Horne Creek Farms & Pumpkin carving

This picture is for mom (Gammy). There's a picture of me when I was about 5 sleeping in the laundry basket in front of the tv when I was sick. I thought I'd make Maddox a cozy little cartoon place. She curls up with her "baby", "monkey" or "panda" and watches Sesame Street. Today was a beautiful 73 degree day that Jeremy and I both had off from work so I wanted to go spend it outside. We went to Horne Creek Farms in Pinnacle. We learned how to shuck corn, peel apples, and see how they lived along with 100 jr high students. So, we actually spent a lot of time at the chicken and turkey coop. Maddox also got to pet a cow that kept mooing at her and sort of scaring her. It's the first time I've seen her shy away a little bit from an animal.

She kept mocking the roosters saying "ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo" (sounding just like cocka doodle doo but they really don't say that at all, just ooohs). I tried to catch it on video posted at the end but I don't think she ever really did it. There's a tiny one, but not like she was doing before I turned the camera on. She thought they were pretty funny. You can also hear the turkeys on the video which I think sound pretty strange. I don't know that I've ever really heard a real one. And they're ugly things!

After that we were going to to drive over to Yadkin Islands park to have a picnic and hike up the Yadkinville River. When we got to the car my battery was completely dead. The farm is WAY out in the country, but at least there were people working there. At the river, especially on a weekday, there would probably be no one. This is a place you have to cross two creeks to get to. So obviously going further out without a good battery couldn't happen. We got a jump, drove back to King and bought a new battery. It was too far to drive back to the river. I was really bummed that we didn't get to hike on the river on such a beautiful fall day. So instead we went to Horizons Park and went to the dog park, played on the playground, and walked around in the woods there. Maddox loves the dog park. All the owners are paranoid that she'll get knocked over or be afraid when the dogs come up and lick her and bump her. She doesn't care, she just laughs. Apparently we wore Jessi out. Last week we had our annual Naked Pumpkin Carving Day. We wait for a 70+ degree day and strip her down. She was reluctant to reach in there and grab all that gunk, but she did it eventually. It didn't really matter what she wanted, we threw it on her anyway. She got all gunky. She didn't like the mess and kept trying to clean up all the seeds and put them on the newspaper.

I still forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin. It said BOO and had a bat on it. But now it's all shriveled so you just won't get a picture this year.

While I cut out the pattern Maddox did her favorite thing and chased Patches around.

Random Activities

Gammy Garrison sent us Halloween costumes for Maddox and Jessi. We tried them on to test them out. Gammy also sent a Little Red Riding Hood book that we read a lot so Maddox might understand that's what she's dressed up like. Jessi is super dog. I'm sure I'll talk pictures on Halloween and post again. Maddox had her first watercolor experience last week. Gammy also sent her this paint smock so we had to try it out. She painted about 6 pictures and then I wanted to clean up and put it away. She threw a huge fit when I wouldn't let her paint anymore. Huge. And now she goes to her pictures, and says "paint?" almost everyday.

We bought a frame and hung her first real artwork. She thought that was pretty cool.

Jeremy ran a 5k on Saturday for the first time in quite a while. Maddox, Jessi, and I cheered him on, chilled. He finished 5th overall and won his age division. Next race is Thanksgiving! Garrison/Wheeler family . . . get ready! Already, we have an overflow of books. Couldn't be because Maddox loves them and I love to buy them, could it? This shelf is in her room, but she can't get to them, and there's books on top of books . . . She has another shelf in the toy shelves we have in the living room and that one is overflowing too. It was time to get another book shelf that she could get to and choose her own books at night.

A little thinned out and not stacked on top of each other now. I didn't want to give her access to too many of her books. I know where they all will be if she could reach them all.

Her new shelf that she saw this morning when she got up. She's been thrilled with it all morning, pulling books off, reading, putting them back, another, another . . .

See? Thrilled!

Let's see, what else is she doing? Talking, a lot. She talks gibberish ALL the time, just like she knows what she's saying. But she's also saying a lot of words. We're already having to spell words in front of her. Like cookie. If she hears you say that she's sure she must have one and cries if she doesn't get it. others: pumpkin, boo (if she see's a ghost),night night, moon, apple, pee pee, poo, potty, please, kank koo (thank you), up, down, all done, constantly bossing around "jessi, jessi", Gabby, Gady (Grady), knows most of her body parts and will point to them. Even obscure ones like her elbow and shoulder. She's to the point that if you ask her to say something she'll try and she's starting to put two words together. "bye bye pee pee" "mo cookie?" "jessi jessi, sit"

I've been trying to teach her to fold her hands and pray and say Amen. She'll sit on my lap at night, reluctantly fold her hands and bow her head for a few seconds then look around while I bow my head and pray. Then I say Amen and ask her to. She wouldn't do it at first so I'd put my finger on her chin and move her mouth and say A-men for her. Now at the end of the prayer she puts her finger on her own chin and says "may men". She figures the finger must be part of the deal.

I just asked her "What else can you say Maddox?" And she said ppllllbbbb (buzzed her lips, how do I spell that?) We went to the zoo twice in one week that last time we went and talked about what the elephants said a lot, buzzing tight lips really hard. Now anytime she sees an elephant on a cartoon, book, movie, picture, stuffed animal she points and says ppplllblbb. That new nickelodean cartoon Jungle Junction just came on that has an elephant, she loves it.

You can also ask her just about anything and she'll say "no" in this cute, quick voice. Maddox, do you want to take a bath? "no" Maddox do you want to go outside? "no" Maddox, will you give me a kiss? "no" Maddox, do you want a cookie? "cookie?", and she runs towards the kitchen.

Well, that's all the cute things I can think of for now. I think we'll get dressed and spend some time outside!