The Nockinbirds take the Harvest Moon Festival by storm...

Due to rolling illnesses in our nest, the Nockinbirds will not be going to the Great State Fair of Texas (insert sounds of sad moans).  However, our own dear community provided us with a taste of the glories of a fall fair.  I saw that there would be a costume contest for the kids, so we recycled Little Miss's "box of puppies" from last year.  She's going as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz this year, but I didn't see that one taking best costume or most creative, which was the one I figured we had the best shot at.  I didn't realize the incredibly small turn out they would have--a couple of football players, some M&M fairies, a baby in a pumpkin suit.  Little Miss was seized by stage fright and refused to let me take a good picture...until they started calling for audience applause to determine the winner.  Clap for that kid and she turns into a ham.  Naturally, this was after I'd put away my camera so I could clap and hoot in support.  The fair's photographer was quite taken with her costume and then Little Miss Ham stuck out her tongue and started panting like a dog.  Jeez.  She took first place, of course.

What really started this competition ball rolling was something I put on my "42 by 41" list when I turned 40 last December.  One of the things I wrote down (and actually remembered because I now have no idea where that list is anymore) was to enter something in the fair.  I was thinking a photo at the State Fair, but missed the deadline for that.  When I read about the festival having a costume contest, it also listed a pumpkin cooking contest.  Loverboy suggested I make my pumpkin muffins (however, he had confused them with my banana cinnamon chip muffins) and I felt my pumpkin bread pudding with pecan caramel sauce had winner potential, so I got up at 5:00 am this morning to cook before I went to the high school to proctor the ACT.  Loverboy and Little Miss were kind enough to run them down to the square for me this morning. 

The muffins won third and the pumpkin bread pudding came in second.  Loverboy, the negative Nelly, would mention here that there were probably only three entries, and he's most likely right.  The woman he ran into this morning at the drop off told him she won first place last year with her pumpkin muffins.  So mission accomplished, I entered a contest and even got prizes...but now...I feel a slow burn starting to bring down this smug competition...pumpkin bars?...pumpkin cheesecake?...I would have liked to have tried the pumpkin bread that she won with this year to see if she "won" just because she "wins" every year...One thing I know...I WILL triumph! 

Our prizes paid for a good bit of our fun at the festival.  Little Miss's prize was $15, mine were $10 and $15. 

The ubiquitous sand art.

Fun with animals at the petting zoo.  Little Miss has developed an affinity for chickens--but I haven't shared about our chicken bingo adventure!  I will, I will.

I don't know if I'd buy gourmet hot chocolate out of a lemon on an 85 degree day, but the lemonade was okay.

The Chuck Wagon Soda Company's root beer was a big hit, mostly because it was served in a cute tin cup.

MMmmmmm, funnel cake.

Little Miss braved most of the ropes course.

But this was totally her favorite.  Getting into a giant, clear beach ball that's inflated around you with a leaf blower (hearing loss anyone?) and rolling into a shallow pool of water on a warm October day...what's not to love?  The mother and daughter running this were very nice.  I'm not sure this is something we could do for a February birthday, though.  http://www.bubblerunners.com/ Check it out if you'd like to know more.

It's got the Nockinbird seal of approval!

Books, crafts, and the store-room reveal

Reading this has given me new eyes with which to look upon all the pink/princess/Barbie little girl marketing.  The author's point about the sexualization of little girls with Bratz dolls, et al, was not exactly a new discovery, nor was her concentration on the learned "meanness" of the elementary set that plays out through kids programming and products.  It could have gotten really preachy really easily.   However, I enjoyed reading this and it has made me more aware of marketing ploys that target my daughter, our dollars...and our attitudes and values.  We've had some deep conversations already in the toy aisle of Walmart. 

Then we went to see the McKinney cousins at Molly and Papa's...Aunt Toni had given Keala a makeup kit for her belated birthday...and these two cuties couldn't wait to get into it!

I'm not sure the author would have authorized this, but there was some serious southern girl fun going on.  They kept asking each other "how much make up do we have to wear?"  I started to chime in that they needed none because they are already such beautiful girls, but they got their punchline in before I could by answering themselves with "there's never enough!"  Oh, lordy.

Then it was time for a fashion show... 

 Their American Girl dolls got some visiting time together.

Lolo spent a lot of time looking through toy catalogs.

How could you refuse that face anything?

 Next, we were off to a baby shower for Mimi Debbie's granddaughter, Blake.  I've decided I'm doing only handmades for baby showers from here on out, so these were my gifts:  onesies that I hand embroidered from patterns I randomly chose from various websites.  My needle was flying--I finished all four in two evenings!

Casita Kelley finally got to begin her tough-love-possession-purging business with us this weekend.  We finally got into the storage room that my parents have had for the last, oh...25 years!!  Room B-17, here we come!

Oh, my.  That's my brother's college apartment loveseat...a cabinet stereo/turntable...my mother's cedar chest...school papers dating from 1978-1981...a couple of boxes of stuffed animals...a whole lot of kitchen stuff for next weeks' garage sale!

And thank goodness we found some folding chairs!

Casita Kelley didn't bring her Casita this trip.  Instead, she got to inaugurate the Molly Folly.  I did have to take a picture of this man on a motocycle pulling a "camper" even smaller than the casita.  It is possible to down size even more apparently.

  

Perhaps that traveling fellow lives here?

And somewhere in there, it was homecoming.

Little Miss charmed our pirate mascot out of gold coins, as well as achieving her goal of catching a spirit t-shirt tossed into the crowd after a touchdown.  Yes, we had actual touchdowns!  We even won.  Note the mini-mum she's wearing.  How cute is that?  It even has a tiny cowbell.  The FCCLA was selling them at school.  And I have no idea what FCCLA stands for...