Zearing Days

Ayvarie decided she wanted to participate in Little Miss Zearing this year. The best part about the process is that the girls go to the front and a little bio is read while they put their name in a hat. The winner is drawn! No real competition, which I think is great. The girls are too young to need to worry about competition. Doesn't that happen in junior high?

Anyway, Ayvarie's name was drawn. I didn't expect her name to be chosen (20% chance), but it really made her weekend. She was able to ride the kiddie rides for free (made my weekend, although Ayden was bummed). She also got to ride in the parade with Little Mr. Zearing. Ayden had no interest in participating in the parade (with Levi's group) this year...but Ayv had to rub in that she got to ride in a Mustang, which is Ayden's dream car. That's hereditary, I'm sure...I would still love to have a Mustang.

Meanwhile, my cousin's son and our friend's daughter helped Levi throw footballs at the parade while Ayden was pelted in the head with suckers. Maybe next year he'll opt to throw things instead of trying to catch them.

Little Mr. and Miss Zearing:

Tow Mater (LOVED THIS TRUCK):The closest I got to getting a picture of the kids with the truck. I didn't hunt it down after the parade like I should have. Bummer!Levi and the crew for Minerva Valley Companies:We're glad the weather was pleasant and happy to have the company we did for the weekend.

Summer fun.

It's all about swimming and biking this summer! Unfortunately, the kids don't have their big pool to live in this year since Levi's determined to save the grass. That didn't mean we gave up on swimming altogether. The kids took swim lessons for two weeks and LOVED it. The last day, I was able to watch them since my work schedule just happened to allow for it. We have plans to go to the pool again sometime this week.

It wasn't long ago that Ayden was reluctant to go down the slides alone. Of course that has changed.

Ayvarie loved the slides.She kept going back for more...Here's a random flower from the gardens surrounding the pool. They were vibrant!
Here is "Sweet Thunder". If you can believe it, Ayden requested to have this bike (hand-me-down from Ros) thinking he could paint it. I don't think the modified vinyl banana seat would be easy to paint. Pink is the color it will remain. Do they even make seats like this anymore?

Reunion Revisited.

I was going back to June 14th and going through the pictures I took at the reunion. I'm playing with actions today, so I thought this group of pics would be fun to try them out on. Here's what I have so far...

My cousin and her family...along with my other cousin's daughter.
Before...After...poor guy was top heavy that day.Ayla. I don't know which I like better. Color?Black and white?All three.Back at the hotel.This is my favorite! Another canvas???

Wow...

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since I posted last. It seems like yesterday. I've been busy placing orders, editing, watching the kids ride their bikes all afternoon, snuggling with the baby, simply going to work, and just the usual duties in life.

I don't get the chance to post many pics of Ayden as he is generally not the dramatic one in the family. But, here's one I caught the other day when I was messing around.

I like his expression more than anything here.

Tomorrow I'll be receiving my first canvas order. It's something I've been wanting to offer my clients and finally took the plunge. I meant to print a 1-year pic of Ayla, but hadn't gotten around to it. So, the canvas is her 1 1/2 year picture - the one I posted of her looking down while holding onto the railing in front of our house. When I called customer service to check on the processing, the rep made a comment about how cute it was. Of course I think so...don't we all think our kids are cute?!? I'm sure I'll have pics to post of it later this week as proof!

Have a good night!

Day of Relaxation...

We're relaxing today! We had a busy weekend with all of the Fourth of July celebrations. We caught glimpses of the fireworks in Huxley on Thursday night. Then, my cousins joined us on the 4th for festivities in Ames and grilling out at our place. Yesterday, we took the kids over to Lake Panorama to play at the beach and watch their fireworks display across the lake from my Aunt's house. They always have a great show!


Ayla did not want to be in the water. Our minimal attempts led to screaming and near-tears. So, I let Ayla dance all over the beach towel (squinty-eyed and scrunched-nosed) while we watched her big bro & sis splash around in the water with Levi, my Aunt, and her two friends.
I couldn't resist taking a pic of this cute little baby butt (and she still is my baby, even though she's approaching 2).
This is how Levi gets his workouts... I love how the fireworks reflected on the water. The high-flying ones just didn't light up the beach like these did. Beautiful!

Floods

For the past two weekends, our breaks from working on the old house have been trips to the riverfront. It's sad to see the water so far out of the banks. We made it down to see some of the damage near Oakville. Although I find this image to be so beautiful, it represents what has been destructing the land. The water is not in the boundaries of a lake or river, but has encroached the surrounding fields.I am not sure what the status of this building was before the water rushed through the area, but my guess is it was in one piece and the vehicle inside was sitting on all four wheels. There was debris all over (see the filing cabinet in the foreground?).

Prayers go out to those that have lost their homes and property to this disaster. Seeing how the residents of Louisa County (and the other counties devastated by this event) have come together to help each other reinforces why I live in this state!

Orange.

The color of the sky tonight was VERY orange. With storms rolling through, the clouds were left looking a bit eery between 8 & 8:30 tonight. Here's proof!
The picture of my clematis was taken a bit earlier in the evening as the rains rolled in. The poor flowers gave in to the weight of the water and bowed down for a while.

Ayden's Outing

Last night Ayden went outside of town with a neighbor to watch the wildlife. I sent a camera with him so he could practice taking pictures. He seemed to have a good time, and what a way to learn about nature and an artform at the same time! I'll have to teach him about manual settings, but I think he took some nice pictures on auto.

Here are some of his shots, SOOC.

He said they were pretty close. I think it's all pretty cool!

family reunion...kc style.

I'm ready for bed after a weekend of driving to the KC area and back. We had a nice stay at the Overland Park Embassy Suites after our family ( postponed Christmas-turned-reunion) get-together. Of course the day was enjoyable and it was great catching up with everyone in-person again. Here are a few of the pics I took with more to come...

Ayla (I'm sure you recognize her by now).Shantell. My cousin, who is also my age (and you don't need to know what that is...unless you already do).My cousin's daughter. She's the same age as Ayden.My cousin's son. He's Ayla's age.

hair.

This post is for cm (so glad your name isn't Brittany or something like that...I wouldn't be able to type your initials - ever - without LOL!).

Here's my new style. The pics aren't too bad for taking them myself within arm's reach. It's shorter in back and longer on the sides...something a bit different from my long-layered look. What do you think?

What would a post be without some pics of the kids. The DS is popular this summer.
...so is Ayla's imitation of a lion. Although she doesn't look fierce here, I assure you, she was all wrapped up while growling and chasing her big bro & sis.

house.

Sorry, no cute babies in the post today. Instead, I'll show you where we have taken residence. Looks are deceiving. From the front, it looks relatively small, and it was...until they had an addition built. The back end of the house holds a master bedroom, bath/laundry, and family room. The main part of the house has two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, dining, living room, and a full basement that is half finished. It has an unfinished shower down there. We are nearly settled and really like the house and neighborhood! Now you know where to find us!