Family Update

Well, it's been a while since I've simply posted on what's going on in our family, so here it is! My annual company picnic was Saturday and we had a BLAST! Prepare yourself for lots of fun, and even more adorable pictures, you may be on overload when I'm done with you. :)

We started out the day by having barbecue for lunch - at which point Alyson spilled soda all over herself and got sticky. Thank goodness she likes being wet!

Next, we went for our first (of I'm not going to tell you how many) cotton candy cones. Yes, Aly got to taste it, our neighbor Lisa went with us and helped Alyson to become even more sticky. :)

And what carnival is complete without fun booths like ring toss and bean bag toss. Alyson's favorite was the bubbles.

She liked it so much, she found another booth with bubbles and got herself really soapy. Hmmm, now all we need is some water and we'll be set!

JACKPOT!!! A wading pool! (I love the look on her face - priceless)

She had such a blast. She's such an adventure girl - she loves to splash and be splashed. Good thing too, since Daddy kept getting her!

Thank goodness we brought a towel and a change of clothes - these got soaked. No more soda though. :)

After we changed Alyson, Erik got to compete in the Tug-Of-War challenge as a member of the Human Resources team. They won of course. Well, I guess not of course. The first team the battled didn't realize that they had to get more than one person across the line and thought they won. Ahh, sweet victory - even if it's because the other team messed up. The second team they battled was a true and profound victory. The team heaved, heaved, heaved until they beat the other team into submission! Go team go!

Towards the end of the fair, Erik and Alyson were able to try out the bega bouncy slide!!! My co-worker's daughter Chloe was going to try to take her down, but we were nervous about her getting her up there. So Daddy took over and it's all history from there. My little girl is officially a daredevil. I won't be surprised if she ends up as a firefighter or astronaut or navy seal!

There's a bump at the end that makes them fly into the big puffy wall - she loved the whole thing so much that she had to go again!

I think Erik had even more fun that she did! Can you blame him with such a cute running buddy?

To really wind things down, we sat over by the auction and snacked on more cotton candy, blueberry cobbler and in Aly's case, yummy cheese crackers! Man, a day gorging on delicious food and not ending up with a tummy ache is a perfect day in my opinion!

Thus ends our version of Saturday's events. Look forward to an installment on fence installation! Wow, Daddy and Lisa are working hard! Alyson and I are of course working hard at remaining too cute for words and too pregnant to be helpful.

:) Love to all!

The erosion of our language

This post is more of a rant about the erosion of our language as detailed below in a few of the most common (and one very uncommon) widely spread things that irk me. Enjoy (or don't).

1. "A whole nother": There is no such thing as a "nother". They mean of course "Another" or "A completely different". This is so widely used, that it's in movies, the radio and even well educated newscasters. I only recognized this travesty when I used it myself one day and thought, "Wait, that doesn't sound right" and haven't stopped hearing it since.
2. "Till" instead of "'til": A till is a cash register, or the action that prepares soil for planting. 'Til is the shortening of the word "Until". Most times when an author means 'til, they type till and somehow it doesn't get caught by the editors. I guess they're all just on the lookout for incorrect "There, They're, Their" usages instead. I'm surpirsed at how many get it wrong.
3. "Myself": Many people misuse "myself" because they were terrified by their English teachers to use the word "me" at the end of a sentance. The problem is that they're using it the wrong way. Only I can do something to myself. Only you can do something to yourself. They use it as in "If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact myself." So many people say it that it doesn't even sound as wrong as it rightfully should. When you are acting on something, you use "I". (Rachel and I are going to the movies). When you are being acted upon, you use "me". (That burger was too spicy for me). When you are acting upon yourself, you use "myself". (I want to kick myself).
4. As a whole, music will be the downfall of our language. Most to blame is Rap, of course closely followed by R&B & Country. For instance: R&B - Usher's Burn uses the unique phrasing: "We done been fell apart". Ugh. Another: Country - Tim McGraw's I Like It employs the following: "I throwed out my shoulder but I won her that teddy bear." Not quite as bad, but it's certainly incredibly lazy for a probably very well spoken guy.

That's it. That's all. I've done a lot of griping lately, but I think I'm done. I've been saving this one up.