NC State Fair 2009

Our annual trip to the NC State Fair was spectacular! We visited our usual spots - the Village of Yesteryear being one of our favorites. A 73 year old painter who does a phenomenal job with painting wild life was in his regular spot. Many of his pieces were gone, so we settled on a wooden Christmas ornament with a chic-a-dee bird and then took a picture of him and Tim together.
There was the 50 cent pickle, the free hush puppies, the tiny bowl of peanuts and of course, the best ice cream in the world - the NC State brand! There was the hot deep fried onion and then the funnel cake. Hunter was wearing more of the white powdered sugar than what he consumed. Walker seemed to enjoy his hot dog the best. We enjoyed a slice of pizza as well as a chicken pita. We were tempted by the new "Pig Lick", but decided that chocolate covered bacon would just be too gross to consume.
Tim tried his aim at a shooting out the star, but missed two itsy bitsy red points. Its a shame I'm sure!
We eventually visited the dairy barn. My sweet husband even bought me a souvenir! (That's probably why it rained. :) It was a bright red NC State t-shirts stating I had been to the cow milking booth and it was "udderly" great. I proudly displayed my udders......shirt. We then took our family picture, in my big udders shirt, in front of the humongous pumpkin! Brittney may have been embarassed that her mother had no shame, but we did laugh and continue on our adventure.
A trip to see the goats found Walker feeling the 'little" goats were sad because they must miss their momma. And then he picked out a new friend....a black and white rabbitt. I liked the huge, big, fat, fluffy, brown one, but Walker and Hunter said NOT!
Tim was engrossed in the chammie wipes demonstration and then the bees and then the pottery making. He loves that stuff and absorbs ( no pun intended) all that they say. :)
Walker seemed to find EVERY wooden stand-up painting that required a face to be placed in the hole to complete the picture. So....15 pictures later.....we succeeded in finding them all.
Each year we also participate in a scavenger hunt to get our NC State Fair t-shirts. They are free this way. (Imagine us wanting a good cheap deal? )This year it was about saving energy and going "green". Hunter was much more interested and had some fun. He even got to play "wheel of farm questions" and got a prize.
We missed Kay Hagan by a few minutes this year, although it would have been good timing for me as I was preparing for a trip to D.C. Nonetheless, I did visit Senator Richard Burr's booth, without my husband of course. He was busy getting a free eye test.
And the moment the boys had been waiting for....Brittney arrived.....just in time for the rides!
Whew! Thank goodness. We each shared a ride with Walker - the big slide, the fun obstacle course, the catepillar roller coaster and then the round and round and round really really fast ride! Hunter enjoyed several round and round and up and down and make you dizzy and want to puke rides! Brittney was the escort for those!
The light rain began, so a cup of Hot Apple Cider, another tradition, was a perfect way to end the day. It was enjoyed as we watched a wild display of fireworks from the dry safe area of the old, antique tobbacco barn.
We left the fair in the late night hours. Thank goodness it was Friday - no work or school tomorrow. Another year of fun! Everyone was asleep 30 minutes into the ride home. Me in the van and Tim and Brittney traveling close behind.

The tradition of the pillow!

And the third pillow belongs to......Hunter!
I guess I have never felt it was such a milestone until my 11 year old son proudly brings home the pillow he made in Life Skills class at West Pine Middle School. You see, this is not our first made pillow. If I remember correctly, Brittney made hers - same school, same class - but it was bigger. Way bigger! The fabric on hers was more of a fleece/terry cloth. I remember at one point, she had to stuff it with newspaper because we didn't have enough stuffing.
And then there was Danielle's pillow. Hers was a similar size to Hunter's but plain blue. The fabric was just plain cotton. I can't tell you how many times I washed that pillow. She really did use hers! Plain blue matched everything and it was just the right size for sleeping or traveling!

And now, we have my son's beautiful, plaid pillow. His fabric has a corduroy feel. His is a good size. Hunter even wanted to put a pillow case over it to protect it from drool and such! I'm not sure who is more proud of it - him or me!

We took it for granted when the girls made the pillows. Its part of being a girl - knowing a little bit about sewing. After all, its the women who are supposed to attach buttons and darn socks and hem things. But my son! Wow! no - Cool! I'm excited that he will be independent with these task. I now have evidence that he can do these things! I now have proof that we don't live in the archaic times of only women can sew! Not sure he will like my new found respect for his sewing talent.

I wonder what Walkers will be like?? Hmm. we have about 8 years to wait. :) maybe someday we can have a reunion of the pillows. :)

I got the fever :) Deer season begins!

5:26 PM - doing the laundry, cleaning house.
5:27 PM - Four doe in the pasture seen out the sun room window.
5:30 PM wake up the hubby for work and get me a gun :)
5:35 PM Gun found, bullets found, loaded, safety on!
5:37 PM Open front door, three steps, sit on porch, look to the left, safety off.
5:38PM Boom! Down she goes! :)
5:38 1/2 PM Yippee! Adrenalin rush! Woo ha!
5:39 PM Husband smiles, says "Are you sure?"
5:43 PM Photo op!
The hubby must shower and get ready for work. Deer tagged, registered online.
6:15pm Hubby loads deer in back of truck.
7:15 PM deer to processing plant! All done.

Not a bad day of house cleaning!

The Braves begin! BB Season Fall 2009 Aberdeen Rec

A busy Tuesday! Work as usual for me. Walker to pre-school until 12. Hunter out of school early today. Then......mini-kickers from 4-5. watching these 3 year olds run around chasing the ball, many not knowing what to do, some crying, some just sitting. One can't help but smile! Hunter's soccer practise from 5-6. He was quite unique in his attire. I think his excitement over his first baseball game at 7pm, he decided to wear his new baseball pants to soccer practise.....three grass stains later, we are off to the baseball field. We were going to "tail-gate" with pizza before the game, but again, the enthusiasm was greater than hunger! Baseball is so much more fun when its your kid playing! 2nd base! Wow! He played well. He had a hit, a walk and strike out. He almost caught a fly ball! He stopped a couple of grounders! He encouraged his team! And he had a great cheerleading section - mom, dad, Walker- who cheered with his snoring in my lap, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Kevin and Andrew with Steve and Nancy! We even got a wave of acknowledgement from the field! Again, baseball is so much better live than watching it sleepily from the couch. We are the BRAVES, too. How cool is that? Busy day, but good day overall! (by the way, we lost 8:9 :(

Hunter Scores!!!!

Today has been a busy day. Up early. Baseball practise at 0900. Hunter played great. His coach has him currently playing 2nd base. He hustled and stopped several ground balls, caught several throws on 2nd, whizzed it to the 1st baseman and hit three hits! Off the soccer we flew. 10:30am, breeze if perfect. Overcast sky! Temperature 78 degrees. Perfect day for watching soccer! Fire, the name of Hunter's team, is undefeated this season. Sure as I say that, it will jinx them! For whatever reason, the coach was switching out players quite frequently. At half time - the score is 1:1. Walker keeps up the tradition and runs across the field to carry his big brother a Gatorade, the color of his choice of course, to ensure adequate hydration is achieved. :)
the 2nd half - Hunter gets placed as a forward and Wa laa! He makes a goal! The winning goal, I might add! yippee! I was jumping up and down and hooping and hollering as all proud mothers do, I'm sure! The lady next to us, a mother from the other team, smiled and seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm. Next week will bring another challenging team! Let's hope the weather is good and the team plays well.

Our Ocracoke Week

Our week at Ocracoke this year was very good.?? I heard more than once, and maybe even said myself, that this was our best year ever.?? Not sure exactly why this was, except that I believe it was a little more relaxed than normal.?? Apparently, we were all in a positive place in our biorhythm cycle!?? We enjoyed long bike rides, exhausting aerobics exercise classes, fabulous meals and wonderful stretches on the beach.??

Joy and Sallie even got in a full day of shopping at all the thrift stores along Hwy 12.The boys (and yes, that includes Pell) were great during the whole week.?? They played hard and had lots of fun on the beach and around town.?? Hunter did some solo rides around town on his bike.?? I think he enjoyed the independence of that.?? Walker never wanted to be more than a few feet from his mom, and even went shopping all day with here and Sallie on Wednesday.?? She said he was great!?? Hunter caught quite a few fish and showed us up at times.

Joy managed to hook a big fish or two.?? She also managed to do her usual of keeping all our clothes washed and our things organized.?? Me and the boys do not possess the gift of organization, so we depend on Joy for our our structure.?? I am not sure she appreciates that need all the time.?? Joy loves the beach though, and she usually gets the most from it.??

And me??? I like to have slow, relaxing mornings, event filled afternoons and great dinners in the evenings.?? So I wasn't disappointed.?? Throw in the great friends we had at the beach (Katherine and Steven Green with Emma, Jerry Green and Ray Green) and it all comes up roses.?? Joy and I are already trying to plan another trip.?? Maybe at my birthday (November).?? Or our anniversary (April).?? Or Christmas (Joy says "no way").?? Whenever it is, we know it will be very nice!

Tim

Saturday Tears

Today is our last day on the island. Wow! the week has flown. Although I am not totally caught up on sleep, it has been a great week. Today, the breeze is nice and the sun is shining bright in the sky. My daughter and husband tell me I look like a tourist with my plaid crop pants and matching shirt. I have a white cardigan draped over my shoulder and a white visor on. My camera is over my shoulder, so in truth, I guess I do. Puddles fill the sides of the roads due to the rain the night before and the island is a buzz of cars and other bike riders as well as families strolling through the streets. I enjoy the island for the peace and quiet. The busy streets make is seem too much like our busy world at home. We were off for our morning bike ride around the village. One of the bikes has a seat that feels like a petrified banana when you sit on it, so we elected to rent a bike for Brittney to replace this one. At least then, for a couple of hours, we could fully enjoy the morning and the ride. Tim has the big bike with Walker in the child's seat behind. I am on the ancient "girl" blue bike. (At least it has fenders to guard me from the water splashes from the tires.) Sallie has Hunter's old bike - it is just her size. Blue Heron is a relatively new realty place on the island and Tim has elected to go to their office to check them out and rent the bike there. Tim leads the way, crosses the road, through the puddle to park beside the porch. Brittney is next in line to park the petrified, made for a feelingless butt, seat on the side of the building. I follow suit, maneuvering the cars and the puddles to come to a sudden hault in front of the building. Bringing up the rear is Sallie. And then, there was a clatter, a scream and oh no!!! Sallie falls off her bike into the mud puddle! She's laughing, but soaked. Two passerby's came rushing to her side. They assist her to an upright position, gather her bike and help her to the front of the building where the rest of us are standing. One of the fellows that assisted her commented, "some friend?". Sallie's response was "No, that's my daughter!" At the sound of the scream, I did look back. When I saw her tumble, I hurriedly searched for my camera. Snap! Snap! a priceless moment. She was laughing, so thus not unconscious. Her legs were in motion high in the sky, thus no broken bones. Me? I was adding to puddles with my tears that were rolling from laughter. I'm heartless, I know! It gives me a whole new perspective on mud wrestling. As expected, she gracefully recovered, wet butt and all. She was laughing herself.
5 minutes later, I was on the phone calling her best friend in Texas and sharing the experience. Tears of joy! What a day.

Nana Wee and Poppa at Ocracoke

Ocracoke Scenic Pictures

Just a few snapshots.

Great day of fishing!

Friday- today is my kind of day! We didn't make the "free" power ball excercise class, but we hurriedly attempted to make the yoga class. To our dismay, the class was canceled. So, it was a family bike ride around the village. Brittney played hookey from school to spend some time with Nana Wee and Poppa, so she was able to get some fresh air and excercise too. After leftovers for lunch, we all loaded up for what we hoped would be a fruitful day of fishing! And that it was!
We caught Flounder, Pompano and Blue Fish. Tim caught several and turned over is rod to Brittney and me. He could barely keep up. He would bait x's 2, cast x's 2 and by then it would be time to take Brittney's fish off and then mine. He could barely keep up! The cooler was full and then.........we ran out of bait. :( We had more fish than we could eat, but we had lots of fun. Poppa even jumped up a couple of times when he saw a fish biting! He seemed to enjoy the excitement as well.

Treasure hunting on the mainland!

In staying with the island theme, we became she-pirates today! We did our annual search for treasures up and down the seashore. A quick stop at the post office, a fax, and the bank teller we began our day. A hot cup of fresh coffee with a fatttening fat homemade warm cinnamon roll was our treat on the ferry ride to the mainland. We searched for treasures in many of our routine stores of which three are thrift stores. We truly search for treasures. Not to mention the money spent goes toward crisis prevention in the community! A brand new camo shirt with tags was the find of the day. Lots of t-shirt and souvenir shops as well. We enjoyed lunch at Lisa's pizzeria! A delightful day for Girls day out!
And then there was the trip back.....first to load on the ferry, we had a great view for the obstacle course that we endured. At least 8 different boats, some traveling quite fast, two kayakers and a jon boat with three men all seemed to want to play chicken. Of course, our big boat always won, but nonetheless, lots of boating traffic! We pulled into one lane to dock only to have to back up and re-dock at another. After deboarding, we then had to wait for the one lane traffic patrol to let us pass. Aahh! home at last. Hot Chicken Bogg was waiting for us!