i have a winner!

so i have a winner for my pay if forward contest! and the winner is... hangel from my little monkey! her pet peeve???

"How to narrow it down? My pet peeve is people who get in line in front of you at Subway and order like 15 subs for different people and need to pay for them separately."

who doesn't agree with that? as for the prize? i will have to do a little chatting with her to find out her likes and dislikes before i make/buy her prize.

not to take away from the excitement of the contest, i do have a few cute photos of my boys... and when i say boys, i mean my children AND my husband!

oh dirt bikes... i really hope that clay can someday repay me for all of my breakdowns i get watching him on that damn dirt bike! and does gerry help? NO! he buys him a bigger dirt bike! and then rides my baby around on it... ON THE DIRT BIKE JUMP!!! i don't know who is worse! clay, who thinks of NOTHING other than dirt bikes, carter who makes constant dirt bike sounds, or gerry who is constantly thinking of other jumps/ tracks he can build for the dirt bikes!

kinda blurry... but clay is jumping his honda 50

and gerry and carter are jumping the sukuki 60.

THERE IS TOO MUCH TESTOSTERONE IN MY HOUSE!!!

PAY IT FORWARD YA'LL!

so since i was lucky enough to be a winner winner winner from misty's pay it forward contest, i am now compelled to host my own. (don't worry misty, you didn't guilt me into it) for those of you who have NO IDEA what i'm talking about it goes a little something like this...

• i won a cool random gift from misty
• i am thankful for the gift and feel as though someone else would love a cool random gift
• i have a contest on my blog and give away a cool random gift to someone else
• the winner of my cool random gift feels compelled to pay it forward and host a contest to give someone else a cool random gift.
• and so the cycle continues...

get it? easy enough right? if you want to enter and don't have your own blog to pay it forward on, that's fine... we can figure it out!

so, if you want to enter, here is what you need to do...

• leave me a comment telling me your biggest pet peeve

that's it. my contest will close on monday july 28th at 9:00pm. entertain me folks! i have so many pet peeves it's scary! HOW ABOUT YOU???

i won! i won! i won!

so i never win anything. ever. seriously, never. any idea how excited i was to find out that i won the pay it forward contest from misty at ourhouse? if you have no idea what i'm talking about, check out swistle. she encouraged droves of people to host their own pay it forward contests.

when i found out i won, it was as if i had won the lottery! i had no idea what i won, or who the person was that i won from! it was very exciting... and i must admit, i have been checking the mailbox like a freak the past few days... and finally today THIS came in the mail...

the box was so cute that i didn't even want to open it... but i did. quickly. as excited as a kid on xmas! oh the goodies!!!for me, some yummy smelling lotion and perfume, fabulous candles, and super cute picture holders.but misty didn't stop there! she threw in some books for my boys (they have audio cd versions too!) it turns out that she and i both have 2 boys right around the same age. oh yeah, there were cool stickers in there too, but they disappeared before i could snap a picture. why are kids so damn fascinated by stickers? i don't get it. don't get me wrong, i collected plenty scratch and sniff and garbage pail kids stickers when i was young...

so, i just want to extend a HUGE thanks to misty... i (and my boys) love everything in there!thanks again SO MUCH!!! and if anyone is wondering, her blog is hysterical... check her out!

now, as for hosting my own pay it forward contest... i would do it in a heartbeat. my only problem is that i really don't have all that big of a reader base (except for you tina, andrew and vicki! ) not that i wouldn't love to give one of my 3 readers a gift, but i wouldn't have to hold a contest for it! is anyone out there other than them reading this? should i do a contest??? anyone? suggestions?

big weekend!!!

so i really have not too much to say... i am sitting in bed staring at my computer trying to get tired. i can't believe that i am actually TRYING to get tired! the thing is, we are leaving tomorrow morning for the illustrious jamboree in the hills and i CAN NOT WAIT!!!

a large part of our crew headed down this morning, and gerry and i are hitching a ride with our good friend madeja tomorrow morning.

just an fyi- this weekend will be a weekend of craziness! that's the beautiful thing about the jambo... but it's a kind of an organized craziness. i will do my best to take a few blog friendly photos to post when i get back on monday... i can't promise anything!

all i have to say is BRING ON THE SUNSHINE AND KID FREE/ RESPONSIBILITY FREE WEEKEND!!!


*** COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC***
there is a designer named Sandi Henderson whose blog, Portabellopixie informed us all of a giveaway. it is a fabulous quilt made out of her fabrics from her Ginger Blossom line. i want it BAD!!! go to Old Red Barn if you would like to check it out and try to win it too... just know that if you win it, i WILL steal it form you! :)

ahh... summer time!

so for the 4th of july weekend, a whole slew of us went camping** at our property in franklinville. it was a GREAT weekend! beautiful weather, awesome fireworks, good friends, and some reaaly great bon fires! my boys ADORE going to the land... clay swims, fishes, rides his dirt bike, and hunts for critters ALL DAY LONG! many times i can't even get him to stop and eat! carter is a little mud obsessed these days... see that gorgeous pond*** in the background? he was happy as a pig in poop playing on the beach and watching the older kids catch fish. although he was very content sitting on his bike riding back and forth through the mud. as you can see... if you look close, you can see his mouth making the motor noises (that he makes ALL THE TIME!!!)

in that gorgeous pond are some beautiful coi and some delicious perch! my nephew garrett was so proud to catch a bunch of perch! my father in law showed him how to fillet the fish, which my mother in law later fried for everyone. my good gravy was it delish!

on a different but similar note... on tuesday we took the boys to wendt beach in angola for a few hours. clay barely took a breath! he was a swimming machine! jumping waves, flipping underwater, doing handstands, one-handed handstands, no-handed handstands??? (he's weird ok?)

carter had never been to a beach and seen waves before. for a long time he stood at the edge watching VERY carefully and trying to figure it all out. he was a HUGE fan of the seagulls! ( if you ask clay what mom thinks of seagulls, he will promptly tell you that "mom says seagulls are rats with wings"... am i wrong?) well toward the end carter decided that he was ok with playing in the water up to his fat little feet... any waves that came up higher, he was NOT fond of!
in conclusion, it was a great 4th of july weekend, and a great day at the beach... our next mission? taking the boys on the boat this weekend... i'm crossing my fingers for good weather and good behavior! ;)

** i have a hard time really calling it camping... my in laws have a gorgeous camper with running water, a septic system toilet, electricity, and direct tv. now don't get me wrong, the rest of us rough it more, but the in law's camper is always a few steps away if need be!

*** i don't want people thinking... eew! a pond! it's so not a typical pond... it's super clean, clear, warm, and fresh. by fresh i mean that it is constantly being fed pure spring water from the many underground springs that we have on our property. listen, if you know me at all you will know i'm not a "let's go swim in that pond" kind of girl. i'm a "let's swim in that squeaky clean pool that i know is practically sterile". just an fyi.

life in the country... i LOVE it!

so typically gerry does all the flowers at our house... ok he does all of the "outside" work. but this year, i was given the go-ahead to go to the farmer down the street and buy our flowers for the yard. gerry ALWAYS gets red and white, and i'm allowed to get pink flowers for the BACK yard. well this year was different... i was in charge! i packed up my boys... clay on his bike and carter in our big double stroller. we hiked the mile down the road to pick out our flowers. since clay and i were making the decisions, we picked all pink and purple-ish flowers! the picture below is our stroller going home... 2 hanging baskets and flats under the stroller and in the special mega sized storage part. *****

here is one of the friendly horses on our road... they come right to the fence and let you pet them... they are GORGEOUS!
well, today was the planting day. gerry left to mow, we went off to the store to get potting soil etc. after MANY hours, we planted 3 and 1/2 flats of flowers! here are a few...

and a few more...
here are all the empty container and tags that clay "collected" so he could take them this weekend and show everyone. not sure what the allure of them is, but i'm also not 6... and a HALF! i have to say, clay and i typically butt heads a bit... we are VERY similar and both VERY stubborn. he was SUCH a good helper today! he was so proud of every flower we planted. he kept telling me how gorgeous and beautiful all our flowers were. he's so sweet! when he wants to be! ;) i told him that i would pay him if he worked really hard. he asked what i would pay him with... when i told him love, he looked at me like i was on crack! i assured him i would pay him with dairy queen and everything was all better!

carter LOVES the wagon... every pile of dirt we had to take back in the woods and dump, he HAD to ride the wagon back.

how disgusting is this??? I NEED A PEDICURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and in closing, this weekend is 4th of july. this is the weekend when a whole big clan of us go to our property in franklinville and PARTY for the weekend. we swim in the pond, fish, hike, ride atvs, drink, chill by the bonfires, drink, eat a lot, watch AMAZING fireworks, and drink a little more.

so, i mentioned swimming... this means we need a bathing suit right? well, this poses a problem. i'm so fat right now that all of my bathing suits are a JOKE to even think about. so i made a quick stop today and tried on a bunch of suits. now let me just say that i had carter with me. i tried on about 10 bathing suits (while trying to keep carter from running free, which would make me have to chase him out in the store in the bathing suits- EEKS!) i finally settled on this one.

ok, i know what you're thinking... a bathing suit with a skirt? why not just wear a one piece with a skirt? i'm not that old yet. it's still a 2 piece... the top isn't too bad... the skirt, well, what can i say? i'm getting old and chubby folks. i'm working in it ok?

happy 4th to everyone... have fun, be careful, and don't blow any phalanges off with fireworks! :)

*****ADDENDUM- yeah, that's a coors lite can in my stroller... it's a LONG walk to the farm and back! ;)