Fun in a small town

When you visit a small town things are different. Everyone knows everyone (or they are all related! ha ha), and life is slower. This is no different in Mooringsport Louisiana, where Shawn's grandfather lives. The second week of October is a big deal there, it's Fall Fest. Two days of fun. Friday begins with a children's parade and costume contest, a band and karaoke contest. Never in my years of visiting have I heard the town rocking past 7 pm but Friday..they partied until after 10. We could hear the karaoke contest all the way to Pop's house from downtown. Saturday was the big parade and festivities. People line the streets of town to wave at those they know and those they don't and the kids line up for the candy and beads and anything else they are willing to throw.

This is Austin and his cousin Colton at the kids parade on Friday. There was a little candy thrown that afternoon and the boys waited and watched. And when the chief of police came by they questioned him about where his candy was. It was funny! They enjoyed seeing their friends in the parade dressed up. Saturday was the BIG parade. They honored the veterans of the city this year. The Vets rode on the first float, which was a pontoon boat. Here is Shawn's grandfather with the other veterans. Can you believe he actually smiled for the picture?? I'm just kidding he smiles for most his pictures!This is Alyssa and Grace with Grandma Jan. I tried talking them into jumping up and down and say "ME! ME! ME!" so I could get more candy, oh, I mean, so THEY could get more candy! I've got to say they raked it in pretty well! We came home with two huge wal-mart bags full of candy and beads and cups and we even got a t-shirt!
Ashlyn joined in the fun. Her candy stash was very small since she watched everyone throwing candy at her and she decided to throw it back at them! It was comical!

See these nice officers??!! Officers are suppose to be your friend right??!! NOPE! This officer is saying "Here little girl! Take this nice LOUD whistle and irritate your parents by running around and blowing it for days and days. Hide it in the truck so that on the 5 hour trip home you can pull it out and make sure everyone in the car stays awake!!" . Just kidding on the car ride thing. I had that stupid whistle packed and hidden within an hour of getting back to Pop's! Don't worry, I'm smarter than my kids sometimes!I have so much more to share about the festival but I have to share this! Elvis sang to Ashlyn! She didn't know what to make of him but I loved it. I think I took about 100 pictures of Elvis. Course it ruins the whole Elvis thing when my 9 year old gets smart! He says "mom you know that's not really Elvis! Elvis is dead." I said well how do you know that. Austin says " he took too many drugs and died so it's not Elvis" Where he learned this I don't know but he got kinda confused because after this whole 'Elvis is dead' lecture he looks at me and goes "right?". I don't know if Elvis is dead or not but this guy did an excellent job of making you believe that the king was alive and in the building!

My Boy!

My boy likes to talk. He likes to talk so much that he volunteers for his school musicals for the speaking parts. I'm am so proud that he has the confidence in himself to stand up in front of the students of his school and their parents.

Last night the third grade did the musical "Schoolhouse Rock". His group was singing about the constitution. HE had a speaking part and sang with the class. And the funny thing is, not only does he like to talk, he's LOUD! Of all the kids that spoke last night, in microphones, mine was the only one you could hear! I think they heard him all the way to Houston!
If you look real close you can see the band-aid on his forehead. That's what happens when you let a boy go away with his dad for the weekend! They went to boy scout camp this past weekend and another boy threw a stick at Austin. This stick somehow sliced his head open and instead of stitches (which is hard to do on a screaming boy) they glued it shut. He decided he didn't want to go to school because all the kids were calling him glue face. I admit it was hard to keep a straight face when you think about the name. I understand his pain, i really do but "glue face"??? Oh, it was too much! At least it wasn't Frankenstein! I went to work at the school on Wednesday and his class asked me about the type of glue we (not the doctor) used on his head (Elmer's or super)! Sometimes it's hard not to laugh and I'm sure in a few years he'll laugh about it too but for now he wants to stay home until the glue comes off and he doesn't have to wear a band-aid any more. No matter how tough the band-aid looks!

Oh my!

In case you didn't know my kids, they have alot of imagination! Some times imagination is good while other times not so much! Like right now I have these 2 ramps in my front yard. Yup, that's a turkey frying pot in the middle. My son thinks that it is cool to jump this on his bike and will make him a master stunt jumper! I threaten him daily that I am not making a trip to the hospital today but he keeps jumping! Alyssa is not so brave yet! She likes jumping from one to the other like a ballerina or it becomes a stage for her to sing and "teach" her class! To be able to dream up stuff like this is priceless! I think it's neat the way their minds work. Let me show you one more example!

Shawn brought home some boxes from work for me. One night we had a sleep over. I think I bit off more than I could chew that night! 5 kids against 1 of me! AHHH! Yes, I have more gray now but we won't go there! Anyway, Jade came over and stayed and another friend, Dalton, who is 5 stayed. The kids took these boxes and made a HUGE fort in my formal living room. If you look at the first picture on the left the box that is not standing...well this box fell from where it was standing...did you know that forts now-a-days come with tanning booths??? Neither did I!! They put 4 tanning booths in here so each child wold have their own! My question is how do kids ranging from ages 9 to 5 know about tanning booths??? Or what they look like?? I don't even know what they look like!

The youngest, is my dress up kid. She will steal a sock, (not the pair just 1) and walk around all day with 1 sock on. She prefers her brothers socks but will settle for any she can steal from me!

Can you see her as a boxing biker babe ?

Her imagination is not as well formed yet but it's coming along. She pretends to be her sister. After watching her big brother and sister though I think I'm going to have my hands full when her imagination grows! I hope I never forget the silly things the kids create and pretend to be.