Yesterday...

We added some red ornaments to our tree.

We bought elf hats with jingle bells on them.

We spinkled a whole bag of tinsle to add some sparkle.

We made a secret surprise for Cecily and Silas hidden in the branches.

One of us got a special gift from a special friend.

We decorated gingerbread houses and ate too many chocolate pretzles and played chubby bunny and created good memories.

Today we rested and played too many video games. But yesterday was good.

Waiting With Pie

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at my Granny and Papaw's house. That is the tradition for us. At least every other year or so. As we sat eating the traditional foods and a lovely coconut cream pie I couldn't help but think of a Thanksgiving day exactly eight years before. I could almost conjure up a memory of sitting around eating,visiting,playing games. I hadn't had any pie eight years previous. I had missed this particular Thanksgiving and it was a doozy. Family from all sides gathered. Family that hadn't been together since our wedding day and hasn't been since. I missed it because I was at home giving birth to our Cecily.


I tried to imagine how they must have all been lounging here and there visiting. My Granny's house acting as a hospital waiting room. A hospital waiting room with pie. Papers were passed around to write down guesses of the new baby's specs. Talk of if this would be a boy or a girl was rampant I'm sure. Pins and needles each time the phone would ring.

I remember calling soon after Cecily was safely delivered and we were all cleaned up and cozy. Shiloh and I with our heads together listening as someone picked up.

'Hello?' It was Mom I think. Or maybe Dad. They put us on speaker and grinning we announced 'We have a girl!' There were lots of questions.

What does she look like?

How much did she weigh?

What is her name?

Cecily. Cecily Gracin.

She was the happiest little baby. Today we celebrate her eighth birthday. I can't believe how big she is already. She hasn't lost her smile and if you know her you know she has a belly laugh that is infectious. She finds joy in simple things. Well, simple things and cartoon violence. The short film by Pixar with the magician killed her. She laughed the entire length of that short little cartoon. Seeing her cackle at the big screen gave me a stitch in my side and tears in my eyes. I will never forget watching her watch that for the first time. She makes me laugh in other ways too. I thought today to honor her I would share a few things she has said to me that I have written in a book I call Today You Made Me Smile. The kids love hearing 'funny stories of when they were little' and I would love to share with you too.


1-Upon putting on warm clothes fresh from the dryer she exclaimed

"Man these clothes are sweaty!"


2-June 3,2009

After being told to buckle back into her car seat while waiting on our free root beer floats at Sonic because she didn't stay in the back of the van like she was told...

"Mommy,compassion means giving people a second chance!"


3-August 19,2009

After coming in filthy from the backyard where she had been playing she declared,

"I know,I look like an orphan."

4-September 11, 2009

While at a park,

"Mommy can I ask you a question?

"Hmmm?"

"What does a person do if they lose a tooth in jail?"

"They probably throw it away. I doubt they keep it like you do"

Now she is hanging from a bar swinging "Huh. Well, how do they go potty?"

"They have toilets"

She jumps off

"Oh, I put Clara in a little cell"

giggle

"Is she gonna be able to get out?"

shrug "nope" giggle

She runs off.

5-September 13, 2009

Upon entering the bathroom at Cheddars,

"It smells difficult in here"




There was no pie and we skipped the cake. She wanted only ice cream.

I love my Cecily and I would skip pie everyday if it meant having her.

It's Unanimous

Of those who left a comment for a title for this photo




they agreed Silas as a baby in this suit looks Bondish. James Bondish. Thanks for playing! That was fun.

Name This Photo

I wanted to post a baby photo of Silas since his fourth birthday is fast approaching. I found this one by Abbie but didn't have any idea what to title it. I think it needs a title though so help me out. Leave a comment and let's name this photo.

Camping

Labor day weekend we took advantage of the extra day and made our way up to Arkansas to have some family time. We wanted to see if camping is our thing. We found a great spot close to the river and the bathrooms. We had neighbors on either side who were so sweet and helpful. They told us of places to explore and loaned us lanterns when they saw us sitting out in the dark.

We had a wonderful adventure swimming and hunting for gems,zinc and tumbled glass among the rocks



some of them were much too big to bring home



we hiked and picnicked in the 'air conditioning' of this old zinc mine




we cooked smores and chai tea



we fished a little and soaked up lots of vitamin D



we wore Camille here



there



and everywhere



we found this skull rock



and even spotted a mama and her baby deer.



It was quiet and peaceful and the kids were in there element enjoying so much nature.



As it turns out camping suits us quite well. So much so that we decided to go again last weekend. But that's a whole 'nother post.

Self Portrait

ONE

As promised here is some more on Camille's recent first birthday party. I can't believe a whole year has passed. She had a pink,yellow and orange lemon themed party.


For the first time Daddy helped open presents.



She had one fancy cake to share



and a small cake for her very own.



Doesn't she look like she is trying to blow out the candle?



What a messy face. She sat eating fistfuls of cake for quite a while. I took it away before she made herself sick.






She had a sweet guest of honor. They both had huge flowers on their heads and rhyming nicknames. Millie and Lili. Miss L wore the perfect dress if you look closely you will see why.






All grown up but not quite walking. Happy Birthday Camille!

Sweet and Sour

Sometimes life hands you lemons whether you want them...



or not




and maybe you aren't quite sure what to do with them




and sometimes when it rains it pours but




just give them a try you might like them




or maybe they are too sour for your taste so





you might want to try making some lemonade






and that's pretty sweet!

We Are Country At Heart

Sometimes when I look outside and see Silas playing in his white polo shirt I wonder what in the world we are doing in the city. Deep down we are fresh air breathin',chicken raisin',g droppin',small town lovin',country folk. And I am reminded of that every single time I clean the feathers off our rug.

Weekly Remnants

8/6/11 Saturday

Today Silas had whatever Camille and I had and couldn't hold anything down. He got to sleep on the couch and watch pink panther until he fell asleep.

I took pictures of about a thousand things and posted them for sale on craigslist.org.

*Online shopping is fun*


8/7/11 Sunday

Shiloh made shelves in Silas' room today. For books and toys. They are great!

I think Silas' swimming incident paid off. He has become quite a little fish. I have never had a 3 year old swimmer but he is swimming like a fish and a shrimp. He made up the shrimp swim. It's easy you just put out your pointer fingers while swimming underwater and open and close them. Like a shrimp,ya know. He swam a lot and had a late night last night so in the middle of the day he asked for a shower and fell asleep. In the shower. On his stomach. But he assured me he was only resting his eyes. So cute.

I ran 5 miles with Abbie this morning (there were dorks strewn all over the path *giggle*)and was pretty useless the rest of the day. We planted water bottles along our run so we could stop and get drinks and someone took my water bottle! It was new. I got it for my birthday. Wah. It was a fun run regardless. It takes me until about mile 3 and then I can finally stop waiting for the run to end and just run. I get faster and it doesn't feel like so much work. Boy I can't wait to see what happens at the end of mile 6. (Sarcasm) I do like it though. That's why I keep going back for more. That and I have a desire to be a different sort of shape than round.

I sold a car seat and delivered it.

I just heard a mouse playing with one of Camille's new ball toys. Tomorrow I hope I blog "Got traps today" er if it wasn't a mouse,then I think we have a ghost.

Can't wait to go to a photography workshop with Abbie and Mckmama. So I can learn to do this




and this




8/8/11 Monday

Pretty basic day around here. Sold some stuff @diaperswappers. Post office tomorrow. Whoever thought one could be excited about swapping used diapers. It gets weird being a mom. Things like that can excite. :)

We couldn't find the chickens last night to put them away and this morning our favorite one,big mama was gone. She was a good chicken. Our tiny rooster is missing all his tail feathers. I guess he was trying to protect Big Mama. We used to call him Valentine but I think now we will call him Valiant.

8/9/11 Tuesday

Watched Kung Fu Panda with the kids today. It inspires Cecily to really work on her forms out in the yard. And practice with her stick homemade bow staff.

8/10/11 Wednesday

Wasn't feeling very good today. I just kind of "managed" until Shiloh got home. He came home with a goat... He found it at the shop wandering around. I'm not sure how to go about finding the owner. He said he just thought the kids would always remember the day their dad brought home a goat. :) I think they will.

Silas has been complaining of his ear hurting so I took him to the clinic today and they told me he has an ear infection and some swimmers ear. We got drops and our first ever antibiotic. Hoping that it won't be a trend. I heard the algae in the pool can cause swimmers ear and maybe that led to the infection?


8/11/11 Thursday

Cooked sweet and sour meatballs and took them to Granny and Pawpaw's today. The kids actually got to play outside! The clouds rolled in and there was a slow steady rain for a bit cooling it off just enough. I can't wait till the fall.

8/12/11 Friday

My mom came in last night to help celebrate my Granny's birthday today. She brought my adorable nephews with her. I love them. They came over and kept my kids entertained. We all went to eat at Golden Corral.

8/13/11 Saturday

My mom spent the night with us tonight and we all watched Enchanted. We fed the kids fruit and popcorn with m and m's for dinner. After they settled in for the night we watched The Terminal with Tom Hanks. And some of us had more popcorn with m and m's. It's hard to remember which one of us...

8/14/11 Sunday

Today my mom took one deep breath and then she took five big kids on a six hour trip. With six car seats,five pillow pets,Hank the Cow Dog #1 and six sippy cups of water. They made one stop. Now I have one child and a million things to clean,sort,organize and sell before my five days are up and I make the same six hour drive with one baby. I haven't had one baby in six years.

8/15/11 Monday

I made some progress today on the big Organize(that's what I named the big house cleaning event). I shopped at Target for bins and curtains. I saw a ball popper I wanted to get for Camille. I went home and looked for the cheapest one online. I searched Craigslist. I found one right in my very own town. New unopened and I got it for half the cost of the one at Target. She loves it. It frightens her a very little bit when the music suddenly starts. I think she'll live.

The goat is fine I'm going to go search for her owner now on craigslist.

Birds Eye View

I want to do a longer post of Camille's first birthday but for now I will just leave you with this birds Camille's eye view.

Weekly Remnants

7/28/11 Thursday

The kids and I went to Granny and Papaw's house for our weekly visit. Camille practiced her walking by walking behind a tiny doll stroller. It's too hot to ride bikes outside so the kids did some school and watched cartoons. I went to a thrift store during nap time and found a straw cowboy hat. I need it for my party tomorrow.

7/29/11 Friday

Today was spent running errands,cleaning,and making food for mine and John's party tonight. We both recently had birthdays and decided to combine our parties. We decided to have a video scavenger hunt and have all the guests come dressed up in costume/or any thrift store apparel. It was fun. Chicken Express doesn't have a spaghetti basket? Good times.

7/30/11 Saturday

Shiloh took Cecily and Silas to the shop today to finish fixing his truck. I stayed with the other girls here at home and cleaned and napped with them. We all ate at Chedders for dinner.

7/31/11 Sunday

I went to Tuesday Morning this afternoon (I know and on a Sunday no less...) with my sister and found some cute storage boxes I really want to go back and get. We shopped around for cell services and then headed home.

We revisited Aurthur and Hopson.

8/1/11 Monday

Pretty normal day here at home. Went thrifting for a bit during karate and the lady gave us two Kewpie babies and one smaller doll for all the girls. Silas got a little toy too. Cecily was upset when I gave her her doll. We have a rule that if you bring in something to the house you have to put something else in the Goodwill box. She argued that since she didn't ask for the doll she shouldn't have to give up something of hers. I told her I would put something of mine in the donate box. Clara said "For me too." Of course,Clara,you too.

This afternoon Camille took a step and a half from my knees to the chair where I sat. She will be walking soon. Then she closed herself in the library and rolled her ball under the door. It rolled back to her. She sat there a while and played ball with herself.

Yoga tonight. "It's a whole new back..."

8/2/11 Tuesday

Today we saw the ninth of ten summer movies for kids at the theater with Missy and her niece Lily. It was open season 3. We went and ate at Chick-fil-a after and went swimming after that. Camille had fun splashing around and was eager to put her whole face in again and again until I figured out she was taking little sips and gave her her sippy cup. I looked into the water next to me at one point and saw Silas swimming under water so gracefully. Big huge arm strokes nice and slow inching closer and closer to the steps. I said to myself "Look how big he is just swimming around,wait Silas? Silas doesn't swim..." and then louder you know to my self "Silas doesn't Swim!!" finally I listened to myself and reached out and pushed him to the steps and helped him up. He was a little upset saying he was scared but he recovered quickly and was fine until the wasp stung his leg.... He really is a beautiful swimmer.

I ran tonight for the first time in a few weeks. I have been walking because I re-injured my legs while training for speed. They felt great and held out just fine during our scorching hot four mile jaunt. I'm icing them now....

g'night!

8/3/11 Wednesday

Karate again today. It's too hot to sit in the van so we went thrifting again. I was inspired by a friend who made a neck tie skirt to give it a whirl. I don't think I would wear a skirt so I'm going to do a purse instead. I found super cheap ties.

It's hot and it's hot. Let's go fall,stop beating around the bush.

Clara left me this message on my computer today: ilufmomsomuch (I think it's cute she doesn't know about the space bar yet)


Cecily left me this one:is it luth frum cecily i love yuo ("Is it lunch? From Cecily I love you") Those dang confusing vowel teams.

I love that they are composing their own messages now.

8/4/11 Thursday

Granny's day. Had a good time. I'm bringing lunch next time. Poor Granny goes all out and it's great but such a lot of dishes to clean. I'm bringing paper plates too.

Cecily received a letter from her pen pal from Harmony Hill today. It was a stick figure drawing of her and her two friends she spent a lot of time with. One of them with sad faces and another with happy faces. It read "I miss you too."

She wrote back right away and said "I can't wait until we meet again."

She is getting so big.

Nice 3 mile run tonight. Thanks to Z for all the core strengthening exercises.

8/5/11 Friday

I stayed at home with Camille today. We were sick and needed to catch up on lost sleep from the night before. My sister took the big kids all day. I watched a movie in the middle of the day. Odd. She seems to be feeling better now and is sleeping in her own bed.

Night!

Weekly Remnants

Hello all! Yes, it's me revisiting my poor neglected blog. I just got Internet at my house again and wanted to start things up again. I hope to do some in between blog posts but defiantly am making it a priority to do my weekly remnants because I like going back and remembering little things about each day. So let's just dive right in.

7/20/2011 Wednesday

I took Cecily and Clara to karate today while the littles napped at Granny's. I took advantage of the time and went thrift store shopping. I found a few great deals! My favorite was a large cabinet that has Cecily written all over it. I have a "wardrobe" redo theme in mind that is right up her Chronicles of Narnia lovin' alley.

After Shiloh got off work we met up at Claire's with our friend John to get Cecily's ears pierced. It's been 14 months since we did this with Clara and she decided it was time to give it a go. While walking in Clara turned around and walked backward a few steps and said with a gigantic smile "My heart is beating hard I am just so proud of Cecily!" She's a sweet girl. Even if her middle child syndrome gets the best of her almost daily. Cecily was so brave. She was nervous but went through with it. She went in with the intention of getting an orange stone which was perfect since November's birth stone is just that but she gave into her red loving self and chose a deep cherry red colored one instead.



We left Claire's and headed to our local theater so Cecily could audition for the upcoming production but she got cold feet and we left. I think she just needs more prep time. Who knows I might audition with her the next time around. I think it would be a blast.

Cecily painted a great picture of her "big eyed" tiger.

Went on a really silly penguin walk with Clara,Silas,Blake,Abbie,and John.When we came home I told Clara to go in and drink some water she responded "I know I'm so starvin' hot!!" Thirsty,I think she meant. :)

Every day I'm reminded how great my kiddos are and I'm entitled to that opinion.

7/21/11 Thursday

Today I took the kids to a birthday party where the candy machine had a hiccough and let the kids take unlimited turns. Which reminds me I need to call and make a dentist appointment soon. We brought the guest of honor and her little sister home to play for a bit after. We had to they have BFF necklaces.

While walking through the mall Silas was lagging behind and Clara turned around and said "Come. On. Si-las." Then looking at me she said with her palms in the air "He is like an inch behind!" I laughed and showed her with my fingers "Clara this is an inch." "Oh" Then quietly "He's like a mile then..."

I went for a regular walk tonight. Right after we put the kids and the chickens to bed.

7/22/11 Friday
Ran a generic errand today with the kiddos. Got coffee. Went across the street to J and M's house to type a paper for J for school. Camille napped while I did this. The bigger kids watched movies,snacked and drew while I typed and J studied.

Gassed up the van. *blech* Worked out with Abbie,Blake and John. We met Aurthur and Hopson while snacking on Chipotle. Funny stuff.

Millie got her eighth tooth at some point. Now if only we had some hair to go with that. :)

7/23/11 Saturday

Preparing for Camille's first birthday tomorrow. Making decorations and food. Cleaning house. Printing photos. Hoping to have enough time to make a smilebox of her first year.

7/24/11 Sunday

Smilebox created! Spent the day doing last minute things for the party. I would say the party was a success! Everything turned our really cute! The cake and pie were delicious. Camille was happy and Abbie took lots of photos. Thanks Abbie! I had video camera failure but I got some on my phone. Can't wait to spend her birthday money for her. ;)

7/25/11 Monday

Birthday money spent! Camille now has a big girl car seat. I know *bor-ing* but it was the most needed thing right now.

We skipped karate today because the kids were swimming in the back yard. We will go to a make up class on Thursday.

We got chickens in the spring and had determined to keep only hens should any of them grow into great mean roosters. We ended up having one rooster that is about as big as a kitten but does a great job of protecting the hens and is content to be hauled around by Silas. We decided he could stay. Today we heard one of our "hens" crow. So I guess we have two roosters. Not sure yet if the second one will stay. He is a bigger breed.

Shiloh went back to work tonight so M,J,and I watched some of the series we recently started. Friends across the street are fun!

7/26/11 Tuesday

We played hookey from school today. The day was a bit cooler and the kids were able to play outside some. I cleaned out my van so I could install Millie's new seat. I didn't like the way it sat (not much reclining) so I packed it back up and listed it on Craigslist.

Went on a 2.7m walk with M,J,and A. We talked about a new training schedule. We are getting ready to run a 15k. Sounds daunting.

7/28/11 Wednesday

The girls opened a painting studio behind the library chairs and painted about a million pictures for me and sold them for coins. Any kind.

Pretty basic day. I took the kids to karate and actually went in to watch cause the littles didn't fall asleep in their seats on the way there. The girls are improving nicely.

Met with some friends in the evening. Had some slightly deeper than normal conversations.