Just for the Record

I love this kid!
I am so proud of her.

She's had a torturous three weeks at school.
Through most of it, she has managed to hold her emotions and frustrations in check.
She has displayed more patience than many adults (including me).
She has persevered and, at times, just plain hung in there.
She has been a trooper.

Now we have a plan, and things are finally going to change.
Now Ally says, "A big chunk of my headache is gone! Now maybe I can finally start learning."

I want to take back all those times in the past that I had wished she'd just grow up!
I can't believe she's only six-and-a-half; she's so much wiser than that number.
I am amazed by her.
I have learned a lot from her.
I feel blessed to be her mother.

I love you, Allyson, and I am so proud of you!

Also, just for the record. . .
I love this kid, too!

As Coroner She Must Aver. . .

We've had a very busy summer thus far. I'll blog all about it . . . eventually. . . maybe?

Until then, here's a clip from Ally's performance at Munchkinland camp two days ago. (See, on occasion I can post things in a timely manner.)

I'm not sure about the selection of costumes, but the kids did a great job and had a lot of fun.

It's the Middle of Summer, but Here's Spring Break!

One-eyed Paul the Pirate

We decided to spend most of Ally's spring break in Selma. Chris had to work to help pay for our exploits, but we managed to have fun with his dad as our chaperone instead.

Our first order of business was a trip to the beach at Fort Macon. This is one of Grampy's favorite spots.




The weather was cold and overcast, so we only stayed for an hour or two. But that was enough time to collect seashells, dig a few holes, and enjoy the waves. True to past trips, Ally and Cora insisted on putting their feet in the freezing-cold water. . . which means they ended up wet beyond their knees.

Of course, the sun finally came to stay just as soon as we loaded up the car and were leaving the parking lot. We had a beautiful sun-shiny ride home. We contemplated turning around and just being beach bums for a few days, but figured Grammy Norma would worry if we didn't show up for dinner.

We spent the following days chillin' at the house. Chillin' because it was so cold. The girls and I slept in each morning while Grampy went and worked out at the gym for three hours. Ally and Cora read through their collection of old kids' books, blew bubbles on the front lawn, rode bikes in the garage, and raided their kitchen pantry. In the afternoons Grampy took us to an awesome park, an indoor splash pool at the gym, and Hill's of Snow for some tasty sno-cones. We also spent a little time with cousins Nate and Maddie.

Pink and Purple: still the colors of choice

Since Chris had dropped us off at his parents' and fled town, we had to find a way home. When planning this trip we looked up Amtrak just for fun and realized they had a perfectly-timed train running from Selma to Greensboro. Kids travel for half price, so the cost was comparable to having Chris drive all the way out to pick us back up-- and trains don't have to deal with Raleigh's/I-40's rush hour traffic/accidents/delays/construction. I've wanted to travel by train with the girls for awhile, so this was the perfect excuse.

Grampy was kind enough to take us down to the station. The train was running about an hour late, so we had plenty of time to explore every exhibit in the small but historic building.

* * * Let's interrupt this travelog for a bit of history:

When we first moved to Greensboro, we found a historical marker on an old downtown building. It states: "In this store Lunsford Richardson (1854-1919) during his joint ownership from 1890 to 1898 developed a line of home remedies of which Vicks Vaporub became world-renowned for the relief of the common cold."
This plaque led me to believe my current hometown is the birthplace of Vicks, and I filed that little fact away in my head and --on occasion-- shared it with people.

While perusing the Selma train station and brushing up on my Johnston County NC history, I found this sign posted on the wall:

Mr. Richardson probably never imagined he'd be so famous that two places would claim him as a hometown hero and try to take credit for birthing his smelly health remedy.  Anyway, back to recording our Spring Break Trip * * *

Eventually the train arrived. The girls quickly gave Grampy some good-bye kisses on the platform . . in the pouring rain. . . even under an umbrella (how romantic!). . . and then we boarded our locomotive.

Although both Ally and Cora easily fit within the carry-on luggage dimensions, I made them walk up the stairs themselves. We were escorted to our seats, and then we waved at Grampy from the window as we pulled out.


We loved traveling by train. The seats were clean and even wider than first class looks on an airplane. Ally and Cora had plenty of leg room, as did I. We enjoyed watching the scenery, walking between seats, eating snacks, coloring, sending texts to Daddy, and playing on the tablet.

All was going well until, about a mile beyond the Cary station, the train came to a dead stop. . . in the woods. Fortunately, by taking the train, we were able to avoid all the hassle of rush hour traffic around Raleigh. Unfortunately, what we didn't avoid was a downed tree that fell perfectly across a particular track and impeded our progress. Go figure!

Although the incident added an additional hour to our travel, the girls were good sports about it and so was I. We appreciated being able to walk around instead of being stuck buckled into a stationary car. Daddy was waiting to pick us up when we arrived. He took us home and tucked us into bed.

The next day (Friday) was still Spring Break, but it deserves a separate entry. It was Ally's birthday, and we had another adventure to take!

AquaBrave

Our little mermaids have started their summer of fun by learning to swim. They've had seven lessons thus far (technically only 6.3 lessons for Cora since there was a "code brown" today and they had to clear the pool) and have only one left.

Yesterday Ally did something spectacular. And, since I'm awake, I figured I'd share her accomplishment instead of waiting three months to do so. Here's a hint:

But, let's start at the beginning. . .
 
Thanks to last year's lessons, Ally started the summer being able to float, hold her breath, and swim a short distance under water. She was semi-comfortable but definitely not proficient enough to be more than an arms' length away from me. Last week she was introduced to jumping in, the freestyle stroke, and the art of taking breaths while continuing to swim. Here she is in 4 feet of water, which is just enough to be over her head. (She's the smallest in her class and the only one that can't stand.)

Somewhere along the line she learned how to tread water and do the backstroke.

On Tuesday --well ahead of schedule-- the teacher tested everyone to see if they could pass the level. They all swam the length of the pool (25 yards) and back, which meant they qualified to try out the two deeper pools.

Ally was a little nervous jumping in at 9 feet (the shallow end of the Olympic pool), but she held her breath and took the plunge before I was even ready with the camera. She popped up out of the water with a smile on her face and then swam to the edge. Then they walked over to the diving well and sat/swam on the edge of the 17 foot cliff, until their teacher said it was time to jump in.

I'm thrilled that Ally had the skills to do it.
I'm impressed that she had the guts to do it.
I'm super-surprised that she went first.
I'm thankful she survived and had fun doing it.

The facility where we take lessons is state-of-the-art and has hosted Olympic trials and other national competitions. My favorite of its "claims to fame" was an off-beat, low-ratings TV special featuring Terrell Owens and other personalities which aired earlier this year. Maybe the "first jump" you just watched is the start of Ally's future as a celebrity diver?

That's enough of praising Ally. Now it's time to give a shout out to my little clownfish Cora. She's never had much fear of the pool. (Originally she was petrified of the ocean and wouldn't go in it until the end of last year, but I'm pretty sure that was a fear of waves rather than water.) I wanted her to take swim lessons for safety, whereas Ally needed them more for confidence.

Cora was splashing around and dunking her head like a pro from day one. I have a hard time getting her to not push me away. Her newest tricks include floating (unassisted unlike the picture) and bouncing off the bottom of the 3.5 foot pool. She's also started to tread/swim a little, which is something that's not covered in her beginner class.

I'm so proud of my brave little mermaids!

Facetime with Cora

Cora has been going through a very defiant phase. We have had frequent power struggles-- great and small-- with her. Some of her most favorite times in which to assert her stalwart resolve to not do what is asked come while getting her picture taken. Cora's stubbornness (and expressive nature) has resulted in very precious and unique visual memories.

In the past month alone we have:

Fun at the zoo.

Contemplating our nation's monuments.

Don't bother me.

Enjoying the temple flowers.

Fidgeting at a hockey game with a $4 orange soda stain
around her mouth. (Go Flyers!)

Eating a snack in an effort to avoid the pic.

Eating a fork in an effort to avoid the pic.

Sad bunny.

Tonight, after I pulled out her ponytails and unbraided her hair, Cora begged me to take her picture. She finally decided to look right at the camera, hold relatively normal poses, and smile.

No dancing around.
No weird hand gestures.
No overly-forced smile.
No pouty lips.
No whining or crying.
No crazy head tilts or spastic eyeballs.

Just natural, unedited beauty-- once you look past the eighties-esque wild-child hairdo.

Enjoy!

Time Marches On

I blogged about St Patrick's Day (which is more than I can say for last year's March) and did a mini-Easter post but neglected the rest of the month. Here are March 2013's missing pieces:

Ally worked on some tongue twisters while doing an art project at our kitchen table (lest you think she always wears a smock while at home). She got the hang of them quickly.

We celebrated the first day of spring with popsicles. March 20th proved to be a warm and sunny day, unlike the rest of the past 90 days. Hopefully spring will come and choose to stay really soon, because I'm tired of having the heater kick on. This is not the North Carolina weather I remember from years past.

Our dear friend Taunja visited, so we took to her to play at City Lake Park in Jamestown. We unknowingly arrived while they were having their annual egg hunt, so the big playground was overrun with children. We made our way to the smaller playground at the back and had it mostly to ourselves. Chris isn't in any of these pics, but he accompanied us on the adventure.

Ally and Cora pretended to go on a seafaring adventure and then ran a few races around and through the play structure. Ally also flipped up-side-down while Cora did what she does best-- eat snacks.

Before she left, Aunt T gave each of the girls a prize from her Primary bag. We can't wait for her to return again. I can always use an excuse to devour more bacon cheese fries from Ham's.


Chris and the girls dyed eggs. They used crayons and a glitter kit with marginal results.

The Easter Bunny came on Sunday morning and filled our baskets. The girls wore their fancy fuchsia dresses to church (more pics in a previous post). Then we drove out to Selma for Easter dinner with Chris' family at Aunt Sarah's house. Ally, Cora, and I moved into Grammy and Grampy's house for a few days to have some spring break fun while Chris returned home to work (more on those adventures in an upcoming post).

Grammy was kind enough to spoil her grand- daughters with more Easter goodies just before bed on that last night in March. Then we tucked them in. When they awoke,
it was April.

An Extra Hole in Her Head, or Maybe Not (or Maybe Two).

Two weeks ago, on April 14th, Ally finally lost her first tooth. I say finally because the poor girl had been impatiently waiting for this to happen-- ever since the dental hygienist told her over a year ago, "I think this bottom tooth is starting to loosen. It will definitely be out by Christmas!" She was a little overzealous in her enthusiastic prediction.

Last known pic showing all her teeth.

Loosey-Goosey

Although the famed tooth was noticeably loose for about two weeks total, it only spent a day or two in the "just-pull-it-out-already-'cause-it's-only-hanging-on-by-that-last-bit-of-tissue" stage. (I'm very grateful for that. I have a hard time looking at dangling teeth.)




Ally had told me she was ready for me to pull it the night before, at Uncle Paul's wedding reception, but she chickened out during the process. So we stopped. The tooth came out on its own when we got home the following night and were eating dinner. A couple of soft, cheese raviolis did the trick!

Because this was her first tooth, Ally wanted to keep it. She asked us if we thought the tooth fairy would allow such an exemption. Ally told me that, although getting money would be nice, it was more important to her that she keep that tooth. We suggested that she write the tooth fairy a letter with her request and then see what happens.

Always curious, Ally added an important question on the back:

Ally put the tooth and the note in a jar, placed the jar under her pillow, and went to bed.

We weren't prepared with a special pillow or fancy tooth treasure chest, and we didn't want the fairy having any trouble finding the tooth or note. Maybe a tooth jar will be our family tradition by default?




Ally was very happy and surprised the next morning. Not only did the fairy let her keep the tooth, but she left a 2 dollar bill and a personal note, too.

A related story: Ally's 6-year molars came in about a month ago. She had been complaining that something felt "different" in the back of her mouth, describing it like "rough craters" that were hurting. I looked, and three of the four molars and completely erupted through and one was halfway there.

Someone asked her about her missing front tooth the other day. Ally acknowledged that she lost a tooth, but told them that she's not missing any teeth. She went on to explain: "I lost one, but I also grew four new ones, so I actually have three extra and not one missing."

The pumpkin stage begins!

P.S.-- For some reason, this original entry ("An Extra Hole in Her Head, or Maybe Not") didn't post this morning. The computer must have had a premonition that I'd need to add something more.

Ally only had one hole in her gumline when I picked her up from school this afternoon, but she had two by the time she was hopping out of the car at home. All Ally and I can figure is that she must have swallowed her 2nd loose tooth while munching on her Fritos. Now she gets to write another note to the tooth fairy. It's a good thing her fairy knows how to read and seems to be quite accommodating. 

Eating is dangerous.

Sassy Leprechauns 2013

Saint Patrick's Day was a little over a month ago, so I'm not too far behind in posting this, right? Here are some cute pictures of our leprechaun girls to start things off:

We met up with some of the Hoffmans at the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Raleigh. We hung out with Colleen, Nate, Maddie, Grandma, and Grampy while watching all the floats, dancers, animals, clowns, and cars go by. Here's my favorite snapshot of our little group. Can you tell who took it?

Normie tried really hard.

Thankfully she was able to redeem herself with this shot:


We watched the colorful street party while we ate our snacks and collected candy. The girls enjoyed all the Irish dancers and other groups of kids that participated. Cora is still petrified of anyone wearing a full costume and dogs, but she managed to hang in there. We were happily surprised to see Elena and little Zac marching along with a group of baby-wearing mommas. My only complaint was hearing the unedited version of "Thrift Shop" blaring from an adult dancing float; otherwise, fun was had by all.


Nate strutted around in his new-found bling and our big hat. Cora and Ally sported the new scarves Grammy had made for them. And Maddie was content observing the chaos. Aren't they all cute?


After the parade, we walked over to the museum to use the potty and ended up walking through the main exhibit on North Carolina's history. Ally and Cora pretended to work on a farm, walked through an old house, learned a little about the civil war, and contemplated what life used to be like a century as well as decades ago. Here's a pic of Cora ready to serve in the war; all I can think of is shrunken heads at the end of Beetlejuice.



The thing that left the biggest impression on Ally was a doorway labeled "Colored" next to a doorway labeled "Whites". Her basic comment was "Why would anyone tell me I can't go through the Colored door just because I'm not dark-skinned? That's just silly." We talked about how people thought differently back then (and that some, unfortunately, still do) and how grateful we are that we live now. And then she purposely passed under the "Colored" door. Way to be defiant for a good cause, Ally!

Cora and Ally both fell asleep on the way home. I guess it was too much excitement for one day.