Thank You Oma and Opa

Jayke is a sad boy today. His Oma and Opa left to go back home to Indiana. For a minute he said he was going to go with them until he realized I wasn't going too. Now he is in the bedroom watching cartoons. Something he didn't do the entire time they were here.
I haven't taken any more pictures of the finished landscaping project yet because it isn't totally finished. Mike and I still have to get the mulch and put it down ourselves. Probably this weekend. It looks great though and will look even better when the mulch is down. Mike and Opa finished that up yesterday while my mom, Jayke, and I went shopping. You know we have to get a day of shopping in no matter what! It was a VERY successful trip too!
After shopping we decided to find a new restaurant. That isn't too hard to do since we have only been here a year and there are TONS of restaurants down here that we have never heard of. We decided on one in the little historical town of Pendleton. Opa was craving some fresh seafood and this place had a great menu loaded with seafood, steaks, and other goodies. The restaurant was in this really old old building. Not big on atmosphere but the food was great! Mike even said he'd go back and anyone who knows his eating habits knows that is really saying something. We took a spin around the town square after dinner to see all the old historical buildings and read about the history. Interesting stuff. I've been meaning to go explore up there a little bit so I was glad we went.
We had a busy tiring visit with my parents but it was a good visit. I will be glad when they move down here in a few years and we will be able to do more of this stuff. Jayke will be glad too!
Mike is off today but we aren't doing anything. Just cleaning up from our company and long weekend. Jayke and I did have a little art project this morning though. He got Floam from the Easter bunny so we made these this morning...



A bee and a mosquito in case you couldn't tell. I think I like the Floam better than the Clay Babies we did a few weeks ago. It was easier to work with and you don't have to bake it. Jayke loved it for about 20 minutes and then he was on to something else while I finished making his bugs. Typical.

Our Big Working Weekend!

It has been a little boy's dreamland around here this weekend. Not only has he had his Oma waiting on him hand and foot, but he has had two dump trucks come and dump piles of dirt and stone on his cul de sac for us to use in our landscaping project and we have a Bobcat rented that he has been getting to ride on.



I don't know what is so fascinating about this stone but apparently something is...



It only took about 1 minute for him to go right up to the top of the pile. That is what 20 tons of stone looks like by the way. I thought it would be more. He ate his lunch which he called a "picnic" on top of the rock pile both days it was still out there.



Oma had to climb up with him for his picnics. That was entertaining all by itself, watching her climb up and better still, get back down!



He had to try out the dirt pile too. He was in heaven! At the end of the first day of our project he was exhausted!



He didn't only play on the piles, he actually helped with the work. Here you can see the beginning of what we were doing in the yard.



....and another shot with the beginnings of the steps put in.



Jayke got to ride on the Bobcat (On Opa's lap, not in the bucket. They weren't moving in this picture)many times and loved it! I remember riding on equipment with my grandpa all the time when I was little and loving it.




Daddy got to ride on the Bobcat too!



Here is a picture of the landscaping with some stuff actually planted. This is where we are with it right now. We have to get mulch tomorrow and then it will be done. Just have to wait for everything to grow!



I know Grandma is waiting to see all these pictures that is why I'm putting so many on here. Tomorrow I will be able to put the finished project on here but you can get an idea of what we have been doing all weekend from these. I think everyone is sitting around in the living room trying not to move right now and waiting on their Easter dinner. Jaykeb is asleep in the middle of the floor. He fell asleep with his face buried in my shoe he was so tired. I think tomorrow we are going to do something fun and not work other than spreading the mulch which Mike and I can do by ourselves if mom and Jim are too tired.
Here are a couple of shots of the boy with his Oma...


Next weekend his Meemaw will be here so he is going to be in grandma bliss next weekend too!



And the Easter egg hunt pictures I promised...


It was pretty cold here this morning so we had to wait until it warmed up a little but we were still able to have the hunt outside which is always better!



We are all exhausted but we got a lot of work done! Besides putting in the steps we built up and leveled an area where the pool is going to go and we got The Boy's sandbox set up with new rubber playground mulch put down so he won't get so dirty when playing on the swingset. He also go a new glider added to his swingset which he LOVES! I think we will all be heading to bed early again tonight and hopefully we will be able to walk tomorrow!

Thank You Easter Bunny!

Happy Easter! Feels more like Christmas though. Cold! Jayke got up plenty early this morning but didn't remember that it was Easter. I think he was so worn out from all the work we did yesterday that he just forgot about the bunny coming when he went to bed last night. I think every one of us was in bed by 10:15p.m. That has to be a record for me! I have lots of pictures of the work we have been doing but I will save them for later. Today is about Easter!

We won't be hunting eggs until later. Let it warm up a little. We didn't color many but we got a few done. I haven't done this in years. Here is Jaykeb and his Dad coloring the eggs yesterday.



He has a few eggs in there.


I know it looks like a lot for Easter but there is stuff from 3 people in this pile.



Mike had an interesting Easter basket. He called it his, "Wife Beating Kit" I'm not sure I like that.



He got a new George Foreman grill too since ours pooped out a couple of weeks ago.
The Easter Bunny even remembered to bring Oma and Opa a basket!



I'm sure I will have pictures of the big egg hunt later...much later when it warms up. I have to go see about preparing my Easter feast now.

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!!