It's Friday!

Whew!

What a week... I am so glad to see Friday. Whatever these drugs are that the good Doc gave me to attack the bronchitis are working just fine, and I feel soooo much better than I did a few days ago.

Plus... yesterday, though way too busy, was very productive, interesting, fun in parts and best of all - over.... thank goodness for small miracles.

My article is completed and turned in. Done. I did survive.

Cub likes his teachers, the room, and especially the toy fire engine you will see in the pictures below. He immediately laid total claim on this toy, and I foresee trouble surrounding that situation... I noted from the birthday calendar that he is by far the youngest 3 year old in the class, so I am a tad bit anxious about that.

Maybe it had a little to do with all the yelling he did when anyone tried to touch that little fire engine?

Next, he lined the alphabet blocks up so very nice and pretty, only to take that yellow hammer and pound them all to "time out" and back.

In all seriousness, he was a bit shy when we first arrived, and I know come Tuesday we will both be in tears as I have to leave him for his first day. I really did like his teacher, and she was very convincing for me to give this three day class a try.

But I'm gonna miss him so those three mornings!!!

Ahhhh... motherhood! Who knew how it would tie up your heart strings?





Elizabeth's Open House was last night as well, and she was thrilled to show her Daddy around. As I have said before, she is a "Daddy's Girl" in the making, and boy, I know all about that!

Elizabeth is excelling in kindergarten, of which we are very proud. Her teacher sent home a progress report last week, and EJ is doing very well. She is consistently bringing home "three star work", and we are very proud!

One thing I am wondering about... I understand why the teachers want the children to color inside the lines, but what is the big deal about making sure the picture is completely colored in, without white spots in the coloring?

Regardless, EJ has been practicing a lot, and I can say her coloring is beautiful!

Still, I miss her too... it's that motherhood gene again!



Yall have a wonderful weekend!

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Just Rambling On and On....

Today is full of stuff to attend and take care of...

Cub's 3 year old class has Orientation this morning at the church in town... EJ attended Pre K here last year, and I love the school, but am anxious about Cub going three days a week. I'd prefer a two day program so I could have more time with him - he's just 3! I will make a decision after meeting with the teacher and seeing how it goes...

From there I head over to another town close by for an interview and photographs. I have an article deadline today, and getting this silly bronchitis has set me back some... not to mention that I am a procrastinator about such things! I always do better under pressure, but this is really cutting it close!

After school, I am taking EJ (Elizabeth) to meet with her best friend Kate at a nearby Chick-Fil-A. It has a nice indoor playground, and so they can play while her Mommy and I catch up on the latest. Kate and EJ went to Pre K together and hit it off fairly quickly... thing is she lives on the other side of the biggest town in our area, so they attend different schools now they are in kindergarten. Elizabeth misses her friend a lot in school, and vice versa, so her Mommy and I make play dates in order for the two to play! Elizabeth woke this morning very excited about these afternoon plans...

Last but not least, EJ's school is holding Open House this evening, and I am to be there to help at the yearbook table. I am excited to go and meet many of the other families of the children in EJ's class, talk with her teacher, as well as be a part of the yearbook volunteers. Geoff is meeting us there, and EJ is very happy Daddy will be at her school!

I will be glad to get home tonight!

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Wordless Wednesday

Cousins Cub, Addyson and Elizabeth the night before the tractor pull, at the volunteer supper. Part of the 9th generation of our family to grow up here in this place we call home!

Under the Weather

I almost feel as if I have missed a deadline for one of my articles, but I have comfort in knowing there are no deadlines here... it's my own silliness in not posting anything yesterday.

Truth be told, I wasn't up to much of anything at all the past couple of days, and as I told my husband Tuesday morning, "I think I am dying".

Well, maybe that is too extreme, but I sure felt as bad as the weather was outside, and let me tell yall, it was scary.

I began to feel icky Sunday night, but just thought I was tired from all the recent activity, which is silly as it never slows down much around here... but by Monday morning I knew I had at least a cold. Monday evening I spent on the couch, and even "slept" there, sitting up as much as possible because I could not breathe. I also had a sore throat, and could feel lots of pressure behind my ears... yesterday morning is when I told Geoff I felt so horrible.

He's a good man, and made sure I was comfortable as possible.

Life does go on in these circumstances, and he had to go to work, so I drug myself up to get the kids awake and dressed, and EJ to kindergarten... when Cub and I got home I didn't make it past the couch all morning, and my sweet boy snuggled with me most of that time... I let him watch the Disney channel, play with his pirate ship, and I slept.

The weather outside was dark, thunderous and pouring down rain... I could see the hanging fern on my porch being blown almost vertical, but I thought little of it, which is most unusual as I have a BIG phobia of bad weather. BIG. Fay's remnants have still been passing through here since the weekend, and our house could have been washed/blown away, but I could not get up from that couch for anything.

Not even the safety of our hall closet, much less BB and Reynie's basement.

I did eventually find the energy to call the Dr., who made me an afternoon appointment. Momma had been with my Great Aunt at the hospital, but rearranged her whole afternoon to come home.

I instantly felt a little better, just knowing she was there... I am 37 years old, married with babies of my own, but Momma always makes it better. She took control, put us in the car, went and picked up EJ a little early from school, and off we went to the doctor's office.

It was still raining, but the sun was beginning to peek at us from the clouds...

The good Dr. checked me out and declared I have bronchitis. I wasn't prepared for that, as I thought he would say it was a bad cold, but am so glad I went now...

He gave me some drugs and an antibiotic to take for the next 7 days, so hopefully that will kill that bad bacteria, make the pressure in my ears go away and tame my flaming sore throat. I already feel less congested, which is a huge relief.

As for the weather outside, we did have some sunshine again late yesterday afternoon, but it has been raining a lot during the night and this morning. I will not complain about the rain... we have been in a drought for awhile... so the rain is welcome.

It's the stormy part I hope is behind us!

Since I feel some better, I am no longer in that groggy "whatever" stage I was yesterday... the closet is ready, just in case!

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

For the past few days we have experienced Fall like weather, which is more than a little strange for Georgia in the dog days of August. Fall doesn't usually show around here until the end of October, sometimes into November even. We have the hurricane/tropical depression Fay to thank for this interlude in the sticky, sweaty and almost unbearably hot days that August usually brings, and I for one am thankful for a this break. It has been a long hot summer!

It's also been raining off and on since Saturday, and today has brought the most downpours. I can handle the rain (and boy do we need it), but it's the high winds, loud thunder and cracks of jagged lightening that cause my heart to stop in fear... I hate stormy weather!

I've always been a little afraid of bad weather, but after living through a tornado that came right through our pasture, well, now. I. am. terrified.

There are tornado warnings in effect right now for the counties to our left and below us, and I have cleaned out our hall closet... just in case. I may even pack up the kids and head on back to my brother and sister in laws basement...

As a matter of fact, this may not even post until who knows when, as we lose our satellite service when the first rain drop falls...

Gotta love living out in the boonies!

So, Hon, if you are reading this up there from the office in Atlanta (or on your IPhone even!), be careful on your way home, it's a little windy! Okay - the trees are blowing and bending a bit, and the kids yard toys are down the road toward Grandma's spring...

I may not answer the phone for awhile... we don't get very good service in the closet.

Our Afternoon Together...

Oh, what a little stinker! His laughter is music to my heart, and I'm really enjoying this new Cub and Mommy time together...

Writer's Block

EJ at her school's Spirit Night last night

I have nothing to talk about today, really. That is unusual, but here I sit thinking...

I guess I'm all blogged out for the week...
Plus, I am washing clothes, dishes and throwing out stuff we no longer need/use/want...

Oh yes, and I'm still on potty training duty, though the new model (see below) is working wonders!

So, I won't bore you anymore with my idle chit chat!

Yall have a wonderful weekend!

A Present from Nana

I am proud to report that Cub's potty training has been going great this time around. Still, I'm almost scared to say it, so I feel the need to "knock on wood" before he comes in here to tell me he had an accident or something...

It certainly wouldn't be the first time, but all in all he has excelled this go round, and gets "three stars" like Sissy does on her papers from kindergarten.

He is so proud!

And, oh my goodness, so are we!

Being potty trained assures him a place at 3 yr preschool, which he is so intent on going to, even though I have some reservations. It's three mornings at the church EJ attended PreK last year, and would give me the opportunity to go grocery shopping in daylight hours, or clean the house, or even substitute teach. But he is my baby, after all... and after watching my first born head off to kindergarten this year (be still my heart), I want to keep him right here with me. Forever.

Ahem. Sorry... I lost my train of thought for a minute.

Oh yes, potty training. Yesterday Cub even took a nap with underwear on, though it was because I forgot to change him into a diaper. He was dry when he got up, and that is usually when when we would have an opportunity for the most "accidents". He gave me a high 5 when he realized what he had (or really, had not) done!

So, yesterday a present came from Nana, just for Cub.



Have yall seen these? It's called a Peter Potty (no joke, and I am not being paid for this... I just had to share), and it is great! See that green button on top? That is the flush, and it really works, which is the best part for Cub (you have to refill it with water every so often)... The one downside is I have to empty the green drawer after he "goes", but it is teaching him how to stand up and tee tee.

Did I just write that?

Sorry, yall... I wouldn't usually say such things in public, only to my girlfriends while our kids played. But I feel comfortable enough here to talk of my baby's potty training, so there it stays. Still, this is a neat way to help potty train a boy, and he thinks it's so cool he remembers to go when he needs to. And sometimes when he doesn't!

Any little bit helps!

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Wordless Wednesday...

I am still pretty bad at the"wordless" part... I must talk too much!

Though this picture seems to scream "SUMMER FUN" at me, I feel the need to explain...

This is a "new" battery operated car we inherited from friends, who inherited it from friends... it has been through lots of summer fun along the way, and our kids are adding their mark to it as well. When they are too old for it (and if it hasn't been destroyed!) we will pass it along to the next family...

And, please note yall - they are playing together, and laughing together... now that really makes me smile!

What an awesome toy - thanks friends!

For more Wordless Wednesday, go to 5 Minutes for Mom...

Playing Princess

Elizabeth came home the other day from Momma's house with this dress on. It is one I used to wear when I was a little older than she is now, and Elizabeth saw it in Momma's "save" closet and wanted to try it on... I can't hardly get it off of her now!

I remember when I wore this particular dress I always felt kinda like Cinderella, and it appears that EJ gets the same feeling. All afternoon she twirled and danced, watching herself in the mirror as the pleats in the dress made for the perfect "princess effect".

While Cub was taking his nap, EJ and I went outside for a little bit with the puppies. She had the time of her life out there pretending to be Sleeping Beauty when she met Prince Phillip in the woods while picking berries.

I just had to sneak inside for my camera, and I got a few pictures of her before she knew I was taking them... then a posed one of her curtsy to the Prince at their ball. I love her imagination!




Then off she went to Momma's house, the Fairy Tale Castle she called it... a little Princess in my old green dress.

A Pullin' Kind of Day

Well, we made it through another tractor pull here in this little town... it was actually a nice day weather wise, especially in comparison to other extremely unbearable HOT years. Saturday was still in the high 80's to low 90's I guess, but rain was also coming, so it wasn't the usual "middle of a Georgia August 100 degrees" hot.

Thank goodness for the small things in life...

The day begins with a Tractor Parade through "downtown"... and below is a picture of my Diddy driving one of his old International tractors, and pulling a manure spreader. He usually drives a John Deere in the parade with a seat for Momma beside him, but it was being cantankerous Saturday and wouldn't start.

You may notice that the family is sitting in the old manure spreader (!), and it works as Diddy made wooden seats years ago for us... the kids and I are in front with our cousin's wife and their son. Then Momma and Aunt Runelle are in the middle, and some of our good friends are in the back. They go to our church, and she sang the National Anthem beautifully at our opening ceremonies.



Here comes my brother BB and his wife Reynie... he is driving a John Deere 4040 that he and my parents went all the way to Kansas to bring back here. I hate I missed that trip!



Before there were tractors, there were mules and horses...



Thanks to my husband we have all these pictures, and here is a good shot of some of the trophies for the top pulls of each category...


Many people like to bring their tractors to show, and don't really want to pull. Here is a picture of a nice Ford tractor on the Show side. Diddy thinks we had about 94 tractors in all for the day!


Cub couldn't wait for the pulling to begin... he was so excited!!


Opening ceremonies include Prayer by a local preacher, Presentation of the Colors (raising the U.S and Ga. State flags) and our National Anthem.



After one of the larger classes of tractors completes their pull, we have the kid's Pedal Races! They LOVE it, and line the sidelines waiting for their turn to race down the track... here are a couple of pedal race pictures to give you an idea. In the first Cub is ready to start down the track... if only he would get his feet on the pedals! (He is third in line from the left, and a friend and myself are behind him, getting the kids in line...)



Elizabeth has done this before, and was excited to be racing down the track!


As I showed yall last week, we also have a tractor dance performed by my Uncle, and a slow race... we had no takers this year for the Powder Puff race, but one lady entered the real pull and was awesome! She did as well as most of the men!

Here is a shot of the "pull back" tractor. It isn't in the competition, but is used to pull the sled back to start after a tractor has pulled it down the track. Both my kids loved riding in there with Mr. Matt... plus, it's air conditioned! Best seat in the house!

The last two pictures are some from the actual pullin' during the day. The first is of our friend Joe on one of his International tractors, and then BB on one of his John Deere...



So, there it is... another pull behind us! Not long after this picture was taken we were ready for some supper, a long shower and bed!

I thought it was a great day, and successful one for lots of tractor pullers. Besides all that, I got to see lots of folks I haven't in awhile, people watch (!), and be with my family.

Next year will make 15 years!

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The Tractors are Coming!

Tomorrow is the tractor pull - See yall on Sunday or Monday, after all the crazy is over!

A Sweet Song of Thanks

When EJ was in Pre-K last year she learned a new prayer to say before they ate lunch. It became our favorite, and I absolutely tear up now when both my kids sing it before we eat. It's the sweetest thing to have my children sing a prayer of thanks to God, in harmony no less...

First we all sit down at the table, and hold hands. Geoff and I both grew up with families that made supper an important family gathering, and we want to have this special time with our children too.

Next comes the prayer before we eat... I am afraid this will be lost a little in translation, but I am going to try to write how it sounds... Cub is great at communicating, but his "baby talk" is still prevalent, and simply adorable.

Add in their southern twang, and with EJ's lead they begin...

(Feel free to sing along, it's to the tune of the lullaby, "Frere Jacques"...)

"Tanks you Fadder, Tanks you Fadder, for our fud, for our fud."
(Thank you Father, Thank you Father, For our Food, For our Food")
"Man e man e bessings, Man e Man e bessings, Ah ah men, Ah ah men"
(Many many blessings, many many blessings, Amen, Amen")

Oh goodness, it pulls at my heartstrings every time...

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37 Years Today...

Happy Birthday Hon!

I thought to help celebrate your day, I would post some pictures of you doing what you love best... flying.

I know, it's in your blood. I get it, and I love you very much... just be careful doing all those "loop de loops", okay?!

Wordless Wednesday - A Local Landmark

Starr's Mill

I know this is supposed to be "wordless", but I have to ask if you have seen the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" with Reese Witherspoon?
This mill was in that movie, as the place that cute guy she ends up with showcased his glass art...

For more "wordless" participants go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

A Tractor Dance

This is my Uncle, doing his thing...


Uncle Milton is a Bobcat "expert"... and a very entertaining personality as well. So, at our Tractor Pull he and our great friend Jim, the announcer, are the comic relief. Uncle Milton's infamous Bobcat Dance to Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" is a huge hit with the crowd, and people ask about it every year.

And, as I was going through photos last night I came across this great picture of the pull site from the air. My husband took this as he was flying over one year. I know, don't get me started on the fact that he was flying the plane, and taking pictures...


We have actually moved the track from where it is in this shot to that pea patch you can see in the bottom of the picture, but this is an awesome photo of what Saturday will be like.

Add in that good 'ol Georgia heat and humidity, extremely loud tractors roaring by me every few minutes, plus the red dirt, and it will be a blast . I can hardly wait!

Oops! Did I say that?

I kinda have a love/hate relationship with the pull. There, I said it. All in all, though, I really do enjoy it and get to see lots of folks I haven't in awhile.

Plus, I can do lots of people watching yall! Trust me, that can be very interesting at a tractor pull!

We're Tractor Pullin' Yall!

Soon the familiar sounds of approximately 100 plus tractors and the aroma of good food will once again fill the air in our little town. Next Saturday this rural "map dot" will increase in number by hundreds as folks gather for the 14th annual Tractor Parade, Pull and Show.

My family has been involved with this event from its inception, and work very hard to help make it a success every year. The men in our community have been improving on the pull site for a few years now, and yesterday (Saturday) they made more changes to make the pull a safe place for everyone. They worked most all day to set up the big tents, put in new fences and get the track ready for the tractors. All in the old pea patch.

Yes, that statement is true, and I just couldn't resist adding it in... we aren't really as "country" as that sounds (really!), but hey, I am telling yall about a tractor pull, right? Why not tell it all?!



This is a picture of my brother from last years pull. I will try to explain all this pulling stuff, for those of you who are wondering what in the world I am talking about... don't worry, it's not at all difficult. And, it's not just for the men! We have a "Powder Puff" race for women, and a kids race with peddle tractors. My Uncle Milton does a tractor dance with his Bobcat, and I'll show you that later this week... he is very entertaining.

The Tractor Pull is actually a lot of fun too, so here we go...

Basically, the tractor is weighed and is put in a class depending on that weight. You can add weights to the front if you wish to pull in a different class, and many do. In this particular picture BB has no weights on his John Deere.

Now, below is a picture of the sled. It is what the tractors actually pull. In the above picture of BB you can see it behind him as he begins one of his trips down the track. The blocks on the back slowly move forward toward the front of the sled to make it harder for the tractors to get down to the end...


The idea is to see which tractor will make it all the way down the track, and the one who goes the farthest wins that class, and a nice trophy. There are around 12 classes of tractors throughout the day. It kinda sounds like I am explaining a school yard game, but this is serious business yall!

See all that Georgia red clay? After a few pulls, it turns into a fine red dust that covers you from head to toe... it's mighty hard to get that out of clothes, and believe me, after a day of sitting by that track you may as well just throw away what you had on. A bath is first thing on my list for everyone, and usually the kids get a dousing off with the hose in our yard first!

Next time I'll share some pictures from our tractor parade, which is actually my favorite part. I'll leave you with the sign by the main road "advertising" the event!

Three Years of Cub...

This post is a little late, but I wanted to make sure I did one for our baby boy... he has been feeling a little left out this week I think, as Sissy has gotten lots of attention with her first day of kindergarten.

Yesterday he got lots of attention from Mommy, as we started Project Potty Training. For real this time yall... Mommy means business. He is doing pretty good, and loving his Buzz Lightyear underwear. Now I just need to go get enough Buzz underwear to make it through the process... the others just won't do, or so he thinks! The pirate ones worked well yesterday, but now he is all about Buzz again. I think whatever works, I'll do it!

On July 21st he turned 3 years old, and was excited to have a Buzz birthday party at a big "jumpy" place that weekend. As Sissy (Elizabeth) had a birthday on July 5th, and they share a lot of the same friends, we have done their parties together the past couple of years. We also had a Spiderman cake and family get together on the actual day...

So, here is a look back at our sweet boy as he became a 3 year old! Our son is full of laughter and delightful giggles, he has an endless store of energy, and has the biggest and sweetest hugs. We have been blessed.