Monkeys in the Garden

Every spring I try to take the monkeys over to a local garden/museum for a photo shoot.  Actually, I forgot to take them last year, so this year, I was determined to go.

Usually when we go the azaleas are in full bloom, but I jumped the gun a little this year, and they weren’t flowering yet.  That was ok though, because the tulips were putting on a show of their own. 

The monkeys had a fun time roaming around the garden looking for good picture spots.  Ty kept telling me how much he loved going there.  Don’t let his rough, tough, wild exterior fool you.  He actually enjoys getting all decked out in snazzy new clothes.

Ty is usually a willing participant when it comes to having his picture taken, but little Miss Lucy is another story.  She started asking me how much longer we were going to be not five minutes after we started.  She also had a pretty difficult time keeping still long enough for me to get a shot, so I spent a some extra time making sure I had good pictures of her before we left.  Unfortunately, all that extra attention meant that at the end of the day I had a quite a few more pics of Lucy than of Ty.  So if the picture count seems tilted in her favor, that’s why. 

Of course the most difficult shots of the day to get were those of the two monkeys together.  It was quite a task to get them both to look at the camera with decent smiles and collars straight and hair in place. Not to mention that Lucy was dead set against standing or sitting anywhere near Ty!

About three-quarters of the way through the photo shoot, Ty let it slip that we were going to get to buy a Coke from the nickel machine when we were done.  Well, it was all over for Lucy after that.  All she could think about was Coke, Coke, Coke.  So I finally gave in, and to the drink machine we went!

I don’t know about y’all, but nothing beats a glass-bottled Coke (or Diet Coke)!  I swear they taste better than the cans.  These two little monkeys certainly enjoyed their bottles.

Lindsey

Road Trip!

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the flea market Mecca of the south – the First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas.  Canton is one of those places I’ve always heard about but never actually visited myself.

When people found out that I was going to Canton they would ask, “Have you ever been?”

“Never,” I’d say.

“Well, you won’t believe how much stuff there is!”

My mind struggled to concoct images of what this place could possibly look like.  Inside or outside? Booths or tents? Junk or fine antiques?  Tacky or high class?  Lol.  My head was swirling with ideas.

Turns out, all of my ideas were right.  Acres and acres of every kind of ware you could imagine.  Outside and inside. Old stuff and new stuff.  Tacky and high class!  There’s definitely something for everyone at Canton.  Even the men – vendors were shoving samples of hot soup and homemade jelly at you at every turn.  What man wouldn’t love that?

I think it’s only fair to go ahead and tell you what kind of trip this was:  a girl trip – me, Lucy, my sis-in-law Angel, and her two daughters.  We loaded up in my Yukon and headed west!  Now that doesn’t sound too crazy until I tell you that we pulled a trailer behind us!  And that may not sound too crazy to you unless you knew that I’ve never really pulled a trailer before in my life!  Can you believe our husbands sent us off to Canton with cash, credit cards, and an empty trailer?? Now, that’s what I call trust!

I took my big camera along to document all the crazy fun I knew we’d have, but I never even got the sucker out of the bag.  So what few pictures I do have, I took with my phone, and I apologize for the substandard quality. 

On our first day of shopping, to say that we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off wouldn’t be far from the truth.  To us, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to how the place was laid out.  We got turned around so many times we lost count, but that just added to the fun.

Angel had the fabulous idea to bring along a wagon to tow the little girls in.  Unfortunately, after we’d been out shopping for only 15 minutes, Lucy got a fever, climbed over into her own stroller and went to sleep for the next 5 hours!

When the poor thing woke up, she was starving and asked for a corn dog.  Boy, did she ever get a corn dog!  It was at least a foot long. And she ate every last inch of it.

You might have gathered from the pictures that it was a little cool outside.  Even though we spent most of the day “indoors” it was not climate controlled, but we bundled the girls in coats and blankets, and I stuck a couple of hand warmers in my pockets.  A little thing like cold weather wasn’t going to stop the shopping.  By the afternoon things warmed up to 65 degrees, so it turned out quite nice.

Who knew I’d meet The Most Interesting Man in the World!  I don’t always go to Canton, but when I do, I spend all the Tool Man’s money.  Lol.

Ahhh, Faith.  Shopping is not her forte, but she was a good sport while the big girls browsed around.  She perked up considerably after chowing down on a humungous funnel cake.  Yummy.  And how do y’all like her snazzy sunglasses?  Faith quickly learned that making puppy dog eyes can land you a steal of a deal.  One vendor even gave her something totally free.

The girls were super excited when they found out there was an indoor, heated pool at our hotel.  Of course, we hadn’t packed any swim suits, but that’s nothing a quick trip to Wal-Mart couldn’t fix.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of some items we saw while shopping.

Well, that was fun!  Angel found several great furniture pieces to fill some voids in her new home.  I picked up a couple of little things, but my pocket book couldn’t afford any big purchases this time.  It didn’t take Angel and I long to decide that we want to make this a semi-annual tradition.  It’s just too much fun not to go back a couple of times a year!

Lindsey

The Last of Christmas Past

With the end of January quickly approaching, I have to say that I’m not really into sorting through Christmas photos.  But I promised you more pics, so here they are.  (And when I say “few” that’s exactly what I mean.  Sometimes I get so caught up in all the Christmas activity, that I forget to take pictures, so the pickings were slim this year.)

First are a few pictures from Christmas night with my parents.  In recent years, we’ve tried to take a family picture on Christmas night.  Next year we’ll have one more person in our picture.  Ty and Lucy are getting their first baby cousin on my side of the family.  Lucy is some kind of excited.  Almost everyday she wants to know if the baby is ready to come.  Patience, Lucy.  We still have four and a half months to go.

And now, may I present to you, what I like to call the Whitehouse Christmas Tree!  I call it that because that is where a tree this size belongs.  Last year, my mom decided it would be a good idea to purchase a 12 ft. tall tree on clearance after Christmas. Oh, I’m sure she got a really good deal and all, but it’s freakishly big!

B. I. G.

Even the roughly half-million Santa ornaments that my mom owns were barely enough to fill the tree.  She’s having second thoughts about putting the tree up again next year, but it does make for a nice conversation piece, don’t ya think?

Once Ty got all his packages arranged just right and so, it took him approximately 2.3 seconds to tear through them all.  This year Ty made several requests for Legos, and he received a few different sets which he thoroughly enjoyed assembling.

My little baby girl is as girlie as they come.  There’s no doll she doesn’t love, no princess dress she doesn’t try on, and no fingernail left unpainted.  But of all things, she is super excited at the possibility of playing softball one day.  Uncle Jude seized the opportunity and bought Lucy an SEC themed ball and bat combo.  We had a little batting practice right there in the living room that night, and Lucy really surprised everyone with her mad skills.  She’s got a pretty accurate arm, and she even made contact with the bat a time or two.  Lucy will only be 3 at the time of baseball season this year, so I’m not sure if she will be allowed to sign up.  Boy, am I going to have one disappointed little girl on my hands if she has to wait one more year to play!

I always have a hard time deciding what to get my dad for Christmas.  I usually rely on the Tool Man to fill me in on what kind of hunting or fishing gadget my dad “needs.”  But this year was different.  By some miracle I remembered him mentioning several months back that he wanted a panini press.  You know, a sandwich maker.  So I took a chance and bought one for him, and I think he really liked it.  I have since been blessed with a panini maker of my own, and the Tool Man and I have enjoyed using it.  About once a week we pull it out, stack up some amazing sandwiches, and press away!  Yummy.  I will have to share some of our creations with you someday.

On to some Christmas pictures with the Allen’s.

Did y’all see the Elf Yourself app that was popular this Christmas?  Well, the Tool Man had quite a blast entertaining himself this season at others’ expense.  Christmas day he took some photos of his grand mother and great uncle and elfed them.  Then he played it on the big screen TV for all to enjoy.  You can tell by the look on everyone’s faces that it was pretty funny.

And speaking of elves, here’s another pretty cute one!

It was like pulling teeth, but I finally got my monkeys to pose in front of Grammie’s tree.  Not nearly as big as that other tree, is it?

Y’all remember the Mario costume Santa brought Ty, don’t you?  Well I told you that he wore it a good part of the day, and here’s some proof.  Ha ha.  These two cousins are nuts!

So that’s all of the Christmas pictures I have to share.  I’m really hoping to get back into blogging on a regular schedule this year.  I just killed my Facebook account which should free up some time, and I’ve decided not to take as many cake orders.  The cakes were really becoming too much for me to handle, especially since the Tool Man is working more hours.  Cake is not worth my sanity, right?  So check back in soon to see what exciting adventures we’re up to!

Lindsey

A Little Lovely

Some of you may be expecting to see a few more pictures from our Christmas activities, but today I couldn’t resist the urge to move forward.  I always find myself feeling a little blue after the rush of excitement of the holidays.  The best way I’ve know to cheer my spirits is to focus my attention on what lies ahead.  Several things come to mind as I think about what’s next… a brand new year with new resolutions, a new semester in our homeschool, projects that beg to be started, upcoming events like basketball games, dance recitals, and road trips, and new holidays approaching on the calendar.

It’s funny, but when I was a kid I never wanted my mom to take down our Christmas tree and decorations.  But now that I’m in charge, I can’t wait to get all of that stuff boxed up again.  I want it all gone, and I want to move on.  How I wish I could snap my fingers or wriggle my nose and every ornament would be neatly packed away!  Every garland, rolled and returned to the attic.  It seems that each year I find myself putting out fewer and fewer Christmas decorations, because I know that in only a few short weeks I will have to turn right around and lug them all back to the attic again. (I’m sounding very Scrooge-ish aren’t I?)

Anyway, once the decorations are all neatly stowed away, I love how big and roomy our home feels.  I find it very refreshing.  Even so, I find that I’m just itching for another excuse to do some decorating.  I wish I was as creative as some of the other fabulous ladies I’ve seen in blog-world, who can stick a few bare branches in a vase, throw a couple of pinecones in a bowl, and voila, have a fabulous winter vignette. No, I’m just not there yet, but I’m working on it.  So far all I’ve managed was a simple dish of soap rose petals.  They aren’t much, but I love the pop of color and the gentle, rose fragrance they add to the corner of our breakfast room.

I do hope these little lovelies have brightened your day!

Lindsey

A Merry Little Christmas

Once again it’s been way too long since I last blogged.  All of the holiday hooplah just doesn’t leave much extra time.  Thank goodness for a two week Christmas break from school, otherwise I’d be a crazy woman!  Anyway, I’m popping in today to give you a quick update on our Christmas activities.

First on the list is Christmas morning.

I’m pretty sure that my two monkeys were the only children in America the world that slept late on Christmas morning.  The Tool Man and I actually had to wake them up around 8:00.  Even then they just drug themselves downstairs and went straight to the couch.  We had to encourage them to open their presents.  Weirdos.

The presents before the pandemonium…

Let the ripping and tearing begin!

One of the main things Ty asked for this Christmas was a slingshot.  I sure hope he doesn’t “shoot his eye out.”

Miss Lucy’s Christmas list was topped with a pink Barbie and a puppy…a pretend puppy.

I love my babies’ faces on Christmas morning.  Swollen eyes and puffy cheeks.  So sweet!

Ty was just a little excited about these Trash Packs. Love the expression!

Lucy got some paper doll books, nail polish, socks, apples, oranges, peppermint sticks, press-on nails, and stick-on earrings in her stocking.

Both monkeys got a Dream Lite for their rooms.  I’m pretty sure these little lights kept the monkeys up an extra 2 hours the first night they used them.  We may have to “lose” the batteries for these things.

By far the greatest hit, as far as Christmas gifts went this year, was a Mario costume for Ty.  I’m pretty sure Santa picked this little gem up at Wal-Mart for a mere $2 on the Halloween clearance aisle. Without a doubt, the best $2 Santa has ever spent!  But don’t take my word for it.  Take a look for yourself.

What a nut!  Just like his Dad.  Ty wore this suit half the day.  Thankfully it looks like he will outgrow it by February.  Ha ha!

Well, that takes care of all the Santa fun.  After the monkeys opened their gifts, my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law came over for our annual Christmas morning breakfast.  Yummy to my tummy!  Waffles, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, eggs, and polenta (our fancy name for grits).  We really should do breakfast like this more than once a year.  It’s my favorite meal of the day.

More Christmas pictures to come….at least that’s the plan anyway!

Lindsey