Magic, in a young girl's heart . . . and yes, Laundry

So today was Alyssa's first day of Magic Camp and I think she really liked it. She could not wait to get home and show me the tricks she had learned, she would not stop practicing them, I had to beg her to get ready to go swimming with The Boys. It's good to see her smile and laugh and be pleased with her accomplishments. She's funny, she wants me to try and figure out how the tricks work and I don't want to. I love surprises and still believe in MAGIC and I don't want to know. I love the amazement and mystery, especially when she's the magician. She impressed me with the sophistication of the ones she learned today. She is getting prepared for a Major Performance at the Beach and she knows that Poppy and Uncle Brad will figure them out, if she's not careful. We're working on her costume for a Magic Show on Friday when all the children at the Camp will perform their new tricks for an audience of Moms & Dads - "Ladies and Gentlemen!"

Today I am also, strangely enough, thankful for LAUNDRY - yes, it has finally happened! : ) Today, I am thankful for you, AW, and the many, many discussions we have had about the most mundane, never ending, chore of all chores, LAUNDRY. So, AW, next time I see you, I am gonna hug your neck and thank you for praying for me, because I know (by the fact that I am finally thankful for laundry) that your prayers are working! : ) Thank you friend, we do know about laundry!

So the next time you have to do your laundry, here are few things you can be thankful for. I am thankful that I am doing our laundry inside an air conditioned home. It is currently 94.7 degrees outside, here in the Holy City, with a forecast of highs in the upper 90's. HOT! I am thankful that I can wash our clothes inside my home and I do not have to drive or walk to a creek or laundry mat or a dungeon basement where someone might take my clothes if I do not maintain a constant vigilance over them. At a minimum, they might take them out of the washer and/or dryer and throw them on the dirty floor. It's hard to believe that people in our blessed nation will actually steal half dry underwear! Wow - the things you learn in college! : ) I am thankful doing laundry does not depend on how many quarters I have or whether or not the Change Machine is working. I am thankful that our once abandoned kitty, Hunter, loves to help me do laundry - he is definitely my best laundry assistant, he's the playful, silent type! : ) I am thankful that my child is still small and that folding her clothes tells her that I love her, even though she does not know that yet. She will one day - she told me today, driving home from magic camp, that she wants 4 children, just like Mrs. Susan. But she has it all figured out, she is going to have 2 girls first, that way they will help her raise the 2 boys, she will have next. Alyssa with 4 kids, that will be a sight to behold! : )

And sweet, sweet, Mrs. Susan, I am so thankful for you today. You have been down this long, strange road as well and you truly know how to be so incredibly helpful to me. You call and you come get her. She loves you and all those Boys and we miss you! Especially since we do not see you as often as we did when our back yards connected. Thank you for giving me a few minutes of sanity today, so I could do this Blog and get this out. We will play cards and come to your parties again soon. Some of the best times of our last few years have been at your home. How you do it, I'll never know, but I am so thankful that we are friends : )

I am also thankful that today I have been able to stop and think and feel and breathe. There really is an order and sequence and structure to this universe and when you have, even just a few minutes, and know how to see, it becomes so clear. When no one tells you when to stop, or what to think, or how to feel, or when to breathe. You really can do all these things on your own and not only that, it's better that way : ) Maybe, I have just not been alone enough in the past ten years. What a long, strange trip, this journey has been and continues to be! : )

I also rarely do laundry when I don't think about my brother Brad's dear friend, Nelson. It's hard to think about Nelson without smiling because he is just that funny! He was trying to inspire me about laundry when Brad and I were living on Tradd Street, could that have been 13 years ago? Jeez! He would come over to use our washer & dryer. He would talk about how great it was that the machines did all the work, and you didn't even have to think about it. Just put your dirty clothes in, push a button and out they come - clean! Same for the dryer, clothes in - push button - out - all done! I was perplexed that someone as smart as Nelson could be so enthusiastic about a washer & dryer, a pretty old one at best. 

Sorry - but I have to regress again - Bread & Butter - so, 13 years ago, I guess, Brad is driving like a maniac, as usual, in Downtown Charleston and is about to take out a few Tourists. Nelson exclaims, with one hand on the roof: "Brad, be careful! Don't run over the Tourists! They're our Bread & Butter!" I forgot to mention that Nelson is from Hemmingway, SC - there is just no way to express how poetic it is to hear someone from Hemmingway say: "Bread & Butter!" (Laugh)! I never go Downtown without thinking about our "Bread & Butter" and how fortunate we are to live in this beautiful city. A city people from other places, all over the world, spend their hard-earned money to visit, for such a brief amount of time.

And, I also can not regress about Nelson without stopping to laugh a little about "Cirrhosis of the River" - Brad and Nelson's "boat" - was it a John boat - on a good day? Or a dark night? : ) I will never forget Brad's Rehearsal Dinner in Chapel Hill and Nelson reading his soliloquy to "Ole Cirrhosis." It almost brings tears to my eyes now, the good kind, I promise! We really need to see if we can get a copy of that literary tribute from somewhere. Except, I think it was impromptu on a dinner napkin in about 5 minutes - he is just that smart and funny. I guess you would expect that from a Davidson Valedictorian. Thank you, Nelson, for all the many laughs through the years, your wonderful Hemmingway accent and for your recent help - I hope we see you and your precious family soon! : )

So, thanks, God, for the tons of laundry I am doing today. I am loving it - Ha! It is a glorious distraction and way to stay busy, while You work in my life. Thank You for funny, loving, prayerful, supportive friends and family. I give You the Glory! : )

So, if you are still reading this, sorry-ugh! And if you are still not inspired enough to get up and do some laundry, here's one more - You can be thankful that you are not experiencing things in your life that will lead you to do a SUPER LONG Blog Post on LAUNDRY! : ) Gotta go, I think my clothes are done! : )

So he sent flowers . . .

So Drew sent Alyssa and I flowers. They were beautiful! They were supposed to help us feel better about him spending a week in Las Vegas without us. We were comforted but still a little bummed he was pursuing his love of photography at a Photoshop Conference while we had to fend for ourselves and get each other to school on time. Alyssa and I survived, we actually had a pretty good "Girl's Week" but we missed him and how much he helps out around our home. We were really tired by the time Saturday rolled around and we picked him up at the airport. Thank goodness for Labor Day weekend and a chance to rest and be grateful together.

I am thankful for the incredible summer we had and I am also sad that it's Labor Day, the official end of Summer. I have not blogged all summer, my last post before this one was June 23rd, pretty close to the first day of summer. Maybe one day I will get around to it, but if I don't that's OK too. We captured all the memories and milestones, we have hundreds of photos to prove it, but this summer was different, we really LIVED it! It went by too quick and my girl is growing up too fast. We had Summer Camps, watermelon, popsicles by the pool. We went to the Beach, spent time with our families, Alyssa had her first sleepover at our house. All good, all so fleeting.

Tomorrow, school starts for me. The economy has bounced back and I will happily greet 15 new shining (probably crying) faces before my next weekend. Alyssa has been in 1st grade since
August 18th and loves her teacher. And Drew is going back into the real world. So goodbye Summer, you were fantastic, undoubtedly the best one ever! Thanks for the flowers!

Fort Sumter

On a splendidly HOT day in July we decided to take Alyssa on her first historical tour, one of Fort Sumter. Here Drew is showing Alyssa how to fire a gun/cannon of some sort, perhaps I should have read the historical marker : )

Alyssa watching our tour boat, the General Beauregard, pull into port.

Fort Sumter, on a hot July day.

A nice shot of our girl resting in one of the cannon openings.


A quick video, showing sweet girl's personality. You'll see why I like it, a rare glimpse at me holding my "baby" captured on film. Even though the war of Northern Aggression technically started on James Island (Fort Johnson), we had a very nice tour of Fort Sumter that I think Alyssa will remember. I will certainly remember the weather, did I mention it was HOT?!?!?!?

STAYcation July-2009

We are back from STAYcation 2009 in Merry Mo-town! We had a wonderful visit with family, friends, cousins, swing sets, pools, McDonald's, Poppy's Garden, boiled peanuts and the homemade ice cream churn! Above Holt and Alyssa play with Uncle Brad in the pool. Such FUN! AA is working on her photography skills and she took this photo.

The Messenheimers came over for a swim and homemade ice cream. Alyssa loved swimming with Molly. Kelly and I have been friends since junior high school.

Holt is such a sweet boy - here he is giving his daddy a "Hand Hug" - I had to get one too before we left for Charleston.

We went to visit the Jacumins and Eisens in Rutherford College - Donna and I have known each other since we were Freshman roommates together at UNC. Now her and Joseph have three girls - Julia, Elena and Leia. Alyssa had a great time swimming with Elena and Joseph.

Many trips were made to the swing set and many mosquito bites acquired!

Can't forget Tipper - she didn't seem like such a good dog until Jovi showed up!

Jovi drinking from the pool - no wonder there were so many "accidents!"

Alyssa and Marley had fun playing together and here Alyssa is showing how good she can eat (this never happens at home!).

Our second visit to a McDonald's where Alyssa had a blast playing on the indoor playground. We attempted a quick visit with Uncle Chevy and Granny on the way home to Charleston but the noise level was something else - Chick-Fil-A next time!

And last but certainly not least - a photo collage thanks to Drew's photography and Eya's beautiful flowers. Just a small sample of the beauty that surrounded us. Our STAYcation was wonderful - thank you Eya and Poppy for hosting us and having such a fantastic place to visit! We love you and hope to come back again very soon!

July 4th Highlights

We were happy to celebrate our Country's Independence but we were even happier to be HOME! This was a weekend at home after travelling for the past three weekends. One of our activities was watching the Wizard of Oz together - there's no place like home. Drew took this photo after catching the sunrise, a little artistry shining through.

Fourth of July festivities began at school Thursday afternoon. Here Alyssa and Piper are showing off their cupcake star rings.

Alyssa's class and teachers posing for a group shot.

On Friday, Alyssa went for a "New Summer Do." Here she is at the half way mark. Several people have remarked she looks like a "mini Meg Ryan." What a compliment, she's one of my favorite actresses!


Saturday night we celebrated at our neighbor's house with a Cookout and Fireworks - yummy food and much FUN was had by all!

Here's the new do ready for church in a lovely dress that Eya gave her.

Alyssa's reaction to any noisy fireworks, shooting the rest of them off on Sunday afternoon. Oh, it was sad for Monday to come, we had such a great weekend! Does this mean Summer is half-way over?!?!?!

Happy Birthday Vuvva!

By the look on his face, you can tell that Vuvva enjoyed his birthday weekend celebration. We celebrated at Lake Murray most of Saturday and Sunday. This is a photo of Vuvva and all his Grandchildren plus the delicious Banana Pudding that Lisa made - YUM!!!. Below are a few more highlights . . .



Alyssa couldn't wait to get on the Zip Line!





Another of Vuvva's unique inventions is the "Train" - the twins and Alyssa had a blast being pulled around on this vehicle.



They have all grown so much they're having to duck to get their picture taken.



Drew took time to sharpen his photography skills and took some great Sunset shots . . .





Even woke up early and captured the Sunrise.



Like the children who love the box more than the toy, another highlight of the weekend was the Robot Vacuum, Erica and Alyssa playing with it here.



Alyssa's favorite person of the weekend was Will, Heidi's boyfriend. I think she might have had a little crush on "Willed" as she kept calling him.


Once again Vuvva and Nana's Grandchildren from L-R - Alyssa, Emily, Miller, Heidi and Erica. What an incredibly FUN weekend! Thanks Nana and Vuvva for inviting us to the Lake. When can we do it again?!?!?!

Weekend in Columbia, SC

We had a really nice weekend in Columbia. We had lunch with Clay and Miller, took Granny to the Edventure Children's Museum and swam in a pool for the first time this summer. Above Alyssa is either giving or stealing sugar from her Granny.

Miller is getting so BIG! It was a special treat to have lunch with he and Clay.

Granny with her two Grand kids, Alyssa and Miller. Then it was off to Edventure . . .

Big Eddie - it's hard to capture his true size, but he is HUGE and Alyssa had a great time crawling inside his stomach, heart and brain. A really neat display!

There is no containing the energy of this girl - she was all about action and this Children's Museum was a great place to unleash her! She's playing music by hopping around.

Granny and I watching Drew and Alyssa climb to the top of the Energy Tower.

Alyssa's favorite thing was this slide (Don't they have these at McDonald's?)

Slide down then jump - what fun, oh, to be young again!

Then it was off to the hotel where our girl took a two hour swim and is getting better at going under.

Then, dinner at guess where?

Finally, a video of Alyssa playing with Granny and Chevy's kitty, Lilly. We had a really fun weekend and can't wait to see you guys again soon!

A Day at the Park

The County Park spent Winter renovating it's playground - the results are wonderful! We took our first of many trips this Summer there last Saturday.

We even had a surprise visit with the Clum Family (to the right under Favorite Websites) - Abigail and Alyssa are only five weeks apart. Alyssa and Abigial had a great time playing together, here they are on a snack break.

Next it was on to Spray and Play - it is great fun to sit on a sprinkler!

Alyssa and a new friend tried to stop the water with his hat . . .

Oops - right in the eye!

OK, time to towel off and go home! A great time was had by all, we'll be back soon!