poor thing

Today we went to the local county fair.  And I only managed to take one picture.  Not of my kids, either.  Jon pointed this poor thing out and all I could do was think back to when I stopped nursing Derrick.  I wanted to offer her an Aleve and a warm compress.  Perhaps this is on purpose, but I don't think so, as I'm guessing that part of her "purpose" is to give milk.  Obviously these animals are the responsibility of young ones who have no idea what that feels like.  I get that it is fair week, and it's exciting for all those presenting their "projects", and you can get distracted with everything going on, but good heavens, come and milk your goats!

green thumb

Over the last ten years, we've made a couple of attempts at gardening.  It has been either hit or miss.  Last year we learned about square foot gardening from my mother, who has a good friend with an amazing garden using this method.  We wanted to give it a try, but thought we were doomed to a gardenless existence because of Truman (who destroyed our grill and sprinkler box cord last summer).  After debating how to get around this problem, we decided to build a small fence in the middle of our yard, and put the boxes inside.  This method will definitely be how we garden from here on out!  Our tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkin plants are doing fabulously!  Yesterday Derrick picked our first zucchini and I made some zucchini bread today.  There is just something about watching the plants grow and change, and then using them for something delicious.  We also transplanted the plants that Derrick and Abbie brought home from school for me for Mother's Day.  I am simply amazed at what Abbie's plant has become.  It went from a small (I'm talking Jiffy pot here) thing to this big crazy plant that finally started blooming recently.  All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about our first real garden, except for the stupid birds that keep eating my strawberries!

celebration

We had a pretty quiet 4th this year.  The highlight for the kids had to be the breakfast that we went to on Saturday morning, hosted by a family in our ward.  With the holiday falling on a Sunday this year, it was a little more challenging to celebrate in true style.  We did manage some fireworks in the street in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house, then on Sunday night we discovered that we can actually see the town fireworks really well from our driveway.  Who knew?

fore!

Last Thursday we took advantage of an almost spring day to head out to the driving range. Good thing because it snowed the next day. About two years ago Derrick received his own set of golf clubs, but hasn't really had much opportunity to use them. Not that I'm much of an expert, I only started golfing about 6 years ago, but I think he is pretty good for his age. Dad has several punches left on his driving range pass, so they can get out several more times this spring. We really need to get him out on the course for an actual game.

halloween 2009

I'm not biased or anything, but I'm pretty sure I've got the cutest Halloween crew around. So cute, in fact, that two of them won awards in two different categories at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. That's right, award winning cute.

These lovely costumes were purchased, not hand sewn, and after my sewing marathon producing penguins I am again reminded of the lunacy of spending so much time and pretty much the same amount of money to get an outfit that will only be worn for a couple of hours during one night of the year. Yet, I can all but guarantee I will forget this logic again at some point in the future and embark on another Halloween sewing mission. Because sewing Halloween costumes is like giving birth. In the middle of it all, you are like "What in the world was I thinking. I'm never doing this again." And before you know it, you have a creation all your own (costume or baby) and you forget all about the hours of torture it took to bring them to life. And some time passes, and suddenly you think "Hey, let's do this again." Remind me of this post in a year when I start to flip through patterns books, although I might ignore the advice. In summary, my kids are cute, and store bought costumes are great.