I have posts, I DO

But, of course, being me, they involve pictures. And for whatever reason blogger is refusing to download pictures for the last two days... phooey.

The boys and I ventured out to the Grower's Market this morning. The fog was burning off as we drove toward town revealing another gloriously bright, perfect fall day. Hurray! We had a pretty good time browsing and chatting with vendors (well, Joshua was chatting with vendors, not me). Then IT began again. What is IT, you ask? IT is a certain boy's recent propensity to test every boundary in sight. Admittedly, today was not so bad compared to the last couple of weeks. But, it was enough to make a pleasant morning into a marathon. So, it was both-- Pleasant and a Marathon. If you know what I mean.

Walking through the "art" portion of the Market Joshua was transfixed by a booth of cement statues. He said, "Oh, I Love carvings!" (he was loving most of the displays actually, jewelry, paintings, instruments). I ended up getting him a little cement elephant, since he loves elephants. I don't know why exactly I let him pick one out, I didn't plan on buying the boys anything like that today. I just did. He was very sweet about it and thankful. And I could tell by his attitude he wouldn't have complained if we had walked on. I was pleased to do something for him.

We stopped to buy some flowers (big splurge on my part, but they were a dollar a stem, so I decided I could spare 3 or 4 dollars for some gorgeousness). We were picking out one sunflower like a teddy bear sunflower only bigger and fuller, and two or three dahlias. We ended up with two sunflowers and four dahlias because the lady gave us a couple flowers that were nearer the end of their prime than the others. And she made a little bouquet with the dahlias and some really pretty greenery. So we got a really gorgeous bunch of flowers for $4. :D And Joshua had a great time helping me pick out flowers.

Then we stopped by a farm stand run by some friends of ours. We picked out a bag of corn-on-the-cob and Brannon stayed behind with the other kids while J and I continued on our way.

A head of lettuce, 5 turnips, 1 cabbage, and 3 tamales later we were back to collect B and hike back to the car. I'd been "wrestling" with J ever since shortly after the flower booth and we were all getting tired. He was dragging his way across streets and throwing a big fit whenever I hustled him along(so as not to hold up traffic or get run over). Then about a block from the car he decided to "hand" me the bag with his elephant in it. Only I was facing completely the other way. He didn't tell me he was handing it to me. Didn't slow down to see if I had it. Just thrust it in my direction and let go. Because he was mad about the whole walking back to the car-helping me carry stuff-me making him hurry scene.

It's only a cement statue. It only cost a few dollars. It's only missing an ear.

I don't think it has anything to do with him being grateful or ungrateful. It's just this whole thing he goes into when he's tired that I have no idea how to direct. Yes, it's not just when he's tired, it's his whole attitude toward authority in the first place. He's a sweet, bright, caring kid and we do set boundaries. I struggle with consistency, but who doesn't?? Ok, maybe someone out there has it all together where their kids are concerned. I just wish I knew what to do with him, now...

Brannon wasn't interested in flowers, or statues, or vegetables. He paused for a moment to see the fancy beeswax candles and he was very glad to spend a few minutes with his friends. Which made him think of another friend he hopes to see at church tomorrow. I thanked him many times for helping me carry the flowers. I was trying to think of a way to help him feel loved today too. You see, J's main love language is gifts. He LOVES to give people things. That's the reason I got him the statue and let him have a big say in what flowers we picked out, because those things make him feel loved. Brannon's I think must be touch--lots of hugs! and words of encouragement--which is why I made sure he knew I appreciated his help...

I have felt overwhelmed by being a parent lately. And a wife. And me. Can I hire a maid? So I can do school with the boys and creative stuff for me and take naps and not fall behind and have a stressfully disgusting house? I think that would be nice...

Saturday

This is not what it looks like outside right now... It's pouring buckets in fact :) We made it out to the growers market this morning. It was actually sunny and warm while we were there. It was a blast, as always, watching the boys pick out some veggies. Before we got to the veggies (or "veg" as critter #1 calls it after watching Wallace and Gromit an the Curse of the Were-Rabbit about 6 times last week...) we passed a booth with burl carvings. The boys showed a great deal of interest so we stopped for a closer look. Critter #2 liked all the tallest or longest carvings. My mom would ask him which he liked and he would say "this one because it is tallest" or "this one because his hat is tallest" or "this one because his beard is longest" lol. Critter #1, after I made a comment that a myrtle tree was carved from myrtle wood, pointed at various carvings and asked if they were made from the same wood as the trees depicted :)

After the boys played for a bit at a little park while we waited for a certain store they enjoy to open. They had fun playing and I had fun taking their pictures :) Sadly the store we were waiting for never opened. We walked a little more with grandma then went into a kid's music store. Critter #2 went from display to display gleefully trying every instrument in the store. Critter #1 played with his favorites. In between saving instruments from critter #2 mama found some cd's to drool over. African and Hawaiian. I love to get music for my kiddos to listen to . They are so open, and enjoy most things so much.

After an early nap we are taking it easy. Enjoying the sounds of the rain. I'll go wash some dishes pretty soon, maybe make a muffin mix for an easier breakfast in the morning (i hate trying to figure out breakfast when I wake up). In a couple hours papa will be home and maybe the boys will talk him into a little wrestling match (or maybe not, he had a race today:).

I hope you all are having a nice Saturday too. :)