My Music Man

I'm married to a dreamer. That's not a negative thing, of course. It just means that it's a good thing I'm pragmatic and can keep him grounded! I'm used to nodding and smiling until the latest idea passes or comes to a point where I have to actually introduce reality into the mix. Sometimes he comes up with really wonderful ideas and I happily join in on the dream. 

"We should take a road trip to California!" (nod and smile)
"With the kids." (nod and smile)
"In the Beetle!"  (Time to panic!)

"Let's trade in your beloved Taurus for a big silver rectangle!" (nod and smile) Oh, wait, I actually agreed to that.

"I want to live on a boat." (nod and smile)
"On a lake." (nod and smile)
"In the mountains." (nod and smile)

"Let's take a road trip to New Hampshire!"  (nod and smile) Oh, yeah - I agreed to that one, too, thankfully.

"We should open a coffeehouse." (That was a close one!)

Sometimes his ideas are pretty outlandish or just incredibly impractical. In that case it's best to inject a little humor into the situation and hope it blows over! Case in point: Last night he revisited his idea to build an earthship. "Do you think we're actually hippie enough to do this?" (nod and smile) We discussed it for a bit, and he mentioned that he likes the idea of reusing the household water. At this point he's starting to sound a little too serious about the idea so I said, "Yeah, until you're caught with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble!" (If you recognize that quote from "The Music Man" you get bonus points!) Jeff laughed so hard he forgot all about the earthship - for now, anyway!

Supermodel Selah

Last Thursday Selah had pictures taken in her ballet class. All the little ballerinas were very excited to be dressed up in their recital costumes! I snapped a few shots of Selah out in the yard before we headed to class.

A New 'Do!

 For my mother, before and after pictures!

This looks like a cheesy Olan Mills shot, but really Jeff snapped this while I was looking up at Kaity on the stairs.

 

 

And one last shot, zoomed in and edited.

And yes, I am donating my hair to Locks of Love!

Parsley, (Oregano), Rosemary & Thyme

I love using fresh herbs when I cook. The downside is that I am apparently a terrible gardener and buying fresh herbs gets expensive, especially when they don't keep for very long. So once again I am attempting to keep fresh herbs alive! I have rosemary, oregano, parsley, and thyme on a tray in the bay window. Since I planted these a couple of weeks ago they're already showing noticeable growth.

Lauryn Elyse ~ 9 Months!

It seems like overkill to post pictures of Lauryn today, since I've posted so many cute ones of her (that swim suit!) lately. However, my mild, selective OCD wouldn't let me NOT post them.

First, here is what she typically looks like around here:

Just about to get into trouble, crawling away, reaching for something she probably shouldn't be putting into her mouth.

And now her standard camera pose:

I took Lauryn to her 9-month check-up today, and Dr. Johnson says she's doing great - growing well, long and lean like her three older siblings. She's little, at 28 inches tall and 16 lbs, 6 oz, but her growth is steady and her development is on or ahead of the curve. She's a sweet, curious little Mama's girl!

Edisto Beach, Continued

After spending Friday in Charleston, we spent all of Saturday just lazing around the cottage and the beach. We walked up to the store to get a few supplies for dinner, we walked along the beach, we soaked up the sunshine, splashed in the waves, collected shells, built sand castles .. in short, all the cliches of a beach vacation! It was wonderful!

Joe and Bobba were playing Catan while Mom, Kaity and I played Quiddler (excellent game, by the way!). Jeff was snuggling Lauryn.

My handsome fella enjoying some much-needed relaxation.

Kaity and Bobba walking along the beach.

She did NOT like the cold waves on her toes!

As with most everything else, Lauryn thought the beach was delicious!

Silly Selah

That hat is just too much! Sweet baby.

Cabbage Patch Kid smile!

It was warm enough late on our last day that Jeff finally braved the water!

I know I don't have a lot of pictures of Joe on here, but that's because this was my view of him for nearly the entire time:

He stayed out in the water every chance he got!

And that pretty much wraps up our vacation! We haven't been to the beach in several years so Joe doesn't even remember our last trip. The kids loved it and we promised we'd go back again in another 5 or 6 years!

Charleston

Lots of pictures again! I just can't help it. :) On Friday Jeff and the kids and I drove over to Charleston for the day. We wanted to hit Patriots Point to see the USS Yorktown, especially, and Fort Sumter. We've heard so much about life in the Navy on an aircraft carrier from Jeff's dad, Ken, and we all enjoyed seeing it firsthand and remembering the stories we've heard.

We took a ferry ride across the harbor to get to Fort Sumter. The kids loved it! Well, Joe was nervous the whole time, but everyone else enjoyed it very much.

It was Charleston Race Week, apparently, so the harbor was filled with sailboats.

It's not obvious, but Lauryn was clutching the railing and doing her Happy Dance.

It was quite chilly out on the water, so Selah and I snuggled up in my sweater.

Fort Sumter!

Predictably, once in the plane, Selah did NOT want to get out.

Botany Bay & Beach Babies

Somebody thinks she's a big girl! Lauryn loves to pull up on the furniture now - she looks so proud of herself.

One evening after supper we drove over to Botany Bay ...

And just to illustrate how close to the beach we were ...

Jeff took this picture from the balcony of our cottage.