Milestone?

Before

(Big Smile)

After
(Still Smiling)
Well, she did it. And we let her.
That ONE AND ONLY new hole in her head.
Ranae now has pierced ears.
Boy was her experience different than mine.
Mine went something like this:
My mom had a friend who was a nurse.
After dark we went to her house.
Then to numb the pain, they held ice cubes to my ears...
...for what seemed like hours.
And then the nurse slowly pushed a pointed earring through my ear.
Emphasis on SLOWLY.
And my right ear was a little difficult and she had to twist it.
Left and right, left and right, pushing, pushing...
...well, you get the point.
~ ~ ~
Ranae's went something like this:
Point earring "gun" at pre-marked point on ear.
Count to three and shoot.
Repeat other side.
Done.
Yeah!

Sarah Running

Today Sarah's school had a Move-A-Thon.

She was SO excited.

She felt like this was a "Cross Country" event.

And she wanted me to be sure and bring my camera.

They started a little slowly.

But soon they got the hang of it and started running.
She smiled from ear to ear every time I yelled, "Go Sarah!".

Good job sweetheart!

You did great!
And youv'e got the red face to prove it.

Ranae.....Still Running

This is Ranae's team stretching before a Cross Country Meet.
It was good weather for running today.
The sun was hiding behind some clouds and the temperature was mild...
for Florida.

This is Sarah offering Ranae a fresh, picked flower while she runs.
That's my girl. Just trying to help.
So was a mom I overheard who caught a few girls
on the other team walking.
She shouted, "THERE IS NO WALKING IN CROSS COUNTRY!".
Point well taken.
Would you like a fresh, picked flower?
Just trying to help.

Smores!

Just the thought of making smores made Sarah giggle for hours.

She kept asking everybody if they had ever eaten one before.
She was taking surveys at school and home.
(Notice how I positioned the fire pit close to the pool.
I told the kids that was so if they caught fire I could just throw them in.)
Yep. I'm a safety girl.

And Sarah was very glad to finally eat one herself.
From giggles, to smiles, to marshmallows in her hair.
Sweet.

Pumpkin Patch

Searching for the right pumpkin takes time.

I've always said that you have to be able to carry it.

~ ~ ~

(This always helped when I had 3 toddler boys

who always wanted the BIGGEST pumpkin in the patch.)

This year they had light green pumpkins.

Happy Fall Y'all.

MATTHEW'S HOME !

Matthew is home from college for a long weekend.

They call it "Fall Break".

I call it fabulous because I miss my kid!

It also coincided with his birthday.

(So I haven't missed one of those yet.)

I tried the candles that you can't blow out.

It was fun for about a half a minute.

~ ~ ~

Then it got smokey

But, thanks to Alex and Kevin's ingenuity,

we dealt with that issue quickly.

(So there does turn out to be another use for those face misters.)

These are the wonderful gadgets you can buy at any outdoor

event or establishment in the state of Florida.

They should pass these out at the state line.

Everybody gets one.

From May until November.

~ ~ ~

That and sunscreen.

Personal Record

I'm learning what "Cross Country" means.

It means you run on asphalt.

It means you run on grass.

And this time it meant a new personal record for Ranae.

2 miles in 17 minutes and 37 seconds.

Wow.

With a capital W.