Right Now

Right now, we spend a lot of time outside.  The Middle One loves to ride her bike, more than anything else, and she is incredibly good at it.

Right now, she sometimes visits her Daddy's office and turns on the dance music on the piano for an impromptu performance with an audience of one.

Right now, Nana and DD are paramount.

Right now, she still has to work on standing up for herself and making her desires known.  Right now, she has a beautiful sparkle that all too often is outshone with the blazing fires around her.  But in the stillness, or if you look for it, she's got a dazzle that's all her own.

Right now, The Kindergartner still loves her Momma and wants to be near.  She'll sit in the front yard and read her Bible alongside me as I read mine, and I suspect it has as much to do with time together as it does with the activity.

Right now, she still wants me along on field trips, for volunteering opportunities, in the library, at school store.  I'm still exciting and comforting and... welcome.



Right now, she's coming alive.  She writes stories and reads just about anything and composes songs.

Right now, she's different than anyone else; she's fully herself; and she's magnificent.

Right now, The Baby is still a baby... but just barely.  She wiggles and squirms and wants so badly to be a part of the action.

Right now, she an explorer.  She's discovering so many new things.  Right now, birds in the trees are all she needs for entertainment.

Right now, she nestles into me when I get her from her crib, she smiles easily, she babbles and coos and hums.

Right now, she makes us laugh in delight as she peers over the edge of the bath, with her baby bottom bare.

I don't know the specifics of tomorrow, and I don't need to.  Because, right now, they're still really young.  And right now, life is so, so sweet.

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Rowdy Rebel Camping 2012

We've been camping with Avery's playgroup since 2008, and so it is no surprise that by now our camping trips include a language of their own.  May we present our A-Z dictionary of all things Rowdy Rebel Camping:

Avoidance (n.) - The act of avoiding something, in this case the outdoors.  As in, "Mom, can I pleeeease stay in the cabin?  I don't want to go into the wild!" This request proved ineffective for Avery and she was required to eat dinner at an outdoor picnic table.

Breakfast Crew (n.) - A group of people who hold a special place in our hearts.  Preparing the first meal of the day on an outdoor stove is not something to be taken lightly.

Coffee Ministry (n.) - The blessed ministry responsible for meeting the caffeine intake of every camper on the trip; note: there is a 2 pot minimum.

Distribution of responsibility (n.) - The act of sharing photography responsibilities among all involved parties.  Any camp parent, at any given time, should be prepared to grab the nearest camera and capture the memories for the benefit of all.

Exhaustion (n.) - The result of Late Bedtimes (see L for more information)

Falls (n.) - Otherwise known as trips, slips, or spills, this is a sudden uncontrollable descent.  For a demonstration, contact Abigail.  (Note: the best remedy for a fall, no matter the severity, is a band-aid)

Grumpy (adj.) - A term used to describe the Rowdy Rebel campers around 3 pm on the second day of camping adventure (also a result of Late Bedtimes - refer to L)

Hilarity (n.) - What ensues after hours, gathered 'round the campfire, playing Catch Phrase

iPhone (n.) - A device used to keep men informed of the outside world while 'in the wild'; an iPhone siting is a moment when a man is caught checking the weather, texting, or looking up a map for a hike.  Teasing must follow (see S for Sarcasm for more).

Joint Parenting (n.) - An arrangement in which all parents share equal responsibility for all children involved.

Kid-centered (adj.) - Used to describe the type of weekend camping is; the result is flexible expectations and lots of extra smiles.

Late Bedtime (n.) - The expectation and reality of sleepovers; especially when allowing four children to sleep in the same room.  Addition of Kate guarantees a late bedtime, and removal of her from the room guarantees an early bedtime.

Mascot (n.) - A person or thing that is meant to symbolize a particular event; in the case of Rowdy Rebel Camping 2012, a Roly Poly was chosen.

Nature walk (n.) - A walk on a nature trail, also the perfect opportunity for photos and roly poly hunting.

Oak Thicket Park (n.) - The location of our camping trip this year, boasting bathrooms, refrigerators, and air conditioning all inside the cabin!

Power Plant (n.) - A structure that provides power and shows up in the background of every scenic shot taken at Oak Thicket Park (see O for more).

Quest (n.) - A trip taken in search of something; as in The Quest for Firewood.  This particular quest led to Jerry's General Store, where Jerry offered all of his personal firewood at no charge.

Rowdy Rebels (n.) - The group of friends we've had the privilege of growing up with; represented on this trip by 13 adults, 11 pre-school and older children, 4 toddlers, and 2 infants... yes, 13 adults and 17 children total!

Sarcasm (n.) - The primary language spoken among Rowdy Rebel adults; as in, "It's just a Chris Nichols sort of day."

Tangled (v.) - Twisted.  Also, the state of Cole's fishing pole the majority of the weekend.

Unplanned (adj.) - Describing something unexpected and unprepared for; in this case, a swim session.

Vying (v.) - The act of competing with great effort to achieve something.  Rowdy Rebel Camping 2012 included vying for votes for Cool Mom by Emily (face painting, reading stories...), Emilee (Paula Dean cookies!), Ella (live worms, offering excessive sugar to all children), Kathy (making up hiking stories and songs and the wagon), Audrey (adult Capri Suns, marshmallow stackers, and chocolate covered graham crackers), and Genevieve (the boat which was played on even when parked in the driveway, a tripod for the annual group picture).  A 7-way tie was established.

Wind (n.) - The force which kept the boat docked the duration of the weekend and made fishing a moot point.

Xcited (adj.) - The term used to describe how the we feel about camping 2013. 

Yikes! (interjection) - The word that is yelled at a snake siting.  The snake in question was easily as thick as an adult arm and 10 feet long, seem slithering across our path and into the woods.

Zen (n.) - A state of peace achieved when all parties accept the chaos and merriment of the weekend and choose to just sit back, relax, and take it all in.

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Happy 9 Months, Reese!

This month:

*Reese started doing "tricks", like clapping, playing Pat-A-Cake, waving (sometimes) and giving hugs on command (laying her head on your chest)

*She began pulling up to standing and now stands unassisted for several seconds at a time

*She started the month blowing raspberries and then moved to an inverted kissing sound

*She has one word - only one: "Ut-oh".  Sometimes she'll say "Dada" but not usually on command and it's still debatable if it she knows the significance of the word yet

*She had her second ear infection, and once again we only knew something was wrong when her eyes started gooing.  Such a good baby, even when sick!

*She's up to two bottles a day

*She has 6 teeth - 4 up top and two on bottom

*She weighs 18 pounds 3.5 ounces (37th %tile) and is 28 inches long (64th %tile)

*She impressed the doctor when she stole his tongue depressor and tried to take his pen out of his pocket as he was examining her.  His comment: "Wow.  You really are... 9 months old, aren't you?"  Apparently the nicest way he could think to state how busy and curious our little missy is!

Reese is so close to being a one-year-old and a walker.  We're eating up every giggle, every toothy grin, and every squeal because it's flying by!

Happy 9 months, Reese!

Anecdotal Records About Easter

Avery's Easter:

-As part of Avery's Easter basket, she got a necklace-making kit with letter beads.  She immediately went to work, making necklaces for friends, family... everyone except herself.  When we'd encourage her to make her own necklace before she ran out of letters, she'd tell us, "Later, after I finish Kate's and Amelia's..."  Avery loves to gift others, often at her own expense.  As Amanda said, "Avery is so others-minded that she'd go down on an airplane putting oxygen masks on everyone else and forgetting herself."  We love her giving heart.

Kate's Easter
-At our annual Rowdy Rebels party, we do two egg hunts: one for the younger kids and one for the older kids.  The older egg hunt includes a challenge: get eggs numbered 1-12 and only get one of each number.  I asked Kate if she thought she could do it and she was sure she could.  She was right!  I walked around with her, trying to 'help' her keep count, but she'd have to correct me!  "No, Mom, I already have a 7."  And sure enough, she did.  She knew exactly what she was doing and kept easy pace with her big sister.

-After the egg hunt on Easter Sunday, everyone split up to sort their Easter candy.  Nana brought in a box of Ziploc bags and told the kids they could sort their candy so the flavors didn't run together.  After about 20 minutes of letting the kids sort candy while we cleaned up a bit, I checked on Kate.  She had about 50 bags, each with a few pieces of candy in them.  She had emptied each individual egg into a separate bag.  What was really perplexing was the bags we found, each with 1 single M&M inside of them.

Amelia's Easter
-Amelia (and her family) got to join us for church on Easter, and on the way home, her parents asked her the usual questions: "Did you have fun?  What did you learn?"  Amelia told them that yes, she had, "Fery, fery fun." And that she learned that on the first Easter when the rock was rolled away, Jesus' bottom wasn't there!  His bottom was gone!  Amanda asked, "What about the rest of Jesus?  Was it gone too?"  Amelia responded, "I don't know.  But His bottom was gone!"  As it turns out, the teachers explained that Jesus' body was gone... and Amelia uses 'body' and 'bottom' as synonyms.

Reese's Easter
-Reese is so intent.  She's 9 months going on 5 years in her mind's eye.  She wants to be a part of everything - at church while Jordan was leading worship, she'd do her usual intent look: chin and nose tilted up, eyes serious and focused, taking it all in.  She's not only intent, but she's also busy.  She was occupied playing with a toy in the middle of the living room at Nana's house, and in less than a minute's time, Avery sighed, "Oh Reese!"  She had made her way to the painting easel and was standing, holding on to the wet paintbrushes.  Paint splatters ended up on her, on the wall, on the floor...  She's busy, curious, and even under constant adult supervision is able to get into trouble.

Kyle's Easter
-Kyle's first Easter looked primarily like this: "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

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My Nana and Me

Sometimes I really feel like a middle child.  Squished between two big personalities, I am sometimes too quiet to get the same kind of attention they get.

But don't worry.  My Nana and me have a special thing going.  She knows how important it is to give the middle child a little extra TLC.  She picks me up from school sometimes, and lays next to me and strokes my hair and whispers about the snacks she brought me.  I usually wake up grumpy at school, but when Nana is there, I always wake up with a smile.  

When dessert is being served, sometimes I get overlooked.  I wait patiently while everyone else is served but sometimes it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.  But just when I think I am going to cry because I've been forgotten, my Nana to the rescue!  She sees the look in my eyes and knows what's happening and she helps me speak up for myself like a big (polite) girl.

When I get really tired, or when Avery says she's had enough of me, or when I feel particularly middle-child-ish, I don't know how to say how I feel.  Nana knows how to interpret my signals though.  Like, one night, Mia and Avery were taking a warm bath but I didn't want to get in.  I decided it was too hot and no matter how much Mom tried to reason with me, I was not able to pull it together and get in the tub.  But you know what?  Nana knows how to treat each of her grandkids just like they need.  She helped me decide to take a shower instead and soon the tears were turned to giggles and a special grin that said, "I feel special!"

I know my Nana loves all of her grandbabies so much.  But she loves us uniquely, just how we want to be loved, and it makes me feel like I'm the one and only.

Thank heavens for Nanas.

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Love,

Kate Middle Kid McClinton

Things

Since Kindergarten is a big change, at the beginning of the year my mom and dad kept me out of all of the extra stuff, like gymnastics and stuff.  But as the year went on, I did a very good job of convincing them that I was ready for things like that.  In fact, yesterday I counted and realized I'm doing four 'things'!

First, at the beginning of the year, some of the friends in my class (who mom says were 'good examples') started a Girl Scout troop.  It only meets twice a month, and it is such a good organization, that Mom gave in and let me start doing Daisy Scouts early in October.  I love it!  I love playing with my friends, I love learning about animals and doing service projects, and I love getting new patches.  Last meeting, we even earned a patch by touring a bank.  We got to see the vault and talk to each other in the drive-through, but what stood out to me the most was the cookies and punch we got to drink there (of course).  With Daisy Scouts, I also got to sell cookies.  I wanted a stuffed penguin reward so badly, but the goal for it was to sell 165 boxes of cookies.  Mom and Dad tried to explain how hard that would be, but I was unwavering.  And when the cookie money was due and the boxes all sold, Mom and Dad couldn't believe their eyes - I got 165 boxes sold and the money for it all collected!  When I want something, just try to stand in my way...

Then, at Christmas I absolutely wanted a keyboard and nothing else.  And with a keyboard came... piano lessons!  I go to piano lessons now and my teacher keeps telling Mom and Dad how impressed she is with how fast I'm picking it up.  Sometimes I love piano... like when I learn a song really well and it becomes fun to play. I was at Nana and DD's the other day and I wanted to play a song, but I didn't have my book.  So, I got some paper and played on the piano until I figured out just the right notes to play to make the song.  Voila!  Instant piano sheet!  Sometimes, I don't love piano... like when I'm first learning a song and it seems like way too much for me to figure out.  I get so upset because I want to learn the song but it's just so hard! After a few times of practicing, though, I always come around to loving it again.  If only the songs could be easy to play from the beginning...

Next, I got a letter from Katy ISD that told me I could start the Challenge program this semester.  I go one hour a week to a different classroom with some of my friends and learn about "stretching my brain".  I come home totally excited and ready to start new projects: mouse puppets or writing a script for a stage play or making up poems and songs using pictures as inspiration.  Right up my alley!

And, when my friends at school started signing up for soccer and I begged Mom and Dad to let me try it, they figured... why not?  It's only for a few months and so now I get to play on a soccer team!  Mommy signed me up and told me over and over, "We'll just give this a try.  We'll go to the first practice and then see how you like it."  But at the first practice, I was sold!  The coach calls us all "champ" and I feel like a real live athlete when he tells us what to do.  After the first practice, we got to pick a name - we picked the Green Dragons - and put our hands in a circle and yell on the count of three.  I told Mom, "I was having so much fun on the field that I forgot about everything else!"  The next week it was raining so soccer practice was optional... and only three kids showed up to play.  No surprise, but I was one of the ones who braved the weather so I could have another chance to kick the ball around.  

"Mom," I said as I crossed the street after school yesterday, "Guess what?  I figured out that I have four things!  And I think that I love them all!"  And Mom said she was glad to hear that.

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Love,

Avery Four Things McClinton

Spring Break in San Antonio

We had the best Spring Break we could possibly ask for.  We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country and they had several family friendly activities for us to enjoy.  We also had the chance to go to Sea World, which was perfect for the age of our girls, and spend a day on the River Walk.  Amazing!


On the way home, we talked about our favorite parts.  Here they are:

Avery's:

*The lazy river at the Hyatt was heated!  Swim time!!!
*Touching a dolphin
*Watching the dolphin show Azul
*Watching the movie Dolphin Tale on the lawn at the Hyatt, eating popcorn, and cuddling under the stars

Kate's:

*Seeing Shamu
*Buying a new Shamu puppet
*Riding a mini-coaster, Shamu Express
*The "best meal ever!" - a corn dog and nachos from a hut outside the Shamu show
*Playing on the lawn in her "marrying dress" (a new costume she found at the Disney store)

Reese's:

*Day 1: the lazy river.... Days 2-4: being held by the pool and NOT going in the lazy river (a girl has a right to change her mind)
*Watching the dolphin show, Azul
*Being held nonstop, especially at naptimes and bedtime
*Pancakes off of the breakfast buffet one morning... yummmmm!

It was truly a wonderful week of togetherness.  We were all so thankful for the time to be relaxed as a family, to spend time with Nana and DD, and to make memories that we'll cherish for a lifetime.

 
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