Barn Raising

So last weekend my mother, and her traditional self, threw a barn raising.... um party? I don't if I would call it a party, but it was quite fun. In the spirit of Pioneer Day and the simple fact that my parents wanted free labor out of us grown kids, we built a barn in about 1.5 hrs.... okay it was more like a shed....uh....without a roof....okay! So basically some 2 x 4s screwed together.

We split up into a couple of different groups: the measurers, the cutters, the screwer into placers, and the babysitters. And guess what exciting job I got to do... yup! I was a babysitter- probably one of the most crucial and most important jobs- KEEP THE KIDS OCCUPIED! I'm sure I got this job because of my natural ability to sooth children and attend to their needs. My loving nature, my kind heart and my understanding of their sweet spirits.... either that or because of the fact they don't trust me with power tools....

So we had a couple games lined up for the kids to keep them busy. We decided that pioneer games would be great to teach the kids. First there was the stick pull contest: (By the way Carsen could really hold his own! I was really impressed!)
Then the potato sack races:


Then the three-legged races:

Austin was really getting excited about this one- he decided that he could do the race much better on his own. This is the picture right before the incident and then the "cool pioneer cut" after.... uh- he doesn't look too good.


Then just a race to wear them out:

Then play on the 4-wheelers because Aunt Kaci was getting sick of watching all the kids:

Roxi decided that it was a little too hot outside...
Uhh and apparently Koen thought that was a good idea as well...who was suppose to be watching that kid??

Here are the workers:
My sexy husband doing the "real man" job:

Then they finally let me put one screw in:

The finished barn/shed/pieces of wood screwed together that really won't do any good whatsoever.... oh and the tough guys that built it: