A successful deer season

Another year of successful deer hunting. I bagged an 8-pointer. John got a buck and a doe, and now we are in the middle of processing nearly 200 pounds of deer meat! The girls love it. So far, meals have included deer steak, deer breakfast sausage and deer brats!

Gypsum October Festival

The girls and I attended the 2008 Gypsum October Festival this year. I haven’t been back for the decades-old tradition since I graduated from high school, when our high school band director forced me to march with my trombone in the band (Yeah, he hated me :) ).

I grew up in the little Saline County town of Gypsum, population 400-something, if even that. I always loved the October Festival, included dressing up for the parade (I’ve been everything from Wonder Woman and Snoopy in a float, to the Red Baron and a pioneer on a covered wagon. I always won, too!).

Now, maybe the girls can enjoy it a little bit. At least, they liked the suckers all the politicians and others threw out.

Here are a few of the pictures from this year.

My dad, Gary Bickel, and his 1948 John Deere B.

We used to decorate it at Christmas. It was awesome. Now he doesn't do that as much. Probably because I'm not around to help and beg him to decorate it.

Dad, and the B.

OK, I'm not the best picture taker. But here is the backside of Rep. Josh Svaty, who was throwing candy. I doubt he'd read this, but if he did, I'd like to tell him I'm impressed with how long he stayed at the festival and mingled and hung around. Most politicans aren't that considerate. Anyway, he was there a good six or seven hours, and I don't think he was even hanging out with anyone.

My mom and Brett. Brett loves cows (one of her first words was cow and moo), and for some reason, kept calling the horses cows. At least she is a beef eater, like her mother.

Like I said, Brett loves the horses, or as she puts it, Cows. Aunt Lori needs to take her to her farm to see their stockers. She'd be ecstatic.

The girls sitting at the Gypsum gazebo. This is a rare moment of them sitting still.

Brett, my sister, Lori, Kaci, my nephew Jason and my brother-in-law Randy Hahn. They're watching the parade going down Main Street Gypsum.

Lori and Kaci watch the parade.

Grandma Karen and Brett.

I'm sure they like K-State ...

But they wouldn't sit still

Sometimes I wonder what I’m thinking.

I had visions of darling girls dressed in purple, cheering on the Kansas State University football team alongside dear old Mom.

What John and I got on that September venture was two toddlers, pissed off they couldn’t run, climb and everything else that 18-month-old girls would rather be doing.

Obviously, they wouldn’t like to sit at a football game.

We should have known it would be bad when they wouldn’t even sit still during tailgating. John and I chased them around an enclosed tennis court.

The game, however, was worse.

Brett would watch the jumbotron a little bit, but Kaci didn’t care about the music, the players on the field or the cheers from the stands. She wrestled to try to get out of my arms, wanting to climb the stairs and run, run, run.

I fed her those Goldfish crackers for a while, which seemed to appease her. When they ran out, we moved on to Teddy Grahams.

I gave her to John, who had to leave the stadium by the end of the first quarter.

My venture ended at half time. Brett was mad. Poo was running from her pants. She probably ate too many hot dogs.

My husband says he’ll never go to another K-State game again with the girls in tow.

Not that he cares. He’s a KU fan.

Real Mothers ...

Someone sent this to me ...

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it (who ever makes quiche ... I don't even know what that is. Does it have Macaroni in it? I can make that.)

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox (is that why I found a teaspoon on the front porch this morning? Last night Kaci was chewing on an egg beater ... no idea.)

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids (yup, yup and yup, although my husband promised to shampoo the carpets this weekend -- the twins love to throw food like Spaghetti, and milk and um, yeah).

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets (I don't know about play dough. Just spaghetti)

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up (why vacuum? They just mess it up again. Actually, vacuuming in my house means John gets out the shop vac. It sucks up whole food better)

They can be good ... sometimes

Brett and Kaci in a rare moment being good.

SWIM! and Play

The girls are enjoying summer! So far, our summer days and nights include a lot of playing outside. That means playing softball, riding behind mom's Instep bicycle, lots of wagon rides and pool time. Our little pool at least keeps them cool. Now if we could only teach them to swim.

Kaci is having fun in the pool and outside of it.

Brett and Kaci swim time.

Kaci finds the hose more fascinating than the pool.

Little Brett just lounges. She just likes sitting in water.

Little Brett

Little Brett isn't as active as Kaci, but she is a ham. She loves to laugh and smile, although she does have a complex about getting her way, something both JY and I need to work on. I think her favorite words, besides Mommy and Daddy, of course, is MINE! STOP IT! and NO!