Buck Snort

The Pates invited me to visit their farm and help feed a baby cow. Buck Snort was a twin cow who was estranged by his mother. Dr. Pate found him stranded in a ditch and took him home to nurse him back to health. He has been feeding Buck Snort formula in two bottles twice a day for two months. Buck Snort was very sweet. He let me pet him and brush him, and he bucked my mommy several times.

I also visited with the other Angus cattle on the Pates' farm. They were almost as interested in me as I was in them.

The cows asked me for a "special treat."

So I told them to be real sweet and that I would ask their Daddy.

stand off...... guess who won?

The Pates live at the top of 150 foot waterfalls. This is the view from their back deck. We visited on the front porch and watched the sunset. It was beautiful!

First Day of School

I am officially a "big boy!" I'm going to school 2 mornings a week at Heavenly Host Lutheran Church in Cookeville, Tennessee. It is a non-denominational Christian school for ages 18 months - 12th grade. I am in the part-time (Mother's Day Out) program. My teachers' names are Ms. Amber and Ms. Terri, and there are 13 other children in my class. I am excited about making new friends and learning! "ok let's go cheese"

Swingset

MY FIRST SWINGSET!!!!! YEA!!!!! Aunt Becky and Daddy bought me a new swingset a few weeks ago. The boxes have been sitting in our backyard until we had some time and some help with putting it together. The instructions said that it should take "2 skilled adults approximately 16 hours." arrggghhhhh!!! Well, Daddy and Charles proved them wrong! Thank goodness.

Assembling this bad boy has been quite a challenge. Daddy couldn't have done it without Uncle Charles, Charles' really cool tools, and me - of course! Kathleen and Charles spent the weekend with us and worked very hard. It took us about 8 1/2 hours. Thanks so much guys! We owe you! Hurricane Ike caused the weather to be extremely windy, so we weren't able to get the roof on. I'll be posting more pictures soon.

You can only imagine what a big help I was!

climbing to the top of the fort for the first time

The slide is steep and goes very fast! Honestly, I'm a little intimidated by it.

Initially, the window was my favorite part.

Thank you Daddy, Aunt Becky, Aunt Kathleen, and Uncle Charles!!!!

I love you and appreciate you!!!!

Beach Fun

We had a big family vacation at the beach! "Everybody" was there, and I was very excited about having both sides of my family together. It was Gigi, Aunt Becky, Nana, Pop, Aunt Kathleen, Uncle Charles, Aunt Cat, "Grandaddy" Craig, Daddy, and Mommy. We stayed on the beach about a mile from Seaside and had a pool in our backyard; it was fantastic! Mommy made the most of her vacation and didn't carry a camera around very often. Fam, if you have more pictures, please send them our way!

I spent lots of time asking everyone to build sand castles, so that I could knock them down. That was one of the many advantages to being the only kid around.

Precious baby Davis came to visit us, and we had a great time playing together! Isn't he a doll?!

Thanks to Aunt Jen for taking some great pictures of us!

Henry the Crocodile

was waiting on me when I got home from the beach. D: "Look mommy!!!! There's a crocodile in our house!" M: "Oh, really? Where is he?" D: "right there, right there, right there......on the rug" M: "Oh, of course. I see him. Where did he come from?" D: (in a very exasperated voice) "the beach" (as in, duh....you should know that!) M: "Well, I'm fixing some lunch. Is he hungry? Would he like to eat with us?" D: "Yes. He wants some green beans." M: "Ok. Do you know what his name is?" D: "mmmm.... I don't remember.....Yes. I do. It's Henry! He needs a cup and a bib. Let me pick him up and carry him to the table. Ooohhhhh....He's veerrrryyyyy heavy!" D: "Henry, you have to eat all your green beans if you want a treat." Henry has done everything with me over the past 24 hours. I carry him with my hands pressed together in front of me as if I'm praying. He has his very own cup, toothbrush, and blankey. He is my first imaginary friend, and I love him very much!