Labor Day weekend

Pioche Nevada has a big Labor Day celebration every year and it's usually a lot of fun! We had a lot of family come home for it and that was the best part! On Saturday night there is a street dance on Main street followed by a light parade! Sunday night we go up to watch the fireworks. My new camera has a "firework" setting so I was excited to test that out... I've posted some of my favorite pics out of those (I was lame and forgot my camera for every other event that weekend so this is all I got). Then finally, Monday morning we go up for the Labor Day parade, catch the candy then head to the park for kid races, kiddie rides and DEEP FRIED TWINKIES! Yes folks, your read that right, deep fried twinkies, can you say deliciously disgusting?!?! UGH! My kids, as well as most of their cousins, look most forward to the kids races where they get 50 cents for every race they participate in! Then they do a money scramble... they throw coins, from nickles to silver dollars, into the baseball in field and on 3 the kids are let lose to collect what they can! Irish and Ellie came home with $20 between the two of them! It is pretty fun, something we look forward to every year!

Pear Pickin' with Dad!

A few weeks ago the pear trees needed picking so Ellie (and Emma too, in her own sorta baby way!:)) got to go out with her dad and do the honors. She thought it was great! Just one of the many experiences we have in Panaca that, for us, makes life so much better here than in Vegas. These pears are delicious by the way!

A new blog address?!?! That's weird...

Yes! I changed our blog address! I figured we are new enough on the blog scene that it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but, then again, we are new!!!

The first address, while cute and fitting for our family, was a fingertipful to type! This one is also fun, though, because there are at least 3 other Bleak families in our family that have a blog (if there are more, you gotta let me know!!:)). Also, Bleak blog sounds cool!! ha! And lastly it's pretty funny because of all the close minded people out there that refuse to acknowledge that fact that there are other pronounciations to words, let alone names, than just the english pronounciation! So to them, and those that do not know us, it sounds like this would be a pretty sad blog to veiw! haha! FYI, our last name, Bleak, is pronounced Blake... it's the Irish pronounciation! Anyway, hope you'll still follow us, even as bleak as our blog sounds! haha!

Ellie's school... on the trampoline!

Of course, on Irish's first day of school, Ellie was just as excited as Irish, which is why it was so sad when she begged to stay when we dropped Irish off, and then, after dropping Irish off, she went straight to her room when we go home and got her little backpack then headed out the door saying "C'mon mom, I go to kindergarden!!" It broke my heart a little. She was really deeply hurt that she didn't get to go. So she and I put a book in her backpack, some paper, a pencile and crayons and went to have our own kind of school. We called it "School on the Trampoline!" She loved it! We practiced writting the names of everyone in our family, drew pictures of things we saw, practiced our colors, read a book and then, of course, we jumped! We had a lot of fun and I think it was just as much for my good as it was for hers, it was so nice for me to spend time with my Ellie Joy like that! And it sufficed as far as she was concerned too, that is, until Irish got home and showed us the clay she made at school... Ellie's eyes welded up and she pouted, "I go to Kindergarden!" Soon enough Ellie... but not too soon!!

Look out world, here comes Irish... well, look out Panaca Elementary anyway...

Someday I'm going to have to find a way to get it though my head that I AM NOT 18 ANYMORE!!!!! Where does the time go, seriously?!?! sigh... Well, today was Irish's first day of school, sniff, sniff for mom. The day started out early, but that didn't phase our ambitious five year old! She requested the night before that I wake her up siging, "Happy First-day-of-Kindergarten to you..." you get the idea. So after I did that at 6am (school starts early, 7:45, only 4 days of school a week here!!) Irish got going! First we did her hair in her 2nd favorite way, because it is the 2nd fasted, then grandma fulfilled her request of a big celebratory breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs and cantalope, leaving out the sausage only because we didn't have any! But I had to stop her short of waiting for her breakfast in bed... like daddy got on Father's day! Then after her "IHOP" breakfast we laced her shoes, threw on her backpack and headed down the road! At school she was very excited to find her cubby, desk and backpack hook! Her teacher Mrs. Harding had the room looking great which added to Irish's excitment. Then after trying to get her to allow me a few pictures I decided I had better leave her to this new chapter in her life and I proudly, yet somehow lonesomely, left my first born baby to venture into the world of SCHOOL! So glad Ellie came with me to hold my hand back to the car! Needless to say, she did GREAT. I know she'll have a wonderful year in kindergarden. We are excited to watch her grow and become her own little lady. We are so proud of you Irish!