Fair

Our county fair was this week. This is Emily's first year in 4-H and she is a Little Clover. She took 3 projects to fair this time: a hanger for her backpacks, bags, etc., she made brownies, and a packet of things one should take hiking!! Little clovers all receive a green Participation ribbon for their projects until they are in 4th grade and then they can go for blue, red or white. Emily and her Dad worked on this hanger and she decorated it with butterflies because that is a theme in her room already.
I think she had fun, but one thing Al and I aren't teaching very well is to not put things off until the last minute!! She does come by this trait honestly, but it's hard on her and makes her upset about working on things so next year we are going to be prepared ahead of time. Besides, that's what it's all about anyway. Learning how to set goals and accomplish them!
BTW - Her club won 3rd place overall for their booth decorations!!!

SEP

I've been horrible at keeping up with my blog and I do realize that if I don't post you won't read....I am sorry!

A week ago, Emily attended SEP which is Summer Enrichment Program in a neighboring larger town. SEP is kind of like summer school, well it is summer school, but all really fun classes! Emily had a CSI class, an Enter the world of the private eye class, Challenged by Change class and finally Origami. They learned how to solve a crime scene, discover things through magnifying glasses, make homemade ice cream and create origami art!!! When she found out that I had signed her up for origami, her response was, "oh. Why did you pick that?" In the end, it was her favorite one and she continues to make Origami bunnies today having the design memorized. She made a huge one, pictured here and the middle picture is of one that is barely 1/8" folded and finally the whole row of folded bunnies she helped Carter make!!!

We carpooled with a girl that is on her softball team and another one from town here. What a great way to get to know some new people and make the whole experience more fun!!! Carter hopes that he can join next year too!

Look What Carter Did!!!

Here's Carter's new haircut!!!!

His Daddy was a bit surprised, I think, but hey, hair grows.

BTW - I showered in my house shower this a.m. and flushed my own toilet!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!

Just thought you'd all like to know...

Thoughts this Morning

My mind is quite scattered today...

Our town celebration is cancelled this year due to the flooding. Boo Hoo! It was the only time I really let go and not worry about too much and have fun!

I still can't flush my toilet or use water and my camper is getting full, full! But on the other hand, thank goodness for my camper! I even am able to shower.

Al worked all night in the nearby town where we work checking pumps and picking up everything people are throwing away that was damaged in the flood.

The river is expected to crest again Friday or Saturday.

My cousin Wendi at Everyday Miracles has lost her baby and had other challenges with her previous children. You can read about them HERE.
A good friend of hers has started a donation for her through a cause Wendi believes strongly in, March of Dimes. Anyone wishing to support their family and March of Dimes can do so HERE.

It's devasting to see all of the loss a flood can cause. My daughter had asked me which was worse, a tornado or a flood, Moma? I still think it is a tornado because tornadoes more often take lives along with everything else, but a flood leaves a huge mess behind and sometimes isn't covered with insurance. So you have to clean up everything and then start from scratch with nothing.

I want to do something fun with my children but am feeling "tired."

My children think I work too much. They always know which buttons to push!

My children are beautiful and full of love and hugs.

It is a nice morning, sunny and not too cold, not too hot!

I miss my husband.

I enjoyed time at the computer this a.m./I love to write and blogging gives me a chance to do more.

I wonder what the rest of the day will bring....

Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome

Al took a Farm Operators program in college and their motto was "Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome." I think this is true in much of life. I wanted to do some Dutch Oven cooking and it was the middle of the week so we weren't camping with a campfire and we don't have a firepit in our yard so what was I to do? Adapt, Improvise and Overcome, of course. Al bought some charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. We have a less than grassy spot next to our driveway so we improvised a "campfire" like area there with our briquettes and voila! I was able to do Dutch oven cooking!! Yummy! One of my favorite things!

I was able to use my new Dutch oven and stack them, something I had never tried before. Then simply because I could, I made a dessert too! I forgot to take an end result picture because everything got late and hectic, but suffice it to say it was delicious!

I made Hidden Valley Ranch Chicken, Party Potatoes and Rhubarb Dessert!!

Camping here we come!!

Sense of Humor

I couldn't resist taking these pictures! A sense of humor amidst all the chaos and disaster!

Summer Fun

Before all of the flooding, the kids decided to have some summer fun. They created this homemade slip and slide. Note the little slide for Casey. This was an old tarp in the garage that gave Emily the idea. There she is waving.
Don't they look sweet?
Later, the boys raced down the sidewalk to check out the progress of their river. Shhh! Don't tell Daddy we used all of that water!
Emily joins the fun and Casey splashes back through!
The baby pool then became home to water balloons that were being saved. Saved???!!! At least they weren't being thrown at me!
The kids were actually playing "house" and the balloons were a family. We play house with any inantimate??? objects we can find all the time. It's a definite favorite.
Carter with his...
Emily showing off the "belly button" on her balloon. Aparently the baby sitter can make these on purpose and the kids thought they were cool!
Unfortunately, in all the splashing and fun, Casey slipped and scraped his knees! In true, child fashion, though, I must say, he got back up and jumped back in to all the fun!