Oh Keller!

Erinn and Dave took the kiddies to Disney World. Every kids dream, right? They went trick-o- treating last night in MGM. Keller was a storm trooper, Dave, Darth Vader and Maddie was...a teenager?...from the 80's?...her mother?, oh yeah, Maddie was her mom!
While there, Keller asked Erinn, "Mom if I give you a hundred bucks can we leave?" The next day Keller stayed at the hotel with Dave while Erinn and Maddie went to Epcot. While the girls where out Keller asked Dave to make a promise, "Dad, please promise me we don't ever have to go back to MGM."

Man I love that kid!

William and I have been having Keller withdrawals. William is coping with it by asking to watch the youtube video of Keller getting in trouble. He asks to watch it everyday. "I watch Keller gettin in trouble outside, pease!"

This is a picture of when we lived in Maine and it was for the most part, how we started everyday, with a shower, some breakfast and a good helping of Keller. Usually in reverse order. We loved it.

William has learned so many valuable lessons from Keller, like who Indiana Jones is, and how to shoot, the importance of "star bars" and droids. (William doesn't really know what droids are but he is constantly talking about them)
Keller, William will never be the same without you, none of us will be for that matter. We love you and we miss you. Can't wait to have you making us laugh at Christmas. You truly are a funny kid!

New Nephew

Luke Desmond has just arrived. Isn't he adorable? I am a little dissappointed because it wont be until Christmas that we get to see the wee lass. So stay cute little Dessie, (I already have a nickname for him, hope you don't mind Malinda). I can't wait to smother you.

Bowling Night Out

Has anybody ever heard of strip karaoke? We saw this place in Hot Springs when we went camping over Labor Day weekend.
Am I just naive or is this another southern thing? And how does it work anyway? Do you sing and strip at the same time or is it like strip poker, if you sing poorly you have to remove an article of clothing. Or is it just a marriage of two American pastimes; sing karaoke while watching strippers? I have probably spent too much time wondering about it.

In other news, Tyler and I had our bowling night last night. I almost didn't go but am so glad I did because I bowled a new personal record best, 147. Sweet. We played the "Wolf Prairie Farms" last night. They are a seasoned family bowling team of a mom and dad who are about 300 years old combined and two sons in there 40's, there grown daughter comes too but for support only. They are always the last team to finish no matter who plays them, they are serious bowlers and they are very legit with matching t shirts.
The mom and dad can hardly walk.
They wear arm braces and leg ones too. It takes Momma Wolf about 7 minutes to get herself and her ball up to the line where she simple drops her ball like she's unloading a bag a bricks . Upon which her ball travels at an equally slow rate right down the center of the lane to strike out. Its sad because she bowls better than me and Tyler most games and she looks like she is four minutes from death.
There sons strike out just about every time and one of them insists on you giving him a high five when he does always saying, "here let me share some a dat wit ya'll".
Then he was trying to make conversation with us talking about his brother and how he is a "butter bowler". He said it about three times so finally I asked, "what is a butter bowler?"
My teammate interpreted, "no a BETTER bowler"
oops.
After three games we lost. Our teammates who are two very colorful southern brothers who have the funniest stories in the world and a comment or nickname for everybody in the league usually don't care at all that Tyler and I are awful bowlers, except for last night. The Wolf Prairie Farms really annoy these two and they really wanted to beat them. Sorry guys.

Our fearless team captain

What a Tyler?
Nate our teammate
Can you guess what score is mine

The Truth

This post is in response to a friends comment about Williams cooking mess. She said "wow Bethie you seem so calm about his mess".
The truth: I was on the phone with At&t, whom I despise, arguing about a mistake on my $245 cell phone bill. I put a movie, "Dennis the Menace" (I know, it was a foreshadowing) on for William while I talked on the phone in the office with the door open. I never heard anything, probably because of my...heated voice. I realized that some time had passed and so went to check on William. I stepped into the living room only to behold
an entire bag of flour
one bag of white sugar
two cans of cocoa
one bag of brown rice
one box of spaghetti
one dozen eggs cracked and separated
and one entire bottle of balsamic vinger
poured on my brand new couch, coffee table and pottery barn rug.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, William what have you done? I cant talk to you anymore. Because of you my son has made a mess. This is not over I will call back and when I do I want to talk to someone more intelligent than YOU!" I yelled at the at&t guy.
Then I started to cry. I scared William with my crying and he began to cry. I thought about spanking him. Then I realized that would just make me feel much worse so I took William by the hand and put him in his room. Of course he came right out. I marched to the tool closet, found a screwdriver and reversed the door handle on his door and then locked my 2 1/2 year old in his room whereupon he began to wail.
I sat on my clean love seat and balled some more while I admired my sons handiwork. I couldn't think of anything to do so I called Tyler. I was crying pretty hard so all I got out was, "I'm having a mental breakdown, I locked our son in his room". Poor Tyler who deals with crazy people all day hung up the phone immediately and rushed home believing that I had really gone nuts! Poor guy.
I got William out of his room after less than 5 minutes when I had stopped sobbing. We cuddled together as I tried to calm him down. I tried to call Tyler back and tell him not to come home but he didn't answer.
I looked at William and told him that Daddy was going to come home and see what he had done. He looked at me with those sad teary baby blues and whispered, "Mumma, lets get the vacuum". I started to laugh. Tyler came home relieved that we were both alive. When he saw the mess he understood my call. When he asked William what he had done, he said, "I was makin dinnah".
My mom thinks I might be stifling Williams creative energy by not allowing him to cook anymore. "He could be the next Emeril or the next naked chef," she says. Oh well. he will just have to settle for being a janitor or something because there is no more cooking in Williams future, atleast not until I get my new couch cushions that are on order.

Where's Linda?

Dale and Linda came to visit us last month and it was so wonderful to have some familiar faces around, especially theirs. Just the other day, a good friend pointed out that both of our parents have always visited us wherever we have lived, no matter how far or weird (aka Arkansas). Tyler and I are truly grateful to have such good parents. Mom and Dad McEvoy are coming to Arkansas for Thanksgiving, along with Uncle Ryan and I am very excited to host my first holiday.

You can't even tell they're related, can you?

Grandma and Grandpa of course spoiled William and us. William got a new automatic baseball server. It even cheers for you. We love it. William wont go anywhere without either his baseball bat or glove. Bytheway, he's pretty good!

Grandpa let the ladies sleep in one morning to "shish" with William in our backyard. Nothing like 6 am pretend fishin in a diaper. Will and Grandpa were two peas in a pod. William is still referring to the spare bedroom as Grandma's.
Linda I am sorry I have no pictures of you. I think that you avoided all pics. Just for the record, she was in Arkansas.

My aspiring CHEF

October is a special month. We have a lot of wonderful people having birthdays in October. Aunt Erinn and Aunt Malinda, Uncle Ryan and Grandma Huffaker.
William thought he would make a cake for "ya'll"...

...and he didnt even get any on his shirt.

McFearless

"Come here kitty, come here kitty"

William loves to visit the Cars farm and play with their black kittens. He also likes to pretend that I am a kitty.
Usually in the morning or before nap time Will pats my head and says, "its ok kitty, its ok", and then he cuddles up to me. Anyone who knows William knows he is not a snuggler so I welcome the once a day ritual where me being a cat affords me a few cuddles.

If the kittens look like they re trying to escape, that's because they are!

Fishing and Flea Markets

I have to give a talk at church in the morning, so naturally I thought I would update my blog at midnight. (next on my list, must finish talk).
Today was a wonderful day because we finally got our furniture!! Yeah!! We are all happy to have a place to rest our bones. It was not hot today in the 80's with a slight breeze, a perfect day for flea market shopping of which I did all afternoon, buying nothing but scheming up great projects that I will probably never do but would be fun just the same. (Other than Walmart there are very few stores but literally 15 flea markets in town. I visited all but two)

Tyler fulfilled one of his dreams, when he took William fishin' this morning. They went to a members farm, The Cars, who are very dear southern folk and have been very welcoming and kind to Tyler and I. First a trip to Walmart where they purchased one transformers fishing rod and a fishing license, then to the Cars farm where they caught not one, but two brim fish, of which William said, "I not to dad, too scary". William also enjoyed the horses and chickens and played with the three black kittens that Mr Car brought home from his last business trip. (Mrs Car is not too pleased with the cats.)


William sat on Tyler's lap while they fished.

Isn't he getting huge? William looks like such a big southern boy posing in front of the chicken coop.

WE'RE ALIVE!!

We are here in Monticello Arkansas for our second week, enjoying the blazing heat and humidity that seeps into your bones and make you lazy in places you cant even imagine. Man is it hot! Even late at night. Thank heavens for central air.
We are starting to enjoy our house but Tyler is having anxiety about not sleeping in the same room as William. And we are in desperate need of some furniture.

Unfortunately I have no pictures to post of this colorful southern town because my camera broke.
However, I will share some tidbits I've learned in my schooling of southern ways.

1.) don't impersonate an accent when relaying a story of one southern to another. They dont find it amusing.
2.) Lunch isnt lunch anymore, its supper, and supper is dinner and breakfast is still breakfast and dont try and be cute and ask if they call breakfast lunch cause they'll say
"no ma'am, breakfast is jus' breakfast"
3.) I am an old ma'am to everyone even boys and girls my age.
4.)Wal-mart is the most wonderful store in the world, (well ok I still hate it but thank heavens they have one in Monticello or else I really dont know what we would do.)
5.)If a young, furniture store owner looks like he has a tumor on the side a his handsome face and you start to feel bad for him, give it a minute, he'll spit and then poof the tumor is gone.
6.) (learned from #5) Tobacco awareness has yet to reach this part of the union.
7.) when children are crying at the store or at the park there is sure to follow an angry mother saying, "pick youself up girl, dust youself off and shut up or I's goin to shut you up ooowww."
8.)clean is a relative term
9.)so is poor, southern poor is different than even beans of Egypt Maine poor.
10.) People of Arkansas at least Monticello are multi-taskers.
Our furniture delivery guy was also a preacher and said about 100 times "God bless ya"
Williams new mean hairdresser is a barber and owns an embroidery shop. One Window of her store says barber and the other says "three sisters embroidery". Silly me I thought it was too stores, no ma'am. I think she might also pull your teeth out in the back too.

(sidenote: I asked her where the other sisters were, she said that she had two sisters but they were never in business with her she just named it that. hmm, makes "southern cents")
10.) lastly somethings just dont make no cents till you move to the south.

i FEEL LIKE MARVIN K. MOONEY

an arkansas weddin cake

The time has come

the time is now

just go go go

I don't care how

-Dr. Seuss

Tyler got a job in ARKANSAS and so we are leaving our beloved MAINE and going where no McEVoy or Huffaker has ventured before. We are going to be living in Monticello Arkansas, or so we think.

We are moving in 10 days and we still have no home. Tyler keeps asking me why I am so stressed out? (insightful)

Anyway if anyone actually reads this blog and I like you, lets get together before I leave because I am seriously worried I may never see you again. I mean I am a anti republican MORMON moving to a very right wing, BIBLE belt town in the deep south living in the deep woods in the shadow of the mightah mississippi. I hope this goes well. eek.

Shishin', those darn F's

I am on the phone with my mother yap yapping away, when out of the corner of my eye I notice William. The house is messy because I am trying to pack and he has found his way into the clothes basket, (which is my mothers and she is constantly asking me not to steal, oops sorry mum) and is playing some sort of game with himself.

Me: What are you doing William
William: I trying to get it
Me: The ball you mean are you trying to get the ball.

William: No the shish!
Me: what, the ball.
William: No I shishin'
Me(not very quick on the uptake even with my own offspring):What is a shish?
William: I shishin'
Me(finally): oh your fishing.
William: Yeah I shishin'

Maybe we will fit in in Arkansas after all.

I love that all it takes for a 2 1/2 year old to make a game is a household staple like a basket, an old fashioned toy, essentially a ball with string and some imagination. I love to watch William play and see what he conjures up.

It is amazing to me that if television is simply not offered as a option, children will find something else to do usually much more engrossing and fun. I love that William knows how to play.

Finally some sun

Finally some sun came through and we went to the beach. It was a little cold but who cares when you havent seen sunlight for over a week. Collin and Will like the tide pools

Tyler with Jackie and Maddie. Tyler will go to the beach no matter how cold or windy. He is a true beach goer

Do you think she knows how cute she is?

Tyler brought all his toys. kayak, surf board, wetsuit. He is not a lite packer to the beach. Arg!

Caleb loves walking around in a wetsuit.

Can I kayak yet?

Staycation: Adult night out

On Thursday night the adults went out to delicious Alison's to enjoy food obviously and some live music. Taste of Lace was supposed to be there but they sent their two sons instead. They we really great

Erinn made immediate friends with the band. They even dedicated a song to her. They were both not a day over 22. You know Erinn, robbing the cradle. (Guess who raised the annoying fork? Tyler of course)

Matt and Jen were very busy all evening landing planes via Erinn's iphone. They took timeout of their busy schedule to pose for one photo. Thanks lovebirds!

I know, I know. I read this article this week that said life was short and to wear your hair different everyday to add spice to life. I tried to add some spice but just ended up looking like a polygamist from St George. Oh well I tried. Thanks for sitting next to me Ty.

Mom, DAD! Slow Down on the booze. JK

WE went back to Erinn and Dave's and played a little friendly poker which I won. Good think Erinn and Dave were drinking.

Staycation: Day 3 , "when is staycation over?"

For most of the staycation, it RAINED!
We didnt let that get us down. We went bowling. When I went bowling in Utah for the first time, I was like,
"Wow, these bowling balls are so big, there like the ones on TV."
Tyler Huffaker developed his own theory upon seeing small bowlin balls for the first time which is that Mainers like to make fun things a little hardier, so we use tiny little balls that make it much more difficult to strike out.
We had fun anyway.

William sportin his new bowlin shoes. He was not a great bowler. His balls went about .001 mph down the lane. He has loving cousins that waited patiently for him.

Keller was a serious bowler. He outscored everybody including his dad. Granted he had bumpers but just look at that form.

Look at that mug. Is that cute or what?

Some people bring a certain flare to bowling that cant be replicated. Thanks Matt.
Bowling was fun and we were all glad that Tyler McEvoy was here from NYC and Dad and Dave were home from work.

Staycation: Day 2

Instead of vacation this year, our family had a staycation; where you stay at home but do fun things like you were on vacation everyday. It would have been a brilliant idea seeing as we live in a tourist town with beaches and lots to do, but it rained the entire week.
Despite the rain and fog, we all, or a lot of us, went hiking at Mt Major on our second day of staycation. Some loved it more than others.
It was quite an adventure.

Lucky for mom, Keller found her an excellent walking stick. She has become so adventurous in her...um...well, mature, I mean adult life. (Her and Dad just finished a 3 day canoe trip, where they camped and even went to the bathroom in the woods. We already know Dad likes that sort of thing. You go mom!)

Erinn, Caleb, Andrew, Paige and Jackie resting at the summit. We were so glad that the Ladlows came with us. Erinn has inherited our father's cheeseburger smile.

Don't be deceived. Malinda IS pregnant and it WAS foggier than spit on a dry day, but it was still very hot and humid, and Malinda is not going to let a little thing like pregnancy get in her way; she is one tough cookie.
We looked a little ripe when we finally reached the summit, many of us having carried one of the little kids up part of the way.

"Dude if you fall out, I'm not picking you up".

Keller taking a rest with Uncle Hippie at the summit. After slowly making it to the top, Keller rested for only a minute and then ran around while everyone else ate and sat. Oddly enough, as soon as we started out down the Mt, Keller's energy boost had been exhausted and by the time we reached the car he was delirious with giggles and whining.
Keller on the way down the Mt: "We're lost I know it, we re lost and now we have to live in the woods forever,"
"If I see David dead in the trail, I am really gonna freak out"
Luckily David was fine and Keller finally started having a laughing fit when his mother started singing,
Erinn: "Over the river and through the woods and down the hill and in the stream and then down some more to Grandma's house we go"
We definitely went the long way down the Mt. By the end, I wasn't so sure that Keller hadn't had good reason to believe that we might live in the woods forever.

Paige and Jackie are two peas in a pod and had a fun time together, in this case they put William in there pod.

Maddie brought her...friend, wink, wink, Chris on the hike. We all liked Chris, he is a very nice boy and Maddie didn't complain once about the hike. I wonder why?