Two Hundred and Six...

This young lady had a birthday party this weekend. I am lucky enough to be her Aunt! And don't get me started on how big and grown up she is now. Her Daddy threw the party for her.I don't remember her birthday partys not including a Pinata.
Everybody got a turn.
Have I mentioned that I am an Autie to the cutest kids on the planet...it's true!
The youngest ones got to go first.
Rowdy even took a turn, which is a big deal. Usually, he doesn't take a turn and just waits for the candy to fall...not a bad policy. But I was proud of him for participating this time!
Bucket of worms waiting their turn in line for a swing at the Pinata.
The birthday girl got to go last and she finally got the chicken to give up the goods.

This is where the party started getting good. You see, there was a little surprise in the Pinata for Tamar, from Uncle Joe. That is an onion, by the way.
Then Katia made a deal with some of her cousins. She said she would take a bite of the onion for some candy out of their bag. Silly girl!
She did it!

There should be no question what so ever as to where she would get such a silly idea!

Two hundred and five...

Rowdy asked me if we could take out this little electric train the other day. This was after I suggested we take out a toy that he hasn't played with for awhile. One of the best decisions I have made in awhile. It has kept him busy for the last few days when boredom would have normally set in. SIDENOTE: How my children could ever understand or feel bored where we live is beyond me.

Rowdy has loved trains since he was a little guy. I think he got his first Thomas the tank engine when he was two. He loves Locomotive documentories. He like to draw trains as well. I love the picture of him fixing the Engine that de-railed. It is so cute to me that he gets down low to work on and watch the train go by. He is just so intense when he plays and the word hypnotic comes to mind too. He is in his own little world. He can make all these really cools sound effect too. For example, he can make the sound of the horn, the bell, the tracks, the chugging, the blast of steam on a steam engine, the whistle and he can holler a very convincing "ALL ABOARD".

Two hundred and four...

I temporarily interupt my effort at getting my blog caught up with a post about something current. We went to the beach yesterday. We played on the beach but it was way to windy for me to take my camera down there. I tried a little experiment with my camera on these images. I set my ISO to its next to highest setting to see how much digital noise I would get (just photography jargon for ya', it just means the photo will have some little imperfections). I was surprised with the result. There is some noise but less than I expected with such a high setting. Just playing around and getting to know my camera even better.
We had a blast at the beach. Eating at Mo's, seeing the sealions. And of course saltwater taffy.

Ron entertained by some borderline inappropriate bumper stikers...I had to remind Ron that Rowdy can read.

Two hundred and three...

This little girl refused to go into the pool at the beginning of the summer. Then she would go in only if she could use this little blow up turle that she could sit in. Then Ron got her to go in one night after much discussion with the noodle. The other night she ditched the noodles and stood up in the pool. Way to go Miss Avery Girl!!!

Two hundred and two...

I do feed him other things besides cotton candy, snow cones and ice cream.
Sometimes it is easier to just....

use your....

fingers!

Two hundred and one...

Really, does it get any better?

Two hundred...

We had a student from Tawain stay with us for about 5 weeks this summer. Her American name is Stella. We really bonded with her and were so sad to see her go. The kids are talking to Stella's 10 year old little sister on the computer on Skype. It was the coolest thing to see my kids talk to a little just a bit older than them clear across the earth. They even said a few words in Chinese to her. I had never seen our used Skype before and I was so thrilled that the kids got to do this.

Sorry about the messy office...see I am an organized mess, in case you didn't know! This was one day before we got hit with that nasty flu!

One hundred and Ninety-nine...

I take many of my pictures outside or during the day because I don't use a flash. I like the look of natural light photographs. Ron gave me a flash for Christmas and I have taken it out and put it on my camera a few times and I just end up put it back because I dont' know how to use it. Ultimately, I want to use it but I don't want it to look like I did. This is an example of why I don't take pictures without a good light source. They turn out icky....

This is a little better, but not perfect. I am learning to use my flash and this was and exciting experiment for me because I bounced the flash off the wall next to Bodie. Look at the difference in his eyes...WOO HOO! Happy Dance for me!
Same photo brightened up in Photoshop...I'm not in love with the edit, but I was just playing around...as always.

One hundred and ninety-eight...

Rowdy is learning about the behavior of little kittens. He is very concerned about Oreo. We have taken our time getting Oreo used to our property. We kept him in a pet carrier in the barn for a few days and would only take him out with supervision. We slowly gave him more and more freedom to explore. As Oreo has become a little more familiar with his surroundings we eventually stopped putting him in the carrier. Well, poor little Rowdy was very concerned about Oreo and that he was going to get lost. We have had to do tons of explaining about how cats behave and that Oreo will be fine.

Oreo likes to climb the trees...naturally. Rowdy came to me one day crying because "Or" was in the tree. I reassured him that the little guy would find his way down. And just as I was explaining it, he made his way down. Whew!

Kittens like to bite and that is something that Rowdy wasn't sure of at first. One day Rowdy got a little frustrated with Oreo and he said to me with tears in his eyes "Mom, I kind of got mad at Oreo, and I set him down kind of hard, but I love him so much, but I was mad at him because he bit me." Gee, that sounds like all the frustrating moments that I have had as a parent being explained right back at me by my seven year old.

Every time I tell Rowdy to go feed Oreo his is very willing to do it (so far). Oreo is a very cuddly cat too. I showed the kids how if you lay down on your back, Oreo will come up to you and rub up against you and purr like crazy....they loved it!

Now that Oreo is super familiar with our yard and the house...he is at the back door a lot wanting to come in....

One hundred and ninety-seven...

I had the opportunity to go take some pictures of these girls before their championship softball game. As I look at my photography skills and how much I have learned and still have to learn, I wish I could do this shoot over. It is interesting to me that the more I learn about photography the less I know. It is really frustrating at times. Since I took these photos about a month ago I have learned a few things about my camera that would have made these images even better. It is all a process I suppose.

One hundred and ninety-six...

I had a VERY unique opportunity to be kid free for two days. Well sort of. The kids have each had a chance this summer to spend a couple of days up at my Moms by themselves for some special Grandma Mickie time. I signed Rowdy and Avery up for a one week day camp this summer and they had a BLAST! The camp was from 9 to 4:30 for a week. So I decided to take advantage of that and send Bodie to my Mom's for part of the week.

My initial thought was I am going to stay at the house and get some work done. Then I thought better of it. I had a gift certificate for a pedicure...went and did that, are you kidding me!!! I also know a very special gal that gives the best pedicures and facials so I called her and she squeezed me in for a facial. Oh my word!!! When I left her place I felt like I had 5 years taken off my face.

It felt very strange to be running around getting such things done without the feeling of I need to pick someone up or hurry back to the house and make lunch and get Bodie down for his nap. I literally couldn't relax the way I wanted to. After I left the place where I got my facial, I feel like I had a small panic attack. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I forced myself to go to Borders and browse around and then go get lunch. I had nothing to go back to the house for and didn't need to pick The Bigs up yet. It was a strange feeling to just have some free time...real free time. Man I need to take a chill pill!

One hundred and ninety-five...

We have had some SUPER hot days here this summer and this is a SUPER fun way to cool off. I thought it was so cute that Rowdy shared with The Bo (one of his other nicknames). I bought all these fun flavors to add to the ice, and once I was stocked up I saw that the store had bubble gum flavor, which happens to be my favorite...shucks! We'll just have to eat a lot of snow cones so we have to re-stock our supply of syrup.

One hundred and ninety-four...

Ron can make all sorts of really silly faces. Apparently, Avery has inherited his Rubberface as he has been known to be called.

One hundred and ninety-three...

These round flowery things were growing up right near our greenhouse and I thought they looked pretty cool. I picked one and gave it to Avery. After I picked it my hand smelled like something familiar but I couldn't figure it out...well my sister in-law stopped by later and she knew what it was...Garlic!

One hundred and ninety-two...

It turns out that we have two Roosters. They are just "teenageres" at this point in their growth and it is interesting to hear them try to "Cock-a-doodle-do". The first time I heard them try it sounded horrible and I thought for sure something was wrong with them. They are getting the hang of it and it is sounding more like a real rooster more and more. I'm sure they won't be around for long...we want eggs, not more chickens.

One hundred and ninety-one...

Helpin' Dada feed the chickens.

One hundred and ninety...

Katie was spending the night and this is how I found them in the living room. They lined the pillows all up and snuggled in to watch a movie.

One hundred and eighty-nine...

This is my Mom. Have I ever told you that when my mom is around I take the back seat. My kids adore her and she is the go to gal when she visits. She loves my kids so much. She was worried that Bodie won't know her very well because she got a job that doesn't allow us to see each other as often as we used to....well Bodie knows her very well and loves her very much.

One hundred and Eighty-Eight...

This is my nephew Evan at his concert that we attended in July. Evan is very talented and they played beatifully. He is pictured with my brother Joel and my sister in-law Cathy. It was a very fun evening to get to hear Evan play and see my brother and his wife. Cathy and Joel were beaming with pride.

One-hundred and Eighty-Seven...

I took a huge leap of faith and decided to shoot a wedding when the opportunity presented itself. The couple that asked me to do this for them are the sweetest couple. Their wedding was beautiful and it was the perfect size and type of wedding for me to get my feet wet with.

One hundred and eighty-six...

Rowdy talking on the phone to a little friend of his who lives far away. His friend's Mom and I are very good friends and we jokingly talk about being in-laws someday...maybe there is a bit of seriousness to the joking. But pictures like this will sure be fun to have if the joke did turn into a reality...what a silly thought.

One hundred and eighty-five...

We went to the fair last night. It was a really great evening. We listened to my Brother in law, Joe Shinkle play. After much begging from Miss Avery Girl we went on some rides. It was not that crowded which I loved. The rides were cheaper last night too. It was a really great night together as a family!

Bodie wasn't sure about this ride at first as you can see. But with a little help from Avery he ended up doing just fine and enjoying it. Bodie's face is so filthy. He had just had some cotton candy and then slide down the slide into a big pile of dirt. You gotta love it!


Bodie tried cotton candy for the first time and I completely took a break from my diet and enjoyed one of these bad boys......It was delicious!!! But I would be leaving out an important detail if I didn't say that my guts hurt just a bit on the drive home.

One hundred and eighty-four...

New boots, tractors with Dada, Walmart sticker on his hand from our visit there the day before and dirt under his fingernails...it doesn't get much better than that!

One hundred and Eighty three...

I felt the urge to put my 50 mm lens on my camera today because I haven't had it on there in ages. It is referred to as the nifty, thrifty, fifty because you can pick them up for about $100 (that is cheap in the world of lenses). I just felt like I needed to capture this little face today. It isn't hard to tell why I call him, "my buttery little boy".

One Hundred and Eighty-Two...

I'm a little behind!

According to my calculations I should be on post 212 and I am only on 181! I need to get caught up. We sure have enjoyed the pool this year. Especially during the heat wave this week. I got a sunburn on my back and shoulders...hopefully it helped even out the farmers tan I have.

All three of the kids got the throw ups this week. So that is how I spent my Wednesday and Thursday. Rinsing out puke bowls, washing towels, sheets and offering Popsicle after Popsicle and Gatorade. I thought Bodie wasn't going to get it, but sure enough he did. I knew something was wrong when he didn't want his breakfast on Thursday morning. The only up side to having your kids be that sick is I didn't have to break up a single fight for over 48 hours. That is always my indicator that they are feeling much better when I start saying things like "that's enough" and "knock it off" and "please, be kind to each other". Oh, and my kitchen stayed really clean for two days because it wasn't a revolving door like it usually is.

One hundred and eighty-one...

School supplies are in the stores already and I get to buy stuff for a Kindergartener this year. She could not be more excited about it. I, on the other hand, am in shock as to how much she has grown in the last year. I bought her some jeans at the beginning of the school year and they needed to be rolled at the bottom about 2 - 3 inches and they are high waters on her now. Time, you are not my friend and I just need things to slow down for a little bit.

One hundred and eighty...

I took these way back in January. Probably on a day that was too cold to go out and play. What I find interesting when I look at these is how much Bodie has changed. Also, I notice that we should have cut his hair sooner. He has a mouth full of teeth now. He doesn't walk like an orangutan anymore. In fact, he is learning to jump and he loves to dance. It is hilarious to watch. He surprised me the other day when he stepped up our flight of stairs to the second floor without crawling up. He took big boy steps all the way up!

He is still totally obsessed with phones. He likes to talk to Grandma and Dada on the phone.

Sometimes I wonder were these little feet will travel in his lifetime. His Greatgrandma Martha always says "Those little feet have so many miles ahead of them". I have heard her say it about every single great-grandbaby she has...it is so sweet!