Rant and Rave and then an update!

UGH! I really hate a certain mega store that EVERYONE pretty much has to shop at because it is convenient to shop there and so cheap! If you haven't guessed the store, it is WalMart! I needed some items today, so I thought I'd bribe the children into behaving by offering a lunch at McDonalds in the Walmart store before I did my shopping. First we trudge through the parking lot - 3 wide and me holding the baby carrier. I have to bring Will in the carrier because the carts that are supposed to hold multiple children don't have places for an older infant/toddler to sit with their legs through the holes. So, Will has to sit in the infant carrier. We go in one entrance and discover not only are there no special carts, there are no carts at all on that side. So, we tighten our grips on each other's hands and head ACROSS the store to the other entrance to look for a special cart there! We get there and the greeter asks "Can I help you Ma'am?" I say "sure, I need one of those special carts." He proceeds to tell me that I can go get the one that is outside the building in the cart storage area. He cannot go get it for me because he is not allowed to leave his post in front of the regular carts. Mind you, I have already trudged miles through the parking lot, across the overly crowded store (why did I not remember that it was the first of the month???) and am standing in the opposite entry with three hungry, cranky kids.

Of course, I did the reasonable thing. I got an attitude and loudly said, "I HATE this store. I guess they don't want us to spend our money here!" And I walked right out, back across the front of the store, through the hot and steamy parking lot to our hot and steamy van.

I am very proud of my children because I did not hear one complaint from them. We'll, ok, Will did fuss a little bit, but I don't think it was because I left Walmart in a huff.

I have vowed that I will not return to that store. I can't say that I will never enter a Walmart again, but I may have to start shopping at one in a different location.

Why oh why can't Target open one of their superstores here?! Please, if anyone out there reads this and has some pull with Target, I NEED ONE IN THE NORTH PITTSBURGH AREA!

That said, I'll fill you in on our fun times at the Clearfield County Fair!

Wednesday night, we took Walker to his very first concert. He got to see one of his favorite singers, Jason Aldean.
That is Jason Aldean putting a band aid on his finger - he must have blisters from all the guitar playing.

Walker was so excited. I've posted a few pictures, but I couldn't really get his face as he was watching the show because we were crammed into the bleacher - but, take it from me, it was totally worth going just to see that boy smile and laugh and giggle and clap. Walker is singing to "Amarillo Sky"


I just can't take how adorable he is!!

I seriously almost cried seeing how happy he was to hear "Amarillo Sky." Everyone around us commented, "Look at that little boy - he knows all the words." Ugh - I seriously can't take how adorable that boy can be. If his brother is even an iota similar, I'm lost!!! Hopefully he will always use this power for good and not for mischief making!

Thursday, we went to the Fair again with my sister Katie, her two children and my mom. My mom's car is in the shop, so we were using my Papa's car. You should have seen us trying to fanagle four children, a jogging stoller and a double side by side stroller into this car. There are times I think our family could be on a reality TV show. Seriously, how ridiculous can we get??

While we somehow managed to get to the fair and wrestle with food, drinks, Erik and Walker enjoyed a fun night at the truck pulls. They had a blast and came back to my moms house chanting, "Fuuuuuuull Puuuuuul!" Drawing out the words, "Full Pull."

We left my moms early this morning and surprised the children with special donuts from the fair - Erik's very favorite donuts that will also be at the Butler Farm Show this coming week! I only tell you this because miss Maggie May calls them Do-nos. And she only eats the icing, sprinkles, or whatever topping is on the donut. She NEVER eats the actual donut itself. Which worked out fine because she then passes the rest of the donut to her baby brother who wolfes down any food available to him. We jokingly call him "Porky" because he is always ready to eat. Mind you, the poor child is only in the 10th percentile for his weight according to his last Dr. visit on the 28th. It's nothing to worry about, his brother was the same way - they just have that really lucky metabolism. I like to think that I got skipped over on that metabolism thing so my children would be given the gift. Yes, I sacrificed so my children would benefit. Think they'll buy that in the future??

Well, tomorrow is looking to be a very busy day. I've got cleaning and laundry to catch up on and I'm sure Erik will want some help getting stuff together for the Farm Show. We're entering 3 goats and Walker is going to enter the pee-wee showmanship contest on Monday. Exciting times around here. The goats need baths though, so we'll be doing that tomorrow. What does one use to give a goat a bath? Can we use dog shampoo?? Guess we'll have to head to Tractor Supply to find something! They need a nice shiny coat.

Fun times!

Maggie loved swinging too.

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Taylor Grace - our niece

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Ah - I'm not sure if I like this or not.

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We went to Lakeside Park in Mayville this weekend and all of the children got to swing. Will had that classic face of "I think I like this, but I'm not sure" it was so cute.

The Schmoore's

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Walker Schwalm, Matthew Moore, Julia Moore, Joshua Moore and Maggie May Schwalm. We've officially labeled our clan, "The Schmoore's."

Best sign ever!

Best sign ever! , originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

This sign is at the Peach Street Exit in Erie, PA. I always think it is so funny when we drive by it. Not only does the name of the shop make me chuckle, but the fact that FIREWORKS are the big draw (illegal in the state of PA, by the way) and to entice you further, there is pepper spray, stun guns and more! Oh, and for those with a sweet tooth, pick up a pound of jelly belly's to store along side of your taser.

Curwensville Days

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of some of the parade marchers. Something about those little baby girls in those cute dance/twirl costumes just makes me smile. One of the all time favorite sites of the parade is the shriner band - of which my dad is a part. Preceding the band is a man in a motorized bicycle type thing with a "snake" basket and he rides along the crowd and every so often lifts the lid on the basket and allows him to spray the audience with "venom"/water. The kids are scared at first, but then they laugh. Fun times.

Curwensville Days

I just thought it would be fun to share some photos of my hometown parade. It was so short compared to the parades I remember of my childhood - but my children and cousins and niece and nephew enjoyed it. And brought home about 10 pounds of candy each. I think this candy throwing at parades is part of a secret conspiracy by dentists. They have secret meetings and decide to anonymously donate candy to Boy Scout troops, ball leagues and other community organizations. One perk - most of the fire companies threw those push pop popsicles. My cousin, Brandon thought this was just amazing. His face was so funny.

Our brave girl

Maggie scared the #$@& out of me Sunday. We were swimming and she decided she wanted to go down the slide. We kept saying, "wait for Daddy, wait for Daddy" and she didn't! Erik was working his way to the water, I was busy finding my camera to capture Maggie's first attempt at the slide, good mother that I am, and then all of a sudden, waiting for Daddy became too much of an inconvenience! She let go of the rail, scooted her butt forward and WHOOSH! she was in the water! Of course I did the typical mom thing, sucked my breath in so hard that the branches on the trees were pulled in my direction, and then yelled - Okay - "screeched" ERIK!!!! He jumped in as Maggie came up sputtering. Thankfully I had the sense of mind to put down the camera and start clapping and yelling "Yay Maggie!! you're such a big girl! You're so brave!" So instead of being afraid, she became proud and said, "more times, Dada." Oh, relief! So, she got back on the slide but this time she wanted me to hold her hand as she went down. So, the only pictures I was able to get was of her at the top of the slide, splash landing in the water, and being held by Daddy after impact. Our brave, brave girl. Oh, and for those of you not impressed - Maggie is only 2 years old! Not even 2 1/2 years old either! Ok, maybe I'm only impressed because I am a chicken and even I won't go down the slide.

After a week of braving the diving board, Walker decided to add to his swimming adventures by going off the sliding board. Of course, this was spurred by the fact that his sister went down the slide first. They both were real champs about it and although aren't sold on the fun of the slide, were very brave and good sports. I love the look of panic on his face!

"Does it look like I am enjoying the pool?"

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, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Maggie and cousin Olivia sport matching bathing suits courtesy of Nana.

, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Walker was playing baseball with my Dad and cousin Chris. He was giggling too hard to hit the ball. Chris has an unsatiable need to play baseball. He is OBSESSED! I seriously do not know how my sister Katie keeps up with his obsession and I give her so much credit for not disposing the house of all evidence the game exists. In fact, they signed Chris up for T-ball. So, today, Walker tells his dad he has learned to catch better because he was playing ball with Chris during our recent trip to my moms house and then he looks pointedly at me and says, "Well, I can't play T-ball because my mom won't sign me up for it." HE NEVER EVEN ASKED TO!!! Can you believe it - I am already being labeled as a bad mother!

One Crazy Day

, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

I took this picture a few days ago at my Papa's pool in my hometown. On that particular day - all, except one, of my Papa's grandchildren and great grandchildren had been swimming at his house for all or part of the day. Wow!

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My nephew.

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Will watches and bides his time until he can jump in the water!

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When jumping in, Maggie insisted on having something in her hand.

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Maggie is swimming all by herself and doing so well. I am so proud of my little fishes!

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Maggie after jumping in the pool. She even went off the diving board and went under water. Such brave little folks I have.

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Walker learned to dive. He did it right 1/2 of the time - the other half he did major belly floppers!

A Day at Papa's Pool

, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Walker was so brave and went off the diving board many many times - even after Nana's dog, Maisey, jumped in front of him and caused him to bounce off of the diving board before falling in. He took the dog in with him, so he did feel somewhat vindicated for being pushed in by a dog. My babies are growing fins!

Pure Joy

Walker loves helping his Uncle Travis and Mimi at the Deli. He's always helping with the dishes, making food, cleaning, etc. He's such a good helper that several customers have asked him where his Deli shirt is - all employees wear a green shirt w/ the deli logo on it. Well, Shelly finally got Walker a T-shirt with his name embroidered on it with the deli logo. So we surprised him today and went into the deli for lunch and Uncle Travis presented him with the t-shirt.

Walker absolutely has the best "joy" face ever. The most simple things give him the greatest joy and the joy is so pure and innocent and sweet that it truly almost makes you cry watching him. His smile gets so big and he giggles - he just can't contain it. I knew he would react this way today so I was sure to bring my camera to capture it. He could barely speak he was so thrilled - his thank you's to his Mimi & to Uncle Travis were whispers of awe - that they would do something so nice for him. You would have thought the shirt was made of gold!

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Walker is hard at work doing dishes!

Barber shop.

Walker was in need of a haircut so we played barber shop today. Maggie wanted to do barber shop too, so she got a little hair cut. It ended up being a little more than I anticipated, but that's what happens when you attempt to cut a squirmy 2 year olds hair. I think it looks really cute - it already looks cuter down than it did before. She is so pleased with it - she keeps running to the mirror to see her "barber shop." In September I will take her to have it professionally done in a more traditional bob - but, so far, looks good to me. The final picture is of Walker feeding Will his yogurt - It's so great to have help!

Where does time go?

I really don't know where time goes. We haven't really been busy, but here it is Sunday again and I don't know where the time went!

Friday we took Walker & the kids to a seminar to learn how to show goats. There is an open pee-wee class at the Butler Farm Show in August, so we learned that there was this little seminar happening and decided to "start 'em early" and take them. We learned a little bit but realized that we will probably have to start our own club to compete with our meat goats. The Farm show only recognizes dairy breeds at this time, but hopefully by the time Walker is 8, we'll have made some headway in the right direction. Walker did really well listening to the girl instructing them and learning how to show. Starting tomorrow, we are going to take goats out each night to practice. Maggie even got in on the lesson, so we are going to allow her to try to show also. She was so cute strutting this little wether around.

Saturday I went to an Amish benefit auction and got 13 perennial plants to put in our new and expanded playground bed. We need to get some weed barrier and mulch before it is finished, but I will put the plants in tomorrow probably. I got some really pretty pink hydrangeas for next to the playhouse, day lillies, and more. I'm excited to see how it will all look.

Today, Erik wanted to surprise us with a trip to Erie to the beach, but the weather forecast was for thunderstorms in Erie, so we skipped it. Hopefully we'll get another chance this summer.

We've been exposing Will to new foods since he loves "table" food so much. I allowed him to have one of those breakfast bars the other day and this is the result. I then had to give him a bath because he had the gooey fruit center all over him!

Oh, a funny story before I finish for today. Last Sunday, I had to give the children this big lecture on how they needed to ask permission to do things or to get or play with things in the house. We were having problems with the children getting food out and not closing cabinets, the freezer, etc., and putting away toys. Anyway, in my lecture, I told them, "Everything in this house or on this 40 acres belongs to Daddy & me! Even if it was given to you as a gift, as long as you keep it in our house or on our 40 acres, you have to ask permission to use it, play with it, eat it, walk on it." So fast forward to a few days ago and Erik comes in the house and says Walker wanted a popsicle, but "Momma is so mean, she says I have to ask permission for one because I have to ask her if I want anything on this 30 acres!" So Erik told him he'd see what he could do about getting them a popsicle from me. My words got through but will they last?

I am such a mean Momma!