Kindergarten

My baby Bean started Kindergarten this year.  We decided to place her in the 5K program at her preschool instead of moving her to  public school this year.  It was a pretty easy decision for us for many reasons.   She and Sarah Ellen will be at the same school for one more year (which I am going to cherish).  Her best buds Margaret Anne and Porter were staying.  And her teacher Mrs. Jenn is absolutely phenomenal.  There are only six kiddos in Lily’s class this year, and I know she is going to thrive and soar.

  Lily pointing to her own bin.   Do you think she has a few nerves going on?

Lily Bop, you went into kindergarten being able to read.  I can only imagine the things you will be doing at the end of this year.  Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you.

Groovy Girls

A friend of ours recently passed on her extensive Groovy Girl collection to Lily and Sarah Ellen.  I’m pretty sure these Groovy Girls will be WELL taken care of.

How Did He Do It?

By he, I mean James.  By it, I mean get me to move.  Me.  The girl who thinks of her house as her nest.  The girl who grew up in the same house all her life.  The girl who swore we would never build again.  Doesn’t he get that I brought my babies home to this house.  I cooked family dinners in this house.   I’ve started holiday traditions in this house.

Somehow folks, he performed the impossible.  Not only that, I am excited about it.  It all started many months ago, when James suggested we build again.  That conversation ended with me in tears ranting that I wouldn’t leave our friends in the neighborhood and how James is just not emotionally attached to anything.  So maybe he caught me on a bad night, but remember my house is my nest.

After that approach, James did not mention it again.  Only because he was working on a better approach without me knowing.  One night after dinner, he said, “You want to go for a walk.”  This is something we normally do on a nice night, so I thought nothing of it and said sure.  As we are walking, he begins to tell me about this great lot around the corner.  This great lot, however, was not for sell.  Do you think that stopped my husband?  No way.  He looked up the owner on the tax map, wrote them a note asking if they were willing to sell, and sure enough after 14 years they were considering selling it. 

He definitely took the right approach this time.  The lot did all the convincing.  It has a beautiful marsh view and looks out in the distance to the harbor and the Cooper River Bridge.   It is framed in the front by two grand oak trees that spread their limbs far and wide.  I could picture our girls (and their friends) climbing these trees out over the pluff mud.  I could see them running to the house excited about the crabs they just caught.  I could imagine them paddling out in a kayak with their Daddy.  Yes, I could see this in our future. 

So guess what, now we own a new lot and are preparing to build AGAIN.  I ask again, just how did he do it?

I promise

I really mean it – I haven’t given up.  I’m just up to my eyeballs in boxes, packing tape, and eBay.  Yes, we are moving.  In less than a month.  I will be back.  I promise. 

Yes, the girls have started school – I will post.  I promise

Yes, we bought a lot in our neighborhood – I will post.  I promise

Yes, we are going to build a house – I will post.  I promise

Yes, the girls are doing new and exciting things – I will post.  I promise. 

July

It’s true – I only took 4 pictures the entire month of July.  The girls were sick for half the month and we were in quarantine.  Both had fevers and Sarah Ellen ended up with pneumonia. 

The girls stayed in their pj’s, watched A LOT of TV and got a lot of TLC. 

Miller

      I am not sure how I am going to make it through this post, but I must pay tribute to our sweet Miller Man that we lost this month.   James and I got Miller only 6 months after we met.  This tells me two things:  1) we must have known we were meant to be and 2) we have had Miller with us almost as long as we have known each other – 12 1/2 of 13 years.   How it all began:  James knew he wanted to get a puppy and that his last year of law school would the perfect time to train a pup.  We did so much research:  how to pick the right breeder, how to pick the right puppy out of a litter, and how to train them properly.  We knew of several local breeders, but they weren’t having puppies for a few months.  One rainy Sunday morning we had breakfast at IHOP (don’t ask me why that stands out in my mind, but it does) and perused the pet section of the classifieds.  We found an ad for lab pups up in St George, SC.  What do we do?  Hop in the car and head to St. George, of course.  We pull up to a dilapidated trailer.  Upon entering, we were assaulted by all sorts of nasty animal smells.  I am pretty sure this was not a qualification included in our books about breeders.  The owner brought out two adorable black lab pups.  We met the Daddy, but were not allowed to see the Momma (also not in the books), something about she would get jealous.  As we looked at the pups, other animals were running around peeing on things and yapping.  This place was nasty, so of course, we had to rescue this adorable little puppy from this awful environment.  We both agreed on which pup.  Once we got in the car with our new (stinking and dirty) bundle of joy, I said,” James do you know why I wanted this one?  He winked at me.”  James’ jaw dropped and he said, “he winked at me too.”  He probably had some crazy eye fungus, but to us that wink was a sure sign that he was ours.  And thus began our life with Sir Miller of St. George.        Miller was everything a lab pup was supposed to be:  wild, energetic, destructive, and absolutely adorable.  After he destroyed many of our things, we designated a room in our house just for Miller.  It was about 3 years before he could be left alone in the house.          We have so many special memories of Miller:

• He loved to swim.  At the lake he would get a running start and fly off the dock performing the biggest belly flop you ever did see.
• He once at a sock, a large man’s sock, that had to be cut out of his tummy.  Other items he has consumed over the years include:  dental floss, wine corks, 2 bags of Halloween candy (minus the Reeses), peach pits, Q-tips, and my engraved Bible from confirmation.  Our vet said we should have put a zipper in him.
• Miller was with us the morning that James asked me to marry him by the lakeshore.
• He used to run laps around Donna and Ernie’s townhouse, hurdling furniture and not at all realizing he was a huge dog.
• He became a great big brother.  As we had the girls, Miller lost his spot as the center of our life.  Eventually, though, the girls began to love on him and give him lots of attention.  Lily especially had a great bond with Miller.  She took very good care of him.
• Miller loved his grandparents.  He loved traveling to the lake and swimming all day.  And boy did he ever love going to Doncie’s.  She showered him with attention and love. 

We knew the day would come that we would have to say goodbye, but we had no idea how hard it would be.  We agonized over making this decision, but in the end we knew it was the best thing for him.  We were both with him as he left this world.  We will always love our sweet Mr. Bojangles.

To Blog or Not to Blog

No, I am not giving up, but lately I have really been dreading blogging.  I have no creative spark about me.  I believe I took about three pictures the entire month of July.

I refuse to give up.  As much as I don’t like to blog, I love looking back at past blogs.  There are so many things I would forget if there wasn’t a record somewhere of them.  Would I remember that Sarah Ellen gets her tomorrows and yesterdays mixed up when telling stories?  Would I remember that Lily began jumping off the side of the pool this summer?  Probably not, so a blogger I will remain.

Here are some things I hope to blog soon:  our big move, our sweet Miller, a knitting business update, summer fun, summer sicknesses, road trips and more.   If you check in regularly, scroll down for older posts as I am sure I will be back dating.