The Time of My Life: musings of a mommy-at-law

Ch-ch-changes...

2011-06-19T17:03:00.002-04:00

I have been fed up with Blogspot for several months now. Whenever I do a post with pictures, Blogspot wants to interfere and wreak havoc on my paragraph spacing and all other manner of bothersome weirdness. So, I have done some scientific research (read: informal Facebook poll) and discovered that Wordpress is the preferred blog provider.

So, without further adieu... here's a link to my new bloggy home:

http://musingsofamommyatlaw.wordpress.com

Please visit me there and bookmark me and maybe even leave me a note to let me know you found me. Perhaps I'll even be better about updating if Wordpress lives up to my expectation of being much. less. frustrating....

In fact, there is a new post there already with some pictures from our Memorial Day weekend at the lake.

"Mommy, I think this may be our lucky day."

2011-06-16T18:47:00.007-04:00

In an effort to share the role of "fun parent" every once in a while, I decided to take the kids - on my own - to 6 Flags today. I proposed the 6 Flags trip yesterday - out loud - so when I lay down to go to sleep last night and began worrying about the logistics of taking two relatively small kids to 6 Flags with only one adult, it was already too late to take it back. We had a talk this morning on the way home from swim practice about the fact that Mommy wouldn't be able to ride with both of them on rides, so sometimes they'd have to ride with each other or one would ride alone while the other rode with Mommy. They took it surprisingly well. In fact, at one point I wondered why I didn't just drop them off and go get a pedi they seemed to be taking it so well.

Oh, I kid. I never contemplated leaving them alone.

We got there this morning at 10:30, when the park opened. We got all sun screened up and headed into the park. The rain last night had cooled things off to a pleasant 73 degrees this morning, but we knew it wouldn't last. And it didn't.

But, let me tell you. The lines were really short. We walked onto many, many of the rides without waiting at all. Before lunch we had ridden the Mindbender, Monster Mansion, Wiley Coyote Canyon Blaster, several kiddie rides in Bugs Bunny World, and Splash Mountain Falls. Oh, and Evan had ridden the swings.

Pressley cried, and cried, and cried, and cried some more while Evan was riding the swings. (There were some other swings in the kid's section that she could ride and did ride - picture to follow - but she would not be consoled.) It was so unfair that Evan was tall enough to ride and Pressley was not. I tried (really hard) to empathize with the kind of understanding that only a fellow little sister can have. But, dang was it frustrating that we were less than 2 hours in and she was having a giant melt-down. So, I had to shift from empathetic-fellow-little-sister to mean-counting-to-five-and-you-better-be-done-with-this-tantrum-mommy.

Once we found the next ride that she could ride, all was right with the world again. Thank the Lord.

Until we rode Splash Water Falls. Perhaps you might refer me to Kali River Rapids Debacle of Spring Break and ask me if I have learned nothing. Well. I thought I had. I took the child's bathing suit in a ziplock baggie in my purse. And I took her to the restroom to change into it before we rode the water ride. I asked 17 times if she was sure she was ok getting wet since she was in her bathing suit. She said yes.

Then, the 16 year old girl working the ride said she couldn't ride in nothing but her bathing suit and did she have some pants she could put on over her suit.

Seriously?

"Young woman (who clearly has no children): I had a plan. It involved being able to make my water-ride-lovin' son happy without having my baby-girl-drama-queen have the epic melt down of the century. And you've ruined it."

So, Pressley put her skirt back on over her bathing suit. And the questioning began again. Are you sure you are ok getting wet in your bathing suit and your skirt? We will try to keep your skirt as dry as possible, but I can't make any promises.

Yes. Yes. And yes. I'll be fine, silly woman. Why do you patronize me?

Alrighty then. So we went. And, she cried the minute she noticed there were drops of water dripping from her very wet hair and bathing suit onto her otherwise dry skirt.

For the LOVE!

Back to mean-countdown-mommy. I will leave this park and go home!! But, we took off the wet skirt, ate lunch, and all was right - once again - with the world when the skirt was dry by the end of lunch and we could change her back into her dry clothes.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. But pleasant. On our way to ride the All American Scream Machine (how many times will I say never again after that ride only to ride it again the next time?), Evan looks at me and says, "Mommy, I think this must be our lucky day. We haven't hardly had to wait in any lines. And I've never seen the Scream Machine line this short." Our lucky day indeed.

We did wait in one line. Evan wanted to ride the new Dare Devil Dive coaster and it is new and it was closed most of the morning. So by the time they opened it, there was a 45 minute wait. And at the beginning of the wait, Evan told me he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it. I asked him why on earth we were standing in a 45 minute line to ride it if he didn't think he'd like it. And he informed me (basically) that he has a policy that he likes to try all new roller coasters before he rules them out. Very practical.

All in all, it was a great day. I think I earned (and retained) a few fun parent points. (I often earn them and then blow it by getting all mean-mommy on them before it is over, but this time I managed to maintain my fun parent status all day.) And now, I'm letting them watch Scooby Doo and skip dinner because we had too much pizza for lunch and treats (nasty Icee things that they insisted they wanted) way too late in the afternoon. I may try to sneak some fruit in them later, but for now, I'm just relishing being the fun parent.

I'm certain that when it comes time to brush teeth, I'll fall decidedly out of the fun parent role once again...

Pressley's Pre-K Graduation

2011-06-16T09:00:00.001-04:00

I knew I had been neglecting the blog a bit lately (what's new?), but I didn't realize until this morning that I totally failed to report on Pressley's pre-k graduation. I can't let that foul go un-remedied, so I'm taking a couple of steps back in time to rectify my extreme error in judgment.

I have known for some time that Ms. Martha and Ms. Sheila were pulling out all the stops to make some parents cry. The first time I heard Pressley recite this poem, I got a little teary-eyed. That time she did it with a lot less silliness and it was super touching. By the time I got around to recording it a few weeks later, she was hamming it up pretty big. (Not nearly as moving when she is using the silly voices.) But, for what it is worth, here it is:

So, I was prepared for a tear jerker. But, since I had heard the poem several times before graduation, and since I was blown away by Pressley and her classmates and all they've learned this year, I managed not to cry. But it was just one big display of cuteness right across the board.

The class sang many of their letter songs (they learned a song for every letter of the alphabet - mercifully, they didn't sing them all), they counted to thirty in English and French, they recited poems, and even did a little interpretive movement (which Pressley was chosen to do on-stage, because if there is anything Pressley is good at, it is expressing herself).

Here is one of the poems Pressley recited on stage: (Sadly, she wasn't on-stage for the one about her little feet.)

Aaaannnnnd, here is the interpretive movement: (Because I know I can't just say she did interpretive movement without showing you...)

Pressley took her role very seriously. I mean, it just doesn't get any cuter than that, does it?

Clearly, we were very proud. With good reason.

And, now my baby is off to kindergarten. But wait, first...the rest of summer!

Photo Updates

2011-06-15T12:33:00.002-04:00

I just realized that my latest photo album links on the sidebar were from September of last year. That has been remedied if anyone is interested. They are now current through May. Enjoy!

Swimming highlights so far

2011-06-15T11:13:00.003-04:00

The kids have both been swimming on the swim team this summer. This is Evan's second season as a Wahoo and Pressley's first. I am very proud of both of them. Evan continues to improve and is learning the breast and butterfly this year.

But, Pressley has made the most progress. When we started practice in early May, she couldn't swim the whole length of the pool without stopping to hold on to the lane lines. By the first meet, she was easily swimming 25 yards in freestyle and was able to make it 25 yards in backstroke as well. Granted, it took her almost 2 whole minutes (1:58 to be exact) to do it since she was almost completely vertical in the water. She got lots of attention from the crowd and grinned ear to ear when she heard people cheering for her as she inched slowly toward the finish.

Last week (the third meet) was quite a difference from the first meet. Due to a clerical error, she was entered in the meet late and ended up swimming in the first heat of both of her races (as opposed to the 4th heat in the first two meets). I was worried sick. I didn't mind her coming in last, but I was so afraid that she'd be scarred by finishing so much slower than the other girls. But, my baby rose to the occasion. She came in last in the free style race, but only by a nose. And, she managed a 5th place finish in her backstroke, beating one other little girl. Her times were personal bests by a long shot. I was SO proud!!

Fast forward to last night: I had been noticing Pressley holding on to the lane lines a lot in practice the last couple of days, so we did a lot of talking about the importance of keeping on keeping on - even if your arm brushes against the lane line or your goggles fill with water. She said she was going to do just that.

First up was her relay. Unfortunately, she jumped into the water without putting her goggles down over her eyes, so she stopped about 4 times to put them on and then adjust them repeatedly. Still, her relay team finished second, so... no harm no foul.

Next up was her freestyle race. She dove in and looked poised for a second or third place finish in the second heat. Then, she disappeared from the surface of the water. I was puzzled, but continued to cheer her on to the finish. When she surfaced and climbed out of the pool, she held out her hand and proudly announced, "Look what I found!" and showed us the bracelet she had retrieved from the bottom of the pool during the middle of her race. Hilarious. What else could we do but laugh. I mean, she's five. What five year old girl wouldn't do the same...?

Then came Evan's freestyle race. Corin and I were poised to cheer him on. The whistle blew...and he jumped into the pool...backwards. He appeared to be headed back toward the block when he noticed he was being left behind by the other swimmers. So, he rolled onto his back and took off. Doing the backstroke. While all the other swimmers swam freestyle.

Amazingly, he managed to come in 4th or 5th, despite the fact that he was doing a harder stroke, but I'm pretty sure they must've disqualified him, so I'm guessing there will be no ribbon for that one.

All in all - not the best race for the McCarthy kids. It is a good thing that our attitude about swim team is that we're just thrilled to have them learning to swim and becoming strong swimmers. We don't place a whole lot of emphasis on winning, because I'm guessing that this won't be something they choose to compete in long term. So, we'll just chalk up last night as a learning experience. And chuckle.

Not much of a swimming party

2011-05-26T21:38:00.003-04:00

The plan for Evan's birthday was a pool party.

I had seen the forecast earlier in the week predicting thunderstorms, but I resolved not to get all worked up about it. Then, apparently I went into denial mode. Until Corin called this morning when we were walking home from swim team and said that the front page of the paper was screaming about severe storms rolling in.

Still, I resolved not to panic, but began talking to Evan about what we would do if we couldn't go to the pool. Not rock climbing. Maybe bowling. We'd see.

Then, as the sun continued to shine, I felt silly for having called the bowling alley in Midtown to check availabilty. It was going to be just fine.

Ahem. Until we stepped outside at 4:40 to grab towels and head up the street for the 5:00 party. That is when I notice the ominous clouds. And that was when the phone started ringing.

One of the moms up the street (between our house and the pool) had just stepped out and heard the thunder and was wondering what the plan was. And then the phone rang again. And again.

What happened after that is a little blurry. It was all a flurry of making phone calls to the Decatur bowling alley, parents of boys who were coming to the party, etc.

Ultimately, we made the decision to have the parents bring the kids to our house and have my parents and my sister help us ferry them over to the bowling alley. It was a little tricky to get the word out, and Corin ended up going to the pool to hang out to wait for the two kids whose parents we couldn't reach. But all in all, the party was a huge success. Who knew 7 year old boys were such big fans of bowling?

I'm choosing to block the part that happened after the goody bags containing the beyblades were handed out and the beyblade trading had begun and one of the trades went horribly wrong. I could tell you that there was literally much wailing and gnashing of teeth, leaving the birthday boy and one of his sweetest friends in tears... but, I'm choosing to block that part. (I had just finished patting myself on the back for giving out such awesome party favors when it all began to unravel.)

Otherwise, the boys (and Pressley and Abby) had a fantastic time.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I need a glass of wine.

That's the Poison Serpant beyblade, thank-you-very-much. Had never heard of it two weeks agao and now I've made it into a cake. The boys all thought it was way cool, so it was worth the few new gray hairs it caused.

It is hard to believe...

2011-05-25T14:23:00.003-04:00

...that seven years ago today,

I was just beginning to fall in love...

with this little bundle.

It is hard to believe...

that in such a short time...

he has grown into this sweet, sensitive...
smart, inquisitive...
charming and handsome...
young man.

What's been keeping us busy

2011-05-17T20:34:00.005-04:00

Soccer

Baseball

Losin' teeth

Soccer banquets

Baseball banquets

Ballet recitals

Art Portfolio Night

Need I say more about why I've been absent?

Birthdays and Bunnies and Burnout - OH MY!

2011-05-09T20:22:00.010-04:00

Yall! I can NOT seem to stay on top of the blogging anymore. We have had a lovely, busy, busy spring so far. And, now it is May(hem). I don’t know when May became the new December (last I checked, October was the new December), but I think I started around the time the kids started school and sports. Because May? Dang! We are still doing spring sports (which I realize I still have not posted pictures of), but now we’ve added swimming – purportedly 5 days a week -- on top of that.

It is enough to make a grown woman cry.

But, in the midst of all that, we’ve managed to have a pretty rockin’ 5th birthday party and a very nice Easter.

Pressley’s birthday coincided with the very late Easter this year. Which meant a very busy Easter weekend. We kicked it off on Saturday with Evan’s baseball game and the annual Easter egg hunt at Briarlake. We were planning to then go to Pressley’s soccer game (which started 10 minutes after the egg hunt; 20 minutes away…), but I don’t know what we were thinkin’. Something had to give.

When we got home from the Easter egg hunt, we got busy preparing for Pressley’s party. She wanted a Rock Star theme, so we rolled out a red carpet down the front stairs, put up a stage and a back drop in the sitting room, hired teenagers to do hair and make-up, and bought a Wii Just Dance Kids game for the girls to jam with after they got all dolled up. It turned out super cute. Boring old mommy had wanted to do the party at the gymnastics gym where all we’d have to do was show up with a cake. But, Pressley was insistent on the Rock Star theme, and I will now admit that it was worth the extra trouble, because it was memorable. And because she loved every minute of it.

I feel we have made up for having her birthday party at Monkey Joe’s last year, where we had to keep herding her away from the Monkey before she saw him and flipped out.

The stage is set...

Miss P on her red carpet

Miss P on her stage

The birthday girl having her make-up done

Nail time!

Time for cake!

All the rock stars - all done up

Just Dance!

And dance some more...

Glam cousins

Sunday was a lovely Easter, but not at all laid back. We went to early church (after the Easter Bunny had made an appearance) and out for a quick lunch, and then came back home to get ready to host the family for Easter dinner and another egg hunt with the cousins. I told the family that I would be happy to host, but that they should not expect that I would have cleaned up much of the party aftermath, and that would just have to be ok. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to care. If they did, they hid it well, because, hey…at least they didn’t have to clean up their houses.

I kid. They would have done it in a heartbeat, but our neighborhood green space is just such a great place to hunt eggs; it is hard to envision it anywhere else.

Easter Bunny loot

Kids putting flowers on the cross at church

The fam!

Cousins ready for an egg hunt

Score!

The exhaustion.

The pouting.

The accounting.

Disney Recap Days 4&5: Animal Kingdom and Epcot

2011-04-15T13:00:00.001-04:00

Day 4 of the trip was our day at Animal Kingdom. We arrived at the park, and per instructions from all of our Disney savvy friends, we went straight to get our Fast Passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Well, I went to get the Fast Passes while the rest of the party waited in lines to get character autographs and photos.

The safari was every bit as cool as we’d been told. The animals were amazing. We didn’t see any lions or tigers, but the rest of the animals were out for us to see. After the safari, I went on ahead for fast passes to Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom’s roller coaster), while everyone else stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we decided to ride the Kali River Rapids.

Evan is all about water rides. Pressley has always said in no uncertain terms that she does not like to get wet in her clothes. She tolerated Splash Mountain Falls at the Magic Kingdom because she was wedged in between 2 adults who took the bulk of the splashing, and she stayed relatively dry. So, we thought since she tolerated that, she’d probably be ok on the Kali River Rapids. OH, but we could not have been more wrong.

When the WALL of water came down over her and GranNan, she started crying and wailing hysterically. She cried, “I don’t EVER want to ride on this ride EVER again!!” And, we felt kinda bad for the other people sharing our boat because it was a bit of a buzz kill.

After the ride was over, she was still pretty hysterical, and those clever Disney marketing people had strategically placed a merchandise cart right at the exit of the ride – conveniently selling smocked halter dresses in all different sizes. So, Pressley got a new dress out of the deal, and the rest of us got some relief for our eardrums.

Pressley had been having a fit to get her face painted, so we squeezed that into the day. Evan decided he’d get his painted too. They looked adorable!

We also loved the Everest ride and the Jungle Expedition Parade. So, our day at Animal Kingdom was a big success.

That evening, we ate dinner at the Benihana in our hotel lobby and began planning our strategy for our last day. I had planned to go to Hollywood Studios, so I picked up a brochure so we could plan our attack. I quickly realized that the roller coaster there had a height restriction that would prevent Pressley from riding. As much as our little girl hates getting wet, she is an adrenaline junkie when it comes to speed and height, so I knew that would not go over well.

So, I did what every well-educated person would do in the same situation: I put the question out to my FB peeps to find out whether we should do Hollywood Studios or Epcot. The input had me leaning slightly back in favor of Hollywood, when Evan suddenly developed an opinion and said he wanted to go to Epcot. So, Epcot it was for our final Disney day.

It could not have been more perfect. It seemed like there was less space to cover there – and a lot of attractions are air conditioned. So with tired kiddos (and quickly fading adults), it was just what we needed. The kid favorites were Soarin’ and Test Track (I don’t know why we didn’t figure out that Test Track would basically turn us into crash test dummies for a few moments. My neck is still not the same….) We also rode Mission Space. Twice. Once on the “easy” side, and at the kids’ insistence, once on the “more intense” side. I’ll take the easy side next time, please. I’m too old for more intense. The more intense experience spins you so fast that it “pulls about 2 Gs” – whatever that means. I know one thing it means. I’ll not be dumb enough to do it again… You know when they provide motion sickness bags right next to your seat, you might be in trouble. I’m happy to report that no one needed any bags.

All in all, it was the perfect trip. We had a ball. We learned a lot for next time. And, we convinced Corin that there should be a next time. Win!

Disney Recap Day 3: Enjoying the magic

2011-04-14T11:43:00.006-04:00

The day following our first day at the Magic Kingdom was scheduled to be a non-park day. Corin and I were scheduled to go hear a timeshare pitch at 8:15, so mom and dad came to the hotel and took the kids to breakfast and then the pool. I think everyone needed a morning to decompress, so it was a very good use of our time. The kids had a ball swimming.

Corin and I returned in plenty of time to relax at the pool a bit and still make it for our 1:30 lunch reservation at the T-Rex Café. On the phone (over a month ago), they would only give me a reservation for four, but we thought we’d see if they could accommodate our party of six. They did. And actually seated us on time, too.

Though he showed very little expression, Evan loved the T-Rex Café, which is full of life-size dinosaurs that roar and move around periodically. After lunch, the kids even got to “dig for dinosaur bones” just outside the restaurant until it was time to go on to the next thing. Evan later said that digging for bones really wasn’t that much fun since you didn’t get to keep any of the bones you dug up, but his behavior told a different story. I think he had plenty of fun.

After the bone dig, it was onto the much anticipated Bibbity Bobbity Boutique (“BBB”) for Pressley and the LEGO store for Evan. For you non-Disney goers, the BBB is a salon where little girls can go to be made up like princesses. Several people had told me it was a must for Pressley. What they did not tell me (but I should have known) was that it was a bad idea to schedule it for nap time when I was planning to skip her nap.

Having been sick the couple of days before and having had a HUGE day at the Magic Kingdom, and a big morning at the pool, the poor child was pretty wiped out by the time we got to BBB. Mom and I watched her makeover with much trepidation. What was that look? Was she about to cry? Pass out cold? Laugh? We didn’t know. I had meant for this to be such a fun and special experience for her and she seemed to be not enjoying it in the least.

In the end, the smile in the mirror when the makeover was all done was enough to let me know that she did indeed enjoy it very much – the result at least. And then we went back to the hotel where she promptly fell asleep.

When she woke up, she was rested and ready to go, so we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom. We had originally planned to buy three day passes, but when we realized that the 5 day pass was only $6 more than the three day, it seemed like a no-brainer. So we were able to do a half day at the park on our “non-park day.” Let me tell you… going to the park after 5 is the WAY TO GO. Lines were SO much shorter. The weather was cooler. The kids were less cranky. It was ALL good. We were finally able to relax and enjoy the magic.

We even managed to stay until after dark to catch the Electrical Parade, which I remember being one of my favorite things as a kid. Pressley thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Evan did too, but again, with the lack of expressions, it is sometimes hard to tell. He is his Daddy’s boy.

Watching the Electrical Parade

Evan wanted to go on one more ride after the parade, and he seemed to have the stamina to do it. Pressley (and GranNan and Poppy) on the other hand, seemed to need to go on home. So, the four of us left, and Evan and Corin stayed behind for one more ride on Splash Mountain Falls. Turns out, we made the right decision. We got straight onto the monorail, had a very short wait for our bus, and were back to the hotel pretty painlessly. But by the time the boys left, the fireworks had ended and everyone else was leaving, so it took them a while. Evan fell asleep the moment he sat down on the bus, and poor Corin had to carry 65 lbs of dead weight down the LONG hallway to the elevator and up to our room.

Leaving the park (with one last bit of ice cream)

Disney Recap Days 1&2: A rough start

2011-04-13T15:16:00.011-04:00

[Edited to add: I have added paragraph breaks in appropriate places to this blog post at least 6 times. Every time I hit "publish" they disappear. I do apologize for the seemingly endless blocks of text. I tried...] Our much-anticipated trip to Disney got off to a rather rocky beginning. We were supposed to leave on Tuesday morning, bright and early to begin our adventure. However, when we tucked little P into bed on Monday night to start dreaming her big Disney dreams, we realized that she was BURNING UP with fever. We gave her some Advil and hoped for the best. She climbed into bed with us sometime in the middle of the night, still radiating heat like a furnace. So, first thing Tuesday morning, I high-tailed it to the pediatrician. Without an appointment. Because the phone lines don't open til 9, but I know the office opens around 7:30 or 8. So, we were there at 8. The check-in ladies were not at all happy with me. When I said we didn't have an appointment, but would like to see any available doctor because we were on our way out of town, the lady placed her hand on a sign that said, "We strongly discourage walk-ins (and an extra fee may apply)," looked down her nose at me and said, "We strongly discourage walk-ins." I sweetly replied that I could see that, but we were on our way out of town and my daughter was approximately the temperature of the sun. She sternly said that she would put me down for our doctor's next appointment time (which was 8:45... FINE...still better than calling at 9 and hoping for the best), and we were seen at around 8:25. The pediatrician (and her nurse) could not have been nicer, and when I apologized profusely for the walk-in, she just kinda rolled her eyes and said, "I know you. It’s not like you do this all the time. It’s fine." HAHA!, mean check-in ladies. And no additional fee was applied. And little P did not have strep despite our worst fears and the memory of the e-mail that came from the school nurse a few days earlier warning that someone in the Safari room had been diagnosed with strep. It was apparently just a random virus that needed to run its course. So we were off. An hour and a half later than planned, but we were pretty pleased that it wasn't longer than that. The trip was rather uneventful, thankfully. We were to meet my dad (who'd been on a golf outing) in Valdosta, and he arrived at the designated meeting point about 2 minutes after we did. And that was our only stop. Once we got to Orlando, we had to pick up our tickets and find our hotels. So we did that, and then mom and dad came over to meet us at Downtown Disney, which was right across the street from our hotel. That's when things started to go downhill again. The kids saw the Rainforest Cafe and wanted to eat there. So, despite the fact that I'd been denied a reservation weeks ago, we decided to check in and see what were the chances.

Corin was told that if he purchased a VIP pass (for just $15!!), we could be seated around 7:30. SCORE! So, we laid down the 15 bucks and wandered off to look around and wait for our name to be called. When Corin went back to check at 7:30, they said they were running about 20 minutes behind and that even people with reservations were being seating 20 min late. But, hey, we had a late lunch, so we were undeterred. So, I took the kids to ride the carousel. When we checked back in 20 minutes later, we were told it would be approximately 25 MORE MINUTES before we would have a table. Seriously?

Ultimately, Corin went and got his $15 back (which was handed to him as he heard his name called, BTW), but mom and dad and I and the kids were already in line to order some dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Express. We should've done that from the very beginning. Oh, well. Live and learn. The next morning (oh, yeah. I'm still going...), we woke up at 7 to catch the 7:30 shuttle from our hotel that would deliver us to the park by 8:00 in time for the 8:20 princess breakfast that Pressley and GranNan and I had reservations for. I had been telling Pressley about the wonder of the princess breakfast for WEEKS. So, obviously, we missed the 7:30 shuttle. Our options were to drive the car (20 minutes), wait for the 8:00 shuttle, or call a cab (15 minutes to arrive, 20 minutes to drive). The choice was obvious: our best bet for making the breakfast was to drive the car, right? Corin got directions from the concierge and we were off. I will skip the part where we were both on the phone with divorce lawyers (no, not really) and get right to the part where we walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom at 5 til 9. Luckily, mom and dad had been making friends with the check-in ladies at the castle (who were, by the way, much nicer than the check-in ladies at the pediatrician) who told them that we should not worry about being lost. We should just get there when we could get there and they would get us seated at the breakfast. So, hallelujah, we didn't miss it!

The rest of the day was a blur of running hither and yon to try to figure out the best way to work the fast pass system. We really did ride a lot of rides and see a lot of stuff before the kids quit on us around 4:30. It takes a village to take two kids to Disney, so I was really grateful to have my parents with us. They did things like take the kids and feed them while I waited in the hour and twenty minute line to ride Dumbo because there was no fast pass, and dernit, it's a classic!

We stopped for ice cream on the way out thinking that there may be some revival, but alas, it was not enough, so we called it a day.

We went to dinner "off property" because the last thing we wanted to do was wait in another line, so we checked out a restaurant recommended by my cousin: Cafe Tu Tu Tango. We used to have one of these in Atlanta, but it was lost in the great demise of Buckhead. It was just what we needed: immediate seating; tapas that came out as they were ready, so we didn't have to wait long at all; good food; good service. And, there was even a belly dancer!

Stay tuned. More recap posts on the way...

Priceless quotes from the kids at Disney

2011-04-12T08:16:00.003-04:00

I'm working on a very photo-intensive post from our very fun trip to Disney World over Spring Break. But, between me and my dad, we took over 800 pictures. So, it is taking me a while to wade through them and edit them and organize them.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd provide a recap of some of the funny things the kids said while we were there. (I hope they are funny written down and they are not a "you had to be there" kind of thing...)

Without further adieus:

Upon receiving an explanation of what a simulated ride is while waiting in line for Soarin'... Evan: "Why would anyone think it's fun if it doesn't move?" (He was a believer after it was over.)

On the Kali River ride, after getting drenched...Pressley (between wails): "I am not ever going to ride this ride EVER again!!"

Evan on Spaceship Earth at Epcot: "Um, Poppy? I hope this goes down a
big hill or something soon because so far it's kinda boring."

Pressley watching the instructional video before boarding Mission Space: "Mommy, are we really going into space?"

Evan on why Everest was his favorite ride: "1) because it was the
tallest; 2) because it goes backwards in the dark; and 3) because it has a Yeti."

In the pool, Pressley was sputtering and coughing. GranNan asked, "Pressley, did you get choked?" and she said, "NO, the water just went down that other way--that's not my throat!"

When Poppy pointed out the large elephant on the safari ride to Evan, Poppy said, "Did you see the elephant, Evan?" Evan answered, with little expression,
"Yes". Then Poppy said, "You saw it, but you weren't impressed, huh?" Then, again with absolutely no expression, "Yes, I was impressed."

I believe I owe yall some pictures...

2011-03-31T16:16:00.002-04:00

To the extent anyone is still checking in, I thought I'd try to catch up on February and March before all the fun of April gets underway. Those two months totally snuck away from me, but not without some fun, frolic and photo-making opportunities.

The kids were supposed to both be out of school for the Friday and Monday of President's Day weekend. But, due to Snowpocolypse(s), both ended up with snow make-up days. On different days, of course. It actually ended up working well, because I got to spend a quality day with each of the kids doing what he or she wanted to do. Evan's day off was the Friday, and with perfect weather on the horizon, we decided to go golfing. Keep in mind, this was the first time I'd been golfing since before I got pregnant with Evan, so my expectations for myself were fairly low. My long game far exceeded my expectations and my short game fell well short. But Evan had a good time, so that was all that mattered. We even had time for lunch at the golf club terrace before heading out to pick Pressley up from school.

Pressley's day with mommy was the following Monday and she chose to get pedicures and go to the mall. She's not even 5. The weather had turned considerably more February-like by then, so I was just happy she chose indoor activities. Here she is getting her pedicure. So cute.

During the intervening weekend, we headed up to the lake to spend some time with Lynn and Tut. Saturday was absolutely delightful, so the kids got to fish, "swim" in the hot tub, collect shells and rocks, and other outdoor fun stuff. We could not have asked for a better day there in February. It was a total surprise gift. Sunday was cold, but Pressley was undeterred. She got up Sunday morning and put her bathing suit back on and could not be coaxed into appropriate clothing. So, we made her wear her coat over her bathing suit to go down to the dock. She's a hoot.

Finally, at some point in February, Evan earned his first purple stripe to go on his yellow belt. He is still thoroughly enjoying karate and moving on up the ranks. It is so much fun to see how much he's learned.

By now we've moved to spring sports. Pressley is playing soccer and Evan is playing baseball. So, my next post will undoubtedly feature updates regarding their sporting accomplishments. For now, I'll just leave you with this tease... You have never seen a cuter child in a baseball uniform and baseball cap than my sweet Evan. He is a living doll. And he's doing pretty well actually playing too!

Some confessions from a bad parent

2011-03-01T20:30:00.004-05:00

I initially titled this post "Some random thoughts on some things." But, by the time I got to the end, I realized that the collection was not so random. It was basically a collection of confessions including impatience, tasteless indulgence, bribery, and some more impatience thrown in for good measure. Feel free to leave parenting tips in the comments. Apparently I need them.

1. The silliness. My least favorite parenting trait is that I have a very low tolerance for the silliness. I mean, honestly, if they are not fussing at each other, not being ugly, and not hurting anyone, why should it matter to me if they are being silly? But, seriously? It does. I cannot help it. Particularly in the car. Do you think you can literally feel that your head is about to explode? Because I think that is what this feels like. Most often, I do some deep breathing exercises because I understand that blowing up because of silliness is, well, silly. And the kind of thing that may leave a sour taste in their mouths for years to come. But once (ok, maybe twice), I have found myself saying... "HUSH!!! For the love of all that is good in the world... Just....hush!"

2. Twinkle Toes. Can someone please explain this phenomenon? And also tell me who is responsible for possessing my body (and my intellect) just long enough for me to give in to it? What? You are not familiar with Twinkle Toes? Well, let me describe. And then I may even show you a picture.

Twinkle Toes are shoes made by Sketchers for little girls. They are basically painted with every kind of gaudiness known to man all over the canvas part. Then. THEN. On the rubber part of the toe, they are covered with jewels. But not just any jewels. Jewels that light up. Oh, yes. It is the height of tackiness. And I have bought a pair for my otherwise-fashion-plate-of-a-daughter.

You can't really see the jewels so well here, and you definitely can't see the lighting up, but this will give you an idea. I'm also not sure these are the same ones she got, but they are similarly colored and similarly gaudy.

Yes. There is a hole in the sole of her boots and all the "leather" is scuffed off both toe boxes. Yes. It is too cold still for her to wear the new sandals I have already bought for summer. And, yes. I have discovered that her sneakers are a full 2 sizes smaller than what her foot currently measures. But, did I really agree to this??

3. Lovies. They are wonderful. And, they are terrible. They are wonderful when they are present and accounted for. Clean and fresh. Doing their job of soothing. But they are rotten when they are missing, or filthy, or the cause for the late night crying.

Pressley lost her Bunny this week. Last night, she discovered him missing and she was distraught. Luckily, she was too exhausted to cry about it for too long, but she was very sad. I looked everywhere I could think of to look for him, but I am also well aware that the kids play with Bunny almost daily, and his adventures have him traveling far and wide within this house, and I've seen him in some of the darnedest places. I knew I would have trouble thinking of all the random spots Bunny could be hiding. So, instead of thinking like a child, I decided to bribe a child to do it for me. I explained to Evan how sad Pressley was about Bunny being missing and told him I would pay him ten bucks if he could find Bunny before bedtime tonight.

It took him about 10 minutes, but he found Bunny on the top shelf of the organizer that hangs from Pressley's closet rod. Behind some other stuffed animals. Either he was a party to Bunny's being put there, or he was properly motivated by the reward. I don't care which. I'm just glad Bunny is safely in the arms of my lil' P, who will hopefully be sound asleep as soon as she finishes talking to herself.

4. Manners. Do little boys ever learn them? I am exhausted from trying to teach them. I think I can feel the circles under my eyes getting darker with each time I say, "Chew with your mouth closed." Or, "Do not eat that cookie like a rabbit. Take bites of it like a real boy." (Yes, that is an actual quote that I say frequently. Go figure.) I suspect I have many more years of saying these very same things. (In addition to "Stop smacking. I should not hear you chewing from all the way over here." and "Eat over your plate. The crumbs under your chair will not vacuum themselves." and "Please slow down. No one is going to take your food away from you. Well, unless you keep eating like a rabbit, and then I will take it away and throw it in the trash!"

The Valentine's dinner that almost wasn't

2011-02-16T15:19:00.003-05:00

In case you've been under a rock this week: Valentine's Day was on Monday. See Exhibit A above depicting my lil' cherubs opening their Valentine's goodies from Corin and me. (Bed-head and all.)

We decided not to do anything terribly special this year because A) that would involve hiring a babysitter, and B) I've been on this restrictive diet for the last several weeks, which makes eating out a little challenging. Not that we don't still do it. A lot. But it is challenging.

So, I decided to try to make dinner at home a little more special than usual. I typically do not make separate meals for adults vs. kids around here, except every once in a while when I, quite honestly, don't want to waste money trying to feed the kids something really good (like lobster tail) that I know they won't eat. But, I make the occasional exception, and Monday night was one of those times because I wanted to try a new recipe for Corin and I that was all made of stuff I could have (no starch, no sugar) - but still sounded like it might be tasty...to adults.

The kids both have gymnastics on Monday evening, so we don't get home until 6:30ish. This week it was 6:35. But luckily, in a recent development, some neighbors have started taking gymnastics the same night, so my neighbor picks them up and I bring them all home. Which gives me 45 whole minutes in an empty house before I go to pick them up.

I spent that 45 minutes wisely. I chopped peppers, I riced a cauliflower (don't hate if you haven't tried it), I unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher. I minced some garlic. Etc. So that all I would have to do when I got home was just throw everything together to have dinner on the table at 7. At some point in there, I decided it would be extra special to try to make some ice cream from a recipe I'd seen on my diet web forum using almond milk, stevia (natural sweetener), and little else.

Here's where it gets interesting. We arrived home and I sprang into action. I put popcorn shrimp in the oven for the kids, started boiling water in two pots for their mac n cheese and veggies, and then set about following the recipe to make the seared scallops and cauliflower (mock) couscous that I was fixing for Corin and I. Oh, and the ice cream. Since the ice cream would take the longest, I whisked that together real quick and set about finding the ice cream churn. AFTER I set some oil in a skillet on the stovetop to heat.

When Corin arrived, he found me outside fiddling with the ice cream churn (which I think I broke, because I didn't know you have to ALTERNATE the ice with the ice cream salt. Anywho, I refused his offer of help because this was my special treat for the family. Then I returned to the stove to begin sauteeing my peppers. So, I dumped my pre-diced peppers into the (now very hot) oil and, I kid you not, the flame that shot out of that skillet went clear up to the vent hood. And set the smoke detectors off.

Now, setting off the smoke detectors in our house is not uncommon. Corin has threatened numerous times to disconnect the @*%! things because they go off so often when we cook. But normally.... Normally, if we fan at them for a few seconds, they stop. Oh, but not on Valentine's night. They went off, with Corin fanning them and every door in the house open, for a full 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, we've discovered my ice cream churn faux pas and Corin has set about trying to fix it. The kids' shrimp is done (really done) and the elbow pasta is ready (past ready) to be buttered, cheese sauced and milked. So, I accepted Corin's offer to help. He finished making the mac n cheese while I finished making the (mock) couscous and searing some scallops.

The result? Drumroll, please... Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I mean, there was the narrowly-missed-burning-down-the-house incident and the broken-ice-cream-churn incident, but the seared scallops and mock couscous? EXCELLENT! I'll totally make it again - though I won't heat up the oil quite so hot next time. And the kids enjoyed their popcorn shrimp and mac n cheese and broccoli so much that I only had to tell them 20 times each to eat their supper, instead of the customary 45.

And we had a nice family dinner. And we ate by candlelight. And we had ice cream for dessert.**
**No we didn't. Apparently almond milk and stevia and little else is not intended to become ice cream, despite what my diet gurus said. Instead, it became a hard frozen icy layer stuck hard and fast to the inside of the ice cream churn (now broken) and refused to be dislodged. Luckily, everyone had some Valentine's candy to eat for dessert after the disappointment of the failed ice cream had worn off. Even me. I had made some coconut oil candies earlier in the day (again, don't hate unless you've tried it) in a candy mold that I used for Pressley's Ariel birthday cake two years ago, so I had some tasty treats in the shape of some starfish and some crabs.

Oh - AND - my sweetie (my Valentine) stopped on the way home from work and got me - not chocolates, because he knew I couldn't have them - but guacamole from Chipotle. Because that's what happens after 10-1/2 years of mariage. And because guacamole is one of the few yummy treats I can enjoy whilst not eating carbs or sugar. He loves me! He also got me some lovely Gerbera daisies.

I have enjoyed both the guac and the flowers immensely.

The end.

Happy New Year!

2011-02-09T16:12:00.004-05:00

What do you mean it is almost Valentine's Day?

Sooo... apparently all that end-of-the-year flurry of blogging in December wore me slap out and I let myself off the hook for a month-long vacation. That wasn't the plan. But that is what happened. It is not because the kids stopped being cute or funny or because I ran out of things to say.... It just seems as if I needed a break.

If you live in Atlanta, you know we had some significant snowfall here in January. And that school was closed for A WEEK. Three days after the kids went back to school from Christmas break. That may be what threw me off my game. I love my kids and all, but a WHOLE WEEK of being cooped up after the fun of the sledding and the being outside has worn off gets a little, how shall I say this? OLD. I should be fully recovered by now, but by my frequency of the use of ALLCAPs, you may guess that I'm not. Maybe it is because they are calling for more snow tonight. I don't buy it. Perhaps that is denial or perhaps it is that I rest comfortably in the knowledge that once I bought boots for both kids after the last snow, it is unlikely we'll see accumulation around these parts again until after they have decidedly outgrown said boots. It is Murphy's Law. The Reverse Jinx (as my friend, Shay, calls it).

Anywho... I have snow pictures. Not many. But a few. Wanna see?

And, I seriously can't believe it is February already. I am back at work at GSU for the next 4 or 5 weeks, so I can only imagine that those weeks will fly by as well. But I am committed to not being absent for quite so long next time.

Just under the wire

2010-12-31T10:28:00.005-05:00

Here it is, New Year's Eve and I still haven't done my Christmas wrap up post. I figured I better get it done today, or I'd surely decide it was too late once we get into January.

One of the things the kids and I look forward to the most is the PJs and Pancakes breakfast that my friend, Tricia, started hosting three years ago. Sadly, the day before the breakfast, Evan came down with a stomach bug. I was so hoping that he would be better in time for the breakfast, but he was still pretty puny that morning. Luckily, my friend Nicole swept in and became a hero by volunteering to pick Pressley up and take her so she wouldn't have to miss it. I am so grateful to have selfless friends! Here are some photos I got from Tricia of the party fun.

Once Evan got to feeling better, it was time to put up the little cedar tree we brought back from Knoxville for them to decorate in the playroom. They thoroughly enjoyed putting the ornaments on it and fully appreciated the fact that mean old mommy allows this tree to have colored lights. They were SO silly that night. But the silly pictures turned out cuter than the ones I tried to make them pose for. I'm sure there is a lesson in there for me about letting kids be kids, but I'm sure I'm too stubborn to learn it.

Next up was the small family celebration for my side of the family. This is when we get together with my parents, my sister and her family, and my Granny to go out to dinner and exchange gifts before all the craziness fully carries us away. We left mom and dad's house that night thinking that we could call Santa and tell him he could skip us this year because the kids had already gotten everything they wanted and all they could handle. Of course we didn't. Who are we, the Grinch?

My sweet 90-year-old Granny ended the evening by reading the four kids a book. It was so special, and a perfect way to have the kids settle down a tiny bit while the adults were loading all the loot in the cars.

The next day, Corin's family began to arrive. As usual, Kerry and Kate played tirelessly with the kids. There were many rounds of croquet in freezing temps, several spirited games of Jenga, the annual sugar-cookie decorating, and Barbie hairstyling galore.

We also went to see Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at the puppet center. It was excellent. They should be putting on this production for at least the next four year, and I'll put in a little plug for the center. If you are looking for a new fun Christmas tradition with kiddos, this is an excellent thing to add to your already-busy repertoire. It is one of the best shows we've seen there. And we've seen a lot. But every show was sold out this year, so you'll have to get your tickets early.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, after many tasty meals had been prepared and enjoyed, it was time to put the kids to bed and wait for Santa. Santa thought he had it easy this year because there were no toys that required assembly. What Santa did not realize was that the giant inflatable outdoor ball that Pressley asked for would take an hour and a half to inflate. With an electric pump. (Rumor has it that he originally started the process with a hand-held pump, but was nearly exhausted after inflating only one or two chambers.) Poor Santa. It was a long night.

But Santa's work was well worth the effort, as the kids were thrilled with their new toys. We quickly re-named the Giga Ball the Liability Ball or the Certain-Trip-to-the-Emergency-Room Ball as we discovered all the ways the kids could potentially get hurt in it. Other than a few scratches and bumps, all was well.

After opening more presents than you would think would be humanly possible and having brunch with all the McCarthys plus GranNan and Poppy (my parents), we were off to Lake Hartwell to celebrate some more with my mom's extended family.

There was some narrowly averted drama when Pressley realized that she had already worn all of her festive outfits and was left with some pretty lack-luster wardrobe choices (in her mind) for Christmas day. We had a dress picked out for her to wear. A cute red corduroy number that she wore last year. It was a bit big on her last year, so I was sure it would still fit. But I was wrong. She came down in the dress, which was about two inches too short on the arms and prevented her from moving her arms much at all. We were about to have a full-on melt-down on our hands when I took her upstairs to see what we could come up with. Thanks to the snow in the forecast, I was able to convince her that a brown knit dress with pink snowflakes (also from last year) was the perfect festive option. It was way too short on her this year, but luckily we had some matching leggings we could throw under there and she ended up happy as a clam. Whew! A Christmas miracle.

It was great fun, as always, but was cut a little short this year due to the impending snow and freezing temps, so we wanted to make sure everyone was home safely before the precipitation started to freeze on the roads. It snowed hard on us most of the way home, but the streets were not yet slippery, so we made it home safe and sound with two exhausted young-uns.

And that, my friends, is the Christmas wrap-up 2010. We have, once again, had a year so filled with blessings. We are so grateful for healthy kids and jobs and family time and fun and faith. We wish you all those things going into 2011. Hope it is a great one for you!

See you in the New Year!

A rude awakening

2010-12-30T12:14:00.002-05:00

I still plan to do a Christmas wrap-up post, but first I need to report on the events of the morning.

This morning, I was awakened at 7:05 when Evan climbed into the bed with Pressley and me. I thought his arrival meant all four of us were in the bed together, which never lasts more than a few moments, but I was still hoping I could sleep for a couple more minutes.

Next thing I knew, I heard Corin bellowing at Evan from a place that was definitely not the other side of the bed. As I struggled to understand with my cobwebby brain what was going on, the bellowing turned to me. "AMY!!", it went, "We have a crisis.... of EPIC proportions!"

So, up I jumped and ran down the hall (OK, shuffled quickly) to Evan's bathroom to find water pouring into the hallway. Corin was already on his way to gather up every towel in the house, so I stood there and rubbed my eyes until he returned and we started sopping up water.

To the best of my now-wide-awake-understanding, it happened like this:

Last night we had a babysitter stay with the kids so we could go shopping and out to dinner. While said babysitter was here, the toilet apparently became clogged and nothing was done about it. Probably because Evan didn't alert anyone to the problem. (This assumption is based on plenty of precedent.) Then, when he woke up bleary-eyed this morning, he stumbled into the bathroom, relieved himself, flushed and left the room, not knowing that the water was now rushing out of the toilet.

The part about him not knowing is being assumed after much questioning by the father figure. He swears up and down that he didn't know and his feet were not wet when he left the room. If we find out differently, the punishment will be swift and harsh.

Luckily, Corin had gotten up at 5 a.m. with a headache and was downstairs. He was thus able to hear the running water. He thought Evan had left a faucet running, so he was coming upstairs to fuss at Evan for leaving the faucet on when he discovered the real issue.

All that to say, it could've been much worse if it had gone undetected for any longer. Even with the immediate discovery, the damage was pretty extensive. By the time we got to it, the water had filled the bathroom and run into the hallway onto the hardwood floor and begun entering Evan's carpeted bedroom through both the bathroom doorway and the hallway.

We were able to schedule a steam cleaning for today with the second company I called. Which began a ripple effect. If the company was going to come and steam clean Evan's room, we might as well get the two rugs downstairs cleaned - which cleaning was long overdue. If they were going to clean the carpet in the living room, then the tree would have to come down. We thought about asking them to clean around it or just having a different room cleaned instead, but after careful consideration, I decided the wisest thing to do was just buck up and take down the tree.

Thus, as soon as we finished sopping up water off the bathroom floor and wet-vacuuming the bedroom carpet to the best of our abilities, I began the arduous task of taking the ornaments off the tree. Pressley "helped" (which was stressful), and then Corin came in to take it out to the porch and get the lights off. The minute he put the tree at the curb and brought in the two ornaments we had missed, the lawn refuse truck pulled up and carried it off.

To top it all off, our housekeeper was here today for a regularly scheduled cleaning. She has been a real trooper about working around all the obstacles... from kids that have been cooped up and largely unsupervised all day, to carpet cleaning people and the like. And I have been working like a dog to stay one step ahead of the housekeeper and the carpet people.

I need a nap. It has been quite a day and it is not even 1:00 yet.

Sigh.

(P.S. If this has been the least bit coherent, it is an absolute miracle. This is probably the most stream-of-conscious-post I've written in a while, but I'm too tired to go back and read it to make sure it makes sense. I also don't want to have to re-live it one more time by going back and reading it. So, you get what you get.)

That's all.

Another reason I love my husband

2010-12-28T10:35:00.004-05:00

I could go back and list for you all the reasons I fell in love with Corin in the first place. There were many. Those reasons evolve over time, and new reasons come into being.

When we had children, the new reasons became ever more abundant. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves our children so completely. He not only loves them in a way that drives him to care for them and provide for them and shape them into the people we pray they will become; he loves them with a fully involved kind of love that means he enjoys playing with them. Really playing with them in a way that I've never been able to replicate.

OK. That is the back-story.

Sooo.... You may know we got some snow here in Atlanta on Christmas day. We were away during the afternoon and evening of Christmas day spending time with family, but when we returned, we had about an inch of snow on the ground. The kids had fallen sound asleep on the way home, so they didn't get to play in the snow Christmas night. But they got up the next morning and bundled up and their daddy took them to play in it. They tried a number of different sledding spots until they found the "right" one.

We had plans to have a late lunch and see a puppet show with friends, so the snow fun was limited to the morning, and everyone seemed ok with that.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Corin got up and got dressed and headed off to work, just as he had planned. He had been gone about 5 minutes when he called and asked me to put him on speaker-phone with the kids. He told them it looked like there was still some good snow/ice on the hills in Candler Park that would surely be gone once the sun came out. He asked if they would like to go sledding one more time before the snow melted and they said yes. So, while he turned his car around to drive home, I got the kids dressed and bundled.

When Corin got home, he went and put on old jeans and neatly tucked his work-appropriate button down into them. I think he also changed his shoes and then they were off.

They were gone about 45 minutes before they arrived back home. As they were stripping off their wet stuff in the garage, I heard Corin ask Lil' P... "Did you tell mommy?" "Tell mommy what?" "That I broke my finger?"

WHAT?!?

Turns out that there was an incident where the sled went airborne and my precious husband took heroic measures to ensure that the children were not dumped into the street. In the process, his middle finger was at least dislocated and maybe broken. We'll know more after his 12:30 appointment today when he has it x-rayed. It was pretty swollen this morning and he couldn't move it.

I cannot begin to comprehend what makes a grown man turn around while heading to work, come home to pick up his children, leave part of his work clothes on, go sledding on mostly melted snow, and then do something that ends up possibly breaking his finger. But it is sometimes what we least understand that makes us love the most. I don't always understand the man, but I always love and admire him.

Now, let me get back to praying that his finger isn't actually broken....

Knox-enville

2010-12-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

We took a trip to Knoxville for the day last Saturday to continue the tradition of helping Gran and Grandaddy chop down their tree and decorate. Having grown up with asthma and horrible allergies, not only did we not have any quaint traditions like this, but we were never even able to have a live tree unless we wanted to risk my being in the hospital for Christmas. So, I love that my kids have the opportunity to participate in this neat tradition.

We found a pretty splendid tree this year, if I do say so myself. Actually, there is no reason for me not to say so, since I really had nothing to do with it except watching and trying to keep the Lilly from eating gross things that dogs eat and to keep her away from the swinging axe. I succeeded in keeping her away from the swinging axe.

Evan, on the other hand, helped chop, saw and carry the tree back to the house. I am amazed every day at how big he's getting. It will be no time at all before he wants nothing to do with any of us. :o( Boo.

Since I missed last year's trip, I was unaware of the new tradition that Gran started, which consists of skipping the hot chocolate after the tree chopping in favor of some hot fudge sauce poured over a brownie a la mode with ice cream. Slightly more fattening than hot chocolate, but it'll do. Yummy!

So, the splendid tree caused a few problems. It had to be trimmed quite a bit because it was too tall. And then, well, then it (or Corin) broke the tree stand that was only 40 years old. So it was off to The Walmarts to get a new one. Yall know how I love me some Walmarts - especially on a Saturday nite. Anyway, the end result was lovely.

And it made a lovely back-drop for this little Norman Rockwell scene:

Gran and Grandaddy gave Evan and Pressley new books that featured, well, Evan and Pressley. Evan's had him assisting Spiderman in a caper and Pressley's had her attending Aurora's wedding. (For those of you less familiar with the princess lingo, Aurora is a.k.a. sleeping beauty. They loved their books and loved seeing them all cuddled up to their grandparents like this. So sweet.

I may be back with one more post before Christmas day, but if I get busy and don't get back to blogging until after Christmas.... Just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking the time to read about our little family and our little piece of crazy.

** Oh, I just realized that I never explained the title of this post, speaking of our little piece of crazy. Knoxenville is what Pressley continues to call Knoxville. I think it is probably because Poppy used to drive to Jacksonville at least once a month, so she was always hearing about that city as well as Knoxville, so she still gets them confused. It cracks me up. It can't last much longer, so I thought I'd document it while it is still going on. **

Traditions with friends

2010-12-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

For the third year in a row, we met up with friends from our Sunday school class and their kiddos to ride the Pink Pig and enjoy dinner together afterwards. I love that we started this tradition. The Pink Pig is a fun and kitschy Atlanta institution at Christmastime, and it is especially fun to share it with friends.

I was all ready to ride with Pressley when she ditched me for Russell and Helen's son, Benjamin. (And so it begins....) So, I rode in a car with Corin and Evan. Pressley and I had ridden together during our big day of fun a few days before, so I got over it pretty quickly.

A new addition to the Pink Pig this year (or at least new to us) is the costumed character of Priscilla the Pig that kids can have their picture made with. When P and I went to the mall on Thursday, she had her picture made with Priscilla, but the kind folks at the Pig wanted $24 for me to take it home. Ummmm, no thanks. So, imagine my delight when we found Priscilla out of her photo booth and available to pose for pictures that we could take for free. And, Evan was with us this time, so I am SO glad I didn't take the bait for the $24 photo of Pressley alone.

(Pressley also sat on Santa's lap on Thursday, though she had told the Macy's ladies she would most certainly not. I almost caved to the unconscionable price of that photo - also $24 - to mark the occasion, but again, without Evan in it, I just couldn't justify it.)

After the excitement of riding the Pig, we were tasked with figuring out the dinner option. In past years, when we've done this on a Monday night, the food court seems like a perfectly acceptable option, but I believe I was not alone in feeling like the food court was just sloppy seconds for a Friday night dinner. We called our favorite Mexican restaurant to see if they could seat 24 of us for dinner, and were not at all surprised when they said no. But, undaunted, we decided to stop by the California Pizza Kitchen on our way to the food court just to see. We were all amazed when the hostesses put their heads together and figured out a way to seat us. Not in an hour or so, but immediately.

The older kids (4 and up) got their very own kids' booth, which thrilled them, and the rest of us all sat together at one big long table. It was a surprisingly low-stress event for the first hour or so, and luckily, when kids started to lose patience, we got our checks quickly and got the heck out of dodge. It was lovely really to be able to sit and talk with friends over dinner. We feel so very blessed to have such a large Sunday school class of people with whom we genuinely enjoy spending time. Parenting is so much easier when you can share your struggles and victories with folks who share your values.

Early Christmas festivities

2010-12-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Lord knows we are nowhere near done with all the celebrating. But, I'm going to try to go back and catch up on all the fun we've had since we got back from New York.

The first Wednesday after Thanksgiving was our "Praise Pals" Christmas program at church. This is my first year being responsible for the Praise Pals music, so the program was particularly stressful for me this year. Especially since we had exactly 3 20-minute sessions after Halloween in which to prepare any Christmas songs. I just couldn't bring myself to start doing Christmas music with 3, 4, and 5 year olds before Halloween. Who does that?

Anyway, they did a great job. We did 3 non-Christmas songs, a simple version of Come All Ye Faithful, and a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells, complete with jingle bells. They were cute. And, I was relieved when it was over.

The following Wednesday night was the Gingerbread House competition at church. I was skeptical of how it would go since last year, the whole thing ended in tears when Pressley realized our house didn't win a prize. I upped my game this year and brought in supplies purchased ahead of time, but still tried to prepare the kids for the inevitable fact that we would not win. Luckily, I had to run off to choir practice during the judging, so I was not there to witness the chips falling where they may. However, I was told by my mom and Corin that, while there was some pouting, it was short-lived and did not ruin the evening.

Finally, the kids both had special goings-on at school on their last day. Pressley had a Christmas program, in which her class sang a song called Holiday Celebrations set to the tune of "There's a Hole in the Bucket." Pressley and her friend, Lila, got to introduce the number to the very large crowd. They did a great job. And then, Pressley, as usual, proceded to steal the show. (Well, that was my perception anyway, and it's my blog.) She was, shall we say, very expressive and passionate about singing the song.

Evan had his class party the same day. One of the room moms planned some crafts (show-off) and of course, there was WAY too much sugar consumed by a room full of six and seven year olds. SOOOOO glad I was not the teacher that had to try to control them for the remaining hour and a half of the day.

Stay tuned. Much more to come.

A celebrity among us

2010-12-21T08:30:00.001-05:00

We had a little ice here last week. Very little. But, it meant that Pressley got an unexpected school vacation. (Evan's school - an Atlanta Public School - was open all day, but the private institution where Pressley's pre-k is housed decided to close all day.) So, P and I had a mommy/ daughter day. I had errands to run at the mall and a lunch to go to with my GSU co-workers, but I had to cancel the lunch.

As we were on our way to the mall, Pressley was complaining about not getting to go to school. Trying to empathize, I told her that I was disappointed too, because I had had to cancel my plans. But then I amended my response to add that I was also happy because I was unexpectedly going to get to spend the day with her. She said, "Yeah. Me too. One of my eyes is happy and one of my eyes is sad. [Long pause.] But, now they are both happy because I get to be with you mommy!" So, so cute!

Then, once we were at the mall, we were in the housewares department at Macy's and the ladies there were making quite a fuss over Pressley. They talked to her about whether she was going to see Santa (and were quite amused by her qualification that she was going to see Santa, but that she would not be having her picture made, because she only planned to get close enough to tell him what she wants for Christmas). They came out from behind the counter to see her outfit and fussed over how cute she looked. So, when we were ready to leave, they both shouted after us... "Bye Pressley. Have fun with Santa!" etc., etc. She gave them a little backward wave, and as we were getting on the elevator I said to her, "You are just like a celebrity everywhere we go, aren't you?" And she replied, "That's because everybody thinks I'm so cute!" Ahhh, yes. Well, we don't have any self-esteem issues to work on quite yet!

We had a lovely day together, and though I missed my grown-up lunch that I had been looking forward to, I cherish these times I get to spend with one of my kids, one-on-one.

In other new, Evan has lost a second tooth. My dad pulled it for him a couple of weeks ago. I was thrilled with that development, because much like my feelings about butterflies, I also have an irrational fear of loose teeth. Well, not a fear really so much as they just creep me out. Anyway, Evan was fine with all the tooth-pulling and fairy visiting and money making, but Pressley was completely traumatized by the whole thing. Just last night, she called me to her room well after bed-time and lights out to let me know that she does not want to be six. Because she does not want her teeth to come out and bleed. Oy! We have a long road ahead of us....

Photo update

2010-12-20T13:13:00.002-05:00

Since I've been really lousy at keeping the blog updated recently, I thought I'd at least provide a link to some of our fun photos from this month's activities.

http://picasaweb.google.com/apmccarthy1/1012December#

I have a few stories to tell, so hopefully, I'll be back real soon.

What a lousy historian I turned out to be...

2010-12-13T20:41:00.003-05:00

I know I've been absent for nearly a month. I don't know what to say about that. I have a lot of catching up to do I guess. I'll start with Thanksgiving. We had a lovely one, as usual. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family here in Atlanta, and then, as is our tradition, we jetted off to New York the next morning. At the crack of dawn.

We spent Saturday morning at Mohonk Mountain House. It was bitterly cold. Despite the fact that Evan had been coughing his head off for days before we left (and was likely still running a fever), he insisted on doing the Rock Scramble for the second year in a row. He is such a little monkey and loves to climb, so it was the highlight of his trip.

Later that afternoon, we went to see the Alpacas that belong to Kerry and Kate's friends, Bob and Ian. We'd never met Bob and Ian before, even though this was our 3rd or 4th trip to visit their Alpacas. Since they were home this year, we actually got to go inside the fence and feed the Alpacas. Well, Evan fed them. Pressley was not a fan of being on the same side of the fence with the Alpacas. Then, we went inside to warm up and Bob and Ian provided the gift that has just kept on giving. They gave Evan and Pressley each an Alpaca finger puppet, made out of Alpaca wool. The kids have played with those finger puppets tirelessly. They were a much bigger hit on the plane ride home than the Leapsters or the DVD player. Seriously. Who knew?

On Sunday, it was off to NYC for a 24 hour, whirlwind tour. We went to the M&M store, ate some awesome burgers and shakes at the Shake Shack, toured the Museum of Natural History, took a carriage ride through Central Park, and swung by FAO Schwartz (where Pressley was reunited with the Big Piano that she loved so much two years ago). After FAO Schwartz, the kids were fading fast, so we headed back toward the hotel for a quiet dinner at a little Italian spot around the corner from the hotel. Poor Evan promptly fell asleep on a pile of coats in the corner of our booth. Bless his heart. For a little guy who'd been fighting a cold for over a week, we really didn't cut him much slack.

The next morning, we met up with Kerry and headed over to the Today Show set to say hello to Matt Lauer. We are pretty sure the kids made it on TV when Michael Buble was greeting the crowd on the Plaza. After we had some breakfast and sent Kerry off to work, we headed back over to Rockefeller Center for some ice skating. I kinda figured it would be the most expensive 10 minutes of entertainment in the history of my parenting, but as it turns out, the kids loved it. And they stuck with it for much longer that we might have guessed.

Finally, it was time to head to the airport for a 1.5 hour flight delay and then finally home. It was a great, great trip and we are so blessed to have such fun traditions to kick off the Christmas season.

Rules, Schmulz

2010-11-18T20:47:00.002-05:00

It has been a while since the kids and I went to Wednesday night supper at church. First, I'd been on this crazy restrictive diet. And second, I got really tired of doing the same thing at church that I do at home. "Eat at least one more bite of your vegetables before you can leave the table." "You love chicken nuggets. Why won't you eat them?" And on and on.

So, we'd been stopping on the way to church to pick up a quick dinner. But, last night was the special Thanksgiving dinner that the church does on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving week every year. And since my kids thoroughly enjoyed the Thanksgiving lunch our Sunday school class put on last Sunday, I thought I'd take them to church for this event.

We shall now resume our avoidance of the church suppers for the following reason:

When the kids finish eating, they always ask if they can go play. I almost always let them because the other parents almost always let their kids. But, I had two rules. 1. Do not run inside of the dining room. 2. Do not yell inside the dining room. Over time, I have developed quite an extensive set of rules (born of necessity after I've caught them doing the very things prohibited by the new rules). 3. Do not trap your sister in the men's restroom. 4. Do not go up the stairs into the sanctuary. 5. Do not leave the building. 6. Do not stomp across the stage in the dining room.

So, when Evan asked if he could go play last night, I said okay as long as he follows my rules. He recited a few of them and asked if that was all. I said that was all I could remember at the moment, but I expect him to know how to behave himself. And off he went with his sister - who was also warned to behave herself.

(Anyone sensing the foreboding that I should have picked up on when he asked if the list of rules was exhaustive?)

A few minutes (a very few) later, I heard loud wailing and gnashing of teeth from out in the hallway. I knew it was Pressley, so I headed toward the wailing as quickly as I could maneuver through the crowd. Next thing I know, the door to the hallway opened and there stood Pressley howling and holding her back and Evan by her side, looking guilty.

Here's what I eventually got out of them. There is this free-standing metal coat rack about 3 feet long at the bottom of the steps leading up to the sanctuary. Evan thought it would be a good idea to grab one of the wooden coat hangers hanging on said metal coat-rack and swing from one end of the coat rack to the other. And then his sister followed his lead.

Only she's not nearly as advanced in tom-foolery as her brother, so she either let go of the hanger or it slipped out of her hands. And she landed on her back on the "foot" of the coat rack, or more specifically, one of its rough metal corners.

She is fine. She has a nasty gash on her back about one inch long. It has been treated with Neosporin and a band-aid.

Thank goodness (as my dad pointed out) that the incident didn't also tear her dress, because oh.my.heavens, I cannot even imagine how much longer the crying would have lasted. She was wearing her favorite dress.

Now, I ask you.... Does this fall into the category of sweet children behaving themselves? I think not. But in fairness, prior to last night, there was no specifically-articulated rule that forbid them from swinging on hangers on a metal coat rack.

And they wonder why it seems like I have so many rules....

Worn slap out

2010-11-01T20:54:00.001-04:00

In one weekend, we went trick-or-treating, had two soccer games, went to Six Flags for Fright Fest, went to church, went to Boo at the Zoo, went trick-or-treating again, and then to a post-trick-or-treating neighborhood party.

The pictures will have to speak for themselves. I'm pooped.

I present my pink rocker girl and my dragon ninja.

Goodnight.

The little things

2010-10-29T15:45:00.001-04:00

In addition to all of our big outings this fall, we've also been trying to give attention to the little things that make fall fun. I was at Michael's the other day (can you say, "Fish out of water?") looking for fall leaves to add to the dining room centerpiece I created out of a Target candle holder and a bunch of gourds. I found no fall leaves, but I did find a kit for making a gingerbread Haunted House. And an Olivia book about Halloween.

I brought these things home last Tuesday and they were still in a bag on the kitchen table when Evan and I got home from the bus. I had intended to contemplate whether I wanted to hide it until I was ready to break it out, but I waited too long and it was the first thing Evan saw when he walked into the house. As if he spotted it through the bag.

So, for the next couple of days, it was all I heard about. We ended up putting it together on Thursday night before bedtime, but we couldn't decorate it because we read that the frosting holding the pieces together has to set for at least an hour before you start decorating. So we decorated it on Friday afternoon after school.

I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I had to do most of the icing, because My Mercy that icing bag is hard to squeeze. I may have carpal tunnel now. But the kids decided where to put all the candy and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

This week, Pressley turned her attention to begging to carve the pumpkin. Having been the proud owners of some Jack-o-lanterns with some caved in mouths in past years, we were trying to put them off as long as possible. But, Tuesday night we finally caved (no pun intended). While Corin was doing the icky part, the kids and I looked on the Internet and they picked out a face they liked and then we made a template. I know it is not fancy, but they are super proud of the way it turned out. (See below.)

Well, we're off to go pick Evan up from karate and go trick-or-treating at Corin's office, so I will likely continue my streak of posting every day for a bit longer before I drop off the face of the blog-osphere again. I'll need to tell you how that goes, and about the costume I "made" for Evan's storybook costume at school today, and of course, about the actual trick-or-treating....

Whew. I'm going to need a vacation in November.

Another weekend, another pumpkin farm (with a little "errand" on the way)...

2010-10-28T10:00:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we had plans to visit Washington Farms in Watkinsville, Georgia with our friends, the Citrons. We had two overlapping soccer games to attend in the morning and then the plan was to grab a quick bite and show up at the pediatrician's office in time for the 1:00 p.m. flu shot clinic and then off to meet the Citrons.

Due to the inborn drama tendencies of our youngest child, we had decided that we would not tell the children about the flu shots too early on. I had said that we were going to grab lunch and then run an errand and then head up to Washington Farms.

Once we finished lunch and were a few miles from the pediatrician's office, Pressley wanted to know what kind of errand we would be running. Corin and I exchanged the "It's Time" look and he 'fessed up. You would not believe the drama that ensued. Pressley immediately started sobbing uncontrollably about how she didn't want a shot. She promised that she would never get sick and could she please just not have to have one? I was a little worried she may hyperventilate, so I told her that there was a possibility that the doctor could give her the medicine in a spray in her nose and if she would just stop crying I would ask the doctor about it as soon as we got there.

Thanks goodness that stopped the sobbing temporarily and we were able to make it from the car to the office and through the line without drawing any stares. She was very whimpery in the waiting room, but still no staring from the other families. (Oh, and I did ask about the Flu Mist. They were out.)

However, the minute the nurse called our kids' names, she started hollering again. To make a long story a tiny bit shorter, I'll just skip to the part where the nurse had to nod at Corin and tell him to put Pressley on the table and hold her down so she could give her the shot in her leg. Another nurse appeared in the doorway just in time and came in to assist with the holding down of the writhing child. (How on earth she knew that her assistance was required, I'll never know...) Nurse #1 pulled down P's tights and gave her the shot while she sat up as much as she could under the weight of All The Arms and bellowed, "GUYS! Seriously!! Don't do it!! I don't want a SHOTTTTT! No...gasp...No...gasp...NOOOOOOO!!"

Meanwhile I had stepped out into the hallway. Honestly, I was torn between crying and laughing. The child was simultaneously breaking my heart with the earnestness of her pleas and crackin' me up with the phrasing of them.

On the way out, she was still furious and indignant and determined to scare the *@%^ out of every child in the waiting room. Another family who had been waiting for the elevator when we got out into the hallway stepped aside and let us have the elevator and "selflessly" agreed to wait for the next one rather than riding with us. All I could do was shoot apologetic looks at everyone whose mouth was agape at the sight.

I know I tend to exaggerate for the sake of a good story, but I'll have you know, there is NO exaggeration contained herein. All true and accurate. Ask Corin.

She continued to cry and stomp her feet and holler out in indignance long after we left the doctor's office. She threw her sucker to the floor. Refused ice cream. But, finally, the offer of a petit four from Rhodes Bakery with a pumpkin on top calmed her. It. Was. Awful... (The drama. Not the petit four. I didn't taste the petit four, but I know from past experience that there is nothing awful about those.)

We did finally make it to Washington Farms and had a delightful time, as usual. And, as usual, we stayed too late and had tired, cranky children waiting in line at a crowded restaurant, but it was all in the name of fun.

Slide, cow train, and John Deere "tractors"

Petting zoo and pig races

Corn crib, jumping "pillow", and visit with the racing pigs

Corn maze

We're having a busy fall, yall!

2010-10-27T09:30:00.000-04:00

I may have said this before, but October has become one of our busiest months of the year. Why? Because it is just so gorgeous here in October and there are so many fun fall activities that we just don't want to leave any out. Add two kids playing soccer....and you've got a recipe for a dizzying kind of exhaustion before Halloween. But I wouldn't trade it.

The weekend after the camping, we took off as soon as soccer games were over on Saturday and headed to Amicalola Falls. It has long been one of our fall traditions to go hiking at Amicalola and then head to Burt's Pumpkin Farm to do a little pumpkin shopping.

This year, the weather could not have been better. There was a hint of fall in the air (just a tiny hint) and a beautiful blue sky. The older the kids get, the more they enjoy this part of the trip. They LOVE climbing on all the rocks on the trail and they are just super troopers about all the steps. (You may note that one of the photos has them posing in front of the sign that tells just how many steps they climbed to the top of the falls.)

We also enjoyed stopping by Burt's for our pumpkins. The kids helped pick out the pumpkins, and since they have been asking non-stop this year about when we are going to decorate for Halloween, we also let them pick out some decor for the yard to add to the stuff I bought at The Target last week for inside the house.

I always thought decorating for Halloween was just putting your Jack-o-Lantern on the front porch, but these kids have the expectation that Halloween decorating should rival Christmas decorating. Perhaps because so many of our neighbors go all out. So, I'm trying to compile enough decorations to make the little people around here happy.

There were four in the bed and the little one said...

2010-10-17T21:00:00.002-04:00

I'm crowded. Roll over!

So....we went camping last weekend. The significance of this announcement: It was not only Pressley's first camping trip, but mine as well. Corin decided it was best to break this new ground near home until he could see how his girls were going to do with all the dirt and the sleeping in a tent and the no showers and the trek to the bathroom. So we did this camping at Stone Mountain. Turns out, we both did great. Pressley even embraced the going-potty-in-the-woods-thing. Me... not so much. I preferred to put my shoes on and make the 100 yard trek (maybe not even that far) to the fairly clean facility nearby.

Corin was sure all along that I would have fun. I was not so sure, but my goodness, anyone witnessing their children having such a great time would have to be a fool not to enjoy themselves. The kids thoroughly enjoyed riding the Skylift to the top of the mountain (maybe next time we'll hike it), feeding ducks and geese and fish, climbing in and out (and in and out and in and out) of the tent, roasting marshmallows, and peeing on trees.

I enjoyed the family time and the fact that when we realized that our campfire was just not going to start itself, that we were only 5 minutes away from a convenience store that sold lighter fluid and the Sunday paper.

My parents graciously let us borrow their king-sized airbed. So, it wasn’t even that uncomfortable. Well, for the kids and me, anyway. The three of us slept on the airbed while Corin slept on a mat beside us and made comments about how I was living like a queen “up there” until we fell asleep. I was quick to point out that if he ever wanted to take the whole family camping again, it was in his best interest to make sure I stayed as comfortable as possible. It is not that I’m a princess or anything, but I do like my modern amenities. A lot.

The next morning we got up and my sweet husband made eggs and sausage for breakfast. We had a fantastic view of the lake and the mountain from our picnic table. We filled up and then went to check out the old covered bridge and the grist mill.

And when we decided it was time to come home, it was only a twenty minute drive to a hot shower. Not that I went straight to the shower before fixing lunch for my hungry kids or anything. Oh, wait. Yes I did. In my defense, I knew they'd had a big breakfast and nobody was gonna starve while mommy got the dirt off.

Truth be told, I'm still dizzy and maybe a little nauseous

2010-10-03T21:04:00.003-04:00

Let me tell you about the kind of living on the edge we are doing around here.

Pressley decided she was not going to take a nap today, so after laying quietly with her for 20 minutes, after no sleep came, I told Corin it would be a napless day and we could do something fun. Evan initially wanted to go to Sky Hike at Stone Mountain, but it was already 3:05, and the internet told me that Sky Hike closed at 5pm today. The internet also told me, though, that Six Flags was open until 10pm, and that if we bought 2011 Season Tickets today, we'd get admission for the rest of this month, all next year, and a parking pass to boot. So, at 3:10, we decided to go to Six Flags.

I know. That's apparently how we roll these days.

We had a blast. Corin and I were inappropriately dressed, because after suffering in the heat at soccer games yesterday, we had Indian Summer on the brain and wore shorts and short sleeves and flip flops. Pressley had already come home from church and put on her new jeans. (Yes, you read that right. For the first time in nearly 2 years, Pressley wore a pair of not-only-pants-but-jeans! I took her to the mall yesterday while the boys played golf and she picked them out herself! OK. I digress....) And Evan had on the long pants he wore to church. Both had put on sneakers when we thought we were going to sky hike, so they were dressed appropriately at least. And I took jackets for them (and me), so no one froze.

But it was chilly! I mean... I know it is October, but this is Atlanta after all.

If I had worn jeans, it would have been absolutely perfect weather to go to Six Flags. The only times I've been there previously, I had melted into a puddle by the time we left, so this was a pleasant change - even inappropriately dressed.

Did I really just spend that many words telling you what we wore? Seriously. You might rather I go back to my bloggers block.

We discovered a couple of new things (aside from how to dress appropriately for October evenings):

1) Pressley is a bit of a thrill-seeker. She did not shy away from one single ride. Her face glowed with excitement and she screamed and clapped her hands with glee on every roller coaster. (Evan was equally thrilled with the adrenaline, but I knew that from summer before last when he and I went to Six Flags with the cousins.)

2) Corin and I are not young. Maybe you knew that. And, I've been seeing signs pointing that direction for a long time, but my old friend The Wheelie made a point of driving the fact home with a vengeance today.

The Wheelie used to be one of my favorite rides, so when the kids saw it and wanted to ride it, I agreed without hesitation. Corin had no intention of riding, but when the lady told me that I could only take one of the kids in my cage, he was pressed into reluctant service. He was a trooper about it, but both of us came off of there a smidge green around the gills.

We proceeded to go from there to my all time favorite ride: The Great American Scream Machine. But, wait.... Has the Scream Machine always been so rough that it makes it feel as if all of your vertebrae are pounding into one another as if no disks are present in between? Because I don't remember that part. Losing your tummy going down the hills, I remember. Crushing pain in my neck vertebrae, I do not recall.

All in all, it was a really fun way to spend a day with the family. But next time, Corin and I will be sticking to the Dahlonega Mine Train and the Wily Coyote Canyon Blaster. With the preschool set.

Here are Corin and Lil' P on the bumper cars:

Evan on the bumper cars:

My three favorite people chillin' (literally) on the sky buckets after dinner:

The kids showing off their souvenirs and happy faces leaving the park:

Honestly, there is no amount of dizziness and nausea I wouldn't endure to put the kind of smiles on those faces that we saw today. Totally worth it!

Oh, the preciousness

2010-10-02T17:25:00.003-04:00

There is a disclaimer for the beginning of this post: If you read it, you must never hint to Evan that you know anything about it. I mean really.... you wouldn't want to ruin my relationship with him forever, would you? And if you do hint to him that you know about what I'm about to tell you, I will deny that I told.

Promise? Okay. Here goes.

Corin called me yesterday morning very concerned about Evan. You see, Evan had told him on the way to school yesterday morning that some girls at school had been making fun of him the day before. Corin said E wouldn't tell him what they were saying, but that one little girl was writing on his chair and the other little girl was reading what she wrote and laughing. Corin told me that he seemed pretty upset about it and I might want to see if I could talk to him about it.

Evan actually brought it up later. He told me that A__ had been writing something on the back of his chair in class and that M__ was reading it and laughing. When I asked what A__ had written, he told me (in a most disgusted tone) that she had written she loved him and M__ was laughing about it.

I tried to explain that the girls certainly were not making fun of him and that he should be flattered that A__ likes him. From the look he gave me, he clearly doesn't see it that way and loudly complained, "But, I didn't LIKE it when she said that!"

I gave him a big hug and promised him that someday he would like it when a girl says she likes him. But for now, he doesn't have to like it, but he should certainly not get upset about it since they were most definitely not making fun of him.

Bless his heart. It's not easy being the smartest, cutest, sweetest boy in the first grade. Okay, maybe I'm biased, but at least I know that A__ agrees with me.

Let's back up a bit, shall we?

2010-09-28T20:24:00.005-04:00

I just realized that in my blog-block funk, I have neglected to report on this years' Smoky Mountain trip:

The last weekend of August, we had the privilege of doing something we'd never done before. We combined the Pressleys and the McCarthys for a weekend in the mountains. So, the kids had an entire weekend with both sets of grandparents. They were in hog heaven.

We had a really nice time. Judy and Dennis cooked lots of great food (as usual), and there was lots of rock hopping, river swimming, outlet shopping, trail hiking and over eating.

*This is really not my story to tell, but since none of the eyewitnesses will blog it, I shall record it for posterity myself. When Grandaddy and Corin and Evan and Pressley went hiking, they saw a big black snake in (or right off of) the trail. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the snake was in the process of eating a chipmunk. Whole. So they watched. The 3 generations of boys found the whole thing way cool, while our little Miss P was completely grossed out.*

Here is Pressley with GranNan at Newfound Gap on the way to the cabin.

The terrace level of our cabin not only housed two bedrooms, but also a foosball table and a pool table.

Evan playing pool with Grandaddy.

Here's one of Pressley with Gran at Metcalf Bottoms.

And, finally, some pics of some of the river fun.

A big thanks to the McCarthys for being such gracious hosts and a shout-out to my dad for once again stepping up as family photographer when this lame-brained mommy forgot to take a camera. Again.

There are many more photos of the mountain trip, as well as some September soccer photos and whatnot at the August and September album links.

She made a liar out of me

2010-09-12T16:43:00.005-04:00

I may have mentioned that I have been highly skeptical about the success of Pressley's soccer career. I agreed to let her sign up for soccer, and we bought the stuff, but I really doubted she would ever actually play. I was just trying to be a good mommy and let her learn on her own.

Her first soccer practice was last Thursday, and we had 5 minutes or so to kill after we endured the grueling task that is getting a child into their shinguards, soccer socks and cleats, and this is how she killed the time:

That would be an Americal Girl Doll catalog that she is browsing through, exclaiming on every page, "Ooooh, mommy. I want this for Christmas!" Didn't do anything to boost my already low expectations for soccer practice.

But I dutifully filled a water bottle, put her new pink ball in her new YMCA sports bag, and drove us all over to practice. I was shocked when she trotted right out onto the field with her ball and started kicking it around with her friends. Even more shocked when she ran her little heart out doing sprint drills, and I'll be derned if she didn't then do this:

She fell down many, many times during the various drills, but she never cried about getting dirty. She did, however, stop in the middle of her turn to dribble the ball down and kick it into the goal to brush every speck of dirt off of her knee after she fell before she proceded to complete the exercise. A girls' gotta have priorities after all.

In Evan news, Corin was reading a story to the kids the other night called "What Do People Do All Day?" (As a side note, this book is one of the kids' favorites, but it was clearly written very many years ago when it was ok to write things like, "Rail yards are busy places. Some railroad workers ride in a caboose. The frieght train engineer watches the signals. A hobo doesn't work, but he likes to ride in a boxcar." With a picture of a cat in a jacket with patches on it, carrying a stick with a bandana bundle at the end, and labeled 'HOBO'.)

Anyway, Corin is reading this book and starts asking the kids, "Do you know what daddy does?" Evan: Oh, yeah. You settle arguements, blah, blah, blah. "Do you know what my job is called?" Evan: Ummm, lawyer. "And what does mommy do?" Evan (excitedly): Stays home and relaxes!

Corin got a huge chuckle out of that, but quickly corrected him that mommy works very hard, etc., etc. (Probably mostly because I was within earshot, but whatever works.) Then, luckily, the book helped to further explain the situation by explaining what people do with the money that they get when the provide a good or a service. "Grocer Cat (not to be confused with Hobo Cat) bought a new dress for Mommy. She earned it by taking such good care of the house."

And then I burned my bra.

So long summer!

2010-09-07T11:55:00.002-04:00

You would think that after sending the kids back to school, I'd just have all kinds of time to blog, right? I don't know what has happened to me these past 4 weeks, but I have been having a bit of bloggers block and also keeping very busy gearing up for our fall schedule.

First things first: The kids are both adjusting well and really enjoying the new school year. The only hiccup has been that Pressley took a couple of weeks to get used to going to school every day. Being used to going two days a week, a five day week has apparently been hard for her to get adjusted to. One day, during the second week of school when I was asking her to get herself dressed for school, she said (in typical exaggerated Pressley fashion) "A-GAIN??" When I said yes - and I thought you loved school, she replied, "I do, but not EVERY DAY!!" She seems to be past that now and we're rockin' right along. She is doing very well. She is perfecting writing her letters, learning a new song each week about the letter of the week, counting to ten in French, and doing "homework" every Thursday night (which consists of cutting pictures out of magazines to correspond to the letter of the week and pasting them into a "book" that she has decorated at school). She is growing up so fast.

Evan has had a rather seamless adjustment to school this year. He is in a first grade class with a handful of kids from his kindergarten class as well as one good friend from the neighborhood. I was a bit concerned that he and the neighborhood friend would be trouble together, but so far, we've gotten all "greens" for behavior, so we're pleased that it hasn't been a problem. Evan is becoming quite the little reader, but his favorite subject is math. He came home with a math assignment the other night to do on the computer and was very excited to tell his GranNan and Poppy all about it.

And, why were GranNan and Poppy there helping him with his homework, you might ask? Because I have started back with my seasonal job at GSU College of Law. I am offering career advice to law students three days a week, and one of those days, I need to stay a little later, so mom and dad helped out with the kids the first week until I could get a sitter in place. I always enjoy my time at GSU. It is nice to be back in the working world for a little bit, but I am always anxious to get back home to be with my kids (and back into my flip-flops!) :o)

Fall is shaping up to be very busy around our house. We've got Pressley taking gymnastics, ballet and playing her first (and maybe last) season of soccer. Her soccer practices start Thursday of this week, so I'm anxious to see how that goes.... Evan is playing soccer in a new league this season and is continuing with his karate classes one day a week after school. I'm teaching pre-school music on Wednesday nights at church, so we have at least one activity scheduled every day of the week. I have a weekly calendar that hangs on the side of my fridge with a separate column for each family member just to keep me organized with who has to take a leotards and tap shoes or a gi and library books on what day. And I'm still not sure I'm on top of things.

I say all that to say that even though this post contains no pictures, there should be plenty of photo-taking opportunities in the coming weeks and I promise to be better about updating the blog. I had no intention of being absent for this long, but it was as if I blinked and August was gone.

Back to school

2010-08-09T08:54:00.003-04:00

I'm too tired to be sentimental right now. Pressley woke me up at 2:45 a.m. by climbing into bed with us and telling me she was too scared to sleep in her bed. Then, I lay awake for a full hour before stumbling down the hall to get another 3 fitful hours of sleep in her bed.

We woke up when the alarms went off at 7 a.m. But I'll be derned if I know what happened to the time. By the time they were fed and had teeth brushed and I'd made 2 lunches, we were already behind.

But, I did manage to snap a few pictures of Evan's first day of first grade and Pressley's first day of Pre-K. They were very excited and TOO cute!

Getting ready to go:

Happy first grader:

Evan at his first grade desk in Ms. Baldwin's room:

Daddy and Pressley walking into the Frazer Center:

Pressley with her teacher, Ms. Martha: (Evan also had Ms. Martha, and we LOVE her.)

Diary of a mom of an exhibitionist

2010-08-07T12:40:00.004-04:00

I do NOT have time to be blogging right now. We should be getting ready for my Granny's 90th birthday party since we will be leaving in less than an hour. (Happy Birthday, Granny!) But, I cannot take the chance that I will forget to write about this later.

This morning, Corin decided that he was going to embark on the project of getting Evan to ride his bike without training wheels. I know most 6 year olds can probably do that already, but our neighborhood is very hilly, and there is really nowhere for him to ride without very close supervision, so his bike time has always been fairly limited.

Anyway, while they were doing that, Pressley and I went to the grocery store (we never made it yesterday for the lunchbox essentials). A lady at Publix was handing out samples of fat free blueberry pudding. After initially passing on this offer, Pressley decided that she did want the pudding and then proceeded to nibble on the thimble-sized portion for about 20 minutes - including taking it into the car with us for the ride home. As we neared the house, she spilled some! Heaven forbid. So she began crying that she had to change her clothes. For once, this actually suited me since she needs to put on a dress for Granny's party. I told her there was nothing to be upset about because she was about to take a bath to get all clean and pretty for Granny's party.

Then, I got carried away with getting the groceries in from the car and watching Evan's bike demonstration. While standing in the shade across the alley-way from our garage and watching Evan try to learn to push off and get the bike going solo, I glanced over toward the house. And then did a double take. There stood a totally buck naked Pressley just outside the garage door in the driveway wearing nothing but a sheepish grin. Where any resident of about 10 neighboring houses could have seen her if they came out of their garages.

I began dying laughing and running back across the street. She asked me "What??" about 10 times, but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer her. I just shooed her back into the house and up the stairs.

I mean, seriously. What will this child think of next?

Mad painting skills and missing teeth

2010-08-06T11:16:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update today. I told you that after we "surprised" Daddy with Evan's finished pottery, I would try to share it with you. Turns out Daddy wasn't all that surprised since Evan had left our gecko templates lying around the house, but he was still impressed by the finished product. I was too. Check it out. I really only helped a little bit. I traced our templates on where he told me to put them. Then, Evan painted and I re-traced the template lines with black paint. I think he should be pretty proud of himself.

And, I also promised a picture of the first missing tooth. Or, more accurately, the first gap left by the first missing tooth. This is not the best picture of Evan, but it is really hard to get a photo of a gap in the bottom teeth with a pleasant look at the same time.... Ya know?

That's all I have for today. Happy weekend. I'll be back Monday (if not before) to report on the kids' first day of school. I can't believe my babies are going to be in Pre-K and First grade! I'll wait until Monday to get all sentimental and mushy.

We've already been to open house and gotten all the school supplies labeled and in Evan's desk. Now, we're off to the grocery store to stock up on lunchbox necessities.

I'm thinking of seeking help

2010-08-04T13:11:00.003-04:00

You'd think at age 30-(ahem), I would know myself pretty well. But, in my thirties, I've had lots of "new" revelations. For example, I can wear my hair curly (without a perm); I am a bit of a control freak; and my most recent revelation: I apparently was not done playing with Barbies when I was a child.

You see, I've discovered, much to my dismay, that I sometimes treat my only daughter as a bit of a Barbie doll. She may not have long blond hair or unrealistic body proportions, but I tend to dress her up all the same. I don't necessarily sign her up for activities just so I can buy the outfits that go along with it, but if I'm being honest, I have to confess that dressing her appropriately for each new activity really is my favorite part. I even find myself walking past the leotard section at Target every once in a while just in case they have any new offerings that Pressley might like.

It is a sickness.

So, when we decided to sign her up for soccer, I knew she would need cleats. So we went to Target yesterday to buy cleats. And a lunchbox for school. But that is beside the point.

She tried on the cleats with the pink accents, and right next to them were the matching socks. Now, I know that her uniform will come with some navy socks with some gray stripes, but BORing!! So, we bought the socks with the pink stripes. Then I realized that the child does not own any athletic clothing whatsoever. Not even a pair of shorts. So, here's how the rest of the thought process went:

"If I don't buy her a practice outfit, I'll have to let her practice in her uniform. If she sweats in her uniform at practice, I'll have to wash it. And we know from Evan's experience that the soccer uniform doesn't hold up so great in the wash. If I have to wash it twice a week, it will be ruined in no time. And then we'll have to pay $30 to replace it. So, it really would be cheaper to buy a new outfit for her to practice in."

See how neatly that works? If you need to rationalize something, you just give me a call and we'll work through it together....

So, I ended up buying her an athletic skort that is pink and black and white, which matches the new cleats and socks.

Luckily, Pressley is a willing and eager participant in this hobby of mine. She may even enjoy it more than I do.

So, yesterday you met Cheer Barbie:

May I now introduce Soccer Barbie: (She wore this whole ensemble - including socks - to get her hair cut and run errands today. I did make her take off her cleats and put on her sparkle cheer tennis shoes, but she still got quite a lot of attention. The person working the drive-thru at McDonald's yelled out the window as we walked past in the parking lot..."I like your socks!" And then called other employees over to look out the window as well.)

Here's Spectator Barbie at one of Evan's swim meets: (This is a bit of a stretch. I didn't actually dress her like that. She picked out the dress and necklace and then took my sunhat from me because it was miserably hot and sunny out.)

Beach Barbie:

Gymnastics Barbie: (That is a lollipop stick in her mouth. This pic was obviously taken after a haircut or a trip to the bank.)

And Mermaid Barbie: (But, in my defense... this was Halloween, so there was a legitimate excuse.)

So, you tell me... Do I need counseling, or do all mothers of girls do this to their daughters to a certain degree so long as the daughters are willing to indulge it?

Cheer camp!

2010-08-03T17:02:00.002-04:00

[Disclaimer: If you have been around me recently, the following will mostly be review (maybe even word for word). These are some of my favorite stories to tell in social settings for the last several days, but I also wanted to preserve them for posterity. So I am taking the chance that some of you may be bored by the repetition.]

Lil’ P went to Cheerleading Camp last week. She had the best time. I was a little concerned about the whole thing since the camp was originally planned for girls who had completed kindergarten. Since Pressley has not yet started Pre-K, even after I got permission to enroll her, I worried that she would get frustrated and not be able to keep up, or that she would need extra attention and take away instruction time from the rest of the girls. But, we did it anyway. And, I’m so glad we did.

She came home every day saying that she’d had a good time, but as is her habit, she wouldn’t give a whole lot of details. One night she treated us to a “cartwheel” demonstration. I guess the funniest thing was when I (after watching Evan and Pressley both give it a shot) said, “No, guys. Not exactly. It’s like this…” and proceeded to try to do a cartwheel. Yeah...in my mind I can still do a cartwheel. The reality is not pretty. So I had to add, “Well. Not exactly like that either. That probably looked a lot like Pressley’s, huh?”

Another night, when I was tucking Pressley into bed, I was listening to her saying her prayers. I had my eyes closed, but noticed that her voice sounded different and she was pausing between each phrase. So, I opened my eyes to peek. She was cheering her prayers. It went something like this: “Now I lay me…[shake, shake, shake some imaginary pompoms to the right]; Down to sleep…[shake, shake, shake them to the left]” and so on. Hilarious! It was all I could do not to laugh out loud.

Finally, on Thursday, the parents were invited to a little exhibition at the end of the day to see what the girls had been doing. It was the cutest, funniest thing ever. First of all, Pressley was in her element. As the gym stands filled up, I’m pretty sure she thought all those people were there just to see her. Once they got all lined up, she could not stand being before an audience without saying something, so she started shouting out the one liners and they continued between the chants.

“Oh, I’m so excited!”
“This is going to be so great!”
[Instructor reminds the girls to be loud…]
“Wait til you hear how loud we’re going to be!”
“Oh, I just can’t stop giggling!”
[Scratching her mosquito bites] “Oh, I just can’t stop scratching!”

And on and on. There was also some weird posing. In one pose, she kept her arms crossed in a sort of gangsta pose while she grinned cheesily from ear to ear. In another, she’d put a toe out to the side and wave furiously with a sly little smile.

The cheering itself was also a sight to behold. She did really great considering the age difference between her and some of the other girls. She was usually a second behind the other girls – particularly when they jumped. The older girls had usually landed a jump and gone on to the next move before Pressley was ready to hoist herself off the ground. But we were so proud. And thoroughly entertained.

Oh, and then there was a tumbling demonstration. Pressley was supposed to walk out onto the mat and be helped down into a backbend. Instead, she came out and did a “cartwheel”. After her “cartwheel,” I think the instructor and her helpers expected P to get back at the back of the line, but she stood there during the other girls’ demos until someone finally realized she wasn’t going anywhere until she did her backbend.

I took several videos of the chants. And one of the dance. I wish I had kept rolling in between chants. And I wish I had kept rolling the whole time between the “cartwheel” and the backbend. But sometimes I had to stop filming just so I could really laugh or talk to the mom sitting next to me. Now I realize it would have been better to film those things than to miss some of Pressley’s antics. Oh, well. Lesson learned.

Here’s the link to the videos: http://picasaweb.google.com/apmccarthy1/CheerVideos. The quality is not great, but if you choose to watch them, it should take about 5-6 minutes to watch them all.

Here's a parting shot of all the girls during snack time. Can't wait to sign her up again next year!

Camp Mommy: Evan's week

2010-07-31T16:19:00.000-04:00

Pressley has been at cheerleading camp this week (post to follow), so I've had a great week spending quality time with my sweet Evan. On Tuesday, we went to Fernbank. We've been to Fernbank several times over the past few years, given its proximity to our house. Evan is a big fan of dinosaurs, so Fernbank seems an obvious choice for entertainment.

Right now, there is a gecko exhibit there. It is a pretty cool exhibit. Not as interactive as I might have liked, but we were entertained. There was a sign on each enclosure that told us how many geckos were in there, so we felt it was our duty to find them all before we moved on.

Ok. So confession time: there is area called a Walk through Time in Georgia or some such thing. I swear, I have never noticed it in all of our outings to Fernbank, and as others may already be aware...THAT'S where most of the dinosaurs are! I've always thought it was just the giant skeleton in the big atrium and some in the outdoor areas. I had no idea this other area existed.

Evan was not quite as excited as I would have guessed he would be, but I guess that is what happens when you take a kid to the Museum of Natural History when he's three and a half. The local stuff fails to impress.

Finally, we headed to the kids' playrooms to round out our visit. Only, the play rooms are closed for renovations. Instead, there is a tiny area called "Greatest Hits of the Children's Playrooms" or something along those lines. There is the fishing boat, some city building blocks, and the little bin of "fresh produce." That's it for the greatest hits. I hope the renovation is done before the year-long membership I just bought expires!

The next day, Evan and I went to paint pottery. We took our own stencils that we printed on the computer and cut out. Evan picked a plate and a cup to paint and I think they turned out super-cute. I gotta say, though. Painting pottery with a child is an awful lot of work for a control freak like me. It is not easy to make said child feel like it is his own thing while still maintaining some sense that it will turn out like it is "supposed to." I can't tell you anymore about the pottery because we still haven't picked up it and when I tried to get Evan to tell Corin what we had painted, he said he wanted it to be a surprise.

We also rented a movie one day. I'm not sure what Evan enjoyed more: watching the movie or helping me rent it from the Blockbuster Express machine in the Publix.

Finally, on Friday, we went to see Despicable Me. It was super cute and we enjoyed it very much. GranNan and Poppy had to pick Pressley up from camp that day since the movie ran a little longer and would prevent us from picking her up on time. So, we rounded out the week by having lunch with them.

All in all, it was a great way to spend some good bonding time before my big boy starts first grade next Monday.

Stay tuned for a post about Pressley's experience at cheer camp as well as a post - or at least a picture - of the snaggle-toothed boy who lost his first tooth during Camp Mommy.

Vacation wrap-up

2010-07-27T22:04:00.002-04:00

I had the very best of intentions that I would blog while we were on vacation this year. There were four laptops on the trip - one of them my dad's, which had all of the weeks' pictures on its hard drive. There really is no excuse for failure, except that the sun and the sand and the big evening meals and the lure of a glass of wine were always standing between me and being productive about chronicling the weeks' adventures for posterity.

There were many times during the week that I thought, "Oh. This would make an entertaining blog post." But, do you think I remember any of those things right now? That would be a "no."

So, instead of short, entertaining blog posts along the way, you get a long-winded, rambling wrap-up piece. Sorry. I'll try to do better next time.

The first thing of note from our vacation experience this year was that the kids (mine and Beth's) have settled into being quite content at the actual beach. In years past, it seems like as soon as we haul all of the gear down to the sand and get all settled in to read a book or drink a diet coke or what-have-you, the kids are all clamoring to go to the pool. Even though they all have plenty of pool time at home.

This year, Evan and Will thoroughly enjoyed body surfing and boogie boarding and diving for sand dollars (which they found by the bucketful), while Abby and Pressley enjoyed digging in the sand, watching daddies dig in the sand, sitting in whatever shade they could find with a cold orange-flavored beverage, and just doin' their thing.

Sometimes the girls were very independent from one another. Pressley likes to wander off by herself, so as not to be visually connected with the rest of the family, while she chats with the waves and the birds and performs sonnets and songs and soliloquies for no one in particular. Sometimes she'll return for a prop, but she is generally content to just wander about and be one with her imaginary world of princesses and mermaids and who-know-what-all-else.

Other times, the girls would hold hands as they skipped and jumped around and had lots of fun together. You kinda never knew what you would get. One day, in their quest for shade, Abby insisted on borrowing her mama's chair with the big canopy that flips over on top of it. Pressley wanted in on some of that action, so we finally positioned the big chair in such a way that it would cast some shade out in front of it and we put Pressley's little chair directly in front of it, facing Abby's. This was the girls' idea, mind you. I just helped a little bit with the logistics.

The boys were a little more predictable. Though they did their fair share of digging in the sand – and burying Evan, the general rule was if it floated and rode waves, they were dragging it out into the ocean. They were particularly partial to the Big Giant Blue Innertube that they could both fit on. Late in the week, they decided to try a skim board. The other kids were not much for all the falling down required to learn the art of balancing on the board. Evan didn't seem to mind all the falling down, and I was really proud of his determination. I won't say he achieved pro status, but he definitely improved.

What else? We ate lots of good seafood. Both in restaurants and at the house. We made a low country boil one night that will likely see a repeat performance on future beach trips.

Oh, the daddies took the kids to a state park that they thought was approximately 30-45 minutes from the island. Turns out it was about an hour and twenty minute drive, but they say it was well worth it. Next time we go to Hilton Head, we plan to make a full day trip of it, complete with a picnic lunch. There was a lighthouse (which closed before they could climb it), fishing (with rods that were provided at the park), and shelling.

And, finally, how could I forget the family beach photo? As much as I used to resist this, I guess I’ve gotten old and soft and sentimental, so I’m as insistent upon it these days as anyone. The boys were never into it from the beginning. Well, the little boys. The husbands behaved because they know what is good for them. The sons have not yet learned. Despite the angst, we got some good shots, but before it was over, even Pressley (photo-is-my-middle-name) was complaining that it was taking “for long” and asking when it would be over. Ahh, memories!

Camp Mommy: Pressley's week

2010-07-12T16:57:00.005-04:00

Evan is at karate camp this week. The original plan was to find Pressley a half-day camp to attend this week, just like she attended gymnastics camp during the week Evan was at Sports Camp. I made the mistake of asking Pressley (before I had done any research into the subject) if she would rather go to gymnastics camp for a second week or if she wanted me to find her a dance camp instead. She enthusiastically chose for me to find her a dance camp.

Well. Easier said than done.

I searched high and low for a dance camp. I talked to moms at swim team. I searched "the Google." I even sought out expert advice via Facebook, where I do my most intense research for such matters. I got some excellent leads, but all camps (of the dance and princess varieties) were either full, not offered this week, or not open to kids under five.

I finally broke down late last week (or maybe Sunday) and admitted to Pressley that mommy could not find a dance camp for this week. But I softened the blow by telling her that I had found a gymnastics camp to attend the week after we get back from vacation. So, Evan will go this week. Then we'll go on vacation. And, then you'll go to camp the NEXT week! (And that is when Evan will have a week of Camp Mommy.)

It worked like a charm until Evan got all dressed and ready to go on Monday and there were murmerings (or loud whinings) about it not being fair and "hmmmph!" and all.

I told her we would do fun stuff together while E was at camp and asked what she'd like to do today. Without missing a beat - and in a much more pleasant tone - she said she'd like to go to the mall to ride the train.

The $3 train ride is at the mall near my mom and dad's house, so I suggested we also go to the park near their house and feed the ducks. I stole that idea from Big Mama, my blog "friend", whom I've never met, but read without fail most every morning of the week while I eat my cereal.

So, we headed to the mall at 10:00 am. Come to find out, the train doesn't "open" until 11, so we had to kill some time at the Old Navy and the Claire's boutique. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to take Pressley to Claire's with the notion that we'd just look. I ended up being suckered into buying her a Princess watch that has four interchangeable faces. Camp Mommy could end up being very expensive if I'm not careful....

Anyway, here she is on the train:

And here she is on the quarter-fed cars at the other end of the mall. Luckily, she's happy just climbing in and out and turning steering wheels and never once asked for money to "ride" them.

Here's one in front of the fountain, showing off the new watch.

OK, so... on to the ducks at the park. As we were walking up, we didn't see any ducks and I was afraid this would be a bummer trip. But, we found the ducks, or rather, they found us.

Here are the ducks discovering that we've come to visit and that we've brought bread:

And here is the last one I snapped of Pressley before she started running from those aggressive little guys because she thought they were going to eat her.

For the rest of the time, she stood behind me with her hands planted firmly in my back pockets while I fed the ducks the rest of the bread. I tried to assure her that the ducks would not eat her or hurt her, but frankly, I wasn't all that confident. I think the heat has kept the kids and the bread away this summer, becuase those were some hungry ducks!

Blackberry Pickin'

2010-07-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

We decided to make a quick trip to Knoxville for the weekend of the Fourth of July. Gran and Grandaddy had already planned to go to a party hosted by a friend of theirs, and she graciously agreed to let them bring us as well. The party was to include picking blackberries at a nearby preserve and bringing the berries back to the hostess' farm so she could make blackberry pies.

Now, I have never been blackberry picking. I took the kids to pick strawberries last summer, and silly me thought this would be similar. I did not realize that blackberries grow up in the middle of briars and thorns. (Call me a city girl.) So, my family was seriously inappropriately-dressed for this particular activity. Corin and Evan were wearing shorts; Pressley and I were in skirts. Evan had on the most appropriate shoes - his crocs. The rest of us had on flip flops.

We walked in our inappropriate clothing and shoes to the top of a very long, steep hill to where Grandaddy figured the best berries would be. Corin blazed a trail for the kids and showed them how to pick the berries and I got a couple of pictures before the chaos ensued.

As Gran predicted, Pressley was not a big fan of the blackberry pickin'. She got a thorn in the bottom of her toe, which drew blood, and it was all over but the hollering. She screamed like she had lost her whole toe rather than just a few drops of blood and I ended up carrying her all the way back down the hill while she hollered. I have never been so sweaty in my life. OK, maybe I have, but the point is, carrying 40 pounds of screaming, writhing pre-schooler down a hill in the heat of July is not fun for anyone...

Things significantly improved when we returned to the farm for a pot-luck dinner. There were lots of other kids at the party, and after dinner, the kids enjoyed drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing catch, watching the teenage boys light fireworks, chasing fireflies, and the like.

Here is Lil' P watching daddy draw with some sidewalk chalk.

Sunday, we just hung out with Gran and Grandaddy. Here is Pressley hanging out, playing her Leapster with an exhausted Lilly nearby. I am certain Lilly was resting from being loved on all morning.

We left that afternoon to return to Decatur to watch the fireworks with some friends. On the way back into town, we stopped for a burger at FLIP, and Evan discovered a new love... in the form of a Krispy Kreme doughnut milkshake. Happy Birthday, America!

County swim meet

2010-07-10T10:36:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm very proud of our little athlete. Last Thursday and Friday brought the county swim meet at Emory University. Thursday was the preliminary round where all swimmers in the 8 and under age group swam to qualify for Friday's finals. Evan swam in the 6 and under team relay, the individual freestyle and backstroke. The top 10 relay teams advance and the top 20 individual swimmers in each race advance. Though Evan didn't advance in either of his individual events, his relay team qualified (with the second best time) to advance to the finals.

We had a lot of time in the "bullpen" on Thursday between warm-ups and Evan's events, so we got a little creative and tried to re-produce the Wahoo team logo onto Evan's back in sharpie marker. I am NOT an artist, but I was pretty proud of the result. (I did not take pictures of the logos drawn by the mothers who do have some artistic talent. You would be much less impressed with mine if you saw theirs.)

Here is Evan with his buddy, Jason, from our neighborhood. Jason swims the anchor leg of their relay team and took 2nd place in the county for both the freestyle and the backstroke.

Here's the whole 6 and under boys relay team. (I took about 6 pictures of them and this was the best one. I guess it is hard to get four 6 year olds to hold still for a picture when they are hyped up on sugar and competition.) They took THIRD place in the county meet! We are SO very proud. Evan swam his little heart out.

This is Evan getting ready to climb onto the block for his leg of the relay in Friday's finals.

Diary of a Mom of a Drama Queen

2010-07-09T10:27:00.002-04:00

I am preparing a bunch of photo-intensive catch-up posts from our fun-filled last week or so, but first I feel like I need to just vent. I understand that three is the new two. Meaning that the twos are not so terrible anymore, but the threes just might drive a mother over the edge. So, what does that say about the fours? Because here we are...smack in the middle of the fours...and I'm wondering how much longer I'll be able to hold out before I have to get botox and color my hair.

I thought the fours would be so much better. We know how to use our words to express ourselves. We are getting older. It should be getting better. But try telling that to the nannies and the stay at home moms who were gathered in great numbers at the Barnes and Noble for story time yesterday morning.

We were there to pick out a chapter book for Evan. He had told me that a friend of his can "read a chapter book all by himself!" I suggested that I'm sure that Evan could too, but we just hadn't started buying them for him yet. So, we had some time to kill yesterday and I decided to go to the bookstore to let Evan pick out a book. I also found an "easy reader" book for Evan that I thought he would enjoy. I was browsing the level one easy reader princess books for Pressley when she appeared with a big, gaudy, sparkly Princess book that included a set of paints and maybe some stickers. I told her that we were here to buy books that would help us read - not books with paints and stickers - and she started to whine. "But, mom-MEEE, I want this book!" I calmly replied, "No, sweetie, that is not what we are here for today. Maybe we can come back for that book sometime when you have your own money or when you have earned a treat."

I won't give you the whole play-by-play, because frankly, I don't want to re-live it and it would exhaust you to just read about it. But, suffice it to say that after I had tried all my best mommy tricks, I finally had to drag her from the store, kicking and screaming while all the nannies and stay at home moms within a 10 mile radius sat watching - either sympathizing or judging. I'm hoping for the former.

I am still hoping that this recent wave of behavior (sadly, this has not been an isolated incident) is the result of missed naps and late bedtimes several days in a row last week. I have been determined that, starting with this past Monday, she would get sufficient naps everyday and we would not sacrifice bedtimes for any reason. We have had a good several days of good sleep habits, but so far, we don't seem to be back on track with the behavior.

I'll keep ya posted, but I really need a reappearance of my sweet little girl. Drama queen, I can handle. But, all-out DIVA may make me run away from home...

WHEN will I ever learn?

2010-07-07T15:19:00.002-04:00

Somehow in the car this morning, I ended up reciting a list of errands I ran a couple of weeks ago while the kids were each at camp. (Evan asked. I don't know why...) One of the things on the list was that I went to the doctor for a check-up. Evan wanted to know if I got a shot when I went to the doctor. I said no. I could have left it at that, but for some reason I was compelled to clarify that although I didn't get a shot, I did get stuck with a needle when the nurse drew blood. (Probably in an attempt to empathize since they, er, Pressley still gets shots every year.) Evan needed to know how that worked, so I explained.

He was quiet for a few seconds while he processed that information and then he asked if kids ever get their blood drawn. I said yes. Sometimes. (Note to self: it would have been a really good idea to stop there. Next time just stop there!!) But no. I had to go and try to make it personal.

So, I said, "In fact, Pressley had her blood drawn when she was a tiny baby. She was only 5 weeks old."

Evan asked a few follow-up questions while Pressley looked horrified, clutched her arm at the elbow crease, and took on a bit of a green tinge. I thought that was that. But I was wrong.

When I put Pressley down for her nap, she started up with the questions:

[Whining ]"Mommy, why did they take my blood?" Me: Because you had a fever and they couldn't figure out why, so they needed to run some tests.

[Bottom lip quivering] "But, how did they scoop it out?" Me: Sweetie, they didn't scoop it out. They used a needle that had a hole in the middle.

"Did I cryyyyyy?" Yes, honey, but the nurse dipped your paci in sugar water and that made you feel much better.

And on and on. I thought we might not get a nap at all. But, with 5-10 minutes of back scratching, the questions finally stopped and sleep came.

I don't know when I'll learn to only give out the necessary information and avoid the drama. I should have known this would disturb her. There is a picture of her as a one year old in our family photo album where she is crying on the beach because she wanted none of participating in our family photo shoot. She can barely look at that page without welling up.

She is extraordinarily empathetic with her former self.

New Photos

2010-06-27T21:40:00.003-04:00

Not much to say tonight. Just wanted to let you know I've posted May and June album links containing photos from Evan's birthday, soccer, karate, end of school, Peachtree Dekalb Airport with the cousins, our trip, and last nights going away party for our good friends, the Kennedys - and more. Check it out when you have some time....

Most. Expensive. Distraction. Ever.

2010-06-23T16:08:00.005-04:00

Swim meets are not much fun for the little siblings. Let's face it. Swim meets are not much fun for the parents either. It is hot as blue blazes. You have to get there at 4:30 to stand around in the sun. No one swims until after 6. The relay team swims for roughly 2 minutes and then an hour later, the freestyle event lasts for 30 seconds, and 45 minutes later, the backstroke event lasts for thirty seconds. I may not be good at the math, but I'm thinking that adds up to about 3 minutes of excitement in about 3-1/2 hours. No wonder the sibs don't enjoy it.

So last night, after we'd been standing around in the heat for about an hour, Pressley was showing signs of being ready to have an epic melt down from the heat. I forgot to take our chairs, so there was nowhere to sit. We'd already had a blue Gatorade. My cell phone was about to have a dead battery, so I couldn't let her play a game on there. Then it struck me. I could put her in the car for a few minutes, plug in my phone, turn on the a/c full blast, and hopefully, she would emerge a different child by the time the meet actually started - cool and entertained. Perfect! Or so I thought.

Pressley has been going to gymnastics camp this week. When she gets in the car at 12:30 each day, I try to ask her about it, but I get one word answers and little enthusiasm. I'm guessing because she's tired and hungry. So, when we got in the car at 5:30 last night and P was up front with me, where she could enjoy maximum benefit from the cold air, she asked if I'd like to hear about her day at camp. I was thrilled that I was finally going to get some information about what she's been doing for 3-1/2 hours each morning.

She sat there in the giant front passenger seat like a little lady and began her explanation. Something about being cookies and sitting in the cookie jar if someone touched her on her bottom....OKaaaaaaaaay. Then something about the bars. Then it was on to the trampoline.

I've watched her on the trampoline before at gymnastics. They don't usually just jump around willy-nilly. There is usually a specific thing they are supposed to be doing. Like trying to do a split-type thing in the air (which, by the way, is hilarious, because apparently 4-year-olds universally cannot get their feet apart and back together in the air). So, I asked what kind of jumps they were doing on the trampoline. Big mistake. BIG mistake.

She planted both palms on the dashboard and jumped up, feet apart and back together. I think I had time to briefly be impressed that she got the feet apart and back together before she landed. But then my brain registered the thwack! She looked a little stunned while I asked - horrified from the sound - "Are YOU OK??" She nonchalantly nodded her head.

Then I saw it. A giant starburst in the windshield - about 14 inches in diameter across the biggest cracks. And I yelled, "Are you SURE you're ok?" She looked puzzled, nodded her head again and then followed my gaze. HERE came the tears. But they were the fake ones. And when I inquired, she admitted it was not because her head hurt, it was because she was upset that she "broked the car."

I'm still amazed that she is absolutely fine. There is no bump. There was no blood. She never even cried real tears. For that I am eternally grateful.

I can't be mad. There was nothing in my being that warned me to prevent her from doing that - even if I had had the time. She wasn't being reckless (or at least I didn't think so). She was obviously as upset that she "broked the car" as I was, so there was no punishment.

The only person to be mad at is myself. Some of the moms got a babysitter for some of the younger siblings for the meet two weeks ago. I had meant to talk to some of the moms at practice yesterday morning to see if they wanted me to try to find a sitter for this meet. But I didn't. I forgot. Or maybe I just thought that $20 was a lot to pay to keep from having to entertain my youngest child while we supported our eldest child with his swimming.

Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, but I suspect that when the Glass Doctor tells me how much it is going to cost to fix my Pane, I'm going to wish like crazy it had never crossed my mind that $20 was too much to spend on a sitter.

Clumsy is as clumsy does

2010-06-21T20:01:00.010-04:00

If I were to keep a travelogue of our international travels, I would have to title it, "Falling Down All Over the World."

First, there was Italy. Our honeymoon. I fell twice. Skinned the same knee both times. Once in Positano and once in Sienna. I still have a scar.

There have been other trips (pun intended), and I won't go into those. I'll skip to our latest adventure in Costa Rica.

About a year ago, my mom and dad very generously offered to keep the kids for a week so we could take a trip for our ten year anniversary. (At least, that's how I remember it. I hope they remember it that way too...) So, last week, we boarded a plane, sans kids, and went to Central America. It. Was. AWESOME.

Here are a few shots from the lobby of the hotel overlooking the ocean. Just in case you didn't believe me.

And, here is the view from our poolside lounge chairs, where we sat reading and wiling away the hours most days.

But, it wasn't all about lying around on our lazy bums. We had some adventures while we were there, too. Our first adventure was to go sailing on a small Catamaran with our very able guide, Luis. (You might be wondering when and where my fall occurred, but you'll just have to wait for it. It will be fun. Kinda like being in my head all the time. "I know it is going to happen....Is this when it will happen? A Catamaran on the Pacific Ocean? Will this be when I fall?")

The sailing adventure was fun. It was a slow, relaxing ride - except for the strain of trying to communicate with Luis, who spoke little English. Actually, his English was pretty good. We just got hung up on words like "shark" and "attorney." (The juxtaposition of those words is purely unintentional...) They are hard things to describe when you don't know the proper words. It was like a seafaring game of charades much of the time. I know you wish you could have been a fly on the sail.

Abogado, by the way. Or licensiado. (I think.) Both for attorney. Luis knew the word "shark." It just took us a while to realize he wasn't saying "chart."

Anywho.... here we are on the catamaran. And, no. I did not fall off.

Our second adventure was the next day, when we reunited with Luis and two honeymoon couples and took off in sea kayaks to go out to the rocks you see at the tip of that peninsula that juts out from the left side of the following photo. When we arrived at the rocks, we did a little snorkeling and then kayaked back.

Corin was real worried that this would be my clumsy moment. He was very concerned that I would fall into the water and he would not be able to haul me back into the boat. To his delight, I only got out of the boat once - on purpose - when everyone else got out. And I wasn't nearly as difficult to haul back in as he had supposed. So, no. This was not it either.

That evening, we went on a sunset boat tour. I envisioned a dock with a boat tied to it that we would board without getting our feet wet. So, when we saw the boat anchored 20 yards from shore and realized that we would have to board a small outboard motor boat to get to the bigger boat, I thought maybe this would be my moment. But, thankfully, that excursion went on without incident as well. Here we are on the boat tour, just as happy and in love as we were ten years ago on our honeymoon.

Ok, so by now, perhaps you can share the sense of foreboding that I felt the day I woke up early to get on a bus to go on our Mega Combo Tour. This would be the day we would do a canopy tour (via zip-line), ride a waterslide through the rain forest, and then ride horseback to a natural hot spring, heated by a near-by volcano.

Here is a very flattering picture of Corin and me in our harnesses, helmets, and bug spray - all ready to go.

After riding the zip-line without incident and successfully navigating the waterslide (There are no pictures of the waterslide that I am willing to post. I have to draw a line somewhere...), we got to eat our first seemingly authentic Costa Rican meal. It was yummy. I could have eaten three plates of rice and beans. But, I thought people might stare.

Then. THEN. We had to pony up. Literally. I have not ridden a horse since my cousin and I were on a pony at the farm of some family friends when we were probably 4 and 5, respectively. Someone apparently neglected to cinch up the saddle tight enough and that bad boy slid down around the horse's belly, dumping us both to the ground. I really had no intention of ever mounting a horse again. But when we realized the only other people on the tour who were opting out of the horseback riding to ride in the wagon were old or infirm, we decided to buck up and just do it.

I have never been so terrified in my whole life. And, when my horse slipped on a rock going down a hill, all I could think was, "Great. I get the one horse that is the horse-equivalent of me and is going to fall down with me on his back. Great. Just fantastic. The one advantage of riding the horse instead of hiking was that I trusted that someone sure-footed would be doing the walking." Luckily, he righted himself. He must have better ankle strength than I do, thank the Lord. And, somewhere along the way, I was finally able to relax my grip enough that my knuckles regained their normal color. And when we dismounted at the hot springs, I had never been so glad to be on solid ground.

At the hot springs, we were instructed to "take a steam", then cover ourselves with mud, then shower it off, and then enjoy the various pools of hot spring water. I can't believe I'm going to share this with the world, but here we are after our mud bath. There was some man walking around handing out these, ummm, headpieces for us to wear in our photos. For some reason, it did not occur to us how goofy they would look in print. I don't know why....

After posing for this picture, we rinsed off as we'd been instructed and headed across the small wooden footbridge from the mud to the hot springs. And, are you ready for it?? THAT is where I fell.

While it was definitely slippery and precarious, I was totally caught off guard. I figured that since I had made it through the sailing and the kayaking and the snorkling and the zip-lining and the watersliding and the HORSEBACK riding, for heaven's sake, I could make it across a bridge. But, that's just where I was wrong. You would think I would learn not to get too cocky about the simple things like walking on cobble stone or crossing a bridge. You'd think my experience would have taught me to take nothing for granted. But, alas. I was destined to fall on international soil. It's what I do.

And just so you don't go away with the image of us in those goofy grass crowns, here is a parting shot of one of the many hu-normous (as Pressley would say) iguanas that roamed freely around our resort. I've never seen anything like it in all my life. TONS of them. Everywhere. There was a time when I would've thought that was kinda creepy. But every time we saw them, all I could think was how much Evan would be delighted by them and how much I missed my kids.

Paradise was nice, but I'm glad to be home where I belong.

Oh, my!

2010-06-07T16:50:00.003-04:00

Has it really been two weeks since I last posted? I know I say this all the time, but it seems to be always true... We have been so busy. Here is just a sampling of what we've been up to in the last 14 days:

Two swim meets (12 practices);
A trip to the lake with the family;
Celebrating my birthday (and this year, I use the word "celebrating" rather loosely!);
Hosting Kerry and Kate for a visit;
A trip to the zoo;
A trip to the Peachtree DeKalb Airport for the Good Neighbor Day air show;
And, the first day of Saddle Ridge Ranch: A VBS adventure.

This is my 3rd year helping at VBS, and my first year acting as the co-preschool-worship-leader. What this means is that I made my official acting debut this morning. Actually, I guess it is not my debut. There was that time in the 10th grade that I played a very convincing varsity volleyball player who was moving away from her friends in the youth musical "Friends." Right before singing my first-ever solo. It was quite the performance. (...And friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...And a friend will not say never; and the welcome will not end...). Oh, I'm sorry you missed it.

I'm sure my sister is also sad you missed it. She sang a lovely little ditty, complete with choreography, about her 501s and her new blue sweater....her RayBan shades and some old love letters.... Ah, memories.

Anywho...today's performance had me playing a fancy french-trained chef who has come to be the substitute cook on a ranch for a week. I am having some big problems fitting in and figuring out how to cook appropriately for a ranch, and my new friend and ranch-hand, Dixie, is going to tell me a Bible story each day that will help me figure it all out. I'll be waiting for the Oscar committee to call. I have to do a lot of crying, and let me tell you....I am fabulous at the fake crying. So convincing I heard a little girl ask Pressley, "Is your mommy really crying or is she pretending?" I think I've missed my calling.

I hope you all recognize the sarcasm. I know sometimes it does not come out well in print, but this post is oozing with it. OK. Just makin' sure.... I am actually quite a horrible actor, but am willing to do what I can for the VBS cause. For the record, that little girl really did ask Pressley if I was really crying. I need to find her mom and let her know that she needs to teach a little street savvy if she can't tell the difference. I mean, when someone actually uses the words "BOO HOO HOO", chances are she is not really crying. (OK, I didn't actually say boo hoo hoo, but I might as well have. It was that bad. But to my credit, I was supposed to be over the top.)

Well, I will put up some new posts soon with some photos of my extraordinarily cute kids and our summer activities. You should not hold your breath hoping to see some of me in my very pretty VBS t-shirt, complete with apron and chef's hat. I won't be posting any of those unless I'm feeling particularly self-deprecating. If you don't stumble onto me while dropping your child off at VBS (or happen to be one of the lucky ones who is working in a preschool class and thereby actually gets to watch this drama unfold), you'll just have to use your imagination.

Evan is SIX

2010-05-26T18:02:00.004-04:00

We have been up to our eyeballs in birthday and end-of-the-school-year fun around here. Evan turned SIX yesterday. So hard to believe. Six years ago we were sitting at a Longhorn Steakhouse timing contractions before heading over to my granny's house for my cousin's birthday celebration. At 6:19 the next morning, the most beautiful baby I had ever seen was laid in my arms, and my love for that sweet baby has grown every day since. Even though he is not a baby anymore. Now, he is a handsome, sweet, sensitive, pensive, smart, inquisitive, cuddly, and caring big boy.

We had his birthday party for his friends at his karate studio. The kids had a blast. We really didn't know what to expect, but we were pleased with what we got! The kids started out with some warm ups, and then played games, watched demonstrations, etc.

Here are some pictures of the warm-up. The sensai(s) taught them some stretches and animal poses after letting Evan stand up front with them to "bow in".

Here are the kids watching one of the weapons demonstrations. And some pics of the instructors demonstrating weapons and breaking boards. I was a little leery of having 16 kindergarten boys sitting down during a birthday party, but they were fascinated with the demonstrations, so they didn't seem to mind sitting. (And it was never for long.)

The kids also got to "spar" with one another using padded weapons. Evan sparred with his buddy Hayden and with his sister. Pressley gave it her all, but she got smoked....

One of the last games they played before cake was called "drag racing." As you can see, the kids partnered up and each held onto a short piece of canvas as one dragged the other from one end of the floor to the other. Some of the partners were a little unequal in their sizing, and you'll see below, Sensai Doug had to push Pressley's 7 year old cousin, Abby, while Pressley pulled her.

Finally, it was time for cake. Evan wanted a Power Ranger theme for this year's party. He didn't just want one power ranger; he wanted three. I told him I wasn't making any promises, but that I would give it a shot. I think it turned out pretty well, but it is definitely one of the toughest ones I've done. Good thing I keep getting better, because apparently these kids are going to keep pushing me to my cake-decorating limit!

Happy Birthday, sweet Evan. We could not be more proud of the big boy our baby has become.

May I just brag on Evan some more?

2010-05-17T21:34:00.001-04:00

Evan had his last karate test of the school year on Saturday, and he earned a second yellow stripe. That means that the next time he tests, he should become a yellow belt. He has learned so much and enjoyed himself so much in karate this year. Our last karate "hoorah" will be on Saturday, when he has his birthday party at his karate dojo. It will be fun to see him let loose and just have fun with his friends.

After the karate test, we had to hustle on over to the soccer field for the last soccer game of the season. Evan played really well...again. He has really embraced soccer this season and enjoyed it so much more than seasons past. His team had an end-of-the-season pizza party immediately following the game, and the kids all had so much fun together. The team presented the coach with a ball that they had all signed and a gift certificate to say thanks. And the coaches presented each of the players with a medal. While handing out the medals, the coaches gave Evan a little something extra.... a new nickname. They said they had decided to call Evan "en feugo" because he had been on fire for the last several games! Yay, Evan.

Well, that is all for tonight. I am tired. I'll brag later on how well both of the kids did in their preschool music program last Wednesday night and how proud I was of Evan at his first practice swim meet last night. Or maybe I'll just wait to brag after the first actual meet next week.

I will say this: I know I haven't said too much about Pressley in the last couple of posts. But, she is just as spunky as ever. She was devastated this past Sunday when I got to wear my "slippers" (which is what she calls my peep-toe heels) and she didn't have any slippers to wear to church. She pouted and fussed and fumed all morning. I told her if she would just wear her Sunday shoes or her sandals to church without further whining, I would take her shopping for some new church shoes she would love. So, she woke up this morning and wanted to put on a church dress for the shopping trip. I resisted and suggested that we save church dresses for church and find her something more comfortable for shopping. Through crocodile tears she told me, "But mommy, I don't want to be comfortable! I want to be beautiful!!" Oh, boy. Are we in for it or what?

I don't recall how I eventually prevailed, but she did wear a more suitable dress for shopping. We found a pair of shoes that she seemed to love, so I asked her if those shoes were going to make her happy next Sunday morning when I put on my "slippers." "Yes," she said. "Humongous happy."

I'll believe a drama-free Sunday morning when I see it.

Soccer and Art

2010-05-11T21:15:00.003-04:00

And, yes. To answer your question, that is the cleverest (ok, most clever) title I could come up with tonight. It's been a long day.

You may wonder why it has been a while since I've posted...or you may not have noticed. Maybe you've been too busy to notice. Maybe you have a schedule that now includes gymnastics, soccer, swimming, and karate, with swimming being every night of the week. Oh, wait. That's me.

So tonight should have been swimming from 5 - 5:45 and then a soccer game (to make up for one that was rained out earlier this season) at 6:00. I did not know until I went to the bus stop today that swimming is now 6 days a week as opposed to the 3 days it has been for the last 2 weeks. Apparently the only reason it was 3 days the first 2 weeks is because Agnes Scott charges us for lane time and we didn't want to have to pay more than necessary. But now that swim practice has moved to the neighborhood pool, they can make us be there as often as they want.

I asked Evan if he wanted to go to swimming for 30 minutes before his soccer game, and would he have enough energy to play soccer if he went to swim practice. He said he wouldn't have enough energy for both and that was that.

So we went to the soccer game only, which was fabulous by the way. Evan is just kickin' some major booty out there this season. So much so, that after he had scored his 4th goal about 15 minutes in (he would go on to score 6), the parents starting saying things like, "Boy, Evan is on fire tonight!" and "What did you feed that kid for dinner?" (Why, yes, he does appear to be on fire. Too bad I didn't think to feed him dinner before the game. Just think what he might have done...)

I had planned to take the kids to Moe's for dinner after the game because daddy is out of town, and what mom do you know that cooks when daddy is out of town? However, when the good moms arrived at the soccer game with the kids that were still wet from swim practice, they informed me that tonight was Art Portfolio night at school and they had packed dinner for their families so they could eat in the car and go straight to Art Night. To which I replied..."Uhhh. That was tonight??"

Well, you'll be happy to know that we made it to Moe's for a super-fast burrito (For Evan, there is no other kind. I've never seen a kid suck down a Joey Jr. as fast as this kid can. But I digress.) and still made it to art night. Granted, the hallways were somewhat deserted when we arrived, but the doors were unlocked and there was art on the walls. So, by my standards, we made it.

Below you'll find a couple few photos of my multi-talented eldest child. MVP on the soccer field (according to me) and budding artist:

Oh, and this is the butterfly - one of many - that kept landing on me during the soccer game. I know most people think butterflies are all peaceful and tranquil and beautiful, but have I mentioned before that they creep me out? I mean really creep me out. I may never recover from that one visit to the butterfly house at Calloway Gardens. [shudder] It is a wonder that I remained composed and took this photo (of my chest) instead of getting up and running away screaming like a little girl! But I thought that might be bad form.

And, I might be a wee tad biased, but I think this just might be the most handsome 5-almost-6-year-old I have ever seen. I mean...look at that kid!

Finally, a collage of some of his art:

Happy [Belated] Birthday, Lil' P

2010-04-26T20:38:00.006-04:00

Don't worry. The celebration wasn't belated... just the reporting of it...

I don't know where to begin.

First of all, I've been feeling very nostalgic about my baby's birthday this year. She is 4 now. She will start Pre-K in the fall (er, late summer). I will no longer have her all to myself three days a week. She will likely learn to read very soon. She is grasping pre-reading concepts very well. She will become even more independent. But she will always be my baby.

Saturday, the day before her birthday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium as a family. This seems to be somewhat of a birthday tradition for us. Starting with when we took Evan to the Aquarium for the very first time on his first birthday. His sister was 4 weeks old, so we left her home with GranNan and Poppy and had some special bonding with our birthday boy. So, this year, it seemed fitting to celebrate there with P.

The kids both thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lil' P even got a special birthday cupcake when we took a break for lunch.

It was a good outing. Until.... When it was time to leave, we headed out through the gift shop and noticed that the rains had started coming down. These rains had been predicted. I don't know why we weren't better prepared. But we weren't. We had no umbrella.

So, I stayed in the gift shop with the kids while their sweet, sweet Daddy, who would do anything for them (all of us, really) paddled out into the rain to get the car. He called me when he was close, and we headed out to meet him. If you've been to the Aquarium, you know that no door is anywhere close to any street. So we had to run for it. Corin left the car, grabbed an umbrella and came to meet us.

But it was too late. Pressley had gotten wet.

For most children, certainly for our first-born child, this would be NO BIG DEAL. But for our Sweet P, it was the END OF THE WORLD. She cried like her heart was broken. "I'm wet! I have to change clothes when we get home!! There is water in my HAIR!!! And on my skirt!!"

Bless her heart. She finally calmed down a little, but I just hope the incident didn't ruin the whole experience for her.

On Sunday, we celebrated her birthday all day. She got to pick where we would eat lunch after church. Moe's, of course. Then we went home for quick naps before turning back around to head to Monkey Joe's for the party.

You may recall that Monkey Joe's is not historically one of her favorite places. But here's the deal: She wanted to have her party at Candler Park again this year - just like last year. Which I thought was great, because here is the thing about a birthday party at Candler Park: It is FREE. But what should have stood out to me was that we had great weather last year, and what are the chances of that happening two years in a row. Slim to none, right?

Right!

So, the forecast was 40-50% chance of showers for Sunday. After not sleeping the prior Sunday night and Monday night, I knew we had to do something. We talked about it Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we made the decision to move the party indoors. By then, the two other jumping places (without giant scary purple monkeys) were booked up. So, I had given Pressley an option: A) We could have the party on her birthday at Monkey Joe's and do our best to keep Monkey Joe away from her; or B) We could wait 10 more bedtimes (that is how she judges a day) and move the party to the next weekend. Since 10 more bedtimes is a lifetime in the eyes of an almost-four-year-old-anticipating-her-birthday, she chose Monkey Joe's.

The party was a big success - even though the weather turned out to be gorgeous. (I was consoled by the memory of the giant mud puddle that totally stressed me out last year and was surely present this year as well on account of the torrential downpours from Saturday.)

And even though Monkey Joe was an ever present source of contention throughout the party.

After Monkey Joe's, all the local family came over to the house to eat pizza and watch P open her gifts. She got lots of fun stuff and was excited by pretty much all of it. But, when my sister's family had to leave (on account of my nephew taking the CRCT the next day), we all ventured out onto the front porch to tell them goodbye.

The ulterior motive of all venturing out to the front porch to tell them goodbye, was the opportunity to show her the new bike that was sitting out there waiting for her. The problem with the way we did it was that she was very confused. She couldn't figure out why someone would leave a perfectly lovely princess bike just laying around like that. Bless her heart. As we finally explained enough that she started to figure it out, she said very slowly, "So, you mean this is my bike?" And then came the grin. The all-over-the-face-kind-of-grin that makes a mommy and daddy SO happy to have made their baby happy.

Happy Birthday, precious Pressley. Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

(Many, many more pictures at the April '10 tab above. Including a close-up of my first-ever two-tiered birthday cake, featuring Jasmine - the princess du jour.)

Annie and other inanities

2010-04-25T00:21:00.002-04:00

The Easter Bunny brought the movie "Annie" to Pressley in her Easter basket. I have been looking forward to watching the movie with the kids, even after Corin pointed out that the Easter Bunny got the 1991 version of the movie with Kathy Bates and not the original version with Carol Burnett. Corin was out tonight, so the kids and I had movie night with "Annie".

So, now I shall share my thoughts on the re-make of one of my favorite childhood movies. (I was always real mad that I didn't have red hair as a child because I thought that was all that was standing between me and my dream of playing Annie on Broadway. Little did I realize that my inability to carry a tune in a bucket at that age was likely a much bigger obstacle.)

Pros: 1) I appreciated the fact that Ms. Hannigan was not slogging away on a fifth of whiskey through most of the movie as Carol Burnett's version of the character was prone to do. That might be a little hard to explain to the kids. 2) I really appreciated the fact that this movie did not contain any scenes where the fake parents actually absconded with Annie for some period of time and chased her through a construction site, or up a ladder or across a train trestle. I really don't remember the specifics, but I remember it was high and precarious and dark and scary and always made me very uptight. And Pressley is easily made uptight about those sorts of things, so it was nice to not have her clutching me through the last 20 minutes of the movie like she did during "Up."

Cons: 1) It was not the original. 2) They omitted the "Dumb Dog" song. Helllooo.... Why would they do that? Sing it with me now... "Dumb dog. Why are you followin' me? I ain't got a crumb, dog. So how about letting me be? I ain't gonna feed you. Don't have a snack for you. HHmmm, hmmm. Dum, dum, dum, dum, for you..." OK. So, I forgot some of the words, but how will I ever re-learn them now, when the only version of the movie in my house fails to include such an important element? 3) There is no scene in the pool with young Annie sporting a bathing cap. Crying shame, really.

I could go on with the cons, but really, the re-make was pretty decent. I mean, it did still feature "Hard Knock Life" and "Never Fully Dressed without a Smile." (Have I shared too much?)

Seriously, I can't believe I just wrote a whole post on the movie "Annie." This is what insomnia the night before throwing a party for 26 four-year-olds will drive a grown woman to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to bed and stare at the ceiling and worry about how exactly I'm supposed to cut the tiered cake that I just made to serve the maximum number of party guests. Or maybe I'll worry about how much Monkey Joe's will charge me for the 2 extra guests I might have. Or maybe I'll worry about how I've been blowing my diet all day today by eating sushi and untold nibbles of the pound cake I cut off to try to prevent the cake from being lopsided. (Totally lopsided anyway. I should have left those shavings on there and saved myself the calories.) Or how I intend to continue blowing my diet tomorrow by having a piece of pizza and a piece of cake. Or maybe I'll worry that I've become one of those people who can't just enjoy her kid's birthday without obsessing over the number of calories it may cause her to ingest.

Oh, so much to worry about and so few hours before morning....

Hey, on a positive note, now I don't have to say I wrote a whole post about "Annie." Now I can title the post, "Annie and other inanities."

See what happens when I come to the computer after my bedtime?

Goodnight.

Inside her brain

2010-04-22T21:06:00.006-04:00

I'm trying to get ready for Pressley's birthday party this weekend. Part of the prep is getting the frosting transfer ready for her cake. She wants Jasmine on her cake this year, so a couple of days ago, I found a couple of coloring book pages that I thought I could use. I decided to let her choose which one she wanted on the cake. So I showed her the following two pictures:

(I know the quality is poor. And, I tried and tried to get them to show up next to each other, but as we all know, I'm technologically challenged and that was apparently beyond my skill level.)

I asked her which one she would like on her cake. She laid them side by side and thought for a moment.

"Welllll," she said. "When she's doing this [pointing to the top picture above], she looks like a kid. But when she's sitting at her mira, she looks like a princess. And she needs to look like a princess. So, I guess this one [pointing at the bottom picture above]."

Alrighty then. Decision made. And good to know that lying on one's tummy with ankles raised and crossed makes one look like a kid. I think I may start trying that as I approach my forties. See if it makes me look more youthful.

Stay tuned for pictures of the cake. (But if you think I'm doing that vanity, you've got another think coming. There will be Jasmine and there will be something for her to perch on. That is it. I hope she still looks like a princess when the "mira" is out of the equation.)

** Just one more little note. My spell check just informed me that I don't even know how to spell technologically-challenged on my own. So sad when a once-bright mind goes dim...

Siblings

2010-04-18T17:43:00.007-04:00

I have been wanting to write this post for a long time, but for some reason, I've just been having such a hard time getting to the computer. (Incidentally, if you are wishing I would post more often, feel free to contribute to my laptop fund!!)

I digress. I have been so enjoying this stage in the kids' relationship as brother and sister. Evan and Pressley are so sweet together (most of the time) these days. They are very playful and loving. And he is very protective - well, unless he is tormenting her. Which brings me to the first story I wanted to share

While we were on Spring Break a couple of weeks ago, the kids enjoyed playing on the beach and in the pool together. Last summer, both were strong swimmers, but Pressley seems to have forgotten that she can swim. In fact, she said one day in amazement of another little girl her age in the pool, "Look, Mommy...that little girl can swim!" Ummm, I answered... "So can YOU!"

But she was having none of it. The pool was a "lagoon" pool and was centered around two small "islands". Evan enjoyed swimming back and forth to the islands, but Pressley wouldn't leave the security of the steps. (Even though toward the end of the trip, she was swimming on the surface of the water. It just happened to be the surface above the steps.) Anyway, Evan decided Pressley shouldn't have to miss the islands and the waterfall, so he decided he would carry her there across the shallow end. Then he decided he would play a good old fashoined game of UPsy Daisy with her. It went something like this....Step, Step, Step, Dunk (as he said UPsy daisy); Step, Step, Dunk; Step, Dunk; Dunk; Dunk; Dunk. The closer together the dunks (and the UPsy daisies) got, the more she sputtered. Mom and dad and I - through our laughter - were yelling, "Evan! No! Stop sweetie! She can't breathe!" When he finally stopped and deposited her safely on the steps, she looked at us, bewildered, and said (not really so mad as she was confused), "Why did Evan keep ducking me under the water and saying upsy daisy? He just kept doing it and saying upsy daisy! Just ducking me under and saying upsy daisy...."

Ahhh, siblings.

Then, we were at church last Wednesday night. After our activities were done, I was letting the kids run around and play in the courtyard outside while I chatted with my mom. (I like to wear them out before I bring them home whenever possible, and this night I knew Corin was working late and I'd have the bedtime shift by myself...) So they were playing and Pressley tripped over a seam in the sidewalk (she is her mama's child) and splatted on the pavement. I tried - I really did - not to react. But I knew it hurt. After I stifled a gasp, I tried the whole, "You're OK. Hop up and brush it off" thing, but it was too late. She'd heard the stifled gasp and she knew her knees and elbow were scraped. She ran to me and climbed up in my lap, howling.

Sweet little Evan (of recent dunking fame) came running over with concern in his eyes and gently placed a hand on each of her knees to keep the air from getting to her scrapes. They both stayed like that for a few seconds and then Pressley let go of me and leaned over to him and just hugged him and held him. It melted my heart. A precious moment indeed.

Ahhh, siblings.

When we go to the shoe store and the cashier gives her stickers, she asks if she can also have some for her brother who is at school. (And she doesn't ever keep them for herself.) He helps her get buckled in her carseat and sometimes even unbuckles her without being asked. She cheers for him at his basketball and soccer games. He tries to teach her to read.

Ironically, since I started this post, they have been fighting like cats and dogs. Despite the fact that Pressley has been at Berry with me this weekend and Evan has been home with his dad. You'd think they would have missed each other.

I have threatened to make them eat dinner alone in their rooms. Threatened to make them go to bed early. But the best thing I could have done is just what I did. Sit right here and finish this post and remind myself that I am really fortunate (and maybe we're even raising them right) that they love each other as much as they do.

I am optimistic that as they grow up, no matter how much they bicker, they will always love each other deeply, protect each other fiercly, enjoy each other's company, and yes, even torment each other from time to time. Because, after all...that's what siblings are for. Right?

Easter festivities

2010-04-13T19:51:00.002-04:00

We had a really lovely Easter celebration here in the McCarthy house. I already told you about the egg hunt we had at church on the Saturday before Easter. After we got home, the kids and Corin dyed some eggs. After bedtime, the Easter Bunny paid a visit to the kids. When they woke up, they were very excited about their goods. Lots of candy, a movie for each, a new Wii game (which, come to think of it, we still haven't opened to play), etc. Then we went upstairs to get dressed for church...(And we made it to the 9:00 service more or less on time, which is a feat in and of itself.)

This is the first year that I haven't completely obsessed about making sure that the kids' Easter outfits coordinated. And, wouldn't you know it...it is the first year I've gotten a photo of both of them looking at the camera in the same picture. Go figure. Oh, well. It's not like the clash, but they don't go. On another note, please note Evan's tucked-in shirt and his big boy belt. I typically get him a sweater vest so I don't have to fool with making him keep a shirt tucked in. But, seeing as he's almost six, I figured it was time he learned to tuck in a shirt and buckle a belt. Seriously. I know that is sad that I didn't tackle this issue before now, but I'm in a place where I like to pick my battles.

Then, for the third year in a row, we had my side of the family over for the Easter meal. This year we got together for dinner rather than lunch, and I inadvertently made Corin do the lion-share of the work by suggesting we do a bunch of stuff on the grill. I promise that wasn't pre-meditated. Not because I'm above doing that to him, but because I just didn't think of it. Oh, I kid. Really the whole grill thing was a ploy to create a menu that I could eat since I'm still on this silly ever-so-restrictive diet.

Before we sent Corin out to slave away at the grill, we all went down to the grassy common area of our subdivision (which the kids call "the rocks") to let the cousins all hunt eggs. They were enthusiastic about all the egg hunting despite the fact that this time around the eggs were completely empty.

I will return shortly to report on our trip to the beach and post some pictures from that adventure.

This post was going to be about Easter...

2010-04-10T21:00:00.002-04:00

I was all ready to post a few photos of Easter because we're back from our spring break trip and now I have an actual backlog of things to catch up on. But then I saw the line from my last post that said, "Note to self: order Pressley's...birthday party invitations before it is too late."

OK. Before you get ahead of yourself and judge me for forgetting...I did not forget. The invitations came while we were out of town. However. HOWEVER. I am glad that I did not have them pre-printed, because while we were on vacation, I got an e-vite from two families of kids in Pressley's class at school who are co-hosting a party for their two sons on the same day that I was planning to have Pressley's party. So, I spent quite a few minutes obsessing about the situation. Aloud. To my mother. Who graciously pretended to care.

And then. AND THEN...

Lo and behold I got another e-vite from another mother of a classmate of Pressley's inviting us to her birthday party on the alternate date I had finally settled on. After all the obsessing. Could I have worse luck? I mean, when am I supposed to have a party for this child without totally annoying all the other parents who now already have 3 presents to buy within the two weekend span surrounding Pressley's birthday??

And, I thought maybe we could get away with only inviting gymnastics friends and church friends and only a few friends from school who are closest to her. But dang it if she doesn't take after her mother (ahem) and feel as if everyone she knows should be involved in celebrating her birthday!

I think I have settled on having her party on a Sunday (which would never be my first choice, but does have the advantage of being her actual birthday), and just throw caution to the wind. As long as we invite everyone she knows, she may be so distracted by the guests who do show up that she won't notice the ones who don't come because their parents didn't want to buy one more friggin' birthday present for the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May.

Oh. And now my invitations are going to go out 5 days later than the ones for the double party that will take place one day before. And I thought being a lawyer was hard. This super-mommy thing is a chore!

I promise to tackle the backlog of pictures tomorrow. But now I have a backlog of shows on the DVR that are not going to watch themselves....

What happened to the last two weeks of March?

2010-04-03T17:16:00.005-04:00

Could it seriously be April already? I'm not complaining, mind you. Because April brings Easter, spring break at the beach, Pressley's 4th birthday, and SPRING! But, am I the only one that April totally snuck up on? (Note to self: order Pressley's Princess Jasmine birthday party invitations today before it is too late!)

Corin has taken the kids to play basketball, so I find myself with a few quiet moments, and I have chosen to spend them updating the blog. You're welcome.

We've had some serious fun around here lately. Evan has started playing spring soccer. He is loving it. Last spring, he totally hated soccer. This season, he is exhibiting mad skills, persistence, enthusiasm... he is a totally different kid out there.

Last weekend, we went to Knoxville to see Gran and Grandaddy, and of course, Lilly. The kids had a great time. That trip officially kicked off our Easter celebration.

We have been trying to really make sure the kids know that Easter is not just about eggs and bunnies and new outfits for church. But this is a tough one for me. Christmas is easy. The birth of a baby who would later become our savior. Warm and fuzzy. But, Easter.... Easter is heavy stuff for kids. For any of us really. I'm trying, nonetheless.

While in Knoxville, we attended a lovely Palm Sunday mass and dyed Easter eggs. Pressley looked up at the crucifix at the front of the church and whispered loudly, "Everybody loves Jesus because he's up there on the cross." Or something along those lines. Precious. It is probably about as deep as her understanding can be at not-quite-age-four. But I'm glad she understands that we love Jesus and he died on the cross. Evan's understanding is a bit more sophisticated. He understands that Jesus died, but then rose again on the third day. So, we're getting there.

Anyway, we had a great time in Knoxville, and the kids enjoyed dying eggs with Grandaddy. And they had a big time, as always, playing with Lilly. I'm quite sure that Lilly must breathe a sigh of relief when we leave.

Is this the cutest picture of the kids, or what?

And here they are dying their eggs....

Today, we continued the Easter festivities with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Briarlake. I didn't get many photos of the actual hunt, because....HOLY chaos, batman! I've never seen eggs disappear so quickly in all my life. The hunt seems to get bigger each year. The church volunteers hide roughly 6000 eggs. I don't know how many kids were there this year, but our gym seats 300-400, and let's just say I hope the fire marshall wasn't around this morning, because there were WAY more people than that packed in there. There were age-graded hunts, and our kids were luckily participating in the same hunt: for 3 year olds through kindergarten. (Although, I must say that there were some extraordinarily tall "kindergartners" out there....) Poor Pressley was so overwhelmed by the speed with which the hunt evolved that she just stood there with her basket, near tears, and whined, "I can't find any eggs, Mommy! I can't find any eggs!" Until super-daddy came to the rescue, grabbed her hand and ran with her to the land of milk and honey, just beyond where the throngs of kids were sweeping through picking up every egg in sight.

All in all, it was a great success. And then we got to eat lunch with the cousins, so the kids were happy as clams.

Still on today's agenda: dye more Easter eggs, cook dinner, clean the house (or at least straighten the piles of clutter) before the family comes over tomorrow night, stuff sweet tarts and gummies into plastic eggs, stuff plastic eggs (and other goodies) into Easter baskets, lay out (and maybe even iron) Easter outfits, scrub Easter tattoos off two little arms before said little arms go into sleeveless dress and short-sleeved shirt tomorrow for church.... I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I better go spend my remaining quiet moments resting up.

Happy Easter, yall. Do try to spend some time reflecting on the true meaning of it all and thank your Lord for paying the ultimate sacrifice for each of us.

Yesterday wasn't ALL bad

2010-03-16T19:55:00.003-04:00

I have fully recovered from the Crab Incident of '10. My mom thinks perhaps I should have made an addendum to yesterday's post to let you know that I have admitted that deep down, I probably did know I shouldn't be eating that crab meat, but that is what I really wanted for lunch. I don't know if she wanted me to redeem myself for looking so dense or if she was afraid that it would reflect poorly on her mothering skills that I "missed that part of my food education," but there it is. I think I did know better. I was just testing. It was a stupid test.

All that aside, me and my rumbly tummy took Evan and Pressley and met Corin at Evan's basketball banquet last night. The church was to provide the meats (ham and chicken) and the parents were to bring sides. I took a giant pot of green beans since I figured there would be nothing else I could eat and I got really greasy fingers from trying to peel all the breading off my Chick-fil-A chicken strips. I don't recommend this method. It is messy and probably didn't do all that much good.

Has this post really been all about me so far?

It was supposed to be about Evan. And his basketball banquet. And how darn cute that kid is when he is wearing a jersey and he is so proud of himself. The banquet was for all 80 something of the K-1st kids, but after the dinner, we broke up into teams and each team had its own room to hand out trophies. (Thanks to whomever thought up this time-saving gem. We would have otherwise been there all night! As it was, we were out by 7:15. Surely a relief to the parents who have three kids in the program and will be there every night this week for banquets.) The coaches said some really nice things about Evan's improvement and skills when they presented him with his trophy. About how proud they were when he scored his first basket. And about how great he was during practice doing drills. And some other nice stuff.

And since my camera does appear to work in the trophy-handing-out-room (as opposed to the gym), I even have some pictures.

Waiting his turn.

Coach DeWitt and Coach King talking to Evan about his accomplishments.

Cute boy with his trophy.

One last "gator" cheer with his coaches and team mates. (Here's hoping this Tennessee Vol family won't have to endure another season of cheering for the Gators!)

Looking through the "yearbook" of his first basketball season.

So proud!

Pregnant friends: look away

2010-03-15T15:27:00.002-04:00

Seriously, if you are one of my many pregnant friends (and who knew I'd have so many at the age of 37?), you are not gonna like where this is headed.

I confess: I have started a new diet. I know, I know. If you've known me for more than 30 minutes, you'll be shocked. I'm always embarking on a new diet. The surprising thing about this one is that it seems to be working. Fingers crossed...

The diet is rather restrictive. And restrictive is not a word I embrace in really any area of my life - most of all when it comes to what I can eat. I do not typically enjoy being told what to do (and more precisely - what not to do). Again, if you know me at all, I'm sure you find that just shocking.

I have not been miserable at all, but I must say that I get awfully excited when I can make something I really do like that fits into the whole diet scheme. So, this is why I posted on Facebook today that I was super excited to be having diet-compliant crab stuffed mushrooms for lunch. They looked absolutely yummy, so I even posted a picture: (Exhibit A)

But when I first took a bite, I thought that they tasted a bit bitter. I figured that was because the recipe called for onion flakes and garlic powder rather than actual onions and garlic, and I made a mental note to use real onion and garlic next time. And then I ate them. Well, most of them. I finally decided that the bitterness was a bit off-putting and I wouldn't finish them. Then I went upstairs to put Pressley down for her nap. Then I had to lie down too because my tummy just didn't feel quite right.

When we got home from the bus stop, Evan wanted to know what was that smell?? And then it hit me. Ummm, that would be cooked crab that has turned. My can of crab meat said that it was good until something like September of 2010. But, it has been open for some time. I don't know how long, which makes me think it has been more than 2-3 weeks. Maybe I am supposed to know that the expiration date no longer means anything once you open the can. Is that common knowledge? If so, I missed that in my food education. Because my salsa has an expiration date on it, but it also says to discard 3 weeks after opening. The crab can has no such disclaimer. I looked.

But my tummy is still rumbling a bit, lo these many hours later.

Anyway. Now all the windows and doors in the house are open to let out what Evan is calling the "yucky smell" and I am very grateful that I am not deathly ill. And grateful that the weather is nice enough to be able to air out the house without soaking it or freezing to death.

But I am not very grateful that my first attempt at the stuffed mushrooms may make my stomach turn if I make a second attempt. I was really looking forward to the stuffed mushrooms being a lunch staple. I still may try again. Because it sure beats another grilled chicken salad with no real dressing to speak of....

Hoops and gutter balls

2010-03-06T17:23:00.004-05:00

Today began with another basketball game for Evan. The next to last. Evan has improved SO much since his first game. We are just so proud of him. Particularly at his practices, he's been showing a vast improvement in all his skills - from dribbling to shooting - as well as a better understanding of the game and even a little assertiveness. But in the games, he has still been a little timid (e.g., if he got his hands on the ball, he always passed it to the kid on the team who makes all the shots). Well, until now.

See, we went out to lunch with my parents after last week's game and my father offered up a little bribe to Mr. Evan. Dad told him that if he would shoot the ball in his next game, he would take Evan out for ice cream. Pretty good deal, huh? Come to find out, it worked as a pretty good motivator, because I'll be darned if he didn't shoot the ball for the first time - and SCORE! Hooray for our little guy. So proud. Who knew a little ice cream bribe would improve his game.

Next week is the last basketball game and the first soccer game, so that will be a fun feat of juggling.

I would provide pictures of all the basketball, but my camera has proven that it is unwilling to take photos in that gym. Stubborn camera. You can click over here if you want to see pics that my dad took at his first game.

After the game, he went off with GranNan and Poppy to my nephew, Will's soccer game and Pressley and I went to a birthday party for one of her friends at school. It was a bowling party. Let me say that again. It was a bowling party for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. I went armed with my camera and ready to be entertained.

It was actually less chaotic than I had imagined. The first 15 minutes or so were a free-for-all wherein all the kids just rolled the ball down whatever lane they felt like in whatever order struck them. When practice time was over, I have very low expectations for how the whole waiting-your-turn thing would go. But they were all champs. And lest you wonder how long it took for those balls to reach the pins at speeds so slow you cannot even imagine, I will tell you a secret. They have these nifty little ramps for little kids to use. They look like a walker almost, but the front part is a ramp. So, the kids hoist their 6 lb ball up to the top and then give it a push, and lo and behold, it makes it to the pins in a fashion that is not-too-painful to watch. Sadly, for the first 2 or 3 frames, our lane was the only one to not have said cool ramp thingee and we watched some painfully slow rolls that barely made it to the end until I had the bright idea to go ask for another ramp to be brought out. That sped things up a bit.

And then mercifully, because God is good, there was a time limit on how long they let the kids play. I think we had gotten through about 4-1/2 frames when a big blinky light came on all the screens saying that they had to stop. (As a side note, oh-my-gosh, I can't imagine how painful it would have been to watch them play 10 frames!) It was unfortunate that it happened right before Pressley's turn, but when she heard the magic word (cake), she quickly forgot that she had been waiting ever-so-patiently for her next turn.

At the end, each child got a trophy with his/her name on it that said Best Bowler, so-and-so's party, and the date. Cute. Pressley declared it to be the most fun party ever (at least until the next one).

OK. So, just look at my little cutie in her bowling shoes. Does she rock the bowling shoe look, or what? That picture on the top left is the best shot I got of the ramp thingee, but perhaps I am the only person who had never seen one before today and you are not the least bit impressed by this revelation.

A tea party with Lil' P

2010-03-02T16:33:00.002-05:00

Pressley and I were having a delightful tea party on her bed. She grabbed a big princess jewel and explained that this was our jewel for the party. Then she said,

"And if robbers come and steal our jewel, maybe I will have to leave and chase them. And kill them. And then...we can come back and start our party. [Long pause.] But that is [nervous laughter] not appropriate for children."

And then later...

[Posing.] "Do I look pretty, mommy?"

Me: "Yes, Pressley. You always look pretty."

"Good. Then maybe the white power ranger will see me and think I'm pretty and then he will want to fight me."

Me: "He's going to fight you because you're pretty?"

"Yep."

Okey-dokey. Is that kinda like that old commercial where the woman says, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."? Who knows?

Just another conversation in the life of a child who cannot seem to separate fantasy from reality. I wish I lived in her head...

It's a good thing...

2010-02-20T17:42:00.003-05:00

It's a good thing I'm not one of those mothers who gets her kids so involved in extra-curricular activities that they are just plain run ragged. It's a good thing I decided early on to only let my kids participate in one sport or activity at a time. If I were one of those mothers, we could have had a day that started with a basketball game, from which we had to hurry to get straight to a karate test. Oh, wait. That is exactly how our day started.

I decided a while back that since karate happens at school only one day a week, that Evan could do that plus one other thing. Right now, that other thing is basketball. And this weekend is one of the few times that the two shall nearly conflict.

Today, Evan had his first karate test for rank. You may recall he had a karate test last fall, but that one was an animal patch test. This test was for one yellow stripe on his belt. (Once he gets two yellow stripes, he'll get a yellow belt.) He did great. We could really see a whole lot of improvement in his skill level from November's test. We also saw a whole lot of improvement in his ability to stay focused and listen to the sensai for over an hour. The kids were all very cute.

Since I had to get up at a relatively ungodly hour (for a Saturday) to make a 9 a.m. basketball game and went straight from there to the dojo, guess what I forgot? Yep. The camera. The iPhone would have to suffice again. Thank goodness for that little wonder, because otherwise, I'd be missing my kids' entire childhoods.

Here are a few pictures of the warm-up and the test, followed by a few more of the promotion when Evan received his yellow stripe.

Mama's got some more difficult sewing to do. (Yes, I realize that difficult sewing in my house is defined a bit differently than in some other houses. Any sewing that makes me fear a semi-permanent injury to the skin underneath my thumbnail is difficult here. In my friend Lisa's house, difficult sewing is pleating a dress to prepare it for smocking. I have other talents, people. Sewing is simply not one of them.)

As an aside (as if that last paragraph were not an aside, too), I LOST the crane patch that Evan earned in November because I was procrastinating sewing it on. A couple of weeks ago, we got an e-mail reminding us that patches and stripes should not be attached to uniforms using safety pins or staples (apparently, I am not the only mama lacking the sewing gene) and stating that patches should be affixed (read: sewn) to the gi no later than the practice that follows the promotion ceremony. This e-mail, having pointed out that I am three months tardy with the task, inspired me to dig the patch out of my purse and sew it onto the gi. Oooops. I looked and looked for that darn thing - cleaned out my purse and my car in the process - but could not find it. So, I purchased a replacement patch today. I think that Evan is none the wiser - at least until he shows some interest in reading my blog someday and finds out here. I shall make this promise here and now: I will have both the patch and the stripe sewn on before Friday's class. Take me to the Grady if you find me bleeding profusely from underneath my thumb nail between now and then.

OK, now here are the pictures: (Hey, look! I found the verbosity again...)

(Just look at that cutie patootie doing his little karate roll. He is the little ball on the left.)

Conversations from the backseat

2010-02-18T21:05:00.003-05:00

On our way home from basketball practice tonight, this is what I heard:

Evan: Pressley? Pressley? Have you ever heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?

Pressley: No.

Evan: Weeellll, there was this tortoise and he was very slow. And there was this hare and he hopped really, really fast. [Exasperated.] Pressley! Shhh. This is a miracle story.

[Tells story. Well, sort of.]

Evan: Soooo, it really isn't a miracle story. It is just a weird story where the hare makes the tortoise cheat.

Tee hee. Don't worry. I set him straight. I told him the moral of the story from the hare's perspective and the moral of the story from the tortoise's perspective. But, I'm pretty sure given his reaction that he still liked his version better.

I should leave the radio off more often.

Quite a game

2010-02-15T16:35:00.006-05:00

Evan is playing basketball at Briarlake. It is our first experience with basketball and it is our first experience with playing sports at the church where I grew up. Yes, they probably had the program when I was growing up, but I have never had any more athletic prowess or interest than I do right at this moment. So, clearly I never played.

Apparently, each season, one practice is dedicated to a player-parent scrimmage. Corin graciously agreed to leave work early and meet us up at the church for this event so that I was mercifully left to photograph the event rather than participate in it. We hear there has never been a game in which the parents beat the kids. Apparently...the parents of the players at Briarlake are themselves some lousy athletes. I would have fit right in, I guess. But I still prefer the photographing to the participating.

The kids (and I think the parents) had a great time. Then, our team parents arranged to have pizza upstairs in the backlot for all the families after practice. Good times had by all. Here are some of the photos:

I think you can see why the parents may have been outmatched....

(Please note that the photo of the scoreboard was the final score despite the fact that it shows four minutes remaining on the clock. Let's not let the pizza get cold, people!)

(Also, please note my hubby in shorts and sneakers with his gangsta' jacket. I would not have taken that photo had he not himself pointed out that he looked like a flasher. And he may have even "flashed" me.)

(You may also note that the quality of these photos is particularly poor. And you may think that that is because I forgot my camera again and took these photos on the iPhone. You would be wrong. These were taken with the "good" camera. May be time to get mama a new camera.)

Phoning it in

2010-02-15T16:08:00.002-05:00

I think part of the problem causing my relative absence from blogging lately is that I'm not feeling particularly verbose in this season in my life. (If you've had dinner with me recently, you may take exception to that classification.) Perhaps the lack of verbosity (Is that a word? If not, it should be. I like it.) is limited to the written word.

Thus, without a whole lot of explanation or story-telling, I give you a brilliant piece of photo-journalism I have thoughtfully entitled "More Snow." (If you'd like to see the full set of photos, check out the new Feb. 2010 link under Photos.)

Oh, and a couple of videos for good measure. You're welcome.

P.S. If you saw the video after the last snow that I posted on Facebook, you may note the absence of the Herbie Curbies and dead Christmas trees in this round of video, making the sledding a little less treacherous.

Fun family night

2010-02-06T21:16:00.001-05:00

We tried something new tonight.

Somehow I have gotten on the e-mail distribution list for Georgia State's athletics program. And recently, I received an e-mail about GSU basketball. A little light went off in my head. The kids might really enjoy going to a college basketball game on a smaller scale. Particularly since Evan is playing basketball for the first time this winter.

(I promise I'll blog soon about his basketball season. It has been a hoot.)

So, we decided to check out a game tonight. It was homecoming. I told Corin when we were going down the stairs from the parking garage that the last time I attended a college basketball homecoming game, I was in a long, corduroy Laura Ashley dress with a BIG OL' collar. Ahh, the memories.

But, back to GSU. We had a really fun family night. We were almost completely derailed when we arrived at the same time as the GSU panther in his full blue furry costume. He must not have been as terrifying as Monkey Joe, because we were able to move past it after about 15 minutes.

We got to the game late, but Pressley very much enjoyed the dancers and the cheerleaders and Evan very much enjoyed sitting next to daddy and getting the play by play on what was going on in the game.

And you can't beat a $9.00 dinner for the entire family. Well, nutritionally, you can. But where else can you get 2 hot dogs, a slice of pizza, a box of popcorn, a bag of skittles and 4-20 oz sodas for nine bucks? I dare you to try to top the economical value. (Don't worry. We'll feed them nothing but vegetables all day tomorrow.)

The game itself was a nail-biter. GSU led by a narrow margin for most of the game against William and Mary, but in the last seconds, W&M pulled ahead, and then with something like 6 or 9 seconds left on the clock, GSU had the ball - down three points. Some dude shot a 3 pointer with about 1 second left to send the game into overtime, but alas, it was not meant to be. The ball bounced off the rim and we were on our way home.

I think we'll definitely do it again. After all, how many folks have a college basketball stadium ten minutes from their front door? And did I mention the nine dollar dinner. Oh, I guess I did.

MONSTER..monster..monster JAM..jam..jam

2010-01-21T10:01:00.002-05:00

Evan has been going through this phase for quite some time where he is very interested in monster trucks. He has a friend at school who is into monster trucks, so he'll come home and ask me questions (usually when we are in the car) about whether a monster truck can crush this or that and whether a monster truck is faster than this or that. Of course, I DON"T KNOW! Look at me. Do I look like a monster truck gal? (Hoping your answer is "no".)

So, I heard an ad on the radio a while back for MONSTER..monster..monster JAM..jam..jam at the Georgia Dome and I told Corin that Evan might really like going to that because of this fascination with monster trucks. Well, as we do with a lot of things, we let it drop for quite some time. Then, the day before "Blizzard '10", Corin called me to say that the Monster Jam was this Saturday and did I want to get tickets for Evan and me. Tee Hee.

It was very sweet of Corin to think that I might want to get the credit for having the idea to take Evan to this event. And I'm all about spending special mommy/son time on dates. But, really? ME...? Take him ALONE...? To the Monster Jam...? Tee Hee.

So, I said we should talk about it that evening. Well, then the Storm of the Century hit and delivered a dusting of snow (that then melted and turned to ice, but, whatever) and we let it drop again. Until... UNTIL... 6 p.m. on Saturday night. I was downstairs getting ready to bread some pork chops for some "oven fried pork." I had my egg and milk wash all ready to go when Evan ran in and said, "Daddy said he might take me to the MONSTER JAM tonight!" And then he ran off.

When I began to investigate, I found Corin on the computer browsing Stub Hub for some tickets to the sold out Monster Jam that was starting in an hour and a half. He did find tickets, and because the Stub Hub office is very near the Dome, he was able to order them online and pick them up on the way to the event. Best Daddy ever!

He had a great time, and when they got home (at 10:30 p.m.) he was as animated as I have ever seen him.

"And then, the Batman one jumped over blah, blah, blah..." "And, then...THEN...the Superman truck caught on fire! It was SO cool!" "OH, and then, the one called...what was it called, Daddy? Oh, yeah - Escalade. It landed and it's wheel POPPED OFF! Can you believe that? SO cool!"

Here are some pictures of the various trucks, as well as Evan looking happy as a clam. Almost makes me wish I had been the one to take him. Well, no. Strike that. I'm happy just looking at the pictures and hearing the very excited re-cap.

Who knew?

2010-01-20T16:30:00.002-05:00

So, I'm sitting at my desk in the office/playroom trying to come up with a lesson plan for preschool music for tonight at church. Pressley had come in to play, but I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention for a while. Because she was quiet.

Then, I realized she had been whispering for quite some time. I turned around to see what all the whispering was about, and this is what I see:

She was apparently voicing over quite the dialog for a torrid love affair between Buzz Lightyear and the Barbie Mermaid. I always thought Buzz was hung up on Bo Peep. Who knew he was actually secretly whispering sweet nothings to a purple mermaid? Go figure.

As I listened more closely (having not been caught snapping the picture), I heard lots of talk of "true love's kiss" and somebody knowing "just what to do." At least she was keeping it PG. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this one, though.

How come I never take you to the airport anymore?

2010-01-13T21:17:00.002-05:00

So...I am a big fan of When Harry Met Sally. As pitiful as it makes me sound...it is still one of my favorite movies. I watched half of it very recently, in fact, on Lifetime or WE or some such network. What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. (But I warn you, you still might not really get it. I think I might be getting set for some rambling.)

OK, so there's this line in WHMS where Billy Crystal says he has never taken a girlfriend to the airport at the beginning of a relationship. Because eventually the relationship moves on and you don't take her to the airport anymore, and he never wanted anyone to look at him and say, "How come you never take me to the airport anymore?"

Sometimes that's how I feel about the blog. I wanted readers. I still want readers. I want to tell you about my life and sometimes maybe even make you laugh a little. I appreciate that you care. But, with that comes a lot of pressure - even if it is self-imposed. Sometimes (just every once in a while) I wish I had never taken you to the airport at the beginning of our relationship. I feel that I have spoiled you (those three or four of you who read regularly) by posting at least once and sometimes twice (or even three times) a week. And I put this pressure on myself to post, even when I don't have much to say, because it would break my heart to have you ask me why I never take you to the airport anymore.

Does that make any sense at all?

No?

OK. Fine.

Then here are some pictures of the kids playing in the snow during "Blizzard" 2010. I don't really have a whole lot to say about them. Except this: The first photo, where they have their tongues out... you can't even see the snow, but trust me that there were a few flurries flying around and they were trying to catch them. That last picture of Evan, I'm told, is him trying to throw snow at daddy. Apparently daddy didn't get the shot off until E was done with his follow-through. Oh, well.

The kids (and by "kids", I mean Evan and Corin) had a really good time playing in the snow. They sledded and sledded until there was no snow or ice left. Can you see from the top right photo how much Pressley enjoyed the snow? The girls stayed inside and stayed warm mostly - though I've got to say I'm not sure I've been really warm in about two weeks. So glad I don't live up north...like in Tennessee. I'm just not cut out for being cold.

I could try to promise you that my next post will be more coherent and less rambling, but seriously, I can't possibly make that kind of promise. Any more than I can promise you that I'll continue to post once a week - or more.

THAaaat one died a long time ago...

2010-01-07T11:30:00.009-05:00

Happy new year. Sorry I've been absent for a while. We had a great time celebrating the coming of 2010 by spending New Year's Eve with some of Corin's oldest (strike that: most enduring) friends, who came in from Chattanooga to attend the Chick-fil-a Bowl (ahem, the PEACH Bowl)* with us. The game did not work out so well, considering these are friends of Corin's from his days at UT and UT got, how shall I put this...squashed...in the game. But we had a great dinner, a fun time with friends, and then a late night playing some Wii. Oh, well. Go VOLS! anyway.

All the while, the kids were at Camp GranNan and Poppy having a grand old time.

(Clockwise from top left: Poppy and the kids watching a movie; Evan building with K'nex; kids watching t.v. from their "little tables" while eating dinner-or so it would appear; Evan building with the Tinker Toys Poppy thought he just had to have; P talking to mommy on New Year's morning.)

Then, on New Year's Day (after sleeping late and eating breakfast/lunch at The Majestic - yay for grandparents!), we headed over to the home of some of my oldest (correction: longest suffering) friends for a traditional new year meal of black eyed peas and greens. Not collards. Kale. I gotta hand it to Jennifer: She managed to make the least offensive kale dish I've ever had. And I mean that as a sincere compliment. I think she would agree, but luckily she's way too busy and successful to have time to read my blog. :o)

Since then, we've set about trying to keep the kids entertained before they headed back to school (however briefly if this "blizzard" actually comes to pass). Anywho... Mom and I took the kids to Fernbank on Tuesday for the last hoorah. We'd already done nearly everything else I could think of to do in this frigid weather. The kids really enjoyed it. Pressley went from glass case to glass case saying (loudly) and THAaat one died a long time ago....and THAaaat one died a long time ago. Over and over and over. Really. Like 50 times. It was cute.

We also [Kerry, look away] met a real live snake. A corn snake. Named Mazola. If not for a very strict no-touching-the-snake-unless-you-are-at-least-four policy, Pressley would have been all about petting this guy. Even holding him, I bet, if given the opportunity. She asked lots and lots of questions. When the man told her that the snake eats mice, she said "But I don't see any mices around here!" The man assured her that they would get one for him. E seemed to like the snake a lot too, but he was much quieter and stayed a little further back. He did not seem to be interested in touching the snake, despite the fact he met the age restriction.

Later, in an effort to watch just one second of television that is not animated,** I turned to the cooking channel while the kids were not paying attention. Do you know that they both came and climbed up in my lap and watched Paula Dean with me and were mesmerized. Who knew? (Also, who knew that I like to use italics so much?) Paula was making some "light" chicken salad to stuff in some tomatoes, and every couple of steps, Evan would say, "That doesn't look too hard to make." It was super cute. I mentioned to Corin that night at dinner that Evan thought the chicken salad didn't look too hard to make - several times - and he took offense. He did say it more than once, but at least I conceded that he didn't say it nearly as many times as his sister had said "THAaaat one died a long time ago!" earlier in the day.

Two post-scripts:

*Just so ya know... I love me some Chick-fil-a, and I appreciate Mr. Cathy's generous contribution to my scholarship fund and all, but must everything be "sponsored"? Why can't we just call the Peach Bowl the Peach Bowl? And the...well, dang, I've already forgotten what the Outback Bowl and the Tostidos Bowl used to be called. Citrus maybe for the Outback?

**Also so you know...we don't watch a ton of TV around here, but I've been sick and it has been COLD, so it has been on more than usual. Please don't call DFACS. I promise to appropriately stimulate my children as soon as either I feel better or it gets warmer. Preferably both. That's all.

Dear Santa

2009-12-27T19:24:00.002-05:00

Dear Santa:

When a 3 year old girl asks for make-up for Christmas, it is not always a good idea to comply with the request. I understand that your intentions were pure and that the make-up you brought is "soap and water washable", but, I declare! That stuff is the biggest mess I've ever seen. And I'm not sure our upholstered furniture will ever be the same. Additionally, I'm certain that the looks I get in public from random strangers on days that I forget or don't have time to wash her face on the way out the door will not be looks of approval. Surely I don't need to tell you that a 3 year old does not understand the concept of less is more - nor does she necessarily have the skill set to color in the lines.

I just thought it might be helpful for you to know this for future reference.

Sincerely,

A mom at her wit's end

Merry, merry Christmas wrap-up

2009-12-26T11:49:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness, we are so blessed. We have had such a wonderful Christmas.

Since I last posted, we have had lots of quality family time with both the Pressleys/Bainbridges and the McCarthys. On Monday night, we went to a restaurant with GranNan and Poppy, Beth, David, Will and Abby and then went back to GranNan and Poppy's house for presents and dessert. We all had such a good time. The kids got lots of great gifts that they were excited about, and of course, they got to spend time with their cousins, which they always love.

On Tuesday, the kids and I went to visit my sweet Granny at her apartment. We took some petit fours that the kids helped me make and visited for about an hour. The kids were quite literally bouncing off the walls and I was worried that we were way too much for Granny. But she seemed to thoroughly enjoy our visit. When we left, she said we had made her Christmas by coming to visit - and that made my day. (She later reported to my mother that the kids were sweet and cute and "peppy" on our visit. That is one way to describe it....)

Late Tuesday night, Kerry and Kate arrived from New York. We always enjoy their visits so much. They spoil the kids - but in the good way. They never say no when the kids ask them to read a story, climb in a tent, play a game, etc. They just love our kids and that makes my heart happy. The next afternoon, Gran and Grandaddy and Lilly (the beagle) arrived and the kids' joy was made complete. We did lots of cooking, playing, reading, etc. Kerry and Kate and Grandaddy took the kids and Lilly to the park. Check out what happened to Lil' P when she stopped moving for a second.... Yep. She fell asleep in the swing. Multiple times apparently. Poor baby. So much excitement...so little rest.

We turned out some really excellent meals while the McCarthy clan was here and enjoyed sitting around the table and just being together.

Don't worry. Pressley is not actually drinking champagne. That is "special kid champagne" in her glass - otherwise known as ginger ale.

Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve. The kids went to bed a lot later than usual. We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the Christmas story out of their kids Bible story book. Then waited for them to go to sleep. And waited. And waited. Corin and I finally got to attend a Christmas eve service at Briarlake for the first time in many, many years. When we got back from church, Santa had not yet arrived, so it was a late bedtime for us.

But as usual, it was well worth it. Santa was good to the kids. Despite the fact that Santa's elf who used to make Batman legos is not making them anymore, Evan got some gifts - including other legos - that he really seemed to enjoy. Pressley got the Princess Vanity that she so desperately wanted (though we have since discovered that Santa probably could have just brought the vanity stool and she would have been perfectly happy).

Finally, after a fun day of playing with all the new toys, we headed off to South Carolina to spend Christmas evening with my mom's side of the family - 26 strong this year. What a fun bit of controlled chaos that always is. Pressley and Sydney, who don't see each other nearly enough, became fast friends and bonded over a little Leapster fun. "Baby" Michael was trying hard to keep up with the big kids this year and he was just as cute as he could be.

All in all, it was just a perfect Christmas. In all the excitement and fun of the season, we tried very hard to keep the focus on the one true Gift we celebrate this season.

We hope that you and yours had as blessed a Christmas as we did. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (well, early afternoon...).

P.S. I discovered this nifty collage feature in Picasa, so I was able to share a lot more pictures than usual in the body of the blog post, but if you still want more, check out the Dec. 09 link under Albums.