Fashion Show

A few weeks ago the girls noticed that our local Fashion Bug store was hosting a fashion show to celebrate the return of their juniors section. We don't shop here often, but the idea of being models was very enticing! So, after a quick check of the calendar we blocked off the day for the runway!

Last week they went in for "fittings" and got to choose an outfit. Savanna was tough as she really isn't into juniors sizes yet... but her enthusiasm won them over and they were able to come up with something that "fit!" Today was the show, so we all piled down to watch them strut their stuff!
Both of them looked great, and Uncle bought them each part of their outfits after the show! Olivia's tunic was adorable, super comfy, cozy and totally her! She loved getting her make-up done, it must have been nice to be pampered for a moment or two!

Of course Savy was a ham, strutting down with her jazz hands and big spins. She got the purple sweater and the skirt, even though we had to roll it to make it fit her waist. She had to wear her own shoes as she couldn't find a pair that fit... Cinderella that she is!

We had fun watching them, and love to see them so happy and confident. We are blessed to have such beautiful daughters!

Almost Halloween

It's almost Halloween... do you have a costume yet?! My Poppy found this duckie suit for me a long time ago. I'm not sure I was even born yet... I thought I'd better try it on for size!

"Wait, whats that you say?! It's size 6-9 months?! Me, Why I wear 12 months clothes now. But don't worry it fits! Two more months until All Hallow's Eve?! It will never do, I'll surely have grown more by then!
I won't grow! I won't! I want my duckie suit to fit!!

I don't know, maybe it is going to be too small...

"Hurry Mom-Mom, lets go look on e-bay and see if we can find a bigger size!!"

"I know, I know... It was almost my Halloween costume, but hopefully we can find another one that fits!"

Diaper Head

Today while Savanna and Olivia were riding it started to sprinkle. Wes was not happy hanging around in the rain... so Billy devised a great umbrella, well maybe more like rain hat. A diaper on Wes' head! Yet another reason why I love my cloth dipes!

Top Tooth

Wes's top left tooth is working its way through- it has been working its way for a few days now. It is getting quite close now, it won't be but a day or two until it erupts!

These are the bottom two, they are both up quite far now! Time to get Wes a toothbrush

Wes and Sam 8-21-10

After a busy morning of unloading hay Savanna, Billy, Wes and I drove over to Wolfboro to visit Kelly, Sam and Geoff (and Allison and Peter too!) at the Palmer's lake house. We had a nice visit and I am reminded that I need to work hard to make sure the boys get together as often as possible!

I love seeing Sam- he totally cracks me up! I think he has s future in the theater. He makes the best facial expressions and noises! Westley's growling is pretty cute, but Sam has "fart" noises that cracked Billy up! Sam also rolls his 'R's and it's too much, I just love him!
The boys had a chance to share toys and play for a while on Allison's beautiful white carpet~ it was so nice of her to open up her home to the Houston crew... we can be a little much sometimes, but she was so gracious... even taking us across the lake for a tour of the exquisite new home they are building! It was amazing, a truly stunning lake house!

Geoff took us out on the boat, we had a nice time tubing and touring their end. Of course before we headed out we had to pose the boys on the couch- I think I'll still be insisting on this when they are 21!

It was great to see Kel, and I have to soak up Sam whenever I can! I hope we can manage another get together soon, these boys are growing and changing every day!

Countdown to Christmas

Grandma Houston has apparently been knitting all summer to get Wes' Christmas stocking done! She finished it and brought it over yesterday. What a fun surprise (excuse our nakedness... we had just gotten out of the shower!) now we can begin the Christmas countdown... 128 days to go!

Salty Acres

Some of the families in Billy's Cub pack had decided to go on a mid-week camping trip. We opted for it to be more of a family affair then a sanctioned Scout activity... so on Tuesday we all packed up and went to Salty Acres Campground in Kennebunk.

We knew well in advance so I had blocked off the 2 days in Bill's book... Since we all could go, I had planned for it to be one of our family's "big" summer activities! We had such a good time and are already looking forward to going back next year. The campground had given us a field with a number of individual sites to ourselves. We had out big tent and Savanna brought her little pup tent too. The other families all set up around the perimeter of the field and we had a big fire pit and 3 picnic tables just outside our "door." The weather was beautiful the food communal and delish and the company great!

The facility had a nice pool (actually 2 pools, a large deep pool and a small 1.5 foot deep "kiddie" pool too) and we spent a large portion of the afternoon/evening there yesterday! My gang loves the water so we were happy as could be!

There was a lot of swimming and diving and jumping- loads of horse play! These days most everywhere has a lifeguard on duty with lots of rules. Now, there is a time and place for all that- but I must admit it was fun not to have anyone whistle blowing! The kids ran and jumped and played chicken and just acted like kids in summer! All the Moms and Dads were watching, and we certainly had safety in mind... but with nobody to tell them what to do the kids had a ball! I think some of the Dads had just as much fun cannonballing as the kids! Of course, Wes had to get in on the action too, you know how he loves water! He spent some time in the small wading pool, but really wanted to be with the big kids.

The campground is rather large with many sites- they also back up to an amazing estuary. It is a real neat environments I haven't had much opportunity to explore! So, after so much time at the pool we spent the day today down in the tidal river. The kids had explored it quickly yesterday and wanted to go back! There were small, narrow, muddy, mucky streams that led down into a wide gorge cut thru the mud. The river bottom was the most amazing grey, velvet sand. The banks were topped with tall beach grass; it was really quite beautiful. Plus, there were hermit crabs galore- not the usual beach crabs and it made it very exciting!

We explored the river- it was great! They caught little fish in their bare hands and with buckets and the crabs practically fell into their pails!

It was a bit muddy getting out, but with the sand out into the river it was almost like a private beach! We walked up the river towards the ocean following the outgoing tide as we hunted for critters and massaged our feet in the soft sand. I think Billy and Olivia could have stayed forever! Savanna is much more a pool person, but she had fun too.

I voted we make it an annual event and extend the trip to 2 nights next year. It would be great to get in a day at the beach (just down the road from the campground) and have time to enjoy the pool and to explore this marsh some more. Salty Acres is a spot we are sure to return to!

8-16-10 7 months

Wes is 7 months today... hard to believe, time sure is flying! He was 19lbs 8ozs today, he is getting to be such a chunk- a "bruiser" as Bill calls him!
He did NOT want to do his back shot, he can flip over and sit up faster then I could focus and snap the picture... so this is as close as I got.

He is sitting so well we had to add the standing shot this month too!

Look Ma, one hand!

Proof for Em

My older nephew Kaleb was here for a few days and after the horse show Sunday we took the boat out for a "sunset cruise!" We love K, he and Billy have so much fun playing together. But, when it comes to speed he is a cautious little guy... not into scary rides or any thing. Plus he's not a big swimmer so Bill and I decided we would see if we could "push" him a bit and offered him a ride on the tube. Maybe it was peer pressure (but that has not worked in the past) or maybe it was the way we phrased it (we didn't ask if he wanted to go, just said "your turn, wanna ride with Billy or Alex?") maybe his swim lessons are paying off, or maybe he was just feeling right... but for whatever reason he went!

He and I rode together and I had give Bill strict instructions to take it easy on us, and NOT to dump the tube! Bill kept it perfect. I screamed a bit for effect and we got splashed and whipped a bit, and he said he loved it!

He has been taking swim lessons and playing a lot in Mom-Mom's pool and its clear he is much more confident then in the past. He did not want to jump off the boat, but he did climb the ladder and swim a while... it was definitely over their heads. It was warm in the lake, but the air temp was pretty chilly- so after that I unhooked the tube so he could "boat" to where Bill and the other kids were!

After all the horse stuff I had been doing, it was nice to relax on the water! We had dinner and fished:

Get a look at the big bite Bill got! He even walked down the boat to get off the Bow for pulling in this sucker, wouldn't want to have to land this one up there!

A Very Horsey Weekend

It's Monday morning and I'm tired but happy; I had a very horse filled weekend! Saturday I went over to Raymond Nh (about an hour drive) with Linda and Miller to meet up with a friend of hers from work. The three of us did a hunter pace there and had a great time! Wentworth Hunt put on the event and it was so much fun.

All three boys were very good- both Miller and Olaf can be hot and forward but we did well. Beau was very cool and calm although alert and interested in everything! I wondered about how he would be with all the goings on. Never having done a pace I *knew* what to expect but I still wasn't quite sure how it would go! It was just about 10 miles and the pace time for our division (field) was 1:34. We did walk some, got a tad lost at one point and needed to school a few times so we did the ride in 1:50. We didn't place, but I was very happy with the ride; the property was beautiful, the trails very nice. Good company and good horses made for a great day!

The on Sunday we had the last of the Lucky Clover Stables summer series.
Savanna had spent a few days over at Kate's and got excited with the coming show, so she got recruited to show one of the ponies in-hand. She and Marzipan did well, they were so cute! Marzi is young and this was his first in-hand class, so the two greenies were pretty funny! Marzi didn't want to lead in his bit or trot- Savy just hung in there with him and the ring steward helped her get him going when they had to jog...

She had her fan club riding the rail (and Grandpa!) and we all cheered her on... they had fun and it was a good experience for both of them!

Grandpa spent most of the day with Wes on his shoulders, and then as we were packing up to go home they announced parent-lead line. I quickly had Olivia tack back up so we could make Grandpa ride for a change! It was cute, and I know Grandma loved seeing him up there! As Olivia lead him along he kept asking "What are we doing?!" and she kept answering "Just stay on Grandpa, Don't fall off!"

They did well, Grandpa and Nic got second place!

Olivia has been having fun with Nicholas this summer, but this was her first opportunity to show. She and Nic did great! They were in a few of our classes, and beat us every time! I was very proud of her- she had fun and they looked wonderful! She is really a nice little rider. I think she would rather "play" with horses and showing might be a little "stuffy" for her, but she did well and because we know the crew over there it was a fun way to spent the morning.

Beau was quite tired from the pace (and I had them out on pasture at night) but he still did so well. I was very happy wit him. This judge didn't like him as much as the last one did, so we didn't place as well (and we got the wrong canter lead to the left- oops!) but I was thrilled! He has come a long way from the horse I thought I was going to loose last summer!

Linda and Miller, Beau and I and Olivia and Nic were in a few classes since Olivia is 13 now and in the adult divisions. These three have ridden together a time or two, so we were truly horse show buddies!

Savanna also rode one of Kate's horses Breezy in 2 poles classes. She did well in her first (got 2nd) but then lost her steering in the second class and Breezy cantered off a pole towards the out gate, took the corner and Sav just slid right off! It was her first fall and I think she wounded her pride and scared herself more than anything... she got back on Beau and walked around and doesn't seem worse for it... but it sure did scare me! I knew as she came across the diagonal that she might ave trouble so I started calling out "sit back" but she just couldn't save it! She landed right on her bum, got right up and was mad she didn't get a ribbon for the class; insult to injury!!

All in all it was a great weekend! I love my horsey~ I was so proud of him at our events! He gets a few days off and Daddy got a long back scratch last night as a thank you for letting me run off for my horsey weekend!

Car Guy

Westley is totally a gear guy!

Yup, definitely a motor head!

Mousam

Bill has been doing a lot of maintenance on the boat, things that should have been kept up with, but seem to have been left... overtime they added up and now he find himself with just about everything needing to be changed or replaced... it's work, but he seems to be having fun! He pretends to be stressed about it, but pretty much every waking minute is either researching new parts, how tos or actually taking things apart. Yesterday was no exception. He wanted to change the oil and replace a few things before we went out for the day!

I for one, should have charged my camera battery while he was working on the boat- pretty soon after we arrived at Mousam Lake I ran out of juice! We took our first guest aboard: Kate joined us for the day. We love Kate, she fits right in with all the kids, just sort of like she belongs in the line-up, somewhere between Savanna and Olivia! She and Savy are BFFs and we all enjoy her company! She had never been tubing, so guess what was first?!

The two buddies went first, then later in the day the three of us piled on for a wild ride!

The ramp for the lake was on the lower half of the body. We new getting into the larger lake would be an issue. We had stopped to look at the small bridge you need to pass under... I didn't think we would make it, and of course Bill did! Well, after our first millfoil inspection than putting in at the nice ramp (2 spots with a dock in between) we tubed around the lower lake. Naturally Bill wanted to try the bridge; I was pretty nervous! He was right of course: but we only just squeezed thru! Olivia and I sat on the bow and pushed us straight as we went under! We could both touch it was that close. We won't go if the water levels are ANY higher! There was a fun sand bar with some cool stone pools someone had made- it was fun to swim over and check them out. The kids swam and tried to fish, but we had no luck so opted to try a new spot. We ended our day back on the lower half by the dam, fishing and swimming and hanging out! Mousam is a nice lake and it is good to know we do fit under the bridge...but even if we hadn't it sure was fun to have a friend along with us!