Great Day!

What a fantastic day to hang out with old friends at the aquarium. It has been quite a year for friends actually, considering most of my favorite ones live out of state. September was Montana with my old grad school buddy, Lisa. Then in February, I was able to visit with Ashleigh and Grayson. Ashleigh once made me do a cheerleading dance to Britney Spears' "Toxic." Ok, she didn't make me, but I would only do that for a handful of people. March was Raleigh with my old roomie, Anna. And today, the Charleston Aquarium with my grad school friend and Maid of Honor, Dori, and John and their adorable little Ian. Isn't it the best when you can not see someone for years and then pick up like you saw them just last weekend.

Say Cheese!



Rocking


Such a cutie!!!


Overlooking the bridge.


All of us!


Zonked!

Babe in Boots

When she's not wearing my shoes... She's trying out my boots.



They can be hard to maneuver when you're only 32 inches tall...

I know, I know

I've really fallen down on my blogging. I will try to do better, I promise. We will be playing out in the sun with some old friends this weekend, so in case you've been missing us Kate, hopefully this will hold you over.

Not Me!

You know what I like about not me! Monday? When something ridiculous happens to me, I don't really get embarassed anymore. I just think... Oh! That will be perfect for Not Me! Monday. See? Laughing at yourself can be great therapy! Just remember to pop on over to MckMama's website if you want to read more Not Me! posts. She's the one that started it all!

Remember the funeral that we attended a few days ago? Me too.. kind of. I did have a 17 month old on my lap, so I didn't hear everything. I was pretty busy keeping her from distracting everyone else. When we got up to exit the church, I did not look down and see that sweet baby's diaper laying on the pew. If I had, I would have immediately recognized it and not thought "Wow, someone left a very big tissue behind." I would not have been absolutely mortified at feeling my child's bare bottom when I picked her up. And I would have handled the situation with grace, not thrown her to the ground beside the pew to put her diaper back on, whacking her head on the wall. Because she would have then proceeded to tell me (over and over) that I bumped her head.

I did not place my baby on the island in the kitchen and give her a bowl of grated mozzarella cheese and a wooden spoon just to keep her occupied while I fixed dinner. Nope! Not me! That would be just plain dangerous.


I did not wear 2 different earrings to work last week. I would have realized it before the end of the day if I did. Right?

Fun! What about you? Did you have any Not Me! moments last week?

Remember the days when I could take cute pictures of Kate sitting on the front porch? Not anymore. I can't even bribe her to sit there. Here are some pictures of our afternoon fun.

The one decent shot I got of her on the porch.


The child can spot an ant from a mile away.


New Crocs!


Run Kate, Run!

Happy Mother's Day!

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

What a wonderful Mother's Day! I felt much more like a Mom this year, for whatever reason. Perhaps because Kate spends a good bit of her day chasing me around saying "Mama!" I even got a coupon card (homemade of course) for a dozen cupcakes and a dozen Starbucks coffees. Yum! Ready to cash those in!

After church, Kate and I posed for a picture. Kind of.... Kate wasn't in the picture-taking mood today.


Then we visited with Super G - my grandmother, who is 90!


And had dinner with MY Mama.


We tried our best to get a picture...

of the three of us...


Not today.


Hope all of you Moms had a wonderful day, and I hope all of the rest of you called your Mom and told her how much you love her. Because she loves you, adores you, would give the world for you, and always did her best for you! And she won't be here forever, so hold her tight while you can.

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Whirlwind

I can't say that 12 out of 24 hours in the car with a 17 month old is my favorite way to spend time. I can say, that it was worth it to spend time with family and honor the life of a dear lady who lived 94 years!! Marie Brickhouse was Don's maternal grandmother, and I was lucky enough to meet her, and some of his family, many years ago. This was a nice chance to catch up again. That's the ironic thing about funerals. They are very emotional and there is a lot of sadness, but they also bring family together who may not have seen each other for years! And, I learned that Don's cousin Carla reads our blog. It was like meeting an old friend - she knows about Foster and Kate, and how ridiculously absent-minded I can be! It truly was a fun trip, even if I do have Elmo songs stuck in my head.

Here is (part of) the family from way back when. LOVE these old photos. That is Don's Grandmother (Marie) and Grandfather (Sidney Brickhouse) in the middle, with his Mom on the far right and her brother Buddy on the left (ok, feel free to correct me if I got all of this wrong).


Here we all are many years ago - Me and Don (you know us), his sisters Donna and Susan and their kids, and his grandmother in the middle. I liked her. She was very soft spoken, but had the most amazing Butterfly Bushes (trees!) that I've ever seen. :) Hopefully Kate will get some of the gardening genes that she passed down to Don's Mom.


This is Scuppernong Church, built in 1871. Don's Mom grew up in this church and remembers going to Bible School there.



Now, Creswell is out in the middle of nowhere (by my standards), but it was beautiful. The whole countryside heading out from Rocky Mount to the Outerbanks was absolutely beautiful. I can't really put my finger on what made it seem so clean, but it was refreshing. Even the old, rickety barns had the grass cut around them and didn't look quite so rickety!

There were rocks in the parking lot. Kate was beyond thrilled about this. She did pretty well during the funeral. Loved the music, read the bible, was totally enamored by the stained glass windows. "Mama! Mama! Mama!" "Yes, sweetheart, I see them... shhh..." I didn't bring nearly enough toys and books, etc to keep her happy. Oh, and boy do I have a not me for you on Monday. Yow.


Here she is walking to the car with Grandma and Da.


By far, the highlight of the trip for Kate was meeting Uncle Buddy's dog, Susie.


And I think the feeling was mutual.


Looking for snakes with Grandma at the graveside.


What is it it about Grandmas? You can not see them all that often, but its like you were never apart when you see them again. Kate knows her Grandma. She rarely opens up to anyone that quickly.


And here we are 360 miles from our house, but feeling right at home.


And what is a trip down I-95 without some outlet shopping?! I was SO very well-behaved. I've been dreaming about going back to that Baby GAP outlet ever since. I got out of there with only a dress and purse and hat for Kate. Oh my, in my dreams last night I put together outfits with all of the cute clothes I left behind! Alright, I've wasted an hour of Kate's naptime blogging.. off to clean up this house!

Flower Girl

Had a little gardening fun this afternoon.

I potted some geraniums.

Kate...


wanted to play too.


Needed help with the gloves.


Big hands!


Is that a weed?


Well... maybe! Shhh... don't tell!


Fun times!

Fun!

Our Little Naturalist

Kate sure does love being outside.

Peeling bark off of trees.

Climbing in flowerbeds (but not too far because Nanna told her there might be "nakes" in there).


Picking up a turtle.


Where's his head?


Sitting on the patio.


Scaling rock walls.


Playing in dirty fountains.


And this. Which is only natural? Right?