Tate Farms

People Watching

I absolutely love people watching. People are just so fascinating to me. If you're a people watcher like me, you'll love this site:

peopleofwalmart.com

It's hilarious and gross and amazing and nauseating all wrapped up into one snazzy little site. Enjoy!

a thought

WARNING: This epiphany occurred about 47 minutes in to my running routine this morning while under the influence of mass quantities of endorphins. Be prepared for optimism, clarity, and bio-chemically induced positivity...

I have been rather grumpy lately. I have just felt so overwhelmed, exhausted, and defeated.
Well, while running this morning, working from my phone, and glancing back at the nursery every few seconds to make sure my babies were ok, I realized how lucky I am. I work insane hours, but I am able to work while I'm doing the things I love. I'm not stuck in an office, missing my kids. I can send e-mails from my phone while working out at the gym; I can do my typing while my kids play at the park, and I can send faxes while making homemade pizza with the two best mini-chefs I know. I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to contribute financially to my family while still having the spontaneity and flexibility I crave.
Life is hectic and dirty and exhausting, but it's also beautiful, simple, and short. So, no more storm cloud over my head... I'm going to grumble a little less and grin a little more. Starting..... NOW :)

Museum Day

I've had a pretty crummy week. I've been sick, and unfortunately, moms don't get sick days... there's ALWAYS work to be done, babies to be entertained, and dirty things to be cleaned.
I, however, was super surprised when my brother-in-law came and got the kids and kept them... FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!! I got all of my work done without having to stop every two seconds to change a diaper or clean a spill. I watched some good 'ole trashy Kardashian TV without having to worry about who was listening through the walls, and I even had time left over to straighten my hair, pick up the house, do laundry, AND sleep... five whole hours of uninterrupted, no baby monitor static in the background, only the sound of my snoring hubby sleep. It was heaven.
I still didn't feel ready to step back into the usual routine, so the kids and I spent the day doing the unexpected. We danced in the rain, explored SciQuest, fought the crowds at Chuckie Cheese, and made cookies together. Such an amazing day.






Oh, and every thing we did today was FREE! We had left over tokens for Chuckie Cheese, and today was museum day, so all museums belonging to the Smithsonian group give out free passes. Free makes an amazing day even better. :)

California Street

We found a new park...




and our friend found a new snack :)

Cotton pickin' time

It's that time again.
Bring on the kleenex and allergy medicine. :/

Cubs in the Fire House

I have such a respect for people who have chosen to live their lives in service, so I was super excited that Drew's scout activity this week was at the Meridianville Volunteer Fire Department.
We have talked about what causes fires, what to do if there is a fire, different ways to get out of the house, where to meet, who to call, who will come to help and what they will look and sound like, and all of the other basics, but it was nice to meet the actual people who sacrifice their time and their safety to help others. The kids really enjoyed climbing in the trucks and seeing all of the tools that the fire fighters use, and I appreciated every soot covered helmet and tattered jacket that I saw. Through their service, these average men have become by heroes.

Things I learned this week...

I am not a machine. Eventually I need to sleep.

Some people wear mouth guards when walking on the treadmill (weird & a little creepy)

I can't wash my favorite Banana Republic shirt on the sanitary mode of my washer... even if it has been snotted and peed upon by my little princess and needs to be sanitized. My little princess now has a favorite Banana Republic shirt :(

I under estimated my claustrophobia; this explains my full blown panic attack each time I have attempted to fix my freakishly pale skin situation in a tanning bed. I guess I'll just have to get use to being an albino and save myself from the skin cancer situation later in life.

It takes 20 steps to burn 1 stinking calorie. Devastatingly that means my hour of running barely worked off the huge slice of banana cream pie that took my about 2 seconds to inhale.

Killers is my new favorite movie. It's HILARIOUS!

Parking tickets cost $10.

My car battery will die in less than 10 minutes if I have the headlights on and the AC on full blast while listening to the radio and charging my cell phone with out the actual engine being on. My car has no empathy for my boredom or the heat.

I don't have jumper cables in my car.

Lynchburg Tennessee

A Little Bit of Home

Just a few things I love about being a 'bama girl...

Curious George

Storytime at the library this week was about Curious George and all things monkey.

Maddi just happens to love monkeys and even makes the cutest little monkey sound, so we added to the monkey mania by going to the Curious George show at the civic center. Maddi LOVED it! She danced, sang, and jumped around like... well, like a monkey :)

chalk

After this horrible heat wave, the 90's have felt like a much needed reprieve, so we celebrated by spending the day outside and decorating the driveway with beautiful squiggles, hearts, and smiley faces. Drew and I had so much fun playing tic-tac-toe and drawing pictures, and Maddi enjoyed eating the chalk and scribbling.

Centennial Olympic Park

Lake Lanier Dam

We took a quick little trip to Atlanta last weekend. We went to visit family and made a quick stop by the Lake Lanier Dam. We played in the water until the siren went off warning us that they were opening the dam. We hurried to the bridge where we watched the water quickly rise. Within minutes, the riverbanks we were playing on were covered in rushing water. It was quite a humbling experience to watch the peaceful river quickly turn into a powerful, rushing current. Truly humbling.

Huntsville Botanical Gardens

Ok... I know this is a ton of pictures, but I just couldn't help myself. I had two gorgeous babies, beautiful light, and an amazing backdrop. We went for the Green U day, so we got to learn all about recycling and ways to protect the beautiful earth around us, and we got in for the thrifty price of 10 recyclable items. Another perfect day.

Little Lady

Maddi has really blossomed over the last few weeks. She will repeat every thing you say, has her own little personality, will make friends with any kid she sees, and has even started sleeping in her own big girl bed. It seems like she's growing so quickly. I find myself going through newborn withdrawls. I miss the newborn smell, the napping all day, and the serinity of a having a tiny baby cradeled in my arms. But I absolutely love that she can look into my eyes and recognize me, that she can tell me what she needs, that she giggles and smiles when she finds something funny, and that she absorbs and learns everything around her.

At 20 months Maddi regularly says:
One, Two, Three
A, B, C
Boo Boo
Please, Thank you
Sorry
Mommy, Drew, Dad
Baby
Hi
Hey boy
Doggy
Moo, meow, ruff
Oh my toes!
tickle, tickle
I love you!
eye, nose, ear, button, knee, hair, toes, elbow
hungry
Uh, Oh
shoes
passy
Go
You Okay?
Yes, No
Hurt
Got it!
Blast Off!
Weeeeeeeeee!
Hot
Go Away!
Oh, Pretty
Potty
Bad
All done, all gone
Yumm
Want some?
bye bye
Where did he go?
Ball (everything round is a ball. Including melons which I learned the hard way when she yelled BALL and then chunked it down the isle at the grocery store. Oops)
And a whole bunch of other words I can't understand.
I love listening to her chitter chatter :)