Tidwell Twelve

(The guy in front did a comedy act that was so funny!)

A long time ago in a land called Target there was a beautiful, amazing, talented, humble mother shopping with her family. She was standing in an isle when she heard her husband's whistle. (Does your husband have a whistle? Mine does, and I respond to it just like a dog would. How embarrassing.) When she turned she saw her three little children and strong, handsome husband dressed in fur. LOTS of fur. That day an idea was born, "We should all be Vikings for Halloween."

Penny and I have been working on these costumes for about two months. After many trips to the thrift store, sketching out ideas, late nights sewing and painting, and making paper mache horns they were complete. We tested them out at the Renaissance Festival. I was not prepared for the reactions. People would stop us and ask us if they could take a photo. Then a mob would form and many people would start snapping away. We would "YAR" at them! It was great.

What?


You want to see pictures of us eating Turkey legs?




Okay.....

 (pork chop on a stick)

 

Simone would take a bite and say in a growly voice, "That's so GOOD!"

All hail the turkey leg!

 A scotch egg. yum.

 I want to eat this baby! Everywhere we went people would say "A VIKING FAMILY!" Then as the group passed they would see Simone and say, "AND A VIKING BABY!"

 

 Want to hear a funny story?


 They only have port-a-potties there. There is a LONG LONG line to wait in to use one of them. My kids kept needed to go- several times--- and I would walk right up to the front of the long line, and totally walk by everyone! This is so out of character for me! As I walked by I would say very loudly and as if I was teaching my child, "VIKINGS DON'T WAIT IN LINE!"

This is my favorite picture of the day! Gosh, Lincoln looks so stinkin' handsome as a Viking! Love. I really like him with a beard. He doesn't know that. =)



One last note.....

Tonight we dressed up again, and the twelve of us went to our church Halloween party. There was a chili and a corn bread cook off. Lincoln's chili won first place and my cornbread won second. Then our family won "Best historical costume" in the family group.

Myrtle Beach 2011

 I wanted to take family pictures like last year. It didn't really work out how I had hoped. EVERYONE fell asleep beforehand. I woke them all up and tried to get everyone ready. I fed them rootbeer floats instead of dinner to get them up! We got down to the beach and it was already getting a bit too dark. We took some pictures, but Simone WOULD NOT stand on the sand. She was still too sleep and cranky.  Oh well. Here they are. I'll post some of the fun from our trip soon.

I love finding old photos

I lost some photos. They were the images that I edited, but luckily I had the raw back ups on an external hard drive. I had to re-edit them though. That stinks. Anyway on the tail end of the file was a few little snaps I had taken on Simone, upside down on my bed taking a nap. That is how she sleeps best- upside down. This was taken in May of 2010. Simone would have been just a little over two. Love.

Remembering summer

 I'm downloading pictures from our beach trip. I came home to autumn and I feel a little sad about it. I love summer. I love having my kids home so I'm able to take them wonderful places. I have many more pictures from those adventures, but here are a few I liked....and had time to edit for myself. I am busy. What until you see what I've been up to. =)

This picture of Simone just says "summertime" to me. Laying in the clover (probably watching the birds and the clouds) With the dreamy playground behind her beautifully blurred. Not only does it make me miss summer, but the time in my own life when everything was so simple. I remember playing circus in my backyard in Texas, I was probably a little younger than Natalia then. The swing set was the trapeze, and we made a tightrope walk over a dip in the yard by putting a metal pole across it. I was phenomenal as a circus performer! See, those where the days.