These Busy, Crazy, Fall Days

I have several things that I wanted to post about, so I am just going to cram it all in one post.

Recently our family adopted a kitten from our cousins. Her name was Miss B, but now we call her Iggy Iggs. She is definitely nocturnal. All night she pounces on your face, and all day she naps in your lap. Her sister and two brothers aren't as crazy as her. I could never trade her in for any other cat. She has lots of personality and is totally cool. Sadie LOVES Iggy so much. Sometimes Iggy will get in Sadie's baby doll stroller, and let Sadie push her. That is one brave kitten.

 On Thanksgiving they had some kind of HUGE sale at Goodys and Sara and Ericka wanted to go badly. I decided to tag along just in case I saw something I really loved. There was a really long line and we were late, but we made it. When we walked in, there was a sale on scarves so I got one. I had thought I'd found the perfect boots, but they were barely too small. We waited in line for about 40 minutes when Daddy and Mr. Miles came to pick me up. Daddy was going to let me get an ipad mini. They were on sale for about $40 less than normal. We picked up Ben so he could help me. When we got there there was a long line, and there were only 20 ipad minis in stock. I was the 20th person, but I let the person behind me get that one because it was white and I wanted black.

 A while back our family went to the Agriama for a field trip. The Agriama is a pioneer village that has all of these shops and houses. I really didn't like the fact that we had to wear clothes that were old, dingy, and probably hadn't been washed in forever. Other than that it was really fun. It almost was like a land lost in time. Everyone there was wearing pioneer clothing. I really loved the schoolhouse and the place where you made pancakes.................the pancakes were so good.

 On November first, Tim's soccer team, Thunder, and several other teams had a championship tournament. If they won or lost, their ranking would go up or down. If you lost two games you would be out. First Thunder played Bulls and lost. After that Thunder played a team from a different county and won. The whole day it was COLD. In spite of that Thunder gave it there all. Thunder had to play the Bulls again and it was a tie. They had a shoot off and Tim scored a goal. Thunder won and I felt bad for Lillie, but I was happy for Tim. Thunder had to play the Jaguars, but they had a disadvantage because they had just played a game in the freezing cold. Although they didn't win, they gave it there all, and that is what it is all about.

 Our homeschool group, Harbor Home Educators, decide to make a float to go through the Christmas parade in our county. It turned out AMAZING!!!!!!!! The theme we had to follow was, Christmas stories. We decided to do, "A Pirate's Night Before Christmas". Most of the credit goes to Mr. Miles and Mr. and Mrs. Hicks. Without them we would probably be standing around not knowing what to do.

Mama's Broken Finger

On Saturday, our van's automatic door shut on Mama's finger. It was really swollen and Grandma came over and put a splint on it. Mama kept ice on it, took some pain medicine, and rested. Mr. Miles got us pizza because he didn't want her to lift a finger.

Still on Sunday her finger wasn't any better. It wasn't any better on Monday either, so she scheduled an appointment for the "Bone Doctor," the next day. Aunt Beth brought us some rolls, bread, and banana cake so Mama wouldn't have to cook much.

Today Mama got her finger checked out, and it is broken. She can't move it or the crack in her bone could displace.......then she would have to have surgery and have a pin put in her finger. She will go back to the doctor next week and have an X-ray.......to make sure that it is still okay.

The Messed Up Toilet

It was April Fools Eve and Tim and I wanted to play the best jokes we had ever played for April Fools. We had narrowed our jokes down to just a few things.

1. mail Tim to Aunt Beth in a NutraSweet box
2. tape mama's phone under the table and call it
3. draw a mustache on Ericka when she's sleeping
4. turn the TV volume all the way up

We had grand plans, but by April Fools Day everyone knew what day it was. I just stuck a rubber ducky in the tank of the toilet. Nobody noticed it though, and I just forgot about it. It was in a very unnoticeable place. Nobody even wondered where the rubber duck was.

A few days ago daddy noticed that the toilet wasn't working. Today he had the equipment to fix it and our family friend Mr. Miles helped him. They took off the lid to the tank and low and behold.

 The duck was blocking the flapper. Everybody got a kick out of that. I guess my April Fools prank waited until November.

Halloween 2014

On October 30th we went trick or treating....yes the day before Halloween. In our town, businesses and merchants give out candy. Tim and I walked from shop to shop trick or treating. Sadie really enjoyed it. Ben, Ericka, and some other 4-Hers were catapulting candy everywhere....fun ;)

Sadie was a witch.

I made a scarecrow costume, but I didn't wear it to trick or treat in....making it was for fun.

                              Ericka and her friend dressed up as nerds and went trick or treating.

Monday of Next Week!

 

I can't believe that Monday is the district 4-H Consumer Judging Competition! I didn't realize it was that soon until competition, and I guess I just totally forgot. With consumer judging we do a commercial advertising cotton, and we also judge consumer items based on a scenario. Last year I placed high, and I hope that I will do well this year. At least now I know how everything is set up. I'm kind of nervous. The thing I hate most is that two different people are doing there commercial in the same room....it's kind of confusing.

For my commercial, I am singing a song to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. I need to dress up like Maria, but I'm not sure which dress to wear. I kind of think the blue dress will look the best. I wore the blue dress last year.

Our 4-H extension agent is letting me borrow a dress to do my commercial in.

Adventure Is Out There

It is funny how just a walk around the pond can be made into an adventure with our family. For Ben's biology, he had to walk around a pond and observe some of the things that he saw. He also had to get pond water to look at under a microscope. Mama brought the wagon so Sadie could ride in it, but she wanted to either walk or be held. I brought my pencils and paper so I could draw some of the things that I saw. I decided to get into the deer stand to draw from a different angle. After that we walked around the pond.

 

 As we were walking around the pond we hit a dead end. There were woods blocking the path around the pond. Ben jokingly told mama that we should cross that strip of land....... She thought he was serious, so we did it. The last time that we attempted to do that, was a long time ago. We were going on a walk and I had my baby stroller with me so we couldn't get across. This time it was more difficult because we had Sadie and a wagon. Other than a scratch or two we made it.

Ben got on top of the deer stand and took pictures.

 

We should do this again some time.

The Perry Fair

On Friday we went on a field trip to the Perry Fair. We met up with some of our cousins and had a great time. Hannah and I rode on the air lift behind Tim, Daniel, and Jarrett....that was a mistake. The air lift stopped for a minute and Daniel and Jarrett turned to us and yelled,"The wires are snapping!" I can handle heights, but not when it is going slowly and all you have to do is look down.

 Some of us did the bumper cars together.......I hadn't done those in a while. 

Ericka and Daniel, "The Daring Ones", rode Pharaoh's Fury. It is a boat that swings you really high
up. I've done it before at Wild Adventures, but I was terrified the whole time. I was only seven and Ben told me that it was fun, but we sat on the seat that took you the highest and I hated it.

Ericka and Daniel are in this picture, but it is hard to see them.

We also went to the circus. They had an act where a guy dumped glitter on a girl and she somehow changed her outfit.....I've always wondered how that happens. There was also this girl who shot herself out of some kind of machine and she landed on a net. Mama doesn't like that kind of act because it looks dangerous.

Jarrett and Timothy in the petting zoo

Ethan and Daniel on the Yo-yo

Autumn

Autumn is finally here!!! I guess it was officially autumn on the 23 of this month, but just now you can feel it. Mabe there aren't many red leaves on the trees, but that doesn't matter. The damp and windy weather says it all. Most people would want summer to go on forever, but aside from going to the beach, there really isn't much that I like to do in summer. Maybe I don't like summer because no matter how much I try I always get sun burnt. Maybe I hate all the venomous scary insects that seem to always be at a place that I would enjoy being at. Maybe I hate the hot sticky humid weather that makes me want to go to a cold place like Alaska. Okay maybe if I was in Alaska I would be thinking ... I sure do wish I was in hot and humid Georgia right now. All I know is it is autumn and not summer and that I sure am enjoying going outside. This is the perfect weather for photo shoots with Sadie (although Sadie doesn't feel the same way), going to the chicken yard and holding Buzz, and simply sitting on the the front porch and breathing in the cool, breezy, air....(sigh)... I wish this weather wouldn't end. 

Thunder vs Bulls

Tonight Tim's soccer team (Thunder), played Lillie's team (Bulls). Thankfully it was a tie because if it wasn't I'd hear it forever from Tim or Lillie. The final score was 2 to 2. I was having a hard time containing myself. I would scream "GOOD STOP LILLIE" or "GO THUNDER." I got some pretty weird looks.

Tim was excited about the game.

Sadie was entertaining people by doing flips.

Near the end of the game we had to go into the dugout because it was raining.

At Grandaddy and Nana's

On Saturday we went to Grandaddy and Nana's house and had a cook out. Nana has a golf cart that we like to ride on. Ben drove Ericka, Tim, and me all over the place. When I say all over the place, I mean it. He took us down a runway to an airport where Tim got a picture with the airplane. We stopped a lot so Ben could check social media. He was blaring country rap as we drove. He even brought us to the Turner County 4-H office.

Ben Fishing

Tim with a drink in one hand and a fishing pole in the other.

Jamie fishing

Ben is showing everyone his raps.

Cricket Creek

This tipi is the first one I ever made.....I was so proud of it.

Several years ago Tim and I found a place in the woods beside our house with a fire break that was filled with water. I decided to call it Cricket Creek. We used to fight over who it belonged to.....well Tim found it and I named it. We decided it was everybody's land. I decide that we needed some houses ,or in this case tipis. I made three all together. My first one was good ,but it was extremely cheap. I had to repair it all the time. The second tipi I made was for Ericka and Becca. It was large, but looked nothing like a tipi. Ericka and Timothy made a clay oven in that tipi ,and they used the turtle shell that Sara found for a bowl. Just in case you're wondering we did not eat out of that bowl. My third tipi I shared with Lillie. It was my favorite one. Last year when we went to the woods we found all the tipis in ruins. We don't have the tipis back there anymore because the wind blew them down. We could have built them back, but we were afraid that snakes lived in there. Maybe we will rebuild this year......I don't know.  
       

Lately......

The craziness of Ben

We got Mama a blender for her birthday, and she likes it a lot.

Sadie likes the blender also.

Sonic is our #1 drink stop.

                           

Ericka