Lucky 13

Thirteen years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his at the Indiana state fair.

Little did I know what the next thirteen years would bring. Last night we went to the fair for the first time since Becca was a baby. It was a fun full few hours.

Checking out the exhibits. And celebrating accomplishments.

Waiting in forever long food lines.

Checking out the baby animals.

Some that share we share a name with.

Stuffing our faces with ice cream and other fair food.

By far, though, the kids loved the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit best. They worked their way through a farm set up and sold their fruit, veggies, milk and wool at the end to buy a snack from the farm market. Bree took it all in from her stroller.

It's been a fun thirteen years.

One Year Pictures

It has been horribly hot this summer. When my friend/mentor/my kid's church grandma invited us up to swim there was no way I was going to turn her down. Couple that with their gorgeous landscaping and I decided to finally get off my lazy behind and take Bree's one year pictures. After all she is almost fourteen months now.

Oh, the joys of white balance. This one was *obviously* set wrong. But with a HUGE amount of editing it almost passes. I just love her expression in this one. Ty did a great job getting her to smile.

Melt my heart! Is there anything more to say about this sweet pose she struck. The girl's got talent... or something. Maybe I should hold off on any modeling talk until her daddy has gotten used to Hope's new haircut. ;)

Always on the move! She keeps me hopping...especially when I'm shooting with a 50mm. Sometimes I think I'd give my right arm for a fast zoom lens. I'm learning so much shooting with this lens. Anyone have any tips, lenses for Canons that you love and want to share about?

Grandma "I" and Breeley. Love this!

She so did not get her long legs from her short mama. 

Rockin' the snorkel.

She loves her big brother!

Thanks, "I", for letting us come swim and take pictures! We love you!!!

A Very Sad Mix

It's a little thing. Really it is. At least that's what I keep saying to myself.  But, that I'm sad cannot be denied. For some reason as a mommy it's the little things that sometimes feel so very big.
It was a rather slow day in our house. I was sick and sleeping. Doug was recovering and watching the kids. My birthday had just past and unbeknown to me, our two oldest had been making birthday cards in the room Becca and Hope share. They had not cleaned up one very important item.  Enter exhibit A.

There are certain things in life that just should not mix. The pair of scissors and my preschooler's nap time for one. Especially on days when the girl doesn't feel like napping. And even more certainly on the days that she has had it with her little sister pulling her hair. Hope came to me before nap time to say, "Mommy, I want my hair little. I don't like it being big (long) anymore." I had just measured her ponytail to find out if it was eligible for Locks of Love. It was! I was so excited that even though she didn't want her hair anymore, someone would get some use out of my daughters 11 inches of blond hair. Instead of a fun mommy and daughter trip to the hair salon there was this.

And the walk of shame into W*lmart - the only place open at that time of day to get her hair cut.
(As a complete rant, they stylist comment was "What do you want me to do with it?" Seriously?)

And now my daughter sports this haircut.

 Spunky and sassy, and much to her daddy's chagrin a little like V*ctoria B*ckhams. 

Spunky and sassy and much to grown up for my little girl.  One day I'll laugh....

Our Family is Growing

Meet Lucy.

And the results are.... Alternately titled "This is Love."

Braving the worst heat Indiana has had in over twenty years, we headed to the fair on opening night to check out Tyler's projects. First up, aerospace/ rocketry. He had worked hardest on this project and finished the night before the fair. When we took it in the judge was already there and judging. He took the time to go over the project with Ty and told him he would receive a blue. We were thrilled, considering that we hadn't even put the decals on it. When we showed up, there was a purple honor ribbon hanging on it! Ty was so excited.

The next building was woodworking. This project got it's final sanding on the drive to the fairgrounds. Ty was thrilled with the blue ribbon.

Last up was gardening. We looked over the green plates with pictures of the exhibit stapled to them. What my son is missing not having to go pick up a plate full of moldy vegetables to throw in the trash after 10 days in a hot building! Kids these days are soft. ;) Anywho, We looked over the tables three times than I wandered over to the champions' table to see what had won. I saw Tyler's name on the plate and called him over to look. Since his first name (he goes by his middle name) was on the plate rather than Tyler it took him a minute to realize that it was his plate he was looking at. I love these pictures as it sinks in.

After we left the building, we stopped at the misters to cool off.

Most of us anyway. Hope was throwing a fit because the animals hadn't been brought in yet.

I think I may have a yearly series going. This was last year when we told her she couldn't ride the rides yet.

Blast Off

I love 4-H. There is something about the experience of completing a project by yourself, the sense of accomplishment, the thrill of seeing your hard work fairly judged and rewarded. It was so exciting to finally have a little one old enough to join. We joined a group, found out it was really late in the year to join that group, decided to 4-H on our own, then realized it was different than it was over 10 years ago.

A lot different.

We had trouble getting the project books, not realizing that each project consists of not only making an exhibit, but also completing several activities (6-10) and filling out a book. We started three weeks ago. 

On three project. 

Ty will turn in his projects on Tuesday. The rocket is sitting in pieces, wood has not even been bought for the woodworking project, the garden is growing vegetables. Wish us luck!

I love these pictures from the aerospace project. Ty had to build a rocket from two straws and a few adhesive labels. Then he got to teach someone how to make them. He and Becca had a TON of fun with these for the first few days.

Just Call Me Crazy

I planned to take all four kids blueberry picking by myself. Thankfully, I serve a God who knows when I've over planned and in this instance had great mercy on me.)

I was talking to my Mom a the day before we went to the farm. There was no way I was going to say no when she asked to join us. We had a blast!  The kids helped me pick about 20 pounds of berries. Breeley ate at least a pound on her own. I couldn't believe the way she ate them. Handful after handful, unfortunately mostly out of our already picked buckets, went down.

 Hope surprised me!  She managed a good hour before the heat and humidity got to her. It blessed me so much to see Dad and Ty talking and joking. They have a similar sense of humor and tease each other mercilessly. Tyler loved having his own bucket and being able to say he picked 6 pounds. :) He is my results driven boy!

 Becca picked over five pounds. She picked beside Grammy or I. Taking turns with picking and helping out the little girls. She is such a wonderful big sister. Now our freezer is stocked with blueberries for the year. And my heart is overflowing with gratitude to my parents for coming along for the ride and not complaining once about the less than happy noises coming from the younger set. When the kids needed a break, Mom took them all on a little walk to get a snack and her camera. Thanks, Mom, for the pictures! It is wonderful to have a few to document the day.