10/29/09

Another fall treat on our walk around the pond Tuesday.
This is the "Vertigo" ride.... let's just say if I had issues with the swings I would have serious problems with this ride. Wouldn't ride it.... no way, no how. It goes up really high and then swings you around. These time lapse photos were OK, but I left my shutter open too long on them, I think. If they have that ride next year I'll try it again.

This shows the ride as it is descending. It looks like the light from an alien spacecraft. lol

This one was funny.... here I was taking my shot when someone walked by and accidentally kicked my tripod and this is what I got. The double Vertigo... Still pretty cool, though. lol

A lot of cleaning and homework going on tonight. Thankful for a family that works together to accomplish the housecleaning. I am just thankful for my family. Period.

10/28/09

More time lapse... these were my favorites, I think. :) I really enjoyed doing those shots... just wish I had more time. There are more to come... hope I'm not boring. lol


I had a "moment" today with one of my students. We have to call her "Abbey C." because I have two of them. Well, today I called on that sweet child to answer a question and when I did I said "A, B, C.... what is the answer to this?" Geesh. We laughed about it all day.

This afternoon Mikayla comes in to my room telling me al about what was "happenin'" on the playground. She shares with me that she was trying to talk with someone about an "issue" to resolve it and another child came up to get into the conversation. What was my daughter's response???? "Do you have to be in this conclusion because you are not in it!" She asked me if that was the right word to use as I laid my head on my desk laughing.... well, sweetie.... NO. "conversation" would be the correct word.

Hmmm.... she's been around her mother too long.

Enjoy this fall pathway pic. You may want to click on it to view it larger and get the "feel" of the scene. :)

10/27/09

Here is another time lapse photo... this is of the Enterprise as you can see. I did this one quickly as we were about to get in line for the Ferris Wheel.

Today I was able to just be a Mom with her kids on a field trip. Although, I do find it difficult sometimes to separate between Mom and teacher.... lol

We went to Oakview Historic Park in Raleigh. I have lived here 38 years (although, I was oblivious for the first 20 years of my life, it seems) and never realized this treasure was right under our noses! It was a Cotton Gin farm so we got to see how a cotton gin worked, etc.. We first went to the old kitchen... it is the only original plank house kitchen left standing in our area. It was over 100 years old... and you know how I love old things!



The kids got to go outside and learn how people used to wash clothes with a washboard and tub of water with lye soap. (Lye soap... made out of pig fat, ashes and one other ingredient that at this moment I can't remember... YUCK. How in the world did they get things really clean????) It was funny watching all of the kids wash clothes. They thought it was fun.... but would they think that if they had to do it like that all day? Nope. All of the Mom's were saying we surely were thankful for our washing machines!!!


Next, we learned about the cotton gin and how it separated the seed out of the cotton. It was very interesting and I would have loved to have sat in the middle of those kids and been able to do what they did! ha! They also learned how hard it was to work in the fields and what types of things they would expect. It was hard, grueling work to farm.

They were able to take cotton and twirl it together with a partner to make it stronger so it wouldn't break.

Mikayla told me when we left that what she learned is that school really is not so bad... it is better than having to pick cotton! ha!

Later we went to the barn area and learned about artifacts that were OLD. It was fun watching the kids come up with what they thought an artifact could have been. They then got to see the goats in the barn. If you look at this picture carefully you will see Wesley taking a picture of the goats. Hmmm... wonder where he gets THAT from?

After the field trip we had to run a few errands. Steve was able to come to the field trip but had to go back to work so I was trying to figure out something the kids and I could do to make the day as special as possible.

We went to see some of our good friends that we haven't seen in a LONG time. Wow, it was so nice to see David and Kathryn even if it was only for a few minutes. Life just gets too busy...

After we left their house I decided to head to Yates Mill Park... the leaves were so pretty reflecting off of the pond when I drove by it this morning. I thought it would be nice to wander around and photograph. It has been so long since I've been able to do that.

I kept asking the kids if they were bored. lol They insisted that it was great. Mikayla enjoyed walking around picking up berries, leaves and acorns. Wesley enjoyed checking out the critters and trying to find salamanders under old logs. It was a nice and enjoyable bit of time.

Be looking out for more fall pics soon.... it was nice to capture some different things today. :)

10/27/09

This ride is "Zero Gravity" and I have maybe only ridden it once in my life. I don't mind spinning, but this is a bit much. lol A couple of these time lapse shots are "the same" but I decided to post them anyway.

In this one the ride was going back down so you can see how it moves down.

I have always tried to tell Wesley and Mikayla that I love them at "odd" times. I don't want them to think that I only tell them those wonderful words at bedtime or when we leave each other. Well, it is so sweet to hear them out of the blue do the same thing to me. Many times while we are hanging out in the house or if we are going down the road, one of them will tell me that they love me. Usually it is Wesley but Mikayla does it as well. Today was one of those days. We were driving home after a LONG day and out of the blue comes "I love you, Momma" from Wesley. Mikayla then pipes up and tells me the same. I'll never get tired of hearing those sweet words. How precious they will always be to me!

10/25/09

Here are three of the time lapse pictures I tried at the fair. I'll post more in the next few days because there were just too many. I have never done time lapse photos like this before.... a friend of mine taught me how to do them. It takes time and a bit of figuring on how long you want your shutter to stay open to capture the movement of the ride. It was quite fun and a learning process all along. I love the lights at the fair and was so glad I could capture some of them last night. Click on each photo to notice more of the detail.

This is of the swings. We had just ridden those with the kids.... I hadn't ridden those since I was about their age. I soon realized why when the thing lifted into the air and began hurdling us all around the air. I began thinking things like "I could fly off of this thing and land who knows where and be gone!" I didn't think that ride would end fast enough!!!! I felt much better once my feet were securely on the ground again. My first few minutes off even THAT was a bit shaky!

This was when the swings were at the top speed and the highest. Click on it to notice the "ghosts" of the people in the swings.

This was as the swing top was coming back down to "land."

Another view of the swings.... I changed my coloring on the camera to appear more white. This one was taken really quickly as I saw it moving and decided at the last minute to try it again. lol

It is a bit sad that the fair is over today. I'm always like that each year. It rained yesterday and made a few hours a bit difficult, but overall it was nice because people left when it rained or stayed away. LOL We had no trouble getting on the rides which is unusual since we always go on Saturdays and they are crowded.

Tonight Daddy is bringing Steve and I ham biscuits and me a funnel cake when he comes home from working at the Milking Parlor there. The ham biscuits are from the Farmer's Market booth and we didn't get those yesterday. I didn't get MY funnel cake yesterday because Steve bought he and the kids one covered in chocolate, and, as I stated from last week, I prefer mine with plain old powdered sugar. :)

10/22/09

The Farmer's Market had some of the neatest displays this year. I just don't have that type of creativity. I am amazed at how people can take something "ordinary" and create something so beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful... it is a beautiful fall day today. I wish I had time to get out and capture those leaves.

Here is a fun History fact. I got some in an email recently. I can only share one today as when I copied and pasted they were messed up so I'll just have to type them in eventually. lol Enjoy the first one! I knew about a couple of them, but others were new to me!



Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,
and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were
starting to smell . .. . brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the
body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Off to finish up my day!

10/21/09

Here are three pictures of the fireworks from the fair. These are "horrible"... handheld, cold, etc... NOT good for great shots. I did think the one of Wesley watching the fireworks was kind of neat and the one of the fireworks reflecting in the building (Dorton Arena for those of you around here....) was kind of neat.

Firework reflections in the Dorton Arena.

Today was Book Character Day at school. The kids have to dress up as a character in a book and bring the book with them. We have a special chapel where the kids get to parade, etc.. Most of the teachers get to dress up, too. I've had whiskers since 5:45 this morning. LOL

Mikayla was "Trixie Belden"... anyone ever read those mystery books? They were written in the 1950's, I believe, and I used to read them. I loved them... I think even more than Nancy Drew. I got Mikayla hooked on them this summer and that is who she wanted to be. The costume wasn't hard, but she did look more like an "every day" person. lol

Wesley is a Revolutionary War soldier. He looked cute in his outfit that we borrowed from a friend.

Here we are together in their room.

Closer pic of us... I am one of the kittens that lost her mittens. All of the second grade teachers dressed up that way. One of our teachers was the Mom of the kittens. LOL

Mikayla holding her Trixie Belden book

Wesley holding his Magic Treehouse book.... I can't remember the actual name at this moment but it had something to do with the Revolutionary War. lol

Last but not least.... this is their precious and wonderful teacher... OOPS.... substitute. Every year their teacher seems to take this day off of school and WHO should substitute????? That would be VIOLA SWAMP.
(...from the book Miss Nelson is Missing... which was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl.)

(She does an AWESOME job every year portraying this character!)

You will really need to click on these pictures to capture the essence of their teacher....er,
VIOLA Swamp.

"Viola" told me this afternoon she's getting too old for this. lol I told her that we loved her and she would forever be in my children's scrapbooks. Oh, what memories!!

10/20/09

First of all today....

I think I have a stranger living in my home!

It may even be "an alien....." and it is doing things that has not always been done without being told.... many times.

In the last two days, my daughter, who I have asked "Who are you and what have you done with Mikayla???" has done her chores as soon as she got home, willingly cleaned out the dishwasher and PUT AWAY the dishes, helped with getting supper on the table, took out the trash and put a new bag in the container and cleaned up around the house.... ALL WITHOUT BEING ASKED.

I am in shock... complete shock. But I will definitely enjoy it while it lasts.....

Here are some fun ride/activity shots from the fair. I will say the cloudy day got my flash all in a tizzy and some of these did not turn out as I desired, but when you gotta capture the moment, you just have to do what you can. There were some of the bumper cars that are not uploading tonight for some reason. Don't know what is up with that. Enjoy what I have!

We will definitely ride more on Saturday!

We rode the Spider with the kids.... that thing went round, and round and round and round.... get the point?

Kevin, the kids and I are waiting in line to ride.

I choose not to plunge many feet on this thing so I don't ride anymore.... but you see who did. lol

Last year Wesley and Mikayla had issues with the Climbing Rock... and didn't go all the way to the top. This year it was a "piece of cake" and they did it twice. It was awesome! (I hate this picture but with my issues with uploading tonight this was all I could post...)

This is one of those shots where you just put your camera up in the air and hope you get something decent. There were over 100,000 people at the fair that day from what we understand. We walked through the sea of them, for sure!

10/19/09

We really love to eat at the fair.....

We love all of the smells as the waft their way through the air. There are so many things to try that there just isn't enough time or stomach room!

Funnel cakes are a must.... Knowing how I love chocolate, my dear children cannot understand why I do not like chocolate on my funnel cakes. I choose to enjoy the simple joy of powdered sugar only. Oh, the bliss.



Footlong hotdogs are also high on the list each year. I honestly don't eat hotdogs very much because of their "not so sure where it came from" meat. I usually buy all beef hotdogs much to the chagrin of my beloved husband who loves a bright red Carolina Packer. YUCK. SO... the fair is the only time I will succumb to enjoy one of those red delights.



Steve also loves his corndogs... goes right along with the Carolina Packer statement up above.


We also had the fried dill pickles again this year. I realized after Steve and the kids decided they'd pass after one bite that, OK, maybe they aren't something I have to have A LOT of, but at least try them. Last year Kevin and I shared a serving of them but this year we got our own serving of FIVE. I did wonder why they seemed to "grow" this year. lol

Yes, I'm talented. I can eat a deep fried dill pickle and take a picture at the same time.... You can't even see Kevin's pickle he was trying to show you!

Can you tell Mom was not really fond of the deep fried dill pickles? LOL!!!

It was so cold that we all had to have us some hot apple cider, coffee and hot chocolate. Boy, did it taste yummy!


Cotton Candy is always a must for the kids and Steve. (He's like a kid, anyway. :) ) I could take it or leave it. Daddy said he always thought it was like putting hair in his mouth. That is something I hadn't thought of.....


We can't forget the free samples of hushpuppies that we get from the House Autry Mills booth. It is right near the place you can get weighed.... now how awful is that!? Wesley dropped his because they were fresh out of the grease and were kind of hot. I sadly lovingly gave up my own for him. Then, my own sweet Daddy gave me one of his. We're just a sharing kind of family like that. lol :)


It was too cold to get ice cream this past Saturday. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy that this coming Saturday.

More food to come this coming Saturday! We have to try everything we didn't get to this past week!