Last Train To Clarksville

Reed watches PBS Kids in the mornings while he eats his breakfast... The past few months they have been advertising Thomas the Train Live in Spencer, NC. Every time he sees this he gets EXTREMELY excited. So we decided to get tickets and go. Next week we are leaving on Friday morning to go to Lexington, NC. We are staying in a lakefront cabin! On Saturday, we are going to see Thomas the Train himself. If he had a shin I would probably give it a swift kick. This train is Reed's obsession... It pretty much drives me crazy, because he refuses to do ANYTHING else when he starts playing with a track. He remembers that Barnes and Noble has a train table, and has a fit everytime we drive by without stopping in there. He calls it the "Mallisary" (Mall+Commisary?? I have no idea.) But anywho... on Sunday we are going to the NC Zoo in Asheboro and then heading home. I am so excited to stay at the cabin! I got Reed a little Diego fishing pole. I think he will have a blast.

Reed is practicing roughing it.

I was a cool mom for a day and built him a tent. He ate lunch in it and everything... I promise he does own clothes. I noticed he tends to be in various stages of undress in all these pictures I post. Part of potty training I guess.

**Counting My Blessings**

MIKE

I really can't express how much he means to me. He was more than my uncle. He was like a second father to me. I still can't believe he is gone. We had so much fun when we were together. It really just hurts to the core that he can't be here today and see Reed... I know they would be best buddies if the two of them got together. I just wish I could talk to him one time... Is he proud? I still talk to him almost everyday. He was just such an easygoing person. We were alot alike. We were both so silly... The two of us had alot of inside jokes... I still order Mountain Dew in King's House and think of him and laugh every time they tell me they just have "Meh-yo Yeh-yo". I find myself wishing that everyone in my life could have met him. I can't wait to meet him at heaven's gates. I know he is watching over me, and now Reed every day. I miss you, Mike.

Ticket To Ride

So... I am happy to say that my parents just did me a huge favor and bought Reed and I a ticket to come to Joplin next month! Look for Reed to knock on your door Halloween night! His costume is a surprise. OK... so it is not really a surprise, more like I just can't decide yet, and I am putting off getting one. I will be in town the 24th through the 7th. I am excited! Can't wait to see my family and friends.

Moving on to the immense bragging portion of my blog:

Reed is getting cuter every day. He says things that are just so funny. This is definitely a great age. He is starting to really pretend with his toys and such. I am so happy that he is so sweet and well mannered. We have worked with him for a long time on that and I am very pleased with how he acts toward others... Working with him helped but he comes by it naturally... he is just a sweet kid.

Potty training is great! He is going in the potty all day. Nights he is in Pull Ups... but we have time to work on that. I am so proud!

Here are some pics of the silly guy...

He is pretty hung up on "Saying Cheese"... I love that he will smile for the camera, but regretfully I cant get any candids anymore.

He is constantly wearing our shoes... but this is one of the more interesting combinations I have seen from him.

Here he is messing around while eating some Chinese food. (Mei Fun... we can get it down here but not back home... I guess it HALF way makes up for not being able to get Cashew Chicken)

Here he is in his little undies... I have a feeling these are the photos I will be whipping out an prom night...

Where The Boys Are

I have come to realize that I am outnumbered. I am a girl in a house full of boys... yes... two boys is enough to fill this house. I was not sure what this really meant for me until Reed started talking. He and his father find great humor in anything toilet related. Bodily functions are apparently hilarious... I was not aware that this fascination would begin at two... but you know what they say... Boys will be boys.

**Counting My Blessings**

Yoshie

She is my best friend in the whole entire world. I would do anything for her. We met in driver's ed where we both nearly sent the instructor to the nuthouse. She is older than me by three days and I dont think I will ever let her live it down that she is an old fogey. And she will probably never let me live down the fact that I am late to EVERYTHING. (I will have it in my will to be late to my own funeral... You laugh now, but just wait...) We smile until our faces hurt when we are together. I dont think I could ever find a friend I trust and love as much as I do Yoshie. She is a true blue friend. I was so honored to see her daughter's first breath. When I was in labor I thought I heard her and my mom says I would not stop yelling for her, thinking she was in the hallway. We have been through so much together and I fully plan to grow old and gray and still be the best of friends. She might as well be my sister... she is the closest I will ever get to one.

I'll Take You There

Sorry it's been such a long time since I have updated this! I know I said I was going to keep up with it, but it has been crazy around here. So I am playing catch-up now. Here goes Blog Number One of my series of "catching up" blogs!










As some of you may know... We took a small trip over the Labor Day weekend... Tyler and I are suckers for the Travel Channel and Food Network. Anything we see on there that is even somewhat close, we try to make plans to go someday. We finally got around to going to our very first Mildly Famous Restaurant... Stay tuned for more of these, but for now here is our adventure in Barbeque...




This is The Skylight Inn... They are the self proclaimed Barbeque Capital of the World...





Complete with tin rotunda. Yes this is cheesy as all get out but I thought it was pretty darn cool.





Tyler was so embarrassed that I was taking all these pictures. There were only a few people there, and they were locals... I got a few strange looks.





OK so this is the picture of my wallet... with no cash in it... Why? Because this place is very um.... shall we say... RURAL. They did not take cards. So this is told to us AFTER they had scooped our meat into the little cardboard boats. So we ask, where is an ATM? They had to really think about it. That was a little unsettling, but they finally told us that there was one about 2 miles away.


So we drove the 2 miles to go get cash... We drove 2 hours for barbeque and we were going to get it, darnit!





Within this time a very cranky Reed fell asleep. We had planned on going inside so we could get the full experience... But that was not in the cards.





So Ty went in to get our chow. There are only about 4 items on the menu. I ordered a medium boat of pork which came with slaw and cornbread, I subbed the slaw for more cornbread.





Here is mine... That is the cornbread on my lap. Not quite what I was expecting... But I was determined to give it a try.





This is Tyler's... He ordered a large. The darker parts are what they call "cracklins"... That means pork skin... That is where all the flavor is, they say. This place smokes whole pigs for a really long time, and they chop it all up right there in the restaurant.





Tyler gave it a try... He is sort of picky about meat. It has to be really lean for him to like it.





I was pretty excited to try it... I love meat. All kinds. I could never EVER be a vegetarian.


Tyler liked it at first but he got a "weird" piece. I have no idea what that means, but here is his thumbs down... I was glad because I got to pawn off the yucky cornbread and I got the rest of his meat!





Maybe that is why I look like a fat kid with a piece of cake in this picture... But anywho... Here is my very excited thumbs up!



the end.

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I am going to write a few more blogs today that will publish later this week. I will try for a blog a day until Friday! Bon Appetit!

Let The River Run

So just to update on the potty business... Yesterday Reed went to the potty 4 times! He only had one accident but that was late in the evening, when he was kind of cranky and stubborn. He came right to me and said "Oh, no! I wet!! Eww gross." So I think he gets it now. Today was a weird day and we were out and about pretty much all day and now it is naptime, so no potty today.

Reed has a wonderful ear for music. He can hear the first two notes of something and exclaim what song it is. There are some orchestral scores to movies that Kidstuff plays occasionally... They have no words at all. He can tell you what movie it goes to instantly with no prompting. I am sorry to brag, but that is pretty stinkin' smart.

Today Reed and I met Tyler for lunch on base. We dont do it nearly enough. Reed loved getting to see Daddy half way through the day. Ty just never really gets a lunch usually. He usually eats in the office with whatever he brings from home. He has been so busy lately with a bunch of things they are doing in the shop. This Thursday he will have to stay super late. I am thankful he will have a normal job this time next year. We were just talking about how nice it would be to just take off to the lake on a Friday night. Soon enough.....





**Counting My Blessings**

((NOTE: These are in NO particular order, people! Dont get your feathers ruffled! *wink*))






DAB

What can I say? He is my fishing, rib, and golfing buddy. I mentioned how my Mum has been there for me, well this is the one person who can hold a candle to her... he has been there just as long. Every time I think of my dad something funny or fun usually comes to mind. I think I definitely get my sense of humor from him... and that unfortunately gets me in trouble sometimes. (Gee, THANKS Dad.) We can laugh about almost anything. When we do things together we always have so much fun... everything is always an adventure. There is no one else I know that can match me in the spontenaity department. He can have fun just driving around seeing what he can find. He is Reed's Right Hand Man. Hands down. Nobody is as fun as PeePaw. Not even Mommy. He is the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back and never expect anything in return. I think I pretty much got the best of the best in the parent department.

Sweet Child O' Mine

So this saturday we decided to put Reed in "Big Kid Underpants" (training underwear)... I guess I had this false hope that it would go smoothly and I would have a potty trained kid by today. Well, no. He wore the underwear for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. He was in a foul mood and wanted no part of being told to sit on the potty. So we are playing it by ear now. I am just going to ask him first thing if he wants to wear the big kid pants, and if he says yes we will. I have a little egg timer I set for 30 minutes and that is his "Potty Timer". I think am going to buy a book at Barnes and Noble today called "Potty Training Bootcamp". He is wearing his underwear today... nothing yet. He is currently sitting on the potty and standing every minute or so and looking into it and saying, "Nope, not yet!" as to say he has not yet wee wee'd. This is sure to be an eventful week.

We are HUGE into the Olympics this year. Tyler was gone for the last summer games, so I suppose he feels the need to catch up. I love the summer games... not huge on winter, except for curling. We were watching the men's gymnastics with Reed, and he took quite an interest. He was putting his hands up like the gymnasts do before and after every routine. He especially thought the rings were entertaining. He was cracking up at the men dropping and flipping around! I have been staying up till midnight almost every night to watch the swimming. Last night was AWESOME. The men's relay race was so suspenseful. I was up and cheering at the TV. If you did not know, the French were talking stuff about how they would "smash" us. Well, in the last 100 we pulled ahead and won the race! As exciting as that was... I am even more excited for synchronized swimming. In case you could not tell... I have quite the affinity for offbeat olympic events. Then again... I am a little offbeat myself.

**Counting My Blessings**

MUM

Out of everyone I know and have known in my life, I have found noone willing to stick with me as long as my mother. Now, I know that I am her daughter, and that it is kind of in the job description... but I feel she has gone above and beyond the call of duty so many times for me. Yes we have had our fair share of fights, but I think you will be hard pressed to find a close mother and daughter who never fight. The true point is that she gets me. And I know that no matter what happens, and how many times I screw up, she will always love me. There are not many people in one's life that someone can say that about. She is always there for me. She is a generous and kind spirit. I am so blessed to be her daughter. Now that she is retired, I can't wait to get back to Joplin... There has never been a time in my life that I have seen her truly relaxed. She has always worked somewhere... usually somewhere very stressful. She deserves this. She is the best Mom and Grandmother ever. Reed loves her so much. I am so truly thankful for everything she has done for me my whole life, and for my family these past few years.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

I am sure I will run out of ironic song titles to name my entries with, but I thought it would be amusing.

This week is not going by fast enough... The past few weeks have been pretty busy for us as a family and now things are finally slowing down. It is nice to be less busy, but it is also much more boring. I am ready for the weekend.

Reed is definitely keeping things interesting. He loves to voice his opinions on just about everything. One of our conversations this week:
(He comes in carrying a hermit crab stuffie my mom got him... We had dubbed it Sebastian... Well, I had, since he never came up with anything.)

Me- "Oh, wow, Reed! Is that Sebastian?"
Reed- "No, Mommy."
Me- "Well that is your crab MeMe got you... I thought we named it Sebastian."
Reed- "No, Mommy. Name no Bastian. Name Crabby." *walks away*


I was just kind of surprised... My baby is carrying on conversations. I guess this is the beginning of the end... Today the crab, tomorrow the car.

**Counting My Blessings**

((I have decided to conclude every entry with something I feel thankful for... It could be a person, talent, object... whatever. I think it will be nice to have these to look at if I am feeling down.))

REED

With every day that goes by, I learn more and more about my son. He is kind. His idea of bliss is playing Thomas the Train with Mommy and Daddy. He loves to cuddle. He is much more polite than most adults I know. He is so smart and funny. He sees me as the person I want to be. He says or does something new everyday. I can't believe so many awesome qualities can fit into one little person. Don't get me wrong... He can be quite a pistol. But he does come by it honestly... He is my son, remember? But overall.... I don't know how in the heck I got so lucky.