Rattlesnake Rodeo

After the Jamboree (see previous post), we headed home and changed clothes for the rodeo. By this time the weather was warming up and the sun was high in the sky.



Finn, Chloe and me spilt some nachos and a large lemonade for our super healthy lunch. Then we walked around and found a bounce house:




After all that jumping, the girls were hot so they needed a shaved ice treat to help them cool down. I had a few bites myself and yum yum!




After that, they got their faces painted but the pictures were not that good and didn't last long. In fact, most of Chloe's was wiped off before it dried. When we got home, she immediately went to the bathroom and washed the rest off.

Hotshots

Bright and early Saturday morning, we all got up and headed across the street to the middle school cafeteria for the traditional Rattlesnake Rodeo weekend pancake breakfast. Say that 5 times real fast. As soon as we scarfed those delish pancakes we raced back home to properly attire Finn for the Jamboree. We had to be to the ball fields by 8:40 for pictures. It was a bright sunny day but it was crazy windy and we were all cold. The Jamboree was late getting started and by the time our game was underway at 10 we were beginning to freeze. Jeremy ended up coaching second base and boy did our team need it. We (the parents in the stands) have used the following terms of endearments for our team: Misfits, Dingbats and the second cousins of the Bad News Bears. The girls try hard to cover their uniforms with dirt and look like they care what's going on but they don't. Giggling and playing are lots more fun.

waiting for the Jamboree to start


Chloe is Finn's sweetest cheerleader


her first at-bat


running the bases


when she made it all the way back to home she picked up the bat and wanted to hit again


hit it to me I'm ready

Every Single Time

Last Friday at lunchtime we loaded up into the tank and hit the road. Five girls and a boy headed to Tuscaloosa for an evening of flips, tricks and high-flying adventure. Nope, not the circus but this


We were given (thanks to a TeeTee connection) eight tickets to Alabama's last home gymnastics meet. It was a long day of travel but we were determined to make it work. There were no unnecessary stops on the trip north and except for one funny incident at the Stuckey's, it was pretty uneventful as well. Once we arrived, we had a very yummy dinner at Chipotle before the meet started.



Waiting for the show to start I snapped these two pictures with the flash. I was quickly reprimanded and had to turn the flash off for the rest of the night. That is why the quality of the pictures went down. We had a hard time actually watching the gymnasts because we had to work very hard to keep them awake and engaged in the show. The stuff in the next picture helped though.

That is like my bestest dream-- a whole pile of fluffy cotton candy goodness. Too bad it was overpriced or I might have been able to eat more than the few bites we each got.

Finn and Chloe after the sugar kicked in!


Hutch after he woke up from his nap.




A few flipping pictures. It cracks me up that a very small part is mostly focused while the rest is not. I would have amazing pics if I could have used my fast action setting but it would have meant using the flash and that's a big no-no.

It was around 10:30 when we got everyone settled back at the hotel and were able to go to sleep. We were up and at'em early the next morning. We went to Mc Donalds for breakfast and then made a quick stop in Target. After that it was on to Birmingham to shop at the Summit. If it had not been so chilly I could have stayed there all day. I love me some shopping. When everybody but me had had ENOUGH, we headed home. We were within 25 miles of Opp when we heard the words we dread to hear "I need a plat bucket". Sure enough, as soon as she got it under her chin Chloe yakked. Just once I would love to be able to pack the car for a getaway and not have to bring that silly pink bucket. No matter how short a trip it is, we use it Every Single Time. So after she was done, I got the privilege of riding the rest of the way home with that bucket perched on the dashboard and the a/c blowing in my face to dissipate the smell. You may ask yourself why we didn't stop to empty it? We were so close to home and Hutch was still sleeping so I took one for the team. I barely made it without having to use the bucket myself. Thank goodness we did make it home and everybody felt fine the next day.

St. Patrick's Day

We didn't hunt for gold or leprechauns but we did eat green. Only green icing gel and sprinkles but the gel had sparkles! High quality stuff I tell ya'.

I saw this and began salivating.


So I bought these just like I was supposed to do.


Mixing them together gives you this:



Putting it into muffin tins looks a little like this--


Giving free reign with the icing for three each makes two girls look like this:


Sprinkles mid-sprinkle


Just one more dab will do me


These are the giant ones I made and yes I know they look very little like the computer recreations in the ad but ask me how they taste---pretty darn good. Oh and it was Chloe's idea to make some happy and some sad.

What's New?

Not a whole lot here. The weather is warming up some which I love. I don't love the pollen that has started flying around. In fact, I feel pretty rotten. I think I will get over it though. This weekend brings big events that I can't wait to do. Pancakes for breakfast, Tball Jamboree, and Rattlesnake Rodeo on Saturday and our picnic and egg hunt on Sunday. I am planning on making a special dessert for the picnic. What do you think? Can I do it? Now to catch up from the last week or so----


Such a sweet smile


Letting kids dress themselves is dangerous for your eyes!


More Hutch cute-ness


I really feel for him sometimes. On this particular day, they decorated his playmat and called it a parade float. They also put maracas and a purse on his arm so he would look better.


Bumbo time!


I told you I don't like tummy time!


I totally played around with he colors (if you can't tell) and liked the green. It helps to hide the red that was the actual color of his face!

Funny Stuff

A couple funny quotes from these parts:

Chloe upon waking up in the morning: H is for hungry. I need breakfast.

Finn teaching Chloe in school: Now we need to draw penguins.
Chloe: Okay, I'm drawing a boy penguin.
Finn: No, it has to be a girl penguin.
Chloe: Okay, it's a girl penguin with a mustache.

Muffin Tin Monday- St. Patrick's Day

Another round of muffin tin fun at HCO and this week's theme is green/St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy! we had mini 4 leaf clover sandwiches and jigglers and shamrock chips.


So it's a coffee filter not a tin but oh well. This one says "The luck of the Irish be with you".


And this one says "Don't forget to kiss the Blarney Stone".

Just when I think I will catch up.....

I get further and further behind. This time though I have a really good excuse. The weather has been unbelievably gorgeous the last several days so we have been outside as much as possible. So much so that Finn and Chloe are already sporting a little sunburn. Guess I should put sunscreen on the shopping list. Lots of exciting things are on the agenda for the rest of this month and I can't wait. Hopefully I will be able to fill ya'll in before April gets here.


Finn wrote her first sentence without help. It says "Mama I Love when I play". She is also starting to read and is picking up more and more sight words every day. Her most recent one was "Dr." from the Dr. Pepper bottle. Pure genius I tell ya'!


I hope you can read this letter by enlarging the picture. If you can't, then in short form I was nominated to be included in a Who's Who book by some random company for my recent professional achievements or some such hogwash. I am proud of my achievements in nose wiping and diaper bag packing, but I don't need to be on a list for that.


This is our free 8x10 we received for posing for the church directory. I told you long ago the picture was bad and here's proof. Out of 20 pictures this was the best we had.


Halloween flashback-- I finally got my copy of this picture in the mail and had to share. I hope whatever Finn chooses for her costume this year, she enjoys it as much as she did the dalmatian one.




These were taken at a local fundraiser called Cookies and Character$ aka overpriced admission for questionable likenesses and mass produced sugar cookies. The girls did have fun though and that is all that matters.



At the cookie fundraiser, Jeremy bought each girl a balloon. One lost its string in the kitchen and the chair stack was Finn's creative way to reach it. Thank goodness she did not actually climb on them and try it out. The other balloon got trapped in the ceiling fan in our bedroom approximately 1.75 seconds after I said "make sure that balloon doesn't get close to the fan."



In process pictures of a delicious cheesecake dessert I made for a covered dish dinner at church. I do not have a finished product picture because I took them to church without the cherry topping and they were gone in a heartbeat.


This came off one of my pens. Why in the world do you need to see this? Because the story about how I caught Finn holding it to Hutch's head and calling him an alien is a lot funnier with visual aids. (and yes that is pretty much the whole story)


Hutch turned three months old Feb. 29th. Well he would have if we had had a Feb. 29th this year. This picture was actually taken March 2nd or February 30th, whichever way you want to look at it. At three months, Hutch is mastering his laugh and gives the bestest smiles. He loves to talk and has been known to preach and testify. He has not yet rolled over but I blame myself for that one. He hates tummy time even more now and I just plain forget to make him do it. I'm trying to be better but he will do it eventually. No worries. The other big news in Hutch world is he has a tooth. It will be a few weeks I think before it is all the way out, but you can see it and feel the tiniest tip of it. I am not ready for him to have teeth. I guess we will skip baby food and head straight to ribeyes and t-bones.


Chloe invented a new way to ride her tractor!




Giggles and fun in the sun!