Carolina in my mind

I always loved this song from James Taylor, in fact I think it's probably one of my favorites by him. Funny how I never realized when I listened to it years and years (and years...) ago that some day I'd be living in Carolina. At times I can't quite believe that I'm so far from home, but then there are other times, most of the time actually, that I've never felt more at home than I do now. Is it because of where we are? Or is it maybe that Kevin and I have grown much closer as a result of our move?

Before the move my life was quite full with all sorts of distractions from friends, neighbors and family. But now it's really just us. I mean, we're beginning to make some new connections with people, but those relationships are all so new, and I really haven't made the effort to take them to a different level. So Kevin is the one that I talk to, and share stuff with, and it's his office that I wander into when I'm looking for a bit of adult interaction. And that's a good thing. I'm so glad that after nearly 12 years of marriage, and over 15 years together, he is still such a vital part of my life. I feel like we're stronger now than we've ever been.

So I guess it's not so strange that I'm feeling more at home in North Carolina after only 8 months of living here. The reality is that home is so much more a state of mind, than the state where you may live, ya know? And my home is where Kevin is. Gosh I love that guy! I am such a lucky girl to have a man like him to come home to.

This isn't where I had intended to go when I first wrote the title for this post. I was originally thinking that I'd write about how much we are enjoying the weather down here--spring sure does spring early around here! And working out in the yard is one of those things that Kevin and I really enjoy doing together. And we sure do have a bunch more yard to work on. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what we want to do and trying to get it all done, which means we'll be spending LOTS more time together! There. It does all tie together, doesn't it?

Sorry it's been a while but...

I got a new computer AND an iPod last week (did I mention the sinus infection?)! It is a really nice new Dell XPS 410 with dual processors and the new Windows Vista. I'm having so much fun with the Media Center too. I've been busy, busy, busy loading all of the pictures (over 6000 in 3.5 years *gulp* and that's just the good ones--who knows how many I've deleted?!) from my old computer onto the new one. I can't get over how much faster the new computer is when I pull up my photos to edit them in Adobe Photoshop Elements (had to go and get the 5.0 version too... *wink*).

There have been a few frustrations, such as several discs that I had off-loaded photos onto from 2003 and 2004 became partially corrupted, so I've lost several hundred of those photos (not included in the count above). Fortunately, all of those photos have been printed and most of them have been scrapped, so I just need to get my scrapbook pages scanned and sent to Iron Mountain so if there's ever a fire, the photos will still be recoverable. That should only take about a month or two...

And then Kevin went and got me an iPod nano (8gb) for Valentine's day! The romantic stinker. He even got it engraved! And got the red one, since he knows how red is my favorite color! Sigh. We may not be a wine and roses and candlelight kind of couple, but he still knows how to make me weak in the knees. So I've been having more fun loading the songs that I like from all of our old CDs into my iTunes library and shopping at the iTunes store. Fun! It's reawakened my love of listening to music--I've realized how quiet this house has been (noise from 3 kiddos excluded) in the past years.

Here are a few cute kid pics for anyone missing them!


Katelyn workin' it for the camera--what a little poser she can be!


Olivia learned to put barettes in her hair today


Ryan tearing down the court at a basketball game--check out the muscles in those skinny little legs!

Snow!

Last Thursday we were treated to a snow day in North Carolina. This is a rare occurrence, so we did what we could to embrace it. Our neighbors from New York were joking about it being an "almost snow day" since schools were closed before a flake had even fallen, and we got maybe 2 inches, not a speck of which stuck to the roads. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. And perhaps this is the part of winter weather in NC that I like the most:

1. Snow falls
2. Everything looks pretty and magical that day
3. By the next day the snow is gone

We don't have to shovel our sidewalks. We don't have to shovel our driveway. We don't have to watch the snow get ugly and dirty as we wait and wait and wait for it to finally melt. And from what I've heard from NC natives, this is the norm. Sure, there are the very rare instances when we'll get up to 8 inches in one storm (like every 10 years or so), and the snow will hang around for several days, but for the most part, it will be gone the following day. I know that some folks would not enjoy this, but this is the way I like snow!

We bundled up the kids and I took the girls outside. The snow was a nice wet snow, great for snowballs and snowmen. Ryan and his friend Brandon worked on building a snow fort to stage an epic snowball fight. Katy, Olivia and I built a snowman.

After I took some pictures of the snowman and fort, I took my camera inside because the snow was starting to change over to sleet. When I came back out, the snowman was on his side, with Olivia grinning next to him. I asked her what had happened:

O: "I knocked him over, Mommy."
M: "Why did you knock him over?"
O: "Because I did not like him anymore."

Well. Not much to say to that one, eh? Fortunately she waited until after I had a picture before deciding that she didn't like him! We trooped over to Brandon and Sydney's house for some sledding in their back yard. The track was fast, and we had fun with that for about 20 minutes, and then the sleet turned to rain.

Ryan went in to Brandon's to warm up and play, the girls walked home with me for hot cocoa with marshmallows and graham crackers. We turned on the fireplace and got toasty and enjoyed our brief foray into winter weather. The weather people had warned of up to 1/2 an inch of ice, but this never came to fruition. And by Friday we were back to school with nothing left from our snow day except pictures and good memories.

Those Magic Moments

This morning when I came downstairs, the girls were perched at the island with an array of drinakable yogurts spread in front of them. Each of the eighteen (yes, you read that correctly, 18), containers had at least one straw protruding from its top. They announced with much enthusiasm: "Mommy! We drank ALL the yogurts!" I replied, with significantly less enthusiasm: "What do you mean, you drank ALL the yogurts?" To which they replied: "All the yogurts in the whole refrigerator!" We had just been to BJ's on Friday and had bought a package of 24 drinkable yogurts that were supposed to last for the entire week. And now they were all gone. Although, as I lifted each of the opened containers spread over the island, I noticed that few of them were actually "all gone."

I took a deep breath. It was supposed to be a cleansing breath to make sure that I didn't yell. It turned out to be a breath to help my lungs be even fuller so that I got a LOT of volume when I said "YOU DO NOT DRINK OR EAT ALL OF THE YOGURTS IN THIS HOUSE EVER AGAIN!!! YOU ONLY DRINK ONE (!) YOGURT A DAY!!! IF I EVER FIND YOU DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, I WILL NOT BUY THAT FOOD FOR A WHOLE MONTH! AND NOW YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY YOGURT FOR THE REST OF THIS WEEK UNTIL I GO TO THE GROCERY STORE AGAIN. NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!" Whew. That felt pretty good.

I ate my breakfast, and drank my tea, and headed upstairs to start getting everyone showered and dressed to go to the circus. I ushered the girls into the shower with me and quickly scrubbed them clean and shampooed their hair with the brand new bottle of watermelon-scented kids shampoo that they had chosen at the grocery store on Friday. I was finished and they begged to stay in just a little longer to play in the water, and I was feeling benevolent and let them do so. I dried the parts of my hair that had gotten a little damp in the shower (today wasn't a shampoo day for me), and then went to tell Ryan to come up for his shower.

When I returned to the bathroom, I discovered that the girls had emptied the ENTIRE bottle of shampoo, the new shampoo, into their body puffs to make a "bubble shower." Now, if this was all that had happened this morning, I would have probably handled things a bit differently, but since we had JUST had the discussion about using up all the yogurts, I was no longer feeling remotely benevolent towards my daughters. I began shouting again. For a long time. Things were pouring out of my mouth that were so cliched that I cringed as I said them, but could not prevent them from coming out. As I pulled them out of the shower and wrapped them in towels and took them to their rooms I was saying things like: "there are poor children in this world who would be GRATEFUL to use special shampoo just ONE time, and you go and pour out a whole bottle to just PLAY in?!?!" and "the next bottle of shampoo I buy for you girls is going to be the kind that will REALLY STING your eyes when it gets in them!" and "how could you just throw your daddy's hard-earned money down the drain like that?!?!" and so on... as I carried their little towel-wrapped bodies down the hall and put them into their rooms and shut their doors. As I closed their doors I finished with a "don't you DARE open this door because I don't know how badly I may end up hurting you if I see your faces before I'm ready!" I guess I made my point, because not even Katelyn banged on her door or tried to open it, which is really amazing.

Ryan seemed to be enjoying the whole scene, taking it all in with the sick fascination we reserve for when we drive past car accidents. I guess it was nice to see somebody else on the receiving end of my anger, and to know that it was not directed at him (for a change!). He was being an angel child (thank goodness), and quickly took his shower and allowed me to put Eucerine all over his legs and arms without a single complaint (this is very rare). Quickly got dressed in a turtleneck and sweater, again without complaint which is rare because he generally dislikes layers. I wasn't sure if he was being so good because he knew the mood I was in and didn't want me to snap at him too, or if he was trying to be the "good" child.

After about 15 minutes I had calmed down enough to go to talk to the girls calmly about what they had done and why I was upset about it. They were thoroughly contrite, and apologized to both me and Kevin. And we put it behind us. In our house, we have the policy that once you apologize with sincerity, you are immediately forgiven (just like God forgives us). Of course, it is sometimes difficult to forget...

Later this afternoon, we were sitting together at the circus, and the performers were all parading around the ring in the opening spectacle, and I was given the gift of seeing the circus anew through the delighted eyes of my children. The looks of wonder and excitement on their faces, as they stared, enraptured with what was going on before them, helped me to forget the earlier events of the day, and to just live in the moment with them. It was one of those rare magic moments that we are blessed with as parents of young children. I was, am, grateful.

Why People Should NOT Have Pets Before Kids...

Many, many couples make the mistake of purchasing sweet little kitties or puppies before they have children. Some think of it as a practice run to see if they're responsible enough to keep these creatures alive and happy. Others look at these little furry bundles as objects upon which to shower their love and affection before they have children. And of course there are lots of other reasons we indulge ourselves with "fur babies" before we have the human variety.

But we need to think about what is going to happen to those "fur babies" after the human one(s) arrive on the scene. Now I know that some who read this may vehemently deny that the following will EVER happen to their beloved pets, but trust me, it will.

First, when that new baby comes home freshly minted from the hospital, the "fur babies" suffer from neglect. We are either constantly holding the baby, making our laps unavailable, or we are too tired to be bothered with playing with the pet, or too exhausted to offer anything more than the most basic needs of food, shelter and a walk (if necessary). The "fur baby" is typically demoted to the status of pet, which can be quite hard for them to handle.

Next, as our sweet little cuddle-umpkins gets older, we begin foisting him or her upon the pet in an effort to teach lessons of gentleness and kindness. The pet is so starved for affection, that s/he will typically submit (grudgingly) to the less than gentle attentions of our offspring.

Then sweetpea gets a bit older, and mobile, and begins hunting down the pet on his or her own to administer their special, groovy kind of love. They will pommel, I mean pat kitty or doggie with much intensity, and not much gentleness. They will pull on tails. They will generally poke, prod, chase (to the best of their ability) and annoy the pet as often as they can. And let's not forget that with mobility comes the discovery of the snack dish and splashing bowl. So now poor Fido or Kitty has to either share their food and drink contaminated water (assuming any water is left in the splashing bowl), or have their bowls moved to less accessible locales (like near the litter box--eww).

Oreo has recently discovered the next phase in this timeline. Along with being held, tightly, by Olivia any time she sees him (notice her leg hold in addition to her arms for added control).

















He now gets to be taken for rides. I wonder what's next? Perhaps he will get to be dressed up in doll clothes... if so, I'll be sure to post pictures!