Harvest Fair

Last year, about 5 days after moving into our new house, we took a break from sorting and unpacking to check out the Harvest Fair at the fairgrounds. Lydia never forgot it and has reminded us throughout the year of the Pig Slide, scarecrows, jumping castles, and cookies. So when I told her Harvest Fair was this weekend, she simply HAD to go. The only problem: Brandon is still out of town. And I did not relish the thought of hiking to the fairgrounds, solo, with both kids... trying to keep them both content and within arms-length. BUT... I ALSO didn't relish the thought of spending all weekend at home with no break and no energy outlet for the kids. So, we went. Aside from Marcus losing it at the fishing pond (classic 2-year old 'I want to fish! I DON'T want to fish! Now that you dragged me away from the pond I want to fish again!' meltdown) things went pretty well. At $2 a pop per inflatable jumping monstrosity, we blew through a lot of money. But we all left in a good mood and ready for GOOD naps! Amen!! And I even thanked Lydia for insisting that we go.

Yes. That IS a slide coming out of a pig's rear end. We live in Wisconsin, remember? It is SO not out of place in these here parts.
Happy pig poo #1
Happy pig poo #2
Farm fresh peaches with juice running down your chin. Yum!
What cookie is complete without a pound of sugar sprinkles and gumdrops? $3.50 for that sugary goodness.
Lookout world! We live in Harleyland and Lydia has had her first taste of the call of the open highway... Oh dear am I afraid. Very afraid.

Root-tootin' Time!

Disclaimer: This video is long! But there is a daddy in China and grandparents in Iowa that will want to see the whoooooole thing. All others should click play at their own discretion. But at least skip ahead to the end for the classic cowgirl-shirt sleeve-slobber-wipe!

We had "Mom's Night" this week at Lydia's preschool and the theme was (you guessed it!) a country ho-down. The kids could pan for gold, do cowboy etchings, eat vittels and other fun cowboy/girlish things. I am amazed at Lydia's teachers this year. The amount of planning and prep that must've gone into the night leaves me in awe. And the teachers even seem to be having a blast... dressed head to toe in their prairie and cowgirl getups. At the end, the kids performed this song for us. The whole night was fine as cream gravy. Yee haw!

Goin' to the chapel.....

Since Marcus and Eva have been playing SO well during their past two playdates, we have decided to go ahead with an arranged marriage. Here are some engagement photos of the happy, radiant bride-to-be and her dazed and bewildered future groom.

Half a world away......

Unfortunately, the time has come yet again to be a solo parent. Brandon left yesterday for 10 days in China. I'm already oh-so-tired and feeling like I'm coming down with some bug and it's only Day 2. And that chair in the living room is gonna HAVE to start growing if it expects to hold any more clothes that need to be folded. Maybe if I just select our daily clothing options from the pile on the chair, I won't ever have to fold it! People might start to wonder when I'm cloaked in a white undershirt, lavender bath towel and men's boxers. Okay, okay... I'll fold it. Tomorrow.

On a positive note, my weekend away was all that I could've wanted. We went to bed late (VERY very late), woke up late, ate breakfast late and scrapbooked late, late into the night. Sheer bliss! We even managed to smuggle my sis, Emily, into two crop nights. Hooray for lenient, laid-back scrapbook store staff.

The weekend only had two downers:

1.) Mamma Mia Sing-along version. "Dear row-mate, it's not your 'singing' that's the problem... It's your accompanying body gyrations (causing my seat to tremor along to YOUR beat) that are, shall we say, distracting me from my movie-viewing experience. And really, was it truly necessary to go tell the senior citizen usher lady that no one else was singing along... leading her to TWICE barge into the theatre and command us to sing?!? REALLY. Was that necessary?

2.) Greedy scrapbookers. Instead of rabidly snatching up toppling stacks of the $1.99 hot buy paper pack of the night, perhaps we could each take what we really need thereby leaving enough for everyone to have a pack or two. Just a thought. Perhaps.

Aside from that, the weekend was heavenly. Mom, Emily and I are already scheming how to turn this into a semi-annual event including my other sis and sis-in-law. Brandon didn't know what he was signing up for by agreeing to do this, "just this once". HA!

The kids and Brandon were all in one piece. The house was nice and tidy, and he was all caught up on the laundry. Talk about Super Dad. Hmmmmm.... Now I'm self-conscious; He wasn't trying to show me how "easy" it is to care for the kids AND keep the house clean, was he? No, he was definately just trying to show me love, Right? RIGHT?

Lydia was SOOOooo excited when I walked through the door. I got the biggest smile and hug; it warmed my heart. Marcus rolled out of the bed in the morning as if I never left. Upon seeing me for the first time, the first word out of his mouth was "Milk". Ah yes, confirmation of where I rate on the totem pole of life's necessities.

And just for proof: Lydia DID in fact get her hair curled and pretty while I was away. Go Dad!

Countdown

3 hr 33 min.

I never did get my coffee this morning, microwaved or otherwise. But just for today, I'm ok with that because...... the Starbucks on I-94 is calling my name and I have gift cards!!!!

If life was a game of Monopoly.......

...it'd be time to play my card! Woo-hoo! I cannot contain my giddiness.... tonite at approximately 5:00 pm (a mere 9 hr 29 min away) I will skip out the door to Lightning McQueen (Lydia's name for my car) and head for the lights of Minneapolis, MN! I will be meeting up with my mom and sister for a girls-only weekend. We're actually going to spend a good bit of time at a mega scrapbooking event at the Mall of America, but our list of non-scrappin' activities is growing by the minute. I'm not sure how we'll fit it all in, but I'm sure "sleep" will be the first activity scratched from the list! That's ok... because I'll get up in the morning when I want to get up... I will make breakfast for ME and slowly sip my freshly brewed coffee (not my microwaved version from home because I never got a minute to drink the first brew!). Sheer bliss. Can you tell I'm excited? Do you know how much I desperately need this break?!? My stomach gets butterflies and my face breaks into a smile every time I think about it (for the past month!)

So... I went to the library and got myself some books on CD and a lovely ABBA CD to blare as loud as I like. (Went to the Mamma Mia movie... LOVED it, LOVED it. A repeat viewing will hopefully take place this weekend). There will be no "kids" music allowed in the course of my 5-1/2 hr drive and I may just stop for coffee every hour and a half. Just because I can! Oh baby, this is gonna be fun!

I thanked Brandon profusely for "allowing" me to do this. He reminded me I hadn't gone yet. I said it didn't matter, just the thought that I WILL be going is enough for me to say thanks. So think of Brandon running the house solo this weekend; say a prayer for dear Lydia (Daddy has to do her hair for school on Friday); prayers for Marcus (he's a bit of a mama's boy); and just that I will be able to relax, have fun, and truly enjoy every moment of the precious time I get with my mom and sis. What a blessing! Oooo... there's that giddy feeling again.... :-)

My Little Dragonfly

Today was Lydia's first day back in preschool. She seemed rather ambivalent* about the whole deal, but given the fact that my precious daughter generally has either strong positive OR strong negative opinions on the topic at hand... "ambivalent" is, well, just peachy! She'll be in school for 3 mornings each week and her teachers, Mrs. Arambula (that's fun to say! :-) and Mrs. Ratliff, seem so very nice. I think it's going to be a good year! Her class is named the Dragonflies. Last year she was a Butterfly. I'm still trying to figure out that progression....

*the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions.



Before




Post-First-Day-of-School 2nd Annual Celebration at Maggie Moo's (flavor pick: Blue Cotton Candy with Marshmallows mixed in.)




Marcus isn't nearly as lucky. I still get to choose for him (ha!). Mommy's choice for Marcus: non-staining Vanilla with Marshmallows mixed in. Can someone say "Bo-ooooring!")

While the Cat's Away

Marcus plays and no one takes his toys! It was fun to enjoy a morning one-on-one with Marcus. And more than once I noticed how much simpler and quieter it is with only one at home. Not only did I stop at the grocery store, get the dishwasher emptied and reloaded AND all the other items hand-washed... I had time to color and play trains and go truck-sighting with Marcus. All this before 11 a.m.!

With a water-pipe drilling project taking place at the end of our driveway, Marcus is in his glory. In fact, Marcus spells "heaven": T-R-U-C-K. A little insight into our son's personality.... he has only two 2-word phrases in his vocabulary: Go High! and Big Guck! (Big Truck). Yep, it's called "priorities".



Displaying his secret scooter riding abilities. I did not know my child could do this!



Our boy can run... fast!