beadypea

Last day!

Maggie and Lily, first and (night before) last day of 3rd grade and Kindergarten...how'd that dress get so short?

Another school year has come to a close. It was our first year with no day care--not even after-school care. Mysteriously, I didn't end up with the big bucket of extra money I was expecting...

Maggie had another full year on the all-A honor roll, and was recognized for her writing and her prowess in gym class (that is all her Aunt Wendy's genes!) She also had art in the district art show again, and ran her first 5K with her school's Girls on the Run team. She became really close friends with another girl in her class and had a blast. She also became a Buffalo Bills fan like her dad...and her teacher. Oh well, maybe her 4th grade teacher will be a Packer fan...

Lily had a great year in Kindergarten, and wishes she could start first grade on Friday. She became a great reader, and her fear of missing out on something exciting has carried over to the written word. I may have to start writing in code!

The kids are gearing up for a big summer--time with grandparents here in South Carolina, Georgia, and Wisconsin, a trip to Edisto Beach with Grandma and Papa, and a family trip to Washington, DC are on the schedule. They're coming home a couple of times to get their laundry done--only three weeks total!

First and (night before) last day of 2nd grade and 4K (Lily was wearing Maggie's softball uniform for Sports Day at her daycare.)

I realized that I never posted the first and last day pictures from last year...largely because I seem to have misplaced the wee girl on the left and somehow picked up someone's big girl. Luckily, Changeling Maggie is just as delightful as the original!

And the two years before, again:

Happy Summer!

Clever as clever

When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new
When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more
When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
--A.A. Milne

 

Dear Lily,

That poem gives me the warm fuzzies, but you, my girl, are far from content with your six-year-old lot. On Friday, the day before your birthday, you told me, “I wish it could be my birthday every day.” I figured you were wishing for non-stop presents and cake, but you explained, “Then I could be 18 sooner!” Age six is for the birds!

You started Kindergarten in the fall, and you have learned so much. You are reading beyond your grade level, and you soak up new information like crazy. Among the concepts you have explained to me recently are gravity, homophones and echolocation. Of course, like most kids, your ears are always open outside of school, too. Last night you bellowed to nobody in particular (at home, luckily), “Do you have CHILD-BEARING HIPS?!” and explained to Maggie, “Those are hips that bury children.”

We’re still lacking a playmate your age in the neighborhood, and you get so frustrated. You try to play with Maggie and her friends, but you can be a little screamy inflexible dramatic sometimes, and there are usually tears. Your desire to catch up was illustrated all-too-painfully a couple of weeks ago when you were running down the street after the big kids on their roller skates and scooters. You ran so hard your shoes flew off—it’s unclear whether they parted from your feet before or after you fell and road-rashed your knee and face.

That wasn’t your only mishap this year--you have become very accident prone, judging by your accounts of occasional Kindergarten misbehavior:

“I accidentally lay down during independent reading time.”
“I accidentally talked during quiet time.”
“I accidentally screamed in the hallway.”
“I accidentally marched during morning announcements.”

We weren’t sure what to expect when you started school – we had a feeling that you wouldn’t have quite the flawless behavior Maggie has had in her first years of school, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised at your ability to rein in your chatty tendencies. You are a good helper and friend to your classmates, and they are always excited to see you.

Somehow, you are an extrovert in a household of introverts. We can always count on you to strike up a conversation with the nearest stranger. You are charming and silly, and you love to sing and dance wherever there’s an audience, whether it’s in our living room or at Dunkin’ Donuts. You are incredibly affectionate, and you can’t just sit next to someone on the couch—you always have to snuggle up close.

You continue growing at a 4 inch/year pace, and you are taller today than Maggie was on her eighth birthday! You are still the first person to wake up every weekend, but the hardest one to wake up on a school day. You love playing with your Monster High and Ever After High dolls, and you were Draculaura for Halloween.

I know you won’t be six “for ever and ever,” so I’m furiously working on storing memories of this sweet time in your life: your smile and wave when I drop you off at school, your little hand always ready to grab mine when I reach back for it, your sweet cuddles crowding me on the couch, your impulsive “I love you”s and kisses on the cheek, your utter silliness. I hope I will always be able to see a little of you at age six, even after you have become the 18-year-old of your dreams!

Happy birthday, baby girl!

Love,

Mama

Goodnight, sweet Flipper

Today we said goodbye to our sweet kitty Flipper. Mel and I adopted him and his calico sister Roberta from the Lexington County Humane Society on December 1, 2001 when they were about 8 weeks old.

We adopted them about a year and a half into our courtship (Out of wedlock! Scandalous!) These were our proto-children, one of our first major commitments together. 

Mel, always a dog person, had been fairly neutral about cats, but these kitties won his heart.It turned out that he's quite allergic, but there was no question that he would just have to live with the sinus trouble. We kinda became crazy cat people--before we had kids, we'd go out to dinner or on vacation and have lengthy conversations about what the cats might be doing back home.

When I was pregnant, Flipper would curl up around my belly. As our more outgoing cat, he's the one who became most acquainted with the kids. He always enjoyed their scritches. If he felt we were ignoring him, Flipper would reach out and paw one of our arms, sometimes poking a claw out to express some urgency. He was always the first to trot out to greet a cat-sitter.

Meeting baby Maggie. Not impressed.

We are so grateful that Flipper was a big kitten for almost 12 years, with no sign of aging until he suddenly became an old man a couple of weeks ago. Roberta drinks from the fountain of youth, as well, but I worry about how the old girl will get along without her brother.

They hadn't cuddled together much since they were kittens, and often their only obvious interaction was Flipper smacking Roberta in the head when she dared get to the food dish before him. But they have been constant companions since the womb, and have faced all our household disruptions together. Since Flipper became too sick to come out for his scritches, Roberta has been demanding both her share and his, so I think she'll muddle through.

We'll miss you, sweet buddy!

 

Maggie is 8!

Dear Maggie,

You turned 8 yesterday! What?!

Well-adjusted despite my running out of birthday candles!

My smart girl, you have had all E’s (the equivalent of A’s) in every class from Kindergarten through second grade. You have been selected for your school’s gifted program this year, and you are excited about new challenges. You adore a special project. You and one of your best friends had a blast learning everything you could about cheetahs last Spring. There was a lot of potential for upheaval--your class had three different teachers over the course of the year! You worried before each transition, but adjusted amazingly well each time. Third grade should be a breeze in comparison!

Ready for the Girl Scout Father-Daughter Dance

As you get older, you become more concerned with defining who you are. You ask me a lot, “Mom, am I a tomboy or a girly-girl?” You always hope I'll say "tomboy," but really you defy such pigeonholing! You love roller skating, running fast, and playing video games, particularly Minecraft and any video game involving virtual pets. You like Monster High dolls, fart jokes, jumping off furniture, riding roller coasters, catching slugs and bugs, and making crafts. You HATE to lose, and there are often tears when you come up short, whether it’s a foot race or a game of Old Maid.

Eye of the tiger!

You played softball last spring, and we were so proud--you practiced hard and learned a lot, and became a very valuable contributor to your team. It took my breath away to watch you out there. Your grandparents just gave you your first set of golf clubs. You are excited to try a new sport!

You continue to make friends easily, but getting older also means you are becoming more concerned about what other people think of you. As a former sensitive little girl and current big sensitive lady, I get a catch in my throat when I see you get self-conscious, but I am also inspired that overall, you like what you like, unapologetically. Don’t let that change! My girl, I want you to know from the core of your being that you are brilliant, strong, beautiful, and one-of-a-kind.I get so many compliments about how sweet and smart you are.

Wearing a gift bag like a feed bag? I don't know.

When you are going through a rough patch—an argument with a friend, sibling annoyances, school-age slights—you often ask me, “Did that ever happen to you?” And it all did, of course, and hearing my stories seems to make you feel better. (So good to know all the "character building" I went through as a kid is finally serving a purpose!) Believe me, there’s much more where that came from. I have a full arsenal of awkward middle and high school stories just waiting for you!

With your best buddy, Petey (Pup Pup)

I love spending time with you, and I am so happy that you still don’t mind hanging out with your mom. You even told me one night this week when we were working on a project in my craft room, “Mom, I like being out here with you.” And THEN, you proceeded to safety pin some fabric together like a master. My heart grew two sizes that day--and every day that I have the privilege of being your mom. Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Love,

Mama

Consarn that rock and roll music!

I'm having a problem lately that has its roots in two other problems:

1. Maggie generally discovers her new favorite songs on commercial radio.

2. I have not really heard a song lyric since about 1996. I'm all about a catchy tune, but generally can only sing along to the chorus of any song from this milennium. The rest I fill in with a combination of whistling, humming, and "dee dee dee"-ing.¹

So, Maggie and I will hear a song in the car, and she'll say, "Hey Mom! Add this one to my list!" And then I go to Spotify, find the song, and drag it to Maggie's play list.

Then while I'm at it, I try to expand her horizons a bit, and I say things like, "Hey, I remember 'Hollaback Girl'! It has a marching band AND a spelling lesson! I'm Mom of the Year!"

Then the next time we're in the car, I plug my phone into the speakers, only to discover that all the songs are FULL OF SWEARS:

Radio: Dee dee dee s**t! Fa la la b***h!²
Maggie: Oooooooooooo!
Lily: What?
My brain: S**T!! OK, Mom, keep it cool.
My face: Whoopsy-daisy! Let's try the next one!

So the result is that I have to go in and remove the songs, and Maggie is left with little more than Taylor Swift. And I need to work on my censorship skills.

 

 

¹Related tidbit: I am a voracious reader who almost immediately forgets the plot of any book I've read. I've found this trait oh-so-useful as an English major and a book club member!

²These words apparently don't always merit the "Explicit" label.

 

Happy birthday Lily!

Dear Lily,

On Friday, your fifth birthday, you had an extensive conversation with a stranger in the grocery store parking lot about your birthday party menu and planned activities, what you thought your gifts would be, and where I had stashed them. This kind of encounter is typical for you, and afterward I gave you my regular spiel about how we have to be careful with strangers and with how much information we share. "But Mom," you said, "I was a stranger when I was born!"

You are still the girl who waited until she was 19 months old to walk, however--as brave as you are with new people, you are still cautious about certain new experiences. We took our first family trip to Disney World in October, and you spent much of your time fretting in the lines: "Does this ride go fast? Are there seatbelts? If there are seatbelts, it means the ride is fast...is this ride dark? Dark like pitch black, or just a little dark? Are we going to get wet? Will there be freaky puppets?" and on and on. I just know I'll be riding an elevator one day and see your signature on the inspection certificate! You made me a nervous wreck, little girl, particularly when Daddy and I downplayed the speed and darkness of Space Mountain to get you to ride. I could hear you behind me screaming and screaming, and I thought the ride would never end. When the ride stopped, you were a little shaky and teary, but you yelled, "That was AWESOME!" After high fives all around, I said, "Lily, I was so worried! You were screaming so much!" You laughed and said, "Mom, I was just screamin' to scare the crap outta you."

Coincidentally (or maybe not), your favorite TV commercials lately are for insurance companies. One night at dinner you told me, "Mom, we need to go to Geico after this."

"Why?"
"Because 15 minutes could save you more on car insurance."
"Why on earth do you need car insurance?"
"No Mom, you need car insurance!"

You think I should get Progressive's Snapshot to "help me drive better," and you have tried to convince a store cashier to "fall in love with Progressive's claim service."

Girl can't get enough tomatoes.

You love a good playground, but overall you are fairly indoorsy. You love to draw and do crafts. Like me, you like to have a few projects going at once! You are a good helper, but quick to pitch a screamy fit if you get a request that threatens to derail you from your plans. Oh my girl, can you outgrow that this year? PLEASE?

I know it's frustrating being your age. You're big enough for lame stuff like dressing yourself and wiping bathroom counters, but not big enough for us to turn you loose on the neighbors like we can Maggie. You talk longingly of all the things you'll do when you're a "teenage-ah," and you often say, "I wish we could just be born big already, like my size." I still have a little PTSD from birthing you and your giant noggin at 7 pounds 3 ounces, thankyouverymuch!

You are excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. Every couple of weeks you ask, "Do I start my new school today?" and "Is it time for me to start Girl Scouts?" Soon, girlie. I can't wait to be done paying for daycare see how you like big-kid school. I imagine you will continue to be a brilliant handful!

As a little sister, you get your fair share of bossing, and you seek opportunities to boss someone else for a change. When you tell stories about school, you have taken to calling your classmates, "my students." When you and Maggie play, you do your best to bend the rules to your advantage. Earlier this week you were following Maggie around the house, moaning like a zombie. As the game picked up speed, Maggie protested, "Hey! Zombies don't run!" You informed her, "I'm an exercisin' zombie. Muuuuuh." And the game resumed at top speed.

With your Papa, ready for your Valentine's date

Oh Lily, I'm so lucky to have met such a silly-sweet little stranger five years ago. I can't wait to see what surprises are in store for the coming year!

Love,

Mom

Shirt for my swinging girl

Last summer, I dragged Mel into a fabric store and something caught his eye for a change:

We had become accustomed to watching for Lily's little blonde head to peek up over the fence when we picked her up at daycare. She was somewhat of a swing monopolizer:

Mel took the girls to the park for some offsite swinging today, so I had a bit of uninterrupted sewing time. Even without the distractions, I somehow managed to sew the sleeves to one another before finally finishing a new shirt for Lily:

It works for swinging, too!

Pattern: Oliver + S After-School Shirt

The Queen of Rs

A couple of weeks ago at around 9:15 p.m., Lily (almost an hour after her bedtime) came storming into our room and announced,

"Rough, ribbit, rabbit, rough, ribbit, rabbit! It's not bedtime yet! I-have-to-make-a-list-of-R-words-so-I-can-be-the-Queen-of-Rs-rough-ribbit-rabbit-where's some paper?"

Homework is rare in a daycare four-year-old class, so this was serious! I limited her to twenty words (starting with rough, ribbit and rabbit) to ease her mind enough to get back to sleep, but with Maggie's help the next morning, we came up with about 70.

Incidentally, R is the one letter sound Lily hasn't mastered, particularly when it's in the middle or end of a word (i.e, paahk the caaah in Haavahd yaaahd). Of course I hope she doesn't get too far into elementary school before she figures it out, but I'll miss it just the same. The following phrases just won't be the same:

"I'm allergic to mustard."
"I'm not allergic to honey mustard."
"Word Girl"
"Fruity water"
"Did you fart?"

For those of you on the edge of your seats, I'm happy to report that Lily was indeed crowned Queen of Rs! (The only other girl in her class was home with a stomach virus, though I don't think Lily is capable of that level of sabotage. Yet.)

Maggie is seven! (And almost a third!)

Good grief, I'm so behind on Maggie's birthday letter! I actually wrote this back in August, but was too lazy to go through pictures until now. I like to think that at this age she's not changing so fast, but I was amazed at how much I had to amend her letter (see strikethroughs and italics). Here it is! 

 

Dear Maggie,

You are seven years and a few weeks months old! It's so hard to believe that my tiny doughy raven-haired baby is now a lanky blonde second grader. About the only thing that's the same about you is the toothlessness teething! You lost a bunch of teeth this year, but have managed to avoid the "All I want for Christmas..." conundrum. Your two front teeth are growing in nicely.

You had an excellent first grade year, capped off with winning the Best All-Around Student award for your class. Daddy and I were so proud! You still love to learn about animals most of all, and you've added two frogs to your menagerie.

 

Maggie in her reading nook!

You are an active kid, and you'd much rather be outside playing than just about anything else. I have no idea how you fuel all that activity--you've become an even pickier eater. I sometimes wonder if you're photosynthetic. Until recently you had little interest in curling up with a book, but an abridged version of Moby Dick, of all things, sparked your interest in reading, and now you're plowing through chapter books. Second grade has also sparked a love of double-digit subtraction in you!

 

photo by Christa Syrett

You were lucky enough to spend five weeks on vacation this summer, spending time with all your grandparents. If you're at all like me, some of your fondest memories will be of this time you've spent with grandmas, grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles. (And with your little sister, though it might take you longer to appreciate that!)

You and Lily play fairly amazingly well together except when we're in the car or when you have friends your age over. You've been teaching her all the important stuff: the lyrics to "Call Me Maybe," and how to spell "butt" and "up" ("you pee," get it?)

photo by Christa Syrett

You continue your assimilation into Southern girlhood. You have developed a taste for sweet tea, and you've adopted the "fixin' to" verb tense. You also frequently drop an "of"(e.g., "Get out my room, Lily!") and talk about plural cents in the singular (i.e., "It costs 30 cent.") We live in Gamecock country and you struggle with your preference for the Clemson Tigers. Once after a particularly rough day you asked me, "Mom, is there someplace where everyone is a Clemson fan?" We determined that Clemson is probably that place.

I told you last week a couple of weeks ago a while back that if you just became a Badger fan, you wouldn't need to decide between Clemson and Carolina. You looked appalled, then rolled your eyes and said, "Whatever." (Yeah, you've picked that up in second grade too. Charming.)

Then you said, "I like the Carolina Panthers, too."

I replied, "Oh, well that's a professional team...wait a second, do you like the Panthers better than the Packers?"

You gave me a sly grin.

I had a stroke and nearly crashed the car.

You sighed and said, "Mom, you're so weird."

Aw, I love you anyway!

Love, Mom

Fall table!

In the spring, I made my all-time best antique store purchase, a lovely little table topped with white and red enamelware. It makes a perfect little snack and homework spot for the kids. I've been planning on making some placemats and napkins using Aneela Hoey's Little Apples line, and finally got around to it in response to a Fall tablescape contest on Sew, Mama, Sew, a website I frequent. There are fabulous prizes!

I made two quilted placemats and two rickrack bordered napkins (subconsciously inspired by these on the Purl Bee blog!) All are reversible. I was inspired by the lovely fall day and the appearance of McIntosh apples (my favorites, and only available for a minute in SC) at my local farmer's market to haul the table outside for photos.

A closer look.

And the other one.

And the reverse!