Fall Festival... Fall Fiasco?

I bought our tickets early, so we HAD to go. Well, that, and I couldn't have a disappointed 6-year-old, asking why all her friends were at the Fall Festival... and she wasn't!
Ok -- let me explain... If you haven't already guessed: we just had Fall Festival at Jaiden's school. That was my first Fall Festival at Jaiden's school. Could be my last! (Ha-ha!)
We arrived around 7:30 and pulled the Jeep over a curb to park. Grabbing a flashlight and some light jackets, we made our way down to the insanity below... Sean, Jaiden and I were starving, so the school lunch room was our first stop (after weeding through the crowd of sugar-hyped kids, flustered parents and random teenagers).
Unfortunately, some of the food had already been sold out, and they were completely out of drinks. (Note to self: bring stash of drinks next time.) We finally managed to be at the right place at the right time and grab the few remaining Pepsis... then we made our way back outside to the mob of people. There were people everywhere. People running, screaming, standing in lines, reprimanding their children, clambering for cheap prizes and trying to keep their tickets in order. I got a headache as I tried to balance my purse, the envelope of tickets, the flashlight, the last Pepsi can, a handful of plastic horses and Halloween stickers, a bag of cotton candy AND my daughter, of course! (Note to self: bring a large tote bag or backpack to carry everything.)
Hey -- at least the kids had a blast! Jaiden stuck with our neighbors, Colt and Cailyn, most of the evening as they raced from booth to booth, bowling, jumping in the inflatables, fishing, sack racing, shooting baskets, saying "hi" to friends from school, consuming way too much sugar and getting their hair sprayed wacky colors! (Colt ended up with white hair; Cailyn had bright pink hair; Jaiden had half pink, half purple; and I had green and blue.)
We stayed until the event closed and watched the insanity as people packed away their booths as quickly as possible. We still had tickets left over, so Sean attempted to spend the remainder on food. (Add 4 hot dogs and three baggies of Halloween cookies to the pile of stuff I was carrying!) Then we headed back to the Jeep with our neighbors so we could give them a ride to their car... about a mile away! (Yes, 4 adults and 3 children in a Liberty....) I ended up riding in the back, which wouldn't have been too bad except that I still have a huge box of stuff in there. (Note to self: clean out the Jeep... and don't buy Fall Festival tickets early next year!) ;)

Just thinking back...

Wow. I've been having some of those moments lately... you know, the sad ones where you start looking back at how much your child has grown, and you have a second or two of sheer panic, as your mind shrieks: where has the time gone?!?

That's why I've had to console myself with those photos... you know, the adorable ones that capture moments that seemed so fresh and so clear at the time... and now feel a bit muddled and perhaps a bit too far away to fully grasp.

Some of my friends think I'm having "moments" because I need another one. HA! :) That's probably because some of my friends have teeny tinys of their own right now, and they want me to stop reminiscing about the wonderful baby smiles and the cuddly, velvet onesies (along with the not-so-wonderful diapers and drool, of course) and jump back into it whole-heartedly!

At any rate... here are some pictures of my "baby" girl. Back when.

So step back for a moment, and remember with me....

More silliness

Tagged... I'm it.

My friend (and former SMCS schoolmate) Amanda Tucker (a fellow blogger at Blessed Beyond Belief http://www.blessedbeyondbeliefx3.blogspot.com/) "tagged" me, so I will participate in the challenge and follow the blogger etiquette.... for the most part! ;)

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.



6 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:
1) I do not like cheese. People think I'm insane, but it's true. I don't like it. I won't eat mac n' cheese. I won't eat most Itallian or Mexican foods. Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. I would not eat cheese here or there. I would not eat cheese anywhere. Wellllll..... almost anywhere. I do like pizza. OK. I LOVE pizza, and for some reason, the mild, salty mozerella is the ONE exception to my cheese aversion.

2) Toe rings bother me. I don't get it. Why would someone want a ring on her toe? To draw attention to her feet? Ewww. Feet aren't all that great in the first place. We walk on them and sometimes stuff them in socks and shoes. Feet get dirty and smelly and calloused. I will paint my toenails in an effort to make my feet more feminine and dainty and more "presentable," but you will never see me sporting a toe ring. I'd rather the ring go on a finger...and the attention be drawn to something else!

3) As horrible as it sounds, I have to admit that I like puppies more than I like babies. I just don't get all ga-ga and gooey about random people's kids... I don't have any urge -- at all -- to smile and coo at a stranger's offpsring. I couldn't care less about those "cute baby" calendars and the Anne Geddes, babies-dressed-as-butterflies-and-bumblebees stuff. But I will melt at the sight of any puppy! Cute widdle puppy-poos! (Just for the record: I do not like puppies more than my own baby. I just like puppies more than random babies.)

4) I may be borderline obsessive compulsive. (Some of you are laughing right now at the words "may be.") I love order. I love organization. And I love clean. So much so (on all three items), that I can rarely sit still. You see... I find that there is always some fuzz to vacuum up, a counter to wipe off, a book to straighten, a rug tassel to smooth down, a picture to dust, a group of pencils to line up, a stack of papers to file, a random news article to edit, a dog to bathe, a pantry of food to organize ... by size, height, type and date of purchase. (You see what I mean!?!?)

5) I'm oddly fascinated by my bumps, scrapes, cuts and bruises. For some reason, I feel compelled to study each injury intensely -- at every angle -- and then proudly show it off and discuss how it happened, the level of pain, the color or texture ...and the amazing fact that my body will heal itself! (Weird. I know. But it IS really cool that our bodies can fix such a wide variety of "boo-boos!")

6) When it comes to everyday social situations, I like to be the wallflower or the center of attention. Either extreme. For me, there is no comfortable middle ground. I'm sure that adds to my long list of quirkiness, but if I could choose my "role" in any given situation, I would like to be completely unnoticed and blend into the background OR be the main event, speaking, performing, entertaining or otherwise.


And because I don't yet have a big enough blog network, I'm going to tag:
Nobody!

(Please don't oust me from blogger world. I know I've killed this end of this thread.... for now!)

Blast from the past?

Ok... I admit it; I tried out the latest internet craze.
I went to www.yearbookyourself.com and found out that this would possibly have been my yearbook picture... in 1964! ;) And this other lovely shot could have been Sean, circa 1984. HA-ha!


(I think I look like my mom, except for the random blond streak of bangs and the kooky glasses! Sean, however, may look like this one day... if he ever forgets to get a hair cut! Heh-heh!)



Try it out -- you, too, can end up with a really big forehead or a short, lumpy chin -- or both!