217 A Little Birdie told me ...

It is time for Love Thursday! (owls are birds)

Head on over to Chookooloonks and see where this all got started. This week her message is:

"You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy."
-- Unknown

My words of wisdom ... Slow DOWN!

Take the time for a cup of coffee, preferably with a friend.

I have a sweet little friend that drinks coffee with me almost everyday.

He doesn't say much, but this past week I noticed he had one thing on his mind.

LOVE

216 Sprinkler Season has BEGUN!

It is Katie's favorite time of the year. Time to unroll the garden hose and hook up the sprinkler. Remember how good the water used to taste right out of the hose! Lucky we are not in a "Water restricted" area like Grammy! It has not gotten to the scorching hot days of summer when you want to throw yourself into the pool with a couple bags of ice (or just stay in the nice air conditioning), but a run through the cold spray never hurt anyone. Katie likes to set up the slide where it can get wet, so she can "go fast". Poor tiny slide. Connor doesn't care whether the slide is wet or not. He is just so proud that he has figured out how to slide on his own, and I am inordinately proud of it, too!
It all started after the painting project on Sunday. I used the hose to clean the paintbrushes, and then Katie wanted to clean the paint off of herself. And then there was a water fight. She says that she was trying to wash the paint out of Connor's hair, but we all know better. That girl can't keep herself under sontrol when there is water involved. She starts to squeal and giggle. She spins in circles. She runs and leaps through the air. She even turned a plastic washtub into a mini pool. (I really need to try to get the pool clean so we can set it back up)

We painted again on Monday, and she wanted to play in the water again. To save Connor I offered to hook up the sprinkler. And then she and Mia asked to break out the sprinkler again today.

It is going to be a great Sprinkler Season in the Jaxon House!

Oh, you noticed that I did not mention the sprinkler on Tuesday, didja!? Well, that is for a very good reason. Mia's little brother Mikey turned 4 and his birthday party was at Chuck E. Cheese. Katie loves that rat-infested place. I know ... he is a mouse. Can ya tell it isn't my favorite place? The kids love it, so there we were. Perhaps the true reason I hate it is that the lighting is horrible, and it is nearly impossible to get a good shot. Nah, I am pretty sure it is because the kids usually don't understand the "end of tokens" concept. Although they did this time, and I was amazed at how well they took it when we did not refill their cups. And, Connor is at that age where he wants to run free, and as much as they try to tell you on the commercials that you can relax while the kids play they are NOT talking about an 18 month old. I got so tired of chasing him down and hearing him scream. But, obviously this trip was not for me. The kids had a great time ... until Katie ignored me for the last time and I hauled her little booty out of there. When they are around their buddies they use their selective hearing. Nothing I said would break through, so it was time to go. Not to worry, everyone else was getting ready to leave as well. I had just reached my rude-child quotient for the day.

215

The weather has been gorgeous, and we have been spending a good bit of our time outside. I have the sunburn to prove it. I go outside with the intention of only staying a moment, but then I get sidetracked by the kids or the weeds. Next thing I know, it has been an hour and my skin is starting to feel tight. Lucky for me, a few hours later it is usually back to normal. Don't worry, the kids DO get slathered in sunscreen.

I am short on time, and brainpower, this morning so I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

On Thursday, we explored the tiny things in the yard. We talked on the phone.

We sat under the umbrella in the shade.

We snuggled.

On Friday, we waited for the iris to bloom. we shared a bag of chips. On Saturday, we celebrated our Seven Year Anniversary. I got my donuts, and Chip got his bacon, and all was well in the world.

We threw the football.The iris bloomed. Thanks for the anniversary present Granddaddy!
I took the kids to Memphis Rock-N-Romp! We had a fabulous time!

We played in the sand.

Connor tried to fit in with the "big boys". We listened to some great music.

Saturday night, Connor kept bringing me the poster paints, and I kept putting them back. So ....

On Sunday, we painted.

Connor created his own method by painting the paintbrushes, with the other paintbrush.

Connor thought the paint looked yummy, but it was NOT.

Much of the painted ended up on Connor.On Sunday night, Chip and I had our first date in about three years. We went to Texas de Brazil and it was DELICIOUS! I loved the salad bar, Chip loved the large amounts of meat.

Thank you Charity for watching my hooligans for me!

214 SOOC Saturday (or Sunday)- Surrender

Melody over at Slurping Life is encouraging us to SURRENDER this weekend. To take the time to live in the moment. I had not even checked her post when I decided I wanted to use a pic I took just a few hours ago. I took the kids outside with the fingerpaints and let them go crazy on a canvas. Saturday night Connor kept bringing me the bottles of paint, and I kept putting them back. This morning I decided to SURRENDER to his little whim. I love encouraging my little ones to be artists! I love when they are able to think and do for themselves. I like to encourage them to do what pleases them and not what they think will please others. So, here they are! My little ARTISTS straight out of the camera (SOOC)! Don't you want to surrender, too??

213 (Another) Afternoon at the Zoo

Wednesday, after school I took Katie to the zoo. She has been asking to go for a while, and she was really insistent about going on Tuesday. Apparently she really just wanted to spend her money in the giftshop (which she did not do, of course). I love walking around the zoo on a beautiful day, so it wasn't much of a sacrifice. There may not be that many more good days before it turns so sweltering that the joy goes out of the experience. We have been often enough that I try not to take pictures of the animals unless they are doing something really cute or interesting. I was amazed that Katie was so cooperative about having her picture taken. Poor Connor was stuck in the stroller. He did not get out until the very end because I knew he would refuse to get back in ... and then he would scream like a girl when he was put back anyway. I try not to excite the animals with needless high pitched wails.
The zoo was PERFECT! The weather was great, there were barely any people, and the animals were out and about. Even Le-Le the panda was out in the "day room" (although Le-Le had just been bitten on his rear and was actively scratching it against a log). The Abyssinian Ground-hornbill came running up to the fence to show off its catch. It reminded me of a cat bringing a present to its master. Strangely cute, in a really gross way. The sea-lions were pretty active. At least the males were. The females were asleep on a rock. The female gorilla was picking her nose or biting her fingernails. When the male noticed me taking pictures he came over and got her and took her to the far-side of the enclosure. He really does NOT like having pictures taken. The last time we were there he ran from the camera.
On the way out we stopped at the giftshop (OF COURSE). Katie picked out 4 little sticky animals, a multi-colored pen, and a bead bracelet kit. Connor got a stuffed scorpion. Yeah, it was on sale! He actually really liked it. Its tail was perfect for his little hands. And how cool is a scorpion! He is a boy, he don't want no stinkin' cute animal! And then it was time to stick our feet in the wading pool ... okay, so I don't think it is technically a "Wading" pool, but everyone uses it that way. I even let Connor out for a sec to get his feet wet. He did good for a few minutes, then he decided to try getting on all fours and ended up soaking wet. I pulled him out to stand on the side while Katie played a little longer, but he kept trying to inch his way closer to the water. He was ADORABLE with that hopeful look on his face. He really thought he was going to get back in the water. Silly boy! I did finally convince Katie that it was time to go, and we headed out a few minutes before they locked the gates.
We will be going back on May 5th for Katie's school fieldtrip, so I am sure there will be more pictures taken then. Until then, enjoy our most recent zoo trip.

212 The Death of Agriculture

I live in Mississippi, and even though I live in a neighborhood, surrounded by other neighborhoods, there are farms just half a mile away. A 15 minute drive to the north and you are in downtown Memphis. It is a diverse little area.

On our last photocation we took the northern option, so this time we headed out to explore the rural scenery. Well, technically it did not start out as a photocation. Candy wanted to go exploring. And, of course, I wanted to tag along. A new photobuddy, Tricia joined us on the trip also. Candy wanted to find the Horn Lake for which our town is named. She had also heard that there was a way to drive right up to the Mississippi River. We never made it that far. On our way, wending through backroads and around fallow fields we spotted this barn. The skeleton of a barn to be exact. It took only a split second to decide we had to pull over.

Oh, did I mention we had the babies with us? We had Cheyenne and Connor tagging along. Candy had a stroller for Chey, but I had to take Connor on my hip. To be fair, it is where he usually would be anyway. Tricia was sweet enough to send me a couple pictures she captured of me with my photography assistant. It did make taking pictures a bit harder than it should be. I could not bend (with ease) and bob and weave to get the best angle, but this place was so amazing that I think I got some really good shots anyway.There was this gorgeous old tractor on one side ... and huge amounts of bees and wasps.And on the other side of the barn there were beehives. At the time I thought they were for honey, but then it occurred to me that they are probably there to pollinate the crops. DUH! I don't know why I didn't think of that right away. I took a few shots with my Argus, but with Connor on my hip it was nearly impossible. He kept putting his hand in front of the lens, or trying to grab my light-blocking contraption. I eventually just gave up, but it would have been a great place to take some TtV shots.All over the ground were bits of old farm things. This huge nail, and iron gears and such.

Connor was mostly good, but there were a few times he tried to get down. I let him down for a few minutes, but I picked him right back up since there was so much debris on the ground. We had a great afternoon, just driving around and taking some pictures. I made a new Shutter Buddy. I can't wait to do it again! We have plans to go out on Tuesday for Candy's birthday. Chip has already agreed to keep Connor so we can explore in peace!

And after all that sun, I took Katie to the Memphis Zoo, but I will have to blog that later. I know you are dying to hear about our zoo experience.