Off to Tennessee

Well today, we are off to Tennessee for our big show. We are so thankful that my Uncle R has so graciously agreed to let us stay with him saving us some major bucks by not having to stay in a hotel. We started off our morning having to pack a large handful of things at the house. Then we headed to the storage unit for all the stuff that goes on top of the van. Now this particular pack was harder than usual! We have gotten some new display racks and as awesome as they are, they don't pack well. Here is Keree & KittyKitty hanging out while we packed at home.

We got a late start on the road. I wanted to be out by 10am, but we didn't finish packing till almost 1pm. So, we stopped for some lunch and that is where I snapped this picture. See Keree's hand sticking up over everything. We are really at the point were we need to a major upgrade in transportation. Actually, we been at that point for almost 2 years now. I'm leaning towards an RV and trailer, Mom just wants a truck and trailer and Keree thinks an RV would be pretty cool....as long as she can get a cat.

 As you can see, Keree was pretty snug as a bug but she was happy. She had a bag of books, games and her music to keep her entertained. For some reason, this drive was a hard one on me. I was exhausted by the time we hit Kentucky. And then it started raining on us, no, it was more than rain, it was blinding rain where I couldn't see the car in front of me. I thought about pulling over but then thought, nope I really need to keep going. I didn't want this trip to last any longer than it had to!

We called my Uncle when we hit the Tennessee border. We were just going to stop and pick up a bite to eat for dinner since it was after 7:30pm. But being the amazing person he is, he offered to make us dinner. We finally rolled into this driveway around 8:30p. We unloaded the few things we needed and then relaxed. I will tell you, he makes a crazy delicious meatloaf. Keree ate a huge plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn. He wanted us to stay up and watch a movie, but we were all beat. Plus we still had tomorrow to visit before the show.

Stormy, Humid, Super Hot Sunday

Last night, we had a few storms come thought. Honestly, they didn't seem so bad but when we arrived we saw this. Thank goodness for once this wasn't our tent but our neighbors. The winds completely mangled this double tent. The only thing we ran into was a few puddles in our covered pavilion space. Didn't hurt anything except one box got wet. When he and his mother arrived, I helped him move his tent and get the tarp off of it. 

 This was our booth space, there was plenty of space and didn't take us long to set-up in the morning. We even had enough time that Keree did some homeschool work in the morning.

 Of course, today was another record breaking heat day. Keree had pigtail braids but eventually I pinned them up so they were off her neck. It was miserable out there and sales were slow.

 Then the heat got to us. Keree and I made scary face at each other.

Since everyone was packing up 2-3 hours early, we finally packed up about an hour before the ending. Keree was thankful to head home because today was also her stuffed Kitty's birthday. Last year we held a huge birthday party for KittyKitty, complete with a picnic lunch and cake. This year it was a little more low key. But we still remembered to sing Happy Birthday to KittyKitty. We also talked with Great-Great and YeYe and they sang Happy Birthday to KittyKitty too. They said we was so polite when we meowed back to him, then Keree got on the phone and translated what he said.

More Birthday Prep

I thought we had been doing so well with Keree sleeping in till 7a or later. I mean it's been almost 2 weeks of all that extra sleep. I was in denial the last 3 days thinking that it was just a fluke because her allergies are hay-wire because of the weather change. But this morning, I faced the fact that we are back to super early morning wake-ups. I don't think I would have been so upset over the sleep but in the last week, I've gotten use to working in to the wee hours and I really appreciate even that extra half-hour of sleep. This morning, I was lucky enough that my Mom made Keree breakfast because unlike most every night, I didn't have Keree's clothes laid out. So as I searched her closet for something to wear in this cold (it's was 30 this morning)/warm (it reached 67 this afternoon) snap, Keree happily crunched on cereal. We headed to school and as now has become usual, only the Asst Teacher acknowledges Keree. I mean, I keep trying to figure out why the Main Teacher is being such a witch. Keree says she won't speak to her at all during class. It's one thing to be mad at my Mom and I because of the comment my Mom made at parent-teacher conference but you don't take it out on the kid. And then I was thinking maybe she's not talking to Keree because we didn't buy her a present for her baby. But hey, we did give her a Christmas ornament and we never did get a Thank you card from her for that either. Sorry, it's just really bugging me. Otherwise, while Keree was in school, I did a little running. I picked up a few more things for the boy treat bags because they seemed to be getting jipped a little compared to the girls bags. After I got home, I worked on printing up the last of the birthday stuff before heading to pick Keree up. We usually meet with the Homeschool teacher today but she never did call. In my experience so far, if they don't call, they don't show up. Because of this, we headed home instead of to the library. A little after 11a, my phone rings and it's the Homeschool teacher. She goes "I'm at the library, where are you?" Umm, you didn't call, so I assumed you won't show up and I'm not going to waste gas with gas prices reaching almost $3.25 a gallon. She was miffed but I really don't care. Keree is way above their current curriculum and though they promised me that they would advance the curriculum, they haven't. The only reason we are still participating is because Keree does enjoy it. Keree did get to play outside for a short time, she enjoyed riding her bike up and down the sidewalk before we headed inside. Our afternoon and into the evening was filled with Birthday preparations. I figured out that this party is costing me around $157 but you also have to consider that so far we have over 52 confirmed people being there. So that's about $3 a person. Which in the ground scheme, that's pretty cheap. I was hoping for around $1.50 a person but I did splurge on a couple of things that I thought was cool like Tangled candy and all of the girls are getting a handful of bows made by me. Which I guess if I did my calculations on how much they actually cost me to make instead of the price I charge, I would probably be close to $2 a person. We ended our evening by calling my Brother. He's coming in this weekend for Keree's birthday. The main reason I called was to remind him to bring his camera (also good to have another person taking pics) and my Dad's will (since I can't find my copy anywhere). Of course, Keree had to get on the phone and talk also. She was telling him all about the crown she made for KittyKitty. Which cracked me up because up until now, Keree says Kitty Kitty is her son but since he was wearing a princess crown, he is now a girl. I know a few people who wish it was that easy to change your gender. I'm off to bed, hoping she'll sleep in but knowing more than likely I'll be up hours before the sun.