Busy bees!

I snapped a quick shot of Wyatt and me last weekend. I love it—I just wish it wasn’t so grainy.
  
Last Saturday, while taking a little break from planning Suzi and David’s wedding, Justin pulled out the tractor for a little ride. Wyatt and Liam had a blast; I think Suzi did too!
That evening, we went out to our local beekeeper and bought four packages of bees—that’s workers, drones, and a queen. We got five gallons of honey from our two hives last year and we hope to double our production with four hives this year.

Four packages of bees for our hives.

I am pretty proud of this shot. As bad and grainy that first picture was of Wyatt and me, this one is amazing. iPhone cameras can be awesome if used properly!
I was initiated into the bee sting club after I put my wrist on top of a very mad bee while snapping the picture above.

I doesn’t look as bad anymore but it itched like crazy for a few days.

Wyatt manned the umbrella (safely away from the buzzing bees) while Justin installed our bees and queens and I took pictures.
  

Justin had to secure the queen (in the tiny wooden box) into a frame and dump (literally) workers on top of her. She is secured in the small box with a piece of candy that the bees will take eat away in a few days. She will then be free to lay eggs and do her job.
  
We installed old glass mayo jars into the top of each hive full of sugar water to feed the bees until they get established.
  
In case you were wondering, this is what the inside of a package looks like. That’s about three pounds of bees.

Flying with Pop- Wheels on the Ground

Wyatt and I ate with my parents last weekend when Justin was on duty. Taking full advantage of the longer evenings, I asked for us to go out to my dad’s plane and let Wyatt “fly” for a little while.

We haven’t been brave enough to let him actually go flying yet, but he loved sitting behind the controls and flipping switches, making plane noises.

Every time he hears a crop duster, he points up to the sky and says, “Pop! Airplane!”

With both of his grandpas that have pilot’s licenses, I think we’re going to have a little fly boy on our hands!

Evenings at the Cook house

While I have to admit the time change has not been easy on my morning routine, I am LOVING longer evenings we can spend as a family outside! I am so glad that I don’t have to rush home from work, scarf down supper, and time for bed for Wyatt. We spend time outside more and more each night. Jeb said he doesn’t mind either!
 
  
Late nights HAVE disrupted our bedtime routines just a little bit; Wyatt is usually still bouncing off the walls at 8:30—or in this case—putting his boots on over his PJs so he can go to school. Fun times!

Chick-Fil-A Cordele Family Night

Cordele just got a new Chick-Fil-A a few months ago and they hosted their first family night last week. Justin and his fire clown buddies were on duty tying balloons and passing out fire safety booklets to all of the kids.

We visited and had a blast. I think it’s so neat that they do this. They has a story teller, painting pillow cases for the older kids, and THREE CFA cows.

All of the staffers from the cashiers to the manager and store owner had on their PJs for pajama night. They do a lot for the communities they serve and I am glad to have some great ones close by.

          

   

March Miscellany

 
March has been busy and full of lots of small activities. I dyed my hair back to its natural color. The blonde was nice but it was too much upkeep and I didn’t relish the thought of spending two hours pulling my hair through a cap every 4-5 weeks (yes my hair really does grow that fast!).
  
Jeb has doubled in size over the month that we have had him. He loves checking out Ouisa and Clairee in the back yard in the afternoons.
 
Wyatt likes his daddy’s clown nose.
 
It’s strawberry season in South Georgia and we made it out to our favorite family farm, Calhoun Produce, for fresh berries, strawberry lemonade (go ahead and just buy the whole gallon), and watching the animals in the barn yard.
    
After Calhoun's, we took strawberry lemonade and berries to Justin at the fire department. Wyatt loves playing on the fire truck.
  
Wyatt’s favorite afternoon activity (besides riding the four-wheeler with Justin in the yard) is getting pulled around in his Radio Flyer wagon my sister Sami restored for him for Christmas last year. Jeb usually complies with Wyatt’s demand to ride for about one hot minute and then he jumps out. Just long enough for me to snap a few quick pics.

Bowling with friends

One of my best friends—Katy—and I go way back. Like before-middle-school way back. She and I have held on to our friendship through high school, college, marriage, babies, and almost 200 miles separating us. Katy and her husband Mitch and their two adorable babes, Sadie and Eli, live just outside Atlanta, three hours away from us. Their families still live here so whenever they make it back, we try to squeeze in some family fun time.

L-R: Sadie (4), Wyatt (2 in May), and Eli (2 in July)

A few weeks ago, they were down visiting and Katy suggested bowling. To say that bowling with a 4 year old, and two 1 1/2 year olds was an experience would be an understatement! We all had pizza and bowled for a few hours and had a blast. I’m glad our families can get together from time to time and  play and catch up.

   

Justin and I are blessed to have good friends in our lives; we just wish they weren’t all so far away!

P.S. We have an awesome frozen yogurt shop in Tifton called La Berry. Justin and I stopped by there after bowling with Wyatt and he loved it:

Meet Jeb

Jeb is the Cook family’s newest member clocking in at 6 weeks old. He is a blue heeler and we are all smitten with him, Wyatt especially. We initially had some moments where jealousy was a factor, but Wyatt is coming to accept Jeb as his new best buddy and things are going well.        

We repurposed an old play pen to keep him reigned in when we are at work. He’s doing well in there and is handling the housebreaking process nicely. He only piddles on the puppy pads over night or when we are gone during the day and takes care of business outside when necessary. He will eventually be an outside dog, but he is too small and it is far to cold to let him bear the elements full time. I’m sure this little guy will get much face time in front of the camera with Wyatt!