Fair Birthday

God may or may not look like a cloud, according to Josie. Sadie is of the opinion that He looks more like a lion. I told them that the Bible says we are made in His image, so I'm pretty sure He looks more like a person. Sadie said that if that's the case, then He at least has HAIR like a lion. We went out to one of those Japanese cook-on-the-table places for my birthday on Wednesday, and while the food was excellent, the best part was watching the chef torment the kids (much to their delight). He kept yelling "FIRE!" and scaring the heck out of Josie (she bravely made a conscious decision to laugh instead of cry) and Sadie thought the egg tossing and knife throwing and "Oh yah, I'm good, Oh yah!" was hilarious... she laughed the entire time. They stayed with Grandma Beth while I went to the spa with my mom on Thursday (Yay Spa! Yay facial! Yay massage!) and they baked me a cake in Sadie's EasyBake Oven. I also got great cards this year... a talking Elvis, a singing Jackson Five, a Woogley Boogley Bee (from Josie), a singing "Over the Rainbow Card" (from Josie), and lots of others. Yesterday we went to the fair with Becky and her kids. We had a good time, but we were pretty much "Faired Out" after 3 hours or so. The kids loved riding the dragon roller-coaster, but poor Teagan got a bee sting on her hand while we were waiting in line. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of all the rabbits (SO cute), the giant turkeys (the kids gobbled at them until one of the turkeys gobbled back and scared them to death!), and the dairy cow demonstration. Then we saw all the miniature horses (our friend from church was showing hers there) and the ducks. By this time, we were all filthy and dusty and hungry (you don't really fill up on cotton candy and kettle corn) and hot so we headed back to the car. On the way home, I dropped Josie off at Grammie's house and Sadie spent the night with Deanna and Lynn for the first time. I was afraid she would be scared and cry to come home, but the opposite happened. She had such a fabulous time (going to Chuck E. Cheese, watching the Bee Movie, snuggling with Deanna, and playing castle/"Mean Guy" with Lynn) that she cried because she HAD to come home.

Goodbye, GoopEye

Today we went to Storytime (the kids were thrilled to learn about dinosaurs and make Pterodactyl bracelets), then to the park (we hiked into the woods and Sadie the Duck Terrorist had a grand old time screeching at the ducks and giving them little duck heart attacks), then home for a picnic. It was a fun day.

Thankfully, the GoopEye has made a retreat from Adelaide's right eye... FINALLY. I hope it's gone forever! Everyone kept asking me if it was pink eye, or conjunctivitis, or another yucky eye disease, and I had to keep explaining over and over that it was only a blocked tear duct. I'm hoping we've seen the last of it.
Today when I was tickling her under her arms, she started making an unfamiliar noise - I thought she was coughing at first, but then she kept doing it with this big smile on her face and I realized SHE WAS LAUGHING! That made my day.

Jesse is teaching Josie to ride her bike... Her little feet barely reach the pedals so she's having a hard time pushing hard enough to gain any momentum. To remedy this situation, Jesse tied our dog leash to her handlebars and has been pulling her around on the driveway as she pedals and steers. Sadie thinks it's hilarious and rides all around them like a buzzing bee, flitting here and there and showing off how well she can already handle HER bike. It's an odd thing to see your husband leading a bike with a leash.

Woof

Today the girls were pretending to be dogs. Sadie said she was a Collie Dog. Josie said she was a Chili Dog.

Adelaide-y Who?

Adelaide is SO sweet and beautiful, I just want to squish her. I know that sounds weird, but you know how you get that primal urge sometimes to just SQUEEZE something? That's how I feel when I look at her chubby little cheeks, thighs, arms, well... just about any part of her. When she's nursing and looking up at me with her big blue eyes, it just makes me want to melt. Especially when she smiles WHILE she's nursing. Her smile lights up her eyes, and she's so cute that I can't even stand it. I can't really explain it, but I'm guessing that if you're a mother, you know what I mean!

Wanna Hear It? Here it Goes!

Josie is a songwriter...at least while she's in the car. This is her new thing: "Hey, Mommy. I see a green light. I know a song about a green light. Wanna hear it?" "Hey, Mommy. I see a tree. I know a song about a tree. Wanna hear it?" "Hey, Mommy. I see a con-vert-ible. I know a song about a con-vert-ible. Wanna hear it?" You get the idea. The songs are actually pretty interesting, and they usually go something like this: "Oh, green light! You are green! And you are tall! And where is your mommy green light and your daddy green light and you are the baby green light! La la la!"

I Taught her That

My cousin Taylor came home with us this trip (she's flying back down on Thursday) and the kids have had a hey-day with her. She's been so fabulous... I mean, I wish I had a 14 year old all the time! The girls are loving it. Today, they painted birdhouses together and played in the pool just about all day, then they went for ice cream tonight. I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves - I'm spoiled!

We all went to the zoo on Saturday, and we met Deanna and Lydia. After a bit of an altercation at the Wendy's drive-thru (don't ask), we had a high old time visiting the sea lions, monkeys, tigers, and bears. When we went into the rain forest, which is dark, Josie immediately yelled, "HEY! Where's Deanna!?" This wouldn't have been funny aside from the fact that Deanna was pulling the wagon that Josie was sitting in. Deanna laughed and told Josie that she couldn't see her in the dark.

On Sunday at church, Taylor went into class with the girls, which they loved, and then we all sat together during the worship service. For one of the first times I can remember since I was a kid, I almost laughed OUT LOUD during the service. Sadie moved up to sit in the pew in front of me between Grandma and Jenny. She had Snoopy, and was (of course) sucking her thumb. I poked her and whispered, "No thumb!" She popped it out of her mouth, then leaned forward s-l-o-w-l-y. This head-bent stance is the one she takes when she is sucking her thumb, and she must've known I would think that's what she was doing, because suddenly I see two "thumbs ups" sticking up on top of her head. I cracked up!

Yesterday we went to Teagan's birthday party, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They love Teagan, they love parties, and they love Darryl and Lydia's house (where the party was). Unfortunately, sweet and fun-loving Josie has a dark side. She and Teagan had a bit of a, shall we say, "run-in" over a pair of brown crocs...Josie was bound and determined that they were hers (they weren't) even though she wore her purple and pink ones. Needless to say, there was much screaming and kicking and a general melee ensued. I don't know what I'm going to do with her. She's like Dr.Jekyll sometimes...I can only imagine how things are going to be when she gets older and has PMS! Yikes!

We went for a walk this afternoon and bought green beans from our neighbor's garden, then came home and broke/strung them. Taylor and I did the stringing, and Sadie and Josie broke. It was so much fun! I love stringing beans. The girls made up a bean song that goes, "Beans, beans, BEANS! BEANS, beans, beans." Catchy, isn't it? :) I also bought Adelaide a new play gym today, since the one Sadie and Josie used has kicked the bucket. When we put her on it (the girls both had to help assemble it, because they "are like Papaw," they informed me), Adelaide just gooed and kicked and smiled all over the place. She whacked one of the toys with her little fist a couple of times, but I'm not sure it was intentional, since she isn't totally aware of those things growing off the ends of her arms yet. Anyway, she was excited, and she started sticking her little tongue in and out, in and out. Sadie said, "Hey, do you see that? I taught her that."

Holy Mole-y!

Sadie and Josie have the terrible habit of leaving the door into the garage standing open. Therefore, a MOLE got into our house. I was the unfortunate soul who spied said Mole down the hallway, running into Adelaide's room WHILE SHE WAS SLEEPING IN THERE. What to do, besides yelp, scream, and jump up and down?? Horror! I finally sucked it up and ran in, grabbed her, and high-tailed it out of there. Sadly, the girls had heard my screams and lived in mortal fear for the past 4 days until we caught said Mole on a glue-trap in the middle of the night. They were inconsolable; they were convinced that said Mole would attack in the middle of the night, and they refused to do anything alone. The buddy system is alive and well at our house. Josie was in Time Out on the stairs into the living room when I heard a shriek and screams of total panic. I thought the mole was attacking her, or at the least, that she had seen it lurking by the basement door. Instead, she yells hysterically, "I-HEAR-A-NOISE-I-THINK-IT's-THE-MOLE-IT-IS-GOING-TO-GET-ME!!!!" Thank goodness Jesse got rid of the varmint early this morning, and life can go back to... well, ... as normal as it was before!

Can't You Just Feel the Moonshine (part 3)

Sheesh! This trip was LONG! I'm tired of writing about it! On Wednesday, we went to Heather's and had chicken nuggets and some kind of yummy veggie pizza, along with popsicles that they girls spread all over the house. Sadie got dressed to the 9's in Sidney's (yes, Josie, SID-NEY, not SIN-DEY) dress up clothes. We found out that Sidney has the same purse-stuffing propensity as Sadie. Poor Sidney, who has 2 older brothers and never gets to play with girls, kept saying, "Don't go! Don't go!" anytime I stood up or left the room. Josie had an accident, probably from guzzling all of Heather's juice boxes, and snuck in to ask Heather for a Pull-up. She said, "It's a secret! But that's okay if we don't tell Mommy. Where are the Pull-ups?" Of course, Heather told me, and then Josie came in, gave Heather one of her infamous squinty-eyed mean looks, and said, "Hey! That was a SECRET!!!" The kids all wrestled around and played outside, where they hid from us in the back of the van and found a GIANT butterfly. They had a blast. When we left, Sidney asked if she could smell our car - that was funny! I think maybe she liked the smell of baby Adelaide or something.



Then we went straight to pick up Papaw and Mamaw and ride up the mountain for a picnic - which was promptly rained out. So, we ended up at Shatley Springs and ate fried chicken, greens, biscuits, preserves, and sweet tea. Sigh. It makes me hungry just typing it! Then we fed leftover cornbread to the fish and ducks, and Josie found a caterpillar which Sadie dubbed "Greenie" and we sat there telling stories - Papaw told the famous Junebug & Chicken story - and just goofing off by the pond for over an hour. Sadie told Mamaw that she had "beautiful voice when you tell stories," trying to bribe her to keep going (Mamaw has LOTS of stories). In the car on the way home, Papaw read the Potty book (much to his dismay)!

On Thursday, we had a pool day with Aunt Sharon and Angela. Then the girls had a big old time beating up Papaw outside. At supper, he told her to leave that dirty old dog (meaning Snoopy) alone, to which she replied, "Papaw, it is NOT playtime, it is EATING time." He cracked up, since these were the same words he said to her the night before. Josie discovered a love for matchbox cars and Mamaw gave her some to take home. Adelaide smiled and gooed at Mamaw and Papaw all through our hamburger supper. When I left to go get diapers at the store, I said I'd be gone about 15 minutes. Sadie piped up, Or more like 40 minutes!" Does she know me, or what? Josie got mad because we had to go home to go to bed and she said, "I'm not going to say ANYSLING!!!" Sadie walked over to Great Aunt Nettie's house with me in the dark, which was a big deal for her. She said it was her first time walking around outside when everyone else was in bed.

Last but not least, on Friday, Adelaide ROLLED OVER! From front to back! 3 times! Sadie and Josie high-fived each other, then Adelaide. They were all proud of her accomplishment! :) Then the girls had a curler party with Grandma's curlers, Marie brought them fancy flip-flops, and we had Josie's 2nd birthday party outside, which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was very low-key and laid back, and lots of people showed up to play outside and just hang around and talk and eat watermelon and popsicles. Josie got a lot of loot, too!

Can't You See the Sunshine... (part 2)

Sunday, we went to church at White Oak after a breakfast of sausage biscuits. The girls both enjoyed saying "uh-huh-huh-huh-uh-huh-huh" on the dirt road (I think that's the first time our van -just bought from Beck & James) has ever been on a dirt road)The girls insisted on seeing Great Grandpa Ralph's grave, so we walked up to the graveyard and they were very interested in knowing whose grave was whose, why they died, etc. Josie said, "This is Great Grandpa Ralph? But I love him so much and I never get to see him!" They had fun playing with their cousins Meghan and Lauren, and visiting with Great Aunt Odessa. Great Grandma pointed out the big rock that rolls over when it hears a rooster crow, and then we picked up Chinese food for lunch. Later we wrapped up Papaw's birthday present (a tub full of bubble gum) and Sadie wrote Papaw on the top. At his party, Josie got so tired that she got out of the tub, stripped off her swimsuit, and took a naked nap on the side of the pool. Later we had airplane races on the driveway with Angela, Lauren, and Papaw. The next day they slept in (thank goodness) until 10am, then played the "Ant Killing Car Wash" (don't ask) on the patio. Hailey came over to play and they had a big time bouncing a ball in a sheet, eating pinto beans, calling each other "Bootie Butt," and going on a Snoopy hunt with a giant flashlight. Adelaide was smiling up a storm and cooing at Great Grandma, much to her delight! Later we had "Girls' Night" with my friends and all the kids came tromping through the living room like the Lost Boys - Zorro, Darth Vader, some kind of sword-wielding pirate, etc. and they all followed Stephen and Scotty outside like the Pied Piper. Stephen tried to help Josie get her shoes on the RIGHT feet for once, but I heard her yelling at him, "But I LIKE THEM THIS WAY!!!" When we got home, Josie tried to feed all of those pesky nocturnal birds at 10pm, and Sadie cried because she saw a picture of her and Grammie and she started feeling all nostalgic.

On Tuesday, the girls stayed with Brenda and Kimmie, Noah, and Dalton while I went to lunch with Chass and Becky. They had a fabulous time there, then had a watergun fight with my Daddy. We ate at the "Ham House," which Josie decided was "Sam's House." Sadie ate tons of jelly off her knife there... what kind of mother does she have?! Back at Grandma's, Josie spilled powder all over the bathroom floor, and so she and Sadie took it upon themselves to wash the floors in the bathroom with water and washcloths. Grandma thought that was so funny...seeing two little kids mopping the floors on their hands and knees! Now if only I could get them to do that at home!

In My Mind I'm Gone to Carolina... (part 1)

After a LONG trip (10 hours, to be exact), we made it to my Grandma's house at 2am. We stopped 3 times so I could nurse Adelaide; apparently stopping that much adds on 2 hours to my traveling time... usually we get there in 8. On Thursday, we played with Cameron and Caleb. Alas, Cameron is finally too big for the Pack-n-Play, so there could be no pinto bean party this trip. He made himself useful by lifting the 3 smaller kids in and out of the Pack-n-Play and moaning and groaning about it. :) Adelaide had her big southern debut, meeting Great Grandma, Thomas, Elizabeth, Josh, Papaw, Mamaw, and Dillon (Mamaw's grandson). Sadie and Josie also "re-met" him, and Sadie was not impressed. It takes a while for her to warm up to some people, and he was being a typical boy (he also was trying to be "the boss," as she put it, and she did NOT go for that at all!). He asked her to be his girlfriend, and she just looked at him like he was crazy, then she said, "No, I do not." Josie said, "I will! For 2 weeks!" Then we all swam in the pool; Josie was a hit in her "Superman" floatie suit. Sadie got mad at Papaw because he squirted her in the face with a watergun and she flat out refused to believe that it was an accident. Was she TICKED!!! She finally got over it and decided that squirting HIM in the face was payback enough... and also a good time. That night after I got all the kids in bed, Daddy picked me up from Grandma's house and we had a Father/Daughter date, which was fabulous... I think it's probably been at least 8 years since we've been able to go out by ourselves and just sit there and talk. I loved it!

On Friday, Grandma showed the girls her "Moonbloom" flowers, which were right up Sadie's alley. Anything having to do with the moon or stars are her favorite things at the moment. Then we went up to Angela's house to play and swim (the girls are so brave when she's around...seems like they trust her in the water more than they trust me...?) Josie pigged out on fresh peaches, then we went back and fed the birds with Great Grandma. We had supper with Papaw at the Japanese place, then walked at the park and played on the playground. Papaw thought it was funny when he was pushing Josie on the swing and she counted all the way up to "Eleventeen!" Sadie enjoyed watching the tennis players, and they both pretty much got disgustingly filthy in the gravel/ashes on the walking trails and in the playground. When we got back home and I put them in the bathtub, they streamed dirt all over the place. Yuck! After they went to bed Mama, Nettie, and I played cards with Sharon... I forgot how much fun it is to play Rummy!

On Saturday, the girls got their wish and finally got to go play with Kimmie, Noah, and Dalton at Louis and Brenda's house. I'm telling you, they play the "I'm Noah. You're Kimmie! Mommy is Dalton!" game all the time. It's so funny... anytime they're fighting about something, Jesse will say, "I'm Noah!" and it totally distracts them so they forget what they were fighting about. Anyway (I'm distracted myself, now!) we went over there and played in the pool and goofed around for half the day. Brenda was having a yard sale, which Josie was thrilled to see (she loves yard sales) and she also has a huge stash of UNMONITORED juice boxes in the fridge on the screened in porch. What better place could there possibly be? Louis gave me a deal on a picnic table that he built, and Don offered to drive it home on the back of his truck for me. It's sitting out on my deck now, waiting to be stained! We went home for naps then over to Thomas and Elizabeth's house for the Sunday School pool party (do you notice a pool theme yet?). The girls have no fear now that they have had a)swimming lessons - Sadie and b) the Supersuit - Josie. They jumped right in! Sadie hurt her butt when she jumped so she gave it up and played with her cousin Taylor OUTSIDE of the pool. Then we all rode the golf cart with Josh, and somehow Josie got her feet stained all bloody red. It was the weirdest thing... we figured she must've stomped some Koolaid somewhere along the way. We finally got to meet Bayleigh, Natasha and Britt's baby who is 2 weeks older than Adelaide. She is so cute! She looks like a little Kewpie doll. The only thing cuter than the two of those babies is the two of them TOGETHER!
That night, Sadie said, "Hey. I want my Daddy." I asked if they wanted to call him and talk to him, but Josie said, "NO! I want to SEE HIS FACE."