We're not in Kansas, Toto

Our airline ticket was bought in vain. Magnus and I had big plans to fly to Kansas for my family reunion (on my mom's side) last Thursday, but, it just didn't work out. If you knew my family, you'd be disappointed that you didn't get to see them too! =) They are so fun. Plus, I was going to spend two fun-filled days with Lori and her kids. Magnus wasn't feeling good though, and had been running a fever for more than a day, and when the night came that we had to get up (at 3am) to head to the airport, I decided if his fever hadn't stopped raging by 3, then we'd just stay home. (Joe was gone on a trip, and wasn't going with us.) I'm very conscientious about "contaminating" other people too (and no, I don't think Jesus would go to church with a cold), so I didn't want to take that chance either. I did notice that Magnus was cutting some whopper teeth back there though, so I thought that was all it was at first, but when I kept getting up with a screaming baby all night and then had to make the decision as to whether we went or not... and then I kept having all these visions of me trying to find a place out there that took our insurance if he had to go to the doctor, blah, blah, blah. But, wouldn't you know it, the next day he was a different child (after his fever did finally break) and he was much better. Of course I was bummed that we didn't go, but I was also relieved that he was better. I guess in the end it was a good thing that we didn't go though, because we would've spread more than love, peace and happiness out there. Saturday night I started running a fever too, and have been feeling pretty wiped out since. I've heard there's a fever virus going around, so I guess that explains it. Now my family won't feel so bad that they didn't get to see us. ;)

Family Day at the Field

Joe sure can rock a heli!

Helping Daddy put the wings on the Cub.

Magnus loves anything that flies!

My first day flying solo!

Monday was a day of perfect weather, so we hurried through our mowing chores and got to the R/C flying field around 5pm. We stayed until 9pm, that point where darkness and mosquitoes usually gang up to pounce on us like a woman attacks a clearance rack. We had a super-fun day, and Joe told me it was time to leave the buddy-box behind and take the "real" radio for myself! (The buddy-box is a controller that's got a cord plugged into the "master" radio that Joe uses. If I get disoriented, Joe flips a switch and instantly takes control using his radio.) That black speck in front of me was the little helicopter (T-rex 450) that I was flying. I went through about 10 batteries and DIDN'T EVEN CRASH!! (I'll pause here for your claps, cheers and bravos.........) Of course, though I can fly one around, you really haven't lived until you've watched Joe fly a helicopter (or airplane, for that matter). He always amazes me, and is our hometown R/C hero - the envy of the local flying fields, for sure! His dedicated practice on the simulator really shows. Magnus likes to watch Joe fly too, and even claps for him when he lands safely on the ground. We are his biggest fans!

Xena's summer diet: Plan B

Last time the "hoof-man" was here giving pedicures, he kindly informed Xena that she was entirely too fat and simply MUST lose some weight. I finally convinced her that she'd never fit into that summer bathing suit if she didn't take heed. (Believe me, when I say this horse was fat... I mean you could hardly see her legs!! The girl simply sniffs food and blows up like a puffer-fish.) She was also getting more and more lethargic and not moving around well, so we knew we had to do something fast. First we just severely limited her grazing time. She was only allowed 3 or 4 hours of grazing every morning. I felt so bad for her though, being penned up while the other horses got to go party all night, and I also wasn't really feelin' the whole deal of getting up at 5 am every day just to let an "overly nourished" pony get a few hours of feeding time. (I always have weird dreams if I get up early and try to go back to sleep for a little bit.) So, we went to diet Plan B. I ordered her this handy little device called a grazing muzzle. I've seen days when I should have been wearing one myself! I'm thinking, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, for starters... Xena isn't at all impressed with her Darth Vader mask, but it gets the job done and she's dropping weight like a soon-to-be-bride! I can nearly feel her ribs again! (No joke.. I couldn't poke my fingers deep enough into her sides to find them a month ago.) The muzzle has this quarter-sized hole in the bottom where all the grass has to come through before she can eat! Poor girl... is this cruel or what?!

We shuttered at the thought.

Our new shutters! We finally did it!

We ordered one more pair for that upstairs window on the side of the house. It looked too "un-clothed".

Ink is in!

Magnus is keeping up with the latest fads and decided to get himself some ink. I found him with a pen the other day, and he was sticking it down his shirt. (I thought the pen was closed.) I got the pen from him and was relieved to see just a little mark on his shirt. I was impressed that he managed to get hardly any on him! And then I went to change his diaper and saw the "rest of the story" on his belly! Joe always writes "Daddy loves Magnus" on his palm, then shows it to Magnus and reads it to him. Magnus thinks it's WAY cool, and often he'll point to his own palm and say, "Dad-Dad". Magnus gets too tickled if Joe goes to write on Magnus' hand, but they have lots of fun trying anyway.

Just Us...

I snapped these shots before we headed out to Lowe's the other day to fulfill our home improvement needs. Magnus loves that store! He thinks the life-threatening tools are especially fun. He also enjoys the drill section, and helping the store workers "organize" their screwdriver stock.

My Homeplace

Joe had some days off last week, so we drove 4 1/2 hrs away to WV, where I was born & raised. (Well, we lived in WV, but commuted to NC a lot for Dad's work, so we had the best of both worlds.) Joe's parents (evangelists) were holding a revival meeting in Beckley, so we got to see them - our main goal - but we also spent part of a day traveling around my old stomping grounds, which I've been wanting to do for a while now. I was actually surprised at how little had changed. I guess my home-town isn't exactly a booming metropolis. =) The pictures above are of the cabin that we used to live in. My dad & and mom (with help from my grandparents) built it entirely with their own hands. They cut all the poplar trees on the hills behind the house and peeled the bark off them before having them cut in half. All the stones for the fireplaces were gathered from the beautiful little creek which you can see from the back deck. If ever you wanted to see a home built with blood, sweat and tears, it was probably this one! It's original purpose was to be a hunting cabin, but they kept adding on until it became quite a nice sized house that we lived in for many years. Dad also built the barn (of course) and we used to stack our firewood there. I actually enjoyed that job, and never minded taking the wheelbarrow up there (even in the snow) to get wood for the stove, seeing how much I could stack on it without having it topple over on the way back to the house. (Art, in it's finest form!) I loved growing up at the cabin, and have only fond memories of our mountain life there. It was great to see it again, and I was very relieved that it still looks pretty much the same. The pictures aren't that great, but we just took them while driving by on the road. Well, we always called it a road - it WAS paved, after all - but many of our visiting friends thought it was more of a one-lane "mountain on your left, drop-off on your right" path of death. But they always survived.

Mother's Day

Mommy & Magus - Mother's Day 2008

Petting Oliver

Giving kitty a hug.

I was thrilled to be with my guys on Mother's Day. Joe didn't get that day off (he rarely gets the days that he asks for) but he ended up being on call, so it didn't matter anyway. He doesn't get called out as much now that he is flying different airplanes that don't really do many charter flights. We were lazy all day, took naps after church, ate yeast pancakes and watched a couple Andy Griffith shows on DVD. Sounds like the perfect Mother's Day to me! To top it all off, I got the "perfect" card from Joe (the man that doesn't buy cards... I thought!) a text message from a friend, and a phone call or two. No, the rain didn't spoil my Mother's Day in the least.

King of the Wild Frontier

Magnus proudly wears his coon-skin hat all around the house. Perhaps he inherited some of his mother's WV roots? Although, I must insert that my mom is from KS and my dad is from OH, so I'm not exactly what you would consider blue-blooded. Yet, I am from the mountain state, but you may save your hillbilly jokes for someone else because I have heard (and told) them all. And for all you poor, deprived folks out there that have never visited "Wild, Wonderful WV", there is more truth to those jokes than you may realize! But it is a very lovely state, and there's even just a certain bit of story-book charm about old snaggle-toothed women greeting you at the door with a wary eye and a shotgun... lol! (You'll have to ask Uncle John and Poppie about that story though.) It wasn't even terribly unusual for us to go to the mall and see an old man dressed in cowboy wear (the jingle-bob spurs WERE a bit much, though) and wearing revolvers on his belt! (Yes, we're talking real live bam-bams.) I can still hear his spurs going, "ching, ching, ching..." through the mall. I wonder what he possibly could've been shopping for? A new pair of Oakley's? At any rate, we always got a kick out of him. Although, I think I'd be a little more than nervous if I went to our Richmond mall here and saw firearms hanging off people's belts. Belts around here hang a bit low, if you know what I mean, so most the barrels of their pistols would be nearly scraping the ground... I can't imagine that being very good for your gun. Maybe that's why they don't wear them here.

Bedtime Story

Magnus loves it when we read to him, and whenever Joe is home (which hasn't been nearly enough lately) he is especially delighted to have that daddy/son one-on-one. Magnus prefers books with trucks and heavy equipment, but also likes his picture books and is learning many words from them. When I ask him "Where's the...", he can point out things like a tree, dog, cat, apple, elephant, giraffe, monkey, lizard, moon, orange, jelly beans, butterfly, zebra, hat (are you getting bored yet?), rabbit, watermelon, etc... and he also likes to insert appropriate animal noises with such things as the monkey (oo, oo, oo!) or dog (ba-woowoowoo). I'm soooo relieved to see such talent in the family. =) I'm also relieved to see a little boy that actually likes to brush his teeth! Joe says he gets it from me, but I must clarify that I don't actually enjoy brushing my teeth - it just takes me a very, very long time to get them "squeaky clean", and I will settle for nothing less. So when you see me walking around the house with my toothbrush for half an hour, please don't assume it's just a strange hobby of mine. I'm not that weird... yet.