The Sandusky County Fair 2008 Edition

Phil and I first visited Fremont for my mom and Rob's wedding in March of '03. We saw nothing but the historic district around the Hayes Presidential Center and were mildly impressed with what we saw. We returned a year and a half later, and that was when Fremont really wooed us. The county fair! I love county and state fairs. They bring real tears to my eyes! No joke...the whole America-ness feeling of comraderie and history in cheering on our fellow citizens to win the blue ribbon for fattest pig, or tallest sunflower, how about a blue ribbon for mixed art media ages4-8 and it's a velvet picture from K-mart that some kid colored. How great is that!? I especially love the horse show as riders of all different ages and levels compete against each other. Unfortunately Jacob finds it B-O-R-I-N-G so until Mena can take my side I'm usually out voted.


I was afraid this year I was going to miss it because of Jacob's arm. We didn't want to take him and have him disappointed that he couldn't ride any of the rides, which is the only reason my son wants to go anyway. One cool thing about our fair is that your $7 entrance fee covers all attractions and rides except for Nighttime grandstand shows. But we did end up going on Saturday and had a great time.

This year there even was a small family circus that was surprisingly good.




From there we went the animal barns, which is Mena's and my favorite. We went on to the home ec buildings to look at 4-H and American Campfires and Girl/Boy Scout projects.

Next was the Sandusky Historical Society barn which has items and family history charts from the area. They're pretty involved for such a small county and I always enjoy their exhibits. Phil even had his annual deep fried cheese curds at Mike's Cheese Curds of Au Claire, WI. It was pretty hot and Mena was falling asleep so we walked home (That's right folks! One of the reasons our house attracted us was its proximity to the fair grounds!) .

After cooling down and having dinner at home we returned for the rides after dark. Even though Jacob had to stick to baby putt-putt rides they were much more fun all lit up at night. We had a great time.

Thought of the week: Walking home in the bright summer afternoon underneath the canopy of trees that lines Rawson Ave and the two blocks between the fairgrounds to my house it occurs to me, that though New York is more exciting and L.A. more glamorous, there are days when my small Ohio town amongst the cornfields, is just a little slice of heaven.
If you wish to publish a post, share with us your favorite thing about your town.

p.s. Jacob's pins were removed yesterday, Monday, without needing a cast! He did see the last pin in his arm before it was removed which tramautized him pretty deeply. He just screamed "Mommy" and clung to me. But he's ok now and again thank you all for your concern and prayers. Love the W's.

Blog Entry...blah,blah,blah.

So I've had this goal since May to blog every Sunday in place of my journal entries like when I was single. Of course when I was single I had TONS to write about. So and so is cute, or "I'm so lonely!" , or how do I deal with a life that is so absolutely average when I should really be a "SUPERSTAR!"

Then I met Mr. Right and had children and have had to work harder than I ever thought I would just to be the wife and mother I would like to brag about being in my silver sneaker years. And so even though I have had tons to journal about it fell to the wayside. Besides, I've never been into handwriting because it takes so freakin' long! And so my entries were always short so as to not get hand cramps.

I have absolutely nothing to say this week. This little space on the information highway is suppose to be a peaceful little rest stop for friends and family to gather and visit with the W's during an otherwise harried day of cyber-surfing. But I've not nada.

Jacob still has the pins and is suppose to be getting his hard cast next Monday, but the doctors think it's healing well enough to just have the pins removed. So it's a wait and see situation. Mena is becoming shoe obsessed and her mother is very VERY proud. She has a new pair of princess flip-flops from the Disney Store that I bought on clearance a size bigger for next summer but she loves them "Ena's ip-ops".

Phil works extremely long hours but he's home just enough for me to still stick him with bath duty. Next Monday I start school again and am excited to be taking the first half of a fiction writing course. We'll see how it goes but if I do well I'm seriously considering a Masters in Creative Writing which BGSU offers and it would allow me to teach gen ed English at the university. A couple of my professors have approached me about continuing with a masters either in Creative Writing, Pop Culture, or Theater. All equally useless in the real world when tied to a family in Northwest Ohio, but at least with the writing I can teach there.

Then there's my new fantasy of being the next Stephanie Meyers and finally having the moolah to rid ourselves of our bat infestation. Oh yes, my friends, THREE in the house this week. No wonder we've never had to suffer much in the winters without insulation. Their furry, black and brown bodies are creating a nice little barrier between us and the blustery elements, BLECH!

The Olympic Spirit!

So as most of you know we once had big dreams for Jacob and his men's gymnastics future. But now that he lives in a huge hamster ball, at his mother's bequest, that no longer seems likely.

Of course I should have been prepared for the end of my son's sports career when he asked me a few weeks ago what a jock is. "Mom, what's a jock?" "Hmmm, well a jock is a boy or girl who likes to play sports a lot usually outside, like your cousin Spencer". "Oh, ok, I'm a jock" "No, honey, playing video games inside doesn't count" "I AM a jock! I like to play frisbee!!" Ah, clue number one your child is destined to be president of the Audio/Visual Club.

But we have been enjoying the Olympics in Beijing safely from our couch.

I'm going to try to add video of Mena and Jacob dancing to the music from Sunday night's women's floor exercises. As you can see Jacob is doing much better and thank you all for notes, calls and cards we really appreciate your thinking of us.

ok I can't figure out the video aspect of my camera so here's a picture of someone that is not me.

Maria Valentina: U.S. Fencing...um, not me.

Mommy You Were Suppose to Catch Me...

On Thursday at 9:10 p.m. my sweet son fell and shattered his elbow. Phil was an hour away at a stake Priesthood meeting and I was home alone with the kids visiting teaching. I had asked my Relief Society sisters to stay and visit for a little bit because I was kind of having a bad day and Phil had been working late all week and I just needed some adult interaction. Luckily they were there because when Jacob fell from the playhouse I completely panicked. But my good friend Kina picked Jacob up, told me to stop screaming, and put us both into her car. Carol then stayed with the girls while Kina stayed with me until Phil showed up. We spent 2.5 hours at Fremont Memorial and then transferred to St. Vincent's at midnight. Jacob had surgery the following morning at 9:30 a.m.

He was such a trooper he of course cried but he still remembered his manners and thanked the doctors and nurses for helping him as well as just being such an awesome kid!

On the way to the hospital he kept saying, "Mommy this is your fault, you were suppose to catch me". That just made me cry harder. "Oh, my beautiful boy, I'm so sorry I couldn't catch you, if I only knew". How many times in his life is he going to make poor decisions and then wonder why I wasn't there to pick him up? How many times do we blame our Heavenly Father for not catching us and then we have to face consequences that hurt us physically or emotionally. I've been thinking a lot about this since that eternal car ride to the ER.

Once we were finally put into a room in the pediatric wing, I could hear other children screaming and crying. And I just pleaded in my heart that they and their parents would be comforted, that they would be ok and I know that some of them weren't going to be, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for their pain and their potential loss. I'm particularly sorrowful for the children who are hurting and don't have a mommy or daddy to kiss their boo boos and tell them that it's going to be alright.

Is that what it's like to be God, to hear the innermost cries of His children and carry his own sadness of not being able to cradle us in our pain? He has given all of us the comfort of the Holy Ghost but at times he must want to physically hold us, and gently caress our tear stained cheeks. Much like I wanted to hold and comfort my Jacob but could only hold his hand.

These are my thoughts this week. This is my testimony that I know God and Jesus Christ live and that each of us has the right to a personal relationship them as children of a Heavenly Father. In the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

p.s. Jacob did have surgery Friday morning. They put four pins into his elbow and he was back in his room by noon. He was released and home by 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and is on bed rest until Tuesday. But he's in great spirits and is loving all of the visits and goodies from loving friends and family. Each of the primary kids even made him get well cards and a bag of Hershey kisses, one from each of his church friends, delivered by Kina, her husband Ken and their daughter Alexa. Jacob's doing awesome whereas his dear ol' ma is fighting the internal battle to not put her babies into child size hamster balls.