Summer: A Retrospective

June

We went to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher...


...where we were warned not to walk around in the wildlife habitats. Important safety tip.


July

Sophie turned four!


She opened presents. First she opened an apron we gave her, and promptly put it on.


Then, she opened a dress that Mimi and Pa Joe gave her, and promptly put it on.


Then, she got a Cinderella nightgown from Uncle Dan and Aunt Anna, and a doctor's kit from Aunt Megan, and promptly put them all on.


I made the most ridiculously large cake in the history of birthday cakes.


We ate it.


We took Sophie to see her first movie in a movie theater-- WALL-E! Her comment? "That's a big T.V.!"


We finally replaced our digital camera...


...and took random pictures using the macro setting.

August

We went to the pool.


Sophie kept trying to distract us so that she could go down the big slide. But we were too clever to fall for her little tricks.


We went to Mimi and Pa Joe's for Pa Joe's birthday party!


We went to Five Guys sometimes on Fridays after work.


We went to the Quartet concert at church...


... and presented Nana with some flowers after the concert. She arranged all the orchestra music and worked really hard! And of course, wowed everyone with her piano playing abilities!

And that's pretty much it! I'll try to be better about updating for Fall. (But don't hold your breath!)

The Beach

There's one thing you can always be sure of when going to the beach with Sophie: you'll get plenty of exercise. Most of our time was spent making sure she didn't drown, since she thought nothing of running headfirst into the crashing waves. So we started devising games for her to play that would keep her out of the surf, like shell hunting or making "mud surpise cakes" like the one in her bucket.


When we were kids, one of the things we always looked forward to when going to the beach was Dad making a sand shark. He was really good at it-- passersby would stop to admire it and sometimes even take pictures. So this year at the beach I turned to Paul and said, "we should continue the tradition!" So, with Sophie's enthusiastic help, we got to work.


And here it is, our masterpiece. It's an octopus, in case you can't tell (I realized after it was done that it looks a little more like a crab, but whatever). It didn't draw a crowd and nobody took pictures of it but us. But I'm already planning what to make next year. I hope you're proud, Dad.

New School Pictures

A Non-update Update

Remember when I used to update this blog?

Well, truth be told, I dropped our digital camera a couple weeks ago and broke it. Apparently it will cost about the same to fix it as it would to buy a new camera, so we're trying to figure out what to do next.

(I realize that doesn't excuse me for not having updated since March. But that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

In the meantime, Chris's cousin Eileen (www.orona03.blogspot.com) tagged me with a Four Things meme. So here goes!

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Floral assistant/ gift shop clerk
2. Asst manager at above florist
3. Puppeteer
4. Puppet builder/ shop manager

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
1. North and South (go rent it now, please, if you've never seen it-- and I'm not talking about the Civil War drama.)
2. You've Got Mail (Hey Eileen!)
3. White Christmas (My favorite Christmas movie.)
4. Shakespeare in Love (one of my favorites)

Four places I’ve lived:
1. Birmingham, AL
2. Linden, AL
3. Chattanooga, TN
4. Charlotte, NC

Four TV shows I watch:
1. Lost
2. American Idol
3. Paula's Home Cooking
4. Max and Ruby (unfortunately)

Four places I’ve been:
1. Seattle, WA
2. Grand Cayman
3. New York, NY
4. Washington DC

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chris's marinara sauce
2. Bacon biscuits (just keepin' it real)
3. Garlic cheese grits
4. Anything at Paula Deen's restaurant (The Lady and Sons)

Four places I would love to visit:
1. England
2. France
3. Greece
4. Italy

Four things I’m looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Going to the beach
2. Going to St. Nick Nacks at the beach (it's like the Mecca of Christmas stores)
3. Singing with our new ladies ensemble at church
4. Christmas (I always look forward to the Christmas season.)

At this point I'm supposed to tag four people to do this next, but I'll just say that if you'd like to do it, please do and comment here so I'll be sure to see it.

Easter Sunday

Here's Sophie in her Easter bonnet (with all the frills upon it). She was quite proud of herself. And she looked really sweet.


I'd just like to point out that her bangs have a mind of their own. I can't get them to bend to my will. This is actually a tamer day for them- it could have been much worse. This was also the closest thing to a smile that I could get her to do. She either smiles like the Mona Lisa, above, or like a maniac, below:


Check out the fuzzy slippers. She's been trying to get me to let her wear them to school. But I will not be moved.



But this look I approve of. Wholeheartedly.

Going on an Egg Hunt

Sophie went to her very first Easter egg hunt last Saturday. It was at Crossway Community Church, which is our sweet babysitter Recah and her family's church. It's really close to the house so it was very convenient, too!


Sophie was very eager (read: impatient) to start collecting eggs. I had to physically hold her back until they announced it was time to go!


Once they said go, Sophie got a little overly enthusiastic and just took off running straight into the field. No stopping for eggs, just running. Chris said he got some excellent footage of my behind as I ran after her to try to get her to stop.


Once I did get her to stop, she picked up a couple eggs and artfully arranged them in her basket. Meanwhile, eggs were disappearing all around us as the other kids were not quite as meticulous about putting their eggs in the basket.


In the end, she scored six eggs and was as happy as a clam. Or something.


We think she had a good time.


But we're not really sure.


You decide.

Sassy McBritches

This is Sophie after having gotten into her stash of dress-up stuff. She obviously gets her keen sense of choosing the proper accessories from me, which is to say, she has none. However, she can wear a flower headband with flair.



Here she is engrossed in front of the TV. This is her natural habitat, which she also inherited from us. You should also see her in front of the computer. She handles the mouse like a pro.



Note the number of necklaces she's wearing. Clearly she's never heard the phrase, "Less is More." Then again, does any child grasp that concept?

Also, you can see in the background behind her a partially deflated balloon. There is always a partially deflated balloon wandering around our den. The color varies week to week. A couple weeks ago she was into white, but now she's favoring pink. There are currently two partially deflated balloons in our den. And tomorrow after we go to the grocery store, they will gain a brother.

Sophie Loves Balloons...

... and apple juice. And watching herself on video. In fact, she enjoyed herself *so much* on video, that she wanted me to tape her singing this song again and again (and again). This is the first take-- it was the best.

Sophie's New School Picture

What a big girl!