July Round-up

After I was concerned that I had too many activities packed into this day, we woke up to find a crying Hamilton who fell back asleep while waiting the remaining ten minutes for his alarm-clock light to turn green. The second time he awoke crying I asked him if he felt OK, and he said his throat hurt. So this morning has been drawn out with lots of TV watching, some throwing up--mostly in the toilet, feeling revived and heartily eating breakfast, and finally back to TV watching with his feet covered up by the blankies that normally must stay in his bed.

I found him like this when I walked back downstairs after checking on Collier: Hamilton was fast asleep on the hard floor on top of the dirty towels. Yes, that's a barf bucket in the bathroom--just in case.

Since our many activities have been postponed or canceled due to Hamilton's sickness, I now have a more open day which in some ways makes me feel good. And I'm having time to sit down and blog. I still have some pictures left to post from our trip over the July Fourth holiday.

Swimming Lessons
Hamilton's been in swim lessons this week and last week, and he's learned so much. While he used to be tentative around the water--sometimes taking up to ten minutes to even get wet--he now jumps right in. He puts his head underwater, kicks his feet, jumps in from the side, and tries to swim. I'm thrilled with his progress.

Here's a picture from our trip to Mountville when we spent a late afternoon at some friends' pool. It took Hamilton several seconds of encouraging to jump into the water into Pops's arms--and he definitely didn't want his head to go under.

Now he confidently jumps into the water by himself and then swims toward the adult catching him. Sadly, I planned to wait until his last day of swim lessons (today) to take my camera. So I have no pictures of his cute little class, which included Grady and West.

The Pacifier

The "paci fairy" came to visit Hamilton--and take his pacifier--on his third birthday while we were at the farm. We opened the special prize that she brought just before bedtime.

I started talking about her visit the week before, and Hamilton really obsessed over her coming, her taking away his pacifier, and her bringing him a special prize. Once I'd encouraged him that the paci fairy would bring a special prize, I had to actually think of something to bring him. I thought I had a great idea: A Thomas the train pillow. My thinking was that he could have something in his bed with him that he'd love and would help ease him through pacifier withdrawals. While he did like the Pillow Pet at first, he turned a little hostile toward him after asking repeatedly for his pacifier but not getting it. He told me, "Take Thomas downstairs. I don't want him."

Those first few nights without the pacifier proved hard for Hamilton to calm himself down and go to sleep. But after a week or so, he went back to his old habit of going to sleep within minutes of my telling him goodnight. (The pacifier was a wonderful crutch for helping him sleep these past three years, but I was thankful it didn't take long for him to adjust to going to sleep without it.)

Greenville Day Trip

During our stay in Mountville, Mom and I took the kids one day to the Children's Museum and to Falls Park on the Reedy. We'd read on Aubrey's blog about how fun the Children's Museum was, and it was indeed fantastic. Claire loved the museum, and so did the boys. This climb-able sculpture was super cool, and Claire was much braver than Hamilton as she climbed through tighter spaces and closer to the skylight above.

Then Hamilton discovered these mirrors, and he loved jumping and running on them.

We perused the shelves at the "local Bilo." I'm so proud that my son mostly filled his cart with fruits and veggies first.

Mimi helped the boys with the climbing wall.

The farm exhibit was such fun for the boys, since it was for kids under five. Mimi and Claire explored other floors, while I watched the boys play in the farm.

After a rejuvenating lunch, we walked to Falls Park, so we could see the cool bridge and play in the sprinklers. And the sprinklers even had a train--much to Hamilton's delight. We had neglected to bring a swimsuit, so we pretended Hamilton was a little European boy with small swimming trunks.

It was a beautiful area of the park, and the best part was the shaded benches for the parents.

Our Students

We've spent every Sunday this summer with our adopted college students, and Hamilton has grown attached to Alex and Trevor. Last Sunday he literally cried tears after they left. They're so sweet and wonderful to him, and he loves for them to come play each week. We talk about them a lot during the week, and nearly every night Hamilton thanks God for Trevor and Alex.

Grady's Birthday
Hamilton loved Monkey Joe's for Grady's third birthday. Amanda planned well because not only was it military night and we all got in free, but tearing the boys away would not have been easy unless we were headed somewhere equally fun like "Chik-ih-lay."

Collier even joined in the fun.

Hamilton (in red) and Grady (in orange) climbed up the big wall before sliding down the other side.

At Chick-fil-A the big boys sat by themselves in a booth, and they looked so old.

Amanda made the cutest cupcakes with grass, asphalt, and cars on them; and the boys picked their favorite color car.

West and Hamilton stuffed their faces with cupcakes.

Grady and his cousin Tyler did the same.

My Hiatus

Though the party brings my pictures up to date, it's hard to believe I haven't posted anything in three weeks. I'm sorry, dear readers. I'm hoping to pick back up with my beloved writers' group this fall, which was a great source of inspiration and accountability for writing and blogging. Lately I've felt so busy with other things--two active boys and extra church duties as we fundraise--that blogging has taken a serious backseat. Even when I have a snippet of time, I sometimes don't feel motivated. I'm hoping to work through this "writer's block" and be back to posting regularly soon.

Mountain Weekend

Our weekend in the mountains gave us our first taste of winter: We enjoyed a roaring fire in the fireplace nearly the whole time we were in the cabin. The nights were cold, but the days were sunny and cool. We drove to Spruce Pine for the morning, and Hamilton got to see a train up close. He and Pops were both excited.

The cabin was near a pond that looked beautiful with all the fall color reflecting off the water.

Hamilton loved finding "ticks," and he carried them on our walks just like Pops likes to do.

I could just eat up those chubby cheeks.

Travis and Pops found some corn kernels, so they encouraged Hamilton to throw them into the pond for the ducks and geese.

Since Sunday was Mr. Morgan's birthday, Mom made him a delicious apple pie with "Happy Birthday, Seth" written in the crust. We did birthday celebrations so late in the evening--after our dip in the hot tub--that I didn't capture any pictures of all of us in our pajamas.

I realized once I got home that I didn't get any pictures of Collier; I guess he was napping during the few times I had my camera with me. And our pictures don't tell the whole story of the weekend--which began with our arriving at a cabin with the main power turned off. A refrigerator and freezer full of rotten food had to be cleaned out. Mom's stomach was the strongest, so she got the job. After the rotten-food debacle, the rest of the weekend smelled much better.

Catch-Up List

Yes, we're still sad about Phoebe; but contrary to the blog's previous front-page post, life continues. I have much to share from the last two weeks. And I have pictures, especially for those wonderful grandparents.

1. My women's conference over two weeks ago was fabulous--no kids, no cooking, no chores! We heard awesome teaching, and I got to hang out with some cool chickies! We ran into lots of friends from other churches, despite nearly 2000 women in attendance. I was surprised and delighted to see my high school chum one morning at breakfast.

2. I've weaned Collier, so he's now fully drinking formula. I was eager to wean because--to me--breast-feeding gets old. I was ready to have my body (and time) back to myself. As I type, I think this all sounds selfish, but I was really ready to be finished with pumping. I weaned Hamilton between five and six months, too.

3. Hamilton does lots of new things now, like saying, "I wuv you!" He loves giving and asking for "high fives." He sings many of his familiar songs in distinguishable words and tunes; I'm really hoping for a video of his rendition of "ABC" soon.

4. We celebrated Mr. Morgan's birthday with Claire on Thursday night. She made him a brightly colored card, and because she had extra clay on hand from social studies class, created a sculpture of herself for him. What father wouldn't love a clay figurine of his daughter? Nevermind that Hamilton points and says, "poop" every time he sees it.

I thought it improved from far away. Something about the tilt of the head and ponytail, I think, is what I like.

5. My blogging has been so light this month, and my other writing is non-existent. I'm not sure why I'm feeling so uninspired these days, but not meeting with my writers' group every few weeks has not helped. Our coffee-fueled discussions helped hold me accountable to writing and blogging, inspiring me with ideas and reaffirming my purpose. Christy and Patty, I miss you! I know there were excellent reasons why we took a break from writers' group, but let's start again soon.

6. Mr. Morgan and I started a cleanse this morning. I'll probably post about our three days without solid food once we're closer to the end.

7. I found a fantastic food blog last week with delicious sounding recipes. I tried the pumpkin spice bars and cookies. The bars were delicious but crumbly because I added raisins and pecans. Sadly, I burned the cookies, but they would have been great without the scald.

Since this post is already long, I'll create another with pictures of the boys from our weekend in the mountains.

Middle September

How is it the middle of September and I've posted only once this month?! Yikes, time flies. I've made a list to help organize my scattered, blog thoughts.

1. School's in full swing for both Claire and Hamilton, though it's different this year for both of them. Claire's not only at a new school, but she's also going by a new name--Elaine. She's told all her teachers to call her Elaine, but her friends from her old school still call her Claire. She insists that we still call her Claire, though sometimes Mr. Morgan jokingly calls her Elaine. So all her school papers and books come home with "Elaine Morgan" written on them to which Mr. Morgan responds, "Who's this 'Elaine' person?" At Open House, I had to introduce myself as Elaine's stepmom. For Hamilton, he's learning so many new things at school that he's able to share with me this year. Last week all I heard was "AY-bee-see" over and over, though sometimes his pronounciation of the first three letters would morph into "ay-BEE-see." I'm pretty sure he thought "ABC" was a word. This week he's saying, "Gah may pee-puhl," so I've been saying, "What did God make?" He replies, "God made people." It's an awesome truth, though I wonder how much he understands.
2. I cleaned the master bathroom yesterday.
3. While to most folks the above statement doesn't deserve its own, separate number, trust me, it does. The master bathroom took over three hours to clean; the shower alone took an hour. It was disgusting. I won't even venture a guess as to how long it had been since the last cleaning because it would be embarrassing--even for me. But the bathroom sparkles now.
4. I'm looking forward to an upcoming weekend away with some women from church. I'm happy to have enough milk stored for my trip, and I'm thankful for a husband who'll watch the kids--yes, he'll have help. I love fall getaways!
5. I wanted to post my own memorial for Sept.11, but I missed it by a few days. So here's my I-remember-exactly-where-I-was tribute. I was a 21-year-old, college senior spending the fall semester at Keene State, which was only five hours from New York City. Students at my school knew people who worked in the Towers and as first-responders. In my Tuesday-morning class, we watched The Today Show's coverage of the attacks. I watched the towers fall live on television. I heard Katie Couric's live conversation with Jim Miklaszewski at the Pentagon when he said, "I just heard something that sounded like a bomb." I had been in New Hampshire--in a new region of the country, at a new school--for about two weeks, and I felt so alone. The local paper's front page showed a picture of the burning towers in its afternoon edition, published actually on Sept. 11, 2001. In writing about the attacks, it's hard for me not to focus on how life-changing it was for me--to make the events of September 11th about me. I didn't lose anyone or even know anyone who lost anyone that day. My fellow countrymen suffered that day, and I can't memorialize the events as well as news programs. But I can remember their sacrifices, our country's loss, and our only Hope for the future.

Wonderful Weekend

After our first full day back with the kids in our regular routine, I'm so thankful I had such a fun anniversary weekend. I've felt revived and refreshed all day. Mr. Morgan and I dropped the little ones at the farm for the weekend, and we headed to Hendersonville to stay in a quaint bed-and-breakfast. Who but Mom and Dad would watch three kids and two dogs for a long weekend? Yes, they are dears. The kids had a blast, and I think Mom and Dad enjoyed all the crazyness too--though I'm sure they were relieved to see the back of our loaded-down vehicle come Monday afternoon.

Hamilton seemed to have learned tons of new words and to be talking more and better just in three days if that's possible. He loved seeing Mimi and Pops's chickens and collecting their eggs, as well as the usual fun stuff like seeing the horses, riding in the golf cart, and playing with different toys.

Claire got horse-riding lessons and training from the friendly neighbors with eight horses. Susan said Claire was a model student and quick study; I believe Susan's words were, "I'd like to clone her as a student." Claire loved everything about the horses: being dirty and grimy, walking over horse manure (or what Hamilton called "orsie-poo"), and giving treats so they'd do a command. She was so proud to show us what she'd learned, and she loved that one of the Morgan horses was named Claire.

Claire asked what we did on our trip, and all I could think of were the things we don't usually get to do--sleep in, nap in the afternoon, talk during meals without interruption, etc. We also toured the Apple Festival, saw a play at the new Flat Rock Playhouse downtown, and went to see a movie. Though we're still on a fairly restrictive diet, Mr. Morgan and I found some fabulous places to eat including Tupelo Honey Cafe--a definite must if you're in the Asheville area. We loved our time away! We did plenty of reminiscing about the past five years, and I'm so glad I married that man. He still makes me laugh!

More Edisto

Once Travis and Claire arrived, we got out the big toys.

Hamilton and I accompanied the "big kids" to the boat ramp to see them shove off. 

 

Mr. Morgan and Claire took the canoe, and Dad and Travis each paddled a kayak.