"I took a nap!"

Mac was SO excited last week when I told him we were going to visit Aunt Heather, Uncle Matthew and his cousin (my nephew) Evan. I knew better than to tell Mac days ahead of time, but I couldn't resist telling him the morning of the day we were supposed to leave.

Of course, he kept asking all day if it was time to leave yet, and I kept telling him we would leave after he took a nap.

Late in the morning, I was in the kitchen and I heard him shut the door to his bedroom. After being in there for a few minutes, he came out and proudly announced that he'd taken his nap and he was now ready to go: "I'm all done taking nap! Let's go mom! Let's go to Uncle Maffew's house!"

So sweet.

Of course he was in heaven once we got there. He adores his Aunt and Uncle and has a great time playing with Evan, who is only about 6 weeks older than him.

The trip was all in connection with a wedding of one of our youth group kids from North Carolina. He was a freshman in high school when we began youth ministry, and is now out of college! He is a dear person and we were very close to his family while we lived in Kings Mountain. Matthew and Heather kept our kids for us while we went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night--such a huge help! {I don't know how we would have managed if we'd had to get a babysitter Mac didn't know in a hotel room. It would have been such a mess. } Thankfully, Matthew and Heather live less than an hour from Kings Mountain, so it was very manageable with their help. We were able to get a babysitter during the afternoon ceremony while the kids napped, and then take them to the reception. A FULL weekend, but Mac and Arden were wonderful and we had a great time seeing old friends!

{UPDATED: Don't you love how Mac has not yet learned to smile for the camera? At least I tell myself that he hasn't learned it...but probably he just doesn't want to...}

December 7, 1946

This is silent footage from my Great Aunt Dot's wedding rehearsal party. You can see my Grandpa McCabe just after the part with the bride and groom, and my great grandmother towards the middle (the only older woman shown). You get a peek at my grandmother through the doorway (in glasses) as the various people are passing through the mistletoe. {I think I've got the people identified correctly...hope so!} This is SOOOOO cool, in my opinion. (One of my second cousins, also named McCabe but goes by Cabe, put this on YouTube.)

I've always loved to watch my Grandpa with his sisters--he was one of only 2 boys in a family with 8 children! I remember them all getting together and laughing so much. It touches my heart to get this glimpse of them when they were young.

Sitting up!

Our girl can now go from lying on her back to sitting up! Yesterday and today I have gone in to get her from her nap and she's been sitting on her bottom waiting for me : )

Tonight we invited our youth volunteers and spouses to our house for supper. I let Mac stay up past his bedtime to play. When he finally went to bed, he was desperate to stay up and hang out with the grown-ups. He didn't cry or throw a tantrum, though. Instead, he (apparently) brainstormed ideas of how to get me to come back into his room after he was tucked in.

All kids do this, right? They ask for water, or say they have to go to the bathroom. Mac has used both these methods before, but tonight he was a little more creative: about 2 minutes after he was tucked in, I heard from his room, "My fingernails are LOOONNG! My fingernails are LONG!!!!!"

I had to tell him that cutting his nails can wait until the morning.

A Juicy Insect and Other Stories

When I asked Mac what he wanted for a snack today, he responded--with a completely serious look on his face--"A juicy insect."

{Background info: He's been really into a book about chameleons lately. In the book, the chameleon eats 'a juicy insect'. So it's FUNNY, but not completely out of the blue.}

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I was planting flowers a few weeks ago in the front yard, almost finished, when Mac began pestering me for lunch. (Arden was napping.) I kept telling him I was almost done, but he kept telling me he was hungry, so I finally succumbed and came in and got him lunch. I left him eating at the table and ran out to plant my last couple flowers. A minute later, I heard yelling from inside the house. I stood up to come closer and find out what he was saying, and I heard, "MAY I BE 'SCUSED? MAY I BE 'SCUSED???" (Translation: "May I be excused?")

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Along the same lines of the previous story: Saturday Brad and I were doing yard work in the backyard Saturday, Arden was napping, and Mac was running around, in and out of the house. He'd been inside for a little bit, and I wondered what he was up to. As I got closer to the back door, I heard yelling (again!). This time, "PLEASE WIPE MY BOTTOM!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!! WIPE MY BOOOOOTTTTOOOM!!!!! WIPE MY BOTTOM PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I'm not sure how long he'd been waiting for me on the potty!

With both of these events, I've been thankful that Arden's room was an addition to our house and has bricks under the plaster! Nice sound insulation!

Time is Relative

Our normal morning routine:

Brad and I get up, enjoy coffee on the porch, spend a little time together.

Mac calls for us at 8 o'clock. (We have a clock in his room and he knows not to call for us before 8. He usually wakes around then, but if he wakes earlier, he 'reads' books until it's time. Then he calls to us, "It turned number 8!!! It turned number 8!!", until someone comes in.)

Arden wakes between 8 and 8:30. We feed both kids, Brad leaves for work, I take Mac and Arden for a walk.

Saturday mornings:

We all sleep until 8 : )

This morning:

Brad and Mac were up at 8, Arden was still sleeping so I slept in too (waiting for Arden). When I got up around 8:30, Mac and Brad were sitting at the breakfast table. Mac says, "It turned number 8 for Mama!"

I wish I could relay how cute and funny this was! I suppose Mac thinks that the clock in our room had just turned 8--and that's why I got up then?

A Slew of Pictures

Last weekend we spent at Bonclarken, my favorite place: the place where I met my husband, the place of 1,000 memories growing up, the place where I see friends I've known my whole life and will know until I'm old, the place where Brad proposed, the place where I feel the most renewed. We had a great time! The weather was wonderful and it was a great celebration of Brad passing his comprehensive exams! He was in a meeting Saturday morning, so Mac, Arden and I strolled around and visited several family members there last weekend as well.

Then we visited the playground.

I wanted SO MUCH to get a nice shot of them together. This is the closest I got...maybe next time.

I have so many sweet pictures of Arden lately. I thought I'd try to get some good ones of Mac. Why do I even try? He never stops moving. (Don't know what's up with his shirt collar in these, either.)

A moving target...

Oh well. So much for a photo shoot!

The best photo of him all weekend was taken when he was eating:

Just makes me laugh!

Here is where Brad proposed to me, one freezing cold November night. FREEZING. COLD. I couldn't believe he was dragging me out in such weather to take a WALK. After he got down on his knee, I don't remember being cold anymore at all : )

After we got back home, life got back to normal:

(Please notice the empty TP roll on the wall, the underpants and shorts on the floor.

We kept my nephew Samuel later that week. He and Mac had a ball playing together. He looks so much like my sister it stops me in my tracks sometimes.

All in all, a great week!