Twelve Quick Takes for Summer Break

1.) Reading outside. I make such a habit of sitting or walking outside for a while every day (sunshine is good for my soul, also it's my hippie Sleep Plan attempt at making the days bright and the nights dim, in my never-ending quest to sleep better), and often it's to read, that it seems the kids have picked up on the habit. On library day a few weeks ago when I chased them outside, they did... this.

I tried not to look at their pillows on the ground and just decided to feel happy they were all reading and quiet.

2.) Better swimming. I can't believe that this time last year, none of the kids would even put their face in the water happily, much less let go and swim on their own. Now Nathan and Anneliese are both little fishies, with endless energy and bravery, and Charlotte (with her puddle jumper on) will go anywhere in the pool too, for hours. Until she's exhausted, clearly.

when you're swimming with your thumb in your mouth, it's time to be done

Nathan has gotten to be a really decent diver, too! I'm legit impressed with this. Mad props to his teacher whoever that was. *brushes shoulders*


(If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch on YouTube.)

There was a time when I was worried about owning a pool, and now I never want to live without one again.

3.) Duck Donuts. We found a new (to us) donut place where every donut is made to order. Which means you pick your frosting or glaze, and whatever sprinkes/nuts/sugar topping you want, and they serve it to you warm and ooey gooey with a fork.

I'm not a huge donut person, but this is really excellent. RECOMMEND.

4.) Noemi. The fabulous Noemi came over (and we went once to her house) and, well, fabulous Noemi is fabulous. She is fun and funny and her kids behave and are polite and adorable and she's just generally excellent to have around, and she better watch her ass or I will smother in my attempts to conquer her friendship heart and she will have to awkwardly pretend she doesn't know me. Not that it will come to that.

5.) Yay marriage! Mark and I finally had that anniversary date we missed on father's day. And it ended up being on the same day that marriage equality passed nationwide. What a great day to celebrate marriage, amiright? Cheers, everyone! Everyone!

And happy dozen years to the best person I could hope to share this life with.

6.) Booler bruise. Charlotte fell off her bed, and apparently she landed on her... chin? I don't even know with this girl. She is my delicate flower who bruises and breaks and seems to fragile, or maybe just klutzy, or yeah I don't know. Another booler injury for the record books. It turned all sorts of colorful shades for several weeks before it finally went away.

7.) Paper chain. Anneliese made a paper chain to count down the days to Montreat. There are links on that chain with labels like "grandpa" and "Another Nathan" and "skate camp" to mark the time and plans for the month. I guess this is as good a calendar as any, when you're five?

When she and Nathan were at Grandpa's house, Charlotte took over tearing a link each day. She took her responsibility very seriously. (And yes I am aware of the irony of letting any of my kids, especially my breakable delicate flower stand on the very ledge from where Anneliese fell and smashed her face all those years ago.)

8.) Ice skating camp. Yes, Anneliese did a day camp for ice skating. We had her signed up for something different, and then it got changed, and then she reminded me she had liked skating when we tried it back in February, so she suggested ice skating camp instead. Um, okay.

It's the most random thing. We are not a people of ice. Or skates. But I do love about her that she is willing to try new things she knows nothing about, and assumes it will be fine. I like that she wants to do her own thing. And she did great, made new friends, and by the end of the week she was super proud of herself for being able to skate without holding on to anything.

On the last day, they had the option to skate a little "program" where they choose a song and skate around by themselves for the parents. She thought she was doing it, but apparently she didn't sign up in time, so she didn't, and was sad, but then when I saw how she "skates" I realized she could never have done a whole song:


(If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch it on YouTube.)

But! So proud! She is so proud, y'all.

9.) Two-piece swimsuit. Her best friend has a two-piece tankini, and she asked for one on repeat forever, so we found one that isn't triangle cut on top, doesn't have a skimpy back, doesn't show her belly, and comes in rainbow colors. It was a quest. She is now happy.

10.) Bee stings. One more about Anneliese, apparently. Mark and I went to dinner tonight and the kids were playing at Nick and Barbara's house, and apparently there were suddenly bees, and one of them got in Anneliese's shirt, and she came away with like ten stings or something. She was fairly traumatized. Apparently some of the the bees even followed them into the house! (They ended up eating pizza for dinner on the floor of Ali's nursery to hide from them.) Props to Uncle Nick who took a few stings himself trying to get Anneliese away. Oh man.

11.) Sardi's Den. A restaurant that Mark and I loved when we lived in Clemson just opened up a branch in Raleigh, and we took Charlotte there for dinner. Ribs and backyard punch! Was really fun and tasted like memories of our early months of marriage.

12.) VCS. We survived another year of vacation church school! This year instead of teaching my own class, I did a variety of a/v tasks to run the assembly each day, and compiled a slideshow video for the last session as always, and did a rotating science teacher thing where we taught about movement and reactions by building lava lamps and playing a catapult game. Was fun and also unbloggably annoying in some moments, but mostly it's a really great week every year.

I took our annual pic in the matching shirts, but before I could get everyone to smile, I got them to frown for a few tries.

Let's just take another look at Charlotte's face here.

Excellent, yes? Yes.

Ali, Adored: Pool Version

So here's a random icy day activity -

Nathan was texting ("texting") with Uncle Nick and found out they were taking Ali to one of the indoor city pools, and talked his (our) way into joining them, and so suddenly in the middle of an icy cold week we got all swimmy and had a fun afternoon.

And I daresay I haven't seen a cousin so adored in... maybe ever. They see her every day. And yet.

Thanksgiving + Birthday

We spent Thanksgiving down at Lake Wateree with Mark's dad and stepmom, which was exactly as chaotic as expected and exactly as tasty as expected, too. We drove down with Ali on Wednesday and spent the night with all four kids, then Nick and Barbara (and Mark's stepsister Emily and her family) all got there on Thursday.

At one point we had Opa and Oma on the couch with all the grandkids to pose for pictures, and it went something like this:

-- which mostly cracked us up. (Why do we never remember to take pictures til someone is walking out the door and someone else is desperate for a nap?)

On the drive home, we stopped at a Waffle House for dinner (these travelers are thankful for some places being open on Thanksgiving, although you probably won't convince me it's necessary for, like, Macy's to be) and we had a cold little booth and Charlotte was super upset and really struggling* to say what she needed, but once we got past that and ate some waffles and perked up, we all said what we were thankful for, and it was kind of great.

I love my family so much.

Also, it's Marky's birthday today! And I am thankful for him, most of all.

{insert a million heart emojis here}
{and maybe a turkey one}
{and another heart for good measure}

Happy birthday Mark! You are my most very favoritest, ever! And happy Thanksgiving everyone!

*post for another day, coming soon

Favorites (Movie) Party, and a Sperm Whale Cake

So, here's a fun thing to blog about in an emotional roller coaster of week/weekend: we had a super sweet birthday party with Nathan yesterday! He had asked several months ago to do a movie party, which sounded easy and fun enough -- and got even better when Another Nathan said we could reserve his neighborhood's clubhouse movie theater for our own private show. Fun, right?! (Also free free free YES PLEASE.)

He went round and round and round about what kind of party he wanted, and even when I assured him he didn't need a theme or anything ( theme could just be "hey it's your birthday come watch a movie and have cake"), he still kept debating on what kiiiind of party it would be, and at some point he started referring to it as a Favorite Party, which would have all of his favorite things:

- legos

- sperm whales

- dinosaurs

- space

- friend cars

I mean, if that right there isn't a cohesive party theme, I don't know what is. Someone hire me to plan their event. It will totally make sense. Swearsies.

So we did it. We had a party with all of those things. Dinosaur balloons and napkins, and friend car plates, and a planets tablecloth (which I just now remembered I forgot to even use, ha whoops), and we watched the lego movie, and I made a sperm whale cake. The blasted sperm whale cake that he asked me for many weeks ago, and I had no idea where to start with, and eventually I landed on a really complicated solution:

Step 1- Make a cake.

Step 2- Put a sperm whale on top of the cake.

HI THERE AM GENIUS I CAN HAZ MOM TROPHY.

So actually it ended up being an adorable (very random, but adorable) party. He had a few friends from church, one from school, and even one he met last week at Montreat, who told Nathan he thought he lived in Durham, and since Nathan thought he lived in Raleigh, it worked out for them to go to each other's parties (zomg adorbz). They all ate pizza and had popcorn from the theater's popcorn stand/kettle/thing, and played with glow sticks, and watched the movie, and then opened presents and ate cake. 

favor bags with Nathan's "favorites" --
pack of legos, toy whale, dino eraser, Cars candy, in a space bag

the sperm whale cake --
which I'm sure is how I will remember this birthday

After the party, the birthday boy spent the afternoon swimming in the backyard with Uncle Nick and Aunt Barbara, and then we had a family dinner at his restaurant of choice -- McDonald's. He also opened a stack of fun presents from us and from grandparents, the most notable of which seems to be this GINORMOUS sperm whale, which is just what every kid needs for bedtime snuggling?

(He adores it, obviously.) (Yes, that is a squid for it to hunt. Or, if you're Anneliese, a friend to help it find rainbows. So.)

May all birthdays be so random yet so successful. Cheers to SEVEN!

First Swimmers

Happy July! Is it July already? *cue freakout*

All of our pool time (and the bribery promise of any frozen/lego/cars toy they want) has brought some real progress on the swimming front for Nathan and Anneliese. Progress as in, THEY CAN DO IT.

I mean, there is no good stroke work going here, or anything fancy, but they are letting go of the wall and the bottom and moving their bodies in the water, willingly, without help, and OH MAH GAH I'M SO PROUD. (And relieved. This is a big safety thing for me.)

Anneliese did it first, on Sunday:


(If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch on YouTube.)

And then Nathan, in a burst of "can't let little sister outdo me," did it today. It's all in the legs for him, apparently:


(If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch on YouTube.)

(We actually don't hate that Anneliese did it first. According to my sources, middle kids hardly get to do anything first. Also, she is (most of the time) a wee but more confident than Nathan, so seeing her do it was good motivation and reassurance for him. Peer pressure in the best way.

They will also both go underwater for diving rings (mostly just off the steps) and just in general are not freaking the eff out about getting their faces and heads wet. It is huge progress for these kids who are slow to catch up to their water-loving genes, apparently.

Oh! And baby Ali had her first swim too! In our pool! (Both our girls had their first swims in Uncle Nick's pool, so this was a sweet turnabout.) Considering how much she likes to yell about life, we weren't sure that she would be very happy about swimming, but she loooved it.  Stayed happy and content in the water for a good long while. She was squishy and slippery and drippy and oh so sweet.

It has been an emotionally wrought few days around here, nothing having anything to do with the kids, so seeing them be summery and proud and determined is basically the best thing ever. It makes me teary.

I Know it's Summer, Because This is What Summer Looks Like

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is stand in my pool and read. I know when you put that all in a sentence, it doesn't make much sense (why stand in a pool? why read in a wet place? etc) but trust me I have a system, and it involves a towel and some warm bricks and the shade under a nearby lounge chair, and it's all awesome and works great, and you're just going to have to trust me on that unless you want to come over and partake, in which case please do because you're definitely welcome. Yes you.

If you come, I will even have my pool boy get this beast vacuumed. Swearsies.

We also swim outside with the kids pretty much every evening. After Nathan gets off the bus and Ali is picked up, we get in the pool around 5 and swim til dinner. Totally curbs the witching-hour crabbies. RECOMMEND.

do you think having daughters is everything he hoped and dreamed of?

awkward enough for a Christmas card? yes?

Last Friday Mark and Another Nathan and I went downtown (ahhhhh trying not to count down the very few Fridays we have left here all together) and ate at Beasley's Chicken and Honey, which is a relatively (?) well known place, at least as far as the Raleigh foodie scene goes. And we had wine and beer from mason jars and people-watched downtown and ate chicken and waffles, and it was all delightful.

And then we went out for fancy cocktails, with fancy-shaped ice, and fancy hand-pestled fruits and herbs, because we can.

Did I say fancy? We felt very fancy.

On Saturday Nick and Barbara had their annual (annual?) crawfish boil and it was once again hot as the blazes outside, and also in my mouth. There is something about a table full of crawfish and a boozy drink in a red solo cup that just screams SUMMER! to me.

It's also the season of almost-daily afternoon storms, and one day this week it rained longer and harder than usual, and Charlotte, who is sometimes dainty and delicate and other times a hot mess, decided that playing outside in it would be just the thing. I... well... okay?

Also, Nathan has officially had his last tee-ball game (it took me a series of "are you trying not to smile? don't smile! better not smile! to get this picture) and if tee-ball is over, that means school should be over to, so let's wrap this first grade thing up now, shall we?

Summer break, I am ready for you.

Passing the Torch

Mark and I have a new niece and we just might burst from excitement. Mark's brother Nick and his lovely wife Barbara are now the proud parents of a beautiful daughter. Which means Charlotte is passing the torch to a new Goettsch family grandbaby.

Get used to this tiny face because come May, she is going to be spending a lot of time hanging out with us during the day! I cannot wait to see these sweet cousins become sweet friends.

Happy birthday, dear Alana. Welcome to the world, we are glad you're here, and we love you already, so much.

January Unblogged

I'm not sure I did a great job at blogging through January (hence the catchup now) (actually I take that back, I am a fantastic blogger, and I blogged exactly the right amount and will continue to do so), but here are some things that I did when I wasn't blogging then, because I am blogging now, which is exactly the right thing:

1.) Mark and I always look and act nice at other people's birthday dinners:

2.) Charlotte and Anneliese did some shopping with their babies, and then took a break to make some calls:

3.) I dyed some burp cloths for Nick and Barbara's baby, our new niece who will be here in just a tiny few more weeks!

4.) Nathan had one really great hair day:

5.) Charlotte wore this outfit and yes, she got a million hugs:

6.) Anneliese got a haircut. It was her first time getting her hair washed and dried in a haircut place, and she loved it. "It feels nice and my eyes want to close!" Um, yep.

7.) She also got new shoes. The beloved colorful plaid shoes that we made her save until the day we left for St. Croix (and oh how she remembered that morning, in the wee hours before we got on the plane) are finally done. She chose new tennis shoes that are mostly gray with rainbow laces that "tie" with velcro. It's what I want, it's what she wants, SOLD.

8.) I did some nap creeping, of course:

9.) Nathan brought his toy spinosaurus to church and ended up sitting at the organ. It has only been a few weeks and I already don't remember the circumstances that led to this, but it's not every day you get to see a happy child pretending to play the organ with a spinosaurus, so here you go:

10.) I went on a retreat with the confirmation class from my church, and it was Something. Mostly it was really cold. Like, really cold. And it turns out NC eighth graders do not know how to dress for weather in the teens when they need to be outside (leggings are not pants! what do you mean you did not bring a coat?) but hey the train cars we slept in were mostly warm, so there's that?

11.) We rounded out the month with a snowless snow day, which required a pizza picnic on the living room floor by the fire. We don't need actual snowflakes do up a snow day right.

(The snow totally started while we were eating.)

Happy January!