Sunday, August 25, 2013

So Funny...So True

I love this article on how much you change your perspective on parenting--what you are and aren't willing to do--once you actually have kids.  It totally made me giggle.
My perspective may have changed a liiiiiiittle bit since having these two.
I can vividly remember telling Rhett when we bought our old Honda Pilot that I specifically did not want a car with a DVD player in it (Cate was all of four months old at that point).  What lazy parents would rely on movies for car trips??!?  My sister and I never watched movies on our trips up and down the east coast and we were just fine.  

My view changed all of thirty minutes into our first trek to the beach when Cate was about one year.  I could not get my hands on a DVD player fast enough.




Thursday, August 22, 2013

How I Came to Own a Car That Seats 17

Ok, not really 17.  More like seven.  Plus my two dogs.  And our stuff.  Our stuff=our children's junk lovely and cherished possessions.

That's right, I am now wheeling around VA in this:
This car is so big, I can't even back up against the garage far enough to get the entire thing in the frame.
We did NOT intend to buy this car.  It all started very innocently.  We were inexplicably tight on space in my old car on our drive to the beach.  Our little family plus our babysitter, Sarah, were packed in like sardines driving south.  It was even worse coming back because we added some toys thanks to a little bday celebration for Cate and her cousins.  I rode with my legs indian style the entire way down and back and every time we'd ask Sarah if she had enough room in our third row, I swear something would shift and she'd get knocked in the head by a bag, beach chair, or Cate's red bike.

Why didn't you avoid buying a new car and just get a rooftop carrier, you may ask.   Ah, thanks.  We already own one and used it.  Well, why didn't you try to edit and pack smartly?  Two words--two girls.  They like taking their stuff places and it makes them more comfortable/sleep better.  And if you know me, you know I will do pretty much anything in the name of sleep.

So, Rhett started casually perusing used car websites when we got back from the beach with the thought that we might just buy one some time over the next year.  I told him I had a list of requirements--white car, light leather, low mileage, DVD player, seat heaters, and the piece de resistance--captain's chairs.  We quickly realized that it would be nearly impossible to find a car we liked with captain's chairs because they came standard on only the most deluxe models--AKA the models we were not willing to shell out for.

And then a few Saturdays ago, lightening struck.  He saw a listing that had just been posted on a website for a car that fit all of my requirements, was (sort of) in our price range, and was listed at under 1,000 miles.  You had me at hello, Mr. Under 1,000 Miles White Car.  This car was a mid-level package, not the deluxe, but whoever bought it added lots of options and then promptly decided to never drive it.

Rhett sent an information request e-mail into the website and ten minutes later a guy named Woody Harrison (awesome name) called my cell.  Spur of the moment, Rhett made an appointment to go see the car.  Things were moving fast.

Woody then called back fifteen minutes later.  He was sitting in the car.  The car was nice.  And it wasn't just clocking in under 1,000 miles.  It had 197 miles on it.  So we bought it.  And it is freaking fantastic.

One of my friends, upon hearing that we bought such a massive car, said "you know, those things come with a three kid requirement, right?"  Well, if that is true, Mr. Under 1,000 Miles White Car needs to be returned because I am holding firm at two children with zero in the hopper.  For now, we are enjoying the massive space and convenience.  I am in love--mainly with my husband, but also the car.
Dear Diary: Jackpot!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Cherish Life's Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures are a gift!  Here are the simple things we've been enjoying lately:

Park Visits...




Pulling out ALL of the tupperware to find our prized Minnie Mouse cup...
Who wants to come clean up?
Celebrating our cousins' first birthdays...

 Finding the perfect Hello Kitty backpack at the store...

Visiting DC...

 Playing around on oversized furniture...

 ...and finally, warm weather, walks, and pit stops to share lemonade!






Sunday, August 18, 2013

Grandparents

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.  
Grandparents...sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children."
-Alex Haley

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Drive

I heard Alan Jackson's song, Drive, on the radio today and it made me think of this picture from the beach:

"A young girl, two hands on the wheel
Can't replace the way it made me feel
And he'd say 
Turn it left, and steer it right
Straighten up girl, you're doing just fine
Just a little valley by the river where we'd ride
But I was high on a mountain
When Daddy let me drive."

Not gonna lie, I teared up.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Think Good Thoughts


Acting Like Sisters

Lately Cate and Charlotte have been acting like such sisters.  They love each other and make one another one giggle constantly...only to scream bloody murder the next second because someone took their prized toy/book/Cheerio/fly swatter/you name it.

It is so funny to watch them at ages where they can really play together.   And, while it can be tough to play referee between two girls, only aged four and one, the times when I catch them playing together are so darn sweet, I thank the Lord above for giving me these two and for giving them each other.




Sunday, August 4, 2013

How to Turn Four

Now that the festivities have died down, I can recap the seemingly never-ending celebration that was Cate's fourth birthday :)  We started the celebration in Nags Head in mid-July when we were beaching it with Rhett's family:
Tearing right into the coveted gift--a My Little Pony wedding castle.  Cate's head almost exploded upon opening this.
Cate got pretty much everything on her birthday list at the beach--she was beside herself.

On her actual birthday we started with balloons at Cate's door and present opening followed by a trip to her favorite playground and a carousel ride.  We also went out for a special bday lunch and got Cate her very own pink cupcake.
Not sure what to make of her balloon-covered doorway.
Now she is into it.
Open presents at 6:15am?  DONE
Gift from Aunt Betsy--Cate was wondering how she could fly in this costume.
Birthday carousel ride--Cate chose the zebra.
Very timid over the candles--no risk of becoming a pyromaniac here.
So proud of her new dress--Cate told me "I look like a teenager!" 
New princess dress from Birdie.  Not pictured: Cate wearing it in the mall.  Also not pictured: Cate wearing to Panera for breakfast.  Don't judge.
The weekend after Cate's birthday, she took her best friend, Vivian, to the movies to see Turbo.  The girls both experienced their first movie together and they were old pros.  They are FOUR, after all!

Making sure we all got some ultra healthy lunch before the movie treats :) 
Captivated and loving it.
Happy Birthday to my first baby!