the nature trail with a new lens

Last week I took a photography class with a good friend of mine.  It gave

me the confidence to finally try out the telephoto lens I got with my camera

that I've been too scared to use.

The kids and I headed out to the nature trail for a bike ride/walk and

so I could do some practice shots.

The boys immediately found the mulberry trees.....yum!

They had to have the berries that were up in a tree neither of them could reach.

Love that they were working together here!

These two took in all the action from the radio flyer.

Smashed mulberries on his butt:))

They never stop running

Thank you Miss Amelia for taking my picture.  Love the creative angle:))

And as happy as everyone looks here, they all probably should have been taking

naps instead.  The day went downhill fast from here .......fighting, teasing, hitting, talking back,

crying......you name it, they were doing it.

The looney bin was looking like a good option.

But we (I) made it through and the next day was better.

Why are some days so smooth and others so rough?

Part of the whole parenting thing, huh....

Wishing you all a smooth week:))

"to be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today" ~~ anonymous

spaghetti head

Nash has been my most difficult child to get to switch from bottle to sippy

cup and to start eating real people food. 

He's not off the bottle yet, and basically that's because I'm not

ready for the struggle it's going to be.

This boy is STUBBORN.  

He loves his baby food, too, and whenever I try to give him 

a new real food, if it doesn't look good to him he swipes it off his

high chair tray. 

 The few things he will eat are oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, crackers, cake and cookies (of course),

but his favorite is spaghetti.

A few nights ago after the kids had finished their noodles,

Nash crawled up in a chair and helped himself to the leftovers.

He thought he was pretty big stuff.

He just kept eating and eating

He made quite a large mess,

but cleaning up messes is basically the story of my life right now.

I would probably go in to cardiac arrest

 if we made it through a meal without at least

one spill:))

So a couple of nights later I made spaghetti again

(per Shay's request for his half birthday......like we've ever celebrated half birthdays before -- but it was a 

good way for him to get what he wanted for supper!)

Nash approached eating it from a different angle this time.

Why waste time with a fork??

Happy weekend!!

"no matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids" ~~ Bill Cosby

the festival....

this past weekend was the annual Festival of Trail here in LPC.  

After we endured a week of hearing "how many days until the parade?" multiple times,

it was finally here.

Candy grabbing

Our local fire department:)

the marching band

I thought he would be scared but he LOVED all the activity

The number one Union Knights football team  (with Shay sitting at the back of the truck)

Can't have a parade without a big ole John Deere!

Me and my best gal pal:))

I LOVE this truck......really!

Still not ready to get rid of these adorable curls :)

Then uptown where I avoided these ALL weekend, I was pretty proud of myself

The next morning was the 5K which I usually run, but this year Brad was the runner and the kids and I cheered him on.

24:01 Great time!

Shay was driving a tractor and taking people on rides around town.  I had an urgent text from him to make a sign to advertise the ride.  I knew that piece of plywood would come in handy someday!

Shay drove the tractor for almost 7 hours that day, what a trooper

My car, after I win the lottery, or maybe in a future life

The kids did a little entertaining on the stage

(the middle kid is my adorable nephew Sam)

Finally we caved and let the kids do the rides

Dropped about 40 bucks in 5 minutes 

They had so much fun, though

Nash made friends with this carnie, thought we might lose him to the traveling life for a minute there

They were going to ride this ride, but the operator was sleeping on the ground. Must have had a rough night.....

This ride looks fun, but it was a little too creaky for my comfort zone

We spent a little bit of time at the beer tent, also, and caught up with some old friends.

Always happy to see Festival of Trails come, and always a little glad when it's over:)

Happy Wednesday!

"finish each day and be done with it.  you have done what you could.  some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can.  tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely...." ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson