Country Top Ten

This past weekend one of my best friends, Amanda, invited us to the Cotton Gin in Somerville. This is the cotton gin that her loooonnnnnnng time boyfriend, Winn, partially owns. We loved the tour and since I love Top Ten Lists I will give mine for our little trip.

Top Ten(or 8) Reasons I Love Going to the Country and the Cotton Gin.

8. By the time you get there you have been in the car so long you must take a bathroom break except there are no places to stop.

7. When you do finally arrive at your destination you find a bathroom that has this on the back of the toilet:
6. We were the ONLY one that pulled up without a BAT (Big #@$ Truck)


5. Getting to play with unseeded cotton, which will also double as our next show and tell.

4. Seeing Darrell in a non business setting, loving all the details of cotton ginning(is it possible to make anything into a verb?) Win, what is the verb of cleaning cotton?

3. Freezing our butts off while looking at bales and bales of cotton and trying to not get knocked down by Juan driving the forklift thingy.

2. Being able to know exactly what every piece of machinery does, because they don't have sophisticated names:

And the Number One reason I loved the Sommerville, TN is because someday my friend will live there too.

The Coolest Neighbors

I have the coolest neighbor on one side of us. Ms. Rhonda invited my kids over to decorate cookies a week ago. She started off the afternoon with these adorable chef outfits.


She then put them to work decorating. I don't know why on earth it makes me crazy to let kids do this, but since it wasn't my house that had to be cleaned up afterward, I just shut my mouth and let the sprinkles flow.
...and flow they did. LInley had so many sprinkles that you couldn't even see the cookie when she was done.


I particularly love this picture, not so much because of what Jackson is rolling into a ball, but more because that same round shape is protruding from his left cheek:)




The final product was adorable and fun to eat and we loved our time with our very giving neighbor. Thanks Ms. Rhonda!

Holiday Cheer

A little holiday cheer from Linley!

Obsessed?

Any one else have kids who are obsessed with these?



...Cause I have two that are



I had never heard of these rubberband thingys until recently. The kids in the neighborhood and a coworker had told me about them, but I didn't give it much thought because Jackson didn't really care. Then, Jackson came home from school and in a very non chalant voice just told me that has been trading his 1 silly band for different ones everyday.

I asked him if he wanted more and he said yes.
Me: Then you should ask for Santa to bring them to you
Jackson: No, Santa can't make them, you have to buy them
Me: Then ask for mommy and daddy to get them for your christmas present
Jackson: (very frustrated) NO, I don't want to know what I am getting for Christmas
Me: Then are you going to pay for them
Jackson: Yes, I have money in my piggy bank

So I went yesterday and bought a pack of 24 and got them for free with a coupon I had.

Aren't I a great mom? I got my kids something cheap and fun and didn't even break the piggy bank:) I will be accepting mom of the year awards until the New Year;)

"Camping"

Jackson has been begging to go camping. So Darrell decided this past weekend was a perfect time for a trial run in the backyard, nevermind the fact that the low was in the 20's. I kept waking up all night expecting the two boys to come in to warm up, but they never did. Jackson had so much fun that he was ready to camp again the next night.


Luckily, Linley and I got to stay inside the warm house and sleep. She did get to help with the breakdown of the equipment.

Who Needs An Almanac

There is one thing that we can always count on; the fact that it will be FREEZING cold the day of the Candlelighting.

It obviously didn't stop the kids from having a good time in the daylight, but when the sun set they headed off to play in the car.

It was pretty as always:) (I am talking about the candles of course and not the flowers, because I had a minor meltdown when I picked them up and they put RED:((( flowers in the arrangement. I of course got over it after my mini tantrum. sigh.)

What Am I Doing Wrong Here?

I stuck Linley in the bath the other day and it was time to get out to eat dinner. She refused to get out so I gave her the 2 minute warning. When the time was up I started to drain the water and this happened:
A screaming mess. She laid in the bathtub until all the water was gone, refusing to leave. I finally went to get a towel to cover her and let her finish her tantrum. After a few minutes I decided it was time to document it. Darrell walked in as I was grabbing the camera, he heard the screaming and asked what I was doing. "Just taking a picture of our daughter, wet and naked, screaming in the bathtub."

I mean isn't that what everyone does after bathtime?

She finally stopped screaming long enough to see the picture I took of her.

Really? Anyone else have a spirited young daughter with advice? If I can teach her to channel that passion towards something productive we will be golden.

Love her even with that messy, swollen, red face:)