Growin' Up!

The other day we were leaving a friends house after a much needed play date. We were saying our goodbyes at the door. It was taking longer than need be standing at my neighbors door in the desert heat, so I said, "Say goodbye friend!" We then walked on down the walk as John mumbles, "Bye, AJ." He then quickly says to me, "Mom! Don't say that! Goodbye friend!" (In his most mocking voice)

At that very moment I realized that I embarrassed him. I did something too babyish. I then said, "Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." I really meant it too. I have felt the same emotions more times than I can count.

Then the sweet boy said, "Oh, Mama. It's ok," as he ran up to put his skinny arm around my waist.

You see. He really felt bad for me for being so lame. He felt the sweeping emotions of being embarrassed of me and then feeling sorry for me in less than a minute.

Oh, the pains of growing up.

Here's the rub.

It's so much more painful for me!

Uncle William has a farm..eieio!

*Happy Birthday Will and MarySelle*

*Kiss this fish*

*Run, Run, Run*

*Sweet MarySelle*

Hello People!!! It's been awhile! We've been settling back in after our trip southeast. We've had swim practice and dental visits and pto stuff. You get the picture, right? Ok. So, I've tried to figure out how to post on my trip. I could just post all the pics, but I find that a tad boring. I think I'm going to try and do several little entries on a few of our jaunts while down in the deep south. I hope you find them as amusing and fun as they actually were!

Here goes....

Will and my niece MarySelle share a birthday. My sister in law Terri and I thought it would be fun to celebrate together, although it was after their actual special day. So we planned a day at their house.

Let me give you a little background. My brother William and his wife Terri teach Ag at the local high school. This involves all kinds of things that I'm so unfamiliar with, one of which is raising and showing sheep. They had some of these creatures at the high school, which is just down the road from their house. We just HAD to go see us some sheep! Off we go! My mother, aka. Mimi, my four city kids, and my brother's family head on over to the high school for some sheep schoolin'!

Oh My, did we have some fun. And we learned so much.

Such as...

Sheep poop little brown balls on the ground. Everywhere!

Sheep actually say BAAAAA! (This fact confirmed by Will by squatting in front of the sheep and encouraging her by yelling, "Say Baaaa! Say BAAAA, sheep!!")

Chickens can run very fast!

Uncle William has found the perfect job for himself!

Mae wishes she could live with Uncle William!

Then we all headed on over to Uncle William and Aunt Terri's house for some good ol' birthday party fun! My sister Selle, niece Elizabeth, and my friend Lisa and her two kids met us there. We jumped on the trampoline, we played with dogs...country dogs...that live in the country...there's a big difference if you didn't already know this, and we fished!

Oh Boy, did we fish. We had some bait, but we really didn't need any. As soon as the hook was placed in the water a fish jumped up to bite it. Now, these were little tiny fish, but the kids didn't care. I think we caught about 70 all together. It was crazy fun!

After fishing we had birthday cake, popsicles and watermelon because what's a day in the country without some watermelon!

William, Terri, and their girls live in the perfect most beautiful spot. Their house is just perfect sitting amidst soft rolling hills and beautiful natural landscaping. The field behind their home that leads to the pond is overflowing with gorgeous wildflowers. It was a glorious setting for the perfect day.

Thank you Uncle William, Aunt Terri, Conlee and MarySelle! We had a blast!!!

A few differences.

Ok...so we've been back in the south for a little over a week now. We've all had so much fun we can't stand it. We've eaten and played and eaten and swam and eaten and visited friends and eaten......get the picture. I'm sure I've gained at least 10 pounds.
Anyway.... I wanted to share with you some of the things about my former home that I took for granted. I hardly noticed these little differences while living here in the deep south until I moved away and came back to visit. Here are a few.

The First has to do with the humidity. Now, I knew that this existed. I knew I was going to be slapped in the face by it as soon as I stepped off the airplane. What I didn't realize is the little tricks it plays. Humidity holds smells in the air. It amplifies them. I never noticed this before. It also puts a little spin on smells like mildew and perfume. I know this sounds crazy, but old buildings take on a new life with humidity, and ladies at church can be smelled miles away.

The second thing is the trees. Of course there are a million more trees here in the south then the southwest, and these trees are much much taller and bigger. It took a year of living in the desert to point out the magic that the sun and these trees can create. The sun passes through all of these limbs and leaves dappling the ground and various objects with the most glorious light. It's simple beauty high lighting all of God's glorious creations. I know you may find this silly that I'm just now noticing this. It's not that I'm just noticing it, I guess I've just missed seeing it for a year or so.

Again...we have all had so much fun. We have almost one more week until we head back to the desert. I'm going to go for now so I can watch the sun break through the trees as the humidity holds the smells of summer in the air for me.