Camping

JD and his cousins took their kids camping on Saturday. They camped on the family farm. Madelyn had a great time fishing, sleeping outside (in the back of the Trail Blazer), and going potty in the woods. Here are some pictures of the event. By the way, no pictures of Pierce because he's still a bit young for camping.




I'll post a few more later. Blogger is very slow at the moment.

Water in Jesus' mouth?

We've been talking about having Jesus in your heart. Madelyn has been asking about it some, but she's a little confused when it comes to anatomy. She thinks her heart is in her belly. Last night, she asked about having Jesus in her heart and we talked about it a little bit. She then went to get her LAST drink of water for the night. After she was finished with her water, she said, "Now Jesus has water in his mouth." I'm assuming that since Jesus can be in your heart and your heart is in your belly, then Jesus' mouth can catch the water before it gets in your belly????

And she's gone

We sold our 1991 Chevy Blazer this morning to a high school kid. We've had it on and off Craigslist for a couple of months, and several people have come to see it. Today was the day she left our parking area for good. My parents generously gave us the Blazer when JD and I got married, and it's been such a good vehicle for us. I think JD was a little sad to see it go, as it's been his little project since we got it. He enjoys working on cars and this one needed some work from time to time. My parents bought it when I was in 7th grade, and it was the car I learned to drive in. The handle above the passenger side door and the floorboard are probably quite worn, as I'm sure my parents grabbed that handle and prayed quite often as they pressed the imaginary brake.

One of my more panicked driving memories occurred in that car. On the day I was supposed to get my permanent license (In VA, you are issued a temporary license and then you have to appear in court with a parent to receive your permanent license. At least that's how it happened 14 (yikes!) years ago.), I attempted to pull out of our driveway to head to the courthouse. However, I backed into the ditch. As I'm typing this post, I realize that this story might be news to my parents:-) Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive! With a lot of tire squealing, I was able to get out of the ditch and head on my way.

Thanks for the memories, old girl. I hope you treat your new owner well!

And the Mom of the Year award

should not go to me. I took the kids to Target yesterday, and it was just one of those shopping experiences that make you wonder why you bother to take your kids to the store with you. Madelyn has this thing about having to go potty every time we enter a new place. So, I decided to have a conversation with her before we left the house, explaining that we were going to use the bathroom before we left the house and that we were going to avoid going to the bathroom at the store. Well, as soon as we entered Target she exclaims that she needs to pee. I proceed to shop and she exclaims it a second time but in a much more urgent sounding voice. I took her to the bathroom, and she indeed had to go.

We continued shopping and Pierce figured out how to climb out of his seat--yes he was strapped in. At this point, I decided it would be better to hold him. Then, he began grabbing everything within his reach and throwing it to the floor. I was really struggling to stay calm. So, there was a mess in the floor, and Madelyn was yelling that she had to pee again. I put Pierce down on the floor to start picking up his mess, but you can probably guess how that went. He pulled more things down faster than I could pick up his first mess. So, in my infinite wisdom, I placed him in the big part of the shopping cart, told him to sit, and quickly picked up the mess he had made. I know that nothing was placed in the proper area. I just wanted to clean up, get out of that aisle, and get Madelyn to the potty again. I stood up and turned around in just enough time to see Pierce standing on the edge of the shopping cart, trying to get onto a shelf. It was one of those things that seems to happen in slow motion but you seem to freeze and are unable to react. Anyway, he shifted his weight and his foot pushed the shopping cart out from under him, and he landed on his belly on the floor. The smack was so loud that I was sure he had to be hurt. He was screaming, of course, and Madelyn looked terrified. I scooped him up, but thankfully, there was no lasting damage. He just cried and cried and cried for about 10 minutes.

Once Madelyn recovered, she told me again that she needed to use the bathroom. I should have taken her to the bathroom and then given up on my shopping trip. I didn't, though, and I'll spare you the rest of the details of my 50 minute Target experience, but I left the store so frazzled that it took me another 5 mintues once I was in the parking lot to find my keys. Go figure. They were where I put them 90% of the time--clipped to my belt loop .

Animal noises

At the very end, he's very quietly saying "woof, woof" for the dog. Not sure if you'll be able to hear it.

First Day of School

Madelyn started school last week, and she seems to really like it once again. Her new teacher is Mrs. Sharon, and she's going 3 days/week this year. There are 10 kids in her class--5 boys and 5 girls. There are lots of dress up clothes in the room and Madelyn loves that. Here are some pictures that I took as we were heading out the door on her first day:

18 months old

Pierce is now 18-months old, and we went to the doctor today. It was a good visit, aside from the three shots he received. Here are his stats:

Weight: 24 lbs (25%)
Height: 33.75 inches (85%)

He continues to be such a sweet little boy. He loves giving hugs and kisses and will flirt with almost any lady he sees. He has so many words now and understands everything. He's really picked up on the word "no", although he doesn't use it defiantly yet. He can say "thank you" and he does it at the appropriate times. It is so cute!

He can have a temper, though, and his bottom lip can stick out a mile. When he's really angry, he grabs something and throws it hard to the ground. It will be interesting to see how this trait develops.

In other news, Madelyn's first day of pre-school is Friday, and she is so excited. Truth be known, so am I!

August pictures are posted

Wedding fun, beach, and end of summer activities can be seen here.

Deluge

Tropical storm Hanna visited yesterday and she had a lot to share. I have NEVER seen rain like that in my life. Our neighbor's daughter had her birthday party, and Madelyn and I walked about 100 yards to their house and were drenched by the time we got there. The bad news was that we had to walk back, and it was raining even harder. The really bad news is that quite a bit of water got into our basement. JD pulled up the carpet around the wall and sliding glass door, and we realized that the water issues have been accumulating for some time. REALLY glad we're renting!

Beach pictures

Madelyn and Taylor in their "little ocean"




The fam on the beach



Madelyn heading out to the "big water" with JD



Sunrise on a cloudy morning



Madelyn heading into the "big, cold pool"



Pierce's favorite activity was playing in the sand.



We even got to go out on a date with free babysitting

A moment for the history books

Here is a newsman who truly appreciates the historic nature of not just Obama's nomination, but of his conception.

Back from the beach

and back to reality. I'm glad to be home, but we had a fantastic time at the beach. We actually stayed a couple of extra days. Madelyn and Pierce had a great time playing in the sand and water. I'll post pictures soon. Here are some interesting things that happened while we were there:

1. Both of my kids decided to test gravity while we were there by throwing things from our 11th floor balcony to the parking garage below. Pierce accidentally tossed our condo key that we were able to easily recover. Thank goodness! Madelyn tossed her plastic cup over the side and was absolutely devastated to find that it had completely shattered.

2. Pierce was wearing a shirt and a diaper. He pooped in his diaper, and I didn't know. I looked over because he was whining loudly and saw that he had removed his diaper and was disgusted about his situation. That same day, I got him out of the bathtub and he pointed to his bottom and said "poo-poo." Before I had time to react, he pooped on the floor.

3. I saw a sand shark (I think?) just off the shore. During the only rainy day we had, I decided to sit by the ocean under our tent. I looked up and saw fins just off the shore. Then, I noticed other people pointing and telling others to get out of the water. Then, I saw the fin race away from the shore and then the shark jumped out of the water and body slammed itself back into the water. I was kinda hoping the fin was a porpoise or dolphin, but this was not the graceful leap of one of those creatures. Pretty sure it was a small shark.


Here's a video of the kids enjoying the water. We did a lot of jumping and catching in the pool: