A Fresh Start -

It might have been nearly mid-night by the time we were home from the fair and ready for bed but these two were easy to wake up and quickly ready for the bus -


Chase is heading to Wildwood but not before dropping Cierra off at the high school. Good luck to both of you!

Getting Ready!

It's that time of year.....countdown to our County Fair!
Chase and Cierra are working extra long hours to make sure their projects are all wrapped up. This is Chase's 3rd and final year for Woodworking. Each year he has to make two projects. I was later getting home tonight and when I pulled up it seemed like Chase and Ronnie were 'up to something'. Chase couldn't stop grinning. As I got ready to go in through the garage, Chase informed me that the door was locked so I needed to go in the main door. As I took my step onto the porch, this is what I saw...
hmmmm how does that work? A simple piece of wood holding a full wine bottle in the air?! Funny how a simple project can teach angles, gravity, following plans and not to mention the tools he used and finishing steps he took. I think he looks pretty proud, huh?
Now we just have to figure out how we put a 'spin' on it since it is a 4H project and alcohol is not allowed, ha!

Meanwhile Cierra is working with 'Eers! He's a pretty big boy and can be tough to handle.
Looks like she has him right where she wants him though =)

Tomorrow pretty much kicks things off for us. 'Eers and Knuckles get sheared then it's up early Saturday morning to head to weigh-in. Guess the saying "let the games begin" kinda fits!

Great music!

We had dinner again last night at the Main Cup and had the pleasure of listening to Andy Carignan. He was great, playing a wonderful variety of artists. I'm not sure though if he entertained us or if we entertained him, lol. He was a really good sport....

We're already getting our calendar updated for some upcoming evenings - if any of you want to join in, here's his schedule for the remainder of August:

Friday, August 20th ~ 9pm - Midnight MAURO'S CHURCH STREET PUB - 489 East Church St., Frederick, MD

Saturday, August 21st ~ 8pm - 11pm BOONSBORO AMERICAN LEGION - 710 North Main St., Boonsboro, MD

Friday, August 27th ~ LAURIENZO BRICK OVEN CAFE - 114 South Main St., Mt. Airy, MD - Outside on the patio!

Saturday, August 28th ~ BREWER'S ALLEY - 124 North Market St., Frederick, MD - Outside beside Brewer's - Weather Permitting.
So Andy, we're ready for another great evening!

The Birthday Girl!

Our little Cinderella had a pretty good birthday - she got lots of 'cash' and had lunch with her Dad, brother and friends then dinner at Longhorn (after a little bit of shopping).

Even though the rest of the family couldn't be there, she did spend time 'texting' them...

Then she was surprised to hear the servers singing Happy Birthday to her then giving her a Sundae, ha!

Now it's off to bed in preparation of a day on the lake tomorrow =)

p.s. some of you may be wondering why we call her Cinderella - well....when she gets tired, she get grumpy. And as a small/young child, we could always tell when when it was around 9:00 p.m. because she would get mean...we would say she was turning into a pumpkin. Thus the nick name Cinderella came about. Didn't the beautiful carriage turn into a pumpkin at midnight, lol?!

Happy Birthday Cierra!

14! - So hard to believe....you're growing up so fast. We love you very much and are very proud of the young lady you have become. May today be a day full of fun, friends, family and 'good' food, ha!

Are we ready?

This is what was up on the screen when we walked into the auditorium.....oh my - 2014?

It was orientation for Cierra at her new school. It is so hard to believe she's will be a High School student this year! Where has time gone?!

We walked the halls, found her classrooms and she opened her locker (on the first try, I might add=)Good luck Cierra - we hope you have a wonderful year.
Don't you agree that she's too little to go to that BIG school with 1,350 children?!

We're babysitting....

when I came home tonight, I was greeted by a happy, little, black, furry....BIANCA! Yep, we have her for the weekend while here Mommy, Daddy, Sister and Aunt are having some fun at the beach.

Bianca is adorable and has become my bff. And, that's OK. We love her!

Just gotta laugh....

Every now and then my husband will find something that he thinks would make a pretty funny 'blog topic'; yesterday was one of those days.

He headed to McDonalds to get his 'sweet tea fix' and the drive thru asked if he would like to try one of their special hot chocolates. Really? It's 100 degrees, lol! Of course he chuckled with that but then noticed this sign -
I'm sure it was all very innocent but hmmmmm. Gotta love it!

HOT? ya think?

We have had a REALLY hot summer this year. I think I even heard this may be the hottest on record, ha!

Everything is brown, my flowers are history and one of my friends put it best when she said walking on our grass is like walking on potato chips.

Yesterday this is what my dash looked like nearly half way through my commute. Jeez.....it was 101 degrees at 5:52 p.m. Today it wasn't any better, the temperature was 100. I like summer and love warm weather but it I am hoping for a break in a few weeks when our county fair is underway. Oh well - in the mean time guess we'll just hang in there and stay cool. Guess we're lucky to have a pool and jet skis that not only keep us cool but provide us with some fun, too.