Sometimes I wonder...

What the girls are telling other people about us?

Let's Freeze Time...

Right about here:
It's been quite a week: birthday night on the town with Erin, celebratory dinner at church, count them 1,2,3 Costume Parades, more pumpkins, Jack o'Lanterns and two little girls that I think should stay just about this age...

I have many pictures to share but as we all know uploading pictures to Blogger requires the strategic planning of implementing a Shuttle Launch (not to mention I think there are two stray cats mauling each other outside my door right now- where do I live?!)...so I am off to bed, oh wait, I mean to clean the kitchen. More to come...

Significant Birthdays

And in the most exciting news of the week...two of our favorite families have joyfully expanded!

Hatch and Shannon welcomed Anna Kathryn last Monday. Baby Anna joins eagerly waiting twin brothers Hudson and William. I first spent quality time with H and S many moons ago in a Nicaragua orphanage. Our paths have crossed and entangled many ways since then - my favorite connection possibly being the one we have over a certain Chevrolet Caprice Classic (LT model, Travis will always add.) That is all from another time, for another post, but I must say nothing seems more right and beautiful to me than seeing Shannon's arms full of her babies.


Then on Thursday, Dave, Megan, and Big Brother Noah welcomed Micah Jeffrey! We have much history with the Rathbones as well, including the lovely detail that Dave and I lived in the same college slum, umm , garage, umm, apartment (?) a year apart. And we live parallel child-birthing lives two years apart, with different genders. When I visited on Saturday I even realized Megan was in the same hospital room as I had been in with Olivia almost exactly two years ago. I was thrilled to get a peek at this perfectly adorable little guy in the nursery before I was kicked out upon failing to convince the staff that I was the grandmother. I'm so excited they all got to go home as a family today!


Congratulations friends! May you get as much sleep as possible. And if not possible, as a consolation, may you have many wonderful casseroles delivered to your homes - our favorite part of baby recovery over here!)

Two Unrelated Highlights from this Week:

Here is one of my favorite fairys attending a "Fairy Tea Party Birthday Party." Best part? No strange feats required to earn your wings. They were handed out at the door.

And...if you are headed to Lynchburg, perhaps to visit colleges, wineries, or my sister's in-laws, you must stay here:Yes, that is a red heel. This is a Boutique Hotel housed in what was once the Craddock Terry Shoe Factory. I was delighted by the small ways the shoe theme is carried throughout the design and operations - down to the "shoe boxes" you leave outside your door with your breakfast order! The rooms, furniture, and resturants are all outstanding - and all so unique. No, you are not at the Marriot anymore - and you won't want to be.

Field Trip #1: Pumpkin Patch

Sophia's first field trip of her academic life (not counting the ones initiated by her mother to neighborhood construction sites) cost $3.50, and yes, following Strickland Family Private School Small Fee Tradition...I wrote a check. And I went. And so did Buela. And so did Foo. Holly Fork Pumpkin Patch was wonderful...no creepy plastic witches and no placards of Bart Simpson(sorry Pumpkinville).
Just lots of chickens, a few pigs...

And a rooster Olivia was determined to pet.

And since it was a Pumpkin Patch...there were hula hoops.

And lots and lots of pumpkins!

Class Picture ( I really need more skill or a better camera or both)

They asked us to dress the children in their school shirts. I am such a rule follower- when I remember. But most people didn't - and now I wish I'd put her in something more festive , you know, for the pictures...

It was a beautiful morning and a fine start on the journey of many field trips...And I feel like I get to do it all over again - without the dress code.

My Favorite Tree Huggers

Love those pigtails...

Batteries Not Included

(Photos in this montage are courtesy of Sophia) I've always appreciated Elmo's enthusiasm about well...everything.
How does such a face with so few fine details communicate such emotion?

Surprise, excitement, contentment...and, in this case, it's all about grocery shopping.

Elmo had a big day last Sunday. Sophia and I went through the toys and made a list of everything that needed new batteries - which was everything that used batteries. My Mom had this rule when we were growing up that we couldn't have toys that used batteries. It ranked right up there with the "no sugar cereal" rule. We felt greatly deprived. Of course now I consider my mother a prophet as 1/3 of our nation is obese, quite possibly from a large intake of Lucky Charms. (Now we did always have Pop- tarts in the house...but those provide 8 essential vitamins and minerals.)

And she was right, once again, about battery toys. I thought she banned them because batteries are expensive, which they are. But I've now learned the whole truth the hard way: battery-operated toys are annoying. Batteries = noise. Batteries = broken. Batteries = devastation-when-it-worked-yesterday-but-it-doesn't-work-today-because-it-was-left-on-all-night.

These are my reflections - After I spent a full day buying and replacing batteries for toys and then asking myself why. Elmo can now talk about how thirsty he is and how he needs to go to the potty. And if Sophia rolls over him just right in his sleep, I can hear those startling sentences amidst the Strange Sonic Birds over the monitor. It's unsettling. For Christmas, I'm commissioning Buelo to widdle them Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque toys out of wood. What was the Pioneer version of Elmo, I wonder?

Tram, Tipping Points, and Other Trauma...

Last week made me tired. I figured it was due to increased Night Wandering- accompanied by Sophia's choice of Strange Sonic Birds on her noise machine. Instead of being chased through the Arena from Hunger Games, I felt my Night Wanderings become a Hitchcock nightmare. When a head cold hit me full force this weekend I surrendered to the yoga pants, hot tea, and 8:30 bedtime. But not before visiting Busch Gardens with the girls Saturday morning. Busch Gardens is usually my Happy Place - the answer to long afternoons or weekends when Travis is gone. Not so much this time.

We did our usual character-hugging, and ladybug-riding, but I discovered S and O are at a hard gap with their ages and personalities - and I realized this after I brought them to the park by myself. A lot of what Sophia wants to do requires an adult to go with her - but Olivia is too small for it or too scared. Very few things let you ride as a group of three. So there were many tears, many negotiations, and a long time in the Land of the Drachens playground.

Add to this, the reality that Hollow Scream is going on and it was not the relaxing morning I imagined. Luckily if you go before sundown zombies don't attack you (how considerate). But I find I can't let the girls ever look up for fear of seeing ghouls dangling from the trees. So we race from country to country with the stroller shades covering them.

We did find some solace in the Wild Animal Refuge and Bird Aviary. We were enjoying looking at the different colored parakeets when a Major Meltdown occurred over who got to hold the bag of Goldfish. And like that. I was done. We fled the Animal Santuary and I hauled that double stroller through Ireland amidst screaming, gave a shout out to the sheep in England as we ran by and got out the front gates just as the screaming subsided. We boarded the parking lot tram in relief - the only ones leaving the park at noon.

I told the Kind Old Man with the Microphone that we were parked in Germany and then settled in for the wind-down that usually is the tram ride. But something went awry. Perhaps KOMwtM did not communicate to Kind Driver Man where I was parked because the events that followed are a bit hazy yet very traumatic. As the tram went flying by Germany, KOMwtM shouts "SHE'S PARKED IN GERMANY JOE!" And the tram comes to a screeching halt. Olivia flies off the seat and somehow I catch her with my feet but Sophia flies off the seat and lands on the floor of the tram. Hard.

All three of us are then officially sobbing. Yes, I am sitting on the Busch Gardens tram outside the Germany parking lot weeping and clutching my children to me. I do not speak. I do not move. I surrender to the moment. And oh those poor, sweet old men in their lederhosen looked completely horrified. But to their credit they do not bother me. They send the other trams around. They knew far better than to speak to an emotional woman whose children have been endangered (even if she has been yelling at said children moments before).

They just stood there. Finally they offered to take me to First Aid. I declined. I knew we were fine and could not face re-entering the park. In retrospect, had I been thinking clearly, I would have proposed an under the table deal of Lifetime Preferred Parking. But at the time, I just did not want to be there anymore. Finally we hobbled off the tram and headed into the wasteland of the Germany parking lot. Then we all went home and had lollipops.

And somehow managed to make a full recovery. A friend at Emory gave us this wisdom when we were expecting Sophia: He said, "Children are incredibly resilient. They have been surviving for thousands of years all over the world in a host of different conditions." After weeks like this, I remember these words. But then I also remember that he never mentioned the resiliency of parents...

And the Birthday Train Rides...

...This time to our house to celebrate Uncle Daniel! The Cake Enthusiasts seem indifferent to who the celebration is actually for...though Sophia's mind was blown by Uncle Daniel's old age of 31. He is the one person she now knows of older than Daddy - with an age/number her mind is still able to wrap itself around (sorry Grandpa).
Check out Foo in the next progression of pictures (above smacking her lips)

Oh the joy of sugar!

Umm...I can "help out" by licking the frosting off of these candles...

And then I will stick them back in the cake...

Blast! The Clean Up crew arrives!

The Cousins were exiled to the porch to enjoy their cake.

I love the many pictures of Sophia being herself, Addie being enthralled with her, and Olivia not even noticing. Family Systems...

Yes, Baby Carter, these people are related to you. I know its a lot to handle. But just think - they will never miss your birthday - ever. No matter where you live. No matter if you insist that you are trying to downplay it. They will show up with cake and balloons, and if you're lucky, a full Mariachi Band. Don't fight it. Just get your cake preferences in early.

Uh-oh

Olivia (the other night): Look Mommy - the stars are shining!Nina: They are shining! Who made the stars Olivia?

Olivia: Si-A did.

Reason #23 that Daddy is a Rock Star

(and I am the Scullery Maid): He takes them bowling! And they loved it. Foo told me about her shoes and how she pushed the ball. I was very impressed. Middle School Lock-Ins here they come!

Fall Weekend

Oh Fall...pumpkins, caramel apples, zip-up jackets... and the ocean?

We took a quick trip to the beach this weekend to meet up with Travis who was leading an all day high school retreat. I assumed no one would swim. Clearly, its been a long time since I was sixteen..


Sophia jumped in wearing her clothes and rode back on the bike in nothing but my jacket.

Sometimes I think in heaven we will get to be every age all over again - but we will know how sweet each chapter is...