The Star of the Show

Well, at least in mommy's eyes. Erin had her first real role in a play this weekend. The fall show was Tom Sawyer. Like most of the fall shows recently it was a musical with lots of great songs and just a bunch of fun. Erin started out as "Girl Number 5" and even had 2 lines. By performance time she'd lost the lines (which is really OK, we couldn't count on her to say them) but gotten a name in the program.

"Lucy White - Erin Wallace"

She had such a fun time with the shows. Her group had parts of 3 songs to learn with little dance moves involved. They also had a little part where they got to play "Ring Around the Rosie". Erin will tell you her favorite part was playing "Ring around the Rosie" or singing the "Ring that Bell" song or the "Part of Being a Kid" song -- especially the frog in a box line. She had an adorable orange costume with a bonnet that just made you want to eat her up. She was clearly the smallest and youngest one on stage and sometimes got a little lost among the bigger kids (I mean, wow, 5-year olds these days seem soooo big). Still she had a blast with it.

Of course every 3-year old has their on-stage moments. The first show she saw her Noni and Oma and when Erin first came on stage she gave them a little wave. OK - that was cute. Apparently she wasn't sure that they saw her, because for her second scene she shouted "Oma, Noni, Jeffrey - Hi". I was standing next to her and must have turned a lovely shade of purple to match my own orange costume. If she got bored or a little lost she always resorted to putting her thumb in her mouth, but would take it out when she was supposed to sing her songs at least.

I'm so glad she enjoyed it. If you look closely in the pictures here she's the bright orange one. Thank goodness she looked like a little pumpkin because it certainly made her stand out on stage and much easier to get pictures of. I think Erin really got a lot out of being in the show. We had to learn new songs and dances together. It was a good experience for her to sit and listen to instruction from someone other than me. She made some great friends too. So the spring show is Bye Bye Birdie - we'll see if she decides she wants to do that. I certainly hope so, because she was just so darn cute in this part.

18 Months Ago

18 Months ago Jeffrey was this adorable and cuddly tiny baby. The spitting up was still a few days to come. He was simply precious. Today....

...he is a complete and total WILD MAN. Jeffrey is now officially 18 months old. He had his Pediatritians appointment yesterday and came away with a great report. Dr. says he looks great, loves how verbal he seems (although he didn't want to talk to her much) and how clearly physical he was. She says he's long and lean (which we had figured out already). He's 33 3/4"tall (90%) and 25 lbs (30%). That may actually put him above his sister in weight. I haven't thrown her on a scale recently.

He is still into absolutely everything. Loves to Eat. Goes up and down the stairs without thought. Sings his ABC's (kind of). Talks back to Dora and Little Einsteins. Climbs on top of the couch. Helps empty the dishwasher. Jumps off the bottom step. Reads stories. Builds towers and so much more.

Here are some pictures to show how big our little man is getting.

6 Months Old


1 Year Old


18 Months!!

We're off to See the Wizard

Well, Dorothy and the Scarecrow took center stage yesterday. Erin wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween (Ruby Slippers and all) and decided that Jeffrey was going to be the Scarecrow. Noni made their costumes and they came out simply adorable. Erin was so excited all day yesterday to be dressed up as Dorothy. Jeffrey less enthused about the Scarecrow, but he did well and really didn't fuss unless you were in the process of putting the costume on him.

Last Thursday was the Halloween Party at one of our shopping centers. They had Trick-or-Treating at the stores and a costume contest. The kids wore their costumes and walked hand-in-hand to the stores. Erin even sang her "Off to See the Wizard" song a couple of times. Jeffrey did a really good job of staying with us too, which amazed me. They were adorable at the costume contest putting on their biggest smiles for the judges (and Jeffrey being his usual hammy self tried to throw Toto into the fountain right in the middle of it). Erin was so excited when they announced that they had won Best Team Costume. They each got a goody bag full of games and toys. Thankfully it all ended when it did because Jeffrey only went downhill from nearly throwing Toto into the fountain and ended the morning collapsed in a heap perfectly befitting the Scarecrow he was.

Tom took part of the day off on Halloween and we went for a drive up in the mountains. A lot of the color has passed but there are still some patches of beautiful color. The kids wore their Halloween T-shirts. Erin's said "Ghoul Power" and Jeffrey's, "Little Wild Man". Alas, Jeffrey spent the entire drive sleeping in his seat, but since we had a busy night ahead we let him sleep. Erin enjoyed getting out and walking around and climbing on some of the rocks. I'm so glad that she loves to be outside as much as she does.

We decided, because it was so beautiful, that we'd take kids to the University Lawn for Trick-or-Treating. Apparently, so did every other family in town. It was completely mobbed. Erin did good, but Jeffrey got a little overwhelmed. He spent most of the time obsessed with his candy bucket and getting as much candy into his mouth as he could without us noticing. Such a major difference between the two of them. Erin's first real Halloween, when she was Jeffrey's age she didn't know what to do with the candy and was just as interested in giving it to other people as eating it for herself. Not little crazy man, he figured out what to do right away.

So many people commented on their costumes and how cute they were. Even complete strangers were asking to take their picture and the media that was there also seemed to find them. One of the students who was dressed as Dorothy came up and asked Erin if she could get their picture together and Erin was so excited. The comments about how cute they were just kept coming - Great costumes Noni.

The kids has the best time when they found a corner with a big pile of leaves and just started playing in them. Erin would throw them up to the sky and Jeffrey would run around and fall down - just like the Scarecrow should. It was a priceless moment to realize how fun a pile of leaves can really be. Then Erin decided she wanted to Trick-or-Treat a little more. She took Aunt Margaret (who ventured out to come see the cutie-pies) to a couple of stops along the Lawn. Erin ended up with quite a haul of candy.

We ended the evening and the same place we spent last Halloween. Sid had a Haunted Maze set up in his back yard. Erin was hesitant at first, but decided it was pretty cool and even took daddy for a tour of it. We let her Trick-or-Treat a little along the street. She would walk up to a house and knock quietly on the door. Then she'd should "Trick-or-Treat" and hold out her basket. Most of the time she'd remember to say thank you. Then she'd say "Happy Halloween" and turn to look at Tom and I and say -- "Next House Now". HAHA she had it down to a pattern -- "Thank You. Happy Halloween. Next House Now." Jeff walked for a little with us but mostly got carried. Not because he was too tired to walk, but because he was trying to grab handfuls of candy from the bowl and was simply being his crazy self.

Back at Sid's the kids played around outside some more. Erin danced around the lawn in her Ruby Slippers. They snacked on some candy and junk food until Jeffrey crashed. We all had such an awesome time just out having fun and being kids.

The Pictures Say it All

I couldn't resist picking up this shirt for Jeffrey at the store the other day. Can you guess why?




"I tried to be good but I got bored."



Perfect. Simply describes my little "Jack Jack" to a "T". The wild and crazy man who tries to be good but it just gets boring sometimes.

Gymnastics Class

Today was the last morning for this session of Gymnastics. It's been great, and Erin really still loves it. The class is much smaller, only about 7 regular kids there. Erin's friend Julianna signed up with us and they love to play together at class. Since the class is smaller they made it more structured -- which I love. There are two instructors - the same coach from the spring and Miss Kimmie who I suspect is a college student and is more of an assistant.


They begin the classes with a little free play in the big gym while everyone get there. Then they head back to the smaller room with all the equipment. Miss Kimmie leads the stretching exercises. Erin's got better each week about following what she was doing - stretching just doesn't have the flair that the bar does, so Erin found it a little boring.

Then they'd sit and work on skills on equipment. They'd walk on the beam forwards, sideways and even backwards. Erin LOVES the beam. The low one she'll do all by herself and she's getting more and more comfortable on the higher beam. High bar is still her favorite part - they do pull-ups and some swinging and what they call monkey walking down the bar (hanging straight and moving down the bar by sliding hands). Erin keeps really good form on the bar generally and is even supporting her own weight most of the time. She does have trouble with the monkey walking because her hands are still a little small I think.

Erin also loves to do the mat exercises. She works with coach really hard on her handstands (but with feet against the wall). She'll hold up for a solid 10-count. Making tables is still fun as well as back rolls, log rolls and forward rolls down the incline mat.

So we now have a two week break before the next class and then another 6-week session. I love to see her having so much fun and learning to listen to instruction and work on skills at the same time.

Pumpkin and Apple Weekend with Grandma W.

Grandma W. came down for a weekend visit and we decided to take her to one of our favorite places. It's an apple orchard on the top of a nearby mountain that has the best apples, apple donuts, apple cider and pumpkin selection around. We met some other frinds there and had a fun-filled morning.

While Erin and Tom went apple-picking with our friends, Grandma, Jeff and I played in the pumpkins. Sadly I didn't realize that the camera was not working very well and most of the pictures ended up pretty poor quality. Still Jeffrey had a BLAST climbing among the pumpkins, sitting on them, tryin to pick up ones that were heavier than he was. He just ran around like the wild man he usually is.

When Erin came back she played around looking for the perfect pumpkin while Tom got some snacks - Apple Pie for mommy, apple donuts for everyone else. Yummmy. Erin also enjoyed the fruits of her apple picking labors and munched down on a fresh juicy apple.

Afterwards we decided it would be fun if we all took a hayride. This was a blast. The view from the mountain is awesome. The day was soo clear we could see for miles and miles. And the hayride went some close to some of the trees we could almost pick the apples from the ride (but decided against it). The kids had fun throwing the hay around and filling Grandma's purse with hay. I think she's going to find bits of hay in her bag for a long time to come, but it was soo much fun she probably won't mind too much.

After the hayride we picked out some more apples. I got my favorites, Pink Ladies, for the kids and I to snack on. Tom got 2 big bags of Macs for making applesauce and 5 gallons of cider to try and make some "hard" cider at home with the beer-making supplies. we then spent the rest of the afternoon with our friends eating lots of great food while the kids played together.

Sunday continued the apple theme with Erin, Tom and Grandma making applesauce. Erin had lots of fun working the food mill to smush the apples into sauce. And of course she LOVES the results of her labor as does Jeffrey.

So we had a really fun weekend with Grandma and look forward to her next visit. Thanks for coming to play Grandma.

Compassion

So...this isn't as much about "the" kids as just some thoughts I've had recently and relating them to the kiddos. We were having a meeting at church the other night and decided that a good topic for Advent wreaths would be circling around compassion. We tossed around a few ideas, and someone said hey, Meghan can talk about what it's like to teach compassion to kids. I thought and thought about that. And as I was driving home I realized that I think there's no teaching involved in this.

Have you ever been in a room with several toddlers and preschoolers and one of them falls down and gets a bump. He/she starts crying and nearly every child in the room will run over to the other with hugs or whatever. That's compassion and nothing I've ever consciously taught Erin or Jeff. Even kids Jeff's age will do this. It's a beautiful thing to see.

And when did a simple kiss stop making it "all better?" The other day when I had a headache Erin came into the room, climbed up into the bed and kissed my forehead. She said, "I can make it all better mommy. Here let me kiss it." And you know what? My headache got better. Not totally gone, but certainly better. Because of the kiss and because of the compassion that was behind it.

And those little moments when mommy gets a peck on the cheek and an "I love you mommy," or a snuggle on the shoulder from Jeffrey. That's true compassion. It doesn't have to be given out only when someone is crying or in pain.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here but it's just been something on my mind. Of course I've always given hugs and kissed boo boos. I let them know I love them, but I've never "taught" them to act compassionately. I seems to just be in the blood of my simply beautiful children.

Look Out World

So Jeffrey's always been my wild man. He has very little common sense when it comes to dangerous feats of daring. He'll climb with Erin to the top of the slides that are meant for 5-year olds. He'll try to climb up the back of the couch. He'll stand on his riding toys because it's fun when they shift and he falls off. He'll climb ladders in order to get to a slide. He'll jump off the bottom step and sometimes think about it from the second one. And most recently, he'll come walking down the stairs, snack in hand, without a care in the world. What else is his big sister gonna teach him? And most of all, where has my little baby gone? He's been replaced by a wild man toddler. So, look out world here he comes.

From the Ocean to the Mountains

It was just the most beautiful September morning when we woke up today. We had to run into town to pick some things up and driving back I noticed how clear the mountains were. So I stopped at the house, picked up our park pass and the camera and took the kids up the mountain. It is simply gorgeous up there right now. Leaves aren't turning yet, but the way the sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds was amazing. The light also made for some perfect photo-taking opportunities. Hope you enjoy them.

Beaching Around... (warning picture overload)

Woah - That's Cool


It's official - we're a family of beach bums. We got another chance to spend a week at the beach with my family last week (unfortunately Tom was on travel and couldn't come along). We rented a cottage about 100 yards from the beach down on Emerald Isle in NC. Someone had recommended it to mom as a great beach for kids and I'm very familiar with that area as Tom and I honeymooned there and made it our special getaway place each year after that (although we hadn't been back since Erin was born.)

The cottage was adorable with a big porch with rocking chairs, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and dining/living area. And best of all it was right across the street from the public beach access at the point of Emerald Isle. The beach was wonderful - the water in the 80s. During high tide the waves crashed all the way against the bluffs leaving very little beach but low tide made for a great wide beach with gently rolling waves and the ability to walk out pretty far into the surf if you wanted. Both Erin and Jeff fell in love with the ocean pretty quickly. Jeffrey ran right into it the first he saw it. He made little games out of throwing shells (and buckets and his hat...) into the surf. Erin preferred to stand in the waves with a firm grip on Oma's hand or to sit on the sand and let the waves come up over her lap. Every morning Erin would wake up and ask when we were going to go play in the ocean. We took a special trip one day out to Bear Island and pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves. There were tons of shells that made for great shelling (we even found one 'almost' whole sand dollar).

We did some other things besides playing at the beach. One afternoon the ladies all went mini-golfing. It was Erin's first time mini-golfing and she had an absolute blast. Another day we took a trip to the NC Aquarium on the island. It recently re-opened and is amazing. There are some huge tanks and several touch tanks. Erin sat through a presentation on alligators and even volunteered to help out by pulling a measuring tape to represent how long a crocodile can be. When it was all over she even got to pet a live alligator. After the aquarium we all went to Ft. Macon, a Civil War era fort at the tip of the isle. Jeffrey loved running around the interior of the fort and exploring the cannons and empty rooms. Erin thought it made a great place to play hide-and-seek.

But mostly we spent our days playing in the ocean. Picking up seashells. Digging in the sand. Making dribble castles. Getting pink cheeks and brown backs. And most of all spending time with family (but sad to miss daddy) just having fun.


Turner's Corner - Our Home for the Week


Scooping the Waves


Bucket Brigade


Splash Splash


Sleepy Boy


Hello in There


Mini-Golfing Pro

Stepping Back in Time

As a late Anniversary celebration, Tom and I went with the kids (and my folks) to the MD Renaissance Festival last weekend. The Ren Fest has been a special place for Tom and I since our second summer dating, when we started going to the festival in New York. The MD festival is very similar, with a lot of the same type of acts, a jousting arean, hair braiders, and of course -- turkey legs.

We thought we might get rained out by Ernesto, but after a rainy Saturday, Sunday turned out to be beautiful. Morning started off cool and cloudy, but by noon the sun was peeking out and it started to warm up just a little. Since we thought it was going to be hot, we didn't pack our costumes this year and will save them for another trip (or they're always GREAT at Halloween parties).


Erin and Jeff also had a really great time. Jeff spent most of the day in the stroller, getting a little fussy at times, but there was so much for him to look at he did pretty well. I tried to convince Erin to get her hair braided with me, but we decided to buy her a flower wreath instead (better idea I think). I finally had hair long enough at this time of year to be able to get mine braided. It looked great and I'm so glad that I did. Erin did paint a silk suncatcher of a fairy and buy a bubble wand so she could blow bubbles with the pros there. Jeffrey also enjoyed the bubbles but he had more fun chasing after them and playing with the suds that fell onto the ground. There was also a big silde that both kids got to ride (with adults in tow). Erin totally loved it. Jeffrey wasn't so sure but Grandpa had fun with him anyway. And not to be forgotten were the free pony rides for Erin (Jeffrey would have rode also, but he fell asleep right before we got in line and we weren't going to wake him up).


All of this was much fun - as much for me as for the kids because I just love watching them explore new things and having fun. The best part for Erin though was getting her face painted. She waited almost all day to decide she wanted it, but was convinced by the little girl in line with us for the pony rides. She had a moon on her face and Erin thought that it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. So off to the face painting station where Erin sat perfectly still and even told the girl doing it that she wanted a moon. She even got sparkles on her cheek to go with it. And...I wasn't allowed to wash her face for 2 days. That's right folks the moon stayed on her cheek for 2 days.


Tom and I got some time to ourselves also when Noni, Oma and Grandpa took the kids for a while. We did some shopping (Tom got be a beautiful sterling silver ring) and eating festival food -- mmmm Steak on a Stake. Next year Jeffrey will probably be able to enjoy it a little more and Erin might be willing to sit and get her hair braided with me. At least it gives us and excuse to go back again.

A Trip To DC

Isn't it nice when you get to mooch off your husband's hotel room for a week? We've been to DC so many times, but this time rather than stay with Noni and Grandpa we stayed in Alexandria right across from a metro station. The room was a suite so we could put Jeff to bed and still stay awake with Erin. Each morning we were able to get gourmet omelets made ready to order. The kids fell in love with ham & cheese omelets. With a big breakfast, I'd steal an extra banana and we'd head out the door to catch the metro into the city.


We've had the kids downtown before, but it's been a while. Our first day I asked Erin if she wanted to walk and see some cool buildings (the monuments) or go inside and see some animals. Clearly my animal-lover picked the second choice so we headed to the Natural History Museum that has a huge exhibit of "stuffed" mammals. Erin was extremely excited and ran around pointing at all the exhibits. She loved the lion and the zebras and the kangaroos (all of them life-sized stuffed animals). We checked out the dinosaurs (a little scary) and then the gems and minerals. Both the kids loved the gems and minerals and all the sparkles. That was the day we also went to the fountain and rode the carousel on the "Mall." Since it was very hot and sticky we headed back to the hotel early afternoon and met Tom for some drinks and snacks (courtesy of the hotel) and then dinner.


Day two brought a cold front. We woke to a light drizzle and grey skies. From all my previous experience I realized that this would be the perfect day to visit the zoo. The animals are always much more active when it is cooler, and it's certainly more comfortable to spend the day outside. Erin and Jeffrey LOVED the zoo. Erin was especially taken with the giraffes, the cheetah, and the dwarf donkey in the barn area. Jeffrey liked the elephants and the donkey also. We got the great chance to see the orangutan outside swinging on ropes between towers that crossed the pathways. Erin stood and watched him for a long time. When it was time to move on, I said "say goodbye to the orangutan" so she looked up and waved at it. As I took few steps, Erin squealed back at me "Mommy it waved at me!!" I didn't see what happened, but she was sure he had waved at her and that was what mattered to her.


The next two days were a little less exciting. We headed to the American History Museum to see Dorothy's Ruby slippers before the museum closed for two years. My little Wizard of Oz fanatic thought it was pretty cool to see the shoes so I'm glad we got the chance. We then met Noni for lunch at the hospital. With signs of Ernesto heading towards DC we zoomed back to the hotel by means of Erin's favorite mode of transportation -- the Metro. She LOVED riding the train and watched out the window. She got especially excited for the planes near the airport.

Friday Ernesto hit Alexandria with a vengeance. The wind and rain were vicious and very cold (for September). Since we had to check out of the hotel at noon we needed to find someplace inside to hang out. I bundled the kids in their jackets and loaded Jeffrey in the stroller to RUN across the street to the metro. We spent the afternoon walking around Union Station until Erin couldn't take it any more. We headed back to the hotel and waited, shivering, for Tom so we could load things up and start towards my parents for the weekend.

We had a great time in DC. It was really nice being across the street from the metro and being able to get to everything so easily. Although it was hot one day the other days (except for Friday) weren't so bad. Even if it wasn't too sunny being cool in DC is an opportunity that should never be passed up. Maybe next time we can bring you along too :)

A Special Place

Two years ago, we went to DC for Memorial Day. It was a dreary afternoon, but we decided to do a little urban Geocaching. We found this realy cool fountain in the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden. Erin toddled and crawled around and explored the whole thing. We got many great photos of her sitting on the ground in front of it and climbing on the edge.







Last week we went to stay with Tom outide DC. We stayed at a great hotel and took the Metro into the city every day. The first day in, we stopped by the same fountain. Erin was so excited as it was a very hot day and sitting by the fountain really made us feel cooler.





Erin decided on her own that we needed to have a little photo shoot again. I thought I'd include some of the pictures from our first visit and a few from last week. Maybe we'll make this fountain a special place to visit every year or so and watch how Erin grows.