Welcome Ranch...and other stuff...

Howdy partners! We had a trip to the Welcome Ranch Friday night. A Mom's Club activity that the dads were invited to too. There were a bunch of people there so we started out with some instructions before heading up to ride the horses.



The kids all lined up to take their turns. When it was their turn they got to choose which horse they wanted to ride. Most of the kids wanted to ride the miniature horse, Chocolate, so I told Jayke to pick which ever horse was available and he would get to ride more instead of waiting in line for the one horse. That was fine with him because he wanted to ride the BIG horses anyway!



He had the best time! He would go on his ride, get down and jump back in line to patiently wait his turn. He was so patient I coule hardly believe it. He just stood there in line all by himself watching and waiting. When The Boy in into something nothing else exists in his world.



The parents could have ridden too but I wasn't about to try to haul by big butt up on one of those horses and I think Mike must have decided the same thing because he didn't ride either. Some parents did though and it looked like fun. I was more into talking to the other moms. You know, that adult conversation I lack in my life.



After the riding was finished we headed back to the picnic area and had pizza. The kids all sat at two big tables together. You could tell we were on a ranch, these people were good at herding us to where they wanted us and they were very efficient.


They had cupcakes for all the kids too. After the food the kids hung out and played for a while. Jayke was exhausted so when we got home he went to bed. I think he must have been dreaming about horses though. He does a lot of talking in his sleep. Not surprising considering how much he talks when he is awake.



Besides going to the ranch, not much else is going on. Mike has been working crazy long hours again. He worked like 26 straight a couple of days ago. Right now he is still at work and has been there for 19 hours. We thought his Germany trip was a done deal but now we aren't sure again.

I have lost track of how many people are currently living in my house. There are new people moving in and out every day. Last I checked we had Jayke, Mike, me, Mr. Nobody, Jayke's sister, and Jayke's new brother. Coincidentally, his sister's name is Twila and his brother's name is Will. Both kids in his class at school. I even had to make extra little smokies for Twila this afternoon. Mr. Nobody has been up to no good lately. Things keep happening around the house that Jaykeb informs me are the work of Mr. Nobody. When I catch that little turd, he is out of here! I will be kicking Mr. Nobody to the curb. I haven't seen Icky since we went to the lake though. i guess we left him there. Poor Icky. He is probably lonely and scared. Oh well, one less imaginary mouth for me to feed.

One week until my mom comes and Mike and I leave for Cabo San Lucas! I can feel the separation anxiety forming in the back of my throat already. I will be fine once we get there, it is just the leaving part that gets to me. Jayke is going back and forth with being okay with us leaving to not wanting us to go. I have a feeling once his Oma gets here he won't care what we do. She already shipped a box of surprises down ahead that we can't open until she gets here. She told Jayke herself not to open the box and he told her, "I probably will, Oma." Just matter of factly. He hasn't bugged me about it too much. I opened it and went through it though. Couldn't help it! It had his Halloween costume in it and I was dieing to see it. It is very cute and surprisingly well made. Don't worry, my mom expects that kind of comment from me about her craftsmanship. She will be more shocked that I said she did a good job than she would if I said it was horrible and if anyone thinks I am being mean I have two ottomans the woman recovered that you can come take a look at to see what I'm talkin' 'bout. She calls them my converstaion pieces...'nough said.

Time For Change

I think I've been waiting. Waiting for something to happen and I finally figured out what it was. I was waiting for the weather to finally cool off so I could get motivated. Seems like it happens towards the end of both summer and winter. I go into a "holding pattern" just waiting for the weather to motivate me in some way.

Last night if finally happened! I looked at our weather station on the kitchen counter, you know the cheap version of the $500 one my dad has. His probably tells him when a squirrel "makes air" in the woods. Mine, not so sophisticated. It tells you the temperature inside and outside of the house. It tells you if it is raining or sunny out and it also gives you the humidity and the barometric pressure, which I have no idea what that means. I've walked in to check that thing many many times this summer and it seems to have never moved. Last night it finally told me something that made me happy. It was only 65 degrees out! Whoopee! I threw open the doors and windows and finally let the poor a/c take a long needed rest.

It is really true that fresh air makes you feel better. I immediately felt like a new person. I dove into my scrapbooking, which I haven't done since last spring. I have gotten out of bed the past two mornings ready to tear into some project. So far I have gotten back into scrapbooking, tore half of the clothes out of my closet to wash them and get them ready for consignment, Reorganized a closet in another bedroom, painted the first step in a growth chart I am making for Jayke's room, and begun decorating for fall and Halloween. I have also been scrubbing like crazy...not the norm for me.

Mike must have been waiting too because he began a long awaited project on the driveway. I'm not going to get into our driveway issues, let's just say if you are moving to the Anderson area, DO NOT even consider buying an AHO Home. He is making a trench at the end of the driveway where the road meets the unfinished part and putting in a grate to try to correct our drainage issue. It is way to complicated to explain. It is even more complicated to explain his method and how entertaining it has been for me to watch the process.

In a psychology class I had about 2 years ago when I was finishing up school, we learned about a condition where the weather affects your moods. Being the wonderful student I am, I can't remember the correct term for this condition but trust me there is one and I have it. When we lived in Indiana I thought it was only related to the long dreary winters but since moving down here I think it relates to any weather condition that is miserable and stays too long. The long hot summer has affected me the same way the long dreary winter did. I need to find a location that is 70 degrees and sunny year round. Someplace where there is always a gentle breeze to make the trees whisper, it only rains at night, and there are still four seasons so I can watch the trees change colors in the fall and come to life again in the spring. I know, I know, this place is only in my dreams. That must be why I spend so much time napping!

All Aboard!

During our day of truancy we went with The Mom's Club to the South Carolina Botanical Gardens in Clemson. This was Jaykeb's and my first time there. We started out walking the path that goes around the entire garden to the right, then all the way back around to the area with the gardens and ponds, and back up to the parking lot. You can click on the map to enlarge.



Yes, we were dieing by the time we got back to the main entrance where the few moms who were left sat and had snacks and let the kids play on the old caboose. I was very proud of The Boy. He made it the entire way and never once asked for me to carry him. I was ready to ask him to carry me though!



The gardens were really nice and I plan to go back on a cooler day to explore them a little further. By the time we got around to the good stuff we were too tired and thirsty to look and just headed for the parking lot and the cooler.



There is also an old historical landmark home in the gardens called the Hanover House. You know how I love to look at old homes! This one was relocated from the Low Country to the gardens. I don't know if you could go in it or not, that will be something to check out next time we go.



I think the favorite part of the gardens, at least for the kids, was the caboose. They played for a long time up on the end of it, pretending to pick up passengers along their way.



Jaykeb loved being able to take a long walk outside and didn't want to leave. I think we did leave just in time though. He was worn out. We made a quick stop on the way home at another old plantation house just to get a brochure on it. It is the Ashtabula House. I've been wanting to tour it for a while. I think we will go back when Oma is here. Jayke and I were lucky enough to get a sneak peak though when they took us through the main corridor of the home to get the information I had requested. Jayke wanted to stay and look around. I would have settled for sitting on the big ol front porch for a while. There is something about those old porches, you could spend hours just sitting. With the slight breeze today it would have been a perfect afternoon to lounge on the porch at Ashtabula. I love that name!



We headed home after that and The Boy took a very long nap. He even woke up in a good mood for a change. I think I need to wear him out more often. I, on the other hand, did not take a nap so I am exhausted.



Update: Angi's mom had her surgeries today. They were able to fix everything instead of having to go back and do more surgery at a later date. They repaired her femur, wrist, and knee. She will have to go to rehab but should be able to begin her recovery now. Angi is doing well, just really tired. I'm sure she is relieved now as well.

Grumpy Gus

Jayke had a bad day today. I should have known it was going to be bad when he got me up at 5a.m. We don't usually get up until around 9a.m. unless we have school, so this was way early for us. He took a nap but that just makes things worse. The kid is not pleasant when he wakes up from a nap. There is screaming and crying for about 30 minutes after waking from a nap. I don't have any idea what it is all about, I guess he just doesn't like to wake up. He is usually pretty grouchy for the rest of the day too. I like to prevent naps now. Jayke without a nap is much easier to deal with than Jayke who just woke up from a nap. Go figure!

Today was really bad. He was grouchier than usual which he took out on me of course. I was happy to take him to karate and let him work his frustrations out on the bags and his teacher. Only Jayke and another little boy were there. These two are the trouble makers in the class so it was a riot today. Mike was able to come watch for the first time in several weeks. Working 22 hour days doesn't really let you attend other things very often. The 3 parents were in hysterics watching these kids "fight" their teacher. At one point my son was heard yelling from the corner, "YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?" as he charged then tackled Hakim, his teacher.

On the way home he was in a better mood but still wanted to argue. He waited until we were at our exit then asked to go to Jack in The Box. I told him we were almost home and we weren't going. He got mad and said, "Then I'll drive this car and go to Jack in The Box without you! Which way is Jack in The Box?" I refused to tell him. Then we had to discuss why his four wheeler doesn't have a license plate and he is insisting that I get one for him. I was so happy Mike was home this evening. I needed to be away from Jayke this evening.

I talked to Angi tonight. Her mom hasn't had her surgeries yet. They are hoping they will be able to do it in the morning. I had one of her injuries wrong in my previous post. Instead of a broken ankle, her knee was shattered. The guy who hit her is in even worse shape. It sounded like he had pretty bad head trauma. There aren't a lot of details since they are still investigating what happened. I will be anxious to read what the paper says tomorrow since today they only said that Sharon had a broken leg.

Tomorrow we are skipping school to go to the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. I think this is an acceptable excuse for skipping school since he will still be learning and getting fresh air and exercise. Mom's Club is going and we already missed the trip to the Farmer's Market so I want to be sure to make this one. Next week is a trip to a ranch near our house. Two great picture taking opportunities. Today I just have this one of grouch butt for ya!

Fun at the Fair

We skipped the big Balloon Festival this weekend for something a little more kid friendly. The Upper South Carolina State Fair or as I like to call it The Fair that Brought Back the Pay Toilet. Not really but I'm surprised they didn't think of it. Jayke referred to it as the, "Up and Down Fair". Not sure why, but I can guess it has something to do with the word Upstate being in the title. Maybe it was because he went up and down on a bunch of rides or maybe it was because it was a lot like gambling...when you got there you were up and when you left you were down. Broke. Busted. Okay...he really wouldn't have thought of that last one.

This may have been the most expensive fair I've ever been to! Everything had a fee. You would think since you had to pay to do and see everything in the fair that there wouldn't have been a charge at the gate but there was. First you pay to park, then you pay to get in, you pay to ride every ride (Riding the Ferris Wheel for our family was $12) you pay to look at a snake, you pay to play games, you even pay to shake a monkey's hand. Maybe it has always been this expensive and I just never realized because my kid wasn't old enough to do any thing in the past. I know you have to pay for stuff but shaking a monkey's hand? First you paid to ride the ride or see the animal then you had to pay more if you wanted to take a picture...with your own camera! I can understand paying for them to take a picture but charging me to use my own friggin camera is going too far! Yeah, yeah, yeah...that is how carnies make their money, right. I think they are making plenty of money on $4.00 soft drinks, $5.00 elephant rides, and charging me to use my own camera! They sell you tickets for the rides so it isn't registering how much everything is. $4.00 for a lap around a haunted house...oh wait! Make it $8.00 because my kid was not tall enough to ride by himself so Mike had to go too! Too, too much!



Sorry...got off on a little rant there. Now back to our regularly scheduled post of our fun filled day at the fair. There were tons of animals there to see. You could see most of them without paying so we did get to see a lot of animals. We did not however, feed or ride any animals. I'd like to be able to make the mortgage this month ya know. We rode the Ferris Wheel together then Mike got to ride all the other stuff with The Boy while I played photographer from a safe enough distance on some things to not have to pay to take my own pictures. Jayke was in heaven when he got to take a ride on a real Monster Truck. For $10 each we could have taken a 2 minute ride on a real helicopter...this I actually understand because of gas prices and all. We passed on the helicopter ride but we did get to have tons of wind and dust blown on us from the helicopter while waiting to ride the Monster Truck. I'm surprised someone didn't come over and tell me that would be $1.00 for fanning me!

Jayke rode lots of rides, we ate, and then it was time for Mommy to gett'er done at the water gun game. I had been scoping out the place all day trying to find the best place to win a Scooby Doo for The Boy. He has this new obsession with Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo toys are kind of hard to find so I thought we could try to win one while we were there. I stood near the water gun game watching and learning. Apparently they only handed out the BIG prize if there were enough people playing, but get too many and your odds of winning go down. There were only two people sitting there so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to snag a Scooby. I hurried Mike and Jayke over, we paid for Jayke to play with Mike's help and me to play by myself. Just before we got ready to start more people came and sat down. Doh! There went my big plan...now I would have to beat more people. Shouldn't be a problem, I'm actually pretty good with guns. They count down and the bell rings...fire! I know I should have won...I didn't miss a drop but I lost. One more try! I'm not a gambler but put me in front of a fair game and it's on! Pay them Mike! I'm goin' again!







I won! And The Boy was so excited to get a Scooby Doo I thought he was going to climb up on the game itself to grab it from the woman. Mike took that opportunity to herd us right on out to the car. We were both on a fair high, me from the big win and The Boy from his Scooby so we were easily persuaded to leave. I made sure to point out the fact several times that MOMMY scored that awesome Scooby for The Boy. This only led to a passionate discussion about who usually kicks butt at the fair games. I had to bring out the big guns and take it all the way back to 1999, Kings Island and the Wack a Mole game. He went a step further though and reminded me of his 3 point shooting that same year to win a 4 foot tall Marvin the Martian. Just what we needed. We should not be allowed near fairs, festivals, or amusement parks.

Rats and Bulldogs

As Mike was walking out the door Saturday around noon to go to a Georgia football game, he decided to ruin my entire day with one little statement. "Jayke, Mommy is going to take you to a movie this afternoon." That did it. The rest of my day was pure torture until 4 o'clock when we could FINALLY head for the teatre.

I had decided that morning that I would take him to see a movie. Mike plays this game on his cell phone and wins all these prizes all the time, Target gift cards, Starbucks giftcards, Blockbuster giftcards, Amazon giftcards, and this time Fandango Bucks. The movie would be free and sice Mike was off to a fun afternoon without us, we might as well use them. I decided to take him to see Ratatoullie. I debated about Underdog but thought an animated movie might hold his attention better. i ordered the tickets online before Mike told him we would be going, otherwise I would have taken him to an earlier showing before he drove me batty!



I was planning on getting some laundry done, pay some bills, clean a little, stuff like that before going. However, since Mike decided to sabotage my day by telling The Boy we were going to a movie 4 hours before it would be time to leave, I didn't get anything done. I spent the next four hours with a kid hanging, literally, on my side. "Is it time to go yet? How long before we can go? I don't think I can wait that long! How far away is the movie theatre? I'm soooooo excited, Mommy lets go now!" Thanks Mike. I would have told him we were going as we were walking out the door so that I wouldn't have had to hear this for 4 straight hours.

Now, I know Mike didn't do it on purpose. He had no way of knowing The Boy was going to do this all day. He isn't around him enough to know all these things and all the tricks I use to keep stuff like this from happening. When he got home from the game, at 1a.m., I told him not to EVER do that again. He laughed and I laughed with him. We laugh because we know what a motor mougth child we have and that he would have talked all day regardless, but the excitement made it that much worse. It's funny after he has finally gone to sleep and you have peeled yourself off of the ceiling and had about 10 drinks to calm yourself.

The movie was cute and for the most part Jaykeb was very good. I will be more careful not to take him to a movie that is that long in the future though. He can do about an hour and 20 minutes but after that he just wants to stomp up and down the aisle crunching popcorn people...er, uh we...dropped.

Luckily there weren't very many people in the theatre since it was a big weekend here in Anderson, SC. Balloon Festival is going on and coinciding with the FSU vs. Clemson football game. First game of the season. All the orange paw prints came out of hiding all over town. Flags are flying from almost every car window. People are wearing their Orange shirts, orange crocs, orange hairbows, carrying orange purses, and I'm sure they are even wearing orange underwear! If you cut them they bleed orange. I thought basketball was big in Indiana, you haven't seen anything until you have witnessed football season in the South!

Mike brought souvenirs home from the game...




....matching hats for the guys and a Bulldog blanket. Souvenirs for the boys...more stuff for the mom to pick up.

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.

"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.

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?

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.

Kudzu...It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

In Georgia, the legend says
That you must close your windows
At night to keep it out of the house.
The glass is tinged with green, even so...

From the poem, "Kudzu,"
by James Dickey



I first took notice of this vine when we were driving to South Carolina from the Atlanta airport to begin searching for a house. We were moving from Indiana to either Georgia or South Carolina, we hadn't decided yet. Driving along I85, heading north I saw fields and fields of this vine literally eating forests, telephone poles, signage, and anything else it could grasp ahold of. I know from reading about it that people have a love/hate relationship with Kudzu in the South. They either love it or hate it. Personally I think it is beautiful. It makes forests along the interstate look like tropical jungles. I try not to think how it is killing the trees it is climbing and just enjoy the view.

I took this picture along I85 somewhere between Atlanta and Anderson, South Carolina...




Kudzu is a native vine of Japan and China. It was brought to the US in 1876 as an ornamental plant. later, it was used to prevent erosion along roads and highways. It grows approximately 1 foot a day and is almost impossible to kill. Livestock like to eat it, it has culinary uses and even medicinal uses. In 1972 it was declared a weed and now has been a nuisance to southerners.

It hasn't bothered me yet but then again, I don't have it growing in my yard. I hope I never do! I will admire it from afar.

Here is a house in Seneca, South Carolina covered by Kudzu. You can see lots of other pictures like this at Jack Anthony's website.

There is a history and whole list of websites with uses for Kudzu at this website if you would like to learn more or see more pictures. I just thought I'd try to edumacate you Yankees who read this. If ya come down to visit I might even fry some up for y'all!

His What?

Jaykeb is learning the planets. Oma bought him a t-shirt that has the planets on it and also a sticker book. She sat with him and went over the planets on his shirt, naming each one so that he could learn their names. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.(We are still calling Pluto a planet...poor thing) Then it was Jayke's turn to name them, "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, My Ranus, Neptune... Wait, What? His ranus? Or was this his anus? I had to have him say it several more times. It was, "my Ranus" that he said. I laughed and laughed. The kid is a nut!



He has cracked us up a bunch of times since Oma and Opa have been here. He told Oma, "Stop mumbling, Oma!" when she was talking to him the other day. On the boat he was sitting driving us across the wake another boat made when all of a sudden he yelled, "Don't lose your camera's ladies!" Ladies? I know it doesn't come off as funny when you read about it on here, but when you hear that tiny voice say it it is hysterical.

Here he is in his planet shirt...the picture is one I took when we went to the town of Abbeville. Very historical little town. We toured some of the historical locations while there. This bell was one thing but I can't remember the story about the bell. I was too intrested in making my way over to the old Opera house, the old hotel, and one of the many churches you could go in. Abbeville is the place where Jefferson Davis held his last war council meeting and signed the succesion from the union documents.




This fountain interested me since I am such an animal nut. It is a fountain for animals, mainly horses. The top level for the horses, the bottom for cats and dogs. They had them in other towns too. This is one of the few that is still in the orginal location. Put there in 1912.

The old Opera house was really neat. You could go up to the box and balcony seats. They still have shows there. There was an old hotel and an old church you could also tour. The mansion where the succession papers were signed was not opn the day we were there so we couldn't go in it. I got a picture of it though. Everything else is in the slideshow below.



This will probably be the last slideshow for a while. Mom and Jim leave tomorrow. We haven't done anything the past coupld of days. Just hang out. Jayke has been worn out so he needed to stay home and rest up. Back to my normal boring routine again after today.