This was a tree outside our hotel in Valdosta, during our recent vacation. I thought it was very interesting with the contrast between the bright colors of the tree and the Spanish Moss.
(Does anyone have any idea what kind of tree that is?)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Cute as a button...or cute enough to put on a button...or something like that
I've seen all of those buttons you can add to your blog that say "Children are a gift from God" or another version of that Bible verse, and all of them have sweet, serene, angelic baby faces on the buttons. I have yet to see one with an older child, or...shall we say, an energetic child.
So I made my own, using a photo that Robert took of Josiah a few years ago. It was within days of Grace's birth; judging from the photos we have during that time period, I apparently said, "Yes, Robert, you can take pictures in the back yard with my camera, and take your brother with you" a lot. ;)
So I made my own, using a photo that Robert took of Josiah a few years ago. It was within days of Grace's birth; judging from the photos we have during that time period, I apparently said, "Yes, Robert, you can take pictures in the back yard with my camera, and take your brother with you" a lot. ;)
This is one of my favorite photos of Josiah! It is so...him. What do you think?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
You Capture: Rustic
Rustic? I didn't quite know where to begin. But then I thought of my mom's little wagon that her daddy made her when she was litte. Around the age of 2 or 3, my mom gave herself a nickname..."Suzy Baby." From everything I've been told, no one really knows for sure where it came from but, shortened to "Suzy," it became the name that most family members called her.
This is the wagon my grandfather made for my mom in the 1940s.
Personalized...
It was either made from scraps of wood he had on hand, or he misjudged...this picture of the bottom of the wagon shows a little gap along one edge.
This is where the wagon sits 99.9% of the time: holding handmade dolls, safely tucked away in a curio cabinet next to pieces of petrified wood and other treasures.
My mother made all of these dolls at various stages of her life. She made the Holly Hobby-type doll for me for my birthday when I was around age 4 (with a matching outfit for me). She made the preemie Cabbage Patch baby for herself when I was a preteen; we affectionately referred to this doll as "E.T." because of the expression on the doll's face. She made the doll on the right, including the embroidery work for the doll's face and the doll's clothes, during her childhood.
I also found an old ice bucket and ice tongs, which belonged to my mother's maternal grandparents.
My oldest son asked, "Why does this have chicken feet on it?!" They raised chickens.
Check out I Should Be Folding Laundry for more You Capture participants.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Our Wild Adventure
Last week, we took a few days off to drive down to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia. We left early Wednesday morning (although not as early as Jason Slade would have liked) and arrived at the park around 3:00 p.m. We rode a few rides and quickly found out we have quite a little daredevil on our hands.
Grace.
She giggled and laughed out loud, gleefully telling me, “Look, Mommy! I flying! Look at me!” over and over again as she went around in a circle on her flying elephant.
She joined Josiah and me on the Dizzy Dragons ride, and that was where I first caught a glimpse of the daredevil in her.
She's in my lap only for the picture. Not only would she have NOT wanted to sit in my lap, she would have ridden it by herself if she could have! She frequently asked to ride by herself on other rides.
Robert: Can I get off now?
These big swings...
Josiah is the one nearly in the center of the picture.
The boys loved the bumper cars--this was Robert’s favorite thing to do at the park (Jason Slade’s, too).
Josiah surprised me with some of the rides he wanted to go on, like The Rattler that he insisted on riding by himself. (And, yes, Grace wanted to ride this one, too, but she didn't collapse onto her stroller in tears like she did at the swings.)
I have nothing but good things to say about Wild Adventures. This wasn’t our first time going, so we already knew that you can come back the next day for free. (Plus, there are hotels that offer deals with Wild Adventure tickets if you stay there.) From the time you enter until the time you leave, the park employees are very friendly and they smiled and chatted with the kids. The lines weren't terribly long. They even had water fountains where you could get free water.
Imagine that.
After leaving Valdosta, we headed north again and stopped off at the dog show in Perry.
Josiah talked incessantly about what kind of dog he wanted. He started off with a detailed description of the size of the dog and the color and texture of the fur…as we were leaving the dog show he said, “I don’t care what kind of dog it is. I just want a dog.”
We also stopped at High Falls, where each of the kids fell at different times on the trails andJason Slade risked falling into the water.
Then Josiah had to try it, too, of course.
After we got back home, I asked the kids what their favorite parts of our vacation were.
Josiah said his favorite part was watching movies on the DVD player we bought for this trip. (How we survived this long without it, I’ll never know…)
Grace said her favorite part was “be-yun selly” in the closet at the hotel.
I reminded her about all of the fun rides at Wild Adventures, and told her my favorite part was riding all of those rides with her. She excitedly said, “Yes! Yes!” So I asked her again.
Her response didn’t change--being silly in the hotel closet was still her favorite part.
And Robert said he didn’t know.
Obviously, we could have just driven a ways, stopped in a hotel for a couple of nights, and the kids would have been perfectly happy.
And I would have been perfectly happy with all of the eating out, too.
Grace.
She started out riding this calm ride for toddlers.
 |
| Grace (3 years old) |
She giggled and laughed out loud, gleefully telling me, “Look, Mommy! I flying! Look at me!” over and over again as she went around in a circle on her flying elephant.
She joined Josiah and me on the Dizzy Dragons ride, and that was where I first caught a glimpse of the daredevil in her.
She's in my lap only for the picture. Not only would she have NOT wanted to sit in my lap, she would have ridden it by herself if she could have! She frequently asked to ride by herself on other rides.
She loved it. She immediately asked to ride it again, but Josiah was already running ahead to join
Jason Slade where he was waiting at the carousel, so we rode that next. She was a little disappointed that the “pank” horses were all taken, but she consoled herself with the small bit of “pank” on the horse she chose. Then she told me I could let go of her.
Um…yeah, right.
She loved every ride, including the (kiddie) roller coasters. She even shamed her oldest brother into
convinced Robert that he, too, could ride one of the roller coasters once (He’s not a fan of roller coasters). After the ride was over, they simultaneously said
convinced Robert that he, too, could ride one of the roller coasters once (He’s not a fan of roller coasters). After the ride was over, they simultaneously said
Grace: I wanna ride it ‘gin!
Robert: Can I get off now?
Grace’s favorite ride ended up being a Tilt-a-Whirl ride that she was barely tall enough to ride. You have to be 36 inches tall to ride; she’s 36 ½. The ride attendant chatted with her during her multiple trips through the line and made the mistake of referring to her as a “little girl.” She whirled around and told him, “I not little! I this big!” as she indignantly put her hand on the top of her head. We don't have any photographic proof of this ride, since I was riding with her each time and Jason Slade doesn't obsessively take pictures like I do. She rode it dozens of times, and by the last time she rode it, she was holding both hands up in the air…with a huge grin on her face, of course.
We are in so much trouble.
Another favorite ride that she was barely tall enough to ride was the huge “pank” slide that you slide down. She was absolutely unafraid to slide down by herself.
Josiah on the big pink slide. Isn't it huge?! That's another Josiah-sized child at the very top of the slide.
And she was absolutely devastated when she couldn’t ride on the big swings that Josiah rode on.
These big swings...
Josiah is the one nearly in the center of the picture. The boys loved the bumper cars--this was Robert’s favorite thing to do at the park (
Josiah surprised me with some of the rides he wanted to go on, like The Rattler that he insisted on riding by himself. (And, yes, Grace wanted to ride this one, too, but she didn't collapse onto her stroller in tears like she did at the swings.)
I have nothing but good things to say about Wild Adventures. This wasn’t our first time going, so we already knew that you can come back the next day for free. (Plus, there are hotels that offer deals with Wild Adventure tickets if you stay there.) From the time you enter until the time you leave, the park employees are very friendly and they smiled and chatted with the kids. The lines weren't terribly long. They even had water fountains where you could get free water.
Imagine that.
After leaving Valdosta, we headed north again and stopped off at the dog show in Perry.
Josiah talked incessantly about what kind of dog he wanted. He started off with a detailed description of the size of the dog and the color and texture of the fur…as we were leaving the dog show he said, “I don’t care what kind of dog it is. I just want a dog.”
We also stopped at High Falls, where each of the kids fell at different times on the trails and
Then Josiah had to try it, too, of course.
Throwing pine cones into the water.
After we got back home, I asked the kids what their favorite parts of our vacation were.
Josiah said his favorite part was watching movies on the DVD player we bought for this trip. (How we survived this long without it, I’ll never know…)
Grace said her favorite part was “be-yun selly” in the closet at the hotel.
I reminded her about all of the fun rides at Wild Adventures, and told her my favorite part was riding all of those rides with her. She excitedly said, “Yes! Yes!” So I asked her again.
Her response didn’t change--being silly in the hotel closet was still her favorite part.
And Robert said he didn’t know.
Obviously, we could have just driven a ways, stopped in a hotel for a couple of nights, and the kids would have been perfectly happy.
And I would have been perfectly happy with all of the eating out, too.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Not just a pretty face
Showing off her silly (or "selly") side, here is Grace goofing off during bath time.
All I told her was "make a silly face." And, boy, did she ever...
Here she is pretending to be a dog and you can see how she is "tongue-tied." Believe me, it has had absolutely no effect on her speech development. ;)
And this is my personal favorite:
All I told her was "make a silly face." And, boy, did she ever...
Here she is pretending to be a dog and you can see how she is "tongue-tied." Believe me, it has had absolutely no effect on her speech development. ;)
And this is my personal favorite:
Overheard
Grace no longer refers to President Obama as "Baka Mama." He is now "Baka Kamama." Well, she has the number of syllables right now...She is also aware that she is close but not getting it right, because she will say "Baka Kamama" and then ask, after a long pause, "What's his name?"
~~~~~
Me [reading from a book about animal sounds]: What does a rooster say?
Grace [with a big grin on her face]: Horton hears a Who! [laughs, covering her mouth] I just being silly, Mommy. It's really "cock-a-doodle-doo!"
And when Grace says "being silly," it usually comes out more like "be-yun selly."
~~~~~
~~~~~
Me [reading from a book about animal sounds]: What does a rooster say?
Grace [with a big grin on her face]: Horton hears a Who! [laughs, covering her mouth] I just being silly, Mommy. It's really "cock-a-doodle-doo!"
And when Grace says "being silly," it usually comes out more like "be-yun selly."
~~~~~
An actual conversation overheard in our kitchen last night…
Robert: If you eat all your eggs, you’ll turn into a true princess!
Grace: Really?!?
Robert [matter-of-factly]: That’s how I turned into a true princess.
Grace [filled with wonder]: You’re a true princess?!?
Robert [matter-of-factly]: Yes.
Grace [skeptical]: Where’s yur spinnin’ dress?
Robert [matter-of-factly]: It’s my shirt.
It worked...Grace finished eating her eggs!
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