Visiting Daddy.....

First of all, I just had to put this picture up. CollinMac has become so attached to this puppy dog. He just lights up when he sees it and fell asleep with it. For the record: 1) No. He does not go to sleep on his own in his own bed....ever. He must be rocked completely to sleep before attempting to lay him down. If he knows you are trying to separate yourself from him, he will awaken immediately and you are back in it for the long haul. 2) I wouldn't have it any other way. As sleep deprived as I am at times, there is absolutely no way I can put him in his bed to cry it out. For those of you that do, more power to you. It is not for me.
So now, on to the trip to Daddy's office. More often than not, we are bugging Dad while he tries to work, so we don't show up very often. But there is this fantastic gift shop in Roscoe, and we needed to shop for Mother's Day and Abby was out of school, so I loaded up the kids and off we went to Daddy's work to shop and eat lunch. We got our shopping done just as Daddy got a phone call where he was needed elsewhere and we ended up having to take him back to the office and eat alone. Oh well....we got the shopping done! And I LOVE pictures of kids visiting their dads at the office, so I snapped away.....

Byron in chargeCollin looked out every window....and there are LOTS!

Abby was fascinated with Dad's dual computers....

Collin was too, I guess....

Who knows where Byron was for this shot! But Collin is desperately trying to escape!!!

He got away and was able to get to the computer....

...but then he got caught!!!

The office is arranged in a circle and the kids could have gone round and round all day. That would have sent Daddy to the hospital with high blood pressure or a stroke.....

Abby loved the sliding glass window. I am SO anxious to see what her profession ends up being....

Another window.....

Child Labor

Abby in charge!!!

Basically, a day in the life of the Tates!!!

Just a few pictures.....

I have lots of pictures from Friday that I want to post, but the camera is in the car and I don't really want to go get it right now, so I am going to post a few other random pictures. I just like to do this to show off my kids, really. So, let the braggin session begin....

Collin apparently needed to be "helped" find where the camera was.
CollinMac got a cookie...

...and thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

I just had to take these next two pictures. The two people were in Kevin's EMT class (which just wrapped up! WOOHOO! insert Happy Dance here!!!) and had come to the house to make up some skills training that they had missed in class. Kevin had "Fred the head" on the kitchen table to help them do....something. Please don't ask me what. I was sitting in the living room and my two oldest children were SO still and attentive, I HAD to capture it on film. They are never this still and alert! Do we see a bright future???

Collin discovered that crawling in the cabinets is a good way to play!!! After Abby and Byron figured out what he had done, two cabinets were cleared out and occupied by little ones! And only one door got pulled off the hinges!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's out there!!!!

We have become a country song....

He watched the whole process with this kind of intensity....

Tate, Son & Son farm meeting

Take a little time to smell the geraniums...

...specifically, "International Harvester".

I always teased that we were the Chevy truck commercials. You know the ones. You sit in your nice clean living room watching the commercial where the truck drives through the middle of nowhere, bumping and chugging along splashing through all of the puddles. All the while, you are thinking to yourself, "Why would they make such a commercial?! No one really does that!" I am here to witness to you. I have done that. Well, not ME driving. Just me the passenger. And it wasn't even just for fun. It was for an actual purpose--getting to a campsite on someone's land, driving down the turn rows checking the crop, taking lunch to the field, etc. Not just the edge of the field. Right over all of the cotton stalks scraping the under side of your car through the middle of the field. Ok, so I HAVE done it.

But now, we are also on the radio.

Over the weekend, a 1460 International Combine was delivered to our place. My children are the sons (and daughter) of a 3rd generation farmer. Probably more than that, but sadly, I am not up on my husband's lineage. We will someday have two boys in the county 4H. We make alot of hay around here. Our almost 4 yr old already has a patch that he is responsible for and knows exactly what to do with. He just needs a little help from Dad running the equipment. ;) We help Dad move a lot of equipment and, on occasion, cause a traffic jam behind us, but generally always try to stay out of the way when possible. My husband is a hardworking, God fearing combine driver. My husband knows all the flaws that song possesses too. And tells me everytime the song comes on.....

So, whether you know it or not, the commercials and the songs really are based on real life. The creators of either may or may not know it, but these things do happen.

And, whether driving a truck, a tractor, a combine or a four wheeler, these are the very best things in life to experience.....

Picture post

I have really been taking alot more pictures lately than I normally would have done P.B. (pre-blog). Problem is, they don't automatically jump into the blog. So, I have decided to post many and explain as I go along. I seem to do that more often than not...

While we (minus Byron) were in Dallas for LTC, Kevin graciously took me to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. Byron is named after my grandmother--Hurst is his middle name and my grandmother's maiden name. (Incidentally, my granddad always did call him Hurst. My grandmother never got to meet him.) Collin was discovered shortly after my granddad passed away and we named him Mac after my granddad (last name: McGowan). He worked for a trucking company for 35+ years before retiring. My sister told me after we had decided on Mac that is what the guys at the trucking company called my granddad all those years. I never knew that.....

We were there on Saturday, April 3. Their 63rd anniversary would have been Monday, April 5.

A little bit of manual labor.....

This was before all the rain started....

Byron decided to dig up the weeds. After he was done, he asked what a weed looked like...But he was prepared with his wagon and shovel, hoe and rake...

First taste of popsicle

Wondering how such a big guy can fit on such a little trike. I wondered the same thing myself....

He saw a nu nu (i.e. pacifier) under the kitchen table and walked all the way around trying to find a way in to get it....

He finally decided there was no other way but to dive right in under it...GOT IT!!!!

Kevin has always been big on the issue of the boys wearing caps. Byron needed one because he was so fair skinned. Collin just needs one to fit in but never cared for anything on his head. He finally decided he needed to be like the big boys! He got it off the peg in the hallway, put it on his head (kind of), and walked around with it on for a while. I had to take a picture to get proof!And, of course, Byron needed in on the picture too....