Love Notes

Dear Bunny,

Yes, you are the most adorable tiny bunny that I have ever seen.  I am very sorry that our devil of a cat chased you out from the flower bed, again, very sorry.  About that flower bed-you are welcome to live there and be adorable, but STOP eating our strawberries.  Our pitiful little plants give us about 8 berries a year and you have nibbled on about 6 so far.  I apologize if you are not the culprit, but I really suspect that you are.

Keep on truckin',

Farmer Mom

Dear Ben,

Thank you so much for being the world's best big brother (except when you are throwing a sippy cup at your brother's head).  You are so patient and kind with your potty-hating brother.  At 4 I'm pretty sure I would not have enjoyed having a small person keeping me company each and every time I went to the bathroom (At 38 I am still not a fan).  I know you don't really want to narrate your business, or get handed toilet paper the whole time, but you really take it in stride.  Letting Nate flush for you is just icing on the cake.

I owe you,

Mommy

Dear Nate,

I believe in you.  I believe in your ability to scream non-stop for close to an hour for no apparent reason.  Really-I know you can do it, you really don't have to prove it to me on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis.  I also know, deep down in my heart, that you are able to throw toys very long distances.  Again, proof is not required.

Love you more than ice cream, but STOP it,

Mama

(thank goodness he is cute)

Whirlwind

We had such a wonderful weekend, most of which was camera-free, so I'll give you the highlights.

*Friday we picked Daddy up from work and headed to the Holy City-no better place to be for Easter!  We dropped the kiddos and ran over to James Island to see some of our favorite Charleston friends.  Gil used to work with Robert and we just love him and his artistic and adorable wife Cindy.   We thought we were just dropping in to say hello, but they had run out to buy soft shell crabs so we fried up some hush puppies outside, fried up the crabs and YUM!  Add some wine and super yum.  Those two are really so much fun-it's worth the price of admission just to hear Robert's stories.

*Saturday morning-the whole crew (minus me) went to a neighborhood Egg Hunt where Ben only captured 2 eggs.  Not sure why, but Nate got a few more.  That kid loves candy so much, I'm sure he was trying to get as much of the sweet stuff as possible.

*After lunch, Gil, Leslie and I headed to King Street for some window shopping and yogurt eating.  We also played a little of our favorite game, "Local or Not". People in Charleston just look cooler than everyone else.  The real Charleston people-not the big ol' dorks with the black socks and sandals.  Just one day I want to put something together that is cute enough that I might look local.  I'm not holding my breath, though.

*Saturday night we hit Bowen's Island.   Their old building burned down several years ago and the new one has been open now for almost a year and we hadn't made it there yet, so off we went.  The new building is great, big huge deck all around the back, and we were lucky enough to get a table outside.  It was great out there.  We stayed a while and got comfy by the railing to watch the boats and listen to the water.  And the food was fried and bad for you (see the theme of the weekend?).  Again, yum.

(picture "borrowed" from their website)

*Sunday morning we went to church to celebrate the amazing things that Jesus did for us.  We kept the boys with us and they did so well!  Nate slept through the first half, but even when he woke up, neither made a peep.  I did not expect that at all.  Then we got home and family started rolling in.  We got to see a lot of people we love (and missed a few that we not in town).  Gil got to play his traditional basketball game-and we don't need to discuss the results of one 40 year old versus 2 very athletic teenage boys.  Gil did beat them at Thanksgiving and that's all that is important.

*Sunday afternoon sent Gil and Leslie home and all the rest of us down for a rest.  We had to rest up for this...

Cheryl, Tina, the boys and I headed out to Folly Beach-to look for shells.  Well, no shells returned, but we did bring back a whole bunch of sand.  We didn't have suits for the boys and I really thought the water would be too cold, but it was really warm.  So, for the second time this week, the monsters went swimming with their clothes on.  I need to be better prepared!

They dug in the sand and chased their Great, Great (???) Aunt Tina all over the place.  Then they had to chase Mimi, too. Can you believe that without naps they were up until 9:30??? 

I love this one of Ben watching the surfer. 

And this of Nate looking so little...

Ben didn't want to leave because he wanted to keep doing this...

For the second visit in a row, I missed seeing my great good friend Jennifer, but we'll figure it out for next time.  We all get so busy!

My next post will be a doozy-I have lots of great pictures to share of our great week with Becca, Ian, and Brandon. (but my camera is at home and I am still in Charleston)

Their visit was way too short but we packed in the fun.  Poor Ben cried several times the day they left and we can't wait to get up to see them in a few weeks!

Boys and Horses

Here is the other little series of pictures I thought was funny from the farm last week.

Ben, if you don't know, is a rather reserved, quiet BRAVE kid.  You would first think he would not be very adventurous, but in some ways, he surprises us.  He loves roller coasters and water slides and things that go fast.  He is waiting for the day at Carowinds that he can ride the big stuff.  And I am excited, too-I need a roller coaster buddy.  I thought these pictures of the boys and one of the horses was funny.  Notice how the little brother will follow anything the big brother does.  And the belly shots-why, oh why did the horse need to see their tummies?  I have no idea, but if Ben does it, Nate is going to try it too.  And yes, Ben's face is way too close to those big old horse teeth, but it ended well-so we are ok!

And for the grand finale.................

I have no idea what sent them running, but the horse probably got sick of them and let them know!

And just a few more.  Apparently Lincoln and Ben and Nate decided a tractor pull was in order.

And just a few more...

One year

Gil sent me an email yesterday comparing the boys this Spring and last, sitting in the same spot at Fox's Farm.

Spring 2010

Spring 2011

So,what do you think?  I think they sort of look like they haven't changed much.  I'm also glad that we had better weather this year-shorts are so much cuter than jeans.

I also really love that old sink!



Spring at the Farm

This week we went to Fox’s farm, a sweet little outing here in Lexington. A group of us goes there at Halloween and again at Easter every year. We get to go on a hayride, look for eggs (or baby pumpkins), pet all sorts of animals, roast hot dogs over a fire, sit on a pony, and plant a flower. And it’s only $6.50 for each little one! What a deal, huh? And the family that owns the farm is so, so nice-we always feel like we are back with old friends.

There are 2 little series of pictures I HAVE to share. One of the reasons I wanted to upgrade my camera was to be able to get better action shots. With my point and shoot, any motion was always captured as a blur. Sweet PoorGil gave me a great one for Christmas a few years ago and I am thankful every time I touch it. My other reason was that I wanted to get blurry backgrounds in pictures-so technical, huh? My camera has lived up to both requests quite well!



If you know Nate, you know that he hates to have anything foreign on him-and that kid hates to have his hands dirty. He taught himself how to use a fork pretty early to avoid the dreaded dirty hands at dinner. Forget trying to get near him with a sticker-mayhem I tell you. His teachers laugh because the 2 year old class specializes in hand art-painting the kids hands and making something out of them-needless to say-Nate is not a fan.

He is also sort of a chicken. He is wild-don’t get me wrong-he is just not too adventurous. More nicely put, he is cautious and careful. So it was surprising that he very willingly fed some of the animals at the farm. I thought these pictures of him feeding the sheep were really funny-especially viewed in order…

I could eat that last picture. It is an instant classic!  Makes me laugh every time.

I have more, but I am too impatient to wait for them to upload right now.

More later.

Some progress

 

Poor Gil.  Every single one of my posts should start with those two words.  Gil had the misfortune to marry a crazy woman who is pathologically unable to complete a project-and often to even start one that she dreams up.  Gil has wanted to get a new cooktop for a while and we finally decided to bite the bullet and get one.  The the one we had was the last appliance in our kitchen that we replaced-we got rid of the whole Jenn-Air suite, including a really crazy dishwasher.  The black is gone and stainless has taken it’s place.  The old cooktop was just gross, really.  Not even redeemable, just gross.

I can’t find a before picture from us, but here is the closest I can get from before we bought our house…

In this horrible picture, you can barely see the wallpaper we ripped down and the pink walls that Gil surprised me by painting one weekend we were in Virginia.  Yeah Gil!

The floor is just something we have to live with.  It’s ceramic tile and a little bit pink.  Somebody went wild trying to get a victorian feeling inside to match the victorian style outside.  Ugh.

Here is the only one I can find of the cooktop in all it’s glory.  Mmmm, apple pie (really regretting giving up sweets for Lent.)

We think we are painting the cabinets soon, but here is the island….

Gil put beadboard around the back and sides (I thought I could do it, but there were a few cuts to be made and I’m skeered of the saw.

 

 

We thought about doing the counter on just this part, but it would still be really expensive and we don’t even know what we would want anyway.  Our neighbor does concrete counters but they are even more than granite (which really surprised the mess out of me).

So, I had the genius idea for the beadboard, Gil sort of challenged me to do it myself and I got as far as measuring and getting all the pieces cut and paint purchased.  And took off the cabinet doors.  And that is where my involvement ended.  I didn’t even paint the thing.  So lame.  Thanks goodness for Gil!

Sort it out

 

As I unpacked the bags from the last post after a weekend in Charleston, I was thinking again how they make things just a squinch easier around here.  And that there is one more thing I do that lightens the load.   This idea is not my own (of course) it came from Sarah  of Clover Lane, the SuperMom and my hero.

I am not a big fan of doing the laundry-well, folding it and putting it away-those are the bad parts.  We used to do all of our laundry together, then when we folded it, we had 48 different stacks-and had to look at the sizes on all the little clothes to make sure they went to the correct little person’s room. 

No more of that for us.

Now Gil and I wash our clothes together and each of the monsters get their own load.  This is the key to happiness…

 

I bought a 3 section hamper that had printed titles on one side and stenciled the monsters’ names on the other side.  They get undressed at night and go straight to the laundry room to put their clothes in the hamper.  It has been over a year and the novelty has not yet worn off.   

(Don’t you hate when you take a picture of something you think looks great and all the sudden it looks terrible?  The letters are all different sizes and it looks all kinds of wonky-but it works).

It is so nice to be able to take a load out of the dryer, go straight to the room where it will live, and put it right away.  Before I had those 48 piles, then had to deliver them all over the upstairs.  That was way too much handling. 

Now=much easier.

Do you have any tricks that  make life easier?  Like some magic way of making dinner?  I really need that one.

Bag Lady

 

I have a confession to make, I have a little problem.  A little addiction, a little love affair with….

 

 

No, not Pottery Barn Kids wall art (although that’s not bad either).  I love the boat totes from LLBean.  When we go away for the weekend, I love that the boys and I have our own bags so nothing gets mixed up-then when we get home, it’s so easy to unpack.  Each bag goes right to the correct room and gets unpacked.  Somehow Gil has escaped my clutches and he doesn’t have his own-his LLBean duffel gets to hold all of his clothes.  I guess that’s close enough.  And I don’t have too long until Ben realizes his bag isn’t so manly, so I better enjoy it while I can.