State Fair

We went to the state fair last weekend. The main reason was to see if Larry and Craig could qualify for the pull on Monday. We left at 9:30 Friday night. Larry had to be signed in by 10 am Saturday morning. He did qualify and the truck held together. (Yippee!) Craig also qualified in the diesel class but had a minor break. He worked on it and got it fixed before time to pull on Monday though.

Since the pull was on Monday that left us with a day to enjoy the fair. The boys had fun checking out the animals and exhibits. We walked as much as we could handle. Saturday night we bought arm bands for all 4 of them so they could have unlimited carnival rides. We got there at 9 and stayed until midnight. The all got to ride lots of times since there was only a small crowd and they didn't have to wait in line. Only one mishap in the Haunted House.....Michelle was going to take all 4 boys in by herself. Then she realized she needed help so yelled at me to come over and go in with them. I DO NOT LIKE HAUNTED HOUSES! I don't even watch scary movies or read scary books. But, being a good grandma, I didn't want to disappoint the boys so I bravely got in line behind them. We walked through the door with Michelle leading the oldest to the youngest boy and me bringing up the rear. Michelle called back and told all of us to hang onto the wall (it was pitch dark in front of her) so we'd know where to go. As she finished saying this I reached out and touched the wall at the exact same time she rounded the first corner and set off a buzzer that blared and shook the wall. Yep you got it.....I screamed bloody murder and scared the crap out of all of them. I thought Cole and Hunter were going to mow me down. I was backing up to get back out the door and they were running headlong right towards me. The other two boys and Michelle weren't far behind. Jared was scared and asked if we heard the screaming. I raised my hand and said "Yes, that was your grandma!". Needless to say, we didn't venture back in. Michelle and I laughed until we cried!! I still laugh when I think about it.

On Monday we did some shopping and hit some stores in town. After herding 4 boys all weekend we were exhausted. So, Monday night the three of us gals thought we deserved a treat and all got expensive purses at one of the booths in the fair. (I won't say how much I paid for 3 purses.) But since Larry said I could get one, I bought one for me and one for Crystal and Michelle. I have never paid that much for a purse in my entire life. But I sure do love it! The girls were excited to get theirs too.

Monday evening was the big pull event. Larry's class was before Craig's. He started out great but of course something broke and he didn't get to show the crowd what he could really do. He was so disappointed!! Later Craigs's diesel class pulled and his truck held together. He got first place and a huge trophy. We were all excited!!! After loading up we headed home. It was around 2:30 am when we pulled in the driveway.

Since we were gone, one of our emplyees had to supervise the delivery of my new washer and dryer on Monday. I was so excited to see them already installed and ready for me to use. I love them!!! After reading the manuals on Tuesday morning I decided to try them out. Hunter and I watched through the glass top on the washer. We were entertained by the way the washer worked. You couldn't even hear it spin! It uses a lot less water and the clothes come out much cleaner. The dryer was so fast that I had to wait for the second load of clothes to get done washing. Amazing!!

First pull with the new motor

Larry bought a new motor for his pulling truck. This is a video (excuse my shaking) that I did with my regular camera. He had a minor breakdown so he got third place. Hopefully it will be repaired by this weekend and he can try it out again.

My swap pages

Here are a couple of recipe pages I did last month.



Some atc's from the last couple of months. This one was a Black & White theme.


My "Nature" Atc's were a stretch. I didn't follow the theme very well.

12 on 12

This was a fun challenge by Martha that I managed to do. The instructions were to take 12 pictures of your everyday life on the 12th of the month. It just happened that the 12th was on a Saturday and I was at home all day.

1. The first thing I do each morning is check the rain gauge. Sure enough, we had a sprinkle during the early morning hours.

2. Next is my morning coffee.

3. Babygirl needs to go outside. She wasn't too happy having her picture taken.

4. I have an OCD thing about making my bed. (Even when I was a litle girl at home.) It gets made every morning. I was very sick one day last winter. DH commented that he knew I must be on my death bed because I didn't make the bed that day.

5. Laundry....need I say more?

6. On this day my clock needed winding. My dad made this Grandfather clock and I inherited it when my mom passed away. I love it! He also made the china cabinet next to it. He made 3, one for each of my sisters and one for me. Makes me miss my parents when I look at this.

7. A quick look out the door shows that the rain is still coming down.

8. Lunch time. Nobody here but me so this is what I fixed.

9. Time to watch a couple of shows that I recorded. There's usually cartoons on my TV so this is a treat for me.

10. The sun is out and it's playtime for two of the grandsons. They stayed all night and we shot some left over fireworks later that evening.

11. Grandpa is grilling hamburgers for supper.

12. A perfect ending to a rainy day.

First loose tooth

Both boys had their first loose tooth. Their aunt Crystal pulled both teeth. I tried to get Jared to go first since he's the oldest but he was a little afraid. Darrin was brave enough to have his pulled and when Jared saw how easy it was he decided to have his pulled too. We were in the basement waiting out a storm that evening and this was how we spent the time. They each have another one that's loose but not quite ready to come out yet.
After KM's comment I realized that I hadn't finished my story. I wrapped each tooth up for them to take home and put under their pillow. I asked them what they thought the Tooth Fairy would leave. Jared promptly said he hoped it was a puppy! Darrin agreed and thought that would be the perfect exchange for their first teeth. I wasn't so sure mom and dad would agree with them though. I told them to call me and let me know what they found. Jared called me the next morning and was excited because he got a dollar and so did Darrin. I guess the puppy was too big to leave under the pillow. Well, maybe next time boys.

Been awhile

Didn't realize it's been so long since I blogged. I've been playing around with Twitter &Facebook and sadly neglecting my blog. I do most of my internet surfing while I'm at work. It makes the time go much quicker. DH usually has the home computer in the evenings and I don't like to interrupt his Poker time. I have several pictures to upload and chat about. I'll get to those sometime this week. Summer is such a wonderful, busy time of year. I love the long days that are full of activities. OK I'm off to upload some pictures.....had another birthday boy this week.

Friday and Saturday were busy.

We finally got the renters out of our house on Friday. You can't imagine what kind of mess they left. How do people live in such filth??? Their sons bedroom was still wall to wall toys and a playpen full to the top with clothes. The hot wheels toddler bed was also filled with toys. All the floors were covered with trash and stains. Two windows were broken and had blankets stuffed. They had ripped up the master bathroom carpet except under the stool and in front of the tub. We took away 5 pickup loads of trash. We hauled 5 pickup loads to the local auction. I sorted through the clothing and ended up with a trash bag full of boys clothes to take home and wash. There were 6 jackets that looked new, lots of shirts and shorts, and some nice jeans. We also salvaged lots of toys. A VTech/VFlash game system with 2 games, a battery operated 4 wheeler, lots of trucks and motorcycles and WWF action figures. Needless to say I disinfected everything! We started on it Friday afternoon and were cleaning like crazy because a couple wanted to look at it Saturday at noon. When everything was hauled out of the house we began cleaning ceiling fixtures and walls. I had to empty the vaccum cannister 2-3 times per room. The couple liked the house and we rented it. They agreed to finish cleaning and plan to paint and put down new flooring that we will pay for. How lucky is that?? We're also putting in all new windows since the existing ones are so old.

There was a truck pull Saturday evening. So even though we were tired from all the cleaning we decided to go. This is a video of our first truck pull this season. I apologize for the shaking. It's the first video I've taken with my camera and I thought it did pretty good. The truck wasn't running top notch and Larry was disappointed with his distance. I'm sure he'll do better at the next pull. I'm always thankful that if he can drive it off the track and it doesn't need to be towed. So Summer has officially begun for us.

Been awhile since I bored you with a story.

It's been awhile since I posted. I had a couple of swap pictures to share but I accidently deleted them. I thought I was adding them to my picture folder and so I deleted them from my camera card. When I was done deleting, I decided to take a closer look at the pictures in the file. Crazy me! I didn't get them in there and now they're gone. Just glad it was my fun stuff instead of family pictures. I'll pay more attention next time!! Since I don't any any pictures to share I'll bore you with another grandson story......
Last week I got a call from two of the boys saying they wanted to go to church with me. I went to pick them up and at that time was driving the Silverado which has an extended cab and dual rear tires. It's like commanding a ship if you're not used to it. I was taking pains not to get too close to the other vehicles parked in their driveway. Their drive is on a steep hill. The boys came out and got in the back seat. I was in deep concentration thinking about how to back up and turn the truck around. I didn't turn around and look at them when they got into the truck but I said "Good Morning" and asked if Cole was still asleep. They said he was still sleeping so he wasn't going with us. Still planning my escape route, I asked them if they were both buckled up. Jared said yes but, Darrin said no because he was having a hard time buckling with one hand. This finally got my full attention. I turned around and there he sat with a proud smile on his face, one hand on the seat belt and the other hand up in the air. I wasn't sure I was seeing right so and I had one of those "Double Take" moments. There my adorable grandson sat holding a long whispy snake skin! He said "Look grandma." I screamed at him and said "What are you doing with that thing???" He kept smiling and said he wanted to show it to a friend at church. I said "Get it out of here now!!!" He lost some of his smile and then I realized that I had been shouting. I tried gently to tell him that his grandma is not fond of snakes or anything that has been tightly wrapped around one. He insisted that his friends would think it was cool. (In my head I could hear all the girls/women of the church screaming! I knew it was an exaggeration but, you never know.) I insisted that he step out of the truck and take his treasure with him. He started laughing kind of rolled his eyes at his brother then and said "OK Grandma." At that moment I felt like the child! He hopped down from the truck and laid it down gently in a spot where it would be safe until he returned home. He jumped back in the truck and buckled easily now that he had two hands free. Still smiling at me he said "I'm ready to go". So I turned the truck around and down the hill we went pretending nothing had ever happened. But I know this little 5 yr old is sitting behind me smiling sadly and feeling sorry for his old grandma because she is such a sissy!! And I'm thinking how much of a "boy" he is and so grateful that it was only the outerwear and not the actual critter that he wanted to "show and tell".
I shared this story with his dad the next day. I recieved no sympathy.....just hilarous laughter and a "That's my boy!".
Now you see why I need a granddaughter!!! We will have tea parties, scrap wonderful pages together, shop, and play dress-up. I will teach her to sew and make crafts. Yeah right.....get real! . She will be a "sassy" (which is what I've already nicknamed her) tomboy who would rather follow the boys around than do any scrapping and crafting. Do you think she'll like to fish and truck pull??? It doesn't matter either way. Boy or girl, each grandchild is a blessing!!! Except for those moments that they scare the heck out of you.