Ohio State Fair! I won! I won! I won!

We went to the Fair today and it was a super duper day!  Gary took the day off and we had so much fun spending a "hookie" day with daddy!  It was a full day at the fair, we were there for about 8 hours!  Noah did great and even took a little nap in his stroller so that daddy and mommy could walk through the halls and look at things.  Noah was a big boy and rode several midway rides, he even rode one all by himself!  The funny thing about the fair is that once you get home you feel like you need a serious shower and you need to eat a salad to compensate for the TERRIBLE things you ate at the fair!

 

YAY!!  My hamburger cake won Best of Show and 1st place.  I was THRILLED to say the least!

My poppyseed bread won 1st place!!  WOOHOO!

Noah and daddy playing with the blocks in the "Science and Engineering" bldg.  I’m pretty sure this was Noah’s favorite building.  There were Lego’s to play with, a robot that made free ice cream, and lots of building supplies!

Everywhere you looked there was some sort of naughty (but oh so good) fair food!  We tried out the deep fried Buckeyes, I wasn’t a big fan of them but Gary loved them!  Gary had a big ol’ turkey leg for lunch and Noah enjoyed some delicious Ohio sweet corn!

Here’s a little taste of the naughty foods EVERYWHERE at the fair!  I will have to try the deep fried Twinikies next year!  I can only handle one deep fried treat a year!  Marge, you might want to skip this part!!

RIDES!  Noah had such a fun time!  He and daddy went down the BIG slide together!

BIG SLIDE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf9AuixJ5EQ

These were made out of pure butter!!!  Isn’t that incredible??!!  I wonder if they bring in lots and lots of bread to butter after the fair is over??

Daddy and Noah went on the sky ride.  Daddy had a very FIRM grip on our little man during the ride!

Noah enjoyed the pig races!  He wasn’t quite as thrilled about meeting Brutus Buckeye with daddy….he gets so scared of dressed up characters!  Notice the very special Junior Deputy badge in the first picture!

We watched "Retriever Dogs in Action" and Noah especially loved the Black Lab puppy!

This was SO gross I had to take a picture.  This was at one of the food stands……an entire pig.  YUCKO!!!! Why would anyone want to eat here?  Ewwwwwwwww…….

Finally….meet the newest member of the Rice family…..this is "Doc" the Beta Fish (Noah named him after a "Cars" character).  Noah loves him already.

 

Trash Day

I found an interesting array of items on today’s trash drive!  Let’s just say it was a good trash day for Noah!

 

This find is actually from last week.  Just walking the dogs in our neighborhood one of our neighbors had these 3 lamps and trash can out!  They worked just find and were so cute!  Luckily my friend, Bridgett, could use them for her girls rooms! The white light that you see on I kept for our bedroom!

Here are some before and after pics of the Little Tikes play thing I found today…

I found some great old fashioned games!  The Crayola Clay craft has to be 20 years old judging from the pictures on the box but it was still in the original shrink wrap.  I opened it up and the clay is in perfect condition and had never been opened!

I also found some Crayola Finger Paints, a cute Little People car with people (never had been opened), an awesome flashlight that changes from white to red to blue light, a really nice fake plant, and a HUGE bag of magazines that I sold today to the resale bookstore for $11!  I also found this "Why God Made Little Boys" plaque that is so sweet!  I am going go hang it in Noah’s playloft.

Enjoying his "new" flashlight!

My best find was this beautiful wooden table.  I love it!  I cleaned it up and we are using it in the basement as our TV stand!

Thanks to my wonderful friend Amy for the lovely flowers she brought me yesterday!  Love you Amy!

 

This and That

I have been pet sitting in my neighborhood and recently had an awesome time taking care of "Sam" the yellow Lab.  He is the sweetest dog and just loves to hang out with Noah and I.  The little girl that lives in the house is kind enough to leave out some toys for Noah!

Today Noah thought it would be fun to send EVERYTHING in his fort down his slide….I mean EVERYTHING.  I was watching from the window and laughed as the chairs came flying down the slide!

We "colored"  the other day….I colored the paper and Noah colored his hands….

I tried a new craft today with Noah that I read about in my Family Fun magazine.  So easy and fun!  You cut the bottom off a water bottle, cut a little piece of towel and rubberband it around the bottom, dip the bottom in dish soap and blow!  You get long strings of fun bubbles!

To get Noah to brush his teeth we tell him his cars need their teeth brushed so he has to show them how….then we let him brush their teeth!

Someone had blueberries for breakfast…..one guess who!

We had family movie night on Sunday night and watched Toy Story.  Noah wanted to watch from his potty!

 

 

 

Fair Cakes DONE!

I spent the entire day today baking and decorating my 2 fair entries!  I have entered a cake decorating contest (beginner) and a Quick Bread contest (Poppyseed Bread).   Gary was kind enough to take Noah to the zoo so I could focus!  I baked 4 cakes, 1 brownie, 3 poppyseed breads, and sugar cookie fries….besides all that I had to warm and roll out various candies to make the toppings for my burger cake!  Whew…it was a busy day!  Here are some pics of my day!

 

My burger cake toppings and sugar cookie fries! 

 

My poppyseed bread entry ready to go!

 

I was being oh so careful to frost the burger cake….and dropped the entire thing on the floor!!  AHHHHH!  Luckily nobody is actually eating this cake, it is just judged on looks.  So I picked it up and refrosted it (Daisy and Ebony cleaned up the frosting mess off the floor)….although you can’t see it, there is a nice layer of dog hair in there!  YUCK!

 

It all worked out…and here is the finished burger cake!  I love it!!!

 

“While I’m Waiting..”

I heard this song on the movie Fireproof and really love it.  Lately I have heard it several times on the radio and this song holds a lot of meaing to me.  The words are the perfect prayer for me right now.  I thought I would share the lyrics with you in the hope that the words speak to you.  I have also added a link to the video for the song from the movie Fireproof.  It is very moving.  Take a minute to watch and really listen to the message.

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3b2jw1rjBc

 

Lyrics to While I’m Waiting :

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve you while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord

 

 

“Just Singin’ in the Rain…”

Noah and daddy had a great time playing in the rain tonight.  It was a wonderful summer rain that provided lots of fun puddles to splash in!  Noah loves the rain….just like his momma!

 

He was reaching up trying to steal mommies umbrella…..as you can see, he won.

Splish splash!

I was admiring our new roof in the rain!  Oh how I love you new roof!!!  I was also admiring our new entry light (it is on the window above the front doors) that my dad risked his life to put up!  Thanks again dad!!

 

Day at the Beach……in Ohio??!!

Today I took Noah to a big reservoir near our house that has a beach.  I use the term "beach" loosely because the beach area is full of rocky sand rather than nice soft real beach sand.  Besides the rocky beach, it is a nice area for kids to play, the water is fairly warm and shallow enough for kids to get out and play without fear of being swept away by "real" ocean waves.  The water is very calm and Noah enjoyed watching the boats, jet skies, and water skiers.  We sat right down by the water and found that the gravel sand did actually make nice sand castles!  There is also a nice big playground right near the beach that Noah loved!  Noah made a new friend, her name is Lilly, and she dug in the sand with Noah and even shared her squirt guns with him.

 

Playing before we headed out.  He was tired this morning and went over to the couch and said "nap".

Beach time!

Beach Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eq3uLCw7tk

He fell asleep on the swing before we could make it to the car to come home!

After a little nap he was ready to play in the hose!

 

 

Inniswood with Grandpa!

Today was dad’s last day with us.  We took him to visit Inniswood and had the perfect weather for our visit….a "fallish" 68 degrees!  Dad loved the gardens and Noah had fun showing him his favorite things….the waterfall, treehouse, and swinging bridge!

 

Breakfast with Grandpa on his last day with us.

Inniswood!

Here’s a great "then and now" picture!  How fast time flies……

The beauty of Inniswood always amazes me…

 

That’s a long way up!

Gary was kind enough to take me to Lowe’s tonight to buy a new entry light!  WOOHOO!  The problem was finding a ladder that would reach the 18 foot ceilings!  We ended up renting a huge ladder and dad was brave enough to climb up REALLY high and change out the new light.  It is beautiful!!!  I had to stay in the bedroom with Noah most of the time because I was too scared to watch dad climb that high!  Thanks dad….and thanks sweetie for the new light!

 

The old light…..I HATE this light.  Brass and glass….YUCK!

We set up the BIG ladder and dad got ready for the climb!  That’s a long way up!

Almost done!!  Isn’t is beautiful??!!

Dad and Gary eating some HUGE Buckeyes!  YUM!

 

Mall Day with Grandpa

We went to the mall today and showed Grandpa the fun "climb on" toys!  Noah had fun showing Grandpa how he could climb the tiger….with a little help.  We also did a little window shopping in one of my favorite stores, the "Great Indoor" store.   It is a decorating store with a lot of custom products. 

 

Watching the news with Grandpa getting ready for our day.  Yes, they came out in these clothes today…MATCHING eachother!

 

Beautiful flowers my wonderful neighbor, Amy, brought over.  Thanks Amy!!!  We love you!

 

Mall playtime!

 

We saw this awesome light in the "Great Outdoor" store for a little boys room!  The light is the basketball and under the light is a clear court!

 

Noah did a little bed shopping!

 

Then he did a little bathroom shopping!  He liked the special "boy" potty.

 

We stopped in the toy store for a quick "pop goes the weasel"

 

Yes, another light for dad to install!  He replaced 3 lights for me this week!  Thanks dad!!  We got this one today for only $5!!!!