Parade Fun in Mountville

Happy Fourth of July! We're celebrating in Mountville, so the annual parade and hot-dog supper were on the agenda last night. Mom's cheery, festive bouquet adorned the table for lunch after we arrived.

We spent some of the afternoon preparing our "parade float." Mom used the shop-vac to clean out the back, and she draped holiday fabric over the roof and seat cushion.

We ate hot dogs and cole slaw on the grounds of the Fire Department. Hamilton saw some familiar faces, so he asked, "We eat with our friends?" That's how he came to sit on a blanket with all girls.

Hamilton licked all the icing off his cupcake, then he took off the paper and scarfed down the cake.

Collier walked all around finding friends as well. Dolly (in red) was far more interested in the puppy than Collier was.

Everyone wore red, white, and blue to celebrate.

Mountville somehow dodged the huge thunderstorms that surrounding cities and towns endured, but we did get a little bit of rain. We took cover in the Fire Department after the trucks were moved out. Hamilton's playing with new friends and scheming for a seat in the coveted pink folding chair.

Collier was a bit tired after eating supper and playing with new friends, so he sat in his stroller watching the bigger kids running all around in the rain.

Claire also found some friends, and they did whatever tweens do nowadays.

I love this picture because it shows Hamilton's best bossy pose. I'm sure he's giving Maggie Brooke an earful about some rule she's breaking.

Finally, Hamilton got his turn in the pink folding chair.

After a slight rain delay, we started the parade. Claire drove the golf cart with Mr. Morgan riding shotgun for safety.

Uncle Travis and Cheri were great sports, riding in the back of the golf cart with the boys. Mimi handed out flags and streamers on sticks.

Collier never dropped his flag, proudly waving it along the whole parade route.

Here's our bunch in action as they came around the parade route in front of the big house where I was stationed.

Behind them was a big tractor, so Hamilton had a fun view during the parade.

The younger bunch was short several members this year, so they paid homage to their faraway friends.

The Bagwells made a sign:

Stop Lights:  0

Population: ~500

Chicken Houses: 39

Living in Mountville

PRICELESS

The greater Crisp family did a water theme with the kids shooting water cannons and throwing water balloons at parade-watchers.

Collier found himself in an airplane after the parade. I think he liked it!

He was still gripping his flag and waving it proudly.

Summer Update

Two days ago I peeked on Collier, as he played on the back porch. I found him sitting in the chair like a big boy. He learns new skills almost every day, as he continues to prefer walking to crawling. He's housing seven teeth now, and he's still drooling enough to warrant a bib.

No, I haven't cut his hair yet. How can I cut those few curls in the back--I mean, my kid has some curls! (It's so unbelievable as to be untrue, so I keep them for cuteness and for proof.)

Collier is even cuddlier than Hamilton, which I'm loving as he's still so little compared to his big brother. He often lays his head on my shoulder even if he's not tired. It's just for a few seconds, just like a hug. He loves food, and he'll still eat anything you feed him--you just better have a lot ready to give him.

Despite the heat, the boys have LOVED playing in the dirt area I cleared for them. We hope to fill it with sand soon, but both sure love the dirt. Several times this past week we bathed them/hosed them off on the patio before they stepped one foot inside.

I so enjoy this view out our double window: I can keep an eye on the boys while they play in the dirt and heat, while I'm cooking dinner or cleaning up the kitchen. I can also intervene as Hamilton steals Collier's toys, flicks dirt in his face, or whacks him with a plastic shovel. All of those things happened this week. Hamilton now understands that I can see him, so he often takes a quick peek toward the window if he's just done something questionable.

Claire and I went to earthArt on Thursday for some much-needed away-time from the boys. We painted our clay pottery from our last girls' trip, so in a week or so we can pick up our creations. I'll be sure to snap some pictures of our handmade treasures to share. We ate lunch out before our pottery time, and we finished the afternoon with frozen yogurt before heading home.

The boys love to play in the little pool, so unless I want wet boys when they're done playing outside, we have to empty the pool before venturing into the backyard. Hamilton likes to jump in onto his knees splashing water everywhere.

Hamilton's so much bigger this year in the pool than last year; I can hardly believe it.

Collier tries to climb everything, so he wasn't detered by the lounge chair.

Isn't this a determined face?

This past week Mr. Morgan and I ate breakfast one morning with just Hamilton, since neither Claire nor Collier were awake yet. As we dined on fresh blackberries from Mimi and Pops's garden, Hamilton said sweetly, "I love you."

He does volunteer this phrase occasionally, so I replied as usual, "I love you, too."

He corrected me in a serious tone, "I was talking to the blackberry."

My Attention

I'm sorry to have been so scattered with blogging lately. I've been spending all my computer time and focusing all my attention on our church's new website. It's coming along nicely, but it was a crazy two weeks after we went live.

Now our beloved church is in such a struggle to stay in our historic, beautiful, downtown buildings. So I've been spending lots of time writing website copy, Facebook copy, and other documents in our struggle to remain on Wentworth Street. Here's a synopsis of our plight.

I hope we'll get a resolution soon, so I can go back to blogging when I have time to sit at the computer!

Some New Things

Here's a list (I'm a fan of them) explaining some new advances, new realizations, and new occurrences in the last few days and weeks.

1. Collier is "walking" now. He's been standing up from a sitting position for a few weeks, but this week he started taking steps on his own with no encouragement. Sometimes his little expression when he's walking on his own says, "Yes, I can do this...that's it...steady." I think the most steps he's taken in a row is probably five, but it's still a surprise when he comes walking in from the next room.
2. Hamilton started putting an "s" at the beginning of some words. Instead of "why you 'pank me?" this week, a few times he said "don't spank me" as he shook his head. Yes, we've had lots of spankings this week. Most times Hamilton still calls it a "'panking 'tick"--an old paint stirrer. Part of me is happy he seems to be outgrowing the no-"s" way of speaking, but it's also really cute and fun to hear.
3. I survived my first week of summer with all three kids at home all day every day. We planned several playdates, visited the library, and hung out at the pool yesterday. It's been a long week, so I'm rewarding myself with a date night on Saturday with Mr. Morgan. I'm planning for us to see Snow White and the Huntsman. He's been talking about seeing the other Charlize Theron movie.
4. Claire has embraced her "teenage summer" by sleeping in late, losing herself in a book series, and seeing her neighborhood friends. She has still managed to be helpful to me most days, and Mr. Morgan has her cutting the grass as part of her chores.
5. I've been sent almost a dozen hacked/spammer emails from three different friends whose Yahoo accounts have been compromised. Two things: I'm thankful I use Gmail, and Yahoo email sucks.
6. I've also decided that voicemails stress me out. To have a voicemail waiting on me makes me feel like a failure--I've failed to answer the ringing phone in time, I've failed to click over fast enough from my previous call, I've failed to hear my phone ring or turn the ringer on, I've failed to give the caller enough information previously such that an interrupting phone call is necessary, etc. Emails sitting in my Inbox and text messages waiting to be read do not have the same effect. Why is that?

A Day at the Beach

If you've ever described something as "a day at the beach" and meant that something was easy or relaxing, then you weren't talking about spending a day at the beach with little kids. Mimi came for a short visit, so we spent Friday at the beach with the kids. Since Travis was also in town with Cheri for a wedding and festivities, he got to come along as well. Taking the boys to the beach is a big job, but they do love it--and they look so cute in the sand (even Hamilton's ghostly shade thanks to sunscreen).

Sharing toys at the beach was just as difficult as sharing at home. Also at home, we keep Collier's pacifier in at times to keep his drooling in check, but at the beach we kept his pacifier in to discourage sand from going in by the shovelful.

Hamilton splashed in the shallow water, and he loved seeing the kite-boarder just beyond the swimming area.

Claire's half day of school meant we arrived later, but she made up for lost time by searching for shells nearly the whole time.

After lunch and more beach play, Collier was zonked. Mimi rolled him a bit in the stroller where he promptly fell asleep.

We propped him up as best we could in the shade, but the poor dear was so sandy and sticky from salt water that he didn't sleep long.