Cute kid overload

There were so many cute kids at our 4th of July get-together. It is crazy to think that the kids actually out-numbered the adults!!

Happy Birthday to The Chatterbox

Yesterday was The Chatterbox's 11th birthday and because she is such a great kid she agreed to go to Chuck E. Cheese so that we could bring along her brothers and cousins.

This picture is of them all chowing down on their pizza, while listening to the amazing music, which included chart topping songs about sunscreen and bike safety. WooHoo!!
He's a funny one of Mouse and Little Buddy. They did not enjoy the rides that moved, rides that did not give tickets, or the squirt gun game (which they thought would squirt them in the face)!

Here we have Badger Boy playing the never-ending game of Skeetball. One of the games was broken so that it allowed you to play without putting in a token. The only problem was that it did not keep score. Badger Boy did not catch on to this and stood there playing the same game for 20 minutes, very cheap entertainment!!
Here's a great shot of all of them with their fantastic prizes!

Disclaimer: Do not worry you are not having technical difficulties!! The above images are the pictures that I would have taken if I would have remembered to put a memory card in the camera! Oh well live and learn!

Diving back in

I bit the bullet and went back to the pool this morning. I have been using my back and leg pain as an excuse but after seeing some not so flattering images of myself from our 4th of July celebrations I knew it was time to get back in gear!

I can't believe how great I feel after swimming a few laps and will make an effort to get there a couple times a week!

image courtesy of google

Happy Independence Day

I will be spending my July 4th at a wedding in the morning, then watching my husband and Badger Boy blow things up, BBQ at the in-laws, and hopefully if the rain stays away we will have a nice firework show to finish up the day.
Have fun Everyone!!

Lost in Thought- Wordless Wednesday

10 on Tuesday

On another blog that I follow she posts 10 images on Tuesday and thought it sounded like a great idea! Yesterday Little Buddy (who does not like to jump) and Mouse (who loves to jump wildly) were on the trampoline together. The following images are a showcase of the difference in jumping styles!

They started off holding hands.
Mouse really wants to bounce highbut Little Buddy is holding her back!

Little Buddy would rather sit in the middle while Mouse runs around him bouncing.

Look at the fear in his eyes! Last year he wasn't even willing to get on the trampoline let alone jump, we are definetely making progess!

Mouse the Wild Child scares me everytime she gets to going, she runs/bounces around on the very edge of the trampoline. I have to give her credit though she hasn't fallen off yet, that I know of!!

Ode To Chet and Kate

Growing up on Wilson Street in Falls City you would have had the pleasure of knowing two of the greatest people on earth, Chester and Kate Brannin. Kate's birthday was yesterday and I found myself thinking of some of the best life lessons I learned sitting on their front porch. They were a couple without children but come 4:00 on a summer evening you would find all of the neighbor kids on that porch. We would sit and chat about all of their travels, about the Worlds Fair, the Grand Canyon, and San Fransisco, if you were lucky enough Kate would allow you to look at their view master slides from their vacations.

This is when I learned to treat other's possessions with respect.

During the summer months we would spend the evening running races around their house as Chester would time us, catching lightning bugs, making up plays and acting them out, I even remember staging pretend weddings with the twins next door. If one of us would act out, Chester would send us home and we would not be allowed back until the next day. This is when I learned to respect authority, because it is awful lonely sitting at home with no one to play with.

One of Chester's favorite hobbies was fishing. He would come home from a good day of fishing and tell us all about his catch. Whenever you asked where he caught them he would hook a finger in the side of his mouth and say "Right Here"! One of the more disgusting parts of his fishing trips was when he would cut out the air bladder and all of us kids would fight to see who would get to stomp on it and pop it!

This is were I learned patience, because it could be a long evening waiting on their front porch to see how big a catch they had that day.

During the winter Toby and I would visit them a couple times a week. We would listen to stories of Chester's brothers, how they tried to put two saddles on one horse or how they would wait by the train tracks for a train full of soldiers going off to World War 1 and catch the soldiers hats as they flew off in the wind. They would show us picture albums or we would watch the birds out the window. Now whenever I see a Cardinal or "RedBird" I think of them.
During the winter Toby and I would take turns scooping their sidewalks and in the summer mowing the grass. We helped weed the garden and once Kate attempted to show me how to can vegetables. This is where we learned to help our Neighbors.

As the years passed we stopped visiting with them everyday on the front porch, we waved as we rode our bikes and eventually our cars, as we past their house. What I would give to have another evening spent on that front porch. To see them sitting in their folding lawn chairs with a cold lemonade in one hand and flyswatter in the other!

Ball Season is OVER!!!

Badger Boy's team played for the championships on Wednesday. They played hard but were unable to score any runs, with a final score of 1-0. These boys made huge improvements over the last month and many of them will be moving on to B Team ball. They worked hard during the tournament and earned those 2nd place medals!

Badger Boy tells us that he doesn't want to play ball again next year because he doesn't like getting hit by the ball. Being a lefty he does get hit more than his fair share!
We will continue to practice and hopefully he will change his mind, we really enjoyed watching him and I know enjoyed being on this team, especially for the bucket of sunflower seeds!

That art of s'mores

This is what a s'mores should look like right? Nice slightly browned marshmallow and melting hershey's chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers!

This is how we do it! Bryan loves to grill, even if it is just hotdogs and it takes him an hour to ready the grill and cook them! The kids love s'mores so they too love it when Bryan grills.
Each one of my children has a different technique when it comes to making these. None of which are allowed to make mine, but Bryan has mastered that skill.

The Chatterbox likes hers flambéed, a little too much black for me!

Little Buddy eats his raw, or 'on a stick' as he requests.

Miss Brainy takes way too much thought and time to really enjoy the simplicities of s'mores.

Miss Brainy had a couple of friends over, they are my favorites. 'A' here and his cousin 'K' helped dig holes and put in the fence posts for the new picket fence. They are allowed to eat their s'mores however they like so long as they come over and help me around the house!!

This kid here should really warn everyone around him and don a fireproof suit before he attempts to make his s'mores. He immediately places his marshmallow as close to the coals as possible allowing it to catch on fire, then he waves it wildly through the air, finally bringing the flaming object way too close to his face than his mother would like to blow it out!! My son the pyromaniac!!

Little Buddy's first date

The 3 musketeers (The Chatterbox, Bones, and BeanPole) thought it would be fun to set Little Buddy and Mouse up on a "date". They took Mouse off and got her all dressed up, made them a drink for two, and they shared a plate of pizza and bread sticks. Then The Chatterbox came up with the great idea to put a spider on Mouse's plate, with the hopes that it would scare her and she would run into Little Buddy's arms, she thought this would be very romantic! That girl of mine and her crazy ideas!

Theeere Baaaack!!

We were pleasantly surprised when Jaci and the kids arrived earlier than planned. Many hours will be spent hanging out at G-ma's and Boompa's and many hours will be spent taking pictures of the many small monsters!

Hey Cornelia Belle....

My mom called to warn me that if I was planning on posting a picture of her for her birthday that she would disown me! Since I am such a good daughter I listened obediently.

Bombs bursting in air!

It was lucky for me that the Homestead Days Fireworks were cancelled on Saturday, I was photographing a wedding and would have missed out on going with the family. I thought it was better to have it on Sunday anyways, it made for a great ending to all of the father's day fun.

I do love photographing fireworks, although it sure is hard to hold still for such long exposures, some day I'll remember to bring my tripod! Bryan asked why I always take pictures instead of enjoying the show, but he doesn't realize the enjoyment I get from the relaxing aspects of photography. When there isn't a two year old to chase or the harried rush of photographing a wedding, I get the chance to sit in my chair and enjoy the no stress aspect of my favorite activities. It is a thrill to me when I capture more than one burst or a really cool shot. Miss AlleyCat was too cute, calling the fireworks stars and clapping!