The Stauffer Family

Catching Up...Pictures Coming

2009-11-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

Wow! It has been EIGHT MONTHS since our last post! That tells you a little something about the busy-ness of our lives since then. When I read the last past, I think of the uncertainty of the future. One move later, the loss of Granddaddy that still leaves an empty hole in all of us, a tonsillectomy, a new school, and a renovation later, we are still here and standing strong!
Winston-Salem is now home to us. "Home" for sure. It feels like such a perfect fit. People here are so friendly, the town is comfy and well-suited for a family like ours. We really have enjoyed our time here. It was a great move at the right time.
The girls have adjusted well. We definitely had our share of ups and downs this summer, but they really are resiliant little things.
Pictures are to come asap...I did pack up my camera cords and just now found them, and our computer crashed and lost a lot of pictures from the summer. So tomorrow I will post some updated pics.
But for now just know we are safe and sound and back on the BLOG!!

Changes and One Funny Quote

2009-02-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

Tom finalized a deal with Transource, a Mack Truck dealer, to work with them starting March 1st. We are very excited about the new opportunity. We are quickly in the midst of cleaning out clutter and preparing to put the house on the market. Our newest home will be in Winston-Salem! The tough news is that Tom will be living in High Point with his great aunt (that is great news), five days a week. Mommy will hold her chin up and do her very best to keep the clocks ticking here. We have been so spoiled having Daddy home.
In the meantime, we will be hoping for a quick home sale in this economy. Say prayers for us!!
No pictures this time...I'll work on that for the next post. Hope all of you are enjoying your new year.
Oh, Brooke, here is a quick one for you, as Mary Stuart was in the midst of an angry tirade with Tom
"Daddy, I'm going to throw you in the trash and the trashman is going to come pick you up".
I'm keeping tabs on them for you!

So Far Behind!!!

2009-01-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Long time, no post. I know. I'm not alone though. I've tried to catch up with my other friends who "blog" and I think we've all been so busy with the holidays, it's too overwhelming to keep up. That being said, we had some great highlights this December. We started out with a surprise trip for Jeff''s 30th. He knew he was coming home and going somewhere. The Stauffer's have a house they like to rent in Montreat, NC (GORGEOUS place). It is twenty minutes from Asheville. We surprised him at a special lunch there. His brothers (Chuck, Tom), us wives and kids were all there. We then went on to spend the weekend in the Montreat house. It was so much fun. Margaret surprised Jeff with a "boys' trip" of fly-fishing with a guide for the day, and a candlelight tour of the Biltmore for us adults, minus her. She volunteered to stay home and babysit the THREE kids (not an easy task, given the ages!). We really enjoyed that and would highly recommend this...it wasn't one bit crowded and was nice to see the house at night. At the height of our recession, it was ironic to see such a miraculous home, vacation home at that.

Christmas was so much fun this year. The girls are each other's best playmates, for better and more often than not, for worse. But they loved the spirit of church, family time and fellowship, and of course, opening gifts. All of it was new and exciting for them. Do you all have the Elf on the Shelf? I would highly recommend this neatly devised Elf. He saved us from some bad, bad behavior. I wish we had Kip year-round. Even MS still talks about him. We need an Easter, Halloween, etc Elf.

We finished the year with our second annual trip to (same Montreat home mentioned above) the mountains with our dear friends, Jennifer and Derek. They have two kids similar in ages to ours. It was a great time. I would highly recommend a mountain trip for New Year's. It is a way to relax with friends without the hassle of babysitters. Well worth it all!!

So, Happy New Year to all of you. I hope for health, happiness, and prosperity in these trying times. Hopefully I'll be better about our blog in the New Year. I love reading all of yours!! Cheers to 2009!

Ballet Recital

2008-12-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

On December 14th, Mary Stuart and Molly had their ballet recital at Theatre Charlotte, a landmark theatre in Myers Park. It is small and quaint and a great place for a Christmas performance.
First up was Molly. She had us all in smiles and stiches. She was a little shy on stage. That being contradicting, as Molly is far from shy. She usually enjoys the center of attention. However, she is the youngest, and actually under the "age limit" in her class. But she LOVES going to class and has a great time.
Molly did not MOVE her feet on stage. She completely froze. We waited for her feet to move..nope. It was hilarious.
Here is a picture, not so great as we were mid-row, much too far back for my pocket digital to flash strong enough!

Molly is the last one to the left.

Next up was Mary Stuart. As we all predicted, she did just what she should have done.
Again, a picture, too dark:

MS is the second from the left.

It's hard to put into words how special this is. They just are so angelic, innocent, and pure up there on stage, alone left to "perform". It captures the girls so perfectly. We all enjoyed that day so much. Well, Molly may dispute that one day....

Thanksgiving Fun

2008-11-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

Stuffed, is what we are! Let's just say the END of Thanksgiving was spent at Lexington Barbeque.
We went to Martha and Harrison's around 11:00 am on Thursday. We enjoyed Bloody Mary's and snacks. Then we had the most wonderful Tuscan Soup. Oh, and the girls indulged in their favorite, Martha's Carrot Cake

See, that's Mary Stuart, eyeing the Carrot Cake, for the umpteeenth time.

Then, we went on to Granny Charlotte's house. This is Tom's Great-Aunt, who is very close to the family. We spent the night there and had lots of fun. Mary Stuart helped set the table, take dessert orders, and played a lot. Molly entertained everyone. With her lack of nap, she was full of energy due to the loads of sugar she had consumed.
We had a wonderful day. This is one of our favorite pasttimes.
Oh, and now we are upon Christmas. Merry, Merry!
To quote MS's very special blessing, that you may use one day,
"Thank you God, for the food you provide,
for friends and family, and you by my side,
Amen."
Hope you all enjoyed your special day!!

NC State Letdown

2008-11-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

The letdown of the season!!!!! Mary Stuart had been planning a special visit to Raleigh with Mommy to visit our best friends, Jaime and Peyton. We arrived last night with a cold, which quickly progressed to a fever, which landed us at the local Urgent Care at 8am. She's fine, but has croup (which has been a constant each year). This included a loss of appetite, fever, and lethargy. Last year, same time, same place, Mary Stuart brought with her the stomach flu.
So, at 9am we hit the road to go back home to Charlotte. No cheerleader uniform, no pre-game festivities, no tailgate food, no getting to know "Mr and Ms Wolf". Oh, well. There will be next year. Let's just hope we won't harbor more illness the next time we visit.

Halloween

2008-11-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

The holidays, as I can see it, are about to be really fun. For the first time, I was so excited for both of the kids...they "got" Halloween this year. Feeling that emotion, you just can't help getting giddy inside, remembering how fun your past holidays were. I can only imagine how fun Thanksgiving and Christmas will be. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I was riding in the car taking us all to school last week. Mary Stuart and I were having a conversation about the holidays. I asked her what we did at Thanksgiving, wondering if she had any clue, and she said, "We eat carrot cake at Martha's". For those of you who don't know, our dear family friends, Martha and Harrison, live in Greensboro and they are first in our Thanksgiving eat-a-thon. The culmination of that soup lunch is Martha's wonderful carrot cake, which has made it's debut on one of the morning shows and in a cookbook. How in the world Mary Stuart remembers things, I don't know, but that would be a memory to keep!

Back to Halloween, we started the week with a Halloween playdate at Shayle's. Shayle is hiding her child development degree from me! I got there, and she had huge pumpkin, ghost, and bat (?) cutouts from butcher paper for the kids to color, pumkin paper plates with stickers for each child, homemade sugar cookies....on and on. The kids had a lot of fun.

Halloween night, we went back to Jennifer and Derek's for a second year in a row. Two other couple's, Jenn and Mike, and Karmin and Travis, were also there for the festivities. The girls had such a wonderful time. We stayed up late and had lots of fun. And we all are still eating the tons of candy. Molly says, "I like chocolate" every time I bring the treat bags down. That's new! Oh, and she uses the spanish version of chocolate, like Dora: "choc-o-latte"

FINALLY, Sunday night, Jennifer and Derek rented a bouncy house, just for fun, and we were back over there for football and fun. Shew!

Needless to say, we are blessed with friends! We have had lots of fun so far this fall. Oh, and we have new neighbors with two boys almost identical in age. They live directly across the street, and the kids are having so much fun with them. Life goes on! We will have lots of holiday pics to post, I'm sure. We hope you all have lots to be thankful for....

Hudgins, Pumpkins, and Ballet

2008-10-15T18:13:00.001-07:00

We had a busy weekend. Tom's cousin, Sarah, and her husband, Robbie, had a wedding to attend in Charlotte. They stayed with us and gave us a wonderful opportunity to meet their 6-month-old, Hudgins. The girls LOVED the visit. Mary Stuart enjoyed being a mommy to Hudgins, and Molly enjoyed being a girlfriend to Robbie. She even had him serenading her with the guitar. Oh, and he tuned it. L-O-V-E.

Next up was our annual Pumpkin Patch visit. It was a little stressful as both girls wanted EVERY pumpkin they had to offer. Thank god they didn't see the Dora painted one. We cut our visit short with two mean temper tantrums. But the pictures are good!!!

Last, we had our observation day at ballet. Since both girls have ballet at the same time, I had to run in and out as time and temperaments allowed. I must say, Mary Stuart was a treat to watch. She knew there was an "audience" and really did her best. I was so proud of her. Especially since she can already dance better than her mommy and has more balance than I do.
Molly...oh, Molly. I signed her up early (they should be 2 and a half, Molly was just two, and most of the girls are three in her particular class). She is having a ball, loves going, but has such a limited attention span. I am just happy she's happy, but wonder what other moms think when they see this:

Yep, that's Molly...waaaayyy over there. I must say, she usually follows directions, but by the end of the session, she's done.

Here are these pics:

Great Times!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trying, yet funny, times.

2008-10-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have no pictures yet, but I did want to post about the "emotional" side of the weekend.
We went to Davidson for the Fall Festival...Of course, my camera lost it's charge, so I borrowed my mother-in-law's camera. So we will post pictures from that as soom as possible
I have previously posted "out of the mouths of babes" comments before. We had a doozie tonight. This is no slight to either daughter...Molly just isn't as verbal. So when Mary Stuart has funny things to say, and she has plenty, some are post-worthy.
Tonight, she was playing with an old loveseat from my great-great-aunt. It just got recovered and I tried to explain to Mary Stuart to NOT play on it.
Our conversation,
Me: Mary Stuart, please do not play with this chair. It has been in my family for a long time and it's really special to me. I need you to take care of it for me. See the new fabric??? It's so nice. Let's look after it, okay?

MS, eyes squarely on me: "I am going to break it"

Hmmm, what do you say to that...

I enlisted Tom's help at this point. She went to her room, Tom scolded her, and then she called Tom a "big elephant". When I heard this, I was in stiches with laughter, hiding it, of course. Tom told MS I was crying, so I went to my room, let it all out(laughter), and by the time I returned, Mary Stuart was so upset with the thought of ME crying, she cried. I began crying, and she said, "Mommy, don't put your tears on my pajamas or they will be dirty."
Okay.
Oh, me. What are we in for with our girls???
On the fun side, Mary Stuart and Molly really are playing well together. Mary Stuart includes Molly in all aspects of her pretend play. I love watching them play together. Cooperative play is something you see in three-year-olds, but Mary Stuart has definitely brought it out in Molly at an early age. It is remarkable to watch. Mary Stuart works really hard on being a great big sister. She is my second-hand most days, and Molly loves it.
Well, that's our latest. I will post actual pictures soon!

Here comes fall!

2008-09-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know about the rest of the world today, but the weather today in Charlotte was PERFECT. It was sunny, cool, no humidity, and perfect fall/football weather

Speaking of football, Tom and I are a little bitter we had the miss the ECU game today. What a great game that was!!! GO PACK! Today was the first day the girls heard their daddy cheer, and I mean cheer, for his team. Instead of being scared of his fire and brimstone, they got a chuckle out of it. And I did, too. We would have gone to the game, but all signs pointed NOT go to. First came the lack of gas to be found. Next, I had to have an "unexpected" root canal Thursday, so I wouldn't have been much fun. And Jaime called today to seal the deal...Peyton has the stomach flu. I guess a good game can be enjoyed by the TV.

Mary Stuart and I started today by going to a neighborhood yard sale. I don't really do yard sales, since they are so early. But Mary Stuart's teacher was a part of it (she lives in the neighborhood next to us). So she really wanted to go. We came home with a Little Tikes vanity mirror, complete with a seat and makeup. $5. I'm sold on garage sales. What else can we find??? A new kitchen?? Outside equipment??? If they don't play with it, it's no loss for us!!

We ended the day outside. I took the easel outside and the girls had fun. Molly is a budding Jackson Pollock. Mary Stuart enjoys learning how to color her coloring books.

Note our artists. Molly has to wear her panties "just this way" for inspiration.

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The First Day of School

2008-09-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

School has started! The girls are in school on MWF, and I teach on W/F!!! Both girls are doing great. Mary Stuart has a wonderful teacher, who has really made her comfortable going to school. This hasn't always been easy for her, but for the first time, she looks forward to school and really is excited to start Show and Tell and Chapel and Learning Center and all of the other Three-Year-Old things she is able to do that Molly isn't!
Molly loves her class, too. Her teacher is so wonderful. I shared a common area with her last year when I was an assistant and I was able to see all of the wonderful things she can do. She puts a lot of effort into creating themes and activities.

In other news, the girls are REALLY into helping Mommy in the kitchen. An added benefit to that is it does help them to eat what they helped cook. Here is a picture of the girls helping "bake" biscuits (in this case removing them from a freezer bag). Usually our cooking projects are more fun than that, but they don't care either way.

Yesterday we got a visit from our close friends Martha and Harrison. We go to their house every Thanksgiving for lunch. Harrison is a VERY good cook. It's his hobby, I suppose. So he usually makes a wonderful, hearty soup. Martha enjoys baking, so we usually gobble up her carrot cake...Anyways, they came for a visit and here are some pictures. Note the new rainboots they gave the girls. Molly loved Harrison!

And, finally, Tom and I have been chasing Molly around the house looking for her diaper and pants she has removed. She spends most of her days in the nudie and it is driving us nuts. I know, she is really close to being potty trained. But it hasn't clicked yet. She doesn't associate having to "go" with the potty.
Well, yesterday, she proved me wrong. She went to the potty, had fun flushing and pulling toilet paper out. She did this three times until FINALLY she pee-peed in the potty! Yay! She is making progress! I'll take the plunge soon and full-on train her. I'm not ready yet, and I'm not sure she is, either. We'll see!

Adding on from below...Molly's Pool Party

2008-09-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

On August 21st, Molly turned two. This didn't mean so much to me on that day as it does today for many reasons. I always "knew" that 16 months apart was close for having the girls. We have weathered, and still do, back to back difficulties..the temper tantrums haven't gone away, the mood swings, the "waking up in the middle of the night", and the constant change...taking away bottles again, and transitioning to no paci, no blankie, and no crib (so the last three are *upon* us...again, we just did this!!!).
None of this meant so much until we started school and ballet. It seemed like yesterday that Molly was a baby, did baby things, like going in the Toddler Class at school, and was more or less along for the ride.
School started this week, and all of a sudden, I realize she is TWO! She is doing two-year-old things at school like her sister did just last year. I anticipated those things for Mary Stuart! Now I am shocked that Molly is that "old". Heck, she can do carpool at school next week!!!
I watched Molly in ballet and couldn't believe I was in the same place a year ago. And there is Mary Stuart, growing up, down the hall, not batting an eye that I'm gone!
Molly is growing up...she's doing the same things I just saw Mary Stuart do 12 months ago. It's just amazing. I am so proud of both girls, and happy with our Molly being a "big girl".
That being said, here are some pictures from her "pool party" on her birthday! Notice my homemade cupcakes...Molly's request!

So Far Behind...

2008-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have been really behind on posts. I never posted Charlie's baptism pictures from July. I still have Molly's "friend" birthday party to post, and the first day of school.
So I will start with what I have, Charlie's baptism, and work from there, adding along asap.
Amanda's mom and dad graciously hosted the luncheon following the Baptism. It was a wonderful time. The girls really loved the surprise of seeing Mary Morgan (MS's best friend from preschool) and enjoyed the food and the backyard. Charlie did great during the Baptism. He was quite vocal but wooed the crowed, nonetheless.
Here are the after party pics, kid-focused, as always:

Birthday Time!!!

2008-08-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our Molly, celebrating her birthday..

First came Mommy's birthday, on the 12th. Mary Stuart spent the night with Tuddie and Pop and helped make a cake. They came back here and assembled it:

We had a great time! Mommy's 25th birthday is nothing to bowl over, but when the girls are involved, it's much more fun:

Next came an early family party for Molly's second birthday! Tuddie and Pop are heading to Canada, so this was the best weekend to celebrate. We had them and Chuck, Amanda, and Charlie join us. And we had a wonderful time. Mommy is getting smart on entertaining...the easier, the better! We got a sandwich tray from Fresh Market, I made two cold dishes, and add chips...we did great!
Molly, by the way, doesn't like cake or ice cream (??) so I got a cookie cake and she was sold! It's a texture thing for her...
Here are some pictures of our fun times:

Molly as a newborn:

Molly at one:

Molly at Two..

Happy Birthday to Molly :)

When it rains it pours

2008-07-31T15:38:00.001-07:00

What a week! We started the week with me at the Doctor's office Monday. I pulled a muscle in my lower back. I went to a Physical Therapist and he correctly identified my condition. He then told me I overextended my back and furthermore I need to correct my post-csection mush abs (not the words he used, but how I felt) so I can support my back. All of those sit-ups I've been doing? They weren't effective anyways since I was using my back. Look out...my six pack is coming!! HAHA
Meanwhile, Molly came down with another fever. In the back of my mind, another UTI situation came up, but I dismissed it, since we just went to the dr last week for a check on that. I changed my mind today. Molly had a 102 fever after Motrin and woke up with it being 103.8. Three hours later, it was determined she did indeed have a kidney infection (a UTI infection which is left untreated and travels up). One mean shot later, we're home. We'll have to go back for another shot tomorrow, and perhaps Saturday, as well. Poor Mol. Watching her get her finger pricked, being shot here and there...no fun.
Let's just hope we have a much better week next week. Summer is not for being sick!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for a relaxing weekend at home!

Lazy Days, New Photos with New Camera

2008-07-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

The dust has settled. We've taken our trips, gone to camp, enjoyed our company, and now the lazy days of summer have begun. We have spent our time in the pool, at the Y's pool, at the Y, and having playdates with our friends.
Recently, I found a few pictures of the girls I thought were cute. This is what they look like at the end of a long, busy day:

In other news, we enjoyed playing outside since it's cloudy and not too hot today. I took my camera outside and caught a few cute shots of the girls playing:

Mary Stuart actually took this last picture of me, and I think she did a really good job. She was really careful and tried her best!

This weekend we have a lot going on. We're going to Davidson tomorrow to have lunch with the family. And on Sunday Charlie is getting baptized! I'm sure we'll have many fun pictures to post. Stay tuned!

PS

2008-07-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

Tom didn't get that post. For those of you slow on the draw, bitty can be short for _itch. I will never look at Bitty the same

From The Mouths of Babes

2008-07-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

I just put Mary Stuart down to sleep. She got upset because she wanted her Bitty Baby (which is a baby version of an American Doll, and is very realistic). Mary Stuart loves her "Bitty".
Here is our conversation about Bitty:

Mary Stuart: "Mommmy, where is Bitty? I want to go find her."
Mommy: "Well, Mary Stuart, I will find her and bring her to you tonight"
Mary Stuart, increasingly frustrated: "No, I want to find her now"
We banter back and forth
Mommy: "If you are so worried about Bitty, you should keep up with her and put her in your bed when you are done playing with her"
Mary Stuart: "But I want her"
Mommy: "Sorry"
MS: "YOU are a bitty!"

I thought I would roll on the floor. That was a hoot!

Slugs

2008-07-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

See this picture?

It's called "We've been watching TV ALL day". Mommy is going to go crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness for Noggin. Have you all seen "Yo Gabba Gabba"? That's the new fave..not mine..I feel like I'm in the '60's.

Molly's been sick :( She's had a fever and not too many other symptoms for a few days, now. Poor girl had been to her ENT for an ear tube checkup on Monday (tubes are there!). I was so afraid she had a break-through kidney/UT infection. All of her symptoms were similair. So after being traumatized with yet another catheterization to rule out a UTI, Miss Priss is just fine...a virus! I think...

Mary Stuart has a nasty cough on top of it all.

Anyways, we have been hanging around the house. Literally. I tried getting Tom to take the girls in the pool, but Molly was miserable, although playing around seems fun for her...chasing her sister, playing monster, making messes, wanting to cook and help with dinner is just as fun. Motrin does wonders! Except for the pool. Understandably. For Molly. Not for Mommy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more fun for all!

Isle of Palms

2008-07-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a five-day trip to the beach. Tom's mom joined us, which was nice! We had great weather, good food and a relaxing time. The girls loved the ocean, and we did, too! It was nice to sit in a chair and just watch the girls wear themselves out! This was the first easy year at the beach. The only disappointment was the lack of good shells. They had no big shells...not sure why. Mary Stuart was SO excited to go collect shells, and she didn't care that they were so tiny.
Here are a few pictures from the week:

July 3rd and 4th

2008-07-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

July 3rd

We had Stacy and Will and Drew and Jack over for swimming and dinner. We're really popular this time of the year :) Experience tells us that it's too hard to grill/cook and have friends swimming, as we want to swim, too. So we ordered pizza. The kids stayed up late. We tried to watch the Southpark fireworks, but couldn't. Not this year!
Mary Stuart, Molly and Drew really got along well. The funniest part of the night was watching Drew, 2 and a half, swim. He wears his water wings, but he is not afraid of the water! He jumps off the diving board solo, dunks his head in backwards, rolls around like a seal, and really enjoyed climbing on the float and jumping off. Oh, the difference with boys and girls.

Here are some pictures from our night:
All three kids in the bathtub!

Will reading..what a pro!

Molly in the toybox...we're getting crazy!

Drew found a Dora car. He likes chick toys!

Stacy and Jack

The best..Drew in an Ariel pull-up.

Oh, since that night, Mary Stuart wears her bathing suit like this:

She just can't understand why Drew and Daddy get to wear their suits that way! We had to have a small talk about why little girls cover up...the "talks" are starting already!!

July 4th

We had all of Tom's family over, minus Jeff (in Dallas). We also had our family friends, the Musgraves, over. We made ribs and had homemade ice cream. It was lots of fun!

Meredith Girl's Weekend!

2008-07-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Jaime and Peyton came to visit. Tom chose to flee the girl's weekend (can't blame him) and went to stay at his parent's house. On Saturday, almost all of the original crew from Meredith came over with their kids. Stacy was the only one missing from the crew (Megan, you don't live here, so I'm not counting you!), but we didn't feel too sorry for her, as she was on a boat, without kids, in Charleston.
We had a great time. Here are the mommies and their kids....

Me and Mary Stuart and Molly:

Here is Emily on the left with her newest son, Tate (Cam was home with Dad). On the right is hot-bod Mary Dare. She has three boys.

And here is Kristin and her baby, Walker

These are Mary Dare's two oldest sons. Taylor, the youngest, must have been off by himself somewhere!

And here is Jaime and Peyton:

Otherwise, Mary Stuart and Molly and Peyton had a good time. Mary Stuart wasn't a big fan of sharing her toys with Peyton, and Peyton was the brunt of some jealousy, but overall it was so much fun. Here are two more pictures of the weekend:

Hopefully I'll get my camera back soon. These are from Jaime's camera.

In other news, Molly has been on a "self" kick. In toddler-speak, she want to do everything "self", by herself, even when she can't! For example, she likes to climb into the carseat and buckle herself. When I help her, she swats and me and yells, "self". She has started pulling her diaper off, insisting to go potty, and putting her diaper on "self". She also likes to dress "self", put shoes on "self", brush teeth "self", you name it!! So, the exertion of "self" is upon us. Hello, two!

Yesterday we were at Chik-Fil-A. Tuddie and Pop bought the girls some ice cream, Mary Stuart a cone and Molly a gi-normous cup. We were in the food court at the mall. Mary Stuart sat nicely eating her cone. Molly gave me the evil eye when I asked her to share her abundance of ice cream, even hording it in her arms to protect it from me. At one point, Molly fed me a bite, but apparantly didn't want me to take THAT big of a bite, so she SCREAMED at the top her her lungs, in the food court, and proceeded to hit me. I got a lot of stares.

We just finished the terrible two's with Mary Stuart. No break before round two!
That's all that's been going on here! More pictures to come after the fourth!

Charlie

2008-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

I had to put in a picture of Charlie, because I can now! He is such a cute baby! This is Mary Stuart and Molly's first cousin!

Tweetsie Pictures are here!!!

2008-06-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

I took my disposable camera to be developed, and CVS printed the pictures on a CD, so now I have pictures from the mountains and Tweetsie!
You'll notice in many of the pictures, Molly is wearing a "leash". This was invented for her! It's actually a cute monkey backpack, and you can hold onto the tail to keep track of your child. PERFECT!! Because she wanted nothing to do with holding hands or staying in the stroller. So, yes, we did leash our children at the park.
Here is Mary Stuart and Tom on the big train. She was not a fan of the Indians, and kept telling them, "No ma'am. You are not my friend and you are not being nice". And she was serious about it!

Here is Molly as excited as can be:

Heck yeah! I'm getting the pics where I want...finally..

Here are some other shots:

That's it! We had a great time...a perfect park for toddlers!

A Wonderful June 15th

2008-06-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

June 15th was a great day for many reasons!

Tom's mother, "Tuddie", had a birthday. We had Father's Day, and we were lucky enough to have Tom's brother, Jeff, in from Dallas, his grandfather and grandmother in from Raleigh, and Mary Stuart's ballet recital. It was a busy day!

Mary Stuart started the day at the Blumenthal's Belk Theater. For those of you unfamiliar with Charlotte, this is an "uptown" theatre that is host to many concerts and off-broadway shows. It is in the Bank of America building. We felt very important! She was the first of a long show, but she did wonderful and didn't get stage-fright at all! I know you think I'm crazy, but I was so proud of Mary Stuart and it was the sweetest thing ever.

After that, everyone came over for Frogmore Stew (shrimp boil) at our house. It was fun.. Baby Charlie came. I will post his picture once I can figure out how to post separate pics. He is a chunky monkey, 3 months old, who is the happiest baby around. Well, maybe last night was the first night I EVER heard him cry. But overall, he is so happy.

All in all, a great day! We are thankful for our Tuddie, our fathers, and Granddad! Happy June 15th!

PS Thanks for letting me borrow your camera, Amanda!

Good News, Bad News

2008-06-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

The "Good News" is that we just got back from the mountains! More on that later.
The "Bad News" is that MY CAMERA BROKE!!!

So this blog is sure to be boring if I don't post pictures soon! Mary Stuart has her very important ballet recital Sunday, so hopefully we can buy or borrow a camera before then. All of my mountain pictures are on (gasp!) a disposable camera!!!

Anyways, we had a lot of fun in the mountains. We got to visit with Tom's family, and even got to see Chuck, Amanda, and Baby Charlie.

Yesterday we took the girls to Tweetsie Railroad. That was a lot of fun! The train ride was a little scary for them, only because of the guns firing, but it was more or less a G-rated ride as opposed to the PG-13 rides Tom tells me they used to have. We enjoyed the ski lift and all of the toddler rides.

All in all it was a great trip! If I find a way to post a picture, I will. And hopefully we'll have some up sooner than later. Because you'll just have to see Mary Stuart on stage with a tutu! It's the best!

Good Times With The Schulze's

2008-06-06T19:13:00.001-07:00

We had a great night with Jennifer, Derek, and Sydney and Hudson!!

Mary Stuart thought it was a good idea to get her friends to empty all of the toys in the playroom into her bed. That was a fun clean up!

Thanks for a great night! We enjoyed!

Swim lessons!

2008-06-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ice Cream Bribe

So, after a few weekends in the pool, it became clear that Mary Stuart was not going to be the little fish we assumed she would be! She LOVES to do everything but put her face in, and if we are going to have a pool in our backyard, I would rather her be a little more confident. Even though Mommy used to teach lessons at North Ridge, mommy just doesn't do the job. I really envisioned that my years as swim instructor would come in handy once I had children. I didn't realize that your own children don't want to do what YOU want them to!

Nonetheless, today was our first official day of private swim lessons. We signed up for private 20-minute sessions for this week only at the Charlotte Swim Academy. I was SO impressed! Ms. Amber had Mary Stuart doing things I could never envision! Mary Stuart wasn't their most enthusiastic student, but she did great. I'll fill you in on how the rest of the week goes. The goal is to have her comfortable with her face in the water and floating. We'll see...

(I can't figure out how to get my pictures where I want them. The above is literally how I found Molly before bedtime. The one of Mary Stuart is with her ice cream bribe from swim lessons). I'll figure it out!

Last Day of School, With No Pictures...

2008-05-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

If you know me well enough, before kids, I had most of it all together. I am a big planner, and still am, but the details get lost these days. We rush out the door each morning for preschool, with me trying to remember my things, have each girl's bag packed, and the house somewhat clean, etc., all within an hour or so. So, I am getting used to forgetting something each morning that I go to school (for those of you who don't know, I do teach at the preschool the same two days the girls go). On some days, I forget their entire school bags (twice). Other days, it's just a diaper. But today, I forgot my camera, which I really wanted to bring! I wanted to take pictures of the girls on their last day at school! Nonetheless, you will have to take my word that this is the first year I got a little sentimental at the "last day of school" in preschool. I think that because I teach there, I have gotten much more attached to the teachers, and for the first time, Mary Stuart LOVES going to school. She's made so many good friends.
We had a great year and were blessed with the best teachers! I can't wait for next year! So, although I have no pictures to show for it, just know that today was a special day. As a mother, I see for the first time that Mary Stuart's time in preschool is so short, and in no time she'll be a kindergartner! YIKES! Lots of my friends have children older than Mary Stuart, but when they say time flies, they aren't kiddin'!!!
On that note, we are happy summer is "officially" here, and we will post pictures (from another occasion), soon.
Have a super weekend!!

Visit to Raleigh

2008-05-26T11:03:00.001-07:00

We had a great time in Raleigh last weekend! Mary Stuart and I hit the road together and stayed with Jaime and her daughter, Peyton, who is just 4 months younger than Mary Stuart. The main reason for going to Raleigh was my dear friend, Megan, was getting married (the wedding was fabulous, and it was a perfect night by her parent's pool).

Anyways, Saturday we went to a museum there called Marbles. It was a fun time, followed by some time strolling through downtown and exploring Artslosure, a festival downtown. We had a great time and loved seeing my old friends! Congrats Meg and Jeremy :)

Our Turn!

2008-05-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our new blog! I've enjoyed reading everyone else's blogs, so thought we could try it out. We'll see!

This weekend has been great, as we have been outside swimming, playing, and eating as much as we can! The water is a tad chilly for my taste, but it didn't stop Tom, Mary Stuart, and Molly from getting wet head-to-toe. It's been fun to see the girls in the water. Mary Stuart can touch the shallow end, so her confidence is much better, and she even went off the diving board! Molly is hell on wheels!!! She runs around, jumping to Daddy and jumping off the diving board. She DOES NOT want help from anyone. She's gone head-under a few times and it doesn't even faze her.