Fair Skies and Funnelcake

I told my husband last week that what I really want to do is decorate my porch with pumpkins and corn shocks and bake everything pumpkin and apple, but instead----I emptied more boxes. I'm partial to Summer's warm temperatures, long days, kids off school and the rainbow of fresh fruits and veggies, but for some reason  fall is testing my loyalty this year. It's probably mostly because I'm quite ready to do something, anything really, other than pack and unpack and organize and sort and figure out what to do with the last 3 boxes of really odd things sitting in the living room. But since I don't know of any grand pumpkin patches nearby (of course if you're local and you'd like to recommend one, I'd be happy to file that info away!) it will help me restrain myself and stay on task here. Maybe next year!!
 

I did venture out for one evening of fall fun with the kiddos though. Let's call it 

"The Woman who lives in a Shoe goes out on the town."

 The last of the local fairs runs the first week in October. It's the one I went to as a kid and now it's our "hometown" again. It's pretty important for our family to get there at least for the parade night. So important in fact that said "Woman from the Shoe" took 5 kids (one of them barely a month old) to parade night SOLO last year, on a night when it happened to RAIN. It's okay, you're not the first person to raise your eyebrows and question her sanity!!! She does it herself, REGULARLY!

So this year, Daddy had to work again but we recruited Grandma to join us. She willingly agreed since the forecast for the week was sunny and unseasonably warm.

 We got there early so we'd have time to do all the important stuff.....

Drive the Tractors 

--except there wasn't very many to choose from this year. we had to settle for a lawn mower and sharing it at that.--

Drool over the Legos

 The Petting Area

The Corn Box

--by far the biggest attraction on the grounds. my boys could spend days there--

And of course......

The Food!

(Well, actually we started with that. Not because it was the most important part--but it might have been-- but because if you wait to eat dinner until dinner time the food area becomes one big massive line. The french fry stand is swarming like a bee hive and the milkshake line makes Friday afternoon traffic look easy! In between there are 27 other junk foods begging for your whole months allowance and a ride on your hips.)

I told the kids they could each choose one thing. Our dinner consisted of Funnel Cake, French Fries and Soft Pretzel. (And the big bag of apple slices that I packed, in hopes that it would somehow balance out those grease loaded goodies.)

We don't get good stuff like this very often! =)

The other highlight---watching the rides. Yup, I said watching. I'm too tight to fork out real money for a chance to bring up the $4 treat I just bought, but they stood there for a long time fascinated by the spinning, blinking, tilting  and whirling.

It's not everyday you get to walk down the middle of the road. 

And then we perched on our reserved curb seats to watch tractors, trucks, horses, dogs, marching bands and "those guys with only one wheel" (unicyclists) pass us by and throw candy our way.
We were not disappointed, we filled several bags with tootsie rolls, smarties and mints.

Chances are good that we'll be back next year, even if the forecast says rain!

Dear Dreadfully Neglected Blog,

 It's been quite a while since we spent time together. I do believe this past month went much faster than normal. I've been rather busy with ......

.......sanding

and painting.....

and boxes......

and projects......

and organizing......

along with a bit of (birthday) celebrating.....

Flowers from my Honey.  A bright spot in my chaos!

the list goes on!


I may have given a few much needed fashion tips in between, too.

Of course the lack of phone/internet service for 12 days didn't help your cause any either.


I promise, I'll be back to fill you in on all the excitement around here soon! Do you want to here about the new house, the furniture facelifts or the treasure filled barn first??

Be back soon!
Rachel

Cupcakes N Sprinkles

[WARNING: I may have gotten a little picture happy on this one!]

 A whole year already?? How can it be?? It really seems like last week that I was not-so-patiently waiting in my bulging, uncomfortable state, to welcome my baby girl into my arms. She arrived early Sunday morning and melted her Daddy's heart instantly!!

The rest of her adoring fan club came a few hours later to meet her.

Excuse Me for a minute while I reminisce......

Kyra Brooke Miller -- 8 lbs. 9 oz. of pure sweetness. 

Okay, I'm back. We invited family to help us celebrate the Little Miss on Sunday evening.

The Decorations.....

Never decorated in this color before. Kinda Fun!

The Food....

Flower & Butterfly sandwiches

Pink Lemonade!

The Cake....
 

Raspberry Lemonade & Chocolate Peanut Butter

HaPpY BiRtHdaY! Dear Kyra!

 Already well acquainted with the value of Chocolate!

The Gifts....

She had a wee bit of assistance with this part.

Daddy Picked this one out! I think she likes it!

We have entered the world of baby dolls and their many accessories.

[The stroller is quite coveted by older brothers. This morning a little boy was pushing it around my living room. Occasionally he would stop and "pull the string" (to start it.) I asked him what he was doing. His answer, "mowing the lawn."]


The Party Favors....

 [Since 8 of the 10 children at this party were boys I decided to skip the pink fairy wands and tiara favors. I decided instead to do a candy bar. Everyone got a small box to fill from an assortment of candy. Seemed to be a hit. Yup, that's right, load 'em up with sugar n send 'em home! ;o]
(NOTE: just I tip!  if you decide to do this at your party, you may want to include the adults in the favor count too, =) 


Of course, having a birthday at our house means you are subject to one of mom's photo shoots.

(Or in this case more than one. The first of which resulted in a lot of frustration for Mama and Baby Girl. The second nearly ended the same way until Daddy, the smile finder, showed up to rescue it.)

Isn't she a Dear!

 I can NOT figure out why the color is different on this one but I think the pose is adorable!

The one where she decides to 'roar' back at the brothers who are helping to make her smile.

Probably my Favorite!

She's an accessory's girl! Shoes and headbands!

She's a sweet little girl but don't worry, she can hold her own around here too! She adds Sugar and Spice to our family and we love her to pieces! Just Please don't grow up so fast Baby Doll!

I Wonder......

......if I will ever adjust to this new back-to-school schedule??? and who decided elementary school should start at 7:45 a.m??

.....why little boys only have 'ouchies' when bedtime rolls around?? and how they can be completely exhausted and still stall like nobodies business about going to bed??




.....how to balance the 'set goals and git-er-done' with the 'let-it-go and relax'




.....do children really get sick from being cold and wet while playing in puddles?? Or if there must be some sort of virus or germs involved?? Or maybe they are just more susceptible to the germs and viruses when they're cold and wet??

.....if I scrub my house like a crazy woman on Friday will anybody be able to tell by Sunday or will it just be a good way to work of those cookies I just ate??

.....if I ever gift things to people that make them groan???? (this may or may not have something to do with the VERY LARGE bag of candy given to my children recently)

.....if I should let them eat the whole bag and get it over with???



....how to get a picture of 4 small people all looking the same direction.

.....if ever there was a death certificate that said these words, 'Cause of Death: Shear Exhaustion!'???


....if I will be the first???


.....how to pack the belongings of a family of seven into boxes in 3 days or less???

.....why when I see others doing a great job at something (mothering, decorating, blessing.....) I assume they know how good they are at it, but a compliment as such will stick with me for weeks???

....if there have actually been 2000 plus pageviews to by blog (according to the stats) does that mean my 8 followers have read each post 8 times??? or are there perhaps some other people stopping by who who should really say "hi!"  (hint! hint! I'd love to "meet" you!)


.....how it can possible be a WHOLE YEAR since we welcomed our sweet baby girl into our family???

 Big Celebrations going on around here this weekend!!

....How are you spending the holiday weekend??