Jen's Blog

Playing Catch-Up

2008-11-06T21:20:00.005-05:00

Looking back on 2006 and 2007, I see I did a much better job keeping this blog up to date back then. I don’t know exactly what the problem has been this year, but I will try to do better.

May

Aden’s Cub Scout Pack hosted a bike rodeo on a course laid out in chalk and cones. Everyone brought their bikes and learned about bike safety. Danielle had a new bike, but it was still a little too big for her, so she rode one of Aden’s old bikes. Aden hasn’t needed training wheels for a while, but Danielle still uses them. One of her training wheels no longer touched the ground and she’s been riding around fine. I convinced her to take it off because she wasn’t even using it. A little while later, I persuaded her to have the other one removed. She relented, but lost confidence and quickly changed her mind.

Danielle’s graduated from Montessori daycare. Just like Aden’s class did two years ago, the 4-year-olds recited all the presidents in order, recited Spanish numbers and colors, and sang songs to showcase what they’ve learned this year.

We went to see Scott’s parents and took the kids strawberry picking. Afterwards, we had a picnic at Landsford Canal and saw the spider lilies in bloom.

I signed up to take a beginner cake-decorating class as part of my birthday present to me. I learned enough to make Aden’s sheet cake for his birthday party. It wasn’t very professional looking, but not bad either. He had his party at the new Mad Science Laboratory. The theme was light and electricity. The Mad Scientist put on a light show while the children experimented with “rainbow glasses”. Next, they played with a Tesla Coil. The kids enjoyed the indoor fireworks display and making their own slime they got to take home. (I’m sure some parents hate me for the slime part.)

Aden and Scott trying out their new roller blades. (Our birthday present for Aden.)

June

Both kids did a week-long day camp hosted by our church. We dropped them off in the morning on our way to work and picked them up late in the afternoon. They had fun singing songs, playing games, and doing crafts. The last day of camp they went to a local rec center pool. Danielle still thinks she needs a “floatie”, but she really doesn’t. Both kids signed up for swimming lessons at day care again.

We went ice-skating with the Cub Scouts. It was my second time on skates, and I did much better than the last time. Despite wearing better socks, I still got a terrible blister. If I continue to skate with the kids, I’ll need to invest in my own pair of skates. Danielle’s rentals gave her much better ankle support this time and she was able to skate on her own.

Aden played in an exhibition chess match with Grandmaster Lubomir Ftacnik.

GM Ftacnik was playing 20 simultaneous games. We initially went to the exhibition to watch, but after watching for a few minutes Aden said he wanted to play. There were three other children around Aden’s age playing. Two of them were members of a local chess cub. Aden did well, playing a very defensive game, and didn’t get much help from dad except with keeping track of the moves on the score sheet. The GM announced checkmate on the 28th move. The hosts of the exhibition match invited Aden to join the local chess club, which we haven’t done yet. First of all we’re too busy as it is. Secondly, Aden needs to learn a bit more game etiquette on how to be a gracious winner and loser. Not saying he behaved inappropriately in any way at the exhibition match – he just needs to learn that skill in general. Scott suggests I play more games of chess with Aden to try to improve his game. As I have mentioned before, holding back in games runs counter to Scott’s instincts.

Throughout the summer, I was Aden’s Sunday school teacher, and Scott played assistant a couple of times, too. Summer attendance is always low, and frequently it would be just Aden and one other child there. We enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

July

The same week Danielle was in acting camp,

we had evening Vacation Bible School. I taught Danielle’s kindergarten class. My kids love it the fact I’m their teacher, although they also think it’s a license to get away with things they wouldn’t with their regular teacher. This year’s theme was a rainforest. Each year we get a CD of the VBS songs about a month in advance in the hopes the parents will work with the kids at home to learn the words. Ours stayed in the van’s CD player and received frequent requests.

The Cub Scouts had a water fun day. We thought it was just going to be water balloons and sprinklers. Turned out, they had giant water slides. Neither kid had a swimsuit with them, but they had fun anyway. At least we remembered to bring towels.

Aden had a week-long Cub Scout camp. We’d drop him off after work and pick him up way past his bedtime; he was a real trooper about it. He was able to complete many of the advancements and electives needed for the coming scout year, so it was well worth it.

Aden had his turn at acting camp later that month. His class put on a mini production of Disney’s Lion King. Aden was Timon, but the camp didn’t have a meerkat mask, so Scott helped draw Aden a new mask. I’m so glad I have an artistic husband.

Bowling birthday party given by one of Danielle’s friends.

We had our hardwood floors refinished. Our house was built in the early 1970’s and has the original hardwood floors in the living room, hallway, and bedrooms. The previous owners put down carpet just before Scott bought the house, and it needed to be replaced. When we ripped up the carpet in the living room, we discovered a 3 by 6 foot section of the floor had been cut out and was replaced by plywood. Apparently, there had been water damage under the front window. But our contractor did a wonderful job matching the flooring.

Before

After

While we were staying at the motel, the kids got to swim at the motel pool and show off all they had learned from taking swimming lessons. They thought staying in the motel was a great vacation and wanted to know when we were going to stay there again. (Silly monkeys – the week before they were bemoaning the fact I was getting rid of their “Favorite Fluffy Carpet”.)

August

We went to a local church production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”. For a community theater group it was amazing. One of my co-workers was in the cast and invited me to come. I’m so glad I heard about it.

Both kids completed the library’s summer reading program. From mid-June until August, we made biweekly trips to check out new books and get prizes. For Danielle’s age group (pre-readers) for every two hours she had someone read to her, she got a prize. At the end of eight hours she got a certificate and a medal. Since Aden is a reader, he had to read to himself or out loud to someone else for four hours for each prize. At the end of 16 hours he got a certificate and medal. He thought he was getting a raw deal since someone reading to him didn’t count and he had to read twice as much as Danielle. Ahh, another lesson in “fairness” in his young life.

While Scott was in Indianapolis, I registered Danielle for school. How come he always seems to be on a trip when school registration comes along? Wrangling two kids through a maze of booths, lines, and fees is not my idea of a good time! I did not have one of my finest “Mommy Moments”.

The Cub Scouts kicked off their fall registration with an ice cream social. We were handed the calendar for this Scout year and Aden got to see his Scout friends. Over the summer I sewed two mascot flags and four den flags for his Pack for use in meetings and ceremonies.

School started for the kids.

I can’t believe Danielle is in kindergarten! We like both of their teachers and are looking forward to a great school year.

Our church hosted their annual mother/daughter tea party.
Danielle with my mom.
Danielle and my sister.

Aden got a new bike since he had outgrown his old one. We wanted to wait a couple of moths after his birthday since he got so much stuff already. Danielle finally grew enough to reach the pedals on her bigger bike. She had us put both training wheels on. I hope to get rid of both of them by her birthday.

Summer is over. [sniff]

September

Danielle started Daisy Girl Scouts.

Dance also started for Danielle. It was tough for her to decide whether she wanted to do a ballet/tap combo class again or a tap/jazz class. After a conversation with her instructor, we felt she would enjoy the tap/jazz class much more. Off I went to buy new tap shoes and a pair of jazz shoes. Whew. I’m glad I save money buying their clothes at consignment stores and yard sales.

Last year I had heard about the Columbia Children’s Theater. I had wanted to take the kids to see “How I Became a Pirate”, but couldn’t fit a performance into our schedule. When we heard their new season was opening with “Miss Nelson is Missing”, we had to go. The performance was wonderful! I even wanted to go back the next day to see it again. (We didn’t of course, but that’s how good it was.) I now have the rest of the season scheduled in our family calendar so we won’t miss a show.

October

We took the kids to see the USC Ballet perform “Carnival of the Animals”. (The music to “The Swan” is one of my favorites.) Friday night is normally family movie night at home. The “Carnival of the Animals” was a one-show performance and interfered with Aden’s pick for the movie. I did something that I often regret – I asked for input from my children. However, Aden surprised me and said he wanted to go.

Aden participated in an all-day Cub Scout event. Like last year, he practiced archery and shooting BB guns. He earned a belt loop for playing marbles and for learning about maps and compasses.

We took the kids to the SC State Fair.

We went to Boo at the Zoo.

Since Aden dressed up as a pirate for Halloween, we thought I would be neat if he learned how real pirates used to live. We took him to the library to hear a southern author speak about pirates of the Carolinas.

We went camping with the Cub Scouts. Scott and I tried out the rock wall (so did the kids).

Aden played basketball and both kids learned about how the Native Americans used clay. Aden caught his first bass – a three-pounder!

We had pumpkin carving – Scott helped Danielle design her ladybug pumpkin to go with her costume.

Later we went tent-or-treating.

Just before lights out, we took the telescope to a vacant field. Aden was able to pick out the constellation Cassiopeia and we showed him the Pleiades. The sky was gorgeous and the edges of the Milky Way were clear and bright. With the telescope we were able to see the Dumbbell Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy. Since our telescope isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, they just looked like grey smudges. Nonetheless, it was cool, especially when the kids and I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" as Scott was setting up the telescope.

Family Fun

2008-05-21T19:34:00.012-05:00

Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby for our Pack was held at the end of March. Aden's car placed 2nd in 3 out of 4 races for his Den (second car on the right). Of course, Scott was the one who used the power tools to cut it down and sand it a little, but the design and painting was done by Aden. We did help him a little by showing him how to cover parts of the car with masking tape so he could get a yellow lightning bolt down the middle. Scott also helped apply graphite to the wheels to prevent making a mess. Aside from that, the car was Aden's. It didn't matter to us or to him whether or not he won. He was very proud of his car, as are we.

Cousins

The end of March and beginning of April stayed very busy. Scott's brother and family came down from Ohio to visit his parents during Spring Break. We went to his parents house and visited for the day. It was nice the cousins were able to spend some time together. One of Scott's cousins recently moved to S.C. and we were able to visit with him and his family briefly that afternoon.

Karate

Aden and Danielle received their blue and white striped belts in karate. Aden will soon be moving to a different class for youths aged 7-12, leaving Danielle behind. I don't know how much longer she will continue on her own in karate without Aden by her side. She looks up to him so much and wants to be just like him.

Poke

After having several months of severe neck a shoulder pain (probably caused by me pushing my body too hard in karate), I broke down and found an acupuncturist. Actually, my mom found him for me. He treated her in Charleston in 1988 and helped her quit smoking. He practices here in town a few days a week. The needles don't hurt nearly as much as I thought they would, but I attribute that to the skill of the acupuncturist. I finally have full range of motion in my neck again. I had been seeing my chiropractor (of 14 years) since mid-January, but spinal adjustments just hadn't been working this time. I'm liking acupuncture. I'm even getting relief from my migraines.

Camping

We had the last Cub Scout camping trip in mid-April for this school year. The boys learned rope making as well as how to make nets. An employee of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources came and talked to the boys about furbearing animals of South Carolina. He brought several pelts and plaster molds of animal tracks and explained different types of traps used. We played volleyball and kickball. When there was free time, we tried to fish, but caught nothing.

We participated in a flag retirement ceremony. The Scouts had collected about ten flags that needed to be retired. The biggest one (the one pictured) came from a Chick-fil-A restaurant. The Major conducting the ceremony explained the two ways to properly dispose of an American flag - burial and burning. Danielle got teary and emotional watching the flag burn. At the end, there was a question & answer session. Danielle asked the Major, "So if you love your country and your flag so much, why did you do that?" She received several sympathetic "Awws" from the crowd. She kept asking additional questions such as, "So if it's okay to bury a flag, why didn't we do it that way?" It was hard to answer that one to her liking. Eventually, I had to go over to my chatter bug and tell her to stop asking so many questions so other kids could have a chance.

The last morning we were camping was breathtaking. We had a rainstorm the night before. After breakfast they had a professional bagpiper perform and explain the instrument and how it plays. We had a good time as always.

Toe Pick

A friend of Aden's had bis birthday party at the ice skating rink. Scott was the only one of the four of us who had even been on ice skates before. Danielle's skates didn't fit properly - no ankle support. Scott helped push her around the rink for about an hour because she couldn't skate on her own with the cheap rentals she had on her feet. Aden and I got the hang of it and really enjoyed ourselves. The terrible blister I got has made me seriously consider getting properly fitted for my own pair.

Sorry, no pictures due to the fact we were skating/falling as well as the rink being too dark to get any good shots.

Sidewalk Monsters

This is a modified version of an idea I found in Family Fun Magazine. One person draws a head/body with sidewalk chalk. The next person grabs a slip of paper out of a bucket which tells them what body part to draw next. Our slips were labeled with normal body parts such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms/hands, legs/feet. We also had other slips labeled with standard monster parts such as horns, tail, wings, scales. We all had a good time.

On the first monster, Scott contributed the head, nose, and wings - Danielle contributed six arms about a dozen eyes, and mohawk hair - Aden contributed ears, the mouth, and feet - I contributed a horn and tail.

On the second monster, Aden started with the head and skeleton body and later added the feet - Danielle again drew about a dozen eyes - Scott drew the arms which we all though gave him a really creepy look - my only contribution was the nose before we decided he was perfect as he was.

Our next door neighbors even joined in the fun on the last one. Danielle got to start with the head and body, later adding wings - our neighbors contributed the mouth, arms (hidden in the wings), and scales - Scott did the horns and the very special fluffy bunny tail - I drew the pig nose and eyes - Aden did the ears. We liked this activity because everyone had a chance to show off their artistic talents.

Hanging Out

So the kids saw a commercial advertising upside-down tomato planters. They thought the idea was pretty cool and wanted us to get some. We decided to make our own out of empty milk jugs and thought that saving money was even cooler.

Tappy and Tippy Toes

Danielle's dance recital was held on May 10th. She performed a tap number to "Nothin' Could Be Finer Than To Be in Carolina" and a ballet number to "Try a Morning Walk Along New Greenway."

She received a trophy for three continuous years of a combination of dance/and or gymnastics.

Best Intentions

2008-03-22T20:46:00.013-05:00

I had the best intentions of keeping the blog up to date, but other things took priority.

Scouting

Aden has thoroughly enjoyed Cub Scouts, and so have we. This year he has earned belt loops for archery, BB shooting, badminton, fishing, volleyball, soccer, chess, computer, language and culture, art, and astronomy. He has completed over thirty electives and gone on two camping trips. The last camping trip was the end of November/beginning of December. Despite the bitter cold, we all enjoyed the weekend. We took a telescope with us and were able to see Saturn in the pre-dawn hours. A lot of work has gone into this year, but it has been well worth the effort.

Sports

Fall soccer season ended and was quickly replaced with karate. In fact, the entire family joined a karate studio in November. The kids’ class is at 6:00, twice a week. It is working out much better than a team sport, because we don’t have a game to be rushing to on Saturday. Scott and I alternate who will go to the evening class while the other stays home with the kids. Actually, I have not been going as regularly as I had originally hoped. I’m having a difficult time adjusting to a new style of martial art after taking Tae Kwon Do for nearly six years. I still want to stick it out for now to learn different weapons.

Christmas

The Christmas season was a very enjoyable one for me. I didn’t even try to smock a dress for Danielle to wear this time, so I was able to focus on the other activities without freaking out about a dress. Although I did come down with bronchitis, I was still able to play the flute and perform in the hand bell choir on Christmas Eve.

Birthdays and Such

Danielle turned 5 and had a wonderful birthday party with her friends from daycare and church. Since both kids have a large circle of friends, it is rare a month goes by without going to a birthday party or two. Whether it is a small affair at someone’s house, a bowling party, or a sleepover, we try to fit in them all. It does seem our family is on the go a lot, but I assure you, we do normal things too like weekly movie nights, bike rides, and evening reading sessions from a classic chapter book.

Easter Festival

Once again I played Peter Cottontail at our church’s Easter festival. My mother was there and had a wonderful time. Jane and Theresa, you would have been so proud of her. I wish you could have seen her blowing bubbles with the kids. Sorry, no photo of that, but trust me it would have made you smile. She helped me put all the treat bags together this past week and passed them out to the kids before they left. Danielle’s Easter dress this year was bought from a consignment sale. I’ve been trying to smock “Blue Bird” from AS&E 49 for months. I can’t seem to get it finished. Perhaps it will be ready by Mother’s Day.

Been Busy.

2007-11-05T21:22:00.001-05:00

I took the kids to the water park while Scott was in Indianapolis on a business trip as part of his second job.

I took the kids to the duck pond while Scott was in Atlanta as part of his second job. He has also been to Los Angeles and Houston on business trips.

We have attended multiple birthday parties the last couple of months. One party was at a pottery studio and every child got to paint their own pottery. Danielle painted a puppy. Aden painted a gnome. The studio glazed it and fired it. We were able to pick it up from the studio about a week later. Pretty cool. We plan to take the kids back for a fun family activity at a later time.

First grade started as did school fund raisers and homework. Danielle started ballet and tap for this coming year. Fall soccer season started for Aden.

Aden started Cub Scouts and has earned several belt loops and activity beads. We sold $750 worth of Scout Popcorn and I baked three cakes for a bake sale fund raiser.

We took the kids to the State Fair.

We went to Boo-at-the-Zoo as part of a family tradition. The kids love the hay bale maze. We need to remember next year to schedule a weekend to go to a local farm where they have a maze cut out in a cornfield.

We went on our very first camping trip. It was the first time I have ever slept in a tent. When I did Girls Scouts, we had cabins. We left after work on a Friday and drove to a state park about an hour and a half away. The sun had gone down by the time we arrived. We had to pitch the tent in the dark.

Aden earned his fishing belt loop by hooking his own worm and cricket. He also earned his chess belt loop over the weekend by demonstrating to his den leader he knew the rules of chess. He even won! Other fun activities included a hike, making a bird feeder and a sing-a-long.

We had a pumpkin carving contest with the Scouts. That night we had tent-or-treating.

Fall Festival at church. The kids also went trick-or-treating Halloween night (my Mom's birthday). Their pumpkin heads are full to the brim.

We took the kids to visit my co-worker's horses. Only Aden would get up on one. Danielle liked looking at the miniature donkey that was at the farm.

Trip to the fire station with the Cub Scouts.

Other notable events:

Despite being inoculated six years ago, I got the chicken pox about a week or so after I went to Aden's school for Meet the Teacher Night. I missed a week and a half from work. It wasn't as bad as it could have been had I not been inoculated. Still, it was bad enough. Aden avoided getting sick by getting a booster shot the day I figured out what I had. (I wish I had known we needed boosters). Danielle couldn't get a booster because it was too soon since her first inoculation. She came down with a very mild case - only four spots. Scott was in Houston during part of the time I was quarantined. My sister helped out a lot by coming over and making multiple trips to the pharmacy and grocery store.

Scott and I actually had a date and went to see "Noises Off", performed by Theater USC. I hope our kids grow up to enjoy the theater as much as we do. It will be nice when they are older and can take them with us.

Edible craft

2007-08-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

Scott made it home safe and sound from his convention in Sweden. At least this particular convention wasn't over Thanksgiving weekend as it has been for the last couple of years. In preparation, my thoughtful husband signed us up for Skype so we were able to stay in touch by teleconferencing. The kids thought it was very cool to see their daddy when he called.

Over the weekend he was gone, I took the kids to the zoo. (We went early before it got extremely hot.)

My little chefs helped make homemade pizza. This really excited Aden, who told me he really liked helping me make dinner because it was like making a craft you can eat.

We had plans to go to the beach this past weekend since Scott was home, but with temperatures consistently over 100 and two confirmed shark attacks last week at the Isle of Palms, we decided to go to the South Carolina State Museum and EdVenture Children's Museum instead.

We do need to go to the beach, but I think we will have to wait until the temperatures drop, which means it will be after school starts. No worries. The sand and the waves will still be there waiting for us.

Magical Coral Reef

2007-07-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

The weekend of the Fourth was fabulous. We upgraded to a 12 foot diameter inflatable pool for the kids. The old inflatable wading pool from last year had a couple of air leaks. This year they have much more room for them to splash about. Now every time we turn around we hear the chorus of "Can we go in the pool?" Both kids are enrolled in swimming lessons for 8 weeks this summer. I'm so proud of the both of them for being brave enough to put their faces under.
Danielle found a caterpillar and brought it to show me in her bug box. We gathered many different kinds of leaves from trees and bushes in the yard to see which ones he liked to eat. Crunchy Munchy (as Danielle named him) didn't seem to want any we had to offer, not even from the rose bush on which he was found. After doing some internet research to find out what kind of butterfly Crunchy Munchy would become, we found Crunchy Munchy would actually transform into a moth. I made Danielle put him back where she found him after lunch, but for about an hour and a half my kids we transfixed on Crunchy Munchy. Once again I'm humbled by the eager minds of a child, soaking up everything the see. I'm glad I was able to share with my children another example of the beauties and wonders of nature.

Our neighbors brought their child over to play in our pool after each of us had our repective cookouts. I made a firecraker craft out of toilet paper tubes with the kids. I found the idea from a magazine (Family Fun I think).

My kids are a little older now, so I bought $1 worth of Sparklers for them. I was a little disappointed. I remember as a kid, Sparklers really sparked. These just kind of fizzled and smoked a lot. It's probably because of so many lawsuits.

Sunday afternoon we celebrated my brother's 50th. Happy Birthday David!

So far, Aden has had two ear infections this summer (or maybe a continuation of the same one - not sure). I hope the new antibiotic knocks it out this time.

This past week the kids had a great time at Vacation Bible School. Our theme was a coral reef where we were asked to "dive deep into God's word". One of our church members is an contractor and his son is studying to be an architect. They build an elaborate wood and chicken wire structure that filled our sanctuary. We transformed it into an spectacular sea kingdom using blue vinyl plastic, crumpled brown paper bags, and colored tissue paper.

Aden's favorite part was the science lessons. The kids made a miniature coral reef of their own to take home out of a kitchen sponge, liquid bluing, salt, water and I think ammonia. We were all really impressed when the "Science Guy" made a 20 foot geyser out of a 2 liter of diet soda and 13 Mentos candies.

I was the co-teacher for the kindergarten and first grade class. Most of my kids learned all of their Bible verses for each night. Aden and his best friend from church recited the seasons of the church year, the Lord's Prayer and the 10 Commandments for prizes. Aden tried his best to learn the Apostle's Creed for another novelty prize, but finally decided it was a little too hard. I'll work with him for next year. Learning all the books of the bible also gets a prize, but it seems the only six kids who were able to do that were 5th graders (and girls). I've volunteered to teach the same grades next year so I can have Danielle in my class, then I'll alternate back to teaching Aden's class. Though it's been an exhausting week, it's been a lot of fun.

We took the kids to the Columbia Marionette Theater for another production. This one was "Jack and the Giants". We also took a family trip to the library, which we haven't done in a while. We used to go every two weeks. This year, it seems something always occupies us every Saturday.

The kids have been asking to go to the beach. I'm not sure which one we will hit. I really enjoyed Huntington Island and lighthouse we went to two years ago. The public restroom facilities were very convenient and it was not very crowded. When you have two kids that "gotta go", easy access to a public restroom is a must. Possibly Isle of Palms? I haven't decided yet, but we'd better go before the end of the summer or else I'll have two very disappointed kids on my hands.

Swan Lake

2007-06-28T19:48:00.001-05:00

The kids wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday last month. I told them I wanted to go to see Swan Lake. Before you think I was going to drag my kids to yet another ballet, I really meant Swan Lake and Iris Gardens in Sumter, SC. I wanted a family outing and to make memories instead of accumulating more "stuff" .

The iris garden actually started as an accident. In the late 1920's a Sumter businessman was landscaping his home with Japanese irises. After the flowers failed to thrive, he ordered his gardener to dig them up and throw them in the swamp. The following year the irises bloomed! This same businessman began importing the swans. The lake now boasts as having every variety of swan in the world.

Once a year Sumter's Swan Lake and Iris Garden hosts an Iris Festival with a flower show, arts and crafts, food tasting and children's activities. The festival was held over Memorial Weekend. We were pretty busy with Aden's birthday party, so we missed the event. We went two weeks later instead.

Though it was mid-June, the irises were still gorgeous. Spring in the south is a sight to behold with blooming magnolias, hydrangeas, and gardenias. Around the perimeter of the lake were ancient cypress tress with low hanging moss. Cypress knees were bubbling up from the ground near the swamp. From our octogenarian guide, we found out no one actually knows what the usefulness of cypress knees, but it is speculated it is to protect the tree from being washed away in the swamp when the water rises.

We had a beautiful picnic under a shade tree.

Aden collected so many feathers for his "collection", he had his sister carry some for him.

I have been saving bread heels for some time in preparation for the trip. The kids had a good time feeding the swans, ducks and geese. We saw a momma duck with baby ducklings going for a swim. The kids also enjoyed watching the turtles and spent a good while trying to catch tadpoles.

From the pictures you can see why this is a popular site for weddings. What spring bride wouldn't want to get married in a fairy tale garden under a gazebo?

Happy Birthday to Us

2007-06-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

My greatest birthday gift ever was the one I received 5 days after I turned 30 - my son.

Our birthdays were actually at the end of last month. Aden's party was at Chuck E. Cheese the weekend before his birthday since school would be over by the following weekend. We wanted as many kids to show up before everyone left for summer break. The kids had the times of their lives.

On Aden's actual birthday, Scott had just returned from a business trip to LA. I took the afternoon off to spend time with my husband and we baked Aden's cake together. Aden wanted a lemon cake, with blue frosting with the Superman symbol on it. Yeah, I could have bought a cake, but this was much more fun.

While I was busy stirring up a bottle of blue food coloring into 1-1/2 containers of frosting, Scott but his artistic talents to work. He found a picture of Superman's logo online and scaled the picture to fit the top of the cake. He used an exact-o knife to cut the paper around the "S". After I had frosted the cake, he laid the paper cut-out on the frosting and used writing frosting to do the outlines. As you can see by the edging, I've never taken a cake decorating class. One day I hope to enroll in a cake decorating class to add to my other hobbies.

Aden's face lit up the room when he saw his cake. Yeah, I could have bought a cake, but he was more excited over the one we made and to see his shining smile was worth taking off the afternoon (and having my fingers turn blue for two days from food coloring).

Spring Fever

2007-05-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

Soccer ended for both kids in the beginning of this month. Each enjoyed playing this season; however, Danielle seemed to enjoy playing with the grass and dirt more than trying to play soccer. Although we requested for Aden and his best friend to be on the same team, our request could not be accommodated. It worked out okay though. We were out of town when the respective teams played each other. I found myself taking over the duties of Team Mom for Aden's team -- coordinating snack schedule, calling parents for reminders, and getting the end of the season party organized. Scott found himself as an unofficial assistant coach for Danielle's team.

As a family, we attended the Atlanta Ballet's season finale performance of Sleeping Beauty. The kids enjoyed our little road trip and going to the Fox Theater. We attended the matinée performance so there we a lot of other young children in attendance as well. We were very proud of their good behavior. I've indicated in previous posts, Scott and I have a love for the performing arts. Hopefully, our kids will share our passion.

We lost our dog for the second time in a month. Once again, we found the back gate wide open and the dog was gone. There hadn't been enough time from her last disappearance until the most recent Houdini act to get a new ID tag. We hadn't thought to padlock the back gate because we thought her escape last month was just a fluke. Although we have checked with the pound on several occasions, I have little hope in finding her again.

T-ball for Aden started a week after soccer ended. It will be a very short season that will end mid-June before it gets unbearably hot. Most of Aden's teammates are four-years-olds. Aden will be six this month and, with the exception of one girl on the team, stands at least a head taller than the rest of the players. It appears this mini-season is not well organized and I don't think Aden is getting much out of it. Scott and I have both been working with Aden on the fundamentals of the game such as throwing, catching, and batting at home.

Danielle's dress rehearsal and dance recital were this month as well. The number her class performed was "You are My Sunshine". She is definitely our little sunshine. Scott's parents, my mom, and my sister came to the show. Danielle loved the roses she received afterwards. Per her request, we have signed her up for tap lessons next fall.

In a previous post, I was very distraught in not completing Danielle's Easter outfit in time for her to wear Easter Morning. I e-mailed a fellow smocking friend for comfort. Her suggestion was to get it ready for Mother's Day. I found a lime green shirt for Aden and wore a lime suit I already had in the closet. Here are the three of us in our matching Mother's Day outfits.

The school term is almost over. Scott and I took a morning off in order to go to Aden's kindergarten program. All the different kindergarten classes got together to sing us songs and show us what they have learned. We can't wait for summer. Yeah!!

Right after Aden's T-ball game last Saturday, we drove to Scott's parents' house to take the kids strawberry picking at a nearby strawberry field.

Afterwards Scott's dad took the kids fishing.

Lost and Found

2007-04-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I took the day off to help chaperone my son's kindergarten class on their trip to the zoo. Since there were so many volunteers, I was only responsible for my child. Each chaperone team was given a Scavenger Hunt list to find certain animals and figure out which animals on the list were not in our zoo. Aden and I teamed up with one of his classmates and his Mom. The boys had such a great time, we will have to make a play date soon.

Saturday after our kids' soccer games we realized our 11-year-old black lab/pit bull mix was missing. Our back gate was standing wide open. We don't know who opened the gate and left it open or how long she had been missing. Scott traveled the neighborhood on foot while the kids and I took the van. We couldn't find her. The rest of the day was spent making "Lost Dog" signs for surrounding neighborhoods in or area. We did receive several calls from people stating they had seen our dog, but no one actually called and said they had her. Eventually, the "old lady" wound up in the pound later in the week and we were able to bring her home. All creatures great and small, the Lord God loves them all.

Wednesday, we took off a couple of hours from work to see Danielle's day care class put on their Spring Concert. Once a week a lady comes to the day care for music and rhythm class. All the children were all so sweet. I couldn't help but mist a little when the class did their finale to "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow". I love these little programs and field trips and I wouldn't miss these moments for the world.

Easter Came Too Early

2007-04-08T14:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we had our church egg hunt. I have to give background information on how we organize the hunt for the rest of my story to make sense.

The hunt is broken down into four age-appropriate groups with eggs hidden at different sections of the church property (Twos & threes; preschool & kindergarten; 1st & 2nd grade; and 3rd, 4th and 5th grade). When a child finds 12 eggs, he or she must sit down in order to let everyone have a chance to get at least 12 eggs. When every child has 12, then the kids are let loose again to gather the rest in their section. We found out doing it this way prevents the tears of a child only getting 4 when the child next to them has 20. We know approximately how many eggs are hidden in the various sections and take a head count during craft time. If more children show up in that age group than were planned for, then each child may have to sit down after finding 8 or 10 eggs at the start of the hunt before being allowed to find the rest.

Prizes are given out at the end of the hunt and everyone gets a prize. Of course the first prize given out is for the one who has the most eggs. Then there are prizes for the one with the most eggs of a certain color. If the helpers see that someone hasn't gotten a prize yet, a reason is made up, such as "the one who has on a yellow shirt" or "the one who's wearing a pink bow". The important thing is everyone wins something.

Now here's where the story gets funny. After all the preschool and kindergarten children found their 12 eggs and were let loose again, Aden was only able to find 2 more in his designated section. Somehow in all the chaos, he slipped around to another unsupervised section of the property to hunt while that group was still in craft time. We didn't realize he was missing until our group was handing out prizes. I found him coming around the corner with his egg bucket filled to the brim. His face was beaming. He was so proud of himself. I hated to tell him that the eggs he took from the back of the property belonged to another group and I had to take some of the eggs out of his bucket. Bless his heart. He really didn't know he had done anything wrong. I knew he had found 14 and let him keep another 2 before returning the rest to the helper in charge of the other group. He looked as if the tears were about to spill, but after I explained that other children wouldn't be able to get 12 if I let him keep them all, he was okay with it.

Leave it to my child to find the loophole in the egg hunt. Next year we will know to post spotters at the corners to prevent others from trying a similar tactic. He sure was determined to "win" the hunt. Of course he had no need to worry. He did win a prize and chose from the basket a foam airplane which broke before the end of the festival. (Fortunately, the Easter Bunny visited last night and had a sturdier plane in his basket). Danielle chose a jump rope as her egg hunt prize for the most green eggs and has been making up nonsensical jump rope chants as she hops up and down without twirling the rope.

The kids had fun with the craft project and playing with sidewalk chalk and once again I played the Easter Bunny while everyone was eating lunch.

This morning several church members came to compliment me on Danielle's dress. With a heavy heart (and at one point a lump in my throat), I had to confess the dress she wore was not one I made. Everyone who knows me well knows I make her Christmas and Easter dresses. So it was a perfectly logical assumption. On close inspection, it was obvious the "smocked" insert on her dress was mass produced by machine and no way resembled something hand-made. I picked it up on a consignment sale last month as something to throw on her to go to church this spring. When I bought it, I never thought it was going to be the dress she was going to wear on Easter morning.

I realize the full meaning of today was to celebrate the fact the tomb was empty and church service is not intended to be a fashion show, but I'm truly heart broken I didn't finish the dress in time. The Easter dress was supposed to be "Sherbet Fizz" from AS&E issue 59.

Ever since I first laid eyes on the pattern, I was determined to make it as an Easter dress. I started working on it in earnest back in January, after I realized I was not going to finish "Blue Bird" from AS&E 49 in time for Danielly's 4th birthday. (Yet another missed deadline and an uncompleted dress that had to be put to the side in an attempt to make the Easter dress deadline.) I've missed numerous hours of sleep for weeks, suffered a migraine, and experienced a full-blown panic attack (requiring a missed day of work) trying to get the Easter dress done.

Earlier last night I really thought I was going to make it, but at 2:30 this morning, I had to admit defeat and give up. The piping and binding on the sleeves were only half finished, the two pin tucks in the middle had not been placed, the hem still needed to be done, the button holes had been inked but not stitched, and 24 embroidered flowers above the pin tucks were not completed. On Thursday, I knew the 24 flowers around the skirt were out of the question for Easter, but intended on adding them later. Even if I used my previous sewing deadline tricks such as using "Wonder Tape" for the bottom skirt tucks and hems, sewed the buttons over the inked button hole lines, and safety pinned her in the dress, it was impossible. I shed a few frustrated tears and went to bed.

The Easter Bunny took a break from smocking at 12:30 AM to hide plastic colored eggs in the yard for the kids to find this morning. I heard the kids' exuberant chatter over what was in their baskets this morning at 00 dark thirty. I was too weary to get out of bed, but still managed to smile with their shouts of each new goody that was found in the baskets.

We dyed eggs today after church for Easter dinner, made Jell-O eggs from our egg mold, and baked Easter sugar cookies.

Yes, I do remember what the true meaning of the day was about. Easter happened with or without the finishing of the dress. That doesn't mean I'm not disappointing in my failure. The fact I can still finish the dress for Danielle to wear as long as there is warm weather is small consolation.

I can't be sure she will ever be willing to wear "Sherbet Fizz" when finished without it being a "special occasion dress." My little imp knows exactly which buttons to push. She will give me all the compliments in the world as I'm making the dress, but refuses to wear it except for something "special" (her words, not mine). It started happening last year. When I want her to wear a certain outfit, she won't without there being a battle of wills and tears on both sides. If she does wear what I want her to, she insists on wearing ridiculous dress up shoes or inappropriate ornamentation. Taking her to get portraits is an ordeal because she usually refuses wear the dress I made. Bribery is usually involved. We have left a portrait studio without having any pictures taken at all because of her ill behavior.

Throughout the day I've asked several questions and these are the honest answers.
Who is making dresses more for, her or me? It may come across as self-centered and selfish, but the dress is more for me. It's not so much pride, but a sense of accomplishment in achieving a difficult task. (The "I did it" feeling.) The only one who is disappointed and heartbroken today is me. It was important for the dress to have been ready on time. I hate not doing something on time or breaking promises, even if they are to myself.

Do I care if Danielle appreciates my efforts when she gets older? No. I don't do what I do for the recognition or appreciation. It's something I do because I want to. If there are any expectations, they are self-imposed and I'm not likely to lower them. Inherently, I'm detailed oriented and a bit of a perfectionist. To ask me to be otherwise would be like asking a fish to be a bird.

Is it still worth it? Yes, yes it is. There are only a few more Easters and few more Christmases I will lose sleep trying to get a dress done. (Most of the smocked dress patterns from magazines go up to size 8.) Before I'm ready, my little girl will be grown. There will be few things to remind me of her childhood. I want to look back at these little smocked dresses and portraits (no matter what I had to do to get them) and remember what she was like when she was little. The possibility of smocking for future grandchildren at my leisure in retirement does not seem too promising because my eyesight is bad already and my hands cramp up. No telling what full-blown arthritis is going to feel like. No, I only have a few years left to get dresses done and then many, many holidays where I will be well-rested. If Danielly wants to take up the needle for her own children, it will be her own sleep she loses.

Anyway, the Easter dress was not done and the bonnet bought to match is still in the closet, waiting for the day it can be taken from the shelf and worn.

Colorado trip

2007-03-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful vacation with the kids. Once again Scott's aunt and uncle were gracious hosts.

Go Fly A Kite

2007-03-10T06:59:00.000-05:00

Anyone familiar with the Mary Poppins movie will remember these lyrics.

With tuppence for paper and string,
You can have your own set of wings.
With your feet on the ground,
You're a bird in flight!
With your fist holding tight,
To the string of your kite!

Oh, Oh, Oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height
Let's go fly a kite
And send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up to where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

When you send it flying up there,
All at once you're lighter than air!
You can dance on the breeze,
Over 'ouses and trees!
With your fist 'olding tight,
To the string of your kite!

Oh, Oh, Oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height
Let's go fly a kite
And send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up to where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

Mamma Mia!

2007-03-01T19:09:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been fairly busy. We had four guests over for President's Weekend to play games with Scott. I herded the kids to a bowling birthday party and to visit Mom after her heart cath and stent placement. She's doing great, everyone. Thanks for all the prayers and phone calls of concern. The stents have increased her oxygen supply. She feels more like herself and finally has the energy she hasn't had in years. She has another appointment this month to assess her skipping heart beats. More prayers are needed if she requires a pacemaker or defibrillator. Lana's heart cath at the end of January went fine without incident, with the exception of me getting rear-ended at a stoplight after I took her home. I'm still recovering from whiplash and under chiropractic care.

We celebrated Aden's good progress in school by going out for ice cream and a carousel ride.

We learned recently a piece of his artwork has been chosen to represent his school the district art exhibit. He says he wants to be an artist when he grows up. I'm sure he will change his mind about 100 times before he actually has to choose a career track, but I will support him in whatever he does, including pay for art school.

I have been acquiring out-of-print copies of children's books via eBay this past month. Growing up, Mom always made sure we had books in the house to read, no matter how tight money was. We were taught books were to be cherished friends and companions and I still have a majority of the books from my childhood. I'm replacing some of the books that didn't survive my youth, like The Miss Bianca/Rescuer series by Margery Sharp. Despite taking care not to break the spines of paperbacks by “folding” my books, my Margery Sharp books disintegrated due to cheap spine glue used in the '80's. I now have ex-library copies of the entire series in hardback. The fact they are old library copies only adds to the charm. One book came from the Vancouver Public Library, British Columbia; six came from Coquitlam Public Library, British Columbia; one came from a middle school in Aylesbury, United Kingdom; and the last is from a school in Mount Compass, Australia. All are in very good library condition. All are first editions with the exception of one. The first four in the series are illustrated by Garth Williams - the illustrator of E. B. White's Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. Although Disney loosely based The Rescuer movie from these books, these books do not follow the Disney story. It's fascinating how many Disney movies were actually based on classic books for children - 101 Dalmatians, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Mary Poppins were all popular children's books. It's sad how most children grow up only watching the movies, without the benefit of the rich story the actual book brings.

I recently purchased seven Doctor Doolittle books from the 1960's (prior to later editions where sections were either re-written or deleted to make them more politically correct). Six of them are in a box set from 1967 with a picture of Rex Harrison portraying Doctor Doolittle on the slipcase. I’m anxiously awaiting my “gem” - a 1924 first edition of Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle. Recent copies of this book are illustrated by a Jan Palmer, which is why I went searching for a first edition. I think having such a well-loved, classic story illustrated by someone other than the original artist takes away from the book. When I get my front living room shelving done, these cherished volumes will sit on the shelves with other great series I already have, like my Wizard of Oz books (some are first editions) and Andrew Lang Fairy Tale Collection. Eventually, I would like to get copies of the out-of-print “shoe books” by Noel Streatfield. I never got the opportunity to read them as a child and didn't even know of their existence until I saw "You've Got Mail". How I love watching that movie, especially when I'm home with the sniffles.

I would like to go back to school one day and take classes in children's literature/library sciences. When I retire from my full-time job, I could work part-time at the children's section of a library, or possibly tour around in full Mother Goose garb, reading stories to children at day cares, schools, libraries, or hospitals. Perhaps I could try my hand at writing a children's book myself. (Yes, yet another mom who thinks she can write a children's book after reading so many to her kids. Who knows? Aden may illustrate a book for me one day.)

Soccer practice has started again. Both Aden and Danielle are playing this season. The first game takes place the day our plane leaves for Colorado. We will try not to miss the first game, but we will have to see.

We went for a walk at one of South Carolina's beautiful state forests over the weekend. We let Aden hold the map and work on his map reading skills. When we got home we highlighted which paths we took. When we go again, we will take a different path. We learned about vernal ponds, how a longleaf pine grows, fox squirrel, and saw an absolutely gorgeous crooked pine.

Last night, Scott and I went to see a traveling Broadway production of Mamma Mia! Although corny in some scenes, the show was a lot of fun, to include several encore numbers by the cast. In the late '70's, I remember my brother in his room with his headphones hooked up to his stereo, listening to ABBA eight-tracks. He would sing (badly) at the top of his lungs, oblivious that everyone around him heard him sing off-key, while I giggled outside his bedroom door. It was hard not to sing along with cast to the ABBA songs I nearly know by heart thanks to my brother. The show did not get a great review in today's paper, but I had fun all the same. What was so quaint, was admiring the sea of white-haired fifty and sixty-year-olds in the audience remember their hay-days. (Today's newspaper also had a story about a retired couple who have been following this cast from New York, Florida, Vegas, Chicago, and now here in Columbia. They have bought tickets for all eight performances this week and traveled 700 miles to do it!)

Where the Wild Things Are

2007-02-13T20:28:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month we took Aden and Danielle to see a production of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, performed by the Columbia City Ballet. The kids were enthralled. (It was Aden's idea after hearing about it when we went to see The Nutcraker.)

The weekend before the performance, some of the dancers performed excerpts from the ballet at the Richland County Library. On the wall of the children's library is a mural depicting a scene from Where the Wild Things Are, painted by Sendak himself. The kids enjoyed following Max around and got to meet one of the beasts. I can't believe I didn't have a camera with me. (The pictures were taken the day of the full ballet performance.)

Earlier on the day of the performance we saw Aden's best friend play a hockey game.

Princess for a Day

2007-02-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

Danielle had her birthday party last weekend at the Columbia Marionette Theater. Seventeen little friends from the neighborhood, daycare, and church came to enjoy the performance of "Puss in Boots". (Right after Christmas, we brought Aden and Danielle to the Marionette Theater to see an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier".)

This year Danielly wanted to be dressed as Ariel for her birthday and have her party in the Underworld Sea Kingdom section of the theater. I have no idea where the girl got the idea she had to dress up for her party. Last year she insisted on wearing her Cinderella costume. Months before Christmas she kept talking about her Ariel party and costume. How could I not let her wear her costume and let her be princess for an entire day?

2006 Book List

2007-01-27T21:29:00.001-05:00

I was surprised to find I finished so many books last year considering all my other distractions.

Growing Up in Davie County: Reflections from One Hundred Years Ago - Jamie W. Moore, Editor
A lovely Christmas gift from my friend back in December 2005 about his grandfather's life.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
I read this book when I was in high school and decided it was time to get back to the classics. I think I enjoyed it much more the second time around.

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
Another re-read. I last read this book about ten years ago or so. I studied C. S. Lewis as part of a continuing Christian education class last year. It's amazing how my views have changed in the last decade.

Naked Fruit - Elisa Morgan
I didn't get much out of this book, but it was better than most self-help books that have been recommended to me.

The Book of Virtues - William J. Bennett
Actually I started this book after Aden was born. I picked it up every now and again - reading and slowly digesting the short stories, essays, poems and excerpts. It counts as a book read in 2006 since that’s when I actually finished it. I'm looking forward to starting The Moral Compass.

An Incomplete Education - Judy Jones and William Wilson
I’d been eyeing this book a while, so checked it out from the library. I had to renew it twice in order to finish. I was expecting something much different. The information it contained was pretty obscure and the authors assumed I knew much more than I did prior to opening the cover. I found myself running to my dictionary and going to www.wikipedia.org a lot trying to fill in the blanks. I thought I was a reasonably educated person until I read this book. If you want to feel like a complete idiot, go ahead a give this one a try.

"Waiting for Godot" - Samuel Beckett
I've always wanted to see this play, but never had the opportunity. If you like Beckett, I recommend "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" by Tom Stoppard.

Wicked - Gregory Maguire
The book was a birthday present from my sister and a good follow-up to seeing the traveling Broadway production back in May. Not the book I was expecting, but still I still couldn’t put it down.

Wicked the Grimmerie: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical - David Cote
This book was a birthday present from Scott. After seeing the Broadway show, it was much more interesting to see the behind the scenes on how the musical was made.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
I have a large collection of classic children's books. The Oz series are among my favorites. I simply had to re-read this book from my childhood.

Wise Thoughts for Every Day - Leo Tolstoy
Much better than any Page-A-Day calender. I had this book with me when I went to see my doctor recently. He asked several questions about it and examined the book for several minutes before saying he would have to go find a copy for himself. I recommend trying several Tolstoy's short stories before trying to tackle War and Peace. My favorite is "The Long Exile".

These are books I started in 2006 and have no intention of finishing:

Don Quixote of La Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
I've seen "The Man of La Mancha" performed on stage and knew the general story of Don Quixote. Usually I enjoy reading the classics, but I found this one too tedious. I didn't get half way through Part I before I decided I really didn't care anymore about the poor delusional knight or his side-kick.

The Great Divorce - C. S. Lewis
After taking the short class on C.S. Lewis, I decided to read another one of his books. Although I liked the Narnia series, this work of fiction really didn't suit my tastes, so I put it down.

Starling Joy: Seven Magical Stories of Christmas - James Calvin Schaap
A light book with several Christmas stories in it. I picked it up to read during the holidays and found myself disappointed by the author's storytelling. I was expecting something more on par with O'Henry's short story, "The Gift of the Magi".

Adventures in Learning

2007-01-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the month, we took the kids to EdVenture. There was a traveling castle exhibit we wanted to see. I was hoping it would be more like the castle set up at the Charleston Children's Museum since the kids enjoyed visiting it last year. The traveling exhibit was on a much smaller scale, but very entertaining. Danielle played with the royal puppets, harvested vegetables from the garden, gathered eggs from the chickens, pretended to cook in a giant cauldron in the royal kitchen, and shod horses in the blacksmith's shop. Afterwards, she enjoyed shopping at the grocery store scaled to her size.

While Danielle and I were milling around, Aden and his dad were investigating the giant kid exhibit. It's set up so you can crawl inside and see how the human body works. Aden investigated the brain, mouth, eyes, heart, spine, stomach, intestines, and slid down part of the colon. They wound up coming out ... yep, you guessed it. There was a big PHFFFT sound as you exited. Both kids enjoyed the music room, firetruck, and water display outside.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

The Christmas Dress

2006-12-23T12:04:00.000-05:00

Since I’ve been smocking, people seem surprised to find out I make Danielle’s special occasion dresses. I like the compliments, but I always hear the same questions and comments:

“You must be a stay-at-home mom.”
Actually I’m not. I work full time.

“When do you ever find the time?”
I don’t usually watch TV and have almost totally given up all other hobbies and reading for pleasure in order to smock. I try to stitch after the kids go to bed until it’s time for me to go to bed. It was much easier to find time on the weekends when both kids used to take naps. I try to make the best use of my time and bring my smocking with me if I know I will have a long wait in the doctor’s office or sometimes bring my smocking to the office to work on while on my lunch break.

“I could never do that. I don’t have the time/patience/talent.”
Where there’s a will… I don’t think of myself as a patient person just determined and tenacious.

“How long does it take you to make that?”
It’s hard to answer that question because I don’t keep an accurate count of man-hours spent. It depends on the detail of the dress. Some dresses I can get out in a few weeks and some takes me months. It depends on what else is going on in my life, which is usually a lot. I can say, bishop dresses don’t take as long because there are fewer pieces to assemble. Yoke dresses usually take less time to smock because you don’t have to smock the front and back (this of course depends on the detail and whether you are just smocking an insert or the full front bodice), but they take more time to assemble at the end. Picture smocking takes the longer than geometric smocked patterns because your smocked rows have to be perfectly stacked in order to create the picture.

“You should sell your work and do this full time.”
Thanks, but no. I could never make my salary doing this full time. A smocked dress in a specialty store costs between $45 and $85. If I spend 50+ hours making a dress, no one would be willing to pay me minimum wage in the time it took to make let alone the costs of materials.

“Will you make me a dress for my daughter/granddaughter?”
I said yes once and regret it. I have the dress cut, but because I’m wrapped up in all of Danielly’s Easter/Mother’s Day/Christmas/ birthday dresses, I don’t have the time to pleat or smock it. I hate breaking a promise, but I really can’t see how I will be able to finish the promised dress. Every dress I make for someone else is one dress less Danielle will have. People just don’t realize the time it takes to do handiwork. It’s not something that you can just whip up in a weekend.

One friend at work comments: “Just make it easy on yourself and buy her a smocked dress.”
I have some garment labels I bought that read “Made With Love by Mommy” and that is reason enough that I do what I do. When it is all said and done I have a finished dress I’m proud of and can account for my time. It’s better than spending hours in front of TV.

Usually I don’t keep track on “how long it takes”. I stitch until I’m interrupted (which is frequently) or get tired (which is also frequently), so there are a lot of starts and stops to keep track of. With Danielly’s Christmas dress, I kept a journal of the time spent and took pictures of the work in progress.

I took a week off from work back in November to have uninterrupted time to selfishly stitch while the kids were in school or at daycare and the husband was at work. Here’s how the process went.

The smocking pattern of the snowmen bishop came from Sew Beautiful, Issue 96 and was designed by Allison Burris.

I searched high and low at all the fabric stores for the perfect color blue to make this bishop. I can’t tell you how long that took or how much time I spent searching for the perfect lace and little snowflake buttons.

The Sew Beautiful issue recommended Chery Williams’ bishop pattern, but not all bishops are created equal. It took me about two hours of searching my back issues of Australian Smocking and Embroidery (AS&E) to decide on which bishop pattern I would use. I took a plain piece of paper and traced where the armhole would be for six different bishops from old AS&E issues along with Chery Williams’ pattern, Children’s Corner pattern, and Ellen McCarn’s bishop patterns. I finally decided to go with Ellen McCarn’s bishop pattern. Looking back I probably should have gone with the less full Chery Williams’ version since the material I used was a heavier weight of cotton.

A warning on the Chery Williams’ bishop pattern: If you want the traditional 4-inch hemline, lengthen the pattern because they run short. A size 4 Chery Williams bishop is 22-1/2 inches long, the same size Ellen McCarn’s bishop is 28 inches long.

My Sew Beautiful inspiration picture had a short-sleeved version. I hate to see a little girl shiver in the winter because her mother put her in a short sleeved Christmas dress. I went with the long-sleeved version. It’s now two days before Christmas and the weather here has been in the mid to upper 60’s. In retrospect, I could have made cute little capped sleeves instead and Danielle would have been fine.

Day 1 of my smocking vacation (7-1/2 hours of work):

I traced a size 4 bishop pattern on butcher’s paper and cut it out. I pinned the pattern pieces to my fabric and cut the dress out. I assembled all 5 pieces (to include trimming my seam allowance and zig-zagging the seams) before I realized one of the sleeves had a hole right in the middle of it. The fabric had an imperfection that I hadn’t noticed when I had laid the butcher’s paper over it. I ran my finger over it and the hole started to get bigger. It wasn’t just a slight imperfection. I had to carefully remove the sleeve, cut another one out and replace it. Replacing it was harder because I had less of a seam allowance to work with since I had already trimmed. I then had to pleat the holding rows. The fabric was thicker than I had expected and ended up breaking or bending needles midway though the pleating process. Pleater needles average a $1 a piece, and I ruined 6 in pleating this dress. I’ve read articles on how to replace a broken needle without having to start the pleating process all over again, but I can’t seem to make it work right. I wound up just removing the holding rows and starting over. It was finally successful after several attempts. I used quilting pins to find my center, used Fray-check on the top to prevent fraying, and called it a day.

Day 2 of my smocking vacation (8 hours worth of work):

I was only able to complete the top 4 rows of smocking.

Day 3 of my smocking vacation (6 hours worth of work):

Completed the bottom three rows of smocking and started on the scoops on the bottom.

Day 4 of my smocking vacation (10 hours):

3 hours were spent finishing the scoops on the bottom. 7 hours were making the bullion snow family.

Day 5 of my smocking vacation (7 hours):

I filled in the “snow” and did back smocking. You would think the snow would be the easy part, but it wasn’t. There wasn’t a pattern to follow, just random stitches. I’m a visual person and don’t do well conceptualizing. I used pinheads to figure out what the finished smocked “snow” would look like.

Although it wasn’t needed to hold the fabric in place, I back smocked the top row as a mirror image of my front smocking. I have found by using the smocked cable on the back as a guide on my sewing machine, I make perfect necklines every time. The middle two rows of back smocking are needed to hold the fabric in place when the holding threads are removed.

Blocking:

I know some smockers who do not block their work. I always do after I discovered not doing so on a bishop dress could cause an undesired turtleneck effect. I block after I have smocked. I pin the dress down on a small cork bulletin board using a bishop neckline guide, spritz it down with water and leave overnight. (Approximately 1 hour of time spent.)

I spent another 10 hours assembling the dress – placket insertion, neckline binding, sewing lace on the sleeves, inserting elastic in the sleeves, sewing seams, hemming dress, hand stitching button loops, and placing buttons. Putting in a placket is always the most difficult part for me no matter how many times I’ve done it.

The finished product:

All totaled, 50-1/2 hours worth of work. Is it worth it? To hear my darling daughter exclaim, “Mom, it’s gorgeous!” Priceless. That’s something money can’t buy in a store.

I made Aden a navy blue vest to wear on Christmas Eve, too. His has snowmen buttons that match the snowmen smocked on Danielly’s dress.

Preparing for the Man in the Big Red Suit

2006-12-14T11:50:00.000-05:00

We helped the kids do their Christmas lists to Santa. I gave the kids a sheet of paper and told them to glue pictures of what they wanted Santa to bring them. I had pre-cut pictures of items I already knew they wanted and have already been bought. These were in a pile to pick from. When they were gone, I told them they could choose from sales flyers or toy magazines we sometimes get. The only rule was whatever they chose had to fit on one page. Aden went to town cutting almost everything he saw and had a huge pile of pictures. He had a hard time choosing what he wanted to glue on his page. We gently explained he wasn't going to get everything, so he had to choose for Santa what he wanted the most. "But I really, really want everything", he wailed. Eventually he glued some pictures on his one page and then the other pictures on paper strips for "next year". However when it came time to put their "lists" in an envelope to mail he insisted on sending Santa all his lists.

Okay, I'll admit. This year's list got a little out of hand for Aden compared to last year, but last year the kids weren't exposed to commercials on TV. We were still watching the commercial-free kid channel Noggin. This year we graduated to Nickelodeon and have been inundated with commercials hawking "stuff". Scott made a very good rule. The kids are not allowed to yell, "I want that!" while the TV is on. If they do, the TV goes off. If they can remember the thing they wanted after the TV has been off for a while, then it must be something they truly wanted. That's basically how Santa knew what to buy.

Aden's school hosted a Holiday Market for the kids to buy Christmas presents for family members. Presents ranged from 50 cents to $11. The school sent home an envelope with a checklist on who the items were for (Mom Dad, sister, etc.) and what the maximum price the child could spend on each person. Aden used his own money (plus a few dollars we slipped in). He paid the money to Scott who wrote a check to the school. Aden picked out three gifts for his immediate family. I'm glad the school offered this. Aden felt so proud and we are too. He's learning to make wise money choices at a young age that I hope will carry him through later in life.

Danielle's daycare had their Christmas program at school. They were all so cute.

Once a week a music teacher comes to her daycare. After the show, the music teacher introduced herself to me and had nothing but praise to say on how well Danielle was doing. She was glad to meet us because even last year when Danielle was two, she had done so well. It will be interesting to see what musical talent may blossom.

Mary in a Martha World

2006-12-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I had rehearsal with another flautist from church. I thought we were rehearsing a duet for Christmas Eve, but at the end of practice I found out we were rehearsing for the next day’s morning service! We had another rehearsal at 7:15 Sunday morning and then performed the prelude for both services. As soon as the prelude for the second service was over, we bolted for the door to go to Rock Hill to see Scott’s family including Aunt Janet and Uncle Philip, who were in town for the weekend.

Monday night, I went to the annual cookie exchange party hosted by one of my church members. Although my sister and I bake enough of a variety of cookies between Thanksgiving and Christmas to share with each other, I still like going to this annual event to share laughter and fellowship more so than the cookies.

Then on Tuesday, Scott and I left work early to take Danielle to dance class. Usually her daycare provides the transportation to dance, but this Tuesday was the open house class, when parents are invited to a practice. We loved watching our adorable ballerina.

Thursday, I received a call at 11:00 AM from one of my sister’s co-workers to meet her at the ER. Lana had become woozy and nauseous at work, and was unable to communicate with a caller on the phone. When I arrived she was much better, and the staff had ruled out a heart attack and stroke. Although her CT scan was normal, the doctor on staff still thinks she had a mild TIA (trans-ischemic attack). She was prescribed aspirin and is to follow-up with her doctor to check her carotid artery.

Friday, I accompanied Aden on a school field trip to see a ballet performance of Jack Frost especially designed for children. As was explained to the children beforehand, most ballets are wordless, but for this performance the dancers pantomimed to the edited soundtrack of the Rankin/Bass holiday special by the same name. (Recently shown on ABC Family channel.) I love Rankin/Bass specials and I think one of the best things of having kids of my own is watching these specials all over again without feeling guilty that I haven’t outgrown them. Aden was enthralled with the show (good thing since Scott and I have a love for live performing arts). When they announced The Columbia City Ballet Company would be performing The Nutcracker, Aden got excited and wanted us to take him. (Good boy.) I called Scott at work and asked him to book tickets for the matinee performance for Saturday.

We had the kids’ picture taken with Santa Friday after work. We skipped the Santa at the mall thing last year because things got too busy (imagine that!). This year I’m on top of it. Christmas shopping is done for our immediate household. The family newsletter is almost done and will be going out soon. Danielle’s Christmas dress is smocked and just needs to be assembled and Aden’s vest is cut and waits only to be assembled as well. (More on the dress construction in a later blog entry.) By gosh, I wasn’t going to miss going to the mall and seeing Santa this year. It was the smoothest experience seeing Santa I’ve had. The line wasn’t that long and moved very quickly. I was pleasantly surprised.

(The dress Danielle is wearing in the picture was given to her; however, Danielle tells people I made it.)

Today, I went to my women’s Prayer & Share meeting. Aden and Danielle’s “fairy” godmother hosts a prayer meeting periodically (at least once a quarter). Sometimes I can’t go because I occasionally work overtime on Saturdays, but I try to make the December event since we have Christmas ornament exchange. We reflected on the Mary and Martha biblical story and discussed how we usually wind up being Marthas trying to make everything perfect for the holidays, when we should be quiet, reflective, and listening to Jesus in our hearts like Mary this time of the year. I think I’ve found a good balance between being a Martha and a Mary this year. The traditions and things that have been most important to me in the past have gotten done (smocking a dress, seeing Santa, cookie exchange, newsletter, and Prayer & Share). The things that are not as important (such as having an absolutely spotless house and yard) have not.

We took the children to see The Nutcracker. Danielle was enthralled with the dancers. In a loud whisper I heard her say, “Wow! How is she doing that!” This is the first full-length performance that the kids have been to. We weren’t sure how this would go, so we bought cheap seats in the upper balcony. Overall, they behaved well. We need a little more practice about theater etiquette, but that will come with time. In February there will be a ballet of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. It should be lots of fun. We’ve promised the kids we’ll take them. At the end of this afternoon’s performance, the dancers walked around the lobby to greet the patrons. Danielle got to feel pointe shoes (much different than her slippers) and felt what makes the tutus stand up (wire hoops). She talked to one of the dancers who encouraged her if she continued to take ballet, she could dance on her toes too one day.

Tired of Turkey?

2006-12-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

So what do you do with all that leftover Thanksgiving turkey after you've had all the turkey sandwiches you can stand?

I fixed a turkey and rice casserole with shredded dark meat and cream of chicken soup.

Scott made a turkey ziti casserole with left over turkey, fully cooked pasta, Prego red pepper and garlic sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese mixed in. After it was baked, another cup of cheese was sprinkled on top and melted. I usually like my ziti with ground beef or sausauge, but the turkey substitute was pretty good.

The kids didn't want anything to do with either concoction. Oh well, both were delicious anyway. More for us.

Give Thanks

2006-11-23T23:26:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful. We spent it at home, just the four of us (for most of the day as you will find out later). I was able to share one of my most unforgettable childhood memories with my children – The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.

Growing up the youngest, I seldom got to choose what was watched on TV. It wasn’t often we watched the Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving – either we were at someone else’s house, or they were at ours, or my brother won out on what got watched; but, I do remember being glued to the TV when the few years I was allowed to watch the parade. Now that I have children of my own, I want the Macy’s Parade to be our Thanksgiving family tradition. I misted up while watching Julie Andrews sing-speaking lyrics that goes with her new book "The Great American Mousical" co-authored with her daughter. (It's a pity her beautiful voice was ruined due to a botched surgery on her vocal chords.) I cheered with my children when we saw the balloons – Snoopy, Dora the Explorer, Scooby Doo, Big Bird, and SpongeBob Squarepants. I hummed along with the Laurie Berkner Band (my favorite children’s band since being introduced to them on Noggin). I smiled when Danielle twirled around like a ballerina when she saw the "Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses" float. Scott and I were in the kitchen getting dinner prepared when the “Man in the Red Suit” appeared almost precisely at 12:00. Of course we had to stop what we were doing and rush in the den to cheer for Santa. My eyes became puddles again.

When the kids get old enough to listen, stand still without running off, not complain about how long it’s taking, and be able to tolerate cold weather for hours, I want to go to New York to see the Macy’s Parade. I want to be at Herald’s Square in the thick of it. (I wonder how much tickets cost to VIP stadium seating in front of Macy’s??) It will probably be quite a while before the children will be able to fully comply with my request. I can wait as long as it takes. I don’t care how cold it is, or whether it’s raining or snowing. I want to see the Macy’s Parade in New York one day and be able to extend our stay long enough to see the tree lit at Rockefeller Center.

We had dinner at noon because Scott had to leave for Italy due to his second job. The children were sad, but to brighten their spirits we watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special and Mary Poppins (other staples from my childhood). After seeing Julie Andrews in the Macy’s Parade, I had to hear her beautiful voice when it was in its prime. Although it was a rather long movie for a 5-1/2 and almost 4 year old, it held their attention. I couldn’t help the tear trickle down my check during “Feed the Birds” and laughed and clapped to the beat as my children were kicking up their heels to “Step in Time”. Danielle danced around in circles to “Go Fly a Kite”, which got Aden and I off our feet and we all held hands spinning in circles until I was so dizzy I thought I’d be sick.

It was a wonderful day – including naps all around after we took Scott to the airport.

Tomorrow I will be at my family’s house helping them decorate for Christmas and bake cookies. It’s a little too early for me to completely deck our house out, but will bring out our crèche and wreath for Advent. Before we had children, I was given a lovely gift of Advent devotionals and cardboard ornaments for kids. Although I'm not ready to put up our tree, it’s time to start preparing for the true meaning of the season.

Fish, Zoo, and Yoga

2006-11-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

Aden and his Daddy have been fishing recently. Our pickup truck has now become a boat.

We went to the zoo last weekend. We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. We were able to see the sea lion training and penguin feeding. The kids especially liked the penguin feeding.

This gorilla just plopped right down on the other side of the glass observation area and had a snack right in from of us.

Daddy, Aden and Danielle watching the giraffes.

The kids like to try to excerise with me when I do my workout videos at home. Flipping through our cable excerise on demand channel, I saw Yoga for Kids. The kids loved it. There we were - the four of us with our butts in the air attempting "dog pose". It was fun to find a new activity to do together.

The only thing constant is change.

2006-11-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I made a trip with the kids to Mt. Pleasant to see a friend. While there, we all had a picnic at Sullivan’s Island park.

Aden and I scaled the hill, the locals refer to as “the Mound”. The Mound was once Battery Capron, built in the late 1800’s to house 16 12-inch mortars. Growing up on the island, my friends and I would climb to the top of the hill with makeshift sleds of cardboard. Despite being repeatedly scratched by brambles and sand spurs all the way down, we do this again and again. The park has changed a lot since I was a kid but it was nice to see there were still scraps of cardboard scattered along the bottom of the Mound for kids to use for this purpose.

After seeing other children do it, Aden picked up a piece of cardboard with the intent of sliding down. About half-way up he chickened out. I don’t blame him. It’s a pretty steep and intimidating climb for a five-year-old. I think I was in the second grade before I got enough courage for my first slide down. I held his hand and we climbed to the top instead. The climb for me was much different. Although steep, the Mound didn’t seem as tall as I had remembered it as a child. Being a foot and a half taller and 20+ years older makes a lot of difference. I wasn’t prepared for the shock I received when I reached the top. They filled the bunker in with dirt! It was now flat on top (about the size of a child’s soccer field).

When I was little, the top of the Mound was enclosed by a 10-foot high fence to keep idiot children, such as myself, from falling over 30 feet to our deaths. The center of this old bunker used to be open - a huge circle arena made of concrete with iron ladders down. Think of looking down on a cistern, though storing liquid could not possibly be the purpose. Scrawny shrubs clung for dear life in the cracks of the concrete. At the bottom, you could see several entryways leading to underground tunnels. I know the bunker housed mortars, but I’m not exactly sure what the purpose was for the open area. Iron doors on the back-side of the Mound allowed entry to the underground tunnels. These doors were usually chained and padlocked to prevent homeless people from camping out in the caverns (or stupid children like me from exploring). The chains on the door and the fence on top were not enough to prevent either from happening, so I guess filling in the cistern-like opening was for the best for safety reasons.

I recently spoke to a friend of my mother’s who informed me our old house had been knocked down and a McMansion stands in its place. I had to go see it for myself, which was the main reason for going to the island. After out picnic, we went to go take a look.

The one-acre of land Mom once owned appears to have been subdivided, though the monolith that’s there now covers a good portion of the original acre. Our backyard neighbors had about ¾ of an acre and the water tower sat on about an acre and a half. The water tower is now gone and the alley along the entire strip of land is now no access. It was hard to see because of privacy fences and new trees how many McMansions were on that strip of land. I think there are four.

While I was trying to take pictures, I ran into one of our old neighbors. Bill Murray now bought the McMansion beside them. (Yes, Caddyshack Bill Murray.) Rumor has it Reese Witherspoon was to buy a house off of Station 18, but changed her mind. The neighbor I was talking to was saying their tiny strip of property is valued at 2 million. Not bad for a retired shrimper. I think the fact they are on the Intercoastal Waterway and have a dock is a major factor in the value. Although they are surrounded by mammoths on every side, they still live the same little house, and it doesn’t seem like they’re leaving. Good for them. Since Hurricane Hugo tore through in ‘89, I’ve seen how the Isle of Palms was raped and pillaged of its land. The far end of Sullivan’s Island is covered in McMansions, though not as bad as IOP. Friends assured me that the town of Sullivan’s Island was keeping a watchful eye on development. After what I saw of the far end of the island, I’m not so sure.

I drove around the island a little. The Edgar Allen Poe library was still housed in Battery Gadsden. The elementary school was still there, though the campus was very different. I tried to find Battery Marshal where my mother’s friend Unice Ware once lived, but couldn’t find it. Everything was different. There used to be vacant lots filled with wildflowers and black-eyed Susans along Ion Avenue near the dunes. You couldn't find a vacant lot now. I hardly recognized where I was.

The kids were complaining how boring driving around was so we headed back into Mt. Pleasant. I’d seen enough anyway. On either side of the causeway approaching the drawbridge there used to be rows of beautiful Oleander bushes. There are now only a few left. My view of the marsh that afternoon was marred by the site of high-income condos on the Mt. Pleasant side. I felt rather depressed.

I always knew I was “home”, when I would see the Cooper River Bridges. It didn’t feel like I was home this time.

October Events

2006-10-25T12:09:00.000-05:00

October 20th - School Carnival

Friday was a carnival fund raiser for the elementary school. There were lots of games for the kids like miniature golf, tire football toss, ring toss, balloon darts, penny toss, and duck shoot. Volunteers were doing face painting, and Danielle’s favorite things were the gigantic inflatable slide and bouncing cage. Both kids enjoyed the pony ride.

October 21st – Pumpkin Pickin’

After Aden’s soccer game and lunch, we took the kids to an area church that sells pumpkins as their annual fund raiser. We could have bought a pumpkin cheaper at Wal-Mart, but the church had all the pumpkins spread out on the front property on wooden plats. Since there aren’t any local pumpkin patches, this was the closet thing we could find. Danielle wanted the cutest, littlest pumpkin. I think she found exactly the right one.

Aden had a hard time deciding on the one he wanted. After a couple of times around the “pumpkin patch”, Scott found the best one. Aden wasn’t going for it so we had to try the sneak attack. While Aden’s back was turned we kept moving the pumpkin around Aden’s general vicinity until he finally choose the one Scott had picked out.

Party Games

As coordinator I was gearing up for our church’s Fall Festival the week of the 22nd. New games this year included Witch’s Ring Toss. I got the general idea from Better Homes and Garden’s website and made the rings by cutting the centers out of orange plastic plates.

Another idea I got from BH&G was Mummy Bowling. All week I was busy wrapping the toy bowling pins in gauze, painting “faces” and gluing button eyes (with a dab in the center from a correction fluid pen).

Pumpkin Parade

Last year we didn’t have many table decorations for the Fall Festival, so I decorated artificial pumpkins from foam pieces bought from a kit from Oriental Trading Company. I bought the pre-made mummy pumpkin from Michael’s and made Danielle a pumpkin fit for a princess.

Spooky Tree

Because I have been so “crafty” lately, Aden came home one afternoon and wanted to do a craft. Scott and I looked for inspiration from issues of Family Fun and Nick Jr. magazines. We found the perfect project for Aden – a spooky tree made from a paper bag (Family Fun – October 2006). At dinner, Scott and I cut out little foam pieces to make jack-o’-lanterns, monster heads, and bats for decorations for his festive tree

October 28th – Jack and Jill-O’-Lanterns

My mom and sister came to Aden’s last soccer game of the season. Aden’s team won 8 to 0. Danielly had a good time playing with a Pomeranian “soccer dog”. The owner had to hold tight to his leash because the dog would run out on the side fields and trip kids trying to get the ball.

Later we carved the pumpkins. We let the kids draw the pumpkin faces they wanted on paper. Scott then copied their designs.

Boo at the Zoo

That night, we went to Boo at the Zoo (at Riverbank's Zoo). The Zoo had candy stations set up along the paths through the Zoo (and lots of light-up decorations to light the way), as well as a hay bale maze, a monster mash dance floor, and a fog tunnel. We saw a creepy/crawly exhibit with a Madagascar hissing cockroach and a scorpion whose exterior glowed under a black light. I asked the handler what this ability did for the scorpion in the wild. “Nothing,” he replied, “except it looks cool under a black light.” Most of the animals were asleep, but the kids didn't mind so much with all the candy around.

October 29th – Fall Festival

The church’s Fall Festival for the toddlers and elementary schoolers was a smash. This is my second year as the festival coordinator. Thanks to our wonderful youth director, I had lots of help. He bribed the junior and senior youth that if they wanted to go on the youth trip to a haunted house, they had to volunteer for the festival.

The festival started off with a children’s sermon about All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints Day. The kids had fun playing all the games and getting candy at all the stations. Midway through the festival I had run out to Wal-Mart to buy more candy (in full costume!). The best part of the whole night was the toilet paper Mummy Wrap at the very end. No matter how messy it was this is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives.

October 30th – All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Scott went to kindergarten to carve the class pumpkin. He asked if knives would be provided or if he should bring his own. Although they said they had a plastic carving kit that he could use, they allowed Scott to bring a real knife. Afterwards, Scott took Aden to the pediatrician because that morning Aden had been complaining how much his ear hurt. Yep, another ear infection. Aden’s front tooth had been dangling for days, but he didn’t want anyone to pull it. Reluctantly, he allowed our pediatrician to pull it as long as he promised to stop if it hurt. By the time Aden said it hurt, it was out. (We love our pediatrician.)

Aden slept all afternoon. When I came home from work, I had to frost four dozen cupcakes for the end of the season soccer party. Aden really was feeling so bad he stayed home with his Daddy. Danielly and I went to the party by ourselves to deliver the cupcakes without them. After getting the kids in bed, I stayed up to bake two dozen more cupcakes for Aden’s kindergarten class party and book a flight for my Mom to fly to see her dying brother.

October 31st – Trick-or-Treat

A year ago my mom turned 75, and my sister and I arranged for her surving brothers and sisters and close friends to help celebrate. All but one of her brothers was able to come. This year, I had to fly my mom home to see her youngest brother one last time before he dies. I went to work late and made sure Mom made it to the airport. One of my cousins picked her up in DC and drove her to Maryland. Not a very Happy Birthday for her.

Aden was feeling much better. I was afraid he was going to miss his class party and trick-or-treating. He was so exited about Halloween and all the parties; he forgot to look under his pillow for what the Tooth Fairy had left him.

Our pediatrician had invited us to his church’s Fall Festival for Halloween night so instead of going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, we went to yet another festival (having let the kids choose). I think the kids had a much better time going to the festival. One of the church members brought his farm tractor and a trailer and took everyone for hayrides around the parking lot. Our kids thought that was so cool. All Danielle wanted to do was jump on the inflatable bouncy cages and slide, while Aden played games and got candy and prizes. Aden stayed at the art station for a long time making a beautiful painting by using fall leaves and acorns rolled around in paint.

We had a hard time convincing our children it was time to go. Their responses were “Just one more game” or “Just one more slide”. We caved just a little because they were having such a good time, then we carried their tuckered little bodies to the van.

After the kids were in bed, I had a cool, refreshing beverage and curled up with my husband on the couch and watched Shawn of the Dead.

When I was a youngster…

We only went trick-or-treating once on Halloween night.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown came on Broadcast TV once. If you missed it, tough cookies.

Our glow sticks were called flashlights.

Store bought costumes were nothing more than a plastic mask with eye holes and a piece of elastic to go around your head. The elastic usually came loose while you were trick-or-treating and those teeny nose holes for you to breath through wasn’t enough. When you took off that stupid mask there was water vapor all on the inside. The rest of the costume was nothing more than a cheap plastic vest, but your mom paid good money for that costume that is probably a collector’s item now if in the original cardboard box with cellophane window.

Close neighbors still were able to give you candied apples, cookies, and popcorn balls before people got stupid and things got scary.

Yep, Halloween is much different than what I remember.

As you can tell, we have been very busy and the family’s schedule has been full, but we all had a wonderful time doing what all families should do more often – spend time together.

November 1st – Sleeping with the Fishes

Aden’s beta fish, whom Aden had named Aden, died last night. I noticed he had gone belly-up the night before while getting the kids ready for bed. We didn’t want to bum the kids out after having such a great time on Halloween, so we decided to wait until the morning to tell them. Aden got Aden the Fish for his fourth birthday. The little fishy lived a good life. (We even had one of Scott’s co-workers fish sit for us when we went on vacation.) Aden was very pragmatic about the situation. His main concern was “can we get another one?” But he did want to draw a picture of his fish so he could “always remember him”. (He did the same with his Batman shoes when he wore them out.) Danielle was much more upset that Aden was, especially over the flushing. She thought we should bring him back to life, or at least let him live with another family if he couldn’t live with us any more.

We will be getting a new beta soon.

Afternoon at the Fair

2006-10-19T10:03:00.000-05:00

We took off work a little early on Wednesday and took the kids to the State Fair.

The kids enjoyed the kiddy rides. We bought a set number of tickets and explained to them beforehand they had to choose what they wanted to do. Danielle insisted on using most of her tickets riding the same helicopter ride over and over again. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to ride anything else.

Aden was quite comfortable trying new rides every time. They were both quite agreeable about taking turns. Aden got to ride a ride he wanted then it was Danielle's turn (usually back in line for the helicopter).

(They only rode two rides together the whole time).

Occasionally, we got in a line for a ride and one of the kids would change their mind and want to use their ticket for something else. Neither Scott nor I minded that very much. The lines weren't that long during the afternoon and early evening. Actually, I was quite proud of the fact they were cognizant that once the tickets were gone, there would be no more. They are quite the little economists, with full understanding of opportunity costs from managing their own money.

The kids were not too keen over Scott and I walking through the home and garden exhibits. They really didn't want to do that boring grown up stuff. We had a quick look around before getting back to the rides. Although I would have loved to have meandered around a little bit longer, it wasn't about us as much as making sure the kids had a good time.

I included a picture of Danielly fussing because she didn't get her way, just to show you my children have their moments too.

Aden wanted to play some of the carnival games. Most are complete rip offs, and I was reluctant to waste money just so he could be disappointed. I think one of the carnies heard me try to talk Aden out of playing and assured me that prizes at his booth were guaranteed for "little ones". It took Aden several tosses with the basketball before he made it and won a small stuffed fish. Scott held Danielle up and she made a basket on the first toss. She chose a small pillow for her prize. Both kids were quite content and I was very thankful for the carnie making my kids experience a positive one.

Fair food is not the most nutritious dinner. At least the dessert of candied apples did have some real fruit hidden deep within that sugary coating. (Not that the kids made it that far down to find out there was a real apple in there.)

A Month in Review

2006-10-15T20:28:00.000-05:00

Aden has been doing well in kindergarten. He's been practicing his reading and each week brings home from school a book he has made and colored that he can read to us. Every week he also brings home "words of the week" and a "popcorn word" he's learned. He's recognizing these words outside of the memorized book he brings home. His Montessori program last year taught phonics, which I think has paid off. We have been noticing him tracking words with his finger and a willingness to sound out words. Scott and I have purposefully avoided the LeapPad (and similar electronic reading devices) because they take the parent/child interaction out of the equation. I'm by no means knocking educational toys, but I think our method has worked well for us thus far. Aden is so proud because once a week he gets to check out a book at the school library all by himself. His latest is a book by former President, Jimmy Carter. Aden thought it was cool one of our Presidents wrote a children's book since he had memorized the names of all the Presidents earlier this year. I thought it was cool the book was illustrated by his daughter, Amy Carter. While Scott was out of town recently at a convention, I took the kids to Literacy Night at the school. The local high school drama club performed for the kids and teachers read age-appropriate books for the different grade levels with the aid of computers and music accompaniments. I'm all for doing everything we can to raise children who enjoy reading.

Aden's favorite subject in school is art. Based on the parent/teacher conference we had earlier in the month, he's the best artist in the class. Every time he gets a chance for free activity time, he goes straight to the art center. His teacher showed us pictures he drew with stories he wrote himself to go along with them. Of course not all the words were spelled correctly, but he's doing great. Our refrigerator is crammed with kid art and a dry erase calendar of family activities. I think it's great he's also learning computer skills and Spanish in kindergarten.

Danielly is doing great, too. She's enjoying her ballet/gymnastics class. We had too many things going on so we had to drop the gymnastics class at the recreation center, but her ballet class also has some gymnastics and tumbling mixed in as well. Next year, she can enroll in the ballet/tap combo class. As she gets older, combo classes aren’t offered, and if she continues she will have to pick one thing to take - ballet, gymnastics, tap, or jazz. I think it will be a hard decision for her since she and Aden both want to "do it all." Of course, Scott and I don't have the resources or the energy to let them do it all, but right now we're just getting them exposed to what is available. Danielle's Montessori class is learning sign language, just like Aden did a few years ago. It's so sweet to see her big brother help her sign the alphabet.

We have had fun going to all the birthday parties thrown by classmates recently. At one of the parties, the classmate had an electronic keyboard both kids enjoyed playing. I dug my old keyboard out of the closet (back when I thought I could teach myself how to play without formal lessons). The kids have been having a blast. I've been asked to play a flute duet for church so also dug my flute out of the closet and polished it up. I was supposed to perform next week, but called the choir director and told her there was no way I could get it prepared in such short notice. I've filled my all my free time with other interests since I've had children; I've barely picked up my flute in the last few years. Speaking of new interests, I've been learning how to tat from members of the SC Palmetto Tatters Guild. I tried tatting with a shuttle, but had a hard time relaxing my left hand, so have switched to needle tatting. It's nice I'm learning a new craft, but doubt tatting is something I will pursue as aggressively as I have cross-stitching and smocking. Still, I think tatted lace along a pillowcase or embroidered handkerchief is so elegant.

Church hand bell practice just started again and I'm excited. We have a new hand bell director, so hopefully we will do a lot more performances than we have done in years past.

At the present, we're having a hard time limiting screen time for both kids. TV seems to be the favorite activity. Until recently, we had only let them watch the TV station Noggin with shows like Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Little Bear, and The Backyardigans. Now we graduated to Nickelodeon and watch "Timmy, Jimmy, and Danny" (That's The Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, and Danny Phantom for those of you without small children). The plug-and-play video game Aden bought himself hasn't been played with very much anymore. I'm very glad it was an inexpensive purchase in the first place. We have not yet allowed Aden to have computer time at home. I'm sure the time will come soon when we will have computer screen time to contend with. For the moment, fighting over when the TV goes off is about as much as I can handle.

Soccer practice has been fun, especially when the coach asks the parents to play with the kids. So far, Aden's team has won half the games played. Aden has assisted in making goals and made one by himself in a game a few weeks ago. They won the game this past Saturday 13 to 6. Unfortunately, I missed the excitement because I took Danielle to make a fire truck at the monthly home improvement store craft project. Since October is fire safety month, the local fire department came out to talk to the kids and let them climb on the fire truck. Danielle played shy with the fire fighters, but Aden would have loved it. It's a shame he had a game conflict.

Scott's parents came down to see the soccer game yesterday and brought Aden something he's been wanting for some time – a fishing rod. Danielle immediately asked for a pink one. When we told her not everything comes in pink, she wanted a purple one. She probably has no interest whatsoever in really going fishing, she just wants one of everything she sees, and always in either pink or purple. Since yesterday, Aden has been practicing his casting. He's become pretty good at it. He and Danielle invented a new fishing game. Aden was a fisherman, and Danielly was his kitty. He was catching fish for her dinner. Mostly he caught minnows and goldfish. (Minnows were "Kitty's" favorite.) Once, the fisherman caught an octopus. Kitty was too scared to eat the octopus so the fisherman told her it was just a little one. After Kitty finished eating the octopus for dinner, the fisherman told her it was really a big octopus instead and that he had tricked her. Kitty shrieked and spit it out. Danielly then got a turn to play fisherman with a toy reel from a Go Fish game while Aden pretended to be the kitty. Who said you needed water to go fishing?

Scott and I just celebrated our anniversary by going to see Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing. Stoppard is Scott's favorite playwright since his college days. We've been fortunate to see performances of Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth; Indian Ink; and Arcadia prior to this weekend's performance. We saw Shakespeare's Measure for Measure earlier this year, and Scott took me to Atlanta to see Wicked for my birthday. Aside from a few times, we haven't been to many live performances since we've had kids. During our courtship and early marriage, we had season tickets to several theater and performing arts groups in the area. It wasn't unusual for us to see several productions a month, and sometimes more than one a week. Even on our honeymoon, we managed to catch four performances. I miss going out, but don't feel we are tethered to the kids – we'd rather be home with them anyway. We're trying to instill in our children the love we both have for the performing arts. The Columbia Marionette Theater has been a good start since the marionettes capture the children's attentions, and the performances are short. We have a friend who works for the Atlanta Ballet Company who keeps us informed of short performances especially for kids. Now that Danielle is a little more settled, we will be taking road trips as part of the kid's intro to performing arts. When the kids are in high school, I would love to take a family trip to one of the Shakespeare festivals in California wine country. A whole family vacation centered on the Bard – I couldn't think of anything better (except skiing of course).

Backyard Science

2006-09-17T13:34:00.000-05:00

Ever the busy family…

Aden's soccer team is now one for two. They won their first game 5-0 and lost the second 6-0. Mostly, the kids just follow the ball around on the field. Few kids on his team have good control of the ball or strategy at this age. Still, they’re fun to watch.

We have been taking the kids to one of the mega home improvement stores in town, once of month, for a free craft project for kids. So far, Aden and Danielle have made a wooden racecar, wooden sailboat, and Danielle made a birdhouse last weekend. Aden missed out on the birdhouse clinic because it conflicted with his soccer game. Since he really wanted a birdhouse of his own, Danielle and I missed the soccer game in order to go to the building clinic and pick him up a kit. He barely noticed we weren’t at the game and was so excited to have his kit when he came home. Each month when the kids make something new, they get a project patch to sew on the free apron they received the first time (similar to patches earned by scout troops). My kids think it is so cool and it’s a great activity for the whole family.

Last Saturday we went to a magic show birthday party for one of Aden and Danielle’s best friends. The kids were enthralled and both were participants in the show. Of course, nothing compared to the grand finale with the pulling a real rabbit out of a hat. The magician was very amenable to the children petting his rabbit after the show.

Scott took down the inflatable pool last weekend and found a black widow spider hiding in one of the cinder blocks. With the kids were safely inside, Scott carefully captured her by using the tweezers that came with a bug collecting kit we had. He made a spider killing jar with a medicine bottle and rubbing alcohol. We plan to preserve her in liquid acrylic so you can see both sides of her body. She has some of the most beautiful blood-red spots on her back and the tell-tale hourglass on her belly. I don’t have arachnophobia, which is fortunate, but I can tell you I was a little apprehensive about Scott capturing her. Usually, I leave spiders alone as long as they leave me alone. We only captured her as a science lesson to our kids. Aden loves spiders. We wanted to let him know not all spiders are okay and some could really hurt you. We wanted him and Danielle to see what a black widow looks like, so they can stay away from one, if found.

We use backyard science as teaching tools for our kids. Several months ago, we found a 4-foot long snakeskin, completely intact! Normally, when snakes wriggle out of their skin, they wind up shredding it because they shed under shrubs or leaves for protection. Leaves and sticks usually wind up tearing the old skin during the process. The skin we found is completely intact from the mouth opening to the tail. You can even see the holes where the eyes were. I’m not exactly sure what type of snake it was. What has amazed us was the fact the snake had to have been in our yard, in the open, for quite some time while it was shedding. (Probably while we were at work.) Apparently our old pit-bull/lab mix was sleeping in one of her favorite spots and never bothered it. I may not be squeamish about spiders, but I do hate snakes. Luckily, the only thing we found was the skin, which is now tucked safely away in a gallon zip-lock bag on top of a shelf. When Aden is much older and can carefully handle the skin, it would make a great show-and-tell object for science class.

This weekend, I went to Tot Trade, a mega children’s consignment sale. Because I volunteer 8-hours of my time during the sale, I received a pre-sale pass which allowed me entry a day before it was open to the general public. I bought all of Aden’s fall/winter clothes for around $100. I did not need to buy anything for Danielle this season (except a coat I picked up for $8) since one of my girlfriends passed along clothes her daughter outgrew. Aden used to be able to wear hand-me-downs from another girlfriend of mine who has older boys until Aden started wearing the same size as her sons. I’m sure by the middle school years, buying clothes at consignment sales will be out of the question. But for now, my kids are so excited and grateful when I come home with their “new” clothes.

Pretty Pretty

2006-09-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

Many of you who read my blog live far away and haven’t had a chance to see the dresses I’ve made for Danielly up close and personal.

I started smocking in May 2003 when Danielle was almost 5 months old. I saw a sign-up sheet for smocking classes at a local fabric shop. I didn’t even own a sewing machine at the time, but love little smocked dresses and wanted to learn. It was a two-part class. Part one was learning basic stitches (cable and wave stitch) – part two was learning bullion roses and to see how well we did on our homework. The class did not cover dress construction. I called the instructor ahead of time and asked if she would construct a 6-month bishop for me to buy at the first class. I wanted to do an actual project Danielle could wear. The elderly lady who taught the class was a very good smocker, but had a hard time explaining to a novice, like myself, how to finish constructing a bishop since I had no sewing experience whatsoever. I used my mom’s machine and muddled through it the best I could with handwritten instructions on how to finish it.

Danielle wore this for her 6-month-old picture. The pattern was a copy my instructor gave me. I have no idea the original source.

I loved to smock, but hated the construction part. The second bishop I made was pre-assembled 6-month-old bishop I bought on E-bay. I adapted the pattern from a picture I saw. Once again, I was frustrated trying to finish the construction. I had no idea what I was doing. Danielle never actually wore this dress because of an awful personal experience at a smocking shop (not the fabric shop where I learned the basic stitches). I took time off work one day to get help with the construction part of the placket (a very complicated procedure for someone who has never sewn before). The owner of the shop was very rude and proceeded to be very critical of everything that was wrong with my dress. I had put the placket in backwards (left over right, instead of right over left). She hadn't wanted to help me because she felt that was the responsibility of my original instructor (even though the class I paid for was not a dress construction class). By the time I left, I was near tears. It's amazing after that awful experience, I picked up a needle again. The dress is still unfinished in the closet. Maybe I will have a granddaughter who will wear it one day.

Okay. I didn’t need another hobby, but I had a little girl I wanted to dress up. It was a big dilemma as to whether I would invest in smocking (especially after my previous experience). It’s not a cheap hobby. There was a sewing machine to buy, a pleater, dress patterns, smocking plates, fabric, lace, and buttons. I really had to think about this before I jumped headfirst into something I would get bored with and give up. I already had huge stash of cross-stitch patterns that would never get finished even if I quit my job and lived to be 100. How much did I really want to do this? After much debate with myself (and encouragement and full support from a loving husband), I signed up for a bishop construction class at a sewing machine shop thanks to my mom who told me about the class. Now, I had to buy a sewing machine. I legitimized the purchase that I needed one anyway (need = want). I played hooky from work twice for the two-part class, which was only offered during regular business hours.

The finished 18-month bishop. Little did I realize, Ellen McCarn’s patterns run large. Danielle was over 2-1/2 years old before this fit her well.

The next purchase was my Super Amanda Jane pleater I bought for myself before Christmas 2004. I got a bonus that year from work and started collecting back issues of Australian Smocking and Embroidery. It was through this magazine I learned what I know now about smocking and dress construction. My husband has never said a negative word about the smocking magazines or patterns I have bought. Not one. He’s always been very supportive in everything I do.

Dress pattern and smocking plate “Morgan” from Australian Smocking and Embroidery (AS&E) 56. Worn for her first birthday January 2004.

Dress pattern “Cherry Surprise” AS&E 42
Smocking plate “Snowflake” AS&E 61 (adapted)
Worn for Easter 2004.

Dress pattern and smocking plate “Baby Blue” AS&E 47. Worn for Mother’s Day 2004. The start of the matching Mother/Daughter dress tradition. When I was picking out the fabric for these dresses, I met a woman and her 15-year-old daughter picking out fabric for their matching dresses. The mom had been making their matching Mother's Day outfits since her daughter was born. I asked the daughter how she felt about the tradition since she was no longer a little girl. She told me she didn't mind a bit as long as she has a say in the fabric and dress pattern. She actually thought it was kind of cool to have one-of-a-kind matching outfits. I hope my daughter will feel the same when she reaches that age.

Romper pattern and smocking plate “Old Friends” AS&E 36.
Worn Summer 2004.

Dress pattern and smocking plate “Precious Coral” AS&E 44. (Substituted store-bought roses for bullion roses because I was still sewing Christmas Eve before church services.) Worn Christmas 2004.

Dress pattern and smocking plate “Star of the Show” AS&E 48. Worn Easter 2005. I had to take Good Friday off from work to finish the dress. The matching jacket didn't get finished. Why, oh why don’t I have better time management skills? Oh yeah, I remember – I have two kids and a full-time job.

Dress pattern “Baby Blue” (Adapted with long-sleeves from Ellen McCarn’s bishop dress.)
Smocking plate from Sew Beautiful 96 (Adapted for a bishop dress.)
I taught myself how to do picture smocking with Ellen McCarn’s book – Picture Smocking.
I also used a wonderful article from Sew Beautiful, Fall 1996, “How to Match Plaids for a Smocked Bishop”.

My son was feeling left out and wanted me to make him something. His vest and bow tie were made from Simplicity 7030 with an appliquéd smocked bear.

I never finished the buttonholes on the vest or dress. Both kids were literally either sewn or safety-pinned in the outfits for 2005 Christmas Eve service.

Dress pattern Chery Williams bishop. Smocking pattern adapted from a purchased Rosalina dress. Worn Easter 2006 (see previous post "Made with Love"). It's a good thing I made a replica of the borrowed dress because the day I returned it to my friend, Danielle saw me leave the house with it. She cried because she thought I was giving away her pretty dress. I had to pull hers out of the closet and show her both dresses at the same time before she would calm down. Bless her little heart.

Bishop pattern “Baby Blue” – Once you find a great bishop pattern stick with it! I’ve found not all bishops are created equal. Bishop plate from AS&E 14. (See previous post "Soccer and Smocking". It really doesn't look like a "clown dress", does it?)

Adult pattern and plate are from AS&E 39 “Morning Glory”

I can’t take credit for the dresses Danielle wore for her second or third birthdays. These were either borrowed or bought. I had to make a few concessions because I always overextend myself.

I wish I had more time to make more dresses, but I don’t. I hate to think there will only be a few more years when she won’t mind wearing smocked dresses. I have two antique Drink and Wet Uneeda dolls I can smock for when that happens – at least the dolls won’t outgrow what I make.

My little left-handed "smocker". Trust me, no needles were involved, just a practice piece of pleated fabric and lots of pretending to be a Mommy for her "babies".

Soccer and Smocking

2006-08-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

Aden finally started soccer this week. He's been looking forward to it all summer. We made sure his best friend Jamie would be on his team. I missed the first practice, so I haven't earned my "Soccer Mom" title yet.

Danielle started ballet this week too. Finally, I don't have to hear the question, "When do dance lessons start?" Now the question is, " When is it Tuesday, so I can go to dance?"

Me and Danielle in our matching smocked Mother/daughter dresses.

I should have had the dresses finished in time for Mother's Day, but I had a little difficulty putting the finishing touches on mine. (The kids quit taking naps on the weekend.) This is only the second adult dress I've made -- it's smocked around the waist with fine piping. I had a heck of a time getting the tie-backs and everything to line up just right in the back. I also had to remove about 18 inches of lace from the yoke of Danielle's bishop and re-sew it because she refused to wear the "clown dress". She was right -- it did have too many ruffles, but it in no way resembled a "clown dress" as she put it.

One day, I will put up pictures of past dresses I've made for her on this blog. I need iron some of them before I take pictures. Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I abhor ironing, so I've been putting it off.

First Day of School

2006-08-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Summer Time – Part II

2006-08-16T09:59:00.000-05:00

Well, Aden and Danielle’s first sleepover at our house went fabulously. I made Mickey pancakes for breakfast for everyone the next morning.

The trick is to use a big serving spoon for the face and a tablespoon for one ear at the same time. Pour fast and then quickly do another dollop with the tablespoon for the second ear before the batter sets. Decorate with raisins or blueberries for the eyes and nose. These really are easy to make and your kids think you are the greatest mom in the world. Of course when mine say I’m the greatest, it’s really true ;)

After breakfast and a little playtime, we took my kids and their friends to the Columbia Marionette Theater (www.strungout.org) for a performance of Aladdin. We all enjoyed it immensely as we usually do with these performances. Our kids’ daycare has taken field trips there, which included a tour of the prop room. Now, when we go as a family on the weekends, my kids beg to go backstage.

We took a short day trip to visit friends of mine in Charleston and to celebrate their daughter’s birthday. Phoebe’s party was at the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry (www.explorecml.org). What a wonderful place this is. Danielle loved shopping at a mini Publix grocery store. Just her size.

Aden liked the pint-sized shrimp boat and playing with the golf ball roller coaster. Danielle’s second favorite thing to do was play dress up at the medieval castle exhibit. Of course both my kids love art, so the art room was a hit, especially for Aden who was so proud of his new masterpieces. To be expected, there were tears when we left, because both kids hated to go. We will definitely make a road trip to go back again. There is a Children’s Museum in Columbia, called EdVenture (www.edventure.org). It has some of the same sort of stuff, but no medieval castle and no dragon kids are allowed to paint during the week.

Unfortunately, we did not make a beach trip this summer. The summer went too quickly and there didn’t seem to be enough time.

Aden’s first day of kindergarten is Friday. He gets to meet his teacher this afternoon. How exciting!

Summer Times

2006-07-28T07:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated this blog. My computer has started having trouble reading my digital camera card and the network. Hence, no pictures until now. I need a new computer and have been "considering" getting a laptop later this year.

June was incredibly busy. Aden had baseball camp twice a week, learning the fundamentals of pitching, fielding and batting. Trying to take action shots of our boy from the bleachers, I decided I may need a new digital camera as well since my old one only has 3X zoom. I couldn't get close enough shots of him in the field. (Santa, Baby ... hurry down the chimney).

The end of June was Vacation Bible School. I was the co-teacher of the second and third graders. My kids invited two of their friends which made everything that much more fun. It has taken me about a month, but I've just about stopped humming the VBS songs while I'm at work.

Our daycare offers swimming lessons, so we signed Aden up again. Last year he was a little timid of the water and didn't want to put his face in. This year he's willing to go underwater. Hopefully will be swimming like a fish with lessons next year.

We have had a reprieve from gymnastics for the summer. Classes have been canceled for the last two months because on lack of participation. Actually, I'm relieved. It seems we have been going non-stop.

We bought an inflatable 10 foot wading pool for the backyard. It's been the best $30 we've ever spent and has brought hours of fun. We have invited some friends of Aden and Danielle over for pool parties and consumed gallons of Kool-Aid and many a frozen treat on the front porch.

Scott got a new grill for Father's Day and we purchased new patio furniture right after our Fourth of July cookout with our new neighbors. I've put in some overtime at work to help pay for our major purchases and to help my office make our end of the year production goals. I'm hoping if my office exceeds our fiscal year goals there will be a little extra in my stocking to go toward my new computer or digital camera.

And Scott's brother and his family came down to SC, so Aden and Danielle got to play with their cousins and the brothers got some gaming done (Ark of the Covenant with Aden, and Primordial Soup and Mü).

What else have we been up to:

We registered Aden for Kindergarten and need to get his school supplies.

We registered Aden for soccer this summer with his best friend Jamie.

We are about to register Danielle for dance lessons for the year.

We plan to have a sleep over at our house for Aden and Danielle's best friends this weekend.

Scott is helping me convert my mom's old country and western records to audio files on the computer. We can then make Mom CDs of her favorite songs for her birthday. I tried to find these songs on iTunes and other MP3 sites, and couldn't. More popular Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Pasty Cline, and Loretta Lynn songs are readily available to download from the internet, but songs by Claude Gray, David Houston, Jack Greene, Hank Snow, Sonny James, Wanda Jackson, Lynn Anderson, and Hank Locklin are not. Freeware has helped us convert the songs and has helped take out pops and crackles from the recordings.

Aden bought a Star Wars video game that can plug into our TV with no additional equipment or video game system with his own money. He gets to play for half an hour, and the time always passes too quickly, of course.

Till next time.

Blessed

2006-06-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

Everyone has their own personal soundtrack which consists of songs or lyrics that are deeply personal to them. Here's an excerpt from my life's soundtrack:

I have been blessed
And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed

(Chorus to the song "Blessed" by Martina McBride)

Happy Father's Day

You Say It’s Your Birthday…It’s My Birthday Too!

2006-05-30T20:35:00.001-05:00

May is the birthday month in our family. This week has been buzzing with activity.

Scott and the kids took me out to dinner for my 30-something-or-another birthday on Thursday.

High school friends of mine had their first child on Friday. Yeah! Happy Birthday Nigel - congratulations Devin and Margaret.

Although Aden’s actual birthday is today, we celebrated his party on Saturday with friends and family at a water park. New neighbors moved into the house next door earlier this month and they have a 5-year-old boy. Aden has been so excited to have someone his own age to play with and the fact his new friend, Joseph, could come to his party. Everyone had a great time.

Scott planted a little garden in the backyard Saturday morning. We have a few tomato plants, green peppers, and a strawberry plant. We may do more next year, but want to see how well these do first.

Sunday, we went to Scott’s parents’ house to celebrate his mom’s birthday. Scott’s grandmother moved to South Carolina earlier this year so we get to see her a lot more often. I think it’s great our kids are getting to know their great-grandmother. Families are important. We had fun playing in the yard and in the wading pool. The kids always have fun at Granna’s house.

Monday, we had a family day at the zoo. Sorry no picture of the zoo trip. I deliberately left the camera at home because I wanted to enjoy the day without lugging it around and trying to catch that perfect picture. The one time I leave the camera is the one day my kids berate me for “forgetting” it. They wanted me to take pictures of them on a tiger statue and of them playing around the park area. Aden told me he would have to remind me to bring the camera next time.

We had a nice celebration with just the four of us tonight for Aden. He really liked all the presents he received. I need to help him finish doing thank you cards this week.

Whew, I’m tired. I’m glad to get all the SC birthdays out the way. June doesn’t look like it’s going to let up on us. Aden is signed up for a four-week, eight session baseball camp. We also have vacation Bible school coming up at the end of June too.

Happy early birthday, Forrest - Love, Aunt Jen, Uncle Scott, Aden and Danielle.

Something Wicked this way comes

2006-05-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

Saturday, we left the kids with my family and took a quick trip to Atlanta to see the traveling Broadway musical Wicked. At the end of January I had hoped to see on Broadway in NYC, but things didn't work out. When I found out the traveling troupe would be in Atlanta, I asked for tickets as my birthday present.

I grew up reading L. Frank Baum's Oz books and remember watching The Wizard of Oz on broadcast television every year (before nearly every household had a VCR and had a library of movies to watch at will). Wicked the musical is based on Gregory Maguire’s book, which I have not yet read but intend to soon. It tells the story of Glinda and Elphaba (a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West) when they were girls and overlaps with the well known Wizard of Oz. The musical was nothing less than spectacular – flying monkeys on stage and everything! The Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta is …well fabulous. Inside you are given the illusion you are in an Arabian courtyard under a canopy of twinkling stars. The picture below gives the interior of the theater little justice.

The Graduate

2006-05-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

Aden graduated from 4-year-old Montessori kindergarten on Thursday. I'm so proud of him. His class did a little recital of the things they learned this year: Songs using sign language…Spanish colors and numbers…The Pledge of Allegiance…My Country 'Tis of Thee…reciting all the American Presidents…the school Alma Mata. Aden and some of the other children had parts to learn and tell us about their day. I can't believe he will be starting regular kindergarten in the fall.

On Friday, Aden lost his first tooth at daycare. He was full of excitement and questions about the tooth fairy when we picked him up – including the question was the tooth fairy real? Boy, kids are too smart for their own good sometimes. There's hardly any magic and innocence as part of childhood anymore. He was skeptical the tooth fairy would actually find the tooth, but that didn't seem to matter by Saturday morning when he found the dollar that was left under the pillow. I remember getting a quarter a tooth as a kid, but then again gas was about 61 cents a gallon at the time.

Garden Party

2006-05-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

I held my annual Mother’s Day Garden Party on Saturday for close friends and family. I couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather.

3 generations

4 generations

Little Eliza Doolittle

2006-05-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

Aden found a tiny marble on the floor of a craft store earlier this week and wanted to keep it. Danielle was terribly upset she didn't have one too, so I told her I would get her a marble of her own when we got home. I gave her a small glass pebble from the vase of a floral arrangement I had been making. She seemed perfectly content with that arrangement.

Yesterday morning she wanted to take her "marble" to daycare. The marble had to stay in the van instead. As soon as she got back into the van she immediately wanted her marble back. We got home and the kids started watching TV, Scott was fixing dinner, and I was in the office. And all was calm for a while… until Danielle started crying. I thought to myself, "What now?" Either Aden was picking on her or she instigated something and he's retaliating.

Danielle was wailing at the office doorway, announcing, "I swallowed it!" I knew immediately what she was referring to, and since she was whining and crying, I knew she was in no real danger. I had to hold back the chuckle because the very first image that passed through my mind at that point was a scene from my favorite movie My Fair Lady when Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) announces to Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison), "I think I swallowed one."

I took her into the kitchen for some water trying not to laugh at her distress. After she had a drink she said, "Mommy can you get it?" "No honey, I can't get it… you're just going to have to poop it out," I said. She seemed rather mortified at the answer and started crying louder because I couldn't fix this for her. I gave her some more water and she calmed down a bit. Her next question was, "Mommy, can I have another marble?" "No sweetheart, you can't – you didn't take care of the last one I gave you. I'm not giving you another one," I told her.

Just to assure all of you I'm not a horrible mother: The diameter of the "marble" is slightly more than 1/4 inch at the widest point, and she's completely fine. This too shall pass. (Sorry, kinda hard to resist that pun.)

Tea for Two

2006-04-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

Saturday, I left the kids with Scott for the afternoon while I went with a girlfriend to a tea tasting at a gallery near Five Points. I may not enjoy wine, but I do enjoy hot tea occasionally. Mostly, I drink Lady Grey or mint tea (in teabags) on cold mornings. At the tea tasting, I received a brief education on loose tea quality and proper brewing. We tried four varieties: a Chinese jasmine green tea, South African rooibos, Nilgiri from India, and a Chinese tea called Temple of Heaven Gunpowder. Admittedly, none of these appealed to my unrefined taste for tea. I'll continue to stick to my "poorer quality" teabags (with lots of sugar) for now.

I was raised in the South – we drink sugah in our tea down heah y'all.

Made with love

2006-04-18T20:18:00.000-05:00

The inspiration, store-bought dress, borrowed from my co-worker. See how the checked fabric "drifts" diagonally? (look for the purple stripes.) This is because the top of the fabric went through the pleater at a different rate of speed, compared to the bottom of the pleated fabric. Instead of taking the pleating threads out and starting over, they just left them that way and smocked the dress.

Danielle's finished dress. I used smaller checked fabric. Notice the horizontal purple stripes. It took nine attempts through the pleater because of the drifting issue. There is a bubble over the left shoulder seam on the front I'm not very happy about (not readily noticeable from this picture). After so many times going through the pleater, I had to just quit trying to make it meet my expectations, live with it, and start smocking. I don't think it was going to get any better with more attempts. There are actually four seams that need to go through a pleater when making a bishop dress. Often, one (or more) seam(s) will buckle when going through the three rollers. I haven't figured out a way to totally prevent the buckles from appearing, but sometimes I can cover them up with stitching to make them less noticeable. I just hate the fact it's a front seam.

Cute bunny buttons I found for the back of the dress. I stayed up so late Saturday night/Easter morning; I didn't have time to do a proper hem. The hemline was actually barely tacked down – not that anyone would have noticed.

Scott actually helped quite a bit with this project. I'm not as creative as you might think. I'm very good at following directions, but not good at creating something from scratch on my own. He copied the pattern of the basket and a bunny on graph paper and then made a reversed copy of the opposite bunny so I wouldn't have to "think backwards" looking at his original drafted pattern. He's been a trooper this week, single-handedly taking care of the kids and house, allowing me to get the dress done.

I took Good Friday off from work to get the dress done, thinking I could finish the smocking that day and work on finishing the construction that night. The sleeves and detailing of the roses on the basket, bunny tails, bows, and eyes took a lot longer than I had imagined. I went to bed at 2:00 AM Saturday morning and still hadn't finished the back-smocking. (When you are making a "picture" with smocking, you have to have smocked rows on the back to keep the pleats together when you take out the holding threads.)

I was up at 7:30 AM Saturday morning to get ready for the Easter festival (remember my children are early risers and 7:30 was actually me sleeping in). I spent every spare moment I could on Saturday finishing the back-smocking. It was 8:00 PM before I sat down to my sewing machine for the final construction. I'm not going to admit what time I went to bed Easter morning, but I will say I started getting punchy from sleep deprivation and began rewording Matchbox 20 lyrics as I was sewing …and he said Baby, it’s 3AM, you must be crazy…. Yeah, I know it was much funnier at the time.

So was it worth it? Absolutely. My sister asked Danielle where she got her pretty dress. Danielle replied, "My mommy made it for me…she's a good Mommy." What better compliment could I have possibly received?

Easter Morning

2006-04-18T19:20:00.000-05:00

Danielle had to line up all the eggs she found hidden in the den by the Easter Bunny on Easter morning.

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it...
The ribbon was actually pink when I bought the bonnet. I cut it out and replaced it with lavender to match her dress.

Why is it that just around the time you think you have vacuumed all the pine needles left over from your Christmas tree, along comes Easter and you have to deal with colored cellophane Easter grass all over the house for months?

Flowering the cross

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

2006-04-18T12:41:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning egg hunt. (Eggs are hidden inside the church sanctuary for the younger children.) I went to church at 9:30 to help hide eggs and set up the Bunny court.

I did my appearance as the Easter Bunny again for the Easter festival. Right after the egg hunt I slipped away to put on the costume. Danielle was a lot more receptive to me this year than she was last year.

Last year I did the bunny hop in the fellowship/dinning hall. Bad idea since I bumped into tables and chairs without my glasses under the latex mask. This year I "held court". It worked out much better.

Dead Sea Scrolls

2006-04-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Scott, my sister, and I went with other members of our church to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Discovery Place in Charlotte. I certainly would not have hopped a plane to see the scrolls, but an hour and a half drive wasn’t bad. The fact we went as a group was even better because I probably wouldn't have taken the initiative to go otherwise.

There are ten scrolls, three replicas and a replica of the copper scroll on display at Discovery Place until May 29th. What I found fascinating is not only how tiny the actual scrolls are, but also how tiny the writing on them is. The fact the scribes used oil lamps and did not have glasses amazes me they could write so small. The entire experience was very educational and I encourage anyone who is interested to go.

I found it interesting to find out when the scrolls were discovered in the late 1940's, early 1950's, researchers were using a "new" material called Scotch tape to put pieces of scrolls back together which caused further damage. Whoops.

In case you haven't heard, the National Geographic Society announced this week the discovery of Gospel of Judas. This is the only copy of this religious text known to exist. All other copies were destroyed because early church leaders considered them heretical. A 2-hour special was aired on the National Geographic Channel tonight concerning the discovery. It will probably be rebroadcast.

Edit: After reading the May issue of National Geographic and finding out more about the Gnostics, Nag Hammadi texts, and Irenaeus, this discovery, although significant to some religious scholars, is not as earth shattering as it was hyped to be.

That Personal Touch

2006-03-31T20:12:00.000-05:00

Rolling fabric on a wooden dowel to get it ready for the pleater.

My Amanda Jane pleater. Fabric gets fed through the rollers. Several threaded curved needles are used to make the pleats.

Pleated fabric. See the yellow running thread. This helps hold the pleats together while I’m smocking and is also used as a guide for the placement of the pattern. Once the design is complete, the holding threads are removed.

Close up of the design on last year’s Christmas dress

This week I’ve been trying to get Danielle’s smocked Easter dress started. In the past I have been much further along at this point, but I sent my fabric through the pleater nine times before I was satisfied with the result. The gingham I’m working on demands extra precision, since it accentuates any mistakes or irregularities in the pleating.

A friend at work let me borrow one of her daughter’s old smocked dresses just in case I don’t get Danielle’s finished in time. It’s this borrowed dress I’m using as inspiration for one I’m making. So if I already have a dress to use, you may be wondering why I’m trying to make one just like it. Well, I have to return the dress I borrowed and I want one that I made that’s just Danielle’s to keep. Sure, I can buy a cute little smocked dress at a specialty shop, but it wouldn’t have that personal touch. This project is yet another confirmation I’m a little crazy and more than a little sentimental.

I had to finally admit last year that there was just no way I could keep up with making Danielle’s birthday dress, Easter dress, matching mother/daughter outfits for Mother’s Day, and Christmas dress. I wish I had more time to make all of Danielle’s dresses, not just for special occasions, but realize I’ll only be able to make three dresses a year and keep my sanity.

My mom made most of my sister and brother’s clothes (including pajamas) while they were growing up in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, and she wasn’t a stay-at-home mom. When I came along in the early 1970’s, Mom had pretty much given up sewing. Lana is now in her early 50’s and really wishes she had some of the clothes that Mom made – especially ones that were made for her baby doll. Fortunately, she at least has all the handmade Barbie and Skipper clothes Mom made (with the original Barbie and Skipper dolls to go with them) and we have quilts Mom made from leftover scraps of fabric.

Whether it’s meaningful to Danielle later that I made her special occasion dresses (or ever have granddaughters to pass the outfits to) doesn’t matter; it’s important to me that I did it.

Colorado Ski Trip

2006-03-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

We've been back a couple of weeks now, but things got crazy so I haven't had a chance to post.

Instead of giving you all the "boring" details, here's the Reader's Digest condensed version of our trip. The pictures speak for themselves anyway.

The kids were very excited about their first plane ride. However, Danielly had a change of heart at the last minute and I had to carry her on the plane screaming (she was screaming that is, not me). She finally settled down once we were on the plane and began a barrage of questions all starting with "Why". I get so air sick and hate flying. Nothing I brought for her on the plane occupied her. Next time I'll know better - either she needs a great sedative, or I do.

Although Denver and the surrounding areas had been having unusually warm weather, we were able to play on a the still frozen lake and found enough snow in shaded areas to throw snowballs.

We skied Loveland with Aunt Janet. Danielle wanted to play in the snow more than ski. Aden was very enthusiastic, but eventually got frustrated late that afternoon when he was getting too worn out to ski any more. The adults didn't get much skiing in, but we really didn't expect that would happen anyway.

Because of the lack of snow near the house, we stayed in Frisco for part of the time. Aden built his first snowman, made a snow angel, and went sledding with Uncle Philip.

Scott, Aden, Uncle Philip, and I skied Copper while Danielle stayed and played with Aunt Janet. It snowed the night before and most of that day. Great powder! We got in some great skiing that day. Aden went to ski school, but still doesn't know how to turn or stop yet. That will come eventually with practice and ski school again next year.

Janet and Philip are wonderful hosts and made everything that much more enjoyable.

So what was everyone's favorite part of the trip?
Aden: Making a snowman.
Danielle: Playing with Aunt Janet while everyone else went skiing.
Scott: Getting private ski lessons from Uncle Philip.
Jennifer: Getting away from work for a week, great conversation, and skiing between trees for the first time on Copper.

Also noteworthy: my mom had a heart cath performed while we were out in Colorado. They found all four major arteries were blocked. They stented her right coronary artery that day, but didn't want to do anything else unless absolutely necessary. She's doing a little better, but still very weak. She could use everyone's prayers right now.

Going Down to South Park...

2006-02-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

Whether you love South Park or hate it, I thought this web site was too funny. Scott and I created our own "likenesses" as South Park characters.

Well, we aren't actually going to South Park, but are going to Colorado to see Aunt Janet and Uncle Philip. This will be Aden and Danielle's first plane ride and first time on skis. The last Colorado ski trip Scott and I took was in '98, prior to being parents. Now we get to go as a family.

I'll be sure to post pictures and tell you all about the trip when we get back.

Dead Presidents

2006-02-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Forgive me while I brag about my boy. I find both my children are exceptional and I’m not just saying this because I’m their mother.

Earlier in the month Aden surprised us on the way home from daycare by reciting the first 20 Presidents of the United States. My jaw dropped. He’s only 4-1/2 years old! We knew he had learned who George Washington and John Adams were, but the first 20 Presidents in order. Wow! Apparently, his class has been learning them a few at a time for weeks - probably in preparation for Presidents’ Day. He can now recite them all the way to Calvin Coolidge before he needs help. I have to admit that Scott and I have to look at a cheat sheet when he starts to recite. Sorry, memorizing dead Presidents is just not a skill I took with me past the fourth grade. [The picture is a recent "craft" that came home from daycare.]

Our Montessori daycare also teaches Spanish and sign language for ages 3 and up. Aden loves to show us new signs he’s learned, so I’ve been looking around for basic American Sign Language books (not for babies) for us to have at home.

It is amazing to me how much earlier kids learn things than when I was growing up.

Mary Lou Who??

2006-02-19T14:33:00.000-05:00

Danielle is now in Aden’s gymnastics class at the local recreation center. For months prior to her birthday she had been talking about going to “nymnastics with Ayan” when she turned three. She’s so proud to be a big girl.

Aden has been in gymnastics for nearly 18 months. A gymnastics company would come to his old daycare while we were at work. Very convenient for us. Danielle was a mere toddler at the time, but was also in the daycare gymnastics class. When we switched daycares, gymnastics was not offered as an extra activity. Luckily the rec center is close by. The same teacher who traveled to different daycares in the area, taught there once a week. Again, very convenient for us as far as location.

Weekly class is at 4:30 in the afternoon. Those days are our early days – meaning I have to be at my desk working by 7:15 in order to leave at 4:00 and get them to gymnastics on time. However, all the credit should be bestowed on Scott for making this possible. To save money we’ve carpooled since Aden started daycare. Scott “encourages” me to get up and out of the door in the morning. Without his help, I would never be able to accomplish our morning tag-team routine. (Scott, Danielle and Aden are “morning” people – I am not. I cannot be that cheerful that early in the morning. To my co-workers’ cheerful “Good Morning” greetings, I am barely able to utter more than a monotone “Morning” reply prior to 9:00. Being up and at work that early is not “good” in my opinion.)

When we started at the rec center about a year ago, we enrolled both kids. After a few months it was apparent Danielle was too young for the format geared toward older kids. She didn’t want to stand in line, wait her turn, listen, etc. (She definitely marches to her own beat.) Since the class is only 45 minutes, Scott and I usually stay during practice. We found we had become wranglers for Danielle, making sure she didn’t hurt herself or others while the instructor was busy. Danielle is definitely a tough one and can pretty much hold her own with the bigger kids, but we had to take her out of the class while Aden continued. This was quite upsetting for her, but we promised she would be able to enroll again when she was older and could listen (meaning age 3). There is still a little bit of wrangling involved, but it’s much better than what it was last May.

This gymnastics class is more organized play than anything else. They still use rings, parallel bars, mats and mini trampolines, but the class geared more toward hand-eye coordination, balance, building muscle tone, and having fun. After 18 months, Aden can’t do a perfect cartwheel, headstand or a gymnastics routine you would expect from a more structured class, but making an Olympic hopeful is not really the point. They teach skills which will be useful when the kids start mandatory Phys. Ed. in school. Hopefully, this will get them “sports ready” and they will want to participate in organized sports and enjoy it much more than I did as a child.

A Party Fit for a Princess

2006-01-29T15:51:00.000-05:00

Danielly had her birthday party at the Columbia Marionette Theater yesterday. The show was “Beauty and the Beast” which tied in wonderfully with her Disney Princesses theme. As you can see from the picture, her favorite Disney Princess is Cinderella. Since receiving Cinderella on DVD for Christmas, we have watched it every time it is Danielle’s turn to pick on “Friday Family Movie Night”. The costume was a gift from Granna (Scott’s mom) earlier in the year. She even wore Cinderella’s “glass” slippers the whole day (another gift from Granna). As Danielle woefully discovered, as most women eventually do, high-heeled shoes leave blisters. This was her first fashion lesson… it is better to look good than to feel good… and she looked mahvelous. (Truth be told, I didn’t get her smocked birthday dress ready in time.)

The party went wonderfully. It was another Christmas for her, except this time there were lots more people involved. It was enjoyable to have close family and dear friends who are almost like family share her day. She took home quite a stash: a watercolor paint set, several books, Disney Princesses tea set, Care Bear with DVD, Cinderella Color Wonder, stuffed dog, Aqua Doodle, a set of 7 pocketbooks (one for each day of the week), dress-up jewelry, Care Bear Care-A-Lot house, Discovery Toys Playful Patterns, Care Bear stickers, do-it-yourself “Build-a-Bear”, Melissa and Doug Animal Abacus, Cinderella magnetic paper doll, 6 pairs of dress up shoes, and a set of wooden table and chairs (delivered later that evening by my family).

Danielle had to try several times to blow her birthday candles out. Someone even made the comment they were afraid she was going to pass out. Danielle and Aden’s godmother was there with two of her four children – God bless her! Most people think I’ve “got it together”, yet compared to this woman, I’m an amateur. She’s the type of women/mother I aspire to be. Since Aden was very little, he started referring to Ms. Kimberly as his “Fairy Godmother”. We thought it was adorable and the title has since stuck. These are the memories I will always cherish.

Danielle sat in my lap through the entire production because she got scared during the thunder storm in the beginning. I think Columbia Marionette Theater did a terrific job merging the original “Beauty and the Beast” story with Disney’s. Most people are only familiar with Disney’s rendition of fairy tales, but they’re missing out. I highly recommend Andrew Lang’s Color Fairy Books compilations. These are my favorite books I love to read again and again – even before I had children. I was surprised to find, the Beast in the marionette production was a very good likeness of the picture contained in Lang’s Blue Fairy Book, which actually looked more like a warthog/elephant than Disney’s lionlike Beast. (Yeees, I did go through my fairy tale books last night after a family conversation as to whether Beauty had siblings.)

We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom with some of our Charleston friends who had come up to see us. (Danielle was still wearing her costume and plastic shoes.) Although it had already been a full day, all of the children behaved very well during lunch. It makes a mother proud when complete strangers compliment you on how well-behaved your children are. I think Regina beamed as much as I did to have that reaffirmed. Each day might not be perfect, but you get a feeling you must be doing something right in order for people to say things like that while you are in public. My children napped while we visited with my Charleston friends and their daughter for a while until it was time for them to go home. Later that evening my family came for dinner and brought Danielle’s table and chairs.

Yesterday was exhausting, but now that everything’s opened and both kids have had a chance to play with each new toy, things a settling back into the normal routine.

I'm this many...

2006-01-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Danielly.

Baking cupcakes for class parties is one of the things I dreamed about whenever I thought of becoming a mommy. Now all I need is one of those soccer ball magnetic decals for the back of the van. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about Spring soccer registration until after the sign-up date, so I will have to wait until the Fall until I can actually claim the "Soccer Mom" title.

1-2-3 Go!

2006-01-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

We'll it's finally begun, Scott has given up on me playing games with him, so has now turned to our son. Last week he taught Aden how to play Go. They started on a 4x4 board to introduce the basic concepts of placing stones, freedoms, and capturing. Instead of saying "atari", Aden kept saying "tarry", so Scott suggested he say "attack" instead.

Once the basics were down, they progressed to a 9x9 board with a 4-stone start for Aden. Perhaps the 9x9 board was too big. Aden was winning the first game, but about halfway through started getting rambunctious and accidentally knocked the pieces off the board. Aden still wanted to play. He required a little more coaching the second time about bad placements (it was getting past his bedtime) but saw the game through and won 28 to 11. They have since played a few more games on a 7x7 board, with only a one stone lead for Aden.

Aden is not the only one playing games these days. Danielle got a Dora the Explorer Uno game for Christmas from Uncle Hunter and Aunt Lori. She can’t hold five cards in her hand at one time, so lays them face up in front of her when she plays. Sorry, don’t have a pic of that one yet.

I am part of all that I have met.

2006-01-13T17:51:00.000-05:00

Scott’s birthday was two weeks after Christmas on January 8^th. The quote is from Tennyson’s “Ulysses” and was on the front of Scott’s birthday card from Aunt Janet. Not my favorite poem, but a great quote. Leave it to Janet to find a great card like that.

I try not to skimp on Scott’s present since his birthday is so close after Christmas. I took him shopping for new white and red wine glasses. However, I caught him drinking red wine out of a white wine glass last night – for shame. Over the last few years, Scott has been educating himself on different wines, trying several varieties from different countries. Unfortunately, I do not share his love for wine since there are very few I find palatable. I truly wish I enjoyed wine more, but can’t help wrinkling up my nose at it and inevitably coughing after it goes down.

For his birthday, he had a group of friends come over to the house to play board games. Since his twin, Hunter (the brother formerly known as Jeff), moved to Ohio in 1995, Scott doesn’t play games as often as he would like. I wasn’t born with the competitive “game” gene, so it is very rare I play games with him at all. I have never played the card game he designs (nor will I ever). It’s not that I’m not a supportive wife. I can’t strategize and Scott’s competitive nature will not allow him to throw a game (except maybe tic-tac-toe with Aden), so I wind up losing all the time. Ergo, I do not play.

For Christmas, Hunter gave Scott a new game, 10 Days in Africa. He was so excited and had no one to play with him. In a moment of weakness, I took pity on him. Admittingly, the games were close, but I still lost twice. (Wanna know a secret? If you want to see Scott totally upset me, just watch us play a game of Kahuna. Watch Scott systematically obliterate every single one of my pieces from the board while I'm floundering to come up with a strategy. He’s just plain mean when he plays – no mercy.) Now you all know why I cross stitch and smock instead.

Scott fixed seafood for our guests. Now it’s not that I’m not the most perfect, doting wife and would have loved to fix dinner (can’t you hear the sarcasm), but he wanted seafood…I don’t like seafood. “What! Don’t like seafood, what’s wrong with you?” my Charleston friends exclaim. I know you are all wondering how I could have lived in the Mt. Pleasant area, with Shem Creek right there, and not like seafood. Well…I really don’t have a good answer. It could be that my head isn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that my shoes are too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may be my stomach is two sizes too small. Over the years, Scott has been “Sam I Am”, trying to get me to like green eggs and ham. (Err, I mean fish.) He’s been unsuccessful thus far. If it swims in the ocean, river, lake, or stream, I refuse to eat it. On the nights Scott fixes fish for the kids, I try nonchalantly to fix a plate of leftovers from the fridge, hoping the kids won’t notice. Now that they are a little older, this trick doesn’t work so well anymore. “Mommy, why aren’t you having fish like us?” they ask. Try to come up with a good excuse for that one without turning your kids away from seafood.

Scott watched Sin City, given to him for his birthday by his brother. I, on the other hand, was in a different room. Not my kind of movie. Bless Scott’s heart. Even though I did not play games, drink wine, fix dinner, eat seafood, or watch a movie with him, he still had a good birthday. Well Jen, other than buy a few glasses, what did you do? Well…I let his friends come over, play games, and eat fish didn't I?

Happy New Year y'all

2006-01-02T16:56:00.000-05:00

The month of December stayed busy with the usual holiday activities: decorating the house, going to see Christmas lights at the zoo, Christmas pageant at daycare, pictures of the kids with Santa and baking cookies. Unusual December activities included hospitalizing my 75 year-old mother from Dec. 9th through the 14th for pneumonia and my siblings and myself taking time off from work to keep her in-home daycare running while she was recuperating. Therefore, Christmas cards were sent later than what I had liked (sorry to those of you who got the family newsletter via e-mail), the children's Christmas outfits weren't finished until the morning of the 24th (see picture: yep, made both outfits from scratch, including the bow-tie), and the first present wasn't wrapped until after Christmas Eve church service. And yet, somehow it all worked out - I love Amazon.com.

The kids (4-1/2 and almost 3) were up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning and were so excited. I really thought they would explode. Santa brought Aden a wooden train set, Matchbox car garage, robot, books, Play-Doh, and Aladdin DVD. Danielle got a dollhouse, wooden blocks, star builders, marble run, books, Play-Doh, Cinderella DVD, and a Care Bear. Scott got Frank Miller's Sin City and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novels, two Kohta Hirano's Hellsing manga collections, Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead, and The Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) on DVD. I got a locket (addressed to: Beauty from: Beholder) subscription to Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazine, Quantz Flute Concertos CD, and an iPod. Santa must have thought I was a very good girl. This is what Santa managed to bring on his sleigh (wink, wink). Everyone got loads of other stuff from both sides of the family.

This week I've been reading Growing Up in Davie County: Reflections from One Hundred Years Ago by William Jamie Moore, edited by Jamie W. Moore. My friend in New York sent it to me. It's a collection of stories written by his grandfather and edited by his father. In the back, is a poem written by my friend entitled "Grandpa's study". This is truly one of the most touching gifts I have ever received. I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends like all of you who are reading this post. I cherish you all and the influence you have had on my life.

I hope 2006 brings all of you good health, joy, and prosperity.