Glass Still Half Full

Stomping Around

2012-02-03T22:13:00.004-06:00

After daycare and work today, Jellybean and I went stomping around the yard enjoying the last warm moments before the temperature dropped below freezing again. I love that her daycare has awesome outdoor playgrounds that she runs around in all afternoon, but it doesn't change the fun of adventures in our own yards.

Jellybean's absolute favorite yard game involves many trips back and forth across the rock retaining wall Husband built this summer.

Stepping across certain parts requires great 2-year-old focus.

But she's always so proud of herself when she makes it!

Did I say proud? I meant really proud!

Sweet girl!

And back we go again...

Back and forth, back and forth...

The game would probably continue each afternoon well into dark if she didn't eventually remember the other fun game at our house...

...bossing around the horses!

She likes to practice "No!" "Stop!" "Back!" on them, though clearly neither she nor they actually mind.

Yup, playing "horses" could also take us well into the night. Except that it never fails-- when we get this close to the barn, her world shatters. Completely. Irrevocably. Worthy of a march straight back up the hill to the house, forgetting all the joys of the outdoors.

What is this cataclysmic event??

Mud. Mud on her shoes.

Look at that face! It's only a taste of the abject horror experienced by said 2-year-old when her beloved shoes get dirty. (I knew there was some of me in her somewhere...)

We were on our march back up the hill today when Jellybean got sidetracked. Reigna, one of her favorite dogs, ran into one of the pastures and no matter how many times she yelled "Come!", Reigna wasn't returning.

Frustrated and upset that her dog was in the pasture, she debated her best course of action.

To touch the "hot" fence and go after "Nen-na"? Or listen when Mommy said don't touch. She stared a long time at that electric fence wire debating what to do.

(What was the responsible adult in charge of the toddler doing? Standing there snapping pictures and saying don't touch, but mostly snapping pictures. She lives on a farm. Someday she's going to touch the darn fence; at least if she did it tonight, the horses were a ways away & I would have gotten it on camera...)

Finally, immensely frustrated, she made a good choice and stomped off, leaving Reigna to her fate in the pasture and a clearer understanding of "hot fence" for another day.

Yeah, she's trying to look innocent now...

Finally we made it back up to the house and Reigna wandered out of the pasture, much to Pipsqueak's delight.

Proof of Life!

2012-01-29T20:34:00.001-06:00

It's been over a month since I last blogged! That's a long time, especially considering that Hubby is in Afghanistan and not getting nearly as many photos as I intended to share with him! So tonight, I'm posting just a few pictures I took about 20 minutes ago to show that we are still alive and well! (Of course, we do Skype regularly with him.)

This is Jellybean's very first cake pop, a treat I got her yesterday on our way home from Birmingham, except that she fell asleep between my ordering the dessert and actually getting it from the Starbuck's drive-thru. Thus, she gets to enjoy it tonight!

Say cheese...

... while trying to watch Beauty and the Beast.

Uh oh Momma... hand's dirty!

Clean please.

Now I can go back to cake and my movie.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-24T19:00:00.000-06:00

With Hubby overseas, I'm trying to get better at posting pictures so he can see them! With this spirit, I now bring you-- timely-- last night's Christmas Lights adventure!

At about 7 last evening all individuals somehow blood related to Sierra living within a 10 mile radius, plus a few extras, came to my parents' house. They live next to this cool neighborhood called Cindy Lane, where the community puts together a beautiful light display each year. (This isn't one of those big sponsored productions, but just a bunch of neighbors who get in the spirit of the season and bless the rest of the world.)

Although it was a chilly night, especially by California standards, we walked the couple of blocks, around the lines of cars, and watched in awe at the creativity and beauty of the light displays.

(The first two were from after I discovered a better way to take pictures of the lights...)

I was amazed by the number of nativity scenes and scriptures posted through the neighborhood!

Besides merely decorating their homes, the neighbors added extra fun touches to the evening... at this house, the owner dressed up as Frosty and greeted all the children!

At this house, the neighbor dressed as the Grinch. Which terrified Carson. So Allison asked the Grinch if he was scary...

The Grinch said yes. And so Carson refused to go near him.

The lights provided a great backdrop for a family picture: JM, Allison and the kids!

Where was my child? Bundled up in a stroller refusing to come out of the blanket to meet any of the characters. I was so glad my nephews wanted to take turns pushing the stroller.

Speaking of my nephews, here's all 5 of them in front of one house where the neighbor imported snow! This is Fresno... Where do you think snow comes from? The sky?

It was a long walk, but the whole family enjoyed the evening out and about.

After all, with houses like this... Who wouldn't?

Sierra's 2nd Birthday

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm on Christmas vacation, I'm trying to get caught up on some of the blogging I've been intending to do. However, most of the photography is at home on my external hard drive, so I'm working with what I have still on my camera card!

While we were in Birmingham for Thanksgiving, we threw Sierra her 2nd birthday party!

However, the Saturday of the birthday party also happened to be the Bama-Auburn game... thus the party took on the correct tones for any die-hard Bama fan celebration:

Having the experience of one whole birthday under her belt, she set to work unwrapping her gifts.

Slowly. Meticulously. Handing each piece of paper to someone as it was removed from the gifts. ...

Her first gift was a small car, something I picked up for her in Walmart to get through shopping one day, then decided to wrap after she'd already played with it for a day or two. We had to convince her to keep going.

Then came the Mr. Potato Head! I didn't even know she knew what it was! Nana and Papa scored big with this one!

The Boggs got her several Veggie Tales movies-- she refused to put them down, so Macee kindly helped her finish unwrapping her presents!

Her Grandnana and Pop-Pop got her the most beautiful outfits!!!

Check out the fluff on this Christmas Tree!

Next came Grandma and Grandpa's present-- a talking picnic basket!

She wanted to play with it now. Colton helped her get to her pieces!

Then she repaid Macee and Colton's kindness by making them play picnic with her!

She loved it!

Then it was time for cake! Grandnana got her a beautiful little cake from a bakery in Tuscaloosa... I don't think they even blinked at an Bama-themed birthday cake :)

We couldn't find any birthday candles (mommy-fail), so we used tea lights!

And ended the party with a rousing rendition of the birthday song, trying to convince the toddler to blow out candles, then devouring cake! All-in-all, it was a great birthday party!

Thanksgiving! (I'm a little late...)

2011-12-23T17:00:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late on this one, but there's simply been no time to blog since Hubby deployed to Afghanistan a few weeks ago. Because he's been gone, he wasn't able to be there for Jellybean's birthday party, so now I'm finally sharing the pictures from Jellybean and my trip to Birmingham.

I absolutely love the Thanksgiving holiday-- it's quickly become one of my favorites, especially in the last couple of years. While I wish I could say that it's moved up the list because I've become more thankful and all that, but I would be lying.

It's my 2nd favorite holiday now because I (with my family) drive down to Birmingham, AL to my Aunt Heidi's house. Once we're there, I'm put to work in the kitchen. We laugh, bake, laugh, cook, laugh the entire day, then my Nana (Sierra's Grandnana) comes and we start the process over again. It's my childhood all over again.

Holidays my entire childhood were spent at my Nana & Granddad's house with my Aunt Heidi, Uncle Erick and their kids. These people were the essential ingredients to every major life event: my parents, siblings, the Boggs family and Nana & Granddad. Others came and went as time/budgets allowed. But always these were present my entire life. Then, seven years ago, I moved to the South while all of my entire family (except one aunt) still lived in California.

Three years ago, most of these precious people made a major life change and moved to Birmingham, AL-- only 2 hours from where I live now! While we continued to spend Christmas together while I was away, I had desperately missed spending the "smaller" holidays with them. It's an amazing, amazing feeling for me to be back with them each Thanksgiving and to share with my daughter the warmth and laughter that comes from being together with the extended family.

Also, the food pretty much rocks. The Fraysier girls can cook.

Sierra adores my youngest cousins, which gave her Mommy a wonderful break!

Toddler Entertainment

2011-12-23T08:53:00.000-06:00

On the 21st, Jellybean and I flew from Tennessee to California via layovers in Texas and Arizona... It was a very long travel day made much easier by two Christmas Veggie Tales movies downloaded on my Kindle Fire!

My traveling Super-Toddler:

Hubby & I

2011-11-16T17:58:00.001-06:00

Since I'm home with a sick baby, I'm taking some time to edit pictures from my mom's recent trip out here. Regretfully, I have yet to edit any of the ones with her in them. However, she kindly took some pictures of Hubby and I leaving for our first real date in ~~weeks~~ ~~months~~ years.

Yeah, he's pretty cute... and I'm still day-glow white.

A Sweet Halloween

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!! Okay, so I'm a little late...

Coincidentally, I happen to be blogging very late at night after a couple of very stressful weeks, so I'm going to keep my commentary to a minimum. My kind of minimum.

This year we dressed Jellybean up as a Fairy Princess. The outfit is gorgeous, though it lost a little flair when the temperatures finally plummeted, requiring a long sleeve t-shirt underneath. Nevertheless, I loved the costume. Jellybean did not. But seeing as she's not even 2 yet, I won.

I think it was a little itchy, so the t-shirt helped with that too.

Here's our whole trick-or-treating group this year... I struggled to get a pic with all of them looking!

See the little green thing in Caleb's lap? It's little Miss Hadley Rose dressed as a sweet pea!!

By the time we got all the adults corralled, it was way past dark. Hubby and I weren't sure what Jellybean would think, but she started out intrepid.

It didn't take long for her to find her Daddy though. They spent most of the night trick-or-treating together.

A couple of times she got brave....

... but usually reverted back to some form of the buddy system! (I love this pic because Katie, the smallest of the cheer squad, has always been one of our youngest trick-or-treaters. This year, she helped Sierra since she's the expert now!)

After making it around my brother-in-law's neighborhood, the kids sifted through their loot!

My Pipsqueak had a blast taking all the candy out of her pumpkin, then putting it back in. She had no idea it was candy.

Even Nana Ja tried to help her see she had some M&Ms, but Sierra just wasn't familiar with them in the packaging.

Finally, she settled down with Daddy, who had been traveling for several days prior to that night.

Eventually, as the sugar kicked in (not for Princess, as she never figured out that she had any candy and we certainly didn't tell her), the kids went up to the playroom. There, she and Carson rotated on a little toy rocking horse Hubby's grandfather made for him when he was only a little older than Princess.

It was a fitting end to a fun night.

*Side note: It took an entire week before she discovered that it was candy in the pumpkin...

Decorating Cupcakes!

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Hubby and I were looking for a little inexpensive fun thing to do with just the three of us. He's traveling a lot for work these days, so when he's home, we're making a more conscious effort to do "memory making" kinds of things... though the memories are more ours than Jellybean's since she's not yet 2.

Our recipe for fun on Saturday? Cupcake decorating!

Step 1: Bake lemon cupcakes from a regular box mix. The fun part is the icing, not the cupcake. Then whip up some buttercream icing.

Step 2: Play with food coloring until you get coordinated colors, especially important when we're just going to be mixing them all up anyway.

Step 3: Realize that you have a toddler decorating with dyed frosting and remove any stainable garments.

Step 4: Establish a good base color on the cupcakes-- use plenty of frosting!

Step 5: Taste. You would hate to finish decorating the cupcakes and realize they were just awful.

Step 6: Decorate!! Now, some of you may not be artists like Hubby, so it's okay to ask for help from your nearest qualified person.

Step 7: Taste again. You would really hate for them to be over-dyed.

Step 8: Have lots of fun!

Step 9: Taste again. Just in case.

Step 10: Work your way through all the cupcakes... this is when more may be less, a lot less depending on how much tasting you actually did.

Step 11: Enjoy looking at your final product... until you enjoy eating it.

*Don't ask me to tell who did which of these. It may be difficult to differentiate between mine and Sierra's...

Buttercream Frosting Recipe We Used

1/2 cup          solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup          (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 tsp          clear vanilla extract
4     cups        sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2     Tbs         milk

1. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add
vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium
speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed
in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and
fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

2. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.
Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks.
Rewhip before using.

Book Review: Attracted to Fire

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Title: Attracted to Fire

Author: DiAnn Mills

Publication Date: September 16, 2011

Genre: Christian Romance/Suspense

Version Read: Paperback

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Secret service agent Meghan Connors lands a spot guarding the VP's drug-adict daughter-- a difficult promotion made more complicated by the agent-in-charge, Ash Zinders, who hates having women on his team. Guarding Lindsey Hall during her newest rehab attempt on a large ranch in Texas should bore the agents, but threats against Lindsey mount to murder. Can Meghan and Ash put aside their mutual animosity to save a troubled young woman?

Reaction:

I have to admit that I have a penchant for picking up books that center on armed forces of any kind (thus my very early addiction to Dee Henderson)-- I selected this novel knowing I would be partial to it because it centers on the secret service, a branch I haven't seen many Christian fiction writers tackle.

The plot line to Attracted to Fire was fairly predictable, especially if you're pretty familiar with this sub-genre already. At times it was almost annoying that the characters didn't solve some of the most basic parts earlier in the novel. While the plot lacked some on true suspense, it still kept a great pace with interesting anecdotes and side stories. I stayed up late two (work!) nights reading the book from start to finish, so it definitely wasn't boring.

The true interest of this novel lies in the character development. While the character Ash Zinders (AtoZ) was a little flat, the characters of Meghan and Lindsey were fascinating. The novel's primary side story swirled around what makes a wealthy, beautiful person with all the advantages in life turn to drugs-- a story so relevant to the modern world. Then it tackles the question of how do you help such a person-- the relationship developed, and its contrast in the relationships of other characters, really drove this novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's a sub-genre fan like me, or to anyone interested in exploring the character of Lindsey Hall and the people placed around her to guard, even save, her.

I received this novel free from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. as part of the books for bloggers program. They have in no way influenced my review of this book; I am not required to give a positive review, if one was given.

The Wild West-- Clanton Style (Part II)

2011-10-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Going back to about a week ago, my nephews (and their father) came by for a visit involving plastic pistols and real horses-- it was one of those spontaneous afternoons that reminds Hubby and I how blessed we are.

THE BABIES RIDE!

After Caleb took his turn riding Stick, the toddlers were anxious for their turns. Actually, they were anxious from the moment someone mentioned horses. And by they, I mean Carson.

The kid is FEARLESS-- and he thinks horses are about the coolest things ever. It was killing him to wait for Caleb's turn.

A few watchwords from Dad, and Carson was off to his turn.

No one has to give Carson directions on a horse-- he's watched John Wayne very carefully!

The kid took his riding seriously-- this was real stuff. John Wayne doesn't grin silly, so neither did Carson.

But don't you even suggest him getting off the horse-- he was loving it!

Then Uncle Cress made the horse go backwards, and the Carson couldn't believe it!

Once Carson was done riding, Jellybean took her turn. Never could there be two more opposite toddler-riders. While Carson took his job quite seriously, PipSqueak acted more like she was at an amusement park!

She is definitely her daddy's girl!

I think her daddy was pretty proud...

Finally, there was a quick "thank you" pat-pat for Stick, and it was the next baby's turn.

What other baby, you may ask? There's only 2 toddlers with you in TN? ... And you would be entirely correct.

But there's also a real baby.

The kind that still lets you cuddle without complaint. The kind with rolls that squishes the smell of Johnson & Johnson soap.

... And now the smell of hay and leather.

Yes, we took the baby-baby Hadley Rose out on her first ride! No, she wasn't just sitting there for a picture or two. She actually went out on a ride.

(My Dear Sis-in-Law, if you're reading this, you may want to close your eyes now.)

The little cutie just didn't take her eyes off her uncle the whole time.

To make Sis-in-Law feel a little better: the men were very aware of their precious cargo!

While Hadley finished her ride, I tried to get pics of all the older kids again. This was the closest I could come to the shot I wanted.

And finally all my favorite cowboys and cowgirls....

The Wild West-- Clanton Style

2011-10-07T06:00:00.013-05:00

I have two amazing nephews living in TN with us, but they're a little different. While most 2- & 5-year-olds watch Disney or Dora, these boys beg and plead to watch John Wayne.

They love John Wayne.

They want to be John Wayne.

So it was of little surprise (and great fun!) when they came by with their dad last week and brought Jellybean a present.

A little pink-handled pistol with a pink holster.

Yes, my almost-2-year-old girl now has a gun of her own, and she LOVES it!

Did I mention she adores her cousins and tries to emulate what they do? Down to their shooting style.

For some reason, the two little ones believe in "shooting" the adults by holding the guns up over their heads to fire. It's pretty darn cute with the "chu, chu" sound effects.

After running around the yard a little, we decided to run a horse around the pen.

Caleb quickly volunteered to assist Uncle Cress in getting Stick ready to ride. Seriously, he looks like such a little cowboy!

Hubby then warmed up the horse for us.

Hubby riding. I love this.

The kids all watched him ride, and each other later, from the top of the round pen wall-- the 8-foot round pen wall. That they scale up and down to get in when playing and horses aren't moving. Crazy.

I was going for a really sweet pic here of all the kids, but my Jellybean kept scratching her face. Oh well.

Caleb's the first kid to ride-- while he has been on horseback since he was 2, he's recently developed a nervous streak. The men wanted him back on to get used to it again.

Oh, don't think the guns were gone. My little girl decided to go big game hunting!

After riding a while, Caleb & Cress sat down for a chat.

Then up Caleb went, this time braving it without his uncle leading the way.

He looked great up there! Can you believe he's only 5?

That's one proud uncle behind him!

Thanking the horse...

Caleb got some last direction...

Then it was off to his very proud father for the dismount.

Findng M & M s

2011-10-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Guess who found my M&M hiding place?

N-Grams...

2011-10-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Check out this really cool video from one of my favorite websites: TED.com.

We had nerd day at school last week. This video should have won. (If the video was a teenager dressed up as a nerd, that is.)

Book Review: Lion of Babylon

2011-10-02T06:00:00.015-05:00

Title: Lion of Babylon

Author: Davis Bunn

Publication Date: July 1, 2011

Genre: Christian Suspense

Version Read: Paperback

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

After the loss of his job and death of his wife, intelligence agent Marc Royce wonders what greater purpose he has left to serve. When his best friend goes missing from the Green Zone in Iraq, Marc's former employer hires him back to ask questions. Working with an Iraqi lawyer, a Shia cleric, a CIA operative and a host of representatives from the tumultuous Middle Eastern political schisms, Marc learns that only asking the right questions of others and of God can save his friend and his faith.

Reaction:

I chose this book because it's distinctly different from the vast majority of works that I read (i.e. it's not a love story). The book started a little slow for what I expected of a suspense novel-- the pace due largely to great early character development. It took me about 4 busy weeks to read the first half of the novel; it took me about 4 hours to finish the second half.

While the fictional story line itself is an interesting take on working through political subterfuge, the true power of this novel lies in its insight into the religious issues at the heart of Middle Eastern politics. The Lion of Babylon explains the diverse factions and the mentalities of their supporters; Mr. Bunn uses Marc Royce to show how Americans need to change their thinking if they really want to make a positive impact in the region.

I would definitely recommend this novel both for its merit as well-told fiction and as a vehicle for greater understanding about the divisions within Iraq. I'm pushing my husband, who spent 22 months in some of the Iraqi places and times mentioned in the book, to read it also, and I may update this review after getting his input as to its authenticity.

I received this novel free from Bethany House Publishers as part of the books for bloggers program. They have in no way influenced my review of this book; I am not required to give a positive review, if one was given.

Fall Fun, Part 2

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

My dear, tired computer kept overheating while trying to post last weekend's photos, so here's the rest of my Sunday afternoon chasing pups with Jellybean.

Looking at her through the lens of a camera, I can't believe how big she's become. She may not be a baby anymore, but she's still the happiest thing I know.

These blue eyes kill me.

Sunday, I learned that capturing Toddler Sierra means capturing the sweet,

the shy,

the curious,

the bossy,

and the silly sides of one fantastic little girl.

22 months and full of personality....

Fall Fun

2011-09-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Just a few fun photos from this weekend.

I don't know whose kid this is cuz mine can't be this old.

22 months and she's already a pack leader.

That's her father's tough gene.

Both little ones are getting big! (I know I said we were getting rid of the puppies, but Hubby and I have both been too soft to actually do it yet.)

Now this smile-- this smile only belongs to one little girl!

Hanging out with the Grandparents

2011-09-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, Mike and Catherine came out for about 10 days: these days blurred by between laying new hardwood floors in JM and Allison's house, running around with kids, and still having to work. Regretfully, most days I forgot my camera at my house, so I only have a few photos of the trip.

To be specific, I only remembered my camera twice. More specifically, those two times were at night. Even more specifically, I'm not a very good photographer, especially at night. And there's only so much Picasa can do with what I get.

Which is why I"ve been a little reluctant to work on these photos.

The first night I remembered my camera, Catherine took Caleb and Sierra out to the swing set the guys built on the last trip the Clantons took out here... it's one of Sierra's favorite places as I'm pretty sure she would even sleep in the swings if we let her.

While I snapped pics, Catherine kept both swings going!

Caleb can get himself going up really high now! It was scaring me!!

Sierra wanted to keep pace with her big cousin-- and squealed in delight when she got going up high too. That really scared me!

Both kids had a blast with their Grandma!

After swings, I came in to snuggle with my favorite new niece! She's just the right size for squishing and hasn't learned "NO!" yet, like all the other munchkins in the house.

She has learned to stick out her tongue at her aunt though.

The next night, I snagged a few of Grandpa with his TN boys!

What a handsome group!!

Grandma paused in making us all dinner to smile with all three of JM's kids!

At which point I stole Hadley Rose again.

She may hate the camera's flash already....

... but she hasn't learned to run! :)

In all, we had an awesome time with Mike and Catherine, and we can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

First Football Game of the Season!

2011-09-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Last night, the family headed out to the first high school football game of our season.

Although MCHS has played a few times already, this was the first we attended... mostly because it was teacher appreciation night and, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to be escorted by a nice football player who I didn't know and couldn't find later to tell him I changed my mind about going.

So we went.

It was a "White Out" game-- something pretty difficult in our house. I don't know about you, but as soon as I realized how messy kids are, I stopped purchasing anything in white, beige or other similar stain-attracting colors.

I had to pull out a Christmas shirt for myself. Hubby had to wear an old beige cowboy shirt. But Sierra had been blessed earlier this week with the cutest Alabama outfit, including a white top!

(I did try to stop this...)

She survived.

On another note-- here's Boy Puppy and Girl Puppy, Zee's litter from this summer.

This will also be the last time you see either of them, as Husband is out finding them new homes while I type this.

Familia Cum Laude!

2011-08-24T06:00:00.002-05:00

Just a quick life update:

I realize that while the primary purpose of this blog is to keep my parents, siblings, grandmother, aunts, uncles, etc. up-to-date with my life, a few others of you are also graciously following the random family news posted here.

For that reason, let me give you a quick update of life in the Clanton house, Culleoka, TN.

Husband:

Exactly a week and a half ago, Husband successfully completed is B.A. in History with a minor in Geography from MTSU!!!

Ever since he got out of the Army in 2006, he's been working diligently on his degree while trying to work as much as possible-- all of his hard work has paid off and he's officially a college graduate, proving that he really is both handsome and brilliant! :)

Jellybean:

With Daddy finishing summer school, then working, and Mommy's school year starting again, Jellybean had to make a major change as well: Day Care. While we looked at other options, Husband and I settled on a daycare 1/2 a mile down the street from my school; we had heard good things about it, and, as a full daycare facility that handles more than 40 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years, we felt confident that it had too much of a reputation at stake to become one of those horror stories people can't resist telling you as soon as they hear you're considering daycare. (Those very well-intentioned stories traumatized me, making me chalk daycare up as a four-letter word before visiting this one!)

Little Tikes has the flexibility we needed with the accountability measures we required. Since it's literally right down the street from my school, I can pop in whenever I have a chance; the teacher-student ratio is fantastic. Jellybean's class has 8 toddlers 12 month - 2.5 yrs with 2 teachers! One of her teachers has been doing this at this school for nearly 10 years and still smiles every morning and afternoon-- definitely a great sign.

So far Jellybean absolutely LOVES school. Loves it. Loves it. Loves it. She does a happy dance in the car as soon as we pull into the parking lot! She's never fussed at being left; and while excited to see me in the afternoon, she's never been upset when I get there. They've taught her to nap on a little kindergarten pad (a feat for a child who always sleeps in a crib), to sleep without a bottle first, and a bunch of new words and skills. All of this made it a lot easier on her Mommy, who was having a much harder time with the concept.

Me:

I keep mentioning my school, and if you live in Columbia, you may be confused. But one of the biggest changes in our world centers on my job. The day I was leaving for my California trip, I was offered a position as a full-time Latin teacher at Marshall County High School in Lewisburg, TN. I accepted the job and have since been adjusting to life as a public school teacher.

While I absolutely loved my job at Columbia Academy and certainly will miss tremendously my students and colleagues, Husband and I believe this change was the best decision for our family at this point in time.

Since then, I've been studying and preparing-- I'm teaching Latin! I absolutely love the subject, but I've been out of it since graduation in 2007. But since I'm teaching nothing but Latin 1 this semester, I've been able to adjust at my own pace.

Well, these are the biggest changes in the Clanton household-- and hopefully they'll be the last major life changes for a few weeks at least! Back to fun posts involving Jellybean and the summer activities I haven't blogged about yet!

California Vacation: Swings!!!

2011-08-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Each night of our recent trip to California, the family packed up and walked to the park near my parents' house to play on the swings and the slides. It was Sierra's first time to play on the swings, since we don't have any near us-- she loved them. Each night I had to remove her from the swings kicking and screaming, even after she was falling asleep in them!

The walks to the park were half the fun-- a nice ending after great dinners!

While Sierra played on the slides some, she loved the swings!

Swing, swing with Nana Ja and Papa!

Aunt Ash and Papa guard the stroller for a little bit, before taking their turns in the swing-pushing rotation! We all had to rotate as the kid was planning to swing all night long.

Yay!

Um, yeah. That's what joy looks like. Pure, unadulterated JOY.

Serious coordination... giving Nana Ja a high-five mid-swing!

It wasn't just Nana Ja and Papa-- Grandpa and Grandma got suckered into the swing rotation too! It gave us all a great chance to chat.

Sierra absolutely loved having all her grandparents together!

Oh look, we convinced her to play on the slides for a few minutes.

Just a few minutes before we went back to the swings. This time it was Papa's turn.

Papa pushed Sierra's swing higher than anyone else, which made him one of her favorite swing-pushers!

Grandpa was on the other end playing fun games, including holding her in mid-swing, which cracked her up to no end.

It also made the grandmothers laugh!

Grandpa takes his turn as the primary swing-pusher!

After we were all burned out on swinging, except Jellybean of course, Grandpa tried to convince her that the slides were fun too.

Oh look! It worked!!

We got her to the slides (did I mention this was nightly thing?!).

Adventuresome girl wanted to go up the slides and down the stairs. :)

It was pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Oh wait, back to the slides...

California Vacation!

2011-08-20T20:30:00.005-05:00

The sun was blazing, the humidity sweltering, the cicadas decomposing, and Sierra and I packed up and went to California to visit all her grandparents! The month of July was redolent with changes in our lives, but the first was a temporary change of scenery.

Visiting my parents also means visiting with Aunt Ashy and Uncle Josh! It also meant visiting Pebbles-- and Sierra loved Miss Pebbles doggy bed, which meant Miss Pebbles was less than enamored by Sierra.

So sometimes Aunt Ashy intervened so Sierra could love on Pebbles.

Jellybean loved all the room to ride around in the living room/dining room area.

Mommy loved the pool and used Jellybean as an excuse to get in often!

We had tried Sierra in the pool back in May, and she hated it. So I bought a little kiddie pool when we got back to TN and we practiced; I wasn't sure what she'd think of it this time.

She LOVED it!!!

She also loved riding around on the float, wearing her hat of course. Jellybean does love her accessories.

I just love this picture.

Actually I just love this kid.

Look Mom, I'm starting to post the pictures! Only a month late!

4th of July

2011-07-12T05:00:00.001-05:00

I've been holding these pictures for a week thinking I might do some extra "work" to them. But since I'm clearly getting behind (I still haven't posted pics from our beach trip 2 weeks ago), I can't afford to hold on to them any longer. So with virtually no editing, here's our 4th of July family evening!

As I may have mentioned, I have a ridiculously adorable new niece... and at only a little more than 5 lbs, she's so TINY!

I needed something to scale how small she really is-- and I'm working on teaching her accessorizing early.

Look at big brother holding his new little sister. He's so good with her!

I promise he wasn't giving her mouth-to-mouth... he was going in for a kiss, but I didn't quite get it. But since the sentiment was there, I'm thinking it's still cute.

What a face!!

Uncle Cress got to hold Hadley Rose for the first time!

She's already captured all our hearts.

Look at those eyes... they're pretty rarely open.

Brothers with their daughters!

Happy daughters!

Next, we tried to get a Clanton family pic... lovely!

Carson's expression: priceless!!

I love getting pics when they're shifting around. Carson was watching John Wayne on the T.V., but still smiling. Allison realized I was still snapping pics; Caleb stopped to kiss Hadley, while JM was trying to move her so we could see her face.

The whole, complete, family.

Except for Sierra... she loves her cousins and aunt and uncle so much that she wanted to be part of the family picture.

So Hubby jumped in too!

In case you forgot, this was about the 4th of July. Sort of. In the way that it's about a holiday anytime there's a brand new baby in the family.

We did have fireworks! Lots of fireworks! Hubby went to the fireworks tent by himself... no adult supervision.

We began with a few fireworks, then sparklers for Caleb. Carson got scared and went back up. I helped Sierra do hers.

Caleb showed Jellybean how to make fun shapes with the smoke.

Meanwhile, Hubby set off some really big fireworks in the back pasture.

Caleb helped a little... very little... none of us were interested in an ER run.

Hubby did an awesome job with the big fireworks display, but my fireworks-photography skills stink.

All-in-all it was a pretty fun fourth!

Happy Anniversary, Hubby!

2011-07-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Seven years ago today, Hubby and I said our vows in a small ceremony in his parents' backyard in California! It's hard to believe it was so long ago...

(I'm really not sure why most of our wedding pictures are in black and white. I think the photographer was on a b&w kick.)

I had just finished my freshman year of college, and he was preparing to leave on his second tour to Iraq. We were young, spontaneous, and a little crazy...

... And completely, madly in love. You are still my best friend, Hubby.

Sierra's First Beach Trip

2011-07-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, Sierra, Husband and I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting Grandnana and Pop-Pop's beach house in Gulf Shores with Aunty Heidi, Uncle Erick, Macee and Colton.

I have more pictures coming of the trip, but with the surprise arrival of Hadley Rose, I've been a little distracted.

To satisfy Nana Ja and Papa, I'm posting a video I took on my Android phone of Sierra playing on the beach in front of the beach house. I waited until the crying, screaming, and flamingo impressions were mostly over before trying this; however, you will notice that the child continued to walk on her tip toes as much as she possibly could!

Welcoming Hadley Rose Clanton

2011-07-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Four weeks before her expected arrival date, at 4:11 yesterday afternoon, Hadley Rose Clanton proved she's eager to greet life head-on-- At only 5 lbs 4 oz and 18 inches long, my new (and only) niece surprised us all by coming a whole month early. Clearly, the beautiful baby was ready to meet her loving parents, brothers, and massive extended family!

The sweet little baby slept most of the time we were there to visit, despite the ruckus caused by Jellybean and her cousins. I'm afraid Baby Hadley will have to acclimate pretty fast to a little chaos with two older brothers!

It was after taking these pictures that I told Husband we are sooooo not done with having babies. He said he knew he should have left me in the car.

Look how tiny she is! That's a regular 12 oz soda can!

While my b-in-law was holding his new daughter, Biggest Brother Caleb got some hugging time with Mom (who absolutely does not look like she just finished 13 hours of labor!).

I'm really not sure of the time sequence on these pictures, but clearly Mommy Allison got her new baby right back where she belongs...

Yup, still an absolutely adorable baby.

With a name like Hadley Rose who could resist bringing her a few baby pink roses? But look how tiny she is! I still can't get over it. Her head is almost as small as the roses!

The first set of daddy-holding pictures didn't really turn out, as I apparently was a little focused on the baby only. But I love this one of JM helping Biggest Brother Caleb to see his little sis.

Here we were going for a sweet picture for the Clanton grandparents who are still in California-- the two brothers with their two daughters (the only little girls in the fam). We tried a few more takes...

... but most looked something like this. (By the way, Jellybean giggled when she saw this picture... Her cousin Caleb makes her laugh ALWAYS.)

In case you're wondering, Bigger Brother Carson is not pictured because he was still taking a nap at home with the Travis grandparents. He arrived shortly before we left.

Since no one expected Baby Hadley yet, most of her family wasn't able to come. The California and Phoenix fam from the Clanton side weren't able to swing plane tickets that fast, and the Segadi's from the Travis side were in Florida on vacation. But Allison's other sis-in-law on her side, BethAnne, was able to be there most of the day.

I absolutely love this pic of Aunt BethAnne with Baby Hadley.

Yup, I got to hold her too! I wasn't sure I could give her back...

Look... you really need to grasp how small she is... see how tiny her little hand is on my finger?!

Finally, they took Hadley Rose to get a bath and run some tests, which was when Bigger Brother Carson joined the gang. It didn't take long until all the older Clantons were telling Mommy Allison how great she did with Baby Hadley!

Hadley Rose, welcome to our family! You were loved the moment we knew you existed-- you're loved even more now that we've met you. Sometimes God speaks his enormous love in tiny ways, and you are one of these amazing messages. Welcome.

Cooling Off

2011-06-13T05:00:00.003-05:00

When the temperatures soar, most people head for the beach, a swimming pool, or simply the A/C at home. Not me. I headed for the salon.

That's because, until Saturday, I had really long hair. Not anymore.

Before: Front View

After: Front View

Before: Back View

After: Back View

After: Side View

All done, my stylist said she cut about 20" of length.

This is definitely the shortest I've ever had my hair, but it feels amazing in this heat!