How it All Started...

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

Off to make my grocery list now...

Hot Sticky Summer Fun

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

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



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



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



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


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



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



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

Sweaty Stinky Kids

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



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

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



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

5 Days

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

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

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

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

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

Hitting Where it Hurts

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

blink
blink

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

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





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

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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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

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



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

Hot, Hot Zoo Day!

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

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



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




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



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



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


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

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

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

Weekend Review

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

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

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

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

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



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

Bloggers at the Zoo

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

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

Babies, Babies, Babies!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 Favorite Colors:
Pink
black
Green
orange

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

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

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

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

Yes It Does!

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

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

Katie
Patti
Cheeky
AJ
Sandy
kailani
and
Jenie

Stop by their blogs and say hello!

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

How Do They Manage?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Late Meme

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


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



He will sleep anywhere!

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

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

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


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

Humming a Happy Tune

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ki-Yah!

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

/

AJ!!!!

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

Brain Dump

I need a green highlighter! Actually blue, orange, or purple would work too. I've got so much on my calendar now I have to color code stuff to keep track! I am not this kind of person people! I like to stay close to home and only run around when I have to. Ever since I had Jaykeb I have been wondering how I would handle it when he started playing sports, started school, etc. and I would have to be running here and there. I thought about easing into it. You know, getting him into one thing, going with that for a while then adding something else. That plan must have slipped my mind though because he has something almost every day now! What have I done?!?

Thursday we go sign him up for preschool. I finally found one I feel comfortable with. It is at a church which is what I was looking for and it is closer to my house than the original one I was planning on. Then they threw something at me I wasn't ready to decide. Do I put him in the 3 year old class or the 4 year old class? Eeek! How am I supposed to know? I called my decision maker, my mom. She said to go with the 3 year old class because it is only 2 days a week and he will still be going to Mom's Morning Out one day a week, he has Karate 2 days a week, and we are still going to squeeze Mom's Club in when we can. Okay, I agree with that. 3 year old class it is and if he needs to move up we will rearrange.

I'm glad he isn't starting soccer now! I also almost signed him up for swim lessons which started Monday but decided to wait. I started working with him in our pool this evening instead. Next summer will be soccer and swimming along with karate. Hopefully they won't overlap too much. I don't want to over schedule him. He is loving it so far though.

We have a couple of really fun things coming up with the Mom's Club. We will be going to Splash Zone next week and the following week a working goat farm and Kid City which is an indoor playground that will be open only to the Mom's Club. I even volunteered to host a playgroup coming up! Yikes! I may just have that at a park so I don't have to do a bunch of stuff here to prepare. I did put down a date as my first choice when my mom will be here though...just in case I need help.

I found out today that Katie, Patti, and Cheeky are coming to SC. Well, Patti already lives here but we are all going to try to get together. I really hope it works out so that I can join them! Thank you Cheeky for the coke code! You and Katie are hooking me up!

To top off my day of making plans and filling my calendar, I got a DOUBLE drunk dial this evening. My two friends from home (Indiana, the land of corn and high taxes) called me after having a few too many 'ritas at Puerta Vallarta, our favorite place to drink. There was lots of talking I couldn't understand and then the obligatory request for me to move back home...aaawww...I'm missed. Then they told me to call them later and hung up on me. I called but only got a hold of one of them...the other one must have gone home and passed out...ahem...Ang. Calling her out is the only way I can get her to leave a comment on here even though she reads faithfully and calls to request me to put pictures up if I don't do it often enough.

I'm off to find that green highlighter now...I know I have one here somewhere.

Another Conversation with The Boy

I was cleaning the bathroom this morning...Yeah, I do that occasionally...when I had an interesting conversation with The Boy. It went sonmething like this...

Jayke(standing on his stool watching me clean the sink): What are you doing?

Me: I'm cleaning up Daddy's wiskers.

Jayke: Why? (His favorite word these days)

Me: Because Daddy gets them all over when he shaves.

Jayke: Why? (I don't here this word in my sleep yet, but I think I will soon)

Me: I don't know why he can't get them in the sink.

Jayke: Sometimes Daddy is a moron!

I think the boy is watching too much television. I promise he has not heard me say this. I know some of you don't believe me but I PROMISE! I even asked him where he heard that and he told me on the movie Cars. I told him how this was not a nice thing to say and NOT to say it to Daddy. All the while trying not to crack up. I have a hard time not laughing at the kid, he is a hoot!



I was going to save this news for another post but I'm too excited about it to wait a whole day. Jaykeb started Karate tonight! He was so excited. I called the place to get information and they said I could bring him in tonight and he could join the Tiny Tots class to see if he liked it and wanted to do it. I made the mistake of telling him about it early on in the day. I brought him in to the computer and showed him lots of pictures of kids doing Karate so he would know what it is. He also knew some what from watching Spongebob and Sandy doing it. He was all for it and the child drove me nuts all day about when we would be going.

I was a little nervous about taking him since he has never played any kind of sport before or been in anything like this. I explained to him over and over what he would be doing and that it was very important that he listen to the instructor and do what he is told. Mike met us there so we could both watch. I don't think the three of us have laughed so much in all our lives. These kids were too funny. The instructor was wonderful with them but the most impressive thing was Jayke's behavior and perfomance. Now I know everyone thinks I'm biased but honestly he was fantastic! He was the only child that sat and listened and did what he was told when he was told. He had a little trouble remembering his, "Yes, Sirs" but it is only his first day. He did a bunch of kicks and punches, rolled down a mat jumped up and did a kick, and walked down a balance beam jumping off then doing a kick. We were thrilled.

After the class we heard the instructor talking to the owner and the manager about how this was Jaykeb's first day and he did better than all the other kids. Mike and I just stood at the counter beaming with pride. They told me he would probably want to move up to the next level pretty quickly. That is when he will get the cute little uniform. You know I'm all about that. This will provide me with tons of pictures for the blog and the scrapbooks. So, Mondays and Wednesdays we now have Karate. We all three are very excited and happy about this, which doesn't happen too often that we are all in agreement! Mike and Jayke even came home and went through the entire routine again on the living room floor. Then the poor kid went to bed because he was exhausted.

No pictures of the Karate yet but they will be coming! Stay tuned!

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!

Good Books

Occasionally I like to write a blog entry about what I'm reading or some product that makes my life easier for those who read this who don't care what my kid is doing. Today I'm in the mood to write one of those posts.

When I moved to South Carolina a little over a year ago I was obsessed with all things Southern. So much so that I even found myself at the Jockey Lot of all places. The Jockey Lot is a huge flea market. Something I have tried to avoid most of my married life. The hubs loves a good flea market and even better, an auction. He likes to try to drag me to these events occasionally, knowing it isn't my thing. I have to admit though, if it hadn't been 30 degrees hotter than hades out there I may have liked The Jockey Lot. Maybe we should check it out in the fall, but I digress.

In my quest for anything Southern I was turned onto Mary Kay Andrews by my mother. She is an author who writes comedic books about the south for women. (Mary Kay Andrews, not my mother.) I supposed a man might read them too but I think her main audience is women. I loved that the books were mainly set in the Charleston area of South Carolina, Savannah, and Atlanta with a little Tybee Island thrown in for good measure. Her descriptions of antique hunting always makes me want to run right out to an estate sale. I learned what that pesky vine called Kudzu, growing all over the place is from reading her books. They are about as Southern as you can get. My only complaint is that there aren't enough of them!

I've read all but two of her books. One of which I am reading right now. Blue Christmas.

One of my favorite things about her books is she uses the same characters but in different stories. I like to be able to follow a character through more than one book. I think that is why I have put off reading these last two until now, because I know there isn't another one yet to follow them up. I did, however, find something to tide me over until she writes another tale of Weezy and Bebe's adventures. Mary Kay Andrew's blog, appropriately titled The Kudzu Telegraph . Check it out! And, if you love books about The South, read hers. You will be hooked!

"Pop" it Like it's Hot

When Jaykeb went to VBS I wrote an entry about how he wouldn't dance because he was afraid the people there would laugh at him. I remember a couple of people in my family commenting how he could not have gotten this behavior from them! Today, in the mail, Jaykeb got a package from Colorado. It was a book my cousin, Kelly, wrote for him about a boy who was afraid to dance. Very cute! Jaykeb loved it. I read it to him and he immediately demanded I read it again. He even got up and did a little dance. So, thank you Kelly! Jaykeb says thank you! Then he wanted to know where you are. He always wonders where everyone is.

Since I am talking about the boy dancing it reminded me I haven't mentioned his new thing. It kind of started when we were staying at my dad's in Indiana a couple of months ago. My dad has a full length mirror at the end of the hallway next tot he bathroom. Every time Jayke would go to use the potty he would have to stop, turn around, and shake his, "Funny butt" at the mirror. Well, that carried over to him shaking it at people too. Now since we have been watching So You Think You Can Dance on FOX, he has a new twist on the "Funny butt". The dancers on the show do a lot of "Booty poppin'" which Jaykeb apparently really liked. He made me rewind the DVR many times so he could watch Lacey, one of the dancers, "Booty poppin'". Now he goes around "Booty poppin'" all the time. It is quite hysterical too. I need to get it on video. I do have a picture of him doing it though. We were on the boat which just goes to show, he will "Booty pop" at random! The picture can't give you the full effect, you really have to see it in person so I will try to get him on tape doing it and post it. AJ, I know you will love this!



Look at that rotten look on his face! So I already broke my new rule about Saturday being "Meme Saturday" and posted a real blog entry. I had to say thanks to Kelly though for the cute book. After that I just got distracted and kept babbling. I tend to do that. Oh well. Today you get both, a meme and a real entry. No complaining!

Meme Saturday

It's the weekend! I don't know why I'm excited...everyday is Saturday for me. I may be putting an end to that soon, but I'm not going to talk about that today. I've decided to make Saturday "Meme day". I will post an entry but it will only be a meme unless I have something really interesting to say. Most people take the weeken off from blogging and lurking so I doubt it will matter much. Apparently most people only blog or read blogs when they are at work and are supposed to be working. I know that is true of most of my readers...ahem...you know who you are, don't make me call you out!

So I got this meme over at Tommiea's site. She got it from someone else but I didn't feel like going through all the links to find the orginal source. Feel free to go to her site, read her meme, then click on the link to where she got it to read that one too! Let me know if you play so I can come read!

1. Last weekend, I was thinking that _____.
2. If the weather continues like this, _____.
3. Will my _____ ever grow?
4. Often, on a summer's night, I think _____.
5. Right now, I could use a good strong ____
6. My favorite summertime meal is _____.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

1. Last weekend, I was thinking that I was glad I was out of the house for a change!

2. If the weather continues like this, I won't be going back out of the house until December!

3. Will my Arbivitae ever grow?

4. Often, on a summer's night, I think I wish I were 18 again!

5. Right now, I could use a good strong rain so I won't have to water anything tomorrow.

6. My favorite summertime meal is anything with corn on the cob.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on my blogging and shows, tomorrow my plans include going to the grocery, and Sunday I want to go swimming!

I know I'm too exciting to handle. Oh well. We have had a busy week so I deserve a weekend of doing nothing. That is unless Mike has some big outing in mind that he wants to go on. Guess you will find out on Monday!

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.

Under the Sea

I know I was supposed to post about our trip to Abbeville today but I couldn't wait to talk about the aquarium! We went to the Gerogia Aquarium in Atlanta today and it was wonderful!

We met up with Opa's parents and sister, Jennifer, for our tour. They all live in Atlanta so it was a good place for us to meet although we didn't get to visit much. We were too busy looking up. Looking up at the huge fish swimming over our heads! I've been to other aquariums but this was by far the best one yet. Why wouldn't it be, it is only the largest aquarium in the world! It houses 8 million gallons of water and has the most diverse collection of fish any where.

Ocean Voyage was by far my favorite exhibit. You found yourself walking through a 100 foot tunnel surrounded by 6 million gallons of saltwater and many many species of fish. Included in those species was the whale shark. The largest fish in the world. I also really liked watching the different kinds of rays swim gracefully past in large schools and the Goliath Grouper just hanging out at the glass staring back at you.

The Beluga Whales were beautiful and gracefull. The sea lions and otters were playful and cute. The penguins looked bizarre. We saw Nemo and his anemone, even got to touch the anemone. You could also touch rays, sharks, starfish, horshoe crab and shrimp. Jayke was very excited about touching the starfish but a little scared of the sharks. I don't blame him.

We had to hit the giftshop before leaving, of course. Oma bought Jaykeb a stuffed otter and a cute t-shirt. I wanted to ask where the heck was my souvenir but held my tongue. I guess I'm all grown up now and don't get souvenirs anymore. Whatever!

On the way home Jaykeb managed to talk literally for 3 hours straight. We got stuck in traffic so the 2 hour trip became 3 and we got to listen to an extra hour of chatter. He was too excited. He is at a really fun age to take to places like that right now, even though he didn't meet the height requirement to play on the climbing equipment. Made me feel bad. His dad did a great job of finding something else fun for him to make him forget about it though.

Once again, I put the pictures in a slide show. I just like the format for when I have a lot of pictures to share. Enjoy!