Exterior Illumination

 I couldn't stand the thought of our first Christmas in our fabulous new nest being one without exterior illumination.  My plans were much grander, requiring extension ladders and safety harnesses; but, alas, Loverboy is still needed in his surprise calling as a nurse, aiding Mawmaw in her (now moving pretty quickly!) surgery recovery.  She was cruising her walker and  putting up dishes from the dishwasher (!) when Little Miss and I were down Waco way this weekend.  You can't keep a Mawmaw down I tell you.  Anyway, I scaled back my illumination design for this year, but the lights and roof clips are ready for next year!  Note the dark Little Miss presence under the tree/in front of the lights on the right.  The raised fist with a bent arm has become her pose of favor lately.

Loverboy really wanted a tree in the front window.  Of course, that's Little Miss's playroom and the living room is at the back of the house.  Molly to the rescue!  A veritable forest of interior illumination is available at her house.  We went with the slim-line so as to leave plenty of room for play.  And decorated with unbreakable ornaments because it is the playroom.

My only complaint is the front door wreath.  It's lighted, battery-operated with a timer, but the LED lights...I don't like 'em.  Why do the colors have to be so...wrong.  Multi-color, but not the right multi-colors.  Oh, well.  Check back for the interior tour!

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...

Frolicking Nockinbirds

Now that the weather is suitable for humans, the Nockinbirds have moved outside!

Eventually, the inevitable occurred--frisbee in the tree.  Loverboy (and the broom) to the rescue!

Everyone seems happier in the Nockinbird nest now that fall's officially approaching.  Blackberry jam is responsible for this big smile, though.

I don't know if it's due to drought, extreme heat, or disease, but we're getting some fall color on/from the trees.

There was a busy bee buzzing about the basil, which has made a serious comeback now that it's not a bazillion degrees hot every day.

We took in a Crusaders 6-man football game this weekend.  Little Miss is updating Molly on the score here.  The game was called at the half since there was a more than 45 point gulf between the teams.  We won, 72-8.  If you're looking for excitement and lots of cheering, 6-man football is the show to see...as long as your team is winning, of course.

We got our yum on in Godley after cheering the Crusaders on to victory.

Little Miss liked the queso, Loverboy enjoyed his pork tacos, but I won with the brisket taco.

She wears the pink boots EVERYWHERE with EVERYTHING.  But I would too if they had them in my size (and for $10).

Monday evening, Emily and I anxiously awaited the return of Little Miss and Loverboy from cheer practice (Little Miss's, not Loverboy's cheer practice).  He really took one for the team on his birthday, too!

Of course, he threw his birthday self on that granade so I could get home and cook his birthday dinner.  The request was a simple one--boiled shrimp, lots of boiled shrimp.  I managed to whip up some chocolate chip cookies, as well.  Molly and Papa surprised us both by dropping off a birthday cake--complete with candles!  Thank goodness someone thinks ahead around here.

Sort of a cobbled together birthday celebration, but I think Loverboy enjoyed it.

This is what Little Miss is currently enjoying--Beiber fever, baby.  She even added her own artistic rendering the Beib in the lower right.  I think there's been a lot of smooching on wall decals this week.  I like how she kept them all clustered together, shrine-like and all.  Since we moved all the time, I never got to paint my bedroom.  And I doubt my mother would have gone in for all the decals/mirror stickers/dream catcher randomness the we've substituted for any coherent theme in Little Miss's room.  I hope she remembers this artistic freedom she enjoyed when I want to paint my room in the old folks' home.  Lucky for her, all my teen heart-throb posters have already long since turned to dust. 

Wait! Come back!

It's been a looooong hot summer.  I don't have any other excuse.  Sitting in front of the computer and blogging just hasn't had much appeal for some reason...but as a temperate fall keeps flirting with this parched, overheated corner of the world, I'm feeling bloggy again.  Maybe I'll even get caught up with our beach vacation pictures!

The Nockinbirds are in full swing with the school year.  Little Miss has added gymnastics to her weekly routine, on top of cheerleading.  Three hours a week sitting on the folding chairs in the amazing acoustics of the gym.  Joy.  There's been talk of piano lessons, for which she is VERY excited.  Loverboy has a hot lead on a piano, but how to get it here is the question.  After talking with a school buddy who is also in her Sunday school class, Little Miss is making noise to go to Kidz Choir and Awanas on Wednesday night.  And I forgot to add that we signed up for the Daisies (Girl Scouts) this past weekend but haven't heard when/where meetings will be.  I think we're out of days of the week.

Today was picture day for Little Miss (and at Mama's school, but Mama was not feeling particularly cute today, so I've got to get my hair colored before retake day!).  She decided she wanted a braid for the occassion.  A braid.  She never wears a braid.  My braid-fu is not strong.  But eight tries later, good enough.  We even left the house on time!

Homework is something we're having to adjust to this year.  And having to remember to do. 

Don't give up on me.  There are so many crazy Nockinbird antics to catch up on!