Fordham's Second Birthday Party

What a perfect day for a poolside party - not too hot, not too many bugs, lots of friends, and of course, lots of precious chilluns!

We had such a wonderful time at Fordham's BDP. Reeves loved the playground and the planes and the pool. My favorite part - the kiddie pool. This means there is absolutely NO reason for momma to take off her clothes and expose this bathing suit bod! Thank you, Smiths, for thinking of us mothers!

Fordham assures Reeves that a missing wing is no problem on his planes. Daddy can fix anything!

Mills and Anne took over the roles of airplanes after the jumbo jet broke in half. (They didn't fly quite as far as the styrofoam ones, but they were a bunch cuter!)
James is just about ready to take off and play with the other kids. If only it weren't for this pesky "not being able to walk" thing! What a relief it is when you don't have to hold them the whole time!
Millie Lewis, here she comes! Eliza was quite the bathing beauty.
Spencer and DuBose show Reeves how the big boys roll.

Spencer is waiting patiently for the cutting of the super cute airplane cakes.

More eager anticipation. (And, unfortunately, my only picture of MK. How did that happen? Time for a photo shoot.)

Fordham, what's it like to be the son of Betty Crocker? Caroline, your cakes ROCKED!

Jackson either a) has really mean parents and was only given a teeny piece, thereby allowing him to clean his plate in one bite, b) is a super neat eater and never gets icing anywhere on him, or c) loved it so much that, even though he was given a normal size piece, was still prompted to chipmunk the whole thing, savoring the flavors while simultaneously enjoying his mobility. And, even if the answer is (a), his parents are still not as mean as Reeves mother who, without thinking, had her child sit at a table where cake was being eaten all around him, knowing that he couldn't even have a taste. Thank goodness for infant amnesia. I don't think Reeves is old enough to remember this, so it shouldn't come up in any of his future therapy sessions! I did, however, allow him to play with a water bottle. Don't say I neva gave ya nothin'!

Fordham - hmmm, not such a neat cake eater, but equally as effective!

Finally, some pictures of the Birthday Boy and his first love!

Thank you, Smiths, for a great morning! Happy Birthday, Fordham!

The Things You Can Find on Amazon...

Not sure how I happened upon this, but I have certainly never seen anything like it.

The Peepee Teepee for the Sprinkling WeeWee

Apparently, necessity is not only the mother of invention, she is also is the mother of a boy.

I wonder if those little cups your dentist gives you with the mouthwash in them would work just as well.

Fust Yo' Got to Catch De Crabs

So, one Saturday, about three years ago, Bryant decided we would take the boys crabbing. (It really wasn't that long, but it feels like I haven't blogged in forever!) He bought all the stuff we needed, the tide was low, a breeze was blowing in the late afternoon, and Preston had never been before. Could you ask for any better conditions? I guess so, since we only caught 4 crabs, but that's not really the important part, is it? And technically, it probably wasn't the conditions leading to the slim catch; it was most likely the four year old splashing the net behind Bryant as he went out to pull the crabs!

Preston was great for a first time crabber. He was a bit scared of the crabs at first, but he was certainly interested in everything and wanted to help Uncle B as much as he could. Reeves, on the other hand, enjoyed playing in the mud for all of about 15 minutes. After that, he was ready to head in. Preston with his first crab.
This was the best picture I could get of Preston and Reeves. Reeves was SO over it by then. Oh, and, of course, the only bathing suit I had for Reeves was his Bailey Boys one, not the $3.50 one from Carter's. That is why he is only in his swim diaper. Pluff mud ain't the easiest thing to get out!

Den yo' cook de crabs.

B and I were pretty impressed - neither of the boys was afraid to touch or, in Preston's case, hold the live crabs. (Not that we were really surprised, given Reeves' propensity to indulge in any risky behavior!)

Den yo' eat de crabs.

I just love this picture of my boys.

Thanks, Bryant, for putting together such a great afternoon!

Just Relax

This is one of my favorite things to do with Reeves. I love the look on his face when he's floating on his back. At first, I wasn't sure he liked it, but he truly does seem to enjoy it, so we do it each time he's in the water, even in the bathtub. He's even starting to kick his feet while floating. He's always kicked while on his tummy, but never on his back. I can't wait till he learns to swim.

Kanuga 2006

What a wonderful week we had in Kanuga! I did not want to return. The weather was gorgeous. Still warm, but not anything like Charleston, and there was a refreshing breeze that always seemed to come along just when you needed it. We spent our time walking, swimming, napping, eating, you name it. If it wasn't stressful, we were doing it. We left Charleston on Saturday afternoon headed south. Make sense? No. But we were on our way to Port Royal to pick up Davis. Van was still in hospital, recovering from his emergency, non-laproscopic, so we were there to free Jodie of one of the children. Unfortunately, the Volvo isn't big enough for me, Bryant, two children, and half of our belongings, so when we got to Jodie's, we had to unpack our car and repack everything into her van. That done, along with instructions on how to work the DVD player, we were off. With the sounds of Nemo in the background, we made it up 95 to 26 and on to Kanuga, arriving, after a dinner stop at the Picadilly in Spartanburg, only 6 hours after check-in. Thank heavens for cell phones.
The boys and we all slept great that night. Breakfast is at 8:00, and we were all up and ready to go by then. The walk from our Guest House to the dining room was beautiful, winding cross-tie steps and a gravel road, all covered by a thick canopy of tall, green trees and all downhill.

The walk back, just as beautiful but uphill, but we had those meals to work off, so it was OK!
Jodie and Van and Guerin arrived Sunday afternoon. How Van was able to make the trip, I'll never know, but he did, and we were so happy to have him there. It wouldn't have been the same without him. Sunday night, those of us who had not just had major surgery went to the new Gooch activity building to listen to some bluegrass music. It was great music but unfortunately, there was not enough of it. It was difficult to keep the kids focused during the speeches in between songs. But when the music was playing, they were dancing!

I have a great video of it, and if I can figure out how to post it, you will be able to see it. For the rest of the week, Reeves was known as "that boy who was dancing".
Maddelle and family arrived on Monday, and Davis, for the third year in a row, had his Kanuga girlfriend.

He and Bryce immediately hit it off. He was even volunteering to share his trains with her. Now if that ain't love…. Monday night brought the street dance which, due to weather, was indoors. Like Sunday's musical foray, we'll take less talking, more singing, please. It was fun and the kids liked it, but we had to leave early because it was just too hard to keep them contained during the square dance instructions.
We spent early Tuesday evening fishing off the new dock, trying to avoid "those damn turtles". Well, it's true, they just get in the way when you're trying to catch brim! And it is particularly hilarious when Davis sees some other kids coming onto the dock and promptly turns to them and says, "Hey, guys! Come and see the damn turtles!" Haha, where do the kids get these things? Moultrie actually caught two fish.

I don't know why I was surprised, but Reeves was not the least bit scared of them. That night I introduced the group to Poohead. Oh, the joy that game has brought and continues to bring. Girls, I must admit, I might have forgotten some of the rules, but not to worry, I probably made up a couple to take their place!
Wednesday, we headed to Carl Sandburg's to play with the goats.

It's hard to believe my son, who just last year visited Sandburg's in the Baby Bjorn, was now running around, petting and feeding the goats. Amazing how fast they grow up. Like the fish, Reeves was fascinated with these animals. I hope this never changes. Davis and Bryce were like old pros and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the farm.

And for those of you who don't know, apparently goats are fascinated by a nursing mother. Everywhere that Jodie went, that goat was sure to go.

In this picture, I had told Davis to see if he could get Reeves to turn and look at me. That's one way of doing it!

Bathtime was always fun.
Wednesday night is Carnival night at Kanuga, and this year did not disappoint. The kids loved it. Face painting, candy fishing, bean bag toss.

It was all great. Reeves, of course, was drawn in by the music at the cake walk and spent minutes there on the sidelines dancing.

It will be so much fun to watch through the summers as the kids grow and ejoy different aspects of Kanuga.
The Christians had to leave on Thursday after breakfast. We were super sad to see them leave, and it was made even harder as we say Bryce crying that she wanted to stay. After nap and lunch, we spent some time in the lake. While it felt great to us big kids, we had to get out once Reeves lips started turning blue! After dinner, B, R, and I headed to Miss Piggy's for ice cream. Both Bryant and I felt pretty bad about taking him there, what with his milk allergy and everything, but they do have some cool, old-timey rides there, so those kept him interested. They had an old horse ride at the front, and I put Reeves on it thinking it would be a nice slow thing. Oh no! It was, as Jodie put it, "A jockey trainer".

The poor child almost fell off, it was bouncing him so fast. So now we know.
Friday, Jodie, Guerin, and I headed off to the Wee Trade consignment sale (just like the one in Charleston this weekend). It was amazing. It was like walking in to a Once Upon a Child that is as big as the Coliseum. I got some pretty good things there at great deals. Jodie couldn't let go of her stroller or the weight of the clothes hanging off of the handle would have catapulted Guerin halfway across the WNC Agricultural Center. I still can't believe she was able to get all of that stuff to fit in the van. After our morning of shopping, we spent the afternoon swimming, relaxing, and packing. We went to the Follies that night, and they were wonderful. It was so much fun to watch the kids enjoying themselves. Reeves even made the slide show at the end.

Sadly, we had to head back to reality and humidity on Saturday. It was good to be home, but I'll miss Kaunga and that lifestyle for the next couple of weeks. Before long, the daily grind will have unconsciously become the norm again, and weekends will resume their place as the most anticipated days. But once we receive that call from Hoyle this winter, letting us know what our accomodations will be for the summer of 2007, we can again look forward to our week at Kanuga and all the new memories waiting to be created.

"It's just a flesh wound..."

OK, just try to look beyond the wounds on his face to how precious he looked for his first day in the St. Philip's nursery. Seriously, I was worried that if we went out in public, someone was going to call DSS. Here's how it all went down…. Thursday, Jodie and Morgan were over with Davis, Guerin, and Leeze. R, D, and L spent most of the time running up and down the hall. Then we hear a fall and screaming. Reeves had fallen and hit his forehead on the corner of a little table in the hall. It was nauseating. No blood was drawn, but we watched the goose egg grow right before our eyes. It really was pretty disgusting.
Then on Friday in the country, after the disbelief that we could let Reeves hurt himself so badly, he takes a dive into the piano. Hence the wound on his cheek, just below the table wound. But not nearly as bad.
You know how things come in three's? Saturday morning, Reeves wakes up, we play a bit, and as I'm getting ready to give him his breakfast, he, out of our sight, falls and starts crying. Since we are true believers in the "shake it off" practice, we don't rush over, and he gets up and is fine. Then five minutes later, there appears, beside his eye, a mark. He must have hit the doorframe or something.
Poor thing!
But he's tough. Like Jodie said, "Good thing we don't have any portraits coming up soon!"

"The train! The train!"

"Come on, Daddy! Let's go see it!"

What a Day for a Dip

Saturday, we were going to head over to the new outlets and probably spend too much money and fight the crowds and the heat and depart generally unfulfilled and exhausted. Thank heavens Caroline swooped in and saved us from such a disappointing fate! She called to see if Reeves and I wanted to come swimming. What a perfect day for it. We headed across the river and followed Caroline and Fordham to the *cooled* pool! How refreshing!

Fordham, an old pool pro, was more than happy to show Reeves the ropes. Reeves could care less for his super cool float and prefers to swim by himself - except that he can't swim yet. This kid better be a fast learner, or he is going spend a lot of his time frustrated by his own limitations! After about 15-30 minutes in the pool, the boys had had enough. Reeves wanted to explore the grassy knoll, and Fordham was enjoying the fountain. Luckily for me, Reeves eventually decided that the fountain warranted some attention as well, and I was able to return to the pool area.

It was so much fun watching the boys play.

Even Reeves knows he doesn't have enough hair to get away with not wearing a hat!

Thanks, Caroline and Fordham, for a wonderful Saturday morning! Looking forward to many more!

In Case You Were Wondering...

This is what happens to your glass storm door when a marble, catapulted by a weed-eater, hits the bottom left corner of the bottom half of said door.

So typical of a Bair yard work day. We're plugging away at a steady pace. Reeves is napping, so I know I only have a limited amount of time to help Bryant. I'm pulling weeds; he's edging the front walk. I hear a pop, glance at the front door and marvel that nothing broke. Well, I could only see the top half. Then I stood up, and that was when I saw the bottom. I got Bryant's attention, and he turned off the offending machine. That was when we heard it - the subtle, constant crackling of the bottom half of the storm door. It sounded like when they put a microphone into a nest of army ants, or when, in the movies, the hero is standing on a thin sheet of ice in the middle of a frozen lake, and the villain drops a rock onto the edge sending crackling shock waves straight to our hero. That's what we listened to for a good minute before we came to our senses and put a plastic bag over the drop zone.

CRASH!
The pane comes smashing down onto the bag, onto the porch, into the flower bed. There are tiny pieces of glass everywhere! We had about another hour of naptime left, and it took at least that much time to clean it up because, of course, it's glass, and we have a toddler. Millions of tiny glass pieces and Reeves would not mix. We swept, we picked up, we wiped, and finally, Bryant blew it all off. We had to take the door off. I'll have to figure out what I need to do to get it replaced. We're out of town next week. Oy ve! The good news is Reeves did not wake up through any of it. The bad news was, Bryant had to finish the yardwork himself because as soon as we finished cleaning up the glass, and I came in and showered, our prince arose from his afternoon slumber.

Well life on the farm is kinda laid back

Aint much a young country boy like me can't hack

Its early to rise, early in the sack

Thank God I'm a Country Boy!