Can't Escape the Simple Life

Why I will NOT be sending my sons to Flintville Elementary...



I pass this store everyday when I take Wy to MMO. And everyday I wonder if anyone even realizes that there is a misspelling on it. The picture quality isn't too great as I took it while I was literally driving by but you get the point.

Apparently they don't teach the "I before E except after C or when sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh" rule in the country.


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In the mornings, one of the first things I do is let Ms. Phoebe outside through the garage to do her business. The other morning when I opened the door for her, she took off after something and starting barking.

I figured that she had probably seen a squirrel or bird but decided to check it out just in case it was another dog.

I hurried out, turned the corner and found myself

nose

to

snout

with a cow!


(This exact one although I took this pic later on from the safety of my front porch.)


What the crap? (I know, Mommy said a bad word.)

Now I did not go to Flintville Elementary school so I am not up to snuff on the terms for farm animals. I want to call it a bull because it was a boy cow i.e. didn't have udders but it didn't have horns either so I am not sure if that is the appropriate title.

But he definitely was not friendly like the happy cows that make milk.

He made this awful sounding snorting noise and starting coming towards me in a way that had me turning tail and sprinting back into the safety of my home. I totally left Ms. Phoebe to fend for herself - totally a survival of the fittest moment.

I went to the front porch to get another look and saw that he was not alone.

He had an entire gang of meanies with him.




It was the craziest thing. I mean, who was I supposed to call? Animal Services? The Sheriff's Department? (commonly referred to as "the law" in our area) Farmer Brown? Old MacDonald? Should I get my gun and fire a few rounds into the sky? Or do you just reserve that move for bar fights?

I called Jeremy and he said he would find out whose cows they were and take care of it. I guess there is some redneck cow registry I don't know about.

In the meantime, they visited with the horses next door...




and then wasted the day away in Margaritaville our front yard.

Birthday Surprises

Today is my sweet hubby's birthday - he is 32. We will be the same age for the next 4 months until I move ahead...AGAIN.

I always struggle with what to get him for his birthday. He is one of those "he has everything" people. Most of you know that he is a HUGE Alabama football fan. I don't know that I have ever seen him happier than this past season when we got to watch Alabama become the National Champions. So for once, it was easy to know what to get him for his birthday.

The first of 5 Daniel Moore prints that highlight this past season.



This is of the moment when "Mount Cody" blocked what would have been the winning field goal for Tennessee.

I had my dad pick it up and keep it at their house so I could keep it a secret. We gave it to him on Sunday when we celebrated his birthday with my side of the family.

So this morning, Wy and I had the following conversation.

Wy: We need to wrap Daddy's presents.

Me: We already gave Daddy his present on Sunday at Didi and Papa's house.

Wy: Well that is not what I got him. I have presents for him too.

Me: You do? Where are they?

Wy: I hid them behind the toilet.

Me: What? Are you serious?


So I went and looked and found this...




and this...





So we wrapped up the surprise presents and presented them to Daddy.




Here is a better picture of the toys he chose to share - a John Deere gator, a Happy Meal toy, and a saw. :)




Can't wait to see what I get for my birthday!

Babykins is Two Months!

Sweet baby Chase - you are now two months old. Here is a little about you...

You are growing nicely. You don't actually go for your two month check up for another 2 weeks so I don't have your exact weight but I would guess at least 8 pounds. And you are 22 1/2 inches long.

You are now wearing 0 - 3 month outfits - you are too long for the newborn outfits.

You are still rotty-rotten about wanting to be held all the time. But you still love the Bjorn so it works. You are content to sit next to me if you can at least hold my finger. Baby boy doesn't like feeling alone and I get that.

It is easy to take you places as you usually sleep in your "bucket." We have done many successful dinners out and I know this will soon change. I have even shopped with you in the papoose and you were content the entire time.

You have been a little congested in your nose so that when you get upset, you snort like a little piggy. It makes me laugh. I tried to get it on video but you were just getting more upset and it seemed cruel to just watch you cry. It was too hard to hear it on my camera so I gave up but it is too funny.

Sleep - I think you are doing great for your age. I typically am only up with you one time a night for a feeding. You are good about going back to sleep. You are in your crib for naps and for sleep at night. We keep it nice and warm in there so I think that helps. You made it 5 1/2 hours last night and that is your all time best for now. Hoping we hit the 6 hour mark soon!

Wyatt is sweet with you. He usually bounces up, pats your head, gives you a kiss on your head, says "hey Chase, it's Wyatt. It's your big brother." And then he bounces off to the next thing. He was looking at you the other day and saying "look Mama, he is learning to open his eyes. Oh wow - he is learning to move his arms." He was so amazed I guess b/c he mostly sees you asleep. I just acted amazed too. :)

You are much more alert these days. And today... FINALLY... you smiled at me. Twice. I was beginning to wonder if you liked me!

So here you are with your pal Sophie wearing a hand me down from Wyatt.




And here you are all stretched out and giving little Sophie a taste...

It's a Good Thing That I Like Boys...

...because it is apparent to me that I will be surrounded by them in life. You definitely won't be seeing any blog posts from me about shopping, spa days, doing hair or whatever else it is that girly girls get to do.


Some photos from the all boys week...


J and Wy enjoying some "father-son time" on the 4 wheeler




Being outside brings the best out in him




On Friday Wy's cousins Carter (7) and Jack (5) came over to play. It was a gorgeous day.

Wy and Jack "did construction" and dug for worms.




We took a long walk all around our property and the boys raced. We played kickball. And we chatted. Miss Phoebe was thrilled to be outside unleashed and free to roam. Little Chase was snug as a bug in a rug tucked away in what my friend Lori calls the "papoose" aka the baby bjorn. In fact, after all that activity, he was what I like to call "give out."




Of course boys will be boys and they spent time playing Mario Kart on the Wii. Look closely and you can see baby Chase hanging out in the background.




And after a long and dirty day of playing hard with his cousins, a certain someone was sent to bed rather quickly after his shower - with a wet head. And here is the result of that - some MAJOR BED HEAD!

Wordless Wednesday - Little Monkey

Outfit compliments of my friend Leslie...

Rather Random

I have a MacBook that I adore and am slightly - no, totally - addicted to. I am actually trying to limit the amount of time I spend on it every day. There is also another little computer addict in the house - Wyatt. He can do so much on my computer without my assistance. His favorite thing is to watch train videos on YouTube. I tell him what to type in and then he takes it from there. But we also spend time on SesameStreet.org, PBSKids.org, and Disney.com.

Another thing he likes to do is take "silly pictures." The Mac has something called Photo Booth which allows you to take pictures with the webcam and distort them in some crazy ways. We laugh and laugh at the way these turn out. Seriously, we spend way too much time trying to take the ugliest pictures you could imagine. Take a look at these...

No, no, no - this one is not distorted...this just gives you a good "before"




Double the fun...




Hmmm...




The stuff nightmares are made of...




This reminds me of an "old bitty"




Group shot...

Gotta Love Dr. Suess

Today was "Wacky Day" at Wyatt's school. They were celebrating Dr. Suess Week and were supposed to wear a wacky hat/outfit to school.

We didn't have any wacky hats on hand so Didi made one by adding dinosaurs to a safari hat.




Then we topped it off with these silly glasses.




Even Chase got in on the fun.