Another fun day on the river

More Garner pictures....

We can't wait to go back again next year.

This picture was taken at a restuarant we ate at. You can see that Macie was very excited about having her picture taken with her sister.

Kaelin decided to wear her headband like Rambo rather than the way it was intended.

Kaelin and Trip swimming (in what little water there was)

Pawpaw, Todd, and Miss Macie

Daddy and Macie hanging out in the water. Macie loved the water, but got tired very quickly. (made for some great naps)

Trip trying to float down the little stream with his rock that he claimed to use as an anchor.

Finally, Trip Arrives at GSP

So, Trip finally arrived in Garner. This was a MUCH awaited... MUCH anticipated... arrival.

Kaelin and Trip

Kaelin and Trip holding minnows... (another piece of the scavenger hunt)

Kaelin and Trip at the dance

Trip taking advantage of the face painting.

Kaelin taking advantage of the face painting (again)

Scary Tigers!!!!

Mommy and her babies (I think Macie was ready to go to bed)

Macie (with sun kissed cheeks) was definitely ready to go to bed.

Seriously... I am ready for bed... get me off of the goat.

A Garner Night

Our nights in Garner were spent dancing... playing... and eating snow cones.

As well as getting our face painted (then washing it off about 30 minutes later) I just LOVE... LOVE... LOVE... this picture.

Macie hung out in her stroller, playing with her new toy (shoe). Luckily she can't walk yet, so the soles of her shoes are still perfectly clean (in an effort to try to justify why I am allowing my child to eat her shoe)

Kaelin and another little boy sat and ate snow cones together. She needs to quit trying to meet the little boys at the dance. I am not ready for that yet.

They had a couple of scooters to play on, so Kaelin took full advantage of them. It is much easier to ride with no shoes.

The Mayor Of Concan

Another part of the scavenger hunt in Garner involved finding the "Mayor of Concan" and having your picture made with him.

We searched all over for the Mayor and finally found him hanging out in this cage. (He was a rattle snake that ate mice for dinner... GROSS).

God Logic

Kaelin is very interested in talking about God, reading Bible stories, going to Sunday school, etc. I could not be more proud. She has a deep love for God, her family, friends, and I am pretty sure she has a deep love for strangers.

Last night, she was asking me what I loved most about God.
I responded "that he loves us no matter what."
She says "Yes, I like that too."

We continue this conversation for a little while longer, then she says "Did you know that you can tell God when someone is bothering you?"
I responded "Yes, I did know that and I really like that."
Kaelin says "When I am at school, I can tell God when someone is bothering me and then God goes and tells the teacher to move their clip to yellow or red."
I responded "I am not sure that is the exact way it works, but I am sure you are close."

I was about to roll on the bathroom floor, I was laughing so hard.

In kindergarten, they have a yard stick that has 3 or 4 colors on it. Then there are clothes pins with each childs name on them. You start off on green and then if you get in trouble, your clip can be moved all the way down to red.

Bat Bats Everywhere

Seriously... who pays to go see (and smell) a colony of bats...

We do...

Kaelin was performing a little song and dance on the rocks. She is quite the entertainer.

Millions of bats just swooping over our heads...

The kids were mesmerized with all of the bats.

Macie could have cared less about the bats. She eventually fell asleep in the stroller (probably due to immense boredom)

The kids loved it. We gave them a choice between going to see the bats or going on a hay ride. They wanted to do both, but eventually settled on the hay ride. We went to book the trip and it was full... so we ended up at the bats.

GSP with Friends

The most exciting part of Garner was the fact that we had friends their. We have vacationed with some of our friends for years. The kids have so much MORE fun with their friends than they would with just their boring, old parents.

Eating snowcones with friends.... Now, how fun does this look. Kaelin was on vacation with 4 of her friends.

Bryson, Zach, Kaelin, Hailey, Addison

So, why in the world would we have the kids pose for a picture with the lady that works at the gift shop... it was a requirement for a scavenger hunt the kids were on. They had so much fun with it.

Good Morning GSP

During the summer, we took a little family trip to Garner State Park. We had an absolute blast. The girls and I went down there about 3 days before Todd could come. Going to Garner was always a summer ritual when I was growing up. I am really looking forward to carrying on that tradition with my babies.

Good Morning Garner... This was our first morning. We were staying in a cabin that looks like it was decorated by Carol Brady. It was too funny. Every thing was a little retro.

Macie says Good Morning Garner. (yes she wakes up with bed head EVERY morning)

Finally...

After many... many... many... years of hard work, Mamaw finally decided to retire. She is one of the hardest workers I know.

Papa... don't drive her too crazy

Friends

The time has come...

Kaelin has reached the age where she thinks she needs to have a friend come over all the time. If we go ANYWHERE... she thinks a friend MUST come along.

I think this stage definitely requires me getting a bigger vehicle.

This is her friend Kara.

Crawling...

Macie has been able to crawl since about the first of August. In fact, once she figured it out, there is no stopping her.

She doesn't just crawl, she crawls for a purpose.

Sometimes that purpose is to get to the dog food bowl in order to have a little snack.

Sometimes the purpose involves getting to her sister's homework. I am dreading the day that I have to write a note to Kaelin's teacher that says "sorry, Kaelin's sister ate her homework". This is NOT far fetched.

Sometimes she crawls to the stairs, and yes, she has attempted to crawl up them.

She is now trying to walk, she goes from one piece of furniture to the next- at an extremely high rate of speed.

Dragon Tail

This is a funny story that should definitely be used at Kaelin's wedding or at some other formal event.

Kaelin is my extremely funny child. She has a very dry sense of humor that I can completely relate to.

The other night, Kaelin was taking a bath. Once she finishes her bath, she likes to go into my closet to get dressed, she claims it is much warmer in there.

So, she was in the closet, then came running out (still no clothes on). She says "I have to go to the bathroom before I can get dressed."

So, she goes to the bathroom. I am brushing my teeth and beginning to get ready for bed.

In the meantime, Kaelin finishes going to the bathroom and I look over at her. She has taken about a 3 foot section of toilet paper, stuck it between her butt cheeks and is in the process of dancing around the bathroom (with her tail flying behind her). She is singing "I am a dragon, look at my dragon tail, I am a dragon, watch me wiggle my dragon tail...."

I thought I was going to choke on toothpaste from trying to not bust out laughing. I don't know where she got this from. I can ASSURE you that neither Todd nor I dance around the bathroom with a stream of toilet paper behind us while we are singing about being a dragon.

Bad Hair Day

Macie has "wild chicken" hair. We have nicknamed her Rooster because everytime we take a bow or rubber band out of her hair, she looks like she has a big rooster tail on the top of her head.

Macie has tons of hair. Kaelin was a little baldy at this age, so I struggle with what to do with this massive head of hair she has. Macie definitely has my hair. When she gets older, she will be able to put it in a pony tail and make horses jealous with how thick her tail is compared to theirs.

Along with her thick hair, her eyes have remained a deep blue. They are not really showing any signs of changing.

Happy 9 Month Birthday Macie

Don't think you are losing your mind or need a calculator to do the math. Yes... Macie is already 10 months old, but in an effort to get caught back up, I am having to back track.

It is hard to not say what she is doing at 10 months and really think back to 9 months.

I VOW TO STAY CAUGHT UP FROM THIS DAY FORWARD.... (have I said that before:)

At 9 months, Macie learned to crawl.

She is into finding little objects on the floor and putting them in her mouth (especially dog food)

She is wearing size 9 months and 12 months

She wears a size 2 shoe

She loves fruit and oatmeal, but not so crazy about vegetables

This picture is fuzzy, but it makes me laugh because it is taking two people to hold her arms away from the cupcakes (or the fire).

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. We love you so much.

Never Forget...

The news is filled with reminders of what we as a nation endured 10 years ago. Even though I have no personal ties, other than being an American, with those that lost their lives or loved ones, it still brought back very real memories and emotions.

10 years ago...

I had been married less than a year

was 5 years away from my first baby girl

I had been working as a teacher a little more than a year

we had just bought our first house in August

we still had our beloved pal, Bailey, and Cassie was just a puppy (no Moe or Britni)

It is amazing to look back and see what we have accomplished in a short 10 years.

This morning, Kaelin, Macie and I were getting ready for church. I turned the TV on in the kitchen so we could watch the news while we were eating breakfast. I did not notice what was on when I first turned it on, but I quickly heard those horrifying recollections of 9/11. Kaelin was glued to the TV. I quickly went over to change the channel. I offered to put it on cartoons.

She said "No mom, don't change it, I am watching this. A plane just crashed into that beautiful building."

Not exactly sure where to go with this conversation, I said "That is not happening now, that happened 10 years ago, before you were born. "

She said "What happened to the building?"

I said "Some very bad people flew their plane into the building."

She said "Well that was rude, wasn't it?"

I said "Yes it was"

I began thinking about her innocence and compassion for others. She was right, that was rude, we should never fly our planes into buildings.

She continued watching the documentary.

Then she said "Mom, do you think we should say a prayer for those people tonight?"

With tears in my eyes, I said "Absolutely, we definitely should."

I really think that is a summary of where we were 10 years ago and where we are now. I have a sweet 5 year old who has such a love for people and realizes the fact that we need to pray for people in their time of need. We could all use more love and more pray.

If you want to know where I was 10 years ago...

I was sitting in a classroom full of students. One of my students came in and said something is going on in New York. I think something happened to the World Trade Center. I dismissed the conversation thinking it was probably not a big deal. Then someone else came into my classroom and confirmed the fact that it is probably more of a big deal than I was initially thinking. So, I had a TV in my classroom, and I turned it on. It was not hard to find a station that was covering the story. I began watching the news unfold with a classroom full of high school students. We were watching as the second plane hit the second tower. We were watching as they both collapsed. Glued to the TV, we did nothing but watch in horror. I remember students calling their parents to give them a release from school. Everyone felt as though their safety and security was in jeopardy. I can't tell you what we were suppose to be doing or what we did the next day, but that day... that moment... will forever be etched into my memory.