Somebody Special is Two!

She thought it was just an ordinary day even though everyone kept wishing her a "Happy Birthday."  She merely returned the greeting.  "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" she called to my husband as he walked out the door this morning.  I suppose it was a pretty ordinary day up until this evening.  Even Mom's delicious tortilla soup was a wonderful but ordinary meal.

Today's soup was "lick your fingers" good though, if I do say so myself, and the photos don't lie, friends.

C'est Magnifique!

Shortly after dinner, however, Lili came to the realization that something wonderful was happening.  I think this photo nicely captured the moment of glee when it all clicked.

"Oh!  It's MY birthday!!"

And because she is such a wonderfully fabulous and amazing TWO year old now, she managed to blow out her own candles.  I was a bit impressed apparently.  Sophia asked, "Why are you screaming, Mom?"  Sorry.  It's just what I do when I witness a child-birthday-prodigy.

Of course the fun and regaling is far from over.  We are still Carsons, and we believe that children's birthdays should be celebrated thoroughly and over the course of a couple of days.  Tomorrow evening a few friends will join us for a Sesame Street themed birthday shindig.  Lili is currently obsessed with all things Sesame Street, and as you can see, I am doing nothing to discourage this. 

After opening a few Sesame Street themed gifts tonight, Lili decided to adopt all of the Sesame Street characters and make them a part of our family.  She just tucked Ernie Carson into bed... right next to Elmo Carson.  Of course.

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." - Dr Seuss

I Got Nothin'

I am feeling terribly uninspired lately.  We are continuing to adjust to life on a schedule.  We really embraced summer time this year.  Early mornings and routines have not been embraced with great zeal so far.  I have also been spending a LOT of my energy trying to prevent this person from doing THIS in the middle of the day...

Sure, it looks lovely, BUT if Lili sleeps at all during the day, she doesn't want to go to bed until 10 or 11 o'clock at night.  Not cool.  So chances are, you might find me playing "Hide Seek," hostessing a bubble bath/ tea party, or singing the Elmo's World theme song repeatedly at about 5 pm each evening.  Things could certainly be worse.

Sweet Dreams, Friends.

Routines, Quality Time and Cool Scars (or the lack thereof)

Boy, my head is spinning a little.  We have not exactly eased gracefully into the new school year.  None of us seem to have latched on to the concept of, "Early to be, early to rise..."  In fact on Monday morning, after she had fallen asleep in her cornflakes three times, I simply sent Sophia back to bed and took her in to school an hour late.  I decided it was more important that she be conscious than on time.  Call me crazy.

I am enjoying the one on one time that I have with Lili now that those other people are off at school all day.  Having me all to herself means that Lil has plenty of time to declare her appreciation for different parts of my body.  This is particularly apparent when she climbs into the shower with me, pats me on the bum and chirps, "I like ya booty, Mama."  We've also played countless games of "Hide Seek."  When the excitement level gets too high, sometimes Lili forgets which part she is playing.  She has been known to jump out from her hiding spot and shout, "I FOUND ME!!" on more than one occasion.  Additionally she has sweetly nurtured me back to health a couple of times when I have stubbed a toe or gotten a paper cut. "Oh!  Owweee!" she sympathizes, "You okay, Mama?"  I'm not the only one who wants to just eat her up, right?

Yesterday I also had a rare bit of  scheduled 'alone time' with my eldest daughter.  We recently noticed an abnormal mole on her hip and followed our pediatrician's recommendation to have it removed.

Sophia was in school; Lili was at her best buddy Mae's house, and I was at good ole Dr. Phenninger's office with a somewhat nervous Emma.  As she sipped a complimentary mini can of Dr. Pepper in the waiting area, my attention was focused solely on her, and I realized that that doesn't happen nearly enough.  Logically, to ease her fears as well as to annoy everyone else sitting in the waiting room, we played "Club Fist," which took me back in time about thirty years.  (Having the "crows peck it off" was one of the ways my Papa Blackburn expressed his love for me.)  Club Fist didn't entertain us for too long, and the conversation topics eventually drifted toward the field of medicine and politics.  Talking politics with a nine-year-old is a wonderful thing.  A nine-year-old simply cannot understand why grown-up politicians cannot get their acts together, speak kindly to and about each other, and compromise occasionally.  She even learned a new vocabulary word: intransigence.  People shouldn't be so intransigent if they're going to be leaders, Emma thinks.

All was going well until we got into the procedure room and were left alone after the nurse gave Emma a once over.  Then I watched my nine-year-old transform into a very frightened five-year-old right before my eyes.  She was full of questions and apprehension.  While we waited, a call to my mom (Emma's Mimi) helped to ease her fears and distract her a bit, but when the doctor entered the room, Emma tensed up like a turkey at Thanksgiving.  Luckily Dr. Phenninger was an expert in dealing with terrified nine-year-olds.  The conversation went something like this:

Dr. P: "What's wrong?!"
Emma: "I'm scared."
Dr. P: "Why?!"
Emma: "Because I've never done this before."
Dr. P (with eyes as wide as saucers and a perfect quivering voice): "Neither have I!!"
Emma: Laughs
Dr. P: "Well, I've never done it ON YOU before.  That's true.  What are you worried about?"
Emma: "I just really don't want it to hurt."
Dr. P: "Listen, Emma, the chainsaw is really loud, but it doesn't hurt very much."

At this point he had completely won her over.  Wonderful Dr. Phenninger talked Emma through everything that was happening, and I'll be a monkey's uncle if she didn't prop up on her elbow and watch every bloody moment of the procedure.  Before it was over, she was, in fact, offering her expert suggestions to the doctor regarding how he might better "get it all off."  Thanks, Emma.  You're very smart.  Now, shut up.

Later on in the evening, I told Emma, "I know that what we did this afternoon wasn't particularly fun, but I really enjoyed spending time with you." 

She replied,  "It was really cool watching the doctor cut that thing off my skin, but I'm really annoyed that I'm not going to have a cool scar."   I choose to believe that this meant that she really enjoyed spending time with me as well.

  Welcome back to the craziness of the school year, y'all!

"Tell Me Every Little Thing" Tea

These wonderful people had to go back to school today.  It was a little sad but mostly good.  With too much down time, sisters can really start to aggravate each other.  It will also be good to get my precocious toddler back into some sort of sensible rhythm.  She currently doesn't believe what the fairy godmother teaches about turning into a pumpkin after midnight, but I digress.

I always strive to be "Super Fun Mom" on the first day of school.  I like the set the bar high and then backslide for the rest of the school year.  Last night I decided we would have a super girly tea party after school and catch up on all of the day's happenings.  So while they were away (and Miss Toddler Pants was conveniently napping), I set the stage...

You realize, of course, that I am still a school teacher trapped in a Mama's body.  This fun new chalkboard that my sweet husband hung in the kitchen allows me to channel my inner Mrs. Griswold.  (The kids also think it's fun.)

Next I set the table with a polka-dotted bed sheet and pieces of my grandmother's china...

It turned out to be completely unnecessary, but I also made some little tea party topics on strips of paper to keep the conversation rolling.  Both girls were eager to tell me about their days, but the "topics", which were folded up and placed in a pretty box, helped keep the conversation balanced.  The girls took turns taking a topic from the box and reading it aloud.  Then they both answered the question and discussed.  Nobody got verklempt.

Did I mention that I also baked a fresh peach crumble?  The rest of my accouterments were probably inessential.  A pretty table with tea and warm fruit crumble yielded plenty of lovely discussion.

"The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose."  

~George Gissing

"A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards."  

~A.A. Milne

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."  

~Henry James

Even our grumbly toddler could smell that something nice was happening and climbed out of bed to join the party.  "Lili have a sip!!"

Of course it needn't be the first day of school to have a girly tea party.  There is a chance I may feel "Super Fun Mom" overtake me again some day soon and surprise my girls with a "just because" after school celebration.

"If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty."  

~Japanese Proverb

Outlaws

I have heard the usual complaints about in-laws.  Some of the stories my friends have told me about their horrific in-laws have made my jaw drop and my hair stand on end.  I am insanely happy to report that I cannot "relate."  I don't have any in-law horror stories to recount.  I could complain about toilet seats being left up or about all of my homemade cookies being consumed during a late night card game, but those would truly be half-hearted complaints.

Before my husband and I were married, I already felt like I fit into the Carson clan, and now when we are making plans to get the gang together, I get all bubbly and excited inside because it's fun for an only child to be a part of a big family.  When Paw Paw and Uncle David visit, our girl-dominated family dynamic gets turned on its head.  There is less drama and more flatulence.  Practical jokes are played.  Rude pictures are scribbled at the dinner table.  Card games (accompanied by colorful phraseology) are played at all hours.  The grown-ups act a little more like kids, and the kids don't seem to mind.

When we get together insults and terms of endearment are difficult to distinguish.  Whether Paw Paw is shouting, "You lousy, low brow!" or Uncle David is squealing, "Quit bein' so OLD, Dad!"  It's all love, and we all know it.  Knowing that you are loved just the way you are is rather wonderful.  When Paw Paw accompanies my kitchen-dancing with an improvised ukulele performance, it's his way of saying, "Hey, I like your kind of crazy.  In fact, young lady, you are speaking my language."

Of course we are not perfect, but no one pretends to be perfect either.  No one passive aggressively comments on my "creative" parenting techniques or suggests that my tuna casserole isn't like the kind Granny used to make.  We just love each other, warts and all.  And we say it... out loud (right after we hurl a playful insult).  I love you Carsons and feel so blessed to be a part of the cacophonous and unruly pastiche of personalities that is our family.

Up North

We thought we already lived "Up North" since we are in mid-Michigan.  It's certainly farther north than any place I've ever lived before, but local Midlanders constantly refer to the wonderfulness of  "going Up North," and now that we've officially been, we understand why.  We recently returned from a long weekend up in the Traverse City area where we saw some of the most beautiful sights.  On the way up, we even pulled the car over in Paradise, MI so that Emma could have a potty break.  The highlight of her day was having "peed in Paradise."

Words escape me as I attempt to describe the breath-taking scenery we encountered up yonder.  At several points, I looked through the view finder of my camera and simply sighed and replaced the lens cover.  I am not a good enough photographer to capture the immense exquisiteness that is Lake Michigan.  Here, however, are a few of the photos I took anyway.  Perhaps they are still worth almost a thousand words.

Here we are at the top of one of the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  The camera also fails to capture what a strenuous climb it was (for me at least) getting to the top.  I hustled ahead with a sleeping toddler strapped to my back, sand crumbling beneath my bare feet and sun beating down from above.  When we were about three quarters of the way to the top, my calves were screaming and I started to doubt myself.  Luckily my daughter Emma bounded back down the dune, took my hand, and encouraged, "Come on, Mom!  I'll give you some of my power."  With her help, I did indeed make it to the top where I shouted He-Man's battle cry and was rewarded with a spectacular view.

On Day Two we rented a pontoon boat and spent the day on gorgeous Torch Lake.  My seven year old summed up the day well when she dubbed it, "B.D.E."  (That's "Best Day Ever," of course.)

Tubing on Torch Lake got four thumbs up and two splashes from our two oldest girls.

Lili and I were very content to relax and leave the excitement to the big kids.

On Day Three we enjoyed the natural and man-made wonders that Traverse City had to offer...

I'm pretty sure that it's written in the Constitution that proper family vacations must include a round of mini golf.  And did you know that eighteen holes of golf can bring out at least eighteen different moods in my nine year old?  This pirate-themed mini golf course was fantastic actually, and there were "fun" facts about the exploits of Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard) around the Carolina coast at each hole.

We even let Emma take a silly novelty photo of the us in the stocks.  Emma said we should look "desperate and sad," so George and I both imagined how we had felt several hours earlier when our adorable toddler was wide awake in the hotel past midnight.  Family holidays are mostly good, but there are also bad and ugly moments to balance things out.

To end it all we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying Lake Michigan.  My Michigan friends tell me plainly that it IS the best Great Lake ever, and I think I could be convinced too.  And now for your enjoyment... a photo of my naked thighs.  I know you were hoping for as much.

Alright now, settle down, Beavis.

But wait!  That's not all.  The next day on the way home, we stopped by the apparently world famous "Cops and Doughnuts" in Clare, MI.  The doughnuts were good, and the mug shots were free...

So to sum up.... We had a wonderful "Up North" vacation.  10-4.  Over and out.