Doghouse, boyfriend, school supplies, OH MY!

Our holiday weekend was relaxing and uneventful. We did take the kids and Gator to our family's farm/creek for 4-wheeler riding, campfire food, and a nice, relaxing evening. The kids and Farm Guy walked this creek with some of our family. The kids LOVED it and came back very wet and very happy. And Mama was happy to sit and have an adult conversation with no children around to interrupt.

Jackie the Cow is in the doghouse...literally and figuratively. Farm Guy had the Gator on the trailer, tied down with 2 tow straps. Jackie chewed through both of them. Completely chewed apart. As if that wasn't bad enough, she also gnawed on the gear shifter thingie. I thought my husband was going to explode. Jackie might just have to find a new family...one who enjoys having their things ruined. Any takers?

With the passing of the 4th, the evil empire Wal-Mart has begun stocking their school supplies. On July 5th. Every teacher out there is cringing right now, I guarantee it. But here's the thing. I LOVE school supplies. Do I love seeing them on July 5th? Not so much. That's just another reminder that summer is halfway over. BUT. I can't help but walk by the school supplies with a little excitement. I finger the glue sticks...smell the crayons...stroke the loose paper. I get all hot and bothered just thinking about it. I know. I have problems. But, you can imagine my excitement when my IRL BFF, Deb, alerted me to the Staples weekly ad. Ladies and gentlemen (are there any gentlemen out there reading?) they have $0.01 folders, pencils, and hand santizer. One cent! The kids and I will be there with bells on when they open this morning.

County fair season is upon us. Is that a big deal in your area? It is here. We are going to one county fair this week and our county fair is next week. Even though we live in a little town, the fair parade is pretty great. We went as a family for the first time last year and the kids had a blast! The kids stood on the edge of the path as they had candy tossed at them. They loved it so I know they will have a blast this year. Speaking of candy. If you ask the Boy what there is at the fair, he responds, "Animals and tractors!" If you ask Little Miss, her response is "Candy and ice cream!" That is so very typical (although I tend to agree with her!)

One of the kids' favorite things to do is pick and "foof" dandelions. Little Miss has recently learned you are to make a wish but not tell anyone or it won't come true. Yesterday she picked one and before she "foofed" it said in a very quiet voice, "I wish for cake and green beans." She is such a nut!

Oh my gosh. The funniest thing just happened. My kids found pictures from the award presentation when I received a teaching award. There is one pic of me with my husband on one side and my principal on the other. Little Miss said, "Who is that guy?" The Boy says, "That's mommy...that's daddy...and that's mommy's boyfriend." Hilarious!

Did anyone happen to see that my title was an "honorable mention" on PW's most recent Name that Photo contest? I just KNEW my entry was going to win. I was slightly disappointed to see it wasn't picked as the winner (I was REALLY digging that camera) but I was happy to see how much traffic I got from just being listed. So, thanks, Ree!

Don't forget to tell me which wedding shower invitation you like best. And if you haven't gone to Scrapblog yet, I highly recommend it. (Unless you have anything else to do today...then you'd better not go. You won't want to quit!)

Last but not least...the answer to the 4th of July quiz. The question was, "Which of these lines is from the Declaration of Independence?"
1)We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union
2)We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal 3)Give me liberty or give me death

The answer is...

2) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal

Good job, everyone!

The first line (which got 29% of the votes) is from the Constitution and the third line (which NO ONE voted for) was from a speech given by Patrick Henry in 1775 to the Virginia House of Burgesses urging colonists to fight the British.

That concludes this week's history lesson. And probably all history lessons in general.

What a Day

We had a wonderful day yesterday! The kids were much better when I left them for a bit to workout today. Can you believe that?! My wine pants are now really workout pants. Who would have thought?

After the gym, we ran home to put in a Crock Pot meal. I made this rigatoni but with an extra jar of spaghetti sauce and a container of ricotta cheese. If you haven't made it yet, I highly recommend doing so with the changes I made today. It was SO good!

Then the kids made rigatoni necklackes for my sister for her birthday. I didn't take pics but they were way cute. 8 rigatoni covered in glitter glue then put on yellow ribbon. They were very proud of themselves.

Off we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some fun in the pool with Aunt Susie.


Then Boy and I headed to the theater for his FIRST EVER trip to see a movie! He was so excited! We went all out and got popcorn, soda, and candy. He sat very still and very quiet through Kung Fu Panda. Then he started to get a little sleepy and asked to go. So, we left with about 30 minutes to go. I guess we will have to get the DVD when it comes out to see how it ended! :)

This bag of popcorn did not seem so big as we ate the ENTIRE bag!

Once we got back to Grandma's, he got a hair cut. He looks like such a handsome big boy. By then it was already 4:00 p.m. and time to go. The kids had been up sonce 6:00 a.m. with little to no down time. Needless to say, they fell asleep about 10 minutes from home. Sure they look cute sleeping on the ride home. They were NOT so cute, however, after their 10 minute nap. Not cute at all.

Once we got past that overly-tired, fussy, disoriented crying (nothing a little Blue's Clues couldn't fix) attitudes improved. I went outside to see what Jackie the Cow was killing now. (Turns out it was a bird. Have I mentioned she is a bird dog? And a skunk dog? A groundhog dog? And today she got her first mouse?) Anyway, two nekkid little kids followed me outside. I have heard of shirts and skins, but this is taking it a bit far.

Luckily, Farm Guy and the Boy removed all of the carcasses from Jackie's weekend of terror so hopefully we won't have anymore of these visiting anytime soon.

Despite all the rain and flooding we have had over the past few weeks, the corn is coming out pretty well. Here is the Boy measuring the corn. Looks like we will have no problem making "knee high by the 4th of July."

All good things must come to an end. After a beautiful day, it was time to get the kids to bed and enjoy some rigatoni.

And then I spent another hour editing this post and trying to save and publish. Blogger had other plans for me however. Plans that included a lot of cursing and pounding of my fists. But I persevered and got it done. Better late than never, right?