Check This Out!!

All I can say is WOW!!! The Thunder in the Valley Airshow was totally AWESOME!!! Check out these shots I was able to catch!!

Taking pictures like this makes you appreciate the ability to push the button and continuously take pics, but at the time was wishing for more zoom!! Now I need to just spend a little time playing with all 400+ photos, cropping and editing! But I just had to put a few up here to say WOW!!

State Fair

Oh Emily would say this is a terrible picture of her and I shouldn't put it out here, but it's important! She took her picnic table to the state fair and got a blue ribbon!!!! So exciting!

The kids wanted to get into the big army trucks and pretend to drive. Carter kept asking them if they had been in a real war...

Casey was collecting tatoos...he got 8. And a funky hat from the John Deere booth.

Emily also took her working exhibit to the State Fair and received a Seal of Merit.

Sideways, I didn't realize that...Ugh! I read something somewhere that it helps to keep you younger if you learn something new. I really need to work on that with pictures!

It was a fast trip this time. We made it through the Varied Industries building and that's about it. The rest of the time was spent in the 4-H building! Emily makes us so proud!! Whatever will she come up with next year??

First Day of School

First day of school from a new home.

Emily - 7th grade, not wanting to go back and do any homework!
Carter - 4th grade, the one most excited about going back to school this year!
Casey - Kindergarten....yes my baby is now in school full time....Tears have already fallen...just like the day not so long ago when I sent my first baby to school for the first time...I need my husband to make me laugh!!

Randomness

When I stumbled into the bathroom this a.m. before 6:30 a.m. Al told me that I missed a rainbow without the rain and a really cool orange sky...

Turns out, I didn't miss it!! My lovely husband grabbed my camera and took some pics!!

This is random because the pictures are kinda out of order, hence random. We went to the State Fair yesterday for Carter to receive his award on a picture he entered int he open class!! He was one of 222 awards out of 4,000 entries and only 900 are even displayed!! Way to go Carter!! That is just awesome! Mom didn't even get displayed this year, but you did and we are soo proud!

(his is the one on top of his boots...)

I have another budding photographer. Emily thought this Pepsi can sitting on the tree was coo,l so I handed her my camera and let her snap away! How fun to have so many interested...Al's already thinking of entering something he took in the fair next year. The themed category is churches.

Back to the rainbow before the rain....and more orange sky.

Happy Monday All!

My New Deck

My new deck is where in envisioned sipping my morning coffee in peace and quiet and perhaps watching some wildlife.

What I've found so far is that my new deck is a place of lots of activity. Take this airplane for instance....

Carter swears he buzzed one of our trees!! You know our trees aren't very big!

It's still a place to enjoy my coffee. Especially with the new umbrella Al and Carter brought home for us!

And it's definitely a place to enjoy family!! My Carter and I watched the plane together and enjoyed my new deck!

We officially have an Acreage...

These pictures are really out of order, but hey at least they are here and we can share them!:)

We went to a little street festival called Herb Fest after church Sunday. It's kind of like a street fair with a huge focus on plants, herbs, lawn ornaments, etc.

We had such fun! We came home with baby kitties....Butterscotch...

Beige...

OOooh! I got this crab for my garden too!!

Emily has her named kitty 'Lil Rascal and my named kitty Sassyfrass, "Sassy" who hisses and growls every time you reach in their little kennel. We are trying to get them acclimated to our "acreage" and to Max...we'll see what happens. I'm a bit unsure about Max....Hopefully all will be well.

Baby kitties are so sweet.

Isn't this crab cool?? The high schooler that made him is taking several creations to state fair and hoping to go to Iowa State next year...We had a soft spot for him...

I couldn't resist this pouty face. What a cutie! And he thinks he's being sad! Silly Casey! Moma loves all of your faces...

This Sunday we head down to the State Fair on one of our many trips. This one's for Carter and a prize he won for his photography in the Open Class. Next week is to take Em's State Fair picnic table and the next week is for her working exhibit! Awesome kids!