Harlem Globetrotters Game (best part for kids: snow cones and cotton candy)
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This is what I feel like after 20 days home with family....a little more myself...reminded if you will, of who I am. With all the extra hands, I found myself with lots more time. Time for a little self discovery, as follows:
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1. I am Tara Painter and I was born in Missouri. This means that even though I haven't listened to country music for YEARS....a few weeks of CMT on the TV every morning will remind me that I know more about shooting guns, swimming in ponds and lakes, and getting into trouble "down by the river", and, "out in the field", than I care to admit. And that maybe I DO like that song about "check you for ticks" (OK, the last part is a lie)
2. I am Tara Painter and I like LOUD music. Perhaps the reminder came while driving my brother's car with the crazy sound system, and turning it up (because there were no kids in the car)... or it might have been the discovery of that box in the basement. I was elated to find my old college CD player while I was using the treadmill. I was so giddy plugging it in and watching the familiar lights and "hello" across the screen. "Well hello to you too!", I thought as I rocked out to music at my old favorite decibel! (apologies to family, former roommates and neighbors who had to endure the years of this bad habit...I am reformed...mostly)
3. I am Tara Painter and I have an AMAZING family. Immediate, In-Laws, Extended, most of them living in/around Kansas City. It was so awesome to be with them, catch up, spend time...together! People make jokes about not being able to choose your family, but that is precisely why I love it. Here we are, all these people with different personalities, goals, trials, priorities, ideas about life, coming together. And this is what makes my family great, everyone keeps trying, supporting, even through the rough patches. I think that is where the joy comes from...not in the perfection of it all, but in the attempt.
Happy Birthday little love! Zach turns 3 today! He had a party last Friday! When asked what kind of cake he wanted...all he kept saying was a "BLUE" one! easy enough!
Zach painted the invites himself!
He also painted the sign (mommy wrote the words!)
all the kiddos had t-shirts with their names on them to keep their clothes clean!
First we "personalized" the shirts a bit
then we played with "magic mud" ooey gooey fun!
Lily bug chillin
and probably the favorite activity...
was chucking water balloons....
down below....
on dad!
