Anneliese at Almost 8

We have reached the point in this funny moment in time known as "blogging" where instead of everyday tidbits and daily-slog-minutiae delight nuggets, I find myself only vignetting my babies into words a thin slice at a time. And that's harder than you'd think, or maybe exactly as hard as you'd think, because capturing any human into a slice of a moment in time is... well, hard.

And here we are, with tiny "new baby" turned big girl big sister "middlest baby" Anneliese as an almost-eight-year-old. When I try to wrap my brain around where we were eight years ago this week -- newly a stay-at-home-parent, very pregnant, worried about H1N1, curious about folks getting smartphones, wondering how to picture our only child as a big brother, ending what we then naively adorably thought was the hardest decade in America we had seen in ages haaaaaaomg -- it's almost hard to remember that. It seems like another life. It was another life.

And then there was Anneliese. And now, well, look at her go.

Last winter, she finally lost that janky tooth that busted up her face when she was two. It's weird how it feels like both Anneliese and I spent five years cussing that tooth and missing her baby smile (me), and hating the jank (her), and then when it finally came out, I was, like, profoundly sad. When you have legit feelings about teeth as the end of an era, that's when you know your mom math is some weird sh!t, yo. (Anneliese was uncomplicatedly thrilled to toss it to the tooth fairy and move on with her life, for the record. Gave none craps about the memory and trauma and face change. KIDS AMIRITE.)

Anneliese at almost eight is a bookworm, devouring chapter books and audiobooks faster than we can put them in her hands or ears, and always on the hunt for a new free little library. She has taken in some of my own children's favorites this year (Harry Potter, the Little House series, the Narnia books, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary) which has been super fun (for me). One of her current favorite things is for us to go on a walk together and listen to our audiobooks and hold hands. She won't outgrow this too soon, right? Right?? RIGHT?! (Someone tell me she won't. Lie to me if you must.)

She has also decided sometime in the last year that music is maybe her Thing. She started on violin in orchestra last winter, and also auditioned for a spot in a community choir in a neighboring suburb, and adores singing with them. She is the youngest one, and thinks that singing with big kids all the way up through high school is the best. She spends a fair amount of time upstairs in the closest between her room and Charlotte's, sounding out tunes on the keyboard and trying to match it to her violin, which is super sweet, and also whoa dang loud, and also no you may not start piano yet, my dear, you are already super booked up. (But yes, our band nerd hearts are proud.)

She loves babies and taking care of her baby cousins, and is convinced (and will tell anyone who will listen) that she possesses a talent called "baby magic" that means she can always soothe them, and, well, I mean, let's just say I will be a very sweet mom when her own kid has colic, because that's definitely happening, right? That's how the universe works, last time I checked.

Anneliese and Charlotte have been playing together better this year than ever before in their lives. The closet between their rooms is currently set up like a nursery for all their babies (and I do mean all! their! babies! SO MANY BABIES OMG) and it reminds me so much of Ashley and me at that age that it just squeezes my heart and is exactly what I was hoping their sisterhood would be like.

She and Nathan are still fast friends too, and they all three still pile into her room every Friday night for a sleepover. I'm so scared those days are numbered but I will cling to it and let them do it as many more weeks/months/years of their childhoods as they want.

Anneliese become a bit more shy and a bit more poised this year. She is polite and mostly quiet in a group, yet also social and fun with lots of friends and party invites and stories from school. When she's chatty, she's nonstop - but she's decidedly less chatty than Other People who live in this house.

She switched this fall from dance to gymnastics and that seems to be going well, although it's a new rhythm for our family not to have any tiny dancers at the moment. She also likes crafts and sewing, and (like her mommy!) loves notebooks and pens and is always trying a new pretty ("pretty") lettering.

She loves sunshine and hates cold weather. She considers herself an indoor cat, except for trampolining and her newly-learned skill of bike riding. She adores sleep. First one down every night, and the last one up every morning. And she would nap any day we'd let her.

She is obsessed with spaghetti, especially her daddy's. She loves coconut and almonds and somehow loves popping candy but not carbonated beverages, because, well, people are complicated I guess.

And yes, a streak of rainbow still follows her everywhere she goes.

We love you, baby Beanie. Happy almost 8!

Nathan at Almost 10

Well I never thought I would see the day, but this year -- ten years in -- is the year I finally had to ask myself a few times, trying to remember which was Nathan's due date. (The 22nd. It was the 22nd!)

It's also the year everything went completely bananas and I stopped even pretending to blog, but I have to leave this space here anyway, my own little corner of the internet, because I need a home for memories and milestones and that kind of thing, even if the day-to-day captures have moved to other online homes.

As this is posting, our family is floating northward on America's highways, en route to Wisconsin Dells, because a day of giant waterparks is what Nathan requested for his 10th birthday, and we do love a reason for a road trip. (And a waterpark.) (And a celebration.) It's funny how tween and preteen birthday requests have moved away from toys and Thomas and Friend Cars, and are now all about devices and bikes and projects and trips. COME BACK TO ME, FRIEND CARS. (Cars 3 is out this summer and I won't lie, I'm dying to see it just so I can cry some nostalgia tears remembering the baby and toddler years.)

So yeah, Nathan is about to turn ten. We've known him for a decade. We've been parents for a decade. I am so freaking full of Feelings my head has been spinning for weeks.

Nathan has had a really good year -- dare I say it was even better than when he was five? (#fiveforever!) He is kind and responsible and funny, and while he remains a true introvert, he is ever more out of his shell. He likes public speaking, and he is proud anytime he can be in a leader role.

He is doing pretty well in school, working hard enough to make decent grades, but not so hard he sacrifices precious Pokemon chatter time. He loves science and math, and loves reading history and biography books. It's taken me years to convince him that novels (or any fiction) are also a delight, but finally FINALLY he is very super crazy into Harry Potter, is partway through the 7th book, and talks about almost nothing else these days. In classic Nathan fashion, he spends hours in internet rabbit holes about fan theories and movie castings and behind the scenes info, and lost in Pottermore fandom, and he thinks it's very important that I tell you here that he's a proud Hufflepuff who thinks fairness, justice, loyalty, and inclusion are the most important things (this is actually delightfully accurate about him).

These days he says he'd like to be an architect when he grows up; he spends lots of his time building and designing all manner of things with his legos and sketching and any boxes or tubes or bottles or other crap he pulls from the recycling bin. (He might or might not have a tiny hoarding problem in his room.)

He also loves watching Master Chef, Jr, and has been harboring some serious cooking desires recently. He wants to try new foods and learn to make them, and we don't even know what happened to our little baby who only ever wanted to eat bagels, and now requests lunch dates so he can have some grilled salmon which we never really fix at home. He delights me in surprising quirky ways, and I love seeing him become more and more himself.

He has become surprisingly (to us! we didn't see it coming!) athletic in the last year, thriving at soccer, making a good effort at basketball, and swimming and running faster than many kids his age, despite his small size (he's still the tiniest kid in his grade). He had two bad scooter spills this year resulting in a few (minor) fractures and injuries in his wrist, elbow, knee and hip -- and spent most of his spring in a leg cast, wrist brace and sling. He was discouraged at the time, but has recovered with no problems and is back to normal now.

He's still playing his cello, and has buckled down and really worked hard at this year; we are officially impressed by what he can do. And! He can now match a pitch, singing! We also never thought we'd see that day. :) He loves choir at church, partly because he's suddenly a great singing leader, and partly because as one of the older kids, he has lots of chances for speaking parts and reading at the front of the church, which he loves.

He and Anneliese are still chummy with each other above all others, but are learning to branch out and be social with their own peer groups and also with Charlotte. They've had a few moments of pain together this year that were hard to watch, but also good to see them grow and learn.

Nathan is still the tiny adult in our family, classic oldest child: doing a funny dance between needing to be a baby with snuggles and back scratching and coddling -- and acting as grown up as possible, bossing his sisters and generally trying to manage everyone and everything around him (I seriously have NO IDEA WHERE HE GETS THIS *ahem*). He's helpful, sometimes to a fault, but we love about him that  he always takes initiative and looks to see what others might need or want. His toddlerhood excellence at empathy is manifesting in new and caring ways, and we are so proud.

Happy almost-ten to our wonderful, serious, funny, loving, bright baby boy. Watching you grow for a decade has been the greatest joy of our lives.

Anneliese at Almost Seven

Okay so there are golden birthdays, but is there such a thing as a golden due date? If so, this is Anneliese's. It's October 7th again, and she's almost 7!

Anneliese these days is made up of big feelings, rainbows, chapter books, dolls and doll dress-ups, spaghetti, coconut, craft projects, an odd blend of sassy and compliant responsibility, a head of loose teeth (though not enough missing for her taste), running, swimming, dancing, Olympics, creativity, bright smarts, and one of the funniest kindest hearts I've ever known. She's into girl strength and also silly girlishness. She's a beautiful singer. She loves school and sleeping late. She does cartwheels the way some people talk with their hands. She's the object of affection and attention from both her siblings. She is our middlest, and she is beloved.

I can't believe it was seven years ago she was inside me and we only knew her as Beanie, the awaited baby daughter I was so excited to finally have.

Once in a while, something your heart has huge hopes for, turns out to be exactly as good as you'd hoped. For me, being Anneliese's mom is one of those things.

I love you, little Beanie. Happy due date.

Bluffton

We went to the Savannah area to see my brother Brad!

Yes, on the road again. Just a few short weeks after being on the road for many many many days. But it was worth it, because he has a new house and new job and he lives near the beach! Yay!

Y'all, it rained. Boo.

(Charlotte was basically reduced to abject weeping by the time we left town and she still hadn't seen the beach.)

But Uncle Brad was still sweet enough to take Nathan out to the Savannah harbor where he works, and show him his boat, and the container ships coming in and out, and even let him sit in the captain's chair. Which probably isn't called a captain's chair. That's what they call it in a minivan. I assume on a boat it has a better name? A bridge maybe? Is this even a boat, or is it a ship?

I don't know the lingy loo. I am not boat savvy. WHATEVER BOAT NERDS.

And we spent the rest of the weekend lounging with coffee and snacks and Netflix and target toys, which was just fine even though it wasn't the beach.

On Saturday night my sister came down with her whole family too, and one other brother Collin from Hilton Head nearby, and we threw the kids in bed and drank a lot of Draaanks and played Cards Against Humanity and here is what I have learned about my family while playing drinky card games:

1.) Brad has a super sick sense of humor. Not sick in a good way. Like, sick in a wide eyes way.
2.) Ashley's husband John cannot make a joke without explaining it. CANNOT.
3.) I miss Marky when everyone else is hanging out and he's not there.
4.) Collin's girlfriend has no idea what she's getting into if she wants into this Bumgarner mess.
5.) Brad and Marija were champs to have all of us in their house at once. Champs I say.

CHAMPS, I SAY.

It was a weekend of bad sleep and I came home exhausted, but I am so glad we went. It's fun whenever we can all be together, and it doesn't happen enough. Also, the kids and I didn't mind at all being on the road even more. We have gotten good at it! We listened to The BFG on the way down, and Matilda on the way back, and the kids loved both of them. I had forgotten how either of them ended, and was startled on both counts.

And now I need to crawl in bed and sleep for many days. I am officially traveled out.

Summer Basket List

Summer is over. Well, not really, there is still a month of summer weather left, but summer break is over, and school starts this week, and so we have crossed off as many of the remaining bucket list items as we can. I needed this summer to be something redemptive after last year, which was a sh!t show of emotions and baby soothing and feeling like I was failing everyone around me, and then feeling resentful about the failing, and yeah. This year was better.

I had a page in my notebook where I jotted down ideas the kids named as things they wanted to do this summer (a few times, someone got ahold of a pen and added ideas himself), and we got to almost all of them.

We also renamed it The Basket List because at the beginning of the summer Anneliese could never remember what it was called, so she kept saying that, and it stuck for the rest of us even though she rolls her eyes and refuses to partake of the cutesy rename herself. HER LOSS. CUTESY IS FUN, YO.

And truthfully we didn't even look much at the list because we were busy just hanging out and having fun. Montreat was a freaking delight. Our family road trip was more fun than I ever could have dreamed. And lots of little fun things in between the travels too:

1.) Ride on a ferry. This list was born in April when Nathan, indignant that I would go to Seattle and ride on a ferry without him, made a page in my notebook and put FERRY as the first thing on it. We... didn't actually get to this. But we have Outer Banks camping plans next month, and we will ferry to Okracoke and then Hatteras. The ferry will happen! I promise, buddy!

2.) Visit Northfield. Check and check. 'Twas delightful. Here are all the kids at St. Olaf:

Oh Charlotte. I don't even know, y'all. She just doesn't stop.

Road trip blogs still to come. (They are all half written and still need pics and there's a lot to sort through so eh.)

3.) Crayon A. This is a craft I have been intending to do for years with Anneliese and we finally did it, and it turned out great, and she loves it, and I love it.

NAILED IT. Suck it, Pinterest, I own you.

4.) Go camping. Not yet - this will be with the ferry ride next month.

5.) Eat purple carrots. Okay so Anneliese asked for this for weeks, and I wrote it down for her, even though you can't get any carrots at the farmer's market, much less purple ones, until fall. So this is still to come also. We did, however, make several stews with parsnips, and Anneliese has a new favorite vegetable. (She is an odd child.)

6.) Strawberries. There were no carrots, but there were strawberries, and Anneliese used them to bake her very first dessert for all of us. Bisquick shortcakes, and warm strawberries, and cream she whipped herself, and oh she was so proud.

7.) Cinderella movie. Anneliese saw this with Grandma. That counts, right? (I still haven't seen it.) (I am totally interested, but secretly more for the Frozen short than for the movie itself. Don't judge me.)

8.) Rise Biscuits and Donuts. This is a place in Durham with apparently really great breakfast treats. We never made it there, but I am counting our Duck Donut outing as a check mark on the list for new treat places.

9.) Learn ponytails. Anneliese did it! This is a life skill, I mean really.


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

10.) Learn shoe tying. Yeah, no. This did not happen.

11.) Watch Jurassic Park (not with the girls). Yes finally, Nathan, of years-long dinosaur obsession, has seen the original Jurassic Park movie. It totally scared him. But I think he thinks it was worth it. (It still is delightfully scary to me too.) We have listened to the soundtrack a thousand times this summer since then. Currently the girls' favorite song to dance to. We are That Family, apparently.

12.) Tropical Pick'n Chicken. It's a new (to us) local chain restaurant near our house, with Caribbean food and such. Nathan is enamored with it. It's just okay for me. But! We went! Summer dreams coming true over here y'all!

13.) Build legos. Um, duh. Done and done.

14.) Sleepovers. Yes, Nathan and Anneliese, every Friday, all summer (all year actually, but the summer was no exception). These two are best buddies, and never moreso than on Friday nights. We don't understand how they spend all day every day together and still have things to talk about into the wee hours. They say more to each other than they ever do to any of the rest of us.

15.) Baking contest. This got added to the list in summer's eleventh hour, and we still did it!

16.) Read lots of books. CHECK. We have been very library busy. And library days are the best days, aren't they? Let's not forget the afternoon I found the kids all outside reading their library books sprawled on the sidewalk WITH THEIR BEDDING, why children, why?

Days 6-11: MinneEFFINGsota, Take Four

{Still backdated, are you still with me?}

And on the sixth night, tired from the water park and after one small carsick rest stop, we rolled into Northfield, Minnesota, hugged Another Nathan, and there was much rejoicing in all the land.

A year to the weekend after he moved away, the kids were so excited to see his new house, and play in "their" room he had set up for them in the den downstairs, complete with shelves of toys and trinkets and plastic animal snouts and other Welcome Prizes, and air mattresses, and snuggles and legos and happiness.

And then they crashed, and Mark and I played allllll the pictures from our northbound journey as a slideshow on the Apple TV in the living room, because we are adults who know how to partaaaaay.

Day 7: The Sather Farm

The next morning we drove with Another Nathan to his grandparents' farm a few hours away, in rural Minnesota (even more rural than where he lives, which is basically in the middle of corn, if you'll recall). His mom had been sweetly inviting us to come visit the farm where she grew up, if we ever came to Minnesota, and, well, here we were.

The Sather Farm

(She drove from Iowa to hang out with us for the day. Another Nathan's mom. At her parents' farm. Isn't is just the coolest thing ever when the people you love start meshing into your family, and then they share their family with you?)

The universal preschool method for eating corn on the cob.

We had a such a lovely time with them, a lunch with fresh corn picked that day (it was basically all of Mark's corn dreams come true) (yes he has corn dreams, and has for years) (HE ATE SIX), and we got to see their horses, and Nathan got to play hide and seek with me in the cornfields, which, I won't lie, secretly scared the sh!t out of me. But he was cute.

At one point, while shucking corn to feed the horses, Charlotte proclaimed that her hair was the color of the cornsilk, which it was! Exactly! And now I can never see it any other way. At another point, while exploring all the giant* tractors and combines and trucks in their barn, we looked up and Charlotte had hopped up on a tractor with Grandpa Sather, and was waving to us happily, and oh man I just love that she makes friends wherever she goes. It also made me feel a bit sappy and miss my Grandpa, so yeah, that's the story of how I cried in a barn in Minnesota on our family road trip.

Also, Mark and Another Nathan piled the kids into a Gator (?) and drove across to where their big silos bins are (I have been informed they are not silos but bins, so okay), and Mark climbed to the top of one to look inside, even though he is scared of heights, so excited was he about this giant commercial farm.

And then we had root beer floats and heard funny stories and peeked in their ice fishing house, which apparently just sits in the garden during the summer (Minnesota is baffling and delightful to southerners like us, y'all), and played games and accepted a big crate of kiddie books from Another Nathan's mom, for the rest of our stay, because of course she thought ahead that we might be strapped for new material after a week on the road. She is just... that person. (Lovely, is what I'm saying.)

I insisted we eat at Pizza Ranch for dinner on the way home, because I had never been to one before, and, you know, covered! wagons! with pizza! But it turns out that was a dream I had put too much stock in (YES I KNOW, EVERYONE WARNED ME: NOT THAT GREAT) but I am glad I can say we did it, although I don't need to again anytime soon.

Day 8: Nerstrand State Park Waterfalls, and Northfield by Night

We fiiiinally had a slow day on our hands, so we went to a state park near Northfield and took a short walk and saw waterfalls. Was sweet and pretty.

Also, there were swings. When you're a kid, what's more delightful than swings, except grown-ass men who also will swing with you (bonus points for Daddy and Mr. David).

That evening, Another Nathan had one of his youth choir kids come over to sit, so finally Mark and I could have a break for some grownup time. We all went downtown and had burgers and beer by the river.

And then more beers at another place on the other side of the river, and oh man, Northfield is just so dang charming.

Day 9: Charlotte Booler's Birthday!!!

In the morning we went for a walk around Northfield's downtown market, and we had coffee cocktails (mine was delicious, other people had mixed opinions) and baked goods and the kids picked out various hair ties and bookmarks and both big kids got lanyard bracelets which they loved.

Okay so, by far, the hardest thing about planning this trip on the dates we did (which were basically the only dates we could make it work, all summer, was that we would be away from home on Charlotte's birthday. I haaaaated the idea at first, although she seemed fine with it (she wasn't asking for any particular friends or themed party at home, nor has she ever had that anyway). I made peace with the idea that as long as we weren't actually in transit, it could be okay. We could have a cake and a little party, and it would be sweet. And we did, and we did, and it was.



My friend Miriel came from her town close by, and brought her baby, and we drew with chalk outside and then made superhero capes, and we opened a few presents, and had cake.

It was very simple and sweet and easy, and that's about all the birthday chaos I would be comfortable throwing at someone else's home.

There were a few moments where I felt really far from home, and I also cried when my cake frosting fell apart (David helped me fix it, because there is no end to his sainthood), but by the time the day's chaos had settled and we were all snuggled on the couch watching her birthday video, I felt so warm and sweet and happy. Birthday feelings all intact, even while abroad. Ha.

Oh! And also! When Charlotte woke up on her birthday morning, Sheepie was suddenly wearing a birthday shirt, just like the cupcake one Charlotte had packed to wear all day!

Someone must have put it on her in the middle of the night! No one will ever know who. (Edit, backdated: this remains a much-discussed mystery of our family, even months later. Haaaaaa being a parent is sometimes the best.)

Day 10: Another Nathan's Church, Mall of America

We had to hug and kiss Marky goodbye first thing in the morning, since he had to fly back to Raleigh for work (the kids and I had plans to drive home slowly and see more friends along the way, but he didn't have that much time off), and it was surprisingly sad considering we would see him just a few days later. We didn't want the whole-family portion of our trip to be over. It was so fun! I never would have dreamed that driving across the country with three kids could be so fun  but it was! Fun and easy! We had had lots of adventures already and we were sad to send him to the airport.

But we waved goodbye and then went to church in Northfield. Anneliese had been waiting for years (literal years) (in the correct use of the word literal) to sit at the organ with Another Nathan in worship, something she didn't get to do when he was here in Raleigh (she was jealous when big brother did). I think it made alllll her dreams come true. So sweet.

After worship we had a delightful Cracker Barrel lunch (oh, how we have missed post-church lunches with Another Nathan!) and then drove to the Mall of America. The rides and such were too chaotic and busy for us that day, but we did go to the very giant and impressive Lego store, and Anneliese had a gift certificate for the American Girl store, and she had a delightful time wandering around forever, choosing a back to school outfit for Kit.

Another Nathan was also delighted:

Day 11: St Olaf, and a Hymn Festival

We took the kids to St. Olaf in the morning to walk all through the campus and chapel and see all the places where Another Nathan went to college, which was very sweet. I think he liked seeing them run all around outside in a place he loves so much. It's really pretty in the summer!

We shopped in the bookstore and ate grilled cheese at the student cafe, and it was actually a totally delightful little excursion.

The kids and I spent the afternoon bumming all over town, we went to the library and a few shops (Northfield has fun quirky shopping! Beautiful pen and paper stores, and fancy candy, and even a little shop that sells handmade doll clothes in that delighted all of the children but maybe especially Nathan, who has a hard time finding boy things for his tiger to wear), and also playing on a swingset at a park. It was sometime that afternoon that I realized how delightfully awesome summers in Northfield are, and understanding why people have summer homes in small towns away from home.

Just. So. Charming.

We lounged around in the library at Nathan's church and listened to him practice a bit, which sounds like a silly dumb thing, but it turns out it's totally a thing I miss from when he lived here. He plays beautifully, and when your best friend is a beautiful musician, it turns out you should not take that for granted, because it's lovely to listen to, and someday he might live in MinneEFFINGsota and you won't be able to listen to it as often as you used to.

ASK ME HOW I KNOW.

Anyway. Charlotte danced while he played. It was sweet.

That evening, we drove all the way up to a town north of St Paul to see a hymn festival from two important music teachers of Nathan's, they do these lovely little worship/festivals with readings and beautiful music and a choir, and he has wanted to show me for years what they're like, and here I was in the same town where they were doing one, when they were doing it, and so I was not passing it up.

It was a lovely last evening in Minnesota. The drive back through the cities was gorgeous, although you can't tell from this picture. It's blurry but pretend it's blurry with my tears, because I hate saying bye and I'm not very good at it.

Afterwards we had a beer and popcorn at a bar in Northfield before we went back to the house, because beer and popcorn is a thing one does when one is in Northfield.

And then we really did cry the next morning, because having our whole family together, and all of us together there with our dear friends, was so wonderful.

You're welcome, friend, for posting the pictures we took before your cry eyes got bad. (Mine were even worse, which is mostly why I'm not posting it, but let's pretend the decision was purely altruistic.)

Til we meet again, Minnesota.  <3 p="">

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.