Creepy or Cool?

The Illinois Beef Expo is held in Springfield, Il each year.  We don't have beef cattle, but so many of our friends do, that we decided this year to make a weekend out of it and joined friends at a Springfield hotel for a weekend of cattle, swimming and hanging out.  

What's a trip to Springfield without a trip to Scheels?  What's a trip to Scheels without a ride on the ferris wheel and a spin through the presidential characters and maybe even sitting through a simulated Nascar race?

This year may have been the last on the ferris wheel for this boy.  Not a fan of stopping at the top.  Just like his mama I guess.  

Then these animated, moving, realistic, totally awesome and completely creepy figures of the presidents.  

Eeek.  Not sure he was a fan of them either.  

We did manage to spend a mere 3 hundo on running shoes for the big kids' upcoming track season. Now THAT is scary!

Game-On

Our family farm has social media accounts, and I am largely responsible for updating them .   I uploaded this photo last night to our farm's Facebook account.  It's gorgeous, just look at that sunset!  My hubby snapped this one for me after multiple requests for a photo of his rig for the day.  Social media and photos are not on the top of his priority list.  Must have something to do with having a whole farm to run.

Here is the update I included with this photo on the farm page: "God's handiwork enlightens the sky as we apply #anhydrous to the soil of what is to be a field of corn this coming crop year. #plant17#heritagehappenings #justin"

All true.  The part I left out was that this is the first day or spring work.  So it signifies the beginning of a season of single parenting due to long work days for the hubs.  It means juggling kids' activities alone.  Sitting on the sidelines by myself., cheering on my runners during their events alone!  The fight that ensues each night when I break it to the kindergartener that it is again....BATH TIME!  Ugh!  He hates bath time and he ain't afraid to say it.  Loudly, with gusto.  This I have to endure alone. 

Also it means that those small honey-do items in the house will likely not get done until the end of June.  The reality of this photo taken on this day is that it is:

TIME OUT on LIFEand GAME ON for FARM WORK

I'm all in, I've got my uniform clean and ready, I'm a gamer and a veteran.

But the first day of field work each season is always a little bitter sweet.

He Misses Out

Babies of the family have miss out on alot of stuff!  The first two kids in our family were in soccer, piano, ninjutsu and dance by the time they were four or five.  This boy here...only summer t-ball.  That is it.  He is old enough for 4H and Cub Scouts and could probably start in piano lessons any day now.  But because he is the baby, he has to miss out.

 Before I get to feeling too badly and make you feel bad for him, and heaven forbid when he is older and reads this, I want to clarify.  He doesn't miss out on a darn thing!!!  Not a thing.

Yes, he doesn't get to do many of his own structured activities, but he does get to do cool things like work concession stands, hang out through praise band rehearsals, watch his siblings in various sporting events and learn so much from watching them and emulating them.

He is a happy boy and he makes us all so very happy too.  While working a track concession stand, he took a little break.  He came back into the building with this beautiful rock collection.  Gorgeous.  Thoughtful. Creative.  In his own little way.

 These were all in the pocket of his sweatpants.  Don't ask me how they didn't fall down around his tiny little hips under the weight of all of these rocks, but he managed to keep them up!

I'm a lucky mommy to have a kid that helps our his family an me so cheerfully, and even finds the magic in the rocks beside the concession stand.  

We somehow managed to leave all of these in the landscaping, but we did end up coming home with a Sour Patch Kid box and a box from Rice Krispie Treats.  Why?  Because they are "SO COOL MOM!"  Whatever makes him happy.  It's not all about the structured activities.  Sometimes it's in the littler things.