I gotta home down on the river...

Tuesday afternoon it wasn't too chilly out, so after some naps for my two little guys, we put on our jackets and boots and headed down the hill to see the river. During the summer, the river seems to far away because the leaves on the trees and the undergrowth down the hill block if from our view. The water is usually pretty low during the summer, too. But since the leaves were falling and they were letting the water out of the lake up the river, we could start to see (and hear) the water down the hill from us.

 

 

I think I posted something on FB this afternoon - Mop or take a hike with my boys?

I seriously didn't have to think twice about this one. I love time with my boys, especially outside, and no kidding, I hate mopping. :)

 

Cash brought his "anchor." It's a yellow plastic anchor attached to a yellow string. It kept getting caught on EVERYthing going down the hill. It gave us something to laught about, for sure.

 

Fun times are sitting on a hillside with big brother and his anchor. (he, he)

 

When we got down to the river, we immediately discovered a problem. We found NO rocks! Not one - so what could they throw? We found some sticks, but Cash was already making plans to bring his dump truck full of rocks next time we came down. What fun is a river with no rocks to throw?!

 

Yes, she always follows us when we go for walks.

 

Cash was busy getting his anchor hung in everything while B threw some sticks in the water. Good ol' fashioned fun!

 

It occurred to me while we were down there that my little B is now the age that Cash was when we started building the house. (I remember Cash falling in the mud with this jacket on.) Time flies when you're raising babies!

 

I think he agrees. What a happy face!

 

Someone had some sass here - still upset over the lack of rocks to throw.

 

Oh, the faces of my B...

 

The leaves were still changing, but you could see the yellow and orange in the maples around the river. The water was high and fast-moving that day.

 

See all those sticker-bushes? We aim to clean those out so it's easier to see the river and throw rocks/sticks - maybe one day. Right now it's a great barrier for these two little ones.

 

Dirty pants - he thought sliding down part of the hill would be fun!

 

The Barren River -- the boys love the Josh Turner song, "I got a home down on the river..." They sing it all the time in the car, country drawl (sp?) and everything.

 

I decided to take some mommy-boy pictures before we started up the hill. Me with the one who made me a mommy - he's so big!

 

And me with my crazy little nutty goofball! :)

 

 

And then it was time to hike back up to the house. Shew! What a workout!

Fall Festival

Sunday afternoon brought more fun - our church's annual fall festival. A very sweet family from church always hosts this event, and it's by far the event we look forward to the most. Hay rides, volleyball, blow-up slides, yummy food, a bonfire, and all of our church family. Perfect combination for a great afternoon. The weather was perfect, too, so we grabbed our chairs and food, and we headed toward Plano.

 

 

Mr. Ted has three or four old tractors. Here's one of them. The boys LOVED them, especially Baylen. Actually, at the end of the night, he cried for those tractors. :)

 

Hayride time! Here's Cash with his good friend, Whit.

 

Wow -- it's a picture of Heath and I together!

 

B was excited to be on the red tractor, but made sure to keep an eye out for all the other tractors, too.

 

After the hayride, the boys wanted to go on the slide. They got halfway up and B decided it was too crowded - just one of those kinds of afternoons. :)

 



 

We were busy playing, eating and chatting with friends -- I didn't take anymore pictures. A guitar ensemble played some great songs, Pastor Steve gave one of his "short sermons," and then we just fellowshipped with all our friends. God is good!

Neighbors!

On the afternoon of the 13th, we joined our neighbors for the 2nd annual Moats Lane street potluck. It was so much fun and so well attended last year, we decided to do it again. It was another warm afternoon, food was yummy, and the company was the best. It's such a blessing to live in an area where people do care and want to know their neighbors. It's something to be celebrated!

 

 

Come one, come all- on your four-wheeler, or ...

 

your car or ride your tractor on over!

 

Some people even walked, of course.

 

Heath helped with the grilling again this year.

 

Kids were everywhere! Here's three of the four Jackson grandkids!

 

And here's my little B munching on some cheese!

 

Mike was busy with the other grill. Earlier that day he pattied out 56 hamburgers!

 

There was a football game going on with the bigger kids,

 

while the adults caught up on the latest news.

 

Elizabeth was busy pedaling her tractor, but stopped for a quick smile.

 

Kate found that this was the best view of all the food on the wagon. :)

 

I think the kids agree that the food was superb! (Seriously, there were at least 12 kiddos five and under!)

 

My guys

 

Here's our neighbor friends standing in line. Mike pulled his wagon to the cul-de-sac to put all the food on. It works out perfectly.

 

He also brought his HUGE American flag. What's more American that our country's flag, a street potluck, an old pick-up truck and a country sunset? Love it!

 

Oh, we can't forget to mention the highlight of the night - Mr. Scotty's cannon! He gets it out only for the most special occasions!

 

 

B was ready (notice the child has no shoes or boots - I gave up a long time ago).

 

It was fired twice, welcoming our new neighbors and celebrating the fellowship that we all have together. What a fun afternoon!

BG 10k Classic

We did it! The big race that we were working up to was the Bowling Green 10k Classic. On Saturday, the 13th, Karalee and I met Amy at the start line. While trying to keep warm, we ran (not literally) into two other Glasgow girls, Amber Hurt and Laurie (Vance) Basham. We posed for this pre-race pic and then away we went!

I had SO MUCH FUN! It was a great course, perfect running weather, awesome atmosphere and the finish line was inside the WKU football field. I finished in 1:03:07! That's a 10:12 average pace (6.2 miles)! Yay for me!

Up next? There's a few more 5ks later this month, then I'm slowing down for a bit. I'll keep running, but the racing part is taking a toll on the budget! :)

Just Piddlin' with friends

Last Friday, we met some friends of ours at a farm in Logan Co. called Just Piddlin'. I'm not sure if I've been completely behind on the latest places to go or if this place is new, but I had never heard of it until earlier that week. I looked it up online and on FB and decided it would be fun to try out. Cash had been wanting to get together with his school friend, Gavin, so I talked to his Mommy and the plans were set.

Even though it had rained the night before and a little that morning, Natalie, Gavin's mother, and I decided we could still go. I am so glad we did! The boys loved it!

There was a calf to pet, but

B didn't really seem interested in petting it.

There was a slide, but it was kind of wet. Natalie and Stella Jane went down it a few times though. Big smiles!

They also had a "race course" for tricycles, pedal tractors and "race cars." It looked like it would be fun, but I'm not sure the boys were quite old enough to pedal it, so I did a lot of pushing. (Note: Bring Daddy next time.)

Cash preferred the "race car" because it had a brake.

Did I mention they had a huge "pool" of corn to play in? They stayed here most of the time. 

They played, jumped, chased, wallered (is that a word?), and just plain ol' LOVED this part of the farm. The fact that it was in a large shed blocked by the cold wind was perfect, too!

Happy boy!

These two play so well together! They're just about six weeks apart in age, and I'm so glad that they are  good friends.

Stella Jane wasn't too sure of the corn. She sat and played for a bit, was more interested in other things.

This one had corn everywhere! I found it in his pockets, his hood of his jacket, and even his socks.

Ditto. This one even found some in his underwear later in the afternoon. :)

Big jump!

Three handsome (blonde!) boys loving the corn!

One sweet little girl who LOVED toting the little pumpkins in her bucket!

They asked us to be careful and not get too much of the corn out of the "pool." I tried to keep most of it on the carpet, and then we would scoop it back into the "pool." There was a sign posted explaining that the cost of corn was high this year...

Yes, Stella Jane and B loved the pet bunny.

How fun!

These two decided to go for a spin on the "race car." Stella Jane pushed while B steered. Instead of going back out to the race track, they stayed in the shed where it was warmer. Perfect fun!

Oh, my! We tried to get a picture of them together, but it just wasn't happening. Here's to a fun morning at Just Piddlin' with some great friends!

"Mommy and Daddy"

This is Cash's latest portrait. In case you can't tell, it's of "Mommy and Daddy." I asked Cash what was on Daddy's lip. His response, "He has one of those things like that monkey."

Heath and I laughed and laughed. Our boys are so fun!