May Recap

off roading

Outside in our pj's

D'Haute Couture dans Redneckville

Visiting our brand new friend Olivia

Helping Daddy

Different Day, same great style

Vegging

More pj fun!

Then & Now

Last year in May, Dade was proud of the tower he built.

This year he's still building.

Last year Matia was my baby

This year she's busy being the mommy. Here she decided to put her 'baby' to sleep on the bathroom counter. shhhhh.

My kids are growing up so fast. I miss the babies they were, but I simply adore the little people they have become.

What would you do?

Ok, so here's what happened and I just want to know what you would have done in my situation.

My friend and I took the kids swimming. Afterwards we decided to take them to McDonalds to play in the indoor playground (since we didn't get to stay in the pool long because it closed 30 minutes after we got there, which = 15 minutes of play time + 15 minutes of change room wrestling). When we got to McDonalds we were informed that the play area was closed. The manager must have seen the look of desparation in my eyes, because she said we could use the play area as long as we didn't eat in there. It had been cleaned and they didn't want any messes in there. That part is funny after you read the rest.

The kids behaved very well while eating and when they finished I allowed them to go into the play area which I could see through the glass that we were sitting right beside. I was just relaxing with a cup of coffee and visiting with my friend when I glanced up to see a cute little full moon presenting itself through one of the windows of the play area tubes that the kids climb up to get to the slide. I gasped and dashed into the play area to find my little girl coming down the slide with no pants on!!!! Her pants were actually in a wet puddle at the bottom of the slide!!! As I tried to think of what to do, a well dressed couple with a little boy walked into the play area. I tried to conceal my daughter's patootie with my jacket. I told her to sit down beside the slide with my jacket covering her. With a red face I notified the other parents of the mess awaiting unsuspecting sliders, then dashed out to the eating area to ask my friend to keep an eye on my kids while I searched my vehicle for wet wipes and a change of clothes. Luckily both were handy since I had just gone grocery shopping, then swimming. I came back in and put some clothes on my daughter, and wiped up the puddle at the bottom of the slide. Then I began to wonder if the mess was just at the bottom of the slide. Fortunately my son had just climbed through all the tubes and came down the slide. I chose to take his word for it that it was not wet anywhere else on the play area, rather than suffering further humiliation by trying to climb through the entire tubing system built for people who are 3 feet tall. Once the initial embarassment was over I decided to let the kids stay and play. The couple who came in seemed to take it all in stride and I actually visited with the woman for a few minutes. They were from out of town too.
So what do you think? For sure next time I'm going to insitigate a potty session before any play area activities. Now I know!
What would you have done in my situation?

Scooping Ice Cream 101

When you have 157 pails of ice cream to keep cold you should make sure you have enough electricity to power 6 chest freezers. We use an inverter that Mike build onto our Freightliner when we are driving. When we are parked and there is no available power we use 2 Honda generators. When we have access to outside electricity Mike has made various adaptors to be sure we can plug into pretty much anywhere.

There is also a technique to storing our ice cream. When we started it seemed like a good idea to store the ice cream into categories (all chocolates in one freezer, all florescent "kids" flavours in another etc.). This is not a good idea for 2 reasons.

1. It is difficult to explain to casual staff where to find each flavour, as you simply have to know how we categorize our flavours.
2. When all the popular flavours are in one freezer that freezer is almost always open, causing the air inside the freezer to warm up a lot. This melts the most popular flavours into soup.

Our solution has been to organize the ice cream alphabetically. I know, duh!! Anyway, this means that the popular flavours are fairly evenly distributed. We store duplicate flavours underneath the open pails on top. Some day Mike would like to build an insulated holder that seals in the cold air under the lips of the open pails. This would keep the ice cream colder and would also help keep our freezers clean. It gets a bit messy when you drop a scoop of bubble gum down beside the pail onto the floor. This only happens every 20th scoop depending on the experience of the scooper ; + ).

Scooping. There are a few techniques that are important.

• Speed ~ it is important to scoop quickly and get the lids of the freezers closed as fast as possible to prevent the cold air from being exchanged with too much warm air that causes melting.
  
• Keep your wrist straight ~ on a busy day scooping can become painful, especially if the ice cream is quite hard, if you bend your wrist too much. I try to scoop mostly with my bicep, and bending my arm at the elbow. Of course the deeper the ice cream is in the pail, the more difficult this becomes.
• Build the ball in the pail, not on the cone ~ I try to make my scoops about 6 to 8 ounces ( I just eyeball it), about the size of my palm. I form the ball in the pail, when it is nice and tight I press it firmly onto the cone. If you try to form the ball on the cone often the cone breaks and it generally takes more time.
• Keep the size the same ~ this takes practise. Sometimes customers try to pressure us to make the scoop bigger. I used to feel guilty if a customer commented on my scoop being too small, but I stopped to consider that we sell a quality product & our prices & sizes are on par with other ice cream venues in our area (Dairy Queen & Marble Slab Creamery). Usually customers complain just to see if they can get something for nothing, they will generally pay full price after complaining if the alternative is to go without. I'm taking a hard stance this year; I'm not cheating anyone, and I work hard for what I make, so complainers can just cough it up or move on!
• Don't touch the cone or ice cream ~ an inexperienced scooper will often have difficulty getting the ice cream on the cone and try to use their thumb to work it on. Don't do this, no one wants to have someone stick their thumb in their ice cream! If it is difficult to lift the scoop out of the pail I usually use the cone itself to pick up the ball of ice cream. Usually you can just work the scoop under the ball and pick it up. It is also very important to wrap a napkin around the cone you are using, preventing any hand to food contact. Even if you have gloves or have just washed your hands thoroughly people don't want their food touched with another person's hands.
  
• Don't look at the line up ~ it is easy to get flustered when there is a line up. This causes a person to forget orders, charge the wrong price, give the wrong change and generally make lots of little mistakes that cost money. The less flustered or rushed I am, the better the service and the less time I waste in silly mistakes. This takes practise. Never look at the line - keep your eyes on the person in front of you.
• Quality Control ~ one of the perks of this job is that it is actually necessary for me to taste the product. I need to be able to tell people what is in each flavour and whether or not a flavour really tastes like it should (like cream soda float, it really does taste like cream soda!) I know that now that I've scooped for 17 summers I probably don't have to taste as much as I do, but hey, someone's gotta make sure we're serving up the good stuff!
  

A Carny Family Reality Show?

Mike and I were talking to our friends the other day and we were laughing at the idea of having our own reality show. Since watching the Gosselin family fall apart that is definately the last thing I would want to do, but it did get me thinking. What kinds of things would be interesting to "viewers" about our life? What do we do really well? What do we struggle with? What do we take for granted as "normal" that most people would find unbelievable? That to me is the essence of reality t.v. So I thought I'd give some glimpses as to what it is like to be a carny family on the road, scooping ice cream for a living.

For starters, there is some lingo that we have picked up.

• Joint: Our concession is a "joint", so is any concession or game stand at the fair.
• Jump: When we move from one fair location to another we are jumping.
• Spot: the location that our joint is placed within the midway; also used to refer to the town we are in.
• Spot Fee: the amount we pay the fair company or rodeo association for our spot (usually a percentage of our sales)
• Set Up & Tear Down: Setting up the rides, concessions & game joints then taking them down again.
• Jennys: Generators
• Rig: Big trucks used for hauling the joints.
• Lot call: the time that carnys are requried to be manning their joints in order to get them clean and ready for when the ticket booths open. It is usually at least 1 hour before opening.
• Indys or Independants: People (like us) who own their own joint.
  

Some other small bits of fair culture include:

• Nick names. Mine is not that interesting, I'm the ice cream lady and I think Mike is the Ice cream guy. Some of the people we know are known as Budda, Shorty, Lougy, Tiny
• When passing by the bunk trailers do not peer in (that might not be fair culture as much as my own personal policy)
• It is important to be clean & shorn. Carnies have a bad historical reputation of being unkempt, which is understandable if you see their bunks, and think about how long they are on the road for with limited access to showers, sinks & flushing toilets. They all are required to have short hair cuts and wear clean clothes (black jeans & company t shirts & coats & hats). Needless to say, Mike finally cut his hair last week before joining up with the fair company. We don't have to wear uniforms, but I'd like to get some aprons & hats that we wear when working. I know there have been time where we have fallen short of the carny standard.
  
• No judgement. People out here come from every walk of life. There are mothers & fathers, accountants, electricians, druggies, philosophers, children, grandparents, Christians, Atheists, Muslims, and everything in between. What draws carnies together is a sense of family the group provides. Though people can be ornery, strange, sad, or lost, we are all together to create a successful fair. We all have to work together to make a good fair, everyone has their jobs to do. It is important not to judge. This is something that has become more and more clear to me the longer we travel with this group. Assume nothing, treat everyone with the respect, keep smiling and look for ways to encourage others. I'm not the only one with this philosophy, most carnies treat me with the kindness and familiarity I'd expect at a church on Sunday morning. In fact some of our churches could learn a thing or two out here, but that's another post.
• Stay alert, especially at night. Of course the fair at night is interesting, but it can also be dodgy. People drink too much, or are on other substances, fights start in the blink of an eye. So far we have had blood splattered on our white freezers once, and Mike has had to break up one fight in front of our booth. Both events happened with very little warning. Usually I'm not around when these things happen because I'm all cozy in our trailer with the kids. Please do not stop praying for our safety. Though the fair is supposed to be a fun place, it can also be dark and scary. For the most part though it is the patrons that I worry about. I know if I made one yell for help I'd have 5 or 6 carnies ready to jump in and fight for me. I pray that will never be necessary.
  
• Eating out. Even though I have a wonderful travel trailer with a fridge & freezer we seem to eat out a lot. Mostly for convenience because sometimes I just don't feel like cooking, or sometimes we have to drive all day. It is difficult to stay away from fair food and eating out.
• Swimming & parks. This is what we do in our down time (between shows). We always look for the pool and parks that are close enough to walk to. The kids love both. When we are working one of us can still take the kids to the park or for a walk. We try not to hang out at the fair with the kids because it gets expensive when they want to go on rides every day (though I can usually trade a ride for an ice cream instead of buying tickets).

That's a little glimpse into our life as carnies. Stay tuned for more carny reality.

Hangin

Well we're offically back in the swing of things. Praise the Lord, we made it to our second show (up north) with only small truck problems. We've been able to relax for the last couple days and hang out with our cousins. Collectively we've gone swimming, shooting, & playgrounding. Guess which two the kids and I did, while Mike did the other. It seems we have staff lined up and ready to go this for the weekend and is sounds like the weather will be better than originally expected. Life seems to be puttering along pretty good. We're up north until Tuesday I think, then we head to my home town for next weekend. I'm looking forward to enjoying my sister's bridal shower, and seeing familiar faces, especially Grandma's & Grandpa's. Thanks to all who are praying for us. We'll be keeping you posted.

All is Well

Happily Mike has solved the mystery of the cataclysmic truck problem.
We prayed that he would be given the knowledge, wisdom and understanding to diagnose & fix the problem. Thanks to a good friend's idea and discussing the matter with the boys at Freightliner, Mike thinks that the problems is far less cataclysmic than the original prognosis. He said something about it being an engine mount. All I know is that the repair job is far less expensive and far less time consuming than pulling out a transmission and replacing a clutch. We are very happy about this.

Also, today, our first day open at the fair, is looking like a beautiful day. Sunny and warm. Looking forward to a good day of scooping.

The saga continues

Ok, I guess we're not done with break downs and learning from stressful situations.
Last night we got all loaded up for today. Mike was just going to haul our travel trailer closer to the house so I could transfer our stuff. I went out to help direct traffic (meaning help him back up), and saw Mike walking to the house with a grim look on his face. His words were, "I think something cataclismic has happened either to the transmission or the clutch". Oh!

So our delima was that we were expected to set up our concession today, and we have 130 pails of ice cream on the way. We had a few ideas for getting our conession to the location by the agreed upon time. One way was free, so we tried that first. I steered the Freightliner while Mike pulled it with our Navigator. The Navigator just spun its tires because of our incredibly soft ground (thanks to 4 days of snow and rain). So out came the back hoe to pull the concession out of the yard. Once we got it on the gravel road the Navigator was able to pull the concession, but we didn't think it would be able to manage to pull it up the ravines near our place. Luckily the Freightliner somehow revived and was ablet to drive on its own power after that little pull of encouragment. By this time it was midnight. Mike decided to keep on driving while the truck was able. So I loaded up the sleeping kids and followed him into town, to make sure he made it there and to transport him home.

We made it with no further difficulties. Mike is perplexed, because if it is the problem he thought (the clutch) how on earth was he able to drive it to town. If it is not the clutch what on earth is it? Hopefully not something expensive. We are praying that God will give Mike wisdom, knowledge and understanding to fix the problem. We also praise God for keeping the truck on the road last night, it was a miriacle. We're praying that we will have a sunny weekend, and that we will have good business to pay for our ice cream and the truck maintainence and everything else. I'm also praying for peace of mind regarding our trip up north on Monday. Last year it was a fiasco, so I'm a little nervous, especially now that we're having truck trouble. Yet I know that it all works out all the time, somehow.

A little better

Last Week: 172lbs
This Week: 170lbs
Total lost this week 2lbs. Total lost altogether 13lbs

Ok, I'm glad to see that progress is being made. Especially since I was a bit out of control with food this week. Having family and friends to visit with reduces my barely there self discipline to nil.
I think the big jump last week was a hormonal thing with some water retention thrown in.
I'm back to cup a soup for lunch and porridge for breakfast, and I'll try to restrain myself from eating too much ice cream. We get our first load of ice cream tomorrow. I hope, now that this is our 5th summer of ice cream pushing, that the novelty will be worn off and I will not be as tempted by the divine creamy sweetness as I usually am. Ya right. Here's hoping.

Take a peek in to my memories

I was just thinking back on some of our past summer adventures as carnies.
We've had some interesting experiences and learned how to deal with stressful circumstances as a result.

This one time...
We had a 11/2 year old and an 8 month old. We were driving from a northern town to a southern town about 7 hours from each other. We sell 80 flavors of hard ice cream from our concession stand. The plan was to stop in the City and pick up some ice cream then keep on driving to our destination. I was driving the kids in our 97 Golf and Mike was driving the Freightliner with concession towing the travel trailer. Once we were pretty much in the middle of no where the Freightliner engine blew! We stopped at Smalltownville and Mike muttered and tinkered and hammered and made some phone calls. He ended up leaving us to nap, play and hang out at the travel trailer while he drove to the City for engine parts. Hours later he returned with the parts and continued to mutter, hammer, grunt and fix. Somehow he patched up that engine over night, at least we drove it the next day. The short stop put us behind schedule and we were late getting to our fair (which had already set up and started). In order to save time, I was sent ahead to pick up our ice cream order. Yes I picked up about twenty 11.5L pails of ice cream plus 3 large boxes of ice cream cones in our Golf. Yes the kids were with me. I think I even stacked a box of cones right above my son's head. Let's just say visibility was limited. You'd think with that load and crying kids and a stressed out me, that it would have been us to have the catastrophe. We didn't. We made it to our meeting point and axiously waited for Daddy while eating burgers and hoping the ice cream wasn't melting too fast. We had a great view of the road that Mike was to arrive from. I just about choked on my burger when I looked up and saw Mike standing beside the road attempting to remove what looked like our trailer's wheels (but no trailer) from a very busy freeway! It turned out that it was our trailer's wheels, and it's axle! No problem. With the help of a kind Samaritan we loaded up the axle into the concession, prayed and kept driving. The trailer had two axles, that one must have been extra! Mike told me that the axle falling off the trailer happened just shortly after our generator took a tumble out of the back of our concession which had accidentally been left open. Ya, the generator that keeps our ice cream frozen when we have no power to hook up to. Luckily it is a high quality, tough piece of equipment and only suffered some scratches to it's dignity. The remainder of the trip consisted of stopping on the side of the road and changing oil every hour, due to issues with the quick engine patch job & of course checking to make sure our trailer wasn't being dragged along on it's back bumper (considering the strain the remaining axle was under)! All in all, what should have been a 7 hour drive took us about 36 hours. Fun times!

Looking back we laugh and shake our heads! Mike said today, " I can't believe we drove all that way with a blown engine and a missing axle!" "ya", I added, "and 2 small kids and a load of melting ice cream". I'd like to say that we smiled through it all, prayed and encouraged one another with kind words and scripture! ha ha ahahahahaha! We did persevere. We did not give up. We asked forgiveness for, and forgave harsh words and impatient looks. We did pray, and found that we don't always get what we ask for. Some things we got that we didn't ask for were: helpful bystanders, enough money to pay for the repairs, a profit from our spot at the fair (making it all worth while), a convenient campsite, first hand experience that things work if you worry or not. Ironically it seems that these situations of panic or mayhem are what I look back on as defining moments in our marriage. Times where I've learned to be flexible, patient, positive, understanding, hopeful, and encouraging were times when I've felt the most anxious, confused, discouraged and rigid. It turns out what doesn't kill you DOES make you stronger.

I plan to post more memories from past summer excitement. My hope for this summer that we will have less to learn and more remember.

Yawn

I'm so tired!!!
Yuck, I'm supposed to have all this energy now that it is spring, I'm down a few pounds, the days are longer the weather is nicer. I even went to bed shortly after the kids last night (9pm ish) thinking that would catch me up. I'm still exhausted. I haven't done anything extraordinary, just my usual day to day. In fact I have a stack of extra stuff I should be doing, but am unwilling to face. I need to get some energy from somewhere quick! I've been taking my B12 vitamins, I've been trying to eat properly, red meat & veggies (in case my iron is low); any one else have any suggestions? Oh ya, I've been guzzling the coffee in hopes that the caffine will kick me into high gear. Nope.
sigh...
I guess sitting here and typing about my woes won't get my list of things done so I can go to bed. So here I go. Before I sleep tonight I am determined to:
Round up my cleaning supplies from the concession
move some odds & ends out to our new shed (thank you talented hubby of mine for building it)
sweep the floor
wash the dishes
wash my feet (they are disgusting!)

That's doable.
Here I go....

Mama Manifesto: Friday Giveaway: The Baby Fat Diet Book

Mama Manifesto: Friday Giveaway: The Baby Fat Diet Book
Just thought I'd try and enter this give away. It's the first time I've tried to do this, so I don't really know what I'm doing. But I do know that I really enjoy this blog. Enough to spend the time to try to figure out all these buttons, gadgets, links and what not. Check it out if you need a laugh or encouragement or ideas for everything to do with motherhood/womanhood.

T.G.

I'm feeling a bit cynical, hopeless & thankless today. Could be the weather, it's definitely my attitude. I just feel like sighing and complaining all day long!!!!! What I really need to do is adjust my attitude... again. So I'm going to take 10 minute and think of things to be thankful for, like I try to do every week, and see if it helps. Here it goes...

Thanks God

• for giving me endless last chances.
• for the choice to change.
• for your spirit alive in me giving me the desire to glorify you, even when my flesh doesn't feel like it.
• for cards and words and looks and nodding heads and listening ears of encouragers all around me.
• for the fading of feelings. I won't always feel this way, it won't always be work to choose joy.
• for the experience that allows me to be compassionate and understanding when I come across someone else with the same struggles.
• for being here, with me, through it all.
• for caffeine and carbs.
• for music to cheer me up.
• for work that MUST be done to help me shift my attention from my little pity party to the necessities of living.
• for cute kids that melt my heart.
• for a husband who has high expectations for me because he knows I am capable, and he appreciates my help.
• for a warm shower and a soft bed at to look forward to when my days struggles are done.

Well, not exactly a 180, but I guess I found a turning point. Now off I go to be as productive as I can, with the energy I've got.

Oh Dear!

Last Week: 168lbs
This Week: 172!!!
Total gained this week 4lbs. Total lost altogether 11lbs

Yikes! That's ridiculous & terribly frustrating.
That's all I have to say about that.

Remember this?

My daughter likes this song.
I couldn't remember all the words so I had to google it.
Thought you might enjoy.

Saturday Morning

A door opens, so do my eyes.
I listen.
Small footsteps pad down the hall.
I squint at the clock, I guess it's time to get up.
I wait for the call "Mommy, I want somefing to eat".
It doesn't come.
I listen to silence, except
it's not all silence.
A strange sound occurs now and then.
What is it?
Time passes, and I know I should investigate.
I rouse myself from my comfort.
I tip toe down the hall...
There he is, my son.
Standing on his chair
beside an open peanut butter jar and an open jam jar.
No bread in sight.
smack, lick, suck
He tastes his fingers.
When he sees me he smiles.
"Morning Mommy"

My Idea of a Fun Friday!

OK, so I didn't quite finish my goals for today, do I still love myself? Ya, but I need to give me a kick in the butt anyway.
I did go for a walk with the kids
I did make fresh bread - and I ate less than half the loaf!!!
I did make a grocery list
So I'm at 60%. The day is not done, I can still get the rest finished...but will I? yawn, there's a 60% chance.

Finally Loving Yourself today includes (for me):

1. Cleaning the toilet - I love a fresh bowl
2. rearranging furniture - not sure why I get the urge to do this quarterly, but I do.
3. Making lists - another compulsion, I think it's my way of trying to get control over my procrastination
4. Go for a walk with my kids
5. Make fresh bread - and eat some, not the whole loaf hopefully.
   

T.G.

Thanks God for...

New born babies
kids of all ages
child like wonder
trembling lips and crocodile tears
warm hugs and "juicy" kisses
sticky fingers
soft hair against my cheek
warm hand in mine
being asked to "huggle"
getting to witness play time
healthy appetites
budding independence
boisterous voices
wixed up mords
exuberant helpers
funny faces
introducing new experiences
the opportunities to watch wonder
attention to detail
abundant toys & books & craft stuff
focusing on the little things
princess & warriors
my kids

Ack!!!

Last week: 168lbs
This week: 168lbs
Total lost this week 0, Total lost 15lbs

Ok, I have got to get moving. I'm really happy that I haven't gained this week, what with the constant availability of fresh bread and other yummy snacks. I guess I better get walking.

I liked this idea for games in a kids room. When we get our dry wall done I'll have to try this. For now I'll settle with putting a hook in Hungry Hippos and hanging them on the wall to be taken down when the kids want to play with them. The marbles are in a little purse from the toy box, though we've lost most of our marbles.

An interesting interview & book review.

Just another Moldy Monday, whoa, whoa, I wish it were Funday Whoa, whoa

I just thought I'd share what I'm up to today.
I'm attacking the moldy fridge in our travel trailer, and cursing under my breath the whole time! Why didn't I clean it out properly when we moved out of it last Dec? Yuck!
In other mold news...
I went out to find the kids spring clothes. They are stored in rubber maid containers behind our shed (long story as to why they are behind the shed and not in it). Any way, I guess the container holding the kids summer clothes had a crack in it. Guess what I found! Yep moldy clothes. I might be able to salvage some of them, but Yuck! I'm so thankful they were this year's spring clothes and not baby clothes. I have far less stuff that I'm attached to in this year's bin.
So Mom, I'm eating the elephant, but I think he sat out too long, he's very moldy! Don't think I'll every get used to the taste!

Not FLYing too high today

Ick!
I'm looking around me at the utter chaos in my house, knowing that it is up to me, and me alone to tame the wild beast that is my house. In addition to that I need to make bread (as per DH's request), clothe and feed the little ones, and some how be nice to everyone (even though I feel like Oscar the grouch today).

Here's the game plan.

• make a to do list
• lay out the kids clothes
• while kids are struggling to get dressed, mix up the bread & finish dishes
• give the kids a project to do (craft, game or movie)
• Attack the enemy (messy house) for 15 intense minutes
• Get a new activity for the kids (Outside play, play dough or different game)
  
• find something to make for lunch
• feed the hungry ones
• Do a load of laundry
  
• Around Nap time I intend to take a 30 minute break, drink coffee & stare blankly into space.
• Before nap time ends I hope to do a 2 more 15 minute attacks.
• After nap time we will be loading up the troops and heading into the city to secure a part for our beloved fridge (who has a teensy problem because of a missing part)
• As a reward for our efforts I'm hoping we will get to eat at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

Sounds like a plan.
Here it goes...