Sunday School Picnic

Last weekend, our Sunday School class planned a potluck picnic at a neighborhood park, which was ideal -- the kids were totally happy to run around and play with each other, and allow the adults to do some socializing! Our friend Brian has an awesome digital camera, and he managed to capture these cute pics of Ashley and Tyler.

The last "real" Mid-South Fair

As usual, I forgot to take my camera to yet another fun family outing, so I took this picture with my phone...I am amazed I even got them in the frame, as the cars were moving pretty fast and there's quite a delay between the time you push the button and the time it actually snaps the picture! At first Tyler was not interested in riding any rides and was content to sit in the stroller and watch Ashley have all the fun, but once we talked him into riding this with Ashley, he was hooked and cried every time a ride was over and he had to get out. And this picture makes me smile because I know my parents have a similar picture of me when I was little riding a ride just like this.

I so wish I'd had my camera, because seeing Tyler's face at the petting zoo was priceless. I don't think he's ever been up close to real animals like that...he loved petting the bunny rabbits and also enjoyed the baby chicks who were chirping very loudly and the sheep who tried to climb out of his pen to get more of the food Ashley was feeding them. There were also two little baby goats who were playing and butting heads with each other, which was very cute. Grandma works at the Fair office, and so she went with us to the pony rides...I thought Tyler might do it when Grandma agreed to walk with him, but he chickened out. He was fine with watching Sister do it.

We also enjoyed all the yummy fair food, though the funnel cake was overcooked. And I totally forgot to introduce Mallory to the joy of a deep fried candy bar! We had a really wonderful day, though, and I'm so glad Mallory got to experience the Mid-South Fair the way it's been since I was little (minus Libertyland, of course)...next year it moves to Tunica, MS, and while I'm sure it will still be fun (and we'll probably still go), it just won't be the same. Kind of like the Enchanted Forest...I'm so glad they still have it, but it will never be as magical as it was down in the basement at Lowenstein's downtown.

Here we go again...

Yes, it's me again...the blog slacker. And no, I still don't have any pictures to post this time, since I'm technically supposed to be "working" right now instead of blogging. I feel guilty about my lack of blogging lately, but I just haven't had that much to blog about! OK, that's not entirely true, but given the fact that this is a public blog and I don't always know who my audience is, I don't feel like I can always be completely straightforward!

So yes, the IRS audit is over. I will not go into details except to say that regardless of my "positive thinking" beforehand, it turned out exactly the opposite of how I had hoped that it would. So now our attorneys can add this to the pissing contest that is about to begin. But that's okay, because that was a very small battle compared to the potential upcoming war that I have tried and tried to avoid.

I've had two solid weeks of sick children at home. The week of 8/24, it was Tyler with pneumonia/bronchitis/something like that. Then the week of 8/31, it was Ashley, and she missed the entire week with fever and sore throat (negative for strep, though). This week is our first "normal" week in a while, and of course I'm now getting sick, just in time for my weekend "off" from the kids. Oh well.

Mallory had hair transplant surgery on 8/29 in Nashville, which went very well...he got his stitches out yesterday and we are so pleased with the results so far. It will be a while before we really know what a full head of hair looks like, as the transplanted follicles will go dormant for a few months from the "trauma" of being moved around, but you can already see that it's going to be very successful.

Can't think of anything else, but I'll try to get some new pics of the kids soon, I promise (I know that's why 98% of you even look at this blog!) :)