If your a Husky, then Oklahoma just sucks!

Derek is taller than Grandpa Litterell now. OOH, take that Sooner hat off!

Hi Ho Silver..

My daughter thinks it is funny to make the most hideous faces... very cute indeed.

The fake cow milking booth. One of our must do's of the fair.

First stop was of course the elephant ear booth. They are getting fancy this year with a backdrop to take your pics. Whatever... remember when elephant ears were 75 cents? Now I think we paid $6.75. Inflation.

Grandpa Litterell made a surprise visit this week and we all had a nice visit. It was only for a couple of days, but we made it work. He took Ella for a quick spin around the fair (She has to visit the milkin' booth every year). Then it was off to Dereks football game, followed by dinner out to Pizza. The highlight of the visit was him taking Chuck to the Husky Oklahoma football game so that Chuck could watch firsthand his team getting punished by a very good Sooner team. They even got to sit in the Oklahoma section as Chuck proudly wore his purple and gold and had insults tossed at him the entire day. He took it like a man though. In his dreams the Huskies will again rise to the top...

P.S. I really hate going to Walmart, but they had Pony rides- how could we pass it up?

First Day of School.

The kids went off to school and we are all excited about that. I have taken a first day of school pic of Taylor every year since he started, so it is fun to continue that tradition. This year's pic of Tay is pretty special. For once, he smiled as a teenager and it makes me laugh.. When you guys actually have teenagers, you will understand my joy! Ella is so excited to be able to ride the bus- finally. I am liking it too as all I have to do is stand on my front porch and the bus stops about 50 feet away. Nice...

Derek remains elusive about his first day of school pic- he leaves the house at about 6:30 am to walk to school with his friends, so I have not been able to catch him. I think they stop at Winco on their way to grab lunch. Winco is where all the kids hang out. They are obsessed with it in fact- something about 60 cents for a 2 liter of soda. All of the kids are liking our new house as they have so many friends to hang out with. If you ask Chuck and I, we will tell you there are too many kids to hang out with, but that is our problem.

Finally!

So, when you are the wife of a landscaper, you get to see him create really cool things like waterfalls and such, and always wonder when you will get your very own. Well, after much begging, I got my own little waterfall. I think it is so cute, small, but cute. It is for sure the smallest that Chuck has ever done, but it fits our yard. I love it, and I think I have fulfilled one of the feng shui requirements of running water.

It's an all meat party.

It was Lonnie's b-day today. He is the big 40! In his honor, we allowed him to enjoy and all meat party. I did end up stopping by the store and buying a loaf of french bread and some ready made salads, but besides that, it was a MEATFEST! Yum, but my insides are going to pay dearly. OOH and I had to throw in a pic of baby Margot. She is the sweetest, and most fun baby I've been around in a while and soooo cute. And sooooo dainty. She is almost 5 months, and tiny! I did not think the McIntire gene could do tiny, or dainty, or petite. Cute, Cute, Cute.

Vegas Baby...

This photo is a little blurry, but so were we...

Chuck and I survived Vegas. It was a lovely 105 degrees which really thaws out us Washingtonians! I had a fantastic time getting away for a couple of days. There were two highlights to my trip. First being the dinner we ate at Emerils. We decided to indulge with the Chef's tasting menu. If you have never done one of these, they bring you about six courses of food. By the third, I was taking two bites and passing my plate to my husband because I knew I would never last if I cleaned each plate. The food was amazing, and by the last course I was begging for them to stop. Chuck will not let food go to waste, so I think he was pretty miserable by the time we got done. A delightful miserable though.

Next, my fantastic husband took me on a shopping spree to my favorite stores. I cannot get enough of the mall there. We ended up having to lug four bags of clothes onto the plane. Shopping is amazing therapy!

Oh, as we left The Venetian, Chuck ran into Jessica Simpson and he got a little friendly with her. I'm not a hater though- He's all mine.

Lakefair fun

We had a nice break at Lakefair this year, and it brought the HOTNESS which was better than last years rain for sure. Let's see, so many people to visit this week- my little sister is in town, and we got to hang out for a while. We went to the high school battle of the bands- the kids did not seem too excited for that. Ooh, Nicci and Michelle stopped by the boat. Nicci looks so good- she is a Cali girl for sure! Michelle, you look good too! No slights here. We had a nice visit over a couple of brewski's. OH- and my fascinating thing of the weekend- I saw a bobcat on a leash. Kind of weird. This was in a pretty crowded parking lot, and the lady made the comment, "she's not that friendly." Good to bring your 'not friendly' bobcat to a crowded environment with lot's of small children. Also, Shad was in town with his band Hellrancho. It was nice to visit with him, screaming over a LOUD opening band. Kind of awkward in a make you feel weird and old kind of way. His band was quite good though. Mudhoney and Motorhead happily blended together. Chuck was extremely happy to be there. Pun intended! Happy to volunteer to leave and walk Katie to her car. What a cute preggo lady! I'm thinking the bun in oven was feeling the same as Chuck. Anyways, Nic, we will have to visit more when we decide to make the Cali drive.

Happy 4th! We have all our didgets!

I am happy to report that after much blowing of things up, all of my children have all of their fingers and toes intact! It has been a successful 4th of July! One note about the economy- when Chuck went to the tribe to get his fireworks this year, he got the same pack that he does every year, The Thunderchief, it was cleverly packed smaller and the guy was not negotiating on price- at all!. The fuel prices are far reaching- even when buying illegal fireworks! What are we to do? We did have a good time in our new neighborhood. I cannot believe the amount of fireworks that we witnessed. They went on until 1 am. The only bad thing is my old dog Max just sat with his head in the corner all night- it was pitiful. Poor guy!

Also, Ella has a new friend- Tyanna who just moved in next door. They have been like two peas in a pod since day one. I really like the little girl, however, she comes with about 5 big and little brothers and sisters. In addition, we just can't shake her. If you open the front door, her and her clan will be waiting on the front porch like strays- "Can we come in? Can I spend the night? Where are you going? Can Ella play? Do you have any ice cream?" At all times of the day- there will be six kids in our front yard. It is all I can do to keep Chuck from being the grumpy old bastard on the block screaming "all you kids get the F off my yard!" We have been trying to set some kind of boundaries, but it is hard because they are really nice little kids and it is rare to find playmates that are not too annoying. Their parents are the types to just kick the kids outside to play, and we are micro managers that watch Ella every moment of her existence- and we have otter pops... I was always told to never feed strays. I think that is my problem.