Next BMX Star

I think I've mentioned bikes are a hot topic around here. Many bikes have been drug home from junk piles to be fixed up, but my youngest has been spending his evenings on YouTube, watching bike tricks. Over and over and over until he thinks he's got it figured out.
So here is a sample of what he's been working on. Sorry about the noise--this is taken with my digital camera and it's NOISY!  Now the goal will be to slide back ON the bike after he gets it flipped around. I think. And we had like 20 takes this video. Over and over and over. Because when the camera came out, he just couldn't get it JUST right. He may be a little bit of a perfectionist.
I also learned he can ride a wheelie almost all the way down our street. Yikes.

Oh The FOOD!!

One of the best parts about State Fairs is the crazy foods! From deep fat fried candy bars, Oreos, Twinkies, to Krispy Kreme Burgers topped with deep fried ice cream...we just love it! This year there were a few we just HAD to try.

This little plate of happiness is a Red Velvet funnel cake with cream cheese icing. Oh my goodness. Danny and I snarfed that bad boy down in record time while the boys were in line for a ride..so we wouldn't have to share. We are such wonderful parents, huh? ;)

Danny's been anxious to try alligator and declared THIS was THE year. Tristen..well, he wasn't so sure he really wanted a bite.

Danny digs right in!

Tristen, well, he takes his bite a little more apprehensively than Dan did. The verdict? It takes a lot like chicken. It just has a bit different texture and is a little more chewy. But it IS good.

Cheese Curds are a family tradition. We enjoy these little heavenly, artery clogging, delicious bite sized bits!!

 Oh yea...

Cupcakes were a hot ticket this year. I'm crediting one of my favorite shows, Cupcake Wars, for the sudden increase in cupcake love.  I got this little beauty at a catering booth I ordered my lunch from. Oh my gosh. The frosting melted your mouth and was JUST RIGHT in sweetness. We did see another booth that was just selling cupcakes.  Corn dog with mustard infused icing. No joke. And no. I didn't try one.

Some of us were happy with the ol' standbys. You know, like slices of pizza bigger than your head. 

Good thing the fair is only one time a year!! Now, I'm off to eat a salad for lunch in hopes to repair a bit of the damage done this past weekend!

Kansas State Fair 2011

It was a wild ride, baby!! Filled with cute bunnies, exciting results, aching backs, funky food, exhausted parents, screams of terror, and empty pockets.

Jacob entered his gun rack-red, Snickerdoodle cookies-red, picture of an old antique truck from out in the pasture-blue and he entered 5 Havana rabbits, which ALL received purples. He was awarded Best of Breed with his just-turned Sr Buck, Rufus, and Best Opposite with his Sr doe, Keisha. He got a wonderful mention in the Best In Show judging when the judge said that Jacob's rabbit will be seeing great things in the near future. =)

Tristen took the "famous" Apple Bundt Cake--blue and took 2 Dutch rabbits. He was to take 3 but his little buck decided to molt.  Tristen and that buck are pretty good buddies and he wasn't too excited with the thought of him being gone for 3 days, so the decision to leave him home wasn't really a hard one. His little black doe was awarded Best Opposite Sex of Variety. Which is 2nd. The best black (Best of Variety) was a buck, so they chose his doe to be BOSV.  His little blue doe he took was awarded a blue ribbon.

Here are some pictures from our great day!

This is Stormy, Tristen's little blue doe.  She's in the judging coop, but she kept staring at Tristen like she wanted him to come and get her out. He felt really guilty.  It was really sweet when he arrived and went to see his rabbits. They both got so excited to see him they were doing little binkies around in their cages and begging at the doors. People who claim animals have no feelings are insane.

And this is my handsome hubby WORKING at the State Fair. He got asked to work behind the tables for "just a little bit" assisting the judge. He loved it so much he ended up doing it for the entire show and I'm pretty sure he will doing it again at other shows.  But it's safe to say he probably won't be wearing a BLACK hoodie when he does.  Bunny hair really likes black it seems.
Jacob also worked. He was a runner-- bringing rabbits up to the table and then taking them back to their coops after they were judged.  It's probably safe to say he will be doing it again next year. He loved it.

Tristen didn't work, but claims he wants to next year. One of the best things about rabbit shows is rabbit FRIENDS and he was with his "pack" for most of the day.

After the show we...er...they...rode a few rides. It would seem Jacob has inherited his mother's stomach. He only rode just a handful before he declared he had had enough.

Tristen conquered his fear of "The Zipper" after a bad ride year before last with his mom. I'm sure my screams of absolute terror and my vocal fear about the cage door coming open really didn't help things. He braved it again with his brother and declared "it really wasn't that bad after all."  Whatever you say, T-Bone!

 Tristen even got his dad to get in on the action, while Jacob and I, and our poor,weak, bellies watched.

 I had can't post about the fair and not mention THIS ride. They strap these people, with their arms behind their head, in this circle shaped device of torture and SLING SHOT them into the air, while the seat bounces and spins from the bungee like cords.

 Looks like fun, eh?? Ack!!

We love the fair!

Next up: FOOD from the State Fair!! It deserves a post ALL of its own!

Seeing Green

THIS is what are life is revolving around these days.

Tomorrow we will be heading to the Kansas State Fair to show! It's been FOREVER so we are all anxious, even if it's "only" a 4-H show. =) Should be a fun day filled with friends and funky food! Stay tuned!!

That September Day

10 years ago today, I was at work. I was mom with young kids, just trying to make ends meet and survive. Danny was driving a truck for the same company and had come in and asked if I had heard that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center.  All I could picture was one of those small recreational air crafts. I didn't think much more about it until people started pouring out of the office, letting everyone know that another plane had hit and they thought we were being attacked.  We all piled into our bosses small office with a TV, and watched news coverage. I could not even comprehend that anyone would do that on purpose.

Work continued, and with the radio on we heard about the towers collapsing, and the Pentagon and Shanksville. I remember if felt like the world was ending, and all I wanted to do was leave and go get my babies and go home.

Danny and I spent evenings and every lunch hour watching news coverage for about 2 weeks. As a mom I wondered just what kind of world I had brought my boys into.  It was very quiet at my house, and I could feel something shifting.  Within just a few weeks there was a navel recruiter sitting in my living room and a husband re-enlisting. Danny, a veteran, comes from a strong military family, and he was pissed.

My boys were young. Jacob kind of remembers the news coverage, but Tristen was only a year old. This year at school, they watched coverage of it in class, and it has really bothered Tristen. He is, in a way, just like we were the day it happened..asking hard questions, and wanting to know exactly what terrorists are and why would they be angry at America.

I will never forget that day or the days that followed. The flags, the tears, the uniforms...  Earlier today a friend that I graduated with posted this in his reflections of that day: 
We weren't Republican or Democrat, Texan, or Californian, white or black...we were AMERICANS. How quickly we forget, and yet remember all at the same time...

Labor Day

Don't you just love those weekends when you get EVERYTHING done you wanted to? We kept pretty busy over this past weekend, but it was the good kind of busy. The weather was FABULOUS. In the 80's. It was even down in the 40's at night, which sent my boys scrambling to find  their beloved hoodies.  Danny and I though, don't think we will EVER complain about the crisp fall air after surviving this summer.

We put away a lot of good food.

We grilled hot dogs and bratswurst from our favorite local family farm. All beef! I loved the fact that I could pronounce everything on the label, and there was only 5 ingredients in the brats. They were DELICIOUS!

 A new recipe for us, but one we will be having again: fried ice cream!

Seriously, I have NO idea WHY I just can't lose weight? Any ideas?

We've been watching our cows pretty close, knowing we were going to have to switch pastures very soon. We deceided this weekend that it was probably time, but needed to do a bit of fence repair first.

 This guy can pretty much keep up with the big dogs now. And I wonder just how old some of those fence post are. They are amazingly tough. Like trying to hammer into concrete.

And this one...well, this one found ANY excuse he could to drive the pick up. Apparently, leaving your hammer 5 fence posts down means you must get in and drive down, and back to pick it up. Was I EVER this excited to drive? I can't remember.

While walking around the pasture, praying I didn't find any snakes, I found these. Everywhere. Grass...er..well, just about anything that is suppose to be green, is pretty much all dead and gone, but these cactus seems to be thriving all over the pastures.

And then we moved the cows. And I laughed. My brother had closed them in when he drove by and saw they were all in the lot getting a drink. All we had to do was open up 2 gates. Dan walked over to Rosie and said "Well, get going!" and pointed to the open gate.  And off she went. And everyone else followed.  We don't have cows. We have 1,000 lb dogs.

They seem pretty happy with the new scenery and greens to munch on. Evidently the trees taste much better on this side of the farm.

We also located a hay supply for the winter. That's been a huge cloud hanging over our heads. Our local suppliers are understandably hanging on to everything they have for their own use. It's amazing the number of semis we are passing on the high way right now, loaded up with hay.
I am very thankful our cows are just a hobby for us. Not how we make our living.

I also managed to get the house cleaned, did a bajillion loads of laundry, weeded..and perhaps mowed parts of... our garden.

This fall weather can stick around for a long long time!!