Labor Day

I know this is really late, but I thought I'd let the family see what we were up to for Labor Day. And since I cannot snap a decent picture lately, I ripped some of these pics off of others' blogs. Thanks Gigi and Liz!

For the week of Labor Day, the Webers came to visit! Yay! We love you guys. I wish we had had more time to hang out. We miss you! You better come back next year, I am holding you to it! I didn't get a lot of pics. I don't know why, but here is a cute one of Emily and Ashton.


Aren't they cuties!

They just love each other so much. Ashton has asked to see Emily like a zillion times since they left. Ashton just discovered web cams, I'm just waiting for him to ask to talk to her on the computer!

For Labor Day, we got together with the Webers, Madsens, Reams, and Holdaways for a picnic at the park. It was lots of fun. The kids had a ball and wore themselves out.

The Souths vs. The Madsens - Dominic was just a little confused. He thought the object of the game was to catch the birdie - not hit it.

Maren was busy pushing four kiddos at once.

All the women and some of the kiddos.

We had fun. We'll have to do it again. I love having get togethers where nobody has a mess left to clean up!

My Little Bros

I'm guilty. I haven't been blogging. Again. I know. I know. In my defense, we haven't been up to too much that is interesting. At least nothing that I have been able to catch on camera. Infact, I finally uploaded the pics off my camera today, and there were picks from our last trip to the zoo. I don't even remember when that was, maybe more that a month ago? If there was an award out there for moms who love thier kiddos but cannot seem to grasp the concept of using a camera, I would be a total shoe in. Hey, I admit my flaws. It runs in my family. None of us take pictures. Not a one.

I am making a new vow. I vow to TRY to take more pics of my cute kiddos. I vow to TRY to blog more frequently. I'll settle for blogging after only hints that I haven't been up to par from five people instead of a zillion! Hey, I'm a realist.

Since I don't have any good new pics, I thought I'd post some of my little bros from Labor Day weekend. I have two little (yeah, I know I shouldn't call 'em little - but they will always be little to me!) brothers that I don't get to see often enough. We all live just far enough apart that it's just not possible to visit regularly.

I am bummed because we were not able to make it back to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend for the air show. My little bro Paul still lives in the area, and my other bro John was in town for the air show. John is a member of the Blue Angels Demo team. I for the life of me cannot remember his position or what the letters on his patches mean, but I do know he is a plane mechanic.


Here's John looking all Top Gunish


Another shot of my little bro in his uniform. I guess you aren't allowed to talk to them while they are wearing their sunglasses. Don't ask me, 'cause I don't know.


Here is my littlest bro Paul with his son Payton. Notice the Cavs jersey. Oh yeah, we are Browns, Indians, and Cavs fans all the way. My bros were not happy Paul chose to attend Purdue, 'cause Ohio State has a better football team! You know, the important way to choose your graduate school.

My whole family got to go down and meet the crew and pilots and check out the planes. My boys would LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Next year I am hoping to at least hit the air show in Indy. I sooooo want to see my bro in action. I swear, I just can't picture him all serious at work.

You Might Be A Redneck

Everyone knows Jeff Foxworthy and his You Might Be A Redneck jokes. And if you haven't heard of them, then I really don't know what planet you live on. Anyways, as I was looking out my backdoor this morning, while my boys and two dogs we running around barking, yelling, and screaming like banshees (and trust me, you couldn't guess which was doing what) I realized my family totally belongs in the redneck category. Yep, I admit it.

For example, you might be a redneck if you let you kids play outside in their pajama tops and underwear (or diaper).



Yep, that's me. Infact during the summer, I don't get my kiddos dressed until we go somewhere or it's the afternoon.

You might be a redneck if you let your kids run around in dirty, filthy, stained clothes that belong in the garbage.


Doesn't he make such cute faces?

Yep, that's me again. Infact, that is why I don't get my kiddos dressed in the morning. They stain all of their clothes. This shirt used to be white, long long ago. All of their yucky clothes become pjs and then I let them play in the back in their pjs.

You might be a redneck if it looks like a crayola factory exploded in your back yard.



You got it, that's us again. This is just a small example of what my backyard looks like. We have colored sand EVERYWHERE! On the back of the house, the side of the garage, and spread all over the lawn. Yep, my kiddos like to fling sand, what can I do.

You might be a redneck if your backyard is overgrown, filled with toys, and permanently has a hose running through the middle of the yard. Oh yeah, and two crazy boys and two crazy dogs running around like maniacs at eight something in the morning.


There's my Domykins in his "pjs" again.

Okay, this picture doesn't do my yard justice. This is a picture of a cleaned up back yard. Yep, I said it - cleaned up backyard. There are toys and shovels and more toys everywhere. Not to mention weeds. Those suckers just keep on coming back. I was picking up the toys several times a day, then once a day, now just when it rains and when Paul cuts the grass. They just go right back out after I've cleaned it up. So I gave up. It would be so much better if we had a privacy fence!

You might be a redneck if you have giant holes in your backyard.



Yep, that's us again. This is just one of many holes in our yard. Monty loves to dig. He started it. Then Ashton thought it would be great to get in on all the fun. Now both of the boys dig in the dirt. Then move it to the sandbox (which becomes a mixture of colored sand, water, and mud). Then they put water in the hole and make mud. Then they play in it. Hence only letting the boys play in their dirty, stained, belonging in the garbage "pjs."

Then they bring it all in the house. But I am not even going there. That's for another day. I have given up on the backyard. They just have so much fun that I let them go to town. I have consigned myself to stripping them at the door, wiping them down, and half of the time directing them to the tub. Then I go around wiping up mud and dirt prints, soaking clothes that will never come clean, and vacuuming up dirt and sand from the strangest places in my house. So, I might be a redneck, but I am happy with it! I wonder if all boys are like mine?

Welcome Home Daisy

Along with just about everyone else in Tippecanoe County, we went to the fair. Fun was had by all. Dominic manhandled any animal he could get his grubby little hands on.



We went on Family Night, so everyone was able to go on rides. We all went on the giant slide a few times. Dominic loved it. Ashton went on the roller coaster a couple of times. We had to force him to walk away from it.


You can only see Paul, but Ashton was next to him screaming!

Then we did something that I am sure most people didn't do at the fair. We adopted a dog! I knew Paul was up to something. He was on the look out for the Humane Society. When we were walking to the fair, dogs went by with bandanas that said "Adopt Me." That was all it took. Now Daisy has joined our family.



She is a small dog. Quite a bit smaller than Monty. We couldn't bring her home until today because she wasn't scheduled to be spayed until yesterday. When I picked her up, the vet told me she needs to take it easy for a couple of days. Yeah right, a dog in a new home with 2 kiddos and another dog. I don't see any easy going any time soon. She and Monty are already best pals. Well at least in Daisy's eyes. Monty just wants to sleep under the table, but Daisy keeps joining him and wanting to play.

We went to see her twice over the weekend. It was so sad seeing the dogs who obviously had been mistreated. There was this huge dog in the kennel next to Daisy, and when it saw Paul, it ran to the back of the kennel and tried to hide from him. Other dogs were shaking and whining. Daisy had been abandoned in a house. So I am sure we are going to have issues to deal with. I had a feeling she wouldn't be house broken, and she's not. But she looks so happy now.

We were happy that the place we adopted her through works with Petfinder.com. They do a lot of good work. So if there are any animal lovers out there, who don't want to or aren't able to donate time, money, or a home to animals in need please click every day here. We have it saved to our favorites and at least once a day click on each tab across the top for hunger, breast cancer, rainforest, animal rescue (which also works with Petfinder.com), and a couple other things. It takes 10 seconds max to help even the tiniest of bits.

Saucy

Paul is soooooooo proud. I am proud of him. He doesn't think his mom actually believes it. Paul made the sauce! And it turned out great! Yep, that's right. Paul doesn't have to rely on his mom coming out and making the sauce and us freezing enough to last until she comes out again. We have a freezer full, all thanks to Paul.

Until recently, Paul's mom was the only one in the entire family who could make the sauce (at least where it turned out right). Paul decided to give it a go, it's been quite a few years since he has tried. He added all the right ingredients: pork ribs, italian sausage, and ONLY 52 meatballs. He sounded said when the count was 52. But I explained that we are only a family of 4, we don't need a million meatballs.

He called his mom to tell her to move outta the way, there is a new sauce maker in town. He is not so sure she believed him on how good it tasted.


It was excellent!

I have to admit I was leary myself, but he did a fabulous job.

Camping

Friday night Paul took BOTH the boys camping with Joe and Jase Holdaway. I told Paul he was a brave soul, what with taking Dominic and all. They had fun. At first. Here are some happy pictures.



The boys played at the playground, ate dinner, roasted marshmallows, and watched tv. Yep, they watched tv. Because how would camping be complete without getting to watch a movie too?
Then the fun started to end. The boys decided to check out the river.


Here is the river.


Here is Dominic when Paul dragged him away from the river. The water was soooooo calling his name!

Then things started to get worse. Bedtime came. And went. And at 3:30 a.m. Paul threw in the towel and brought Dominic home. The poor kiddo had been crying on and off all night! It scared me half to death waking up to someone in my bedroom with no lights on! Dominic grabbed on to me like he hadn't seen me in years and sobbed some more. After a few minutes of consoling him, to bed he went. Paul returned to the campsite.

Dom woke up cranky the next morning. Lucky me! At the campground, Jase woke up Paul and Ashton around 7 a.m. and the boys got back to having some fun. They cooked breakfast and went hiking in the woods.


I just love this picture of Jase and Ashton. Aren't they cuties!

All in all a good time was had by all. Just not all at the same time. They want to go again this year, just not with Dominic!

Blueberries

I fianally have a working computer! It had a miraculous full recovery. I am sitting here, crossing my fingers as I type hoping this is a permanent fix.

I know I haven't posted in a long time. It was the computer, I swear. And maybe a bit of my laziness. And we have been busy too.

I took Dominic blueberry picking while Paul took Ashton to his first dentist appointment. It was crazy busy when we got there. That's fine, I can deal with busy. I got out of the van and a gust of wind blew out a contact. That never happens. Ever. Okay, so I can deal with only seeing out of one eye on a sunny day.

Dom and I got to picking. He prefers the green blueberries. Only green. The bucket must be filled with green ones only. If mommy has the audacity to put blue ones in, then they must get thrown out. Fine, I can deal with an 18 mo. old who thinks green blueberries are the way to go.

We were going well for about a half hour. Then Dominic started to get needy. I had to pick a few berries, rub Dom's back, give him a hug, and then resume the cycle. That lasted about 15 minutes before I said I give up. I can handle busy, walking far with a 30 lb. kid, drinks and berries, squiting and seeing 8 blueberries where there was only one, a know it all kiddo - but a draw the line at a crying, needy little monster. We left with only six pounds picked. Yikes. But he was done for.

Paul went back that night with Ashton and they had a ball. They picked more and Paul insisted I make a blueberry pie. Now here's the thing. I don't bake. I can't. I have given up. If it doesn't come from a box, count me out.

But it actually came out well. And, it only took me two attempts to make pie crust! Something I have never been able to do before. Yeah, I know it is easy. At least that is what everyone tells me. But I have never had a successful crust. Yay, I am so proud.


I over cooked it a little, but I don't care. It was still good!


This is the face Dom made when he took a bite.

Dom was surprised to learn that blueberries are not bananas. You know, the only fruit or vegetable that he will eat. So he decided to eat the crust only. And if any blueberry accidently got in his mouth, he would spit it all over himself. Yep, that's my boy. Ashton, however, loved eating a pie from the blueberries he picked. He was so proud.


He is just way too happy here!