Random Ramblings

Just thought I'd share a few things from the past couple of days...

Monday's Dinner~Curried Chicken Salad


Sunset on the snow



Moonrise- too bad I don't know how to use the different settings on my camera, because it was a gorgeous moonrise.



There now my beside table is much happier than it was before! I just have to say the Home for the Holiday's book by Hallmark is pure eye candy! I actually got another Christmas idea book too. At my little library, you can never tell if you'll be able to find them next fall when I'd want them.


And even though I've got Christmas on my brain, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I just bagged up some storebought cookies in a cello bag with ribbon for a quick gift.

Monologues

Tonight was a fun Cub Scout meeting. The boys had to perform a monologue for their Webelos Showman badge. I got roped into leading this topic when Troy ratted me out that I was involved in Drama in high school.

Jameson picked

Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich by Shel Silverstein

A hippo sandwich is easy to make.All you do is simply take One slice of bread,One slice of cake,Some mayonnaise,One onion ring,One hippopotamus,One piece of string,A dash of pepper--That ought to do it.And now comes the problem...Biting into it!

So we made a little stuffed hippo for his sandwich. I worked on sewing him while Jameson got the rest of his ingredients together.







Connor picked

SNOWBALL
by Shel Silverstein
I made myself a snowball
As perfect as could be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.

I made it some pajamas
And a pillow for its head.
Then last night it ran away,
But first- it wet the bed

Here are the "props" we came up with for Connor's performance. A very kind soul over at 2peas helped me get the pajamas pasted into the picture.






Both boys did a great job and I think they had a lot of fun!

Fair Fun

August is County Fair time for our family. Troy has a booth for his business at 4 different fairs. My sister in law, Michelle and I split up the daytime shifts, since the guys still need to install and make money even though the fair is going on. Working the booth is usually hot and sticky and a little boring. But to the kids, the fair is a magical place and they can't get enough of it.

Last night our own county fair, which takes place right down the road from our house, finished up. I was sad to have this year's fair come and go with out my camera. I accidently left my battery charger in the condo where we stayed in Utah and they are supposedly sending it to me. This fair ranks #1 of the 4 we enter because of several reasons: a)it's right down the road, which means we see more of Troy b)the kids get to ride rides and hang out with their friends who are also at the fair and c) we have a lot of fun entering items in the open class catergories.

A few highlights from this year's fair: Genna got brave and rode the "Sizzler" with our next door neighbor's and LOVED it. Jameson won a huge, 3 foot basketball. I was so proud of Connor when he volunteered to help out at the 4-H food stand. There was no promise of pay or free food. This was a huge thing for my work challenged 9 year old.

This year here is how we "faired" in open class:

Genna- $9.50
Connor- $9.00
Jameson- $24.50 + a $10 gift certificate for the pizza place in town for the best child's hanging art
Kristi- $48.00 + $10 cash for the best theme photography "school days"


Here are a few other photos I entered this year:











It is always a bittersweet thing to have this fair come to an end. It also means school is right around the corner. And even though we did our school shopping and are ready to get back into a real routine, it is always sad to say goodbye to the summer.

Still here

Hey, remember me???

Gosh, time flies when you are having fun. I do apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. I guess one of the biggest reasons I haven't been around much, is that I have been so busy looking up recipes, exercises, and reading success stories. On March 19th, Troy and I, along with Troy's sister and her husband started the Body For Life 12 week challenge. It has been such a fun thing to do this together. Now when the alarm goes off at 5:45, we both get out of bed and head down to exercise. Of course, we haven't even quite hit the 2 week mark yet, and have only dropped a few pounds so far, but still I feel great. I have lots of energy and NO guilt, plus I feel good about myself. It is much easier for me to feel happy with the body God has given me, when I know I am putting an effort into taking care of it.

With that said, here are some things that have happened since I last blogged:

We went down to KS for a fun weekend. My Mom, my sister, Linda, and my sister, Lorilee and I all attended the Time Out for Women that was happening in KC. We had such a great time. Jason Deere performed his music from Joseph, A Nashville Tribute and Hilary Weeks, was the musical host for the rest of the weekend.




Grandma brought all the kids t-shirts from Arizona. They were so excited to get to see Grandma again! But Genna kept asking, why Grandpa couldn't come too.



Here's a family picture from that weekend.




The boys were THRILLED beyond measure when Troy finished putting up their basketball hoop. Since spring hit, they were always down at one of the neighbor's, playing on their hoop. They are sticking around home quite a bit more now. The first day after we got it up, Connor was out shooting hoops before 7am.




So excited to have my bluebirds back on a regular basis. Pretty soon I will probably find a nest built in one of the boxes. My blue feathered friends are definitely one of my favorite things about spring!



Last Saturday, we had a surprise party for my dear friend, Cheryl. I was so excited how it all turned out, we really surprised her! It was a lot of work to pull it off, but it ended up being such a great day. The only bummer was that my camera was dropped off the table that day and so now I am in the market for a new one. So you will have to do without pictures until I can get a new one.

Later that night we were deciding what to do with the kids. We decided to have dinner at home and then make shakes/smoothies for a treat and watch a movie. Well, we never got to dessert. I had fixed tilapia for the first time and Genna had a bad reaction to it. We thought at first she had swallowed a bone, because she keep saying her throat hurt. I was calling the hospital, when her face started breaking out with hives. We took her in to the hospital and paid for some really expensive Benadryl. She ended up being fine, but it was really scary for a while. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and for Heavenly Father watching over my little girl. We decided it sometimes, it is not cheaper to eat at home!

Hope you are having a great day!

The Happy Dance

Well, I thought I posted last night. Spent a good part of an hour trying to log into Blogger, getting the pictures and text just right and it is no where to be found today. I have hit "save as a draft" before when I thought I was hitting "publish", but nope, that isn't the case today.

Anyhoo, I just had to share a few things. First of all, my poor old camera was laid to rest yesterday after I got a package containing my Mom's old camera. My camera had to be coddled along- the battery compartment had to be taped up because of a chip in the door and I was forever untaping, fiddling with the batteries and taping back up, all while trying to get my subject to hold still. I shouldn't complain too much, it really was a great first digital camera and took really nice pictures most of the time. My Mom's camera is a nicer Kodak with a 10 zoom, a li-on rechargeable battery and a door that doesn't have to be taped. I really am doing the happy dance that I won't have to be messing with the batteries on Christmas morning!

I am also excited because my cards should soon be coming to a mailbox near you! Genna helped me get the labels and stamps finished up yesterday. I know why they had Susan, George's girlfriend on Seinfeld die from licking envelopes- I felt like I could yesterday. After licking 90 envelopes, my tongue was protesting!

Last night, we went to a Christmas party for Genna's preschool. I am still learning about this camera and so I honestly didn't get any great shots. I didn't figure out till we got home that the red dot that was flashing at me was the camera saying, turn the flash on- this camera has a pop up flash. Despite monumental photographic evidence, we had a great time decorating cookies, playing with shaving cream and listening to the kids sing.