... And one of my West Coast friends assures me that this counts as a Love Thursday post since it is still Thursday where she is, so HAPPY LOVE THURSDAY! Check out Chookooloonks for more snippets of love today.
This picture ... this picture just makes me laugh. every time!
And why would THIS scare anyone? SERIOUSLY!! I am surprised any of our kids can be coerced into a dentist after seeing this.
And a fan favorite ... The Civil War medics tent ... poor guy on the table has a gangrene foot. I can't see this exhibit without hearing the scene from Gone With the Wind in my head "don't cut! DON'T CUT!!! DOOONNNN'TTTTT CCCUUUUUUTTTTTT...."
On to happier times ... dinosaurs and woolly mammoths OH MY!!
Ms. Young was explaining earthquakes to the kids here. She was living in Arkansas when she felt an earthquake, and she was able to describe it to the kiddos in detail.
They insisted on "being scared" in this picture ...
Finally we were ushered into the IMAX theatre. Once again, thanks for suggesting to a roomful of 7 year olds that the movie might make them feel dizzy. That is ALL a 7 year old needs is the merest suggestion and they are experiencing the effects. 
Most of us made it through the film. Although a girl in front of us had to leave because she was feeling ill. I on the otherhand was feeling incredibly sleepy, so I managed to nod off a few times. Oops.
We had fun, the kids managed to learn a few things, and I checked Katie out of school and we headed off to Atlanta. Not a bad day at all!
Daddy had the wristband, and Mommy was on Connor duty. Connor was stuck in the stroller ... until he rebelled about 2 hours in and we had to start carrying him around. Katie rode most of the rides. There were several that she rode and wished she hadn't. They were a couple that Daddy wished they hadn't rode either. 
Katie also played several games, and she even won some prizes. I think we were just lucky to get some of the nicest people in charge of the games. The first game that Katie played was a Ball Toss. For $5 you got 5 balls, all you had to do was get two balls into these big tubs. Of course they would bounce out. The guy was trying to coach her through. 
He taught her how to throw underhanded, and he told her to throw it soft like she was throwing to her brother. Finally, he put his hand on the lip of the tub and told her to throw it softly to him. SHE FINALLY GOT TWO IN! He probably let her throw 15 times. So amazing! She won a "leopard skin rug", and she is SO proud!
He even gave Connor a stuffed monkey with banana pants. She played a few other games. The water gun one, and she did great, but she wasn't the first to fill her tube.
It was her first "loss" and she was very disappointed. She chose two rubber duckies and won a stuffed pig. 
We were there for over FOUR HOURS! And still Katie pouted when it was time to leave. Daddy tried to throw softballs and break beer bottles (sounds super safe, huh) but he only managed to break one. 
I had glanced at the "Strong Man" game. You know the one where you try to ring the bell by swinging the mallet? I was standing there looking at it, but I really didn't care about any of the prizes, and I didn't want to spend the money to play just to see. The guy must have been bored because he motioned us over. "$1 and I will let you swing" he said to Chip ... that is when Chip told him it was me that wanted to swing :) So, I swung.... DING! 
It was the women's one, and I was "ALL WOMAN", so he told me to try the men's one. I swung ... and it went to 1400 and STUCK ... it never came back down.
Sure wish I knew how high it would have gone. He had said that I would just get to swing for the $1, but he went ahead and gave us a blow up 3 foot long hammer. Katie and Connor LOVE it!
And you can't go to the fair without getting some fair food, right? Around here it is the Pronto Pup that really says you are having fun. Chip only bought two because Katie usually turns up her nose at corn dogs, and Connor hasn't been big on eating real food. Chip and I barely got a few bites. Connor was in Pronto Pup Heaven! 
Katie wouldn't turn it loose. I am still a little sad that I didn't get any cotton candy or even a funnel cake.
I didn't even mention the livestock. And I won't put more pics up. Katie was able to feed some animals and ride a horse. They had a "cow milking" thing set up, just tubes and such. Katie hunkered down and started milking right away. She was a pro. I think Katie's favorite was the baby pot-bellied pigs. She ended up choosing the stuffed pig after petting the real pig. Don't worry, we followed it up with LOTS of sanitizer. Friday night I told Katie that until her room was clean that she could not have her friends over again. Her room was so messed up that it was a feat just to walk to her bed to tuck her in. I had to take a cup off her bedside table so it wouldn't fall. It was full of some milky fluid and HAIR! Katie likes to make "potions" with water and lotion and bath gels, but the hair had me stumped. She had given her Build A Bear a haircut. Her Siberian Husky looked like it had been shaved for hip surgery. I was irate! It probably made me so mad because I loved my stuff animals when I was a kid. I might have cut Barbie's hair and snapped her bendy knees the wrong way, but I loved my stuffed animals. I managed to get her to sleep and escape (normally I fall asleep after her bedtime story). I went straight to "my room" and began to play. I needed to de-stress. I started on a few things. I broke out the paint and the Modge Podge :)
This one came about only because a single strand on the paint brush I was using to Modge Podge was sticking out. I already had the dark brown paint out, and as soon as I mad a single brush stroke this is what I saw. Although, I seem to be painting a lot of trees lately (did I mention that my grandfather was a tree surgeon).
This one is just in its first stage, but I have no clue what the next stage is going to be.
And this one will have a girl added to it. I have some ideas ... 
The next morning, Katie woke up and got to work cleaning. She cleaned and cleaned ... two hours later she came downstairs to ask if she had cleaned enough. I trudged up the stairs, hoping HOPING that she had made some good headway on her room. And this is what I saw ....
It took her TWO HOURS to shove her stuff out of the way to create a path? I wonder how much of that two hours was spent playing? 90-95%? So, of course I did what I had said I wouldn't do ... I started cleaning her room. And as I uncovered her floor this is what I found. 
I have no clue what it is. It is black and tarry/waxy. I am sure it is from make-up, and I was afraid it wouldn't come up. It was about that time that I looked in the hallway to find that Connor had dumped a whole bottle of blood red medicine on the floor. Luckily he did not try to take it. My old paint palette was laying in the hallway, and he tried to pour it in there. He missed. So, I had to bust out the steam cleaner. That thing has had quite a workout lately! It may not have gotten all of the mess up, but it did a pretty good job. I was afraid the black wouldn't come out at all. 
I thought I deserved a little relaxation, and using your old craft stuff is KIND OF like cleaning, right?! I saw this cute little felt plushie on Stix on the Beach, and I knew I would have to make one of my own oneday. Yesterday was the day. I grabbed what I had nearby (yeah, I have felt in the kitchen - well, in the buffet in the dining area) and got to work. I sketched out a basic shape for the body, and I winged it on the other pieces. It took me about two hours to hand sew the little guy. I started out thinking I would make a "boy" but when I started on its mouth that changed. Two stitches in and it looked like cupie bow lips, so I went with it. Katie named her Rose (which is much preferred to Heart Love that she wanted to name everything last year). Her neck looked a little bare, and my inspiration was wearing a scarf/necklace, so I decided she needed a scarf of her own. 
Connor adopted her rather quickly ... 
And he took Rose on her first swing.
All I needed was a little crafty time. It is amazing how it can calm me down. I need to do it more often, OBVIOUSLY!
I am so in love with my Mini Moo cards! Aren't they adorable?? And they have all the pertinent information on the back. For right now they will be doubling as my "business cards" ... you know, if I ever need to give one out. This was my first batch, so I was picking and choosing around my Flickr account, but I think I will be creating a special MOO folder that will be ready for the next time. I bought a box of 100 and you can get every single one different if you like. Next time I might go for the full on business card though.
I am especially glad that they came in already. Next weekend I will be headed to Atlanta for a reception for the Picture Hope project. I was honored to have an image in their book, and I am looking forward to meeting many new people and internet friends. I will be the dork with my copy of the book trying to get signatures.
SOOC Saturday is hosted by Melody at Slurping Life. Head on over, share a SOOC (straight out of the camera) of your own, or just check out everyone elses!
edited to add:
Apparently I forgot to say that I made the little felt holder. You can buy them from MOO, but I have all kinds of felt lying around so I thought I would give it a shot. I may try to be more creative on the next one, or I may go back into "too lazy to craft" mode and stick to just the one. I am sure I will let you know :)
I have missed several days in the 50for50 Flickr group. Which should be no surprise since I haven't been motivated enough to blog. I blame the nasty weather and my neck that decided to betray me. In lieu of an actual post with worthwhile content (yeah, I don't usually do those anyway) I will just post my 50for5o shots from the last week. 
I JUST noticed that there was a thread in the group discussions that posted periodic themes for our group. They are just suggested themes. A jumping off point. I may not try all of them, but here are the first two for themes.
For some reason Katie remembered her Easy Bake oven this week. Maybe it was the sheer boredom of being home sick for a week. She has rediscovered a lot of things in the house this week. Oh well, at least they are getting some use. These cookies were baked for a tea party ... the first one this weekend. We are up to two, and she wants another one tonight.
She is feeling better, and she did not have any fever this morning. You know what that means? SHE GETS TO GO TO SCHOOL TOMORROW! (not that I am excited or anything)
I am chiming in a day late on Straight Out Of the Camera Saturday, but luckily Melody doesn't mind :) If you are getting a late start, or just want to check out some other SOOC posts, head over to Slurping Life!!
