Tractor Pull 2011

We spent Saturday at the Tractor Pull in Carthage. I had never been to a tractor pull, nor did I have any clue what it entailed. But Stephen had been a couple of years ago, and we had an "in" because his dad does the landscaping for this event! Even though it was a bit windy we wanted to chance it for the opportunity to have an outing with the kids, not to mention Grandpa Talbert, Lauren, Scott and Kaleb were all there too! We started off our day with some yummy bagged lunches. Hunter chowed down an entire BBQ sandwich! That's my boy!

Plenty of space to run around!

Not sure if you can see, this is a small train that rode all over the huge area out here. We didn't stand in line for it but maybe next year!

Tons of old cars were being displayed!

Including this one! 105 years old - you could ride in it for any amount donated to Multiple Sclerosis research! Let me tell you, this was a very cool car!!

A model railway set up near the tractors - the train actually ran and the model is of our surrounding counties! So cool! They even had the Harnett County Fair set up, ferris wheel and all! They also had a model train set up for sale and had a notice saying they would custom build for you. How cool is that!?

The Confederates took over part of the fields. They even had cornbread and sausage cooked for you to taste! They had a fire burning, tons of historical weaponry and "camping" supplies laid out for you to look at. So interesting! They were so willing to sit around and chat with us!

Biggest wheel ever?

Now allow me to get to the good stuff!! Tractors were lined up all over where the strip was.

Some were very modern and so cool.

Stephen said he heard people say there were tractors there that ranged from $2,000 to $50,000. And the ages of the drivers we saw were anywhere from 18 to in their 70's. And the coolest thing is they weren't even competing for money. They just do it for the love of it - and their trophy!

Mommy's happy little boy! He loved crawling around making new friends! He crawled right up to the man sitting near us and pulled right up on him. Fortunately the man kindly scooped him up in his lap and held him for a couple of tractor pulls! I'm so thankful for strangers who are kind to my attention-starved children!

Uh-oh... Daddy's sleepy little boy! A few hours after we got there Hunter passed out from exhaustion! Probably from all that crawling around!

Just in case you are like me and don't know anything about tractor pulling, these two videos should give you a good idea. They won't rumble your speakers like it did our eardrums but you'll still give you the gist of the event! It reminded me some of monster trucks, which we also love!

The first video (each are not long at all) will show you a larger, bulkier, slower type of tractor. The second video is much faster and you can see how it really tears up the ground - literally! The second kind of tractor is the kind that they told us to make sure to cover our children's ears - it was certainly ear-splitting, and with no barriers between us and the track we were just about 10-15 feet from the actual tractors.

What Does It Say?

She knows exactly what this shirt says, because this is exactly what she is!! (If you can't understand her or read the shirt, it says "Drama Queen"!)

A Good and Perfect Gift

I got a different kind of book from Bethany House to review recently. I normally go for fiction books because I love all types of fiction and am always looking for a new author to read. But it is also true that I love nonfiction books, as long as they are easily read, well-written, and the point of the story interests me. So when I read the back cover of this book, I was intrigued. "Things don't always go as planned - especially when it comes to our children. When her first baby, Penny, is given a frightening diagnosis, Amy Julia's world comes crashing down." Talk about suspense!! What in the world could this diagnosis be? How would they ever get through it?

Then I started reading the book. The "frightening diagnosis" that was given to the child was actually Down's Syndrome. I have to be honest. When I first read that I kind of rolled my eyes. I admit, I only personally know a couple of people with Down Syndrome, but I would certainly never call it a frightening diagnosis. I started wondering what kind of dramatic book this was going to be.

But then, as I got further in the book, I realized how scary it really can be. Down Syndrome, like many other health issues, has a very wide spectrum. So there are people with Down's who may never speak. The individuals I know with Down's may have some mild health issues but they are healthy for the most part, speak well, one is an adult and has a job, both participate in Special Olympics, etc. But I started to see this mother's perspective - all those things are great, but it's still not what you necessarily want for your child. Here's an example from the book:

You know, there are all these people who try to console me about Penny by telling me about the "normal" things she'll be able to do. They tell me about a young man with Down Syndrome they know who takes a bus to work every day. And I think, "That's supposed to be good news, that my daughter won't be able to drive a car but might have a job?"

I realized not everyone is so comfortable handling a child with disabilities. I can't say for sure how I would handle it. And I certainly didn't realize all the health concerns that came with this syndrome.

All in all, the book was very interesting. I applaud the author for her honesty, even if I feel like I would have handled some of the situations differently. A very interesting read if you like true-life stories like this.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Halloween 2011

Our family is well-known for dragging out holidays and birthdays. And when I say "our" family, I do mean both my original family as well as my in-laws. It looks like I married into the right type of brood. We will celebrate multiple times, have multiple cakes, and do it all six weeks after the fact. We don't care, we just like to party. So it just makes sense that we do the same with Halloween!

This was the first year that we knew Brianna could start to understand what in the heck was going on at Halloween.

In 2009, she participated as a pumpkin, but she was just six months old. We ate all of her candy and she slept through most of the excitement at our church fall festival.


Last year she actually got a pail (mine from when I was a little girl!) and went trick-or-treating (to my parents and grandparents only) and was only slightly impressed by our Trunk-or-Treat at church. Plus we had someone new last year... not really in costume!


So we went full force in 2011, the Year of Brianna Understanding! Of course, "full force" for us is like "half force" for tons of other parents around the globe.

We took her a couple of weeks ago to pick out her Halloween costume. I was so looking forward to taking her to pick out her own costume! I couldn't wait to see what she picked. I already blogged about our fall festival at church, so you know the end of this book. She chose Snow White and poor Hunter got stuck with the leftovers from last year!

We had BIG plans for Monday, Halloween night, so instead of going to all the houses we wanted to in one night, we split up the nights. Saturday we went to see Granny and Granddaddy at their house, and then my parents at their house. Claire and Evan were at my grandparents' which made the whole night so much better! Granny and Granddaddy didn't even seem to notice the chaos, they were just thrilled that they finally had an excuse to give the kids all the candy they could ever want!

We had a pirate (Evan), butterfly (Claire), Snow White (Brianna) and a pumpkin (Hunter)!

Hunter was mainly content just to sit in Granny's lap and eat crackers!

The girls got candy and treats in their bags but they were still desperate for some of "Granddaddy's crackers"!

Unfortunately, my memory card on my camera was so low by the time we got to mom and dad's that I didn't get any pictures there.

Mondays are always busy for us but this one was especially busy! Brianna has preschool from 9-12, then we hurry home to eat lunch and take naps before leaving at 4:20 for Kindermusik. Because it was Halloween, the kids were allowed to wear their costumes to Kindermusik. Our whole family went for the first time ever and we had a blast! Brianna showed off more than ever and Hunter loved it as well!

After Kindermusik we drove straight to a big neighborhood in Pinehurst where we were meeting friends to go trick-or-treating together. I only got a couple of (bad) pictures before it got too dark to be snapping pictures.



It didn't take but about four houses before Brianna got the hang of saying, "Trick or Treat!!" although she normally said it before the people even opened the door! We ended up being there for over two hours and the kids absolutely loved it. Well, Hunter didn't really care, but the rest of the kids had a ball!

When we were leaving for mom and dad's yesterday for lunch, I asked Bri what she wanted to wear and she said, "Snow White!!" So much for my worries that I wouldn't be able to get her back into that costume after the fall festival...

Life Update Via Pictures

Brianna and Hunter "helping" me pack for Fed By Faith. And suddenly, a tower was born.

We play these games where we build towers around objects to hide them and then knock the tower over to find them. When we were doing this to Baby Doll, though, it looked more like a sacrificial ritual was going on.

Meh, it didn't last long anyway!

Bri and Hunter are big fans of my homemade pizza (Stephen thinks I put too many vegetables on top!)

"Ooh, ooh! Hot, hot!"

NaBloPoMo

Welcome to a new month! I love this time of year. I wish that October-April had the weather from the summer months, but the beauty of the fall months. I hate cold weather but I love everything that comes with it - the leaves changing, sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and having it make me feel cozy instead of sweaty... plus we're getting into the holidays which I totally love even more since we quit giving gifts years ago!! I can just concentrate on loving on my family and friends!

Anyway, I am going to attempt to post every day in November; participating in NaBloPoMo for the second or third time in my life.

I at least made it through day one. That's usually the hardest for me.