Blackie Romeo

I'm pretty sure I've already blogged about Sadie's maternal instincts. Most every day hours are spent carrying babies around (be it actual baby dolls or stuffed animals, the preference changes daily), tucking them in with blankets, packing a pocketbook with their things, and telling everyone to be quiet because they are sleeping. For quite some time she has been attached to a little black dog (stuffed animal) appropriately named Blackie. For some reason Blackie didn't like my parents for awhile, but they've since made up. Blackie accompanied us to Virginia this weekend where we went to visit Steven's grandma. On the way up we were talking about who all we were going to see, which included a (real) dog that Sadie is also very fond of named Romeo. Suddenly Blackie's name was changed to Romeo, which often happens in Sadie's world. What made me laugh was that when we got to Roanoke and Sadie was talking to Robin (owner of the real Romeo), I prompted Sadie to tell Robin what her dog's name was. She slipped up and answered "Blackie" so I said "Oh, I thought you changed her name to Romeo?" She hesitated for just a moment before saying "That's her last name. She's Blackie Romeo." I worry about the stories she might come up as a teenager....
Meanwhile Eli's vocabulary is growing.....louder. Does that count if the words aren't new but he yells them now? Actually, he does have a couple of new words. He can officially say Mama (or Mimi), Dada, Nana, Papa, Sadie (Dadie), uh-oh, hot (ot ot), ball, Jude (dude), and supposedly has said "yogurt" and "all gone" but I can't get him to repeat those. He is a mess, but a cute one.
We had a great weekend in Virginia. Steven's grandma has some lake property at Smith Mountain Lake so after staying at her house in Roanoke we spent Saturday at the lake. We took the kids on the Sea-doo and the paddle boat (Sadie wasn't impressed with the paddle boat after riding the sea-doo), and Eli got a kick out of Steven wakeboarding (I think the falls were the real entertainment). Sadie kept saying, "let's get him back in the boat," I think she might have been worried about him. It was a fun day and we are thankful to have his Grandma as well as the rest of the family in our lives.
It is officially tomorrow so I need to get to bed. Until next time!

Back to one...

Sadie is staying with my parents for a few days in Charlotte, so we have just Eli for a couple of days. You wouldn't think it would be so strange to go back to having 1 kid, I had just 1 kid for 22 months before little man came along. But it just doesn't feel quite right around here without her. I know she's having fun though, so it's worth it. We have had a fun couple of weeks, lots of pool days, a family reunion, dinner with friends. I took both of the kids to a well check up and it's official, they're scrawny. Approximately 97 percent of 3 year olds weigh more than Sadie. Eli is a whopping 22 pounds, which puts him in the 10th percentile. Oh well, they sure are easier to carry around this way!  And thankfully they checked out ok. I do thank the Lord for healthy chidlren. In other news, Eli (sort of) said his first sentence. Which is amazing because he only says like 6 words (mama, dada, dadie (sadie), nana, papa, and ball) but the other morning we were trying to get Sadie up to go to SC and Eli went up to her face and said "hey dadie". Very cute, and fitting, since he's pretty enamored with her. He isn't such an easy playmate these days, though, his newest joy is taking whatever Sadie is playing with and either taking off with it or throwing it across the room, much to her dismay. He's getting her back, I think. Gone is the little boy that cries from a cross look, he is showing his true colors now and being a bit defiant at times. The sinner in us comes out way too soon, if you ask me :). Speaking of sinners, Sadie has been trying my patience these last couple of weeks as well. It is something most people refer to as "temper tantrums". I like to call them "demonic episodes". Thankfully she usually just does them for me, although my mom and a couple of good friends have also witnessed them. Hopefully this too shall soon pass, as we are trying hard to nip it in the bud as ole Barney would say. I thought it was cute this week when she was pretending to be a puppy. I was going along, nurturing her imagination, when suddenly the puppy wanted a fudge ram (a fudge round, a little debbie chocolate cookie) and to watch Max and Ruby. Pretty clever little manipulator.
We went to a family reunion this week, as I already mentioned, and it is definitely worth a quick paragraph. My Grandma Nash was the youngest of 8 kids, her parents were Sadie (hence our Sadie) and T. Eddie Lee. There are 23 first cousins (my Dad being one of them) and 21 of them came on Saturday for the reunion, as well as many 2nd and 3rd cousins. My Grandma is the only one of her silblings still living. All told there were about 125 people. It's a little strange to be in a room with so many people that you're related to but don't know. They had a lot of neat stuff for the kids, delicious food (about 4 trays of fried chicken), and sweet fellowship. I am thankful to be a part of the Lee family.
I guess I better wrap this up. I am thankful that we have a few more weeks of summer, lazy days to take the kids swimming and enjoy no schedule. In just 2 short years we will be getting Sadie ready for Kindergarten (yikes!) so I am enjoying this time now. I hope you are too.
Goodnight!

2nd post in July

2 more hours left in July and I am determined to have a 2nd post for this month...pretty pitiful blogging these days! We have had a busy month - a trip to Hilton Head, Steven went to camp for a week, then we went to Orlando last week for a few days. Hilton Head was fun but bittersweet since it was our DuBose vacation and the first one without Grandma in 30 years. Almost all of the cousins were there and we had 5 of her great-grandkids (4 and under) running around so it was pretty cute. Sadie and Eli had a blast and Sadie learned how to swim quite far (8 feet?) with no assistance. As her Daddy put it, it was "50% swimming, 50% drowning". My cousin is a pediatrician and married to an ER pediatrician, but despite the monkeys that I call my children, we did not need their services (thankfully). Grandma was dearly missed this year. One night my cousins and uncle cooked several of her recipes in her honor and my Mom gave out 5 or her pearl necklaces to her 5 granddaughters. I don't really think that once we get to heaven we have any interest in turning our gaze away from our Lord, however, she would have loved to get a peek at her ever-growing family and I know she would be honored in the fact that we all still love to be together. On a lighter note, Steven's parents decided to come to Hilton Head for the last couple days of our trip (they were first-timers) to see what the fuss is all about. It was great to have them there and I think they enjoyed seeing a little bit of this vacation they've heard about for years.
The day after we returned from Hilton Head Steven left for Jr. Boys Week at MTYC (Mountain Top Youth Camp). Sadly, I passed the baton this year on the job as a camp nurse (I have done it the past 3 years). Even though Steven thinks I am capable of way more than I can really do, it was the right decision I believe to pass on the job for now. My 2 kids would have been way to much to keep up with on that mountain for me to be able to do anything for the campers. My Mom spent the week with us, a little in Charlotte and a little at home, and it spoiled me to have her around for that long. It doesn't really count as a week of single parenting since I wasn't really alone with them, at all. We did go visit Steven at camp but kept a slight distance from him since he showers less than the 8 year olds while he's up there. Even though he reverts back to boyhood, it is nice to see him so relaxed and stress-free, away from the pressures of work.
As if we haven't taken enough vacation, we took yet one more last weekend to Orlando, through Steven's work. The trip was great, we got to take the kids to Disney and despite the almost 100 degree weather we had a blast. Sadie told Cinderella that "my daddy wanted to spin fast on the tea cup but he couldn't because he would fro up," the photographer actually laughed out loud at that one. I never thought I would wait in line for 30 minutes with 2 tired children to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but hey, your priorities really do change when you have kids. And her excitement at meeting these Disney employees dressed up in hot costumes was worth it all. Eli didn't think it was so great, however, the closer we got the more terrified he was. He was a trooper, though.
We are now home for a while, thankfully. I peeked out of the shower this morning to check on Eli to find him standing on the toilet, toothbrush in hand. He can climb onto the kitchen table and his new favorite thing to do is jump off the ottoman in the den landing squarely on his bottom. He is an ER visit waiting to happen, I hate to say it, but it's true. Sadie is hard at work taking care of her babies, animals, or anything she can feed and put to bed. She told Steven's boss on our trip that soon she's going to be 4 and a Mama. It is fun at our house, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Goodnight!

Happy Birthday to Me!

As the title suggests, I just had a birthday. Yesterday, in fact. Birthdays have changed a lot over my lifetime...I no longer count down the days with anticipated joy, wondering what great presents I will receive and who all will come to my party. It's a much smaller blip on my radar now as I've become an adult. That being said, I truly did have a wonderful birthday. We recently returned from a vacation in Dayton, Tennessee, with the Harrell family. We attended Skyland Bible Conference, a great family conference that Steven and his family have been to all of his life, and more than a decade now of mine. We had great speakers, the kids had a blast despite very little sleep, it was soooo exciting for them to wake up and be across the hall from not only Grandma and Grandpa, but also their cousins. 

While I was gone I was thrilled to hear that my new niece was born. Byron and Mandy had their 4th child, a little girl, last Monday night. Since we were out of town and I worked the weekend we got back, Monday was the first chance I had to go see her. She is absolutely beautiful and we had a sweet visit with the fam in Tega Cay. I then stopped by Julie's house on my way home (she had made me some fudge...yummy) and the kids enjoyed playing with hers while my Mom and I enjoyed visiting with Julie. I dropped Mom off and headed back to Pleasant Garden where my dear mother-in-law was making me a birthday dinner. A very elaborate one complete with balloons to decorate! Two of my friends came as well last night for a "TMI reunion" (we all met the summer of 1998 while working at a camp in Virginia called The Master's Inn...aka TMI). Joni and Kristen are dear to my heart and even though our lives keep us busy it is great to spend time with them every so often. We were way overdue. We put the kids to bed (except Sadie, of course) and watched "The Bachelorette" together, which was quite entertaining. It was great spending my birthday with friends!

Steven is a wondeful husband in so many ways but flowers and gifts are not necessarily his love language. So on my birthday yesterday I got 3 of the sweetest gifts. My first bouquet of flowers was from my Daddy at lunch, he picked them from his yard and they are so sweet. I got home and Steven, too, had gotten me a dozen roses, pink and white. Then a few minutes later Joni arrives and is also carrying a beautiful bouquet of brightly colored flowers. I felt hugely blessed and will never forget this birthday and the love that was shown to me, mostly in the little things. The Lord is good and I am so thankful for the family and friends that he has placed in my life.

Goodnight!

Day is never finished....(master got me workin')

I am trying hard to prove to Steven that I work hard around here... so today I went above and beyond the call of duty. My mother-in-law retired on Monday and has been working in our yard some this week. I helped her weed this morning and we did some other things, then decided to push mow our 1 acre yard. Now, I accepted a long time ago that I can never outwork my mother-in-law, or her mother, for that matter. But today I tried. Mowing the grass is pretty gratifying, I like doing work when the results are immediate. However, after about 30 to 45 minutes I was kinda over that. But, we got the job done. I came in, took a shower, and then proceeded to fix supper. After church I came home and was finishing cleaning the kitchen only to discover my dishwasher is not working. I mean, really. Didn't I work hard enough today? I guess not. But as you can see, I did not unload all of the dirty dishes and wash them. I left them there in the hopes that it will magically start working tomorrow. I finally understand now how my Grandma used to leave a sink full of dirty dishes until the next morning after a day of teaching and then fixing supper. My daily quota of work is met and I can not wash another dish. Literally. Wimpy? Maybe. But it's the best I can do.


Plus, I have to leave some time to enjoy these cute young'uns of mine.

Here's Sadie and Steven at a Greensboro Grasshopper's Game that we didn't even get to go to (don't ask, it's another long, boring, story).

I thought it was a good idea to give the kids an oreo on the way back from Walmart. I was wrong.

My little girl is growing up and riding a big girl bike! This was her birthday present from my parents and she loves it. Being 3 suits her. She is more and more fun every day.

Goodnight!

A thankful heart is a happy heart.

I have received my first (and maybe only) piece of Grandma's estate this week..... her barely used VCR. I have tons of old videos and the VCR part of my DVD/VCR player quit working this year. I have been meaning to buy a new one but now I don't have to. Mama came for a visit this week and we pulled out an old Veggie Tales video for Sadie to watch while we cleaned and organized the bonus room. We picked Madame Blueberry, which is one my favorites as well as Sadie's. The video is about a spoiled blueberry who thinks happiness is equal to accumulating more stuff. Of course, throughout the movie she learns that the stuff wont make her any less "blue". The theme of the video is the title of this post "a thankful heart is a happy heart." I have been singing it the rest of the day and I have to say it is so true. I am very content and happy right now. Even though I am sad when I think of the passing of my beloved Grandma, I cannot help but count the many blessings around me, especially in the form of people. I am extremely thankful and proud of my parents and extended family of whom I'm from. And my sweet husband, who let me cry on his shoulder this weekend and has spent hours and hours letting me talk about Grandma and all the memories I have. Sadie too, has shown compassion. The night that Grandma died we tucked Sadie into bed and Steven explained death, as well as you can to a 3 year old. I told her through my tears that I was sad because I would miss Grandma 'Bose, Sadie sat up in bed and put her little arms around me, to comfort me. She then wanted to read "Love you forever," which of course I cried through, but all the while she was patting my hand. Eli has his own form of comfort, too, as he has started holding my face in his hands and giving me kisses right on the mouth, over and over, with lips open wide. A little messy, but very sweet. And last and most important, my biggest blessing, is the comfort of our Lord, who Grandma herself is in the presence of at this very moment! How sweet that has been to ponder. I hope I continue to... "count my blessings, name the one by one, count my blessings, see what God has done!"
Goodnight!

A tribute to Grandma

My grandma, Fannie Louise DuBose,went to be with the Lord last Tuesday night after almost 93 years on this earth. She was a wonderful lady, she lived a long time, and got to see so much. She had 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 8 (almost 9 - Mandy is due any day now!) great-grandchildren. She was an educator, a homemaker, an avid reader, and she could do a cross-word puzzle in 10 minutes flat. I always loved getting cards from her because she always took time to write the sweetest things, literally filling up the inside of the card. She was from a little town called Blythewood but spent most of her life in Gable, SC, in the house my Granddaddy was born in over 100 years ago. She lived there independently until last November.



I have so many sweet memories and am thankful to have had her in my life for over 30 years. We spent this past weekend in SC at her home, and it was strange being there without her. When someone lives in a home for nearly 70 years the house just emanates the the essence of that person. Every time I turned the corner or looked over at her chair I could almost see her sitting and reading or bustling in the kitchen preparing a meal. The funeral was beautiful, just like her. The little country church was packed, the music was perfect, and the words spoken by the pastor and the family truly highlighted her rich life and heritage she has left behind. I am more thankful than ever to be her granddaughter, and I hope to pass on the things that she lived and taught to her children and grandchildren in word and deed. As you can see with these pictures she was able to spend a lot of time with my children and she loved every minute. Steven is also thankful that he had gotten to know her these past 11 years. It feels like the end of an era with her gone, and it will be sad for quite a while, but we know that she is now with her Lord and in complete peace. I pray my life will be half the testimony hers and that whenever the Lord calls me home that my funeral will give him honor and glory, just like hers did.