Treasure Chest

***********UPDATE***********

The fall festival was today. They put down that the minimum bid on the treasure chest had to be $15. When I went in to check on it and bid myself, only one person had bid on it. She put $48.50 as her bid. I found this strange for a number of reasons. One, $48.50 is quite high for a first bid when she could have put $15. It's also kind of a random price...why add the 50 cents. She also put a really weird phone number. I figured she must have been from out of town. Anyways, I was happy that someone really must have wanted it to put that high of a bid but also a little sad because there was no way I was going to pay $50 for it when I had already put in $20 to make it. That would have made it a $70 treasure chest. I figured I'd just make another one. So I told my friend Kathi that if she fell through that I would love to buy it for $20. She sent me a text saying that the person had in fact fallen through and that I could have it. When I called her she told me that the person bidding on it was actually a child going around putting random bids on stuff. She apparently put $60 on an item that wasn't worth that at all. I don't know how old she was or if they gave her a talkin' to but I was happy to get the treasure chest back. Next year we'll just have to figure out a way to keep the kids out of the silent auction area.

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Tomorrow is Zachary's school's Fall Festival. It's something they do every year to raise money. They will have different booths with different games (our class is in charge of the Lollipop Pull) as well as a Spacewalk and a Sweet Shop (I'm making fudge for it). Each class is responsible for donating a item for the silent auction. The children have to have some kind of participation in it. I am one of Zachary's home room moms so Jodi (the other one) and I had to come up with an idea. Since we really weren't sure of anything real crafty that we could do we decided to ask for a $5 donation from each child and would put together a gift basket. We got a whopping total of $20. There are 21 kids in his class and one parent gave us $10. So that means only two other parents gave. We sent home two notes asking (almost begging) for parents to help us out. I had come up with the idea of making a treasure chest and filling it with different things. At first we were going to find wooden coins and have each child color one to put inside. But then I found this little wooden chest and thought it would be cute if they put their hand prints on there. So I painted it brown and took it into the class and had each child paint their hand and put it on the chest. Then I filled it with various things that Jodi and I found. I think it turned out darling and hope I am able to win it. If I don't have the winning bid I'll just make Zachary another one.

Kansas Trip 2009 - Part Two

While Addison and I were in Kansas we went to a pumpkin patch on the way to my Aunt Janelle's house. Of course my Grandmother, Mom, Dad, Angie, Cooper & Carson went with us. I remember bringing Zachary to this very same one when he was almost two years old. They have a great area for young kids. It was a beautiful fall day. I took lots of pictures. I tried narrowing it down but there are still a lot I want to share. Here is a precious one of Addie.

I played around with it in Picasa. I think I may have gone a little overboard on the "glow" effect but I still think it turned out pretty good.

Here is another picture I played around with in Picasa. This was taken at Janelle's later in the night.

My dad and Miss Addie

I thought the entry way into the building was beautiful.

Two sweet little girls. Carson & Addison

Miss Carson

They had a slide for the little kids.

And a slide for the bigger kids. Cooper went down it once...and only once. Was a little bit too fast for him.

Angie went down as well. This picture reminds me of a clothing ad.

Carson, Angie & Cooper

There was corn box (like a sand box).

A tire maze.

Here you are supposed to throw little bean bags at the chickens and knock them down. Addie cheated.

They even had a big wooden Spookley to take pictures with. Of course Addison would not turn around for me.

My sweet sweet Grandmother and mom

Me and my mini me.

We finally made it to the actual pumpkin patch.

Here is Addison NOT looking at the camera again.

Here are two more pictures that I played around with in Picasa.

Kansas Trip 2009 - Part One

A few weeks ago Addison and I flew up to Kansas to visit with my family. We had a wonderful time. Addison did so well on the plane. We got to Kansas City on a Thursday afternoon. My parents picked us up and we drove 2 1/2 hours to Salina. That evening my grandmother came over for dinner. I was so happy to see her. It had been over a year and a half since I had seen her. (Which is entirely too much time between visits.) On Friday my sister, Angie's, family got there. I hadn't see her two little ones since September of '08. Carson was only a month old then so I was excited to see how she had changed. Cooper looks the same but is talking more. Much much more. :) That night we all went out to my aunt, Janelle's, farm house. It was so wonderful visiting with family that I never get to see. All my aunts and uncles were there along with my grandmother and cousins and their little ones. Here are a few pics of that evening....

My Aunt Janelle - what a gracious hostMy sweet and tiny Grandmother and Aunt JillWatching all of these kids get together and play made me wish so badly that Zachary could have come with us. We didn't want to take him out of school so he stayed at home with Jason. Gabe is playing Mario Kart on the DS and I know Zachary would have loved that. Audrey is standing behind the couch and then there is Cooper, Gabe and Dario.Janelle has two kittens that roam around her property. Addie was obsessed with them. The black one was too scared to be picked up but this little one didn't seem to mind it.

Gabe

Janelle has a great tire swing. Here are Dario and Cooper pushing Addie.
Cooper
On Saturday we hung around the house and walked over to a small park. Late that afternoon my dad and I drove up to Manhattan to go to the K-State/Texas A&M game. I was so excited to go because I haven't been to a game in years. It's fun to see all of that purple. I took my camera but left the battery charging in my parents kitchen so I wasn't able to take pictures. I sat with my friend, Jen. They have fantastic seats. We actually chatted through most of the first half which I'm sure annoyed everyone around us. What a game that was! 62-14 I believe. Not sure what was wrong with the Aggies that day. The very next weekend they beat Texas Tech who killed us a few weeks back. College football is so unpredictable. On Sunday after Addison's nap Mom & I took her to the park. It was a gorgeous fall day. Perfect weather for taking pictures but once again, Addison would not look at the camera. Here are a few pics from the park anyways....

The trees in Kansas get so pretty in the fall.

After the park we went over to my Grandma's. Every Sunday my mom, her sisters and my grandma get together for a beer and popcorn. My aunt Janelle showed up later but here is my aunt Jackie, mom, aunt Jill & Grandma.

We had such a nice visit. I'm looking forward to my parents coming down here for Thanksgiving. I have a lot of pictures from the pumpkin patch that we went to on that Friday but I'm going to save those for a different post. It was wonderful seeing all of you in Kansas!!