The Discussion that Shouldn't Have Happened

We had two of our good friends over for dinner last night. And for some reason, the topic of religion came up, which I KNEW was a bad idea. Religion is one of those topics that should NEVER be discuss with family or friends. Why? Because people are entitled to believe what they choose. And no one has the right to change anyone else's mind, or tell them what is right or wrong to believe, etc. However, our discussion went on for three mind-numbing hours and at the end of the night, nothing was accomplished....other than I was REALLY tired.

So, lesson learned. DO NOT discuss religion with friends. It will never remain a light-hearted discussion. Someone is bound to get pissed off or offended and there's really no point to add unnecessary tension to a friendship.

Trash

"Love me, hate me, say what you want about me.

But, all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to

F-U-C-K. me"

Seriously? This is what's playing on the pop stations on the radio these days?

Pure white trash that only Britney can pull off.

I'm sticking to my country stations....sheesh!

An Overdue Visit

So our new house, in our same city, but different zip code (love ya CG), is right around the corner from the cemetery where my Grandfather is buried. And to make the experience more pleasant, there is a good variety of wild life at the cemetery.

First up, we stopped to see the caribou. This is how I plan to explain to Carter that Santa IS real. He clearly keeps some of his reindeer here in Idaho for safekeeping! ;-) Shhhh.....keep my secret, mmmm kay?

As you can tell from my shadow (sheesh....I hate when that happens), I took the liberty of staying AWAY from the beast, while Eric got up close and personal with Carter.
The picture below best describes how Carter felt about the caribou.

He wanted NOTHING to do with the adults, but he did love the little babies.

Then we moved on to the pond where all the birds were hanging out. We had a good variety of geese, ducks, swan, and other birds that I cannot identify because I'm not current on my NatGeo, folks.

This family of geese? Super cute.....but they got mean. Well, I should say....the MAMA got mean. You will see later what I'm talkin' about.

So we focused on the nicer birds who appreciated our bread. The swans were just gorgeous and dang they swim fast!! Much faster than the ducks.

It was about that time that this same family of geese.....or the mama.....decided that we were just a tad too close for comfort to her babies. And the hissing began. Did y'all know they hiss? And CHARGE at you? Let me tell ya....I grabbed up MY baby and headed for the car. I wasn't sticking around to be attacked by a dang bird.

I finally skirted my way around the pond, away from the vicious mama, to get some pictures of these weird looking birds. I have no clue what they are....some sort of duck, maybe?

And these birds too.....I haven't the slightest clue what they are. But they sure honked really loud!! We must have been close to their eggs.

We finally made it over to see my Grandfather. I tried to sit Carter down to introduce them and tell him about his Great-Papa, but he wouldn't sit still.

But we did take some flowers from our yard to freshen the place up and I got a chance to say hello. I'm hoping to get back there on a more regular basis now that we live so close.

It's been five years, Grandpa, and I sure still miss you.

A Refreshing Evening

For those who don't read my twitter updates (you should....they are fun and humorous most of the time!), things have been quite......tense......in our house lately. So I decided today at work that after work, we were headed out to the park to do something fun. Mostly, I was just hoping we could get along for an hour and Carter could have some fun. And I was right. We had a great time and there were lots of other kids for Carter to play with.

So, we tackled the playground first. There was definitely a bigger kids playground and a toddler playground. Though Carter was only interested in the bigger kids playground. It had more stuff for him to crawl in and around.

And the slides were definitely better. He's quite the little daredevil.

Then we took our bat, ball, and other toys and headed over to the grass.

Carter LOVES kicking the ball. When he gets a good kick, he will clap and say "yaaayyyyy!" He's his own greatest fan!

Then, because it really was warm enough outside (mid 80s), we headed over to the river to splash around a little bit. He HATED that I held his hand the entire time. He wanted me to let him go exploring.....which would have been fine if there was a beach or something. But there wasn't. It was a straight step down into the deep water and let's face it, this mama ain't lettin' go of that kid's hand. :-] I know. Party-pooper.

So when we got home, it was bathtime and that always brings the biggest smile to his face.

A Sweet Goodbye

So I decided last week that it was time to say goodbye to.......................the pacifier.

So this weekend was the test. Friday, when I put Carter down for the night, I didn't go through the usual routine of finding one of the two pacifiers left in the house (at one time, I swear we had at least a dozen....in the car, in my purse, in his room, in OUR room, in the diaper bag, in the SPARE diaper bag, etc. You get it.) I just put him down and told him I love him and walked out. I was fully prepared to wake up several times with him throughout the night as he cried for his comforting friend. He didn't wake. Not once. And Saturday, when it came time for his nap, I cringed, thinking there's no way we could go 2 for 2. But we did. Never a peep for that pacifier. And of course Saturday night and last night went just as well. I'm thinking the pacifier had pretty much become a distraction for him.....something to wake him up when it fell out at night, and he would embark on his search of the crib to find it again, crying the whole time.

So, dear pacificer, your time has come. Thank you for your services; however, they are no longer required. One less item to take up the already cramped real estate in my purse and the diaper bag. :-)

Even MORE Bubbles!!

We had to upgrade our bottle of bubbles. The one from the Easter hunt at daycare quickly ran out. So we went off in search of bigger bottle with a better wand. The old wand only had one ring, and we wanted one with several rings to maximize the bubble experience for all. And there were seriously like 5 gallon jugs of bubbles!! Which were still super cheap....but I'll be honest with ya, I'm not going to lug around that thing just to blow bubbles. So we opted for a smaller container, with a wand with 4 rings. Oh yes....we have moved up in the world.

So I passed off the camera to the hubby and I started my stint as a bubble blower. And let me tell ya, this new wand? I can blow bubbles until I run OUT.OF.AIR. It's fantastic! Our entire yard was filled and Carter was having a BALL.

He likes when they pop on his head. Makes him giggle like a little girl!

Even the dog and cat were getting into it!!!

Though the cat was even more into it than Carter! I caught her a couple times leaping through the air.

Bubbles are definitely a hit with the entire family.