Things I Love About A Southern Fall

Can anyone tell me why my pictures are uploading grainy? It is SO ANNOYING!

1. Playing Outside in NOVEMBER with no coats, and occasionally, in SHORTS.

2. Fashion 

(only some can pull this trend off)

3. Exploring One's Surroundings

4. Perfect days for the Park: Overcast (no sunburn) but still warm (NO COATS! Have I mentioned this before?)

5. Crunching through the leaves...although I do wish we had a rake and our own yard sometimes.

Chalk it up to...Silliness

Conniving Kathryn sent some boots for Jane. 

No other shoe has a speck of worth now.

Jane thinks herself rather cute in them. (I have to agree)

We play with sidewalk chalk constantly at this house. Our regular CHALKING festivities got out of hand the other night. Somehow we all ended up with colorful noses...

...and colorful pants.

These pants WERE dark brown once.

Anyone who says Charlie doesn't look like Bart can't deny where he got this little smirk...and in case anyone is wondering, it says, "I did something silly and am waiting for you to get a clue." (he painted his nose blue)

Who else does this?

BART.

Halloween

For Halloween we ran out of candy early (don't know how that happened..) so we hit the road and went to the beach near Fort Macon.  It was a beautiful day and we stayed until sundown.  Charlie runs away from the water and Jane runs into the water.  Other than a few fishermen we had the beach to ourselves.  

Prayers

Bart and I have an unofficial agreement that I, because he is so tired at night, say the nightly prayers and he, because he awakens earlier than I, says the morning prayers. Every night we go through a basic routine of me telling him to stay awake for the WHOLE prayer, and he protests that he ALWAYS does. Most of the time when I say "Amen," I wait for 15 seconds and then give him a nudge. He then quickly says, "AMEN!" overzealously, trying to convince me he was awake the entire time.

This happened last night.

Anne: "Should we say a prayer?"

Bart: "Yeah. Will you say it?"

A: "Sure, but you HAVE to stay awake the WHOLE TIME!"

B: "Oh, babe, I ALWAYS do."

A: "Mm-hmm." Proceeds to say the prayer.  "...Amen."

Silence. Nudge (sometimes these aren't so gentle).

B: "Amen!"

A: "You fell asleep again!"

B: "No I didn't. I heard the whole thing."

A: "Really. What did I say?"

B: (In sleepy, slurred speech) "You blessed the hat to stay on."

Like I said, "Mm-hmm."

Pumpkin-Heads at the Pumpkin Patch

No story. Just fun pictures.

Which is your favorite?

(This is Jane and Charlie last year. It's fun to see how much they--especially Jane--have grown)

You'll see the blue shovel throughout the pictures. Charlie picked it up in the sand pile and carried around with him the duration of our stay.

This kid is CONSTANTLY battling bad guys/monsters...his own demons...

United States Medical License Exam--STEP 3

Bart Passed!!!

How To Use A Day Off--According to Bart

A friend once told me Bart does NOT know what a day off is for. 

It's a valid argument, I must say. 

What do you think??

According to BART...

A day off is NOT for trimming the hedges,

but for making new discoveries.

A day off is NOT for mowing the lawn,

but for playing in the sand.

NOT for painting the house,

but for anticipating the tide...

...and making a splash.

NOT for cleaning the bathroom,

but for relaxing and contemplating life's mysteries.

A Day Off is NOT for changing the oil in the car,

(that is 2 months and 2,000 miles overdue)

but for taming wild beasts.

(they're petting sting rays)

NOT for planting a garden,

but for spending quality time with family,

and eating ice cream with the same.

Before you judge too harshly, you need to know that Bart actually LIKES yard work, and he DOES help around the house. However, these are not his chosen activities

ON HIS DAY OFF.

Boy, I think I need one of those soon!

Fluff

You know who your true friends are when they call you early one morning and say,

"Anne! I know you've been wanting to see cotton in early bloom and there is a field awaiting your visit!"

Many may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Somehow I missed it last year and I've been waiting ALL SUMMER LONG for

COTTON!

I also know that many of our friends back West may want to see it because cotton only exists in tainted, tinted, and sHaPeD forms there. (unless you buy it from the store in a bag of little balls--but even then it's not PURE.)

It's almost reminiscent of Popcorn on the Apricot Tree, wouldn't you say?

Cotton Pods 

(don't quote me on that--I made it up!) with one on the brink of opening.

In the cotton field...

the lady across the street had a sharp eye on us.

(How are eyes sharp??)