Whazz up?

Okay, for some reason I was weird about this book. Despite the fact that I have loved every book Stephenie Meyer wrote, I didn't think I would like this one. I loved this novella and the perspective that it provided into Eclipse. The funniest thing is for each copy of this book she sells, she's giving a dollar to the Red Cross. He-he. That kills me.

Our 1997 Nissan Altima has been stranding us off and on for awhile now. We loved this car, her name was Sally. Like Lightening McQueen's girlfriend. You know, the Porsche? Well, they were both bluish and that was all that mattered when Nate fell in love with that movie. RIP, Sally.

This is our new Honda Civic. It doesn't have a name yet, but when that changes I'll let you all know.
The project that never ends. Sorry about the crooked shot, but you get the point. WE FINISHED THE FRONT. Sort of. We still have to do the door/frame and put up the black shutters. But still. It's progress people. Hope you have a great week!

September

September is that magical month where children in Little Rhodey go back to school. This year, Katie started Kindergarten and Kylie entered third grade. Both girls like their teachers and are doing well. Kylie brought home a note on Friday asking that we get her eyes checked. She's thrilled. She wants glasses. Who knew?

Katie was so excited on the first day that by the time I'd gotten up she was dressed (with shoes) eating her breakfast.

We've also started painting our house. Whose horrible idea was that, you ask? Erm, it might have been mine. But anywho, we've got great little helpers.

We started on the back of the house and everyone was part of the scraping for the first day.

Don't you love the goggles?

Now we're working on the front of the house. We've had to cut down most of our bushes and have stepped on the rest. We'll figure that out later, but the color on top Spanish Moss is our new and improved look. I'm also taking two classes at RIC, so I've been feeling super busy.

On another note, Nate has started dressing himself for Sundays. I didn't used to let him because he wanted to wear holey jeans or sweatpants, but I think he's got the idea now. In his words, I look like a little Daddy.

Snap shot of a summer.

We've had a LOT of crazy things happen this summer...starting with these 11 babies born to the "sister" hamsters we got from the neighbors. They were really cute, but no.

We were so lucky to get a visit from some of our State College friends before they move to Malawi, Africa. Here they are at the zoo.


This is the day of Kylie's baptism. I can't tell you what an amazing experience that was for our family. We were so happy to have both sets of grandparents with us for that special day.

Kylie wanted a low-key party-love that girl. So she had a Nancy Drew party. Here are some of the detectives.

I'm only showing the gifts because she got so many books. It warms the heart. It really does.

One of the things we did while the grandparents were visiting was take them to Newport on the Cliffwalk where the Vanderbilts, Astors, etc. built their summer homes.

We also visited the Museum of Natural History when we took Seth's parents to New York City.

Nate has moved from a toddler bed to a twin bed and therefore got his room painted. He decided on 100 acre sky and...(drum roll) Cars bedding again. He loves that car with all of his little man heart.


What have you been doing this summer?

Happy Mother's Day

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to camp.

I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing my neighbor's lawn.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Confessions of a T-Ball Virgin

Our little Katie got the opportunity to join a t-ball team for the next two months and I was really excited for her because that girl's got some hand/eye coordination. The only problem was that we found out about it the day before the game and I, having never played ball, didn't know what to expect. Here is what I learned:

1. Must take a catcher's glove (sad, I know).
2. Girls with extremely long hair need pig tails.
3. A water bottle would also be helpful.
4. Coaches are scary.
5. Coaches with 3 kids on the team are really scary.
6. Never turn your back on whichever child has the ball or bat.
7. It is perfectly acceptable for 9 kids to all rush the ball.
8. By second base most children have forgotten why they are in the field to begin with.
9. This is going to be a lot of fun.

And the rains came down and the floods went up

...and the Dixons didn't get washed away.

When we were considering this house almost a year ago now, I remember checking the paperwork to see if it was in the flood plain. It wasn't. I mentioned it to Seth and quickly continued to peruse the paperwork.

Now that we are recovering from a 500 year flood (yup, none of this weak 100 year flood business for us), I realized just how important that little box checked "no" was. And I'm grateful for how relatively easy this emergency has been for us because that was something we paid attention to. But we were still woefully unprepared for an emergency.

Two days ago, when the rivers swelled beyond their banks we woke up with no power. I rummaged around for a flashlight and couldn't find one that fit the batteries we had available. I blame the kids. As the situation around us began to escalate I knew we were safe, but I had an unsettled feeling. Maybe because our church has been counseling us since before I was born to have some cash on hand and have some food storage tucked away-just in case.

Many circumstances are beyond our control, but I know I would've felt better if I'd been as prepared as I know I should be. It's taken a 500 year flood, but I finally realize how important this advice is.

Here is a link showing flooding that is all within a few miles of my house:

Thoughts on kids who grow up without permission

Several things have happened over this past week that alerted me to a "growing" trend.

First, Katie lost her a tooth. She's five, so it shouldn't have shocked me...but it did. Kylie has been our jack-o-lantern girl for so long that I didn't realize the torch had been passed to my baby girl. A second bottom tooth will be falling out within the next few days. My kids seem to be all or nothing when it comes to loosing teeth.

Second, after our children woke me up very early this morning (okay, it was 7 a.m. but dang it, I like to sleep in on Sunday) I sent them to go read books so I could sleep a little longer. When I got up, I looked in the girl's room and saw their beds were made. I could hear them downstairs, so I went down and found both girls dressed for church and they had made their own breakfast. My mouth fell open and I blinked a lot before I came to my senses and complimented them.

When did this happen??? I can feel that we are moving into a new phase as a family and before long I'm going to need to hide my car keys and mascara. My sister-in-law, Trisha, always says that when we do our job well as parents we eventually put ourselves out of business and this week I've seen that glimmer of independence in the girls. Thank heaven Nate is a little younger and a bit more dependent. I still need to be needed!

I know there is still plenty to do though, not just for Nate, but for the girls too. Here is the tricky thing Kylie did. After her sister put her tooth in a porcelain tooth-shaped container on the night stand for the Tooth Fairy to pick up, Kylie snuck her sister's tooth under her pillow...making life harder for the Tooth Fairy who couldn't say anything about it the next day. Don't worry, Katie got the dollar.

So a word of warning: keep an eye on your children, they might be up to this shenanigans too.