Here's What's Up

Kingston says, "It was you, wasn't it? You took my dad! Bring him back right now!"

Nigel is in Nicaragua on a dude's surf trip. While he is gone, Kingston and I are taking a long weekend trip to Charlotte to visit 2 of the Core 4 and their kids. I cannot wait for our little trip, and I cannot wait until Nigel gets home. He only left yesterday! At least we will keep ourselves busy for about 1/2 of the time he is away! We will survive.



I will try to update when I can-but I make no promises! We might just be having too much fun!

Popsicles

Would you say this is the face of a boy who is excited about a Popsicle?

If you still aren't sure, perhaps you should reference these pictures.

Is it clear now?

Just checking.

Grandpa Saves the Day. . .

again! Every time we have a major problem in our house, I immediately call my dad. He knows EVERYTHING! So when we finally decided to suck it up and turn on the AC yesterday when it was over 80 degrees in the house and the AC was spitting out luke-warm air, I called Grandpa. Since he doesn't want "The Doodlebug Man" to be too hot, he put in a call to his guy. Grandpa's guy came over today while Kingston and I were at the park and fixed our AC! As I type, I am enjoying the lovely cool air while eating bon bons-you know because that is what we moms do when we are at home with our kids.

But really, before Kingston wakes up, I am going to stretch out, read a book, and enjoy the cool air in peace and quiet. At least for 30 more minutes!

Thanks again, Grandpa. Life is so much cooler with you around. Get it? Cooler? Right.

What Kid. . .

doesn't like to run through a sprinkler on a hot day? Not one I can think of. Mine especially enjoyed it. And I loved it even more since he was wearing his new bathing suit that I purchased at a yard sale this morning for $2.00! Obviously it is a bit big, but he will surely grow into them. Now you decide-who is having more fun?!

And what kid doesn't like running around in the backyard naked as a jaybird? (Caution: lots of cute naked butt shots below!)

And what kid only takes a 30 minute nap ALL DAY LONG and is a dream until, well, right about the time you want to start making and eating dinner? Mine. We had a fun day. Now if I can just survive this evening. . .

Brooke the Photog Strikes Again!

When I sent out an email telling all of my local friends about the BarbeCure fundraiser that friends Sara and John were hosting for Hunter Presgrave, my favorite photographer, Brooke Mayo, immediately wrote back to say that she would not be able to attend the fundraiser but would love to photograph the family. I put her in contact with Holly, and a few weeks later, feast your eyes on these treasures! She has done it again. Brooke put the spirit and love of this family on paper. Or on disk. Or on your computer screen. However you want to look at it. Amazing. And not long after the pictures were taken, Hunter changed his hair-do. . . to a mowhawk! I don't know if he is still sporting it, but he did rock it for awhile!

Thanks for being so fabulous, Brooke! And Holly, thanks for having such a special, and apparently very photogenic, family!

To My Friend Lars

Dear Lars, (a member of the Core 4)

Do you realize that in a few short months, your oldest daughter will be the same age as my only son is right now when your youngest daughter is born? Does that make sense? Right. I can't wait!

Hopefully your 16 month old daughter won't get mad when you tell her she can't go outside and she won't try to bite you, you step away to avoid getting bitten, and daughter won't fall face-first on the floor. Hopefully you won't witness her face bouncing off of the floor and then have to console her and ice her bloody lip, even though you secretly think it is her fault in the first place. Hopefully that won't happen to you when your daughter is 16 months old and your new baby daughter is here.

Thank you and goodbye.

Your Best Friend,

Lor

Whew!

I think I have my sweet, cute, easygoing son back! He was gone for a bit, but I think he is back now. He was definitely not here last night from 6:00-8:00, fussing non-stop, hanging on my leg, throwing food on the floor, changing his mind about what movie to watch, refusing to put a PJ shirt on (he slept in just shorts last night-pick your battles ;) )biting and pinching me and anything else he could get his grubby little hands on. (And who taught him how to pinch?! That was a new one to me.) Some other high maintenance baby boy took his place last night.

But he's back today. What a sweet fella.

I'm not saying he's 100%, but he's at least headed in that direction. He was a sick little boy this week. Blisters in his throat? I'd be a little out of sorts, too. Welcome back, Kingston!

The Face

This is the face of a kid hanging with my cousin, (his second cousin? I can never figure out how that works) Jason on Saturday. Jason was showing him the camera on his laptop and taking silly pictures.

This is the face of a sick little boy who spent his day with Nana and loved every minute of it! I think he is feeling slightly better but I think it comes and goes. His throat is obviously very sore-he doesn't like to swallow and is drooling in huge puddles and he grimaces and whimpers when he drinks and eats. Poor fellow. We are going to see how he feels in the morning and he will go to day care if he is looking up to it. If not he will spend another day with Nana.

Oh, and I think the ice cream is working for me. We slept like a dream last night!

Not AGAIN!

Another ear infection. This time it is combined with a "rough" looking throat. Poor Kingston. He has been a trooper but has obviously felt poorly all day. He slept for 14 hours last night and took a 3 hour nap this afternoon and pretty much only lounged all day. He was really droopy and didn't have his sparkle today.

Kingston is now on a heavy antibiotic and lots of Motrin and Tylenol. (You know, the recommended doses of each, not lots more than he is supposed to take.) We almost missed seeing the doctor since he was so late getting up from his nap but we they waited for us to come in. Thanks, Nurse Karen, for taking good care of us again! I think Kingston is already feeling better.

Since Nana is on Spring Break this week, she spent the day with us today and has offered to hang out with Kingston tomorrow while I go to work and maybe Friday, too. Thanks, Nana! We are lucky to have you around to take care of us!

Hopefully Kingston will have a restful night of sleep so that I can have a restful night of sleep! I think ice cream is always a good way to ensure that. I'm always hearing about how ice cream helps you sleep better, so I'm gonna have a bowl of it right now.

OK, I made that up. But I know a few of you out there will pretend to believe me and have a bowl, too. Thanks for the support, friends!

Thank You Easter Bunny

We had a good, relaxing Easter. The bunny came. Hooray!

I think the grass was a hit, even if Kingston didn't care about anything else in the basket. He did like the SpongeBob SquarePants book that was in there. For some reason his face just lights up when he sees SpongeBob. It is a little strange and kind of disturbing how identifiable SpongeBob is and how funny Kingston thinks he is. I beg to differ. But that's another story.

We played in the yard and then had dinner at Nana and Grandpa's house. Yummy!

And now we are giving up sugar for Lent. Oh, wait. . . that's over now. Oops. Well, we are giving up sugar for a few days at least because we have had enough in the last 4 days to last us for quite some time now.

Where did I put that last Reece's Peanut Butter Egg? I gotta go. . .

Egg Hunt!

The Haynes family went to an Easter egg hunt this morning at the Elizabethan Gardens! Once we got out of the way of the millions (I exaggerate a bit) of kids and parents and into the big field, we had a great time! We sort of missed the actual egg hunt part because we were avoiding the big crowd and Kingston doesn't really understand the egg hunt concept anyway. He ended up with a few eggs from friends and we called it a success!

Our day, in pictures:

Yesterday Kingston put a call in to the Bunny on his "Yahtzee phone" to put out a bunch of eggs. (Or the Yahtzee hand held game that Kingston always uses as a phone. However you want to look at it.)

Kingston got a sugar cookie and was supposed to ice it with decorations but got too eager and just started eating it. That's my boy!

Hangin' out with Dad-trying not to get trampled!

Hey Riley! Whatcha got there? Can I have one of your eggs?

Never mind. I'll just get one from the Bunny himself. But only if Dad comes with me!

Kingston loved to wander around in the big field.

He found a few friends to get eggs from without even having to look for them! Thanks, Mr. Len! Don't tell Jackson you were giving out his eggs!

Being so cute is so exhausting! This was the scene before we were even out of Manteo!

We had a great day. I've already spoken to the Bunny on the Yahtzee phone and he is planning on stopping by here some time tonight and leaving a few treasures. Somehow he knew exactly what kind of treats Kingston's Mom likes!

My Frog Prince!

My Aunt Donna is in town from Raleigh this week with some friends. Mom, Kingston and I went to their cottage yesterday for a visit. Aunt Donna has met Kingston once and that was about a year ago so needless to say, he has changed quite a bit since then! Pictures were taken at our reunion but I'll have to post them when they are emailed to me.

Aunt Donna and my late Uncle Tom are artists. Good ones. Awesome ones. I remember being in awe of their art supplies, paper, yarns, material, paints and such when I was little. They could do it all-paint, sew, create. I am so proud of their work and feel lucky that we have a few of their pieces in our house.

Aunt Donna and Uncle Tom had a "thing" for frogs. The house they lived in was called "Frog Hollow" and it was decorated with beautiful art and lots of handmade frogs. I must admit I don't really know where the fascination with frogs came from but every time I think of frogs, I think of them. When we visited with Aunt Donna last April she asked me if she could paint Kingston a frog. I was so excited and agreed to it immediately!

And now, without further ado, I present Kingston's frog painting:

Aunt Donna named it but I can't remember what she called it and I won't go look right now since it is hanging over Kingston's crib and he is currently sleeping in said crib!

We hung it up tonight and Kingston immediately wanted to get in his crib and get a closer look.

He loves his new frog painting. It will hang on his bedroom wall for years and years to come. Thanks, Aunt Donna. What a special gift! I hope Kingston has at least a small bit of creativity handed down from my King genes!

Weekend Fun

The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we took advantage of it as much as we could.

Nana, her friend Katie, Kingston and I went to pick flowers on Saturday morning at my friend Dorothy's flower farm. She and my friend Brooke do flowers for weddings, too, and a lot of the flowers they use are locally grown. Amazing stuff. We had fun looking and picking the various kinds of daffodils. We all agreed we had no idea there were so many varieties. Here was my resulting bouquet:

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Kingston and I were playing around in the backyard in the afternoon, occasionally peeking over the fence to watch Uncle Mark build a thing or two with his saws and hammers. When we tired of that we just wandered the yard in search of things to get into.

All of a sudden Uncle Mark returns from a trip to the store and informs us that he has built Kingston a sandbox!

Kingston watched in awe as Uncle Mark filled the box with fresh play sand.

And then he hopped in.

And got down to business.

Thanks, Uncle Mark!!! We can't keep the kid out of the sandbox now! He loves it and I love that he stays entertained for a long time in the yard.

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Today was family fun day Sunday! We started the fun off with a visit to one of my favorite all-time places on the Outer Banks-John's Drive-In. Kingston and I shared a Dolphin Boat (mahi-mahi, not Flipper!) and had fun sitting at the Kingston-sized picnic tables while we ate. Yum and fun.

After lunch and a nap, Kingston, Nigel and I went on a bike ride to the park. When we got home we played in the sandbox again (the 3rd time today)! After dinner and a bath, Kingston was definitely ready to crash. He fell asleep before his head hit the crib mattress!

Happy Spring from the Haynes family! We can't wait for summer!