The Graduate

For 18 years I was only child, and my cousin Mary Catherine and I were the only 2 grandchildren on my mother's side. I always longed for a sister. Mary Catherine was the closest thing to having one, and we joke that we're soul sisters. It seems like not that long ago that my Aunt Melissa called us late at night on January 14th, 1992 to tell us that Mary Cat was on her way. I'm not sure what I was more excited about - her being born or getting to skip school to be there for it! Kidding, MC. I was over the moon about having a baby to play with. I just knew that we'd be best friends even though there are 12 years between us. I wanted to take her shopping, dress her up, teach her the ins and outs of being a girl. And here we are, 18 years later. She could run circles around me in the fashion arena. But more importantly, 18 years later and she's a high school graduate from Trinity Presbyterian School in Montgomery and is getting ready to make her mark at Auburn!

The girls and I went south for her graduation last Thursday night where we met my grandmother, Aunt Jane, and Uncle Charlie to serve as her official fan club.

(Excuse the picture of me - it was raining and hot and I wish I could give you more reasons why I look the way I do, but that's all I've got!)
Mary Catherine and Cate...

Cate's named after MC and MC was named after our great-grandmother.

Cate, Mary C, Towns and Aunt Melissa...

I absolutely love how the girls have handmade dresses for graduation that are too gorgeous for words...

This one is the only one I have of MC's full dress, but trust me when I tell you that it was amazing. My little ones were in heaven - not only did they have Mary Catherine, but all of Mary Catherine's friends doting on them as well!
Towns and Cate with MC's friend Tyler...

They did manage to tear themselves away from the teenagers long enough for this indoor playground...

Where the floor looked just like real water!
Towns had to try to dip her toe in...

And then act like she was jumping off the boardwalk...

Cate wanted to give it a try until the graduate in the background walked by and said "hey there, cutie"...

Wish I could have gotten the exact moment on camera, but she wheeled around as fast as she could and when they locked eyes she turned into a puddle of mush. I'm all for an older man, but that's a bit much Buggy!
So she sat and pondered what could have been...

In front of the Titanic, no less. How appropriate.
Until she heard that there was food in the next room over...

She ate her weight in strawberries and watermelon, while Towns ate her weight in toffee nut cookies!
The peanut gallery...

Aunt Jane, Granny, Towns and Cate
Charlie's in the right-hand corner of that one making friends with the woman who thought we stole her son's chair. He's a charmer! He had her giggling and batting her eyelashes, and in no time she'd forgotten about the blasted chair. As if there weren't 36 other ones all around her!
We weren't letting her rain on our parade, though...

Uncle Charlie came back over, scooped Towns up, and they danced the night away!
By that time it was 9:45 and more than 2 hours past the girls' bedtime. But who has time for sleep when Aunt Melissa had a belated birthday party for Charlie and Towns waiting at home?! She's the queen of thoughtful...never mind the fact that her only daughter had just graduated from high school! Ha! We all ate ice cream and Liger's cake (the best cake on the planet), drank dozens of Diet Cokes, watched the girls put on the show of all shows, laughed until we almost cried, and reminisced about the last 18 years.
It wasn't until after midnight that this finally happened...

I just knew they'd sleep late after partying hard, but at 5:30 Cate was whispering in my ear. It's what she says every morning..."I waked up Mommy, did you waked up?" and wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear that early!
But the girls had one thing on their minds...

Swimming!
Actually, Towns wanted to show everyone how she could swim on her own and Cate wanted to take full advantage of having an audience...

She never got in the pool...just sang and danced her heart out until I ruined the fun and told them it was time to take the show on the road.

It was a whirlwind trip, but we wouldn't have missed it.
Congrats, Mary Cat!
A big hug and a kiss and a high five to you for such a huge accomplishment...

We cannot wait to visit you at Auburn!
We are so excited for all the fun you'll have and the memories you'll make!
And will you put me in your pocket and take me to rush with you?
If rush was an attainable degree, I'd have my doctorate.
All I have to say is rush, smile, hooty-hoot!
WE LOVE YOU!!

Hello Summer!

Last Wednesday was the last day of school for Towns and Cate, and once Bebs finishes her exams this week we'll be ready to hit Point Mallard with the best of 'em all summer long! It's been a long year and we're very much in need of some play time!!

Wednesday wasn't only the girls' last day of school, but also B's awards day. We had some VIPs coming into town for that, so late Tuesday night it hit me that I should have something on a cake plate. It's what any Southern lady should do when guests are coming into town. That, and the fact that Cate and Towns would love me forever if they woke up to these for breakfast...

Turns out my instincts were right!
Cupcakes for breakfast is the way to their hearts...


Their icing-covered lips on my cheeks were proof positive!
We grabbed these teacher gifts and headed out the door...

But not before I took one last picture of them on the steps like we've done so many mornings...

And then some more once we got to the church, naturally...

In this one Towns is looking across the street at the door we go in every morning. That's right about the time that she told me she remembered the first time I ever took her in that door to her 4 year old class. Awww...

They sat in their bare classroom and did a little morning work...

Until it warmed up enough outside for this...

An end of the year party!


It was at that party when she discovered she didn't mind bugs too much after all...

It's a ladybug, but that's still pretty major for her!
The kiddos had a picnic lunch outside before they all said their goodbyes...

After that, I had to book it to Cate's class for her end of the year party...

I walked in to them going to town on pizza and fruit. Brock loves to eat, and nothing makes him any happier in this world. Hence his big ol' smile!
Well, maybe there is one thing that could be even better...

Birthday cake ice cream! They had 2 bowls each and within approximately 15 minutes they were bouncing off the walls!
I did manage to steal her long enough for a quick pic...

It wasn't until afterwards that I realized it looks like I have on no shirt. Goodness!
In the midst of their sugar high, they made time for a group hug session...


Those kinds of smiles are simply priceless!
After we pulled them off of each other it was time to go back and pick Towns up from her class for the last time...

I couldn't leave without one more picture of her with Mrs. Glenda and Mrs. Michelle!
I purposely put this outfit on her for the last day of school because it's also what she wore on the first day of school...

That was then, this is now!

Every morning we sing on the way to school. Usually we sing "This is the Day that the Lord has Made". But last Wednesday as I was taking the girls to school on their very last day, a different song popped into my head. I started singing it and the girls joined in. It's one that I remember singing as a child, but I didn't really get it until now. It starts off with "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart". Know which one I'm talking about? Well I came to the part that says "I've got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart". I almost ran off the road. That sums it up for me right there. For the last week or so I've felt so at peace with Towns being done with preschool and moving on to bigger and better things (right now you're jumping up and down because I might just be done with all the whining about it - ha!). For a while there it literally made my heart hurt to think about her growing up like this. And then all of a sudden (ok, actually after a lot of praying) I felt such a peace about it. So when I started singing the verse about peace that passes understanding without really ever getting it until that very moment, I realized that that's what I've got. I sure don't understand it. But I know where it comes from and I'm so, so thankful for it!

B's awards day was a little while after all the partying at school, and between all the sweets at school and more cupcakes after that the kids were in rare form! And when B's mom arrived with her 3 cuties, the party officially began!
As we were sitting there waiting for the ceremony to start, I realized that between the two of us, April and I have kids ages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Imagine sitting in a quiet auditorium with us! Ha! They all did really well, though. Until Cate had a monumental meltdown, but that was because it was nap time.
B looked as beautiful as ever walking across the stage accepting her awards...

All A's and the President's Academic Excellence Award!
We are ever so proud of you!!!
And I might add that she earns those awards almost effortlessly. She's such a smart girl and it comes very naturally to her. Way to go, B!

Thursday morning as we were packing to go to Montgomery for my cousin's graduation I noticed Cate was too quiet for her own good.
This was what I found...

Go on and click on the picture to make it bigger for the full effect.
If this is any indication of how the summer will be, we might be in for it!
And is it just me, or does she remind you of a little Lucille Ball?
Growing up, my mom and I loved watching I Love Lucy, and you could just look at her and start laughing for no reason at all. That's exactly how Cate is, and the fact that she's got the same red hair makes it even better!

Pet Day

Last Friday was Pet Day at school, and being that we really don't have a pet that lasts very long around here, taking our pet to school was easy breezy. No leashes, no cages, no fish bowls...Towns threw her Fur Real kitty in her backpack that morning and was ready to go!

I'm telling you, that's my kind of pet. It'll walk, purr, meow, etc. but requires nothing additional from yours truly! :)

She showed everyone how it could walk...

Emma brought Lilly, and my children think Lilly is the coolest creature on Earth...

She can wave on command, which is why they think she's so neat!
One of the last pictures of the two of us at a preschool function...

I'm learning to cope! Ha!

Later that afternoon the girls changed into something festive enough for a date to the post office, the park, and the local ice cream joint...

As if the cat hasn't been let out of the bag enough, I'm obsessed with owls. Call me crazy. Or call me a die hard, love it 'til the day I die Chi Omega. Either way, I'm loving that owls are so "it" now. Since she knows the depths of my obsession, April got her friend Shea (she has a link to her applique site on her blog) to make an owl shirt for Towns for her birthday. And well, thankfully she got Cate one while she was at it. These days it's much easier when we have 2 of everything. And I do mean everything. Hello sisterly knock-down, drag-outs.
Anyway, the park is always a source of good fun and entertainment for the girls. Not so much for B, therefore she opted to stay at home on her air conditioned throne.
The girls spotted something new first bat out of the box...

They might have been overly interested in the big green turtle because of this...

That would be Turtlicious (pronounced turtle-icious).
We spotted him trying to cross the road a few weeks ago. It was a busy road, and the girls and I couldn't bear the thought of him not making it. So I stopped the car, grabbed 417 napkins, and proceeded to pick him up and put him in a gift bag which was the only thing I had. I honestly thought I was doing a good deed because a turtle is supposed to be slow and couldn't possibly have crossed the road without getting flattened. Wrong! It turned out to be a quick mover. We put him in the yard and 15 minutes later the sucker was gone! Growing up when we would catch turtles, my grandfather would say that if you tie a string around their leg they won't go far because they think they're tied to something. I can't exactly say I'm sad about the turtle finding a new home, but I sure didn't think it would be that quick!
Cate showing Bebby her turtle (before it activated its jet packs)...


Back to the park - the girls were loving the new swing...

And were really loving the fact that they both could swing in it...
.
The elder of the two dare devils couldn't sit still for long, though. She had some flipping to do...

Didn't realize until I was looking back at these pictures that she doesn't even have her hands on the bar when she's doing that. Makes my heart do its own little flip!!
And I caught her doing this...

She didn't want to walk all the way around the playground to the stairs, so she improvised. How she got over that railing above her I don't know, but she sure did it!
We played long enough to work up an appetite for ice cream which took up some time until Daddy got home. He wanted to go to dinner in Huntsville that night and on the way I happened to get a very telling picture. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it could be called a sign of the times. Or it could be called "prize for who can fit the most kids in the back of a small company car". We'd win, hands down.
Three ring circus-24 hours a day.

Count 'em...1, 2, and 3.
And all 3 going to town on the 3G network.
Lots to report on soon - B's award's day, Towns and Cate's last day of school, a high school graduation, trip to the botanical gardens, etc. I need to get on the ball!
But right now, as the famous Diana Decker would say, it's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere!!
Happy weekend, folks!

Just Another Day at the Park

It started out fairly routine...

And then before I knew it...

This might be an appropriate (if anything about this is appropriate) time to tell you that we were at the playground at the neighborhood Presbyterian church. And the reason behind her need for such freedom? She said her belly was full. Mercy!

Everyone in the neighborhood who comes home around 5 o'clock got an eye full (talk about onlooker's delays)! It's almost summer. And in my book that means anything goes...

Towns conquered the big, bad monkey bars while we were there. She's an old pro at the monkey bars, but these were a first. They're super tall and it's a long way from one end to the other.
Today she heard what I heard umpteen times a day as a kid:
If at first you don't succeed...

Try, try again!
And she did just that.
I screamed, I did impromptu cheers, and I might or might not have done a toe touch.
And low and behold - she got all the way across!
Seems like a small task, but to this chick it was a major feat!
She was pretty worn out, so I stuck the front wheel of her bike in the bottom of the stroller and towed her and her exhibitionist sister (she did clothe herself before we left, thank goodness) all the way home...

If you're ever in need of action or just a good laugh, give us a call.
We won't disappoint!