Field Trip To The Dairy Farm

We have met a lady at the library that takes care of a 4 yr old girl that has really bad food allergies.  Just one whiff or taste of certain kinds of food could kill her.  This woman is homeschooling this little girl because she used to be a teacher and the mother doesn't trust her daughter's life in the public school system.  This lady has befriended us and has taken to Titus somehow.  Anyhow, she has been asking me if I was interested in going on field trips with them because they didn't have anyone to do anything with.  Yes, I am nervous about allowing my kids to be around this little girl.  Leave it to Titus to hand over a peanut or a peice of candy to her and finish her off.  Somehow though, I felt like she was reaching out to me and I needed to do this so we agreed to go to a dairy farm with them.  Ya'll know how much I love animals, right?  I was scared and grossed out all at the same time.  I probably don't even want a glass of milk for awhile either.  Ha!  Titus and Amelia had a great time.  Amelia impressed me the most.  She petted those cows, hand fed them, and even bottlefed a baby calf.  I just stepped back and took pictures and kept making sure my hand santitizer was still in my pocket because oh how they were going to need it.  Farmers have come a long way.  They lined their cows up and hooked them to some kind of milker machine.  The milk ran into some kind of cotainer and then into a refrigerator tank thingee.  Then the milk is picked up by Praire Farms.  It was pretty neat to see how it all worked.

Here is another collage of their day at the dairy farm.  I may see about getting Josiah's class at school to get to take a field trip there.  Those kids would love bottle feeding these baby calves.

Hot Wheels........For Real

Ever have those days where you have a ton of things to do, but nothing is going right and you feel like you are just going in circles?  I had a day just like that last Friday.  Our kids at church were having a thing at the park and I had to get a  few supplies together to bring, I needed to get a few items from the grocery store, and I needed to meet up with the lady who made Josiah's cake.  So, I am on the phone with the cake lady and we plan to meet up within the hour so I can get the cake.  In the mean time Maynard is calling me and said his car is acting up and I may have to drive to Lexington to pick him up.  So I start getting me and the kids ready when he calls back and says that he is going to continue to drive it on home and that he has almost made it to Livingston.  So while I am talking to him he said, "There it goes.  It just quit on me.  Umm, Amy, I think it might be on fire under the hood.  Yep, I think its on fire."
My reply? "SO GET OUT OF THE CAR, BUT FIRST TRY TO SAVE WHAT YOU CAN."
He tells me to come and get him so I call and postpone getting the cake and head to Livingston to get Maynard.  As I am stuck in traffic a fire truck passes me in the emergency lane before I even get out of London.  Hmm...... wonder where it's going?  Ha!
So I'm traveleing down 75 where I'm trying to locate exactly where Maynard is at, but it doesn't take me long to follow these black clouds of smoke to where I need to go.  I pulled over on the opposite side of the rd,  not knowing exactly what I needed to do.  So there I sat on the side of the interstate and took this picture ,which made a policeman come scream at me to get the "you know what" out of there.  I guess he thought I was a "gawker" instead of the poor man's wife who's car was now up in flames.

                                                   From across the median on the interstate.

    

                                                                      There she blows.

                                                                   And there she goes.

I was politely asked to go on down to the next exit and come back up to get Maynard and the stuff he salvaged out of his car.  I say politely because Maynard chilled the officer down that I was in fact his wife that was needing to know what to do and not just a "gawker" taking pictures.  I was about out of gas and the interstate was shut down so I went ahead and got gas before I went back to get Maynard.  Yeah, they were waiting on me, but if I didn't get gas soon we were going to be in a world of trouble.  I picked Maynard up and took him on to Corbin to finish his route for the day.  Luckily, my parents were in town for a campmeeting and I was able to get ahold of them to pick up Josiah from school.  When we picked Josiah up he looked at Maynard and said, "Did you get out in time, Dad?"  Ha Ha  A boy after my own heart.  I can see me asking someone something like that. lol

Now before ya'll start asking crazy questions like, "Did he have full coverage and all that stuff?"  The answer is "NO"!!!!!  I mean why put full coverage on a car he paid $300 for.  This car has been a blessing though.  Maynard has put I think about 75,000 miles on it himself and it is such a gas saver.  We were blessed though because Maynard was already in the process of buying another vehicle and was able to pick it up the next day.  We both think his little station wagon got it's feelings hurt over Maynard eyeing another vehicle.  So sad.  Ha!  All in all, things could have been a lot worse and I am very thankful that God watched over Maynard and allowed him to be safe during this fire.  I'm also thankful that Maynard didn't allow Titus to ride with him that day to work.  Maynard debated it and decided not to take him.  I'm glad because well, Titus plus fire, plus a busy interstate, well just equals even more disaster!!!

Happy 7th Birthday, Josiah!

I love all my children of course, but there's nothing like your firstborn.  Especially in my case since he was a miracle from God.  I mean for 7 long years I begged God for a baby and he blessed us with a baby boy on Sept. 20th, 2005.  Now I can't believe that little boy is now 7 yrs old.  Josiah is very smart and very tenderhearted.  You can just give him a stern look and he starts to wail.  He is such a blessing and I am thankful for him. 

I posted last week about our zoo trip and that was what Josiah wanted for his birthday instead of a party.  We lucked out though because our church kids had a night planned at the park for pizza and volleyball last Friday night.  I showed up with a cake so it worked out good.

I have several posts I need to do so I'm gonna keep this brief and try to post a collage of pics of Josiah's 7th birthday.

Fall Trip To The Zoo 2012

                                     

Breakfast at our nice hotel.  It was my first experience having a hot breakfast at a hotel. Yummy.

Josiah and Amelia enjoying their breakfast.

Free ride on the luggage cart.

Amelia and Rachel laying around

Everything was going so smooth at first............

Then these two buddies got puked on by Titus.

Ready for the zoo.

Our group enjoying the ride on the tram.

The best exhibit in my opinion.  I love bears.

Amelia was not afraid of anything.  She got bucked 3 times by goats and she continued to pet them.  I was scared silly.

Josiah was a little bit more apprehensive like his mommy.

Titus wasn't afraid of anything either.

I think they enjoyed washing their hands more than anything.

The carousel ride was alot of fun.

My 3 gorillas

As close to an elephant ride as they are gonna get.  Did you know it is now illegal to have elephant rides in the state of KY? Bummer!

Amelia absolutely loved the 3D show of Dora.  She squealed and clapped and was so happy.  I was glad she got to watch it.  The rest of the group went to a more scientific show.

Titus ended up getting the stomach virus, but he only puked while we were at the motel.  However, he did have the dirreah while at the zoo.  We hit every bathroom at every stop quite frequently between him and a newly potty trained child.  This trip was alot of fun and my kids enjoyed it.  I never passed out once like I did at the Saint Louis zoo.  I was watching the gorillas and an ape slapped the glass and I went straight back and passed out cold.  See, I am not an animal lover at all. lol

Another Trip Gone Bad......

I have to be real quick in posting this because we are fixing to leave our motel room and attempt to go the zoo.  Josiah's birthday is next Thursday and instead of a party he asked to go to the zoo.  So, here we are in Louisville Ky, with my friend Michelle and her family.  We ate at Cheddars last night and then got a suite where we all could be together.  Everything was going great until 6:30 this morning.  There was a knock at the door and I heard Josiah say, "Mom, Titus just puked in our bed."  Now if some you just started following my blog then this ain't going to mean much to you.  But, if you followed my first blog ever, then you will realize that this is normal for the Parker family, especially when we take any kind of trip.  Titus was asleep in the sofa couch with Josiah and Ethan and he plum filled the bed up with puke.  Luckily, for them, they escaped the spew.  I put him in the tub and he continued to puke and I just hoped that he had a tummy ache.  But................He got out of the tub and onto the toilet with the "runs", so.......... it's a virus, no doubt.  We had a nice breakfast in the lobby and he just sat there looking around and refused a bite of anything.  I feel so bad for him.  He was only 18 mths last time we took him to the zoo and now he feels bad and won't enjoy it very much.  If ya'll read this blog please pray that he feels better and can enjoy his zoo trip.  Luckily, we will be outside at the zoo and if he pukes then at least we will be okay, unlike being at the Dixie Stampede with hundreds of people at your elbows.  Oh, Lord Jesus, I still can't even let myself think about that horrible day.   My kids must be allergic to fun trips, that's all I got to say.   I will update later with pics when I get back. 

Operation Potty Training COMPLETE

Yay!  All it took was a tube of chapstick and a little purse from the Dollar Store.  I was desparate and nothing I tried was working.  I mentioned our mere dilema to my good friend Michelle at church and she said, "Hang on.  Amelia, come here.  Amelia, if you poo poo in the potty tomorow I will give you your very own chapstick and a purse to keep it in."  Amelia has this love/hate relationship with Michelle.  The love part comes in when Michelle has her chapstick handy during church.  They have came to an agreement where Amelia has to kiss her and then she gets to use her chapstick.  So the very next morning I reminded Amelia about Michelle promising her chapstick and a purse if she poo'd in the potty.  Amelia's response?  "You have chapstick in your purse and I already have a purse."  So, I knew that this was probably not going to be a successful day, but I was wrong.  I read online somewhere that some kids just need their privacy while trying to use the potty.  So, I caught her trying to poo in her underwear in the living room and I jerked her up and took her to the bathroom.  I again reminded her that she would get her own chapstick if she poo'd in the potty.  So, I said I was going to shut the door and wait outside for her to finish.  Just a few mins later I heard, "I pooped, Mom."  What a glorious and grand thing I had hoped to hear.  Ha Ha!!!  So, I text'd Michelle and told her she had to pay up.  That evening Amelia was toting her new purse and chapstick quite proudly.  It looked like she had bacon grease on her lips all day.  We only had one accident since then and that was because she was in the van waiting with her Daddy for me to come out of the store.  It's been 1 week and half and she is OFFICIALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!  It took 6 long agonizing weeks, but I didn't give up and we were successful!  Leave a comment congratulating the big girl. You know, I just realized that this is the first time in 7 years that I don't have a baby in diapers.  Wow!  Oh, I'm also carrying a regular purse now.  How exciting and yet sad all at the same time.

Where Is Heather Teague???

The coolest thing happened last week.  Titus was outside playing when he came in the house and hollered that there was a balloon stuck in the tree outside.  I honestly just ignored him and didn't really care because they had let balloons go about a month ago.  I figured we were headed for some serious drama because he wanted his balloon back or something.  Maynard, on the other hand, said, "Maybe it's a balloon with a message, Amy."   Oh me of little faith, I know.  Which I should have believed because my kindergarten class back in 1983 or so, let off balloons trying to get penpals.  I was the only one out of the whole school to recieve a reply.  It just so happened to be a retired astronaut instructor who lived in Winchester, KY.  We wrote for many years and he and his wife even attended my high school graduation.  He died right after I got married in 1999.  Anyways, back to my post.  Maynard went out with Titus and found a still half inflated balloon in our apple tree in the back yard.  When they pulled the balloon out of the tree, sure enough it had a card hooked on to it.  It had a picture of a young woman on it and it said, "Where is Heather?  It had an email address on the back so I quickly sent an email to let them know we had found the balloon.  I quickly got a response and it was from "Heather's" mother.  She informed me that the balloons were released from Madisonville, KY which was apx 400 miles away from London.  She couldn't quite believe that the balloon was found here in London because her son and other daughter now lived in London.  I've been looking this up online and have discovered that Heather Teague was abducted 17 yrs ago on August 26th.  She was at a beach somewhere in KY, (must be a lake or river), when an eye witness seen her being abducted from her lounge chair and into the woods.  This family has been ran through the ringer trying to find Heather.  From what I read they had a suspect and before he could attend a court date or be questioned, he killed himself.  This is an unsolved mystery, but the family remain hopeful that they will one day find their daughter.  They release off balloons every year on her abduction date for the past 17 yrs in hope of someone recognizing and finding Heather.  Out of 17 years, this was the first balloon to be found that she is aware of.  The mother has regained hope because she feels that this is some kind of sign.  I mean why would a balloon that was released from Heather's hometown come to London, KY  where her brother and sister now live? It is too ironic for it to be just a coincedence.  We found out by Sarah, Heather's mother, that her son was a manager at Bluegrass Trails restaraunt here downtown.  She asked that we got and meet him and show him the balloon.  We went in on Wednesday and asked to speak to him.  He was such a nice young man and was excited to meet us and Titus who found the balloon.  He said he had went home and helped release the balloons and was amazed that one made it back to where he now lived.  He treated us to a meal and ice-cream! Yay!  We are anxious to meet Sarah now and when she comes to town to visit we are all going to get together.  If ya'll don't mind, please help pray for this family to find their daughter and sister.  I am going to try to post a website for ya'll to view, but if it don't work, then google Heather Teague.
I just thought this was so interesting and I wanted to share it for memories sake!!!

http://whereisheatherteauge.blogspot.com

No true Love Like Shoe Love

I have seriously typed this 3 times. If this doesn't post then I will probably quit blogging because I can't handle this new added stress in my life. Ha

Me and Maynard have a serious shoe addiction. I think he has a worse case then me. Maynard never had the right shoes to wear when he was a kid and he was always happy to have hand-me downs. So now whenever he sees a good deal on shoes at the thrift store or yard sales, he picks them up. My problem? I just like shoes and girls shoes are as important as matching hairbows. I never really knew just how bad our problem had become until we decided to clean out our storage room to have a yardsale. There was yardsales galore down here this past weekend so we decided to rent a spot and dejunk. We grabbed what we could and headed out. I was awake at 6 a.m. on a saturday morning. Insane, I know. We got our stuff set out and I realized that Amelia's shoes had to have a table of their own. Then I noticed the boy's shoes. They were sitting on homemade wooden tables, which were actually longer than our regular tables. Otherwise, they would have taken 2 regular tables. I never did count how many we had and I didn't think about taking these pictures until after we had already sold several pairs. What is really bad is the shoes were only like 3 sizes. Plus,I kept shoes out for Titus (which was alot) and I have a garbage bag full of shoes for my nephew Jack. We have a problem, I know! we sold the shoes for only $1 a pair. People got some awesome deals through us.

Boy's shoe table (Wish it was closer up)

Girl's shoe table (She actually cried when people bought her shoes.)

I realize that I could have made a lot more money if I wanted too, but I was desparate to get rid of these shoes.  Plus our consigment sale only allows 10 pairs of shoes.  I mean what is 10 pairs of shoes out of 150 pairs?  I also had to get rid of boy clothes. I sold 12 mths to size 3T for 50 cents each. I wish I had taken pics of all the clothes. It was crazy. I just dumped it out on tables and let people dig. We got rid of a ton of stuff and I still have several things left. I just thought I would share our shoe addiction pictures with you. I've admitted it now. That's the first step to recovery, right?

Sorry, ya'll. I am having major blogger troubles. Hope to be back soon.