Cows...Eat...Moo...Milk...

First - no John isn't mine, yes I love him and treat him as though he is (until he needs something then I send him back to his mom or grandparents)...now that said - here is another John story and pictures.

Mom, Dad, MB and John had the chance to visit the Williams' Dairy in Morgan County this week.  The dairy has been in operation for several generations now and is one of the largest producing (if not the largest) dairies in Georgia.  My grandparents lived next door to the Williams and their massive dairy for years - as in the majority of Dad's life, so we have always been good friends and us kids grew up together.  A simple phone call landed John an afternoon with the cows and ride on the giant tractor...

 Yes he is petting the calf - I understand he touched all 150 calves...

 I can hear him now, "Hi baaa-beee coow wit wite face"

 Driving the tractor with Mac - later he got to really drive the tractor with one of the Williams boys and his daughter who is one month older than John.  Justin said he had four little hands on the wheel and he could barely steer with all the "help"

 "Silage, cow eat si-lage"  FYI - Silage is a mixture of corn, corn stalks, wheat, hay, etc that is kinda/sorta fermented and it stinks...bad stink, but not as bad as the cow poop pond...Funny story - John picks up a handful of silage, turns to Mrs. Williams and says, "Silage."  She said he already knows about silage??  Yep - John knew about silage before going to the dairy.

 He looks like an English farmer with the sweater, popped collar and milking boots - but come on - what country boy doesn't have/need a pair of milking boots??  CC made sure he had those.  When I asked if he got new boots he said, "Mud on them..."  I bet there was more than mud on those...

 Is this kid afraid of anything - well except my dog

Dude - don't stick your hand in there - they are going to lick/suck it to death.  According to those in attendance he loved it - yet he still hates my dog...

2010...It's Been Real and It's Been Fun...

And yes, it has been real fun!  I'm not going to do a full review of the year, but this year has been a blast.

For the past three years - 2007, 2008, and 2009 - we had tons of major changes.  Heck, it has been since 2005 that things have been a'changin'.  Graduating from Tech, med school, grad school, getting engaged, graduating from grad school, getting a first job, getting married, match day, a nephew born, buying a house, graduating from med school, moving to Mississippi, living with in-laws, and finding a job in Mississippi....yep that was pretty busy.

It has been kinda nice to have an easy going year - 2010 - you have been great...but is it really necessary to end with tornado warnings???

More McGinnis Christmas/Snow Pictures

 Drive it, John-boy!

 Dad with "his girls and their boys" - minus Hugh of course, who is graciously taking care of our wounded soldiers in Germany for a month.

 "Front-end-lowder/Bact-hoe" - he loves this thing, but isn't sure about pressing the gas petal just yet...

 The morning after Christmas - there is nothing prettier than snow at home to me...

 John would not stop sitting in the snow...he loved it...we tried telling him it wasn't the sand at the beach...

 John says, "Hi Mac."  Mac says, "Hi John."  And this continues for hours.  Check it out - the beachbum doesn't have any gloves so he is wearing one of Mom's and one of Dad's and look closely between his legs - the wet spot is from all the sitting/diving/jumping/running in the snow he did...

 Home sweet home...

 Tucker loved playing in the snow - he ran and jumped and chased and danced, and tried pushing the snow with his nose...

 My boys playing in the snow - and please give me credit - he at least put on long sleeves, but I could not get him to put on a coat, gloves, or a hat...

 I sure hope nobody drove by and saw this crew - we are a sight...

 Another family shot - Tucker is trying to figure out why he can't go play in the snow with John

 John has a book that talks about making snow angels and snow geese, so I just couldn't resist the opportunity to make him a snow angel...

And he had to join in...with a little help from his mom of course...

Click here to see the rest of MB's pictures
Click here to see the rest of Dad's pictures

Andrew Got Run Over By A Reindeer...

"Andrew got run over by a reindeer (or Rudolph) driving home from Lowe's on Christmas Eve..."

Yep it's true - Andrew and his dad ran to Lowe's early on Christmas Eve to pick up some stain that the workers needed to use later that day on the new shop at his parents.  On the way back, a buck decided to sprint from the woods into the road then leap into my car.  Mr. Charlie saw it as it was hitting the car and Andrew (who was driving) never saw it.  Andrew got hit in the head by the body of the deer along with the driver's window while Mr. Charlie took a direct hit from the driver's side view mirror that flew into the car.  Other than a few minor glass cuts, no one was hurt and according to the guy that witnessed the whole thing - the deer (at least a 6 point we are told) flopped around a couple of times then jumped up and ran off...so they didn't even get to keep it. 

My car took a bit of a beating - the driver's door is completely dented in and will not open.  Obviously it doesn't have a window or side view mirror now either...the hood and the front quarter panel are also dented and the windshield has some serious cracks.  But lucky for us - we pay for good insurance and all is well.

Macon folks - if you spot a car that looks like mine at Riverside Ford body shop - it is...you aren't crazy and Jackson folks if you spot me freezing at the gas station since it takes forever to fill the tank in Dad's truck - feel free to stop and let me jump in your warm car while my fills up!!

Pictures of the car to come...

McGinnis Christmas

Picture narrative of our Christmas with the McGinnis/Nunn side of the family...I will add the Ouzts side once I get pictures from them...

 John doing "Happy Face" while eating Christmas morning...

 Mom's side of the family minus Hugh who is Germany doing a rotation and Dad who still trying to set the timer on his camera...

John got this cool car but it came with video instructions for assembly so he drove it as is...however he did look up at me and say, "Aunt Day, Wheels??"

 Mac and John showing off their new hats

 This is not a tractor - it is a "Front-end-loader/back-hoe"...and he loves it...

 John's first snow on December 26th

 He loved playing in the snow and even dove head first into it...

 Lovely little get-up - I searched the house for winter gear and this is the outfit I came out in..I would have had on ski bibs if I had found them first...but I didn't...

Tucker also loved playing in the snow...

and Our Family

His Mid-Life Crisis

So first it was Mom and her horse and now it is Dad and his car...

Yeppers - they have officially taken care of their mid-life crisis!!  As I told, Sister, at least it has seatbelts unlike the motorcycle they considered...

Christmas Lights and Carols

Sorry I never take pictures to share but at least I share stories...

First - we wanted to go see all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood after dinner one night last week so we loaded up Tucker in the car ('cause our son needs to see them too) and drove around the neighborhood looking.  Several times we found ourselves saying, look at the beautiful lights, Tucker...and we would catch him eyeing the blow-up snowman...it was great!!  And yes we are crazy for taking the dog on a ride around the neighborhood but who cares...

Next - Natalie and Jason invited us to join them at the Carols by Candlelight concert at First Baptist of Jackson.  We were told it is "not to miss event" while you are in Jackson, and just as described it was "not to be missed."  Over 200 members of the choir, a full pit orchestra, handbells, Christmas decorations, a real baby as Jesus...it was wonderful!  If I find a link to some of the event, I will share, but otherwise I will try to remember to record it when it is broadcast on local tv so you can see it if you come to visit.

Brush Your Teeth Little One...

Okay another smooth move for Tucker...he decided his teeth needed to be brushed this morning.

Since Andrew had already left for work and I needed to grab a shower - I put Tucker in the bathroom and shut the door while I showered.  During my shower, I noticed that he stayed exactly where I left him, thinking that he had just gone on back to sleep.  Nope - wrong - he had pulled our tube of toothpaste off the sink (which I had pushed a good ways back) and started poking holes in it.  By the time I got out, he had bright blue Crest with Scope all over his lips and mouth and was smacking and licking the floor...guess little buddy needed some water to rinse with - and Momma had shut the toilet room door - so there wasn't a good source of water available...but no worries - there wasn't much left so I doubt that he ate enough to hurt him, and well he will be minty, fresh for a while.

Just My Luck

While trying to get out of the car with my lunch in-hand, I managed to spill a small portion of my Chick-fil-A chocolate milkshake on my wool dress slacks, and I have a meeting with the City of Jackson at 2...splended, just wonderful...

A Weekend With Kids

This past weekend we had the chance to babysit three little ones that are awesome.  While their parents were away running and walking in the St. Jude marathon, we kept the kids ages - 4.5, 2.5, and 5 months.  Those of you that know me from home know that this is nothing considering my experience with the Wadsworths and Penningtons...so it was no big deal for me.  Sam, the baby, wasn't feeling so hot and since the weather was wonderful - the girls spent the majority of the afternoon Friday playing in the backyard while I attended to Sam.  Saturday morning we went to the Madison Christmas Parade, which all three loved.  Then came home for some coloring before lunch and naps.  After naps, we colored, made gingerbread houses, put together a puzzle, read numerous books, discussed (and I mean discussed) the importance of Christmas and not Santa, and playing outside again.  On Sunday, it was more dress-up, coloring, reading, and building blocks with Dr. Andrew.  Word has it - all three slept hard on Sunday night so I guess we did a great job of keeping them busy all weekend.  Here are some pictures of the cuties.

Lifetime Sport

Because I am actually tracking my handicap now for golf and it is continuing to drop (although I kinda prefer it to stay high), I wanted to share why I play golf (and I can assure you it is not to make money).


It all started in middle school when my parents required my sister and I to pick a lifetime sport...a sport we could enjoy for the rest of our lives...and after failing at tennis, I picked golf.  So to start it was forced.
 
Also because my Aunt Patti played and I think we worked out a deal so that if I played golf I didn't have to practice piano with her anymore...not sure, but it is possible.  But I enjoyed playing with Patti - so I continued and actually came to enjoy it myself.
 
And now it is just one more hobby that Andrew and I both enjoy - and more importantly we enjoy it most when we play together. 

Prior to summer of 2008 and Adam forcing Andrew to play golf before his wedding (and as a result before our wedding), I put my clubs up in college and hadn't touched them since and Andrew hadn't played since he was 12. 

In the past two and half years that we have been married - we have both gotten new sets of clubs, gotten a golf membership, and play just about every week.  Now for the kicker - Andrew has even gotten me playing when it is below 50 outside - and let me just say  - that ain't normal or smart folks - I don't know what has happened.

But I do know that because I don't care how bad I shoot, or how many balls I hit in the water on the same hole, or how many times over par I go - golf is a wonderful opportunity to be outside, spend time with my husband (or play for work, which I thought would never happen but has), and drive a golf cart like a mad-man.