Saturday Mornings

Typically on Saturday mornings, we are not rushed to be anywhere - no school, gym, work, speech, dance, errands... nothing!:)

So what do we do...
play with bulldozers while wearing our favorite bulldozer jammies
watch Daddy weed eat
read to our stuffed animals in bed
use the iPad (I'd like to say they were doing something educational, but really they were looking at tractor videos!)

...and then get a little stir crazy and need to get out!

Two birthday parties to get to today so off we go to get the wiggles out:)

 

Strawberries in SC

It is a beautiful thing! 

Growing up, I don't think we had strawberry fields around, at least I don't remember there being any.  BUT, we are making up for it in SC:)  Each year we go strawberry picking - typically more than once!

Our first trip to pick some yummy berries was this afternoon!

We went through our first gallon of strawberries in less than 48 hours!  So we have officially been out of strawberries since Tuesday afternoon.  We were NEEDING them badly by today!

Oh yes!  Got 'em!!!

But not without a few unexpected experiences. 

We'll start with the positive - S is an AWESOME strawberry picker!  She picked more than I did!  I brought a basket for her and another for C-man and then one for myself.  My thought was that I would fill mine up and they could pick and put them in their baskets and eat as many as they wanted since I was filling up the basket that we'd actually be taking home.  Well, S filled some up in C-man's for him, and then filled her own up as well!  I was shocked!  She did great!  She took care of her brother to make sure he never ran out and also filled up hers - that was more than I picked!  We ended up with TWO gallons:)

Now the not-so-positive -
1.  There were tractors all over the place and parked throughout the fields.  This was much more interesting to C than picking strawberries and it was hard to convince him otherwise! 
2.  C has a serious fear of bugs!  Don't know where he picked this up since the rest of us don't particularly like them, but we aren't afraid of them.  But, oh yes, my "all boy" does not like bugs AT.ALL!  And, obviously, where there are strawberries growing, there are bugs!  I don't think he picked one single strawberry as that would have put his way to close to where the bugs were hanging out!
3. The weather is impossible to predict! At 3:30pm we left our house and it was storming pretty good. I had looked at the radar about 3:15pm and it said the rain was still a ways off so I don't know where this rain was coming from. I figured I had at least an hour before I needed to start worrying. So, hoping that it was a very isolated storm, we head out. I had to go to the bank first and then we were on our way. We got to the fields, with the sun shining at 4:05pm. Thank goodness! Started picking right away and by 4:20pm it was thundering in the distance and the clouds were rolling in fast. This was about what I predicted from the radar and I knew there were some strong looking storms coming, so I told S to finish filling her basket up fast and we headed to the car. Having two kids we all know nothing is "fast"! We were pulling out onto the road at 4:40pm and by 4:45pm it was P.O.U.R.I.N.G!!! I couldn't hardly even see the road! I can only imagine the mess we would have been in had we still been in the fields! 

These should last us the next 4-5 days and we'll be back out there again - but now I'll know better what to expect!

Family Pictures 2012

This past Saturday we had our family pictures done! We do it every spring and this time we decided to meet at Dillards Ice Cream/peach shed. The weather was overcast all day and was threatening rain(PERFECT light for pictures) except when we got there the clouds broke and the sun started shining! Ugggg!! It was 4pm and brutal! You'll see we are all squinting in every picture. AND, it needs to be noted that the little man was NOT cooperating. He would not let M put him down the entire photo shoot. Notice there is not one single picture of him by himself. We did manage to get a few of him and S together, but you don't see that M is literally right there next time him. And, the ones of them on the bench, yup, they both fell off! That was traumatic for an already unhappy little boy! It should also be noted that the picture of me and M without the kids was taken while that same, trying little boy was screaming his head off between the camera and us - it is a good thing he is short:) It was definitely not our best session, but it is the stage of life we are in and will probably be the one we remember the most in the long run!

Then, after we finished the pictures, we went over to the peach shed to get some fresh veggies. And, wouldn't you know it, C was fine to be put down and played like he was the happiest most agreeable kid ever. WHAT IN THE WORLD!?!?! He knew exactly what he was doing!! Stinker! But, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't feeling 100% since I took him to the doctor yesterday and he had a double ear infection and sinus infection. Sigh... like I said, it is "that" stage of life!

All Boy

Boys are boys and they are born that way!!

It is true.

It is amazing to me how boys just know what boys are "suppose" to do!  This little guy LOVES tractors, his daddy's pick up truck, keys, tools - particularly the sharp ones, pocketknives, making "pooting" noises with his mouth and laughing hysterically, trains, spitting, bulldozers, hitting, kicking, using his head to ram into others.  NONE of which his sister was ever interested in, but he has been since day ONE! 

Today he was racing his truck around and falling/sliding down behind it like he was sliding into home base!  He'd then get up, do it over and over again, and then decided it was fun to do the same thing into the wall and then the bright idea came to him to run into Mommy.  B.A.D. idea!  It hurt!

He is all boy no question about it.

Feathered Friends

The birds found our bird feeder!  See those two little birds enjoying a snack?!?!  SO exciting:)  The kids love looking at the birds from the kitchen table!  And me too!

Strawberry Hill USA

I have to say that the strawberries from Strawberry Hill USA are the best ever!!! Although, I was told this morning that some local ones just up the street are going to put the pressure on this year - I'll have to investigate and get a bucket of those soon:)

We headed up this afternoon after naps. The weather was uncertain most of the afternoon but the rain let up just in time for us to get our delicious strawberries! And, yes, they were absolutely delicious! Two years ago we had the great idea to go to Lake Bowen Fish Camp for dinner afterwards and then feed the ducks! We decided to make it a tradition(only we skipped last year) and went that way again! YUMMO!! Only thing that didn't work out was that the rain finally found us and we didn't get to feed the ducks! Oh well, there are plenty of ducks around, so we'll do that another time!

I think the kids finished off half the bucket of strawberries when we got home:) Might have to get some more before the week is even over - HA!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day, but because we have a lot going on, we started our activities yesterday! We spent a most of the morning outside enjoying our beautiful earth! M and C went to the garden while S and I stayed at the house and put out a bird feeder, planted some flowers and pulled some weeds! It was gorgeous and fun to spend some time with just one kid each:)

I also made cute little a "worms in dirt" snack! They tasted awesome!! And, it was really a great coincidence, but while we were pulling weeds we came across tons of earthworms and S was loving them! She wanted to keep one, so we put some dirt in a cup and got a worm and put it in the garage (so the birds wouldn't get it, of course!!). She even named the worm Amelia! Oh the imagination!

Trike-A-Thon

This morning S's school had a Trike-A-Thon to support St. Jude. They were to bring their bicycles and helmets and were going to be riding around the parking lot! I had some serious reservations about this! I was very concerned that she would fall off her bike because she is not super steady/confidant on it and she would bang up her face and we have family pictures scheduled for tomorrow(assuming the rain doesn't spoil that plan!). But, they talked about the ride and bike safety all week at school and she was so excited and really wanted to do it. I was torn! SO, I volunteered to help:) That way I could be there, right by her side, should I need to be!

I need not to have worried! She looked like a pro out there and was going so fast!! I had C-man in one arm on one hip and the camera in my other hand so there was no keeping up with my little speed demon! She had a great time and a smile on her face the entire time - and didn't crash!!!!!!!!!

C and I cheered her and her classmates on as they went around and around and around on their bikes! After a great ride by everyone, we headed to the playground for a Popsicle treat for all the hard work riding... and cheering!

I'm glad I let her do it and I'm glad I was there to watch and support her!

Bagels and Singing in the Car

My kids love bagels, I mean they love them - just like their momma:) When we were in Atlanta this past weekend we finished off a Baker's Dozen (13 bagels) in 48 hours!!! Almost embarrassing! I then went and bought more when we got back home, HA! Like we needed any more carbs:)

C-man loves to sing Jesus Love Me and it is one of the cutest things ever!! He sings "Jesus" over and over again but it is precious to listen to him. It is kind of hard to hear him over the music, but this is the best I could do to video him while driving (at least I was in a parking lot and not going down a road..right???). Too sweet!!

Letter S Week - Silly Day

Today was Silly Day at school as they learned about the letter "S" this week! We picked out S's clothes last night and she came bounding out of her room excited about getting dressed and being so silly at school today! She wore her clothes all inside out and had unmatched socks and shoes on! She had planned to wear her hula skirt too, but decided last minute that she didn't want to after all - oh the indecisiveness of a four-year-old!:)