10 Things Of Late

1.  The fair was a great success.  We managed to spend almost the whole weekend going back and forth and tag teaming the babies.  Our booth turned out the be the most popular because of the soccer goal and there were all ages shooting goals all weekend.  We won some ribbons and lost the raffle for the calf that we REALLY REALLY wanted.  It was a great time.

2.  Our dishwasher broke.
OUR DISHWASHER BROKE

OUR DISHWASHER BROKE!!!

Not only that, but it broke when it was full of dishes AND there was another sink full waiting.   So we washed and washed and washed.  All day.  Because after that mess was cleaned up there were more dishes waiting from all the time it took.  12 people means you almost have to run the dishwasher if you just make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It runs at least 3 times a day and I have never missed it more.

My father-in-law came to look and couldn't fix it.  My husband was swamped with work and other stuff.  I called a neighbor and by this time 24 whole hours of washing dishes by hand had passed.  So I told my man that if Howard couldn't fix it, I was headed to Sears.  Immediately.

But Howard did fix it!  And I couldn't be more grateful.

3. This is what happens when your toddler sneaks out of bed.

And not only did he pull all the wipes out, he also tore them into little pieces. 

It's a good thing he's cute.

4. HUGE blessing!!

My parents brought meat!  This is only a small part of the steaks. 

And LOTS of hamburger!!  

This also makes menu planning more fun.  

5. I just finished this.

This was my least favorite of all Margaret Jensen.  It was still good.  And I'm always interested in more snippets of Mama's life.   My favorite quote.... "The discipline of the ordinary day makes room to think and plan."  Oh yes, it does.  

6. My new book from the library.  I'm eager to start it.  

7.  But not only that, I learned to get a library book on my Kindle!  I feel so smart.  And when you borrow a library ebook there are no late fees.  For some of us that's a big deal. 

8.  Nathan took his library card to the library, checked out his own books, and brought his library card home without losing it.  If you've ever tried to teach an 11 year old personal responsibility, you will understand that this is a big win.  

9.  My moms came to visit! And my dad too!  I love that they have a house here now.  They buy us food, babysit, let me drive their car, and spoil us rotten.  I could get used to this in a hurry! 

10.  Today was 1/2 price ice cream cones at Sonic.  7 ice cream cones later and it was almost time for lunch and football.  It didn't make sense to drive home, unload babies, eat fast, load up babies, and drive back for football.  So I sent Jes and Josh to school for lunch with LB.  Then bought everyone else burgers.  It was the most beautiful day to eat outside and it was a fun treat.  

It's That Time Of Year

It's fair time y'all! 

And you may remember when I said I'd never do the fair again.  My opinion hasn't changed....about the Ozark fair.  But the Charleston fair?  I am ALL OVER IT.  Unlike my fair experience of last year, this year has been super simple. 

Joshua has entered 5 chickens for show and will sell one at the auction. (Look how he's holding them!)  And perhaps I'm a little more fair savvy than last year because I didn't miss the chicken blood test day AND I reserved the cages IN TIME.  Unfortunately they do not give ribbons for jumping through the proper  hoops.  

Mallory has been excited about the fair ever since the schedule came out in the paper.  She's been thinking and planning on what she could enter.  Yesterday, she made a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies all by herself and even took them out of the oven without me.  Taking anything out of the oven has been a big deal for her.  

She packaged them up according to proper fair regulations and we dropped them off. 

BEST DAY EVER!!  She was super excited and couldn't wait to get back home to tell all her siblings about the fun of "being in the fair".  

So all weekend we will basically live at the fair.  New Fire Athletics has a booth and we will be playing games, giving out candy, and hopefully getting a few more sign-ups for the upcoming season! 

Grandmother's Cranberry Cuss Word Story

Yesterday was Grandmother's bday.

When I was little, her name was MeMaw. But (I still remember the day) when I got older, she decided that I was too big to call her MeMaw and she changed her name to Grandmother. Not Grandma or Granny or any short cut. But the whole long name of Grandmother. And she's been Grandmother ever since. (I still prefer MeMaw but don't tell her I said that.)

So anyway it was her bday and I called her and we all sang Happy Birthday over the phone because she lives too far away in Texas.

Every time we talk she has a new story.  And when she told me that something happened so terrible that she hollered out a cuss word, I knew I was in for a treat.

The doctor told her to drink more cranberry juice.  She bought a new cup and filled it up.
Well it was the kind of cup that has a straw that pops up when you push a button.  She pushed the button, the straw popped up, and cranberry juice spit out all over her!   All over her blouse, all over her chair, all over everything.

She was surprised and mad and hollered out  BLEEP!!!! 

And just then her sister called. " Isn't that how it always is?", she asked me.

But Aunt Roxy just had to wait on the phone while Grandmother cleaned up the mess, changed her shirt, and treated everything with Spray & Wash Worsh.

Bra Shopping

Boy moms understand.

It is HARD to buy new bras and underwear because the intimate apparel section is the last place you want your sons to be wandering and waiting.   Girl moms....you got it made! 

But I was down to 2 bras if you don't count the emergency one.  That's the sports bra that doesn't have a clasp and just fits over your head and you have to squeeze into it.  The problem is taking it off. Especially if you are hot and sweaty.  That's when you start looking for the scissors.  

But today I got to leave the boys at home and go bra shopping.  I didn't realize how long it had been until I actually starting looking at all the different bra possibilities.   There were thousands!!  Seriously.  All colors of the rainbow INCLUDING the rainbow, plus the moon and stars and flowers and stripes and everything else you can think of.  When did we get so many options?  Then there's the ones in the boxes and WHY EVEN?  

Did you know there's bras that decrease arm flab?  But that's not the best part.  Did you know....

Did you know? 

There's even bras to minimize back fat.  BACK FAT.  I had no idea that was a thing.  

Apparently if you struggle with back fat you have no need for a complicated diet, just buy the fancy bra.  

So yes, I had plenty of options.  Except I didn't.  Because sometime between when I last bought a bra and today, boobs exploded into huge sizes and they no longer consider that SOME girls just don't have all that.  

But if you are a 38D you are golden.  Because there was lots of those in every color and pattern and fat shrinking abilities.  

Girl moms and 38Ds have it so easy.