Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet!

Tell me this is not THE cutest picture you have ever seen? Yes, I had to set my camera on the ground :-X *gasp* But it was soooo worth it. The girls and I took an afternoon trip to The Hitchcock nature center!

Well I heard my dad made his way to this blog. Read it and even printed a picture off! Way to go dad! This is big news :) So, in honor of that, I decided I needed a new blog post!!

First things first is Emmy Belle got a hair cut!! Major changes for her :) It was hard to see her hair go, as she's been growing it for some time, but the amount of snarls and whining we lost in the mornings has been WELL worth it!

A local hair salon, here in town, had a cut-a-thon for Domestic Abuse support/awareness/shelters. 100% of proceeds AND tips went to a local shelter. As many of you know this is an issue that is near and dear to our heart. Shannon was supposed to come down, but other things came up. And Suzie was great enough to send along her donation as she had out-of-town company in. While there we learned they were a little over $600! That is phenominal for small town. Hair cuts were $15. So I figure most people gave $20.

If this is what we're in for in the future, Lord help me! A hair cut. Simple, right? NOT when you have a girl involved! NEVER simple with a woman, right? Come on, ladies, admit it!

First is was ALL off. Go ahead, shave it. Emmy has a friend in her grade with luekemia who is bald. Kayla doesn't get down about it. NO! She's happy to not have to have her hair combed or washed! Ha! The innocence of a child :) No Emmy, we CANNOT shave your head! Next? "To my ears". That's a TAD be short, huh? I HAD that hair cut when I was little. It was not cute! Ok, to my chin! As long as it can go behind your ears, GREAT! That was it. Sold!

But nooooooooo..... She wants bangs. We remind her how we had been there, done that. The growing out phase sucks!! But she really really really really really really wants them. FINE! Sh can have them! We had printed out two pictures of hair cuts she wanted. One little girl with bagns (actually a friend of ours!!) and one without. We get down there, she sits in the chair "I don't want bangs.

Decisions when you are 5 are hard. But she looks adorable! Great end result!

Here is Emmy Before....

And after.......

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Emmy Belle..... er Emmy..... er Emilia. Yea Emilia it is. That is what she wants to be called today. I can never remember. Again with the deicisions. If her school hadn't put everything as Emilia (granted it IS her given name, but it was more for sentimental/family memory reasons), she probably wouldn't know it was her name. She surely didn't know how to spell it.

Anyway, Emilia.... but I think she was Emmy that day! Emmy celebrated her first field trip! Off to the famous Vala's Pumkin Patch we went. The place where we would never go without the free-kids/$3 parent discount, because it's over $10 a head to get in! PLUS you have to pay for everything. They picked the most horrible day to have it. It was cold. It POURED. No sprinkled. Literally, poured. We did get one good, misting hour out of the whole thing. So we took a 40 minute bus ride (2 buses full) there, spent 1 1/2 hours there (cut short due to weather HA!) and another 40 minutes back to school! Was it worth it? Eh! :-/ Somehow sinking knee deep in mud with every step is ONLY cool if you are 5 and wearing white shoes! The bus ride was totally worth it though!!

This is Emmy and her friends Kayla and Allison (who was our 'buddy' for the day!)
Emmy and her teacher :)

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So candy day is coming up! Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween! Yay! Of course, in this house, we dress up everyday. But it's still fun coming up with ideas! This year I have made the costumes 98% by myself.

You know how when you envision something? (think..... a rainbow) And it doesn't come out ANYTHING like you thought (think..... the mirage of a rainbow reflection in an oil puddle). Yea... that is the costumes. But the girls are THRILLED with them! Juile's came out FANTASTIC. And I'm even dressing up. Mine is cute. But involves a dress. I still don't like dresses. Never have. The things we do for kids, right? Like spray paint a pair of shoes red and add sparkles!! Yes, you guess it. There IS no place like home! I will be Dorothy from Wizard of Oz! Along with my side kicks Julie the Scarecrow(ess), Emmy the Tin(wo)man, and Jackie the Lion(ess). We will certanily be adorable. No doubt in my mind! Thankfully we live in Iowa. You know, where you spend SO much time (or money) on a costume that gets covered up with winter coast, ear muffs, mittens and pants!

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I have found something that brings me the greatest joy I have experienced in a long time. I have started volunteering at the girls school. Neither of their classes needed help, so I opted for a new class they invented. Jr Kindergarten. Basically it's a maturity thing (so the teachers tell me!). The kids that aren't quiet read for classroomness. So picture 14 energy ridden 5 year old.

There is never a dull moment.

Never.

From picking boogers, to talking about being drunk to talking about how Ms. Killpack's name is like when you 'stab someone in the brain'. Or there was the girl who brought a fried chicken breast (think KFC) amoungst other things in her old crayon box for lunch. Sometimes it seems sad, but really I smile every second I am there. It is the best mood boosting thing ever.

I feel get way more praise than I deserve. I have been called a 'savior'. I even got to plan out their next weeks of letters. But really, it is just something I do because I love it. I am not paid in dollars. I am paid in the feeling that is left deep in my heart from the impact these wonderful kids have on me.

And every week I look forward to every surprising word that comes out of their mouth. I only look forward to when Julie is in school full time and I can spend more time there!

The leaves are falling......

It's that time of year..... Fall! My most favorite season of the year. The perfect weather! Beautiful scenery for picture taking. I love everything about it. The holidays are right around the corner. This year I pray to not hear "we can't afford much" from anyone. Because if you can afford to love, you're as rich as you need to be! :) My 'minnow' baby will be SIX on Turkey Day! Full circle :) She was born on Thanksgiving nearly 6 years ago. Great memories!

Today I did.... well.... started on.... fall cleaning!

So I pull out all 5 tubs of fall/winter clothes.

Slowly, but surely my 'give away/sell' pile got MUCH larger than my 'keep' pile.

Last year, Jackie was a size 7. Lord the girl might knock me out later on in life if she ever finds this blog ::ducks::. This year, a size 10!! Why do kids grow SO much? SO fast? In one year.....

So that leaves me with a large pile of size 7's that at barely 40lbs, Emmy won't be fitting into. Haha Emmy is about a waist size 3T and a length size 6X. I swear, I should go into business making kids 'odd size' clothing!

Then there is Ms. WhyCantPeanutButterCupsBeAFoodGroup (aka Julie) who FLEW out of her 3T/4T and straight into size 6!

So in the end, they all have good starts at least! Children's clothing is a FANTASTIC business!

So then I take all of the summery stuff out and put them into the 5 tubs that were filled with the fall/winter stuff. Pack that away for next year. Next year I'll pull it out and 3/4 of it probably won't fit any of them, yet again. And I KNOW the worst is only to come. When, sure they will stay the same size for awhile, but that $70 pair of jeans is only going to be 'in-style' for one month, right? haha The JOYS of having three girly girls! Lets pray at least a couple of them can SHARE clothes! My parents never got that luxury lol But there was only ONE of me ;)

So then I tackle the empty closets. Oh LORD! Who knew SO much could go into a closet? Tell me why there was a 1/2 eaten Yogurt Tube from Lord knows when! How come there is approximately $12,000 worth of play money crumped into the back corner? Why can't that be REAL money that the people that lived here before mysteriouslly forgot? HAHA

So then I get on this task of just cleaning their whole bedrooms. Might as well, right?

Some things I found
-3 headless dolls (apparently I have plastic surgeons in training that one day hope to conquer whole head replacements? Brain augmentation anyone?)
-11 naked baby dolls (because they HAAAAAAAAAAAVE to have THAT doll, with the REALLY cute outfit on @ the store!!!)
-a moldy milk cup ( I know, it's gross. We REALLY do not allow food/drinks upstairs, except for the cup of water by their bed at night.... I guess the household ghost hauled it up there lol)
-an emtpy gatorade container (sadly, i can't remember the last time anyone consumed gatorade here)
-FOUR empty cups (WITH lids! I am forever buying cups with lids because I live with Ms. SpillsAlot and Ms. SpillsMoreThanSpillsAlot)
-$710,000 in play money (still cussing that the old man who lived here didn't hide money all over in hopes that his crappy family would never find it)
-An entirely pulled apart plastic Hawaiian Lei..... (yes, that's A LOT in case you've never had some cute little kid pull it apart. And then it was pulled into 500 tiny pieces. But not QUITE tiny enough that my hand dandy Dust Buster would eat!) And it's made of that annoying plastic that static clings to your hands!!
-4 1/2 pairs of socks (I've wondered where all the COOL ones went. The pretty socks!) We dug and dug for that final neon green sock. It was nowhere to be found. But, alas, Julie points out we can just give it to Aunt Shanny!!! Smart girl :)
-3 pairs of sandals that I couldn't find for 1/2 the summer. JUST in time to be packed away for next year!


that was just ONE room! Made me dread the next room!

But Jackie is Ms. Tidy :) All I really did was remake her bed. She washed her own bedding a few days ago and made her bed 100% on her own. She was really proud. But after last night of sleeping, the fitted sheet was no where to be found! So I just put a little shelf in there for her 419 stuff animals she has :)

Of course, a picture had fallen and shattered all over her floor weeks ago. I remember she told me. But she doesn't really play up there... because why would she? We only remodeled her room and she has a huge easel (with rolls and rolls of paper and enough paint to paint the outside of our entire house) and floor to ceiling chalkboard, but that's boring, right? lol It couldn't have fallen RIGHT onto the plastic we have under her easel. Noooooo it fell 3/4 onto her carpet. You know, the carpet that EVERYTHING sticks to. Yes, especially shattered glass. That was fun!!

So then I tackle her closet. It wasn't nearly as 'exciting' as Emmy and Julie's though! But her clothing line dwindled from over filling the closet to bare shelves and lots of empty hangers. Mom will fill it back up with bargains! :) I always do!

In between doing all of this, I was baking for Girl Scouts. (our leader hosts a Fall Fenzy Scrapbooking event, we donate food, they [scrappers] pay for it, we [the troop] keep the profits for fun stuff) When I signed up, a month ago, I felt good :) Like I was helping. She wrote everything I volunteered to make and I tucked it away in my purse, knowing I had until the 4th to get the stuff. What was I thinking??? I had to make 2 different double batches of brownies and 2 dozen cookies. Surprisingly, nothing burnt! I opted for Fudge Frosted brownies (with fall sprinkles!), Cheesecake Swirl brownies and cake cookies with frosting. All festive for fall!! My house smelled DELICIOUS!! I guess those scrapin' ladies know how to EAT, huh?! Then I also got a 6 pack of bottled 7-up, ketcup, mustard and pickles. Wow!







Oh! Something else fun that's been happening. I have been volunteering at school. I had to fill out FOURTEEN papers. Don't get me wrong, it's good they do extensive background checks. But my goodness, my hand could have fallen off. I guess I was good enough! I got the thumbs up last week. Glad I hadn't commited any felonies lately ;) But was it really necessary they know what foods I'm allergic to? haha One day, I was signed in, had SEEN the nurse with my own eyes, even waved to her. Yet while I was there she called and left me a message to give her a call haha

So I get an email with a list of what teacher needs what help. I was a bit disappointed not to see Jackie or Emmy's classes on there. So I picked which I thought would be the most fun. Jr. Kindergarten. Yes, that same class that I bitched was so stupid to start back before the school year started. So they now have preschool, jr kindy and regular kindy. Funding anyone?! Ha!

Anyway.... so I go in my first day and there I see 14 kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Wow! The energy was AMAZING! They all settle down and say "Hi" in unisen to their new helper. The teacher asks me if I'd like to be called "Wendy or.... Mrs...... G?" haha I'll go with Wendy :)

The teacher apologized a few times. She said they were being 'off' from normal. I just told her it makes me smile. And that it did. I smiled for three hours straight, I do believe. Other peoples kids, that are naughty, are SOOOOO much cuter than your own, right? The ora that comes off of these kids just cannot make you have a bad day. So I get to help my station. I get three little guys and a little lady :) One boy has autism. Sad illness :( So helpless. His name is Joey. But that day, it was George. We just go with George, whatever stresses him out less. Kyle asks me "Do you know Mrs. Kilpack?" (she is another kindergarten teacher) Nope... don't know her. "her name is kill. Like when you stab people in brains. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Again, I smile. Politely tell him 'that's not nice talk' and go on fishing for letters!! In my group there was Kyle, Lukas, Joey and Madysen. Which magnetic letters were missing?! K, E, L, I, O and Y. Yea.... Kyle was bored ;)

Alright, I've rambled enough!! Just like to give little updates here and there!

A Beautiful Fall Wedding.....

This weekend my cousin Jake and his lovely fiance KJ were married in a beautiful ceremony. Here are some pictures from it:

The girls in their tie dye I made them :) Wedding colors!



Me and my sisters :) You SO can't tell we're all related can you?



I absolutely LOVE this picture. I only wish my other brother was able to attend :(
L to R:
Aaron, Suzie, Shannon, Me, Scott


Andy and his sister ;) Love ya John! :) You can't tell these 2 are related either, huh?



Yea, this was as good as we were gonna get! Afterall they had cupcakes at freewill grabbing and boxes full of 'roll-ups' (Baileys word for Tootsie Rolls). Add in some loud music and they were WOUND!!! :)


My beautiful family! A RARE shot of all 5 of us together!!


My mommy and daddy :) It's rare to see my dad out of his famous St. Michael's sweatshirt. (that was bought when I was in about 5th grade.... so some FIFTEEN years ago!)


I totally missed the kiss :( But I'm loving Jackie in the corner saying "ewwwww" Grammy and Poppy just KISSED *gasp*


Julie 'helping' grammy fill the cupcakes back up. I think she 'taste tested' a few licks of frosting for good measure :)


I swear, all the weird blood comes from her dad! hahaha


The GORGEOUS couple!!!! Their first dance :) They danced to "Grow Old With You" from the Wedding Singer. I love it!!!! I totally dig non-traditional songs.


Shannon's first 1-legged dance :)


The dresses match perfect, huh??!!!!

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The cake I made Shannon :) Sick humor we have. I knew she'd like it. But she LOVED it! :) This is not to celebrate one year of a loss.... it's one year as a SURVIVOR! (I tinted the cake batter a flesh tone and added red for blood too!!!! hehehe)

One year ago......

One year ago many of our lives were changed.

On this date, my sister, Shannon. Lost her left leg in an AKA (Above the Knee Amputation).



We, as a family, went thru the biggest and longest rollercoaster of our lives in those days that followed.



In the end, I think we consider ourselves blessed! After all, not all families that have domestic violence incidents are as lucky as we are.



Shannon survived. She was strong. She IS strong. This couldn't have possibly happened to a better person! As horrific as the accident was, she's a tough cookie!

There are many other families out there who lose their mothers, daughters, sisters, friends to this AWFUL crime. And this candle is lit for them!



Don't sit back and think there is nothing you can do. We all have junk laying around. Make a donation to your local women's shelter. Most of them are private, for very good reasons. Call your local police department and they will direct you where to send your things.
At Christmas time, do the same. Buy these women and children affected by this a new gift. It would probably mean more than anyone could every know.

The Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (CSADV) in Sioux City has done SO much for Shannon, Zoey and Harley. Call them and see what you can do to help! They have went above and beyond any type of 'help' or 'assistance' you could imagine. A great program!



Please! If you know ANYONE who is in an abusive situation, help them!




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Check out this site!!

To School Or Not To School.... that is the question!!

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The bigs girls on their first day of school! That famous "sister glare"!








So the 'big girls' started school mid-August. Emmy Belle entered Kindergarten and Jackie bumped her way up to 3rd grade. (unbelievable, right?!)

We opted out of sending Julie to preschool, for the same reasons that we didn't send Emmy. Here, our choices are limited. You either have an overpriced Catholic preschool (which is RIGHT across the street from us, major bonus!) or an old asbestos filled gym with walls lined in 1970's color/number/shape posters, that was converted into a HeadStart. Yea.... pass!

So as the summer progressed Emmy was able to take part in a few 'test' days to lure her into school. Julie jumped right in. And Emmy's teacher was great about it and included Julie equally. I have to say, we have raised some pretty bright cookies, and I'm not just bragging because they are ours!

So came the task of tell Julie she would not be going to school come August 16th, when her sisters went.

Here is her, less than thrilled, reaction to it all:









"What? I'm not staying!?!? Are you KIDDING me?"



So imagine our delight and surprise when Jackie and Emmy bring home some information about the Elementary school starting a preschool program!!!

So I attended some meetings and filled out more paperwork than an illegal immigrant trying to convince someone his name is REALLY Bob Jones! It was like a competition. There were only 8 openings. The race was ON! My kid is SOOO smarter than YOUR kid!

So I brought home yet more paperwork and started filling out the application. Then it started hitting me. If she goes to school that is all three kids, gone. No one at home. Empty nest syndrome anyone?

We started weighing the pros and cons.....

Pros:
~I would no longer have to watch Dora and SpongeBob from 8am-3pm. I could maybe squeeze in some Jerry Springer or something else educational like a LifeTime movie. Afterall, it is of vital importance that a woman know how (and why) to murder her husbands cousins wifes sisters boyfriend who is having an affair with your best friends moms brothers twice removed cousin, right? How would life go on without a LifeTime movie?

~I would no longer have to make meals..... as in Julie's famous 'peanut butter sandwhich' (which consists of peanut butter on spoons) for breakfast, snack, lunch and snack. I loathe the smell of peanut butter!

~I could have some 'me' time. Ha! What is that anyway? Like anyone would wear less clothes or eat less food? Thus my laundry and dishes would stay the same (minus 4 spoons) Does that mean the dog will stop peeing on the couch and taking a dump by the back door? Does that mean Andy won't need me call Ace Hardware and see if they sell an electric something or other that can be converted into something else that is made by a certain brand and has to be John Deere green? (love ya hun!!) No, but they can give me a number of a place that does sell that and I can sit on hold for 30 minutes while being transfered around to find out they do NOT in fact have that item. Will Jackie and Emmy REALLY not leave 1/2 a tube of toothpaste crusted to the sink every morning? In which I have to used 40 different products and ultimately use a butter knife to SCRAPE it off!!!

And hey! Maybe I could hit the library and actually read a book with more than 28 pages and no cartoon pictures? Our trips to the library consist of Julie running downstairs 100 times to drink out of the oh-so-cool/germ infested water fountain. Although, at home, she insists she doesn't like water. Then she thinks the handicap door opener is the coolest thing since the water dispenser on grandma's fridge!!! Why not push it over and over and over and over again to see if it doesn't the same thing as last time? Jackie thinks she should only have to read Dick And Jane and Dr. Suess books. Those were great for 1st grade, lets get a BIT more challanging in the 3rd grade, no? Fights ensue. My limit of 6 books is FAR too few for Emmy. Afterall, her library bag would EASILY hold 15 books! And she just CAN'T for the life of her decide if she should get "Goldylocks has chicken pox" for the 100th time. MAYBE she (Emmy) will get them!? Or if she should get one of those 5,000 chapter Disney books just to see if mom can lose her voice if she read the WHOLE thing. So, you can see, why we don't do the library often!! So mom could easily pick out their books FOR them, AND get herself a 'big girl' book!! Hmmmm! Contimplating!



Cons:
~Daddy says the hours are too long. 9am-1pm Mon-Fri. When the other girls attended preschool it was a M/W/F or T/T type of deal. Julie is a daddy's girl thru and thru!

~Mommy would lose her baby and would have an empty house.

Call me selfish, but we opted out of it. I need to hang on to these last months as much as possible.

Of course, tell Julie that. To her, mommy is only 2nd best and only needed if SHE needs something.

A few Julie/Mommy convos from the past week:

Julie: Can I have a cookie?
Mom: No you had a snack after dinner
Julie: GIVE me a cookie ::pause:: please
Mom: No hunny, it's too late
Julie: Give me your phone, I need to call the cops!

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A Julie/Mommy convo after lunch

Julie: Mommy I ate all my lunch gone, can I have a snack?

Mommy: Sure, what do you want

Julie: You know those one things you bought?

Mommy: You're gonna have to be a BIT more specific baby.

Julie: Those carmo (caramel) things

Mommy: ::looks in cupboard::....... What kind of caramel things?

Julie: Those long things, you know?

Mommy: No, I don't hunny. Where did we buy them?

Julie: At the STO! (store)

Mommy: What shape are they?

Julie: Like this ::draws a straight line::

Mommy: ::looks confused::

Julie: Just let me call my dad!

::ring ring::

Mommy: Julie wants some caramel snack and I can't figure it out ::hands the phone to Julie::

Julie: I want a carmo thing. That we boughted at the sto. It is like this ::draws line again:: (mom says "a straight line") and has carmo

::pause::

Julie: yea.... uh huh.... YES! That kind of carmo!

::hands the phone to me::

Daddy: She wants those Hershey Sticks w/ caramel in the middle

Mommy: Oh yea! HOW long has it been since we had those?

Daddy: I bought them when they were new, so maybe 4-5 months ago?

Mommy: ::thru laughs:: Alright, you'll pick some up? Thanks for figuring it out! Love you, Bye.

Julie: ::rolls eyes:: *sigh* Nebermind, just give me peanut butter on a spoon for now!!!

<---- this, for the record, is what she wanted. She is my entertainment for the day! Never a dull moment with this child. Plus I am totally taking advantage of it just being her. Trips to the store are SOMEWHAT easier. She just wants to buy every sugarloaded item there is and screams if she doesn't get it :-X Yes, I have "those kids". The ones everyone says "I'd never let my kid act that way in public." That's me! When she allows (because everything is on Julie terms) we do fun stuff :) She is getting really good at painting :) Mommy just showed her how to paint a simple butterfly and house. Using shapes :) circles, ovals, squares, triangles. She is a pro at writing her name and spelling it for everyone that will listen. My favorite letter? "I wis a dot". It's always J-U-L-I wis a dot-E!!! :) My goal is to teach her to spell our last name before she enters Kindy next fall! Yikes! How many of YOU can spell our last name? Ok, Andy andSuzie and Mom don't count! haha ;) We got to enjoy a playdate just Julie and I :) She hasn't really ever had that one-on-one mommy time, so it's near and dear to me/us! We look forward to more in these next fall months! We have also took up a lot of baking. When you can buy bananas for 5lbs/$1 you stock up! Mommy made pancakes. Then we decided to make banana chocolate chip muffins
Julie's first time w/ a 'weel knife'. She was SOOO careful! Very proud moment for her!




Filling the paper liners. She actually only dripped once! Pretty good! She outdid mom there!



First time w/ the mixer too!!!! I fear splattered chocolate (we decided to make chocolate chocolate chip muffins for daddy!!!) on my walls and ceiling, but she did perfect!




Can I mom????


How do I say no to those baby blues?!!?







.
Julie hopped in the tub while mommy tackled the mess! YIKES!


All cleaned up and enjoying a banana muffin. Totally suprised me she picked this as chocolate is Julie's #1 food!!!
She quickly awards herself a thumbs up on her baking abilities! Must get that from her mama ;) haha

Here are our finished products ;)




So, in the end, I think we made the right choice ;) Julie will more than flourish next year in Kindergarten. Then mommy and daddy will have to deal with their "issues" once again!

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to our family's little place on the web! I'm hoping word of mouth gets this around to family! So if you know anyone's email address! Link them here!

This will mainly be kept up by me *Wendy*! So when you see *me* and *I* and what not, it's moi!! I'm the fast typer :)

I'll update here with fun things we're doing and even some pictures!

You can always reach me at mythreegirlygirls@gmail.com!

If you want to reply just hit "comment" at the bottom!!!

Love to all!

Weekend Update!!

As I do this more often (if anyone reads it, that is) they won't ALL be this long! I promise! I just got windy ;) Wendy=windy!

This weekend there was a KidsFest here in Missouri Valley. We had known about it for a month, but it wasn't until the last couple of weeks we found out it was FREE!

Free is my favorite word! Especially with three girls!

So we headed down Saturday. It started at 10am and we got there around 10:30am. (I swear Andy will be late for his own funeral haha) We were surprised to see barely any kids there. But the girls jumped right in on the fun. No waiting in lines!

They did the mini ferris wheel, rode ponies and jumped in bouncy castles.

The mini ferris wheel seats rock back and forth.... if you make them. Out of the 8 seats... 7 were rocking hard core! Guess who was in the 8TH!? That's right! Jackie, Emmy and Julie! Lil chickens, just like mom! They were totally fine until they started letting people off. The brakes cause the thing to shake and Emmy got really nervous. But she survived and even went on again later! :)






Next were the ponies. I do believe we will own a farm in our future.






We have three horse lovers. With Jackie being their #1 fan. Andy's grandparents own a farm and have a beloved horse named, Duke.
The girls all love him and take pride in feeding him! After they got the hang of hanging on, they were left to go around by themselves ;) All did wonderfully!










Then we hit the MEGA blow up thing of all time! This thing had climbing walls, slides, cliffs, punching bags.... everything a kid would love! Emmy went first and surprised me her lil bod could handle the roughage ;) Then went Jackie who could barely pull herself up the wall!


And last was Julie who flew thru it like she had done it 100 times before!


















The 'clown act' was starting. By the quotes, I mean... it wasn't great haha But I have to say, none of the three girls are scared of clowns, so they enjoyed the corny lil show.


His acts were less than entertaining and the sun was shining brightly on us, so we decided to leave. But not before getting balloon animals. A dog, A bunny and a cat that all looked the exact same!



In the newspaper it was advertised "All food donated by FoodLand (our local rip-off of a grocery store.... gotta love small town prices!!) and to be sold at 'old fashion' prices". Yay! I'm thinking a dime... a quarter, right? Some of you may remember that ;) Imagine my surprise when it's $2 for a pork, chicken, turkey, beef and guinea pig hot dog! No thanks to that! So we headed out for some chicken crowns from BK! $1!! Grammy Addy (Andy's mom) met us there and the girls were excitedly surprised!!





Back to the KidsFest we went! Andy called his buddy, Mike, to bring his little guy, Zack! Share the free fun, right!? So we watched the 'circus' while we waited. Again, the quotes are for the lack of 'aw' that was experienced. First off, it was the clown w/o make-up redoing the same acts. Then the 'circus' part came. The kids, of course, got a HUGE kick out of it. They ALL got to dress up! THEY were the 'act's. The clowns and the animals and the trapeze flyers!!! Of course, after running around in circles to circus music for 1/2 an hour, they were more than done! But what kid doesn't enjoy dress-up?!

After that it was off to the bouncy castles and games! As if we didn't have enough little erasers, bouncy balls and other misc made-in-china crap.... but it's all for the kids! Emmy was super stoked to win a pink fluffy rabbit that I think was made in 1983 and probably had 12 previous owners. But whatever makes her happy!!

While in the bouncy castle Emmy comes out and says "I need a break, my tummy feels funny". The teenage girl's , volunteering to watch the Whopper Hopper, eyes about popped out of her head. I asked "It couldn't be all of the free sugar they are giving out, could it?" Imagine, at this point more kids had shown up, 100's of kids running around after getting free sno-cones, cotton candy and rootbeer floats! She got better and hopped back in, only after PROMISING the teenage girl she would NOT puke in the Whopper Hopper! The girls hopped around while Zacky laid on the floor of it and was flailed about!





They had karaoke set up.... but we have karaoke 24/7 at home!! And I really didn't want to hear anymore Material Girl, Oops I Did It Again or Goodbye Earl ;) But this town is a lil backwards as I over her a little guy sing "Redneck Woman" in which some words are "And I'm a red neck woman, I ain't no high class broad". Cute! Then an older boy got up and sang "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" Nuff said!



Mommy had a girls night out planned! So we headed for home. The girls were a little hesitant, but when they realized Grammy was staying the night and Zacky was coming over to play (and whispers of ordering pizza were mentioned!!) they RAN to the truck!!