So I have been talking a lot about my job, but here are some visuals to delight and amaze.

Jon and Mally and Theo and I went to the Cowboy Hall of Fame today...we spent about 2 hours in the Buckaroo area playing in camp, dressing up, and riding saddles. This time I remembered to take the real camera...so enjoy!

Here are Jon and Mally dressed for cowboy good times. Theo had yet to be released from the stroller.

Here we are setting up camp. Mally and Theo were cooking while Jon rustled up the grub. Yeah, I said it.

So here they are riding their little doggies. Yep, again, I said it. It is not possible to capture all of them looking at the camera at the same time, but at least Jon's not picking his nose.

And here he is...our favorite Little Man. He REALLY liked the saddles. He wasn't a fan of thetent, but the saddles were cool.

My new favorite.

Ok people, this is my new favorite thing. SO good.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

7 oz. jar of roasted red pepper (not oil packed)
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons basalmic vinegar
1 garlic clove
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Put it all in the food processor. Puree. Eat it. Yum.

I like it on carrots. I have heard that it is good on celery. I am opposed to celery. Reminds me of VBS Ants on a Log. WHO thinks it is a good idea to put celery, peanut butter, and RAISINS together? Baptist people apparently*. I mean, I like peanut butter on anything, but with raisins? Not ok.

Anyway, it is 0 points. I keep a thing of it in the fridge. LOVE it.



*No offense was meant to any Baptists. The ones in Sedan just put a lot of store by the Ants on a Log thing.

New Things that Thrill and Disappoint

1. The Cowboy Hall of Fame. It now has a Children's Corral where you get to dress up in chaps and boots and pretned it's your wagon train and teepee. However, $8.50. Seriously?

2. The College of Education. Maybe finally working FOR me instead of against me? Still with an attitude.

3. It's so hot! Even the pool is hot! I literally watched Mally's shoes soften and get tacky. So cool. So hot.

4. Turns out I love Project Runway. Especially the bitchy men designers. I want the one that "was born in Taiwan" to blow up. Pompous ass.

5. Independant Study classes. They're hard, but no annoying class times to attend.

6. I have to be in Oak Tree (read: practically Guthrie) at 7:30 a.m. That is heinous. However, there is a 2.5 hour nap time built in to the day. That's not too shabby.

Reasons to Love 4th of July

1. There are pyrotechnics. I watched a bunch of kids go nuts over a tank that turned circles and popped. Given today's technological advances, it was pretty weak. They LOVED it. It made me happy. Also, remember those caterpillar things that grew out of a little black disk? Why are those fun? But they ARE.

2. It falls on a Tuesday, the first day of my Weight Watchers Week (the real WWW) and I have 6 days to fix whatever I screw up.

3. I'm pretty patriotic. I mean, not "I'm in a foreign country telling them to learn English because everyone should speak 'Merican" patriotic, but I would probably never burn a flag or anything.

4. We need a fun holiday in July. What's not to celebrate? It's hot as hell and we should all stand outside around outside with more fire watching meat cook. It would be silly to utilize air conditioning on a holiday like this.

5. Sparklers. Have you ever noticed how people just stop and stare at them? We could probably acheive world peace if we could distract everyone long enough with sparklers.

A Weekend of Fun, Sun, and 8 million Children

So Theo's first overnight without his parents went well. He didn't seem to mind too much, but he sure was glad when they came home!

Saturday night I spent with Theo and the Graves children, Mally (5), Jon (4), and Mary Caroline (2). I was not a fun time babysitter, I was survival mode babysitter. We were going to make 4th of July visors with our handprints as fireworks, but instead I turned a movie on. That's right, I caved to The Incredibles.

Here is what I learned this weekend:

1. If I have 4 children ever, I want them a little more spaced out. You know, enough so I can make the oldest can watch the youngest and so forth.

2. Cheerios rock. I mean, I knew that, but it was reaffirmed.

3. Sometimes plunking them down in front of a fun movie instead of enrichment activities is ok. Just not as a habit. It's especially ok when you just realized the 2 year old drew all over the 1 year old's legs.

4. Barbie shoes are enticing to a 1 year old. However, not to coordinate them to Barbie's handbag, so he can try to choke on them and scare me to death. (Don't worry, I never let him put one in his mouth, but I knew he wanted one!)

5. Bathing four children all under the age of 5? Plan ahead. You need an hour. And a change of clothes.