Camp Thunderbird

Taylor Grace and I went to Camp Thunderbird on Lake Wylie with her 4th grade class overnight. TG was so nervous before we left that she thought that she was sick and didn't know if she should go or not. She was fine though once we got on the buses. We had so much fun. We were in Cabin 30 with 9 little girls and her teacher, Mrs. Johnson. The girls had so much fun. They even went to sleep at a reasonable time. The girls that were in our cabin were Jennifer, Melanie, Maddie, Mabry, Abaigal, Taylor, Alexa, Ariege, and of course TG. Some of the fun things that they did while there were the Wacky Olympics, "Did you sneeze" skit, and aquatics ecology. The cafeteria was a different experience for most. The camp was an environmental camp and they were big on saving our earth's resources. So... when you eat, you had to eat everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, on your plate if you wanted to go back for seconds. Then at the end of the meal you had to sort your things to be trash, compost, recyclables, and dishes. It was pretty gross! Then they would weigh the food waste to see how much people wasted of their food. I think the lowest we had was 2.2 lbs for all of the 4th graders from Richmond Drive. I thought that was pretty good. I did worry about the kids eating too much though. I think that the boys thought it was a challenge to see how much they could eat and go back for 2nds and 3rds. We had a really good time! I really got to know the kids a lot which is neat to know Taylor Grace's friends so well.

Mother's Day

I was awaken by Mallory saying, "Sit up, but close your eyes!!" John and the girls had made me breakfast in bed. It consisted of two cinnamon rolls and two mini sausage biscuits, coffee, and orange juice on a Dora TV tray and a flower napkin. They were so excited to do that for me. They also gave me my gifts in bed. Each of the girls gave me flower pots with flowers and handmade cards and John gave me MUCH wanted pearl earrings, necklace, and bracelet. They are all BEAUTIFUL and mean so much to me. I am so proud to be the mother of two precious children that remind me everyday of God's blessings!

Picking Strawberries with Mallory

Well our whole family couldn't pick strawberries together this year because Taylor Grace had a broken ankle. We didn't want her to step in smashed strawberries with her cast. It also had the threat of rain on the way. So.... Mallory and I head out to do the picking. As we were driving, the clouds were looking grayer and grayer. Then the rain started. There was even a song on the radio about it raining that we thought was funny. Rain is a good thing!! Rain makes corn, corn makes whisky, whisky makes my baby feel frisky. (Mallory thinks that it says, "Rain makes corn, corn makes biscuits, biscuits makes my baby feel frisky. Ha Ha!!) We continued to drive and once we got to Springs Farms in Fort Mill it had slowed down some. We started picking, but picked fast. The more we picked the harder it rained. Finally we were running and eating the strawberries at the same time. It was pretty funny! We got back to the van just in time and it was like buckets of water were being poured out of the sky. We had a good time even though we were rushed. We weren't going to let a little bit of rain stop us from getting some delicious strawberries!

Little Miss Graceful!

Well I was met in the hall by Nurse Lamb telling me that Taylor Grace had gotten hurt in P.E. jumping hurtles. She said that she was putting ice on it and we would keep an eye on it. At lunch I saw tears and knew that yep, something was wrong. She NEVER cries in front of her classmates unless something is really wrong. I took her back up to the nurse and when she took her shoe off, sure enough, it was swelling. Nurse Lamb said we should take her to have an X-ray made. So another call to Casey at Carolina Ortho. to see about getting us in for an appointment. She got us in right away! (It is good to have connections at the doctor's office.) They took some X-rays and Dr. Schwartz examined her foot. Sure enough it was broken. She picked out a lime green cast. She was so excited to get a cast. BUT what she didn't know was that she had to use crutches and found out what a pain it was to have them. She is being a champ about it at school, but shows her true frustrations with it at home. The biggest disappointment has been not getting in the swimming pool. I ordered a product called Dry Pro that hopefully will get here soon, so that she will be able to swim. Too much torcher for a kid to have a pool in the back yard and watch everyone else enjoy swimming.

Terrific Kid

Mallory got selected by her first grade teacher to be the Terrific Kid. Her teacher is Mrs. Cox, but she is out on leave because of her voice, so Mrs. Sabetti is her teacher now until Mrs. Cox comes back. Her teacher said that she is a hard worker and team player. She also said that Mallory is a Peacemaker and that everyone likes her. Papa, TG, John and I were in the audience watching her receive her award. She was so proud of herself. When she found out yesterday, she called John at work, and my parents at home. She picked out her special outfit to wear today. The outfit was cute, but she pitched a fit at home before going to school because of her shoes. That girl and her shoes!!!

Sunset Beach Annual Trip of Memories

We had a wonderful Spring Break! Those there were: Lulu, Kay-Kay, Hope, Amy Reynolds and her girls, Amelia, Palmer, and Caroline, and Livvy Lawrence, and the three of us. The girls had so much fun with their playmates. They were so good and found something to do at all times. their highlights were, playing on the beach and yes in the cold water, kayaking, digging for crabs, painting flower pots, swimming in the canal, shopping, etc... The adults had fun too. Dancing, drinking, reading books, watching American Idol, shopping, lying in the sun, eating, etc...
Taylor Grace, Hope and I had to leave Thursday night instead of Friday morning because Taylor Grace was sick. She slept the whole way home and probably only said 5 words. I knew she didn't feel good when she didn't talk. I took her to the doctor and he said it was just a virus...sore throat, fever, headache, and no appetite. Today is Saturday and she is still complaining of a sore throat, but seems to have more energy. Hopefully it is on the tail-end.

Day 2 at the Beach

We had a great day at the beach. I think that the girls were colder today because of sunburns from yesterday, but it didn't stop them from getting in the water and going boggie boarding. They stayed out there until 3:30 then we came back to the house and they played in the canal. The most fun had by Mallory was taking a shower outside. She told Hope that she wished her daddy would build a shower outside at home. TG went Kiaking again and now looks like a champ. We then went to the Island Grill across the bridge. They have AWESOME burgers!!!! We had a fun time singing, dancing, and playing putt putt. Kay-Kay and I have a video of us dancing to a song that had moves to 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, a dollar. We had to move our hips certain ways to the cents. Dollar was moving our hips forward and at one point of the song it said dollar, dollar, dollar. Ha! Ha!
On the way home I told Mallory that she had to sleep in my room again. She became her drama queen self and Lulu said that she could sleep with her and she suddenly stopped crying and has been in Lulu's lap every since. She got what she wanted. I guess Lulu is kicking Hope out of the bed and she is going to sleep on my floor.

We are all now watching our Spring Break show, American Idol. We watch it every year while we are here at Sunset at the beach. I think that it is funny to hear them all critique them. Oh... what will tomorrow bring??? Oh, I do know that we are fixing our famous Margarettas!!! Watch out Sunset!