First Annual Visit to Dewberry Farm

Dewberry Farm has been on the October Family Calendar of almost everyone we know and then some including "Good Morning America" and "Super Nanny". But the world may now add the Kilgore family to the Dewberry Farm Club. We visited the farm this last Saturday, and yee-haw! It was FUN, y'all!

There was duck racing. Daddy's muscle power was needed...

We pet the baby chicks. (and then washed our hands)
We road the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

We played in the hay.

One of us even ate the hay.

There were sack swings.

And bouncers. (The corn maze is behind Grant.)

There were one-of-a-kind farm rides.

And we mustn't forget the personification of gerbils activity.

There were fun bikes.

And there were forts, lighted professionally carved pumpkin night tours, rope swings, pony rides, gold mining and MUCH more - so much that we spent about 8 hours there! What a perfect fall Saturday!

Of course Grant had to turn some aspect of the day into a learning experience. Again, another example as to why we sometimes wonder if he really is our kid...

Here is a picture of the baby pumpkins he picked from the pumpkin patch. For all you city folk, the little yellow one is what is formed from the flower on the vine and it continues to grow into the bigger green ball, and then finally into a big, orange pumpkin! Grant took the baby gourds to school today to share with his class. I'm sure NO ONE enjoyed it as much as he did!

How To Keep Busy When Daddy Is Away

Today marks the ninth day Kerry has been in Brazil on business. He was supposed to fly home all night last night and get home early this morning, but the partner asked him to stay an extra day for an unexpected meeting. Thus - our jack-o-lantern carving night has been postponed 'till tomorrow night. I've done really well this week as long as I do not think about just how far Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) is from Texas - or the continent of North America for that matter - but who's counting? It wasn't until day 6 (but again, who's counting) that my single-motherness routine began to get really old. Of course, this is when the weekend hit. I do better on any given day when we are in school and have a routine to go off of, but routine is especially helpful when Kerry is out of town. Lazy Daddyless Saturdays really end up being annoying Saturdays, and Sundays just about do me in as I teach the 2nd/3rd grade Bible class. I can teach anything language/writing/reading any day, but throw me into teaching a Bible class of 16 silly kiddos, and I'm about as stressed as I can be. I want to make the lesson fun and hands-on, but at the same time I have to be sure they're taking God's Word home in their little hearts. It's QUITE the task. The main thing that makes it tricky is that I usually end up changing the curriculum - not the Bible lesson itself since that's pretty much a done deal - but the activities that go along with it. And while the kids enjoy it, it really wears me out. The other issue that makes teaching the class extra stressful is telling the Bible stories in a way in which the young ones can "get" them. The Bible is full of what I call "Big Kid Words" and difficult themes that are too "above" their developmental level to truly be able to grasp. Whew! What a job. Guess I need more practice at bringing it all down to their level. Between ALL of that and getting myself and both boys dressed and out the door and in car seats in time to get to church before the 1st service is over so I can set up my classroom, I'm basically left in a mild to moderate panic and I am sweating. Oh, wait. I live in Houston. Of course I'm sweating. But wait! Isn't it October? Yes, yes it is. But Houston doesn't seem to know it should feel like fall outside. Moving on... So in order to pass the time this week, I have cleaned the house top to bottom, bought a new vacuum to make the house even cleaner, cleaned out (ended up with three trash bags full of junk), organized and vacuumed Grant's very scary closet, made some baby gifts, decorated this pillowcase for one of my " babies" who just had a tonsillectomy- actually she's a seventh grader, but I've had her since she was in the fourth grade - thus she has been christened one of "my babies" (She said her favorite colors are lime green and purple. Just a word of warning for all you sewers out there - finding lime green and purple on the same fabric is almost impossible. I had to improvise, and I HATE improvising on gifts!!!!! This gift is not as gaudy as I would've preferred, but oh well. I hated to put her name on the part of the pillowcase where you lay your head - rubbing one's cheek across a raised layer of thread did not sound comfy to me. I think it would've looked spunkier though. Again, oh well...)took care of odds and ends, attended a birthday party, got my eyebrows waxed with Rhett lying on my belly, went grocery shopping with my "keybay" and even bought Rhett's Halloween costume (he's going to be Elvis - fake sideburns and all). But Saturday - Day 6 - just got too slow, so the boys and I made pumpkin cupcakes. I figured what better way to make the house feel warm and cozy and full than to make sweets. It worked at making me feel better until I stepped back and studied the baking mess that was going to have to be picked up by someone, and I was pretty sure that someone was me. You know the mess I'm talking about. The one with sticky, bacteria-filled egg goo strings that are smeared from the mixing bowl to the sink, and orange food coloring that has stained the counter and your clothes, and lest I forget the splattered batter that flew across the kitchen when Rhett picked up the beaters from the bowl before I could turn them off? I really wanted to add some contours to the pumpkins and possibly add some darker/lighter streaks for effect, but the mess was calling me... I decided that perfecting my cupcakes was the least of my worries. The boys did enjoy themselves though. Grant tries to eat five cupcakes day. Rhett wants nothing to do with them, and I don't really want to eat them either since they don't have a speck of chocolate in them. We are pretty sure Daddy will like them though. Grant, my little chef, helped to mix the cake, and he cut the stems for the pumpkins (thus some stems are quite long). Rhett, as I stated earlier, just made messes. But, hey! We did manage to pass some time, didn't we?

Bet you can't do better than this, Heather. (Just kidding!!!!!!! I have no doubt that you could totally beat me down with a Halloween cake that people would stand in awe of and be afraid to cut into so as not to disturb your perfect design... I'm' sure you have a Halloween cake brewing in that head of yours. Be sure to post pictures of it!!!)

Daddy, we miss you so much! We can't fill the void anymore. We need YOU!

Shopping With a "Keybay"

Rhett is going through the cutest stage right now where he LOVES to wear hats. The police hat seen in the previous post and the "keybay" hat seen below are his favorites. So when he said he wanted to wear the keybay hat to H.E.B. today, at first I dejected the idea. But then I thought about how short this precious, new phase will be (Grant was never into this kind of thing), and what harm would it do for him to wear an oversized keybay hat to the store??? So, we loaded up the car with our diaper bag, wallet and the beloved hat. I think every person we passed in the aisles either said a sweet comment or gave a quiet, delighted giggle at this country sight in the middle of this big 'ole city!

Who knew a trip to H.E.B. would present a perfect fall picture opp?

We were on our way to the car with our groceries in tow when I couldn't help but notice the enormously perfect pile of pumpkins (there's some accidental alliteration for you writers out there to enjoy) we were walking past. I lifted Rhett out of his "race car" grocery basket and plopped him down with the festive gourds- keybay hat and all.

Note to the Martin side of the fam = this is one of Granddad's old hats. Sweet, right? I need to send these pictures to Grandmom... Too bad she doesn't blog.

Smorgasbord of This and That

Not much to tell around our parts. It's all the same old thing - go to school, teach school, do the laundry, fold the laundry, put away the laundry, start the whole laundry process over again, change diapers and chase Rhett and his ever growing personality around...

He decided to take his clothes off while playing outside the other day.

Then he began to race through the puddles.

What could possibly make playing outside in the puddles whilst being 99% naked any more fun?

Why not wear a policeman's hat as well?

I can't decide if he's cute or if he looks like a stripper in the making.

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Another pallet on the floor. Really, I HATE pallets. SUCH a mess.

A close-up of Rhett's new haircut. Somehow when I said the word "trim", the hairdresser heard "buzz". I about flipped when I saw her take the sheerers to his head. (Can one use the word "sheerers" when talking about a human, or is that phrase only reserved for sheep?) Thank goodness hair grows back because I really do miss his soft, wild-as-can-be baby hair.

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How My Husband is Like an Eight-Year-Old

He loves to decorate the yard for Halloween possibly more than he loves decorating for Christmas. He and the boys purchased this pretty little number last year, and it continues to be the favorite of all the boys in the neighborhood. It continues to creep me out.

Next stop = the graveyard of bones!

And what would Halloween be without a blow-up haunted house with spinning ghosts and bats inside?

Until next time...

What I do to keep my sanity...

Before you view any of my most recent projects, let me preface them by saying that I THINK MY CAMERA IS SICK. My AMAZING camera no longer takes good quality pictures. Maybe I should take it into a shop. I hate to buy a new one since this one was a very expensive gift from Kerry that I have cherished for years! Anyways, at least you get the idea of my most recent sewing projects...

Halloween onesies for 3 month old Baby Ashley

(I ended up monogramming an "A" on the skull - not pictured)

Shirt for Baby Mason (ETA = 1.5 months) Not done with this one yet.

(His dad works for John Deere Co.) - the smoke coming out of the smokestack says "MASON"

I figure Baby Drew needs one since his daddy owns a cotton gin north of Lubbock.

Grant's 2009 Halloween shirt

I plan on making a matching skull shirt for Rhett, but until that happens he will have to wear his Halloween shirt from last year since it still fits him... somehow.

Baby Ellyse's 1st birthday gift = a monogrammed sippy cup and an "e" shirt

with ribbon and tulle

What, Logan? Did you have some news to share with us???

My "business" has really picked up lately. Sooo fun! I've already got some Christmas orders in! Can't wait to post what those projects end up looking like.

One for George Lucas

Below is a conversation I had with Grant not too long ago...

Me = So, what do you and your new friends do at recess?
Grant = Me and Nick and Owen play Star Wars!
This is news to me! We are not a Star Wars family. Well, Kerry is into it. I just never cared for it.
Me = You do? How do you play Star Wars if you don't know what it is?
Grant = They tell me what to do, and I do it.
That sounds scary.
Me = Well, that sure is nice of them to help you play.
Grant = And guess what,Momma! I am the bestest and the strongest character, too!
Me = You are? Which character are you?
And here's the best part where he proudly boasted... Wait for it....... Wait for it........ Wait for it........ It's worth it.........
Grant = I'm Maurice!!!!

And this is where I laughed my buns off! Although I do not know much about Star Wars, I feel pretty confident when I say there is NOT a character named Maurice. But I think it's safe to assume that if there WAS a "Maurice", he would be the "bestest" and the "strongest"!

Let Sleeping Babies Lie ~ especially two-year-old babies

It has finally happened. Rhett has turned into a two-year-old. I was beginning to think that we had somehow outsmarted the tantrum gods because those famous Terrible Two's had yet to set up shop in the Kilgore house....... until a week ago when Rhett threw a fit beyond what I thought he was capable of and I immediately knew I was not as lucky as I had hoped.

Rhett was sent to his room last night during dinner because he refused to stop grunting angrily at us. I know - he's so vicious! After five minutes, we were surprised to hear complete silence coming from his corner of the house where an even bigger I'm-in-trouble-and-mad-about-it fit should've been taking place. I peeped in to check on him and found this =
Maybe the angry growling wasn't necessarily because he's two. Maybe he was just tired (this time)... Kerry scooped him up and put him in bed. We didn't hear from him again until seven o'clock the next morning.

And did you notice that sweet baby tooshie in the air? HOW do they sleep like that? I think it would hurt my back.