Parades and Candy. . .

My children love parades.  Not because they are community events in which all ages participate.  Not because you can see the talents and efforts of community groups showcased in one place.  Not even to see the shiny red firetrucks or for the old men in silly hats careening down the street in miniature cars.

My kids love parades for one reason.

Candy.

A few weeks ago, our local town held its annual Firemans Carnival.  One highlight of the week was the Fireman's Parade.  Years ago, this parade boasted that it was the largest fireman's parade in the state.  Having grown up in a similar rural town in the central part of the state, I beg to differ, but I digress . . .

The day of the parade was a dreary one.  It rained off and on all day and it was kind of humid.  About an hour before the parade was to begin, I had doubts about our attendance this year because we had a down pour.  It soon was over and the place started to dry (and heat) up considerably.  As a precaution, I made Erik pack up and haul our Eazy Up tent with us so that if it did rain, we could quickly set up a shelter.  Erik did this for me without any hassle.  I am so grateful for the fact that he rarely hassles me about anything.  

We parked the car in a lot as close to the parade route as we could get and walked our way to the spot our friends had saved.  We spread out our blankets, got out our chairs, snacks and drinks and waited for the local high school marching band to make its way down the street to kick off the parade.  

My children waited in eager anticipation for the firetrucks.  For they know it is the firemen that throw the candy.

Never mind that I have packed them a snack of "trail mix" and some popcorn.  "We want CANDY!"
We will endure watching these silly men dodge in and out in figure eights down the street with bravado so we do not lose our spot to get some candy!
"Go ahead, Mister!  See how close you can get to us.  We're not moving unless you throw us some candy!"
Will sits patiently.  His brother and sister have wisely advised him that people in the parade will throw him candy - for no particular reason - if he sits carefully on the blanket and waits.Soon the children realize that sitting patiently isn't going to cut it.  They see kids across the street getting candy and understand that in order to compete, they are going to have to pull out all the stops.  In a valiant effort to distract the candy throwing firemen from the candy hoarding hoodlums from the opposite side of the street, my children start politely waving and hollering out, "Hi Mr. Fireman!"  DRATS!  it still isn't working.  It is time to get some attention!  As the next fire truck approaches, they stand up and start jumping and waving.  "Hello, Mr. Fireman!  Hello!  Thank you for trying to protect us from fires!"  
"Just let  us dash out onto the street here in front of you, big green fire truck, so we can pick up these fruit flavored tootsie rolls."  

Will collapses in relief!  "SCORE!  The guys in the green fire truck threw us CANDY!!"

and GUM!!!  

The queen of candy takes a moment to enjoy her hard earned lollipop.
Thank heavens for parades.  Where else would I get my stash of bribery candy?  

What kind of Guard Dog is that anyway???

This is our Livestock Guard Dog (LGD) Rocco.  He is a beautiful and grand Great Pyrenese.

"The Great Pyrenees excels at protecting livestock, especially sheep (goats in our case) that are grazing or hanging out in the pasture. It tends to sit around in a comfortable spot and then jump and let out a steady succession of loud, deep, bellowing barks to alert the shepherd to the threat. The dog will then dart to the threatened area and defend its livestock and territorial hegemony. Hesitant to attack and quick to intimidate, this dog is a safe bet when protecting your livestock. Intruders will probably not be maimed or assaulted by this dog.  They're 27 to 32 inches at the withers in males, and they're 25 to 29 inches at the withers for females. Some can reach 40 inches. The tallest dog ever is 42 inches, and so Great Pyrenees is huge! They can weigh up to 100 pounds, the males that is. Females are lightweights at 85 pounds or more. The Great Pyrenees is courageous, cautious, and devoted. It's reserved around visitors, whether they're human or animal visitors. It's wary of new things because it's a guard dog by nature."

I explain all of this because this beautiful, LARGE, supposedly intimidating GUARD dog is afraid of thunderstorms!

In an older post, I displayed pictures of the time Rocco got stuck under my mini van.  We never really understood why he crawled under there but in recent weeks, we have come to realize this big, giant, scary dog hid himself under my mini van in an attempt to hide from the thunder! And it is only getting worse as evidenced by his most recent attempts to find shelter from the thunder.

That's right.  This giant actually clawed his way through the screen door to get into the house. Unfortunately, we were gone the night that this happened or perhaps we would have been able to prevent it.  Now, I have to figure out how to re-screen my french door!

We had on and off storms today and usually I enjoy having the doors and windows open to hear and smell the storms.  It also helps cool the house down.  I no longer can do this as Rocco has busted through and ruined all of the screen doors and Erik showed me the evidence of attempts to claw through the windows in the sunroom.  

He sneaked in twice today and I had to practically drag him out of the house by his fur.  It's not that I don't appreciate house dogs - I just have vivid recall of the time one of our pets brought fleas into the house and how I had horrible bites on my ankles for weeks and all of the cleaning I did and bug bombs we had to set off in the house in order to get rid of them.  It is not fun - and that is why we do not allow the dogs in the house even for a short stint.

I'm just grateful the children are not afraid of the storms.  I told them that my Grammie used to tell me that thunder is just the angels bowling.  They get a kick of of hearing that and never seem to mind the noise.  I wish I just could get Rocco to understand that the thunder won't hurt him because it is just the angels bowling!

The three little snackers

Once upon a time there were three little snackers.  One rainy day, after naptime, their Momma decided to give them a snack.  She got out three little bowls, filled them with nutritious fruit and, as a treat, some organic Bunny Grahams.  

 The first little snacker was the oldest and specially requested blueberries.  His bowl was filled just right.

This little snacker then decided blueberries and Bunny Grahams were not what he wanted and he decided instead to get out crackers.
This little snacker promised his Momma he would eat his blueberries and bunny grahams.  This little snacker lied.

The second little snacker is a sneaky little snacker.  Again, Momma diligently prepared a bowl of fruit and bunny grahams.  As you can see by this bowl, this second little snacker prefers chocolately treats to her yummy nutritious grapes.  Her Momma had to beg, plead and cajole her to eat her yummy, nutritious grapes.

This is the face you get from the second little snacker when you beg, plead and cajole.  The second little snacker also hurridly turned over her bowl to hide the fact that she managed to give the baby snacker all of the grapes she was supposed to eat.The third little snacker is a good little snacker.  He obediently started to eat his nutritious and yummy fruit before he started eating his bunny grahams.  Unfortunately, being an obedient little snacker, he was overwhelmed by the amount of yummy and nutritious fruit his sister was pawning off on him and he never got around to eating his bunny grahams.  This picture is evidence of the third helping of fruit he ate.  First, he ate a bowl of grapes, but he was still hungry, so his Momma asked him if he wanted to eat the blueberries the first little snacker was not eating.  Our good little baby snacker replied, "Uh huh," and shook his head yes.  After eating the blueberries, he found himself left with a bowl full of grapes, which he diligently and obediently ate before eating the chocolately treat.  
What are you eating, third little snacker?  

Another grape.  It's just my size.  

And Momma lived happily ever after because the three little snackers each got the snack they wanted and left the table with their bellies full.  

For now at least.  Momma could swear she just heard one of the little snackers say "I'm hungry." 

The End. 

VFD Water battle

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!

Pet Parade 2009

One of the greatest things about living in (or near) a small town is that there are wonderful local carnivals to attend.   The town we are closest to, Saxonburg, is hosting its Volunteer Firemans Carnival this week.  It is tradition to kick off the week with a pet parade.  Erik participated in the pet parades when he was a young boy and I'm carrying on the tradition with my kiddos.  I guess in years past, there were themes for the parade for you to dress up for  - like one year the theme was "great duos" and Erik & his dog dressed up as superheros.  Fun.  There don't seem to be many rules to the parade these days but many folks do still try to come up with fun themes.  

Here is the local High School Marching Band getting ready to lead the parade.  The poor kids are still in school because of the teachers strike from earlier this school year.  They look kind of miserable that they have to participate in an event that is typically the KICK OFF for summer vacation.

Here are a bunch of folks getting their pets pampered and prepped to step out onto Main Street and the awaiting crowds.

More folks lining their pets up.

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.  

Willie James was dressed as a hobo.  I thought he would jump at the chance to walk with Chloe but he jumped right into the wagon Walker was pulling and wouldn't get out for anything.  

We had a lot of fun - the kids were so good and so cute, but unfortunately, we didn't win a thing.  I think there should be some rules about winning - for the last few years, the winners were the same people and they don't seem to actually have any children attached to their entries.  

And that folks, is the sad commentary of my life.  I'm actually picking apart the judging of a local pet parade.  It did break my heart a bit when Walker asked, "Momma, did I win anything?"  How long will the, "No, but it was so much fun to dress up and participate" line work?  I think that must be how Oscar nominees feel when they say, "It's a privilege to be nominated." 

I saw some old dance or baton twirling trophies at the thrift store last week when I went looking for Walker's royal guard costume - maybe I'll go buy those up and make my own trophies for my kids.  

But right now, I've got to go drafting plans for next years parade costumes . . . 

This is why I hate to weed.

Because sometimes, creepy, slithery things are hiding under the weed you are reaching your hand in to pull.
This guy didn't jump out at me or strike (thank goodness) but he started to slither under a new weed.
I of course freaked out a bit and ran, but I resisted the urge to tell Erik to kill it.  I calmed down a bit, got my Momma courage up and gathered the kids to show them the snake.  They both thought it was pretty cool.  Walker asked if we would kill it and I told him, "No, because garter snakes are very useful to our gardens and ecosystem." I did not tell him that they are slithery sneaky creatures that I hate!  
'Nuff said!

Needless to say, I am avoiding that part of my work today.  I am focusing instead on planting all of the beautiful peonies and iris that Erik's client, "Aunt Pearl" offered us.  We went to her house last night and boy oh boy do I wish I would have had my camera on  me.  She has beautiful gardens.  Her iris bed at the entrance is AMAZING.  All of these beautiful, tall irises.  The colors she chose are so beautiful - from burgandy to deep purple to yellow - just breathtaking.  And she has little vinettes all over her gardens - an old table with some chairs here, beautiful pineapple urns hidden in spots all over the gardens.  I loved it!  She must have a thing for pineapples, like me.  (I am fond of pineapples because my Grammie was fond of them - she had a gold pineapple pendant that she wore from when she went to Hawaii and she had a crystal pineapple on her table.  She told me that pineapples were a symbol of welcome).

I still remember the day I spotted a beautiful crystal pineapple light fixture at all places, Lowes.  I saw it when we were very early in our relationship and lived in the old townhouse - I loved that crystal pineapple and told Erik I wanted to put one like that in the entry hall of my house some day.  I didn't buy it then b/c I didn't have storage for it.  Then it got clearanced, discontinued and I've never seen another like it.  It has been my mission to find one at every tag sale, estate sale, auction, junk yard, online auction or craigslist!  It is elusive - as if I had imagined that one I saw.   If I ever find one, I'm buying it, no matter the price (well, you all know me - within reason).  There are very few decisions I regret and this is one of them.  

So, maybe I'll find out where Aunt Pearl finds all of her pineapples and go buy me some pineapple urns for my gardens!  Well, not that I have many gardens - I only have the one area landscaped, but someday I'll have more.  

I'm determined I will.

It's on my bucket list.    

Day one/Day 100

This was Walker on his first day of preschool this past September.  He is so excited and ready to go.

This was last Friday - his last "official" day of preschool May 22. 
September 

May
September

May
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.  

Well, as usual the reminiscing is short lived - the natives are restless and demanding a snack.  Sounds about right.