Fly on the wall

Oh what a great time you could have had as a fly on the wall at our house this morning.

I was doing school with Madisyn and Ty when Griffin entered the room whining. Ty informed me that Griffin had put some of the counting beans up his nose. Griffin not only put beans up his nose but he continued to dig at it until I could not see it or feel it (he's done this before and normally I can feel it). A quick call to Daddy determined a doctor's office call was in order. While on hold with Dr. Evan's office. I finally managed to wrangle the stupid thing loose.

How long before he does it again - I say two days max! LOL

New lot part 2

As promised here are some pictures of the sign up and some of the inventory.







Daddy and Uncle Kirk got the loading dock finished today.

The new lot

The lastest buzz around the Witcher household is Daddy's new lot. Daddy and Uncle Kirk have set up "shop" in town with a new lot for selling their equipment. The excitement of the lot is part of the reason Ty didn't want to go to the nature center.

One of the first orders of business is raising a sign.

I didn't get a finished picture because I ended up feeding Ben and didn't have the free hands. I'll post one soon.

Trip to the Nature Center

My sister, Raegen and my dad came over Friday and we headed for the hills. Ok, not really the hills but the ridge. We went to Crowley's Ridge Nature Center in Jonesboro. It's managed by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and they have done a fantastic job. It was a little cold out so we couldn't enjoy the trails but we plan to go back.

The visit began with a short movie on the history of Crowley's Ridge. Except for a few "a million years ago" comments it was really very neat. The theater room was designed so that lights flashed during a thunder storm, mist sprayed during a fog and the ground shook with thunder and an earthquake. Madisyn wasn't too sure about the long shaking and even got a little scared when the movie was describing the earthquake in 1812 or 1813 that caused the Mississippi River to run backwards. Ben almost went to sleep. HA! That should tell you those two have very different personalities.They had a really neat arcade/laser shooting game. I know that Griffin hunted wild boars once. The rest of us stuck to deer. I believe there was also a varmit game, and possibly ducks or turkeys. Another family from the homeschool group also went. I was so impressed with the way their sons were willing to help Madisyn. They offered her pointers on the correct handling of the gun and never complained about her or Griffin being in the way.

The center had a place where the kids could try on hunting clothes. Madisyn never misses an opportunity to dress for the occasion.

We even had time for a puppet show!

Cousin Madisyn attempted to strap poor Raegen in his car seat. Luckily his Mommy came to the rescue.

You might be wondering why I didn't take any pictures of Ty. He is all boy and spending the day with Mommy was trumped by the chance to spend it with Daddy.

John Deere Diapering Supplies

I made a new wet bag (for storing dirty diapers) and wipe box for the diaper bag.

Ty and Griffin like it even if Ben isn't old enough to appreciate it. :D

The 2nd picture shows the wipe box with the wonderful wipes I got from Dana at http://www.lewisfamilymercantile.com/ . Dana is a great lady and she did a fantastic job. Thanks, Dana!

Easter

Granddaddy and Mammy came over (they were hoping for candy but we just had the cheap stuff JK!). This picture was taken by Madisyn.

Then the egg hunt began.

Griffin got some help but hey - he's short and he still didn't feel well.

Don't the boots look lovely with that dress. M thought it was a nice touch. I have to admit they are MUCH MUCH better than the rubber boots she orginally had on.
I think Ty gathered the most eggs. The boy can focus when he needs to. LOL

No chickens were harmed in the egg chewing portion of the day.

Wye Mountain

For about four years we have been traveling to Wye (it is important to realize the name on the map is Wye NOT Wye Mountain - this causes some difficulty in locating and can upset some people if you don't know the proper name of where you are going - I digress) and visiting the Daffodil fields. This year we tried something different and hired a photographer to meet us and take some family shots. Uncle Billy, Aunt Robin, Raegen, Mammy and Granddaddy all came as well. When the photographer lets us know the proofs are available I'll post those as well. We took about three cameras so all the pictures are here yet. I'll have to get the others off the other computer and post more later.

My favorite picture from the whole day. Poor Griffin really didn't feel well and missed his nap.

Ty wasted no time hopping up in that tree.

Griffin couldn't be outdone by big brother. Although, I believe this was taken as Uncle Billy climbed in the tree and Griffin wasn't sure that was such a great idea. (See Robin's blog for more of those ;) )

Just to prove that Ben does occasionally get upset. This lovely face was caused because Mommy wouldn't let him eat a pine cone.

I took Ben over to the side and took his socks and shoes off to capture of couple of pictures of just him. Ben does favor Ty but he looks a lot like Griffin as well. I'll have to figure out how to do a side by side of Ben and Griffin from two years ago.

Because Griffin didn't feel well it was hard to get good pictures of him. Who knew taking his socks and boots off would make such a difference?!?!

The only one of Madisyn I have on this computer. I'll post more later.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Friday night we dyed Easter Eggs.

Of course Green was Ty's first color choice.

so that meant Griffin needed Yellow (do you see a theme? ) .

The pink didn't work right so Madisyn made do with blue.

Doesn't Griffin look proud? Wonder how he'll feel about pictures of him shirtless on the internet when he's 15?

Madisyn let Ben "help" her. It is his first Easter ya know.

Little Chefs

Last Friday evening Madisyn and Ty got ready to participate in their first ever Dairy Foods Contest. The Dairy Contest is sponsored by Arkansas Farm Bureau and our 4-H group took part.

Making the brownies.

Buttering (dairy) the pan.

In the oven.

Chopping Oreos.

Spreading the filling over ice cream sandwiches.

2nd layer of ice cream.

Finishing Touches.

All Done - Ice Cream Sandwich Torte.

S'More Brownie Bites.

Because they are Cloverbuds - they don't actually get a place in the contest but they should receive their participation ribbons soon.

He Speaks!!!!!

Ben said Mama! He is the first of my children to not say Daddy first. Of course, when I got the camera out he wasn't as free with it as before. Hopefully I can capture more in the next few days. He's more interested in being the camera man than in being the star.

Just for good measure, here is another picture I took of him today. He is 8.5 months old.

A few projects

I have started my own cloth diaper cult being a good leader I made my first recruit a wet bag for dirty diapers while traveling.




Robin put the zipper in the bag but the embroidery was done on my machine.





Robin made these. The burp cloth on the left was made with the machine at her school and the other two were made at my house.