Found a new AMAZING blog = GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to Janel, I found this really cool blog! Check out her stuff - isn't it to drool over?!

  Plus, they're having a giveaway... who wouldn't LOVE this dress for their little girl?!

So here's my shout it out! Go "be-fan" them and enter for your little girl!

I trust you'll treat her well.

Dear World:

...I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crispy dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well. 

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning ... and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Good Bye"... and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse. 

Now she'll learn to stand in line ... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears to the sounds of school-bells ... and deadlines ... and she'll learn to giggle ... and gossip ... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry. 

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in a sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about important things. Like grades ... and which dress to wear ... and who's best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes. 

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and father and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ... which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest man in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time ... she'll learn what it means to be a member of a group. With all it's privileges. And it's disadvantages too. 

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk. 

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman. 

 




So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crispy dress ... with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

(Thank you, Lani, for the poem... and for making me cry!)

Today I sent my baby girl to School! Granted, it's only their 'evaluation day' and the real thing doesn't happen until Monday, but today was the first day of school, in our minds.
  Jim is in California and won't be flying home until tonight so she called him on the way to school. It was fun to listen to her tell him all the things she thought they might do!
  Good thing there was a parents meeting after I took her to her (temporary - teachers haven't been assigned yet) classroomm - no way was I going to go in there bawling and blowing my nose and making a scene! It was sad coming home without her though, with only one little boy in the vehicle... he thought so too!
  She was a bit nervous after she got in the classroom and realized her 'best friend' wasn't in the same room as her! I'm sure she got over it quickly and will be all smiles when I pick her up this afternoon... I know I will be!
 

Where did she go?

Someone once said to "Remember the last's". We're always so focused on the "First's" - first steps, words, first pig-tails... what about the last? When was the last time I kissed these chubby little girl cheeks? When was the last time I hugged this little toddler-girl, so vibrant and full of life? When was the last time I saw her and did I even notice she was gone??? (pic summer '08)

When did she turn into this little girl? The one who can count by 5's and can read and write all the names of her preschool classmates - the one who is learning to roller-blade? The little girl who prays so innocently for "help to be a good girl, for ever and ever"? (pic summer '10)

Time doesn't seem to be moving that quickly from day to day but I was shocked to see this picture of her that my Mom took, after having just come across the previous picture the day before. Have I spent enough time teaching her the important things? Have I made the right impressions on her to prepare her for the conflicting impressions that will be made as she starts Kindergarten in 3 weeks?

Weathered out

Boy, have we had our share of weather this year! Started out on May 24 with 60 mph winds / 80 mph gusts. "Hurricane Winds" they called them... and it blew all day long. We managed to avoid the hail & tornado's that were seen north and west of us. June 1 brought a lovely snow hail storm! It didn't do much damage to the houses or cars but a lot to the trees and flowers / gardens that were trying to grow! 

 

June 9th found us on our way north up 385. As we were approaching Bridgeport, we knew we were in for a storm of some sort. Didn't know until we got closer how wicked it might be! Not the kind of storm you want to be driving into - that's MY opinion, anyway! Reading comments online from various storm chasers that saw this same storm, they felt like there was a tornado but it was concealed by all the rain.

And you know it's a good storm when you see the big storm chaser armored car!

June 20th, we were on our way home (via Cheyenne) from Chugwater, Wy. The hail hit just as we were leaving, baseball size, of course! It was very sporadic - thankfully - so we didn't have a lot of damage from it, just a few new dents on our car! So as we were going through Chugwater, we heard the sirens. The clouds were terrible to the north and pretty mild (mostly blue sky and sun) to the south, and we were headed south, so decided to hurry up and get out of the bad stuff! As we turned south on to the on ramp of I-25, there we see the tornado, in the distance in front of us! As scary as that was, it was neat to actually SEE a tornado! (and thank goodness for cell phones with cameras on them!) It went back up after a few minutes and then a little tail snaked down, but then it was pretty much done so we headed on to Cheyenne for a YUMMY father's day supper at Outback! (sorry, no father's day photos :( )

10 Years of Memories

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Contest at the hen house...

Check it out... my closest claim to fame!

The Prairie Hen Speaks Her Mind

(and win a beautiful Longaberger Wrought Iron Cookbook Holder!)

Riccar has been busy...

(Riccar is my sewing machine, silly!)

I'm REALLY happy with the way this one turned out! I can't wait to see pictures of my Niece Jessi in it!

Feeling domestic

I've been feeling the itch lately to pull my new (to me) sewing machine and serger out and put them to good use! I've been drooling over several sewing blogs and tutorials and then last month I stopped in at Joanns and bought some adorable fabric. It's been rainy and wet the last few days so I decided it was time to start creating! I did most of it yesterday and last night and when Kyrie saw it she was begging for me to finish it so she could wear it to school. I finished it about 11:40 - in time for her to wear it to school at 12:05!
Here's the tutorial if you're interested!

It's great for twirling too!

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I would do a few things different next time... the tutorial doesn't say anything about what to do with the pockets in the back when you're cutting off the jeans, and I didn't want to pull them off so I just left the tops intact, took the seams out of the bottom part and then hemmed them under when the rest was done.
Next time, I'll make the denim part shorter so it's not so tight on her hips. But all in all, I really like it!
(and THANK YOU to those who donated old jeans for this project!!!)