Painted Pumpkins

I decided to try painting pumpkins this year instead of carving them. You can thank Pinterest for that! Ha! There were so many cool things to paint on pumpkins on that site that it seriously made me "craft crazy." And I don't do crafts. They are too much work for me. Yes, I'm lazy like that.

Anyways, I was in the mood for painting so the kids and I set up shop on the porch and painted away. It was fun. I think the kids were having a secret contest to see who could make the biggest mess out of their pumpkin.

Cooper won.

So needless to say, I had backup pumpkins that I painted while they painted their own pumpkins to beyond recognition. I think I did a pretty good job. The kids weren't half bad either.

What do you think?

You're NINE

Yesterday when I got home, O ran up to me telling me she had a secret.

 

O:  I have a secret.  Want to hear it?

 

Me:  Of course.

 

O:  Caleb asked me out.

 

Me:  *eyes wide*  Excuse me?  Camden asked you out?

 

O:  *eye roll*  No, Caleb.  My best friend in my class.  He asked me out.  I don't like Camden.

 

Me:  *having chest pains*  What did you say to Caleb?  What is this boy's last name?  Have you ever seen his mother? (I probably sounded as frantic in real life too.)

 

O:  Hall.  His mom, hmmm, no.  (like duh)  Oh, and I told him maybe.

 

Me:  Maybe?  You should have said NO.

 

O:  What?  I said maybe.

 

So needless to say, Al and I had mini strokes and heart attacks last night.  She's NINE.  She's in FOURTH grade.  Is it really that time where she's going to notice little boys?  I was hoping this wouldn't happen until like college or something.

 

This growing up thing is tough.  I don't like it at all!  I swear just last week she thought boys had cooties. 

 

 



Loving this helmet

I am in LOVE with my new riding helmet. It rocks out y'all!!! It looks even better in real life than it did online.

Riding is going great - I am enjoying the Shadow so much. Hooked baby, that's me!

Here's a pic of me modeling the helmet. Hot right? :)

Couldn't be better....

These pictures my babies took at the fair pretty much sum up their personalities. I smile every time I look at them.

Red Fox football.....

Always a Red Fox........

 

It's been a crazy time in our little community......on Friday night, a HS player for our team collapsed twice on the field and was rushed to the hospital.  He died later that night before the game was even over.  The cause was due to an enlarged heart he wasn't aware of.  I can't imagine the fear and feeling of hopelessness as people watched the events on the field.  It was homecoming too so attendance was high.  So, so sad.

 

We had almost taken the kids to the game.  I'm thankful now that we got busy doing some things at my parents house and lost track of time.  I don't know that I could have handled it, much less my two babies. 

 

Now I'm thinking - my baby plays football.  I know it's nothing like HS or college football, but there's always that chance of something happening.  Small, small chance, but to a mother, any chance is a big chance.  He's so small and it worries me that he might get hurt.  After Friday, I want to run out on the field every time he goes out there.  I know I can't live my life or let the kids live their lives scared to do *anything* but it's hard.   I don't want to imagine the pain the parents of our lost player is feeling. 

 

I love my town - I love how Hartsville has pulled together and is supporting the team and students.  Today, they wore red in honor of Ronald Rouse.  He was 18 years old.  Just a baby. 

 

Say a prayer for the Rouse family today and in the days ahead.  They have a tough, tough road ahead of them and definitely need God's love and healing to help them through this difficult time.  And if you have kids that play any type of sport - keep a prayer handy to keep them safe.  Life is short and too precious.  

I passed!!!

You read that right!  I passed my motorcycle test!  Woo Hoo!!!  I took a three day beginner motorcycle training class offered at FDTC.  At first I wasn't sure if I really needed to take it since Al and my Dad have been helping me practice, but wow - I am sssooo glad I did.  We practiced all kinds of moves and turns and curves, etc....you name it.  Some of it was a lot harder than others....some of it (almost all really) was really fun.  I recommend to anyone that if you are just learning to ride or haven't ridden in a long time - this is the class for you.  Trust me.  This is probably one of the few times I am 100% right on something. 

 

I can honestly say, taking that class was the BEST decision I've made.  I can't even begin to tell you all that I learned while we were out there.  I definitely feel way more comfortable on my bike now than I did before.  You learn a lot of "survival skills" - and as a motorcycle rider, you can never know too many of those. 

 

I aced the written test (it was multiple choice and pretty easy) but the skills test was honest to goodness HARD.  I mean HARD.  The DMV skills test is NOTHING compared to the skills test you take at the end of the course.  The fact that I passed is the biggest victory in the world.  I was very nervous that I had not!  I won't lie - I still have a lot to learn and a lot of practicing to do.....I passed that test but one or two mistakes and it could have been a different story.  

 

Our first section was staggered cones.  Not the regular cones in a line and you just weave in and out......but cones in different positions and widths from each other.  VERY HARD.  You basically have to use your clutch control to move the bike, no throttle really.  When we practiced this, it kicked my butt. BIG TIME.  I did a little better on the skills test, but I didn't do it perfectly.  Then we had to do a figure eight within a box.  HARD.  I came out the box a little - but I didn't do horribly.  The rest of the test wasn't that bad.....we ended up doing 5 exercises and that was it.  I just hated that the first two were the main two I had the most problems with.  There's no way the DMV test is any harder than that one.  No way. 

 

I'm happy though - I can't wait to get out on the road and work on the skills I learned and improve my riding.  It's going to be a fun ride ya'll!