Golfing Or Chores?

Sometimes golfing can be a chore. Today was one of those days. It was so bad Jill said she'd rather be sealing the drive (which is about our least favorite thing as homeowners!). We did treat ourselves to Pi Pizza afterwards, though. Definitely a few notches above Cici's and almost as good as Godfather's. Give it a try!

Makeover

Natalie was going for a new look Saturday night.And while she was at it she helped Jill with some leg exercises.She worked for awhile with her curling iron in the salon......and I'd like to say this is what she came up with but actually, after we took out her little topknot we couldn't do much at all with the leftover curl!

J And J's B-Day's

We combined a family zucchini fry with a birthday celebration Friday night for Jill and Jon.

Natalie's still learning how to blow out the candles.

But she already knows how to have a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

My middle nephew celebrates his 29th birthday today. Have a great day, Jon!

August 30th P.S....It was his golden birthday, too. 29 on the 29th!

8/28/58

Today is Jill's birthday. Is there any wonder why her favorite number is 8?!

We're having a veritable delicacy for supper tonight...fried zucchini!...with as much of the family as can make it. Happy birthday, Jill!

She Said, She Said

Jill says...Laurie says...

Well, Of Course Not, Silly!

To Kansas And Back

We went to Kansas last night. Er, I mean.....we went to the Kansas concert last night Down By The Riverside. Holy cow! You wouldn't believe the people! I can't wait to see what the crowd estimate is.

A lot of the people got there way ahead of our 5:45 arrival time so we sat all the way back by the bridge. We could hear, we just couldn't see much.

When all was said and done, we really didn't know that much of their music so we entertained ourselves with the glow sticks Think Bank gave out.

Of the four songs that I recognized I think everyone will know this one!

Moods And More

Either there's nothing going on this week or maybe just nothing as big as Brett Favre...slow week for blogging. Just for fun, here are some pictures of the girls serious and goofy. We run the gamut.This is typical of the positions I need to get into to get myself in range of the viewfinder when Claire's taking pictures.

Keep in mind it's hard to get everybody all the way in the shot when arm's length is all we have!

It Finally Happened!

Brett Favre became a Viking today. I was so surprised when I heard the news because I thought that issue wasn't even on the table anymore. There are a lot of people that think it's a bad move but what's wrong with giving it a shot? Don't get me wrong, I love the Vikings but they're just not a very exciting team to watch. This makes the season look a lot more interesting. Now if we could just replace the coach! (From a Fantasy perspective I was able to pick up Brett in one league but somebody beat me to it in the other one!)

Nat 'N' Harv

Mindy's already thinking about the new school year so while she did a little work in her classroom I had lunch with the kids.

Before Natalie went down for her nap we had a little photo session.

And for those of you that don't read Mindy's blog this is how Natalie sleeps. She's got lots of friends!

Then it was Harvey's turn.

I think this might even be a bit of a smile. He's getting so close to busting 'em loose right and left.

Natalie was feeling sad when she woke up but we did some fun little things...

...and she was ready for the treats Mindy brought us from DQ. Even after wiping off Natalie's face she still had color stains to show Daddy when he got home.

Harvey's Baptism Day

Yesterday was Harvey's baptism at People of Hope church.Our families made up a good portion of the congregation and Natalie kept an eye on all of us over her dad's shoulder.

Brian and Kate were Harvey's sponsors.Everyone headed over to Mindy and Jon's for lunch afterwards but this is the way Harvey spent most of it....sleeping...

...while Natalie had a lot of fun with everyone. Here are a few...

(cousins, John and Ashton.)

(Jill, great-aunt Judy and Grandma Connie)

Natalie thought Harvey smelled pretty good after his baptism!

The Rush Is On

We went to Oronoco's Gold Rush today and came home with a few things that most people would call junk. In the past we've had certain items that were the treasure of that year's Rush...like, a fire hydrant or a wardrobe trunk or (Jill says, not me!) a carousel horse. These are her treasures from today. I'm teasing a little bit. Her intent is to transform them into something totally different that'll be the subject of another post. We spent less than $130 and, get this...we came home with seven rusty buckets for just $18!! Now who could pass up a steal like that?!

There were significantly fewer vendors this year but still plenty to see. The crowd was considerably smaller, too, especially since there's rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Look out! Fall's Coming

Today when I mowed I noticed that our oaks have started to drop their nuts (must be males!) and even some leaves. Okay by me but maybe not for most.

Kiss Me Kate

Last night we girls went to Tony's perfomance of "Kiss Me Kate" in Stewartville.

He was trying like crazy to get the girl, Bianca...

...jumping through all kinds of hoops...

...and in the end he did!

Oh, What To Watch?

We watch a lot of tiny videos (if I never explained that, it's home movies on the small size disk)...

...but we're up early enough we watch the sun come up too!

Inspection Passed!

Jon came over on Sunday to fix our internet problem and did everything he needed to get us up and running again....including putting in a new kitchen sink! Actually, we thought that was another day's project but we had it on hand and he came equipped to install it. Yesterday he stopped over to check for leaks and all is well!

Now we just need to get a new faucet and I'll show you the finished product then.

And Speaking Of Petunias...

Last year Angela gave us some leftovers of her petunias which we had in a planter down towards the end of the drive. This year we still have remnants of those plants as this one must have seeded off and planted itself right in the crack of the tar.

(Claire would say this is a "pe-tuna.")

Monday Morning Not So Early

Darrick was ready to leave for the PGA practice rounds up at Hazeltine this morning so Claire was already outside when I got there. We were working with the broom and dustpan to scoop up a few grass clippings.

Claire subscribes to the same photography theory I do....you have to take a LOT of pictures to get one good one. It took eleven shots to get this best of the bunch.

Anymore you almost have to zero in on Claire when she's not paying attention because she wants "no camera." So while she checked out the neighbors across the street I focused in from down at her feet.

The petunias are beautiful but Claire's the prettiest of the bunch!

And then there's Cate! Once she got up from her nap we headed pretty much straight outside. I think she likes the feel of the grass on her legs and feet.

What Do You Think?

The new packaging of WalMart's store brands is rather blase' (that's a fancy way of saying 'boring') but if it keeps the prices down I guess it's okay.