First two weeks of summer vacation = Pure Awesomeness

Summer haircut!

Swimming in Grandmom's pool!
Claire started off not even wanting to jump in from the side, but got braver and braver, until she was jumping in from the diving board (wearing the baby floatie that Anna didn't care for)!

Redoing the girls' room so it's finally ready for two girls! Claire is doing great in her new bed, but we're still "transitioning" Anna. I'll probably post more pics of this major reorganization project when I'm done.

Having an Oreo. What a stinker! This isn't really specific to summer, but I thought it was a funny pic.

Enjoying riding together!

Reading some books--again, not a summer-specific pic, just cute! That blankie on her lap is her fave. Today, she took it to the hair salon with us--that was a mistake! Afghans are like velcro so it's got sister's hair stuck all over it.

Scooting and Hopping

Here's how my girls are movin' and shakin' this summer. Anna is scooting all over the place. I've even been putting her in knotty legs or pants, as she gets onto the tile floor and her legs get so cold! A baby blanket is now futile; she goes all over. Her favorite destination is Claire's little chair, which she pulls herself up to standing and pushes the chair a few steps before she falls down.




And Claire and I have been hopscotching it up. She hasn't mastered the one-foot jump yet, but I think it's pretty cute how she's figured out a way around that.

Summer

Wow, six months has definitely brought mobility for our little Anne! She is army-crawling like crazy, sitting up on her own, and can even pull herself up to sitting and standing! She makes right for Claire's little chair usually, because she likes to try to pull herself up on it and grab the stuffed animal or doll that's sitting there. She has also started squawking to demand things or just express happiness or excitement. We've definitely reached the stage where we sometimes have to take her out of church just because she's wiggling like crazy to get down, or because she's making too much noise--not fussy noise, just noise! And she is way more of a mama's girl than I remember Claire being. If she can't see me or hear my voice, she can get frantic, unless she's intent on a toy. If someone else is holding her and she sees me, she often starts making this pathetic little whimper for me. We have yet to get her to take a bottle, but I haven't tried since the intense, unsuccessful, extremely frustrating sessions leading up to Wicked. Instead, I'm focusing on getting her to take cereal mixed with breast milk. We've done it for about the last week, and it's hit and miss: sometimes she spits most of it out and begins the "you're torturing me" back-arching and leg-kicking after just a few spoonfuls.

The top picture is of Claire and her friend Kadence at VBS at our church last week. It was a "Joseph journey in Egypt" theme, so the kids made jeweled collars and beaded headbands, and the adults wore those too, along with linen togas and belts. We also had a make-up booth every night, so the kids could get eyeliner and eyeshadow done (the boys got scratch marks or a play shave). Kadence and Claire are both wearing make-up in that pic. Claire is doing VBS again this week at 7th and Beech! It's the same church where she goes to Thursday School, so thankfully I can leave her there and come home and get a few things done!

Recent Claire quotes:
While playing with the cowboy and horse in her Lincoln Logs, in a deep voice I assume belongs to the horse: "Ow! You hurt me! I'm going to the hospital!"

"What kind of sno-cone do you want?" (She's making them out of Play-Doh) Me: "Silver fox." C: "We don't have that; we have raspberry yummy-goody cake."

Maucks on Texoma 2010

My seventh year spending a week on Lake Texoma with the Maucks is over, and it was a fun time full of great food, family time, and swimming and fishing. Traditions include Friday night steak dinner, Saturday fish fry, early-morning fishing trips, and outdoor worship on Sunday morning. A newer tradition for the kids is jumping/wrestling on the water trampoline anchored in the inlet.

This year actually brought us cooler temperatures than we're accustomed to, and rain, too. It worked out fine though: we had a couple rainy afternoons in the camper, and dinners under the pavilion instead of open air, but other than that, we enjoyed the coolness the rain brought us. However, I know a couple boats were caught out in a couple rainstorms while fishing, and the rain wasn't entirely welcome to them.

Unfortunately, I have no boat pics to share this year: it's not exactly the best place for a baby! I ended up staying in the camper to let Anna get her nap when others went out tubing or fishing. Claire tubed for the first time--but neither Jay nor I were on the boat to see her, sadly! She rode with her beloved cousin Abby, and enjoyed it immensely, from all accounts. But here are some pics of the other ways the kids have a great time. Of course, there are no mommy pics, as is usually the case with me.


The kids love riding their bikes on the road! Claire and Kerrigan have matching Barbie Big Wheels, and Katelyn is borrowing Kerrigan's in these pics.


Count on Mamaw to whip out giant coloring pages and markers for the kids!


A flock of geese were crossing by, and Kyle and some of the kids fed them some old bread.
Abby, Kerrigan, and Claire play with one of the kids' favorite toys at the lake: a kid fishing rode with a rubber fish attached to the end. They would cast this thing over and over, and reel it in through the dead leaves!

Fish fry!! Notice Jay's cousin Tracy at the end of the table holding a sleeping Anna! She will never go to sleep like that on my shoulder--no paci or anything!

Love this pic of Claire hitching a ride on a cooler full of fish! She wasn't on the boat; just saw Daddy carrying this up the hill, along with cousin-in-law John, and ran and hopped on!

While both our neighbors have pools...

...this is what we do for fun on hot summer days. This isn't until 6:30, but it was still 98 degrees outside!! We barely even venture out of doors during the day anymore! While poor Jay is working outside for the majority of 12-hour work days! One of the guys who works for him got sick from working too hard in the heat today. Poor Juan!

Anyway, this evening, Anna and I sat in the shade and blew bubbles for Claire while she went crazy. She was out like a light at 9 p.m., did not get out of bed a single time after I put her down--we'll have to start doing this every night! We had a really fun summer day today: Tyler came and stayed at our house for a couple hours while Mom and Grant went to a funeral, and we made Play-Doh and played games. Then this afternoon we did the letter E; Claire is learning how to write her letters this summer, and we're doing a big alphabet wall project. I'll post a pic when it's finished!



This is Anna doing her new funny sound, zerbets! She makes very few noises except laughing and crying, and now these spitting noises! It's funny. She's also becoming very mobile, scooting all over the place, and is very close to sitting up on her own!

Mom and I went and saw Wicked the musical in Dallas Sunday night, and unfortunately had to take Anna with us! She is adamantly refusing the bottle! We've tried everything; it is so frustrating! The really frustrating thing is that Diane got her to drink about 4 oz from a bottle back during the school year ONE TIME, but we haven't been able to get her to drink anything since! Anyway, the musical was awesome, but Mom and I had to take turns watching it in the lobby on the screen, b/c Anna would not go to sleep inside; it was too loud--even louder than Iron Man 2!

Beach pics (finally!)

Well, we had a great trip, but I've been in get-ready-for-school mode since we got back! Sorry for the delay; it's probably not so exciting to hear about at this point, but just for posterity's sake, here goes...

We were on the beach three days and one evening, and had a great time boogie-boarding, snorkeling, and playing in the sand. We went with our friends from church, Seth and Kara, and Jay's cousin Matt, his wife, Kim (also Kim Mauck!), and their little girl Katelyn, who is six months younger than Claire. Outside of our immediate families, these are some of Claire's (and our) favorite people to hang out with, so Claire had lots of playmates. We drove the 15ish hours (with the all the stops we ended up making!) in our two loaded-down SUVs.

We all shared a three-bedroom house that was in a private neighborhood near a public beach, so we walked a few blocks every morning to the beach. After three or so hours at the beach, we would walk back, eat lunch, shower, and then have a nice rest time, where the girls took naps, and some of us did, too. The guys went and played golf one afternoon, while the girls went shopping.

Claire and Daddy play in the sand.

Daddy buried Claire in the sand between our beach chairs.

Our first night at the beach, we were in our clothes b/c we were about to eat dinner, and Claire got soaked by a wave that caught us by surprise. We had to strip her down and let it dry for the rest of the time!

Kim entertains the girls during our SECOND dinner at Dewey Destin Harborside!
Daddy and Claire lounging. Our last day, we drove to another public beach that paid snorkeling trips boat to, so we could snorkel. There was a super-calm inlet (pictured above), where all the snorkelers were, one empty one, and one super-wavy one, so we got a little bit of both. Jay, Kim and I had what felt like a near-death experience when we got caught in a current in what I dubbed Jellyfish Cove (the empty one--probably for good reason)! It's all fun and games snorkeling until you realize you're out of breath, caught in a current, surrounded by fish, and right next to a rocky jetty!! We had to climb up on the rocky jetty and pick our way along there until we got to water where we could touch. BUT by then, I had cut my toe on a rock, and was bleeding!! Matt, the fishery biologist, assured me that a shark would NOT come into that little cove and get me, so I hopped back in and walked back to shore on shaky legs. Good times...

Claire and Katelyn had a great time one night at a fun park we went to that had a little kiddie ride area and a putt-putt course. We had a hard-core couples tournament--Jay would probably not like it if I told how Team JK did.

Great times on Lake Texoma!

Whew, what a great weekend! Every year, the Maucks have a big family get-together for a week on Lake Texoma. Lots of fishing, swimming, great food, and visiting! All the little kids loved it--there was a street in between the Maucks' campsites, and they kept it busy with bikes, trikes, and Big Wheels. We also kept a bunch of dump trucks in a pile of rocks and dirt over to the side. Between that and the giant water trampoline that the guys anchored in the middle of the our little inlet, the kids had a great time.

At our lake church service Sunday, we had 39 people present (and four had to leave early--missed ya, Gail, John, Raegen, and Lauren!). It's always so awesome to worship with family you don't see very often in God's creation!

Of course, I only get pictures of the cute kids, and not any of Jay and I, the adults, or the fish!


PaPaw with his youngest two granddaughters.


Claire coloring with her third cousin, Logan.

Claire and Katelyn enjoying an evening boat ride.

Claire, Katelyn, and Katelyn's first cousin (Claire's third), Dylan.

Claire, Kerrigan, and Katelyn play with the trucks!

Carson gives Claire a hand on the trike! She can reach the pedals on this one, but she still can't figure out how to push.

Fun times with cousins!

Audrey, Kerrigan, and Carson came down this week to hang out for a few days, and the kids had a great time playing together. Katelyn came over and got in on the action, too.

I don't know why playing in the dirt pile was so much fun on such a breezy day. They were rubbing dirt out of their eyes half the time.


Riding four-wheelers is always a must-do at Mamaw and Papaw's. This is actually a kid-size four-wheeler that you don't have to shift. Don't think it's made for three passengers--except in the case of expert driver Papaws!

Fun in the slip-n-slide--wearing their clothes! They had their swimsuits on earlier, but Mamaw turned it on when they weren't in them, and Kerrigan went over and started drinking the water squirting up. The other girls followed suit, and then Carson, and finally Obi, the new puppy! They were all soaking wet by the time it was all said and done.

Kerrigan was the most serious about getting drinks!

Summertime, and the living's easy...

YUM!

Don't just laugh Tyler, save her! Claire was acting really silly this day, kept jumping up and down on the steps, going under, and then coming up laughing! That's why Tyler was just laughing at her.


It's Saturday, and OF COURSE Claire wakes up earlier than she has all week: 7:15! I know for many moms, this is actually late, but Claire usually wakes up around 7:45-8:00. And OF COURSE I decided to stay up late reading because she had gone to sleep fairly late, around 9:30. No such luck with the whole sleeping-in-on-Saturday thing. Oh well! Every day is a blessing, so might as well get up and enjoy it, right? So far today, we've read our new library books (I already finished mine!), watched cartoons, taken a joint shower, and baked cookies. Claire already knows it's her job to stir, unwrap the butter, and of course, lick a beater and spoon (I still reserve the right to one beater!).

Jay rolled out of bed pretty soon after Claire came in our room, and got a phone call from Nana, asking if he was at the job site yet! Ha! It's so funny to me that he got that call. Last night, Jay arranged for Nana and Grandad to come look at his homes in Calera to get some ideas for the kind of home they want Jay and Grant to build for them. So at 7:20, Nana called to tell him they were already in Durant! I guess they were excited to get going on the house! We're all excited about Nana and Grandad's new house; we hope to start on it this summer!

So Claire and I have had a great summer week, with shopping, a play date at the park, a trip to the library and farmers market, and an afternoon at Mom's pool! It doesn't get much better than that! Play time's over for me for a while though; this week I also got two story assignments, both due in two weeks! Actually, it really won't affect our schedule that much. I usually just make phone calls and write in the afternoons during Claire's nap and post-nap milk and TV, and then get a babysitter whenever I have to make a trip and also just before my deadline. I love my part-time job! I just sometimes wish it was a little more regular. It seems like when it rains, it pours! I'm sort of trying right now to find some sort of monthly paid writing assignment.

Anyway, we're both looking forward to this afternoon, when Claire will go four-wheeling and fishing with Daddy, and I'm going to go see Up with Mom and Ty (and maybe a few other fam members, not sure yet). Hope you're having a GREAT summer, too!

Claire's favorite things to say right now, some stinker and some adorable:

• "No! By self!"
• "Happy birthday to Kerrigan!"
• "HIJKLMNOP" (She usually sings this and Kerrigan's birthday song together! Have tried to get this on video several times, and she has yet to cooperate, although she has been singing this on and off all day for a week!)
• "What you doing, Mama?"
• "What's that?"
• "Don't want to...[anything I want her to do]"
  
• And of course, the perennial two-year-old favorite: "MINE!"

Playmates!

I found these pics today from Claire's birthday/Mother's day weekend, and thought they were so cute! Claire had so much fun with her cousins, Carson and Kerrigan. She and Kerrigan would run after each other and then fall down together. Audrey said she heard Kerrigan saying, "Where's my friend? Where's my friend?" when she was looking for Claire!

Plus they found these chairs that they were thrilled to carry around and sit in in different places.

And here's some pics of Claire playing with her second cousin, Katelyn. She hung out with us for a little while today while her mom got her hair cut. It's so handy having a playmate and fellow stay-at-home mom right down the street! Kim and I are just starting to take advantage of it.

When Kim first got here, Claire was still asleep (having thrown a wall-eyed fit before bed and going to sleep later than usual), so Katelyn and I were playing in the living room. I went in the next room to switch the laundry to the dryer. Listening for Katelyn's activity, I did NOT hear little feet pad into the next room; I heard a metallic clang and then a chorus of "What's that what's that what's that?" Katelyn had gone into Claire's room and was playing with her tea set! Claire woke up a little bumfuzzled, but was quickly running around and laughing with Katelyn. When Kim pulled up, Claire said, "Tatie, Kim, watch Dancing with the Stars?" HA! I had to tell her that sadly, DWTS is over for a few months!

Come on, summer!

I read a really interesting article last week on the New York Times opinion page about how America can and should raise our collective IQ, and what parents and teachers can do to help. Did you know our collective IQ has risen substantially in the past century? Interesting fact: Half our country's population in 1917 would be considered retarded by today's standards.

Anyway, this article also says that children form a lot of their IQ before age six. This got me thinking that I need to start doing some more structured learning activities with Claire. She'll start going to "Thursday School" one morning a week at the other Church of Christ in the fall, so she needs to be able to sit and focus on an activity, anyway. So I ordered a book from Amazon and checked a few out of the library about Montessori activities for kids aged 2-6. That's our plan for this summer. As you can see, Claire is already getting ready! (She really wanted to "read" this book for some reason; when I told her it was "Mommy's book," she actually ran in the other room with it, like she needed to hide from me to read it!)

Another Claire note: She's started saying "What's that?" and "Who's that?" The questions are starting!

Summer Fun

Claire has made the big move to forward-facing car seat, and she is loving it. I've noticed that she likes to stick her toes in her mouth...perhaps this has always been one of the (few) ways she entertains herself in her car seat, and I'm just now finding out?






























This past weekend, my little brother Tyler finished up his coach-pitch baseball season with a tournament, and we went Saturday morning to watch a couple games. Tyler has a lot of fun with his best buddy Derek (pictured above), and he's doing great! We played on the playground at the sports complex in between games. Claire LOVES playing with her Uncle Ty. I think she's even said "Ty" a few times.

This is my last week of my last Master's class, but I've got a presentation to put together this week (and just did one last week!). Then we're leaving for a beach vacay Friday! Whoop!

Summertime Bliss!

A fun Memorial Day cookout at Mom and Grant's.

This is what Claire and I have been up to this past week. Lots of sun and fun. Plus, we've been shopping and cleaning house quite a bit, as Amber Hearn and I hosted a baby shower for my cousin Dani Rose at my house yesterday. It was a great success and lots of fun. Molly Rose Spencer will probably be joining us in the next couple weeks!

I start my last class to finish my Master's tomorrow! Yay! And it's going to be a great class, too: Adolescent Literature! My favorite kind of book to read, and the kind I want to write! It's just during June from 9:30-12:30 Monday-Thursday. Claire will spend some QT this week with my Nana and Grandad, along with Uncle Ty, who is staying there this week while my mom enjoys a spa vacation in Illinois.