Our State Fair is a Great State Fair...

For those of you outside the great state of Texas, you may not be familiar with The Texas State Fair.

It is actually quite famous.

You see, every year they have the most amazing fried food competitions that people like Michelle Obama would LOVE to shut down if only she could.

But fried food is bigger than the First Lady in this great state!

Every year we attend to check out the exhibits, laugh at the white trash missing teeth but buying $5000 massage chairs, and eat the latest and greatest fried concoctions.

It's the BEST!

Ah...the choices!

 (prices in tickets not $$)

Enter Fried Cookie Dough...delicious but very rich!

Now, Kevin and I have never gone on any of the rides before because, well, they make me sick...but I got the brilliant idea that Colin needed to enjoy his first ride this year.

IT WAS A TOTAL SUCCESS!!

We weren't sure how it would go and how Colin would react to the log ride, but it went great...see for yourself!

Don't you love their faces?

Enjoying a $7000 massage chair.

The children's barn

Sitting on his tractor throne

Waiting for another ride...the helicopter!

He had so much fun!

Applesaucin'

Last Saturday we made applesauce ALL BY OURSELVES!!

(Well, not completely, of course!  We had all the knowledge and equipment passed on from Kevin's mom that proved invaluable!)

We started out with 28 quart jars...and ended up making 48!  

Holy cow that was exhausting!

This is what 90lbs of gala and golden delicious apples look like.

Washing the apples...

Cooking...

and mashing the apples.

Stirring the goods!

Canning the applesauce.

Colin's idea of the greatest day? Sleep in, stay in pajamas all morning, watch TV, and play with the iPad...consider it done, my son!  Anything to keep you away from the dangers of a crazy kitchen and boiling apples!

Not even close to done!

  

 We started at 7am and finished around 12:30pm.  With Kevin acting as head chef and me as his little sous chef, we were quite the team!  Neither time nor stove space were wasted until we were finished.

And now we have our year supply of applesauce :)

YUM!

Painting Pumpkins, or rather, Eating Snacks!

Today one of our friends put on the cutest pumpkin painting, sugar cookie decorating, and craft party for the kiddos.

Colin didn't quite get any of that, but he quite enjoyed playing with their sweet dog, on the playset, and eating lots of snacks.

And did I mention the tractor ride?  Yeah, Colin was in heaven!! 

Thanks, Camilla, for putting on the most amazing playgroup!!

Daddy's Shoes

Goodness...

He's still in a shoe phase/obsession.

With the weather getting colder, Colin and I went shopping for some non-sandal shoes for winter.

In the shoe aisle at Ross he had a HUGE meltdown because I put back a pair of shoes that didn't fit that he apparently wanted.  We found another pair that worked great and he had to hold them out of the store and would barely let the checker scan them.

He kept muttering/sniffling/crying "sh-shoe!"  "sh-shoe!"

That was a bad day.

Anyway, he loves when daddy comes home and takes off his massive shoes (size 15!!) so he can wear them.

He's pretty cute when he does that!  

(PS - Yes, Colin got his first tattoo at a local Oktoberfest...he's a pretty rough and tumble kiddo!)

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Happy Birthday, honey!  Another year older and wiser too!

I love this guy!  I know that goes without saying, but he is so good to me and Colin.  He is an amazing husband, father, provider, friend, and my own personal comedian.  

He never ceases to keep me laughing and it seems that more and more (I think it directly corresponds to my increasing girth!) I need to laugh!  

Anyway, I better stop before I embarrass him and get too mushy.

Well, today is Kevin's birthday.

We celebrated yesterday with the Sharps.  Kevin requested shrimp fettuccine alfredo for dinner and German chocolate cake for dessert.

We also had cinnamon rolls for breakfast...so, yeah, it was a high calorie day!

Opening presents

Kevin is addicted to homemade applesauce and a few weeks ago, we ran out!!  In the past, we have made huge batches in Cedar City with Kevin's mom, but there was no way to make that happen this fall so Artis and I came up with the brilliant plan for us to become applesauce-independent. 

Thanks to Artis and Lionel's gift(s), we now have all the equipment to make our own applesauce!  

Guess what we're doing this Saturday?

Now I just need to find all the apples!

Colin LOVED playing with the pot and carried it around with his toys all night.

Happy birthday, babe!

6 Weeks and 50 Degrees

Just in case anyone was keeping track, we are down to less than 6 weeks to baby time!  Crazy!  We are really excited to meet baby girl, but in a way I am a little sad for Colin.  I know that we will love her just as much as Colin and we won't be able to imagine our life without her, but for almost two years, Colin has been my little pal.

We do everything together!  Grocery shopping, cooking, playing, making lots of messes, seeing fun things, and lots of cuddling.  He is such a cuddler!  I love it!  One of our new favorite things to do is to snuggle in our bed watching PBS on mornings that Kevin doesn't go in to work early.  We usually end up watching the show "Wild Kratts" and Colin loves all the animals they feature.  He snuggles with both of us, patting our arms and looking into our faces with the sweetest smile saying "Mama...Dada" over and over again.  Soooo cute!

Now, I know I am not going to lose any of that when Reagan is born, but I won't be able to dote all of my attention on him anymore and for some reason I am a little sad about that.  It will be really good for him because the little bugger is getting pretty spoiled, but it is going to be so hard on him!  And the funny part is that he has no idea what's coming.  He's way too young to comprehend it all.  All he knows is that when I ask him where the baby is and he lifts his shirt to show his tummy, I think it is funny :)

All week the weather forecasters have been touting a cold front coming in this weekend.  I have been SOOOOO excited to wear fall clothes and for it to be chilly.  Today we woke up to a brisk 50 degrees!  PERFECT!  So we bundled Colin up and took him outside to play in the "cold" (I realize that 50 degrees isn't cold to most, but in Texas, that is freezing!).  He had a blast!

  

I cannot even express how much I love this little guy!