Holly and I had a wonderful afternoon away from the kids yesterday thanks to Dwight and Becky…They came over and watched them while we went to church and then to lunch and then to South Park mall for some Christmas shopping.  

Love my boys but it was so nice to eat lunch at Dean & Deluca and then walk around the mall with my wife without the two of them… 

My sister wanted some sort of fancy smancy lotion from Neiman Marcus and they didn’t take VISA?!?!  I mean, seriously, who doesn’t take VISA these days.  Clearly “it’s everywhere you want to go” doesn’t include brand name stores in popular malls in Charlotte – only cash, check (of which Holly didn’t have our check book), Neiman Marcus credit card or American Express…American Express???  I didn’t think they still existed?  Who has American Express credit cards?  I stare at the lady at the counter as if hoping my dumb, perplexed and a little irritated look on my face would cause her to change company policy…No luck.  “There is a BOA ATM machine right around the corner,”  she says politely.  Fine, whatever it takes to cross a person off our Christmas list…

So, Holly swipes her card…Don’t you just love it when the touch sensor is off a little?  That’s always a fun game, right?  When you try and hit “fast cash” and you hit “cancel transaction.”  This happened 3 times as I tried to figure out where on the screen I had to touch to actually activate the button I wanted…Once inch below for those of you keeping score. 

Try # 5 – Card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash, $100, from credit card (since we decided we would just put all Christmas gifts on the Credit Card to keep track of them all), “transaction could not be processed.”  I’m getting a little annoyed at this point. 

Try # 6 – Card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash, $100, from checking account, “pin number incorrect, your transaction has been cancelled” – D&*n!  Used my pin number on Holly’s card. 

Try # 7 – My card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash, $100…For the love of God, why do they have to put the “cancel transaction” button right below the “$100 cash” button!!! Transaction cancelled thanks to the wonderful touch screen sensor.  At this point I start to wonder if BOA is charging us $2.50 for each failed transaction…

Try # 8 – (Holly talking to me as I’m doing this) Card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash $100, from checking account, “pin number incorrect, your transaction has been cancelled.”  Yes I am packing heat and I came oh so very close to emptying 2 clips of hollow points into this R2D2 of an ATM.  I then made Holly go sit down so she wouldn’t distract me…

Try # 9 – Card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash, $80…NO, I don’t need $80, I need $100 (sensor again).  Clicked the $100 button – Once again, the “cancel transaction” button is activated.  At this point, I literally turn around and start looking for Ashton Kutcher because this cannot be seriously happening.  Right, right, I’m getting punk’d.  Ha, ha, Ashton, come on out…Holly, of course, is sitting in her plush leather chair drinking my Starbucks laughing at me…

Try # 10 – Card re-swiped, “card unreadable, please swipe your card again.” 

Try # 11 – Card re-swiped, “card unreadable, please swipe your card again.”  I look at the ATM thinking…”This thing can’t be that heavy, I’m sure I could pick it up and throw it at least 15 feet – I can see it now on the evening news…”Lunatic in S. Park mall goes crazy and wrestles with ATM machine…”

Try # 12 –  Card re-swiped, pin number, fast cash, $100, from checking account, accept the $2.50 fee…YES!  Victorious!!!!  I swear I was so excited this bucket of bolts finally gave me my money that I wanted to run around and give people high fives and chest bumps! 

Merry Christmas Elizabeth!  Your gift should mean much more to you knowing what we went through to get it…

Time spent screaming:  5 mins.

Amount of money spent on 3 clips of the scissors:  $10

Getting rid of the mini mullet:  priceless

It seems every year we get our hopes up that we will have a great football season and every year we are let down.  If I had a dime for every time Bert has said he is not pulling for our team anymore…he is such a fair weather fan.   However, it was at a NC State football game that we had our first date 11 years ago so there is something special about being back at that stadium for me.  It reminds me of a time before bills, ear infections and discipline when it was just us.  Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change where we are for one second, but it is fun to think about that sweet time so long ago when it was just the two of us.  We went with our friends the Patnodes (Brian also went to State) and the best part of all….we actually won the game so my husband is instantly a fan again, at least this week!  Go Pack!

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

                                                           – Mary Jean Iron

I saw this quote on my friend Kate’s blog and it brought tears to my eyes.  I am blessed to live this life but hate it is passing by so quickly.

What is it about local fairs, carnivals or festivals that are so appealing?  Perhaps there’s a little something in all of us that yearns to be a kid again – To ride the carousel or walk through the house of mirrors…Or to throw darts at balloons for the chance of winning a prize that is worth a fraction of the price of the game played…The smells of different kinds of food like cotton candy, fresh doughnuts, hotdogs, gyro’s, philly cheese-steaks all priced 3 times more than what they should be charged…To hand your ride tickets over to some shady middle-aged, overweight carnival workers that looked like they haven’t bathed or shaved in weeks all the while thinking “Wow, I’m glad I don’t have your job, buddy.” 

I haven’t been to the NC State fair in years (I can’t remember the last time I went – probably back in college since I lived in Raleigh) but we decided to make the trek this past weekend and the rain held off just long enough for us to get in a few hours of smelly carni workers, expensive food that didn’t really taste that great and rides that were more dangerous than exciting since they would be assembled and disassembled in a matter of a week and then be on the road to the next town – I never did like those rides that weren’t stationary…Too dangerous.  

I think we as adults enjoy these types of things because we see the pure joy and excitement of our kids and for a split second, we remember what it was like to be an age where we didn’t have to worry about bosses, deadlines, bills, etc.  One of the greatest joys of my life is to be able to see life through my son’s eyes…Jack would probably say that the fair is a “little bit of heaven on earth.” 

 

 

 

Sweet Wellesy threw up on me again…So far he’s 2 for 2 in that category.  Must be all the smells that upset his stomach…

 

Aunt Izzy decided to join us and spoil Jack with just about every ride or attraction that she could…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yum, fresh doughnuts.  Holly said they alone were worth the trip…

 

One of those times I love watching Jack-Jack…

 

 

Two thumbs down for Big Willie, the giant alligator.  Too bad it was dead – Elizabeth, one word for you…Sucker!

 

 

 

 

 

We love Fall…Cooler temperatures, Holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), Festivals…This is definitely our favorite time of the year.

Last Sunday, we went to a “Festival” down at Freedom Park in Charlotte.  We met up with our good friends, Vickie, Davis and sweet Bella (One of Jack’s best friends). 

Everytime they came around, they screamed and threw their hands up in the air – I think the rest of the bystanders were getting a little annoyed at how loud they were…We on the other hand thought it was hilarious and certainly encouraged it. 

Carving pumpkins with the McDowell’s yesterday…Unfortunately, nobody was clever enough to take a picture of the finished product so I can’t show you how good my pumpkin carving skills are..

How did I end up getting a stencil of a high heel to carve?  Bill, nice job with Cinderella’s face…

Sweet little Wellesy just hung out on the blanket…

Two little “teefers” on the bottom and two more “poking” through on the top…

You wouldn’t believe what it took to get them to sit still long enough to catch this pose…

9 months – oh how I love thee…

I love your two bottom teeth that shine at me with your open mouth grin.

I love your army crawl to your favorite toy, the remote control, fussing the whole time because you are so lazy and you want me to get it for you.

I love how you watch your chubby little hands in wonder as they wave back and forth to say “bye-bye” so sweetly, clap excitedly when we say “yay!” and are wet with saliva when you wake up from sucking your fists.

I love your deep raspy voice that says “Da Da” all day long.

I love watching you eat literally anything we put before you all the while saying “ummm!”

I love how  you always curl your toes.

I love that you attack my face and pull my hair when you breastfeed.

I love you laying your head on my shoulder while I rock and sing to you.

I love how much you love your mama.

This is quite possibly my favorite age of all.  9 months how I love thee.

After the first day of Preschool I asked Jack’s teacher how it went and she said fine however, he kept looking around the room and finally asked her “Where’s the time-out chair in this room?”

She thought that was an interesting question on the first day.

 

70 acres of farmland and pine-trees, a 4-wheeler, a dirt-bike, something called a “rhino” that is sort of like a golf cart on steroids, fishing, skeet shooting, 2 labrador retrievers that ran…and ran…and ran – one of which had a death wish since she kept charging me head-on when I was on the 4-wheeler, great friends (Brian and Jennifer Patnode) and wonderful hosts (Terry and Belinda Bryant – Jennifer’s parents)…Welcome to Pinestar Farms in Carthage, NC – about 20 minutes outside of Pinehurst. 

This past weekend, my parents and sister came in town and watched the boys for us so Holly and I could get away for a night on her b’day weekend with our good friends, Brian and Jennifer Patnode.  A special thanks to G-Pa, Parksy and aunt Izzy for watching Jack and Welles.  The look on your faces when we got back on Sunday and the fact that you had everything packed up in the car and ready to leave the moment we walked in the door said it all…

For those of you that didn’t know, I love farms and open land – hey, I did grow up in rural Rocky Mount.  I keep telling Holly that one day we are going to buy some land and move out into the country – and she keeps telling me that she enjoys neighbors and playdates.  Perhaps when the boys are older…

Patnodes/Bryants, thank you for a wonderful weekend away…We can’t wait to come again!  And a happy birthday to my wonderful wife!

Toys galore…

Shooting skeet by the pond…

I don’t think I have ever seen a “sexier” picture of Holly…

Brian and I fishing…We literally caught something everytime we cast – the fish must have been starving because we are by no means good fishermen…