it is what he says - or the way he says them?

kendal is such a character.  to us, he is the funniest kid ever.

here are some of his newer antics:

he makes up songs.
this one is to the tune of old macdonald:

old granddaddy had a mustache, EIEIO. with a tickle tickle here...



now to the tune of wheels on the bus:

the mamaw on the bus goes tickle tickle tickle... (yes, kendal LIKES to be tickled)
the melissa on the bus says "DIXIE!"
the uncle rob on the bus says "go upstairs"
the katelyn on the bus says "go outside"

the james on the bus says play play play (his friend at school)
i could go on and on and on...

one day last week when kendal was mad at me (because he was screaming in the car so i wouldn't take him to see the firetrucks), katelyn was calming him down by talking to her birds.  he told her that there was a mommy and a daddy bird and he wanted to let them out.  she told him that if they let them out that they would fly away.  he said "its ok, the mommy can fly away, i'll hold the daddy real tight."

another thing he does a lot now is say "i told you..." whenever something goes his way.  like when we see a bus on the way to school, "i told you we would see a bus!"  speaking of buses, when they are on his side of the car, they are "his".  when they are on holly's side of the car, they are holly's.  he takes possession of a lot of things.  like, a truck we may be following.  if it turns, he will exclaim "mommy, where is my truck!?!?!"  he also likes to beat things (as in competitively beat them) such as big trucks on the highway - when we get near them he'll tell me to drive fast so we can "get them."



elf on the shelf is a big hit this year and just reinforces the whole santa thing.  he was telling me this morning about how chris (our elf) went to see santa last night.  he loves finding him in the morning.  however, he does NOT like for chris to see him pee (so it was not a good idea to put chris in the bathroom) or to see him get his diaper changed (this morning he was in kendal's stocking and i tried to change his night-diaper under the tree.  kendal wouldn't let me). 

sick day

unlike ferris bueller's day off, i'm really sick.  i've got a stomach bug.  about mid-way through  my shower this morning, i felt like vomiting.  i haven't, but it's taken it's toll in other ways (eh, i've spent my share of time in the bathroom...)

HOWEVER, being at home today - all quiet, no kids or family here - reminded me that it has been a LONG time since i've had a "day off".  i mean, a real day off, all to myself.  so, this counts as it (even if i have spent much of it on the potty).  i've been at odds with myself on whether to officially rest, or get something done. 

now, since i'm sick (and i'm not at work), i know that means i need to rest (so i can get better - and go back to work tomorrow).  and, i will go back tomorrow.  i already feel much better.  i just ate lunch because i got hungry (plain pasta & mint seltzer water).  i think i'm completely empty now (except what i just put back in there - which will hopefully stay put!) 

anyway, i'm not tired.  i've not taken a nap, i haven't watched TV - i decided that i'd get the computer and work on gathering good shutterfly pictures to submit for further review.  and, well i washed a few clothes (that took minimal effort).  i also put another blanket on our bed (i've been cold all day even with the heat on 70!)  just a bit ago i made some banana bread (because when i went downstairs to make some lunch i noticed the flies were out - the bananas were WAY overripe, so to bread they became).  that took little effort, i did that while the noodles were cooking.  the bread is still baking now.

what i WISH i could have done was finish our outside decorations for christmas, which i do believe will not make it out this year.  if i had a car here, i would have taken our trash to the dump and our goodwill to, well, to goodwill.  i would have taken our extra coats to the coats for children drop off (which i'll have to do tomorrow during lunch), and i probably would have hit the louisburg walmart for groceries.  mom had to buy kendal's snack for this week (he's snack boy) because i didn't get it this weekend (was planning on getting it today!).  oh well.  guess it is a good thing we only have one car because i was better off sitting right here, "resting" 15' away from the toilet.  work, today, would have been a bad idea.  i'm glad i stayed home.  though, a ferris bueller day would have been better.

however, i don't know that ethically i could do it! (call in sick and not be sick...)  do you call in sick when you're not?  this whole working thing is new to me.  moms can't call in sick, and that is what i was before, thus why i haven't had a day off in a LONG time!!!  :) i'm not complaining though!  i miss my days of mommy.

landing back on the couch!

for some reason, this was a really fun game for the big kids this morning. the game was the kids standing in front of the couch holding hands and screaming the count of three... and on three throwing themselves backwards onto the couch. kendal insisted on joining in - holly wanted to too but she wasn't tall enough for the couch (plus there just wasn't enough room for THAT many kids on one couch no matter how long it is!)

all because two people fell in love

hopefully i'm not spoiling melissa's fun by sharing her OWN photos, but i had so much fun taking these (and i love them so much), i just can't wait to share them myself.  (she did say it was ok to share them. but, if you see these again - well, act surprised!)

these are all right in their back yard at one huge oak tree.  well, i guess it is an oak tree.  i didn't really notice any acorns or leaves... 

 

of coarse, ALL the fairels were here this thanksgiving!

this one is behind their house at "the rock" club house, as grace told me.  she also told me that there was a dead squirrel on it (which i never saw when i was de-constructing the clubhouse which consisted of about 15 logs straddling the two big rocks with a plastic sheet over them).

this one is my favorite (set) of them all.

they all got a great work out when we (i mean they) were trying to jump at the same time.  we had a bunch turn out good though!

blogwagon

i really think i fell off the blogwagon and it left me in the dust.  not only do i never have time anymore to blog, the ideas i have to blog about leave me about as fast as they come to me.  my brain is occupied with too many things these days.

right now, we are on vacation for thanksgiving in missouri.  why would anyone go to missouri on vacation?  because family is there. that is the ONLY reason. where we are in missouri is so far removed from everything it literally takes over an hour to get to the closest target.  and you know, in NC - there is a target in nearly every town.  some even have 12 (like raleigh).

we're having a great time, enjoying the remoteness of things.  thankfully post has everything that one could need. and, about an hour and 15 minutes away is an outlet mall that has a coldwater creek outlet store and melissa drove me out there to shop.  i got 4 sweater/shirts and a necklace for a very reasonable price off of the normal store prices.  i pretty much picked out 6 shirts and got 4 that i wanted.  i'll probably kick myself for not getting one of them but oh well.  it was one that i wanted really bad in the store but didn't get when it was there.  the ones i DID get i had never seen in the store.  the necklace i got is large beads of turquoise and retails for $80.  i paid $20.

ANYWAY, the kids are all getting along great.  miranda and JP are here too and it is totally enhancing the experience.  holly and kendal both love miranda and she is like "katelyn" for the week. 

my caffeine detox is going well.  i had to take a excedrin yesterday (with a little bit of coke) because the crazy front we had coming through but other than that, i've had nothing.

guess that is all my update. 

my wish list, reposted (for nathaniel)

ok, nathaniel, this is from may's blog post!
this list is not in order.

1.  http://www.bokehmasterskit.com/

2.  i really want this fisheye lens - but i suppose in the spirit of saving money, these filters will be ok (though they are hardly a replacement).

3. 85mm lens like this one with an f/1.8.  i would prefer one with 1.4, but we're talking like almost TRIPLE the price for that tiny bit of [aperture] ratio. so, um, i guess if someone would say "hey, spend $1400 for me", i'd take this one.

4. yea, so this one is for when i make it "big."  i suppose i can always dream.  i know i have lenses that already cover this "zoom" range, but what makes this one different, again, is the f/2.8.  my lenses are f/3.5-5.6 which means i need more light.

5. an external flash and a softbox diffuser (that one would be specific to the type of flash i actually got...)

6.  a high-performance card (this one is low on the list!)

7. a remote for the shutter...
8. a nice tripod.
9. a 35mm prime lens 
10. a light sensor.

i suppose i would also add here some reflectors.. but i'm not even sure what i "need" (want) since i don't know much about them!  :)

Seneca Guns

I was just reading an article on WRAL.com about a boom rattling the coast. Apparently, there was a boom and a shake and it is unexplained.  Military doesn't claim it, USGS says there wasn't an earthquake either. 

I thought this would be a great article to read during my lunch break - "article" meaning the chance to read about the idiot explanations in the GOLO comment section beneath the article.  And, well, I was mostly right.  I haven't really a guess as to why it happened so I thought i'd be fun to see why the rest of NC GOLO thought it happened.  I read about Seneca guns and Blackbeards cannons.  I had no idea what either of those were.  I couldn't find anything quickly about what Blackbeards cannons were so I searched for Seneca guns - and actually found a USGS webpage about them!

INTERESTING!

Basically, "Seneca Guns" is just the term for an unexplained loud boom and the sonic vibration that goes along with it.  Even more interesting, the author made a list of things that Seneca Guns were not:  like, Indian Ghosts firing to disturb descendants of settlers... and a meteor... and top secret military operations (since if were top secret, the military wouldn't let us hear or feel it!)... and lots of other good items that seneca guns are not.  I thoroughly enjoyed the authors logic.  It makes me ready to complete my Monday!