Evil Geese

On Saturday Scott and I wanted to get out of the house. It was a beautiful morning, maybe a little chilly, but sunny. I wanted to go to Salem Lake to see if spring had come to the trees yet. Ian wanted to see the ducks. We got there and the trees still were in winter, and the ducks were no where to be seen. But, we got to visit the geese. We got out of our car to walk around and the resident geese started to surround us. I tried to shoo them away, but they kept advancing. The geese are as large as our children with snapping beaks at eyes level. Finally, I yelled, "Grab the children!" and we set off in the opposite direction. When we decided to leave, the geese were still hovering around our car. Scott and I had to employ strategic moves to get us all in the car while avoiding the hissing gander (we think he was the leader).

Then we headed off to Reynolda Gardens. The formal gardens there are so sweet. They also have a greenhouse that was pretty cool.

Sand Box Soup

I haven't been feeling very well the last several days. Ian gave me his cold. I think it's getting better today, but I was moving a little slower earlier this week.

Yesterday, it was so beautiful that I had to get the kids outside. The fresh air did us all good. The kids made a game of making 'soup' in the sand table. Ian called it 'tomato soup' probably because it's the only soup he remembers. Nothing in the natural world was safe from this soup. There was black dirt, clover, wild onions, leaves, etc. Hmmm, yummy!

Then, for whatever reason, Payton wanted to pose while I took her picture.....modeling?

Signs of Spring

The month of March has been a weather roller coaster with snow, then sunny and 70 degrees, then cold, almost freezing rain. The weather can't decide whether it's spring or winter, but the trees are showing signs of spring :) I can't believe the amount of trees that bloom with flowers here and my friend, Jill, said it only gets better. Plus, daffodils are popping up everywhere, including our front flower beds.

Last week, we went to the Reynolda Gardens with our friends Samuel and Sara. The kids had fun running around in circles. And I enjoyed looking at the beautiful trees and the signs of spring :)

It's rainy and cold today, but a couple of days ago, it was warm enough for shorts and playing outside with the kids. Ian has been practicing with his new T-ball set. He won't let Daddy show him how to do it, but he still loves it.

I planted part of the garden. It's not the summer garden, yet. We have cool enough weather to have an early spring garden. I planted carrots, cauliflower, onions, and lettuce. Payton and Ian helped.

Ian's 2 year visit with the Doctor

Ian does not like nurses. He hates being measured in any way, shape or form. The nurse and I struggled to get his weight, height and head measurements. So he is somewhere 33 lbs (75 percentile)and 33 inches (55 percentile) tall, we think.... I blamed the temper tantrum and crying show on his bad night we had last night. We were up with Ian 3 times and I gave him ibuprofen before he finally settled down - I figured his teeth might be coming in. The Dr. comes in and changes the whole atmosphere of the examination room. She's great with both kids. Ian lets the doctor look in his ears, nose, and mouth and let her listen to his heart. He was a champ...with the doctor. Everything was great except for an infection in his right ear - a ha! It's only been a month since his last one :( It's his third infection since we've moved to W-S.

Mommy, What is he doing?

'He's giving me a ticket, sweetie.'
'Why?'
'Because I was speeding.....'
'I want to go'
'Me too, darlin', but we have to wait till I get my ticket'

Yep, Mommy was going 69 mph in a 55 mph zone according to Mr. State Trooper. I asked him where it changed from 65 to 55 and he said about a mile back. I don't know why I didn't see the speed limit sign. Maybe it was the 3 - 18 wheelers right around me at the time. Why didn't anybody hit the brakes around me if the speed changed by 10 miles an hour?!?!? Weren't we all going the same speed? Why did Mr. State Trooper pull over the mom with 2 kids in the back seat?

Evidently Statesville, NC has a bad reputation for catching people when they least expect it. Too bad I didn't know there was a speed trap right before highway 77 intersects with I-40. Guess I'll remember next time....

Ian's Birthday

Ian's is 2 years old! We celebrated with a few gifts at breakfast. Then we had to take Payton to school. Payton had a variety show at school that her class sang at. Then we had errands to run - Target, Party store, and Costco. For dinner, we all went out to eat at Wild Wings Cafe where they had a special dessert for him (Yes, he ate the whole thing! - jk, Oma and I helped). He opened the rest of his gifts that evening. One of the gifts from Oma and Opa was a transport truck (which he now owns 3) and Payton exclaimed, 'Ian, you sure have a lot of transport trucks!'

On Saturday, we had a 'choo-choo party' for Ian. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon making the cake and cleaning the house. Thank God for Oma - she helped out tremendously. (Daddy had leave to play golf.) We had two families over for the party - the Hollands and the Pruitts. All in all, it was 14 people, seven of them children. We had pizza, salad, and of course, cake and ice cream. I think everyone had a very pleasant afternoon. The weather was gorgeous, so the kids played outside some and the adults got to eat out on the deck.

Ian really liked his cake, but DID NOT like the candle. He was a little disturbed by it, so mommy blew out his #2 candle. Ian received a tee ball set which he is scarily good at already.

He also got these cool waterproof lights that the kids both really enjoyed in their bath! Daddy enjoyed playing with the camera settings.