Triad Park

Everyday Ian asks, 'Mommy, is it a good day to go to a park?' Of course, my answer varies according to what we have to do that day and the weather. Well, Wednesday WAS a good day to go to the park, and we met Samuel and Sarah at Triad Park for a play date.

Triad Park has 3 play areas and a rock climbing area. Samuel was the only one with any rock climbing skills, but we got all the kids up on one of the rocks for a picture.

It was good to out of the house and not thinking about the impending move.

Aaahhh Arugula - My ode to salad

Crisp leaves
Dark green
Light green
Spicy
Sweet
All are a garden treat.

Ok, so I'm not poet, but I love eating lettuce fresh out of the garden.

The lettuces in the garden have just exploded this past weekend. It's funny because when I planted everything, it seemed to take FOREVER for it to grow. Now all of a sudden, there is hardly any ground space left in the garden. It's beautiful!

I have Grand Rapids lettuce, arugula, red lettuce, and spinach all ready to be eaten. I've been eating out of the garden for about 2 weeks, but now I have an abundance. That's another fun thing about gardens - sharing :)

This past week....

has been busy and a little long for the whole family. Scott flew to Dallas on Tuesday to look for a rental home for us. I don't think I've posted it officially that we are moving to Plano, Tx. Scott took an intensivist position (that's a critical care Dr.) with Questcare and will be at the Medical Center of Plano.

We are excited to be moving back to the same state as our families. We will be closer (in distance) to some, but at least we'll be, at most, a 7 hour drive to everyone.

The kids missed Daddy this week, but were excited to see all the pictures that Daddy sent of the houses that he looked at. Payton definitely had her favorite - the sliding house (it had all hard wood floors). Unfortunately for her we didn't pick that one, but Ian was a little more reserved. I think Ian is still somewhat trying to wrap his head around us moving. He keeps asking if his toys are going to move with us. It's like he's double checking to make sure we won't change our minds.

Payton is excited about the move, but occasionally she'll comment, 'but, I like my school....'.

I'm starting to get excited. We have quotes from two moving companies and will make that decision soon. Alot of the homes that Scott looked at are really nice and they are in areas that will be nice live in - parks nearby, good schools, and good running routes.

Anyway, Scott came back Saturday. We were all thrilled to have him home.

Payton's 5 year Well Child Dr. Visit

Oh good Lord....We were there for an hour and 15 minutes. And we really didn't have much down time. We had the 60 month old questionaire to fill out. Payton had a hearing test, vision test, urine analysis, hemoglobin test, the usual physical exam, and 4 shots. Whew. We were all tired afterwards. Payton was a champ. Don't get me wrong; she cried  before the shots, but recovered rather quickly - especially when she all the stickers and treasures she got from the nurses afterwards. Ian did a great job too. He wasn't needy. He just hung out while Payton got poked and prodded.

Statistics: height - 3 ft. 5.5 inches; weight - 42 lbs.

Oh, and all the tests were normal :)

Benita's visit - Hanging Rock State Park

My cousin, Benita, came out to visit us last weekend - and helped celebrate Payton's birthday. We had a very nice visit. She got here on Saturday and left Tuesday. So we took Monday, to do a little sight seeing. I let Payton skip school and we went to Hanging Rock State Park to see some waterfalls.

It was a beautiful day for the hike. The kids did really well. We went on the Indian Creek Trail, up to Window Falls and back. Along the way, we saw Hidden Falls. Round trip is 1.2 miles of hiking. Basically the first half of the hike was all downhill. Therefore, on the way back to the car, we were going uphill the whole way. Fortunately, I remembered the lollipops. We were about a half of a mile to the end of the trail - when the tired whining started. It was amazing....as soon as the lollipops appeared, all was well with the world.

Hidden Falls

Window Falls

We had a picnic lunch and then trekked home. Ian wasn't into taking pictures that day...

Payton's Five!!!

Happy Birthday Payton!

Payton turned five, April 15. She's my little tax baby - and she'll tell you that she was born on tax day.

She had a party this past Saturday. When we talked about who she could invite to her party, I told her she could invite 5 people since she was 5 years old. She said, as she counted on my fingers, Samuel, Sarah, two girls from school, and on the last finger she hesitated and then said, 'Evie, Tucker, and Reese' - all in one go, really fast. It was super-cute.

Payton requested a princess party. So, we decorated the house with pink streamers. I painted a picture of her invitation on the easel. I'm no artist, but at least you can see the resemblance.

First we had a hunt for Princess Payton's lost treasure. We hid necklaces, bracelets, and chocolate gold coins. We're still finding bracelets and coins in the back yard. But I think the kids got a kick out of it.

Then, we had a pinata. Now I think it looks like a tiara, but Payton said it was a princess chair. I'll let you decide.

The kids each had their own approach to the pinata.

Aaahhhh!

Grrrrr!

HmmmmF!

Tap...

Professional batter....

But in the end, everyone got what was truly important.... CANDY! (Like we don't have enough still left over from Easter.)

Next was the cake. Of course, Payton wanted a castle cake.....3 cake mixes, 14 ice cream cones, 1lb of white chocolate, and 2 lbs of powdered sugar, 2 sticks of butter later....

She liked it : )

I think the cake deserves one more look....

It was a good party and a good day. 

The Dollar Store

I have a love/hate relationship with the dollar store.

And let me tell you why.

Where else can your child pick out a toy for ONLY $1. He or she can't be tempted by anything more expensive. When you tell your child they can pick ONE thing out of the entire store, you know you will only be paying one dollar (plus tax), no more. Plus you have a happy child.

Now, the downside: that toy only lasts one playing session because, after all, it was only one dollar, and things that cost only one dollar, were probably not made very well. Dollar store toys do not last. This can make your child very UNhappy.

But, yesterday was a happy day for the dollar store. Payton picked out an inflatable dolphin. Dolphin danced. Dolphin twirled. Dolphin was ridden. Dolphin drank from the sand table water and then got turned over and was baptized in the same water. Only Payton.....

Ian got a water tube blaster. At first I was skeptical of this pencil looking thing. But it shoots water up to 26 feet. It's pretty sweet and only took Ian a couple of times to master.

So we are happy with the Dollar store today. Ask how I feel about it tomorrow.

Easter!

Scott had to work Easter weekend, so unfortunately we didn't see too much of him. Grandma and Grandpa were a good distraction and helped get ready for Easter.

We filled eggs...

We dyed eggs...

The kids made their Easter nests, so the Easter bunny would leave treats.....

We listened to Easter music. (Aside story: So, I have a choir CD of Easter songs. There is one song in particular that is very moving/disturbing. It is a dramatic depiction of Jesus' trial and has a part where the choir sings 'Let Him be CRUCIFIED!' over and over again. I swear this was Payton's favorite song the whole week leading up to Easter. She wouldn't stop asking for it every time we got into the car. Easter is over and so are the requests....)

Finally, Easter came. Payton looked adorable in her dress. We got some great pics after the service. Ian, unfortunately, fell asleep on the way home and is missing :( in the pics.

The Pruitts came over for Easter supper. Afterwards the kids had an Easter egg hunt. The poor children had to wait all day for this.

Can we go yet?

Please?!?!?!

Day Trip to the Frescoes

While Mom and Dad were here, we went on a day trip to visit the churches of the frescoes in Ashe county. The frescoes were painted by Ben Long  The first one we came to on our route was just outside West Jefferson - St. Mary's Episcopal church.

Payton was enthralled with the church and didn't want to leave. She seemed to enjoy having full reign of the place. Ian came, saw and was ready to go. I really enjoyed the stained glass windows in this church. They were beautifully made. The fresco was pretty nice too.

After the first church, we stopped in downtown Jefferson for a bite to eat. And then we visited the local cheese shop. Yup, did you know that West Jefferson has a cheese factory. You can even go into the viewing room and watch them make 2000 lbs of cheese a day. It was actually pretty interesting and Ian really liked the sharp cheddar cheese samples. Grandma was impressed with the fresh cheese curds (squeaky, squeaky). Payton was thrilled with the ice cream.

The second of the two churches of the frescoes was in Glendale Springs - Holy Trinity Episcopal church. The mural in this church seemed much bigger, but it didn't have the stained glass. Ian fell asleep before we got to this one, so I got to carry him around. It was still a beautiful little old church.