The last of the Fair

We had a wonderful time at the Kentucky State Fair.  It felt really good to be able to conquer it as far as dealing with diabetes.  I still believe in healing for Sage, but with all that goes with this, while we wait for it, I am VERY good at what I do in taking care of her.  She ate funnel cakes and ice cream just like we did and stayed perfectly within her range.  More importantly, she rode some big rides for her and was so proud of herself.  Unfortunately, my phone was on its last leg battery wise so my pics were limited.  Jaggar had a blast and is still talking about it, and Costner Bleu was good at his first fair trip too.

We took a break from the rides and went to see some of the animals during the heat of the day. 

 He refused to look.

 Jaggar waved to all of the cows as we walked through.  He's so adorable.  As the day went on, his spiderman mask was wiped away more and more.

 Sage wanted her pic made here, but I caught her between smiles.  Her face paint, on the other hand, remained in tact.

 There was a girl walking this cow through, and she stopped and let the kids pet it and get a picture.

 Baby Bleu's first fair.  Precious boy

 Thought I'd document that we were all together.

 My sweet mom.  Thank you for treating us to the fun.

 We found a room full of rabbits, and Sage thought these were triplets.  She may very well have been correct.  Some of the rabbits were for sale, and my kids slightly begged for one.  NO.  WAY.

 My mom's favorite animals are the mules, and Jaggar wanted to pet them all.  They're pretty, but they make me a bit nervous.  After this, we went back out to the midway until after 11 pm.  WOW...so tired.  Travis, Sage, Jaggar and I all rode the tilt a whirl MANY times, and Jaggar LOVED it.  We also went on this haunted ride that I thought would be cheesy..., but it was too much for my kids and for me.  It was pitch black inside and then lights would flash on to show whatever it was with loud sounds.  But the startling was more than enough for us all.   They were screaming in terror, and I felt terrible and then as soon as it stopped Jaggar said, "Can we do it again?"  lol, and Travis took him again.  Sage and I rode some swings that she was barely tall enough to ride, and they went up SO high...it was scarier to watch than to ride, I think.  Made me nervous but it was fun.  We had such a wonderful day...and night.  Till next year.

Weekend in Kentucky

We had a very quick trip to Kentucky last weekend before school started for the Ky State Fair.  Due to our life changer last year, we missed the fair, so Travis was determined we were going this year.  We had very little time to do anything or see anyone, but we knew it would be that way.  We packed in as much as we could.  We drove in on Thursday, and on Friday, we had lunch at Mema's since we were going to the fair on Saturday and driving home on Sunday. 

She has a nice garden of cucumbers and tomatoes, and the kids LOVE to hunt for ripe vegetables to pick.  And maybe some not so ripe vegetables to pick.  Basically, if Jaggar sees a tomato, it doesn't matter if it's green, he's picking it.

 Jaggar is still Mema's buddy.

 I realized that it's been years since Travis has even been to Kentucky.  Sad.  I think the last time was probably my Papa's funeral.  And that's been over a year ago.  I know we didn't make it last Thanksgiving because I was days from having Costner.

Mermaids

Last week, I asked Sage if there were any last requests before school started back.  She wanted Lydia to come and play for the day.  Simple enough.  They were going to swim, and Lydia was going to bring THE MERMAID TAIL.  It is all I have heard about since the 4th of July.  Lydia was very gracious to let Sage swim with it, and they had a blast that day.

I was surprised at how well she swam with it.  It doesn't seem like it'd be the easiest thing in the world, but there wasn't a learning curve for her with it.

 Someone else found the mermaid tail, too.

 

Movie Time: Smurfs

We have loved all of the great kids' movies that have been released this summer.  We haven't done anything even resembling school related activities.  I had intentions of doing math facts with Sage, and we always do summer reading at the library.  None of that happened.  We've only had fun.  Last week, I was so glad to be able to take the bigger kids to see Smurfs 2 when Travis came home early for the day.  Jaggar has waited on this for a long time, and he even dressed himself for the occasion.  I could eat him up, he looked so cute in that hat.  Is he not the most precious thing you've ever seen?!  He is so sweet too.

Outside at the sign

Smurfs was no Despicable Me 2, but it was enjoyable.  Sage LOVED it and said it was her favorite movie we've seen thus far.  Jaggar said he liked "all of them."

End of an Era

This is probably a post that will be one of my least favorites to write, but my friendship with Chrissie is my longest, deepest and closest friendship that I have.  And we've certainly not had a falling out or anything like that, but our relationship as we know it is definitely going to change.  Chrissie moved to Colorado yesterday.  It had been up in the air that she was...then she didn't know...then she wasn't...then she was....for many months now.  So my initial grieving for myself took place a while ago.  My first thought was almost like a gasping, "What will I do?  I'd send Travis before her."  But as the months have passed, and it's definitely a reality, I've found God has showered me with grace in unexpected friendships, renewed friendships, and overall peace about it for myself.  Chrissie's move certainly doesn't affect me like it does her...but this is MY blog, and I felt it was worth noting.  

I met Chrissie when I didn't have a friend in the world here in Alabama.  She was a thin, friendly, bubbly personality that swept me up from a very lonely place.  I still remember our first meeting, and I never would have imagined we'd have shared some of the most intimate moments that we have.  We've shared some of the greatest laughs, the deepest fears, our biggest regrets, our biggest mistakes, frustrations, joys.  We've literally shared our lives and hearts with each other (now I'm getting emotional) over the past 9 years.  To find a friend like that, even if they move away, is a wonderful thing and something to hold close.  I've told her things I've not and will never share with anyone else.  She was in the room with me during the births of both of my sons.  I don't think you could get any closer than that.  She was there like a solid rock when Sage got sick, and I was at the lowest point in my life. We've watched our children grow up together.  I know that I could ask her anything about anything and get her honest opinion.  I could go on and on here, but I probably wouldn't ever really get it right or say what I want to say.  She came here last week to see us before they left.  She doesn't like it when I talk like our friendship is over, and it isn't.  But I know what moving does.  Because I've moved.  And while I know we will never write each other off, I also know that it will be different.  I hope she and her family find happiness and new adventures out there.  And I also hope that we reconnect when she is in town visiting.  But I hope she will also hold our relationship close and revisit some of our finest moments with a smile and know that she has someone who really, truly loves her.  I know I will.

To think we just started off with Harrison, and I was pregnant with Sage when we met...and now look at the brood!

 Iris

 Jaggar hugging Harrison goodbye.  He was so happy to have a boy to play with.

Pool Party

As usual, our pool wasn't ready at summer's beginning (which is like March around here, right?), but it wasn't too bad because it pretty much rained all of June anyways.  We're making up for lost time regardless.  Travis had the pool a beautiful blue (not confused with Bleu) by the time we got home.  The kids are loving it.  Check out Jaggar.  He has NO fear.  He is totally unafraid to do anything, and I constantly have to tell him to back off a bit...as in no flips into the shallow end.  Sage is JUST now starting to do these things and has also learned how to flip beautifully, but it gives Travis panic attacks to watch that.

Check them out. Obviously, Jaggar swallowed a bit of pool water.  He loves to watch this back and hear himself.  I also love how Jaggar literally runs all the way into the water.

He really wears these goggles.

 She has always had a knack for posing in the air.

 We were so close last summer...when I was out there regularly and tan...we've drifted. :)

 Speaking of that tan...I totally foresaw LAST summer exactly where I would be this summer.  The bigger kids would be in the pool all day, and I'd love to let them.  However, there is a time in babyhood when the pool is one of the most miserable places to be.  I've still got a good year, if not two, to be here.  It's good though.  But this is what outside is like.  I try to take Sage and Jaggar if/when Costner lays down for a nap, but that's so unpredictable that I'm constantly running in to see if he's screaming.  And when he is outside, he doesn't last that long before he's squirming to get down.

 Unimpressed with the pool or the humidity that you could cut with a knife.

Sister Sage

It pains me to write that this is our last full week of summer.  While I feel we have been blessed with another wonderful teacher this year based on our meetings, to deal with another year of STUFF that school brings--work, time, kids Sage doesn't like, kids I don't like, tests, early mornings...I feel I'M going back to school again.  I just want to keep her with me.  Right now though, I feel the school Sage is at is wonderful for her, and unfortunately...she just has to go to school.  But I wanted to also mention how much I will miss not only her but her HELP around here.  She is MY helper.  I think Costner Bleu may miss her just as much.  He does NOT cry when she's around because she's going to fix it.  He loves her so much.

This was when we were still in Kentucky.  She was so proud that she'd rocked him to sleep.

 Once we did get home, the kids realized how much they missed all of their things.  We were gone for 3 weeks, so having their rooms and toys again was like Christmas morning.  And Sage thought that Costner could ride in her doll stroller wonderfully.  And he did.

 A few days later, our sweet friend Emily, whose graduation we attended that I cried at, had told Sage she could spend the night before she left for college.  Here is Sage waiting for her at ANY moment.  She had so much fun.

 And here we are at the UCP telethon last week, where I"m a legend by the way.  It has seriously been over 10 years since I sang there, and they remembered me and asked me to please come back.  I actually think if I can remember next year before the day of, that I'll ask Luke and a few others if we can go and sing a few.  Anyway, once again, here is Sage being the little mommy.  She is my best girl, and I'm proud to call her mine. 

Sky Zone with Andrea

Louisville has a lot to do all within minutes of each other, and I wanted to take advantage of not having to drive an hour to get to anywhere worthwhile.  So we also decided to go to a place similar to Air Walk called Sky Zone, and Andrea was off that day, so she came, too.  This was the first time that the older two met Andrea (well, Sage had when she was a baby), and they just LOVED her.  We laughed so hard that we could barely breathe.  Andrea got a kick out of Jaggar, of course, as all people do.

 None of my pics from Sky Zone are very good, but here's what I have.  I actually liked the set up, pricing, and overall organization better at Air Walk, but they still had fun here.

 And they had to wear special shoes here, which no one was fond of.

 Photo bombed!

 When we were leaving there was a random girl sleeping on one of the benches.  I told Andrea to point, and she didn't realize what I was doing until after the fact.  That's years of living with Travis that allowed me to see this opportunity.

 Then we decided to go to GiGi's, the same place Mom and I went the other day, but we got lost.  VERY, very lost.  We had a lot of laughs in the 30 minutes or so out of the way that we were, and we made it there eventually.

 We have not changed a bit.  Her mom said, "You guys are acting EXACTLY the same as you did in high school."  So I said, "What she's saying is, 'We were wise beyond our years THEN.'"

 Little Cupcakes

 Sage just LOVED Andrea.

 Jaggar being Jaggar.  He said that he wanted to get in too.

 After cupcakes, we went to the mall because I had a gift card for Victoria's Secret that I wanted to use.  Andrea's phone had died so she ran to get mine.  This is what she came back with.  She SAYS that Jaggar did that all on his own.

Then we went to a toy store, and she put Bleu Jack on this horse.  Look how big he looks!

 We all had a great time.