my little runner girl

Yesterday we did a whole lot of this:

It was pretty nice sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine and getting sprayed with water by the kids every once in a while.  Jules spent some time beside me, both of us reading our books while Josh played in the little pool.

After a while, her energy got the best of her.  You see, Julianna knows that 8 laps around the track at the Y equals a mile so at one point yesterday she said, "Mom, I'm going to run a mile."  And then she took off and ran 8 laps around the outside of the house.  I thought it was so funny.  She was actually pretty pleased with herself too.  Here she is all schweaty posing for a picture "to send to Daddy." 

a trip to some farmer's markets

After the Y this morning, the kids and I ran some errands and picked up Nanna to go to a couple of local farmer's markets.  It was a load of fun gallivanting around our town with nothing in particular to do.  And look at all of the beautiful sites we saw!

Tuesdays are 25 cent ice cream days at the Cobblestone market so Nanna gave the kids quarters to get homemade ice cream.  I am not even kidding when I say that it was probably pretty close to the best ice cream I have ever tasted.  Mmmmmm.  Mouth water just thinking about it.  Needless to say both kids enjoyed it.

We listened to live music while they ate.  You know how long it takes a kid to eat a scoop of ice cream, right? It was sweltering hot outside today, but the music was good and seeing Josh bob his head along to it was priceless.

Here's a beautiful view up the hill into downtown WS.

Lovely flowers and vegetables for sale...

Baby ducks!

Questions of the day:
-Does your town have a nice farmer's market?
-What is your favorite thing to buy at a local market?  Today we got tomatoes, squash, sunflowers, and banana peppers and my favorite thing to buy is probably tomatoes.  There's nothing like a home grown mater (although you wouldn't have caught me saying that a few years ago)!
-Describe the best ice cream you've ever eaten.

Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye Makes Me Happy (and Makes Me Want to Try a Fried Pickle)

The most recent young adult book I read left me salivating for unusual eats.  It's also one I just recommended to a friend on Facebook.  I recently wrote about it over at BlogHer Book Club.  Please go take a look!

today i...

• chose to take the stairs instead of the elevator
• ate the salad instead of the nuggets meal
• raced my daughter across the yard instead of heading inside to sit on the couch
• got up at 5:45 am to go to the Y even though I didn't want to and then ran 2.2 miles after two weeks off from running (a little disappointing since my last run was 4 miles)
• focused on the positive

Questions of the day:
-How do you stay focused on the positive?
-What good choices did you make today?

overheard

Julianna to Jonathan the other night on the couch:
Daddy, will you please stop messing with my long gold hair.

-----

Jules after leaving Pirate's Voyage at the beach:
That was such a good movie.

-----

Julianna wants to know, "Mom, when does the ocean stop?"

-----

Josh pointing at the sunset across a corn field on the way home from the beach:
"BEACH!"

... and Froyoz for the Mama

Nostalgia Park at Broadway for the kids...

twenty months

Dear Joshy,

I suppose if we occasionally call you that then it's OK for you to call Julianna "Julesy."  Because whether we like it or not, you do.

Possibly the most endearing thing you've started to do this month is call your stuffed monkey "Ha Ha."  I'm pretty sure it comes from the noise we make when we say, "What does a monkey say?" but you've just started calling all monkeys "Ha Ha" despite the fact that you can say "monkey" fairly well if we ask you to.

The language explosion is still amazing.  You say so many words and phrases that it's getting pretty easy to communicate with you.  You ask for cake and candy almost anytime we go somewhere in the car.  It's odd, but also hilarious.  Especially when it's followed by you screaming "SUN!  EYES!"  You demand a "Poon!" and "Fork!" whenever we're at the dinner table and unfortunately fork sometimes comes out more like fuh-ck. This makes restaurant dining... interesting.

One day you pointed at the TV and asked for "Carly" meaning iCarly.  "Please. Now," you insisted.  This is a story I am going to save for your future girlfriends. 


On our usual bike ride each week you can tell me almost everything that's coming up along the way.  For example, you tell me before we get to the part near the golf course, you tell me before we get to the big rocks, and you tell me or ask me if the water part is going to be dry or wet.  It's a constant conversation during the whole ride with you.

You went to the eye doctor at the hospital to get your tear duct checked out.  You'll probably have to have surgery next month just so they can manually clear it out.  The doctor said it wouldn't get better on it's own.  While we were waiting for your eyes to dilate you squatted in the waiting room and told me you were going to poop.  I of course, had left the diaper bag in the car, which is beside the point.  I'm proud of you for telling me when you're about to go.  You're going to be a mess to get fully trained though.

You've had a lot of fun playing with play-doh over the last month or so.  You constantly ask for mommy to make it into a ball for you.  Another thing you enjoy is dancing.  It's easy to tell when you're happy because usually it's accompanied by an adorable little foot stomping dance.  You quickly tap your feet up and down and then lean your body from side to side usually with your eyes twisting off to the side as well.  I can't quite describe it accurately but you'll have to take my word for it when I say that you enjoy being so cute.

Timeouts are getting so much better.  When you hit your sister we ask you not to.  When you continue to hit her we ask if you want to go to timeout and you say, "No."  When you hit her again we pick you up and put you in timeout which you protest.  Sometimes you get down and we have to warn you to stay sitting down or you'll get a spanking but most of the time now you can make it through the whole minute in timeout without getting a spanking.  I'm so glad to see progress and understanding.  That first month disciplining you with timeouts was very hard.

Eating is going much better. You definitely don't eat quality food, but you certainly eat more quantities now.  I guess that's a good thing.  Every single meal felt like WWIII for a while there.

Joshua, we've had a great month.  I just love you as a twenty month old.  I know I'll love you every month after this as well, but sometimes I want to capture things you do at this age and freeze them for a while.  Like whenever you want someone to pick you up you always say, "Hold you."  I absolutely love it and there's no way I could ever turn you down when you say that.  Just so you know, you'll never be too big to come and tell me, "Hold you."

I love you, Buddy.
Love,
Mama

Getting to Happy

If you're looking for a good summer read and you enjoyed reminiscing about TV shows from the '90s then you should read my next book review.  No really, if you liked Waiting to Exhale then definitely check out the sequel, Terry McMillan's Getting to Happy.  I recently wrote about it over at BlogHer Book Club.

beach trip, pirates, and another book review coming up

Why is it so difficult to remember to take pictures when you have two kids?  I feel like I have all of these crappy camera phone pictures of our vacation this summer and no real, quality camera pictures at all and yet I still can't remember to get the camera out when my cell phone is already conveniently placed in my hand.

Ah well, such is life for now.  The kids and I have been at the beach for a week now.  My dad was able to come for a couple of days and then had to go home to work.  My mom left yesterday to go home for a few days and I'm hoping she'll come back and then we can stay a while longer instead of coming home Sunday as planned.  If not, then that's fine too as we'll have been here for 12 days.

We've had some good days on the beach and at the pool already.  Dad got to take Jules to play games in the arcade at the pier and worked with Josh in the pool.  We had a yummy gorgefest at Burro Loco before Jonathan got here and did some shopping at the outlets where believe it or not I managed to only spend 99 cents on this adorable dress.  (I had a merchandise credit.)

Jonathan got here on Friday and we've done more pool and beach time.  The weather has been gorgeous.  We took the kids to the Bass Pro Shops one day which was sorta fun.  Actually, Jonathan and the kids loved it but I think that place is about as fun as a night spent in Lowe's Home Improvement. It's just not my cup of tea.

Julianna was the sweetest big sister and rode with Josh on the mall train.  He was so excited about it and kept saying "Choo! Choo!" over and over again but then his eyes got as big as saucers when the train actually pulled away from us with him on it.

Mom kept the kids one night so Jonathan and I could go out.  We had Carraba's (the best restaurant on the planet) and Froyoz. Score!  I was having frozen yogurt withdrawals since leaving my beloved Yoforia back at home and was excited to discover this place as we were walking around Broadway at the Beach.

Last night we rode down to the old Pavilion which is now Plyler Park and they had a kids carnival with bounce houses and Josh's favorite of the evening: a tall man!  We had dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise (and their menu had changed a bit and we were both disappointed) but it was still good.

Tonight we've got tickets to Pirate's Voyage which is what Dolly Parton changed the Dixie Stampede into.  It opened a month or so ago and we're excited to see how the kids like it.  Should be an adventure, matey's!

I'll post more about that tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll remember to get the real camera out so you won't have to see these yucky phonophotos anymore.  And I've also got another book review coming up this afternoon so stay tuned, friends!

Questions of the Day:
- Have you ever been to one of those dinner theater attraction places? What did you think? I've been to a wide variety and I think they're great one time.  I wouldn't go to any particular one more than that.

- What good books have you read lately?  I've been reading a lot lately.  You'll hear more about that soon.

- Do you prefer the beach or the pool?  I think I prefer the beach if you have nice chairs, but I think it's easier by yourself with kids at the pool.  Really, love them both.

Running from his shadow

beautiful day by the pool

A Discovery of Witches

I was excited to receive a copy of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness from BlogHer and Penguin Books to read and review. Click the graphic above if you're interested in hearing about Bella and Edward Diana and Matthew.

we made it

As it turns out, I realized I'm finally at the point where I can chill out a little as a parent and not freak the heck out if my son doesn't get a good nap one day or if both of my kids don't get to bed right on time.

Yesterday, I finished up at school and took Josh to see a pediatric ophthalmologist at Baptist Hospital.  The visit went well enough although it was pitiful to have a child Joshua's age with dilated eyes the rest of the afternoon on a sunshiny day.  We made it though and he'll probably have minor surgery next month to open up his tear duct.  More than likely no big deal.

After we got done with that, my mom and the kids and I loaded up the car and headed to the beach.  Josh was beyond tired from the events of the day but he would not go to sleep on the way down.  He finally caved and slept for about 30 minutes until we pulled into the parking lot at the condo.  Not his usual 2 hr 20 min nap but it'll do.

Anyway, we got everything unloaded and then all headed out for some quick play time on the beach as the sun went down and the moon came up.  Josh ran at the waves until they made him dizzy swirling around his knees.  He threw handfuls of sand at the ocean with the biggest grin on his face.  When we came inside we already had a ton of sand to wash off of our bodies and we'd only been here less than an hour.  My kids got in bed around ten o'clock. 

It was a gorgeous evening and I can tell it's going to be an even better week.

Questions of the Day:
-What are you up to?
-Do you flip if your kids miss a nap or get to bed late?  What about in the summer?
-Do your kids usually sleep well in the car?