Pork Fest 2010

Libby, Kenzie, Julianna, Cassie

It's that time of year again...Pork Festival!

Libby doesn't even care about the festival food...pork chops, elephant ears, funnel cakes, various fried foods, and my favorite, pork kabobs. She's all about the parade, the candy from the parade, and the rides! Libby went to the festival Thursday night for the kick off parade and then rode some rides. We went back Friday night for more rides. We ran into my nieces, and even though it was time to go, Libby didn't want to leave. After a few tears were shed, I reassured her she would see the girls tomorrow for a sleepover. Libby and the girls were spending the night at my brother's house for Cassie's birthday. It was a busy but fun-filled weekend for the little ones!

It was a beautiful day!

Today was the perfect day! It was the right temperature, right amount of sunshine, and a gentle breeze! Only if the leaves were turning colors could it have been a more beautiful day! After sleeping my four hours today, I got up and finished a good book while I waited for my little munchkin to return home from her daddy's house. I sure do miss her when she's gone! Sometimes things happen in life that remind you to take time and enjoy the little things. So today, I sat outside and watched Libby play and just enjoyed!

She's my little acrobat!

She's practicing her fireman skills.

I love that she is so silly sometimes!

Going down the slide upside down.

Libby came home from her dad's the dirtiest I have ever seen her.

I thought she still looked beautiful.

I love this kiddo to pieces!

I like this picture. It looks like she's floating!

This girl spends 50% of her day in a handstand.

No Joke!

A Birthday Adventure

Today Libby went to a birthday party for one of her friends from preschool. The party was at one of those "paint your own" pottery places. I've gone myself before and had lots of fun, so I was excited for Libby to try it out, too! And of course, it was a party, so what could be more fun!?

Sydney and Libby.

The girls don't go to the same school anymore, but we still enjoy getting together with Sydney and her mom! They are usually up for anything we are! It's good to have friends like that!

So Serious! Libby is really concentrating on painting.

That's what I'm telling you, but really she was being a butt and not looking at me or smiling on purpose! Once in a while she thinks its funny to do that! She is making a star-person. I think she will really be surprised how much different it will look after it's been fired.

Well at least this time she was looking at me, sort of! But she would only give me that face!

Libby had fun at the party, but of course she wanted to stay longer. I had to explain that since the party was at a store we couldn't just stay and hang out all day! She was bummed!

Meet the Teacher, Book Fair and a Lost Tooth!

All this in one day! Thursday was "Meet the Teacher" and "Book Fair" night at school for Libby. But before that even happened, Libby lost a tooth (her 4th!) at school that day! She was the first one in her class to loose a tooth this year! They have a graph in the classroom to track all the missing teeth and she was first on the chart! What a Celebrity! Meet the teacher was really just a formality since Libby has the same teacher this year as she did last year for Kindergarten...they both graduated!

Libby and Miss Henderson.

The kids were busy all week working on projects for the parents to see when we came to visit. Libby is really getting creative with her work this year. It really amuses me some of the things she thinks up!

Here is the new gap. I used to think other kids looked goofy when they started losing their teeth. Now that I have a child of my own with a toothless grin, I think she looks cute!

Here is my little scholar taking one of her new books with her on the bus so she can read it on the way to school. She has about a 35-40 minute ride!

Back to School!

Monday was Libby's first day at school. She was excited to go back because her kindergarten teacher got moved up to first grade and Libby is in her class again! She was also a little nervous because she was afraid she wouldn't know anyone in her class. I kept reassuring her that at least a few of her friends from kindergarten would be in her first grade class. As we found out on the first day of school, Mama was wrong! There was not one person in her class that was in her class last year! Hopefully she will make some new friends soon! All the first grade classes have lunch and recess together, so she still does get to see her old friends! I was also pleased to learn that there are only 15 students in her class this year! I thought the class size might increase, but it stayed the same, so that is great! Since it was the first day of school, I was there with my camera to capture every moment!! I'm going to be very sad the day Libby decides she's too cool for her mama and the camera!

Here's my big girl waiting patiently until it is time to leave.

She got ready a little early and the clock was moving way too slow for her!

Finally, it's time to go...after a few pictures, of course!

This is her new lunch box.

Isn't she just the cutest?
She's growing up so fast! First grade this year, next year college!

Here she is modeling her new back pack. Notice Clifford sticking out of the pocket. He gets to go to school, too. It's little things like this that let me know she's still my baby!

We made it to school! We looked all around the classroom to see what was new and different from last year. One big change is this year she gets a desk! Last year they had tables! She was pretty excited about the desk! There are four desks together to make a square.

This is her class schedule. I was amused to see first recess is at 9:30 and second recess is at 11:20! That's pretty early to have all your running around time done!

Finally...it's time for Libby to come home! I told Libby the night before school that I didn't know what I would do with myself with her gone all day. She told me I could do what I always did before...sleep all day!

There's my little bug-a-boo! She missed me, I can tell!

She had a good first day!

Now it's time to see what's in her backpack!

As Libby gets her papers out of her folder for me to look at, she begins to get annoyed with my picture taking! So I promised to put the camera away and pay attention to her! She's so demanding sometimes! Geesh!

Todd gets Married!

My older brother, Todd, finally tied the knot and married his girlfriend, Tarah! The ceremony and reception was outside, but despite the heat and humidity, everyone managed to have a good time!

Here is my little princess before the wedding.

Here are the flower girls! They were very excited about being in the wedding!

What a bunch of cuties!

Having a little fun while posing for pictures.

Nathan, Kenzie, Cassie, Libby, Julianna.

We sure do make some cute kids!!

These kids love being goofy!

The blushing bride and her flower girls.

The new Hoover's...

Todd, Tarah, Nathan

I don't know the last time my brothers and I and all of our kids were actually in a picture together!!

The best part of the evening was watching all the kids movin' and groovin' on the dance floor. They were having so much fun! I don't think they even realized it was hot!

The DJ even played Miley Cyrus for them!

Dancin' Dancin' Dancin' Machine!

There IS more than corn in Indiana!

For our second back to school adventure I took Libby and Nathan to Indiana Beach in Monticello. It was a short drive from our house, just over an hour! We had never been before and since Libby had never been to an amusement park I thought it was a good place to start! The weather had been nice the few days prior to our visit, but had started warming up again the day we went and the humidity had come back with a vengeance. We had been at the park literally for five minutes when Nathan saw one of his friends from school! We started off riding some rides. I hadn't been to an amusement park since high school. Let me tell you it is a whole different sensation when you are an adult! I was dizzy and nauseous the whole day which eventually led to a horrific headache! But I endured it because the sound of Libby laughing and screeching on the rides made it all worth it! I had never heard Libby laugh or scream like that before! It made me laugh so hard I cried! After lunch we went to the water park. They had a lazy river, a beach, a sprinkler park, and a water slide. Libby was too little for the water slide, but Nathan was able to go down. It was a long day and the kids were exhausted by the time we were done, but they both had a good time!

Libby and Nathan at the beginning of the day before everybody got all hot and sweaty!

Yummy...nothing better than a bowl of dippin' dots on a hot summer day!

Here is Libby riding some rides in the kiddie playland. I didn't plan this out very well. I took Libby on the big rides first and then let her ride the kiddie rides. They aren't as exciting after you've just ridden a roller coaster!

Just look how excited she is! I think she just learned the definition of lame! Libby's favorite ride was the swings on the long chains that spin around and around.

2nd trip to Ft. Wayne

Summer really got away from me this year! I had lots of things planned for Libby and I to do...in my head anyway! Before I knew it we had 2 weeks until school started again. So I tried to cram all of our summer fun into one week! I wanted to take Libby to the Ft. Wayne Zoo again because it is such a fun place! Libby wants it to be our new zoo!

This is Libby's favorite thing...the sky ride!

We rode it 5 or 6 times before the day was over.

She even spotted a groundhog and a baby bunny down on the ground from way up in the air. This is how I know she did not inherit my eyes!

I think these are supposed to be dinosaur eggs.

Libby thinks its hilarious to pretend she's hatching!

She hatched twice!


She loves the pony rides too!
This little pony is named Cookie.

And this big fella is Smokey.

She is not scared at all to get up on that big horse.

I was scared to death of horses when I was little!

Taking a spin on the carousel.

The last time we were at the Ft. Wayne Zoo, we didn't get a chance to ride the log ride. She thought it was cool because we went through two tunnels with misters and got wet!

She likes the goats too.

Libby likes all animals actually.

Before we left the zoo we stopped in the gift shop and she picked out a baby tiger stuffed animal and named it Hannah Montana,

of course.

It was a good day... just me and my baby!