Thursday, May 31, 2012

once upon a time


 This is the story of a little girl.

She had blond hair and blue eyes.
She grew up in the country with parents who loved her.
And she had a cross-eyed kitty.
She was an only child and had lots of friends and a blue bedroom and a bike with a sparkly seat.
She played softball at the ball park, hide and seek in cornfields, and ball tag in the front yard.
She stole raspberries from one neighbor and grapes from another.
And took horse riding lessons, both English and Western.
She got her first kiss behind a curtain by a boy named Shannon when she was in the 6th grade.
He had red hair and was cute as a button.

When she was 16, she realized that a boy she had known her whole life was kinda cute.
He had hazel eyes and curly hair and strong hands.
She had just had her young heart broken for the first time and was sad.
There was a dance at school.
The cute boy she had known her whole life passed her in the hall and said casually,
"save me a dance."
She did.
She danced with him.
She liked the way he held her tight.
And she has never let him go.

When they were 20, this young couple spent a summer apart.
She was in Cleveland doing an internship at the Cleveland Clinic.
He was travelling out west for college credit.
She thought that they should maybe date other people for the summer.
Cause at that age, 4 years together is a lifetime.
And she wanted him to be sure this was forever.
And she wanted to be sure too.
She went on one disasterous date.
And he carried a little person down the grand canyon.
(a story for another day.)
When they got home, they knew.
They were sure.

After college, he moved to Virginia Beach.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to move so far away.
Everything she knew was there.  Where she was.
Her mother told her, under no uncertain terms, that she was going.
Getting out of the small town and seeing what was out there.
She went.
And of course, loved it.
They had their first little apartment in the historic district of Norfolk.
That was filled with hand me down furniture and mixed matched dishes.
They had to do laundry in the dark recess of the dungeonous basement.
They loved every minute of it.
They spent their time exploring this new city and learning how to be independent.
Just the two of them.

When they were 24 they secretly got married.
No one knew.
It was a sunny day when they slipped down to the courthouse and said vows.
The sweetest old man was presiding.
And made it much more romantic than they had anticipated.
What started out as a pragmatic ceremony to ensure she had health insurance turned into a very special day.
This one was for them.
Three months after that they got married in a church in front of their friends and family.
This one was for everyone else.


When she was 26 her mama died.
It was a dark time.
And she wouldn't have made it through without him.
She had never felt so alone.
She had just moved a new town, and had no real friends yet.
She cried a lot.
Especially in the shower where no one would hear.
He was scared.
He didn't know how to handle her sadness, but he did, handle it.
He was strong for her.
He was everything she needed him to be.

Soon after that, she met the friends she has now.
They became like family and she cherished them.
They, without knowing it, helped save her.
Helped her realize that family is what you make it.

When she was 29, she got some good news.
She was going to have a baby.
She will never forget the shy smile he had when she told him.
It is one of her favorite memories of him.
She wanted a girl.
Desperately.
She wanted to name her after her own mama.
She had an easy pregnancy.
He took such good care of her.
Rubbed her feet every night and would run and get chocolate donuts when needed.
After a scary, long delivery, she got her girl.
The light of her life.
And his.
This baby.
The very best of both of them.

Today, she is happy.
She has him.
And now her.
This little family.
She has a nice house with flowers in the yard and good friends.
She is strong.
She knows who she is, where she came from, and where she is going.
She is excited for what comes next.



This is the story of a little girl.

She has blond hair and blue eyes.
She lives in the city with parents who love her.
She has 2 kitties, neither one cross-eyed.
She is an only child with lots of friends, and a pink & green bedroom, and a bike with a princess seat.
She plays softball at the ball park, loves the monkey bars, and runs through the sprinkler in the front yard.
She steals lilacs from one neighbor and peonies from another.
And takes horse riding lessons at pony camp.
She hasn't gotten her first kiss yet.

She is named after her mama's mama.
Her story is just beginning.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

memorial day

Sit back.
This is going to be a long one.
There are 37 pictures in this post.
By actual count.

We had a fantastic weekend.
It started with a little golf.


 The girls.
I had no idea Izzy was so good.
It must run in the family.
 This is Jess.
Nick's girlfriend.
We like her.
A lot.
Poor little thing is hideous to look at though.
:)
Seriously though.
She is really great.  Fits right in.
Fun to be around.
Can take a joke.
And is good to my girl.
What's not to like?
And we are both onlies.
And us onlies need to stick together.
 And of course Izzy.
We adore Izzy.
Always have.
Always will.
 This is Andy.
Aka...Vern.
Aka..my cousin.
He is handsome.
And funny.
And a trickster.
And a little mean.
 It was so busy that she didn't get to play much.
Linda (bless her heart) took her to the pool after three holes.
She was in heaven.
 After golf, Chris and I headed to Indy to spend some time with his family.
Auntie Sheryl found a great park for Ellie to play in.

 And then we went to a cute little town for Greeks Pizza.
Chris and I ate Greeks pizza every Thursday in college.
It holds a special place for us.
And it is freaking good.
We saw Mark and Amber there and visited a bit.
And we met her baby bump.
We are excited to meet you baby girl Davis!

 Then Sunday morning we got up and visited those we miss.
Grandma Marion.
 And my mama.

 Then we spent the rest of the day on Andy's loft roof.
This is City Boy.
 I fell head over heels for him.
I tried to sneak him home.
It didn't work.
 And here is Andy again.
He found this great apartment in Farmland
(yes, the town is called Farmland)
and really made it his own.
It looks like this.
 
And has views like this...
It's a pretty cool place to hang out for the day.
Even if it was 600 degrees out.

Ellie helped Uncle Wayne picked names for the race.
Paige won this year.
She had Francinni.
Boo.  Hiss.
 And we got to spend lots of time with favorite people.

 That is C Hief Steve back there.
He isn't real.
He does, however, have his own facebook page.
You should check him out.
He is pretty cool.
 It was so HOT!
Izzy french braided Ellie's hair.
Must. Learn. To. Do. This.
 That would be grape vodka and tonic.
I had a few.
I also had a headache the next day.
Ahem.
Can you say hangover??
 These kids are great.
Love em.
 We also taught Ellie to play pong.
Cause we are super classy like that.
Sister was really good!
*no drinking was occuring during the game, and no 6 year olds were harmed during play.
 I adore this man.
 It was such a fun night.
Just laughing.
And goofing off.
And visiting.


Let's end this post with another shot of my guy.
Boy.
He is good lookin'!

Friday, May 25, 2012

stuff and things

Just a quick pop in...
cause I have eleventy hundred things to do today to get ready for the weekend.

Things like cleaning out the fish bowl and weeding and watering and poop scooping.

Wanna come help?

No?

You could fold laundry or clean the bathroom floor?

Still no?

How about tiding up and dusting?

Still no?

Boo on you.
I shall somehow find it in my heart to forgive you.
And I had fresh baked brownines to offer you.

Nope.

Too late.
You lost out.
Now I must eat them all by myself.
All of them.

Have a wondeful holiday weekend!
We have lots of family and visiting and good food on our agenda.
Here's hoping yours is just as good!

Peace!



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

summer stuff

With less than 3 weeks of school left, I am full summer planning mode.

It is amazing how quickly the calendar fills up with fun things to do.

So far we are:

Going home for our annual Memorial Day Extravaganza.
Watching Ellie in her very first recital.

Making plans for a trip to Niagra Falls.
And possibly camping.
And going to our friends island house.
And while we are missing the fair in Indiana this year (she isn't out of school yet!), E and I must still plan a week to go home.

We are taking Ellie to her first concert.
Attending a sibling graduation party.
Bible School.
Softball.
Swim lessons.
Golf clinics.

We even have a babysitter for our anniversary on the 16th of June.

All of these are fun things.
And I am looking forward to every single one of them.

But the little things beckon too.
And I love the little summer things.

Sleeping in and having lazy breakfasts on the sunny front steps.
Farmer's markets.
Afternoons at the pool.
Flip flop tan lines.
My garden, which is sprouting sprouts!  I'm hopeful.
Popsicles.
A promised first lemonade stand.
Open windows with kitties in them.
Afternoon naps on cool sheets.
The smell of sunscreen.
I get a little shiver just thinking about them.
All good things.

So remember how I am job hunting?
Yeah.
I have turned down 2 jobs.
I am enjoying this summer with my girl.
See you in the fall, job search.

Monday, May 21, 2012

sunshine and parks and pop ups and monkey bars and strep

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times...

Ha.
Kidding.

But we did have an odd duck sorta weekend.

We had Friday off from school,
and sister took advantage by sneaking in our bed for a few more winks.
I love Baby Polar Bear.
I am so glad she has a lovey that is so well loved.
 After our leisurely morning,
we met some friends at the park for a picnic and play.
 Who is this big kid with the long legs?
 We goofed.
 And got a good shot.
 After she had run her ever lovin' heart out, we found a book sale!
Sadly, I didn't buy anything.
The stack of books at home for me to get through is astonishing
(See first pic in this post.  On my night stand is about 1/4 of what I have waiting for me.)
Plus I didn't see anything I had to have.
There was a copy of The Mists of Avalon I almost picked up, but I didn't.
 Then since Daddy was working late and it was Friday and beautiful, we decided that frozen yogurt sounded great for dinner.
Cause we're cool like that.
Ha.
Get it??
Sister went all out.
Cookies and cream with cookie dough bites, white chocolate chips, and twix.
I got strawberry with reeses cups and hot fudge.
It was yumilicious.
Then we found out all last minute that we had our very first softball practice.
Apparently there were wrong numbers listed on the form.
Whoops.
So we rushed right over and found out that we were not playing tball like we originally thought,
but coach pitched.
She and her friend Natalie are the very youngest on the team.
But she held her own.
Our coach seems fantastic and involved and a lot of fun.
We are going to have a few conflicts with swimming lessons,
and I was all stressed about that, but then I remembered that she is 6.
And it's all fun.
And she's 6.
And it really doesn't matter if she misses a few games or swim lessons.
For the love.
Then that night, when I put her stinky sweaty self in the shower, I found a very strange little lump on her chest, right near her right clavicle on her breast bone.
It was blue and hard and about the size of a small pea.
I calmly freaked out and made an appointment for her the next morning.
I mean, I was "checked on her all night long to make sure she is still breathing" scared.
I seriously had thoughts of a blocked coronary or something equally terrifying.
Nope.
Apparently they are extremely normal.
It could be a sweat gland.  Or a skin cell.
And she will always have it unless it gets big enough to get bothersome, then she can remove it.
We named him Bumpers.

When we got home from the doctor, we had a few important things to do before we headed out for our next adventure.
First, we had to perform tricks...
(Is this the first good pic of her new playground?  Well if it is, just let me say that Chris and I had a pretty good tiff whilst putting it together.  But that is to be expected, right??)
and then we had to make signs to cheer our friends on the next day in their very first marathon.
After all that hard work was done, we headed to a little "pop up" festival that comes to our neighborhood every year.
She entered a coloring contest...
 got some pink hair...
(that won't wash out!)
 had ice cream with her friend...
 wrote her wish for the neighborhood,
(to see lots of happy people)
 and had an all around good time.
(She is going to be so much fun this summer!)
 That night, Daddy hosted a sleepover (cause he is awesome) and I went out with the girls.
In the middle of the night, during said sleepover, Ellie woke up with fever.
Uh-oh.
Thankfully, our guest slept right through it.
So for the second day in a row we went to the doctor.
Strep.
Yay.
Sorry Nat.
You're probably next.
:(
We missed the race but we sent pictures of the signs we had made...

So this morning, we are relaxing.
She had a random vomit early in the am.
Who the heck knows what that was all about.
She wanted milk directly after.
Gross!
No way did she get it.
I made her wait an hour.
She still wanted it.
I gave it to her.
So far so good.
I am seriously hoping I don't see it again...