When You're the Oldest...By Far....

Hadley is three years older than Charsy. Hadley is four years older than Ella. Hadley is six years older than Layton. Hadley is seven years older than Nathan. Hadley is nine years older than Chesley. Hadley is ten years older than Lacey.

If you're catching on, my oldest child is really too much older than any of her cousins to enjoy playing with them. She's getting to the age where playing with toys isn't fun. She's texting and making phone calls and starting to be more like a little grown up. I've started letting her take a friend with her to the farm on Sundays. That way she has someone to spend time with too. The little cousins play very well together, so she is always a little left out.

She has taken her friend Grace with her a couple of times, and I am fairly certain she wants to take her again the next time we go. :) Yea for friends!!!

Do You Want to Have a Good Laugh?...

Nephew Nathan hurt his finger. It wasn't a bad boo boo or anything, but he still wanted a band aid. After he was patched up, I lifted his hand and gave the boo boo area a kiss. I asked him, "Is it all better?"

His reply? "You don't kiss Iron Man."

It was SOOOOOO cute!!!!

The Tie Dye from a Distance...

Along Came a Spider...

After I posted the picture of the spider the other day, it occurred to me that you couldn't tell how huge it was from the picture. So, this weekend at the farm, I stood on one side of the window with my camera and made Jay stand on the other side while holding his sunglasses up by the spider. This is how BIG the spider is...

The spider may have frightened Miss Muffet away, but this spider also catches flies like crazy! She's a keeper!!!

Tie One On...

Our school system likes to have the kids dress up on football game Friday. Every Friday. And every day during Homecoming week. It gets tiring after a while, but my children love to do it. The first game this year was against the Tigers. It was "Tie Up the Tigers" Friday, so the nuggets were supposed to wear tie dye. Who do you think forgot about it until the night before? That's right. Me. I wound up buying RIT dye that had instructions on the back. I wet the shirt. Put it flat on a table. Started in the middle and twisted it. Tied it with three rubber bands. Placed it on a rack in the sink. Poured three colors of dye in three different areas. Waited a while. Rinsed it. Marveled at how easy tie dye is.

What do you think? Did my first tie dye experience turn out okay?

All They Are Missing is a Bandanna Tied to a Stick...

Historic Bank Street is home to one of my favorite restaurants of all time. We ate there not too long ago. The food was off the charts good as usual.
Then the two little nuggets started to walk away down the train tracks. Layton was completely obsessed with the tracks once he learned that trains no longer run on these.

They were so cute! I thought about how funny they would look with bandannas tied to sticks like they were running away from home. Ha! I did that a time or two when I was little. I normally packed a sandwich and toys. I'd get halfway down the street before deciding I should have packed a drink too. :)

Why So Blue?...

...because school started, and vacation time is over. She's ready for a slight break already.

Arachnophobia...

Are you afraid of spiders? I'm not really, but sometimes freaky, big spiders will wig me out. Yes, that was a reference to an old cliche. At the farm the other day, there was a huge spider in the window. We're talking so big that it could have carried away small children. Well, maybe not quite that big, but it was a huge sucker!

The hubs was forced to get a close up of it. Not that I would ever demand such a thing from my dear, sweet husband. 

Say What?...You Didn't Believe She Was That Dramatic?...

Well, take that. She is like this 24 hours a day. This explains the slightly psychotic state I operate in. :)

If You Have to Make a Face...

...you might as well make it a good one.

No, nothing was going on in this picture. She literally made this face for the benefit of the camera. Seriously. 

Come Bake with Me...

Ella has ventured into the gluten-free cake arena for Layton's sake.

It's so sweet of her!

Don't Tell...I Can't Afford This Secret Getting Out...

It's true. The elusive Yeti of The Enabler and Her Codependents has been seen again!

Right after this, I'm fairly certain the Yeti ate some school age children and disappeared into the mist. We'll keep that last little bit just between us. :)

More Fun on the Road in Alabama...

In the Bible belt, you have to have a cross out front. A really, big cross. Or maybe it's just this one church.  But gees, that thing is huge. Talk about guilting me into coming to a service.

Just a Glimpse of Quite Possibly the Cutest Boy on the Planet...

I'm not ignorant enough to actually believe he is the cutest boy on the planet. He's just the cutest boy TO ME on the planet. This week he has been "adopting babies." He gets his favorite teddy bears (he has 2) and puts a diaper on them. Yes, I still have diapers in the house...for when Chesley spends the night. After the diaper is on the teddy, it becomes a baby that Layton adopts and brings to me to love on. Totes adorable. It would be more adorable if he didn't fill sippy cups with water and juice for the bears and leave the cups all over the house. Ha!

Do you ever wonder about the things that wash up on the shore? The huge chunk of tree was there one day and gone the next. Hmmm. Why was a chunk of tree in the gulf? And just how intense was the tide that washed it in and then out?

A Want Not a Need...

I am a rather ordinary woman who doesn't have a lot of needs or wants in life. If there is something I really, really want, I find a way to get it. I rarely want things that are super expensive though. I'm low rent. Ha! There is one thing I am practically salivating for though. This is my current camera bag. It came with my camera as a freebie.

And....then there is this....

This is a Kelly Moore Boy Bag. AND, I really, really want to buy one, but I just can't bring myself to spend   $200.00 on a bag. I'm hard on purses and the like, so I know it would get a scuffed up and grotty. This is a total want. I want the bag. I really don't have a need for it.

You have to admit it though; if you're going to have an expensive camera, it would be nice to have a classy bag to keep it in. :)

Seriously Wonderful...

While we were at the beach, we went on a two hour dolphin cruise. The dolphins were neat, but the sunset was wickedly beautiful!

Things I Saw on the Road...

I saw a lot of signs advertising for divorce. Apparently, going on vacation makes people want to split up. Ha!

What is This and Why?....

Care to guess where we were?

Lacey...

She is absolutely precious.

Things I Saw on the Road...

Just peachy. A peachy water tower. Peachy.

This Isn't a Terribly Good Picture...But...

Hadley recently got a haircut. A big one. Thank goodness!! She was a stringy, hot mess.

She has been wanting to grow her hair out for ages. So, this year I let her do it. Bless her heart, her hair is just a mess. There isn't a bend in it. She didn't want to get it cut at all. I told her that she had to have a massive trim before school started. When I took her to the salon, she told them she wanted layers, and this is how it turned out.
I apologize for the crappy picture I took of her. Embarrassing true story. I totally missed the bottom step exiting the house and bit it right there in my front yard. I was mortified and tried to get a picture and get back inside as quick as possible. HAHAHA!

Ella's Driveway Art....

When I came home one day last week, this was waiting for me....

How Did This Happen So Fast?...

How is it possible that this little chunk of cuteness started to Kindergarten today?