A month in Maryland

As is apparent from the Hebron Carnival entry, we are spending some time up "north" visiting family this month. We're spending most of our time in Salisbury but last weekend, we trekked down to Virginia Beach to hang out with Daddy Ray and Grandma Weezie. Even though they live right on the beach, we spent most of our time AT THE POOL. The girls have always been hesitant pool-goers but last weekend, they fell in love!!! Wow. Thanks to "noodles" they were floating all over the place, and then Cady started pushing herself, jumping off the side but keeping her head above water, then going under, then all out swimming under water. It was amazing that she made these strides within about an hour timespan!!


Some other notable things that Cady has learned on this trip so far are:
standing on her head
crossing her eyes
driving Nana & Pat's Barbie car with expertise

Hebron Carnival

Went to the Hebron Firemen's Carnival last night with the family. Fourth or fifth time now. For those not in the know, Hebron is a town here in Maryland about the size of a walnut. Maybe 1,000 people live there. (Last official count is actually 807, I just check wiki.)

However, their fire station and fire trucks would make the NYFD jealous. And here's why: apparently "games of chance" are perfectly OK there with one small caveat, you have to be at least 16!!! And by games of chance, I mean chance. Picture if you will a giant wheel with numbers on it, a table with said numbers on and a sign that says "All bets must be placed before wheel is spun." Sound familiar? Granted, you could only bet a dollar per number; but still- 16 years old and you can play all you want. Then there's the $10,000 raffle at $10 a ticket (to be awarded the last night of the car-nee a few months down the road.) If the thought of winning cold cash doesn't make you reach for your wallet then there's the raffle for the 30-30 rifle. Mind you, the entire carnival- rides, food, games, restrooms, picnic tables, etc. is setup around the main attraction: B-I-N-G-O! And if you win five times during the course of an evening you get your pick of what appears to be the remains of Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward, both of which are now rotting away in department store hell awaiting K-Mart's arrival. Sorry for the long sentence.

Did I mention this was put on by the local fire department? I tend to think of safety and caution when one mentions a fire department. Probably a field trip ingrained this on me. Safety be damned at Hebron! If you want to hold your infant child in one hand and a lite cigarette with the other while enjoying a spin on the Tilt-A-Whirl or Scrambler, go right ahead. Seriously. Ok, I'm kidding about the cigarette, the attending car-nee will hold it for you and if you are related to them there might be a drag or two left when the ride is over. I did take my three year old daughter on both of these rides. Don't tell her, but she is kind of a runt standing 36" tall. When the Scrambler door closed, she was eye level with it. Maybe that's why you're supposed to be at least 42" tall, so you can see what's going on. On the Tilt-A-Whirl she leaned against the side and stretched her little legs across the bench, not bothering to hold on to anything.

We had an awesome time and will be going back next weekend.

Disclaimer: Ray is now the family's offical blogger.

At the behest of my favorite sister, I am taking over blogging duties for my little fam-damn-ly. (Side note, Jen just passed by and announced, "What!? I may still blog sometimes." Please note her last entry date. "And monkeys may fly out of my butt." - Wayne Campbell)

As my first official act I give this little warning about myself : I am self-centered, crass, mean-spirited, a sore loser, reckless, overly opinionated, and often refer to people who don't look like me as "brown". To this day I hold a grunge against my own parents for not buying me cotton-candy at the circus when I was 4. F-O-U-R! I am now 34. Don't cross me.

Smile,
Ray

We finally got a new camera!!!!!!!!!

We had a camera. A nice one. It died. At the zoo in Atlanta.

Now we have a new one. So I can start blogging again. Without stealing pictures.

(except ours is copper)

The Paper Paccie

Around our house, the paccie may be gone but it is certainly not forgotten. Oh yes, Maddy goes to sleep just fine without it now but when she is having a rough day, Maddy still wants it! In fact, when we were recently discussing the "prize" to work towards for this "round" on the behavior chart, Cady wanted to work towards princess toothpaste but Maddy chose a paccie. Upon being denied that request, she settled on princess toothpaste too but I'm sure it's a pretty poor substitute for a paccie, in her book.

Recently, when Maddy had had a particularly difficult evening, she had a tough time falling asleep. She fussed and fussed. She cried and cried for her paccie. After a few attempts on my part to calm her down, big sis trotted upstairs to see what she could do to help. After a few minutes, Cady came back downstairs and began drawing. What was she drawing? You got it -- a paccie!! Her sister wanted a paccie, so Cady drew her one and carefully cut it out. She then took it up to Maddy, who quieted down soon thereafter.

The next morning when I went in to wake them up, Maddy was snuggled up in her crib, clutching her paper paccie.

Happy Birthday, Superman Guy!!

Yes, today is Ray's birthday and yes, that is what Maddy said to him this morning!

Musings on motherhood

My father, the great educator in my book, always used to say that a child's personality is formed by the time he/she is five years old. If that is the case, then we're in trouble. And I feel as if I'm the cause.

Let me vent. Our dear firstborn, Cady, can be sweet and so very helpful. Her temperament is can turn on a dime, however and she gets what we refer to as her "angry face." She tries me beyond anything I've ever experienced before. I pledge daily to myself and to God that I will be patient and loving, yet many days Cady pushes me (and pushes me and pushes me) to where I "lose it", sometimes before we're even out the door in the morning. Hair brushing is never good.

I want so badly to be consistent and calm and patient. I try. I really do. Really, really. But I feel as though the times that I have failed in that department have molded Cady into a sometimes angry, sometimes sad little girl and it breaks my heart. But when I see her treat her sister unkindly ... ooo, I get so mad. And pre-school? Not a fan sometimes. It's made her grow up faster than I'd like. Coming home with words like "Booty" and "boyfriend".

How can I teach my little girl to be kind and compassionate when I'm imperfect? I feel like Cady just remembers my outbursts and follows suit, instead of noting the rest of the time when I think I'm a pretty good mom.

And I guarantee that, in black and white, this does not sound like that big of a problem but if you could see the face, the stomping from the room, see how quickly she gets angry and frustrated, hear the "I hate homework", you'd understand why I tear up as I write this.