YEE-HAW! White Deer Rodeo Fun!

White Deer Rodeo weekend is one of my favorite events of the summer. Even though some people don't understand why I find it to be so entertaining (*cough*DONNIE*cough*cough), it really is great fun if you give it a chance! The girls love hanging out with their cousins and look forward to the parade and the Kick Back Day festivities. Small towns are dwindling and fading away, and it's nice that my little home town can still hold on to a few of its traditions.

We attended the rodeo Friday night, and the kiddos lasted a lot longer than I thought they would! Sydni wants a horse, and loved watching the cowgirls and boys rope and ride. Both Syd and Mak weren't too partial to the calf roping, and were basically crying in the stands everytime a cowboy lassoed a calf! The didn't believe me when I said it wasn't hurting the cute, little guy! They also tried their hand at the Calf Scramble, but without success. All in all, it was another fun weekend in White Deer!

Sydni enjoyed the sights & sounds (and the "aromas") of the WD Rodeo!

The girls are somewhere in this group, participating in the Calf Scramble!  The kiddos chase after the cows and try to capture the ribbons tied to their tales for prizes. The girls didn't catch a calf...just a lot of dirt!

Mak's face after the calf roping....she did NOT enjoy that event!

Karson found a frog and oh, the fun things boys can do with frogs!

"Hey Aunt Lenzi, I'm gonna pretend I'm eatin' the frog. Take my picture!"

My daughters are not afraid of frogs...unfortunately.

Attempting to organize a game of "Red Rover"...kind of hard with five kids, but oh, well!

Speaking of dorks...

Playing at Aunt Hayli's is always fun!

Waiting on the parade to start...

Cuties!

It's 10am and it's already HOT!

Bags ready to be filled with CANDY!!!

Brenner is read for T-ANDY, too!

Sydni LOVES White Deer!

Do you know how much this kid loves candy?

Mommy and Makki

FINALLY! CANDY TIME!

Syd's hair after having a confetti egg fight in the park at Kick Back Day. The entire town gathers in the park with their lawn chairs to enjoy good food, fun games, music and tons of other neat stuff!

Crazy Grandkids!

Texas Water Rampage - SO MUCH FUN!

Granny Deb treated the girls, Donnie and I to a day at Texas Water Rampage here in Lubbock. Even after living here for twelve or so years, I've never been to this water park, and neither had the girls! We were also excited that Emily and Annabelle agreed to join us. The girls (and even the adults) had A BLAST! If we climbed the stairs to go down the big slides one time, we must have done it 80 times! The first few trips down the big slides, Makki wanted me to ride with her, and Belle wanted to go with Emily. However, after getting the hang of it, our fearless four year olds were sailing down the huge slides by themselves. It was funny to see them laying on their backs, crossing their ankles and putting their hands behind their heads to go down the huge slides. It was like they had gone down them everyday of their little lives! Sydni had no qualms about doing any of the rides, and took off like a shot around the park. Donnie and I had a hard time keeping up with her! She and Donnie would "race" down the dual slides, over and over. Our legs were like jelly by the time we left the park! A great family day! Thanks, Granny Deb!

It's bright, Mommy, and we have a lot of stuff to do! Hurry up and take your dang picture!
Did I mention how EXCITED these two were to be there???

Swimming - a Summer MUST!

Syd's swimming lessons last summer are paying off BIG TIME! She can now dive off the board or side and can swim the length of the pool. We had so much fun with our neighbor Tia at the Hillcrest Country Club the other day! Mak is going to start Seahorse Swimming lessons next week, but she's making progress!

Divas of the pool!

The Playroom to Office Conversion

The play room was the bane of my existence. We had entirely too many toys out at once and the girls were too overwhelmed to keep it clean. I decide we would store all of our toys in plastic tubs and rotate one tub out every few weeks...sort of like they do at day care! I repainted the lilac walls with the butternut gold we have throughout our house and converted it in to an office! Donnie and I are glad we now have a place to work, and the girls have barely noticed the absence of their huge mess of toys. I think they actually appreciate their toys now that they are being rotated. Opening a new tub is like getting new toys every few weeks!

Goodbye, play room!

Hello, office! Notice that I didn't buy a single new item for this conversion! Just paint! ;)

The Waterpark in Our Backyard

The water slide Pawpaw Marlon bought Syd for her birthday last year is awesome to have in our backyard! It might be a pain to drag out and set up, but the girls will literally play for HOURS on it without stopping. We've drug it out quite a bit this summer, and will be so sad when it's too cold to play on it! I highly recommend these blow up slides! Hours, upon hours of entertainment!!!

They didn't want to stop for a picture!
I think we could set this up in the front yard and charge admission to the neighborhood kids! Ha!

They have a BALL on this thing! Thank you AGAIN, Pawpaw! It's given us two summers of FUN!

Welcom MAX, the Bunny to our Family!

Er...welcome Max to Granny Deb's home, now! Ha! Pop bought the girls a sweet bunny appropriately named "Max", inspired by Max & Ruby on Nickelodeon. However, I'm allergic to anything with fur, so the girls' bunny now lives at Granny's house. (Along with the kittens Pop also brought home for them. The man can't say "no" to his grand kids!) Although Max's stay at our house was short, the girls had fun with him while it lasted. I TRIED to endure the stuffy nose and itchy eyes as long as I could, but when I woke up the second day after Max arrived, Donnie took one look at me and said, "Max has to go back to Granny's house." I guess my swollen nose and eyes were a big clue that my allergies were for real?

We BRIEFLY allowed Max out of his cage to hop around. He immediately headed the opposite direction of the girls!

Fudge was going NUTS outside. He could see Max hopping around through the windows, and he was NOT HAPPY that he couldn't get to him. I've never heard Fudgey cry, but he was howling and whining trying to break down the door to get to Max!

Sydni is like her Aunt Hayli...she loves animals!

No One Lost a Limb - 4th of July Success Story!

So maybe Donnie is right...I do need medication. No, not for putting up with his nonsense, but for being the morbid mother that I am! I used to LOVE 4th of July fireworks when I was younger. Those of you who went to our wedding in White Deer know that it is a time-honored tradition for the town to gather into a small circle and shoot fireworks at each other each year, so I should be used to the hazards that might befall my own children on the 4th, right? WRONG! I will say that AFTER having children, I HATE the 4th of July. I can't keep the running diatribe out of my head that quizzes me over and over..."What if the firecracker goes off in her hand? Her eye? What if she accidentally burns her sister with the punk? What would I do if a firework was coming straight for them? What if she trips and falls on top of the firework she is lighting?" I KNOW! INSANE, RIGHT? I can't help it! There are so many freakish accidents that can occur on the 4th! Needless to say, for most of our 4th activities, I said silent prayers to God to protect my babies...over, and over again!

Now that I can write this post without having to report any injuries or loss of appendages, I guess I can report that we all had a great time shooting fireworks with my father-in-law, Marlon, Jeri Kate and Aunt McCaleb. We gathered at one of Marlon's friend's barn outside of the city limits. Marlon is like a big kid when it comes to the 4th, so he practically bought an entire fireworks stand for McCaleb and the girls. Only one minor incident nearly spoiled the fun, but luckily, I'm married to a guy who can sprint, because a series of "engineered" artillery shells fell over and nearly took off Sydni's head. Donnie scooped her up as soon as he saw the tubes holding the shelves falling over, and sprinted her behind the cars before the shells hit. Yeah....4th of July is DEFINITELY not my favorite holiday now!!! ;)

Daddy and Makki...I still thought 4yrs old was too young to be lighting her own fireworks, but Dad didn't agree.
McCaleb is a PRO at lighting fireworks!

Marlon supervises the crazies as they light their MANY fireworks.

Awe, my sweet Doodle!

Donnie enjoys lighting fireworks as much as the girls do!

4th of July Activites!

Decorating the golf car with Pop for the big parade!
Syd's favorite holiday - 4th of July (and perhaps Christmas!)

Love those freckles!

Patiently waiting for the parade to begin.

Noree Smith, Granny Deb, Mak and Sydni are very excited about riding in the golf cart parade.

Boots rode in the Jeff Gordon golf cart! Isn't he a cutie?

Sydni and Mak helped Granny throw candy!

Cutie-pie!

Wedding Dress Fitting!

Every year, Sydni tries on my wedding dress around her birthday. My goal is to take it every year until she is 18 (Mak, too!), and then we will make a collage of her dress pictures! (It should make a fun centerpiece for her wedding shower tables someday! Ha!)
Mommy's wedding dress is such a BIG DEAL to them!

Um, I can't zip the dang thing up anymore! Ha! Maybe after I graduate from P90X I will be able to?

Makki looking lovely in my wedding gown!