not our first trip to the ER, but our first set of stitches

I totally thought Charlie would be the first one to visit the ER. I was wrong when Avery broke her collarbone falling off her bed two years ago.

Again, thought Charlie would be the first to get stitches. Wrong. Last night we spent a couple of hours in the ER (same one she went to when she broke her collarbone!) so Avery's chin could get three stitches. She busted her chin open trying to get out of the slide in the pool.

Other than that, we had a great visit to Holly Springs. Wonderful friends, fun times. It is hard to try and see everyone in just one weekend. Hopefully we'll get to visit again soon.

 

 

bad words

Right now the kids are in the bathroom telling each other jokes using 'bad' words.
Lots of jokes about poopy and tushies. And then lots of giggles.

Visiting history

On the road to the tobacco house on the Burroughs farm. This is the farm where Booker T. Washington spent the first 9 years of his life.



Tobacco house


The Burroughs were self sufficient. Raised pigs for salt pork, chickens for eggs, sheep for wool. The National Park is on just about the same original 207 acres.

Booker T. Washington National Park

I love getting the kids out exploring. And I love when the exploring turns educational.
This National Park is small, but probably the perfect size for little kids. And Free!
It was difficult for Avery and Charlie to understand slavery and even more difficult for them to understand 12 people living in a house the size of a 1 car garage.
And now I know the torment we gave mom and dad visiting all of these historic sites years ago. Once they got past the "I'm hungry, I'm tired, I want to go home" phase, the kids seemed to enjoy the park. They even sat through a 15 minute movie about Booker and had good questions when it was over! So as much as I grumbledas being dragged around the US to see and experience history, the experiences left an impact on me. I hope the kids come to apprecite our history as they get older as well.

The house on the right is the kitchen, where Booker and his family lived. His mom was the cook of the farm. 5 people in that little house, not to mention living in a kitchen. The house on the left is the smokehouse. The Burrough's home, the owners of the farm and of Booker until he was 9, was in front of these two buildings, but burned down in the mid-1950's.

visit with the horses

Avery stopping to pet Tom cat, the resident stable cat

 

Flee, a thoroughbred who has retired from racing

 

Stephen with Big John

 

here to stay, for now

My apologies for the lack of pictures. I need to figure out why Picasa is not allowing my photos to post here.

Stephen and I have decided (or the decision was made for us) that I am going to stay at the lake until we *hopefully* close on the house. We looked into a short term rental, but the owners couldn't give us a short enough term. So we have talked my parents into letting us stay here until things are settled. We could be here until October! Crazy, aren't they?

Funny, I still have not seen the house we are potentially buying. We are having so much fun here that I think I am over the fact of Avery not starting kindergarten with her classmates. Not quite over the fact that I am living with my parents again:)

It is so nice to have so many hands on with the kids. I was able to leave Jackson home today so Avery, Charlie and I could go to a beach and just have fun. My mom, dad and I have been cooking up some yummy new meals. We have been using the Cooks Country (Jenny!) cooking magazines for recipe ideas and everything has turned out wonderfully.

We miss Stephen so much, but as he keeps pointing out, this will all be worth it in the end (he keeps telling me we are in the home stretch...).

I have a long 3 weeks ahead of me, as my parents will be away. But the kids and I have exploring to do and our last few weeks of summer to enjoy. And hopefully, we'll have more news on how our contract is moving along. All we know so far is that the bank has received the contract. Baby steps.

Hopefully next post we'll have pictures!

Avery caught the first fish. She caught the largest fish and the most fish.
Charlie caught the only non-sunfish, we think it was a perch.
I caught my first fish and Stephen also taught me how to release them.

Avery with her first fish.


The kids with Charlie's perch.


The perch before we threw it back.


Avery was a little sad we didn't have any fish to bring home and fry for dinner. We told her we had to wait until grandpa got his boat.

fishing fun

I finally have a camera!
Stephen came down to visit us at the lake. We are having a great time swimming, kayaking, playing and now fishing.

Daddy getting the Spongebob fishing poles ready.



the kids trying it for themselves

Great news!

We finally have a written contract on a house!
Happy Day!

good to have plans

1) Getting Jackson better and also getting him to sleep through the night. He is cutting some teeth and has been up many hours, many nights. He is definitely feeling better and after some Motrin last night, we all slept.

2) After putting in an offer on house #2 Monday, we have a verbal agreement that the house is ours...but look where that got us last house. So we told our realtor we are giving them until 6pm to have a signed contract over to us or we'll find something else. If they fall short, we start looking again, this time avoiding a short sale.

3) Made a list of the school supplies Avery needs to start kindergarten and plan to buy as much as I can this weekend (tax free weekend, gotta love em!). Also learned Kindergarten orientation isn't until Sept. 3rd, first day of school not until Sept. 8th, so we have plenty of time to get up there.

Feels good to have plans. Exciting to start over again in a new place, and even more exciting to get Avery ready for school. Looking forward to being back together as a family unit as well.

time moves so slowly when you are waiting for big news

When we made our first offer a few weeks ago, I was packing up the house. So time flew by and the offer was at the back of my mind.
Now that I am here at the lake, with not much to do, I can barely keep myself from calling our realtor every hour to find out how our second offer is progressing.
Hopefully we'll know more this afternoon and praying it is good news.

our little swimmers

Avery is doing handstands in the pool now and Charlie jumped off the diving board (with ducky tube, but still!).
Their new goggles are fabulous, no fogging, not too tight.
I amazed at how differently they are swimming from last year to this. And now from day to day.
I have simple goals for my kids, one of which is knowing how to swim.
Yay! Goal accomplished. And the way they love it, well that is just an added bonus.

got to love the sticks

The lake house is remote. Closest grocery store is at least 30 minutes away (all farm roads of course), and all trash has to be taken to a dumpster, no pick-up at the house itself (which makes for a pretty stinky drive when trashing dirty diapers and pet feces).

But the place is beautiful. The view from the back porch is stunning, breathtaking. As the sun sets the scenery is from a postcard, or a painted picture, it just doesn't seem real. The blues of the sky, the greens of the trees, the whites of the clouds, so pure.

The kids want to spend all their time outside. Down by the lake, in the lake, running around the yard, exploring. There are very few bugs, humidity level is bareable, the neighbors all know one another and keep an eye out for one another.

As Stephen and I mentioned when we first came here, it reminds us very much of the movie, the Truman Show.

The stars are brighter at night. The air seems cleaner, clearer. The only real noise we hear might be a far off passing boat or the ting of a golf ball.

It has been the perfect place to come and relax. To get my mind off of the less important things and focus on the more important.

I can definitely see why mom and dad love it here. The weight of the world just rolls away the longer you stay.

don't come near me

Or better yet, don't let me in your house.

Today while I was getting ready to take the kids to the pool in my parent's neighborhood, I looked up and saw two huge water stains on the ceiling. We're talking one 5 feet long, the other about 3 feet long about 4 feet apart from one another.

Come to find out, the upstairs air conditioning unit has a major leak and it is puddling above the downstairs master bedroom.

Repairman is coming out tomorrow, but I mean really! That along with the dog running away at 10:30 last night, I will probably have all grey hair the next time any of you see me.

is there anything worse than a sick 1 year old?

He was so pathetic looking. Just sittting and sucking his thumb and staring off into space. The dark circles and half opened eyes made him look horrible.

So when his fever spiked today after his nap, we decided to take him to the Urgent Care here at the lake. Thankfully the older two were willing to stay in the lobby with Leigh while I took Jackson back to see the doctor.

Doctor said the first antibiotic he was on (2 weeks ago) isn't strong enough to fight much these days. So he said while it calmed some of the symptoms, his lethargy, lack of appetite, it didn't actually kill the virus making him sick.

So today they found his ear showing the start of an infection and his cough to be just as bad as it was 4 weeks ago. Same virus, still fighting and kicking its' way through little man.

Hopefully this antibiotic will do the trick.

Ready to see Little Man back to being himself.