Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Modern Art



Morgan was feeling better today, so we headed down to the Children's Museum for the morning. She made this fine creation in the art room. From the left, and going clock wise, we have a fake flower (for Mom); some sunglasses for the summer; a pink curler because pink is her favorite color; an Altoids box because she loves candy; and a volleyball because she like to play ball with her brother. This was all carefully glued to the "old fashioned" computer paper--I know you remember it, the kind that has the holes along the sides to run through those ancient printers! I suppose we'll have to hang this one on the bulletin board in her room before it mysteriously disappears. Good thing we got a picture of it.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Stomach Bug Strikes Again!

At 2 am Monday morning, the stomach bug came back to our household with a vengeance. Morgan came into our room with her teeth chattering, saying she was freezing cold and so thirsty. The next four hours, Keith and I were up cleaning one mess after another, and trying to get her to take some medicine to reduce the fever. Thankfully, Charley slept through the entire ordeal.

She spent all day yesterday on the couch, as all TV rules go out the window when you're sick around here.

I think we may be on the road to recovery today...now we're just hoping that the rest of us have dodged the bug bullet!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Backyard Carnival





Morgan's friend Brad invited us over for a "Backyard Carnival" this morning. His mom went all out: she had a lemonade stand, a water table, a sprinkler, bubbles, and even a sno cone machine. Here are some pictures of the kids at the festivities: Morgan with her friends Brad (l) and Tirzah (r), Charley trying to figure out how the whole blowing bubbles thing works (maybe if he just looks at it long enough a bubble will come out), and Charley with a beach ball.




Summer is here and we are enjoying it--hope you are too!!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

I Scream for Ice Cream

He won't drink milk, but boy does this kid love some ice cream!
We all went downtown this weekend and hit the Farmer's Market on Marion Square Saturday morning. We split a delicious ham, bacon and cheese omelet with breakfast potatoes that was made to order by one of the local vendors. Afterwards Keith, a man after my own heart, said "All we need now is some good dessert"...and you can never go wrong with ice cream!
And yes, we did get Charley's hair cut that morning, too. So hopefully he won't be mistaken for a girl, again--at least for another month or two.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A Handmade Dress




Thanks to a tremendous amount of help from my friend Emily (and some entertaining company from Jill and Diane), I managed to finish a dress for Morgan in about 2 hours on Sunday night. The really amazing thing is that Morgan actually liked it enough to wear it to school on Monday, and it didn't fall apart after I washed it! Here are a couple of shots of her wearing it, and a few of Charley with some "bed head". I suppose it's about time for a haircut as he was mistaken for a girl a few days ago!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

We enjoyed a nice steak dinner (provided by Keith!) and I got a break from going to the grocery store for the week, as Keith took care of that, too. Woo hoo--you gotta love Mother's Day. Thanks for everything!

Sweatman's Barbecue - Eutawville, SC


Keith and I decided to load up the kids and take an hour and a half ride to the South Carolina mecca of barbecue: Sweatman's in Eutawville. It was quite an experience. The barbecue was good (not as good as Cecil's in Orlando, we agreed), but the atmosphere was something else. We were by far the youngest people in the joint, and most of the other patrons stared at our children like they hadn't seen kids in years!

One of the waitresses was kind enough to show us around back, where the cook was preparing the barbecue over a wood fire pit. They are only open 2 days a week, and go through 20 hogs. Unbelievable! We were glad to try it--so we can say we've been there, but probably won't go again any time soon.




Friday, May 11, 2007

Muffins for Mom

Charley and I had the privilege of joining Morgan at her pre-school this morning for "Muffins with Mom" where we, of course, had some muffins, the kids had some juice, and I loaded up on some more caffeine. Afterwards,the kids presented us with bookmarks that had their picture on it, and a cute flower they somehow made out of a coffee filter. I really admire the creativity of their teachers. Anyhow, it got me to thinking about how much our lives have changed since having children, and it reminded me of the story below. I think it really sums it all up. I hope you all enjoy it...and Happy Mother's Day (a little early) to all you moms out there.
Being a Mom

We are sitting at lunch one day when my friend casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of starting a family. "We're taking a survey", she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?" "It will change your life " I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. "I know" she says "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."
But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my friend trying to decide what to tell her. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I want my friend to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. That however decisive she may be at the office, she will second guess herself constantly as a mother.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
My friend's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts. "You'll never regret it" I finally say.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Hoppy Easter



Happy (very belated) Easter!

We took these shots at the kids' Easter Egg Hunt on the Isle of Palms. It was FREEZING cold, and there were hundreds of kids. Charley was terrified of the Easter Bunny, and wouldn't get anywhere near him. Morgan,on the other hand, was merely a girl on a mission for some jelly beans. We had fun, but were glad to get back to our much warmer home.

Thanks to Nana for the Easter baskets, and thanks to the Easter Bunny for the treats, especially Charley's cool blue sunglasses and yummy candy!

Sullivan's Island Park Day



Here are a few pictures of the kids at the park the other day. We spent the morning flying kites on the water next to Fort Moultrie, where our ancestors were held captive by union soldiers during the War of Northern Aggression. You can e-mail my brother for all the details, or to order his book, at wsmorganv@aol.com.

Afterwards, we stopped by the park on Sullivan's Island for a picnic lunch and a little more play time. Incidentally, Reese Witherspoon, who starred in "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Pheonix, recently purchased a home on the island. I am still trying to figure out where it is, as her youngest is Morgan's age, and I'm sure we could all be great friends. Maybe we could even meet at this very park!

A Morning at the Children's Museum



Morgan didn't have school today, and we figured the parks would probably still be a little messy with all the rain we had from sub tropical storm Andrea. So, we decided to meet some friends downtown for a little indoor fun at the Children's Museum. Here are some shots of the kids from a previous visit: Morgan and Charley "painting" with water on the chalkboard, and Charley learning about velocity while playing with golf balls.

Morgan's Church Choir Debut




As many of you may already know, Morgan has been attending church choir on Wednesday nights. They ended the year with a great performance for the parents on May 2nd with a "P.J. (Prayers to Jesus) Party" theme.



In case you can't pick her right out, Morgan is on the far right in the red shirt, with her mouth wide open belting out some tunes. Needless to say, she doesn't exactly suffer from stage fright! We have no idea where she gets that from :-).