Who Let the Frogs Out???????????

Tim and I spent part of our date on Saturday in McKinney, Texas. I've been hearing great things about the town square there. It was quaint with lots of antique stores, an Irish pub, and lots of flowers.
There was even the cutest candy store I've ever seen there...

But, by far the most surprising sight were the many frogs.......They were Everywhere.........

First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas.....

First Monday Trade Days, originally known as Trades Day, began in Canton, Texas, in the mid 1850's.  One version of how the event started tells how this was the time each month when the circuit judge in VanZant County would come into town and hold court. People would come at this time and trade goods, buy a horse or a dog, visit with friends, and eat. It gradually became a bigger and bigger event.  First Monday Trade Days has continued from that time until now....over 150 years has passed since the first Trade Days. And.......it is now the world's largest flea market expanding over 100 acres with about 3000 dealers from all over the United States. On the Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday of each month, approximately 200,000 people descend upon little Canton, Texas, a town of only 5,400 people. This is where Tim and I were this past Saturday.

Our family has been going to First Monday Trade Days or Canton Trade Days as we call it for over twenty years. When the kids were little we would  go often. I would take three or four of them with me. I'd give each of them $10.00 to spend. They would "wheel and deal" with their $10.00 buying little cars, pictures, jewelry.....all kinds of stuff. When Isaac was about five or six years old, he was down to his last two bucks.The item he wanted was five dollars. He told the vendor only had two dollars.......take it or not. The vendor was so impressed at his gumption that he sold it to Isaac for the two dollars.

Tim and I hadn't been to Canton Trade Days in about three or four years.  Tim, especially, was looking forward to today. He collects those airplane collector banks. Some of them are quite pricey. He has one that cost $200.00 that I bought for him for a birthday from a Canton Trade Days dealer many years ago!! Anyway.....I don't know if Canton has really changed the past few years or maybe we have changed, but it all seemed different today. There just didn't seem to be as many antiques.......the whole place seem more commercialized.  For an antiques person like me, there just seemed to be too much new stuff.........There weren't many antiques "deals" to be had. Tim and I only stayed a couple of hours. I bought a iron dress form and Tim bought a model car.......Then, we took one last look at the "field" vendors and left. I felt a little sad. Maybe I've outgrown Canton just a bit, but walking around "shopping" in 100 degree weather minus my kids just doesn't appeal to me much anymore.......

Field Vendors

An example of the new merchandise........just like you would find in a regular store.

                                                                    My Sweetheart!
                                                                                       

                                                                                    

                                                                          

Pizza Frenzy in the Kitchen

How many people does it take to make a great homemade pizza for sixteen people??? At our house, at least three.....one to make the dough, one to cook and cut the ingredients, and one to cut and serve the pizza. Everyone helps with cleanup..... 

This past Friday, Tim, who is the resident pizza cook at our house, was out-of-town, so the kids and I decided to make homemade pizza. To say it was a snap.......well, I won't say it was a snap.....It was a lot of hard work.....but, worth every succulent bite!!! Hint......check out the internet for the above dough recipe......it works.


And.......be prepared for a HUGE mess in the kitchen. And, if you're cooking for sixteen people, expect the entire process to take about two and a half hours!!

The Lego Artist

When my children were youngsters they loved to play with Legos. Sometimes we weren't so good about cleaning up the Lego mess afterwards; to my husband's frustration, quite a few ended up in the vaccum cleaner!!!  I'm sure many of you are familiar with the horrible clang of a Lego being inhaled by the vaccum cleaner!
 While all our kiddos played with Legos, none showed the promise to become a Lego artist like Zachary. What makes this even more remarkable is that Zachary has severe athetoid cerebral palsy. Athetoid cerebral palsy causes a person to move with jerky, uncontrolled movements. Affected persons have difficulty smoothly coordinating the movements of their hands, legs, head and facial muscles. Just because a person with athetoid cerebral palsy has difficulty with movement, however, does not necessarily indicate they have cognitive difficulty. While Zachary is quite smart, you can imagine the focus he requires to hold his hands still enough to tackle even a simple Lego construction project!
Zachary's Lego journey began like any other......getting a tub of Legos for birthdays and Christmas. Then, as he started making small houses with cute little Lego flower beds, he asked for more Legos to finish a certain project he was working on. Then....he wanted more and more Legos. Legos are EXPENSIVE!!! So, I started looking for Legos at garage sales and whatnot. As the years went by, Zachary amassed quite a collection of Legos. His skill at building finely detailed structures became more polished.
Eventually, Zach's art collection required its' own showcase. Only the big yellow truck on the bottom shelf is from a kit. All the rest are originals........Good Work, Zachary!!

A Perfect Sunday Afternoon!!

Kayaking down the Chicago River

Enjoying the Neighborhood

These Flowers Inspire Me