rescue

Today Noah came inside and said Lana needed my help. I will admit I wasn't too quick to go. I glanced outside and didn't see any peril, so all was quiet again. I think I continued to read my book. Maybe 15 minutes later Noah rushes in again-Noah: "Mom. You really have to come now. Lana is stuck on the monkey bars. Please come."

This time I did get up and walked to the back door and sure enough, Lana is on top of the monkey bars. I am quick to rescue her, after taking a few photos of course.

Happy again

this week...

...has been crazy. We are having the inside of the house painted. They started work on Tuesday and finished the inside last night around 7pm. I'm quite happy. Now we just have to clean all the dust and put all the furniture back into place.
Everyone would jump off the bus at 3 and I would have to come up with a grand plan to occupy their time until we could enter the house again. Tuesday we went to the park while we waited for Ceily to swim with half price slushies from Sonic. Wednesday we went to the pool with friends. Thursday we hung around Chris' office for a bit until he got mad at us for being too noisy. So, we found another fun park. Noah sat on my lap the entire time wrapped in his blanket because he's sick. And now it's Friday and I can at least stay put in my house and get some things done.

This week also marked the 5th Grade "Dancing through the Decades." Ceily was able to dress as a 20's Flapper, a 50's teeny bopper, a 60's groovy chick, and today, her favorite, the 80's. We were able to take pictures of the 20's and the 80's Ceily because the 50's and the 60's Ceily was having issues with authority and stormed out of the house to catch the bus.
She loves her 80's outfit. I'm afraid she will be wearing it often, leg warmers and all. Actually, Noah was requesting a pair as well because they are so warm.

Noah has been sick all week. We took him to the doctor on Wednesday, and of course it's just a virus. So, he's enjoying eating in bed, and watching movies and being waited on. He's mentioned more than once, his desire to be sick for 21 days. He apparently likes his sick lifestyle.

We will be participating in the neighborhood garage sale tomorrow. Eddie's eyes have already lit with dollar signs. He's quite good at selling things. I told him he could sell the Nintendo 64 and keep the money. He's been calculating for 2 days now how much he could get for each game.
Now I have to force myself to go take care of the crazy house.

daily works of art #30

SUBMARINE
by eddie

beach day

We spent Memorial Day at the beach. I can't tell you how gorgeous the weather was. There was no humidity and a cool breeze. If I hadn't the parental responsibility of 4 children, I would have laid my chair back, closed my eyes and slumbered peacefully for hours. But, because I am such a great mother, I took lots of pictures of the children, applied lots of sunscreen, worried about all the sharks waiting to eat feet and legs, helped bruised souls mend, applied time out a few times, made sure the little ones didn't get swept away by a wave, bought sea shells at Lana's store, supplied a warm lap to ward off the chattering teeth, and enjoyed the warm sun and my children having fun.

I'm always impressed with Chris. The second he applies vast amounts of sunscreen to his head, he is off in the water with everyone. He takes each individual far into the water to jump the waves. He helps each of the little ones ride perfect waves on the boogie boards. He spends time with the older two as they swim farther and farther, making me nervous!, and protects them. And then he comes back and starts all over. He never sat down once the entire time we were there.

It's fun to watch each child.









Ceily has always been a digger. She sits in the surf and shovels up wet sand in her hands and usually lets it fall upon her body. She rolls in the waves. She always has sand in her hair. As we return I always find pockets of shells she has collected.

Eddie is in the water. Always. Body surfing, boogie boarding, swimming. He will occasionally dig huge holes and try for sand castles, but the call of the waves is too strong to resists. He's usually the last one to come out of the water so we can go.

This was the photo Eddie wanted me to take. No one in the picture.

Lana loves the water and this year has become extremely brave. I was watching her as she took the boogie board all by herself and masterfully rode wave after wave. She would hop on top and paddle her little body to find those perfect waves. I was quite surprised. She did get upset and sulked for a bit when she had to wait her turn for dad time. But, she was able to collect lots of shells to sell. And yell at Noah for destroying said shell store.

Noah is constant movement. He's in the water. He's jumping over waves. He's boogie boarding. He's running after birds. He's chasing dogs.

He's trying to instigate sand wars. He's belly flopping in the surf. He's clinging to his dad as they swim together, far, far away. He then takes the time to cuddle in the towels and my arms and talk. Usually about how he's hungry and needs some food and he can't believe I didn't bring any good snacks and he's starving and what is he going to eat...

And then I gather everyone, sand and all, and we head home. Filled with shells and memories and pink cheeks and heads...and the house is quiet for a bit as we all rest and remember and plan for the next beach outing.

daily works of art #29

ME

by lana

recital

Eddie and Lana had their piano recital this evening. It was fun to see them perform for everyone. They did a really great job. I have mentioned once or twice that my children are nothing like me. They seem to enjoy the lime light. And they seem to be really good at it too.

Eddie was likened to Liberace and Elton John. He stood up to the piano and flared his arms out in front of him as he prepared to take a seat. After his fantastic piece, he stood up, placed his left hand on the side of the piano, and took an elaborate bow. Too funny. I was very proud.

Lana wiggled the entire time she was up on the stand. She needed to use the bathroom, and would not follow my stern faces and word mouthing to come down and use the potty. Besides that, she performed splendidly. She was so cute bobbing her head to the beat. I don't recall her curtsy. I think I may have been too nervous hoping she didn't have an accident instead.

As I sat there, I remembered my years of piano. I had one teacher, Mrs. Kunkle, and she had horrible breath. Another teacher lived in a dark, dark home and took me down into the dugeon to practice. At least that's how I remember it.

I also remembered the piano recitals I was forced to perform. I hated it. I hated it. The one I remember like it was yesterday, was the time I completely forgot my piece. I had memorized it and was actually quite proud of myself. As I was playing, I think I got through the first three or four measures and then completely forgot everything else. I returned to the beginning of the song and got to the same point and had absolutely no idea what came next. I repeated the previous measures and then got up, bowed and sat down.

My next class was my theory class I took with 4 other students. One boy was very, let's say confident, and was taking the time to compliment each of us on our pieces. When it was my turn, he turned to me and said: "You could have done better. Maybe next time."

Well, there was never a next time. I think I gave up on recitals.

I hope my children continue to love music. I hope my children never give up. I wont let them. That's what mom's do, right? Force their loved ones to do things they wish they had done. Bravo! Eddie and Lana! May more grand recitals come your way.

daily works of art #28

FLOWER VASE

by eddie

yesterday

Yesterday evening, we had a rainstorm. Hail accompanied the rain. Noah ran to the window and yelled: "Snow!!" Yes, this is the snow that we get down south.

indulgences of love

Today Lana visited the dentist- AGAIN!

This poor 6 year old has had too many dental surgeries. I 've lost count.

I guess there is something to be said of drugs and their effects on the brain. Lana was happy and willing to go this morning. She never remembers a thing.

Because I love her much, when we got home, I carried her to my bed. Placed her head on the softest pillows in the house. Asked if I could get her anything. Found movies. Found blankies. Found stuffed animals. Started one movie. Stopped first movie. Started the second movie.

As I was making her lunch, she struggles, stumbling, downstairs. Chris rescues her. Sweeps her up and carries her to me. She then proceeds to tackle the trash can that was in the middle of the kitchen floor, and almost knocks herself out, this time without meds, as she narrowly avoids the cabinet knob.

My children know the cardinal rule: NO FOOD OUT OF THE KITCHEN. Do they follow this rule? Sometimes. (Usually when I'm looking.) So when I said I would serve Lana lunch in bed she was delighted and happily stayed in bed, waiting. Noah got wind of what was up and of course had to be a part of this grand indulgence. I tried to capture this on video. These two were so enthralled in the "Pink Panther" they could hardly lift their heads to put food inside their open mouths.

So now I will have documented proof when they yell: "You never let us eat in bed!"

ceily

Ceily, Ceily, Ceily. What will become of our Ceily? She is getting too old. It's hard to even think that she was my very first. My first baby. My first nurser. My first experiment. Is it going to turn out? Will the hypothesis prove correct? Will she survive despite all the many mistakes we, I have made, being her mother? I guess we shall see. My sister always says "marriage is a crap shoot," and I'm beginning to believe such is true of parenthood. I will say that I do have much on my side. The scriptures, prayer, wonderful parents before me, prayer, love, prayer, prayer and more prayer.
Today she was "playing" with a friend. They were pretending to be Lizzy and Jane from Pride and Prejudice. They had long (well sort of long) flowing dresses. Pretty scarfs draped upon their hair. Parasols to wander down the rose vined lane. Oh how I love Lizzy and Jane! Their secrets whispered under cover in bed. Their loves confessed. Their joys and sorrows shared. I wanted to join them and pretend I hadn't a care in the world...someone to hand wash my soiled laundry, someone to pluck my evening meal, someone to lace my shoes...

Me: "Erin, who are you?"

Erin: "I'm Jane. Ceily is Elizabeth. She wanted to be Lydia because Lydia disappoints her parents."

Me: "Oh."

Ceily emerges from the house...

Me: "Ceily- you wanted to be Lydia?" I'm a bit disturbed actually. "Why?"

Ceily: "Yes! She spices things up!"

That has been Ceily from day one. As a three year old she had a secret club in her closet. The "Brittany Spears Club", where she wore "belly button shirts and did cigaretting."

Our daughter that declared she would not go to our church when she grew up so she could go to Dunkin Donuts on Sunday.

The 8 year old that decided she was "Goth" and wore black for 6 months.

We always just quietly let her do her own thing.

Now she is in love with Edward, the perfect vampire of Twilight. I'm ok with that. She has read maybe 25 times the words Edward professes to Bella about saving their chastity until they are married. (This is not a lie. If you mention a part of one of the three books, she will tell you what page you are on) Vampires too, can be together forever!

Love you. Love You. Love you Ceily...forever.

lana again

My girls love straight hair. Lana wakes every morning and ask if we have time to make straight hair. Usually the answer is no. But, occasionally it happens and then she is extreemly happy.

Thanks to my BFF Staci, we have a flat iron. As Staci packed up and left us to live in ARIZONIA FOR THREE YEARS, she gladly handed over her hardy hand iron to flatten my girl's hair.

(Just a FYI- Last year we were in Scotland and they have flat irons in the women's bathrooms!)

Thanks Staci. For three years now, you have made my girls happy.

alligator movie

Here is the before mentioned Alligator movie.

Nothing spectactular, but enjoy.

because flowers make me happy...

My friend asked me to do some flowers for her daughter's baptism today. She also had me do a roping for her hair and these were the leftovers. It reminds me of my wedding. I just had baby's breath as my bouquet. Love it.

I will add that the hydrangeas that I purchased DIED! It's a good thing I went to the church this morning to check. I quickly ran around town looking for fresh hydrangeas. The last florist(click to visit Out OF Hand in Mount Pleasant) I tried had some and they gave the flowers to me for free!! I feel like I need to send them a Thank You note for saving my life.

I don't know what happened to the first batch. But I will be taking them back for a refund. The flowers didn't even last 24 hours. The kind lady florist that saved my life agreed with me.

Thank you kind lady. I will return to your store often...

today

washer
dryer
BOTH
broken

our new friend

What's lurking behind the grass?

An alligator.

A couple of weeks ago we were driving home after a school activity. We were passing by a pond close to the children's school and we saw an alligator's head just above the surface. Chris turned the car around and we sat there in the car for maybe 15 minutes watching as the animal slowly crept closer and closer. Eventually, the alligator submerged himself under the water. This was when we made Chris get out of the car and get closer so he could see if the alligator was going to climb out of the water. There was no climactic scene of Chris running as quick as he could to the car to escape the attack of the three foot alligator. Darn! But we enjoyed the anticipation and the first spotting of the spring alligators.

So yesterday I had just completed my last day volunteering in Lana's classroom. (YEAH!) I was driving home from school and I saw the alligator...AGAIN! I actually drove home very quickly, grabbed my camera and drove back. Being the Uber mom that I am (just kidding about the uber part), I stood there for 20 minutes capturing the alligator in all its splendor so my children could enjoy him as well. I will warn you that the video is long and boring and I wasn't too steady as I filmed. I was really hoping as Alligator (his new name) swam that he would all of a sudden jump up and grab a bird as it stood innocently on the bank, enjoying the sun. No such luck. Alligator just swam and then quietly disappeared. (sooo, i tried to upload the video...didn't happpen. tired many times. we will figure it out and post later. sorry.)

daily works of art #27

MY SUNFLOWER

by noah

I'm not a clean freak. I do like things nice and organized and peaceful. But, I don't bounce a quarter off the sheets. I don't even make the children make their beds in the morning.

I usually have my children tidy up their rooms once or twice during the week. Then on Friday after school or Saturday we take the time to really put things away.

So last week was a bit stressful here in the Thomas household. I wasn't my usual task manager. The weekly room cleanings were not done. I just didn't take the time, have the time, or want to take the time.

I looked at my girls' room this morning. I keep shaking my head. I wonder when they will finally grasp the concept of clean and tidy. Ceily is 11, so it's not at that age. How much longer do I have to wait until they want to be in a tidy, organized atmosphere? Even Chris made a comment this morning as he tried to maneuver his way to the bed to get Lana up for school. Wait, I'm remembering something Ceily said. She walked in yesterday morning and before I even said anything, she said- "Yeah, we need to clean up after school today." Maybe the time is almost here...

daily works of art #26

BLOSSOMS

by lana

lana's first book

This morning we heard Lana read to us her very first publication. She has been working on this for a while now. She was even asked to read her book on the Morning News at school.
She chose her best dress, picked her hair style and ribbon and walked out the door this morning excited and a bit nervous. "Heavenly Father, please help me as I read my book this morning," were her words during family prayer.

We now present to you-

The Pool In Arizona

by Lana Thomas.

The End

About the Author

daily works of art #25

NIGHT

by lana

daily works of art #24

PUPPY

by lana

daily works of art #23

UNFINISHED

by ceily

A post from Chris

There were three key reasons why I decided to marry Jayne. The first two I figured out pretty quick but it was some time before I learned the third. Jayne's sneaky that way - just when I thought it was safe to date her she made me fall in love.

The first reason was her hair. It is, in my opinion, perfect. This is probably revealing way too much but even before I met Jayne I was really into thick, dark, curly hair. I had a rating system and would judge girls I met based on a 10 point scale (yes, I really was that shallow.) I retired the ratings when I met Jayne because I'd never met, nor have I since met, anyone with hair as great as Jayne's.

The second reason was that she was a great kisser. May not be terribly profound but it matters deeply to me...

And with those two reasons I was set. We weren't in love but I was 21 and was okay with great hair and great kissing. But she was still a bit of a mystery. Whereas I cannot stop talking, she didn't say much at all. Again, that was okay with me (see reasons one and two.)

But then she wrote me a letter. I kid you not, it was like meeting an entirely new person. All these things that she would never say would spill out onto the page. All these things I always wanted to understand about her would become totally clear. And it wasn't just expressive - it was really smart and funny and loving and observant and genius. I was stunned. Worse, I quickly realized I could fall in love with the great kisser with perfect hair. She tricked me!

This blog has been such fun for me because I get to read her writing without feeling awful (usually when I get personal letters now it's because I've screwed up so bad that she can't even talk to me.) It's also been fun because other people get to read Jayne's stuff and get to know her better too.

The big news - which I've buried at the bottom here - is that Jayne's great writing has been recognized and is published on a blog that features short essays by parents. Each week they select another parent's essay to publish. After receiving Jayne's entry last week, the editor put her essay up immediately. I love it and hope you all will too.

firsts

Every one can remember their first kiss. Or the first time they rode a bike. Or the first time they got caught by their mother skipping school and got grounded for the fist time.

This weekend was a weekend of firsts. Eddie ran his first race and Noah...well, we'll discuss Noah later.

The 33rd Annual Hell Hole Swamp Festival 10k Gator Run was held this weekend in Jamestown, SC (about 30 miles into the swamp from our house.) Chris and Eddie both participated.

Last year 68 runners participated-up from 33 the previous year. This year maybe 100.
But, Eddie was so dang excited that he completed his very first 10k.
Me- "Eddie, what was your favorite thing about running the race?"
Eddie- "Finishing the race."
He's planning on competing next year. He's already eyeing the coveted Alligator Head trophy awarded to the fastest runner.

It was pretty interesting sitting there with the kids and watching all the people parading around us. Just imaging a tiny southern town and the people in it. Proud of their southern roots. Moonshine and Confederate flag and everything that comes with it.

"And when them other runners, their exploits they do extole; Just say 'Hush Your Mouth' cause I done run Hell Hole!" penned by Michael Lake- The Hell Hole Poet. They even have a Hell Hole Swamp Festival Headquarters.

I do believe the race is just a side note. No local was waiting and cheering on the runners. All locals were either sitting along the parade route, or in the parade.

Which brings me to Noah. My little 4 year old cleptomaniac. As we were waiting for the runners, we stepped into the local gas station to purchase some water. Noah, as always, went straight to the candy and requested some treats. I said no and to "Put them back so we can go." "Okay mom, I'll put them back," was his reply. Later, maybe 45 minutes later, Noah walks up to me, puts his hand in his pocket, and presents to me with great fanfare, a package of M&M's. "Ta-da!"
Me- "Noah, where did you get those?!"
Noah- "At the store."
Me-gasping- "Did you steal those!?"
Noah is looking a bit worried but answers- "No."
Me- "Then how did you get them. I sure hope they haven't called the Police."
Noah's eyes get wider and his little lips begin to quiver. "I bought them."
Me- "How did you buy them?"
Noah- "With my money."
Me- "You don't have any money. Do you see any police? The people at the store call the police when little boys steal things."
Noah- on the verge of tears- "I pretend bought them with my pretend money."
I'm feeling a bit guilty making Noah upset, but I'm also trying to make sure he remembers this.
Me- "We better go back to the store and give them back. You are going to tell the lady that you stole from her store. I sure hope they don't arrest you."
Well, Noah was brave and scared and crying, but he went up to the lady. He placed the evidence on the counter. The lady thought he wanted to buy them, but I explained that he had taken them and had something to say to her. Noah began to really cry and said he stole the candy and was sorry.
Lady- "Now don't cry..."
Noah interrupting- "I'm not crying!"
The lady said that since he had done the honest thing and admitted he had done the wrong thing that she was going to buy the M&M's for him. "That is the right thing to do. Yes it is. I'm proud of you."
Hopefully he doesn't think everytime he pockets candy he'll be rewarded.