Family Cookout

Today was the annual family cookout at Aunt Harley's house.  And because our trip to Hatteras happened one week earlier than usual, we actually got to go this year!

It was fun, even though Mama has shingles and can't touch the girlz.  This gives her the sadz... I can tell.  Get better soon, Mama!

Daddy and the girlz on the ferry heading to Aunt Harley's house

The girlz at Aunt Harley's princess table

Papa and Campbell during the ferry ride back across the river

As Uncle Butthead was preparing to leave, Mama said "I love you!  Drive carefully!" and it immediately brought to mind this bit by Tim Hawkins.  I lurve me some Tim Hawkins...



Once we got home, we took down Campbell's crib and replaced it with her big girl bed.  She's been wanting to sleep in a bed ever since our vacation... she was NOT happy to be stuck in the Pack 'N Play while Cassidy got to sleep in a bed.  We've let Campbell sleep with Cassidy in the princess bed a few times since we got back, and decided it was time to go ahead and take the plunge.  We weren't planning to make this change until closer to the end of the year, but Campbell is giving us clear and definite signs that she's ready for a real bed now.

She was SO EXCITED when she realized what we were doing, and Cassidy was impressed, too.  In fact, Cassidy was so impressed she decided to have a sleepover with Campbell in her new bed tonight.

Taking down the crib was very liberating and yet sad at the same time.  My very first blog post was about this same big girl bed, but it was Cassidy who was moving into it.  For the first time since late 2004, we have a crib with no current or anticipated user.  What a strange and wonderful thought!

The girlz check out Campbell's big girl bed

No more crib!

Exorcist Baby

Campbell has developed a somewhat disturbing habit.  She talks in an Exorcist voice when she says the names of her favorite people... Elmo, Dora, Dada.  I hadn't realized how often she does it until we spent the week with other people.

It reminded me of the girl in the movie House Bunny, so I've pasted a link below to help you get the full effect.



I'm hoping she'll outgrow this habit soon.  I don't want to send her off to college talking like that.  Ugh...

We're Baaa---aack!

We're back from our week-long vacation change of scenery in Cape Hatteras. It was a FANTASTIC week, and the girlz wore themseves completely out. We kept them up late, but they were still up every morning before 7AM.  Sergeant Sexy and I are utterly exhausted.

It was worth it, because we had SO MUCH FUN...

We painted pottery at Studio 12, we visited the Aquarium, we splashed in the rough ocean waves, we explored in the calm water of the Pamlico Sound, we read books, we swam in the pool, we played in the hot tub, we spent lots of time with our extended family, we posed for our annual family snapshot in front of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, we went shopping at the Gap and Gymboree Outlets, we made funny faces, we ate ice cream for dinner... we had FUN!!!

Do we really have to wait another year before we see this gorgeous sunset again?

I'm Impressed

The bus ride to and from Big Girl School school is pretty long, so I send crayons, coloring books, very small toys, and/or an mp3 player loaded with Veggie Tales songs in Cassidy's backpack to provide wholesome entertainment during the trip.

Evidently, time slipped away coming home last week.  I was handed a HUGE pile of stuff (one by one, of course) as Cassidy was coming down the bus stairs...  jacket, backpack, lunch box, artwork, homework, coloring books, stickers... you get the idea.  My arms were FULL.

Cassidy and I started across the front yard toward the house as the bus pulled away.  That's when I heard some of the older kids calling to us from the bus.  "Ma'am!  Ma'am!  You dropped something!  Ma'am!".

I looked back and sure enough, I had dropped Cassidy's lunchbox on the grass.

Of the kids I know, most would have:
A) Been too busy texting their friends to look out the bus window
B) Watched me drop the lunch box, but not said anything
C) Chosen to yell "Hey" instead of "Ma'am"

Needless to say, I was impressed.  I was impressed when it happened, and I'm still impressed a week later.  I'm impressed enough to write about it here.

Big Girl School is not the fanciest or most prestigious school in this area.  It's a small town, college prep school that teaches values Sergeant Sexy and I support.

The writing is on the wall, and she's not even in Kindergarten yet.  Stroking those giant checks made payable to Big Girl School hurts, but is clearly worth it.

Mother's Day Weekend

What an awesome weekend!!!  Not only was the weather beautiful, but we had tons of fun...

Friday afternoon, Cassidy learned how to play Cooking Mama on the Wii.

Yesterday morning, she took her first swimming lesson!

And even jumped in the pool for the instructor (she'll never do that for me).

After dance class, we met Daddy and Campbell at Gymboree to talk to Ms. Trisha about putting an ad in the Little Miss Local County Fair Pageant program book.  Cassidy ran right to the puzzle table and got to work.  I think she misses her Gymboree Play and Art classes!

After Campbell woke up from her nap, we went strawberry picking.  Cassidy LOVED it.

Campbell?  Not so much.  She spent most of the time in the car with me, watching Dora.

This morning I came downstairs and found a blue box from Tiffany's sitting at my spot at the kitchen table.  Inside was a gorgeous ring with "I Love You" engraved all the way around the band.  It looks fantastic stacked with my wedding set.  I was ecstatic just to get flowers Friday, so this was a wonderful surprise!!

After church, we changed clothes and headed off to the local amusement park.

First up - 4D Sesame Street show.  It was all fun and games until the seats started shaking and water sprayed on the girlz.  Luckily, the show was short and the special effects were toward the end.  We stayed to the end without causing too much of a scene.

After the show, we met Elmo.  Campbell was excited until we got close... she needs a barrier of at least 10 feet to enjoy Elmo in person.

Same with Cookie Monster.

What else did we do?  Well, Cassidy and Daddy rode a roller coaster!

Campbell smiled and looked extra-cute.

Cassidy wanted to ride a big ride all by herself, and that's exactly what she did.  She even stood in line by herself (at least that's what she thinks... Sergeant Sexy was waiting in line with her, but on the other side of the bushes where she couldn't see him).

We ate ice cream.  And then we headed toward home.

We stopped by Mama and Papa's house for a minute on the way home so we could drop off a Mother's Day gift (chocolate Necco wafers) for Mama.  The girlz were exhausted, so we could only stay a few minutes.  Plus, the cleaning people come tomorrow and we needed to straighten up the house.

What an amazing Mother's Day weekend!!!

Early Mother's Day

I got the most wonderful surprises today!  Flowers were delivered at lunch time, and Cassidy brought home the most precious Mother's Day gift from school.

Aren't these GORGEOUS?!?

Cassidy's special gift

If you can't read the writing on Cassidy's flower, the pot says "I love my Mom because...", and the flower petals have six reasons why she loves me.

1. I was born from her belly.

2. She plays Duck Duck Goose.

3. She is fun.

4. She helps me when I am coughing.

5. She helps me with my homework.

6. She is beautiful.

I have the best family EVER.

Hot Laps!

Because Martinsville Speedway appreciates people who consistently give them money, the track people decided to show their gratitude by letting us drive our car around the track.  We graciously accepted their offer!

After all our typical Saturday morning fun, Sergeant Sexy and I packed up the car and headed to Martinsville.  The girlz were so excited to be having a sleepover with Mama and Papa, they barely noticed when we left.

It's a long way to Martinsville, but we got there in time to have dinner at a very nice restaurant.  We even got to watch Prom-goers enjoying a pre-Prom meal.  Cute!

We were literally the first ones at the track Sunday morning.  When the track people started setting up, we got to help.

Sergeant Sexy helped set up the tent

Remnants of spray painted grass!!

It was weird to see the track completely vacant.

Me and Clay Campbell, President of Martinsville Speedway.  We wondered if he'd give us pit passes if I told him we'd named our baby after him.  It's the least he could do for having such an honor!

We were the first to go, and Sergeant Sexy did a great job going fast, turning left, and not hitting the wall.  Trust me when I say 50 miles per hour on the highway and 50 miles per hour on that short track are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT things.  We were struggling to keep up with the Pace Car, and I felt like I was going to fly out the window any second.

There were only two rules for Hot Laps:

1. Don't pass the Pace Car 

2. Behave!

I'm really not seeing how anybody could possibly pass the Pace Car.  Seriously.

Here's a short piece of the video I took while we were on the track.  The entire thing was 7 minutes long, but I cut it down to just the first two laps.  Enjoy!!