Chester's Big Day

Yesterday, Cary and I took the opportunity to drop little Chester off at my parents' house while we went to Sulphur Springs to visit Cary's family. Wow! What a day he had!

A written account of Chester's Day, written by mom as seen in the eyes of Chester:

Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Mom and dad said I'm going to spend the day at thegrandparents today while they go to Sulphur Springs. A day laying out bythe pool. Getting spoiled. Relaxation.

Oh mom, dad you missed the turnto O-Ma and O-Pa's. Wait a minute you are not telling me we are going tothe grandparents and it's a trick to get me to the vet?(panic) Oh wait we passed the vet office so, well maybe they decided to take me to SulphurSprings too. That should be fun.

Wait a minute. This area looks familiar.Hey, it's that bully cat, Ditto's house. Tell you what, I will stay in thecar until you get done with your business and we can be on our way. Please don't make me get out. Hey! LEAVE MY STUFF IN THE CAR, I'M NOT STAYING! Hello T-Ma, well all seems okay for now. Hello Ditto. AHHHH I got slapped 4 times in 1. I'm just saying hello!

I guess I could use a bathroom break before we get on the road. Well the back yard does not have a pool. O-Ma and O-Pa's does. Well I guess it is nice enough with the plants and flowers. Grass is nice and thick.

Hey where is mom and dad? That was not nice of them to leave me with these bully cats. Well I will try to make the best of it. Wow, there are some big dogs across the ally. Hello! Wait I hear more but I don't see them, I will talk with them too. Oh look more across the driveway. This is cool.

Oh a car.....if that fence had not been there I would have caught that car. That was a nice little run. Another one!

Mom, dad your back! So soon? Do we have to leave already? Oh B-Pa is outside grilling supper, more time to run and talk with my friends.

Mom and dad let me tell you about my day: I made some new friends. I chased after cars. I ran and hopped all over the yard. I got to pay fetch and tug a war. Every time we went out someone was waving at T-Ma. I played some with B-Pa's brother Eric when he came over.

I did let T-Ma know that I was not happy with her putting me in my crate while she helped him put some things in his truck. I showed her! She said she could hear me barking all the way out at the street. (I was in the kitchen) I got to ride in T-Ma's car. We need one of those! I had a whole area to myself and I could just lay down. T-MA said I did really good.

I tried real hard to make friends with the cats but I don't think that worked well. At least Vader just yells at me, no hitting.

T-MA and I walked down to the corner of Mulberry and Holly Oak and back. Oh I ran into the glass door when I saw someone walking by. OUCH! T-Ma quit laughing so hard! I played , ran and chased more cars,talked with my new friends, fetched and played tug a war some more.

I didn't get a chance to play with B-Pa much. He was working on some things and then got called out to a drowning. You know I'm really tired now. I think I will go lay down over here and res...zzzzz

**Note: once we got home, we sat on the couch and watched a little tv. Chester enjoys pestering us at that time, putting a cold nose or his toys on us, but we didn't see or hear from him for the next 1 1/2 to 2 hours. We found him laying in the closet, wiped out!

Newest Edition...

To the Clown Family!

Meet Chestnut the clown doggie!

His tricks include:

Wearing noses (for a very short amount of time right now)

Stop, Drop (Roll will come shortly) and

Chewing his bed up! (not that spectacular, except that it was done on the first night we got it!)

...I guess we still have work to be done!

I'm officially a McFadden!!

Ok, ok...I know that I have been a McFadden since December 15, but I finally sent away to get my passport updated, which was the last of MANY things to take care of when you change your name.

Let me tell you...you better love the man you are changing your name for! The address, wedding license, passport, driver's license, social security, etc you go through for the changes. What a hassle because we know how much the government requires from us, too (a.k.a the lines!)

Good thing Cary loves me. After all this adjusting, he's stuck with me! :o)

Now on to plan that trip to London!

All the things going in my head...

Sorry there hasn't been an update in a while. Cary and I have been brain storming over several items (yes, scary I know) and one of the big ones lately is this new website, Lewisville Safety Clowns. Here is the link: http://lewisville-lafs.webs.com

It focuses on the clowns and what they do. More or less established for eductational purposes, this site allows us (family, friends, and the clowns themselves) to show everyone the details and learn about safety without us having to lose our voices trying to explain to everyone who shows interest.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about Fire Safety Clowns, please enjoy!

BTW--dad celebrated 25 years with the fire department as a volunteer this past June. Quite an achievement!

WALL-E Cake

Second try yesterday for the professional cake baking thing. This time, I had assistance. And man, he's good!

My uncle requested a red velvet cake for his birthday celebration, and Cary and I decided to go all out. First, it started with a visit to Michael's, where we found a WALL-E shaped cake pan (Cary wanted Dora the Explorer, but WALL-E won out).

I have only made cakes from scratch once before (see Watch Out Chef Duff) and I was of course nervous about the cake not tasting good. I mean, red velvet is quite a request!!!

When we finally got the red velvet made (and I do mean Red!), and baked, we started with the icing.

I've seen people decorate cakes before, and it looked like fun. But I had no idea it would be messy fun! There was icing everywhere!

And in so many colors! Cary did a great job of mixing the right colors together and bringing WALL-E to life.

Little stars here, outlines there...How do people do it day in and day out? But I can't complain too much. I got to play with food, which hopefully was enjoyed by our company last night.

Oops! Looks like Cary and Chester got caught! Fortunately I have the advantage of creating the blog, so I get to keep out the pictures of me digging into the icing!

Our finished product...great improvement compared to the past. I wonder how the cake would look if Cary and I didn't have such great teamwork...Maybe a professional decorating job isn't so far away...

Now, how did it taste?!

Mom's Great Get-togethers!

Last night, we got together for what is probably our 8th (or so) family game night. What started out as an evening for Cary and me with my parents (we do that every Saturday night) has turned into a once-a-month party that consists of my uncle, aunt, and friends and family that join us along the way.

Last night was the largest gathering we have had yet. What usually has been mom, dad, Cary, Bill, Ivan and myself, last night consisted of:

Mom, dad, Cary, Bill, Kelly, Rebecca (Kelly's girlfriend), Preston (Rebecca's son), Melissa, John, Erica, Austin, and myself.

We all turned up for what seemed to be a mini-Thanksgiving. And of course, the great time and good food credit goes to my mom.

It was Bill's birthday earlier in the month, so we celebrated with a cake that Cary and I labored all day over. (See Wall-E cake) We had roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, mac and cheese, beans, salad...a Thanksgiving meal in August!

After that, the 10 adults sat at the table and played Apples to Apples. There was so much laughing going on, and we played the game 3 times because we were having such a great time. When we finally ended it around 9:45, everyone was so tired from the talking and laughing. For anyone that ever asks, I HIGHLY recommend Apples to Apples!

The night, as every game night, was wonderful and tons of fun. It is growing almost every month, and it is welcoming thing. There is nothing more fun than good company with family and friends!

And a very happy birthday to my uncle Bill. May it be filled with happiness, love, and joy. And of course many more years of your favorite neice and new nephew-in-law. We love you!

Let the Games Begin!

Who has been watching the Olympics?

This has been the first year that I have watched anything in quite a while. I am always a fan of the Women's Gymnastics. Those girls are phenomenal! And it looks like they are taking home the gold and silver this year...Go USA!!!

I have to say, though, that one of my other favorite events is fencing. I have never seen a match on tv, let alone the Olympics. I fenced for 2 years several years ago, and won my share of medals, but nothing like the Olympics (see geeky photo of me on the right). In fact, I think the majority of mine were out of pure luck. First place Women's Sabre out of 2 women competing...

But did you hear about the Women's Individual Sabre? 3 Americans took home all 3 medals...VERY impressive for the Olympics. Makes me want to put on my tight jacket and mask and get out that sword again...WOW!
What have you watched? Michael Phelps break all sorts of crazy records? Those Chinese 16 year olds (more like 14 or 15) For the first time in a very long time, I've got Olympic fever (well, kinda...)

As of this moment, USA has 46 medals, with China in close 2nd with 41...what a tight competition!

Bring on the Winter Games!

Chester Discovers...

Animal Planet!

While flipping through the channels on Friday night, we found the Puppy Olympics, featuring a video camera on puppies as they did what they do best: playing, eating, and of course, pooping!

Chester wanted to join them so bad, and when one ran off the side of the screen, he would go in the same direction, hoping to meet them for some playing!

Chester's best Olympic event? Chewing. He has slobbered all over the gold for that one!

Send In the Clowns...

"Come one, come all to the Greatest Show on Earth!

Tonight we feature the North Texas Fire Safety Clowns! Come get an autograph, maybe even a picture or two!"

Those are along the lines of what we heard last night as we, The Lewisville Fire Safety Clowns, joined about 30 other clowns from North Texas cities (and even Oklahoma!) and went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

This is the second time in 3 years for Ashes, Petunia, and Radio to go rub elbows with the 'big wigs' and trade tips and laughs. I was fortunate to get to experience it all from the sidelines both years as a photographer. What a great time!

We arrived at 3:00, and waited for the other area clowns to arrive. The poor AA Center staff! They almost literally had to jump through hoops just to pass the growing group of goofy firemen standing around waiting for clown college to begin!

Around 4:30, the group was shuffled down to the floor of the arena where a few of the circus performers waited for us and welcomed us warmly. Then the clowns were broken into groups, where juggling, makeup, and acting tips were given to the fire clowns.

2 hours later, after a lot of falling, makeup, and juggling, (and even a question/answer session), the doors opened to the show visitors, and thousands of people gathered around to watch, meet, and talk with all of the clowns. The fire safety clowns were 'Ringling Staff' for a night!

Some of the highlights included:

• The Ringling Bros. clowns remembered the Lewisville clowns from 2 years ago, and were 'excited to see and talk with them again' (Ashes, Radio and Petunia were the only fire clowns invited in 2006)...my has it grown!


• My niece's first visit to the circus. I watched her during the show, and at one time, it took her 10 minutes to chew on a piece of pizza crust because she was so entranced...


• Watching the professionals and how nice and wonderful they were to open their home and advice to the other clowns. From beginning to end, it was like they all became a big family!


• Free tickets to watch the rest of the show. Great seats, too! Thank you!!!

Mom, dad and I were there for 7 hours...boy was I tired! Who knew it would take so much energy to keep up with almost 50 clowns and catch exciting moments for them all...

It was super cool being part of the original group that was there previously, but I can't help but want to see how the other fire safety clowns felt about being there...

If you know any clowns out there that can give me their (and other clowns') reviews, please pass it along to me; I'd love to have the comments!

My New Favorite Picture!

I was scanning my cousin's blog today when I came upon this picture:

Notice the plastic shower cap over the hair, but my favorite is her towels in the flip flops to help keep them on! Read the story on The Guess Family blog:(http://theguessfamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/dressing-up3-year-old-style.html)

Now, being exhausted after the long day yesterday (awake 17 hours--including 7 at the circus, and running around with my neice), I couldn't help but crack up at this adorable photo. I put it on as my desktop at work to make me smile for the rest of the day (and until I dare take it off)

Thank you Addison for the laugh!

First Day As An Aunt

Well, technically, I've been an aunt for almost 8 months now. But yesterday was the first trial to see how GOOD of an aunt I can be. Now I see the joy my aunts Amy, Kelly, and Kathie got chasing us around as kids.

A lot of my focus for the day was to keep Helen happy. The evening was booked for the circus, and her uncle Cary was getting her at 1:30, so I got to entertain her from 7:30 a.m. until lunch time. Girls day!

We went driving around for some errands (Chester needed heartworm prevention) and then we went to Target, where she and I picked out a game to play. We chose Mousetrap (it's been forever since I've played this!!) and then I picked up so other items...she's such a trooper!

Then it was back to the apartment for entertainment by Hannah Montana, Spongebob Squarepants, Chester, and of course, Mousetrap!

Our lunch visitors were her dad, her Oma, and Cary. After lunch, it was on to my parent's house to get ready for the circus! She met Ashes and Petunia beforehand so that she could get a feel of what clowns were like, in hopes to keep her from being too afraid of them.

I didn't get to see her again until we were in the massive crowd of circus patrons visiting the Greatest Show On Earth before the show. Clowns were everywhere (see Send In The Clowns blog), acrobats were showing their skills, families were crowding around for photo opportunities. Again, what a trooper! She stuck close to her Uncle Cary and me the entire time, not showing any fear of so many people, and no complaining!

She was rewarded with pizza, snowcone in a keepsake pony mug, a spinning flashy light, and a big hat...needless to say, the circus seemed to excite her, and she slept well that night!

Today she goes back to her parents. I can get a good night's sleep (I slept very lightly last night just in case she needed her aunty) but I enjoyed the time we had together. As well as the circus items mentioned above, she is going home with a dancing Wall-E figure, just like the one Cary gave me!

I hope you had fun Helen! We need to do it again soon!

While I'm at work...

One Word...

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your significant other? God-sent
3. Your hair? flat
4. Your mother? Tressia
5. Your father? Bryan
6. Your favorite thing? Vacationing
7. Your dream last night? unknown (Response to Kim's--Oh dear!!!)
8. Your favorite drink? many
9. Your dream/goal? family
10. The room you're in? cubicle
11. Your hobby? baking
12. Your fear? Loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vermont
14. Where were you last night? walking
15. What you're not? Original
16. Muffins? Cinnamon
17. One of your wish list items? Europe
18. Where you grew up? Lewisville
19. What are you wearing? comfortable
20. Your pets? AthenaChesterSammySimon (I tried but one was not enough!)
21. Your computer? over-used
22. Your life? Blessed
23. Your mood? Eager
24. Missing someone? Always
25. Your car? Dirty
26. Something you're not wearing? Socks
27. Favorite store? ummm...
28. Your summer? Hot
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? minutes ago
31. Last time you cried? Dobby

Copy this and try it...using one word is harder than you think