Equipment Rodeo

My dad had the great idea to go to a community event called a Heavy Equipment Rodeo.  The word Rodeo caught his attention and he knew Nathan would enjoy the Equipment part.  So, off me and three kids went one Saturday, to meet up with CowPapa and Micah, to check out the shindig the local equipment place had goin' on.

 

Don't know if I've mentioned it before, but this little guy loves heavy equipment.  When I told him we were on our way to go look at heavy equipment and him possibly even drive one, his eyes bulged in disbelief.

The event was nothing fancy.  It was free admission, with a free lunch and in the middle of an empty field.  But heaven just happened to be sitting in the middle of that empty field for both kids.  An excavator for you know who and bounce houses for the living room gymnast.

 Nathan waited so very patiently for his turn to drive the excavator.  I'm sure the 20 minutes must have felt like an eternity.  Even more proof that when he wants to sit still, he can.  The dining room table during supper time is not one of those times, usually.

He eagerly climbed up on the excavator with Mr. Tommy sitting in the driver's seat.  Nathan listened to everything Mr. Tommy said, he sat still and did whatever Mr. Tommy suggested he do.  There was no funny business, playing with levers or squirming around, he was there to do a job and that's it.

This is what driving heavy equipment at work will do to a young man.

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Ocali Days

Katherine's Kindergarten class went on their first field trip of the year and I got to go.  The boys spent time with Bamah and Papa and I got to spend the day with our little girl who is growing so fast and beautifully.

Marion County has an event each year called Ocali Country Days.  It's a chance to experience old time music, storytellers and historical re-enactors portraying life on a late 1800's Marion County farmstead.  Mrs. H's Kindergarten class has been learning about Florida history so this was perfect.

I believe Katherine's favorite part would be buying her rock necklace or even her rock candy, but my favorite part wasn't tangible.  Anna, a classmate, rode with us.  She and Katherine chatted, giggled and showed Valley-girl tendencies for the 20 minute ride there.  I loved listening to them.  There were many times I could have interjected something Mom-like, but it was more interesting to hear how the conversation morphed.  I don't know how it happens, but 2 little girls will almost always find a way to be dramatic.  Shocker, I know.  It didn't matter if they were commenting on a benign cloud in the sky or the boring grey color of a nearby car, they found a way to dramatize it with their speech, eyes, head-tilting, neck rolling and voice inflection.

I loved watching Katherine interact with the other kids.  She's still reserved and doesn't go out of her way to expose her heart or feelings, but there are traces of independence and confidence creeping into her actions.

Here they are grinding sugar cane into a liquid.  Jim grew that sugar cane.

She's made some friends.  She is, by far, the shyest kid in class, but even the gregarious children are including her and asking for her to participate, which she does willingly.

I love that she still wants me to hold her hand in unfamiliar places.  And I don't initiate letting go, I'll let her do that.  I still enjoy holding her sweet, soft little hand in mine.

She was so careful to stay next to me the entire time.  I am still more of a safety net than the soon-to-be ball and chain that insists on coming along.

She's progressing quite well in school academically and socially.  She's eager to practice her reading and still enjoys going.  Although, during this Thanksgiving break she has commented on how much she enjoys staying at home.

All in all, it was a nice, low-key trip that gave me invaluable, precious one-on-one time to spend with my little growing girl.

Jacksonville Zoo trip

When Jim works long hours, we always try our best to plan something fun to follow the marathon we all go through.  This particular weekend was jam-packed because on Friday morning we sold the Murano (just not big enough for 3 growing kids), left for Jacksonville after school pick-up, and came back home the next day for Uncle J's 80th BDay party.

We took the kids Friday night to The Landing and enjoyed watching them take in all the sights/sounds.  A $0.25 bubble gum machine that had lights, slides and pulleys for the oversized gum balls was all it took to entertain our two enough for them to say it was one of their favorite parts of the whole trip.

 

We're finding out that traveling for a family of three requires a bigger hotel room.  Two of our children are bouncing off the walls with excitement and the youngest is still requiring lots of paraphernalia for traveling.  It's also interesting trying to get 3 kids to sleep about the same time.  Interesting.

 The next morning we headed to the Jacksonville Zoo.  We decided to take our own photo booth shots rather than pay for them.

Jumping like the Kangaroos we just saw.

 Mr. "I'm not scared of dat spider."

Katherine was trying her best to pose pretty the entire day, to show Nathan how it should be done.

Have I mentioned what an easy baby he is?  He was soooooo good the entire day.

The Jacksonville Zoo has a fabulous kids play area.  It's planned out well, and integrates play equipment with pseudo animal habitats.

He was doing his best to not let me take a picture of him.

She was going out of her way to make sure I got a good one of her.

This carousel, along with the bubble gum machine, were the two things they both talked about wanting to do/visit again.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures.  Brandon is cozied up nice and warm, Katherine is smiling pretty, Daddy is smiling contently and I'm pretty sure I had to say the word bulldozer or Monster Truck to get Nathan to look up at the camera that little bit.  The word 'busy' doesn't do his little body any justice in fully describing him right now.

When we finally got home, Brandon had had enough.

I'm so thankful to have these opportunities for our kids.  I want so bad to create lasting, loving and fun memories for them.

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was a tad different than previous years 2009 & 2010.

Halloween Eve night I came down with a 24hr. fever.  Nothing else, just a fever, so that meant going to hang out with lots of cutie patooties to hand out candy was out of the question.  Just didn't need to spread my love that way, know what I mean?

SuperDad, aka Jim, took SpiderMan and the Butterfly of our household to go Trunk or Treating.  He's no where as annoying as I am when trying to capture a picture, so here are the best shots he got of our two collecting their stash.

The usual suspects.

Still hoping for a good face shot of her.

SpiderMan chilling with Princess Leia/his Sunday School teacher/Miss B.  He conveniently waited until Darth Vader was out of sight.

This kid is making the rounds.

Talking to not-well-known people comes naturally to him.  Welcome, The Ambassador.

"Dad, can I take off my costume yet?"

Something tells me she was trying to NOT look at the camera.  Sometimes it's on her radar, sometimes it's not.

Darth came back with a sword.  He must've heard SpiderMan was hanging out with his woman.

SHE HAS EYES!

The tractor was a hit again this year with the crowd.

Even the girls were interested.