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When the girls were younger, they weren’t big on driving around town with the windows down. They’d always complain about their hair blowing in their faces. Who was I to tell them that was part of the fun? Lately, though, they’ve embraced the idea. The weather has been so gorgeous lately, it’s been prime time for cruising around, windows down, and a good song blaring on the radio. Last night, as we drove home from church, we had the windows down, listening to some good old country. Cadie piped up from the backseat and said, “Mom, play something rockin’!” Ok? That’s another thing I love about our girls; their taste in music is wonderfully eclectic. So, I switched over to Start 103.3 and was delighted to hear the first few notes of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Perfect. Jeff and I chimed in immediately, singing at the top our lungs, flinging our hands around in time to the music, accentuating specific beats in the music or lyrics when we knew they were coming. Before we knew it, we were all giggling and grinning from ear to ear. The girls joined in when they could (that is, when they could stop laughing). It was one of those moments in life when your inner sap comes out and thinks, “Could life really get any better than this?” It was so simple and wonderful. And, to our delight, we were just getting started because up next was “Dude Looks Like a Lady” by Aerosmith. Let the good times roll!
A few months ago, Keke and Lolo bought a camping trailer (I don’t know the official name of those things) and ever since, the girls have been itching to play in it. The first time the girls told me about it was after they’d spent the night at their house, and they insisted it was a “play house”. A few weeks later, who’d have thought it would be warm enough to actually go to the lake and “camp out” in it?
Keke and Lolo have rented a lot at Lake Keystone to keep the camper and their boat, so it was just a matter of packing up our stuff Saturday and heading out. I didn’t bother packing our swimsuits as I was convinced the water couldn’t possibly be warm enough to swim in. I just envisioned us zipping around the lake in the boat a few times and enjoying a camp fire. When we got there, we were all anxious to get on the lake, so we left Poppy in the trailer and headed out. It was a gorgeous day, to say the least. The water was pretty calm and the lake wasn’t very busy, so it was pretty much fantastic.
We zoomed around for a while, then rested at a sandy beach shore we visited last fall. That’s one of the really great things about Keystone, there’s beach area for the kids to play. We all jumped out, and to my surprise, the water wasn’t arctic. Oops. The girls played around in their clothes for a while, then eventually stripped down to their shirts and panties. I feel like there has to be a “You must be a redneck…” joke in their somewhere. If you go to the lake and let your kids swim in their underwear…Oh well. They had fun anyway. They helped Jeff and Keke build some sandcastles. Keke even tried his hand a sand volcano –which the girls promptly destroyed—and some sand art as declaration of his love for Lolo. We got to laugh at a few actual rednecks early on when one of them crashed his dirt bike trying to ride over a big pile of sand and beach drift wood. He was a smart one.
After tossing the Frisbee for a bit, wading and swimming in the water, and even some beach racing, we headed back out for a few laps around the lake, then headed back in. Lolo fixed us up a yummy supper, then we hung out on the porch and visited. We capped the night off with a camp fire and some S’more’s then settled in for the night. The camping trailer is surprisingly spacious; we all slept like babies. The next morning we loaded up and headed home, tan lines a little deeper and a little sand in our nooks and crannies.
Now, we’re looking forward to a summer of lake visits ahead of us and hoping Keke and Lolo let us come back to visit their “playhouse”.
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There are plenty of milestones during childhood, and I happen to think having your first sleepover is a big one. Now, I don’t mean staying the night at a grandparent or aunt’s house. I’m talking about having a friend sleepover for the first time. I don’t know if I was still relishing the high of being home with Jeff and the girls all week, but I decided on Friday that it would be a fun idea to invite the girls’ friend, Grace, to go to church with us Saturday evening then stay the night. Believe me, my lapse of sanity had nothing to do with worries about Grace behaving herself; she’s an awesome kid and we heart her family. My “I don’t know what I was thinking” attitude has more to do with the fact that I’ve been doing my best to keepthe girls from growing up and encouraging a sleepover is the opposite! Oh well. They were thrilled, all three of them, so there was no turning back at that point. And, despite my mom anxiety, I knew we’d all have a lot of fun.
After church, we cruised through the Taco Bueno drive thru for a healthy, home-cooked meal, then headed home. We’d rented a few movies, including “The Muppets”, so after setting up the tent in the living room (EVERY sleepover, especially the very first sleepover, needs a tent after all), we settled in to watch.
About an hour in it was clear the kids were getting restless and tired, so Grace called her mom and dad for goodnight wishes and prayers, then we settled down to go to sleep. Cadie was out quick, just like she always is, but Grace and Maddie were fighting it. I left the room for a bit to get ready for bed, then came back to find Maddie had succumbed to sleep as well. Grace, on the other hand, was still flopping around and appeared to be having trouble getting comfortable. I sat down next to her and told her she needed to go to sleep because it was late, and the tears started to well up in her eyes. Oh no! I thought we were in the clear from tears and meltdowns (although I fully expected them). She softly cried that she wanted her mommy and daddy, so I phased into full on mommy mode and reassured her, rubbing her back and playing with her hair. She was out within a minute. I think she just needed some reassurance. Phew. Crisis averted!
The next morning we had waffles and goop, finishing up watching “The Muppets” while we ate. The girls took turns running in and out of the room, hauling different toys around and playing all kinds of make believe. They all three did awesome playing together, no major arguments to speak of. Double phew.
All in all, their first sleepover was a resounding success. I expected it would be, and now I must accept that my babies are another step closer to being babies no more.
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To say we’ve gotten some rain these past couple of days would be a ridiculous understatement. Seriously. It’s like the second coming of Noah’s ark around here. Most people would “boo hoo” when monsoon season coincides with Spring Break, but not me. Torrential rain means extra time with my three favorite people seeing as how it’s not advisable to trench, build retaining walls, or landscape in relentless downpours. Yep. Jeff’s been home all week, and that couldn’t make me happier. We’ve played games, watched movies, made cinnamon rolls, read books, and I’m not going to lie, there’s been lots of snuggling. Lots and lots. In a word, it’s been heaven.
One of the highlights of the week so far has been a date with one of our favorite families, the Harris’s. We decided to make a day of it, so they came over early afternoon, all four of them: my Jenny Penny, Robby Rob, Action Jackson, and Miss Morgan. We’d been trying to get together for ages, but usually they’re too cool for us, so we were long overdue.
Earlier in the day, Jeff had taken the girls out to check on the garden, and they discovered how much fun it is to walk through mud. The girls are such a bundle of contradictions these days. They love being “fancy” as they say, wearing dresses, high heels, and lip gloss, but the minute they see mud or dirt, they’re in it. I love it. It’s the best of both worlds. So, what better way to mark our finally getting together than allowing the three big kids to run, jump, and play in an enormous blob of mud? That’s just how we roll.
The result was priceless. Seriously. The kids were running around, giant smiles plastered on their faces, giggling and shrieking with excitement, and each – in turn – yelling, “This is the best day ever!” It was so fun to watch and made my little mommy heart just sing. Now, I say in response, “Best Spring Break Ever!”
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Last fall, in the middle of all the chaos of a new school year (and new job), Maddie decided she just had to have her ears pierced. The girls had been talking about it for ages, but never really got up the nerve to actually go do it. Well, she finally had it in her head that she was ready, so we loaded up and headed to the mall. Cadie claimed she would be piercing her ears as well, but she said so with very little conviction, so I was prepared for her to change her mind. Quickly.
When we walked into “The Icing”, I was disappointed there was only one girl working. Only one girl meant the piercings would have to be one at a time instead of all at once. Maddie’s tough, though, so I figured she could handle it. When I got my ears pierced for the first time, the results were, shall we say, a little traumatizing. The experience was just another reminder as to how sensitive my skin truly is. Apparently, my dainty ears require 14K gold because the regular, every day earrings just weren’t cutting it. An infection, one ridiculously swollen earlobe, a ton of puss, and one trip to the emergency room later and I was done with earrings until I had my ears re-pierced at the ripe old age of 22. Let’s just say the whole experience left a scar. Not wanting Maddie to suffer through the same thing (because her skin is even more sensitive than mine), we went straight for the expensive earrings when the girl pulled out our options. Maddie chose some pink flower earrings that are pretty darn cute. I could tell she was getting pretty nervous, so I tried to talk her through it. I’m not one to lie to my kids if they ask me if something is going to hurt, so when she asked, I told her would hurt, but only for a few seconds, then it would feel better pretty quickly. She looked scared, but still wanted to push on, so the girl sterilized her ears, marked the spots she’d be piercing with a purple marker, and got the earrings ready. Once she started putting the earrings in the piercing instrument, I knew we were past the point of no return. We were going to be leaving with a pair of pink flower earrings whether they were in Maddie’s ears or in a fancy plastic baggie. I was hoping for the ears.
Maddie climbed up into the seat on my lap, held on to Sharkie for dear life with one hand and clamped down on my hand with the other. Here goes nothing. Tears were already flowing long before the first ear was pierced, and she howled and sobbed after the first one was done. There was a lot of “I don’t want to do the other one!” and “Ow! Mommy it hurts!” It broke my heart, but I had to remind myself that she asked for it, and I sure as heck wasn’t letting her walk out of there with only one ear pierced. So we calmed her down enough to get earring number two in position and went for it. Surprisingly, her response to the second one wasn’t nearly as bad. I don’t think the pain was what got to her; she’s pretty tough. I think it was the buildup of anticipation and fear that did her in. She was pretty darn brave in the end, though, and her ears ended up looking so cute. A little too grown-up for my tastes, but cute nevertheless.
We turned to Cadie to gauge if this was going to be a twofer or not. Definitely not. She was tearing up just watching Maddie and mumbling to herself, trying to reconcile what she really wanted to do with her growing anxiety and fears. There was a lot of “I want to do it! But I don’t want to do it!” We tried not to laugh, but it was really sweet. We assured her that we weren’t going to force her to do anything, so we left the mall that day one down, one to go.
Fast forward seven months, and Cadie is ready. I mean she’s READY. Out of the blue, she’s constantly talking about getting her ears pierced. Wanting to take advantage of her persistence and enthusiasm, we once again loaded up and headed to “The Icing”. The piercing gods were shining down on us yesterday as there were two girls working. Phew. This would be much easier. I expected the same scenario as Maddie’s piercing experience, tears, excitement, nervousness, and fear. As usual, Cadie surprised me and reminded me to expect the unexpected. She was calm, cool, and collected. As with anything else, she’d waited until she was ready to do it, and now she was going to do it. Simple as that. She climbed up in the chair, held my hands, and looked straight in my eyes. The girls loaded up the piercing guns with the pretty little blue earrings, also from the expensive “sensitive skin” category, and prepped her ears. She took a deep breath, they squeezed the triggers, and the tiniest little “Oh!” escaped Cadie’s lips. That was it. No tears, not even the slightest drop. Just a little intake of surprise and we were done. That a girl. I was so proud, but am now as equally disturbed by how grown-up she looks as I had been when her sister pierced her ears just a few months before. Lord help me.
Maddie Before
Maddie After
Cadie Before
Cadie After
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