BURGERS & BULLETS!

 We had our first-ever BURGERS & BULLETS on Labor Day!  I have wanted to hold a Burgers & Bullets ever since John's mission companion posted about theirs a few years ago.  Luckily we now live in the perfect place to hold a Burgers & Bullets.  There are only three houses on our section (that's a square mile for you city folk, haha) and there are no other houses for at least three miles to the east for us so we used that as our shooting range.

We had three other families and two of JJ's friends so I think our grand total was 24.  I think everyone had fun... I sure did!

 Some of the littler kids picked up the used bullets and saved them in a box.

 The men!  I think they had fun comparing guns and talking about gun stuff.

 Testing out the pistols.

 Yes, I shot a pistol.  John said this needs to be "my" gun when I finally get my concealed carry permit.  It was fun to shoot but gave a little kick.  I'm still a bit of a wimp around guns - okay, a big wimp!

 A couple of the girls had pink headphone things.  Leslie borrowed one and wore it them the whole time.  We might have to invest in a pair.  (Earlier I had tried to get her to wear some of our red ones and she was not having it!)

 Topper is pulling the clay pigeon thrower _______, JJ is sitting on the tailgate, ready to shoot and Ammon is shooting.

 Shooting her new pink .22.

 Even the little kids shot the cricket .22 gun.

 This is one of my favorite shots.  Jiggs is pulling, and from left to right, the shooters are Topper, JJ, Debbie and Ammon.

 Another little guy with the cricket.

 Loading up for the next round.

 Debbie and I trying the shotguns.  I really think I hit one, but it was probably luck.

 Kelly pulling, JJ & Topper shooting.  (They are both decent shots, but I think there are a ton of WHOLE clay pigeons out in the field.)

 Debbie (behind me) and I getting the shotgun "class" from our husbands.

Debbie & I shooting the pigeons.

The aftermath.

After all the shooting, we had a great BBQ.  Thanks for all the good food, Ladies!

We had to have one of these pictures... all the moms with the guns.  (By the way, the gun I'm holding is the ONLY gun that John owned when we got married.)

I think everyone had a chance to shoot a gun.  I wish I had gotten a picture of everyone shooting, but some of the time I was being the hostess and some of the time I was just visiting (lotsa visiting).  We had a great time and are looking forward to the next one!

First Days of School 2013

It's that time of year again... Mother's Day! All my mess makers head back to school. Unfortunately, they take my good helpers with them and leave me alone to clean the house and take care of Leslie's every need.

John is a freshman in high school.  He made the decision to wear his work boots to school.  Silly kid.

Kelly is a sixth grader in middle school.  She wanted pictures taken of her outfit with and without the shrug.

Christopher is a 2nd grader.  He didn't start school until Wednesday (today) but had an interview/test with his teacher on Monday so we took pictures.  (Below is Chris posing like a zombie.)

All the kids together.

Being in high school, John didn't want me to take them to school on the first day or take pictures of him in front of the school so we compromised and I dropped them off a block from the school and took a picture of them walking the rest of the way.

Christopher in front of his classroom door and pointing to the robot with his name on it - that's where he'll keep his coat and backpack.

With his new teacher after his interview.  She's an intern - first year teacher and very excited.  Unfortunately for her, she just found out she got the position last week so she's been scrambling.

Christopher, ready to head to school on the first day, today!

Getting on the bus in front of our house.  It's nice to have door to door service.

Leslie and I celebrated this great occasion by going to the donut shop for a little treat with some friends!

Our Cute Little Pixie!

We went to the salon to have Leslie's hair fixed.  She sat soooooo still.

The hairdresser just evened it up as best she could.

But, in all honesty, she looks just like her older brothers did at that age.

So Leslie will be wearing headbands and big flowers for the next few years!

All I can say is that I am thankful that her hair will grow back.  It's not like she did any permanent damage.  We can laugh at it and tease her about it.  (Leslie HATES that we have called her a cute little boy.  She always corrects us and tells us she has boy hair.)

I'm done with the pictures, Mom!

(As I was writing this, Christopher came up and pointed to the picture on the screen and asked, "Is that me?"  When I said, "no", he said, "Is that John?"  Yep, the laughs keep coming!)

Mama Said There'd be Days Like This....

"Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said."

WARNING:

Do not come to my house.  I will not answer the door.  For the foreseeable future I will not be cleaning, cooking, laundering, sweeping, folding or otherwise picking up in any way, shape or form.  And don't call, either.  I will be sitting in a chair, staring at my little destruct-o girl to make sure she doesn't get into any mischief.  If I could find a horse weight, I would tether her to it and plop it in the middle of an empty room so I could get things done.  Alas, I haven't found a horse weight in our little town - and yes, I have looked!

BECAUSE...

I think Leslie has decided to be a hairdresser and she's been practicing.  Last week she cut her hair and it looked like this...

It was bad but I was able to trim it up a bit and she only kind-of looked like a scarecrow.  She still kind of looked like a girl so that was a plus.

Then, today, I was sitting in the living room when I heard Christopher scream, "No, Leslie, don't cut with the scissors.  (I had just barely gotten off a two minute phone call and before that I was washing dishes.  It's not like I was neglecting her or anything.)  I ran into the family room and found this...

and this ... 

and this ...

and this ... 

and this ... 

and this ...

and this ...

Unfortunately my hairdresser is out of town so I called one of the other salons in town.  After the hairdresser said hello I said, "Um... my three year old got a hold of the scissors."  That statement was met with a huge burst of laughter.  It's quite possible that my little future hairdresser will end up with a buzz cut at the salon tomorrow afternoon.  It took us three years to get the little bit of hair she had.  It'll take forever for her to look like a little girl again.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Leslie's other hobbies today include, but are not limited to...

1.  dumping a bottle of beads on the kitchen floor

2.  pulling out the drawers of her dresser and dumping all the clothes on the floor.

3.  poking herself in the eye with an OPEN glow stick

4.  peeing on her bedroom floor

5.  playing in the toilet because she wanted to "clean her hands"

It's probably a good thing I don't drink because I would have gone on a bender today, for sure.  I did, however, eat my weight in fruit snacks, m&ms, sweet pickles and big marshmallows... and I don't even like marshmallows.

(And please, be kind and don't tell me to put the scissors away.  She is very handy with a stool and can climb.)

Elementary Spring Music Concert

Christopher and Kelly had their last concert of the year. They both performed in the same concert because 5th grade is technically still in elementary school even though this year they were part of the middle school.

The concert started with the 5th Grade Band playing a few songs.  They did really well and I have a feeling we'll be investing a lot of money in black pants and white shirts - concert clothes.

Then the 5th graders sang a fun song.

Then the Kindergarten through fourth grades filed on and sang their songs all about animals.  I think Christopher's grade sang a song about peanuts.

A fun picture of Christopher in front of the decorations.