Happy Birthday, Maddy!

Two short/long years ago, our little Madinator came into this world. She is such a sweet, funny little girl and we are so happy to have her around!

We will always have to try to keep her birthday separate from Christmas and I think we did a pretty good job this year (as opposed to all the OTHER years!). We had a special dinner with her grandparents from Virginia, followed by birthday cupcakes, or just birthday frosting if you are Maddy or Cady! The usual present opening came next and the funniest thing was that her favorite gifts were ... the new doll?? No. The cool toddler markers? No. The new outfits? YES. She had to try each outfit on and proudly modeled them. I've never seen a 2-year old that liked clothing so much!! Funny girl. I'll post the pics soon ...

A Weekend in Charleston

A couple weekends ago, Ray and I took the girls and headed down to Charleston for Ray's 10-year reunion at The Citadel. (Go, Bulldogs!) We rented a house with a few of his former classmates and, as the only children there, our girls had a great time entertaining everybody with there adorable-ness.

On Saturday, the rain held off long enough for us to take Cady and Maddy over to the campus to see the Summerall Guards perform and to stroll around the campus. We briefly visited Summerall Chapel ... we didn't want our giggling, cackling girls running around the pews to disrupt anyone's quiet meditation! Our favorite campus stop was probably the bell tower. We were very close to it at one point, and when it began to chime, the girls were very drawn to it. So we all took the very scary, small elevator to the top of the bell tower and got to the see the guy who "plays" the bells doing what he does. It was pretty cool!

Now, we had been "selling" this whole campus visit to Cady with "parade" as the key attraction. Parade is when all the cadets march out on the parade ground in the center of campus and do, as Ray calls it, a big "dog and pony show." All morning long, as we're touring campus, Cady was asking about when "fawade" was going to start. When it finally did, I'm afraid it wasn't quite what she was hoping for. In 2 words: No floats. I think she thought her bubble bath that night in our jacuzzi tub was WAY better than parade!


Unfortunately (maybe), because of rain and naptime, we didn't get to go the football game in the afternooon, but we did brave the chilly rain to take the girls downtown to see some sights, like Rainbow Row and the Straw Market. We ducked into a big candy store for shelter and ended up with enough candy to last the whole ride home and then some. The next morning, which was sunny but cold, we went back downtown to take the girls on a little horse and carriage ride.

Deep thoughts ...

Will there be food with Jesus? 'cuz I'll be hungwy.

--- Cady

Oh where, oh where has my Maddy gone?

A couple weeks ago, Ray and I had a conversation wherein we agreed that Cady is definitely becoming more pleasant. We voiced the hope that the "thrilling three's" may be wrapping up a few months ahead of schedule. She certainly still has her moments (especially on days when she doesn't nap) but there's been a marked improvement in her overall attitude and temperament and it's been a lovely change.

Unfortunately, Cady's improvement apparently is coinciding with Maddy's descent into the "terrible two's". It's so depressing. Maddy has always, always been such a loving, happy baby/little girl and lately she has really begun to get disagreeable. "NO, MOMMY" is often said with an angry look but not as often as an emphatic "UH HUH!!" And heaven forbid I ask her to share anything. Like I said, disagreeable. Not all the time, but quite a bit more often than I would like and WAY more than she has ever been. It's a bummer ... right as I thought things were about to get blissful, what with Cady becoming such a happy helper. Oh well!

Potty training progress ...

Well, we hit the wall and BROKE THROUGH!!! Cady is pooping on the potty like a champ and you know what did the trick??? A chart! A couple weeks ago, I was sitting with Cady watching a show on PBS called "Sid, the Science Kid". The whole show was about using charts to record data. When the show was over, Cady informed me that SHE wanted a chart and I saw my opportunity. I quickly typed up a "Poop on the Potty" chart and it has TOTALLY motivated her! Why didn't I think of a chart sooner?!?

Our Hero, Sid

If you've been following our blog for a while, you may remember a post from a few months ago about our mouse problem. It inspired lots of responses and we received lots of advice. Ray tried all sorts of food items to attract the little bugger(s) to the traps, but to no avail. We had almost resigned ourselves to peacefully coexist.

A few weeks ago, a friendly orange tabby cat began frequenting our house along with several other homes on our street. As far as we can tell, no one claims him. Last Friday morning, our babysitter had mercy on the little guy and put out a bowl of milk out for him (her?). Later that day, when I opened the back door to take out the trash, what was lying in the middle of the doormat??? A mouse head. Yes, just the head. And the next day, I found another dead mouse by our outside trash bin. Now, I liked the little guy from the get-go because he's so friendly but after two dead mice, even Ray is liking him. It was Ray that dubbed him Sid, short for Sid Vicious ... seemed appropriate. Ray has now modified his previous stand of dislike of all cats. A cat that is USEFUL wins Ray's affection!!

(that's Sid camped out on our kitchen windowsill!)

HAPPY, HAPPY DAY!!!

Life has been decidedly more hectic since I've begun this long-term sub job. So much so that last night I was wondering about the procedure for a sub getting a sub for a day next week.

But then this morning, WONDERFUL NEWS!!! A chemical leak a few miles from the school ... a styrene vapor leak to be specific! So I got all the way to school, only to be sent home by a district employee.

The whole way home I was praying that Ray had already left with the girls and HE HAD!!

AN ENTIRE MORNING TO MYSELF!!!! WHATEVER WILL I DO??

Where to begin? Laundry? Clean the blinds? Go to Target BY MYSELF??? Hmmm. I'm SOOOOO excited!! Can you feel it??! (oh, and I hope no one was hurt in the chemical leak ...)

The Potty Wars

The Potty Wars have been raging here in the Mechling household for nearly a year. It's been Cady VS. Mom and Dad and, to be honest, we've been getting our bee-hinds kicked by a 3-year old. Cady has been going #1 on the potty since around last Christmas and that was a fairly painless process. #2, however, has been a completely different story!!

We had 2 incidents of #2 around the new year (10 months ago!!) and we've been coaxing/encouraging/bribing her to repeat the performance ever since. We've had many episodes of her sitting for 5, 10, 15 minutes on the potty, sometimes in tears, refusing to DO anything. So, it's been pull-up city, until a few days ago when Ray made the comment that diapers are for babies. Cady picked that up right away and since last week sometime, whenever I could tell that she needed to go #2, would refuse to put on a pull-up, but neither would she get on the potty. Not good.

After an accident at the park and some very painful tummy aches, I think things were finally starting to click in Cady's mind. Last night, while I was cooking dinner, I heard the usual, "Mommy, I need to show you something!" In the middle of dicing something, I responded, "Just a minute!" When Cady said,"Mommy, I really need to show you something in the potty!!" I envisioned that Maddy had unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper in the commode so I hurried into the bathroom and behold ... POOP IN THE POTTY!!

It was a very happy day!! Cady kept exclaiming "HOORAY!!! I went poopoo in the potty!!! I'm so proud!!" She was so excited so I hope that it's the beginning of the end of diapers. And I really hope it's not ANOTHER ten months before she goes poop in the potty again!!

p.s. I'm really sorry to write a post about potties and poop but anyone who has or has had a toddler KNOWS what a major part of your life potty training is!!

When Cady grows up

Yesterday, I witnessed the most interesting conversation between Cady and Ray.

Cady: Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a doctor!
Ray: Really? that's great!
Cady: No, I want to be a penguin.
Ray: uhhhhh ...
Cady: and when I get bigger, I want to be a giant.

Cady says lots of things that make me chuckle, but that one made me laugh out loud!!

Not to leave Maddy out ... her newest talent is taking off her pants and diaper. I discovered this when I went into her room after naptime recently and found her standing there in her crib in her shirt and her bare bottom, and the HUGEST grin on her face!!

Growing up and letting go

Our baby Cady is growing up. She's been out of her crib for months now and Ray and I finally decided that it was time to get rid of it. This old house doesn't have enough space to store extra toothpicks, much less a crib! Since we will never be in a position again where we have 2 children in cribs at the same time (I know, never say never, blah, blah, blah), we opted to keep Maddy's and to put Cady's on Craigslist. Waalaa, 2 days later, it was riding away with a young family with a baby on the way.

You may wonder why I would even make mention of this. Well, I was unexpectedly emotional about it. My first baby slept in this crib. We arranged our first nursery using this crib. And when I was telling a friend about it later in the day, I started to choke up!! I know it's just a "thing" but it felt like letting go of a precious piece of Cady's infancy, like the moment pictured below, and it made me very sad. Perhaps a little overly sentimental, but then I'm not known for my stoicism!

The best time of year!

I LOVE AUTUMN!! I love working inside the house, with the fresh breeze blowing in through the open windows. I love being able to play outside with my children and enjoy it without sweating/freezing to death. I hope this breezy, pleasant weather lasts until Thanksgiving -- ok, at least until Halloween -- because it just makes me happy!!

Good times in Garden City (SC)

After Ray got home from work last Wednesday, we packed up the girls and headed to Garden City Beach, SC. Ray's grandmother has a condo there and she generously lets family members use it for vacations anytime! We invited our good friends, the Hullinger's, and good times were had by all (except for on the 4 hour trip ... if anyone has tips for smooth sailing on road trips with toddlers, I'd love to hear them!).

The condo could not be any better situated. It's right on the beach, which makes for beautiful sunrises (I admit I didn't see any of those!) and gorgeous moonlit waves at night.

On Thursday and Friday, it was quite overcast and a little rainy but we felt that, with kids, that was totally OK. They played and played and played on the beach without getting too hot. It was wonderful. Except for some occasional bucket conflicts and sand throwing, the four children got along very well and loved playtime every day on the beach.

Thursday morning, taking advantage of a rain break, Ray and I took Cady and Maddy down to see Tutta, his grandmother, who lives about 10 minutes south of Garden City. She is a delightful southern lady. The girls loved riding around the assisted living facility on Tutta's "cart", although Cady wanted her to go faster!

Thursday evening, Ray's mom (who was in town visiting her mother) offered to watch all the children (THANKS, Louise!), as long as the majority were in bed, so that Ray and I could go out with Nick and Julie. We went out to Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach for dinner, then strolled around and checked out the shops afterward. On Friday evening, we decided to put the kids to bed early and make a delicious dinner at home. Ray grilled steaks, whipped up a Ceasar salad and a few other things and we had an amazing moonlit dinner on the balcony! Wouldn't mind doing THAT every night!!

Saturday was a perfect beach day ... sunny and warm! We wore the kids out on the beach for a few hours in the morning, but kept them cool with popsicles and pool breaks. Digging a big hole was a hit, too!

In the afternoon, Ray and I took the girls to the Garden City Pier and the Arcade. You grownups have probably been on dozens of piers and even more arcades so it may not sound too fun, but to toddlers, WHOA, it is EX-CITING!! Buying cheap trinkety crap with tickets you win from playing pointless games ... THAT is good times!

All in all, we did NOT want to come home!! And given the ride home, we shoulda stayed ... Cady threw up twice in the car on the way home. It was not pretty and I have to give a HUGE shout out to my husband here --- he was an absolute TROOPER at cleaning it all up, not just on the trip but doing the laundry when we got home. Thanks, honey!!!

Also, speaking of Ray, he was having lots of fun learning what our camera is capable of on this trip. Behold the results!! Isn't that black and white sketch COOL??

The Bulldogs visit Death Valley

Thanks to a customer at work, Ray came by 2 tickets to yesterday's football game between Clemson and The Citadel. An EXTREMELY kind and generous friend offered to watch the girls for the afternoon, so the two of us set off on a football adventure!

For those of you who know us well, you know that The Citadel is Ray's alma mater and if you follow college football, you may already know how this story ends. But let me add our little details, in addition to whatever you may have seen on ESPN Sports Center!

After tailgating with a small contingent of Citadel grads outside the stadium, Ray and I headed in and UP to our seats. They could've been higher but they were definitely in the upper deck! And no matter which way you looked, there was a LOT of orange. I told Ray that perhaps it's so striking because both his and my alma maters wear shades of blue to the games, colors that you would wear any old day. Clemson orange is so bright and blaring, NO ONE wears it except on game day!!


The final score was 45 - 17, I believe, so there was lots of Tiger growling and spelling of C-L-E-M-S-O ..... (pause, as if trying to remember how to spell) N!!! I think that Ray's favorite part was yelling "Roll Tide" at strategic moments, to remind the Clemson fans surrounding us that they had been stomped by Alabama last week.

Leaving my baby

Yesterday was a sad, sad day for me.

For various reasons, Ray and I have decided that it's time for me to test the waters and get my foot back in the classroom. So, I have committed to cover the maternity leave for a Spanish I teacher at an area high school. For the sake of clarification, I AM NOT PREGNANT!! It's someone else's maternity leave and it starts in 2 weeks. In order to make it all work, we enrolled Maddy at the preschool that Cady attends, which we love. Her first day was yesterday.

Ohhhhh, I was sad. Dreading it. She is so little. Not even 2. I took her into her new classroom last week, just to see it and she seemed quite happy, checking everything out. However, I was sure that she would just FREAK OUT when Mommy LEFT HER THERE.

Didn't happen. Cady and I went with Maddy into her new class and they both wandered off to explore. I chatted with the teacher for a minute then snuck out the door. I know "they" say that you shouldn't sneak off but I wussed out. I went on my merry way (ok, not so merry ... I cried in the car) and got SOOOOOO much done in 3 hours with zero children. When I returned to pick the girls up, I asked the teacher if Maddy had cried when I left. Nope. Just when Cady left to go to HER class. That's good, right??

My Absence

As my girls are currently taking a MONSTER LONG nap, I figured I'd better blog just a little. Things have been a little busy around here. With our trip up to Virginia and me reading Breaking Dawn, I just haven't been staying on the blogging bandwagon very well! Plus, my newest little internet addiction ... Facebook. Pretty cool to get back in touch with people from the long lost past ... and cool peeps from the present. So does that account for my lack of blogging? I hope so. As soon as we get some pictures (our camera is lame!), I'll post something about Ray's brother's wedding reception in VA.

On Becoming your Mother ...

I had one of those funny (not ha-ha) moments today when I had the sharp realization that I had just done almost EXACTLY something that my mother had done when I was young ... and that I have teased her about many, many times since.

For those of you who know my mom, you know, as I do, that there are few people in the world more patient, kind and soft-spoken as she is. I truly aspire to be more like her. I can count on ONE HAND the times I remember her raising her voice at me and getting angry (I've already far surpassed that and I've only had kids for 3 and 1/2 years!). One of those times, however, is still etched in my memory.

This is how it went down ... I was about 9 or 10 and was immersed in reading the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It must have been a Saturday or during the summer because I was home during the day, and my mom asked me to do some chores around the house while she went outside to do something (we lived on a 30+ acre chicken farm at the time -- there was always a lot to do!). Well, instead of doing whatever she had asked, I ran to my room to keep reading. When I heard the door and knew that Mom was back inside, I jumped up and tried to LOOK as though I had been industrious ... but like all good moms, she was not fooled!! And boy, was she mad!! She tore my book right in half!!! And I've never let her forget it. Well, as they say, what goes around, comes around.

Today, Cady was reading her new Snow White book that we had gotten yesterday at the dollar store. Maddy was trying to grab the book and Cady was vehemently protesting and yanking it back. In the ensuing tug-of-war, a page tore and Cady freaked out. "She tore my book!!" If this had been an isolated incident of not-sharing gone awry, I may have reacted more calmly, but Cady acts as if every toy and book in the whole house are hers and I lost my temper and ...

yep, you guessed it, I grabbed the book and tore it in half. I immediately froze and my heart sank, because I knew that I could never, ever tease my mom again about her totally understandable actions over 20 years ago!!

A Quick Commentary

I saw a few gas stations today with regular Unleaded priced at $3.54 and got pretty excited. That's sad, huh?

My Handy Husband

I was reminded yesterday of what a incredible blessing it is to have such a handy husband. Due to a big storm on Saturday night, our A/C compressor stopped working. We suffered through Sunday and, after some trouble shooting, Ray OK-ed a phone call to a local A/C repair company. The technician came out yesterday afternoon (did I mention the house was getting HOT!!!??!), looked at the compressor for about 3 minutes and then wrote up a bill for over $500 dollars, to include parts and all labor.

$500!!!!

I called Ray to give him the details and he told me to find out what parts were needed, but that he would do the repair himself, thank you very much ... AND HE DID!!! The diagnostic by the technician was $89 and the parts were $30 ... you do the math. Ray saved us $400!!! It's so comforting to me to know that I do NOT have to subject myself to highway robbery. And if Ray doesn't know how to do it, he'll figure it out, that's for sure!

Not to mention that he's saved us thousands of dollars by doing so much of the labor during our home improvement phase on this house. He's learned plumbing, electricity, carpentry and more. The only thing, he says, that he hasn't learned YET is masonry ... and I don't doubt that he will!!

It's pathetic that, of the dozens and dozens of pictures we have of the remodeling process on this house, we have so very few shots of Ray actually working. They're mostly before and after shots of various rooms, but hardly any of Ray doing the work to get it from the before to the after. In fact, the top one is one of those rare shots but the one below is, well, if I tell you that baby is Cady, you'll know how old that picture is!!

Our "little" mouse

For several weeks now, we have been aware of a little freeloader living in our house. Yes, we have a mouse and not by choice! We don't know where he came from but he seems quite content here and is unconcerned by Ray's efforts to end his life. Up until two days ago, Ray and I had both seen him once. He was a an itty, bitty thing (not that that derailed our efforts to kill him ... I'm so grossed out by him, no matter his size, that I couldn't even choose a picture for this entry of a REAL mouse without my skin crawling).

Everything changed, however, two nights ago. Ray heard him in our baking cabinet. As with most old houses, the kitchen is NOT laid out like a modern kitchen and the cabinet space is minimal and spread out throughout the kitchen. The cabinet that holds the baking supplies is not adjoining any other cabinet and is, as Ray pointed out, hardly ever opened by me. So Ray carefully opened the cabinet door and spied the little rodent holed up in a bag of flour. He called me downstairs from midst of putting Cady to bed, with the instructions to "leave Cady upstairs", which of course she would have none of. So we both came down.

Ray asked, "do you wanna see him?"

We both say "NO" but cautiously approach.

Ray had a 2-cup measuring cup in hand to catch our little buddy. He reached into the cabinet and the thing jumps out and runs like a big, fat bat outta hell. Munching his way through a bag of flour had increased his size dramatically. And I regret to tell you that

ALL THREE OF US SCREAMED LIKE LITTLE GIRLS!!!

And I regret even more to tell you that I was the first one out of the room, leaving my daughter unprotected, in the company of her screaming daddy. As I write this, I laugh at the vision of it in my head but it was NOT funny at the moment.

Cady was quite upset by the whole episode. Not just by seeing the mouse, but even moreso by the sight of her daddy screaming and just as scared as the next person (don't let him tell you otherwise!!). As we went into Round #2 of putting her to bed, she kept asking why he was screaming and who was going to take care of her now. We're trying to re-establish her confidence in Ray's prowess as Daddy by lying to her and telling her that Daddy chased the mouse down to the basement and killed him. Is that wrong??

We'll keep you posted as to when Mr. Mouse REALLY meets his end. I hope it's soon!!

Our visit to Cleveland Park

We have just about the greatest little park here in town. Cleveland Park used to be a haven for hoods and drug dealers but the city turned it around a few years ago and it is wonderful! There's a lovely little lake with ducks to feed, a huge playground as well as a miniature train that circles the park. We met our friends the Hullinger's there this morning and had a great time, even though it was overcast and sprinkling on and off.

The highlight of visiting Cleveland Park is always riding the train, but today was special because the conductor let Cady ride up front with him and "drive". She was absolutely thrilled and honked the horn so much that a less kindly old man may have lost his patience.

Twilight and Brigham Young

The past couple weeks have felt long to me. I know it's because all I was noticing was the hard things about motherhood. I just felt tired of being bossed around (Cady), resisted (Cady), bitten, screamed at and hit (all 3 Maddy). Exhausted. Going through the motions. It's like I knew I was not in a good place but I didn't know how to fix it.

Two days ago, I checked out mentally for the day after I checked out New Moon from the library, the second book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I started reading during naptime and finished by 10:30 that night. I cannot put those books down ... they are sooooooo good and now I'm regretting that I didn't put the next one on hold at the library already!!

So after a day of indulging in mental escapism, I knew it was back to business. And I discovered something pretty simple but pretty profound. It's related to a quote by Brigham Young. Referring to prayer, he said once "If you don't feel like praying, get down on your knees and pray 'til you feel like praying!" Well, I discovered yesterday that the same thing applies to playing with my children. If I don't feel like getting down on the floor and playing with them, then I'd better get down on the floor and play with them until I feel like playing!! And it took a while but I broke through the wall and boy, am I glad I did.

I did a stupid thing!

It's one of those things where I debated what to do and now I realize, as Maddy is screaming upstairs, that I made the WRONG choice.

This is what happened. Ray took Cady out after dinner, so I'm home with just Maddy. After bath-time, she insisted upon putting her shoes back on (what can I say ... Maddy is all girl, she loves purses and shoes!). So I read her some books and put her to bed without the usual loud interruptions from her older sister.

Ahhh. It was so nice.

After I closed her door, I was cleaning up and realized, as I was collecting shoes and clothes, that I had put Maddy down with her shoes on. I paused and thought, "hmmm, what should I do? Let her sleep all night with shoes on or go in a take them off?" Well, I went in, interrupted her quiet pre-sleep zoning out and took off her shoes and slipped back out. Bad move. The screaming began. I'm not just talking fussing, but SCREAMING!! Oh well, next time I put my kid down with shoes on, I'll take 'em off in the morning!!

6-word memior

I was tagged 2 months ago by my friend Robin (Checketts) Chapman and it has taken me that long to come up with something that I felt was fitting, yet stayed within the 6 word guideline. No, I didn't forget, Robin!! So this is it: Loyal to God, family, and friends.

I may not be perfect at it yet, but loyalty and fulfilling commitments are things that I take very seriously and it drives me batty when other people don't. If you say you're going to call a friend, CALL THEM!! (pet peeve) I recently found out that, several years ago, I had deeply hurt one of my dearest friends from high school through some inadvertently thoughtless actions on my part. I felt SOOOO bad. I want so very much to be a good friend, daughter, wife, mother, aunt, and daughter of God. I'm not there yet but I'm trying.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a picture if you want.
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

I tag Paige, Creedence, Kate L., Hermana Cindy, and Lori Cavin. Have fun, girls!

Good news and a good book

For those of you who have been following the saga of our two homes and our efforts to sell one of the darn things for years now, you will be happy to know that our home in Virginia Beach has rented to a Naval officer and his family. Renting was not our preference but it's certainly preferable to foreclosing in these dire times, isn't it?!? So they move in on Saturday and we will then be back to paying one mortgage ... what bliss!!!

The reason that I'm posting this so late at night is that I have been reading a book today that I could barely put down, except for necessities like feeding my children. I got totally immersed in it! I even let Cady watch more Dora than usual after Maddy had gone to bed so that I could read in peace!! It's called Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. I checked it out from the library this morning and just finished it and it's over 300 pages. OK, I do tend to skim when a book is really good and I just want to find out what's going to happen but it has been quite a while since I read a book that I couldn't put down! Love and murder in the Jim Crow South ... good stuff.

Fun at the family reunion

This past weekend was the Mechling Family Reunion and, coming from someone with ONE first cousin on my mother's side and only a few more on the other, IT WAS SO FUN!! Family, fun and lots of food ... what more could you want?

There were about 25 adults and almost 10 children under the age of 8, with most clustered in the 2 - 4 age range. Cady's favorite new vocabulary word is definitely "cousins"!! There were a few pre-planned children's activities like sidewalk painting and bubbles, but they mostly enjoyed driving around in the fleet of mini-cars available for their use. After driving up into a flower bed once, Cady did pretty well and Maddy was usually a willing passenger!

We parents got in on the fun when it came to the boating activities. Cady and I rode the tube together and she even got to drive the boat for a few minutes ... thanks Uncle Ron! Ray supervised the construction of Cady's first 'Smore and it was a big hit! Lucky for you that I'm not posting any pictures of those activities because I guar-on-TEE you that our children are much more photogenic than we are!

Farewell to G' Weezie and Daddy Ray

Some people may think it a terrible thing to have their in-laws visit for 2 weeks but I consider myself lucky to NOT be one of those people!! Ray's parents left today after an on-and-off visit of over 2 weeks and I AM SAD!! Although we didn't see a whole lot of Daddy Ray (he was working hard from sunup to sundown at the print shop), we got to spend lots and lots of time with Grandma Weezie!

We didn't do much out of the ordinary but it's always MORE fun with Grandma along. Cady and Maddy enjoyed having her at story time at the library, at the neighborhood park and shopping for goodies at the dollar store. Mommy enjoyed all of that, as well as conversations with an adult and all the unsolicited (but very welcome) help around the house.

We love you, Louise!

Comments from Cady

Cady was perhaps a bit of a "late talker" but she sure is making up for it now. She is quite the chatty girl ... it's like having a running commentary on our life from a 3-year old's point of view.

Lately, she has said some things that I thought needed to be remembered ...

"I like ants because I die them."
(she hasn't really grasped the difference in usage between "kill" and "die".)


After a frustrating tooth-brushing episode, I make the mistake of asking,
"Cady, do you like to make Mommy mad?"
She, in total seriousness, replies, "yes."
Great. She's only 3.

We have been trying to teach Cady the concept of obedience, to us, to God, and that when you obey, you feel happy. Obviously, we need to adjust our teaching techniques because she recently stated, "You obey, then you die." Hmmmm.

Ray's personal favorite: "Dammit." That would be from our daughter, not from him. Yes, she said that today after trying to put an especially heavy piggy bank up on the table. After swallowing my laughter, I tried to emphasize that that is not a nice word. Cady pondered and asked, "you mean, like 'butt'?"

Before you begin to think that Cady is a profane little girl obsessed with death, let me add that this is also the girl who declares, "I love my little sister. She's my best friend" and tenderly tells me she loves me when we snuggle in bed. She's a wonderful, bright and fun girl and I love her dearly.

Summer Dayz

Boy oh boy, these pictures say it all ... well, almost. Yesterday was one of those wonderful summer days, sunny, warm but not too humid, which is rare in South Carolina. After naptime, we hooked up the Elmo sprinkler and had some fun!! There's just something that kids love about running through a sprinkler!! When they were ready for a break, we sat down on the steps for some refreshing Italian ice. It was one of those moments in time when I actually p a u s e d and appreciated the simplicity of it, and the miracle of Cady and Maddy playing together for a rather extended period of time! It was absolutely beautiful.

Cady's first love

I would not be doing justice to Cady's childhood experience so far if I neglected to devote some space to the first boy she has ever loved ... well, the second if you count Daddy as a boy. Anyway, Cady loves Calliou. She was a fan of Elmo for a time when she was younger and she enjoys watching Curious George on PBS as well, but Calliou wins her undivided adoration. Hands down. She's been devoted to him since November, at least, and that's longer than I ever had a boyfriend until I was like 22.

For those of you unacquainted with preschool programming on PBS, Calliou is a little 4-year old boy with no hair and a whiny voice that can drive a grown-up crazy. Sometimes when we're watching, I hear him speaking with the exact same whine that Cady has adopted. Not good. BUT Cady loves him because he experiences things that every other child in North America does. She is so thrilled when she sees him in a situation that she herself has experienced too, like the first day of preschool or getting in trouble after playing with Mommy's make-up. When those moments come along, she sits bolt upright on the couch and watches with complete attentiveness, often with facial expressions to match Calliou's.

I have to admit that, as far as children's shows go, Calliou is one of my favorites too (barring the whining). It's so real ... Cady really identifies with the little family of four. There are no dragons or talking aardvarks or red monsters or singing purple dinosaurs. Although fostering imagination is good, I'm a fan of reality ... and really, isn't a whiny kid about as real as it gets??

more vacationing in Virginia (read next entry first!)

After our visit in MD, Mom and Pat drove us down the Eastern Shore and over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia Beach, where we stayed a few days with Ray's parents. Needless to say, we spent some time every day ON THE BEACH!! Wow, we certainly miss living 15 minutes from the beach!! It's such easy entertainment for the kids ... a couple of buckets, watering cans and a shovel and you're set for a couple hours.

And it's one of my favorite places. I love the smells and the sounds of the beach. I love the call of the seagulls and the soothing, constant crashing of the waves. I love the smell of sweat mixed sunscreen and salty water. Of course, the beach isn't as relaxing these days but it's still pretty great, as the pictures below attest.