The Fair Results

Okay so blogger has made some changes and I am having some minor difficulties--like typing in between my pictures.  I was going to give a more detailed description of what was our stuff in each of these pictures since everything is all mixed in with all the other fair entries.  Oh well--here's the lowdown--
Hannah came away with 5 (or 6) first places, 10 (or 11) second places, 1 third place and 2 Best in Shows.  Grace came away with 6 first places and 2 second places.  It was fun to see their stuff displayed and see what they won.  Hannah was happy with all her winnings but was disappointed that her snake (in the picture above) didn't do better.  She really thought that one would get first place, Best in Show, and maybe even overall big winner.  Instead it only got a second place.  There were tons of animal pictures though so it had a lot of competition. 

Seven Quick Takes

1. I think age 10 is one of the best ages! Hannah is 10 1/2 and so capable. She's still a little girl, I only see glimpses here and there of the preteen drama to come, yet I can see the young adult she is becoming. She still loves to talk to me and be with me and yet she is becoming so independent too. She can cook and clean, and take responsibility for things she wants to do--like the fair. She is learning to grocery shop, she pays careful attention to the brands that I buy and her favorite thing to do in the store is for me to give her a small list and she does some of the shopping on her own. I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming and I am feeling less and less afraid of the teen years to come. I can see that someday my daughter will be my friend.
2. Pretty much as far back as I could remember I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I majored in education in college because I knew that a job as a teacher would be the best job to have if I had to work after I had kids. I made sure that the man I married shared the same ideas I had about raising children. And now...I guess I could say I am living my dream! It doesn't always feel like my dream, some days are hard and frustrating and the work is truly neverending. But, it helps to remind myself that I am indeed living my dream. When I think of it that way the work seems much more fulfilling and less like drudgery.
3. I'm over Spring break. It's been real and it's been fun and it's even been real fun but this momma needs some structure!! The house has been a continual mess because we are not doing chores and I am on spring break too so I have been letting my own "chores" go by the wayside. I've woken up to a table and kitchen full of dishes every day. Yuck!! I am at that point where I'm no longer feeling relaxed, I am feeling agitated and restless. Come Monday I am going to be downright giddy at the thought of a "normal," week! Wonder how long that giddiness will last...
4. I found some great books at the library today and I just read a really good book. I can't wait to share all about it but first I want to get myself signed up for some sort of Amazon/blogger thing so that if you love my review so much you want to buy the book I will get some sort of commission. Maybe that will happen tomorrow...
5. Our local library has the whole set of Liberty's Kids on DVDs. I love that everything we've been reading about and studying about Colonial America is being reviewed in an entertaining way. My kids are loving it. It's really well done.
6. We rode our bikes to the library today as a family. It went better than I thought it would but there was one big scare for the momma. Joe and Ollie were both going pretty fast and were fairly far ahead of me. I saw that they were approaching a busy road and yet they were not slowing down. I knew Ollie would be fine but wasn't sure if he knew Joe was so close to him and going so fast. I screamed, I yelled, and Ollie stopped Joe just in time. I was seriously freaked out but thankful he was okay. I will do it again but will make sure we approach that busy road much slower.
7. I am going to New York! I don't know when but a girl (a young woman now) that I babysat for years when I lived in NM lives there now and is willing to let me stay with her. I am thinking about going in July. I am DYING to see "Wicked" but the cheapest tickets are $111! Broadway on tour will be coming to Orlando with "Wicked" next February and hopefully the tickets will be cheaper. I would like to see a Broadway show while I'm there but not sure if we will or not. For now I am just excited to get to see the Big Apple again!! I'm also really happy to get to spend time with Devon. I haven't spent a significant amount of time with her since Hannah was a baby and she came out and spent a week with me.

The Fair

We have been hard at work here the last few weeks getting ready for the local fair. The last couple of years we have entered a few things in the fair but this year Hannah went crazy. I gave her the list and she picked out what she was going to do. I had to help as far as making sure she had supplies and overseeing some projects and framing everything but other than that all of this is her own work. I'm proud of how diligently she worked and I hope she does well. They award cash prizes for each category--$3 for first place, $2 for second, and $1 for third. Grace also did her share of entries and really put time and effort into what she chose to do. In the picture above she is painting a little ceramic pot. And below, the girls are decorating t-shirts. The pots that they painted and the decorated t-shirts came from kits that they got for Christmas.

Here Grace works on her pillow, she's a good little seamstress. And below, Hannah makes chocolate chip butterscotch bars.

Above, Grace folding origami and below, Hannah picks out fabric for a pillow.

Above, Grace is displaying her chocolate chip banana bread, it was really good despite her adding a cup of milk too much to the recipe. :0) Below, Hannah is displaying her pillow and cookie bars.

Above, Grace with all her stuff. She did a great job! I especially love the pillow and watercolor painting. Below, Hannah with all her stuff. She did some really nice art as well as some sewing and a couple of collage style crafts that you can't really see. Good luck to my little ladies!!

A Busy Weekend

All the pictures that go with this post are actually in the post below.  My computer is acting up and I can't seem to get my text between my pictures tonight.  Probably because I am using Opera as my browser.  It's testy.  We have had a very busy weekend.  Quality and quantity family time and it's been great.  We left early Friday morning to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the beach.  We spent the afternoon on the beach and later went out for dinner to one of our favorite places--Pollo Tropical.  Fast food cuban style and oh so good!  After dinner we went out for ice cream to celebrate Grandma's birthday.  Then it was back to the hotel for some games and bedtime.  We went for a long walk on the beach in the morning and had breakfast on the beach.  Ollie went to Publix and bought cheese, yogurt, bread, some dried fruit, strawberries, and juice.  This ended up being our breakfast and lunch and was so good!  I love when he shops for our picnics.  The kids swam for a little while and I got us packed up and then we headed west to the other coast.  We spent some time in St. Pete at the Pier.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had a ball climbing in one of the big Banyan fig trees.  After a couple of hours we started our trek northward.  The kids took turns riding with G and G and spending some alone time with them.  We rode "together" as far as we could before having to go our separate ways.  They are headed back home to Chicago after a beautiful spring break in sunny FL.  We got home last night and went to bed and then got up early for some more family fun.  We spent most of the day in the big city of Orlando.  We went to church at our old church and saw some old friends, then visited a park we used to go to after church, then to our favorite Asian market (see pic in previous post) where we spent too much money on all sorts of great Asian food.  We were pretty hungry after leaving the market and so we stopped for lunch at a popular Vietnamese restaurant.  The food was so good, I so wish I knew how to cook like that!  After lunch we stopped at another park and climbed the rock wall and played frisbee and catch.  It was another beautiful day and we soaked up the sun!  We finally got home late this afternoon and have been trying to regroup and unpack and all that fun stuff.  We are officially on Spring break this week.  I need to do school but with Ollie home for spring break I can't resist taking the week off.  We'll catch up, we always do!  I'm looking forward to a more relaxed week...maybe conquer that to-do list!  :0)  

Have a blessed week!  He is Risen!!  Praise God!

Happy Resurrection Day