All In A Weekend

Eric's Birthday weekend was last weekend and it was full filled and packed full of adventures!! His b-day was on Friday, he took treats to school for his class. In the evening, he opened his presents from us and we went out to eat at Z-Place. Saturday, both boys had a football game in the a.m.. In the p.m., he had a slumber party. We started out with 7 boys staying the night, by the middle of the party we had about 17 kids here, including our kids. Luckily it was nice out, so most of the party they played outside. We had cake,they broke a pinata, we ordered pizza for supper. Yes, sugar, sugar, & more sugar!! Thank goodness one of our friends stayed and helped. Once night fell, we went out tee peeing about 9p.m. We asked parents if they minded and all of them said "no". I was kind of shocked, because these kids are 8-10 yr. old.

We explained we were hitting only people we knew. One of the houses was one of the boys who was at the party. We are friends with his mom and we knew she wouldn't care. The neighbor let us borrow her van. We took 2 vans & an SUV . By the time we went tee peeing, we had 13 kids ranging from 6-10 yrs old and 6 teenagers with 4 adults. It was hilarious, the first stop we parked at the park, because the Paytons live across the street from the park. We get everyone out of the cars and there are a couple of cars coming down the street. Ray tells the kids to hit the deck, it's the cops and all these kids with rolls of toilet paper fall to the ground. They get across the street in another parking lot and another car comes by, the kids hit the ground in the parking lot. It was so funny, like nobody was going to see 20 people lying on the ground. The bottom picture was taken at the parking lot with the boys lying on the ground. When I first saw that picture in my Kodak gallery, I about lost it, I couldn't stop laughing!!

After we left the Paytons house, we went to buy more toilet paper and headed out to the country to do Lane's house. We all know him and knew he wouldn't be mad. It was nice because he was at work and it was in the country with lots of trees!!The group picture is at Lane's house, we hit him hard. There were cars coming past his house, so the kids would hit the ground out there. Yes, and Ray had the kids put toilet paper around their heads, so they could be tee pee warriors. Nothing like warping kids at an early age!! We were all laughing hard during Lanes house. After all the excitement, the boys didn't go to sleep in till about 1 a.m. Only 8 boys spent the night, which wasn't bad.

I had to take this picture of Trevor because he is trying to watch Eric open presents and the only way he could watch is by standing on the couch. It was crowded otherwise. We had one little girl at the party, her and her brother came over and we invited them to stay for the slumber party. She's Trevor age and they get along. By the end of the night, she decided to go home. Luckily they live right across the street. She was exhausted after all the adventures and it was past her usual bedtime. Her mom said she didn't think she would stay, she was surprised she made it through tee peeing.

Sunday was an adventure in its own. The best part is I had to go to work at 8a.m., so I got to leave before all the boys woke up. Honestly, overall all the kids did good, no major fights or problems erupted. They were all very good and well-behaved for their ages. Sunday night Eric, Trev, and I went on a bike ride. We got 2 streets away from the house and Eric fall onto landscaping brick. Trevor & I was lagging behind, so when I seen Eric fall, I hurried up to help him. He turned around to come toward me and as soon as he did I knew instantly we were going to the Hospital. It didn't really gush blood, it was dripping so I had Trevor take off his shirt to give to Eric to stop the bleeding. I didn't know what to do since we were on bikes. We ended up leaving Erics bike at the house were he fall (the guy was nice enough to let us) because I couldn't get ahold of Ray. We walked down to Grandpas house, so he could drive us to our house. He was such a sport, he didn't really cry. Only when he fall and then when they numb the area. We were at the hospital for 4 hrs. Over an hour was spent in the lobby waiting for a room to open up. I felt so bad for Eric, we kept a paper towel on his cut, but you could tell he was hurting. He just sat and waited. he tried laying on me a while. The doctor decided to X-ray his chin, because it was bruising up and Eric complained it hurt, after they numbed it. The doctor wanted to make sure he didn't fracture his jaw. The x-rays were all clear, thank the lord. So by the time we got home, it was midnight. We stopped and got his bike on the way home, he was worried somebody would steal it. Monday, Trevor and I walked down to grandpas and got the other bikes.

Hopefully this weekend is more calm with no adventures. I'm not sure if I can handle two wild weekends in a row.

Historical Photos

These are the photos I entered in the Historical Photo Contest put on by the Herald Press. The top one I submitted as a 5x7 and the bottom one is in Sepia and I blew that one up to a 8x10.

All the photos are on display at the Pioneer Festival this weekend. Hopefully we will get a chance to go tomorrow to see them.

Eric is having a birthday slumber party tonight and it's 1am and the boys are still up. ugg!!

Finally Finished

I Finally got the pictures from the 13/14 vs. Coaches & refs soccer game finished and developed. They came in the mail yesterday and I took them out to Lynette at the soccer field last night. Most of them turned out good. I had two pictures that, the heads were cut off, because it detected I used a digital, so I ok'd the digital cropping and I probably shouldn't have. The top picture is Ray corner kicking the ball and the bottom is Olivia and one of the Refs running down the ball. It was a fun game, by the end all 20 kids were out on the field playing against 12 coaches and refs. Everyone looks forward to this game, it is so laid back, they joke about calls, the kids have a lot of fun harassing the coaches and refs. It's a nice end to the season!!

I finally finished the novel I was reading ( for it seems like a month.) I was reading Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was a good book. It started out kind of slow, then got good, went a little long, and the end was really good. I probably will watch the movie. After I watch it, I probably will regret it. The movies are never as good as the books. My dad told me to read the book. So, I broke down and went to the library to get it. I did like it, but it isn't something I would of picked out on my own. There is a series, so I am contemplating on whether I will pick up the next book or not.

I am halfway finished on distributing our soccer team photos I taken during season. I need to write up a little You-did-great note and then mail each one. I am excited about a few of them, they turned out awesome. I am halfway finished on touching up Ray's fight photos, I need to order them.

I submitted 2 of my Sawmill photos in the Historical Photo contest this week. I will post the pictures on my next blog. Hopefully one of them wins, I won't know in till Sunday. They will be displayed at the Pioneer Festival and in the paper (the pictures that win or place will be in the paper). Now we will have to go to the festival!! Fingers Crossed on Winning!!

Ray's Second Fight was Last Saturday.....

Ray's second fight was last Saturday Sept. 8 in Warsaw at the Wagon Wheel. He was the sixth or seventh fighter. He fought in the 170lbs. weight class. He did lose, but the promoter and people who came up to him said their fight was one of the best of the night. It went into the third round, the ref. called it, in the middle of the third round. My guess is, if the judges had to say the final decision, it would be a close call!! Ray definitely won the first round. I thought the ref was going to call it, he was punching the crap out of his guy. The second round, I thought was a draw. They both were wailing on each other. Ray said that round was the round, the guy kicked him in the temple. The third was the other guys round, He dominated that round, Ray pretty much gassed out in that round. I was so nervous, I always miss half the fight, worrying about whats going to happen, and trying to get good pictures for him.

This head to head picture is awesome!! I took it, but didn't know it was going to turn out like this. When I reviewed it, I was excited. I think it says the whole intensity of the fight. I took the same picture of Bob and his opponent. Bob lost his fight also. It was judges decision. Bob is more of a boxer (actually he is a good boxer), so when the guy takes him down, he doesn't have the advantage.

The last picture is Ray taking down his guy and I am pretty sure that is the first take down in the first round. Ray did awesome and he wasn't to disappointed in the outcome. I think he knew, he messed up on a couple of moves and he gassed out at the end. He was excited to learn that their fight was one of the best of the night.

He is now 1-1 on his Ultimate Fighting venture. Several years ago he fought Submission fighting which is a little different. Not sure what his record was for Submission. They are trying to put on a fight here, sometime in October or November. He may have a fight in Texas in November. He's pumped and already training for the Texas one. They are trying to put together a fighting team to go down there.

Garage Sales are coming to an end

Garage Sales are coming to an end with winter coming. My sister and I found a lot of stuff this year. Actually, this has been my best year since the kids have gotten older. I can't count how many times we have hit the jack pot. Recently Ray scored a Carhart Winter Coat in excellent condition for $1.00!! When he grabbed it, it didn't have a tag on it, so we decided we would take it up and ask. I was thinking $5 or $10, I about lost it when she said a $1. At another sale Renea and I went to, they had game boy colors with chargers for $8.00. We snatched those up, you still can't buy them off e-bay for that much. I put mine up for Trevor for Christmas. Eric already has one. Now we're picking up and looking for games for them. I have picked up picture frames & wall pictures anywhere from .50 to $1. American Eagle clothing ranging from $3.00-$1.00. A pair of Ralph Lauren jeans for $3.00, which I sold on e-bay. Books for the kids that were in excellent condition. A pair of Puma shoes for $3.00, a pair of reeboks & Nikes. Rays been on 2nd shift for 2 weeks, so he's been going with us. The first Friday he was on 2nd, he said he wanted to go to sales with us. I told him (joking) I wasn't sure if he could go, who said you were invited in our garage sale club.
I didn't tell him in till he was with us, that it takes us awhile to find the country garage sales because we never know where we are going or where the rural roads are. It's quit amazing, we drive all over, turning around after awhile to try the other way. Deciding its on the other side of town. My sister has a GPS tracker, but she doesn't know how to use it for county roads. So we guess and usually if we don't find the one we are looking for, we find others that weren't listed in the paper. Not sure what we'll do Friday mornings once garage sales are over with.