Our Botanical Gardens had a Chunkin’ Pumpkin event this week.† They had a trebuchet and everyone got a pumpkin to ‘launch’.† It sounded fun so off we set. When we got inside I had realized I had forgotten my money!† Kei said to run back and get it and she would wait ‘on the hill’.

Kei picked out just the right pumpkin.

Then we waited on Suz and kids.† We didn’t want to chunk without them!

There was a guy dressed in period clothes in the field.† The goal was to smash the pumpkin into his body, preferably his head I think!

We stood and watched kid after kid launch their pumpkins.† Some came really close.† Emily and Zach both went and then it was Kei’s turn. They placed the pumpkin on the trebuchet and she pulled the cord.

Her pumpkin went STRAIGHT UP!† And…STRAIGHT DOWN! I was so surprised I didn’t even get a picture.† It almost took out the crowd!!† Kei was a bit surprised too!† What happened was a screw flew off and broke the arm of the trebuchet.† It was funny but it could have been people with bruised bodies and pumpkin guts on their heads!

After the chunking we went to watch a fencing exhibition.† On the way Kei had to pose with a woman dressed up as Susan from Narnia.

Emily and I sat and oohed and aahed over the boots.† We both love us some leather medieval boots!† I was sitting there and someone sat beside me.† It was Tonya who has been my ‘online’ friend for over a year but I have never met face to face.† I was so excited!!!† She is as awesome as I knew she would be.† I first discovered her because her family were in North Alabama and they were an RVing family.† That is something I have always wanted to do!† I followed her adventures for months and then we became FB friends.† Her family has actually moved into a house now.† Her blog, Live the Adventure, is awesome and worth checking out.† I still can’t believe she just came and sat down.† I would have recognized her from her pictures.† Isn’t the internet just the coolest thing?

Kei found a rock yesterday that was too awesome.† A† heart rock.

Today we went to see “Little Women”.† It was being performed at the Fine Arts Center in a town near us.† Before we left I had to take a couple of pictures of Kei in our yard.† See the pumpkin next to her.† Well we think it is a pumpkin, it is pink!† It was so unusual we had to buy it.

When we got there they had pushed the time forward an hour so we set off to wander around downtown.† It is such a sweet little town.† We love exploring in the older parts of towns.† She wanted to go into every shop.† At one point I was like….”Umm Kei that is a tanning salon”.

The play was great!† We both enjoyed it so much.

After the play our dear friend Shane came out to talk to us.† He was Laurie and he was magnificent!

What a great week.† October is such an awesome month.† There are so many festivals and events going on.† We try to cram everything into the Fall before it gets so cold and I HIBERNATE!

This weekend is supposed to be a final hurrah to summer with temps around 90∞.† Enjoy.

All those golden autumn days the sky was full of wings. Wings beating low over the blue water of Silver Lake, wings beating high in the blue air far above it . . . bearing them all away to the green fields in the South.
– Laura Ingalls Wilder

The weather has finally gotten cooler.† Give me a week or so and I will be complaining about how cold it is!

We had our friends over for lunch last week.† There were about 20 people here and we had a blast.† I made my version of Moe’s burritos with chicken or beef, rice, black beans, homemade salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and wraps of many flavors.† Very good.

Kei has been collecting acorns from our trees.† There are thousands!!!

We had our 2nd Skate Day and there were, once again, tons of people. Kei took a bunch of knitted items and made $7.50!† She was so excited.

Chan and Ben came home with us for a few days while Esther surprised Matt with a romantic getaway.† Jake joined us on Saturday night and we had a blast with our new big family.

Monday we went to a working farm with our Homeschool Group.† We† had so much fun.† It was a beautiful day!† The family does organic farming and we learned so much about that.† The kids all planted their own lettuce to bring home.† Kei’s dream is to live on a farm.† Yesterday made her realize just how much work that involves!

We saw cows, sheep, llamas, chickens, bunnies, kitties and more.

Kei was delighted with the llamas.† Of course, “she wants one.”

A great week in God’s beautiful world.

Be blessed,

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.† ~George Washington Carver

I was going to write a post about the amazing week we have had and that post is coming.† But now I need to write about ëjunkí.

For as long as I can remember my Mother and Daddy collected junk.† I called it junk, my parents called it discovered treasures.† You name it, they collected it.† My Daddy collected old toys, lunchboxes, cookie jars, furniture, putters, marbles and on and on and on.† Mother loved jewelry, glassware, old linens and more.

You would think that if for no other reason besides osmosis, I would love old things.† But I totally went the other way.† I loved modern and stark whites and bold splashes of color.† Old things held no appeal for me.

My mother always smiled and said, ìOne day you will appreciate them moreî.† And as with most things, she was right. †While I donít collect things I do appreciate the beauty in something hand stitched 100 years ago or a beautiful piece of furniture.

For 40 years they collected.† They spent hours upon hours ëjunkingí as they called it.† They traveled across the country in search of their treasures.† Since my Mother died, Daddy hasnít ëjunkedí very much.† Now that he has remarried he is back doing it, but not with the excitement I used to see on his face.

He has 4 huge building filled with his ëjunkí.† Throughout the years he would show me various things and tell me what a great deal he got on something and how much it was ëreally worthí.† I would always say the same thing, ìIt isnít worth anything sitting in this building!î.† I just didnít understand it.

Daddy decided to have a huge yard sale this weekend.† The buildings filled with junk just happen to be in our backyard since we are living at my Motherís house since Daddy remarried.† I have watched them pull out boxes and boxes just shaking my head at the vast array of ëjunkí.

Yesterday afternoon I finally got it.† I watched Daddy walk around and gently touch a small figurine or pick up an old tablecloth.† A little smile would come over his face and I knew he was thinking about my Mother; where they were when they bought this, maybe a joke they shared, maybe a touch of a hand.† All of a sudden I understoodÖ.it wasnít so much about the ëjunkí, it never was. It was about the ‘journey’, the laughter, the love, the excitement.

It was about the memories createdÖ

I miss my Mother so much today…

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From the television show The Wonder Years

Everyone has their own “where were you story”.† This is mine.

I lived in California at the time.† My phone rang and I was still asleep.† It was my Mother, from Alabama.† She said, “Turn the TV on”.† I grumbled and mumbled about her waking me up so early.

I stumbled into the den and turned on the TV.† I saw the North Tower on fire.† I asked my Mother, “what happened”.† She said a plane had flown into the tower.† As she and I were on the phone talking, we watched together, from opposite ends of the country, the 2nd plane crash.† I don’t really remember exactly what happened next.† I do remember calling a couple of people in Cali.† I knew most of them, like me, would be asleep.

Ever since Kei was old enough to understand we have talked about it.† I have shown her videos and songs and movies.† She told me today, “Mom I think I would have run away if I was a firefighter.† I don’t know if I could have gone into that building.”† I told her of course she would have.† We are strong when we have to be.† It is how most of of are made.

No matter what I show her,† there is no way to convey the ‘feeling’.† I felt like a zombie for several days, everyone did.† It shook us to our very core.† It changed us as a nation.

It was the main reason I moved back home.† I wanted to just be home.† I left California in October.† I remember how different the airports were.† How my best friend couldn’t walk me to the gate, how there were guards with guns everywhere.† I don’t remember being nervous about flying, even though flying isn’t my favorite thing.† I just wanted to be home.

Today as we sat and watched videos on YouTube it is still just as horrifying.† We still gasp as we watch the 2nd plane, as we see people jumping to their death, as we see firefighters covered in ash, I still cry.

So much has changed in my life since that September 11th day.† I am home, my sweet Mother is gone, I have the most wonderful child in the world.† But sometimes I wonder what I and everyone else lost that day….

God bless and be with everyone today who lost someone in 9/11, everyone who was affected by this tragedy, which is pretty much everyone in the world….

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something dreadful happened Saturday.† It was unthinkable!† I could not believe it.

Now, it wasn’t as horrible as the great football debacle of ’08 when Kei turned to me while watching Alabama football and said, “Did he just score a homerun?” but it was close.

I picked up a rubber band and sneakily fired it at her [taking great care NOT to aim at her face of course].† After it hit the mark perfectly she screamed and picked it up and fired it back.† It went 1″ and fell on the floor.† I laughed, thinking that she had just had a misplaced finger but NOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo.† My child, my beautiful child, did not know how to shoot a rubber band.† I immediately took her outside and taught her my secrets and tricks handed down through generations.

She caught on quickly and proceeded to beat me at the infamous, “Knock Down the Diet Dr. Pepper Bottle” game.† Alas, I taught her too well.

She then got several of my sheets and built a tent worthy of a Sultan. This was a mulit colored, tied to the trees and hammock, flappy flaps everywhere kinda tent.

She had to rest for awhile due to the high stress factor of the job.

Finally it was finished, complete with a sky light.

Kei found a caterpillar this weekend.† Look how beautiful it was.† It was so fat that we thought it was going to POP!

The next morning Kei yelled for me to come look at “Tinkerbell” [yes we name EVERYTHING around here!].† Can you see her?† Due to the fact that we did not ever look up to see if indeed caterpillars have gender, we call her “HER” ok?

We can’t wait to see what beautiful thing it will become.

We played a lot with Nomad.† Ah Nomad…what can I say?† He barks like crazy, he drives us nuts, he licks us all over, he almost pulls our arms out of the socket, he spills† his water on the floor, he chews everything in sight, he chases the wind, he jumps up on the counter,† he bites our toes and butts and fingers, he smells like..well like a DOG; but my girl loves him to pieces. [and so do I]

This was also a hot dog grilling, hamburger eating, laying in the hammock, reading out loud, watching TV, sleeping late, laughing until our sides hurt weekend.† It was perfect.

Be blessed,

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.† ~Stacia Tauscher