Happy Birthday, Kenz!

Whoa! What? Hmmmm? Come again? McKenzie is FIVE?!

February 4, 2009
Dear Diary: They say that the most crucial part of a child's development is from ages 2 through 4...so, I guess that means...I'M DONE! I only hope she can apply all the lessons she's learned. I sure hope she remembers how to wash her own dishes without getting water all over the counters, and to how to clean up after herself without smearing the apple juice all over the floor. I hope she remembers how to do her own hair, and pick matching colors for her clothing, and to at least try not to show her underwear to strangers. I guess she'll get by without a drivers license for a few more years...I hope she remembers to look both ways before she crosses the street, and to get a drink of water before she climbs into bed...and Baby, and Cuddles, and blankets, and books. I hope she remembers to speak in a kind voice when her brother rips her favorite toy away, and to say her prayers, and to brush her teeth...yes, every single tooth. And I hope, more than almost anything else, that she remembers to flush that darn toilet.


February 8, 2009
Dear Diary: It's not working out so well. Perhaps, maybe, McKenzie still needs me after all. :)


Well, it's true. McKenzie is five. My sweet, loving, independent, crazy little lady is growing up. I sure do miss those little wispy curls and those cute, kissable cheeks...but I'm finding that she has so much more to offer. She's becoming logical and funny; her feelings seem more sincere, and she's quite clear when she expresses her opinions about things. She's growing into a new phase of life - and I'm surprised at how excited I am to watch it mature even more.

She had a wonderful birthday: pancakes for breakfast...

...parties for preschool...

...lunch at Costco (with Daddy!)...

...TK's Jungle with her awesome mom and her good friend, Brookelynn...

...playing with her presents - she really scored big this year with all the grandma/nana/aunt/uncle presents...

...and her favorite meal: broccoli soup, for dinner. Yes, she is crazy. And they both sat there devouring it like they hadn't eaten in months! This picture totally isn't staged.


Have you ever been to TK's Jungle? It's so awesome! Huge, inflatable toys to jump in, slide down, run through... it was awesome. We were the only ones there for a long time - and we seriously had the time of our lives! I totally forgot I was the adult a few times until I'd try to squeeze through a small space and have a little more trouble than the kids. And, of course, there was the visual proof as the girls snapped pictures of me sliding down the slides... I looked substantially more massive than the cute little girls...ahem... But, the best part of the whole thing: I got in for FREE!!!! It felt totally backwards - paying for the kids and waltzing in myself with no fee. I almost felt like it was my birthday! We really, really, really had a ball.

























That night, as she was offering the blessing on dinner, she said, "And I'm so, so, so, so, so, SO grateful that TK's Jungle is in this world..."

Happy Birthday, my little princess!

"You are your mothers daughter"...

...those were some of the last words Brian mumbled as he was drifting off to sleep last night at 1:30 am. I had spent the whole night getting ready for McKenzie's big day today, and when Brian got home from work (at 1:00am) he helped me finish up the last of it. By the time we went to bed, there were bright pink streamers hanging from the ceilings, balloons covering the floor, a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" banner prominently displayed, a cute, fluffy, pink robe sewn and wrapped, rice krispy treats with sprinkles sitting in dishes ready to be taken to the preschool party, a day full of fun planned (seriously from the second she woke up until she hit the pillow for bed) - - - and I was still laying in bed, worrying about how to make McKenzie's 5th birthday special.

"What if it snows tonight?" I worried aloud (it did...but didn't stick at all, and thankfully didn't shut anything down). "What if I'm supposed to do more for her preschool party?" "I hope it doesn't make her sad when she finds out her favorite teacher isn't going to be there tomorrow." "Do you think it's going to ruin her night if I don't have anyone over to sing 'Happy Birthday' to her?" "I wish you didn't have to work all afternoon/night."

"Linds..." Brian interjected - already slurring his speach with exhaustion, "stop worrying. Everything is going to be great tomorrow. You've thought a lot about it... I don't think most moms spend this much time thinking about their kids' 5th birthdays. You are your mother's daughter," he finished endearingly.

He fell asleep, and I lay awake thinking about his statement. It's true...my mom could definitely be classified as a 'worrier' when it comes to her kids. From a very young age, it was easy to know that my mom cared about the way I was feeling in all situations, and that she would do anything possible to make that feeling 'good'. Just as I did everything I could to keep McKenzie from feeling one ounce of disappointment or sadness on her birthday, my mom did everything she could to keep us from those same feelings all the time. As I've become a mother, and realized that self-sacrificing is not usually intuitive for me, I've come to appreciate my mother even more for her thoughtfulness, compassion, and selflessness in my behalf.

One of my best friends here once said to me, "I want to give my kids the same kind of childhood you had...or, at least, the kind of childhood I imagine you had from your stories." She then continued by bringing up my mom (who she's never met) and I was touched because she recognized that much of my childhood happiness came from my mother.

I guess this is just a long way to say I love you, Mom! And, even though I spent much of the night worrying last night, I'm glad that I have a little of that in me - because that's what I love so much about you.

Nighttime Nastiness

Crickets, folks. We have them...lots of them...downstairs. They only come out at night, after the sun has left the sky - and at that time, I avoid those basement rooms as much as I possibly, possibly can. I've realized that almost anything can wait until tomorrow morning if it involves stepping downstairs.

I don't really like bugs in general, but these crickets are in another league. They are called camel crickets and, not only are they extremely ugly, they have some seriously nasty quirks. Most bugs will run from you if you get too close - they scatter into the shadows, or hide behind the closest piece of furniture. But not these crickets. Oh, they seem to try to jump into the shadows but, you see, they're rather uncoordinated. If I get to close, they actually jump towards me - and bounce off - and jump sideways - and land upside down - - - it's disgusting. And I've seen them jump at least 4 feet high. I was reading online about them, and some people have seen these gross crickets jump so high that they actually hit the ceiling! I have had more than my fair share of unwanted encounters...the worst being when I reach down to grab something and one jumps into my palm - and bounces off - and jumps sideways - and lands upside down - - - ewwwww!

Well, I was brave tonight. I hadn't quite finished all of my laundry by sunset, and I decided to venture down there to change out the last load. Of course, I was very on edge - scanning the whole area before placing my foot close to any potential cricket-home. It was quiet, and I was almost there when I looked down and saw this:

Sorry about the bad picture - I was still downstairs, after sunset, so I just wanted to snap a picture and get out of there! This bug is about 4 inches long - FYI.

I screamed. I couldn't help it! And then, when I realized it was plastic, I kicked it across the room. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to give my son a package of bugs that looks so real that it elicits a genuine scream from his mother - but I suspect a 'Grandma Package' had something to do with it.

So, Jean, I just want you to know that I blame you for my near heart-attack tonight. :)

Uncontrollable Air

For weeks and weeks and weeks - even months - I have been working effortlessly and unsuccessfully at helping McKenzie stick to her manners when it comes to belching. I don't so much mind if she lets a big one go in the house among family, or even very close friends, but she truly has a gift in being able to summon up a burp at almost any inconvenient time. I have been embarrassed at supermarkets, restaurants, guest's houses, church meetings and libraries. After the latest embarrassment scene at Chick-Fil-A a little while ago, I started being really tough on her: not allowing loud burps anywhere...even in our home, until she could learn to control it.

So while we were finishing our bedtime routine a few nights ago, when she literally bent in half to help force the air through her vocal chords at a faster speed, I lost my cool a little. "MCKENZIE!" I exclaimed, "How many times have I told you NOT TO BURP LIKE THAT? If you feel a burp coming, try to make it as quiet as possible...not as loud as possible!" Very frustrated, I told her to go turn the light off and that we would only be singing one song for bedtime.

She did as she was told and then climbed up into the rocking chair that Carson and I were already sitting in. She settled in, Carson was still wiggling around, and I started to sing their favorite song Goodnight my Angel. Well, I didn't get two words into it before Carson's little elbow dug right into my stomach causing me to sound something like this: "Goodnight mwaaaaAAAAAAAAAA" No, no...not a scream...a burp. A loud, long, completely unexpected burp.

This was funny on two levels: number one, I am not a belcher - at all. I very, very, very rarely have air in my stomach, so my children have probably never really heard me burp like that before - I don't remember the last time I have heard me burp like that! I even have this weird issue with my esophagus that makes the mere physical act of burping a little challenging (and, I know what you're all thinking...but it doesn't come out the other way either...)! And, number two, it couldn't have been 60 seconds since I had bawled McKenzie out for doing the exact same thing!

We laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed in the dark that night. Serious, throw the head back, laughing. I couldn't get through the song, McKenzie literally had tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard, and Carson kept saying, "Mommy, why you go: MWAAAAAAA?" Making us laugh harder and harder and harder.

Oh, the joys of motherhood! I guess everyone needs a little uncontrollable burping every once in a while - expecially if it leads to so much uncontrollable laughter!

!nuf os - yad sdrawkcaB

Today has been a FANTASTIC day! It being backwards day, and all. What? You haven't heard of it? Well, the news spread all over Mrs. Ingolds 4 year old preschool class - and they all showed up wearing their clothes backwards for 'B' week. McKenzie has been talking about 'backwards day' for weeks now - and when she woke up this morning to see her mother wearing her hooded sweater backwards, it was all she could do to finish her breakfast before getting dressed in her own wacky outfit. She was tickled that Carson was participating, too.

Such simple wonders that create perfect days!
And, yes, it did just snow three days ago - yet, here we are, completely comfortable in our long sleeves and no jackets. :) It was so beautiful today that we played outside all afternoon instead of having nap time and quiet time. Isn't North Carolina awesome?!

It's Snowing! (And I'm not squinting this time...)

Yep - it's snowing in North Carolina. Love it...LOVE it! Well, I guess it's not actually snowing...but it did snow. All through the early morning hours and into the afternoon leaving us with a grand total of: an inch or so. Yes, you can still see my grass poking through the snow - but I must mention that my grass is quite long. :) The kids and I played all morning and I realized something sort of depressing - after 4 and a half years here, I've become quite a wimp when it comes to cold air and especially wind. I noticed that I was the one saying, "I'm cold. Do you guys want to go inside now?" I tried to make it sound as enticing as possible with some, "into the nice, warm house" and some "how does some hot cocoa sound?!" and more "wouldn't it be fun to curl up in a nice warm blanket and read a bunch of stories?" But they would not be deterred. Especially McKenzie. Of course, she was the one who had snow pants and good gloves. :)











We used cookie sheets as sleds and our ditch as a hill. There wasn't quite enough snow to make a good snowman...plus, the snow was pretty dry. I wish I'd have gotten some more pictures, but I guess we were just having too much fun!

And, I swear, hot cocoa never tastes as good as it does when the mug brings back feeling to my numb fingers, and the steam warms my frozen nose.

Who knew?

I think I really love plants. You know, the living, breathing, eating, drinking type - those interesting creatures that actually take some care to keep alive and some thought to keep happy. It's funny, because I never thought I liked plants - too much work, too little benefit, and they always die. But, just today, I was sitting on the couch updating my budget spreadsheets when I looked up at my peace-lily that a friend gave to me and I thought, "You know, that's very pretty." Then, I looked at my interestingly lopsided poinsettia (which only looks good from one direction) and I thought, "You know, that's beautiful, too." And, when I looked at my pretty little pink roses flourishing in an awesome looking green vase, I realized - I think I really love plants.










I also have another peace-lily that lives in my living room...and, just today, I realized how proud I am of myself for keeping these four plants alive for so long! (Okay, so the roses are dying - but that's to be expected.) I don't know how long poinsettias are supposed to live, and I can't figure out how to make my peace-lilys actually produce their white flowers, but they're alive...and they're green...and they're beautiful. My peace-lily in the living room has had quite an eventful life, too - sunburn, frost-bite, drowning...but in the three years it's been under my care, it has never actually died. (I thought it had a time or two...)

It's a little overwhelming at this point to think of starting a flower garden - too many other things to do first (like...rake all my leaves...or move all of my bushes...). But, perhaps I will start appreciating plant life a little more. :)