Move Over Sweet Martha!!!

Sweet Careline, with a "little" help from her Mama, baked some mighty fine chocolate chip cookies this afternoon.  Who needs Sweet Martha anyway!

A Visit To School

Last night Buddy and Careline had an opportunity to go to school to meet their Teacher, drop off their school supplies, and get a little comfortable with their new classroom surrounding.  It's hard to believe that in just 4 short days these two will be going off to 3rd and 4th grade!

The Great Minnesota Get Together

The Minnesota State Fair...where Minnesotans go to get everything and anything (including alligator) on a stick.

The kids and I spent our morning at the fair.  Although we didn't try the alligator, we had plenty of nummy food.  Careline tried a Pronto Pup to determine if she likes corn dogs or pronto pups better.  Turns out she likes them both equally. 

Braden ate a piece of Big Fat Bacon (the name described it perfectly).

Adeline...well you probably can guess what Adeline ate.

As for myself...I strayed from my diet for the day to try the deep fried olives on a stick that I've heard so much about.  They are new to the fair this year at the Deep Fried Fruit stand near the WCCO booth.  These large green olives stuffed with cream cheese and deep fried were absolutely scrumptios!
 

Speaking of wcco...Careline tried her hand at being a news journalist.

We set our DVR to record the noon news as we planned to attend the 12:00 news at the fair in the hopes of getting some on air time.  Good thing we did...we had front row seats and got some good air time.  Look who you would have seen if you had been watching the WCCO news at noon.

 And look who we ran in to...Viking Adrian Peterson.  OK, not really, it was a lifesize cutout of him.

All the activity pooped Adeline out.  She fell fast asleep in her carset before the State Fair was even out of view in my rear view mirror.



Her Future's So Bright She's Gotta Wear Shades

One Little Girl On One Big Chair

Valleyfair

Daddy took the big kids to Valleyfair on Wednesday.  Our neighbor and good friend of the kids, Inga, went along.  By all reports everyone had an awesome day.

Don't Worry "Bee" Happy

The Pool Is Now Closed For The Summer

Yesterday was the last day the splash pool was open for the Summer.  It's always sad when the lifeguard blows the whistle for the last time of the Summer.  We were there the day it opened, the day it closed, and many days in between making fun memories.

I DO Have My Ring Back

Several months back I noticed that 3 of the 4 prongs on my wedding ring were significantly worn down.  I took my ring off out of fear of losing my diamond with the intention of taking it in to the jeweler.  Life is busy and I never got around to taking that trip to the jewelry store so last week my dear Mother-in-Law took it in and had it fixed for my upcoming birthday present.  (I'm guessing Ellen was sick of me not wearing the ring her Son spent a lot of money on!)

Yesterday I got my ring back all fixed up and sparklier than ever.  Thanks Ellen!

All Packed And Ready To Go

Grandma Ellen invited Adeline to spend the night at her house on Saturday.  When I came home today from work I found her room looking like a tornado had passed through it.  At first the reason for the mess was unclear but I soon noticed her very full piece of luggage on the floor.  Packed carefully inside her suitcase was 7 pairs of pajamas, 10 pair of underwear, 8 pair of socks, and her two favorite blankies.

She's all ready for her visit Grandma (and I think she's planning to stay for more than one night!)

Ready For A Visit From The Tooth Fairy

Tucked carefully inside that front pocket is the tooth Careline had pulled out by her Dentist today.  It was a baby tooth that was not the least bit loose but needed to get out of the way to make room for the permanent tooth that had already come in behind it and was being prohibited from moving in to its proper spot by the baby tooth.  She did an awesome job, wasn't scared in the least about the procedure, and just went on with her day after it was over.

Here she is showing off her war wound.  It was a small price to pay for a guaranteed visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Out With The Old And In With The New

Ten years ago at this very time we were building our home.  With Careline due to be born around the time we were moving in it was my mission to create the cutest nursery to welcome her in to our family.  Pat and I chose this border together and I painted the top half of her wall a light green and the bottom half a nice shade of purple.  It was super cute and fit her well for nearly 10 years...but she has been informing me for a while now that it's just too baby-ish for her.

So....today after taking a few last moments to look at her cute "baby" room for the last time, I ripped down the border and got out my paintbrush.  Here's a close-up of her wall BEFORE...  

Goodbye little giraffe...

And here it is AFTER.  Careline is thrilled with the final outcome.  She chose her new comforter as well as the paint color which replaced the border.  We've got some more accessorizing to do...but this soon to be 10 year old no longer feels like she's living in a little girls room.
 

And Then There Was One

The kids each got a goldfish on Thursday night, but after feeding them 3 times in oh about 15 hours two of them went off to fishy Heaven.  The sole surviving fish belongs to Braden and hopefully he'll be part of our family for a good long time (but that's kind of doubtful).

Cucumber Season

This is the first year I planted a few cucumber plants in our tiny little garden and just tonight we picked the very first cucumber off the vine.  Watch out Cub Foods...there are some quality veggies coming out of the McLaughlin garden this Summer!

Dakota County Fair

The kids, myself, and Ella headed over to the Dakota County Fair yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day and we had lots of fun going through the exhibits, taste-testing the foods, playing BINGO (Ella and myself won this time), and going through the animal barns.  Somehow I was able to get out of there without too much grief for not letting them go on any rides or play midway games.

Yep...she got her bag of mini donuts.  She even shared one or two with the rest of us (but not many more!)

Count the Wild Turkey's....I see 3.

What's the point of going to the Fair if you're not going to go through all the stinky barns?!

And just to prove that they CAN share (at least when it comes to delicious Sno Cones!)

Makeover Compliments Of Cousin Emily

A HUGE Thank You to the Kay's and their sweet Summer Nanny Kristi for allowing the McLaughlin trio to hang out at the Kay house this past Thursday and Friday.  The cousins had all sorts of fun!

Basketball Camp

Careline participated in a basketball camp for South St Paul youth this week.  Yesterday, on the last day of the camp, she was awarded prizes for winning a couple competitions during the week.  She earned a $5 Dairy Queen gift card for making the most baskets and winning the Hot Shot competition and she won this awesome regulation basketball (in South St Paul colors, no less) for helping her team win the 3x3 tournament.  She's getting pretty good at those little tourneys, right?!

I love how Adeline jumped in the photo and is trying to be just like her big Sissy.  Too cute.