Birders galore

Deane's passing on the love of bird watching.

It didn't take much convincing to get these guys excited about the pelicans and laughing gulls flying next to our hotel windows.  

Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry

Keep a sharp lookout for these 2 cowfolk- Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry (aptly named from the SpongePants episode). They're the gum-stealing, car-climbing hoodlums. Their shrewd leader is scoping out some loot!

And the proper summer attire is spats without pants. It's hot here, y'all!

All About Annie

This last week has been all about Annie. Literally, 9a-5p Annie Camp. There were 60 girls in the local production and 3 shows. Jackie has been singing Annie from the time she gets up to the time she goes to bed. And Cameron was singing “Maybe” when he was jumping on the trampoline today. It's Annie Fever around here. Lu's singing something, but I can't quite translate. 

 Jackie practically sleeps with her libretto book.

 And proudly shows her name on the Annie Jr. shirt.

 Orphans Violet and Shirley, aka Nina and Birdie. Nina's mom was the production manager. And our good friend from Duke School many moons ago!

 Time to put on actual make-up. This might have been JBird's highlight of the day. She said the instructors told the girls to wear that thing that makes you not stink. I can only assume she means deodorant. But she's not wearing any.

 Since flash photography was not permitted during the performance due to potential dangers to the performers, I took pictures of warm up.

And JBird in full make-up. I'll write more another day, but this mama is tired! And Shirley is sleeping like an orphan! One more show to go!

The Teacher's Note

This note was written by Miss Jackie:

I know, right?!

Humor me with yet another garden blog b/c OMG, these plants are gargantuan!

The girls are sandwiched between the watermelon and the 6 ft tall tomato plants.

 The only dilemma is that there are loads of green tomatoes, but they haven't started to turn remotely orange yet. Are they getting enough sunlight in between the other ginormous plants? What do I do now?

 The cucumber and canteloupe have taken over each other and the beans. We make have some vegetable fruit combos this season.

I only found this a few days ago, b/c it was hidden beneath the sea of leaves. I also discovered 2 giant cucumbers that we didn't know were growing. No wonder the snake made a home here. Who knows what else we're growing.

Just add injury to insult

Cameron gave Lucy a black eye. Not on purpose, of course. Seriously, we're not trying to blind our poor baby. His seatbelt flung into LuLu's patched eye. It's a good thing it was patched, b/c it would have caused more damage. She's such a tropper and just deals with it. Have another popscicle, baby.

Last day of first grade

I cannot believe that another year has passed. We've reasoned with Jackie that if she stops growing and stays in first grade, she can have anything she wants. She replied "Even a horse?" I think she's figured this game out.

She picked some basil (yes that tower is basil) for her teachers and some giant cucumbers are stuffed in her bag. It was 93 degrees on the last day of school, which meant jeans and cowboy boots were the clear choice. We're all super excited for summer and lazy days at the pool!

Parents Night Out

It was a rare occassion that the 4 couples enjoyed a night out together, sans children!

We were invited to attend a benefit at the Museum of Life and Sciences in our neighbor's absence. The wee bill of $2500 was paid for us, so we grabbed our best attire and went out for a wonderful evening of drinks, jazz and food.

 The theme was Retro 60's, which I was 2 days ago, as in check out her eyebrows and hair color. I toned down a bit for the occasion.

Our goal is to go out as adults every other month. We just need regular donors to fund our soiree's. Any takers?

Simply Amazing

For the first time in recorded history, Cameron ate a whole slice of carrot in its natural state. And he did it without prodding. I was certain we would send him to high school with ‘orange applesauce’, which is baby food veggies mixed in with applesauce. Because, to date, that is the ONLY way I get vegetables in him.


Jackie got the Classroom Hero award today. It’s in honor of her overall academic achievement, role model behavior, service to her fellow students...basically, a great kid! With this award comes a free month of Taekwondo classes in Chapel Hill. We’re so proud of our Birdie.


Due to a slight misunderstanding with my hair color person, I now have black eyebrows and henceforth, shall be referred to as Ms. Groucho. I walked in the door and Jackie busted a gut laughing! “What happened to your eyebrows, Mom?!”


The dogs trapped a slithery friend in our garden. I pulled the dogs back by their tails and the water snake proceeded to eat a cornered frog right in front of the kids. So gross. We need the frogs to keep out the bugs! Clearly, I did not kill the snake, but rather took a picture of it.

Surprise! Happy 70th birthday, Dee!

We surprised Dee with a party this past weekend.

 

The kids did a great job keeping it a secret, which is a miracle in and of itself.

 Thirty five of Deane's closest friends joined in the celebration.

And a few of our closest friends joined in the fun.

Just like little kids, Deane's friends were more excited to open presents with her.

 And we were most excited for dessert!

Happy Birthday Dee! We love you!

Happy Gotcha Day, Lucy!

Two years ago today, my mom and I signed the paperwork to take Lucy Sooryeo home! It was an unforgettable trip and I was so thankful to have my mom there with me.

Today, Lucy is surrounded and loved by many strong women in her life, especially Miss Karen, Lucy's Godmother. It truly does take a village and I'm so blessed to have this village!