i need a star in my crown.

i made two pumpkin patch field trips over two weeks!  and i don't really need a star.  both classes were so well behaved that it was a really easy job!

wes' class went to pontotoc.  this was a really neat little farm!

judging by the way they hung around each other, i'd say this is wes' running buddy at school.  his name is chase.

after we had picked out pumpkins and climbed on the trailer for the ride back to the barn, wes sat down beside me.  no sooner than i had put my arm around him, chase sat down on my other side.  he grabbed my arm and put it around him!  so there we were talking about barbed wire fences and tractors when wes patted me on the leg and leaned over to chase and said, "this is my mama."

chase with a bewildered look: "i have a mama, too!"

wes:  "you have a mama?"

chase:  "yes!  and her name is mama just like yours!"

wes: "do you have a daddy?"

chase: "yes!  and his name is daddy!"

i figured i'd really throw a cog in the wheel if i mentioned that wes' daddy's name was chase, so i just let that one go.  :)  they were really excited to find out that they both had mamas and daddys named mama and daddy!

william's class went to corinth.  it was a little more crowded, but that didn't diminish their excitement.

after snagging a pumpkin, they got the opportunity to play in the animal pen.  i don't quite understand why this option exists at a pumpkin farm, but whatever.

sneaking up on the chickens.  here, chicky chicky.

got one!

after petting all the nasty animals, it was lunchtime!  yummy!!  yes...if it were up to me, i would have arranged the chicken-catching part of the trip for after the meal, but nobody asked me.  and i can guarantee you that my hands stayed in my pockets while amongst the animals!

so there you go.  i'm all pumpkined out.  the only other patch i hope i see this year is on the tv with charlie brown!

one day we are going to win a close game.

until then, we'll just enjoy everything else about game day!

and we'll keep an eye on the start of basketball season! :)

puff is a downer.

after i put reed to bed tonight, i went into william and wes' room to read.  i picked up puff the magic dragon.  we haven't read it in a while.  that was obvious.

tonight was the first night that they questioned the entire book.  why didn't jackie come play anymore?  why was puff sad?  i kind of miss the days when they just looked at the pictures.  anyway...

we had a long conversation.  long.  included was the fact that little boys grow up.  somehow they milked that into... "we grow up and don't have toys anymore?" "we don't live here?" "will i have my same friends?" and on and on and on until both of them were bawling.  bawling.  this was not the bedtime story i had envisioned.

all of this was through tears (with mama wondering what on earth is going on)...

wes:  "but, i want william to live with me when i grow up."

william:  "i can't, wes.  you have to get married when you get old."

wes:  "but, i want william to live with me forever."

william:  "wes, you can't.  you have to move to a house with a girl."

wes:  "but i want to live in this house!"

william:  "i can probably come visit you."

wes:  "but i don't know who to marry.  mama, who do i marry?"

mama is distraught and unable to speak because who knew puff could have this effect?!?!?

wes:  "i'll just marry laurie or mary elliott or chandler."

william:  "you wait til you're old to pick a girl, wes."

wes:  "when is old?  7?"

william: "no.  when you get to 10 then you're a grown up."

wes:  "but i just want to live here with you.  will you just live with me?"

mama finally snapped out of her confusion and stopped this conversation.  after drying tears, i assured both of them that they can live here way past the age of 10, that they don't have to pick a girl tonight, that they can visit each other when they get old, and that we will not be reading puff again anytime soon!!

tomorrow night...we're going back to the jesus storybook bible!

happy birthday, chase!

mama even skipped the ice cream cake this year and went all out and made oozy cakes!  (but we still had baskin robbins ice cream to go with it!)

reed wanted no part of a picture or singing...he just wanted cake!!

chase...make a birthday wish that your middle child will decide to wear clothes by your next birthday.  please.  thanks.  and happy birthday!  :)

birthday in the delta

it's this time of year in the delta!

it's also birthday season there, too!  we went to help my parents celebrate turning 60.  my dad is quick to point out that he doesn't turn 60 until the end of this month, but we included him in the celebration anyway!!  it was a packed weekend!

on friday night, we met them at the crystal for dinner before heading to the house.  after coconut pie (with candles), we went home to put the sleepy little people to bed.  once they were tucked in, the 60 year olds got their present.  this year, i put together a big basket of birthday wishes from friends and family and former students and co-workers.  (thank you to all who participated!!!)  they had a blast reading all the cards and stories, and we got to see a few funny pictures from their past.  chase and i gave up at 1030, but they were up reading until after midnight!  i'd say it was a success!

the rest of the weekend was spent being country bumpkins!  saturday morning, the boys got on the motorcycles first thing.  reed finally learned how to steer, so it was tough to get him off of them!

they also got to experience cotton firsthand.  i really think they could have run up and down rows all day long!

unfortunately, it was the first weekend of picking season, so there were no trailers to play in anywhere.  but, they did get to see pickers up close and personal and see how pallets were made.

next year, i'll be sure to call ahead and make sure there is a trailer for us to play in somewhere.  walter...you're on notice!!!  (ginger, you can bring your kids and go with me!)

we also went to play out at sky lake.  the boardwalk goes on forever, and they thought it was great!

there was a fly-in out at mark gary's, so we went to look at all the planes.  they got to see helicopters and planes land right in front of them, and there was no shortage of planes to climb on and "fly."   conner was so sweet to help william and wes into his dad's plane and tell them all about it.  he showed them how to make the wings and tail move and the differences in each plane (they all look the same to me)!!

since they weren't tired yet, they went to play on the canons.

and found some trees to climb, too.

have i mentioned that the way to get around town is not by car?  it's by cart.  they moved up from the horse and cart to the golf cart!

after supper on saturday night, we had birthday cake made by william and wes. and we should have brought the leftovers home with us.  that was some good cake!

after church on sunday, my grandparents came over for lunch.  i got no pictures, so just imagine a cute gray-haired couple here!

despite the fact that chase and i could barely keep our eyes open on the way home, those little people in the back didn't sleep a wink.  they kept asking to stop and play at every cotton field that we passed.  maybe i'll grow some cotton with our blueberries and cucumbers next year!