Just another day on another farm.....

Seems like all we do lately is bounce from farm to farm with the little guys.  We had the three year old overnight this past Friday night so before he went home on Sat. afternoon we squeezed in one more farm.  This one is a true down home farm like in "Old McDonald Had A Farm Eee Eye Eee Eye Oh".  Actually it is called Uncle Donald's Farm and just when you get inside the fence, you know you are on a real farm.  Phewww Wheeee!!!  Not thinking, I wore flip flops and my feet were filthy when we got home.  We got a bag of corn and fed everything we were allowed to feed.  We saw Billy Goats, Cows, Rabbits,Turtles, Emu, Deer, Pigs, Horses, Otters, Racoons, Panthers, all kinds of chickens, ducks, ostrich, cranes, turkey (which bit the little guy on the finger). Ouch KK, I need some "magic cream" on my finger right now!  Magic cream is actually a name I began calling antibiotic ointment several years ago when the big guy had a boo boo.  He wouldn't allow anything to be put on it so I told him that I had some magic cream that makes it disappear in a couple of days and guaranteed not to sting or hurt.  Well, he agreed and after great results, he was a believer.  Every time anything happens to either of them they believe that magic cream will cure it!  A while back, the little guy had a sore throat and when we mentioned we may need to see the Doctor, he said can you just put some magic cream on it please.  Before he was potty trained, he would get a little diaper rash and stick his bottom in the air and ask for magic cream. 

He got to milk a goat and then feed a bottle of the milk to the baby goats.  We went on a hay ride and fed hay to the cows in the pasture.  We played in a hay maze.  We saw rats and snakes in the barn.  We saw a huge pig that looked just like Charlotte in Charlotte's Web.  He saw eggs that the hens had layed. And they had plastic owls in several locations.  Remember on a previous blog, I posted a picture of my owl that was recommended by the pest control service to keep snakes away?  Well, that is exactly why they had them! Once again, other than the turkey bite, we had a wonderful day on the farm.

Terreckly,
Kathy

"America's Most Sacred Acre"

If you have visited St. Augustine, FL.,  you  most likely saw the tall cross downtown on the inter coastal waterway.  From a distance, it looks like just another church steeple but if you park and walk through the beautiful grounds to get beside it, you realize just how massive it really is.  It is part of the shrine of Lady of La Leche.  It is the largest cross in the world standing 208 feet above the marshes of the Matanzas River.  It is illuminated by spotlight and visible to ships day and night.  It was erected in 1966 to mark the 400th anniversary of the approximate site where the cross of Christianity was first permanently planted in what is now the U.S.  If you stroll through the peaceful paths of the burial grounds you will see a beautiful little chapel that was built in the 1700's.  It was built with coquina stone which is a natural rock formed by the concretion of sea shells.  The chapel was rebuilt in 1875 and restored again in 1914 to repair hurricane damage.  It seats about 30 people and is open daily to visitors.  As I meandered through the cemetery and read ancient tombstones, I could hardly fathom the history there and what the lives of those  buried on those grounds must have been like.  This site has been called "America's most sacred acre".

Terrectly,
Kathy

Fun on the Farm

It has been awhile since we had our 5 year old with us for the weekend.  There was no T-ball game this weekend because of a tournament on the field so we borrowed him for a couple of days.  We ask him what he would like to do yesterday and he wanted to go back to Stanley Pond Farm.  We ran into some old friends there with their grandchildren so we had a very nice visit.  This is a great place to bring kids for several hours of fun.  They opened their pumpkin patch last week  so he picked out his pumpkin and decorated it.  I wanted to get more pictures but every time I turned around the the little monkey was back on the sand pile.  I seriously think he could have stayed there all day!  We talked him into fishing in the stocked pond and thought we would never get him away.  He probably caught 20 fish all together.  He caught  the biggest catfish and shiner of the day.  He had a little trouble getting the wiggly worms on the hook so he finally relented and let Pop Pop help out with that but he tried really hard first.  He is very stubborn (takes after his KK) and independent and thinks he is big enough to do everything by himself.  It was actually kind of comical at each activity we would visit.  Before he rode the horse, he told the girl in charge that he didn't need her to help him get on the horse, he could jump on himself.  At the air boat, he told the man he could push it out into the water then jump on by himself.  At the pond, same thing, he told the man in charge to just give him the worms and he didn't need anybody to help him throw into the water, he could do it himself.  Oh, and when the little gals at the craft table tried to help him with his pumpkin, he said I can do this all by myself.  It is frustrating sometimes but you gotta love his independence.
After we got home, he was still full of energy so Pop Pop took him to a baseball field to practice his hitting.  After that they headed to the driving range to hit golf balls.  When they got home he was pretty pooped!  I ask about his hitting and just as I thought, he wouldn't allow Pop Pop to show him how to hit baseballs or golf balls because he already knows how.  Don't have any pictures of that because Pop Pop is not as "snap happy" as me and  I was home making chili and downloading pictures for my blog!!

Today he goes home but there was one more stop he wanted to make," The Jungle  Zone Jumpee".   We told him we would probably be able to fit that in but it would depend on his behavior in church.  I will have to brag on him as his behavior couldn't have been better.  He took a piece of paper and practiced his alphabet and numbers.  He even sat quietly and listen to some of the sermon.  Needless to say, he got his trip to the jumpee.  He moves so fast it was hard to get good pictures there.  He met a little (er, big) boy there and they mainly chased each other playing tag.  As long as he was having fun.  Right?

Terreckly,
Kathy

Happy Autumn!

Go Gators!

Autumn has officially arrived and I love it, especially the crispness in the air and the delicious apples that are so plentiful! Unfortunately, my least favorite holiday, Halloween, falls in this season. As it approaches and all the stores are filled with costumes and scary, gruesome decorations, I have very mixed feelings. I love the color orange everywhere (of course I do, my favorite football team, the Gators are orange) and enjoy picking out just the right pumpkin. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin coffee and just about anything made with pumpkin. I do not exactly consider myself a Halloween scrooge, I just don't like the "creepiness" the holiday brings. I don't mind buying candy and handing it out to all the little princesses' and superheros. (even though I don't like opening the door over and over for mosquitoes to come in my house) It is actually the adults that dress up and trick or treat, that "creep" me out! Costumes give people a reason to act crazy and I don't like that. There is nothing fun to me about being scared or scaring anyone else. I don't really see the thrill of haunted houses either. Touching icky stuff, having the feeling of spiders crawling all over me and hearing a chainsaw running all in the dark is just not my idea of fun. Nor is seeing a bloody body rise from the dead in a coffin.  Believe it or not, there are a couple things I really like about Halloween. My Father was born on October 31st. I also like the way stores have jumbo bags filled with tiny snack size pretzels, raisins, chocolate kisses, etc. They are the perfect size for my little guys (and me) to have throughout the year. (I wish food companies would package them this way year round.)
I hope you have a wonderful fall season and I am not judging you if you enjoy dressing up or decorating your home with skeletons, witches, ghost and goblins. (My daughter has a few cute little bats hanging around that the boys made at school)   Happy Halloween or Happy Autumn whichever you prefer!

Terreckly,
Kathy

Making Memories...



Hurry, the sun is in my eyes!

 



I think the fish was thirsty too!



When I began blogging, my intentions were to share more of my life before children and grandchildren and a little less of my life as it is today. Somewhere along the line, I have reversed my intentions and find myself sharing mostly my day to day experiences with my "wild and wonderful" grandsons. It seems like the only thing "backwoods" about my blog anymore is me (I did grow up in the sticks, ya know) and I guess that is kinda what I am "exposing" anyway. Right?? Well, I am going to try to mix it up a little more and include some of my past and some of Nana's recipes like I promised, but not today! Today, I am going to share a little more of my life as a grandmother. (uh, KK that is!) And before I share, I want to tell you a little secret. So Shhhh, it is something I am tickled pink (or blue) about. My son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child. Okay, now that I have brought you up to date, I want you to see what I have been up to with the little guy the last couple of days. While the big guy is studying away in kindergarten and tackling everyone on the playground (another note came home from his teacher today regarding this), the little guy and I have been making memories as I like to call it.
This tackling issue has been a problem since he was about 2 years old. If he does not wind up playing professional football, I will be very surprised. He loves football and he likes tackling even better. He is fast and fearless!!! He believes he is 10 feet tall and has super powers. Believe me when I say this, his Mommy and Daddy don't take his behavior at school or anywhere else lightly. He spends many hours in timeout, he loses favorite toys and privileges, but so far, nothing is painful enough to keep him from "playing too rough with other boys". Enough about that!
Yesterday, the little guy and I picked up chick-fil-a and headed to the park for a picnic and playtime. After the kindergartner got home from school, we headed outside to play with the neighborhood kids. They organized a talent show and had a "water stand" (none of the parents sitting outside, including me, would go inside and make lemonade) Sorry, the weather was just too nice to leave for a minute! It brought back a lot of childhood memories. It is so cute watching their little imaginations at work. My little guy had a drum stick and he was directing the singers. The big guy was running in and out of the house bringing bottles of water. A group of four kids rode up on a golf cart and started talking to our group when the neighbor boy spoke up and said ya'll will have to leave because you didn't buy advance tickets for the talent show. Oh, I forgot to mention, the charge was $1.00 per person but if you had a kid in the show, you didn't have to pay. Everyone sitting outside had a kid in the show so I don't think it was very profitable, if you get my point.

The little guy appointed himself director.

Today was a gorgeous 77 degrees.  The little guy and I began our day at the hair salon getting him a haircut.  It was a perfect day to play on the beach so that is exactly where we spent the remainder of the day.  Oh, what fun we had.