Pappa Retired!

Jason's dad, aka: Madison's Pappa, has retired.

He has spent the last year building his retirement log cabin on lake property in East Texas. It is fabulous. All of the Vaughan's recently met out there to celebrate the completion of all his hard work paying off. One year ago we all met to celebrate Pappa's 60th birthday. We ate on picnic tables on a wooded lot. This time we ate around a massive 7 foot dinner table inside of a beautiful log cabin. It was a great day of family, fun, and Pappa's unbelievable delicious smoked BBQ.

Madison loves water and could easily fit right under the ledge of the dock if we'd let her. I was a bit nervous to let her play down there. We'll have many more years to grow into this place.

I  have never seen anyone who likes to fish more than the Vaughan boys. I don't get it, but it keeps them entertained for hours. Yes, I do mean hours. I am pretty sure Uncle Joe won the fishing competition. Pappa already has Madison a princess fishing pole ready to go when she's big enough!

What's better than a baby who loves water and boats to be able to "row, row" in her own? She really just climbed all over these and when I made her go inside to cool off she left kicking and screaming all the way up the hill!

Retirement. What a fabulous word.

Congratulations Pappa! We are so happy for you. Now let's just get Mamma to retirement and you'll really be good to go!

18 months

The product of happiness is more happiness.

Madison has been on this earth a short 18 months but she easily made her way to the top of the happiness list.

There really is an unconditional love which you don't truly understand until you're a parent. I'm sure I'll learn a lot more about that in years to come.

At 18 months Madison is in love with chickens and ducks. Her quacks and her wing movement to the chicken dance are adorable. She is still a very healthy eater. She loves fruits and veggies. Pineapple has been added to the list. She will repeat any word that you ask her to and can tell you what she wants without giving up or getting frustrated. Her grunts are less and her words are more. She loves playing ring around the rosie and the bigger the circle the more fun she has. If you are in the room, she will pull you up and make you play. She's a leader!  She is very helpful around the house. She cleans up, throws her diapers away, helps load the washer and dryer, and can reach the counter tops... Uh-Oh! She still loves to be outside. She is still obsessed with bubbles and chalk. She loves water and really enjoys the pool. She will go under (not by choice, usually) and comes up like a champ, goes to wipe her face off with her towel and comes back to do it all over again. She continues to be a beam of light, full of energy and happiness.

Oh, did I mention that she's still tall? She continues to be in the 99% and it wearing a 3T at 18 months. :-)

Good Girl

I have many "soap boxes" that I can get on and will get me going. One of my big soap boxes, especially as a teacher, is the lack of imagination and creativity in kids today. In my early childhood days I lived in the country where kids played outside, rode their bikes and ran through the woods. We had a tree house that the neighborhood kids played in and fell out of on more than one occasion. We played baseball in the backyard, basketball in the front yard,  and neighborhood hide-n-go-seek. Now, don't get me wrong, because I also know that the dynamic of the neighborhood has change quite drastically since that time, but that time wasn't that long ago. Where do kids play today? What do they turn to when their bored?
When asking a kindergarten his/her favorite "game" the popular answer last year was angry birds! Computers, video games and television.... UGGGH. I boycott it as much as possible. Noise pollution, I say. We didn't grow up on t.v. I think that is why to this day my sister won't invest in cable. She doesn't watch television at all. I grew up with one t.v. in my house and it was never on at dinner. I love that. Still to this day my parents have one t.v. in their house, even though they have 3 living areas. They have areas to talk and have conversations. Our house does have the rule of no t.v. on a dinner and we eat dinner at the table every night.
So what do you do if you're not watching television? You're playing of course. You're talking, having conversations, dressing up, making animals sounds, counting, coloring, building sand castles, watering the plants, just to name a quick few from this morning. Kids need to use their brains more.
I'm on a tangent, huh?
This is where this blog was intended to go...
Okay, so we also know that kids learn from observations and then from doing.
Madison did just that last week while at Pappa and Mamma'a house swimming and playing in their back yard. We have a dog and Jason's parents have two at their house so dogs on a leash are a common sight to Madison. The dog leash was out and she took it to Mamma saying, "good girl, good girl." Madison wanted to be the good girl. She took the front of the leash gave the back end to Jason's mom and took off.

We of course think that everything that M does is adorable and this was just added to the list. I had to take photos and e-mail them to the siblings kidding about how Mamma keeps her grandchildren on a leash. They made their way around the yard and when they returned, Madison came up with a better plan:

She would be in charge! Why be the "good girl" when you can be in charge? We watched this unfold, laughing of course and said, "Well at least she has an imagination!"  We had all sat down and moved on to other things when Madison came to Pappa holding the leash, pulling him out of his seat, and telling him to play "good girl, good girl." And what do you think happened?

So funny. So yes, we will keep playing outside and we'll see what she can think of next! :-)

Logged OFF...

Well I did it. I quit facebook just now. Moments ago I signed off and just quit. I kept saying that I would and I did and why do I feel nervous? I feel a bit panicked! Am I that invested in "fake life" that I think I can't live without it? That's a problem. That's why I quit. I am breathing deeply. I will be okay. But how  will I know what the people I knew in high school 14 years ago are doing with their pets on Thursday night? Why would anyone care? There again is the problem. I find myself interested in fake life about people that I have a fake relationship based on posts that make me believe that I care. In reality, I don't. I have been so angry at ignorant people lately over opinions that they hide behind on facebook that I get angry. Really angry. I want to scream at them. I can't of course because my status updates are on a screen. Ridiculous.
I have found myself in a great deal of self reflection over the past five days, since August 1st. I hate August in general, but I really have August 1st. The first of August means that you are actually in the month when school will start. If school starts this month then summer for a teacher is officially over. The doors open back up. You have to go back and sweat like a dog moving heavy furniture that the cleaning crew wrecked over the break. You have to put up bulletin boards, arrange desks, try to remember what worked and didn't work from the year before.  I hate August. For me this also means that the sweet little baby at home (yes I know she's a 19 month old toddler, but she's still a baby...) has to go back to daycare. I really hate August. I have already cried over this -- the night of August 1st when I bravely opened my work e-mail that I have refused to open all summer. The dates came rolling in - teacher work days, meet the teacher night, and Madison's report back day.
I just kept thinking - how am I here? Why do I have to send her back? I am going to miss her so much. I still can't fathom the idea that I send my child away to someone else for 8 hours a day, while I do the same for someone else's children.
I've thought back over the summer and how I really do believe that we spent quality time together. We learned a lot from each other. We played and laughed everyday.
But there were days I wanted to do something else. I wanted adult play. I wanted other conversation. There were days that I was so tired that I sat on the couch and read "status updates" while Madison played. I won't get that time back that I wasn't present. My new goal is to always be present. Make the moments after daycare count. Swing and laugh again. Be present. Pull Madison around the yard in the wagon 75 times before dinner and know that these days are short lived. Stomp in the puddles, roll in the grass, lay in the hammock and talk to the birds. Be present. Spend my time more wisely. These days will not come again.
I have added this canvas to my bedroom and I read it everyday.

The artist is Kelly Rae Roberts.
I am so in love with her work right now.
I saw this hanging on a little wall in a boutique and my eyes filled with tears as I read it.
This is my story
"Her favorite moments were those when she let go of all expectations and worries and just simply celebrated the very moment she was living. In those precious moments, she was truly present and listening to Grace."

Isn't that wonderful?! My heart just sings...
Good bye facebook. Hello real life.
I bet I'll blog more, so check back later.
In the mean time I still e-mail (hint, hint!)