A Father's Day Message...or two

My husband is a terrific father. He is. Really. I'm not just saying that because it's Father's Day. He loves his kids and they love him (as do I). He has changed his fair share of dirty diapers with minimal complaints. He watches our little munchkins while I go to the grocery store. He plays games with them, reads them their favorite stories, prays with them, laughs with them...and the list goes on and on. Annabelle has him wrapped around her little finger. It's a proven fact that she can get anything she wants with a little pout of her lips...or with a hug...or a smile...or saying something cute...you get the point, right? Jacob amazes his daddy with his memorization skills, his innate ability to play the drums, and the crazy, yet profound, statements that come out of his mouth.

Heath is an engineer and I love it when he tries to explain things like pervious concrete to a very inquisitive, four year old Jacob. Heath uses all the big engineering words and somehow, Jacob seems to "get it." (These are the times when I pull out the nerd jokes.) Now, if Jacob spots pervious concrete in a parking lot, he spits to show me that his spit will soak in. I know. Kind of gross, but funny nonetheless.

Jacob and Annabelle love music, and they love when their Daddy plays the guitar for them. Those are my favorite moments. Heath sits on the floor playing his guitar while the kids dance, sing, and climb all over him. Annabelle gets in an occasional strum while Jacob plays along on his toy guitar. Heath happily takes their requests and plays all of them: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Itsy Bitsy Spider; Reaching for You; a few Imagination Movers Songs, and lots more that I can't think of right now. Jacob says his Daddy is cool because he plays the guitar...and he wears hats. Yeah, he's cool like that.





Annabelle has a special little Father's Day message of her own:

Happy Father's Day, Heath!! You're the best and we love you!!

Her Own Stories

Jacob and Annabelle love books. We read all the time. Now that Jacob can read pretty much anything on his own, his love of books has exploded. When Jacob was Annabelle's age, he memorized his favorite books, word for word. He couldn't read yet, but if you handed him a copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, he could "read" you every word. He knew the story by heart. When reading to him, if I ever skipped or changed a word, Jacob knew it and promptly brought it to my attention.

Now, with Annabelle, we have an entirely different story. Where Jacob is usually very logical and methodical, Annabelle is more of a "free spirit." This is even apparent when we read together.

If it's a book they know well, sometimes I'll read the first part of a phrase and let the kids complete the sentence. Jacob always gives me the words written on the page. Annabelle, instead of telling me the second part of the sentence, tells her own story. Let's take Good Night Moon, for example. One of their favorite lines from the book is "...and a quiet old lady whispering 'hush'..." So, I say, "...and a quiet old lady whispering.............." Jacob answers immediately, "hush!" in a loud whisper, then we move on with the story. Not Annabelle.

ME: "...and a quiet old lady whispering......."
ANNABELLE: "Da yady is wocking in her chaaaay-er! She is behw-y, behw-y quiet. Yeah. Yook at da yittle mouse! Da yady says.....hussssssssshhhhhh!"

Even if she knows the story, she gets creative when she reads books and comes up with stories of her own. Very cute. And very different from her brother.

So This Is What It Looks Like

It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day in June. June 8th to be exact. I stood in the doorway of the church where I was raised, my dad by my side, waiting for a cue to walk in. I was wearing the most gorgeous dress I have ever owned. True to form, I was calm and collected on the outside; a bundle of nerves on the inside, praying that I would hold it together during the ceremony. Praying that I wouldn't trip over my dress. Praying that everything would go perfectly, just as planned. Daddy walked me down the aisle; I joined Heath at the altar, and that afternoon, in front of God and a multitude of family and friends, Heath and I said, "I do" beginning our journey into wedded bliss.

Now, fast forward NINE years later **insert sound effect of fast forward button on a VCR from the 80's**. Ok. So it hasn't always been wedded bliss. Everyone knows marriage can be tough at times. Just like anything in life, marriage has its hills and valleys, its ups and downs. But after being married for nine years, I can tell you, the ups far outweigh the downs. :)

So this is what marriage (our marriage) looks like after nine years: We have a house...and a mortgage; two kids; Heath is still with the same company he worked for just after he graduated from college; I am a stay-at-home mom who is homeschooling (and who would have ever thought that back in 2002??); I still irritate Heath with my "clothes mountains" and my less than perfect organizational and cleaning skills; BUT, we're happy and we still love each other. That's really saying something. Heath, thank you for loving me and putting up with my craziness for nine years. I don't know how you do it. Really. I don't. :)

Nine years ago, after the vows were exchanged, the cake was cut, and the party was over, I began praying, "Please, God, help me to be the wife you want me to be." This is still my prayer today (and it will always be); although, I've added "and mother."

To celebrate our ninth anniversary, Heath and I spent the weekend in Charleston, where we got engaged...sans children. We had spent one night away from them before, but never an entire weekend. It was wonderful. Of course, I love my children, but it was nice to have a little "us" time. With kids, every trip, every outing, every thing is always about them. Right or wrong, our world tends to revolve around our children. With a two year old and a four year old, that's just the way it goes...I guess.

After a morning carriage tour, we spent all of Saturday afternoon walking the historic streets, enjoying the freedom of not pushing a stroller, chasing a toddler, or having to break up a petty argument. Aaaaaaaahhhh. Now that was bliss.

Things I love about Charleston:

We didn't stay here. I just thought the window box was pretty. :)

Grocery Stores...and the Duncans

A typical trip to the grocery store......

Starts out fine. Fun. Laughs. Cookies. A piece of lunch meat from the deli counter.

Cookies have been devoured. Lunch meat fell on the floor.

"Get off me!" "Stop pushing me!" "Don't touch my steering wheel ' cause I'M DRIVING!" "You're on my side!!!" "Get away!!" "Mommy, Annabelle is trying to open the salad!" "Jacob is sitting on me!" "Annabelle is opening the berries!"

Screaming. Whining. Yelling. Fighting. An occasional laugh. An occasional head shake from a fellow shopper.

All this, and we haven't even left the produce section.

Yep. Just another trip to the grocery store. Thank you, Publix, for putting up with us and not kicking us out...yet.

More on the Mystery Trip

As you've already read, our mystery trip was, indeed, a mystery. In fact, part of the trip was even a mystery to Heath and me.

The plan: Leave early. Stop in Columbia. Take the kids somewhere to burn some energy to the point of exhaustion so they would nap during the remainder of the drive. (Naps = happy, more agreeable children) Exactly where that "somewhere" was, we weren't sure. We thought about taking them to a park or a playground. The zoo maybe? We got in the car, started driving, and a while later, made our decision: Edventure Children's Museum.

The kids L-O-V-E-D it.

They played and ran, and ran and climbed, and climbed and played...for hours...nonstop. What a great place!!

Both Jacob and Annabelle were fascinated with the butterfly garden. I was just happy we made it out of the garden without any butterfly casualties. Whew.

Jacob was given an informational hand-out with pictures of all the different butterflies. He tried to find each one. "Zebra butterfly...check!"


The firetruck was also a big hit. Typically, every playground Jacob sets foot on turns into a fire station. He is always pretending to be a fireman, fearlessly putting out fires and rescuing people in peril. Yet, if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says, "A police officer."


Jacob has seen me pump gas a million times. If Heath is with us, he is the one who pumps the gas and sometimes, Jacob gets to help. The other night, The kids and I stopped for gas on the way home from church. When I got out of the car, Jacob yelled, "Mommy, YOU are going to pump the gas????" "Yes," I replied. "Mommy, you can NOT do that!" he said. "That is a job for BOYS!" "But I pump gas all the time," I answered. Jacob thought a minute. "Oh yeah," he said. "I guess girls CAN pump gas!" Needless, to say, Jacob had a blast "pumping gas" at this museum exhibit.



How fun is this? A giant game of Operation! You know...the one where you have to get the bones and organs out without touching the sides. If you touch the metal on the sides, an alarm sounds. Check out these two surgeons. How did they do? Well, I can tell you, my ears were ringing for a while after we left. :)

Making music.

This giant boy was also a favorite. Inside the giant boy is a giant playground. The kids climbed around inside his body to see how his stomach, heart, brain, etc... works. Fun...and interesting...and a bit weird.

Annabelle fell in love with John Deere.

Another highlight (there were a lot) was the grocery store. If only our trips to the real grocery store were this fun.....

Jacob and Annabelle both packed a ton of groceries into their buggies. That was before we saw the giant sign on the wall that read, "8 items per cart." Oops. Looking around at the other shoppers, our kids definitely weren't the only offenders.

Annabelle enjoyed the water play area. Soon after this video, she poured a boat full of water on the little girl who was trying to help her.

A fun time was had by all...and our plan worked. By the time we left the museum, Jacob and Annabelle were toast. They fell asleep almost immediately. Thank goodness. What was supposed to be an hour and a half trip to the concert turned into over three. We ended up sitting in traffic for about two hours due to accidents and broken down vehicles. But it all worked out fine. The kids slept peacefully in the backseat until we reached our destination and we made it to the Movers concert on time. Hooray!!