wordless wednesday

we took the kids to a special sports event at the north carolina museum of history a few weekends ago.  it was definite more up liam's alley ...

... but susanna surprisingly got into it as well.

 and we learned one other thing: with liam, what goes around comes around ... and around ... and around.

getting carded

we make a trip to our local library about once a week.  the kids gather up their dozens of books from their rooms, pour them into their canvas bags, and we unload them into the book drop as soon as we walk through the sliding doors.  and then, they tread their well-worn path to their favorite racks, and always in the same order: susanna hits the magic tree house aisle, finding the next two or three titles that she and chris have reached in the grand line-up, while liam gravitates toward the non-fiction section of history and sports.  they both wind up sitting on the floor in the aisles, flipping through pages of their new acquisitions until i quietly remind them that there are other areas to explore.

so they stand up, dumping their books into their bags, and resume their routes.  susanna beelines it to the princess section.  (no matter that we have checked out every single disney title that our system owns -- i have given up fighting this battle.  mostly because there are loads of far more interesting books that surround the disney rack, and after she's gathered all the rapunzel/cinderella/ariel stories she can handle, a dozen far better ones always seem to catch her eye.)  meanwhile, liam has moved onto the encyclopedia brown and harry potter collections.  and again, they find a spot to sit, opening a different book this time.

why yes, if you look closely at my elder child, you will see that in this tender moment i happened to catch him picking his nose.  given how common this activity is, i am not at all surprised

as we checked out today, our helpful librarian explained to us their summer reading incentive program.  there were so many events and rewards and exciting parts to the program that i couldn't even keep up.  liam's and susanna's eyes were wide as they proudly wrote their names on stars that will hang on the wall.

and then -- the pinnacle of our visit.  our new library friend looked at both of them and asked, "would you guys like your very own library card?"

i mean, really.  did he even have to ask? they nodded enthusiastically and then painstakingly signed printed their names in red permanent marker on the back of their new shiny plastic cards.  luckily the ink dried quickly, because they clutched those suckers in their palms all the way home.

i must admit that i enjoy getting carded these days, on the rare occasion that it happens.  but this kind of carding, which was such an unexpected surprise on a hot june afternoon, will surely be one of the highlights of our summer. 

wordless wednesday: atlanta, part 2

wednesday: we visited the puppetry museum with an awesome exhibit about jim henson.  given the fact that they watched the 1977 season of the muppet show on the way down, it was the perfect fit

we attended a workshop where they got to make their own manta ray marionettes ...

... and put on their own show

there's the aforementioned braves cap (and the aforementioned open mouth)

"what'll ya have?" at the varsity for lunch

thursday: six flags over georgia.  suffice it to say i should have planned this excursion for earlier in the week when i had a tad more energy (and patience)

i dreaded each step we took toward the big water ride as i watched people exiting, soaked to the bone.  and then, the biggest gift: liam read a sign advising people with back problems to avoid the attraction.  this is the one time in my life i was grateful for my three slipped discs

friday: i had to document our amazing free breakfast we enjoyed each morning.  pancakes, omelets, hashbrowns, and liam's favorite -- fruit loops.  (i told him to savor them while he could, because he will never see sugary cereal in our pantry)

chef susanna and chef great-aunt mary, baking cookies for father's day

susanna's sweet cookie concotion for chris ... and a sweet way to wrap up this post

24/6

24/7 is an overused term that's hardly ever realistic.  (and for the sake of my parents reading this post, 24/7 means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.)  i mean, people say it all the time, but how many things are truly every minute of every day?

well.  i'll modify the term slightly to 24/6, and you will have a quite accurate account of how much time i spent with my two children last week.  on a trip to atlanta.  in a hotel room.  with a jam-packed schedule full of touristy plans.  and no adult back-up since chris was in work training.

24 hours a day.  6 days in a row.  no exaggeration. the only time i had to myself was in the shower.  so, naturally, i took very long showers, at least twice a day.  that was a perk: i was super clean.

i'm honestly too tired to even write much more about it.  perhaps next week i will have regained some energy and will tell you all about the gazillion questions i was asked that i couldn't respond with "ask your father", and the mini-meltdowns i attempted to thwart each afternoon, and the bickering that finally reared its ugly head on day three.  ("just ignore your brother," i told susanna at one point when i had reached the end of my rope.  "that's what i'm doing.")  praise the Lord for the free hotel happy hour every evening. i'm guessing that the powers-that-be at embassy suites realize that a significant portion of their clientele are parents who need alcohol at the end of super-long days with their kids.

so i'll let the pictures speak for themselves. and really, we did have a fabulous trip.  i'm just not sure i'll be doing it again any time soon.

sunday:  conked out on a very long drive -- in chris's small car.  just like our last trip, the SUV's battery decided to die right before leaving.  we have since replaced it and cross our fingers there will be no repeats in our future

monday: checking out the fishies at the aquarium

enjoying soft drinks from all over the world at the coca cola museum.  the tour guide encouraged us to try his favorite, the "beverly" from italy.  liam's face immediately scrunched up and he spit it into his cup -- it was the nastiest thing i've ever tasted. thanks, smart-aleck tour guide

you'll begin to see a theme with liam and a wide-open mouth.  i have no idea why

olympic park

serendiptiously, at the braves game that night, they gave out free braves caps (to be seen in later photos).  non-serendiptiously, on the back is the logo from the sponsor: Napa, the rival of chris's employer Carquest.  at least liam had the t-shirt right

tuesday: the tellus science museum, about fifty miles north, was worth the drive

oh how i wished our physics professor aunt leslie were with us ... science has never been my strong suit

there's that mouth again

whew.  that's nine pictures and we're only halfway through the week.  i'm sure you'll wait with bated breath for the second installment.  in the meantime, i'm going to go recuperate a bit more.

lucky 13

yes, kids, there was actually a time when the world didn't have digital cameras.  we had to print out pictures on special paper and apparently they look all grainy when you scan them thirteen years later

the eve of our thirteenth anniversary finds me in a hotel room in atlanta, drinking cabernet from the free happy hour while my dear husband and children are at a braves game.  seems that a baker's dozen of years of wedded bliss has caught up with me; after eight hours of traipsing all over the city alone with two children, all i could handle was the prospect of a warm shower and a few glasses of wine.  especially since we have loads more scheduled over the next four days while chris is at a work conference ... i figure i need to conserve my energy.  (and if i'm honest, baseball must be the slowest sport known to man.  it didn't take much to convince me to stay home.)

the other day i dragged out the wedding album for the first time in eons, much to susanna's delight.  she loves poring over the pictures and asking all about the big event -- who is that?  how did you choose those dresses?  what kind of flowers are those?  i smile a happy smile as i reminisce on that june day way back from the last milennium (and, if i'm honest, smile a sad smile as i look at my unwrinkled face that only a twenty-four-year old non-mother would have.)

when we return home from our family trip, i'd love to locate the DVD (converted from VHS a few years back) of the wedding and sit down with the kids to watch it.  i think i'll especially love listening to chris's dad's homily; the service is somewhat of a blur to me, but i do remember him saying, "i've officiated hundreds of weddings over the years, but i can say that this one makes me the happiest."

i'm beyond blessed to have met my future husband way back in 1996 in Heaven (yes -- we met in a bar named "Heaven and Hell" in DC -- thank goodness we were upstairs.  can you imagine if it had been on the bottom floor, and having to explain to your children that you met their father in Hell?!).  here's to a few more baker's dozens, dear christopher.  you are my world.

making no cents

this sunday, liam received a twenty dollar bill from my parents in a card as a present for his first communion.  his eyes grew wide; i honestly don't know that he's ever received that much cash at one time before.  knowing how his brain works, i bet he was calculating how long it would take him to earn that much with his allowance, and arriving at the conclusion that this, for sure, was a windfall.  i told him that since it was a gift, he was free to spend it however he saw fit -- but that he needed to really think about his priorities and what would be a smart purchase.

so on monday, right before he and i went to play tennis, he announced that he wanted to buy a tennis hat in our pro shop.  not a toy, not a book, not a wii game.  he wanted to spend his money on a hat. which might not be a terrible choice IF HE DIDN'T ALREADY HAVE ABOUT 20 BASEBALL CAPS IN HIS CLOSET.   "andy roddick wears baseball caps when he plays, and he's a pro!"  i told him.  "don't you think you could just wear one of those, instead of a special tennis hat?"  but his mind was made up.

which makes this parenting thing so hard ... how do you watch your child make a stupid decision and sit back, silent?  but i bit my tongue and resolved to let him make this mistake on his own. so we stopped by the pro shop and looked through the selection.  he tried a few on, chose the one he liked -- and then looked at the price tag.  he looked up at me in shock.  "eighteen dollars for a hat?" he asked, incredulously.

"well, it's actually more than nineteen, once you add on tax," i told him.  "so you'd have less than a dollar left."

he paused.  he stared at the hat, and then his twenty dollar bill, and then the price tag.  his eyes darted back and forth between them as he made a very difficult decision.  and then ... then he placed the hat back on the shelf.  "i think that's too much money," he said.  "forget it.  let's go play."

it's moments like this that i think -- wow!  we're doing something right.  somewhere along the way, my son has learned the value of a dollar. he's learned what's important to spend his money on, and when it's important to save.  maybe we sort of know what we're doing after all.

but no good parenting moment lasts forever.  sadly, this one lasted only a few hours.  that evening,  the nightly discussion ensued about showering; neither kid wanted to bathe because they were not dirty.  (you know, even though they both had field day all day at school and were outside in the hot sun and in the dunking booth and then both played tennis and then both played baseball outside for an hour after that, they were NOT dirty.)

selfishly, i left this battle to be decided upstairs under the watchful eye of chris while i cleaned the kitchen after dinner.  soon enough, i heard the water start, and shortly thereafter, susanna waltzed downstairs in her pajamas, with clean skin and wet hair.  "guess what, mommy!"  she exclaimed, holding out something in her hand.  "i just earned fifty cents!"

fifty cents, to susanna, is a windfall.  "that's awesome, sweetheart.  what did you do to earn that?"

"liam wanted me to take my shower first, so he paid me."

yep.  our son gave our daughter the equivalent of two days' worth of his allowance so he could delay his shower by ten minutes.  maybe we sort of know what we're doing after all?  oh how i make myself laugh.  or cry. one of those.

sharp-dressed mann

liam's had a few significant events at church over the years, and what he's worn has been an important part of them.  when he was five months old, he was baptized in a beautiful white gown with his monogram and date stitched on the hem.

at age six, he played joseph in the christmas eve pageant, and was decked out in a long red robe and headpiece.

but this past sunday, for his first communion, he wore no dress of any kind.  on the contrary, he wore a coat and tie for the first time -- and i swear he aged about 10 years in the process.  we were separated from him in the congregation; he and his fellow first communion classmates were seated in the first few pews as the guests of honor, while the parents sat several rows behind.  and all throughout the service i found myself staring at his blond head -- with that cowlick-that-can't-be-tamed sticking straight up in the back -- and marveled at how fast the years are flying.

 it will come as no surprise to those who know me when i say that i became a little emotional, especially as we watched them process down the aisle, the boys all decked out in their sunday best and the girls in their beautiful long white dresses.  it really does seem like yesterday that i was watching our priest cradle liam's body in his arms as he poured water on his little bald head.  and now, in the blink of an eye, he's standing apart from us, wearing a coat and tie and dress shoes, reciting the nicene creed and singing hymns and kneeling and standing and sitting (and kneeling and standing and sitting, as we episcopalians do) at all the right times.  it really wasn't so much the actual event that made me teary; it was the seeming suddenness of it all.  i'm not quite sure how it all happened so fast.  but it makes me want to slow down these days and this stage of our lives and just enjoy them for what they are, because i know in another minute he'll be wearing a much larger coat and tie as he is confirmed and then does cotillion and then takes dates to dances and then attends baccalaureate and then graduates from high school and college.  (hopefully at some point along the way, he'll figure out how to tie his shoes and his tie.)

each child presented their silhouette as an offering to God

that morning, he shimmied over his neck the tie that chris had first knotted around his own, pulled at the collar of his sportscoat, and fiddled with the brass buttons as he got used to the feel of these new pieces of clothing.  when i shared with him the lyric about every girl being crazy about a sharp-dressed man, he shrugged his shoulders, embarrassed.  but the words are true.  because this momma -- well, i'm crazy in love with my sharp-dressed mann.

we quickly realized that we needed to get out of the sun -- seems our children's eyes are a wee bit sensitive

much better

liam with his godparents, dusty and katherine

the three mann men, along with a new baseball bat as a gift from his grandparents

two weddings, a milestone birthday, and a baby

(not to be confused with four weddings and a funeral)

lots has gone on on with our extended family recently.  on may 14, my little sister tied the knot in a super-small affair (just the four parents) in san francisco.  we're looking forward to celebrating beach-style with everyone in august.

my new brother-in-law richard and my gorgeous sister leslie

on may 26, my cousin alli got married in dallas.  this time chris and i flew out and left the kids in raleigh with chris's parents.  (think they missed us?  nope.  "we want to stay at grammie and granddad's house forever!" they wailed as we prepared to take them back home at the end of the long weekend.)

what's that, you say?  a proper wedding picture needs a bride and/or groom in it?  oh - we were so excited to be kid-free for three days we forgot to take any

the kids got to help celebrate their great-grandmother margie's 90th birthday (!) with chris's extended family while we were gone.  liam can never pass up an opportunity to play any kind of sport, so he was nice and sweaty from playing baseball with some of his older second-cousins.  (unfortunately, we are at the mercy of those who were there for pictures, and we don't have any of the kids with the birthday girl)

and the day before that, my brother and sister-in-law had their first baby.  theodore grant atkins was born on may 25 -- exactly one week following susanna's birthday and exactly one week before my mom's.   with his birth, chris and i became uncle and aunt for the first time.  which means that liam and susanna finally have a first cousin!  (susanna was terribly disappointed when i shared the news with her that it was a boy.  but once i pointed out that this means she's still the favorite granddaughter, she perked right up.)  i cannot WAIT to get my auntie hands on this sweet bundle of love in just a few weeks!

the most perfect nephew the world has ever seen -- and look at that hair!

mama and baby