"I like black candy"

Kathleen woke up right at 6 am this morning pronouncing "It's Play Time!" We went into the living room and changed her diaper then read a few books. The first about shapes, the second about numbers, and the third about colors/food. I'm so proud that Kathleen counted from 1-10 with Mamaw and Daddy yesterday then she counted for me this morning without even being asked. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11. Haha.  I quickly got a high five, hug and kiss for her excellent job in counting. I mentioned 10 to her by saying 9, 10, 11, then reminded Kathleen of how smart she is and we moved on to reading the book about colors and food.

Then at the end of our color/food book Kathleen told me a little story about what she does with Mamaw. The book ends with black candy. Kathleen says, "What's that?" Mommy replies, "Black candy." Kathleen says "I like black candy." Mommy asks, "Really, how do you know?" Kathleen says, "I eat it. I eat it in Mamaw's car. (Pause) I eat it in Mamaw's car. I eat it at Mamaw's house. I chew it up. (Points to her mouth.) I like it!" Picture all of this while standing in front of me swaying back and forth.

So funny - I love our talkative girl. Pretend or truth? We'll have to ask Mamaw to find out - but that's hilarious! 

Hello world

Over the weekend we turned Kathleen's carseat around. She is so happy with the new view. Taking the head rest off the seat in front of her makes it even better. And you'll see she still had no trouble taking a nap on the way to school after waking up early this morning.

Hold on tight, cause here we go!

While playing this afternoon sweet Kathleen decided to give her babies and animals rides on her rocking horse that Aunt B and Uncle Jason gave her for Christmas. Each time she climbed on the horse she would tell her friend, "Hold on tight. Here we go! Weeeee. It's fun guys." This was learned from her favorite tv show Little Einstines. They say, "hold on tight cause here we go" every time rocket blasts off. So fun. Elmo was a very careful passenger.

Bathtub Crayons

As part of her Easter treat Kathleen received bathtub crayons. These are simply colored soap crayons that you use to draw on the bathroom wall - Fun for kids and mommies of all ages. I highly recommend. I so love bath time with Kathleen every night. Dinner, Bath, Rocket, Bed.

This is the stuff dreams are made of

One night recently as Calvin and I went to bed so tired that neither one of us even wanted to snuggle I made a throw away comment about how completely unromantic we were. As Calvin buried his head in his pillow he said, "This is the stuff dreams are made of." And he was right. I realized that currently 6 years into our marriage and 9 years of being together put us roughly a tenth of the way into our forever story - and that's if we're lucky. Somehow our dreams of "forever" in our early twenties always had us on vacation or celebrating some type of holiday, and we grew into wrinkled front porch rockers with 2-3 grown kids very easily without any trials along the way. So as hectic as the last 6 months have been for us, we decided to have a "stay-cation" for our anniversary this year.

Kathleen was picked up by Mamaw on Thursday morning to have a 4 day, 3 night stay at the Stockert's. We talked with Kathleen a lot about her trip and she was very excited to have a sleep over at Pop Pop's. The song we sang along the way went something like this. "Kathleen's going to see Mamaw, Kathleen's going to see Mamaw, and spend the night with Pop Pop, and spend the night with Pop Pop, Sleep Over, Sleep Over, Whooo Hoo, Whooo Hoo!" Kathleen would dance in the car seat and pump her fist in the air as we shouted the Whooo Hoos together.

So then after work on Thursday I headed home to my husband to start our anniversary celebration. Each year, instead of gifts, Calvin and I agreed we would always do something together we've never done before. This way we would have at least once a year where it was Mommy and Daddy's time together alone and we could check something off the "wish we could" or "it would be nice to" list.

Thursday night we met at the house and headed to a nice dinner at Rigsbee's in Louisburg. This was a new restaurant we had been wanting to go to but could never feel comfortable taking Kathleen. It was delicious, I higly recommend the place to anyone in the area. And we had a new dessert I've never had before - salted caramel pie, scrumptious. On Friday morning we headed to Holly Springs to purchase a 2002 Bayliner 160 Capri from a nice family who posted it for sale on craigslist. We ate breakfast at Hometown Cafe on the way, another new restaurant and got there about 10 am. After viewing the boat, Calvin and I worked as a team to hook up wiring to his truck and install a ball on his bumper to haul the boat trailer. By 3 pm the title was in our hands and we were headed home! After a nice late lunch at Crazy Fire - one of our favorites - we took the boat home and headed to the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater for the double feature of Oz and Lincoln. Oz was amazing, and we only made it half way through Lincoln before we headed home for bed. 10:30 was past our bed time and Lincoln wasn't going to be over for another hour! (once again, this is the stuff dreams are made of)

Saturday morning we left the house bright and early for a 5k run in Raleigh. Calvin has been running the Second Empire race series in Raleigh this year and I decided to join him for this one event. We both did well, it was a beautiful morning and an easy course. After showers at the house we hooked up the boat to the truck and headed to..... church. That's right, Spring Valley UMC was having a marathon practice from 9 am - noon for their Easter cantata and since Calvin is the narrator and pastor we stopped by to check in around 11:30 am and have lunch with the group after practice was over. It was another new restaurant right down the road from the church so that put us at a total of 3 new eateries for the weekend! After lunch we did go to the lake and spend about 3 hours on the water. It was beautiful and quiet. After a little struggle getting the boat in the water the engine wouldn't start - no kidding. Apparently the stereo never shuts off and it drained the battery. Luckily there was a nice gentleman putting his fishing boat in the water and he offered to give us a jump.  I am so thankful he was there to help - he truly did play a part in making my dream come true that day. The boat has a 90 hp engine and holds up to 650lbs. It came with a nice tube, knee board, kids and adult skis and life jackets. We'll have a little money to put in it for a good tune and clean up but it's perfect for first time boat owners. On Saturday we drove it all the way to the dam in Kerr Lake which crosses the Virginia/North Carolina state lines. Rascal came with us and he loved the wind in his fur. At full throttle we were able to go 43 mph - just enough for fun this summer. We once again learned a lot loading the boat back to the trailer but we'll have it down in no time. We're quick learners and it was perfect to put the boat in and take it out just the two of us (without Kathleen) the first time and during a time when no one else is waiting on us to use the boat ramp.

After unhitching the boat at the parsonage we grabbed a quick snack and headed to Walmart for a few items on the top of our boat list. Then we came back home to watch the Duke/UNC game and had a light dinner at home. I fell asleep on the couch during the first half and Calvin woke me up to crawl to bed at half time.

Sunday morning was back to business as usual for Calvin. I scheduled in a couple visits with new Henderson friends before Mamaw and Pop Pop brought Kathleen back home. Monday was also a day off work for me and I took advantage of relaxing and cleaning while Kathleen went on to daycare. Calvin headed to a work conference and will come home late Tuesday night.

I look forward to spending time at the lake with family and friends in the next few years. Since we're only 10 minutes from Kerr Lake I'm happy to take advantage of the location while we're here. Camping as a family and spending time on the water was a main goal for us right from the start of our relationship. If a peaceful retreat is available a night or even a few hours at at time then maybe life as a whole will seem a little sweeter around the edges. However, I doubt bedtimes will ever go back to being later than 10:30 pm.

Thank you Calvin, for the most romantic stay-cation I've ever had.

Can you seen the tiny rainbow to the right of the engine? 

9 years ago the cap was backwards for style, now it's just turned around because of the wind.

Stock photo of what the boat looked like when it was new... the family "dream"