Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas at the Dees house! Once again, we didn't get very many good pictures this year... it's hard to keep up with the kids and take pictures too! Also, I need a camera that can focus faster...

Jordan's Mom came and spent the night with us on Christmas Eve. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church, and then came home and had soup. Aidan and Gresham opened their presents for each other, which is becoming a tradition to do on Christmas Eve. We had a really good time together, and I was thankful that the kids got over their various viruses in time for Christmas!

Aidan got this football from Gresham. This was really the only thing he asked for this year. His friends in the neighborhood like to "play" football, and he really wanted his own ball!

After having Christmas morning at our house, we packed up and went to my parents' house for more presents and Christmas dinner!

Help! Who knows digital cameras?

This picture was taken at a Christmas party last weekend. This was the only decent shot I got of the boys together - and it's fuzzy! Most of the other pictures were clear, but they weren't good poses. Our camera seems to do this a lot. It's a Sony 5.1 megapixel Cyber-shot that we bought 3 years ago. Anyone have any thoughts?

8 more days...

...until the ultrasound!

Mom: Aidan, next week we get to find out if our baby is a girl or a boy!
Aidan: Oh. Does the baby have hair now?
Mom: Maybe. I'm not sure. Probably not much.
Aidan. Well, then how can they tell if it's a girl?
Mom: Oh, did you think they would say it's a girl if it has long hair??
Aidan: Yes.
Mom: That's not how they tell...
Aidan: Well, then how do they tell?
Dad: Well Aidan, you have boy parts... and so they look for those.
Aidan: Oh, okay.

It would have been easier to just go myself...

Mom: Phooey, we're out of scotch tape, and I need to wrap the gifts to mail to California tomorrow. Aidan, can you go next door and ask to borrow some scotch tape?
Aidan: Ok! Um, well, actually I think it's too dark.
Mom: It's not too dark. You'll be fine.
Aidan: I don't want to go. It's too dark.
Mom: Would you like a flashlight to take with you?
Aidan: Yes.
Mom: Oh, they're all out of batteries.
Aidan: What kind are these?
Mom: Those are AAA. We need AA.
Aidan: Oh.
Mom: Just go without a flashlight. They'll have their Christmas lights on. You'll be fine.
Aidan: How about my Lightning McQueen flashlight?
Mom: It's out of batteries too, just go.
Aidan: How about... ok.
(Aidan goes out, and comes back in.)
Aidan: It's cold!
Mom: JUST GO!
Aidan: I am, I'm just getting my gloves on!
(Aidan goes out)
Mom: Aidan, the door is not shut all the way! Come back and fix it!

And then Aidan finally comes back with tape!

Aidan...

A couple weeks ago, Aidan asked me, "So... were you and Dad friends before you got married?" I told him yes. "So you marry someone you're friends with?"
"Yes," I said.
"Good," he said, "then I can marry Abby."

Aidan and Abby have liked each other since they were babies. Seriously. We used to live near them in our apartment complex, so they saw each other a lot, and have always been great friends. Aidan is on his very best behavior for Abby, and has somehow managed to get her to think that he is neat, thoughtful, and responsible. Her mom told me that Abby came home from Sunday School talking about how "some of the boys would just tear up the house, but not Aidan..." I thought, "Is this my Aidan we're talking about??? The boy who prides himself on not changing socks?"

So after having the above conversation, Aidan asked Abby to marry him at children's choir. He told me just tonight, "She was so embarrassed when I asked her, but she said that she had been thinking the same thing (about marrying him).

Jordan told him that he is not allowed to talk about it anymore... 5 is too young to be deciding who you are going to marry. But it will sure be interesting to see how this plays out when they are older...

Insanity

Two year olds are interesting creatures. They can go from cute and sweet to screaming maniacs in about 2 seconds. They possess a lot of power (and volume) with about zero self-control. For the most part, I really love having Gresham in our home, but the past couple of days, I have wanted to sell him to the highest bidder...

Friday night was my school's Christmas concert. Jordan had to work until right before the concert, so I had to get the boys ready by myself and get us all to the church in time to tune instruments. Gresham woke up from his nap, and I told him that we were going to a concert "to hear violins and cellos." "No!" he whined. "What kind of concert did you want to go to?" I asked, because he had previously been really excited about this concert. He thought a minute, and then said, "A zoo concert!" (???????) He then whined about the color of sippy cup he had, and had an all-out fit over the flavor of yogurt presented to him. We got in the van without shoes and socks on, because I figured I would put those on while he was strapped into the carseat.

Saturday wasn't much better. We went to Target to grocery shop, and he kept grabbing things off the shelves. We couldn't just go down the center of each aisle (so that he couldn't reach) because Target was so busy. He pulled some fruit cups off the shelf on one aisle, and they broke. While the nice Target man was mopping that up, Aidan was staring at him instead of watching where he was going, and ran into the cart with his face. Then on the next aisle, Gresham pulled spaghetti off the shelf. I moved the cart over so he couldn't reach. He yelled, "No sir, Mommy! No sir, Mommy!" We left without buying much, but that was okay since I had forgotten the list at home...

Today we went out for lunch after church. Gresham screamed because he couldn't have more macaroni and cheese. He screamed about not wanting a roll, and then decided to eat the whole roll in two bites. He screamed for ice cream. He did get to have some ice cream, after he changed his attitude and asked the right way. But that didn't last long... he had another fit over me wiping his mouth that lasted until about halfway home.

What a fiery little personality he has! I am realizing every day how much I need to pray for his salvation, and that the Lord would change his little heart!

Poor Gresham

My poor Gresham has a terrible cold. This may be his worst one yet - itchy eyes, fever, horrible runny nose. He hates to drink anything but water, but today I offered him some juice to try to get some vitamin c in him. He tried the juice, and then put his cup on the table and left the kitchen.

Later he came back and said, "I need drink. (Takes a drink). Mommy, please put the juice away (meaning dump it out). Put water in it. I can't like the juice. Please put water in it."

He's pretty verbal for a two year old!

Hopefully he will be better soon, because on Friday night I have my school Christmas concert. I think he was sick this same week last year too...

Also, the other day, I asked him how to spell Gresham. He said, "Let's see here... M-S-Y." He knows a lot of "school language" from listening to Aidan do school, and it's pretty funny to hear him use it!

BOYS!

The other day, Aidan announced to me, "Mom, I've been wearing this same pair of socks for three days now! I'm going to try to make it all week!"

I will say that this is better than the three pairs per day that he was going through for a while (every time we went somewhere, he got out a clean pair), but I think that we can find some middle ground here. Like maybe one clean pair every day!

Appointment Update

On Monday I went to the doctor, and I heard the heartbeat this time! I am almost 15 weeks now. Our next appointment will be on Dec. 30, and we will have our level II ultrasound and hopefully find out the gender then! Yea!

On a less exciting note, I went to a periodontist yesterday, and he said that I need gum surgery. :-( He is going to graft tissue from the roof of my mouth to one of my bottom teeth that needs it. It needs to be done now, but we are going to try to wait until after the baby is born because he doesn't like to take the risk of working on pregnant people... It won't be a lot of fun either way!

At least everything with the baby looks good!

Thanksgiving!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year!

I started the day by going to CVS at 8:00 a.m. for some of their "free after extra bucks" items. I won't go into a lot of detail here, but basically I used coupons to get some items more than free, which enabled me to get the diapers (which we needed) for cheap. My total for everything in this picture was $7.04. I did this in three transactions. Woo hoo!

Then we went to my parents' house for parade watching and Thanksgiving dinner. We had a very international Thanksgiving this year! Our friends from India, Pitch and Rosy, were there as well as a new believer from our church who is from Thailand. She came with her daughter. My brother came with two friends who are originally from Ghana. We enjoyed turkey and good ol' Yankee white bread stuffing.

Here I am at 14 weeks pregnant. Let's not have any comments about how small I am. This is how my body grows, and I have 6 more months to be pregnant, so I don't want to be huge yet!

Awww, what cute boys!

My parents trees still have most of their leaves, but we raked up what we could and jumped in them! We have had really nice fall leaves this year! Must have been good weather for them. I tried to take some fall leaf pictures, but the colors just don't turn out. Only in Texas do you have leaves still turning colors on Thanksgiving!

Ok, maybe you won't think this is as funny as we do...

This is how Daddy plays cars and blocks with the boys...

Let's play "the mall on black Friday!" This will be the JC Penney's store.

Here are the people lined up at 4:00 a.m.

Now we have built the "cashwrap" (where you pay), and we're putting the finishing touches on the sweater tables. Be careful, son! You're knocking over the security sensors!

This is the food court. It has this station with a pay phone, and ATM, and a place where you can insert your car title in order to get more money to shop with!!

Things are getting a little testy in the parking lot with two cars going after the same spot!

This video is a little "situation" requiring mall security. Jordan didn't know I was taping it, which is why I was able to tape it! I should have taped more; he was cracking us up!

Aidan and the Spirit of Gift-Giving

The progression of gift-giving as I have observed it in our house...

Age 1: Oblivious
Age 2: Oblivious
Age 3: I don't wanna give anyone a present, because then I might not get as many for myself!
Age 4: Gift ideas for others that I would like myself (i.e. wanting to give Mom a Lightning McQueen toy)
Age 5: No, I won't give you what you ask for, because I can think of something better...

We had this conversation in Target the other day.

Mom: Look, Aidan! You can get me one of these 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kids for Christmas! I remember getting my first one in 1985.
Aidan: No...
Mom: Why not?
Aidan: Because you ask too much. You wanted one of these the last time we were in Target.
(There was a Target employee a couple aisles away who was snickering...)
Aidan: I'll get you this set instead, it's a lot cooler (points to a fisher price set with two silly looking dolls and a baby stroller).
Mom: I don't want that. I don't need the toys. I just like the other one because it's like one I had when I was little.
Aidan: Nope, I'll get you this one.

Wait 'til he sees what I'm gonna get him...

My Big Boy

So Gresham has gotten a lot of posts lately - I'll try to make it up to Aidan next week...

We had a "big boy party" on Monday night and said farewell to the pacifiers. I was tired of dealing with all the tantrums - the pacifier was not allowed out of the bed, but Gresham tested that rule several times a day, and it just wasn't worth it. Plus, I wanted the pacifier to be a distant memory by the time the new baby comes! We have 6 months until then, which is a long time when you're 2. He will have forgotten by then. At least that's the hope.

We had a nice dinner in his brand new booster seat (we put the highchair away!), and then brought the "sassies" out and said goodbye to them. Gresham put them in the trash himself, and then got to have a big bowl of ice cream. At bedtime, he told Dad, "Want sas- ... had ice cream."

Then, he caught a cold, and the rest of the week has been horrible as far as sleep goes! He cries for sassy every evening. He has woken up crying from his nap every day and has cried in the morning every morning except today. Hopefully once he gets over the congestion he will be back to his cheerful self! And surely the memory will fade soon!

Quotes of the Week

Mom: Aidan, I need you to dust the blinds.
Aidan: Well, I think it would be better if we had a monkey to do that.
Sure, great idea!

Gresham: (In Chick-fil-A, sitting next to Mom) Mommy right here! (pointing) Mommy right here!

Gresham: (From the grocery cart) Her name is Mommy. Her name is Mommy. I Gresham Thomas Dees. Her name is Mommy.
* I can't remember if he was really saying "her" or not - he doesn't use pronouns that well. But it made sense, whatever he said!

Gresham: My truck!
Aidan: No! I wanted it first!
Gresham: No, me first!
Aidan: I wanted it before you even wanted it!

Saturday Morning with Gresham

Two Year Old Manifesto by Gresham

I am two.

No one is the boss of me.

Hey, I don't even really have control over myself!

If I want something, I will have it. If I can't have it, I will scream. If screaming doesn't work, I will throw myself on the floor and kick. If I don't feel like a fit, I will run and hide somewhere. If Mom wants me to go somewhere, and I don't want to, I will have instant jelly legs. That is the power of being two.

I'm cute and I know it. Since everyone thinks I'm cute when I say new words, I use that to my advantage. Today I told Mommy, "Need sassy!" (pacifier) and she gave it to me. (Mom- This is true...)

If I have something, it must be mine. If I put it down and someone else picks it up, I will scream because it's still mine. If I use a library computer, then even when I get down, no one else should use it because it's "my pooter." (Mom- Also true...) If I want to try on Mom's shoes, then I should be able to. If Mom is having a snack, I should have a bite. Or several bites.

Note from Mom: Anyone who wants to understand total depravity should live with a two year old for a few days! Yesterday, Gresham was crying because I wouldn't let him do something at the breakfast table that would have resulted in him choking. It reminded me how much we are all like two-year-olds... we have such a limited perpective on what God is doing in our lives, but when things don't go our way, we throw a fit... just in a much more refined way than Gresham's... My children are definitely a tool in my sanctification!

Aidan's Artwork

Can you tell what this drawing is? Aidan did it today - it's a football field. I was really excited about it because he doesn't like to draw or color very much, and so he doesn't do it very often. Now that we are doing kindergarten and doing so much writing, his coordination has improved, and he has really started to enjoy doing artwork. He also wrote his first story last week, but the picture of that didn't turn out... I'll try again later.

A Good Day and A Bad One

I'm enjoying this pregnancy countdown thing that I put on here, but I think that it looks a little freaky today... long spindly legs and stuff...

Anyway, yesterday was a great day! I actually felt pretty decent. Jordan had to work a closing shift, so after naptime I asked Aidan if he would like to go rock collecting. He was very excited about that! He and Gresham both love rocks. I used to collect fossils as I kid, so I can enjoy rocks too. We went to the "fish park" (the playset has a giant plastic fish on it), and went down by the creek and collected rocks. Then, we walked along the walking trail for a while and happened upon some construction vehicles working on a drainage project. We watched a front loader move some rocks and an excavator dig a trench (I bet you didn't know I was so up on my construction vehicles!). Gresham was thrilled. Aidan has seen stuff like that before, but not Gresh.

We came home and made dinner, and then found a full-length Raffi concert on youtube. (Raffi sings kids songs with just him and his guitar - he's a little new age, but most of his songs are okay, and he's easy to listen to.) Actually, the concert was split into 9 parts because I guess you can only load 5 min. videos on youtube.

Rocks, construction trucks, songs about "shaking my sillies out"... what more does a person need?

Today was not as fun. Our day started at 5:30 a.m. when I got up to go to the bathroom and discovered that the smoke detector in Aidan's room was beeping. Jordan went to go put in a new battery, which we have never done before (oops... I honestly thought for some reason that these particular smoke detectors were not battery powered...) In the process, all of the smoke detectors went off, and well, let's just say that if we ever have a fire, we won't be able to miss it! Thankfully we were all able to go back to sleep.

I have been soooooooooo tired all day, and not feeling as well as yesterday. This afternoon, Aidan rode his bike into the neighbor's basketball goal, and fell, and landed on his face. He is going to have a huge bruise over his eye (on top of the stitches that he got 2 years ago) that will look very pretty when he sings in front of church tomorrow with the children's choir! By the time he went to bed, the whole area had become pretty swollen, and his eye is partially shut.

We ended the day with Gresham falling trying to sit in a chair, and he put a gash in his chin. He did one of those things that little kids do where they are silent powering up for a huge cry, except that he didn't start crying (or breathing) for several seconds, and his lips turned blue. I was yelling at him to breathe!

Ahhhh, all is quiet now! I am glad that God provides good days along with the bad ones... it helps me to appreciate the good ones all the more!

He's a boy of the 21st century!

Today we were in the van on the way to the park, and Gresham said, "e-mail!"
"What??," I asked.
"E-mail! E-mail truck!"

It was in fact a mail truck!

Doctor's Appointment #2

Today was our second dr. visit. We didn't hear the heartbeat, and so the doctor did an ultrasound just to make sure. It's a little early to hear the heartbeat with the doppler, so it wasn't a big surprise or cause for concern. I couldn't believe how much our little one had changed on the ultrasound since the one that we had 4 weeks ago! At our first appointment, the baby was smaller than a grain of rice and was the same shape as well. Today, I saw a head, body, and arms and legs, and the baby was moving. He/she had a nice strong heartbeat!

I brought the picture home and told Gresham, "Look, here is the baby!" He said, "Awww!"
Aidan just said that the baby looked like a shirt.

Anyway, I'm 10.5 weeks now, and things are going well! I'm still holding out for the end of the first trimester, although I know that the sickness won't end for another few weeks after that... we can make it!

Some random funnies from our house...

Jordan to Aidan: "Son, you really shouldn't pick your nose while you're setting the table..."

Gresham: Bankie! Sassy! (asking for blankie and pacifier, which stay only in the bed)
Mom: Why do you need blankie and sassy???
Gresham: Bankie cuddle. Sassy in mouth.
Mom: Well, yes, that is what you do with those things...

Gresham in the car: Look Mom! Chick-a-way! Look Mom! Moon!

My favorite thing that Aidan says right now is "at one point." Today he said, "Wow, we got a lot of toys out of my toy chest! At one point, I was in the toy chest throwing things out!"

Aidan: So if a lady has a baby in her tummy, and she doesn't have a husband, does she have to go get one so the baby can have a dad?
Mom: Ummmmmm, she has to have a husband first before getting the baby.
Aidan: Oh, why?
Mom: Ummmm
Aidan: So who told you that you were going to have a baby?
Mom: No one told us.
Aidan: Well then, how did you find out?
Mom: It's kind of complicated...

The boys in their costumes

On Wednesday night, we went to the Countryside Fair! The boys were excited about it for days leading up to it. Gresham had no idea what it was, but he knew it was something to be excited about! They had a great time playing games and riding on the hay ride. Unfortunately, they wouldn't stay still long enough to get any decent pictures!

On Friday night, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house and had dinner and went trick-or-treating. This is the first time we have gone trick-or-treating. It was fun to go in the neighborhood I grew up in - we went to only houses of people we knew. This was a hard decision to decide to go, but Aidan really wanted try trick-or-treating, and we didn't really have a good reason to not go. We explained to Aidan that Halloween is overall not a holiday that we like, and that we weren't going to dress up as anything ugly.

Here is Aidan the Knight.

Gresham kept wanting to get into the candy that Grandma had by the door to hand out. I made his dinosaur outfit myself! I was so proud! I bought a thermal set at Target, and added felt spikes and made the tail. Gresham is really obsessed with this huge remote-control dinosaur toy that they have at Target. It must be a hot toy this year, because this same dinosaur has been in the JC Penney and Toys R Us toy catalogs that we have gotten in the mail. The display one at Target growls and moves. Gresham loves to look at it (and loves to look at the catalog pictures), but he is also scared to death of it. It's pretty funny. He talks about "big dinosaur" every day, and always asks to see it when we go to Target, but then when we get to that aisle, he gets scared and actually starts shaking. What a nut!

All ready to go! I've got my candy bag, and my blankie!

Fun Shopping with Mom

This afternoon we had to go to the mall to return some shoes, which is pretty much my least favorite thing to do on a Saturday when the mall is extremely busy! But we had to - our 30 days to return them was up today.

After stopping for the shoes, I decided to head down to Motherhood Maternity and see if I could find some clothes. I've never been pregnant in the winter before; at least, not enough that I needed clothes! Aidan was pretty sure that this was going to be a real drag. He and Gresham fought while I found some things, and then we had to squeeze all three of us and the stroller into a little fitting room with a curtain instead of a door. But then... the whole thing became more fun when we discovered the "baby belly" that you can velcro on yourself to see how the clothes will fit when you are big!!! I put it on and tried on all the stuff, and Aidan couldn't stop giggling and poking the belly.

This is going to be an educational nine months for him.... I can already tell that he will be asking a lot of questions!

The Many Faces of Aidan

Five is such a nice age. Aidan is really growing up. He is really getting into reading more. Right now he is doing a math test with Dad - he can do addition facts super fast without counting on his fingers!

This is the face he makes when he is telling a story that he thinks is exciting.

And this is just a goofy face...

Sorry for the lack of posting!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately... I've been feeling pretty yuck, and as a result there's not much going on at our house!

Let's see... what can I talk about...

Aidan suggested yesterday that if the baby is a boy that we name him "Mesh" because it rhymes with "Gresh." I'm thinking not. For a girl, he likes "Talullah Cartharin." Talullah is a character in the Maisy books, and I think that he made up Cartharin. Wow, I'm glad he's not old enough to have his own children yet!

Gresham was adorable yesterday. We went to Target after nap time since we had nothing to fix for dinner. I had to wake Gresham up from his nap, and told him we were going to Target. He was pretty sleepy and not too excited about going, but he rallied after a diaper change and a drink, and said, "Let's go!" I said, "Let's go to the van. Let's hold hands. I love you!" and he replied, "Yeah, me too!" What a sweet boy.

Trying to Survive...

I am now 7 1/2 weeks pregnant, and it seems like May will never come... Actually, it's good that it is a ways off, because I have a lot to do before then. But this morning sickness stuff is not a lot of fun!

Today, we were supposed to get our ice maker fixed, which I was very excited about. Being pregnant makes my mouth salivate an uncontrollable amount (not sure why - but at least it's not 24 hours a day, just off and on throughout the day) and very cold ice water is about the only thing that makes it better. And gum. Back when the ice maker broke, we looked into getting it fixed, but we knew that it would be a minimum of $65 to get it looked at. My wonderful husband decided that it would be well worth the money to provide me with plenty of ice. Well, the man came today, and found the broken part in about 20 seconds. He said, "This will be a quick fix, but let me get you a price quote first, because this is going to come down to how bad do you want ice."
"Oh boy," I thought. After working on his laptop a few minutes, he determined that it would be $293 to fix it. $102 for the part, and the rest for labor. I said no thanks. He then went on to show me how we could fix it ourselves by buying the part and using a screwdriver to put in four screws. Maybe Jordan should go into ice maker repair so that he can charge $169 to put in four screws!!!!

We also decorated for fall today, and Aidan found this camping chair in my closet while we were getting our fall stuff out and was asking me how to sit in it, and somehow bonked into my head and broke one of the nose pads off my glasses. At least that was a free fix!

Time to go eat another snack... I will survive!

Fall at Nash Farm

Today we went to Nash Farm for their annual fall festival. They have pony rides, farm animals, cotton to pick, historic demonstrations, and all kinds of things! We went straight to the pony rides when we got there, because the line gets very long!

Then we decorated pumpkins. This face is very Gresham. This is what he does when I ask him to look at me.

Aidan did a ring toss game, and the prize was this fake mustache. We thought it was great! He decided to go back and play again so that he could win one for his brother.

Is this funny or what? On our way out of the farm, this random lady stopped and took their picture because she thought they were so cute. Gresham wore his mustache until lunch - he didn't want to part with it, but I didn't want hair in his sippy cup!

Gresham is 2!

Yesterday was Gresham's 2nd birthday! After breakfast, he opened a couple presents. His party with family is tomorrow, so we will do most of our birthday stuff then. The first present was from Great Grandma Packard. Gresham didn't want to open it or even touch it. But after we told him there was a toy inside, he decided it was worth the trouble! How very 2...

Here is a video of him opening his horses from Grandpa and Grandma Dees.

More Gresham Singing... It's too cute to not post!

I've been waiting two weeks for this post...

We're having another baby!!!!
We found out two weeks ago, but we were waiting to tell people until after going to the doctor and making sure everything was okay. We went for our first appointment today, and saw a heartbeat! Even though this is the third one, we were still amazed to see that tiny heartbeat on the ultrasound.

I am due on May 29 - the last day of school. We are very thankful for God's timing! Yes, a girl would be nice, but another boy would be just fine too.

The boys are very excited. Aidan told me the other day, "Mom, I love the new baby already!" He will be almost 6 when the baby is born, so he will really remember this.

Gresham has lots of work to do between now and then. Like being potty-trained, and learning to give up temper tantrums (just kidding - we are going to work on those things, but I have no delusions of having him totally whipped into shape by then...) I told him the other day that he will start sleeping in his big boy bed soon. Aidan added, "Yeah, because the new baby gets your crib." (Thanks a lot, Aidan). Gresham came up with the idea that "baby sleep in bunk bed. Gresham sleep in crib." Tonight, he seems to have come around, though, and told us at the dinner table that he will sleep in the bunk bed, and the baby will get "my crib."

Now we just have to wait for 7 1/2 months...

The State Fair

It's fall in Texas, and that means time for the State Fair! Ahh, the state fair. Where else can you get fried peanut butter and jelly while you shop for a hot tub and look at butter sculptures? The big thing this year was chicken fried bacon. The smell was incredible. We opted to not try any.

It was rainy today, but we went anyway, and had a great time! We started with the petting zoo, which has mostly unusual petting zoo animals like giraffes and zebus. Do you know what a zebu is? I didn't know either until today. They look like cows with humps. Aidan and Gresham had fun feeding the goats.

The pigs were my favorite. Aren't they cute?

After the petting zoo, we went to a dog show where some mangy looking dogs that were from an animal rescue caught frisbees and even jumped into a swimming pool. Sorry, I'm not a big dog show fan...

Then we exchanged our money into "state fair currency" and rode a couple rides. Jordan says that if you want to make money, it's always best to change the currency so that no one thinks about how much they are spending.

Here is Aidan after riding the beloved bumper cars! He has waited a whole year for this!

Here's Gresham after his Dukes of Hazzard ride ended. He kept saying "more car! more car!" Can you tell he is turning 2 this week?

After the rides, we did a fun farm activity. The kids got to walk through a "farm" and do different farm chores. Then at the end, they sold their farm products and got paid a dollar to spend in the little shop. Gresham got crackers and gave them to me. :-)

First we got corn to "feed" the animals with.

Gresham really liked the basket they gave him to carry his stuff in. Now I know what to get for his birthday!

At the end, they got to pedal these fun tractors!

Gresham and I went home after the farm thing, but Mom, Dad, Jordan, and Aidan stayed. They went to a bird show and heard a bird sing "Old MacDonald," and bought funnelcakes and ice cream.

Sorry you missed it, Grandma and Grandpa Dees!! Jordan ate a corny dog for you and got some Pedro's tamales.

**Note: There are less pictures of Aidan because he was constantly running from thing to thing!