Best Weekend Ever!!!

Whenever Railey is having a good time, she screams "BEST DAY EVER" at the top of her lungs. This past weekend was a "best day ever" moment for all of us. Friday morning I loaded up the girls to fly to Ft. Lauderdale. Not sure what I was thinking after my last flying experience but since Daddy was going to be at the Chili cookoff AND we wanted to visit Uncle David, Aunt Amanda, Ella and Claire, I decided it was well worth any motion sickness or embarrassment that I might incur by flying again with kids. After a fairly uneventful flight, Uncle David picked us up from the airport and took us to their new house. From there, it was non-stop action. We went to Poppy #2's (Ella and Claire's grandfather) house. After some breakfast we headed to the pool for some swimming. Railey, Claire and Ella jumped right in while little Maysie decided to watch from the side...

It turns out little Claire is a wild child daredevil like her cousin Railey. She wanted nothing to do with being held in the pool. So Amanda decided to let her put her head under the water.

Poppy and David both took turns with Claire...helping her swim across the pool. My prediction is that she will be swimming by the end of this summer. At 2 1/2 years old!

After a long swim in the pool, the girls decided to play a game of shuffleboard. I really think this might be Maysie's calling. Do they have shuffleboard scholarships????

And after shuffleboard the girls wanted to ride the elevator for a bit. It's the little things.

On Saturday my cousins Heath, Suzanne and Connor made the trek to Lauderdale by the Sea to have a barbeque. Definitely one of my favorite moments was watching Connor and Railey duke it out over who was "alpha." I am really not sure who won but they definitely enjoyed each and every minute of it. There were TONS of hugs and kisses and at dinner Railey even asked if she could marry him. Ummmmm...no.

Claire and Maysie just ate and looked cute the entire night

"The furrowed brow"

It was an amazing night....all of the kids loved playing with each other and Ella loved meeting her new "cousin" Connor.

These are the best group shots I could get. Let's just say that someone whose name starts with an R wasn't being very cooperative

BUT...I did manage to get some cute shots of the other kids

The next morning we went to the park to meet up with Darby and her three kids. It has been way too long and it was so great to see her. Great news is that Railey decided to be a bit more cooperative with the camera...the bad news is that someone else got the memo not to smile.

Railey junior...bruise on the forehead to empasize that point

I love this picture...little Taylor is looking at Maysie like she is crazy. I bet Darby can pull out a picture of her looking at me just like this.

Finally was able to get a picture of Mollie smiling. If you look closely you will see she and Railey in the tube

Riley has gotten SO BIG and ran around the playground so fast I barely got a picture of him

After the playground, we quickly ran home to drop off the little ones with a babysitter then headed to the Chili Cook Off to see ZBB play and get some time with Paul. Since the crowd was a little rowdy, Paul set us up on stage to watch the show. So the kids put on their headphones and we headed onstage to take our seats.

I have no idea how many people were there....but it was definitely enough to fill Doak Campbell Stadium. The second Railey got on the stage, she was convinced they were all there to see her perform. She danced like crazy for the first 5 songs and then she calmed down a bit and sat down to enjoy the show. When she realized that she was letting down her fans, she started dancing again. At one point in the show in between songs, I looked up to see her waving to the audience and wouldn't you know it, some people waved back. Then, she blew them kisses. Thank god I was able to catch some of this on camera....note the seriousness in her face.

The girls had a blast and we did too!

One more big hug before bedtime.

BEST WEEKEND EVER!

Bunny Love

While running our afternoon errands, Railey and I met the cutest bunny I have EVER seen. Am I crazy to consider this for an Easter present???!!!???

Don't Carpe Diem

I ran across this article today and just loved it. It is a bit long, but well worth the read.... Every time I'm out with my kids -- this seems to happen: An older woman stops us, puts her hand over her heart and says something like, "Oh, Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast." Everywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, raise my awareness, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc. I know that this message is right and good. But, I have finally allowed myself to admit that it just doesn't work for me. It bugs me. This CARPE DIEM message makes me paranoid and panicky. Especially during this phase of my life - while I'm raising young kids. Being told, in a million different ways to CARPE DIEM makes me worry that if I'm not in a constant state of intense gratitude and ecstasy, I'm doing something wrong. I think parenting young children (and old ones, I've heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they've heard there's magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it's hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up. And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers -- "ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T!" TRUST US!! IT'LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!" -- those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain. Now. I'm not suggesting that the sweet old ladies who tell me to ENJOY MYSELF be thrown from a mountain. These are wonderful ladies. Monkees, probably. But last week, a woman approached me in the Target line and said the following: "Sugar, I hope you are enjoying this. I loved every single second of parenting my two girls. Every single moment. These days go by so fast." At that particular moment, Amma had arranged one of the new bras I was buying on top of her sweater and was sucking a lollipop that she must have found on the ground. She also had three shop-lifted clip-on neon feathers stuck in her hair. She looked exactly like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. I couldn't find Chase anywhere, and Tish was grabbing the pen on the credit card swiper thing WHILE the woman in front of me was trying to use it. And so I just looked at the woman, smiled and said, "Thank you. Yes. Me too. I am enjoying every single moment. Especially this one. Yes. Thank you." That's not exactly what I wanted to say, though. There was a famous writer who, when asked if he loved writing, replied, "No. but I love having written." What I wanted to say to this sweet woman was, "Are you sure? Are you sure you don't mean you love having parented?" I love having written. And I love having parented. My favorite part of each day is when the kids are put to sleep (to bed) and Craig and I sink into the couch to watch some quality TV, like Celebrity Wife Swap, and congratulate each other on a job well done. Or a job done, at least. Every time I write a post like this, I get emails suggesting that I'm being negative. I have received this particular message four or five times -- G, if you can't handle the three you have, why do you want a fourth? That one always stings, and I don't think it's quite fair. Parenting is hard. Just like lots of important jobs are hard. Why is it that the second a mother admits that it's hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she's not doing it right? Or that she certainly shouldn't add more to her load. Maybe the fact that it's so hard means she IS doing it right...in her own way...and she happens to be honest. Craig is a software salesman. It's a hard job in this economy. And he comes home each day and talks a little bit about how hard it is. And I don't ever feel the need to suggest that he's not doing it right, or that he's negative for noticing that it's hard, or that maybe he shouldn't even consider taking on more responsibility. And I doubt anybody comes by his office to make sure he's ENJOYING HIMSELF. I doubt his boss peeks in his office and says: "This career stuff...it goes by so fast...ARE YOU ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT IN THERE, CRAIG???? CARPE DIEM, CRAIG!" My point is this. I used to worry that not only was I failing to do a good enough job at parenting, but that I wasn't enjoying it enough. Double failure. I felt guilty because I wasn't in parental ecstasy every hour of every day and I wasn't MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT like the mamas in the parenting magazines seemed to be doing. I felt guilty because honestly, I was tired and cranky and ready for the day to be over quite often. And because I knew that one day, I'd wake up and the kids would be gone, and I'd be the old lady in the grocery store with my hand over my heart. Would I be able to say I enjoyed every moment? No. But the fact remains that I will be that nostalgic lady. I just hope to be one with a clear memory. And here's what I hope to say to the younger mama gritting her teeth in line: "It's helluva hard, isn't it? You're a good mom, I can tell. And I like your kids, especially that one peeing in the corner. She's my favorite. Carry on, warrior. Six hours till bedtime." And hopefully, every once in a while, I'll add -- "Let me pick up that grocery bill for ya, sister. Go put those kids in the van and pull on up -- I'll have them bring your groceries out." Anyway. Clearly, Carpe Diem doesn't work for me. I can't even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question. Here's what does work for me: There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It's regular time, it's one minute at a time, it's staring down the clock till bedtime time, it's ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it's four screaming minutes in time out time, it's two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in. Then there's Kairos time. Kairos is God's time. It's time outside of time. It's metaphysical time. It's those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day. And I cherish them. Like when I actually stop what I'm doing and really look at Tish. I notice how perfectly smooth and brownish her skin is. I notice the perfect curves of her teeny elf mouth and her asianish brown eyes, and I breathe in her soft Tishy smell. In these moments, I see that her mouth is moving but I can't hear her because all I can think is -- This is the first time I've really seen Tish all day, and my God -- she is so beautiful. Kairos. Like when I'm stuck in chronos time in the grocery line and I'm haggard and annoyed and angry at the slow check-out clerk. And then I look at my cart and I'm transported out of chronos. And suddenly I notice the piles and piles of healthy food I'll feed my children to grow their bodies and minds and I remember that most of the world's mamas would kill for this opportunity. This chance to stand in a grocery line with enough money to pay. And I just stare at my cart. At the abundance. The bounty. Thank you, God. Kairos. Or when I curl up in my cozy bed with Theo asleep at my feet and Craig asleep by my side and I listen to them both breathing. And for a moment, I think- how did a girl like me get so lucky? To go to bed each night surrounded by this breath, this love, this peace, this warmth? Kairos. These kairos moments leave as fast as they come- but I mark them. I say the word kairos in my head each time I leave chronos. And at the end of the day, I don't remember exactly what my kairos moments were, but I remember I had them. And that makes the pain of the daily parenting climb worth it. If I had a couple Kairos moments during the day, I call it a success. Carpe a couple of Kairoses a day. Good enough for me.

Fernbank Museum

How did I not discover Fernbank when we were living in Atlanta?!? Stacey, Jen and I loaded up the kids and took the drive into "the city" for Fernbank's princess and pirate day! I love my little Railey, equally excited about being dressed up as a princess and the dinosaurs we saw! There were arts and crafts

And of course we had to pose in front of the T-Rex

Maysie and Joseph were angel babies...sitting in their strollers most of the time taking it all in

And the big kids even got to pose for some silly pictures

Once we made it to the playroom, Maysie got out and ran around...what a happy girl!