What a week...the fair is done for another year

Well, it has been a LONG week and yet short.
It started last Friday. Shawn & girls and Debbie, Neil, Colin all came home for the parade, then we (Pat & I) got their kids from Sunday through Tues! The prince got his projects judged before the parade (good parade by the way!). He made a wooden cupboard for above the toilet (got red - needed 3rd coat of varnish), he had 6 photos - got 4 blues and 2 reds. The reds were due to the film developement, but still counted against him. They were pictures from July 4th, Brianna with sparklers. We thought the lines on the house siding was probably a reflection from all of the kdis and they had several kinds of sparklers going that were green smoke, etc. Oh well.
On Monday afternoon, we took the kids to the fair. I made a scavenger hunt for them and we divided them into 2 teams, Shawn took T, M, C and I took N, B and A. They had to find someone with a cowboy hat, farmer hat with seed corn patch on it, bib overalls, 2-3 breeds of every animal at fair (had to change this to colors - smaller kids couldn't read!), a sewing project, a photo of a dog, a photo of a pig or cow, the prince's items, a 4H member that could recite the pledge to them (we found someone we knew/no stranger danger stuff!), a booth giving out ruler, pencil, bag, a brand of tractor for sale, etc. It kept them busy and we got to see all of the fair! Eventually we met up with Pat & Grampy. We watched the fair queen contest next. The youngest kids fell asleep at that point! We dropped Colin off to Sherry's on Tuesday afternoon, for her turn. We hosted in M. Hall on Wed evening. Then Thurs evening we watched fireworks and got rained on while chatting with Larry and Cheryl - near - guess - the rabbit barn! Hardly any rabbits this year. Several rows empty.
The princess wants to join Clover Kids next year - has projects all planned out in her mind! It has been horribly hot here all week. Today was heat index of 110. Pat & Prince worked on his bedroom, got it ready to start re-construction! I talked with Gary at the fair. We discussing the price of gas/oil/diesel going up and relating it to how much he has to pay for farming, drying and hauling his grain. He also had to pay someone else to have his crop planted & sprayed this year due to his health this spring. He was pretty distressed about it obviously. We have cut out unnecessary trips since the price of gas has gone up. In fact, we skipped our usual big summer vacation and just went to Chicago.
On a lighter note, the prince is taking drivers ed and is almost done - doing great! He drove home last night from Quad Cities and did great. It really is making me feel old though! Oh well... Plus it was interesting watching teenage girls at the fair watch him and try to get his attention!
Kay agreed to take the puppy! They are coming tomorrow to get her.
The kids need a dog and to learn responsibility.
Good night!
PS- anyone heard from Jill lately?

County 4H Fair is coming soon...

It's truly summer. The 4H fair is literally right around the corner. The prince is finishing a cupboard (stain/varnish) that goes above the toilet in the guest bath near the entryway. I am not sure if he will get his photos mounted yet in time too!

Pat, Grampy and the Prince all have been working hard on the Prince's bedroom. Got the plaster down and the new windows & insulation ordered. He decided to refinish the hardwood floors, rather than carpet them. Punky Sue actually was a big help.

We went Sat nite to Theresa & Rick's for Xander's birthday. Was fun evening,good conversation and good food. Xander loved his presents. Friday & Sunday nights we took Pat's dad out for dinner. We don't always get time to stop to see him, so this helps us to keep in touch.

The prince has been taking drivers ed this summer. Hard to believe we are at that point in our life! I am feeling so old all of a sudden!

We have 1 puppy left. We had 2, but one died the other night, sad to say. I am hoping Kay & the boys will take this one home to love. T & N need a puppy!

My uncle Gary was in the ETC, heat exhaustion yesterday. It has been awful lately. Tonight we had a lot of wind and some rain, the best part was a cool breeze.
Have a good night!

July 4th, painting & house ideas

The princess and I were in a parade on the holiday, in conjunction with my work - we had an entry. Actually I walked with my co-workers, while she rode in the horse drawn wagon! It was a long, hot walk.

Afterwards we joined the rest of the family at Rick & Theresa's house. It was a fun afternoon/evening. Lots of good conversation and food and even fire works at the end.

The kids (my nephews helped too) helped Grampy paint primer on the new drywall in the entryway yesterday. They had a pretty good time and did a decent job. I had to scrub paint out of Punky Sue's hair though!


Pat is helping Grampy put siding on the new entryway this morning (Sat). The prince is cleaning his "old" room - getting ready for Pat & Grampy to start work in there (windows/floors).

I am thinking about how I want the kitchen (dining & living rooms also) to be (layout, style, colors, etc) so when I get to have it redone (how many years down the road...?) - I will have a solid plan. I have seen some kitchens plans that I like some pieces of, but still thinking about how it would work best. Any ideas? You know the landing at the bottom of the steps? We have thrown around the idea of opening that piece into the kitchen with a step down there... There was a doorway there once (before we redid the stairs) - that made a circle kind of - which the grandkids all used to love when visiting... I want to put a pocket door between the family room and the living room (to block/separate the noise of competing TVs/conversations!), put a bay or bow window in the living room. We want to open the wall more between the dining & living room. It is load bearing, so we will have to have a beam or something to carry the weight across the opening. The from the kitchen into the dining room - do the same type of thing - open the wall - but have a beam carry the load again. We thought about putting a small mudroom/place for our coats & shoes, between the garage & the kitchen (take a few feet off of the back of the kitchen), but I am kind of rethinking that one some. I am thinking about putting the washer and dryer behind doors in the kitchen and taking the room they are in as a pantry/ big closet with shelves floor to ceiling and with a place for vacuum, broom, etc also. I want to put a big continuous window on the outside wall- where the refrigerator is currently. Only have lower cupboads there on that wall. Maybe the sink under the center of the window, or where the kitchen & dining room meet - thought about lower cupboards (peninsula like) dividing the rooms - with the sink/ dishwsher there? The kitchen will be a big rectangle - not skinny like it is currently (old entry will be knocked out and middle wall there behind stove gone). Thought about moving stove to where sink is currently...oh well...any ideas or plans for me? The best part will be getting rid of the old kitchen walls and dropped ceiling!!
It's fun to dream a little...