waves

There are times when I think Ansley may have salt water running though her veins. The child runs to the gulf water fullspeed as far as she can go, like she is running to her daddy when he returns from a long trip,  and then collapses into the waves like she is falling into a giant feather bed. The waves will go over her and over her and she never gets tired of it. We see her little freckled face peaking up in the sunshine with a smile and her eyes closed. Of course, I am never farther than a few steps away from her. She is a strong swimmer for a 44 pound 7 year old little girl, but she is just that - a 7 year old girl in a vast gulf. She loves it and it scares the hell out of me. And at the same time I get such energy seeing her pure enjoyment of something so natural. It is not a man made pool, or water slide or even a water hose (another of her favorite things) but the same waves and the same gulf that so many people for so many, many years have enjoyed.
I have to give a 10 minute warning. "Its almost time to go."
A 5 minute warning - "Really, girlie, we are going to have to go"
And then finally - when we really do have to go, she crawls out from the waves slowly on all fours, looking at us slyly with a little sidewise toothless grin.
"just one more minute, mama. Time me. "
Of course at this point, her scowling little brother, who does love the beach, just not as much as his older sister, has stated multiple times while sitting cross-armed on a beach towel that he is "READY TO GO TO THE YELLOW HOUSE." Mostly because he wants to take an outside shower. 
She emerges. No need for a towel. The sun is still warm enough - even at 6pm - to warm and dry her by the time we walk back to our bikes. Bathing suit on, she hops right on her bike and heads off toward home.  No worries. We have built a world around her and filled it with people who want more than anything to maintain that happiness, innocence and a life free from worry. I know it will happen one day. But for now, she
is covered in salt water and sand, and she is one happy girl.

Beach Picture Overload

Here are a few shots of the past few days. 

Sleepyhead people this morning watching some Looney Tunes on tv

She was laying the grass. She looked so thoughtful so I had to take a pic.

Small girl. Big tent.

Some good friends came to play.

Geocache!!!

The girl and her daddy.

Eating ice cream fast - before the heat wins the race.

Riding bikes to the beach is truly the best way to get there.

The girl and boy holding a nail made for them by the blacksmith.

Watching the blacksmith do his work.

He was very interesting to watch.

A very hot place.

My girl is give me a leg and foot rub as I float around. Nice.

The boy and his Nanny off to the beach.

Back at the fort. (Cant get them to post in order)

Nanny :)

Another geocache

Time for an orange drink after biking.

Summertime Smile.

splendid

So secretly I feel like someone much more sophisticated this week. Like I'm on "holiday." That I have gone to a "cottage at the seashore" like someone would have done decades ago and then written about it using words like splendid and gentile and sterling.
Not a depressing story where I walk for miles along the beach having tragic thoughts of regret of a long lost love (because frankly I have all my loves here with me and they still seem to like me as of yet) But a story about a girl - or rather - who am I kidding - a woman (is that what I am?) who has moved her family to this yellow house for a few weeks so that we can rediscover something about ourselves or remember the importance of loving each other or perhaps even the meaning of life. In reality we are still who we were before - Jamey has watched a little ESPN this morning, Ansley has baked peach muffins with my mom, and Stephen has refused to change out of his Spiderman pajamas.
So Bthere has been no great awakening or awareness over here on the island. But we have learned a few things though and here is our list:
1. A blacksmith has a very important job. After watching the demonstration yesterday at Fort Gaines, Stephen was very impressed. Although he was a little disenchanted to learn that after the blacksmith made a bullet, no one would be shooting it out of a gun. As Jamey and I are not really "gun" people (I am guessing you can understand what that means) I don't know really know where this fascination comes from...but that is perhaps another post....
2. There is a green light made by some guy in Missouri (I think) that you can put down under the water to attract fish. The Green Monster Fishing Light is the name of it. The fish SWARM around this light. Its almost a tad creepy - a green light glowing in the darkness of the black waters at night with hundreds of fish of swarming around it. The first night with the light out - TONS of fish. Second night - No fish. Jamey said the word on the street was something scared all the fish out of the water. Something NON human. Um...what does that even mean? A shark? An Alligator? a gigantic fish??? I am not much of a scaredy cat about most things - but this does make me a little apprehensive about letting my two 40 pound children bob around in the water this morning. I guess the mysterious water creature is gone - as boats, people, crabs, birds and fish are active in and around the water this morning. I would just rather live in denial about such things I suppose.
3. My dog is a chicken. And the people who live across the street from this yellow house also have a dog who is named Tilly. Their Tilly is not a chicken. I am hoping Tilly the Brave rubs off on Tilly the Chicken.  I don't want a vicious dog - but at least one who doesn't dive between my legs at the first sign of something unexpected.


Off now to bike a bit since the storms from last night have made for a cooler day. 

Beach pictures so far (taken on my phone)

The same sunset

"Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - Quite often the hard way. And that someone need not be perfect for you to love them." ~Pamela Dugdale

Well we are here at the beach for a few weeks. We love it here. We are blessed to be able to come, I know. We watched the sunset tonight while introducing Tilly (the dog) to water which does NOT come from a hose. She was confused to say the least - sticking one paw out in front of the other with her head cocked to the side.
The sunset was perfect. So, so glad that Jamey's family is coming tomorrow to help us celebrate Fathers Day. Jameys parents and Elizabeth (aka DJo) love the kids so much. I watched Steve this morning as he turned scrambled eggs into a transformer in an attempt to get Stephen to eat breakfast. And it worked. My mom and dad are here with us. Another blessing. My kids - who spent an hour swimming in the gulf this evening - are now clean from an outdoor shower, full from a good supper of Brick pit BBQ and Pollmans cookies (who wants to cook the night you arrive on vacation?) and snuggled up together in a lazy boy recliner watching a movie. Another string of blessings. But there is a piece missing in the picture. And as much fun as the next three weeks will be, we will wish each day for a special aunt and uncle who are miles and miles away. And hoping that one day our paths will lead us to homes closer to each other. So we can celebrate the little things together with ALL of us here. 
We all had the same sunset tonight. It was gorgeous.
Just wishing we had watched it while all sitting together on the back porch of this yellow beach house instead of spread out across the miles.

"Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one, Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other." ~Anonymous

Stinky-ness

There are all kinds of stinks in a world where children exist. From the get go there are diaper stinks, milk stinks, the clothes have been left in the washer now for three days straight because we are all delirious from lack of sleep stink. Then soon enough comes the other toddler/small children stinks - does anyone else smell something funny when you stand near the couch? What's that? A petrified piece of banana buried in the cushions of the couch by an 18 month old storing up food for later??? That stinks pretty good. Let me tell you another mystery we (I) solved recently. Something in our living room stunk. I sniffed high and I sniffed low. I moved furniture. The stink remained. I washed slip covers. The stink still hung in the air. I crawled on my hands and knees going up and down the living room carpet in straight rows so I would cover every square inch of the surface area of our living room. I stuck my nose to the carpet. I sniffed. "What is mama doing?" asked a wide-eyed 7 year old little girl. "I am not sure." Jamey replied. "But perhaps we should just let her be." as he leads her away from me - my rear stuck up in the air and my hound dog sniffing continuing.
There was nothing that was going to keep me from finding the source of that awful smell. 

There are other stinks too when it comes to kids. Spoiled rotten in the worst kind of way. Kids who demand what they want and when they want it. And if it doesn't meet their criteria, tantrums, screaming, crying and kicking commence. 
Kids who don't say thank you. Or that say(scream)  things like " I don't eat this." or who assume they will be first at everything. Kids who seem to float along in their own little world of stuff and wants and demands. Kids who play their DS at the dinner table EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Kids who can't hold a conversation b/c they are "bored".

All of this to say - I guess one of the main goals of our parenting - is to raise kids who don't stink. There is no denying my kids have it much better than most kids around the globe. Came home from the hospital in a car to their own room in a house with insulation. They have never had a day without food. They have more toys and books than they could play with in a week. They have traveled. Alot. They are blessed. WE are blessed. As public school teachers, we will never spend without worry or skip balancing the checkbook for a few months. But we have what we need.
We want our kids to know that. To see what we have. And to give back. To WANT to give back. This is easier said than done. How do you create an internal desire to help others within someone else? And how do we teach that it is ok to want nice things, to travel, to have great experiences, while at the same time balancing gratitude, awareness of others and humility?  I am not sure. So we are going to try. We are far from perfect and we have not hit the mark every time. We try to show our kids through our actions, our words. I hope it sticks.

oh yeah - and want to know what was stinking up our living room????? We have a chair in our living room that has sides that go down into and under the seat area. A piece of cloth is under there for some reason. To catch things maybe? Like remotes or cell phones...or maybe even a Cars insulated cup that may or may not have had orange juice in it probably poured sometime 6 or7 weeks prior. Sigh.
At least I found it.

Goodnight

Tonight I came in just as you were both almost asleep. You were both in that fuzzy state. That warm place somewhere between awake and asleep. It is the place you are in the mornings when I still carry you from the bed to the couch when we have somewhere to be. Tonight you were both in the bottom of the bunk bed. In one twin sized space. "I'm not asleep." Stephen whispers. "Yes you are." I tell him. He sits up enough for me to pull him to me. Little head with all that hair. Warm little body with such soft skin on your face and your neck and your hands and your feet. Your hands reach up and find my ears and then you run your hands under my chin. "Its you, Mommy" Stephen says. "Its me, baby" I say back to him.  He then reaches over to shake Ansley who was probably a little more asleep than my boy. "Mommy is here." he tells her.
"Lay down, Mommy." Ansley says. Now where exactly I was going to lay was a true mystery. Instead I pull her up to me. My boy tucked into one arm and her into the other. I breathe both of them in. Their apple shampoo and the faint smell of a southern summer of outside playtime - a mix of sunshine, grass and orange popsicles. I push wild hair back from their warm little faces and then lay them back down into each others arms. Into the little nest they created for themselves in the darkness of the bedroom.
"You are both asleep." I tell them. And they nod. "Yes" says Ansley as she drifts back off quickly. Her little fist is tucked under her chin like she is readying herself for a night of thinking. Sounds like my girl.
"The zoo comes tomorrow" Stephen reminds me, referring to the petting zoo at VBS tomorrrow.
"Yes" I tell him.
"I don't think they will bring the lions. Do you? I don't think they will. Do you think they will come by train?"
"Hmmmm...I don't think so."
"But they might."
"Yes, they might."
"I will close my eyes now, Mama" Stephen whispers.
"Good." I tell him. "That is good."

It is good.

Halloween in June?

Well the Dukes have been spread out for the past few days. I went to the beach with some sweet girls from work (in the words of my friend Summer - who knew how relaxing poolside living can be when you are not on constant watch out for children in the pool!) Relaxing to say the least. Jamey and Stephen were bachelors for a while as Ansley went to stay with my  friend Jill.
I worked for three years at an elementary school in Wilmer, Alabama. It was a great little school. Great faculty. Great kids. But the drive was just too long. I still have many friends there, one of which is Jill. I don't know how many people who read this (does anyone really read it?) watch Grey's anatomy - but there is a scene in an early episode between two people and one tells the other "You're my person." Jilly is my person. Thank you, thank you Jill to you and your precious girls for being so sweet and kind to Ansley while I was gone. she had a blast.
The morning I left I packed the car with the few things I was taking for the two night beach trip. I then loaded Stephen in the car and we set off to his little summer school program. I had mentioned I was going on a work trip - but honestly had left out the "b-e-a-c-h" word to try and avoid an issue with my leaving him. (on a side note - Ansley was thrilled to be heading to Wilmer and was not the least bit upset I was leaving her - this is a good thing, right?). Anyway - I had not specifically mentioned that I was going to the beach with friends from work. Phrasing is everything for 4 year olds. Here is our conversation in the car:
Stephen: "Are you sure you are going to work, mommy?"
Me: "Um, well I am going to see some people from work."
Stephen: "And you are taking a hat, a big towel and 'sunspray' on your trip to work?"
Me: Busted.

He was a happy man though to go play and I headed out of town and toward the beach.
Fast forward to tonight - we are all four back together again. For about the first 30 minutes, despite the fact that we have a 2000sqft house, all four Dukes seemed to be consistently attached to each other as we moved about the house. If I sat, a kid was on me. Jamey laid on the couch? Kid on top of him.
And really, that is ok with me.

We have started to spread out a bit now. Stephen is playing his "Batman Wii" (addicted?) and Ansley is doing math worksheets (math worksheets in the summer???) while she waits for cupcakes to be done. Per her request we are making cupcakes for her sunday school class tomorrow morning. The twist? The only cupcake liners I can seem to locate tonight are Halloween themed. So we will proudly take to church our funfetti cupcakes tomorrow displayed in orange and black liners decorated with ghosts and witches. Perhaps there are some churches where Halloween cupcake liners would not fly. But I am not concerned. We go to a church who loves first. Isn't that what we are asked to do, really? My friend Marty says, "When faced with a complicated situation, just love Jesus first and then love others." I love this.
This has been a most ramble-icious (yes, I just made up that word) post.
We are about to taste the June Halloween cupcakes if Ansley will take a break from attemtping to teach Stephen the skill of predicting pattenrs - he is not so much into this late night critical thinking skill building activity.
Happy Saturday night, yall!

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

As I just took a lortab and sweet sleep is on the way following a fun (not) morning at the oral surgeon, this will be short. Thanks to Great Grandma and D-Jo (aka Elizabeth) for taking the kids today.

We had many adventures last week on our trip. I will post actual mission happenings later, but here are a few thoughts from our time spent in airports/airplanes this past week.

1. Dear man in front of me - the flight attendant really does not care that you have some sort of elite status and "fly all the time." If anything, she is only slightly amused at you becuase you have half a purple fruit loop in your hair that may or may not have been launched by a Bat-a-rang that was quickly hidden in a four year olds carryon. (oopsie)

2. Little people with earphones in do not realize the volume of their voices. So in case of a bathroom alert, not only will I know the little person needs a trip to the restroom, so will all the others on board.

3. In the teeniest bathroom ever with mom and little person crammed inside - little person feels that he will be much more comfortable if he sings a few verses of Bad to the Bone and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (yes, I too was impressed with his bathroom song choices). As there was no way I was leaving him in that airplane bathroom alone with his music (because  a. I was terrified he would accidentally flush himself down the scary toilet and b. I was terrified he would lock himself in there and be stuck and then flush himself down the scary toilet) I joined him for the duration of the bathroom trip. I am standing at his little knees, head crunched over while I tried to touch NOTHING and wished I didn't have to breath in there. After our second round of "meaner than a junkyark dog" - minus the profanity mind you, the little person was finished.
Thank. God.
We complete steps for good hygeine as best we can while crammed into the teeniest bathroom ever.
And then I hear it. "Mama - I think maybe I am not done."
And we start again.

4. When little person pulls out the safety card from the seatback in front of him, and begins to "read" the picture scenarios of what passengers should do in case of fire, crash landing, crash landing in water, lack of oxygen, etc. and he STILL has his earphones on - everyone on the plane will hear the little person announce "Hey Mama - if we crash this plane, we get to slide down the bouncy side. See? They put a picture. We all slide down away from the hot fire. See the hot fire mama?"
And of course he "reads" this before the plane has even taken off. I am pretty sure I saw a few people pop a nerve pill after his little speech.

5. Lastly, before I give in to the pill that should take away the pain of the morning, I would like to say that my two kiddos were champs on the plane. Over 6 days they took 6 flights and were on 7 different planes. On the 6th plane, we got on, got our seats, little person began playing pirates, we then sat, sat, sat, sat, were then told AC broken, so we begin to get off the place. Little person thinks we have already flown and are at our final destination. His daddy broke the news to him that we, in fact, had gone nowhere. "Are you sure, daddy? Are you sure we didn't fly? I think we might have."

Sweet babies. Pictures to come later. Time for sleep.