Sawyer-ese

 Stealing Mommy's Diet Coke...a favorite pastime.




I think it is pretty neat how often times mothers (or other primary care-givers) are the only ones who can decipher their toddler's speech. It is a magical thing to watch a child come alive in language and literally burst with new words each day. Right now we are in such a phase with Sawyer and I am the privileged one who gets to decode her utterances. I want to document these adorable phrases of hers that she will too-soon lose. I wish I could capture the sound of her "Fossy" (for "Frosty the Snowman") or her "Bah ticka ticka" (for "Bubble Guppies") with more dimension than words on a page, but for now it will do.  I love her requests for her "nuck" (what she calls her milk),  "Ee ay Ee ay" (Old McDonald had a Farm) or "Tinkle Tinkle"  (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) as well as her little words for "hem me" (help me) or "bati Oh" (batido {smoothie}) or "Key Aht" (kitty cat), "Ahhpplejuice" (for either juice or her "autobus" toy schoolbus) or "Bah Bah" for her lamb lovie.  Perhaps our favorite is her "Dah eee" for her Daddy or her "I owe you" for "I love you".  I also like "gahtackle" which can either be for "popsicle" or "bicycle". You can't write this stuff!?

Don't grow up, Sawyer! You are so precious to us.

Christmas wish

Sullivan has asked Santa for a Pony this year.
Yikes.

Thanksgiving and Lee's Bday

We have had a great week at home this week.
It started slowly with me working at home with the girls on Monday as they are off from school all week.  I had to do handfuls of oral interviews over the phone with my Spanish 101 students from around 9a-11:30a...Thankfully, the girls watched a Christmas movie and then played together relatively quietly in Sullivan's room for the duration. I was elated to be done with the interviews (and so proud of the girls for being so quiet!) and ready to begin some real "staycation" fun. Right after I finished with the phone work, we shot over to Target to have a "picnic" lunch in the cart and just cruise and shop at leisure. As Sullivan is now in school 5 days a week, we hardly ever get to "not-shop" and just browse for fun, so it was a blast.

On Tuesday, we went to the mall with friends and played indoors. Wednesday we went to the park for a picnic and played outside at home. Lee was off early on Wednesday afternoon and I got to go shopping that evening by myself for a bit, which was great for me. 

On Thursday, the Murphys drove in from AL, arriving at noon, and we played and played until we ate our big meal around 5:15p. This was my first time to host my in-laws and cook a full-scale meal for them on a holiday...we have always been in Montgomery and I have just never made it until now!? Well, thanks to my sweet Mom and her example and recipes, I was really pleased with the results and I think everyone (except the girls) enjoyed their turkey, rice and gravy, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoe casserole, green beans, butter beans, rolls, tea and pumpkin pie. 

On Friday, Lee turned 32! The girls have now sung him "Happy Birthday" at least a dozen times and hopefully, he feels quite loved and celebrated. His parents gave him a gorgeous and gigantic new TV, dress shirts, cologne, pjs, and we gave him stationary, khakis, t shirts and socks. The Murphys also brought in for him darling Turkey cupcakes and cake from Edgar's bakery in Birmingham, AL...Yum.  And of course, dear Colleen brought in precious clothing for the girls, as you can see below in their new "zebra" get-ups. 

Thank you for coming, Randy and Colleen! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And then, today, we put up the Christmas decorations!
 Whew! What a week!
 It has felt like a true "staycation"...a slow, forced (but welcome) pause without school, work or normal activities. We have spent lots of time at home and just "being". We have sat in our yard and just petted the neighbor's cats and dog. We have kicked balls around and taken nature walks.
I hope to always take time to pause, reflect and be gracious, grateful and humbled.
With all this goodness, I feel like Christmas has already come! And yet it awaits us still.

I hope that your Thanksgiving was a grand one.

 The family resemblance really strikes me here.

 The girls with watercolors in front of our fun blow-up Turkey.

 Sullivan tackles opening Lee's big TV present from his parents.

 A glimpse of our spread on Thanksgiving...

 The girls at their table, not really eating at all.

 A few key southern staples: turkey pan-made gravy in a gorgeous gravy boat and sweet tea with homegrown citrus from a friend of the Murphys. So good.

 The turkey cupcakes from Edgar's of Birmingham.

 Turkey!

 Putting up our faux-tree...Hated to not get a living beauty, but we will be away from home too long this year to care for a real one.

Sawyer meets Art

 

Sawyer in the Art Garden.

Sawyer, Mary Gale and Kathleen pose in the gallery.

 

This morning while Sullivan was busy at preschool, Sawyer and I joined in with a few friends at the Mississippi Art Museum's Look and Learn event for kids under 5. This was our first time to the well-appointed and sleek Art Museum, positioned between the Planetarium and the Art Garden. Sawyer loved strolling through the flower-lined paths, flanked by fountains and a splashpad for warm weather and even a stage and dining area. We enjoyed the story of ART Dog and then painted a watercolor and even toured the Hollingsworth watercolor exhibit in the main hall, thanks to the generosity of our friends Gene and Mary Gale, who got us inside with their membership. Sawyer seemed to really enjoy looking at the artwork, calling out all the images that she could recognize in the scenes. It was a great start to our weekend.

Action shots

After 3 weeks working in New Orleans and then another week at a conference, our Daddy has finally been home with us for now one week. We are all so happy for this. When Daddy is home, action-packed, physical fun starts (see above October pics, notice the first one when he has each girl by a foot!?). It is so funny how the way he plays with them (tossing them on the bed or sofa, carrying them upside down, jostling them on his shoulders) are ways that I simply do not.  Perfect balance I like to think.
So, here's to you, Daddy! For all your tossing, jumping, throwing, hiding and seeking, and general physical mayhem. We love you and are so glad that you are home with us again.

Feast and Fouetté

Today was a big day for our Sullivan. She had a Thanksgiving Feast at school and then this afternoon had a "Parent Observation Class" in ballet. Thankfully, I was able to attend the event at school and see Sull as an Indian named "Little Flower", in full garb of a hand-painted pillowcase tunic and feather headband, as well as sing the songs of "Ted the Turkey" and many others. Later, a sweet Fellow family wife and mom, Samantha, kept Sawyer for me so that I could watch well-focused while Sullivan dance her hour-long performance. Thank you, Sam!

So, after a long day and no rest time or naps, we are all exhausted! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? November has escaped me!

Growing Pains

Yesterday I registered Sullivan for kindergarten testing and evaluation.
Today she asked me what "attentive" and "murmurred" meant.
Sawyer wowed me by counting to five without missing a beat.  (When did she learn this???)
And Sullivan just offered her beloved Halloween candy to me and her sister.

My babies are not babies anymore.
I think I am both happy and sad all at once.

Chris + Amanda

 Chris and Amanda.

 Us at the Rehearsal Dinner.

 The honored couple listening to toasts...

 Posing with Randy and Colleen.

 The wives! Me, Taylor Dobbs, Jennifer Precht and Margaret Goodlet.

 The boys on the dance floor!

 We joke as their group truly does include a Catholic Priest, a Methodist Minister, a Presbyterian Pastor, two doctors, a lawyer and other businessmen...

We pose, mid-sweat, as we danced for almost 2.5 hrs to Sol Fusion! This band is a game-changer!


This weekend, Lee and I were able to go to The Highlands, NC, and be at the wedding of Lee's dear college friend, Chris Tomlinson and his lovely bride, Amanda Lemonds. As Amanda is born and bred out of Charlotte, NC, The Highlands was her locale of choice and man, was it gorgeous. The Farm at the Old Edwards Inn was the venue and it was a perfect reflection of the couple: rustic yet refined, elegant without being ostentacious. We got to enjoy three full (and late!?) nights with Lee's college friends from Furman and their wives. It was a fabulous weekend for the two of us and so needed  after this long fall as were so often apart.
Many thanks to my kind parents for making this trip possible!
Congratulations, Chris and Amanda!

Halloween 2012

This Halloween was a bit crazy and unusual for us. Sullivan had an exciting school field trip to a local Pumpkin Patch for a hayride, petting zoo and pumpkin fun. While the girls were at school, I packed, got to have coffee with a friend and get my haircut very short! Then we all got in the car after lunch and drove to Montgomery to get the chance to trick or treat with my family. (This worked out perfectly as I needed to bring the girls to my parents at some point during the week before leaving on Thursday for a wedding in North Carolina.)
A very long day indeed (in the car from 12:30p-5p and no nap!), but so nice to see loved ones and get a glimpse of our life-to-come in Montgomery near family and dear friends.
 Unfortunately, the craziness lent itself to very few good pics...
Happy Halloween!

 Josephine as Rapunzel and Sullivan as a Mermaid.

 This is the only fairly decent shot of Sawyer in her fish costume (the goal was to be Flounder, Aerial the Mermaid's sidekick)...this was earlier in the week at a library Halloween event. She is completely precious in her getup.  As it would turn out, she would not wear the costume on Halloween night.

 Mama holds her as she is dazzled by Aunt Lauren's flapping bat in the entryway.

 We had a crowd at my sister's house!
 The girls ready to go in the golf cart.

Dad tries to get Sawyer into the Halloween fun.