Surfs Up

Hoots principal invited us to go surfing today. He has a very cool surfer head master. We love the beach but we've never attempted surfing. Last year Hoot was viciously attacked by a sea lice (a tiny jelly fish creature) in his most sensitive area so we hadn't talked about ocean sports since that event. He did enter the ocean earlier this year, but only for a breif time. When Hoot heard that it would be with the head of school and his WAY cool older sons (9 and 10 years old) he was sold. We got up early and packed up the truck Galveston bound. Hoot is like his dear old mom in many ways but he really inherited my stellar athletic abilities (or lack thereof). After a couple frustrating hours the following events took place. If everybody had an ocean across the USA... Then everybody'd be surfin, like Californi-A A bushy bushy blonde hairdo.... surfin' USA! The water looks shallow here, but it wasn't. He rode it all the way in!! Tell the teacher were surfin', surfin' USA!! WIPE OUT!! I don't usually go in the water, but i was so excited to capture these photos. I have tiny bites all over my legs. I'm certian it's a flesh eating bacteria. I've bathed and may spray myself down with lysol or windex... they kill everything.

Comfort

I find comfort in all sorts of things. Salvation being the utmost comfort. While we were on vacation to the farm I was reminded of a childhood comfort that I had long since forgotten. We visited my grandparents (the visit was much too brief this time) and while we were there I noticed a tupperware container of party mix on the counter. Some people call it party trash or trail mix, but we called it party mix. It was a staple at my house growing up. My grandmother and great grandmother would come for lengthy stays and they made many a batches of the salty goodness. It always seemed to be there when I got home from school or on a Saturday afternoon. It was usually on the counter in a tupperware container or sometimes in zip-loc bags (the really big ones). I think my grandmothers froze it for my dad so he could pull it out after they returned home to Indiana. I usually picked out all the nuts and then the corn chex and then the pretzels. I saved the cheese puffs for last and I NEVER touched the cheerios or the dark chex mix.. yuck. My dad would get so mad at me for picking out the good stuff. He preferred that we scoop out a portion and eat what we chose. (he picked too while watching Notre Dame football or M.A.S.H.). When I saw the container at my grandma's childhood memories flooded my mind. Our house was always so clean when the grandmothers visited. My great grandmother would always perm my hair in at the kitchen table and she would talk non-stop. I could walk down the hall to my bedroom and still hear her talking to me from the kitchen sink. Grandma Sally would always take us shopping and we had to make a visit to Kroger. She loved Kroger. (I do too) Grandma Sally would give me manicures and sometimes paint my nails her signature pearl pink. I bit my nails back then so I didn't have much to paint. Both grandmothers would cook in the kitchen for days upon days and clean until their fingers were raw. (remember my dad was a single parent). My great grandmother would scare me to death because she would lie on her back with her arms spread out like an eagle in the sunlight of our living room floor. I always thought she had died. She would say, I'm not dead Shelly, just getting some sunshine. I loved having them in the house and hated when it was time for them to go. My grandmothers taught me so much and did so much for me that I took for granted. So back to our trip. We were about to leave to go to the fair and I snuck back inside, opened the tupperware container, took a big whiff and picked out a handful of the party mix. It brought me comfort and I've thought about it a dozen times since we've been home. Were going to spend this next week in Galveston (just me and the kids)so I made a great big batch of party mix for them. I left out the cheerios and dark chex mix and baked it tonight. Our whole house smells wonderful and I even have my great grandmothers tupperware container to store it in. I am so thankful for both of my grandmothers and the love they showed me growing up. I just let Hoot have a handfull of party mix and he said ohhhh yummy. This is the best! This is the sweetest. I have carefully preserved the small peice of masking tape with my great grandmothers name on it. I'm sure she carried this container to many socials and gatherings and this is how she identified her peice. She was a labeler too. I have two other containers that belonged to her and they have the same tape. I am so cautious when I wash them not to touch the tape. I hope this tape lasts forever! Pure comfort right on my counter!

Every Day Were Shuffling

We just got home from our summer vacation to the farm a/k/a Heaven on Earth... Here's a run down of our visit: 4 days traveling.... swinging, shopping, swimming, fishing, county fairing, antiquing, auctioning, gun fighting, lounging, dog loving, fire cracking, no sweet corn eating:( paddle boat riding, pig kissing, fish kissing, gator riding (john deere), veggie picking, ferris wheel riding, 40th birthday celebrating (not me:) FUN FILLED FARM LIVING and did I mention TRAVELING? Libbie loved her first trip to the farm. The Trum's are probably still exhausted and recovering. We had a blast as always. just hate that its so short. We drove to Sikeston Missouri the first day, ate dinner at Lambert's Cafe and spent the night. We arrived the next day and hit it full steam... Lambert's Cafe Home of the Throwed Rolls Let the swinging begin... we could have done just this and the kiddos would have been totally satisfied Granna scored these awesome transformer helmets.. they were a hit.. so much so we "HAD" to bring them home:) thanks Granna Hoot is obessessed with the word.."Hillbilly" not sure where he heard it, but he wants to be one.. really bad The newest addition to the farm family, Buddy Libbie loved the fair So much so she kissed this pig right on that dirty snout He snorted all over her... see any resemblence here? We cracked up! Isn't this the sweetest... They looked right into each others eyes. Hoots favorite part of the fair was meeting a REAL LIFE ARMY SOLDIER. He was puffed up with pride all night. the soldier gave him an Army laniard to wear and he wore it proudly. It made me proud too. Then we rode some rides This was taken from the ferris wheel cart at the very top I was a little nervous... heights!! and played some games... and ate fair food... we did not eat this, but I thought it was hilarious. I've never seen a "oriental" trailer at a county fair before We got up early the next morning and hit Shippshewanna (i know I mispelled this) this was the best amish ran bakery and deli ever... YUMMY it was soooo good we went back for lunch on the way home The Trum's took us to an amazing auction. we bid right against the amish folk. it was so much fun and the treasures were out of this world. the prices were incredible. I wish we would have brought a trailer I sooooo wanted to bring this home! not sure what it went for, but I can tell you it would sell for 3 times what the person paid for it! I could not beleive what great stuff was there! Do you know what these sell for?? Then we headed back to paradise to swing in the breeze I HATE cats... but this was a sweet cat.. She made her way to the farm a few years back. she was in pretty bad shape... her name is Lucky... and boy is she ever. This zuchinni is straight from Granna's garden... no pesticides, no 18 wheeler fumes.. just pure goodness and that's farmer trum... my dad.... We stopped at Boomtown on the way up and bought the good sparkerlers.. they are outlawed in Texas.. but they were pleanty in Boomtown I'm taking a photography class right now and attempted a photo session with The Doll. It was a complete disaster. She was totally NOT interested and completely distracted with the tire swing right in her view. We took a few shots, got her out of the heirloom gown and she got back to her swing... This child is FEARLESS. She will ride anything, do anything and attempt EVERYTHING. She hopped right on the tire swing and we never could push her high enough or fast enough. The kids slept almost the whole first day of the car ride back... I think it caught up to me today. I had a ton of unpacking and putting away to do yesterday. My grandmother passed on some family treasures that I adore. So I've had to rearrange and make room for LOTS of wonderful herilooms. I'll share those soon. The pictures tell a pretty great story, but I can't express how much I love the farm and the family in Indiana. Maybe someday... we'll call Indian home! A girl can dream. I don't know why the wording is wrapped around my photos all crazy and not spaced the way I layed it out in the draft.. Maybe my friend Kim,,, the real blogger can help me when she gets home from her summer "happy place"