Look Again!

Today's SPF assignment is "Holy". At first I thought I wouldn't play because I was gone all day and didn't even find out what it was until 11p.m. tonight, but then I was looking through the pictures I took today and I found one I could use. When you see the picture you may say something like, "Holy crap, how is that thing still alive?" or "Holy crap, that doesn't even look real!". Believe me folks it is and it is living. I know because that is my shorty standing in front of it.



The exposed roots of an enormous tree in Falls Park along the Reedy River. Here is another shot where you can see the tree coming out of the ground above.



So, I was very excited when I realized I could use these pictures for today's SPF! It's not often I find something really fascinating to take a picture of...other than my child of course. Didya play? Didya, didya? Let me and Kristine know if you did!

Reedy River and The Zoo

A photographer, I am not. Don't expect any great pictures of animals from our day at the zoo. Sorry folks it wasn't happening, but I got a few good ones of The Boy and a couple of some animals too.

We started out the day on the playground outside the zoo. It was a little chilly but once we got inside where the wind wasn't able to hit us it was fine. The zoo was a really nice little zoo. It was just the right size for a little guy like mine. We didn't get to tired, there was enough to keep us both entertained, but not too much to overwhelm us.



The first thing we saw were the elephants. Two of them eating hay and doing whatever it is elephants do. Jaykeb LOVED the elephants.



I think my favorite part of the trip was when this little guy started entertaining us...


He would hang upside down from the top of his cage swinging and all the monkeys were going nuts making monkey noises. I was told they do that every morning. They had lots of monkeys in this zoo. Here is a rare breed of Monkey I've never seen before...



I didn't really get many pictures of the animals because they were either in areas where I couldn't photograph them or their were too many kids in the way. It was chaotic in there and I was just trying to make sure I didn't lose my child and help the other moms keep track of their kids too. We spent a lot of time up in the back on one of the playgrounds too. The kids seemed to like that as much as they liked seeing the animals. I took this one on the way out.




After the zoo we headed up the road to Falls Park. I had read about it on the computer and some of the moms at Mom's Club were telling me how nice it was so we decided to check it out. The weather was perfect and we got several great pictures. This was by far the neatest park I've ever been to. They didn't have any playground equipment (at least not in the part we were in) and Jaykeb still told me when we left that he loved it! How could you not LOVE this park?



There were rock paths that wound in and out, up and down all over the place. There was the water fall, there were fountains all over, you could wade in the river above the falls, there were bridges all over, pretty flowers blooming everywhere, and if you got hungry just climb one of the rock stairs and you were on Main Street in downtown which is lined with great little restaurants and lots of cute little stores. We didn't make it as far as the kid portion of the park but we will be going back and we will check that end out when we do.



Jayke was all for posing for pictures all over the place. Every time we would come up to a fountain he would say, "Take my picture, Mommy!" I was more than happy to oblige.



To my friends, Kim and Angi, this is where the hotel is that you guys were talking about staying in if you came down for spring break. Maybe next time. I think your kids would have a blast!


We left the park and went to Skins for a couple of hot dogs then home to wait for Oma and Opa to get here. I am going to try to take them to the park while they are here.



I took this picture of The Boy in the flowers for my grandma. I know she will like it! You can see more pictures and read more about the park by clicking here. The main attraction of the park is the Liberty Bridge. A suspension bridge that spans the falls below. It is really interesting because of the way it curves and appears to be floating. It is, "unique in it's geometry and there is nothing like it anywhere else in the US" Here is a picture of the bridge at night featured on the website. You can't tell from this picture the degree of the curve. It is a lot more severe than it appears in the picture. Jaykeb thought it was "cool". I would like to see it at night.



So that was a our day. Lots of fresh air, lots of exercise, and lots of fun. Who could ask for more?

We are off to the zoo this morning. I'm sure I will have some pictures when we return!

Waskilly Wabbit!

It was 10 degrees hotter than Hades here today so I decided to torture my child this afternoon. I took him to see the Easter Bunny. Normally this would seem like a kid-friendly thing to do but apparently not! Not when your child is first in line after waiting for the freakin bunny to come back from "eating some carrots in the garden" (aka lunch)for a half an hour. First in line means no warm up. No getting to see that the giant rabbit doesn't really eat the kids whose parents lovingly drag them to his lap for their opportunity to get a picture for the scrapbook/blog. Nothing. Just, "Your turn kid, hurry up their are people in line behind you who need to terrorize their children". Jayke was all for seeing the bunny until he actually saw him. Then my otherwise well behaved friendly child turned into a screaming panicked thing permanently attached to my side. Really, I could not pull him off of me for anything. After trying to persuade him with everything I could think of we stepped aside and let the next victim take her turn screaming at the bunny. We sat on the floor and watched as each child cautiously walked up then turned and tried to retreat as fast as they could. Finally some "big" boys took their turn and Jaykeb saw that the bunny did not mistake their limbs for carrots and decided he would go next but he wasn't sitting on his lap. NO WAY! So this is what I got...



The one I paid for that the keeper of the bunny took was a little better. It isn't what I was hoping for but better than nothing. And what a dope I am for not dressing my child in some cute Easter type outfit like all the other parents remembered to do. We were coming from the Easter egg hunt at Mom's Club though and I knew he would be all over that playground so I wasn't going to put him in anything too good and honestly I just didn't think about it. Just like I didn't think about taking a basket or bucket or anything for the poor kid to collect his eggs in. What is the matter with me? Luckily we borrowed a bucket from another mom and even though it was pink it worked just fine. He collected his eggs then asked if we could hide them again for him. I told him not until this weekend and he went off to play on the playground.



We were lucky to make it to the egg hunt today since I'm convinced there is some cosmic force trying to keep me from attending Mom's Club events. When I woke up this morning and headed for the shower the power went off as I walked into the bathroom. It was off for an hour but I managed to take the fastest shower ever and make it to church on what I thought was the correct time. Turns out I was a half an hour early after all of that. Crap!



Because he was so good at both the Easter egg hunt and finally with the Eater Bunny I told him I'd get him some ice cream...



Who knew Jack-in-the-Box had such huge milkshakes? He didn't mind that it was so big. He managed to get most of it on his shirt anyway.

When we got home we decided to do some more "Spring Cleaning" so we got Sophie out of the backyard and started giving her her summer do. That dog can't sit still for anything which made it quite hard and covered me with dog hair. After the cut she was heading for the bath where things got interesting. While trying to coral her in the tub we somehow managed to tear the shower curtain down rod and all. The rod of course, landed on my head and as I was trying to remove it Sophie thought it was the perfect time to make a break for it. She jumped out of the tub soaking wet and I caught her right before she made it to the carpet. Needless to say, at this point the entire bathroom was drenched and so was I. When Mike finally walked in he saw the shower curtain laying in the hallway, the rod stretched clear across the bathroom blocking the door, and me sitting on the floor soaking wet scrubbing the filthy dog. He just shook his head and tried to walk away but I insisted that he come in and help me finish her up. Thank God I don't have any pictures of this to show you or you would be convinced I'm nuts for sure. Okay, I know, half of you reading this already know I am but I don't have to give you visual proof.

After dinner we finally dug into the eggs The Boy collected at the hunt. He was very happy with his loot and especially happy that a couple of the eggs had chocolates in them.



Just look at that chocolate ring around the mouth! No, I didn't make him wear the bunny ears, he did it willingly.




The rest of the night, I would like to tell you was uneventful, but it wasn't. There were several time-outs and some arguing about parenting tactics but in the end everyone went to bed (or to the computer) happy. Now, I leave you with one more picture from today's outing. It's Jayke in the mall waiting for the giant bunny to come back.



Someone thought they were something else until that big bunny showed up! And that is all for today. I have to go hang the shower curtain back up now.

So, I really only used the "W" in my title...whatever works! If you played let me and TKW know.

Early Easter Treats

More of what The Boy got in his Easter box from his grandparents...


He also got a stack of sketch pads and some markers. He has been busy drawing pictures for the past few days. I made him promise he would only draw on his paper and he has been really good about it. I was actually kind of shocked. The markers are washable so I wasn't that worried about it but I didn't want him to think it was okay to write on anything else. Today he was in my bedroom working away on his sketch pad so I decided to check my email. When I got finished I went to see what he was up to. Here is his latest work of art...



I have to say he did a pretty good job...his legs are almost evenly covered and at first glance he appeared to have some sort of camouflage on. Then he yanked his shirt up to show me he had also decorated his tummy, sides, and somehow his back. When I went to see what else he had colored I was happy to see that the only thing he colored on was himself. A quick dunk in the bath tub before bed removed his artwork and gave him a clean palette for tomorrow.

Manic Monday and Anticipating the Weekend!

Manic Monday brought to us by Lisa!

Which of the seven dwarfs best personifies you?
This is easy and anyone who knows me could answer this, Grumpy or Happy depending if I'm on my meds or not! Ha!

If you could change the custom of shaking hands, what would you replace it with? I think the head nod is good enough. I don't particularly like touching other people's germie hands! Who knows what they were doing before shaking your hand. Yep, head nod works for me.

If you had to describe your disposition with meteorological terms, what would a typical forecast be like? Morning haze dissipating around noon. Afternoon, sunny with occasional clouds. Overnight warm and clear.

I posted last night and blogger stuck it in after my Happy Birthday post so if you missed it, it's down there. I know there are grammas wanting to see The Boy's new haircut so go look for it down below.

Today we are getting ready for our company this weekend. We have two days that we will be off with The Mom's Club so all laundry, house cleaning, etc. has to be done today and Wednesday. Tomorrow we have an Easter egg hunt which I had to go buy a dozen plastic eggs and fill them for an age range of 1 to 5 taking into consideration that some kids have nut allergies. What a pain that was. I think I did okay though. I just put some plain chocolate bunnies and easter stickers in the eggs. The parents can decide whether or not to give the kid the candy. On Thursday morning we have a trip to the zoo with The Mom's Club. This will be our first visit to the Greenville zoo. I am debating on buying a season pass. The trip will give me a better idea if that is something I want to do or not. My mom and Jim get here that evening and we start the landscaping extravaganza on Friday. I ordered 18 yards of dirt, a couple tons of stone, and rented a Bobcat with trailer. We are going to be busy. I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures of Jim working hard. With out a doubt there will be pictures of The Boy on the bobcat too! He is excited, it will be a big weekend for him.

I need to say congrats to my cousin, Kelly, for buying her first house! I am still waiting for pictures but I know she is busy. I will wait patiently.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dave!!

Traumatic Weekend

Jaykeb had two time-outs today. This was the first time that he actually understood that he had to sit there until I told him he could get up. I think it is going to work because now that he has had to do it twice the mention of a time-out straightens him right up. I probably could have picked a better chair to use as the time-out chair too but I was mad and just scooped him up and plopped him down in the nearest chair. Turns out it is right in the living room where we always are. I guess I will have to leave the room when he is in time-out. His dad put him in time-out when he got home but kept trying to go back and argue with him. I had to clue him in on how the time-out worked too. We are slow learners around here. So far so good today, no time-outs or ugly behavior but the day is young. I just want to know what happened to my little angel who was always so good! And just to make the grandmas mad at me here he is in time-out...


It was a day filled with torture for the boy. Earlier in the day before the time-outs his dad took him to get his hair cut. A job that is usually left for me to do and never turns out well for any of us. I was plenty happy to let The Dad take him to get this done. He was promised ice cream as usual if he would not throw a fit while in the barber chair. I was expecting a red-faced snotty-nosed kid to come home plenty traumatized and The Dad to be mad at both of us. Jayke for not cooperating and me simply for being there. I was pleasantly surprised when they came in happy as clams and told me that not a tear was shed. The had bubble gum ice cream and Jaykeb told me he was brave. Good for him! Now if he will only act that way next time I have to take him.



Here he is(on the left) with his friend from next door. His friend is wearing a sling because he hurt himself last week and had to have stitches from the front of his armpit to the back. Poor guy. They were taking it easy, just hanging out driving some cars and watching Mike mow so as not to hurt Friend's arm any more. Jayke was pretty upset about his friend being hurt. It helped that he was able to come over for a while and Jaykeb could see that he would be okay.



It rained here today so Jaykeb's allergies were better than they have been. I can't remember when it rained last so that was a good thing.

We got a box in the mail from the Easter bunny who visits Gramma Rain and Grampa Dave's house and it had a lamb in it among other things. Here is Jayke with his little lamb.


He also got some drawing paper and markers in the box and made this FIRST drawing of our family! Yes, mom, I'm keeping it in his book! There is a Family Portrait Project going on over at An Island Life if you want to post a picture your little one made of your family.



That is Jayke on the left, Daddy is in the middle, and I am on the right. He told me I have big eyes so he made them big. Too funny! I will stick that picture in his baby book or maybe it will go into a scrap book, I dunno. It will be interesting to see how his family portraits change every year. As long as he keeps drawing his dad as the one with the HUGE head I will be happy.

Friday Fill In

Friday Fill In can be found HERE


1. I love my ...!
2. Looking in the mirror, I see ...!
3. The best thing that happened to me this week was ....
4. ... is one of my favorite things to do!
5. I always have a good time ....
6. I'm looking for ... this weekend.
7. "Oh, I'm bein' followed by a ...".



1. I love bedroom(and my child, of course)!
2. Looking in the mirror, I see bad highlights!
3. The best thing that happened to me this week was getting my taxes done.
4. Reading blogs is one of my favorite things to do!
5. I always have a good time when shopping.
6. I'm looking for a stuff for the Easter baskets this weekend.
7. "Oh, I'm bein' followed by a short person named Jayke"

Didya play?

Contest

Love contests? Who doesn't! Would you like to win this...


If you would then hop on over to 5MFM to register to win. It's the new Dyson Slim! You can check it out Here.

Good luck!

Baby Got Back

This week's SPF assignment was "behind". I really wanted to put a picture of my mountain of laundry on here to show you how far "behind" I am but I got it all finished today and forgot to take the picture first. I certainly couldn't put a picture of my "behind" on here...it wouldn't fit on your screen so I give you a little behind. A tiny tush. A baby ba-donka-donk whatever...



Funny think about this picture is we have one of my dad in the exact same pose. I can't remember why he was doing this but someone was quick with the camera and got the picture.

Didya play? Let me and Kristine know if you did. Happy SPF!

Catching Sharks in the Backyard

Every day Jaykeb waits for his dad to get home so they can go outside to play. Not that I don't take him outside, I just don't take him out as much as he would like to go. When Mike gets home they head out to do various things like check their garden, play on the swingset, take walks, and lately they have started "fishing" in the creek behind our house. Now we all know there are no fish in this creek but that doesn't stop them from heading out to get their catch. Sometimes they catch sharks, sometimes they catch grouper, and sometimes they even catch star fish named Patrick.
Last night as they were walking up to the creek Mike saw a snake scurry back into the water under a rock. Now we haven't lived here very long so I don't know a whole lot about the wild life down here but I do know that there are poisonous snakes in The South. This did not seem to bother Mike at all though, in fact they even went and stood on the rock the snake went under to do their fishing. I had followed them out to take pictures and when he said there was a snake I started advising him not to go down there. Did he listen?...


Absolutely not. Did anything happen? No, but that isn't the point. The point is that it could have. If Jayke had fallen in the creek the snake could have felt threatened and come out and bit him. I have no idea if it was a poisonous snake or not but I also didn't really want to find out! Mike finally got sick of hearing me tell them to get off the rock and told me to hush so I went back in the house where I could have the phone in my hand in case I needed to dial 911 when the screaming started. Luckily they quickly tired of fishing and moved on to gardening. Jayke is perfecting his casting skills though in our little snake infested creek...

Thursday 13

Thirteen Shows I wish were still on the air 1…. The OC 2. Beverly Hills 90210 3. Ally McBeal 4. Mash 5. Everybody Loves Raymond 6. Party of Five 7. Who's The Boss 8. China Beach 9. The Cosby Show 10. Little House on The Prairie 11. Seinfeld 12. Three's Company 13. Growing Pains Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Fluffy Sugar-coated Fun!

TKW has inspired me today with her creativity with Peeps so I went looking for what else I could do with them.

Every Easter we end up with tons of peeps. My husband likes them so everyone sends them to him. He doesn't like them THAT much though so we always have lots of them that don't end up getting eaten. I saw this and thought it was a great recipe to try to use up some of those peeps AND it would make a great teacher gift.
Edit: The Peeps Jar can be found Here



Here is the "recipe":
In the jar: 1 sleeve of graham crackers, crushed
8 peeps
1/3 C. brown sugar (pressed into the center of the peeps)
1 1/2 cup Easter M&M's

Peep Bars
Empty contents of the jar into a bowl Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen shears or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture and mix well. Add 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 tsp. vanilla and mix well. Pat into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
Option: leave the bunnies whole; combine remaining ingredients and place the bunnies on top. Bake as directed.


And this recipe was also with them:

Peep Ice Cream Topping
Same as above, but omit the vanilla.
Pat into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 just until peeps melt. Cool. Break up with a knife. Sprinkle over vanilla ice cream.

Then I saw this picture some where and thought it was really cute and a good use of peeps as well...


What child wouldn't love a peep in their hot chocolate?!? The picture makes me want a cup even though it is quite warm here today.

Making a Peep topiary...I didn't get a picture of the finished project but you can use your imagination and get a pretty good idea of what it could look like from the picture of the topiary in the making.

So, bring on the Peeps, peeps! I won't have to throw them all away anymore now that I have some ideas of what to do with the little critters.

Wild Card "Work" Wednesday

I'm really having trouble with the "W" theme today for Wild Card Wednesday. I think I have "blogger's block". So here is what I came up with...

The Boy, "Doing his work" as he puts it. I tell him all the time I am working when I am on the computer, whether I am actually working or just reading blogs. It seems to get him to give me the couple of minutes I need to get whatever I'm doing done and then go see what he needs. Now when I ask him to do something like pick up the 1 million plastic Easter eggs he has scattered about. He tells me he can't, he is "doing his work". His work is whatever he is doing at the moment causing him, or rather giving him an excuse NOT to do whatever it is I have asked of him. Here Jaykeb is "working" on his play dough. Very important business it turns out. Can't be bothered with picking up those eggs right now. Okay he can have a minute to do his work because that is what I expect him to give me but he is picking up those eggs as soon as his work is done.

Something else for Wild Card Wednesday...
I discovered this game at Rocks In My Dryer that I thought had some interesting tips. I didn't play, but I wanted to incoporate into today's post, 'case anyone is interested. I couldn't come up with any thing to add to it because NOTHING works for me right now with The Boy!

After reading TKW's post and seeing her spectacular "chics on the beach" she made with peeps, I decided to post this cute idea to do with the kids for either Easter or Earth Day whichever you prefer.
Egg Head


This is a fun project for Earth Day, Easter, or just about any spring day you can think of! No fancy materials are needed. With just an eggshell, a little soil and some seeds, you can grow your own egghead.

Age
5 and up(The Boy is only 3 but I'm sure he would enjoy this...I will just have to do most of the work)
This project is rated EASY to do.

What You Need

Clean egg shell with just the top broken off
Half a cup of potting soil
Teaspoon of grass, wheat or rye seed
5-6" strip of card stock
Scissors
Glue or tape
Black marker (optional)
What You Do

If you wish, decorate your strip of card stock. We flecked some yellow and blue paint onto ours with an old toothbrush.
Tape or glue the card stock into a ring to hold the egg.
Fill the egg almost to the top with potting soil.
Sprinkle the soil with seed. (try different seeds to get different kinds of hair)
Add a thin layer of potting soil on the top.
Carefully water so as not to overflow or soak it.
Keep in a sunny location.
Your seeds will begin to sprout in a day or two and your egghead will grow "hair" in about a week!
If you like, you can decorate the outside of the egg with a black marker by drawing a face on your egghead
I think we may try this. It looks like it could be cute and The Boy is really into the gardening thing right now.

So, there you have it. Wild Card "Work" Wednesday which really turned out to sort-of have an "E" theme, eggs, Easter, Earth Day, etc. Oops! Did you play?

Me and My Zoo...or Maybe it's a Circus, I dunno...

Spring is definitely in the air...I can tell by my allergies and this picture I took while driving to Lowe's of the trees in bloom. This means more Spring Cleaning.

Today I finally got up the nerve to try and fetch Sophie from the dogs fenced in area to groom her because as I mentioned before, Spring Cleaning at my house means grooming dogs. Just as I expected it didn't go so well. My 140lb German Shepard decided it was his turn and no one was going to stop him from pushing/falling/rolling out through the gate. This would have been fine if that rotten beagle hadn't escaped with him. When the beagle, whose name is Bosley, gets out it is a whole different ball game. His nose goes to the ground and he is off to terrorize the neighborhood. Okay, he really only ended up terrorizing me since I had to chase him up the hill, around the house, and across the front yard then drag him back to the backyard. The entire time I was chasing Bosley Jaykeb is screaming louder than any child should ever be able to scream because he is afraid of the Shepard. There is no reason for him to be other than he outweighs him by 110lbs and he once saw him rip my finger open when I was trying to give him his heart worm medicine. That is a different story though. After returning Butthead to the kennel and calming the kid I was able to work on the beast. He was very cooperative but what else can he do? It's not like he can move very fast. I didn't take pictures because before I could finish Jaykeb's friend came over and sent the dogs into a frenzy so I had to stop everything and take the kids to the front yard to play. The dogs would never hurt the kids they just get excited and all start barking. The only thing being hurt is my eardrums from all the noise.

Without getting into too many details about my child's terrible behavior today I will just say my day only went down hill from there. I did manage to finish my work on the dog and he was grateful. I let him sleep away the afternoon on a pile of blankets in the basement where it was nice and cool. He was ready to rejoin his buddies outside later in the evening probably weighing 10lbs lighter from all the hair and dirt I got off of him. I honestly think my dogs are part pig and half expect to see them rolling in mud every time I look out the window. I swear Sophie is next but if that Beagle gets out again he's on his own.

Jaykeb had fun at his Easter party today and managed NOT to get egg dye on his white shirt I foolishly sent him off in. He did, however, manage to cover himself in chocolate as soon as he got in the car and dug into his Easter candy. It was an interesting drive home as I tried to navigate the curvy hills as quickly(but still safely, Mom)as I could to get him home before my car was covered in chocolate. Also before I went deaf from his screams to clean him up. Where is my tub of wipes I keep in the car? Why it's tucked neatly away in the backpack I just efficiently prepared to take on outings that will cover any need the child could possibly come up with. Where is the pack? On the kitchen table of course! Where else would it be? Certainly not in the car where I NEED IT!

So, besides getting the dog groomed, did I accomplish anything I set out to do today? Uh...no. I did manage to take this picture of the newly painted bedroom though. The other side of the room is not put back together yet so I couldn't take a picture of it. The paint color is not showing very well in this picture either. There are two shades of the same color but I don't think you can tell. I figured I better put the picture on here though or some people might not believe me when I tell them it's finished.


It appears as if there are two shades on the wall behind the bed, now that I look at this, and there aren't. The wall behind the bed is a darker shade and all the other walls are the lighter shade. I know my mom will ask about this so I'm just clearing that up right now.

And...just to introduce you to my evil beagle who wants me to have a heart attack from chasing him uphill in 80 degree weather, I give you Bosley.

Not the brightest crayon in the box but he always has a smile on his face. He is sometimes known as "Houdini Dog" for his ability to escape most fenced in areas he is placed in. Thus giving my husband fits as he tries to catch him in the act. Once caught, hubs will fix the fence at his exit location and the dog will begin testing the fence for weaknesses again until he finds one. Then the repairs are repeated. I've been known to chase this dog barefooted in my pajamas down the block only to finally tackle him in a neighbors yard. Once he is brought down we have to lay there until I can catch my breath enough to be able to pick him up and lug him back up the street. I'm sure this must be quite entertaining to anyone who happens to glance out their window as we streak past. Or even more so to the neighbor whose yard I'm rolling around in. Need entertainment? Just move down the street from me and my zoo! Good night.

On a Break, Drunk Dialed, and The Big Punishment

I'm totally slacking these days. I can't remember the last time I took a picture. Normally I take at least one everyday and now I can't remember the last one I took. I promised myself I would get the camera out this weekend and take pictures of The Boy outside *working* with his dad in the yard and didn't. I promised myself I would take pictures of his dirt-covered face and didn't. I even thought I would have pictures of my newly painted bedroom to post but I haven't taken any yet. I guess the camera and I are on a break. When I get the bedroom arranged the way I want it we will renew our love affair.

Dropped The Boy off at his class this morning. Today is the big Easter Party. They had to each bring two hard boiled eggs with them. I'm sure they are going to color them. Being the wonderful mother I am I sent him in there with a white shirt on. What was I thinking?!? Oh yeah, I wasn't. Hopefully they have smocks or something for them to wear. He was excited about it and didn't even bother to make me promise to wait in the car in the parking lot for him like he usually does. I always promise that I will. He never seems to notice when I pick him up that I have different clothes on or there are a ton of groceries in the back of the car. He doesn't notice or at that, point doesn't care.

Lets see, what else happened this weekend? Oh yeah...got drunk dialed by a friend Saturday night. It's nice to know they still care even though I moved 600 miles away. My friends aren't going to make it down for Spring Break like they planned. Something came up. Maybe later this summer they can get away and come down or next year for Spring Break.

This was the first weekend in a long time that Mike has been home all day both Saturday and Sunday. He got a real good idea of how Jaykeb behaves (or doesn't behave) himself. He has started throwing a lot more fits and Mike hadn't been around it much. Saturday night he had aready had it and Jaykeb ended up getting his rear end swatted by Daddy. It was his bed time, he was tired, they had both been out in the sun all day, and both had had it. Jaykeb came flying over to my lap and told me he wanted to go to bed after receiving his swat. We headed in to lay down and he immediately calmed down. He lay there for a minute then he rolled over and said to me, "When I get down and go back out there I'm going to spank Daddy." I told him this probably wasn't a very good idea. He seemed to think it was though. I also told him he was not going back out there he was in bed for the night. He disagreed with that too then he said to me, "I knew my butt would hurt where Daddy spanked me." Now I was right there and witnessed the whole thing and he was not spanked hard PLUS he still wears a diaper so his little tush is padded. Pretty soon Daddy appeared at the foot of the bed (I knew he would be in to make up within minutes)and I told him Jaykeb was planning on spanking him. Mike said okay and lay down across the bed and Jaykeb spanked him then laughed hysterically. Friends again. I'm not sure that is quite how punishments are supposed to go but all ended well with The Boy in bed, happy as a clam as if nothing had happened and Daddy feeling better about having to punish his boy. I was just glad they were both going to bed.

I'll be Back

Just a quick note to say I will be back soon. I'm on the last wall of my current painting project and need to get it finished. I also have to finish getting 1 dozen easter bags ready for The Boy's big Easter party at school tomorrow and plant all the flowers I bought two days ago. No time to come up with something terribly witty to entertain you with but I will return.

Spring Reading Thing

I found this over on Susan's blog and decided to join. You know I'm a big joiner these days. The Spring Reading Thing Linky and contest information can be found by clicking on the link if you are interested in joining.

First on my list is to finish reading Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews. It is the next in a series by the author who writes about southern women and southern places. All of which are one of my new interests since recently moving to The South.

I would also like to read Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews. Another in the same series following the same character. After finishing these two books I will have read all of her books.

I also plan to read The Nanny Diaries byEmma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I haven't seen the movie yet either and I like to read the book first if possible. I've given up on reading authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell for a while and have gotten into chic lit. Good light reading for the summer.

My other goal will be to read Jaykeb 2 different books every night before bed. When I was pregnant with him I begas collecting Little Golden Books for him and probably have close to 200. We haven't even put a dent in them, not to mention all the other kids books we have so we need to start reading different stories instead of the same ol ones every time. I haven't been very good about reading to him lately either and I need to get back to it.

So, I will review the books after I read them like the instructions for the Spring Reading Thing tell me to and in June I will write a post telling how I did with my goals. Maybe I will even win one of the prizes they are offering, who knows! I'm usually not very lucky that way but it's time for that to change.

Conversations with The Boy and the Extravaganza to Come!

The Boy and I were driving down the road...I was driving,he was riding...and we got into a conversation about how you are little then you are big and you are never little again. He has trouble with this sometimes. He is always telling me when I'm little he will take care of me, etc. After explaining how this works once again he then told me that when he gets bigger he is still going to live in my house. I said okay but then asked him if he wasn't going to get married and have his own house. He replied, "Yes I am, but I sure am going to miss you!" Well, luckily we both a have quite a while before we have to worry about this. He also told me he would just bring "her"(meaning his wife) over to my house and that they would always live close by. Good. Now I just have to keep reminding him of his promise for the next 20 years.

We still haven't made it to playgroup with the Mom's Club. That is 5 weeks straight now that it has rained, Jayke has been sick, or they haven't gotten me directions the night before. I'm beginning to think I'm not meant to go to playgroup. We will try again next week. We have something with the Mom's on Tuesday so I will make sure I get the directions then.

This afternoon was spent on the phone with stone quarries and equipment rental places trying to get everything lined up for our HUGE Easter weekend landscaping extravaganza! I have a mile long list of things I want done and my parents have volunteered to come help us do it all. Okay...actually, Jim (one of my dads)will be doing most of the work since he is a developer/builder and knows what he is doing where the rest of us do not have a clue. I'm sure Mike and I could muddle through and get some of the stuff done but I want it to look good and not fall down in a week. I'm hoping my job will be directing. you know, just standing and pointing where I want things. I am so good at that!

Didn't get any painting done today again. I have to get back to it tomorrow. I need to have it done before we start the landscaping project. I suppose it would help if I would get off this computer and go to bed a little earlier instead of reading blogs until 3 a.m.