scenes from the season

christmas 2014 has come and gone.  this wasn't a stand-out year in terms of big presents; chris and i are focusing more on experiences than things as the kids grow older.  so susanna found out she and will be taking in taylor swift in concert with a bunch of her friends and their moms; liam learned he's going up to DC with chris and chris's dad for another dodgers game.  and the grand prize is a trip out to san francisco for spring break, which they already knew about.  these are all at least three months away, which lessened the excitement a bit ... but chris and i will continue to remind them they have big events coming up at. every. opportunity.

and in the meantime, we can all enjoy my crock pot, dustbuster, and wireless computer keyboard, which were my big gifts.  (hey -- i've turned 40.  need i say more?)

we were so blessed to have a visit by the kids' favorite girl cousin (okay, only girl cousin), kate, from california.  and in the mix was my aforementioned 40th birthday.  a life's highs and lows, all crammed together within a week.

backing up a bit, this was our super fun thanksgiving ... 29 (!) people at chris's 92-year old grandmother's house in sanford

totally surprised in late november with an early girls' celebration for my birthday by alison, leslie, katherine, lainey, and arrin.  sadly, my tiara broke the next day or i'd still be wearing it

  it was liam's year to place the angel

susanna and her friends kate, anna, polly, addison, and maggie were all mesmerized by anna and elsa at Disney on Ice: Frozen (not pictured: the $15 snow cone -- unless you look closely at the stains on susanna's top)

i spent most of the day before my birthday at the umstead with my bestie lainey, enjoying spa treatments and a late, leisurely lunch (with wine, because, why not?).  we should have taken this picture BEFORE i had oil rubbed into my scalp at my massage

 chris joined me at the umstead that afternoon and had dinner and spent the night while both teams of grandparents split kid duties.  they upgraded our room and we wound up in this unbelievable suite that overlooked the lake, with two huge rooms and bathrooms ... sadly, the only picture i took was of the champagne and strawberries my sweet friend alison had delivered for me

one of the season's highlights is always our annual Wrap the Crap extravaganza with supper club.  one need look no further than darren in the back right corner to see one of the gems (which you might recognize from a previous post -- an atkins family reunion t-shirt, kid size to boot)

susanna informed santa that her top wish was american girl doll accessories -- which was news to us.  next year i think everything will be required to be IN WRITING A MONTH IN ADVANCE

a more laid-back, totally faithful liam

kate was far more gracious with the big man than either of our children ever were at that age

 one of susanna's two recital pieces

certainly not an optimal photo to document the annual reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas -- a shirtless liam, a pajama-clad chris, and a freaky-eyed wonder

i got not one single picture of the opening of the presents ... 
but here is the aftermath

the reunion

you know, there are perks to being terribly behind in posting on this blog.  now that it's almost december, i figure what better time to share pictures of our annual family reunion at the beach than now?  as i sit here shivering with a space heater at my feet, i can relive those warmer days of sweltering in the sun and riding the waves.  and most importantly, i can revisit my niece and nephew when they were not yet four months old -- after just having seen video footage of one of them crawling.  time flies ...

the youngest generation: nick (3 months), liam (9), kate (3 months), susanna (8), reilly (8), laurel (4), and teddy (2).  missing was dexter (who celebrated his first birthday while we were there) and billy (who was just a few weeks old and couldn't make the trip -- which was a wise move, given the shenanigans)

the house we rent has a pool on the front deck, which was a huge hit.  i tried my hardest to get a shot of the four big kids all jumping in simultaneously ... and finally gave up

activities included family games of baseball (there's susanna at bat) ...

... and the annual beer tasting competition, with my brother-in-law richard defending his title yet again

aunt mary and uncle ron put together an elaborate treasure hunt for the kids, complete with clues scattered throughout the two sides of the house and outside

success! as the girls unearthed the treasure at the end of the hunt

on our final day, we noticed a huge crowd gathering at the ocean's edge, following something en masse -- which turned out to be a shark.  they extracted a huge fish (seen here) that was half mauled and bloody.  needless to say, we were happy it was the final day

kate is only 3 days older, but was already showing nick what's what

ohmygosh that sky

all 26 of us who could make it ... missing only 5.  anyone want an official atkins family reunion shirt?  they're selling like hotcakes

wordless wednesday: second cousins, part 2

back in march, my cousin kristine, her husband jamie, and their children reilly and laurel came down to visit us and to see UVA play in the first round of the NCAA tournament in raleigh.  the kids had so much fun together -- and did again at the beach this summer -- that we knew we needed to schedule a trip up to their neck of the woods.  after several failed attempts at scheduling, we finally found a time that worked for everyone, and it couldn't have been more perfect.  it was a gorgeous fall weekend with the leaves hitting their peak color, and it also happened to be the end of the kids' fall break.  we drove up to charlottesville on friday, went apple picking and toured the UVA campus, and then hit the road saturday afternoon to visit wintergreen.  it was just the perfect way to kick-start autumn.

the whole crew at our first stop at the apple orchard -- what you can't see are the most scrumptious apple doughnuts that we had just devoured.  up until this point i had been totally gluten-free for 62 days. i sort of fell off the wagon ... but i daresay those treats, warm out of the oven with a light apple glaze on top, were worth it

,

after being fortified by doughnuts, we braved the orchard and left with an impressive haul (also impressive: laurel's love of the wolf ears headband we got for free at the great wolf lodge)

things like this always crack me up -- i have no idea what a dilapidated truck with no doors or seat has to do with an apple orchard, but the kids thought it was cool

we took this picture just for UVA alum aunt leslie -- seems thomas jefferson's building is in need of some repairs, but the lawn was still perfect for hide-and-seek

we decided to check out a brewery for dinner on saturday night, thinking we'd beat the crowds by getting there early.  an hour-and-a-half later, we were finally seated.  luckily we had brought cards, books, and there was cornhole to play while we waited

next stop on our weekend tour: the wintergreen ski resort.  it was without snow but still beautiful.  can't beat that view ... what we could beat was the frigid air as our wet bodies hopped in and out of the hot tub

right before departing on sunday afternoon, the eight of us took a rather challenging hike.  chris, who has an issue with heights, confided later that he wasn't at all upset when we cut it short and turned back.  but the kids had no fear ... which actually was sort of worrisome

notice chris's position -- farthest from the side of the cliff :)

our halloween hero

"actually, no, it was daddy who made my costume," liam informed a neighbor after she mistakenly complimented my handiwork as we made our way around the neighborhood trick-or-treating.  he laughed, "you shouldn't ever underestimate the abilities of a dad!"

indeed.  i had absolutely nothing to do with liam's costume; from conception to completion, it was all chris.  i was up in richmond for a girls' weekend with college friends in early october when he texted me from a craft store, asking if i thought we had enough hot glue sticks for this project he was tackling.  while i was gone, liam had finalized his costume choice, and then chris had googled ideas of how to create it, had drawn up a list of necessary materials, and had braved ac moore on a saturday with two kids to make it all happen.  when i returned home the following afternoon, i walked in to find him armed with that glue gun, painstakingly transforming an old straw sombrero into the mushroom hat worn by Toad, the beloved character of one of liam's favorite nintendo games.  (if you're not familiar with Toad, you're not alone.  as spot-on as the costume was, no adult ever guessed correctly what liam was.  but the kids all knew.)

i was involved with susanna's costume -- in the lamest way possible.  we popped into a costume store on a whim back in september, they happened to have one frozen gown left in her size, and i purchased it.  (somehow i think chris wins this round of who's-the-best-parent.)

frozen princess anna and toad, gearing up for their big night. 

 (the picture doesn't do the hat justice -- i wish i had taken it from a different angle)

this had to have been the most perfect halloween night yet for our kids.  it was clear -- no need for umbrellas like the monsoon from 2011.  it was comfortable -- we weren't sweating it out like the 80+ degree evening of 2009.  and the best part?  for the first time since they've been in school, it didn't fall on a school night.  rather than having to rush home to get in bed, we were still ringing doorbells at 8:30 pm.

these factors all contributed to their most massive candy haul yet.  and so what is a family to do when they wake up on november 1st to a torrential, day-long downpour?  when their outdoor activities are all cancelled and they're stuck inside, staring at their loot?

analyze the data, of course.  chris and the kids spent much of the morning sorting and counting and creating an excel spreadsheet.  this is an excerpt of their printed report:

and this is one of several printed graphs (others were broken down by wrapper color and candy manufacturer.  email me if you'd like a copy.)

so from start to finish -- literally -- chris was the hero of halloween.  because liam's right, you know.  you should never underestimate the abilities of a dad.

guilt

oh, the guilt.  guilt, guilt, guilt.  as if mothers don't carry the weight of guilt enough already (was i too harsh just then?  am i being too lenient?  is that one comment i just made in a bout of impatience going to result in years of therapy for my children in their adulthood?) i'm under the extra burden of blogging guilt.  i'm just not on here often enough.  i have stories to share, and memories to document, but just no time to do it.  and to make matters worse, almost on a daily basis the kids will mention this site.  "mommy, you HAVE to put that in the blog!"  or, "remember when i said that funny thing and ..." before proceeding to retell a story that they cannot possibly remember because they were so young, but at this point feel like they do remember it because they've read the story so often in our blog books.  which brings up yet another area of guilt -- i haven't yet even started on the 2013 blog book, and we're staring down the finish line of 2014.

guilt, guilt, guilt.

so i have a few goals at this point.  one, i'm going to play catch-up when i can ... i'll soon get around to posting pictures of our family beach reunion from over two months ago; i'll soon share the endearing story of susanna and her first venture as a playwright from back during our snow days in january.  and then i'll also just post snippets.  no need for pages upon pages of anecdotes; no need for the story to even necessarily have a POINT.  i just need to put fingers to keyboard and get the words to screen before i forget these events even happened.

i sit here, with a rare window of time at the laptop when i'm caught up on work and have silence around me ... at the great wolf lodge, of all places.  i've brought the kids here for a quick mini-vacation during fall break (pictures to follow, i promise myself) and they are out cavorting all over the resort together with their magic wand in hand, tackling the Shadow Quest thing that i don't understand and probably never will because they actually sent me back to the room last night so they could do it themselves.  together, of course.  always together.  which brings me to my story.

a few nights ago i was tucking liam into bed, having read a bit together and finished saying our prayers.  chris was across the hall in susanna's room doing the same thing.  and right after i kissed him goodnight and had reached the door, he says, "mommy?  i have a question," which is of course one of the oldest stall tactics in the book.

"yes?"  i sighed(inwardly, i hoped.)

"well, susanna and i actually both have this question.  we were talking about it the other day and have been meaning to ask you or daddy ..."

"yes, honey, what is it?" i replied, wanting to turn off the light, as we were yet again way past bedtime.

"why can't we get married to each other?"  he looked at me.  "i mean, we like the same things and always want to spend time together.  it just seems like it makes sense.  but i know that law says that siblings aren't allowed and so we were just wondering."

and after a brief explanation that skirted around the real reasons, i turned off the light and closed the door, eager to share the story with chris.  because i may have guilt about oh so many things, but somehow we are raising a brother and sister who truly, truly love each other.

and i have absolutely no guilt about that.

voyages

when magellan, my children's charter school, comes up in conversation, people often ask me what its focus is.  the question always throws me for a loop.  i think they're actually thinking of the local magnet schools, which all do have a specified program: leadership, gifted & talented, international baccalaureate, arts & sciences ... but charters aren't the same as magnets; they don't necessarily have a primary focus.  and so i normally just fumble through my answer, often choosing the phrase "back-to-basics" to describe it, since it devotes its entire day to longer, intense class periods in the four main academic areas.  we don't have "specials" that are found in public elementary schools, like music and art and P.E.  (but most of those are incorporated into everyday instruction -- often more effectively than in stand-alone classes.)  our class sizes never exceed 17, and for the umpteenth year in a row, magellan has scored at the very top of all the schools in the state of north carolina in terms of testing. 

but i had a revelation recently and now know how i'm going to answer the next time someone asks me what magellan's focus is.  i'm going to say, "voyages".  yes, it's a fancy term for field trips (linked, no doubt, to the school's namesake); but as liam has reached 4th grade, i realize what an integral part of the curriculum these voyages are.  because magellan believes that the best way to learn is to experience, there are several multi-day field trips each year starting in the 4th grade, from DC to florida to new york.  the pinnacle of the magellan experience is the sixth grade trip to space camp in alabama.  (space camp.  really ... space camp.  there is a lottery for parent chaperones but ohmygoodness do i hope i get to go.)  after spending weeks investigating various effects on organisms' environments, the 4th grade is headed down on wednesday to the coast to delve into the five different habitats of salt marshes, maritime forests, freshwater ponds, the sound, and the beach.  why learn about it from a textbook or a website, when you can drive a few hours and experience it in person?

but there are shorter, one-day voyages too.  these are much more my chaperoning speed, since missing multiple days of teaching is just plain difficult.  (there are no subs in online teaching.)  so i signed up to chaperone his voyage to the zoo a few weeks ago ... and i'm telling you, there's just nothing like the zoo.  oh, how i love the zoo.

below are just a few pictures of our voyage.  and if i don't get chosen for the space camp voyage in a few years, well, hanging out with kendall the chimp surely will just have to suffice.

i literally got my four charges (all spectacular kids!) to sit down together for a photo.  kendall, obvious extrovert chimp extraordinaire, decided to amble on over and join them

feeding a new friend.  "her tongue was long but really smooth," reported liam

i like to pretend and call this "giraffe selfie"

and they're off

i found this in my unpublished posts list from march 2013, right after we found out that liam had been accepted to magellan.  this is one of the reasons why i blog -- because i have absolutely  no recollection of this happening.

"sara, i've been meaning to tell you the sweetest thing i've ever witnessed," said my friend clare one evening last week at church while we helped stuff envelopes for an upcoming event.  she's a part-time spanish teacher at the kids' school, and while she doesn't teach the younger grades, still sees them from time to time.  "i was standing near the lobby the other day, and liam's class and susanna's class happened to pass each other on their way to specials.  right at the same time, they both stepped a little out of line, met halfway, and gave each other a little sideways hug.  i'm telling you, it almost made me tear up, it was so sweet."


so when i walked in from the driveway yesterday after spending a few extra minutes sharing my exciting news of liam's school acceptance with susanna's best friend lily's mom, and found susanna sitting on the arm chair next to liam, crying, i naturally assumed that she was upset because he would be leaving her.

"oh sweetheart, please don't worry," i said in the most soothing voice i could muster.  "it's only one year that you won't be in school with liam before you get to join him.  because you are guaranteed a spot there too!"

but for some reason, this only escalated her wailing.  "really, honey, it will be okay.  we'll drive him to school each morning, and then he can be at the bus stop when you get home --"

she interrupted me with a look of disdain on her face, as if i just didn't get it.  (which, i guess, i didn't.)  "mommy!  i don't CARE that liam's not going to be in school with me!  i just don't want to be away all of my friends!"

oh.

so fast forward to september 2014 ... and i am wise to have waited a few weeks to post the annual first-day picture and write-up.  because goodness gracious, our little girl has quite the impressive stubborn streak.  she had seventeen months to get used to the idea of leaving lacy and switching schools; seventeen months to watch how much liam loves it there and warm up to the change.  instead, she spent seventeen months crying and complaining and begging for us to let her stay.  (and we had seventeen months of biting our tongues and reminding ourselves that she was within her rights to be upset.)

but now, eighteen months after receiving the news, she is HAPPY.  she is comfortable.  she is enjoying her new school and is proud to go there.  and as long as your name is not sara or chris mann, she'll even tell you how much she loves magellan.  (she still won't admit to us that it has been a great move.  i'm telling you, it's an impressive stubborn streak.)

so, finally, here's the first-day-of-school picture, with two smiling children -- in a little sideways hug just like they used to share on the halls of lacy.

liam (fourth grade) & susanna (third grade) -- in unplanned matching colors

what were we thinking?!

it was the great trifecta.  when we planned liam's 10th birthday party, three glorious aspects came together:

1)  the only time we could do it was the night we got home from being at the beach for a week. 
2)  he wanted to invite four of his soccer friends -- crazy, fun, high-energy 9-year old boys.
3)  he wanted to have a sleepover.

i'll repeat that again.  he wanted to have a sleepover with four crazy, fun, high-energy 9-year old boys.

in all seriousness, they had a great time.  they were well-behaved for the most part, and didn't damage the house too much.  (there was a moment when i stomped up the stairs at full volume at close to midnight, threatening to call their parents if i had to come up there again ... but we won't dwell on such matters.)

actions speak louder than words.  except, maybe for these words ...  i'll let the video below do the talking.

 we decided to have cake and ice cream at the house ... turned out to be a very wise move

this is honestly the only picture i could get of the group at the bowling alley.  but after several attempts, i gave up, since it turned out to be quite indicative of how the night went in general.  (from the left, it's max, sam, kaidan, liam, and braeden)

 much more subdued the next morning over a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, for some reason

we really did enjoy it, and, most importantly, liam loved every minute.  and hey, 10 is a big one; it's worth a bit more hoopla.

(which also means, my son, don't expect a sleepover like this any time soon.  xoxo)

bald head 2014

we enjoyed another vacation at bald head island with chris's parents last week, filled with several of the usual suspects (ping-pong and pool and beach, natch) and a few new additions to the entertainment mix.  the biggest improvement was the commute; susanna reminded us that our faulty GPS led us to the wrong port last year which resulted in us having to take two ferries.  so we relied on google maps this time around, and it was smooth sailing (pun intended).  as for the rest of the week, i'll just let the pictures (and lengthy captions) speak for themselves ...

"you know what i remember about last year's house?" susanna asked us as we boarded the boat to take us onto the island.  "i left a library book there and it always comes up on our overdue list when we go to check out more books."  five minutes after arriving , she comes running out of her room, cackling with laughter -- and holding the dadgum book

 liam brought his clubs and somehow coerced chris and chris's dad into taking him out to the driving range on two separate days.  he apparently sank a 40-foot putt on the practice green and drew several comments of admiration

susanna tried her hand at geocaching for the first time, and even got a super cool rainbow loom bracelet out of it.  i see other geocaching escapades in our future [full disclosure: chris hadn't brought anything with him to replace the bracelet.  so they wound up leaving a sports clips frequent customer card.  and it wasn't even close to getting a free haircut.]

pitting a nine-year old boy against a senior citizen in a game of twister wasn't exactly the most fair match-up ... but a fun way to pass the time on an overcast evening

one of the perennial highlights of BHI: golf carts as the primary mode of transportation

and yet another perennial highlight: ice cream, of course

... to murphy (-ish)

we were home from the beach barely long enough to do some laundry and buy some groceries, before heading down I-40 in the opposite direction to join the basses at their mountain house.  the surroundings gave the weekend a totally different vibe, but no matter which side of the state we happen to find ourselves, we always have an amazing time with them.

last week it was a turtle in the middle of the road; this week it's a fish that web caught ... but notice that susanna is always happy to post near the animal without having to touch it.  momma didn't raise no dummy

liam was the only mann to catch anything -- and it wriggled off the line before he could pull it all the way out.  and sadly, we have no photo proof of it.  which sort of goes along with what they say about fishermen anyway, right?

s'mores over a firepit on a cool mountain evening ... if there's a better dessert, i don't know it

after last year's tubing debacle, it took some convincing for liam to try it again ... but he did, and we had a blast.  here's our motley crew, minus the photographer bill, in a haphazard conglomeration of tubes, floats, and an unpictured kayak

our saturday evening hike was calm and peaceful ...

... until this happened.  (i did get through it, after i forced myself to stop laughing)

i have no idea what marshall was wishing for, but i'm pretty sure susanna's wish was that her mother not embarrass her by getting stuck in a fence ever again

our final afternoon took us up off the blue ridge parkway -- and for some reason, provides us with the only photos of liam.  (not quite sure how that happened)

yep, that's marshall and susanna again ... but only because we three opted to end our hike after the picnic lunch in the meadow, while the rest of the group retrieved the car

a liam sighting again!