Thanksgiving Recap

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We celebrated Wednesday night with my big ole family - 17 of us at this point and we will be up to 18 when little Clara arrives. Wyatt has 8 cousins and most of those are under the age of 6 so it is always noisy, chaotic, messy, etc. but there is never a dull moment.

This is Chloe, the baby of the family. She will be 2 on Christmas. She is Matt and Rochelle's youngest child. This little girl LOVES her some sweets. Most Sundays she waddles back and forth between anyone who has a piece of pie, cake, ice cream - whatever the dessert of the day is. This time we had cupcakes and she was in heaven! We had to get some pictures of her and if we got too close, she would put her arm up as if to block us from getting her cupcake. It was very cute.



Jeremy, Wyatt, and I didn't have a traditional Thanksgiving day. We usually do dinner with his parents but they were out of town this year. So Jeremy worked until 3 and then we went to the Huntsville Havoc hockey game that night. It was Wy's first hockey game - he is still a little young to follow the game but there were plenty of distractions...plus he got popcorn.



I promised I would post pictures of our building project so here is a "before" picture. The little white flags are where the driveway will be. We should hear tomorrow when they will start on the foundation.



I will close this post with a big ROLL TIDE!!! I have a happy husband for another week and I just hope his blood pressure doesn't go through the roof during the AL - FL game next week!

You know you live in the country when...

I am planning on doing a Thanksgiving recap but don't have it in me tonight. So I thought I would just share this for now.

We went out for "peepa" tonight and Wyatt got a whiff of something unpleasant. He stopped eating, breathed in deeply (as though to get a better assessment of what it was), and then declared really loud for everyone to hear "Shooo-weee. I smell chitchen bon (chicken barn) poop!"

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

We have entered the dreaded "it's too cold to play outside" phase. We were braving the 50 degree weather but I draw the line once we get in the 40's and below. As I type this, the temperature outside is a mere 20 degrees!

The other day I had to go outside to find Phoebe who had wandered off. Wy wanted to come with me and I told him "no" because he didn't have a coat on. He actually wasn't even dressed all the way but I just used the short and sweet "no coat, no outside." So out I went and as I was headed back to the house I saw Wyatt playing in the driveway. He had come outside in a t-shirt and his underwear - and he had draped my coat around his shoulders. No shoes, no socks, no PANTS - but he did technically have a coat on. :)

So it is time to be creative and find new and fun activities to keep us entertained inside. Please feel free to give me some suggestions or websites that have good ideas. Here is a short clip of what Wy was doing for entertainment the other night.

Random Update While Quarantined

I have been house bound all this week with the worst cold/flu death illness that I have had in a long time. So needless to say, this week has not been an easy one for anyone in our family. When Mama is down, it kinda throws everything off balance. Wyatt actually had it first this past weekend and just as he was getting better on Monday, I had it by that night. Thankfully, Jeremy has the immune system of a...well I don't know what a good comparison would be (mind you, I am medicated as I type) - let's just say he is a healthy guy and has managed to dodge this awful illness so far.

So I don't have any cute photos or stories - well, I have one I am debating on sharing - so I thought I would just update you all on some other important things going on in our lives.

Remember that thing about us building a house that we have talked about FOREVER? Well, things are finally moving with that project. We signed a contract with our builder, Ray Warner, who is licensed to build in TN. The house has been staked out and work on the foundation should begin next week. Because our property is acreage and not residential, we had to stake out where our driveway will be so that the Lincoln County Fire Department could issue us a 911/permanent address. I am going to start taking pictures of the building process and I will post updates every now and then.

Another blessing for our family is that my brother Aaron and his wife Erica have received their Letter of Acceptance from China for the little girl they are adopting. They will know in another 2 - 4 weeks when they can actually travel to China to adopt her. They will be taking their 2 boys with them and my parents will also go along for this memorable journey. I hope to post a picture of her if that is OK with Erica or you can ask to be added to their blog by sending Erica an email. Just let me know if you want that info. They are going to name her Clara You (pronounced Yo) Mei Hammond. Her Chinese name is Wei You (pronounced Way Yo) which I think is just adorable so they are going to keep part of her Chinese name to go along with her new American name. She is T -Tiny and just precious. So more to come on that in the next couple of months.

OK, so the one little line that I can remember out of this horrid week of the death flu came from who else? The beginning stage of this started out as a really bad head cold which meant the dreaded constant blowing of the nose. So Wyatt is sitting next to me in my bed looking at books. And I had to blow my nose. And not to be too descriptive, but it was a successful venture as far as nose blowing goes. You don't do it for fun, you do it b/c you HAVE to. So I give my nose a good blow and Wyatt looks at me and says: Hey Mama, do you have die-a-wee-a in your nose?
I didn't think it was possible to laugh when you felt as bad as I did but that just cracked me up. Where does he come up with this stuff?

November 4th - not just Election Day.

Tuesday was an important day. In addition to it being Election Day, it was also our 8 year wedding anniversary and picture day at Wyatt's "school." So there were lots of extras to remember that morning - voter registration card, anniversary card, and extra clothes for Wy as he was supposed to go to school dressed for pictures.

I was excited about picture day because they were doing a Christmas theme/background. Since I had to go back "to town" to take Wy's jeans back to The Children's Place (see Perfect Pumpkin Patch Day) I decided to get him a new outfit for the occasion. I think all you moms know the "I hope my child cooperates" feeling that you have on picture days. I mean, I always want him to cooperate, but you know how some days are effortless and some are a battle from the time you hear the first "Maaamaaa." It never fails that on days when there isn't really anything extra important going on, they are a dream. And on days you have more to do than you have time for, yet you still have to make it work, they buck up like no tomorrow. As I type this I already know the answer to why this is - these little ones are so perceptive and intuitive. They pick up on that "vibe" and they react accordingly. Let me add "learn how to conceal the vibe" to the top of my "to do" list.

So, the morning had gone fairly well until it was time for him to get dressed. My poor child - really, he does have nice clothes but he has a VERY casual wardrobe. I have NEVER put him in anything with smocking or monograms - that is not my style. I like people to be able to tell he is a boy. And even his church clothes are more casual hence the not being familiar with the sweater vest look that I just had to bust out on him that morning. He spotted it coming a mile away. And even though he wasn't sure what it was, he knew he didn't like it.
Wy: Mama, whas that?
Me: school clothes
Wy: Nooo, whas THAT?
Me: It's a vest
Wy: (pitch heading towards the whine) Nooo, I not like vest. (Sliver of possible tantrum starting to rear it's ugly head) I not wear vest to 'cool.
And here we go. That little, tiny, miniscule stubborn streak in me, that is so rarely seen, decided to face off with this child. So I tried to explain that it was picture day at school, blah, blah, blah and it soon turned into him trying to rip the vest off and me pulling it back on him. Hello - total waste of time. You can always make the teacher put it on him. Hindsight is 20/20.

But, in case he didn't cooperate and b/c I like to have pictures for my blog, I had already decided that I was going to take some pictures at home that morning. So, when I was already pushed for time, I took him outside in the wet grass to take pictures. Guess what? He didn't want to have his picture taken. Shocking, I know. And the icing on the cake? He slipped and fell on the porch steps and mud splattered all up the back of his only khaki pants that fit. Genius of me, huh? All I could do was deep breathe knowing that it wouldn't show and proceeded to take a few pictures before calling it quits while I was still somewhat ahead. Then I had to take him back inside the house to clean up his pants and shoes before going through the ritual of leaving for the day again.

But there was victory in the end! I got some cute pictures of him that morning, I continued learning lessons in patience, and he actually participated when it was his turn for school pictures. I saw the proofs today and they turned out great! Here are a few shots from that morning - he is a handsome little guy if I do say so myself.



Standard "I don't want to have my picture taken" expression


Right before the slip and fall


"Sorry about the mud."


"Can I lose the vest now?"


"You're finished? Really? It would be cruel to joke."

Tuck the Wonder Pet

If you have young children in your home, then you have probably seen, or at least heard of, the Wonder Pets. Wyatt LOVES this show. The Wonder Pets are made up of Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming Ming the Duckling, and Tuck the Turtle. They save other animals using TEAMWORK. Any show where the characters don't encourage your child to yell at the TV, like they are really helping, is a plus for me.

So, of course, Wyatt really wanted to be a Wonder Pet for Halloween this year and we were able to find a Tuck the Turtle costume. Halloween was easier this year as we didn't drive all over trying to hit all the family members - that is what pictures are for. We did take Wy by the IL's for pictures before going to a Trunk or Treat at his "school."






Trick or Treat



Wyatt and Mama



On his way to save the day!



Our Family with my IL's sweet dog Charlie

Perfect Pumpkin Patch Day...Eventually

I had been wanting to take Wyatt to a pumpkin patch that we missed out on last year. When you live out as far as we do from "town," you have to make the most of your trips to "town." Since the Pumpkin Patch didn't open until 2, and since "efficient" is my middle name, I added a couple of other errands to our "to do" list.

So we drive the 45 minutes to "town" (I seriously call it that) and our first stop was the mall. Wy needed new jeans and church pants so we went to The Children's Place b/c they have the pants with the adjustable waistband which skinny mini Wy needs. We had a 1:00 appt at the dealership to get my truck's oil changed so we were pressed for time. I hauled Wy off to the dressing room and found the perfect size; then handed Wy off to J for him to put his shoes and socks back on him while I grabbed a variety of styles in jeans and pants (that was my distraction method that also allowed me to grab some shirts to match.)

So, of course, we get in line behind a woman with several children and therefore she has several items to purchase. But wait, there is a disagreement about the price of a shirt that she thought was 7.99 but it rang up for 9.99. Apparently the striped version is more expensive than the solid.

J exhales loudly. Wy darts off to uncharted territory. I begin to dig in my purse for 2 bucks.

Then the lady states she wants the solid one and leaves to go find one. Ugh!

More shifting of his weight from J and me trying to coax Wy out of underneath the clothes rounders.

The lady comes back, disappointed as they didn't have her child's size.

Me: yay, move on.
Cashier: Let me have Linda check the back for you.
Me: Nnnnnooooooo. We have to get to the dealership and then out to the Perfect Pumpkin Patch day before everyone else!
J: mumbles under his breath about how Wy didn't need clothes and that floods were "in" this season.
Lady: picks up on our NOT SO SUBTLE hints and offers to let us go ahead.

Yay again - so we check out and we beep on the way out...ugh - but then again, I beeped on the way in and J said it had something to do with cell phones. So out we go: 1 thing off the list, 2 to go.

So we pull up at the dealership for our 1:00 oil change. I explain to Wy that my truck had to go the "doc" to get checked out and then we would leave. So I am thinking we should be on our way in 30 minutes which will have us to the Perfect Pumpkin Patch day right at the 2:00 opening. We do the standard sitting in the lobby chairs and I look for something that will keep Wy's attention. They had a children's Bible story book - perfect. Well it really only covered Genesis with the old school pictures of the unclothed Adam and Eve strategically placed behind trees and animals. So we flipped through that section and got to the graphic depiction of Abraham almost sacrificing his son Isaac - knife drawn and all. So much for the child friendly depictions - we look at a boating magazine instead.

Then the ultra friendly sales guy comes over with a HUGE helium filled silver balloon. Great - something for me to keep up with. And my appreciative child looks at him and says "I want a wed one." So the ultra friendly sales guy says he will see if he can find one - and I give him the "really, we aren't here to buy a new car so you don't have to waste your time sucking up to us" look and say "The silver balloon is great. Thanks."

After about 20 minutes of Wy seat hopping and whopping me in the face with his balloon, I foolishly start looking out the window for my truck. Then I see him - the ultra friendly sales guy heading our way with 2 HUGE balloons. He then hands them to Wy and explained they didn't have a red balloon but he hoped he would like the orange and black Halloween balloons. Almost apologetically like he owed my son a red balloon. Hello - I try to teach him every day that he is not entitled to everything. So now we are the annoying family in the waiting room who are bothering the extremely important people who have extremely important lives and your child and his balloons are interfering with my extremely important cell phone calls.

So outside we go with 3 HUGE helium balloons. Before we get too far, the black one pops and I feel the need to pick up the shredded pieces b/c my mom has given me a complex about litter. J decides to tie the other 2 to Wy's back belt loop. Too cute actually and effective in keeping up with him as we now walk the parking lot. I imagine the ultra friendly sales guy letting all the sales hounds know to stay away from the balloon family - he has dibs.

I know this is long but imagine how it felt to be there! There is NOTHING interesting about walking around a car lot especially with a 2 year old, balloons, and no intention of buying one. In the midst of us swapping out balloons, we lose the silver one. Seeing Wy was on the verge of a crying fit, mostly due to pure boredom, and not wanting the ultra friendly sales guy to think we needed a replacement, J told Wy an elaborate tale of the balloon going up and getting in an air plane that was up there. And the plane would drop off the balloon at our new home (Wy calls our current house "the new home" even though we have been there for 6 months). That explanation seemed to satisfy Wy and deter him from any crying. So FINALLY, after an hour and a half, we get our truck. Yay! Number 2 off the list - off to the Pumpkin Patch!

We did get there later than I had wanted to but since it was a week day, it really wasn't all that crowded. I will let the pictures speak for themselves but stay with me - I have a conclusion after the pictures.


Pictures:




Furry Friends



Corn Cob Ride





Corn Bin



Corn Maze



Cotton Bounce



Antique Fire Truck

We stayed at the Pumpkin Patch for over 2 hours before heading home. As we pulled into our driveway, a little voice piped up from the back seat and asked "where the air pwane put my hot air bawoon?" Memory like an elephant I tell ya. AND - the sales lady left one of those darn anti theft things stapled to one pair of jeans so now I get to go back to "town" just to get her to remove it!!! So much for the cell phone theory. But you know what? It was a GREAT day b/c I got to spend it with my 2 favorite guys and that in itself is more than I could ever ask for.