Memories...

Memory: The faculty of the mind by which it retains the knowledge of previous thoughts, impressions, or events.
Reminiscence: The act or process of recollecting past experiences or events. An experience or event recollected. A narration of past experiences. Often used in the plural. An event that brings to mind a similar, former event.

What is in a memory? What memories do you have that are triggered by a sense? I have many memories triggered by the sense of smell. Like smelling the cool, crisp fall air; a hot sweet potato pie fresh from the oven; and one that triggers the memory of fall/winter is this: the smell of the dust burning off the coils on the heater. You may wonder why a smell as that would trigger a memory...oddly, it does. You have to realize that I lived in the South my whole life (Born in Georgia, Grew up in Florida, and now Raising a family in Texas) So we, Southerners, aren't avid heater users. This morning was the first time we have turned on the heat since last winter. I'm not sure of the temperature outside, but inside the house it was a chipper 64 degrees. A little too cold for the kids. When I turned on the heat this morning, it started almost instantly. The dust starting burning off the coils. It brought back the memories of my dad turning on the heater for the first time of the cold season. I, and all my siblings, loved this--it meant that on the cold mornings the first one of bed could sit in front of the heater and warm up. The key was being the first one out of your warm bed to sit on the floor in the living room in front of the wall heater. It always seemed like my brother, John, made it to the heater first. Aww! such sweet memories.

The Fall and Winter Seasons hold many memories for me (and I'm sure for others, too). I love cuddling up on the couch with a book--well, when you have kids...you don't get this chance very often. It is more: I love cuddling up on the couch with the kids watching a Movie. Another experience about the cool weather is starting the day with Hot Chocolate. I started this when I moved into my own apartment. I love Hot Chocolate with marshmallows. I tried to get Dakota to try some hot chocolate, but no, all he wanted were the marshmallows. So, Dakota had his marshmallows; and I had my Hot Chocolate...and shared a marshmallow with Lily Lu, of course!!

Not only do I love enjoying the warmth inside but also I love being outside in the cool, crisp air. We did just that yesterday. Jed has been trimming the brush away from along the back fence; so Myself and the kids played outside on the swing set. Dakota climbed in his "castle"; and Lily Lu played in the grass with the leaves. Dakota (as you see in the picture above) enjoyed saying, "Cheese!" for me while standing on the tree stump. Dakota is growing into a little man. And it is happening fast! I hope he doesn't start changing like the seasons.

East Texas Yamboree

At the Livestock show
Lilyann with her balloon
Dakota and Lilyann on the carousel with Boo
Dakota riding the ladybug ride--see monkey sitting with him?
Lilyann with Grandma and playing with Uncle Leonard

What a wonderful weekend we had here in East Texas! This weekend was the Annual East Texas Yamboree. http://yamboree.com/ A festival dedicated to the yam/sweet potato (yummy!!) Dakota and Lilyann are both big fans of this famous yam...especially the way their Boo (Jed's grandma) makes them. I love sweet potatoes, too. Nobody makes them like our Boo.

Enjoying some funnel cake and corn dogs
Dakota watching the parade with Daddy

This year, Dakota was tall enough (over 36 inches) to ride most of the kiddie rides. He rode the carousel with his Boo; the ladybug ride and a car ride, all by himself; and then he finished out by riding the Pebbles and BamBam train ride with Grandma. It was an eye-opener seeing my once little baby boy, Dakota, riding big boy rides all by himself. He is growing up so fast. My little man will soon be 3 yrs old. It is hard to believe how fast they grow up. It seems as if time is running away from me.
I can't believe I almost forgot to tell about the Queen's Parade. This parade includes the Yam Queen, Duchesses, local school bands, and different organizations sponsoring the Yamboree. Lily enjoyed the parade. She sat on the curb and watched the parade for a bit; and when one of the marching bands came by, she decided to crawl out to join them.
Lilyann watching the parade
Crawling out to the band

Playing "redneck horseshoes" with Aunt Georgia

Not only did we have a wonderful time at the Yamboree but also we were able to spend some time with Great Uncle Leonard and Great Aunt Georgia. Dakota loved being outside with Aunt Georgia...she showed him how to play--i think it is called, Redneck Horseshoes. Dakota loved that. And Lily was so taken with Uncle Leonard. She enjoyed sitting with him...she always seemed to smile when she saw Uncle Leonard.

We, also, went to the livestock show. We saw rabbits, goats, cows, bulls, etc. Dakota wasn't too fond of being so up close and personal with the animals. And listening the auctioneer had me laughing and wondering if the auctioneer actual understood what he was saying...It almost sounded like he was singing.

It was a wonderful weekend. And to top it all off, we enjoyed dinner at Boo's house. What a great end to a perfect day.

Ants and "Rhino Poop"

Today had it's ups and downs....We started out with Lily waking up only to go back to sleep again. This sinus infection is really zapping her energy...she is tired a lot and isn't really taking her bottles, but she is eating lots of table food. Well, Dakota was in a mood...wanting to do everything his way...and he was so bossy today!!

Well, After Lily's morning nap, we went outside to play a little. I put Lily on Dakota's trike..and she liked it..Dakota gets on with her..and he wants me to take a picture of them on his trike. I go in to get the camera. During this split second, Dakota pushes over the trike and knocks Lily off the trike. So Lily is fussy...and crawling around in the grass (she loves the grass...so i let her crawl around without picking her up right away) Next thing i know, Dakota is saying ANTS!! Lily is covered in Ants...All over her little hands on her clothes...everywhere. So i grab her up and starting swiping all the ants off and picking the ones off that won't swipe. She got bit up pretty bad...but it didn't seem to effect her. She was more upset that i took her off the grass then she was that the ants were biting her..silly girl! So i wiped her down with some wipes...the ones with bleach on them ( i know bleach works to take the pain out of bee stings, so i figured it would help with ant bites...and it did...it took most of the redness out of them). We played a little longer and then it was nap time.

After naps...our friends came over (Matt and Sarah). Dakota loves to play with them...and Lily does too. After we all had dinner...I put Dakota in the bath to play for a bit. This is were the Rhino poop comes in. Dakota starts calling for me: "Mommy, I had Rhino poop in the bathtub!! Rhino poop in the bathtub, mommy!!" I go to inspect and sure enough, Dakota has made a poopy in the bath tub. He was not happy that the rhino poop was in his bathtub. Thank God for Hubby...he came to my rescue and disposed of the rhino poop. (Rhino poop first got it's name when hubby told Dakota that his poopy diaper smelled like rhino poop~~ we had recently been to the zoo and the rhino cage didn't smell good...thus, the origin of rhino poop to our vocabulary)

**To protect the innocent toys in the bathtub...no pictures were taken of this wonderful adventure**

So that was our day...what fun!!

Here's the Mail...

"Here's the Mail
It never Fails;
It makes me wanna wag my Tail.
When it comes,
I wanna Wail......MAIL!!!"
~~this is the song from Blue's Clues when it's mail time~~

Today was Mail time at our house. Aunt Tammie called earlier this week to tell us that she was sending a package to Dakota (well, all of us). She had found Curious George Fruit Snacks at Sam's Club..and wanted to send them to Dakota (he loves George).

The day that "Aunt Tammie from Florida" (Kota's name for her) called...Dakota was eager to put his boots on and run and check the mail to see if Aunt Tammie was here. Needless to say, Aunt Tammie wasn't in the mailbox...lol. But today....The box from "Aunt Tammie in Florida" came!! Dakota was so excited. He was even more excited to find out that George fruit snacks were in the box.

One little...two little pumpkins!

Pumpkins!! What fun! We took the kids to a "pumpkin patch" at a local church. No one was there so we took advantage of a perfect photo spot. Pumpkins, pumpkins Everywhere..and all sizes.
Dakota tried to pick up pumpkins--Grandma was showing him how to pick up the big ones. But when my smart little man realized since he couldn't pick up the pumpkins, he started to roll them (which was easier). It was funny.
Enjoy the slide show...that was the easiest way to share all the pictures.

Step back and take it all in

We are having beautiful weather here in East Texas. Beautiful weather and kids ready to play equals a nice day at the park. Dakota loves the park...Lilyann is starting to like it, too. She loves being outside~~my little nature girl; and even more, enjoys being with her daddy. It is exciting seeing my little ones experience something new; and take in all the new surroundings. To see life through a child's eyes...what an experience that would be.

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I am beginning to think that what makes Dakota tick is going for walks. He loves to go on a walk. Whether it be around the block, to the park (which is 1 mile round trip), to get a gumball (going to the consignment store by our house), or just walking to the post office to get stamps..to Dakota, it is an adventure. He is looking for kitty cats, pine cones, acorns (baby pine cones, as he calls them), bugs, and even ducks (we go to see the ducks near our house sometimes). The walks get Dakota talking, and asking questions...about everything. "What is that, mommy?" "Did you hear that?" "Oh, my!" (these are just a few of his famous questions/statements)

And what is so sweet is that Dakota will talk to Lily...Show her what he has found or can do.

What a wonderful big brother!

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Happy October

Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE Fall!! It is such a wonderful season. The cool weather, the leaves changing colors, and seeing the God's hand at work. Fall has a way of making us spend time with one another. The last few evenings, we have grilled outside. With such wonderful weather, there aren't as many mosquitoes (mosquitoes love my children! I guess my children are too sweet!! he he) So we have cooked on the grill and played outside. Dakota loves playing outside just as Lilyann does. When we are outside playing, the neighbor kids come over and play. Though the neighbor kids are all older than Dakota (i think the youngest is in Kindergarten) Dakota has a blast!

Lilyann is enjoying the fall weather, too. If you don't watch her, she will have every leaf she can get her hands on in her mouth. Maybe she will be a nature lover?!? Either way, she enjoys being on the grass and touching everything: the grass, leaves, rocks, dirt, everything. Maybe it is all the extra "nature" that she is tasting, but Lilyann is up to 17 lbs!! She is growing by leaps and bounds. She is (as Kota would say) "up, up, up". Lily is pulling up to everything. She will crawl to me as I'm cooking or folding clothes and pull up and hold onto my leg.