Tonight, the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department sponsored a water battle. For those of you not familiar, this is basically tug of war - except instead of rope, the fireman use the water in their hoses - and instead of tugging, they push. The object they push is a large red keg suspended in the sky on heavy duty wire.
The children (and adults) lined the streets to watch the local fire departments battle it out. It was a gorgeous evening for it and I was so glad I brought my camera to take pictures of the event.
Here is just a few of my favorite pictures. If you'd like to see more, check them out at www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferschwalm
How cute are these brothers? They were so excited to watch - and were hoping to get a little wetter than they did.
I thought this was a cool one of the firemen and the rainbow.
This fireman is charging ahead - he had gotten a good start on pushing that keg to the opposing side.
What is cuter than little girls splashing in the puddles?
Shaking hands after a match.
This guy was ready. He knew how to handle his hose. 
More kids frolicking in the water.
This guy is in charge of moving the keg into place before each battle.
I love living in a rural area. Especially this little Saxonburg community. I wish that we truly had a Saxonburg address so we could officially be affiliated with this fun little community. There's really nothing better than small town America. Everyone cheered for their local fire department, there was laughter and a sense of comradarie - these guys not only have to trust their own co-workers, but they know that they can call any one of the seven fire departments there to compete to help them battle a blaze. People underestimate how much work and sacrifice goes into manning and keeping a volunteer fire department. In communities such as ours, where you have so much rural land and countryside to deal with, knowing how to fight a fire properly is so important. And in our little neck of the woods, we rely soley on volunteers to fight those fires. Kudos to all the volunteer fireman and firewomen out there. I am very grateful for these rural departments and for their equipment. And I had a great time watching them battle it out where it didn't really matter. It was a lot of fun!
Here are a bunch of folks getting their pets pampered and prepped to step out onto Main Street and the awaiting crowds.
Here is Miss Maggie May. She is posing as the Queen of England with her Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Hank did a great job of staying in the wagon with the Queen. I even brought the ipod with a trumpet voluntary to enhance the effect, but you couldn't really hear it with my wimpy little TJ Maxx speakers.
Here are the boys. I had wanted to dress them as the British Royal Guard - I even found Walker a red blazer to wear - but when I showed him the photo, he balked telling me he did not like the hat and he wasn't dressing as one of "those." Knowing Will undoubtedly would not wear the costume if Walker wasn't (and let's face it, where was I going to find a red 18 month blazer in June?) so I scrapped the Royal Guard idea and had an epiphany in church. I decided to dress Walker as a chef and we would bring some chickens in a wagon. Erik thought of the cleaver - I got together the materials to make it and Erik took over - hence the blood on it. You can't believe the chuckles we got from Walker's "menu" sign. Walker's dinner specials were: Roasted Chicken, Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Noodle Soup. 
'Nuff said!
May
September
It amazes me how much my babies have grown in the last 8 months. Maggie's hair was short - now I can put it in braids - she has become sassier and funnier too. Will wasn't walking, talking or doing much of anything. 8 months later, he's walking, running and doing almost everything his brother and sister are doing. Let's not even start with Walker. He's grown leaps and bounds both physically and cognitively. He amazes me sometimes with what he knows and can do. He's such a problem solver. His favorite thing to do is to figure out how to do something. He is very creative in his problem solving skills. 
To worm the goats, Erik hangs a bag of worming medication, this time we used Ivermectin, and uses a squirt gun type tool to squirt the medication into the goats mouths. This is a delicate process as we have to be sure the medication goes down their throats and they don't spit it out on us. It's a tough job because goats are ruminants which means they have great ability to spit up what they have eaten. Erik has come out of the barns many a time wearing some wormer.
This year she gave birth to twins again - and twins very similar in color to last years babies. She gave birth to a reddish brown female w/ a white belly and the twin was another female w/ a reddish- brown head.
Hello goaty! We haven't found a good name for you yet.
Her daughter from last year, Oreo, had a baby this year too that we call Gobby. Here is Tan Gran with her daughter from last year, Oreo, and her new babies, yet to be named. They were all upset after having vaccinations, so they huddled with their mama for comfort. Oreo and her baby cuddle up with Tan Gran daily. 
Here is Oreo with her daughter, Gobby, and her sisters. They are a big happy family. 
then Maggie tells Walker to look it up on the computer to see if they have it. 
Walker then tells Maggie the price, and she conveys the price to the imaginary shopper. As you can see, it is a family friendly store as Maggie brings her children to work with her and changes them right there in front of the customers.
What may be the downfall of their efficiency is that instead of stocking their goods in a mannerly fashion, they just dump it all out on the floor. They have every item they own crammed into this 6 foot space. The rest of the house is spotless (well, except for my messes) but they apparently have a "path" through this jumble. It must be imaginary, just like their customers because I cannot find it. Good thing we have two entrances to the room or I would be stuck all alone in the other room. 
This is where my children choose to play. It is a 3x4 foot space in which I have crammed my treadmill. I also have stuffed some baby toys in this area - it's sort of a storage area for those baby toys I have out for any babies that come to visit us at our house. (Ignore my attempts to hide my treadmill with the token tropical houseplant.) It is not a big area, it is consumed by the treadmill, yet this area ALWAYS attracts the children and they insist on playing right under my feet. This area is literally 12 inches from my feet when I am at the desk/computer doing "my" work. 
Here's a wider angle of that area. As you can see, there is not much room at all to play. But they love playing there. Apparently, what makes a good play area is not space - it is proximity to Momma. Why is it children always want to play under my feet???? Same thing as in the kitchen - while I am cooking, you will invariably find a truck or a baby doll under my feet next to the stove. 
This is a bit of a close up of the toys the children were playing with today. Seems kind of odd. A big rig with a trailer - tractor in tow, an upside down truck, a pig, some school papers, a baby stroller and a boat with sea animals. I find it tremendously funny that the boat is actually on top of the sea creatures. Clever.
Roscoe - a Pembroke Welsch Corgi that your dear husband found for free on craigslist. He mentioned it to me the other day saying a lady was giving one away for free. I assumed (silly me) that we would discuss it more - weigh the pros and cons, etc. Turns out, the lady called Erik today (conveniently while I was at the Y) and when she found out where we lived, what we did, and how Roscoe would be treated and loved, she told Erik, "I'll meet you in Cranberry Twp. He's yours!" Apparently, Roscoe previously lived on a farm and his owner had to leave said farm. She has been keeping him caged in her new place and he was just sad to live like that. 
