Hill Ridge Farms

We took James back to Hill Ridge Farms again this year. He is really into trains and tractors right now, so we had talked for a week that we were going to ride a train and see a tractor. We were the first ones in line to ride the train. He learned how to do the arm motion for "choo choo". He loved seeing all the "pumps"-pumpkins and pointing out all the covered wagons pulled by tractors. Something he enjoyed much more then I thought, was the big slide. Yancey took him down once and I expected them to come out with James screaming. Instead, he wanted to do it again. I know he will enjoy this tradition even more next year!

Happy Halloween Craft

I have not been doing so well doing hand crafts with James since he started going to Day Care. I thought we would do something fun for Halloween and we used his feet instead!

Playing in the Sink

James has this new thing with washing his hands. He will pump the soap into his hands, then wash them off, then dry them, then want to do it all again. My aunt taught him how to slide one of the kitchen chairs up to the sink so I wouldn't have to pick him up. She also got him his own apron so he won't get SOAKED! If you notice, he has a medicine dropper in his hands. He loves to take medicine (I have no idea why, but I am glad he doesn't fight me) and has had to take some Tylenol recently for some awful teething. The day of the picture he had fun making it "pop" by pulling the dropper apart.

Yancey becomes a Deacon

We had an exciting weekend last week. Yancey was voted by our church to be ordained as a Deacon in our church (Oxford Baptist Church). There was a special place in our Sunday service where Yancey and another guy were ordained. Other deacons and preachers in the church came and laid on hands on both of them and gave them blessings. Yancey's parents are both deacons as well as my dad, so they all were able to give him blessings.

The NC Zoo

We had planned on going to the Zoo with James this fall, and this weekend was perfect. The weather was amazing. We had been talking to James all week about the animals we would see in the Africa part of the zoo. We have wall stickers on his bathroom walls of an elephant, lion, zebra, giraffe, and monkey. We had talked about sounds they all make. He was roaring like a lion on the way to the zoo. I still wasn't sure how much he would enjoy it, but knew Yancey and I were looking forward to the trip. When we got there, we ran into some of our dear friends, Todd and Kristie. They were there with their niece and nephew. The highlight of the trip for all of us was the giraffes. They were the first animals that we saw and they were so close! I had never seen them in person. They are so pretty. James was pointing at them, so I know he was aware of what we were seeing. Later on that morning, we got to go on a higher "bridge" that allowed you to get really close and eye level with them. When we got up there, James said "whoa". He really enjoyed being so close. We had talked a lot about lions, but the only lion we saw was asleep. Tonight when James and I were talking about the animals in his bathroom again, I said "where is the lion?". He pointed to the lion and put his finger to his mouth doing the "shhh" motion. I said, "is the lion still asleep". He nodded! We saw wart hogs (didn't care much for them) and lemurs. We got to see elephants and chimps. He really liked watching the chimps eat their snacks. We saw flamingos and some tropical birds (which he waved bye-bye too). We also paid a little extra and got some tickets for James to ride the carousel. I didn't know if he would like it or not, but he did. He pointed to the giraffe the first time, and thankfully Yancey was able to get him on it before anyone else got there! It was such a perfect day in so many ways! Hopefully, before too long we can go back and check out the North America side.

Coral Washington

Last Friday Yancey's grandmother, Coral Washington, passed away. She would have been 91 in December. After about 4 years of declining health, she passed away in her own room at her own house. The night before we were all there with her. I am so glad to have known her, for as so many people have said, she was a true Southern Lady.