Monster Bag

Wouldn't you be terrified at the sight of this?  A one eyed paper bag monster who has an arm growing where the other eye should be.  It also makes some pretty awesome growling sounds and will chase you wherever you go.  Pretty awesome....

He chased us around for a good while with this paper (of course I don't let him play with plastic bags) bag on his head.

I'm thinking Halloween 2011- the perfect costume!!!

My favorite is that he stuck his hand out of the eye hole and did his best to catch us.  

Imagine a lot of Myers growling and Ruby screaming.

It was pretty fun.

Oh the things that entertain!

(as I am sitting outside writing this blog Ruby just found a worm and accidentally ripped it in half.  I think it had something to do with her and Myers fighting over it.  It looks pretty nasty- but is still alive and she thinks it is pretty awesome.  Here she is now bringing me the other half.  Gross I just got a little creeped out and scared Ruby into dropping it.  The best part is that I now have to act like it is no big deal and that creepy crawlies don't bug me so that she can form her own opinion of them. - how do you like my 'as it is happening dialogue?'  Just think of it as a up to the minute news broadcasting.)

In some other exciting news- we are headed on another family adventure!  We are off to Kalahari- probably THE BEST indoor waterpark ever invented!  We got a super awesome deal!

I'm sure you will hear more about it here soon.

I don't think I was blogging yet when we went last time.  But it was pretty epic (am I allowed to say that as a 20-something mother of 2?)

I wish we could all get together and do it again!  What about it Wiebe's and Hughes'?  If you leave right now you could make it there just in time for our fun tomorrow!!!

I really want to go on the four man tube with Justin, Mark and Jared again.  That was fun, a little scary but fun!

Carnation Festival

The carnation is my least favorite flower.

Now you all know.

I know most people don't have a least favorite flower, 'They are all beautiful' and yes I will agree that when compared to less beautiful things the carnation is beautiful.  

That being said- it is STILL my least favorite flower.

The reason I bring this up is because Alliance celebrates the carnation once a year with the Carnation Festival.

You can read all about it here.

In fact Alliance is considered the birthplace of the 'Lamborn red carnation'.

If you aren't bored of external link reading yet, you can read about it here.

So for all intents and purposes I am living in 'The Carnation City'.

I just think it is quite the coincidence.

And no- even after attending many activities to do with the carnation festival, the carnation has not risen in the ranks of favorite flowers.  It is still on the bottom.

But really, does it matter?  No.

And I am pretty sure none of you actually care- in fact the only one that might is the one person in my life who might actually give me flowers- and he already knows.

So just consider this a little bit of a 'get to know you' session.

Now you know me that much better.

Anyway- on to the festivities of the Carnation festival.

They really go all out.  

We were sure to head to the rib fest and enjoy some mighty delicious bbq beef sandwiches- and the cover bands dressed in metallic pleather.

I think our favorite activity was the air balloon lift off.

We love balloons in this house.  Noni especially- he is obsessed.  

When I heard that there was going to be a hot air balloon lift off I knew that we needed to get there- just to see his face!

The balloons didn't actually lift off- something to do with a supposed thunder storm coming with strong winds and a desire NOT to get hit by lightning when being carried in a wicker basket by nothing more than hot air.  I say- have a little guts people, we showed up here to be entertained by you- what's a little lightning in the grand scheme of things?

They didn't listen.

They did however give us the pleasure of blowing up the balloons so we could at least see them.  And they were pretty breath taking.  We still loved it.

A picture for scale- They were all about the size of Justin's head.  hahaha. 

This was the first one we saw- we were able to weasel our way into front row seats so we could get a better look.

They may or may not have had more fun just playing with the helium balloons they got from the sponsors of this event. (who happened to be a funeral home in the area)

Ok- here is one for actual scale.  They were crazy HUGE.  I had never seen one up close before- it was awesome!  Just FYI the girl on the right is the Carnation Queen this year- we were in the presence of ROYALTY...

Noni admiring the balloons.

Ruby NOT admiring the balloons.

Here we are with what may or may not be the worst family picture we have ever taken.  Ok- it is.

All blown up- this one was my favorite.  If I had my choice I would fly in that one.  Lightning or no lightning.

It was really fun!  The night was beautiful and it was great to spend the time together as a family.  We had fun.

The next activity that we attended was the parade!  It was hot and we weren't in the shade so we all got a mild case of heat stroke- but it was worth it.  Ok- it wasn't really- but they threw candy.... 

Sitting in the hot hot sun.  (and yes, those would be friends!!!)

This was them- in anticipation of the parade!  They had high hopes...

Myers was in awe.

But soon the heat and boredom overtook him....

It was fun, but hot and REALLY long.  We left before it was over- we had to go pick up our new HP tablets anyway...  That was Justin's favorite part of that day!

The carnation festival was great.  They even ended in fireworks! (which we didn't get to see because Ruby fell asleep in the car on our way there and it was insanely busy- we would have had to walk atleast 2 miles with two very crabby grumpy kids in order to get there- so we skipped it.)

Fourth Birthday Extravaganza!

I was waiting to write this post until we got the pottery we painted back from the pottery place so I could show you our creations.  You can read about how that went here.

The fourth birthday is a pretty big deal and Ruby was adamant about what she wanted for it.
She wanted a Rapunzel dress and has wanted one for probably 6 months now.
Anytime we would ask her what she wanted she would respond in the same way. 'A Rapunzel dress please'
So who am I to say no?
I got to work and gathered my materials.
My original plan was to do it patternless but when Justice found the Rapunzel dress pattern at JoAnn's for $1.99 I just couldn't say no.
And I am glad I got it.
The dress turned out amazing and Ruby loves it....

Who are we kidding?  I love it too...

Here she is doing a princess curtsy.
So equipped in her Rapunzel dress we had what she requested for dinner.
Macaroni and Cheese.
This girl could have had anything.
And she chose Mac and Cheese.

So I made homemade backed in cheese goodness.
And it was good.
Then we headed to one of our new favorite places and got Ruby a free birthday sundae- which she ate 3 bites of and had enough... But it was still fun.  Everyone admired the beautiful girl in her beautiful dress.  It was perfect for a birthday girl.

Then as a little surprise we headed to the clay painting place.
She had her choice of anything to paint.  Anything.  And, like the mac and cheese, she chose an egg.
We did our best to sway her in other directions but this four year old knows what she wants and she wanted an egg.
So she got an egg.

I painted a little cup for Noni when we have hot chocolate parties here.
Noni painted the plate- and Justin had the awesome job of wrangling Noni.  Not easy, not easy at all.

By the time we were done it was dark enough to have our final surprise for Ruby.

We headed to the park with a wide open field and lit a flying lantern (complete with the tangled sun logo) and let it go- in true Rapunzel fashion.
It was AMAZING.

I think we are going to make this a little bit more of tradition in our family.
It was a little scary at first, you know, with the floating fire and all- but once we were sure it was going up and not down toward trees it was great.
We also have an amazing video of this first 'let-go' of the lantern.  If you come visit we'll show you.  It starts out great with a lot of excitement- and then ends with the phone being dropped and a little 'floating fire' panic.
It is epic.
The next day we headed to the butterfly conservatory near us-still dressed in our Rapunzel dress- and had a great time!

We all were able to hold a butterfly.
Justin caught them all- they just seemed to like him- I guess he is pretty sweet.

He was kind enough to share his spoils with the rest of us.

Ruby was a little leery of the butterflies.  Some would say she was a little afraid....  But you could hear her talking herself out of it- 'I love butterflies' 'I'm not afraid of butterflies'.  She preferred the caterpillars.  Especially the little tiny ones.

The Chrysalis's- not cocoon.  Who knew?  We did- we read a book that told us about the monarch butterflies before we went- so we looked pretty smart.... 



What is cuter than that pudgy little hand holding that butterfly?  We loved the monarchs the best.
Myers was sad to see him go.

I even got one.... Well Justin got it and I got to hold it....

It was awesome.

Then we headed to a friends house and shared an ice cream cake with them.

It was a great birthday weekend.

The Tragedy That Is Our Painted Pottery

We took Ruby to paint some clay for her birthday.
She chose to paint an egg.

 
And she loved her egg.
I painted a cute little cup for Noni to use when we had hot chocolate parties.
I painted it mustard color and put a mustache on each side.
It was the cutest thing ever.
We get to pick up our finished and fired clay yesterday.
We decided to get some exercise and bike there and then head to Walmart to get some diapers after.
We got our pottery- enjoyed our creations and headed to Walmart.

When we got there we realized that we were missing the little parent pack that attaches to the back to the bike trailer- you know?  The place you store drinks and whatever else you want?  Like a cute little mustard colored cup with some awesome mustaches painted on it.  It was gone.  Justin- being the hero that he is- said that he would bike all the way back to look for it while I took the kids in to get the things that we needed.
So I took the kids around gathering our much needed supplies while Justin biked back.  That is when I heard it.  The crash and shatter of a cutie little egg being dropped on the hard Walmart floor.  Poor Ruby had dropped her egg- and now this is all we have left of it.

I am going to try and glue it back together- but lets face it- it won't be the same.
Then more bad news for us.
Justin didn't find the bag.  This meant my cup was gone.
And I don't even have a picture to show you of the pure creative genius that was it.  The beauty of it, the pure awesomeness.  You will just have to believe me.   You do don't you?

All we have that is still in tact is the plate that Myers painted with some small guidance from Justin....

I guess Hot Pots (the pottery place) will be getting more business from us.
One point pottery place- no points Snell girls.
If I didn't know better I would say they planned it....
At the beginning of our adventure we had an egg, a cute little tea cup, a saucer, and hope for the joy that they would bring to our future.
By the end of the trip we had a lost cup, a broken egg, still had the saucer which now became useless, and dashed hopes and dreams.
We have to go back....

Last Day of Threedom

For this girl.

She turned 4 today- and like most parents I can't believe it.
But there is something I want my little Ruby to know.
Ruby- when you read this in later years- I want you to know that I truly, really, with every piece of my heart and soul- love your little four year old self.
There is so much to love about you.
I love how you pray- you only use the word thank even when you are asking for something- 'We thank thee to bless the food'  It reminds me to be more thankful.  You also thank Heavenly Father for the best things when you pray.  'We thank thee for the sky and that it isn't just a picture'  'I thank thee that my Rapunzel dress got finished in time'
Oh to look into your little brain and to know your thoughts.  It would be quite the entertaining time.

I love your desire to learn- you just want to know everything and do everything.  You want to know how I know what I do- and you are so inquisitive.  I love it.  I just wish I knew the answer to everything that you ask me...  Luckily we have google!  You really are a smart girl- you amaze me every day.

I love how you call insects 'creepy crawlies'.  It makes me smile.

I love that you want to help me.  That you help me to clean and make supper and sew.  You are just wonderful.

I love that you are funny- you are always making us laugh- sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

I love that you love to sing.  And especially that you love to make up songs.  It is one of my greatest joys in life to hear you singing.  You sing loud and you own it and I think it is wonderful!

My greatest wish is that I could video record your whole life.  We do our best to get as many moments as we can but I fear that we are missing the best parts.  I just want you to know the little four year old you- as we all know you.

I love your spunk.

I love your cry face.  It reminds me of baby Ruby.  It still looks exactly the same as when you would cry as a baby and it is just as cute.  It is just so darn adorable, a face that is all scrunched up with a HUGE mouth.  So cute.

I love that you love going to church.  I love that you want to dress modestly and that you make sure that you do. I love that you love primary.  I love that you love to pray.  I love that you love Myers.

I love you.  I hope that you know that every moment of every day.  I hope that you feel that every moment of every day.  I love you- and I always will- at every age, but right now, at this moment, I am really in love with four year old you.

I want to remind you of forever, and that my love will never change
 (from Hilary Weeks, If I Only Had Today- Everyone should try to listen to it, such a great song!)

Slippery Rock

We were recently able to reconnect with some of my Mother-in-laws family.  As it turns out Lori (my Mother in law) grew up a mere hour and a half from where we live now.  She grew up in Slippery Rock, PA.  So when they were here it was only natural that we would take a venture out there to learn a little bit more about our family and their history.  Plus it was only 10 minutes from some huge outlets so we were sure to stop in there too!

 This is the house that Lori grew up in!  It is a very historical spot and is very old!  We hear some of the stories of its past and they were so interesting.  I can't remember exactly when it was built but it was well before indoor plumbing, electricity, and modern conveniences!  I believe it was before the war of 1812.  (Am I correct Lori?)  Recently it was sold to someone outside of the family but they have agreed to keep the Kiester House sign up and have done some remodeling on the inside.  It looks beautiful.  Above is a picture of the Kiester descendants.  Myers, Justin, Ruby, Lori, Jon, and Auntie Donna (grandpa Kiester's sister) 

And one of just the men in front of the house.  (Probably the hardest thing in the world is to get 4 Snell men to all be focused on taking a picture at the same time- pure torture.  This is the best I could get.)

We met many relatives and I was especially glad to meet Auntie Donna.  She has done so much research and work on genealogy.  She knows all the stories and has all the pictures.  She has compiled a whole bunch of letters that were written by Kiester ancestors during the 1812's.  She knows every story and was able to give us some insight into Grandpa Kiester.  It was really neat and I am glad that we were able to go.  It was interesting to be able to see the area where the Kiester's have made a great impact.  There was even a road there named after them- that is how important they were!  And it is always neat to see where someone you know and love grew up... and to see them rediscover it.

A Venture Into Amish Country

We live about an hour from the heart of Amish Country.
And I am loving it.  Not only do they make some really cool things but their food is delicious!
And even the kids love it- they get to see lots and lots of horses and buggy's!
So we made sure to venture into Amish Country when Justin's parents were here.
I don't have many photos of our time there- but we will be back!
I was too busy enjoying everything I guess!
They had the best thrift store there with lots of goodies!
What I do have are these.

That is a pink pickled egg.  I had to get one from the buffet.  I have never had a pickled egg and even as I sit here I can taste it.  It wasn't that good.  It wasn't that bad but I think I could happily go the rest of my life without another.  It was cool though because it was pink!  They also had yellow ones.  Ruby was a little hesitant as you can see in her face- but she did eventually try a bite- and I think she feels the same way as I do...

Take all of this in- just look at the pure joy that is set before you.  That is Zinck's Fabric store.  Just a small section of it.  Filled to the brim with incredible fabric at incredible deals.  I cannot even express to you the size of this place.  It was huge.  Imagine walmart- filled with fabric.  Pure bliss.  We didn't have a lot of time in there and I didn't come out with much fabric but I got some grey striped stuff and some blue and red striped stuff for a mere $1.83/yd.  I will be going back....  SOON!

I only got 2 photos of the place.  I didn't know how they would feel about me taking photos so I did it discretely.  And then I just felt weird so this is all you get.  But there was MUCH MUCH more.  You should have seen the trims section....

And of course a picture of Ruby's country store!  We didn't actually go in- we were stopped to get some icecream but I am sure it was an incredible store!

I really liked Amish country- it was fun.  Next time the plan is to go and actually learn about the Amish.  I am ashamed to admit I do not know much.  I could google it but I would rather receive the information first hand.  So Justin and I will head back there soon- they are having a rib cook off and sidewalk sale in september that sounds very tempting.
While we were there we did see a horse, that was pulling a buggy and family of 6, just collapse in front of us.  It was sad and scary- but it was rather interesting to see the help and service that the family in the buggy received immediately from that Amish community.  There were no questions no hesitation just instant help.  Before we even had a chance to think (not that I would have been much help- with my elaborate knowledge of horses and everything) they were surrounded by 3 or four Amish families that were just passing by and offering their help.  I guess there are many lessons to be learned from that.

Cleveland Rocks!

Justin's parents came for a visit recently and we did some sight seeing.  One stop we made was to Cleveland. I fell in love instantly.  I have been to lots of really cool cities like NYC, Chicago and Montreal and I loved this one just as much.  It seems to be underrated in my humble opinion.  It wasn't crowded or crazy and it had incredible architecture.  Not to mention it has the 'A Christmas Story' House.  YES!  I know- I couldn't believe it either.  My family is going to flip- we watch it every year- and yes- we love it!!  We didn't visit it on this trip but it is a must see on our next cleveland adventure.  

This time around we stopped at a restaurant that was featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Lucky Cafe.  It did not disappoint.  The macaroni and cheese was DE-LI-CIOUS!  The neat part about this restaurant is that they have a garden and this is where they get the produce for their recipes.  They either grow what they make or they buy it locally.  I thought it was awesome.  The kids did too!

We took a leisurely jaunt around the gardens- take a look at that picture of Ruby- did you know that eggplants grow purple the whole time?  They don't start green and then mature into color- like tomatos.  They are SO CUTE!  Ruby loved them.  As you can tell by that smile- right?

Here we are outside after our delicious meal of deliciousness!

We then headed out to do some sight seeing down town.  It was beautiful.
I loved this photo of Uncle Jonny and Ruby.

And this one of Justice and Noni....

We had the privilege of meeting a million birds.  This guy was feeding the birds and Noni just couldn't get enough.  He was really interested in them but he was also a little stand-offish.  But it was still cute.  And Grandpa Don loves that he shares his love of birds....

We had to stop at the hugest candy store EVER.  It was a must see according to the internet- and it did not disappoint.  Noni had a great time!

Ruby fell in love with these suckers...  There were much MUCH larger ones but we were able to agree on this little one.

It was really fun- we had a great time and we will be sure to go back to explore more when Justin has some time off... Oh and when we can make time to go to the Christmas Story house!

COUCHtastrophe

We had a serious couchtastrophe recently.
What?!  You have never heard of a couch-tastrophe?
Oh- well it is when you completely and utterly ruin a beautiful couch that you found for really cheap from a rich lady that was moving.  The worst part is that you have gone atleast a month without anything to sit on in your living room and this was the perfect and the best used couch you had EVER seen or smelled- for that matter.  OH- and you were having people over- the first semblance of friends you were able to find- THAT VERY DAY that the couchtastrophe began.

So you decided to wash the cushions of said couch- and you ended up with this.

(I wish I had a before picture for you- but I don't.  Probably because I didn't expect to ever feel the need to post about my couch...)
A true and utter couch-tastrophe.
So what else is there to do but- CRY.
A lot.
Until you finally decide that your children are scarred and scared enough by said crying so you pick yourself up, wipe yourself off and clean the rest of your house.  You make dinner for guests previously mentioned and you cover your couch with a blanket.

Yes- you now have a weird couch that no one would ever want to sit on- because really there is only one reason you cover a couch completely with a blanket- and that reason would be that you are HIDING something.

Which we were.
Couches that are completely covered with blankets just creep me out.  And here I was with one of my very own.

When we were able I went and bought that grey fabric that is in the above picture and went to work recovering the couch.
It was a long time coming and many measurements and buttonholes later that I came up with this.

I like the buttons on the side- and I like that it isn't ripped or shrunk anymore.  I do feel like pictures just don't do it justice.
I am happy with the results, though I hate that it gets 'out of shape' and a little saggy and wrinkled.  But hey- it works and it is cute enough- and I DID IT!  And we are only here for a year- so we can love it for that long.
Now the question you may be asking yourself is why didn't we just get a new couch?
Because I didn't want to.
This really was the perfect couch for us and I am really picky about used couches now.  (Those of you who knew me and my couches in waterloo may be wondering what I am talking about- but I have learned from that and hoped to rectify my used couch situation) We had been searching for a cheap used couch that was not stinky and not ripped and not stained- and we had finally found one- and I washed the cushions and wrecked it.  We did not want to wait another month or forever before we found another couch like it.
Plus it has really cool leg detail like this-

You would want to keep it too- right?

Anyway- it is now recovered and we love it even more.  It is definitely a step up from the blanket.  Plus the cover is 100% wash and dryable.  No more shrinking and ripping for us!!  And here's to no more couchtastrophes in the snelldog future!!

Justin told me the day that I wrecked the couch that I would laugh about this some day.  I didn't believe him.  It didn't take too long before he was right.  I was laughing about it that night.  I mean it is just a couch, right?  I recently read this- and I love the message.  We all need to learn to laugh and be happy despite hardships.  Read it.