Fayetteville Botanical Gardens

Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law and I took the kids to the botanical gardens.  It was a beautiful day, and I had learned about a huge bug exhibit they have going on through the end of the year.  We had a great time with fantastic weather.

When we arrived, we were told they had bug arts adn crafts in the education room.  The kids made a quick dash for that.  Alex is creating his bug mask.

We were the only ones in there, so it was a nice, relaxing time.

I hadn't been to the gardens in about four years.  They've remodeled it a lot and even built a huge visitor center.

Madison found a cactus.

 Posing with Nana

Here's one of the bugs on display, a grasshopper.  The gardens did a great job with these displays.  They looked so natural and were very, very cool.

The bugs were mixed in with their Christmas decorations.

 Huge eyeglasses

The huge spiderweb was a very cool sculpture.

 The kids found "deer to tell Daddy about."

The ants marching along

 Luke loved the ants.

 More cactus

Alex found the only mailbox there, shocking.

You can get an idea of the size.  These were huge.

Beautiful Fall

The gardens were beautiful, and I really liked how they renovated.

Praying Mantis

I tried to get the boys in the picture too, but they didnt' want to leave the praying mantis.

 This is especially for Edward.  I'm standing in the old dirt parking lot, and this is the new building.  I told you it was very, very different!

We will definitely go back, maybe before the bug exhibit leaves.  We had a great visit.

Thanksgiving

Well, I didn't get a lot of pictures from Thanksgiving Day, mainly because I was cooking and still trying to keep up with the three kids.  My in-laws came over to celebrate with us, and we had a very nice day.

Everything cooking away

 James, carving up the turkey

After all the food...the boys are ready for bed.

Madison and Nana enjoyed a bedtime story.

Waiting for Nana and Pop

Nana and Pop came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  The kids were very excited and began asking at 8:00 AM when they might arrive (six hour drive from Tennessee, and they had a half day of work).  Finally, near 7:00, I told the boys they might watch for them.  They literally sat at the doors, waiting.

Toy Story Operation

A couple of weeks ago, Toys R Us ran a sale on Toy Story Operation for $1.00.  Yes, that's right.  $1.00.  So, I picked up a game for the house.  The kids have been loving it.  They haul it all over the house, and they do a decent job.  This was the first night they got it out, right before bedtime.

 For two-years-old, Alex does a very good job (love the crazy hair?).

They take turns pretty well, but as far as the buzzer, they pretty much pay no attention to it.  They get the piece out no matter how many times the buzzer goes off.

Tiger

We have had a rough weekend here.  On Saturday, our awesome cat, Tiger, passed away.  He was ten and a half years old.  Edward and I adopted him from the Humane Society the month after we got married, just after we moved to Florida.  He really was a wonderful pet for our family.  He got sick very suddenly and was rushed to the Urgent Care overnight on Friday.  On Saturday afternoon, the vet called to say that he was even worse and in a lot of pain, so I opted (and vet totally agreed) to have him put to sleep.  It was really sudden, and we didn't get to say good-bye.  The kids LOVED Tiger, and they are really upset.  Add that to everything else we've had going on over the last few months, and it's a lot for any kid.  We are really going to miss our cool cat.  He has been such a great companion to all of us.  Last night, it felt pretty lonely sitting up, watching tv.  He ALWAYS would sit behind me on the couch, and he has slept on our bed pretty much since we got him.  He will be very, very missed.

Tiger lived a great life.  He was  true Army cat, moving from Florida to North Carolina, North Carolina across the country to Arizona, and once again from Arizona to North Carolina.  He did so well on this past move.  He rode in the "boy" car, as Luke called it with Edward and Luke.  Luke, in particular, is VERY attached to Tiger.  He's taking it very hard.

Tiger fit into the palm of our hand when we adopted him.  The first night we had him, he was too little to climb the stairs of our townhouse.  He stood at the bottom step meowing until we carried him upstairs because we didn't realize he couldn't climb the steps yet.  He absolutely loved Florida, catching lizards in our backyard all the time.  Tiger evacuated from hurricanes three times.  He's been here to see each baby of ours come home from the hospital, and he's always adapted well.  He's been around as each toddler has learned how to "nicely and gently" pet him.  He was a great deployment companion too. 

This moring, Luke came into my room and asked me if Tiger was in Heaven yet.  He's trying to understand all of this, and while people tell me we'll get through it (yeah, I know), it doesn't make it any easier to try and take care of all of their emotional needs right now.

Rest in Peace, Tiger.  You were a great part of our lives.

The Car Cart

Alex and I were pulling into the grocery store parking lot this morning after dropping Luke off at preschool.  We hadn't even pulled into our parking spot yet, when he shouted from his carseat, "Alexander want car cart."  I started laughing so hard I could barely park the car.  That kid cracks me up.  He recently started calling himself Alexander, as his teachers call him that.  That is his full name, and we've mainly called him Alex.  Well, he likes Alexander, and he can finally say it.  At home, he gets mad if you say, "Alex" and not "Alexander."  It's been quite funny, and he even starts pouting at the dinner table if in the prayer, one of the kids says, "God Bless Alex," and not Alexander. He puts his head down and pouts, quietly saying, "Alexander."  So, his comment about wanting a car cart was hilarious to me.  He rarely gets to go to the store without the others in tow, and he was going to make sure that he was able to enjoy his grocery shopping experience.  Thankfully, it was nice and early, and there were plenty of car carts still available.

My Elf

Madison has been begging me to let her wrap our family Christmas presents.  Yes, I finished my Christmas shopping.  Yea!!!  So, over the last few evenings, after I have gotten the boys in bed, she's slowly chipped away at the gifts.  She did a great job, cutting, wrapping, taping, and labeling each gift.  She loved it too, especially picking out the wrapping paper.  So, family members, take note.  Your wrap was specifically chosen for you by Madison.  We sorted the gifts tonight by family and put away.  She had so much fun and kept asking if there were more gifts to wrap.  We still need to get kids off the Angel Tree, so I told her we'd have those to do later.  It was awesome to have a huge guest room to spread out and do this each night.  We had a deadline of tomorrow, though, as Nana and Pop are coming on Wednesday.  Well, we're all done.



Alphabet vs. Candy Corn

Awhile back, Luke was begging for candy corn.  I have been having trouble with getting him to focus and work on his writing skills.  So, one afternoon, the idea came to me to use candy corn to help with the writing skills.  I didn't have this problem with Madison; she loved learning how to write, but I know all kids are different. Well, it worked.  For every "good" letter (I was generous in that term too), he got a candy corn.  Boy, if he didn't whip out the whole alphabet in a hurry!  It has at least inspired him to keep trying to write, so for now, I'll take what I can get.

Wilmington

The kids and I ventured to Wilmington this past weekend.  We had a nice visit with my parents that included a trip to Carolina Beach State Park (in Wilmington).

Grandma and Grandpa have a lot of mature trees with tons of leaves.

 

The rest are all from Carolina Beach State Park...

Okay, it wasn't cold at all, but Alex had a new hat and wouldn't take it off.  I had bought it the day before, and when I was trying it on him, he became obsessed with it.  We all thought  he looked really funny.

I'm in a picture!  Thanks, Mom.

Grandma and Grandpa with three of their five grandkids.

 I love these in the woods.

Thanks for a great weekend, Mom and Dad.  I really appreciated all the help especially with my nasty sinus infection.