Buckeye Ag Day 3/14/09

On March 14th the kids had another pig show here in Buckeye. It was a lot of fun. I was a bit of a slacker & didn't take hardly any pictures, I wish I could have gotten one of both of them together in their 4H attire. My parents were able to surprise "me" by showing up Friday night to be there on Saturday. Everyone knew except for me that they were coming, so that was a fun surprise! Papa Kenny, Grandma Skeet, Uncle Deke, Aunt Mattie, Chadd, Tayler, Kenzi, Rachael & Charlie were also all there to support the kids. Brennen took 3rd place with Fat Mama & I think he got 5th with Lawn Mower, he didn't place in the showmanship. Makenna took 3rd place with Priscilla, 5th place with Wanda and then she took 3rd place in showmanship. They are both improving so much on their showing skills! We are excited to see how well they do when it is county fair time! Priscilla hurt her leg a few days before the show and they weren't planning on taking her because she couldn't even walk, Mak was pretty upset about it, I think she has taken a liking to Priscilla! Saturday morning she was walking better so Todd decided to go ahead and load her up in the trailer & take her & just see how she was doing, well she obviously did pretty good because she got 3rd place! If she hadn't had the slight limp she may have done even better. We are hoping she will be healed & walking normal for fair in April.

Garret's Field Trip 3/11/09

Monkey of some sort

Garret, Todd, Russ

Garret at the giraffe feeding bridge

The white alligator

Garret with an alligator

Garret's first ever preschool field trip we went to the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium. It was our first time ever going there, so we were pretty excited. Todd was able to take the morning off to go with us. So it was Todd, Garret, Russ, and me. We got there just after 9 and waited for the teacher to get there with our admission passes and it was about 9:30 when we got in to the zoo. We first went to the new aquariums. It was pretty neat, reminded us of Sea World when you go inside all the different aquariums that are full of fish & other animals. They had the sting ray exhibit where you could touch them while they swam, however Garret was a huge wimp & wouldn't touch them! Then we walked around & looked at pretty much everything & then Garret was ready for something to eat, so we got some nachos and then finished looking at things. It was about 12:30 when we left. On the way home when I asked him what his favorite part of the morning was he said it was when Todd woke up the sleeping lion. We had seen the lion on one side and he was sleeping, then we walked around to the other side & it was still sleeping so Todd tells Garret that you just have to growl really loud like a lion & that will wake him up, Garret is like no thanks dad. So Todd does it, well...it really did wake the lion up! He got up & looked around to see what was going on. So now Garret thinks Todd has some kind of waking up the lion skills! Was pretty funny!

Sumo Wrestling

This weekend we were invited to a friends 30th birthday party, it was a Luau. The food was excellent and the entertainment was the best! They had sumo suits and held a sumo wrestling tournament! It was so funny. Todd ended up taking 2nd place in the mens, I was able to capture video of a few of his fights. You have to watch them, they are so funny

This first video is short, but you have to listen closely as the guy falls he starts yelling OH NO! It is so funny, we have watched it over & over. Just to put things in to perspective the guy he was up against seriously outweighs him by about 175-200 lbs I am sure, so everyone thought Todd was toast, however I was awfully proud of my little sumo, he kicked butt!

This next video is a little longer, it is pretty low key until the end when Todd's opponent, Duane aka the birthday boy decides to do a kick in the air, so funny! Then Todd had to finish him off! (FYI the girl who jumped on Duane at the end is his wife...its all good!)

It was a great time, I am not sure I have laughed that hard in quite awhile, it was just so funny to see everyone hopping around in the sumo suits trying to fight each other! Happy 30th Birthday Duane, thanks for the good time!

Keep the Vacuum Away from the 4 year old!

"Our little HICKEY LIPS"

Funny thing happened this week! Monday we were driving home, Garret had a bag of potato chips that he "accidentally" dumped out in the backseat. So we pull up in the garage & I turn on the central vac system in the garage and put him to work cleaning up the mess. Meanwhile I am putting things away from the car & getting Russ out. I get back out there check the situation he has sucked all the chips up, I turn the vacuum off and he yells to me hey I was just sucking my mouth. As a busy mom I just kind of laughed & finished on with my afternoon. That night we went to our neighbors house for dinner & FHE and he had a gatorade, well he kept licking his lips and Todd tells him you better stop doing that because you are going to get chapped, at this point the lips are really red & all around them is also red. (me still oblivious to what is happening just thinking it is Gatorade and some dryness!) Then before bed he brushes & uses that Agent Cool Blue Listerine mouthwash, he is downing the stuff, and it appears he has it all over his face, I am thinking he can't use that anymore if it is going to stain his mouth like that. So next morning when he wakes up his lips are purple and I am thinking how am I going to get that off his face, so I get a washcloth & soap, scrubbing his face like crazy & nothing is coming off. I finally start looking very close at the situation & realize...oh my gosh...YOU REALLY SUCKED YOUR MOUTH, DIDN'T YOU!! He starts to laugh a little. So I try explaining to him that we can't stick the hose on to our skin because it pulls the blood up to the surface, he is thinking this sounds pretty cool, so he says well how are we going to get it off, I tell him it has to go away on its own. So all day he keeps looking in the mirror and laughing at himself, it looked like he had dark purple lip liner on and then all the purple under his lip and the small area on his chin. The picture really doesn't do it justice, (I took it with my phone because my camera was dead.) Every time I looked at him I would just smile. So his new nickname for the week is hickey lips, thanks to his dad. He still isn't quite comprehending why the vacuum did that but I can almost guarantee it will happen again!

More Pics from Yuma Show

Yuma Pig Show 2/28/09

The kids were involved in yet another pig show that was in Yuma. We left on Friday around noon, stopped in Gila Bend at the McDonalds (I am not a McDonalds fan, but it is slim pickins in Gila Bend!) then it was off to Yuma. We got there & sat around & visited with all the other pig enthusiasts as we will call them! Todd was waiting for the sun to move before unloading the pigs because well...they get sunburned! So we waited around for awhile, then finally they weighed the pigs & got them settled in for the night. We left & checked in at our hotel, Holiday Inn Express which was very nice. We decided to hit Outback for dinner with our friends the Harts, the kids all decided to stay with Mamo Hart and swim, so we went from a party of 13 to just 6, that was nice! We ate our food, Todd was in heaven because he LOVES Outback. Then back to hotel to check on the kids. Brennen & his buddy Cutter were hanging out in the lobby drinking hot chocolate sitting on the couch watching tv, for some reason we found this so funny, they looked so silly just the 2 of them, so of course we had to give them a hard time about it! Anyway then it was time for bed which didn't go so well. Russ woke up around 1 & decided he didn't like the hotel crib, but he also doesn't like sleeping with anyone, he needs his space. He whined, cried, tossed & turned until about 3. Then Todd was up at 530 ironing his clothes to perfection...why, I don't know...it was a pig show where he wasn't showing & he was just going to end up covered in pig poop anyway. So of course Russ was back up again, Brennen & Todd finally leave & I get Russ back to sleep around 6. I get up & hurry to get ready for the day so I can get everyone else ready before Todd comes back to get us. It was a huge rush & was amazing how quickly 2 hours flew by when you are trying to wake cranky kids up and bathe them & curl hair to look pretty for the show ring. Anyway we survived the morning and made it to the fairgrounds.

Makenna was in the 2nd class for showmanship, she used Priscilla for show, she did so well, we were so proud of her since now it was her 2nd time to show. Priscilla is typically calm & easy going, however we found a new side to Priscilla while in Yuma! She was causing fights left & right. It was bad enough that we had to load her back in the pig trailer and take her to the hotel with us because she wouldn't quit fighting with the pigs in the pen next to her. So during the show we were a little worried about how she was going to be, she did cause a few smaller fights, but she didn't get completely out of control. Back to Makenna...she actually had improved quite a bit since the Casa Grande show & I think it helped that she was less nervous and she knew what to expect. She didn't place, but she still did a great job & looked so cute out there in the ring, and her pig cooperated quite well considering what a nightmare she had been the night before.

Brennen was in the 7th class for showmanship, he used Fat Mama. He did really good, he seemed a little more calm & not so ADD. We all crack up at him because he keeps his tongue out while he shows, apparently it helps him concentrate or it is a nervous thing, either way he is unaware he is doing it! Brennen didn't place, but the judge did give him kuddos for his handling when he first came out of the gate, so Brennen was excited that he was mentioned.

So it was on to the market show. Mak & Priscilla were first, she did great again, she ended up placing 5th with Priscilla! She was so excited, the smile on her face when they handed her an envelope was priceless, it didn't matter to her that it was only $5, she was just thrilled to have placed. Next was Brennen with Lawnmower, he did great and the pig placed 4th. So Brennen was given an envelope with $10.00, another excited kid! Next was Brennen with Fat Mama, I feel bad but for some reason I can't remember what he placed with her, maybe it was 6th. I don't think the judge liked Durocs! Then it was on to Mak & Wanda, she again placed 5th and was given that much sought after white envelope with another $5 in it! We were just excited that they placed, it wasn't much money, but the confidence that it gives them for the next show is really what we are looking for. It was a great time for all of us and again we were proud of them for doing such a great job. They also ended up with a few other prizes for participating.

So it was time to load up the pigs & head back to Buckeye, of course this wouldn't go without an incident involving police you know! We made it to Gila Bend, stopped for ice cream at the DQ, (funny thing, they had a list of everything they were out of...basically everything but ice cream, thank goodness, what good is a DQ with no ice cream?!) So we eat up our ice cream and get in the truck to head back to Buckeye, we traveled for awhile then notice the lovely red & blue lights and the siren, Todd is like oh crap I am gonna get pulled over. So he pulls over, the guy comes up to the window asks for all the info tells him he was going around 70. Well we can't find an insurance card (I will take fault for that one, it just renewed in Feb & I never gave him a new one, oddly he couldn't even find an old one though!) So in the mean time we are rumaging through everything, Todd happens to pull a box of 9mm shells out of the console, the cop immediately asks if he has a weapon in the vehicle, Todd says yeah I have a 9mm in the door, the cop says don't reach for it, (like he would!) the cop opens up the door to check the situation, within 2 seconds there are 2 more cops, one at my door, and one at Russ's door. I was starting to panic a little cuz I don't know the laws for carrying guns, so the main cop goes back to his car, I am freaking out a little bit (if you ask Todd I was freaking out a lot, I really wasn't though) then he informs me that he has never had the trailer registered in his name. So there were are, no insurance, no reg on trailer, gun in door, and Garret has no seat belt on. I am thinking we are so toasted on every level here. The cop comes back & says I am going to give you a break, just slow down...I was like are you kidding me?! Only Todd...he gets out of speeding tickets all the time not to mention this could have resulted in more than a speeding ticket. Geez, I guess I should just be thankful he was nice, but I just wish Todd's good luck with the cops would rub off on me some time! So we finally made it home, is always good to be back home. It was a fun weekend & I am so glad that we are able to spend time as a family hanging out & enjoying each other doing things that the kids really enjoy & being around good people.