Preston turns 3!

I know only 6 months behind. I still feel the need to blog about things in the order that they happened. So in case you are confused, Preston's birthday is in July when the weather is warm and we can wear shorts and sandals. Even though I am writing this in December, wearing a sweater and needing a blanket.

Birthdays are a big deal at our house. Parker will go through each month of the year and want to know who has a birthday. We go through our own little family and the grandparents and some of the aunts, uncles and cousins that we can remember off the top of our heads.

When I asked Preston how and where he wanted to celebrate his birthday, he replied at Grandma's house.



And when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, Parker had already brain washed him into Lightening McQueen.


We invited Grandpa and Granny Rayburn over to Grandma Linda's house for lunch and cake and ice cream.

Preston is a laid back type of guy. He is also a tough guy that often takes being "played rough" by his older brother Parker. He likes to eat good food and will often be the last kid left at the table cleaning his plate, while the others are too busy to eat. He is real good to take along with you, he just rides in the cart or car. He often entertains himself. He likes going to the Library and playing his older brother.

Farmer Jane

So my Mom is from Ut and it is a big deal to have and hold family reunions. This past year it was (her turn). What this means is that the reunion planning takes turns among the siblings of her parents. She and her sisters planned the reunion. My Mom wanted all of her family to attend since they had a little more control over where and when it would be held.

I really considered going with my 2 boys, but I have a great fear of flying. I get panic attacks just thinking about it. I have discovered drugs for these attacks, but flying would really put it to the test. When I realized it would cost about $1000 for the 3 of us to fly and the thought of backing out because I was having an attack. That was more money than I was willing to risk losing. My Mom loves my boys, but I don't think she would have taken them alone for 10 days with out me all the way to Ut. So that would have been 3 backouts on the flight.

My fear of flying could be a whole other post. If you really want to know let me know.

So I came up with a suggestion. Send my dad and I will help Lee milk the cows and hold down the farm.

So I moved in for a long weekend and played the part of farmer Jane.

I soon realized why our farming ancestors were able to eat bacon, meat and potatoes. They worked it off. I was assigned to feed the dry calves. I hope I have my terminology correct. These are the calves that no longer drink milk. Instead they eat chop and hay. I had carry their feed to them. The truck would only get so close to the trough. And bedding them really worked up a sweat. I lost 2 pounds that week;)

The boys just tagged along with me. They thought it was great. Uncle Lee was our boss. We checked in with him after breakfast and got our assignment. Then we made lunch, hung out for part of the afternoon and then went back to do evening chores. It was a lot of fun.


We also helped with the bottle calves too. My boys jumped right in to help.

Riding the back of the truck was definetly a highlight for the boys.

Parker was in charge of watering the calves. He also found a new drinking fountain. In fact one day he disappeared from the house and took a walk to get a drink.

And these were my surroundings as I was lugging heavy bags of feed and making sure everyone had water to drink. To me it is a little bit of heaven on earth. Maybe I am biased because this is where I grew up and this is what I call home.
Well that about sums up our farming experience. Sometimes both Jim and I wished we lived closer to help out when needed. It was fun and I am more than willing to do it again.

Parker is 5!

Parker is 5. The time has gone so quickly. I can't believe I have a 5 year old. I am all about celebrating and Parker got a few celebrations during his birthday month.

His actual birthday occurred while we were at the beach. We went for ice cream at this yummy place. And then we enjoyed the ice cream so much, we back every night after wards.

The pictures below are the party with close friends and family. Parker wanted to have Lenna and Matthew over for his party. Lenna watches the boys for us on occasion and the boys just love her.
I like to cook a meal and serve all their favorite foods. Parker selected ham, broccoli, and pickles. We added some others so the meal would be a little more balanced.
Parker also asked to have a birthday party with friends. Being in preschool you get your first taste of birthday parties and it is a fun time. We invited everyone from his class. 2 showed up. I had planned an outdoor party and then it clouded up and rained. So we moved the party indoors. It worked out fine. He still had a great time.


I made these cute cars for party favors. The boys thought these were so neat.
I let them decorate their own cup cakes. It ended in a frosting eating experience.
Parker loves playing with his brother. He loves anything with wheels. He enjoys watching tv. Parker is always asking how things work and what we are doing.

Our Vacation

We took our vacation in May to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We like going in the off season because the rates are lower and places are not real crowded. Part of the fun is finding where we will stay. Dragonfly Breeze is the place I selected this year. It was located in Avon. We still had the remoteness of the beach, but were also real close to a grocery store, a few restaurants and shopping (which I refer to as civilization).

Our house was perfect for us. We were a block away from the ocean which was good to have a little walk after all the yummy food we were enjoying. The trees around it gave us some privacy. The boys loved the bunk beds and the sand under neath the house. The house was completely round which was a lot of fun too.

Parker did manage to lock Preston in the bedroom, while Preston was on the top bunk. It was not a normal interior lock and we ended up calling maintenance to come over. They had to take the door down to rescue the little guy.

I used to love going to places that had tons of civilization, shopping, restaurants, entertainment and other things to see and do. But the Outer Banks has really grown on me. I love the uncrowded beaches and have learned to appreciate the unusual things that one finds when you venture off the path a little bit.

For instance I found a lace shop and bought myself a beautiful shawl.

Jim especially enjoyed the big screen TV.

This is the boys sitting outside the door. The were 2 resident cats running around. I tried to befriend, but did not have much luck.
I took the boys to the Aquarium. They loved it! Although I think we were in a race to see how fast we could get through.


The other fun part was playing the sand. The boys loved this. I took down my lawn chair and a book to read and I was set. I just loved listening to the calming sound of the ocean. The one day we were there it was pretty chilly. There I sat on the beach in a sweatshirt and wind breaker and the boys were still playing in their shorts.
In case you were wondering, yes the boys love to play with each other. They are best buddies.
On your mark, get set, GO! Preston didn't care much for the water but he loved the sand.



Jim's big thing was deep sea fishing. We have connections with a sea captian. Jim's sister Lisa's boyfriend Andy takes folks fishing for a career. Jim really enjoyed himself and went out several times on the boat. Here they are coming into the dock after a day of fishing.





And what was I doing while Jim was fishing, well soaking up sun on the beach, shopping and sight seeing. Jim is already shaking his finger at the boys as the boat is backing into the dock.



The catch of the day.


A dolphin.


A White Marlin (catch and release).

And to conclude just a fee beach shots.

Doggie Day Trip

I know it has been forever and I still feel the need to keep you in chronological order, so bear with me as I tell about the Dog Show in April.

I think I am a dog person in disguise. I have 2 cats, but find myself secretly wishing they would follow me around. When I go places and others have brought their dogs along I always stop to say hello to the canines. I have always enjoyed the dog shows on tv and one day I just Googled dog shows. I discovered there was one coming to Harrisburg, so I put it on my calendar and took the boys.

They call me the snack lady. I live almost 3o minutes from everywhere and learned early on in my mom day's that a snack makes the ride go by much smoothly. So I have to tell you what it is like to take a longer trip with my boys. I try to pack many snacks so we can avoid pricey treats at the dog show, like $3 for a hot dog. Well as soon as they see me slicing the apples or popping the popcorn they are grabbing the snacks before we even make it out the door. Needless to say we ended up buying $3 hot dogs at the show. They seem to do really good at functions as long as they have something to eat. Hmmm, could I be setting them up for weight problems down the road?

We made it to the dog show. It was in Harrisburg at the Farm Show Complex. Good thing I had printed the program off at home, because they ran out when we got there. Plus things were not labeled the best either. There were certain breeds I wanted to see. Folks were more than willing to talk about their dogs and let you pet your dogs. It was a little different than what you see on TV, because on TV you are seeing the best of each breed. At the dog show each breed was having their own show.

We watched the Dalmatians, blood hounds ( I am fascinated by this breed ever since my brother Ben had one named Dixie) and the poodles. By then the boys were bored and ready for the next adventure. I was amazed to see the poodles getting ready for the show with combs and hair spray.



We finished off the day with a trip to Chocolate World. They have a little ride that tells you how they make chocolate. Parker loved it and wanted to go again and Preston was saying how he wanted to get off the ride in the middle of it.