It was a difficult week.
Fortunately, there were some things to help keep my spirits up. How 'bout I share...oh, I don't know...ten of them? I'm telling you, if you've never made a list of the things for which you are thankful, you need to try it. Sour moods are sweetened each and every week.
1. We all made it through the first week of school. It was a long week, but everyone managed to keep up with homework, do well on quizzes, and get to bed at a decent hour.
2. With the start of school comes our Friday after school tradition. Love me some half-price milkshakes!
3. Cuckoo and I have spent a whole lot of time by ourselves this week, since his preschool doesn't start until after Labor Day. On Thursday, I took him to the Indiana State Fair. It wasn't quite the same without the big kids.
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| Every year we take a photo of the kids in front of this barn. I was a bit sad when we took it this year. |
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| see the world's biggest cheese sculpture, |
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| eat gigantic bowls of ice cream for lunch (The dairy bar rocks! All that ice cream for $3! All day, every day!) |
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| and see lots of animals. |
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| Yup. That's our duck. |
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| This is from the heat we won. After this race, we were in the finals... |
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| which we also won. Cuckoo walked away with the grand prize of a duck call and a duck hat. |
4. I am really thankful that the woman I threw my phone at and asked to take photos of us during the duck race was kind enough to look past my boldness and honest enough to not take off with it.
5. While it makes me nervous about what winter will bring, I have been enjoying the perfect weather we've been having lately. Sunshine and open windows make me happy. Cooler temperatures make my soccer players happy.
6. I get overly giddy when we have a meal made mostly with ingredients from our own property. This week, I made stuffed peppers with ground pork from our pigs and onions, zucchini, and peppers from our garden. They were delicious!
7. Speaking of produce, I've been getting the abundance of zucchini used up. Zucchini bread is being made, I have 12 cups of zucchini in the freezer, and I've sweetened up my physical therapist with gifts of vegetables in hopes she won't use that blasted scraper thing on the back of my leg ever again.
8. Last weekend, Buttercup and Phoenix spent hours and hours cleaning their rooms and organizing their drawers and closets. Shockingly, Buttercup has kept her room spotless all week long. I can't stress enough how huge this is. The state of her room is really the only thing we ever argue about. With a clean room, we can both breathe easier.
9. I've finally found some guys who can get some stuff done around here. All 4 of the broken windows on the main floor have been fixed. We also had an electrician out here to fix a burned up outlet and go through all of the other things that need fixed around here. We now know what is wrong and what needs to be done. Mostly, though, I'm just glad to hear that the wiring is fine and I don't have to worry about the house burning down around us.
10. I'm thankful for funny people who like to make people laugh. Kelly from This Ain't the Lyceum started a lip sync battle based on the ones Jimmy Fallon does on his show. She made a video, then challenged her readers to make their own. Star suggested I do one with the Cups song. So I did. I just wish I didn't have a bum knee. A good dancing song would have put me in the winner's circle for sure, and I bet the prize is going to be better than a duck hat.
Alrighty, that's it for me. What has turned your frown upside down this week?
Have a lovely day!
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A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine
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FRIST, FRISTY, FRIST FRIST!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
DeleteAre you now reading it so you can make a real comment? :)
Perhaps....
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete1. We've got one more week to go. I like it when school years start on Wednesday instead of Monday. Helps you ease into the year rather than shooting right out of the gate.
ReplyDelete3. I LOVE state fairs! I'm envious; the Missouri state fair is far away and always after school has already started. That ice cream sure looks good....
4. I was wondering how you got a picture of yourself with Cuckoo! It was good you could rely on the kindness of strangers.
5. Yeah, I'm afraid we're going to pay for this milder than usual summer.
7. The PT shaved your legs for you? What a service! ;)
8. She's a peach! Wish she would influence MY daughter to clean her room and keep it that way!
10. You are darling in the video! Love your little helper on your right, too. Looks like a fun challenge!
1. Me, too. We normally start in the middle of the week, too. Much easier for everyone that way.
Delete3. We are big fans of both state and county fairs. Always something fun to do. Ours used to be the week before school started, but then the beginning of school keeps getting moved up. Now, the fair goes for two weeks, at least half of which is after everyone is already in school.
4. I knew someone would ask if I didn't mention it. :)
5. I'm shivering already.
7. I wish. This scraper thing was on the back of my knee, and it was a horrible combination of tickle and pain. Awful I tell you.
8. Well, the only reason it was done is because I made her, and the only reason she kept it that way was so I would take her shopping for some church clothes. I don't care, though. It makes me happy to see her bedroom floor.
10. Aw, thanks. It was fun. You should join in!
yeah, too bad about the knee I bet you coulda cut a rug...but hey you did a lovely job...Im amazed at your cup handling skills... did you have a table in the streets of NY or something? And who was the man on your right? I love the duck hat and that you guys won a duck race! AWESOME! DId you name your duck?
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you much, Miss Zoe. The table is on our front porch. To my right was Turken, who was supposed to show the taco packet each time we got to the point of the song that says "talk, oh" but sounds like taco. On my left, messing with my cups was Cuckoo.
DeleteHe did name our duck. Kirby. He wanted to name it Pikachu, but it was already taken. :)
3 - Looks like you and Cuckoo had a great time at the state fair, and well done for winning the duck race. I've never seen it done with real live ducks - I do hope the winning one doesn't have to be eaten afterwards lol
ReplyDelete4 - It was kind of the woman to take your photos, especially as it sounded like a spur of the moment request on your part
8 - Well done to Buttercup for clearing her room and managing to keep it spotless. Can you send her over here to influence my son please? He's well into adulthood but his room looks worse than a typical student squat!
10 - Love the video and your cup handling skills, and now I get to see close up what you look like in real life :) And I left a comment lol
3. Ha! No, the ducks lived to race another day. Actually, another race just a few hours later. :) I was quite shocked that they used volunteers from the audience. The ducks weren't completely tame. Some people had a difficult time getting them under control.
Delete4. It was nice of her. Unfortunately she couldn't take photos of the championship race. I didn't realize her husband had won a previous heat and raced against us in the finals.
8. Oh, I doubt hers will last very long. She is motivated, as I told her I wouldn't buy her a single stitch of clothing until her sty was organized.
10. Well thank you! I saw the comment, and it cracked me up. :)
What a fun Thursday and you won the duck race too. Way cool. The ice cream looked really great too.
ReplyDeleteLoved your cups song. Too cute.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
It was fun, and the duck race was the icing on the fun cake. The ice cream is delicious. He had moose tracks, but I had chocolate peanut butter. Heavenly.
DeleteThanks!
Hey, you forgot to include me in the duck race! Looks so much fun!!! And I love the milkshake tradition!!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteIt was fun. When we sat down for the show, I had no idea that volunteers were pulled from the audience. It was a bonus, surprise fun!
We all love the milkshake tradition. It's a great way to celebrate the end of the school week.
The fresh food from your farm must be incredible! If you could add a cow you'd be making your own milkshakes for free, just sayin. I'm slightly jealous of your daughter keeping her room clean as I am knee deep in my kid's mess today, trying to get cleaned and organized before school starts.
ReplyDeleteI love having the fresh food. Knowing exactly where the food came from and knowing that we were the one who did the work makes the food taste so much better. My brother has a farm, including a milking cow, so I know what it entails. I'll pass. :)
DeleteIt is the one week out of 14 years that her room has been clean. Don't be jealous. She is highly motivated. I told her I wouldn't buy her a stitch of clothing until I could trust her to take care of them.
The day at the fair with Cockoo sound great, especially winning the duck race and the ice cream! I enjoy doing stuff just with one of the kids every once in a while, just to touch base with them individually. Can't wait to take Lily out shopping for her 1st day of school outfit :-) Meals with ingredients from your property sound great! Can't wait to make cream sauces with herbs from our garden. Hopefully next year. And I couldn't agree more with your statement that focussing on all the good things in our lives when we don't really feel positive at all makes everything better. Have a great weekend, Christine!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun time, for sure.
DeleteWe make sure to spend one on one time with each child on a regular basis. I so enjoy those times. However, this all day every day is a bit of a shock to our systems. :)
That's one thing I've never grown. I am no cook and wouldn't know what to do with them.
What a lovely time at the state fair. Both videos made me smile. Maybe we can laugh and dance and sing and winter will never come. Wouldn't that be nice.
ReplyDeleteIt would be lovely to be able to skip winter just once. Perhaps we should move to a warmer climate... :)
DeleteLove the duck race photo! He definitely has his game face on...your son, not the duck!~May @Achieving Clarity
ReplyDeleteHa! A game face or a "This duck is making me very nervous" face. One of the two. :) That duck was ready to race, though!
DeleteIt looks like you had a great day at the fair, even if it was just the two of you. Duck hat and duck call make a great prize--I was halfway expecting you to say you came home with a duck!
ReplyDeleteLove the video!
It was a great day. He is a fun guy to hang out with.
DeleteOh, no way would we be coming home with a duck! Probably. :)
Thanks!
The duck race sounds interesting.
ReplyDelete#8 reminds me that it is time I cleaned my room thoroughly. :-)
It was a bit of a surprise when they asked for volunteers and Cuckoo said he wanted to give it a try.
DeleteHa! I now have to tackle the basement.
What a great day you and Cuckoo had! I love it! I'm going to need to borrow Buttercup. I could use a little help getting a certain twelve year old to clean her room. That is actually on the agenda tomorrow....I can't take it anymore. I'm reading all these posts about milder weather as I sit here in the air conditioning because it is hotter than Hades in Florida right now. Don't even get me started on the humidity!
ReplyDeleteYes we did. She is a good organizer when she feels like it. Just wish she felt like it a lot more often...
DeleteWe normally get some really hot weather during August especially, yet we haven't hit 90 yet this year. Bizarre.
Love that duck race! What a great memory - and though a bit sad for you without the big kids, it's nice that Cuckoo had a great special day of his own. And topped it off with that great duck hat!
ReplyDeleteIt was a memory will talk about for years. No one in our family had ever done anything like it before.
DeleteHe loves his hat. Of course, why wouldn't he? :)
Congrats! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the little boys were all sorts of "help". :) I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and that it made you smile. Yay for frist!!!
He never took it off the rest of the day. Thank goodness, indeed!
Love the duck hat! State fair's are fun, and I think Midwestern ones are best. Although I say that having only been to the one in my home state, so what do I really know? Anyway, I agree that taking a moment to find the blessings in life is about the best thing that you can do when things are tough!
ReplyDeleteState fairs are fun, and I can't imagine a fair that isn't like ours. I've only been to Midwestern fairs, but aren't they all similar?
DeleteI'd go for the ice cream!
ReplyDeleteAs would I. Any day, any time.
DeleteThat is a grand time at the fair, indeed! Congratulations on the duck race!
ReplyDeleteIce cream for lunch is fantastic. We usually do ice cream for dinner on some ridiculously too hot to eat day in the summer...but somehow we haven't done it yet this year! We need to fix that.
Going to watch your video now...
Glad your back to school is going well for everyone!
Thanks!
DeleteIce cream for dinner! Tonight would be a perfect night. :)
What a great day you and Cuckoo had and for it to be announce must have been the best day - for sure - Yay for ice cream and clean bedrooms - Amelia is the same we argue about the state of her room and that she never puts her shoes away,
ReplyDeleteStuffed peppers sound awesome and so does the zucchini bread - please share your recipe.
loved the video is was adorable (hope you win, :))
the mild weather has got me nervous worrying we might need to start to heat the house sooner than planned; I made an appointment for a company to come and inspect our wood burning stove - hoping that all is needed is a good chimney clean. Oil is expensive around here.
One more week than I'm on vacation and then school starts - the summer flew-
Great tens - enjoy your week .
The clean bedroom cheered me up every time I looked in it.
DeleteThe zucchini bread is off the internet. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/
The peppers are just a bunch of things thrown together and stuffed in a pepper. Grated zucchini, browned meat, chopped mushrooms, onions, rice, tomato sauce. Whatever. I also put a bit of mozzarella cheese in the bottom of the pepper before adding the stuffing.
Thanks!
Oh to have a wood burning stove! We have plenty of wood for one!
Have a fun vacation! Summer did go by very quickly.
LOVE the duck race photos!! What a fun experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks! We love to have new experiences like the duck race.
DeleteAwwww...the picture in front of the barn made me kinda sad too. That is until I saw how fun the two of you had!! :D
ReplyDeleteI can not believe you did not win!?! :O OMG...you are SOOOO AWESOME and talented to boot!!!
He looks terribly lonely there, doesn't he?
DeleteWell, she hasn't announced the winner yet, but I doubt I will. There are some impressive entries. You are so good at flattery. :)
you keep doing those Summer things dammit! I don't care what the School Systems around the country are saying ( School System motto: 'hey, sales at Staples and JC Penny are lagging…so lets start school 20 minutes after the 4th of July!"\'
ReplyDeleteI'm serious, I know what the calendar says, so the heck with the weather Channel and the thermometer outside our kitchen windows and the heck with the leaves on the trees…still Summer.
hey, now that you mention ducks! I have not seen a single flock of geese fly overhead in a southerly direction and they can't all be profession competitive swimmers, right?
I rest my case!
I'm going to!
DeleteStill summer. I knew I could count on you for some support on this.
GREAT POINT! If the birds haven't said it's fall, it ain't fall!
QUACK!
ReplyDeleteBummer that you didn't win the contest--kind of surprising, too.
Must have been in the air--one of my book club pals had a baby and another one's husband died. This week. Heavy stuff.
Well, I wan't clear. The winners weren't announced yet, but it's not likely, considering the competition.
DeleteWow. It was a heavy, difficult week for many.
I'm sorry you had a rough week Christine. But look! You have some wonderful "thankfuls". A duck race. How fun! Of course you and Cuckoo won:) Did they give you a hat as well? lol
ReplyDeleteThank you. I did have some wonderful thankfuls.
DeleteNo hat for me, but I get to wear it after he goes to bed. :)
I LOVE the barn from the State Fair! Doesn't that make you want to paint your buildings at home? Cuckoo looks like he was having a good time even without the big kids. Being the baby he probably doesn't get too much time without them.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the Duck Swim contest! The duck hat is Adorable. But how in the world do you train a duck to swim competitively?
I've been zucchini-ing out here as well. Not from my garden unfortunately, my surgery and unplanned travel put the nix on a garden this year. I've made zucchini bread, zucchini spagetting (using zucchini instead of pasta), and meatlof in zucchini halves.
I love reading your TToT's!
Gotta say, the fair barn did not inspire me to paint our own. Now that you mention it, though, it would be nice. I'll put it on the to-do list. :)
DeleteI don't know if they are competitive, but perhaps trained to simply swim to the end where the common pool is. It must be hard for you to understand, seeing how much trouble you had with your dog. :D
Our garden was planted before my knee injury, so we just went with it. The garden didn't look pretty, but the zucchini flourished anyway. Meatloaf in zucchini halves?!?!? Do tell!
Oh, thank you! I sometimes wonder if they are getting old.
What? You mean your duck didn't get 'public screaming diarrhea' when you were training him to swim to the other end? LOL.
DeleteThe Meatloaf in zucchini thing...you know when you miss one in the garden for a few extra days and it gets HUGE, and you don't want to eat it because you know it will be tough, or too seedy? Well those are the perfect ones! Just cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out some of the seed area so you have a place for your meatloaf. Put some meatloaf (uncooked obviously) in the scooped out area, make it piled up too. Then put them in the oven with foil over the top, cook at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove the foil, drizzle with ketchup, bake uncovered another 15 minutes. That's it!
Hahahaha! Thank heavens, no. Cuckoo would have gotten covered, and he would have flipped out. ;)
DeleteThank you very much! We have some large gourds, and I love meatloaf.
As I was reading this, I was trying to remember if I knew what state you all were in. So funny Cuckoo starts school around the time that we did in the northeast. He's is so adorable. So sorry you didn't have a great week, but I'm glad that there were these wonderful highlights. :)
ReplyDeleteWe're in Indiana.
DeleteThe preschool to which I have always sent my kids is an old-fashioned place. As far as I know, it's the only school in the area that waits until after Labor Day.
Thanks!
It's hard to believe summer is over and now the schools are back - they are here too. How nice for you to have some time with Cuckoo doing fun things at the fair. I have never seen a duck race! Or even heard of them before…
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe alright. It's just now getting hot enough to go to the pool.
DeleteI never knew there was such a thing, either, until I was in the middle of one. :)
Oh how FUN was that fair day!!! I just love that you spent that precious 1:1 time together!! Too cute. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the utube and SO impressed about the week of having a clean bedroom!! Perfect way to start the year for you two!!
It was loads of fun. It's always a good time when I get to spend some time with only one of the kids.
DeleteThe clean bedroom alone was a gigantic plus to the week. She's been sick, so it's starting to slide, but it was a good week. :)
Ha! Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteYou've done the duck race?? I had never heard of them before. Sorry you never win. The duck whistle is oh so fun, the way he blows it non-stop, scaring unsuspecting people all over the grocery store parking lots and parks.
Just stopping by to see if you have a new post...that Cuckoo must be keeping you busy, lol. Just wanted to say 'Hey'
ReplyDelete