Simple Math

Cute teething baby who thinks sleep is optional

+

+

+

(that's AM, people)

=
A need for lots and lots of

Fall Festival

Our town's annual Fall Festival was this weekend. I think I sort of got conned into going by my eldest. Once we got there, she immediately took my cell phone, called her friend, who was already there, told said friend to come find us, and said friend then ended up in our car and back at our house for the afternoon.

Anywho, the festival was.....well, like any festival. Lots of food, crafts, entertainment. We weren't there long as we had no money to spend and had eaten before we left home. But after we left, we went across the street to the church Pumpkin Patch. We didn't actually purchase a pumpkin because this being Florida, if you buy and carve a pumpkin this early in October, you end up with a big ball of moldy, fuzzy pumpkin goo by the time Halloween rolls around. What we did manage to get was some super cute pictures of some super cute kids.

Foto Friday

Another flashback. This was taken on our vacation on Anna Maria Island, FL in July 2006. It was such a beautiful place and so relaxing!

Tagged Again

Brandi got me this time, and I'm supposed to go to my photo albums, pick the 6th album, and then the 6th picture in that album, post that picture with a description. So, here you go:
This is an out take from Luke's 7 month photo shoot. Yes, I did catch him in the process of throwing the baseball, and yes, we are convinced he'll be a relief pitcher for the Braves one day.

Now I have to tag some other people. PJMama, Alex and Charlene...you're up!

Smells Like Home

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

- Scout Finch

"To Kill A Mockingbird" is my absolute favorite book of all time. I can't begin to count how many times I have read it. The movie ranks pretty high on my list too. The quote above is from Scout after she started school and her teacher was dismayed to learn that she could already read. The teacher, Miss Caroline, told Scout to tell her father to quit teaching her at home because he wasn't doing it right.

My trip home to Smalltown, Georgia last weekend brought this quote to mind. There are sights, smells, feelings there that I didn't notice at all when I lived there. Now that I've been away, I've realized these are things I miss.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I knew I would miss like crazy....my family, my friends, my Mama's cooking. But there are other things that I completely took for granted until they weren't a part of my day to day life anymore.

Things move more slowly there. And I don't mean that in a backwoods, uneducated redneck sort of way. I mean in a laid back, relaxed, stress free way. I miss that when I'm having a busy week like the one that just ended. When I'm rushing from one commitment to another, sometimes driving on a five lane highway, in the far left lane and needing to merge to the far right lane in a matter of seconds.

There aren't many things prettier than a field of cotton ready to be picked. It's the closest thing to snow we ever see in the south. You don't get to see that in big cities. Tied with the white of the cotton fields are the yards filled with azaleas in the spring. Yes, the colors only last about a week, but they are vibrant enough to be remembered all year.

The air smells different there. The exact smell depends on the season. In the spring when I get out of my car at my parents' house, I'm greeted by the sweet smell of wisteria and honeysuckle. Right now, in the fall, the air smells of peanut dust. I can't really describe peanut dust to someone who has never smelled it, but it is heavenly.

I spent most of my visit last weekend sniffing the air. On our last day, I still hadn't smelled any peanut dust because most of the fields around my parents' house were either planted with cotton or were peanuts that weren't quite ready to be picked yet.

Then I got in my Daddy's truck. The smell of my childhood hit me like a brick wall. Peanut dust and diesel. I was home.

Daddy drove us around for over an hour so my girls could pick some cotton to bring home with them. Kids here don't get to see cotton before it becomes a t-shirt. We drove some more after we found cotton, and he let them pull up some peanuts. I knew if we didn't get back soon, get the Little Man from his Grandma, and get on the road, we would be very late getting back home, but I didn't care. Grandaddy loves to drive the grandchildren around, and I wouldn't deny him, or them, that for anything in the world.

The day after we got home, the girls pulled the peanuts off the vine, and I boiled them. When they walked in from outside, Princess E said, "It smells like Grandma's house in here."

A girl after my own heart!

Favorite Foto Friday

My niece, Sweet Baby K, aka "My Baby's Mama".

Favorite Foto Friday

This isn't a flashback. This one was actually taken just yesterday. Princess E was asking about going to buy a Halloween costume. I told her I thought it would be a good idea if we made something out of what we already have. This is what she came up with.

Ballerina Cheerleader Cat.

When her big sister announced she wanted to go ride her bike, E didn't want to take the time to change, so off she went.

I think the pink Disney Princess bike helmet completes the ensemble quite nicely, don't you?

When she saw neighbors out on the street, she said, "I'm kind of embarrassed." Then she added, "Well, it is sort of an outfit."

Yes, it is...sort of.

Please note that we all know she's too big for training wheels, and please pay close attention to the tail stuck in the spokes.

Lisa Tagged Me Too

So, I've been tagged and asked to list 6 random facts about myself. I am also then supposed to tag 6 friends.

1. I LOVE the smell of peanut dust. If you don't know, you've never been in South Georgia during peanut harvesting time.

2. I have become surprisingly good at typing with t`he help of a 7 month old bundle of cute gd kj////.....ok, maybe not that good.

3. I have a deep longing desire to be organized and neat as a pin. I don't think it will ever happen.

4. I am the very definition of procrastination....I'm leaving in 4 hours for a weekend trip to smell the peanut dust, and I have to pack for 4 people, but at this point, I haven't even found the suitcases.

5. All my followers are also Lisa's followers, so I don't have 6 people to tag. Pajama Mama, I guess you're it!

I should really work on that procrastination thing. I think I'll start on that tomorrow.

****Edited to add: I guess number six should be that I used to think I was good at mulit-tasking until I realized much too late that while holding the squirmy bundle of cute and talking on the phone while eating my lunch and writing this post, I seem to have totally lost the ability to even count to six.