Here Fishy, Fishy!

What do you do on a cold, wet, nasty, misty day?

Why, go fishing, of course!

Barn Party

Saturday, Payton was invited to a Birthday Barn party. Daddy was invited to play in a golf tournament, so Ian went with Mommy and Payton to the party. The party was in Denton, NC which is almost an hour southeast of here. I didn't mind the drive because I was actually excited about the 5 year old's B-day party on a ranch. Payton and I wore our boots and headed down there.

First off, we jumped on the carriage ride, pulled by a team of two horses. The horses were beautiful; the scenery was beautiful; and the ride wasn't as bumpy as I thought it would be. This was a custom built carriage, made of wood and finished with car seats, rear view mirrors, and a radio!

The ranch had some cows and about 30 horses. We had burgers and hot dogs from a huge grill mounted on the back of a trailer. Then there were horse back rides around the barn. Ian's face totally lit up when he sat on top of the horse by himself. He LOVED it! Payton had a huge grin on her face too.

It was a beautiful place and very nice people.

Oh yeah, and there was cake and presents. Happy birthday Alex! Thanks for inviting us to your party.

I go first!

Yesterday, the kids received the seasonal flu shot at our Dr.'s office. Scott was able to take off for a little while to help out. I warned the kids that the shot will hurt a little bit, but that it wouldn't hurt for very long. Then after the shot was over, I promised them ice cream. Ice cream always helps.

We get into the examination room with the nurse and the nurse asks us which one should go first. I wasn't sure, so we ask the children who would like to get the shot first. Without hesitation, Ian raises his hand and says, 'I go first'. Payton on the other hand, said 'Not me!' Daddy holds Ian while he gets the shot. Ian watches the whole thing. There was a little delay, but the crying started just after the needle was out. Payton didn't appreciate this and she decides that she is NOT getting the shot. She thought it was going to hurt TOO MUCH. Scott and I tried to reason with her. When that didn't work, we had to hold her down.

This was not fun.

Her crying stopped after 10 seconds and she said, 'That wasn't so bad. - You said it was going to hurt really bad'

Ah well, the superman ice cream at Mayberry's was appreciated after the whole ordeal.

I love having a garden. It's very rewarding to plant a seed, watch it grow, and give you fruit. When it comes to eating the vegetables from the garden, they look and taste better than anything you can buy in the store. The only drawback, is the feeling you get when you're washing some lettuce from your garden and it's draining in a colander, and you notice a nice juicy green worm crawling up the side of the colander. Or better yet, the feeling you get when you've had some delicious steamed broccoli and as your are putting the leftovers away, you notice the two dead worms in the bottom of the pan. Hmmm. Yum.

Who's the smart one?

The other day, there was a bug crawling across our floor. I had never seen these insects till I moved here. I looked them up and they are called house centipedes. They are super fast crawlers and really creep me out. Scott was off somewhere else. Payton found the bug and screamed for me. I disposed of the insect mumbling about how I always am the one that ends up getting rid of the bugs around the house. (Aside: when we were in Phoenix, I killed 5 scorpions in and around our house. Scott killed none.) After I asked the question Payton said, 'Because you are the smartest.' :)

I don't think that being smart has anything to do with killing bugs, but I like it that she thinks that I'm the smart one :)

The basketball hoop

Today, the kids had a really good day. I don't say that too often. Usually one is whiny or the other one is grumpy, or they are always fighting. But today, besides a few minor squabbles, they kids were great!

This afternoon, Payton decided that the basketball goal was now a mobile toy. This goal is a couple of feet taller than she is. She learned that she was strong enough to lift it up and move it. At first, I didn't know what was going on because I was fixing supper. Then after I figured it out, I let them have a little fun with it because they were letting me fix supper.

For all parents out there, you know that when the kids are busy, there's part of you that is rejoicing. Then there's another part of you that's wondering if you should go see if the kids are doing something they shouldn't be doing. But, you really don't want to bother them. At the same time, you are dreading the inevitable, 'thump' followed by crying.

I had to intervene with them trying to slide off my bed using the basketball hoop. The other applications were benign and cute.

Happy Halloween!

The kids were a little crazy today. Benita arrived right before lunch today, so they were excited about her visit. And they were super-excited about trick-or-treating tonight. Rain was predicted to start sometime between 6 and 7 pm - prime time for the main event. We were prepared. The kids started out sitting in the red wagon, holding a big umbrella that kept them both dry. That didn't last too long. They didn't care about getting a little wet and truthfully, it didn't rain that hard for very long. Lots of people were out in their cars, but so were others walking like us. It made for a little bit of a mess around the neighborhood. Again, the kids didn't care.

Payton had no fear. She would walk up to the door and say loudly 'trick or treat'. Ian was a little shyer. Plus, he still has that 2 year old speech impediment that comes out sounding like 'twick o tweet'. It was very sweet. Ian tired out about 3 houses before we were done. I think Payton could have gone all night.