Happy Birthday Banana!!!!

My baby is 11 today! My sweet surprise has been an even sweeter blessing. We had an old fashioned "at home" birthday party yesterday that was lots of fun. Not a sleepover. No pizza place or skating or painting. Just girls at the house for a couple of hours. Kearsdad grilled hamburgers. They had lunch and played games and jumped on the trampoline and made up "skits" (I use that term loosely). We had strawberry cake and chocolate cupcakes, and opened presents. I think even Banana was surprised at how much fun she had. Just a reminder that sometimes simple is best.

Sammy Goes to the Country

I haven't had a post dedicated to Sammy in a while...probably in about 15 pounds! He just keeps growing! Today he went to the country to play with the dogs of Hurricane Acres. He hasn't been around any of them since he was just a little guy. We were shocked to realize that he is taller than Luthie! He LOVED getting to run free with all the other dogs. They all got along very well...running and barking and jumping and chasing! We were quite impressed that he actually came when called...most of the time. He met one of the Mini's-Tex, who is the smallest of the herd-but was a little skittish of him.

Sammy and Luthie getting to know each other...aka Sammy running like a nut and Luthie watching him...


Sammy and Millie...Millie made sure he knew she was "in charge", then they got along fabulously! They could probably get into a lot of trouble together!


Playtime!


Ever tried to line up a bunch of preschoolers for a picture? This was a little like that! Notice Sammy obeyed and "sat", but in the wrong direction! And then he got Millie confused...

Finally...Sammy, Lucy, Luthie and Millie.

Hangin' out in the barn...


He had a grand old time, and came home completely exhausted and ready for a nap!

Christmas 2007

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas at our house was a happy one! I used to worry that as the girls got older Christmas would loose some of it's "magic", but that was silly of me! It's certainly different, but in a way it's better. Certainly less stressful...no putting tiny stickers on Barbie paraphenalia at 2 am! The girls wanted most of their presents wrapped this year, so "Santa's" job was really easy! And we slept until after 7 am! (Well, most of us did...Kearsdad is just a big kid at heart and can't ever sleep Christmas Eve/Morning!)

Here are a few shots of our Christmas...

Christmas Eve before church...




Banana and Kat trying to figure out what was in the NetGear box! It was a wireless card to give their computer in the playroom internet access!


Sammy loved his first Christmas! He was all into opening his presents. His favorite...a stuffed "dead duck" from my mom!

Banana and Ashley...both girls got Ashton Drake collectible baby dolls this year instead of American Girl dolls.
This is Pheobe...we think she looks like Jitterbug's BabyBug.

Christmas lunch....

May the Celebration of the birth of our Savior be a special one for you and for those you love. For those I call friend...and for those I consider family...I am truly thankful. Christmas blessings to you all!

Pecan Pie...World's Most Perfect Desert...

...according to Kearsdad.

It must really be Christmas. We just had pecan pie, still warm from the oven. It's one of Kearsdad's most favorite things in the world. He spent about 45 minutes cracking pecans for me this afternoon so that I could make it.

When we were in Georgia at Thanksgiving we spent one afternoon at Kearsdad's brother's. They have a pecan orchard adjacent to their house, and we picked up as many as we could take with us. I brought the box home, and this was the first thing I have made with them. It was yummy and warm and sticky...

Banana ate her first piece of pecan pie. Because she is allergic to peanuts, there are lots of other things she can't eat, and many things she won't eat. Processed nuts like pecans and almonds (which she isn't allergic to) are usually prepared with peanut oil, or on equipment that processes peanuts. That makes them "contaminated". So she has to avoid those things. At Mema's house, she got brave and tasted pecans, fresh from the tree, uncontaminated by peanut oil. She LOVED them. And she loved the pie she just had. So did I.

We've Come a Long Way

Kat and Banana and I went to the movies today. We met Junebug and LouLou for a girls' afternoon out and a serious chickflick. Not the one up there. No, that one has a story. We saw this one...



It was very girly and very cheesy but very cute. We enjoyed it. Kearsdad and Funandone would have hated it. That's why they weren't invited. But this isn't about that movie. It's about the other one...

Elmo in Gouchland premiered in 1999. Kat and JMatt turned 4 that year. Banana was 2 1/2, LouLou was 1. Junebug and I took all four of them to see Elmo. Everyone in those days loved Elmo. La la la la and all that. Kat had a room full of Elmos.

Now, if you have never seen Elmo in Grouchland, the premise of the movie is that Elmo's blanket (aka "blankie") gets tossed in the trashcan (remember Oscar the Grouch?) and winds up in Grouchland. Elmo must enter Grouchland in search of his blankie.

Well, at 2, Banana had a well worn blankie. Actually she had two, but at that time she didn't know it. I would sneak one away from her while she was sleeping and replace it with the clean one. But that's beside the point. She was seriously in love with that blankie. An affair that would last until, well...we won't go there (she'd be embarassed). Anyway...

Did I mention this was the first movie she or Lou Lou had ever been to?

So, about 5 minutes into the movie...maybe 10...it happened. The blankie got lost. That's when I realized that taking a 2 1/2 year old to a movie might have been a bad idea. The blankie disappeared into Grouchland, Elmo began to fret, and Banana began to WAIL. Loudly. I mean really loud. That sobbing, shreaking kind of wailing that eventually subsides into choked wimpers and hiccups. She cried the ENTIRE movie. I took her out several times. But she continued to cry...punctuated with wails of "I wan' my bankie!!!" The movie, according to reviews I just checked, lasted 73 minutes. 1 hour and 13 minutes. It was the longest hour and 13 minutes I have ever endured.

So, Banana's first trip to the movies almost scarred her for life. Almost. We didn't take her back to a movie for a VERY long time. Like maybe two years. Luckily she overcame the trauma and lived to enjoy a trip to the movies. I am glad, because otherwise we would have missed out on a lot of fun times as a family and with Junebug and Funandone and JMatt and LouLou. We've seen a lotta movies together. Including Enchanted.

It's Just a Memory Now

After months of rehersals, and a week of complete craziness, The Nutcracker, 2007, is finally just a memory. We've slept late in an attempt to catch up on our rest (at least the girls and I have, Kearsdad has still had to get up and go to work). And we've finally started getting out house decorated. In other words, we've returned to normal life.

It was, however, a very good week. We have survived our first Nutcracker season as Company/Guild members, and it didn't kill us. This is good news...since Nutcracker is the biggest production of the year. If we can survive this, we can survive the rest of the year...maybe this ballet thing won't kill us after all!

I must say...Banana did an excellent job. Not just dancing, but in taking care of her other "issues". A big plus this year...she can now dress herself!! This is HUGE. I still have to do her bun (which is a job in itself...some days it cooperates and takes 5 minutes, other days, her hair is ornery and I have to redo it over and over...). But she was able to put her costumes on, make costume changes between scenes, and even do her makeup by herself (with a little help from a friend on the mouse nose).

Kat was a big help. She was extrememly patient, waiting through all those rehersals. She actually had a good time. She knows most of the younger dancers and kept herself and them entertained as they played on their Nintendo DS's. She even pitched in and ran errands, helping decorate, set up for tea parties, and running messages to the dressing rooms.

But, as good as it was, I am SO glad it's over!

Here is our angel...




And our Mouse King Puppet...

Kearsdad, aka "Super Tech Crew Member" and his little Mouse King Puppet...

And so, for another year, Nutcracker has come and gone...all but the music. Kearsdad has suddenly realized that almost every Christmas movie and Christmas commercial involves some form of Nutcracker music. It's about to drive him nuts...

SuperDad

Thanksgiving was last week. But I am expressing my Thankfulness this week...Thankfulness for the incredible husband and daddy that lives in our house. (Yes, I am being sappy, and proudly so.)

This week is Nutcracker Week. Banana is completely involved in rehersals...and so are we. That means long afternoons and nights at the cultural center. I'm pretty used to it by now. This is our third Nutcracker. I've spent lots of time at the CC waiting and watching. But there is something new this year. When Banana became a member of the Company, Kearsdad and I became members of the Ballet Guild (sort of the PTA of the ballet). We were told that as members of the Guild, we are expected to participate in various committees. That's only fair, okay. So we signed up for "jobs" with the Nutcracker production.

I have been completely blown away, though, by the enthusiasm and dedication of Kearsdad.

We drove home from Georgia on Friday of last week...a LONG drive. On Saturday morning, he got up and went downtown to meet a bunch of people he didn't know to help load stuff out of the Company storage facility onto trucks to take to the CC. Snow machines, props, and marley floor. (Marley floor is the padded flooring dancers dance on. It is what allows them to stand on their toes and make all those leaps and turns without falling on their rumps and breaking something. It is also very heavy.)

On Sunday, we went straight from church to the CC. Banana had rehearsal. Kearsdad began learning about the backstage production. He worked all afternoon and returned to church. He left home at 9 am and returned home at 8 pm...no Sunday nap. No complaints.

He has gone straight to the CC from work every night (and will continue to all week). He has left home every morning at 7:30, worked all day, and gone straight to rehersals. He has developed a couple of new friendships, and I've caught him cutting up with some of the dancers and teachers.

It's not unlike Kearsdad to get involved in his girls' lives...after all, he spent the summer working at horse shows for Kat. But this is somehow different. To see him become so completely involved in something that would otherwise be so foreign to him just reminds me of what a great daddy he is...what a great husband I have.

So to you, Kearsdad, I say thank you. You are a great daddy. You are a pretty good stagehand too! Even if Mother Ginger does weigh about 800 pounds! I love you!

Thanksgiving Fun

We went to Georgia for Thanksgiving...lots of driving. No major trauma or issues, much to everyone's surprise, I'm sure. But we had a good time. We went to Kearsdad's folks for most of the week, and had "Thanksgiving" with his brothers and most of their families Monday night (some of the older nieces and nephews were either working or at college). His two older brothers go to Hilton Head every Thanksgiving, so we had to have our family time early in the week. Kat and Banana had fun playing with their younger cousins. Those two are definitely a handful...especially the four year old!


It was nice to have a couple of days to just hang out and relax. There is not much else to do in town...and I took advantage of it. We did have lunch on Tuesday with a friend of mine and her husband and son. That was very nice...just wish we'd had longer. Turns out the restaurant closes at 2 and reopens at 5. We were there from 1-2. We wondered why they started vacuuming while we were still at our table. Anyway, we had a great time with them. The rest of the week we just sat around in one place or another, sometimes visiting...sometimes just sitting. On Wednesday we drove over to Kearsdad's brother's place and picked up pecans. LOTS of pecans. I came home with a box full. The girls were in hog heaven out in the country like that. They even got to drive the golf cart around the pecan orchard. It was their first driving experience. Kearsdad said he felt sick. I decided that I will NOT be the one to teach them to drive.




I took about a zillion pictures of the girls trying to get a really good one of them. Trouble was they didn't want to take pictures. They got down right snotty about it. There was much whining on their part, and threatening on mine. This was about as good as it got.



Thurday we drove up to my brother's and spent the day with my family. It turned out to be a very nice day. Once again, all the kids had a blast! My brother has two girls, 8 and 6, and 4 year old twin boys. Never a dull moment! We tried very hard to get a nice picture of all the kids together. Here are the results.




We gave up on the group shot. But we ended up with a great day. And a long drive home.


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful week with family and friends. I'm sure when I return, I'll have plenty of stories to share! God bless you all!

That's My Girl

On a lighter note...Kat had to write sentences with her vocabulary words from this week. They are words with the Latin roots primus and post. One of her words was premier. Her sentence?

"Since Boston won the World Series, they are the premier baseball team."

Baseball lives on!

Folding Laundry

So...right now the two children in my house are in my room folding laundry. It all started because I was tired of hearing older child yell, "Mooooommmmmmm!!!!! I neeed _________!!!!!" I asked younger child to go take ____ to her sister. But younger child didn't want to stop playing on this computer, so she yelled to her sister to go get it herself. That didn't go over too well. The computer game got turned off. Both children got told to start folding laundry. Then there was some sort of arguing and whining. I don't know what it was about. I didn't feel like asking. So now they are folding, ordered to silence.

It doesn't help that Sammy has chosen tonight to be a brat. Barking and whining and breaking out of his "room" After much work on my part, helping him "remember" just who is in charge here, he is lying quietly in his room now.

So now that basket of laundry I've been needing to get to has been folded. Quietly. And I am on this computer.

Sigh....see that picture over there to the left? The one that says "Sister Love"? I'm hopin' that attitude returns quickly.

Choir Practice

It's almost Christmas. That means choir practice is getting verra (very in CM language) interesting. Or stressful. Or long. Or all of those. And Mr. Worship Pastor is getting very hyper. He's really funny to watch when he gets stressed, for those of you who don't know him. He looks like he's getting mad, and he is, sort of. But not really at any of us. Just at circumstances. Or at himself. Or at the equipment.

Tonight was especially entertaining. We are practicing from the stage a lot so that we can work with the band and the lights and get the mics right, etc. So that means we can watch the children in the back of the room. (Several of us have kids who sit in the back of the worship center during choir practice.) The kids are generally very well behaved and quiet. When we are sitting in the chairs, facing front, we can't see them. But standing on the stage, they are visible to everyone.

I have noticed before that Mr. Worship Pastor often grins or laughs or makes funny waving or dancing motions...turns out he's playing with the kids. See, while we are singing, they are often dancing or making motions. Tonight, they were dancing. I mean really. Well, at least Banana was really. It was one of those moments when I wasn't sure if I should grin and say "That's my kid." or duck and hope no one noticed. We were singing a real jazzy song (The King is Coming to Town for those of you who know it...and weren't there tonight). The kids love it, and all started bouncing around. All...except Banana. She started dancing. D. A.N.C.I.N.G. Like....you-don't-do-that-in-church dancing. Oh my.

Fall Festival Cuties

LouLou, Banana, The Thinker, The Unique One, and Kat with Grace. Grace was dressed as a unicorn.

Kat driving Faith. Faith didn't last very long...she was quite neurotic and found herself tied up in the trailer most of the night. Hickory behaved much better.


Anna and Faith...again, before Faith was banished.


Grace in her costume.


Hickory was quite handsome in his bow tie.

40 Club

Thanks to everyone who made my day so special! I love every one of you!

Lazy Blog Post

I copied this from Junebug's Blog. I guess it's not really cheating since she tagged anyone who read it, but it is rather lazy of me...except that it took a while to copy the text out and re-answer the questions and paste it back onto here.


• What's the most exciting thing that happened to you today? Nothing has happened today that has been exciting. It has, however, been the longest school day in the history of school days at our house.
• How many best friends do you have? 3 or 4
• Would you rather get up early or sleep in? I would rather get up early without being tired, but then I would have to go to bed earlier…
• Tell me where you got each article of clothing you're wearing? No idea…my mom brought all of them, so they probably came from Macy’s.
• What would you change about your life right now? I'd have a serious housekeeper, I'd eat as much as I want and never gain weight, (copied from Junebug), otherwise, nothing…I love my life.
• Would you rather smile over a lie or cry over the truth? I hate lies. Even if I cry, I can deal with the truth.
• What's on your bedroom floor right now? A laundry basket full of stuff that needs to be ironed. Some stuff of the girls’ that is too small and needs to be given away.
• Who was the last person you got into an argument with? I haven’t really argued with anyone. I am in an interesting online debate with a college acquaintance. I wanted to argue with someone yesterday, but I managed to restrain myself for the most part.
• Do you trust people easily? Not really.
• Could you go a day without eating? I’d rather not.
• How much do looks matter to you? Looks don’t, but appearance does…I think people should make an effort to take care of themselves, and that includes being neat and clean.
• How do you feel about PDA? Keep it private, thank you.
• When was the last time you had your hair cut? Too long…calling the girl today.
• Would you rather be mad or sad? Neither!
• Does it take a lot to make you cry? It depends…some days I cry at nothing.
• Do you tell your parents everything? Ummm…..NO.
• Would you rather be a bird or a fish? Eww….neither. I’d rather be Junebug’s dog. Then I could be spoiled rotten.
• Name one fear you have? Tall, steep stairs, narrow swinging bridges, get the idea?
• If you need to go to the store a block away, do you walk or drive? there are no stores a block away but if there were, I wouldn't mind walking. of course, if it was raining or too hot or too cold, then I would drive. (stealing JB’s answer)
• Does the thought of marriage scare you? Nope.
• How many kids do you want? only these 2. any more would kill me. (again, stealing JB’s answer…this is a GOOD answer).
• What's your favorite color to wear? Turquoise.
• Who was the last person in your bedroom besides you? Banana…she was also the last person in my bed.
• What are you doing today? School, keeping the big dog out of trouble, gotta go to the grocery store.
• What would you do if you found a dinosaur egg? worry about the implications therein. (haha, that’s too funny to change)
• Do you get bored easily? No, I don’t have time to get bored.
• What's something that someone can do that really bothers you? Not follow through on what they say they will do.
• Did you ever want to change your name when you were younger? Yes! But I don’t remember what I wanted to change it to.
• Do you wish you were famous? Nope.
• When you're at the beach, do you swim or lay out more? I play in the sand, or in the shallow part of the waves with Kat and Banana. No swimming…definitely no laying out.
• Who's the last text message you received from and what did it say? It said: “No I got that there is no meeting tom. Though” from DMc.
• How do you like your steak cooked? Medium…and I’m having one Saturday night ‘cause that’s what I told Kearsdad I want for my Birthday (eve) dinner.
• What's your favorite song at the moment? Can't think of a favorite right now...
• Can music affect your mood? Definitely
• What piercings do you want? Only the two (one in each ear) I already have.
• What tattoos do you want? Eeewwww…..
• Do you think there's someone for everyone? I hope so…
• When is the last time you cried? Last week sometime…
• Do you get angry easily? Not really, irritable, yes, but not angry.
• What song are you listening to right now? The sound of SILENCE!
• What were you thinking about when you went to sleep last night? I don’t remember that, but at 2:30 I was thinking about how I still need a bunch of kids to sign up for Fall Festival and how I need to take care of the 9th and 10th grade fellowship, and that I need to check on the drama for next Sunday….you get the picture.
• What are you thinking about right now? I really don’t want to go out in the cold but we need supper.

Dancing Girl

Yesterday was observation day at Banana's dance school. It was the first time I have sat in on a class since early last spring. I was shocked to realize...my baby is growing up. This wasn't my little petite ballerina wanna-be...this was a real dancer. She is almost as tall as her teacher! I guess she didn't want me to be too upset over her growing up, because she managed to display her giggly silly side for me a few times. But overall, I was amazed to realize that the graceful young lady I was watching was my little girl.

Happy Birthday Kat!

12 years ago today, my life was forever changed and I am so blessed!

Lunch with Mom, Dad and Banana and the present she's been wishin' and hopin' for...
And the game to go with it from Banana!
An impromptu birthday party at Bops with our favorite people! Aunt SUG and Aunt Junebug took good care of Kat! And, after all, what is a birthday without JMatt???
Thanks Aunt Junebug!
The Thinker, Kat, The Unique One (aka The Princess), The Kind One, JMatt, Banana and Lou Lou.

We love you Kat!