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 ...)