Bad Mini-Van driving Woman

We had our first serious accident with slight injury on Tuesday. I have gone back and forth on whether or not to tell about this on here or not. I feel guilty because I know it was partly my fault, I am the mother after all. First let me say that Jayke is fine, I'm fine, we are all fine. I would be a lot better if my mother would stop acting like I don't know what I'm doing with him though. Sorry mom, you are.

After picking Jayke up from school Tuesday, I ran to Target to return an item that I got from the website that came damaged. I purposely parked next to the cart return so I could put the item, which was fairly large, and Jaykeb right in the cart. I hate having him walk in the parking lot. He protested a little and I told him I wanted him in the cart so I didn't have to worry about him getting run over by a car. In he went and we headed for the doors. Jaykeb was squatting in the front of the cart holding onto the edge when a van started to back out right as we were walking behind it. The lady driving slammed on her breaks at the same time I stopped abruptly and pulled the cart back. When I did this Jaykeb stood all the way up at the same time and flipped head first over the front of the cart. He landed on the top of his head on the concrete.

I'm not really sure what happened next other than I ran around to the front of the cart and grabbed him up. I think I must have screamed because another lady and her daughter ran over and as I glanced around I saw people all over the parking lot looking in our direction. I started checking him out to see how badly he was hurt. He had a huge purple knot on his head and it looked like road rash on his scalp where he hit. I started asking him questions about his neck and trying to look at his eyes to make sure they looked normal. He was screaming but calmed down quickly after I had him in my arms and told him he wasn't bleeding or anything. He wanted to know if his head cracked open. I don't know how it didn't.

Now, with all of this that happened you would think that the woman who about ran us over would have gotten out of her car to see if my child was okay, right? Nope! She sat in her van, half in and half out of her parking spot just looking at us. I carried Jayke in my arms and slowly walked behind the van making sure she saw that I was looking at her. I stopped a few cars up to check his head again and the lady pulled up beside us and in the most sickening sweet voice said, "Awwww, is he okay?" Not sorry I about plowed over you, not sorry I didn't get out to make sure you were okay, not do you need any help. Now I understand accidents happen, she may not have seen us but it was her lack of action after the fact that really ticked me off! If I had about run over someone and their child had just landed on his head, I would have been out of that car in a flash to make sure the poor kid was okay. I would have offered to go get ice or do whatever I could to help. Not this woman. I guess I should be happy she at least asked if he was okay before going on her merry way.

I took The Boy inside and sat down with him to check him out again, let him cool off, get him a cold bottle of water to put on his head, and a drink. He said his head didn't hurt. He didn't understand why I kept asking about his neck either. He said, "Why would my neck hurt, I fell on my head!" So true. The poor little guy had a huge goose egg that was making his hair stick out over his forehead. He insisted he was fine then told me he wanted to buy a lot of stuff in Target. He must have been fine, his shopping gene was kicking in.

We made our return and went on to pick up a couple of things we needed but I couldn't stop seeing him landing on his head. I was furious at that woman and furious at myself for not making him sit all the way down in the cart. I still feel really bad every time I look at him. He is fine. Hasn't complained one bit and the knot is gone along with all the bruising. You can hardly tell anything is there at all now. When I asked him if he wanted to tell Daddy what happened all he wanted to talk about were his new kid scissors he got today. He had moved on but I'm still traumatized. I'm also afraid if he ever breaks a bone or something my mom may have a stroke!

On a happier note, I am thrilled to report that day two in school was just as great as day one! I think he is going to have a great year as long as he gets to be Weather Helper soon. If not, he may boycott.

An Athlete in the Family

I thought I'd throw this up for the family to check out. My cousin just started college at Northern Kentucky University. She is there on a volleyball scholarship and while checking the website the other day I found some pictures of her in action during one of her games.



Number four is Chelsea. She has been playing volleyball since...well, I don't know forever!



Here is what her player bio says.

Chelsea Clark Enters her first year at NKU ... outstanding hitter and good athlete ... could contend for playing time as a freshman. HIGH SCHOOL: A 2007 graduate of Yorktown High School ... collected a school-record 27 kills in one match for the Tigers ... named All-Hoosier Heritage Conference as a senior and sophomore ... named second team all-state as a senior in Indiana 3A ... also earned All-Delaware County and All-Area honors as a senior ... helped Yorktown to a No. 1 ranking in 3A most of her senior season ... coached by Mark Clark. PERSONAL: Born on Jan. 10, 1989 ... daughter of Mark and Robin Clark.

Now, I hope grammy can remember she saw these and come back to look at them whenever she wants without any trouble. I thought you folks in Colorado might want to see them too.

Stomp Stomp Stomp

Monday after karate Mike asked me to drop off some audio books he had since he had to hang around and wait for the septic tank guy to arrive. I was a little irritated that I would have to go downtown to do so but thought it was better than sitting at home with a guy who repairs something that grinds up poop all day.

When we pulled into the parking lot Jaykeb immediately started yelling that he could see books in the windows and wanted to go in. I thought we might as well. He has never been in a library before and would probably like looking at all the books. We went in and got our new library card, returned Daddy's books, and headed straight for the kid section.

My fantastic idea turned out to not be so fantastic after all. First off, I should have thought twice about taking the loudest kid on the planet into a place where talking should only be done in a whisper. Second of all, I should not have taken this same child into any place with new shoes that are too big!

stomp stomp stomp!

He insisted on wearing them.

stomp stomp stomp! Note: We finally broke down and joined the masses of Croc wearers down here.

Lastly, I should not have taken him in without first explaining how the library works. He thinks those books we brought home are his to keep and has been arguing about it ever since.

I can't imagine where he gets this desire to argue all the time and his fiery temper...wink!



We were able to select 4 books to check out and get out of there with my nerves fairly intact. After all the stomping around, the exaggerated whispers, and the one panicked yell for Mom after he thought he lost me, we were off. Heading home with our borrowed books. Discussing the entire way why he couldn't keep them. I was discussing, he was just saying repeatedly that he WAS going to keep them. I will probably just return them while he is at school and avoid going back to the library for a while. I don't know why we thought we needed more books anyway, we have like 200 books in the closet. Half of those we have never even read!

In light of our new found adventures in reading, I want to ask what is your child's favorite book? If you don't have children, what was your favorite book from childhood? Maybe I will get some suggestions to look for when I get brave enough to go back.

Talkin Baby Talk

Again with the baby sister questions today. "Are we going to go buy one yet?" I have to explain this to him but a generic answer won't ever satisfy this boy. He understands way too much and is too curious to just tell him something like, "God will put her in Mommy's tummy when it is time." I tried to tell him how it works without actually telling him the details. I jut told him Mommy and Daddy make the baby and then it grows in Mommy's tummy. I think this was a satisfactory answer for about 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes of pondering my answer he came to me with another question, "Do we have all the stuff to make a baby sister?" blink blink My response was just, "Yeah, I think we do."

We then went on to discuss what would happen if it were a baby brother instead of a sister. He is quite adamant that he does not want a baby brother. It has to be a baby sister. I then asked him what would happen of his baby sister tried to play with his cars. He said, " I will spank her butt and send her away!" Just as I thought.

If we do have a baby sister someday I hope he doesn't carry her around like this...

Great Day for Jayke...Mike's was in the Pooper!

Our first day of school went much better than I had anticipated it would! Mike was here to see Jayke leave for school this morning. We got ready and hopped in the car with no complaints so I had hopes that it would be an easy drop off once we got there.



He was actually excited to go. When we got there he marched right up to the door without hesitation. I was making him stop every few minutes so I could take his picture otherwise he would have been inside in a flash.




His name tag that we made during his in home visit was waiting under his elephant symbol. He put his name tag on, grabbed his elephant and went right into his class.



I had to deliver the classroom supplies, put his folder in the box, turn in all his paperwork, and get our day for bringing snacks nailed down. I was in the hallway for several minutes and he never even looked for me. Actually he didn't even tell me goodbye. I snuck out the door to 3 whole hours of quiet alone time which I spent most of in Target getting to look at what I wanted to look at for as long as I wanted to look at it.



I ran errands all morning before heading back to the church to pick him up. I got there a little early so I sat in the car and watched through the window. Every now and then I would see The Boy go dancing by. They must have been doing some singing and dancing and he was really into it. He was excited to see me which made me feel better about how he didn't care at all when I left him. He told me what all they did and wanted to wear his backpack out to the car.




Yes, it is as big as he is. The teacher had sent a note home with each child telling what all they did in class. Jaykeb wanted to carry his note in his backpack which was fine but when I tried to take it out he was adament that I do not remove it. I tried to discuss it with him but he just kept telling me that the note was to him and I couldn't read it. When I asked him what it said he said he didn't want to tell me. The child has no idea what that note says. I don't either since he won't let me read it!

I'm glad the first day is over and I don't have to worry about fits and crying anymore. I even took pictures the other night at the open house just in case I couldn't get any taken this morning. Here is one of them in the hallway outside his classroom.





The bad news of the day was that when we got home we couldn't use our toilets or run any water. Something was wrong with the pump to the septic tank. Yesterday I kept hearing a noise but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Finally when Mike got home he asked me how long the alarm on the septic tank had been going off. Um...all day. I've never had a septic tank before I didn't know they had alarms. Who would think that a septic tank would have an alarm. What, it goes off if you put too much poop in it? That is strange. Strange but good, I guess. How else would you know that the pump was not working and you were about to have one big mess all over your backyard if you didn't get it fixed pronto?

Like everything else down here, the fixing was slow going. It turned out to be an all day process. Especially when the repair guys went off to "go get a new pump" and were gone forever. Then Mike told me the guy almost burned up the new pump after installing it. Mike stood out there and watched every move they made all day. Ya see, he doesn't trust any one that our builder sends out here to do a job anymore. From experience, we have learned that they don't do the best job and usually have to be called out again. I guess Mike wasn't going to take any chances with our toilets not working again. They are kind of important to have.

Finally they finished up right before dinner time. We could finally go to the bathroom and I could finally start laundry. Mike ended up missing a whole days work...sort of. He got called in a few minutes ago. He is not a happy camper today. I am though. Not only did they get the pooper fixed but Mike got a whole lot of yard work done while out there waiting for them AND...my boy had a great first day at school.


Oh yeah...and because my child is spoiled, spoiled, spoiled...he got this because he was so good on his first day of school...



No, it's not his Halloween costume...just for play. We had a sword fight this evening but I don't think it was quite fair since he was using his little plastic knight sword and I had a much superior weapon. I was using the weapon of a Jedi...my trusty light saber. I'm afraid the force was with me.

Serenity!

How it All Started...

This is a meme of sorts. I got it from Just a Mom who got it from someone else. Thought it was a good idea since I always find myself explaining why I do this to whomever I tell about the blog. Pretend it says, "Why Wendy blogs" on that paper.


I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them.

I began blogging almost a year ago after seeing my cousin's blog. Megan had just had her first child when I learned about her blog and I thought what a great way to keep all the scattered family up to date with what is going on in our lives. We had recently moved to South Carolina from Indiana and I know there were some grandparents going through withdrawal from seeing Their Boy everyday so I decided to remedy the situation. At first I was nervous about it. Would anyone care that I had a blog? Would it be worth my time? Would I be able to come up with something to say? Okay, that last one, not so much since anyone who knows me knows I ALWAYS have plenty to say.

I also thought this blog would be fun for Jaykeb to read some day and a great way to record the happenings in his life as he grows up. I still have a baby book which is so full I have to write in the margins and another journal where I write down funny things he says too. My mom didn't keep up with this for me, like a lot of moms don't, so I was determined to do my best for Jayke. Hope he appreciates it one day.

It took me a while to get into a groove with my blog. I was so excited at first I was trying to come up with things all day long to put on here. I put a lot of stupid stuff up for a while. I became obsessed with the blog for a while. I would even wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for a post and have to go write it right then. Yeah, I'm weird. Finally I started reading stranger's blogs. Eventually I delurked and now have blogging friends, a couple of who I have met in person. I learned a lot from reading all the other blogs and finally have gotten into a routine of posting in the evenings the entry I wrote earlier in the day or even the night before. My family and friends read regularly now, even though most of them don't comment. I finally got over that part too.

I used to keep diaries when I was a kid and recently learned that my step-dad read them all the time. They claim it was to make sure I wasn't getting into any serious trouble. I'm glad I didn't find out until now that he read them. There would have been some fighting going on if I had found out back then. I still have all my diaries and occasionally read them, although I have not read them since learning that Jim used to read them.

I do not put everything on this blog that I would put in a diary because of who reads it. I'm not going to go into the who's, what's, and why's of this. Lets just say the blog is a censored version of my life. It had to be suitable for Grammy to read!

I haven't really hit any road blocks with my blogging. There have been a couple of times when I have been on vacation or had company that I didn't post for a week or so, but I don't count that as a roadblock.

Here are my journals and diaries. Jayke's baby book is there too because I write a lot in it. It is a journal of sorts. I wasn't about to go to the basement and dig out all the old ones for this picture so this is just the current ones. The polk a dot one is where I write all the funny things Jayke says so that he can one day have it. The pink one is a journal I started when The Boy was born but haven't kept up with much. The blue one is a calendar, Go Mom planner. I buy these every year and keep everything important in it. It is a journal of sorts as it tells what I did everyday.




When I look at all this and start to think about all the stuff I write down it makes me realize I am my father's daughter. My dad is a list maker. He writes down everything he is going to do weeks in advance and then adheres to his list. I'm not as bad as he is but I do have stacks of notebooks where I have made random lists. Sometimes they are To Do lists, sometimes shopping lists, sometimes lists of things for Mike to do. (those are my favorite) Doesn't matter, I just like to make lists.

Now you probably know way more than you ever wanted to about my blogging, journaling, and list making. If you decide to tell about your blog beginnings let me know so I can come check it out. Some of you I already know since I actually created your blog for you...eh hem...Angi, AJ...but I would like to know why everyone else started.

Off to make my grocery list now...

Hot Sticky Summer Fun

It's Festival time! I love fall! I love all the festivals and going to the pumpkin patch and in South Carolina the county fair is in the fall too. Today we went to the Springwater Festival in Williamston. Named for the natural mineral spring that still flows in the middle of the park. Personally I thought it was kind of disgusting that all these people were coming up and sticking their faces in the water to drink, washing their hands in it, and sticking their babies in it. Grossed me out. But what do I know, I'm a newcomer down here.

When we lived in Indiana we would always go to the Bluffton Street Fair every fall. Mike is from Bluffton so it is something he has always gone to and I started to look forward to it as well. We don't get to go to that one this year so we are looking for a new fair to make an annual event. I don't know if this was the one or not, but Jaykeb had a good time.



This was the first time he would ride the ponies. We have tried in the past but he was too scared. I guess he is all grown up now because he loved them, as you can see!



Basically we go to the fairs/festivals to look around, eat fair food, and let the kiddo ride the rides. It was really hot today so we didn't stay very long. We ate our BBQ sandwiches from one of the church groups, let the kid ride some rides, got a snow cone, looked at all the old cars then got out of there as fast as we could.



I don't understand why they always put the kiddie rides in the blazing sun at these things instead of somewhere a little shady. Mike said he wouldn't go on this ride after riding it on the 4th in Greenville but as soon as The Boy saw it they were off to jump in line. Okay, I said that then looked at the picture and there was no line.


Guess it gets pretty hot inside those strawberries! Both of them were a sweaty mess when they came off. I was surprised Jaykeb wanted to ride this next one. He did though and wasn't scared although it looks like he was holding on as tight as he could. He also kept his eyes on the kid running the ride the whole time.



There is another festival next weekend. The Balloon Festival. Kind of like Summer Heat back home. We may go for a while after Mike gets home from the Georgia football game. There is an apple festival in Hendersonville, NC we like that we will probably go to too. We missed the Spitoono though. It is the "Redneck" festival...really, it says so on their website! I don't make this stuff up folks! After watching the people at the mineral water fountain I kind of think we didn't even need to go to that one anyway.



We went to open house at Jayke's school Friday evening too but I will talk about that tomorrow. The Boy is saying he isn't going to school now and I have to come up with a way to convince him it will be just as fun as his other school before Tuesday morning. I don't think the drop off will be as easy as I was anticipating. Wish me luck!

Sweaty Stinky Kids

Mom's Club was held at Kid City today. A giant indoor play ground. 3 whole hours of being able to talk to other moms with very little kid interruption! 3 hours of climbing, running, jumping, screaming and sweating for Jayke. The only bad part about the outing was the heat. The place was not air conditioned very well. All the kids were drenched by the time we left. Drenched and exhausted. Fine with me that meant The Boy would actually take a nap this afternoon. Turns out it was a much needed one because he was GROUCHY! He had fun though!



Unfortunately this will be our first and last time at Kid City because it is actually closed. One of the moms got us in for one last romp and now they are removing all the equipment. We may have found another location similar to this one though and there is always Monkey Joe's still. We all sat and discussed how sad we were to see this place close. I don't know who will miss it more, the moms or the kids!

Looks like he liked the balls the best. I took my pictures when we first got there and there were hardly any other kids. Works better that way because once the kids started piling in there was no way I could have gotten a good picture. Tons of kids there.



So that was our morning and afternoon. Now we are getting ready for Open House at school this evening. Tomorrow is the Spring Water Festival then on Sunday I'm sleeping...until Monday.

5 Days

5 more days! 5 more days until we start school! We are so excited...can you tell? Our bag is packed, our paperwork is filled out, and today we had our home visit. The lady who runs the preschool came by to make Jaykeb's name tag with him, assign him his symbol, and give him a treat. Silly me, I forgot to take a picture! Tomorrow I will have camera in hand as we head to Open House at the school though.

Jaykeb will be the elephant this year. Every child gets a symbol for the year. This symbol is waiting for them at the coat rack every morning. They use it to sign in and locate their station for the day. Since these kids can't read or write yet it is an easy way for them to be resposible for getting themselves signed in and to their area for the day. Very cute. 5 more days until I send my little elephant off to school.

I have no idea if I will be sad to leave him on Tuesday morning. I don't think I will. We did Mom's Morning Out all last year so it won't be like this is brand new to us. I think I will be relieved to have a couple of hours of "Why?" free time. I know when it is time to pick him up I will be ready though. I miss him if he is gone too long or vice versa. I am already missing him from our Mexico trip that isn't until the end of September! 5 more days until I will miss him twice a week!

Our first school activity will be Harvest Parade. Basically it is their Halloween party. They just don't call it that since they are a church school. We will have to get a non-scary costume for that. I've already been thinking about what he could be so I can start convincing him that it is a good costume choice. I'm sure we will get more details on the parade when we start school in 5 more days.

Now I'm going to go play a game with him or watch one of his favorite movies with him because in only 5 more days he starts school.

Hitting Where it Hurts

Today Jaykeb got really mad at me after being scolded for not doing what he is told. This isn't anything new, he gets mad at me a lot. What was funny about this time was the conversation that was had and his thought process. We were running late for karate and he wouldn't let me strap him in the car seat. After discussing it, arguing about it, and finally threatening to not go he let me strap him in and we were off. He was sitting back there purposely not looking at me and getting madder by the minute. I finally told him that he needed to start listening and doing what he is told when he is told to do it. We have this conversation about once a day now. I told him that if he didn't that I wouldn't be taking him to any more Mom's Club things or karate. He sat there for a minute then yelled at me, "IF YOU DON'T STOP GETTING SO MAD AT ME THEN YOU CAN'T GO SHOPPING ANYMORE!"

blink
blink

I didn't know if I thought this was funny or not. First off I was irritated that he was yelling at me but amused that he was clever enough to come up with something to punish me with that would hit me where I live. Shopping. He was going to take away my shopping if I took away his fun things. I think this is a sign of what is to come. We are going to be in for it down the road. I am still debating on whether to tell his dad what he said or not. Not to get him in trouble just because it was interesting and funny. I'm afraid because I think he may agree with him and take away my shopping!

Speaking of shopping...Here is the kiddo in some of his new school duds. We had to get him some new shirts because he grew so much over the summer. Not so much in the leg department though. Most of his pants will still fit. I'm sure his legs grew...we just had pants that were way too long left over from last year. I think that may be a problem for him for a long time.





Doesn't he look thrilled to be putting on a fashion show? Yes, Aj, I know you would be struttin your stuff. He was so thrilled to be putting on this modeling extravaganza that I gave up and we didn't try the rest of the shirts.

I finally have another family member entering the blogging world. My cousin and his wife are pregnant! Congratulations to Ryan and Serenity! Serenity started a blog and you can go read it here. She is also in my blogroll under Ren. I like to give a shout out when one of my peeps starts blogging. I usually hope by telling others to go see them it will encourage them to blog. So far it didn't work on Angi at all. I am still waiting on Tresa to update her blog again, and AJ is very sporadic. So this is my sad attempt at guilting them all to post and post often. Don't make me turn this car around! Yep, I said that today.

shaking my head in disbelief as I sign off...

"After All, You Don't Milk a Bean!"

Truer words were never spoken. Heard at the goat farm today when one of the mother's asked how the digestion of soy milk compared to that of goat milk. I guess farmers don't consider soy milk milk. Whatever...I thought it was a darn good question. The goat lady was serious about her goat milk. That and I don't think she was enjoying a gaggle of three and unders running amok. Oh well, the kids had fun and that is what we were there for.



I actually really enjoyed the farm today. It was a little cooler than it was at the zoo. The kids were all very well behaved. The goats were well behaved except for one wascally one who got ahold of my shirt and wasn't going to let go. I especially LOVED the dogs. Each pasture had it's own guard dog. A Great Pyrennes. They were friendly enough as long as you stayed on the other side of the fence. One of them did the dog lean on me for a while and I thought I might have to steal her and take her home with me. God knows I need just one more dog!



We started off with an explanation of some of the different kinds of goats. Who knew there were so many and from so many different countries. Well, I know now but none of the kids know because they were too busy trying to get the goats to eat leaves, sticks, rocks, anything they could pick up. There were baby goats, male goats, mohair goats, three billy goats gruff goats, but no old goat...he had to go to work today. There were cats running around and chickens fleeing for their lives from childrens chasing them. Yes, I said childrens. There were even some pot belly pigs enjoying random mud holes around the farm.



We got to taste whole goat milk, goat cheese and fudge made with goat milk. Jaykeb loved the milk which shocked me because he doesn't like white cow's milk...only chocolate. He enjoyed the cheese which was flavored with raspberry and the fudge, let's just say I had to buy 3 bricks and there are only two left. No, I didn't eat it all either! Here are some of the kids waiting for their samples.



Jaykeb was his usual entertaining self today. He started the day off by covering his ears and yelling, "THAT STUPID CHICKEN IS HURTING MY EARS!" There was a rooster crowing somewhere near by, after that he loudly announced that the goat he was petting kind of stunk and when I told him to stop chasing the chickens he yelled across the yard, "Why? Because they might poop on me?" That's my boy. All about the poop. I was happy to see it wasn't only my child that is fascinated by an animal's bodily functions though. All the kids thought it was great when one of the demonstration goats pooped right there in front of all of us. I've said it before and I will say it again, when you have a three year old you will be shocked at how much of your daily conversation revolves around poop! Just wait Serenity, you will see!



We brought home some goat cheese for Daddy to try but I didn't get any of the flavored kinds and the looks on Mike's and Jayke's faces were priceless when they tried it. I guess I won't be needing to buy any more of that kind. I want to go back in the spring when the babies are being born. Jayke wants to take Oma and Opa there next time they come too. I think this has been one of my favorite Mom's Club activities so far.

Here is the Mohair goat. She was the only one with horns. Her name is Angie.



Another fun filled day in the sweltering heat! Tomorrow I'm only stepping outside to walk from the car into karate and back to the car again.

Hot, Hot Zoo Day!

Does it look like we were close? That is because we were! Close enough to feed and pet Christy the Giraffe. I think I would rather feed a giraffe than a horse. She was so gentle. Jayke was a little nervous at first but once he did it a couple of times there was no stopping him!

We spent a lot of time with the giraffes and even more time with the gorillas. The gorilla viewing area was in an air conditioned building which was nice since it was 100 degrees today while we were at the zoo. Once Cheeky and Katie got there we all sat and talked for a while in there while watching the gorillas. It was nice to get to know the girls who comment here daily and nice to have someone brave the heat with us. They are back down at the beach now with Patti and her family. I know they are having a great time and I wish I could have gone down too but Mexico is coming up. Have to save up for those margaritas and Miami Vice I'm going to have in my cabana with AJ.



I think our other favorite thing at the zoo were the bears. They were very close too. When we walked into the zoo this guy was the first to greet us.




Jaykeb got to ride on the carousel. He loved that. We all rode but I had to stand and hold onto the kid so he didn't fall off. A few more inches and he would have been able to do it on his own. Next time we go I bet he will be tall enough. He wouldn't just smile normally so that is why he looks like a big goof ball in this picture.



....and let's compare...



He was six weeks old in this other picture. That is his dad lurking behind him. He has been a carousel rider from way back!


I have a lot more pictures but after walking around in the heat all day I'm too tired to post them. I may post some of the others in future posts. Tomorrow, goats. As if we didn't see enough animals today, tomorrow we are going to Split Creek Farm with the Mom's Club to see the goats. There are other animals there too but the farm is a working goat farm and they make all kinds of goat milk products you can sample and purchase. I don't think I've ever had goat milk...should be interesting. After that over to one of the Mom's for lunch and air conditioning!

This is a very busy week for us. We still have karate, our in home visit for school, kid city play group, and open house for school all this week. We skipped karate today after being at the zoo. Jayke was cranky all evening and went to bed early. Next week school starts and I may be able to finish working on his room.

I am hosting Mom's club in December. I am still trying to decide what I am going to do. It is play group but I can have it be some what structured like with a craft or project or something so if anyone has any suggestions for me let me know.

Weekend Review

I have almost finished my big project in Jayke's room. It looks so much better. He is extremely happy with it which is good and also causing him to keep it clean so far. I decided to hold off on the painting until my mom can see it and help me decide what to do and maybe tape off. I want to do more than one color on one wall and I have never done this before. It is a little scary asking for her help though after what she did to our break room wall in our store one time. She painted stripes on the wall only they were so crooked they could make you feel drunk if you stared at them long enough. It may have been a good idea at the time, the execution was just poor. Good thing we had "People" to do these things for us since we were in the interior design business. I don't think I will EVER forget that wall. Made me mad every time I looked at it.

I don't have any pictures of the room yet. I want to wait until I have it completely done. I won't be able to finish it tomorrow because we will be at the zoo with Katie and Cheeky! Hopefully they won't have as much trouble getting to the zoo as they did to South Carolina. Hopefully I won't get lost. Hopefully it won't be 100 degrees!

Zoo Monday, Goat farm Tuesday. Two days of Wendy being a hot mess. By Tuesday night I may have to go lay in the pool for a while.

The guys got their haircut this weekend which may have been the highlight of the weekend. It was a working weekend. We finally got the rest of the tree which fell on Mike's truck picked up and the garden mowed down. I think the gardener should give it up. It isn't working for him. We worked on Jayke's room and I did the usual 100 loads of laundry. That was about it.

Since I haven't put a picture on here in a while I give you this...



I think my cat has been missing his dog. They had a big love fest when I let him in the other day. The dog always looks scared and confused when the cat starts rubbing on him. Cracks me up.

Bloggers at the Zoo

We finally have a plan! I get to meet Katie, Cheeky, and Patti on Monday! We are all meeting at the zoo. I would have loved to join them on the beach but Jayke already had commitments this week. I guess now that he is getting older I can't just take off the way I have been able to. I'm really bummed because Katie is going to skydive on Friday and I would love to watch...safely on the ground...no where near a plane. I guess I will just have to wait for the pictures to go up on the blogs.

Still waiting to start on my project in Jayke's room. I need Mike to help me a little and he has been working the past couple of evenings. We will get it started this weekend for sure though. I plan on working on the kid's room, hanging out in the pool, and watching movies while trying to stay cool this weekend. What are you doing this weekend?

Babies, Babies, Babies!

We finally made it to a Mom's Club activity today. It was a playgroup and it happened to be in my neighborhood which I was excited about. There weren't a lot of people there which sometimes is nice because then it is easier to talk to the moms. Jaykeb pulled his usual shy thing that he does at Mom's Club. He glues himself to my side and just watches the kids until about 30 minutes before it is time to leave. Then he decides he wants to play.

All of the moms there today had little babies with them. Jaykeb was VERY interested in the babies. He always is interested in the babies where ever we go. I think he would love to have a baby sister or a baby brother. Maybe someday he will. I think if I had another baby he might try to take over though. He is pretty bossy and thinks he knows best. He took over his karate class the other night and was giving all the instructions to the teacher. He was the only kid who showed up so the instructor let him and they had a blast together.

I am getting ready to start a big project on Jaykeb's room in the next couple of days. As soon as Mike has time to help me a little. I'm not going to say anything else about it right now. If it turns out the way I hope it will I will put pictures on here.

Now, I was tagged by Jenie for this Meme...

4 jobs I’ve had:
Cashier Target
Sales Associate LS Ayres
Office Manager Alpha Homes (also property management for this and several other companys)
Manager (and part owner) Elegant Accents Inc. An interiro design store where I did everything from the books to visual display to floral design.

4 films I could watch over and over:
Grease
Life as a House
Mt me in St. Louis
Top Gun (I put this one in for AJ)

4 Places I have lived:
Muncie, IN
Jeffersonville, IN
Anderson, IN
Williamston, SC

4 Favorite TV shows:
Grey’s Anatomy
Jericho
Brothers and Sisters
House

4 Favorite Foods:
pizza
anything Mexican
eggrolls with sweet and sour sauce
Spicy Noodles at Thai Smile in Muncie In

4 Websites I visit everyday:
Hotmail
My blog
Myspace
Mypoints.com

4 Places I would love to be:
Italy
Mexico...only a few more weeks!
The mall
Bed

4 Favorite Colors:
Pink
black
Green
orange

4 Names I love but would/could not use for my children:
Caleb...already taken, my nephew
Nate...another nephew
Drue...once again...darn nephews!
Nick...this one is a cousin and I could actually use this one probably

Notice I didn't list any girls names? What does this mean? Either I only want to have boys or I just don't want to use any of the names already used by family or friends. I will go with the second theory because I wouldn't mind having a little girl.

Okay, enough talk about babies today. I mihgt need to stay away from Mom's Club and all the 'ittle ones.

Tagging, oh yeah! I am only going to tag AJ for this. I know how she needs help blogging. Anyone else is welcome to do it if they choose though.

Yes It Does!

Tommiea gave me an award a few days ago and I just remembered it tonight. I've been a little under the weather again, not thinking straight.

"Nice Matters!" Thank you very much Tommie! I would have nominated you for this if you didn't get me first! So now I am supposed to nominate 7 people. I will try...

Katie
Patti
Cheeky
AJ
Sandy
kailani
and
Jenie

Stop by their blogs and say hello!

Like I said, I haven't been feeling very good so other than going to karate and doing laundry nothing much has been going on. Nothing to talk about at least. We are going to try to get to Mom's Club tomorrow. It is at a house in my neighborhood. I think the Mom is new in the club...I know she is fairly new in the neighborhood. Haven't met her yet. Maybe I will even manage to take some pictures.

How Do They Manage?

Today we will be talking about blindness. Blindness in the male species in particular. I know you know what I'm talking about if you live with or know a man. They can't find anything! I'm calling it blindness, it may be another affliction but I'm not gonna go there today. Today I'm going to assume they have some kind of defect in their eyeballs causing them to NOT be able to see the car keys that are laying right in front of them. To NOT be able to find their glasses which have not moved since the owner put them in their current resting place. To NOT see their wife and child sitting in a running car in the very next parking space when they pull into the mall parking lot.

You got it folks. He parked right next to me in the mall parking lot today. Got out of his car, walked behind my running car with the kid screaming at him, and walked unknowingly straight into the mall. He was even meeting me there so you would think he would have noticed us sitting right next to him. I didn't even realize what was going on. I was talking on the phone to my dad waiting for Mike to get Jayke out of the backseat. I kept hearing Jaykeb say, "I'm watching Daddy! I'm watching Daddy!" Finally I decided to turn around and see what the heck he was watching him do. Um...he was watching him walk into the mall without us.

When we got into the mall a few minutes later he was nowhere to be found. We waited and waited and finally I called him to see where he was. Here is the conversation:

Me: Helloooo!
Him: Helloooo! (mocking me)
Me: Um, where are you?
Him: In the mall.
Me: No Sh*t! (sorry, it was called for)We watched you walk in after you parked right next to us!
Him: I did? Laughter follows. The kind where you can really tell he had no clue we were there.

Never did find out what he was doing in the mall. Maybe he was scoping out a present for me for being so understanding of his issues.

I was so hoping my son would not inherit this optical defect but I'm afraid he has. I think he may even be worse. Things can actually be laying at his feet and he will be looking everywhere but at the item he is looking for. How? I just don't understand it. I know where all my stuff is AND everyone else's stuff. I know my poor friend has to literally find everything of her husbands and hand it to him as he is going out the door to work every night. What would these poor helpless men do without us?

It also amuses me how their "misplaced" items always seem to turn up right where THEY left them. I know it isn't just my man too because I've watched my dad accuse my sister of taking his lighter only to find it in his own shirt pocket later. The one he was wearing no less! My step dad, same way. My grandfather, same way. No one gets off easy tonight...they are all blind! I know yours is too!

Late Meme

Because I don't have anything for you this morning after my totally lazy boring weekend, and because I forgot my new tradition of Saturday as Meme day...I give you this.


Yourself: Creative
Your partner: Mike
Your hair: longish
Your mother: saint
Your favorite item: pictures
Your dream last night: none
Your favorite drink: diet
Your dream car: AudiTT
Dream home: BIG
The room you are in: Office
Your fear: Dying
What you are great at: florals
Where you want to be in 10 years: here
Who you hung out with last night: Family
You're not: neat
One of your wish list items: camera
The last thing you did: phone
You are wearing: jammies
Your favorite weather: fall
Your favorite book: scary
Last thing you ate: mac
Your life: simple
Your mood: restless
Your best friend: Jayke
What are you thinking about right now: thirsty
Your car: Hyundai
What are you doing at the moment: Meme
Relationship status: Married
What is on your t.v: baseball
When is the last time you laughed: tonight
One picture:



He will sleep anywhere!

Do You Know The Muffin Man, The Muffin Man, The Muffin Man...

The Bloomberry Muffin has been found! Well, at least a few crumbs of it were found. On July 18th the Greenville News reported that Bloom grocery's 200lb plastic muffin had been stolen! The picture above is the muffin as used in Bloom's advertising before it went missing.

This story has amused me ever since I first heard it. Especially since everytime I walk into the grocery the missing muffin sign greets me. They were offering a $100 reward for the safe return of their sacred muffin. I think a 4'X6', 200lb plastic muffin would be a little hard to hide, but unfortunately, they were too late to save the poor Bloomberry muffin. His charred remains were found Wednesday.


I'm waiting to hear when services will be held. sniff
photo taken from the WYFF4 website.

Humming a Happy Tune

I got to go back to school shopping yesterday...lalalalalalalaaaaa! I love school shopping. Always have! I remember as a kid getting to go with my mom one weekend and my dad another. I always ended up with tons of clothes. And the school supplies! Why does a person get so excited over notebooks and folders?

No, I'm not going back to school. I just finished a year ago. Jayke is going. Yeah, it's only preschool so there weren't really that many things to get but I got to go back to school shopping...lalalalalaalaaaaaa!

We went and got him all registered yesterday in the cutest little preschool ever! I was so excited when I walked into the classroom and met the lady who created this preschool. She was great, her kids were wonderful, the classroom was the cutest place ever and I could tell I had made the right decision switching from the one I was going to sign him up at to this one. Not to mention this one is only a couple of minutes from my house where the other one would have taken me 20 minutes to get to.

We got all the paperwork taken care of, toured the classroom and went through all of that, then she handed me Jayke's school supply list and my eyes must have lit up like disco balls! I got to go school shopping! Did I mention that already? I did? Oh, sorry! So what all did we get to get? Now is the part where you will really think I'm ridiculous. We had to get a box of tissue, a box of dixie cups, a package of napkins, a backpack, and two folders. Whoohoo! Okay, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more on the the list but at least it was something. I got to go look at all the pretty packages of pens and pencils and all the stacks and stacks of notebooks and folders. I even managed to control myself and let The Boy pick out his own folders. He picked one with puppies and the other with Spongebob. He was very excited about his folders, maybe even as excited as I was.

We aren't doing any school clothes shopping yet because it is so hot here and I think it will be for a long time. We will just wait to get cold weather clothing until we have to.

I got to come home and write his name on everything and pack his book bag. I was almost giddy. School starts on the 28th but we could walk out the door right now...we are ready! Since we are so ready we decided to go ahead and get a jump start on the curriculum today. I made flash cards for the alphabet. He knows how to say it but he can't recognize the letters in print so we are working on that and we started learning the states too. They won't do that in preschool but he is ready to learn them and already has 10 states that he can name on site and pick out on the map. He loves to learn!

So there you have it folks! I'm a big dork who loves to buy school supplies! No really the truth is I just love to buy anything! My name is Wendy, and I'm a shopaholic!

Ki-Yah!

Day two at Karate went well! He got a free t-shirt which he hasn't taken off yet. It is the white and black one in the pictures below. I took some pictures of him practicing his moves at home tonight too. I didn't want to disrupt the class by taking pictures in there. I will eventually, just not yet.

/

AJ!!!!

It's my niece's birthday today. Hop over to her site and wish her a happy one!