09.24.2009 Some call it progress

BEFORE

Well, the garage is done (for now). We actually still need to put in insulation (on site) and drywall (on site) and put in some electrical (can't do that yet until we know when/where we can dig). Still no roof (can't find the right red metal to match the house). But the structure is up, the vapor barrier is on, and the windows are in! We have the door but haven't put it on. The soffit still needs to go up, but that is another trip to Missoula...and well, i was just there for 4 hrs yesterday so that aint gonna happen (...today anyway). But we can pull in and park so i call it progress.

We also have all the materials to get the little bathroom (the kids bath/main bath) done. I picked it all up yesterday (making me late for the Grey's Anatomy 2 hour Season Premier...but i'm not bitter...moving on...) in Missoula. HardiBacker, Tile, Grout - DeRell will be busy on Saturday.

On other fronts the texturing / priming / painting is at a standstill. Our kind friend helping us hurt his back and wasn't able to come all week (waaaaah) so I am super bummed. The bedrooms and bath/hallway are textured so I am gonna sand them and prime them myself tomorrow. Cuz once they are primed they can be painted, and trim installed and all that stuff. I need progress people, I need a job other than gopher to go get stuff from far off places like Kalispell & Missoula. I need progress. I need completion.

Isn't it funny how "we" think we are in control in our lives? How we think that the harder we work or try something is gonna happen. Instead i should just be on my knees asking what the Lord has in store for me. It's supposed to get cold next week, the inside isn't done - we haven't even started on the outside. And we have no heat. But i am a glass half full gal most of the time (or at least i used to be) so i began this post with progress and what IS done. Trying to focus on the positives in this journey. One truly positive thing is that DeRell and I are agreeing or finding a way to compromise alot better.

Finished garage - view from my bathroom window


Front of Garage - Notice Trailer parked inside - yeah!


View from the East - windows to keep it warm in the winter

Friday the guys are working on moving the plumbing in the office (it is the plumbing for the kids bath that we are about to start on) that is sticking down about 8 inches. The plumber that came out said there is absolutely no reason it is hanging down below the trusses like that. So they are gonna cut and move some fittings around to get it to fit up in there. Then they can finish framing the closet in that room (the office). It should be a busy Saturday, we are all heading out there for a full day of work. Even Steven and Erick should be there.

PROGRESS that's what we'll be making.

09.21.2009 Mom's everywhere are cringing

Ya, that's Monkey Girl. Who talked her daddy into driving all the way home to get her tennis shoes cuz she wore Cowboy Boots out to the house/jobsite.
And he did.
And they didn't have full rubber bottoms-there was some funky felt stuff.
So....she convinced daddy to get her some new ones in Missoula.
And he did.



She has got him wrapped around her finger that is for sure.




She was up there quite a bit while i was on my pleasure drive to/from Kalispell on Sunday. Then Bubba begged to get up there once we got there. So whats a mom to do?! I guess get the camera.
So i did.
THE END

09.20.2009 More Garage Progress

So who knew it would be so tough to build a garage. They had those walls up so fast it was like an Amish barn building or something! Then they had to put the plywood sheeting on the roof and sides. Apparantly there is much cutting, nailing, and up & down on the ladder! So it will be Monday before the vapor barrier and black stuff (roof felt?)can be put on the roof. They were running out of daylight.
SATURDAY....

SUNDAY....

09.19.2009 Wood, Smoke, Fire ...oh and the garage

Well Saturday started out fine. What could be better than spending 6 hours of un-interupted time with my oldest son? Actually not much. I haven't seen much of him lately, he's pretty much spent the last couple of weeks on campus or with his friends. So he came home this weekend bcuz Friday night we picked up a desk for my ofc and Saturday I needed his help getting our wood flooring. Ok Laminate for the wood floor snobs. To ME however, it is wood floors. It smells like wood and has a 35 yr warranty so it trumps carpet. I got an AWESOME deal, but had to drive all the way to Kalispell (3hrs one way) to get it. So i did. Only problem was i didnt realize it would equal 2 pallets worth and i brought the mini van. So long story short, I had to drive there AGAIN on Sunday (which took 8 hrs) for the rest. I'm not bitter...bcuz i have this...

65 Beautiful boxes of beautiful MAPLE flooring. Kitchen, Living room, Master Bedroom. I am a happy girl.

Oh then came the SMOKE. On our way back, as we came over the Mountain we saw tons of smoke. Our small smoldering little annoyance has erupted into a full blown forest fire. The likes of which we usually get in July around these parts. But the wind had kicked up something fierce and fanned this thing. We couldn't drive through town without being pelted by smoke, pine cones, debris the wind was blowing so hard. You couldn't see a thing. Erick could hardly breathe. It was not fun.

Ya, those aren't clouds. That is thick nasty smoke




After we unloaded the wood at the new house, we loaded up the kids and drove toward the FIRE. WHY? Because kids are curious things, and they've never seen a forest fire before. (Not that they could remember - 2 yrs ago we had one much more serious)
The whole ridge was on fire, and as it got darker the sky glowed orange.



It was pretty dark, so we couldn't see it all just what was peeking over the ridge. The bulk of the fire was in between the 2 Mountains so there was just tons of smoke!
Those little white spots are actually houses, so we were really worried.
By morning it was mostly contained, and we had gotten some rain which helped the firefighters. It was too windy for helicopters or anything. The air quality was alot better on Sunday.

The guys got alot of the garage done, I'll post that tomorrow with the progress Sunday as well.

09.18.2009 We Have Walls!

Yay! Today was a productive Friday. All 4 walls are up for the new garage. The door and windows are framed. As of 5:30pm when i took these photos 2/3 of the roof Trusses were up. By 8:30 pm they were finished. All that is left is the sheeting and the vapor barrier. Oh and the roof, silly me. It still needs a roof! We haven't even ordered it yet. We need to get the same red sheet metal our house roof has. But tomorrow i should be able to get pics of it fully sheeted. It is pretty exciting!

I also am likely driving 2 1/2 hours (one way) to get our flooring tomorrow. Unless by some miracle i can special order it to be dropped in Missoula instead...we will see.

Here's a sneak peak

09.17.2009 GARAGE

I'm gonna dance a happy dance real soon - say about 2 weeks from now - when we have a Garage. Yes, you heard me, a GARAGE folks! No freezing cold winter having to start the car 1/2 hr before we leave. No ice covered windshield. When we bought the house i was sure we would have to do the 1st winter in the cold. But that was before we KNEW. Before we had a chance to feel the cold wind that blows every night and get a glimpse of what winter will really be like.

Not only will this add obvious value to the house, it will keep us warm. And the cars will be warm (or warmer that is) and happy. And we will have "stuff" storage. I kept wondering where all the "stuff" from the garage would go once we moved. Especially now that the basement is framed and thus not just one big open area to put all our crap.

We really debated because the pad is large enough to make a 3 car garage (with no storage on the sides or back) or should we just go with a 2 car and have lots of room on both sides and another 1/2 car worth in back. My heart said 3, since we have 4 cars right now (though hopefully only 3 in the near future). But the more time i had to think about it i went back to a 2 car. Why? Stuff! Also, with kids they open the doors and would HIT the other cars we would be so packed in like sardines. Also one of my main reasons was the roof line. To have it match and run the same direction as the house, the snow would fall off right where the doors would be to pull in if we went with a 3car garage. I AM NOT gonna shovel snow each day just to be able to LEAVE my house. So that was a deal breaker.

The lumber was delivered today. We also got the door that will lead from the garage to the breezeway and 2 windows for the East side of the house (same side the front door is on). That should warm it up a bit in the winter and keep it from being cave-like. The ceilings will be 10 1/2 ft tall so it will feel really open. As a 2 car garage it will be 2 1/2 cars deep roughly so plenty of room for lawnmowers, edgers, 4-wheeler, etc.

They got to work framing the walls today. I didn't get to see the end product but i did run over there at lunch. I wanted to snap a "Before" picture when i realized i didn't have one. (Since i never worried and assumed there would be no garage). The were already practically done with one of the side walls when i pulled up. DeRell says they got 3 of the 4 walls done. We don't have trusses or a roof yet - and also there is no money in the budget for insulation or sheetrock. (hehehe i am thinking some of those rooms in the basement can do without sheetrock for now?!) But i have prayed for God's provision and i am now having a garage so i will let what happens happen!

Here's the before shot.



(Also on the GREAT news front, we are getting a killer deal on the flooring so i will be UNDER budget by about $1,000 so we may be able to get the insulation and sheetrock done after all - unless we are over budget elsewhere!)

09.16.2009 Upstairs Progress

Just a "Real Quick" update - since i was updating my shutterfly album. Here is some of the progress upstairs. This is the pantry, closet and Island all framed out. The pantry and closet will get sheetrock on Friday.

Also upstairs Sis & Bubba's rooms are both textured as well as their bathroom at the end of the hall. More would have been done (like the hall and the other bedroom) but we needed the drywall guy down at the office helping us with the office we built there. Oh?! I didn't mention about that yet? Well......

I work 2 jobs as you know. Well now i will be doing my 2nd job from our retail store location. This helps in multiple ways. Mainly though, we just can't afford to pay someone full time when I am not making enough to cover their salary. With the added drain on our budget from the house - i need to be back there full time. Well we have a really big (and mostly unused) retail area that DeRell always wanted to convert into a conference room. Well now it is. Except it will be my office so I can have my other work seperate and still be in the office if customers come in. Hopefully it will work out real well. For now it's another remodel mess and my life is surrounded by chaos and incomplete things.

If you could lift me up in prayer for peace and sanity amidst the chaos i would really appreciate it. Holding on by a thread these days. But still holding on. Love to all! Miss

09.15.2009 The Horsies

It's that time again. We are back with Haven's Horses and some Equine fun for Sis. She is loving the horses. She got to chose which horse she wanted to work with and she chose Bodega (her favorite from summer camp).

We don't get to watch, so we sat around the side of the barn on some comfy benches while Bubba did his homework then made pictures of farms/barns. We saw 1 squirrel, 1 cute bunny rabbit, 2 woodpeckers, and 2 chipmunks all in the span of 45 minutes while sitting on that bench! They don't want meddling moms/dads like sideline coaches distracting the kids from their tasks and i am fine with that. SO we kept ourselves entertained and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife. It was great.

We caught glimpses of sis as she led the horse from the pasture to the arena. She did so well. It was great. She won't be riding anytime soon, still working on exercises with the horses first. She set up an obstacle course with posts and Hula Hoops and what not. It was a good night.

So that's where we will be each Tuesday night for a while - enjoying the great outdoors and the smell of horse poop. Fun Fun Fun!

09.14.2009 Because sometimes faster is better

I ran across this tid bit of deliciousness while in the refridgerated rolls section of the grocery store. You know, with the orange rolls and cinnamon rolls that come in tubes? You don't? Ha! Shame on you. Anyway, they had these...Break'n'Bake Snickerdoodles. Just peel apart, throw them on a cookie sheet and bake.

Now...they aren't as good as mine. My family LOVED mine, but I lost my recipe. And no cookbook has what mine had...and i've gone senile and can't remember the secret ingredients. I tried and tried. My sis wanted me to make them as a wedding present and i couldnt get them to come out right.

Now these little peices of heaven aren't nearly as good, but i tell you what... they are good enough for me! They come out funny shaped cuz they are square - but for 14 minutes of my time - i can live with that.



The kids ate them all gone before they were even cooled. And asked for more. So i made the whole package. And we ate, the whole pkg. I don't recommend that - but hey - i had 3 others helping! Try them! They are Albertsons brand, over there with the refridgerated rolls and dough and what not. Sandwiched between the yogurt and eggs or whatever. MMMM. (I bought 2 more pkgs a day later)....i think they are calling my name........bye bye!

09.13.2009 Because it's Mandatory

This should have simply been a "Wordless Wednesday" post and i know my sisters would all be rolling on the floor dying laughing without even a caption for this photo.



But just incase there are some newer readers not familiar with "the way we roll" around here - it may take some explaining.

You see, i CANNOT STAND to have "stuff" lying about. I don't even like my toaster on the kitchen counter (but i'll save that for another post). The dear King could care less. There's nothing in his book a big ol' blue tarp can't cure. No amount of yard clutter is too much for him. Basically his view is (and i've heard this sooo many times it has grown tired) that we live in the "country". Mind you, we currently live in a SUBDIVISION with houses only yards away in all directions and covenents about what is ok and not ok to do on your property. 'Nuff said? With that in mind, we (and by "we" i mean HE) have had many projects that resulted in some items being stored on said property and not in their rightful place. Gander again at "exhibit A" above.

I guess since now we REALLY will be living in the country, he felt absolutely comfortable with his placement of said item right smack dab in the middle of the front porch/deck where everyone could see it. Not even a blue tarp to try to cover it.

No remodel project would be complete without a TOILET ON THE DECK ! I walked outside, saw this, laughed to myself and ran for the camera. Why? Cuz' thats the way we roll here baby!

09.12.2009 The Basement Framing

**updated with AFTER photos 9/17/2009**
This was not part of our original plans. We had PLANNED to replace all the broken plumbing, put in a couple of bathrooms, build a pantry, remove a wall, change the front door, get some heat, get some flooring laid down upstairs, texture and paint the interior (upstairs) and exterior. THE END. Then we move in.

Well, after the whole "we need to put a support beam in" incident...the other part of the basement hallway needed to get done. One side was the actual load bearing support wall down there, so we added the other side which is our hall that runs down the middle of the basement.

We already knew what we wanted to do (in the future) so the King (and by that i am talking about the "King of 75%" aka my husband who never can finish something before moving on to something else..it's also affectionately known as Adult A.D.D.)decided to have Grandpa run up to Msla and get a whole mess of wood - so let the framing begin! Experts in the field were brought in and i think 3 guys got it done (mostly) over 2 days. On one side (the East side) there are 3 rooms (bedroom w/ window, office no window, bathroom) and on the other that would make it the West)3 more rooms (a very large bedroom, the theater room and the future home of my "mud room"). Uh, fancy name for laundry room for the sisters and other non country folk. It's all lovely. Lovely in that we have a bunch of rooms and still no heat. Incomplete plumbing. Not ONE stinking complete (or even NEAR complete) room.

Did i mention it's getting cold? By that i mean darn right chilly in the evening. A couple of days of frost on the windshield type mornings...still no heat. But there is relatively no plumbing either so i guess it's no biggie. At least i have STUDS in my basement. And no, I'm not talking about horses, or handsome men.


BEFORE
This was taken standing in what will be the bathroom, before any of the framing i'm speaking about was done. This shows the hallway wall we built with all the door openings for the rooms in. So this is actually "before" it was framed. I'll find the after pics and throw them up tomorrow.
AFTER

The Bathroom


The Bedroom on the east side of the Basement


The Super Large Bedroom ( 2 windows and 13 x 17) it's GINORMOUS!



This is what will later be the Theater Room
(That's my Mud Room beyond there - with the pink Bike parked in it)

Another Great Reason to Live in the Country

Ok, so I apologize in advance these are the crappiest photos known to man. Blurry and ugly. Normally I would delete them - but this was just TOO COOL. We see deer nearly every night we are at the house. There is so much open land as we come into the area and Forest Service land behind us and over the hills. The deer come down through the area we live to get to water. Still a mile or so beyond us to the "Big Ditch" as it's called. And even further to get to the river. We have Mule Deer (cuz they have big ears like Mules) and White Tail (kinda self explanatory-they have white tails). We mostly see Doe's (female deer) and sometimes Doe's with a baby fawn or two. But this day i saw a Buck. Actually, not just a Buck but two Buck's! It was cool. They just stared at me as i slowed down and rolled the window down. By the time i grabbed the camera they started moving. I was so excited i couldn't get a shot without it being blurry. Look at these majestic dudes!


That is MY house (top middle toward the right-brown/red) back in the distance. I was on the road headed away from it.


This guy had a nice rack. I didn't count the points. Sorry all you California folk - this is probably way to much country speak and you are lost already - he had big antlers for a smaller guy. THE END

09.09.2009 The Door is IN !!!!!!

How many exclamation marks are enough? Not sure. I am just a happy girl. I know, the new door isn't real wood (it's more efficient Fiberglass made to look like wood) but i am super stoked. I always wanted a door with fancy glass. We never got one for our house - too much money.

Wanna know why i am so happy about this door?! Well because it was pretty much FREE. Ok well i consider it free...in that NO MONEY came from our wages so that is FREE. Instead, I just sold alot of stuff I didn't need anymore (or want to move) at my awesome Garage Sale and went down and bought me a door! CASH. I even had to count out the last 20 bucks or so in ONE DOLLAR bills. But I didn't care. It was as good as FREE to me. Then it sat all lonely in the garage for a week or so. It moved to the new house for a few more days, then they got motivated and hung it! Thanks hubby and "Grandpa" (my father-in-law) for making me happy as a lark!

Here some "BEFORE" and after shots. We still have to add some more siding over where the board is, but more pics of that to come. Here is where the main front entry was before. Hello? Into the kitchen?


The ugly French Doors that opened into the kitchen and made that too small space completely un-usable. Too small for even a table. (Bad design!!)



Above mentioned kitchen area - wall to be removed to "open up" space


View with above-mentioned wall ALL GONE!!!


This is the view from inside with the new pantry/entry wall framed in


And again, my lovely door!

The only other thing, is now there will still be a wall when you come in...to make it more like an entry. There is now a wall directly to the right of the door on the inside and that wall is also my pantry. (refer to diagram a few posts back) But when you walk in it will only be about 3-4 feet and still be looking directly forward toward great room and great view. =)

09.08.2009 The Best Laid Plans

What's a girl to do?! It seems there is never a project that goes off without a HITCH. And fine folks, we had a hitch in our giddyup happen this week. I got ahead of myself with that last post. This actually happened first (and the new door) so forgive me for being over-zealous and posting a few things out of order.

When taking down that wall that made no sense in the kitchen, a larger crack developed in the main "great room"/"living room". Now, granted, there was already a crack for unclear reasons. Well, the wall we removed was by no means a support wall - but it seems since it was the ONLY wall in a very large span it was keeping the ceiling up. LOL. Anyway, we had to call in some professionals...as my husbands idea was just to stick 4 posts and a wall smack dab in the middle of the room. Ummm...NO!
The whole idea was to keep this with an open feel and focus on the very large picture window with the awesome view. Not close it off so when you walk in you see, umm, WALL. I started envisioning lots of redneck ways he would be curing this problem. So I did some investigating into those nice architectural columns and such. Umm, NO again- not even remotely a possibility on our budget.

Well... problem solved by professionals. A very large beam was inserted in attic with support beams on both sides of the room. Then the hallway in the basement was framed. What does that have to do with it? Apparently alot actually. Having more structure on the bottom floor combined with the new beam just makes it super strong. Who knew. At least nothing is "showing". And the holes for the support posts in the walls will be sheetrocked up again good as new and no one will even know it happened. Thank goodness for the 5-6 ft. attic area. It saved our bacon. (sorry ya'll - country expression)



Dont worry those ugly log posts and 4x4 shown did not stay. They were just put up emergency like before the guys got started. They didn't want the ceiling to continue to crack or fall like a house of cards. It's back to pretty again and an unobstructed view out my pretty window.

09.10.2009 The house is gutted....

This is pretty much the truth. Cabinets have been removed. All the plumbing (bad bursted pipes that is) is ripped out. The "stapled up" radiant floor heat was removed. The kitchen wall that made no sense is gone. The double doors that lead right into said wall are gone! My new door is up (insert HAPPY DANCE here!) And tomorrow fine folks, the pantry, eating island and new entry closet will be framed. (Well TODAY) by the time this post goes up. So i thought I would share with you the floor plan that will be (eventually) the main floor. There are a few changes...



On the far left top corner is my master bath. There will not be a tub. After much deliberation we decided on a 6-7 foot walk in shower. The toilet will be on the other side of the shower wall so as not to see it or have to build it's own little closet. That gives me LONG vanity on the other side. (again Happy dance) Much like what I had in California before. That "thing" next to the double doors in the master bedroom is a laundry chute. For real. My Mud room is right below. We will be changing that to the other side of the doors though today.

My pantry is that big closet looking thing on the top middle of this layout plan. It also serves as the wall in the new entry area since we changed to just one door from the dumb double french doors. We are thinking swinging "saloon" type doors for a Montana feel in the pantry. What do you think? I think it's easier with a handful of groceries and what not. Not to mention the cute glass door that says "pantry" is $400.00!!!

It was fun putting the pics of all the beds in the room layouts. Sis' room even has a bunk bed since that is what she is getting. Bubba's room is the one in the middle and he gets to graduate to sissy's old full size bed. The guest room will have the queen size bed, it's the room on the end of the hall (or the beginning if coming from the living room. We have a door and closet next to the back door-which leads to an awesome covered deck. Perfect for that certain grandma that might want to hop out there to fill her lungs with other than our fresh Montana air. I went back and forth on that 3rd bedroom guest or Erick's. I decided to banish Erick back to the basement since 1.) He won't be here that often 2.) that will keep 1 room CLEAN all the time 3.) guests shouldn't have to do stairs or stay in 10 degree cooler temps than the rest of us (unless they want to). Well, with the dual heating system actually the basement should be able to be nice and toasty for a change.

We also made the decision to not add air conditioning. Truly I don't think we will need it. We are up in the hills and there is SO MUCH wind, you open one window and the house is cool immediately. Even in the heat of the summer. Always wind. And it stays pretty cool all of the time even upstairs. There was a ceiling fan in every room so I think we will just take advantage of that.

Well I need to get some rest. I will take some photos Friday night of the framing that got done. Also, they are framing ALL the rooms in the basement (2 bedrooms, office, bathroom, Theater Room) so that will be AWESOME to see. I think they call it progress...which in my history with the "King of 75%" is a REAL GOOD THING.

09.08.2009 Bubba is in Kindergarten

*sniffle* It's hard just to even WRITE/TYPE that. Last week i am moving the oldest into his dorm. This week my baby starts Kindergarten. Tons of milestones. I am WAY too young for this. Or at least i feel young. Or thought i did. Oh goodness, here come the waterworks! It was a BIG day. SO this deserved it's own post. Not just grouped with sissy and the 1st day of school. He is 5. He is HUGE. He is not a baby anymore. Well...he'll always be MY baby. But i am only allowed to talk like that in the privacy of our own home while snuggling/reading books and drowning him in kisses. Otherwise he will himself tell you he IS NOT A BABY! You judge for yourself.



funny story...after putting his school supplies away, he had a hard time putting his backpack away in the hall. Why? Because he couldn't find the B for Bubba. He can write and spell Bubba. When i informed him that big boys now have to use their REAL name so he should look for a "T" i think he thought for one short minute that it sure was better being a "baby". This transition may be just as hard on him as it is on mom =)

09.08.2009 1st day of school

Hooray it's finally here! Though we are sad to see summer go, just 2 days ago it started getting colder and frosty in the mornings. The sign that school is here. We had a good weekend, and got them all ready with their clothes laid out (ok well much drama as usual and 3 outfit changes for sis). They were to bed early. I think it was the getting up early that really did them in though. Most years I start them the week before so they can "acclimate". Today we just jumped right in. They will get to bed early again and maybe by tomorrow have it down. This also marks the first year EVER that sis did not wear a DRESS on the 1st day of school. We sacrificed style for comfort this year. 2 days ago she got a huge blister ON TOP of her foot from a bouncy house at a birthday party! How on earth does one do this? No idea. I wasn't there. But anyway pretty much all shoes were a no...and since we pick the shoes THEN the outfit it left very little in the way of suitable choices. LOL Anyway here are the kiddos on their first day.

Loving the big polka dots on the backpack/lunch bag combo

Note the matching "Paris" themed accessories. A must have for the discriminating 3rd grader!

He just L.O.V.E.S. anything CAMO!!!

You just gotta click to make this bigger. Look at his ADORABLE shoes grandma got him. OMG i wanna eat them with a spoon. Both sis & I are jealous and wish they were in our size too!

09.04.2009 Fair Part 2

So we went on Thursday first. Grandpa came down and rode with us. I don't do the Ferris Wheel - AT ALL - so he rode with sis. She loves it. I hate it. I am sure that is not the last thing we will have those opinions on as she grows up.

School starts Tuesday after Labor Day. Always does. So the Fair is their last little hoorah for summer. It marks the passing of my Preschooler and 2nd grader onto bigger and better things (Kindergarten and 3rd grade). It's a big deal. Plus there is Cotton Candy, Caramel Apples, Soft Yummy Pretzels. Oh but i digress.

We also went Friday. Erick decided to grace us with his presence after driving down. He's not a fan of small kids - or his siblings in particular. But you wouldn't guess that from this photo. Here he and sis are headed for the "Mean Machine" (mommys favorite) I had to stay with Bubs and go on things like Bubba's Roadhouse. B.O.R.I.N.G. But he loved it so what's a mom to do?


Can you just say "awwwww"?!


I had to sit it out cuz Bubba WOULD NOT go on it! It's harmless my sweet child, just a lil bit of spinning...come on?! Nope. No dice mom.


Let's go on this instead...it says MY NAME the boy yells!


And guess what sis rode AGAIN, and again, and again? Reigan, her & Ivy

09.03.2009 THE FAIR

No matter how busy and hectic our lives are...that all get placed on hold when our small town fair comes to town. We usually go all 4 days, die hards! Finances being a bit tight this year, we only got to go 2 days. The kids had a ablast regardless. Bubba is getting more adventurous and trying new and faster things. Sis is still waiting to be about 2 inches taller to ride things like the Zipper and Typhoon and Kamikaze. Takes after her mom what can i say?

One thing is for sure, they have their favorites - as evidenced below.


Sis rode the Spider with her friends Reigan and Caroline



Bubba couldn't pass up the Helicopters


He did tell me later that he is getting big for the Helicopters and they dont go high enough or fast enough anymore *sniffle*