Last Imagine That!

 It's the end of yet another Kindermusik year... and the end of a class "stage" for Carolyn. Seems like not very long ago she was this age:

and taking her very first "Our Time" class when she was barely 18 months old... we've kept at it ever since because I never can seem to quit... and now she has finished the 3 and 4 year old preschool class  called "Imagine That," and will move on this fall to "Kindermusik for the Young Child," where over 2 more years she will actually begin to read music on her own! It's amazing how much she's changed and grown, and I love that our Kindermusik classes have been a vein of constancy through our life.

Even Nora loves going! She's finishing her second "Our Time" toddler class next week. Both my girls just LOVE Miss Lynette- and I do too! We are so very blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, amazing, strong woman in our lives. I look up to her so much and value the relationship she has with my daughters (and me). Kindermusik itself is a great program no matter where you take it- but Miss Lynette really "makes" the experience for us. Her love for my children is so clear, and we are very thankful to have her as our teacher. If you live in the GR area and wish you had such a great person in your kids' lives too, you should check out her website at http://kindermusikwithmisslynette.com to see how you can register for classes this fall. You will not regret it.

I'll admit, I got a little choked up inside today when I thought about this being Carolyn's very last "Imagine That" class. I have loved this series of classes so much. They really tap into the vibrant imaginations of kids this age and help them to relate what they think and imagine and feel into words and music and song and art. It's been a truly wonderful experience to see Carolyn grow through this class, and although I'm excited about what's coming next, I can't help but be a little sad that this stage is over. Just like so many other things about the transitions in life- it's bittersweet to watch your child growing up- Carolyn is so much more her own person lately; the pudgy baby morphed into the wiggly toddler and grew into the imaginative preschooler- and now her legs are stretching longer and she will soon enter a larger world as an elementary school kid! Ouch! I miss that little baby!

Vacation Wrap-Up

 We're leaving for the airport shortly (to ride on a tiny little plane... ugh... hate that...) to go home, so here's our vacation recap! I took a lot of pictures; hard to whittle it down to a reasonable amount for a blog post- so here goes.

 Friday turned out to be unexpectedly rainy... and I found that I had to be a bit inventive in order to keep everyone happy because being cooped up on vacation is just about as much fun as being cooped up at home! So I threw together a quick craft project that turned out to be a success (as only about 20 percent of craft projects are :))

 I covered some containers with brown paper and had the girls make "animal houses" for the plastic animals we'd brought along.

 In between showers, we went outside and used pop bottle caps as food dishes to "feed" and water the animals.

 Everyone had a very nice time; it was the bright point of that morning! :)

 Nora ate most of the snacks.

 She especially enjoyed putting water into the little dishes (and dumping it out all over the place).

 And we've been doing her hair in pigtails a lot lately, and I like how cute it looks. And she doesn't hate it when I take pictures like her sister does- so that's why there are often more pictures of Nora when I go to download pics...

While the girls napped that afternoon, I went with Nana to pick up the shrimp for that night. You wouldn't think this dilapidated old building would be the best place in town to buy seafood, but it is. :)

They also shell (LOTS of) oysters there- that is why it is called the Bluffton Oyster Company- you can see the mountain of oyster shells outside the building. It's huge!

 Later in the day, the cousins arrived! The big girls immediately disappeared to play dollies together and the little ones watched videos on the laptop. :)

 We went to the pool when the sun came out.

 Both Carolyn and Emily did great even just with the pool noodles in the pool.

After dinner each night all the kids got to eat ice cream cones on the porch. They loved it.

 Nora wasn't having any of the "sit the cousins down for a picture" thing, but it turned out cute anyway.

 Here's what the grown-ups ate- a delicious "low country boil" with potatoes corn, shrimp, and sausage. It was really good!

 The next day we went to the beach!

It was kind of cold in the water, but the girls had fun anyway. I actually went swimming in the ocean even though no one else was brave enough! I was rewarded for my courage when a little pod of dolphins came swimming by just about 20 feet from where I was! I was sort of freaked out at first because all I saw was the dorsal fins- so I started trying to swim back to shore as quick as I could, thinking was a shark! But then I saw the tails and realized what they were, so I stayed still and enjoyed my swim with the dolphins. :)

 Nora started to look a little red, so we had to take her back to the shade.

 She still looked so cute on the beach, though!

 The big girls loving on each other. Such cute cousins!

 Nora and I waited at the little playground for the rest. She had fun dumping her plastic animals down the slide.

I had fun taking pictures. :)

Mother's Day we went for brunch at the club. Such a blessing to be all together.

And in the end I got my "porch" picture after all. :) 

Had a great time! Ready to go home now. :)

The Grandkids

Check out that classic "Irving Stare"- times four! :) Loving seeing the kids start to grow into their collective identity as "the grandkids." Gotta go, though; still playing games and having fun! :)

Vaycay!

Well, we're enjoying a few days of uninterrupted sunshine this weekend. :) Flew down to South Carolina yesterday (NOT my favorite experience- boo on you, Delta- your service stinks- and let's not even talk about the prices...)- and now we're taking it easy at Nana and Papa's house.

 Nora's really into stairs lately. She likes to practice walking up and down them without holding onto anything. This is okay with me as long as someone is below her to catch her if she falls- but she's prone to do it no matter who's around! :)

 I love the shirt she is wearing in these pics- it is one of my favorites from Carolyn's "little" days. I have found myself taking more time to feel grateful for the little things lately... and one of those little things is that I have TWO beautiful GIRLS- so I can use the same cute outfits twice!

 Today we had a picnic (Chik Fil A! Yay!) on the beach. I don't think the girls ate much; they mostly wanted to play! Carolyn especially loved it.

 See that smile?!

 I love her unbridled enthusiasm!

 Nora was brave at first and actually stepped out into the water a little way.

 She liked it at first, but soon she realized that the water was moving in and out... and she got scared and ran back up the beach right after I snapped this pic.

 So Nana stayed with Nora while she played in the sand, and I watched Carolyn get wetter and wetter. :)

 She loves the beach the same way I do. :) There's just something about the fresh air, the motion and sound of the waves, and the way the beach is always changing that makes me feel like a child every time we are there.

 Nora had a most wonderful time playing in the sand.

 After awhile, she came back to the water's edge to visit for a few minutes, but wouldn't stand in the water. :)

 Doesn't she look just too cute in this chair with her little feet?

 Enjoying some cookies after we were all done getting wet and sandy.

 After naps, we went in "Papa's Truck" to the neighborhood pool. I took this picture because Nora looks like such a BIG girl with her hair back in a pony tail!

 Ice cream on the porch after dinner for the girls.

 Fresh crab in perfectly browned crab cakes and shrimp for the rest of us. :) Yum, yum!

Finally, the day ended with Tangled for the kids, and Deathly Hallows (again) for the grownups after the kids went to bed. :)

So far, a great trip! :) Tomorrow the rest of the family comes and we are looking forward to some really fun times with them. :)

Waiting Room

When I go back and think about the "seasons" of my life, there are often songs that seem to become the "background music" that plays whenever I remember the events of those seasons. Somehow, I often find a song- an old one or a new one- that rises to the top and becomes the sort of theme music that I always associate with whatever is going on. The song played in the video I linked to is "my" song right now.

I think that even though from a circumstantial perspective, things aren't really a whole lot different this month than they have been for the past almost-year- I'm different- and that can only be a good thing. I'm not destroyed, I'm not devastated, and even though I'm once-again disappointed and the voices that speak to me of my mounting pile of failures are trying very hard to break in- I can still see where the light is, and I refuse to be afraid.

So although I can't claim victory in the sense that I got what I wanted- I think I can say that I'm a step beyond where I was a month ago. I have reclaimed some of the joy in my life, and last night as I was thinking about all this, a really profound thought came to me that would have seemed like trite words coming from someone else, but when it grew from my own heart, it just brought me comfort in this "waiting room." Hold onto your seat, because here it is: No matter whether I ever conceive another child in my body, I AM, and always will be- a mother. Today I'm thanking God for that, and I'm gonna hug my girls just a little bit closer, love them just a little bit more- and maybe even can my revulsion to the game and play Rapunzel's Mother Gothel in a yet another stunning encore performance- without complaining even in my head- because it is a great gift, just to be asked to play this role!

Two Things

Two things I think are sad.
A. I found out about a rather high-profile news story this morning... via Facebook. Ah, how it has infiltrated my life...
B. The rather high-profile news story itself leaves me feeling a bit sad and... empty. I certainly think this man amply deserved to die... but I'm saddened that someone would become so perverse that he would perpetrate the wrongs he did- and what's more, the end of this man will not in the least end what he stood for. What happened on that dreadful day was a terribly sad, awful, horrible thing- and this man was responsible for his own choices for sure- but it was not all his fault. It is a messed up system of beliefs and just downright sin that resulted in that horrific event. And that sin is still running rampant- in the people "out there" who hate us unreasonably- and also in the people "over here" who hate "them" with a vehement hatred that is fueled by the same fires that drove people to fly planes into buildings. There is a whole world of people out there growing up to HATE people like us who are arrogant enough to think that we can declare victory because one person we've been after for years is gone. There are many just waiting in the wings to take his place. And I certainly wish I didn't have to get on a plane this week! Eesh! Jesus, come back soon!

Love Is...

...staring at the same thing on the computer over and over, just because your grandchildren enjoy it. :)

 I am so glad, and thankful, for my girls to be surrounded and bathed in so much love! They are so blessed to have grandparents on both sides, aunties, uncles, friends- and Mom and Dad too of course- who LOVE them sooo much! [side note, Carolyn is eating Ammy's grapes in these pictures and that is why her mouth looks funny :)]

My mom and dad and sister were here for the weekend and we had a lovely relaxed day yesterday- I hardly "worked" at all all day, and just enjoyed some much-needed downtime with my family. Tomorrow I've got lots to catch up on, but it was a very nice, refreshing weekend, for which I am thankful. Family is the best stuff in life. :)