our home to have such a "great" big room, but it has been a struggle to make it cozy. We had our first "test run" when we had friends over after we rearranged. Here are the results.

P.S. D & G -- you didn't think I'd really post this, did you??? :D

Measurements

So, I went to the gym today at lunch to get my measurements done... OUCH!



I KNEW that they would be worse than when I had them done 3 or so months ago. I have not been going to the gym all summer, although I've kept up (mostly) with my cardio by running and walking. But I knew going in that my measurements would be worse than the last time. So why did I go?



Because I still think it's important to measure the "current" me against where I've been... or where I COULD be.



I've noticed that I've been doing that lately in a lot of areas of my life:

--Am I staying in touch with friends and family enough?
--Am I spending quality, not just quantity, time with my children? How about my husband?
--Am I reading my Bible enough? Praying?
--Am I refraining from gossip? Along the same lines, am I encouraging others enough?
--Am I being consistent in raising my children?

I don't ever want to fall into the trap of comparing myself with others... God made me who I am, so I just want to be the best ME I can be. I just need to keep up with my measurements...

What causes happiness??? Warning: Deep, thought-provoking post to follow!!!

Just kidding. Kind of.

You got something to say?

Family Room

Before:

After:

Excuse the blurriness. We need a new flash. And some wall decorations. And maybe to get out of our robes before 5:00 in the evening.

Flower (Girl) Power

The Ups and Downs of Being a Flower Girl:

Up: I'm in a wedding and my brother isn't!

Down: I can't stand on the platform during the ceremony... I have to go sit with my Mom and Dad (this one caused a few tears)
Up: I get to see the bride before the wedding, and even touch her wedding gown!

Another Up: I get to pose and look beautiful before we even leave for the church!

Biggest Up in the Whole Wide World:

I get to sit at the HEAD TABLE at the reception!!!!!

First Day of School

Holy Cow!

So, the family went to the State Fair last Friday. What do I remember about the State Fair as a kid? I remember:

• My cousins, my sister & I stopping at EVERY political booth and collecting as many bumper stickers and buttons as possible, and one cousin & I wore every single one of them. We were plastered with political propaganda!
• I remember the GIGANTIC pigs! Or hogs... or whatever they were! They were big!
• I remember riding the train to get there.

Yup, that's about it!

I do NOT remember cows...

At all!

My niece shows cows (I know there are other words that you're supposed to use when you show cattle... heifers, steers, etc... I'm just gonna go with cows. Cool?), so we spent a lot of time in the Jr. Livestock barn with the family surrounded by cows. I took well over 150 pictures just in the cow barn, which just added to my "I don't fit in at ALL in a cow barn" look I had going! I did learn some things, however, so I thought I would share some of my cow knowledge with the world!

Lesson #1: It's very important to wear a John Deere hat. No, not really... I didn't see any other girls with them on, but for some reason, Sis thought she should wear one.

There did seem to be some sort of uniforms required for a lot of people, though. Most men wore short sleeved plaid shirts with their jeans and boots.

And a LOT of the girls wore the blinged-out belts & necklaces. Not my niece, though, although I offered to help her buy some bling!

It's not everyday that I get out-blinged!!!

Lesson #2: Cows come with a LOT of equipment.

Pictured here is a butt fan. Yup, that's what I said: a butt fan. I'm not sure if that' s the TECHNICAL name of it, but that's what it's called. We wouldn't want a cow's butt to get hot, now would we???

Apparently it's use is to keep the cow's "underside" cooled off, so the fur (hair?) stays nice to show.

Lesson #3: Cows have a lot of "stuff" coming out of them. Right before a show, Don saw a cow poop on the ramp to go into the show area. The owner (no lie) wiped the cow's rear right then and there. Also, look at the slobber coming out of this cow. I guess it's no different than kids, but it seems grosser coming out of a big cow!

Lesson #4: Cows use hair product... or maybe it's fur product... or maybe it's something completely different. This is a picture of the stuff they spray on their legs and in their tails. It's called Tail Adhesive. It has a picture of a monkey on it. What?????

Lesson #5: Cows require a lot of work! This is my niece, Bub, and I heading over to the "tie-in" (or maybe it was tie-up, or tie-down??? Can't remember, actually!) area where the cows sleep at night. Notice the pitchfork I'm holding... don't I look like a natural? My niece had to clean up all the "cow patties" in the straw, add more straw, fluff the straw, then add hay (which is more grassy looking than the straw) for the cow to eat that night. Whew! Not only did she do all that work for HER cows, she also did it for all her neighbors at the tie-dye... which leads me to #6.

Lesson #6: "Cow people" are the nicest, most helpful people I've ever been around! The cow I saw my niece is trimming (or whatever) is not even her cow! She was done showing her cows by this point, so she was helping others' with their cows. As they did with her. She also cleaned up their tie-down area. They'd cleaned hers the night before. My friend put it very well: "That's amazing how they help out who could possibly be their competitors..." That's a great point, but it's just the way they are... SO NICE!

Lesson #7: When people talk about the Butter Cow at the State Fair, it's not a cow that produces butter. Because a cow couldn't do that. I know that. It just took me a minute to realize that I know that. Embarrassing.

A butter cow is actually a cow CARVED out of butter. That makes more sense, doesn't it?

Hope you enjoyed your bovine lesson. Let me know if you have ANY questions about cows at all, because I now know it all.

Day 3 Unplugged

Wednesday went GREAT as far as being unplugged. Like I mentioned before, our Young Families class already had planned to go to the Park that night. It was BEAUTIFUL weather, so a lot of the adults went running or walking while the kids played on the playground or went fishing at the pond. I showed up a little late (had to work late), so Bub was crying a little when I got there. He apparently thought it was a good idea to jump off a slide... the end result was NOT so great! His sister actually felt bad enough for him to give him a hug!

I guess that's one downside of not sitting on the couch all day watching TV... you might actually get hurt if you do something physical!!!

Before I went running with the other parents, I walked down to the pond to get some fishin' pictures as well. There was only one fishing rod in the whole bunch of kids, but that didn't stop those kids from feeling like they were fishing!

My kids tried their best to avoid me and my camera, but they eventually realized I was NOT going to go away until they stopped & looked cute for the camera...

They sure ARE cute!

Next post... all about our trip to the State Fair! Woo hoo!

Quick Update - Day 2

Well, I ran home for lunch, so while the coast is clear (ie. the kids are at the babysitter's), I thought I'd update how the "unplugged" week is going...

All I can say is that God has a great sense of humor! He made us COMPLETELY unplugged last night! I went to the "big city" to have dinner with my mom and sisters for my mom's birthday (happy birthday, mom!!!), and our power went out at home. I fed the kids before I left, but Don had worked outside all day and hadn't eaten. So, while he headed to his dad's to get some food & a shower, he noticed a tree on our lane was down on a power line. So, he & the kids decided that we should spend the night at his dad's. His dad just had his knee replaced a week and a half ago, and is getting around REMARKABLY well, but still spends most of his time sitting in front of the TV while his knee recovers. So, the kids cheated a LITTLE! Don says they just watched about 10 minutes of a show with the men on the Discovery Channel. I guess I can't say much, though... at least they were in air conditioning!!! (By the way, our power came back on sometime in the middle of the night!)

The one thing I have noticed is that they are sleeping GREAT at night! Maybe actually physically playing wears them out! You think??? hee.

The one funny thing is that Bub has gotten a bloody nose the last two afternoons (it's genetic... his dad randomly gets them as well). I told him that maybe NOT watching TV makes his nose bleed!

It should be easier to stay unplugged today. It's not so hot that they kids can't go out to play at the babysitter's (our wonderful cousin!) today, then tonight is a church night, but our Young Families class is meeting the next two Wednesday nights at the park with our families.

Until next update...

Isn't it Ironic?

Yesterday was the first day of our week of being "unplugged." We're going the whole week without TV, video games, and computers (thus the irony, since I'm blogging about it). Why are we doing this??? This is the question on the kids' minds at all times! As most of you know, we've spent the last several summers without most of today's "necessities," such as a tv, and have done great. This summer we've been at home, though, and have had access to all our fave electronics. When I realized that Bub's conversations mostly revolved around who he "unlocked" on a video game or what iCarly was up to, I realized we needed a drastic break from it all.

Day 1:
The kids have VBS all week at church from 9:30 to noon. That helps... Today went really good! On Mondays, the kids have a teenage babysitter at the house, so they can have a lazy day at home. After VBS, they colored, read, and played with some of their toys.

Once I got home, Sis had a note from a school friend left on the porch that asked her to call him. She did, and he invited her over to play. I asked her if she could resist the electronics, and she admitted it would be "difficult," since he has a PlayStation... she cracks me up! I told her if she cheated, then the previous HOURS of being unplugged would be for nothing. I would just add another day at the end for just her. Hmmmm... that made her stop and think.

When her friend's mother picked her up, I'll admit that it was a little awkward for me to tell her that Sis wasn't allowed to watch TV or play video games. The mom actually got REALLY excited about it, and thought it was a GREAT idea. Whew! So, while she was gone, Bub helped me cook dinner (which he loved), then he, Don and I played about 10 rounds of Boggle (I rock, by the way).

When Sis got home, she taught us a game she and her friend played... it was called "Would you rather..." One person asks the group "Would you rather do x or y?" Of course, most of Bub's (and Don's) questions had to do with bodily functions, but it was a lot of fun! All in all, it was a FANTASTIC unplugged night!

I may not update our unplugged week every day (back to the irony), but I will give some updates on the ups and downs of our unplugged week. Once we're back plugged in, I'll also post pics of Sis as the flower girl in the wedding last weekend. At this point, I'll just say she was adorable! Until later...