Pumpkin Painting

Saturday Chris had to work all day so it was a Sara Kate and mommy day.  She had gymnastics from 9-10 and then I started thinking about what we could do.  It was too cool to play outside so I decided on inside play.  I also decided we would do a fun project, something I knew she would enjoy.  We were going to paint pumpkins!  After some play time at Chick-Fil-A, we made a stop by Wal-Mart for our supplies, where Sara Kate picked out her own pumpkin and her own paint.  Of course she picked pink and purple.  We headed home, spent some time reading before nap time, and after she woke up from a GREAT nap I got everything ready.  She was so excited!

 

  She immediately went to work.

To be honest, I really didn't want to do this project inside but the weather and time of day kind of lent itself to it being an inside project.  For the most part she did very well listening, as far as keeping the paint on the pumpkin only.  And I was surprised that she used a paint brush!  The last paint project I did with her over the summer turned into a finger-painting-naked-child-running-through-the-yard nightmare!  Ha!

Looking good!

As I expected, some finger painting ensued, and eventually things started getting a little out of hand when she started painting her arm.  My Type A self quickly closed things down after that. :-)

Here's Sara Kate's finished pumpkin, before it was dry.

And here is her pumpkin and my pumpkin once they were dry.  Yep, my non-artistic self painted one too!

What will we do with these now??  I have no idea but we have some lovely little decorations on our table and Sara Kate loves looking at her pumpkin!

Government Shutdown - Week 2 & Week 3

I'm in week 2 of being furloughed!  Trying to stay busy and 'enjoy!' :-)

 

October 7

Dropped Sara Kate off at school around 8:30.  Had to run a few errands, including taking something to Chris at his school and going grocery shopping.  

 

Came home and got dinner in the crock pot.  Made some yummy cookie dough truffles, too!  Delish!  Met Chris for a run (ran 4 miles) before going to pick up Sara Kate.

October 8

Baby girl is 3 and 1/2 today!! 

 

Sara Kate had an eye doctor appointment at 8:15 to check on her Exotropia (which I still need to blog about).  Thankful for a good appointment.

 

Got her to school around 9.  Came home for a bit before having to go to a work event.  Went to a field day at one of our farms in Benton County.  The NRCS guys couldn't go but seeing as it was at one of my board members farms and I'm not federal, it was a good idea for me to go ahead and attend.  

 

Headed back to Fayetteville and stopped by Chris' school before going to pick up Sara Kate and take her to dance.

October 9 - Happy Birthday to my Dad!!

Dropped Sara Kate off about 8:15.  She was excited to wear her new pink sparkly shoes that are just like her cousin Hannah's.

 

Headed to the Fayetteville trails and went on a 3.2 mile run.  

 

Came home, showered, got dinner prepared and in the fridge, and headed to Huntsville to see my girl Julie, who is also furloughed.  We ended up going to Eureka Springs for lunch and to hang out.  Was nice to get out of the house and hang with a friend.

 

 

Headed home around 4:15 and Sara Kate and Chris were already home when I got back.

October 10

Sara Kate was in all kinds of crazy moods.  She swayed from throwing a fit because I wouldn't give her a sucker at 7:30 am to being a major goofball.  Don't love the 3 year old attitude but I sure do love her funny little personality!

 

 

Dropped her off at school around 8:30 and ran a few errands.  Came home, did a little dinner prep, did some house cleaning, and did some laundry.  Went and met Chris for a run (ran about 3.2 miles) before going to pick up Sara Kate.

October 11
Woke up to some unfortunate news that our dog Cody had gotten out of an open fence at my in-laws house.  

Got dressed and drove over to their neighborhood to look for him before taking Sara Kate to school.  

Dropped Sara Kate off at school around 9 and had to go to the high school for a choir rehearsal...I was asked to play my flute for their concert.  
 
Headed home quickly to finish packing before picking up Sara Kate around noon.  Chris got home a little after we did and and we headed south to El Dorado for the weekend.

 

October 14 - Columbus Day (federal holiday) 

October 15
Was a rainy, cool day and I spent the day doing alot of nothing!!  Got started watching Giuliana and Bill on E! around noon and watched that show for hours, until I had to start getting ready for Chris' choir concert.  Attempted to fix my hair a different way...I say I failed with the curling. :-)

October 16
 Sara Kate was precious this morning.  She was happy and funny and talkative.  She was so excited about her 'Halloween outfit' too!  She said, 'Take my picture, Ghee is gonna love it!'

 Because tomorrow is the debt ceiling deadline, I figure this might be the last morning of the shutdown so I went on a long run after I dropped Sara Kate off at school.  Achieved a personal record...5 miles!  Yay!  
 
Ran a couple of errands and came home to watch the news.  The Senate has reached a deal to reopen the government so maybe we'll go back tomorrow.  

Took a short nap (will miss the naps when we go back!), did a little laundry, and watched a little more TV until Chris got home.  We went to pick up Sara Kate and went downtown to watch the Fayetteville High School homecoming parade.
 
 And the shutdown ended late in the evening so Thursday we headed back to work.  

This concludes my attempt at 'journaling' my time being furloughed.  Hopefully we won't be back in this same situation in January!

Surprise!!

This weekend we pulled a BIG one over on my parents!  Their birthday's are a week a part.  Mom's is October 3 and Dad's is October 9, and this year was a big one...the BIG 6-0!  Back in the summer I had the idea to throw them a surprise party.  At the beginning of September I started really trying to plan.  Let me tell you, it is VERY difficult to plan a secret party from 5 hours away!  But I got some help from some of my mom's friends, and the ball started rolling.  I managed to get a location idea from one of her friends, I got guest lists emailed to me from several of her friends, we designed an invitation and got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and we got Phillip and Holly in on the surprise.  Perfect!

It's been a long time since Phillip and I were both home at the same time, much less with our spouses.  In fact, Holly and I have never been there at the same time.  Mom was ecstatic all the kids were going to be there!  We spent Saturday being lazy.  We enjoyed the famous El Dorado Spudnuts for breakfast...

 We went for a run and ended up getting wet because the rain started...

We watched the Razorbacks play a pitiful football game...

No picture needed...

The rain stopped so we goofed around outside, including introducing Sara Kate to ping pong...

 

 

Sara Kate also got introduced to the puddle that forms in mom and dad's driveway when it rains, also known as Greer Lake...Phillip and I spent much time as kids running through the puddle and riding our bikes through it with our neighborhood friends...

We lazed around a little bit more before it was time to get ready to go.  Chris, Phillip, and Holly managed to sneak out early while mom and dad were getting dressed to go set up and greet guests. 

Mom, Dad, Sara Kate, and I left a little after 7 and got there a little after 7:15.  And here we go...

SURPRISE!!

Dad was speed walking ahead of mom, who was holding Sara Kate's hand, and I couldn't slow him down so he entered first instead of them coming in together...

 I finally pushed mom through the door...

We got them!  They were surprised!!  SUCCESS!!

 

 

 

 

 

Someone brought this plate for guests to sign, which I thought was very nice.  I don't know who brought it but I'm glad mom and dad have this as a memento.

Of course Chris and I brought a cake with us from the famous Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville.  On our way into town we managed to drop it by the home of one of mom's friends daughters (get all that, ha!) to hide it, and then Holly and I picked it up and took it to the pizza place Saturday afternoon.  I'm sure my dad was glad to see a Rick's cake (his absolute favorite!), and I think it was a hit!

I'm thrilled were able to pull off this party for mom and dad, but more importantly, I'm glad me, Chris, Sara Kate, Phillip, and Holly were able to celebrate this BIG birthday with them.  Happy birthday Mom and Dad!  We all love you!!

Government Shutdown - Week 1

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but I work for the government.  But not the currently shutdown federal government.  However, I'm still affected by the shutdown.  I work on a county level, for the Benton County Conservation District.  The funding for my job coming from the state of Arkansas, and we provide technical assistance to our local NRCS office (Natural Resources Conservation District - federal), which is a division of the USDA (federal).  The shutdown affects me because I work in the NRCS office, which is a federal office building.  I have a federal computer.  My files are backed up on a federal server.  Therefore, I can't work.  I really didn't think this whole shutdown thing was going to happen, and then when it did I didn't think it would be but a day or two.  At first.  Now, who knows.  Since this blog is a journal of my life, I thought I'd document my days during the shutdown.  Might be interesting to look back at some day.  And just a warning, my life is boring. :-)

October 1

Had to go into the office for a shutdown procedure.  

Our office was officially closed a little after 9.  I took some soil samples to the Extension Office, the last piece of 'business' I had to do, and headed out of Bentonville.  Ran a few errands, which including buying Sara Kate some jeans and leggings for the upcoming cooler weather.  Had lunch with Chris, which I never get to do since we work in different towns.  

Went grocery shopping, which was lovely in the middle of the day, except for having to dodge all the little old ladies who were slowly doing their shopping (sorry if that offends any little old ladies reading this!).  Folded a load of clothes, picked up around the house, and watched some TV before having to go pick up Sara Kate from school.

October 2

Had a non rushed morning getting Sara Kate ready for school, which was nice.  

Dropped her off around 8:15 and went to the Fayetteville trails for a run.  Ran 4 miles and headed home.  

Showered and watched some TV.  Got dinner in the crock pot and did some laundry.  Watched more TV and surfed the web while waiting for Chris and Sara Kate to get home.

October 3 - Happy birthday to my mom!!

My brother came into town late Wednesday night to teach a class at NWACC on Thursday morning. Sara Kate was ecstatic to spend some time with her uncle before he had to leave. 

We left shortly after he did, and I dropped her off at school around 8:30.  Came back home and did nothing.  Watched TV for a while.  When Phillip was done with his class, I picked Sara Kate up from school early and we went and met him for a late lunch.  Headed to the park to play for the remainder of the afternoon.

October 4

Morning came early as Sara Kate was up at 5:30.  Not like I'm sleeping in during this time off!  Sara Kate was excited to wear her Razorback dress to school for spirit day.

And speaking of spirit, I hung my adorable new wreath that was a late birthday present from my brother and sister in law.  LOVE IT!!!

Dropped a sleepy Sara Kate off at school around 8:30 and came home for a bit.  Checked email and the news and watched some TV.  Headed out around 10:30 to go meet my friend Elizabeth for a run. Ran 3.2 miles on the Fayetteville trails.  Came home, showered, had lunch, unloaded the dishwasher, rewashed a load of laundry from last night that I forgot to hang up, picked up the house, and took a nap.  The nap part was glorious.  Went to meet Chris to run an errand before picking up Sara Kate.

That concludes Week 1 of the government shutdown.  Hopefully Week 2 will bring us returning to work, but if not, I'll be sure to continue to document my time off!