Some things never change

When you're talking about a toddler's affinity for a phone, a real phone, then yeah, some things never change.

When you're talking about my compulsion to take lots of pictures of little girls in pigtails, that doesn't change either.

When you're talking about my skills of putting little girls' hair in pigtails for the first time, mercifully, some things do change.




Clearly the idea to put Ella's hair in pigtails for the fist time struck and I wanted them done Right Then, paying no heed to a mid-line part or water (or even a comb, for that matter?).



I'm a seasoned pro by the time I deemed Ashley's hair ready for pigtails! Unfortunately, no amount of water and comb could deter her hair in the back from slipping out of the pigtails and curling back up. I may need to call in reinforcements for future endeavors, yes?



Ashley Kate sending out a SOS text for hairspray: STAT!

Pomp and Circumstance

Ella is an official graduate of Pre-K as of last night! It's very exciting, yet very confusing... a graduation? For Pre-K? I know, but it was fun for her to do and for us to see so yea!

They each had a cap and gown which I found so funny. After they had been presented with their graduation certificates, they tossed their caps into the air just like the big kids! (On a side note, Ella reported that her cap had to be pinned on since it kept slipping off her head - due to the largeness of her noggin! I, for one, am not surprised. The child has had a melon head since before she was born!)

The lighting wasn't the greatest for picture taking, but I did sneak up to the front for a video. This is Ella (at the far left) with some classmates reciting John 3:16. Please take note of the overall yelling-ness that's going on here. And apply that to the whole program. Thank you.




Later, the whole class joined together to sing Brown Bear, Brown Bear. It started off lovely, but soon spiraled to half of the kids singing one part of the song, the other half singing a latter portion of the song, kind of like Row, Row Your Boat. Except not on purpose. Since I am a loving mother, I decided that this was another excellent time for a video, chaos and all. I *may* be laughing at the two cycle song at the beginning of the video, but later I am laughing at Ashley, who is laughing. Fortunately, the kids pulled it together for the last few animals of the song. Ella is the second from the left (standing next to her once hot to trot for boyfriend from Valentine's Day to the left) who eventually holds up the goldfish. (You can hear Ashley cheering at the end, and also see the cell phone that she is holding: our effort to keep her happy, if you will.)




Grandma and Grandpa were able to come down to see the big day. Grandma had the unfortunate task of wrangling Ashley Kate.



I had the unfortunate task of trying to get a picture of Ella where she didn't look asleep.


"Open your eyes!" I said. I got what I asked for.


Some people just want to share in the festivities, no matter how small the cap!


And then others just want to run away...

...to the bright lights of the stage, my darlings! See these gams? I could be FAMOUS!



Congratulations to Ella, the big grad-u-ate! (In related news, when we went to register E for kindergarten, she did exceptionally well on her readiness test! Look at her, using all those brains in that big ol' head!)

Ella's New Job

Apparently, while I was looking the other way, Ella took a job with the Modesty Police. Not that she's Miss Modesty, mind you, but rather than she wants me to be. Or, more specifically, my neckline.

Last night as I was on the floor painting her toenails, she asked me "Mama, why do all of your shirts show your breasts?" Nice.

And then:

Today, as Ella is crawling all over me, she accidentally pulls the neck of my shirt down. She saw what she had done, immediately jerked it back up (well past where it should be) and says "Mama! Don't you know it's not ladylike to show your chest like that!"

I just laughed, knowing that one day our roles will be reversed and she will be the one with the buxom figure and I will be the one shouting 'Cover Up!'

If you think we're sleeping on the job...

... we are.

Not all of us are sleeping with the two Curious George books that we begged to read before nap time, but we are sleeping nonetheless.



(Do you believe that the next day she did the exact same thing with these two books?! I wanted to take another picture, 'second verse same as the first' kind of thing, but I didn't want to risk waking her up!)

Good News From The House - And The Yard

Great news, everybody! Ashley has not had another seizure, and at this point we are rejoicing in each day that passes without one! The time between her first two was 11 days, so we were a little antsy when we neared day 10 this time around. But today makes day 16 and we couldn't be happier!

More great news on the Ashley front: she's a bona fide walker! We have had a few people comment about how now she'll be into everything and won't we wish she wasn't walking, and to that I say this: No, not really. We've been waiting a long time for this development and are more than happy to deal with the repurcussions!

There is all kinds of good news coming from out in the yard, too! We are just beginning to realize how busy we might be this summer with all of the production that's going to happen.. and here I was, bemoaning the fact that we couldn't have a garden!

Ella Grace has been indoctrinated into the honeysuckle family.


The beautiful, sweet magnolias are preparing to make me one happy girl.

The littlest, ittiest bittiest bunch of grapes forming.

Just today we discovered that we have what we believe to be a PEACH TREE!
I can't tell you how excited we all are about this revelation.



We also discovered that we have what we believe to be two pear trees!
We are delighted about this revelation too, but maybe not as much as the peach.
Sorry, pear.

Y'all remember that we also have pecans, black walnuts and chestnuts too, right?! We will be busy indeed!

More developments, and a big rock wall

Last weekend I jetted off to North Carolina for a weekend away with some girlfriends. We had a big time (perhaps too big of a time was had by some-people-who-shall-remain-nameless-because-it's-their-own-blog-and-they-don't-have-to-tell-if-they-don't-want-to?) in a cabin in the mountains, complete with a hot tub and once alive animals on the wall.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning I got a call from David that Ashley had had another seizure. This one wasn't as bad since she kept breathing and came out of it quicker, but still rather startling, nonetheless. This development moves us from the 'every kid is allowed one' category to the 'my child has a disorder' category. DAMMIT.

At this point, we are waiting to meet with a neurologist and see if they can shed any light on what's going on. It seems so hard to tell yet, since she's only had two and they were different. But, the thing that we DO know, is that we are not all gung-ho to put her on medication like the neurologist that our pediatrician consulted with recommended. Um, NoThanksAtThisTime. (I've read some UGLY stuff about some of the epilepsy medicines.)

For now Miss Ashley Kate is her usual, wonderful, oh so kissable self. And trust me, we're taking full advantage of that kissableness!

Lawd Have Mercy

baby's got her blue jeans on!


How happy we were to unearth these from the box of Ella's old clothes! Ashley Kate will be raised right, I tell you! :)

Easter Dogwood

Since today is Easter, I would be remiss if I didn't post this picture of one of the several dogwoods that we have around the house.

Don't know of the legend of the dogwood and Easter? According to Wiki:

There is a Christian legend of unknown origin that proclaims that the cross used to crucify Jesus was constructed of dogwood. As the story goes, during the time of Jesus, the dogwood was larger and stronger than it is today and was the largest tree in the area of Jerusalem. After his crucifixion, Jesus changed the plant to its current form: he shortened it and twisted its branches to assure an end to its use for the construction of crosses. He also transformed its inflorescence into a representation of the crucifixion itself, with the four white bracts cross-shaped, which represent the four corners of the cross, each bearing a rusty indentation as of a nail and the red stamens of the flower, represents Jesus' crown of thorns, and the clustered red fruit represent his blood.

Every spring when I see the dogwoods blooming, I think of the legend.

Can you hug and kiss your kids too much?

This is Ashley Kate, out in the yard for a little picnic today.

Seriously contemplating eating her shoe.



Forget the shoe, what's over there?



My people! Hey my people!



Did you hear me? I said HEY MY PEOPLE!

I purposefully show you these pictures of Ashley from today, so that when I tell you that we had a major medical scare with her last week, you will know that she is absolutely, 100% FINE.

The bad part:

Last Tuesday night, while David was giving Ashley a bath, she had a seizure (for all intents and purposes). She zoned out, quit breathing and went limp. Not the typical thing that you think of with a seizure, but essentially, that's what it was. She slowly began breathing again after about 30 seconds and then subsequently slowly began regaining focus and coming back 'to herself.' Our story of what happened, especially the part about her stopping breathing, concerned several doctors, so we ended up at a children's hospital in Atlanta.

The good part:

They tested her heart (perfectly perfect) and blood (perfectly lovely) in the E.R. that night, which really was the morning, and she was admitted for more tests. Wednesday she underwent an EEG to test her brain activity (perfectly humming) and a MRI (perfectly clear). Hallelujah!

The doctors tell us that generally kids are allowed one 'free' seizure, as long as these four tests come back normal. If she has another, then we will have to worry and become bosom buddies with a neurologist.

We were able to come home Wednesday night, and after Ashley and I caught up on several missed meals, gallons of beverages and HOURS and HOURS of missed sleep, we are back to our normal routine.

In the mean time, we now have a very, very expensive (but very, very worth it) emergency prescription that would stop a seizure, should it happen again.

This behavior here? Perfectly normal. The girl drinks like a FISH.

(I double dog dare you to click on this picture and gaze into the McClure blue eyes. I DARE YOU. But don't look at her long nails. It's been a long week. Oh, and those dark circles under her eyes? Those are from her sister waking her up during her nap. Don't look at those either.)

Improvisation

What we lack in a clothesline, we make up for in a grapevine frame.

More photographic evidence of Lilly earning her keep

I'm still here, somewhere, doing something. I'm not exactly sure what I've been up to, but I think all know what I haven't been doing!

While I collect myself and whatever else it is that needs collecting, I give you this: A Princess and her trusty Gold-Skirt-Turned-Cape Wearin' Dog.



Ashley's seat is in the office, well, because such is the life of a college student taking classes online that meet when David is at work and if I must keep the child in my sights, a tray full of eats will do it!

The Mommy Survey

The Facebook meme that Andria posted and I couldn't resist: I surveyed Ella to find out about myself.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Ella, I love you

2. What makes mom happy? me asking you to read me books

3. What makes mom sad? let's see... when I ignore you

4. How does your mom make you laugh? by tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child? you had long hair

6. How old is your mom? can you give me a hint? My pick is... 55

7. How tall is your mom? my pick is 11"

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Your favorite thing to do is... sit down and watch TV with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? clean up (so astute!)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? dress up like Ariel

11. What is your mom really good at? organizing stuff

12. What is your mom not very good at? fixing things

13. What does your mom do for her job? you, well, work

14. What is your mom's favorite food? shepherds pie and bierocks

15. What makes you proud of your mom? getting the TV right to set up a movie (last weekend I fought and fought with the DVD player to get it hooked up right with the satellite receiver, but I finally got it! I was pretty proud of myself for that one!)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Sleeping Beauty

17. What do you and your mom do together? What we do together is that... I don't know. I just have no idea.

18. How are you and your mom the same? we both have the same color hair

19. How are you and your mom different? we don't have the same things (I ask for clarification) panties

20. How do you know your mom loves you? because you hug me a bunch

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Wal-Mart (I stinkin' KNEW that was coming!)

23. How do you know that Daddy loves Mommy? because he kisses you a bunch

24. What is your mom's favorite color? green

25. What is mom scared of? bears (what?!)

26. What is mom's favorite TV show? the taxi show (Cash Cab)

The Daddy Survey

Andria posted this on her blog (via a Facebook meme) and I thought it was so cute. A little interview, of sorts, of Ella about her daddy. The interview about me will come soon.

1. What is something dad always says to you? Ella calm down

2. What makes dad happy? When he reads me Hank (Hank the Cowdog)

3. What makes dad sad? Giving me a spanking

4. How does your dad make you laugh? by tickling me

5. What was your dad like as a child? I don't even know

6. How old is your dad? I don't know

7. How tall is your dad? I don't know

8. What is his favorite thing to do? Read me Hand and eat M&Ms and pecan bars

9. What does your dad do when you're not around? watch TV

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? fixing my bike's chain

11. What is your dad really good at? training horses (you should have seen the big smile on David's face when he heard this)

12. What is your dad not very good at? now that's a tough one... I don't know (again with the smile)

13. What does your dad do for his job? move rocks, plants and gates

14. What is your dad’s favorite food? cookies and chocolate pie

15. What makes you proud of your dad? fixing my (play) hay fork

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Mickey Mouse

17. What do you and your dad do together? we used to go to the horse unit together

18. How are you and your dad the same? we both have the same color jeans, we almost have the same color boots

19. How are you and your dad different? we don't like the same foods as each other

20. How do you know your dad loves you? he hugs me, daddy tells me he loves me

21. Where is your dad’s favorite place to go? go work with cattle and at horse units

22. How do you know that Mommy loves Daddy? 'cause y'all hug a bunch and kiss a bunch

23. What is your dad’s favorite color? blue and green

24. What is dad scared of? nothing (again, the smile)

25. What is dad’s favorite TV show? the news

How things go

Yesterday I ran across a stuffed animal that I use for Easter decoration that Ella had gotten a hold of prior. I got a good laugh out of it (and thought that Marisa would too) so I decided to take a picture to share.

I have no idea what inspired me to go upstairs to take the picture, but I did, and the best I could come up with was posing the dang thing in the window for the light. Here's what I went upstairs for, and what I subsequently took pictures of. It's just how things flow here.

Little bunny foo foo with all those baubles (He says 'Let me out, let me out!)

I got distracted by the lovely view from our bedroom window, but then got called away because of a ruckus downstairs

Ella had pushed the Bug into the living room, but added Coon as a passenger. Back to the bunny, A.D.D. girl!

Again with the sparkly bunny by a window. This light looks nice, so I call Ella over.

And then there's an intervention where someone tells me to put the camera down.

This is the kind of stuff that clouds my brain

Here and There, in no particular order:

* On Ashley's take home note from preschool the other day: Ashley ate enough for TWO toddlers! She really loved her macaroni and cheese with ham!

* Did you know that you can unclog a toilet with dish soap? I didn't either before this weekend and a little Googling, but I'm here to testify that it works!

* I added a little thing over on the side that shows the cities of all of my visitors, which I think is really cool. Now if I could only stop checking in on it and padding the visits with my city! :)

* Today I finally got off my arse and bought a web cam so that we could see the Wallace fam! We had an appointment all set up and Skyped tonight. It was so good to see all four of them (and how big Makenna has gotten!). Ella couldn't stop looking at herself onscreen, however. We may have a problem for future Skypes. As I sit here and type, knowing full well that the camera is off, I can't help but imagine that it's on and somebody, somewhere is watching me. Must take camera down between meetings.

* I made this recipe for a Cheesesteak-esque But Not type sandwich Sunday and it is really, really good. David especially liked it.

* The other day Ella told us that she was leaving for a rodeo in Texas and would be gone six days and she's taking the little Barbie VW Beetle motorized car (that was handed down to ASHLEY by a friend) and off she traipses to fold herself into it. I told her that it might take her a long time in the Bug and she hollers back 'So Be It!' What?! What five year old says that?

* I swear that camera is still looking at me.

* Last week I was on the local AM station for their weekly special about the UGA campus in town. I went with Jen and she was the primary interviewee, but I got just a smidge of talk time. No big deal, though, because I'm pretty sure about 9 people listen to that station. Let me put it to you this way: The segment on before us was sponsored by the funeral home and listed all of the people who had died. Didn't we seem rather lively, then?

Evel Knashley

Ashley Kate likes to live the life of a daredevil sometimes. A daredevil that doesn't know she's being a daredevil because her mother has been kind enough to stop such behaviors before she figures it out the hard way. Take the case of the rocking chair:




I turned the chair to the couch so that she couldn't flip backwards, which is what she comes so close to doing otherwise. Also, I thought the post-ponytail hair made the video all the more special! (Please look past the big basket of laundry to be folded and Ella coming in and doing I don't know what.)

You encourage 'em to write

and this is what you get.

Slipperyous Preschoolerous

Apparently the early part of spring is the molting season for this rare creature.





(I have no idea how Ella got her pants off like this. One minute she's wearing them, the next she has on a skirt and it looks like another version of herself met an early demise, a la the Wicked Witch of the West.)

Snow in Georgia?

It's been 2 1/2 months since we've seen snow, but once it started coming down today you would have thought Ella had never seen the stuff! The stars and the moon must have aligned just right to make middle Georgia see snow all day long. It didn't really stick to speak of, but it was impressive enough for our latitude! I can imagine that there were little children all over the county who where going nuts over it trying to make snowballs and such.

I don't think this area has seen the likes of this... in ages? Ever?

The cows huddled up close underneath a group of trees at the back of our yard.

This was big, WET snow, so this mama cow is probably glad she's got a layer of leather to keep her dry.

Like I said, big, WET snow. With a side of attitude. (You can see it in her eyes, can't you?!)

I'm totally indulging myself with this one. I just thought it was a cool picture.

It's a veritable blizzard but of course the turkeys are out. Can you see 'em?

Poor jonquils! I told them not to come out yet! Just a little overzealous, I guess.

School is cool

I've told you before how pleased we are with Ella's new preschool, and I mean it. Today, as we were driving away, she sighed and said 'I love preschool...' I told her that I was very glad, and asked if she liked it better than her old one. 'Yes,' she said 'they have better food.' At least the girl is honest.

Here is photographic evidence of why I love this new preschool so much:


This would be Ella Grace, READING. Her teacher send home a list of words that they have been working on reading each week, along with the blend sounds. This is Ella, reading both columns of words, repeatedly telling us No! I don't want help! I want to learn. Yes ma'am.