When The Cat's Away...

...the mice will play.

Chip went to Orlando a little over a week ago for a conference. The kids (especially Abby) had a hard time saying goodbye. To take their minds off his absence, I tried to be a little more "fun" and do things a little out of the ordinary.

Like an early morning breakfast at McDonald's, complete with a little playing at the indoor playground, of course.

 

 

After breakfast the kids went to school, and Abby happily said, "This is the best day ever ... except for taking Daddy to the airport."

 

About two weeks ago, Chip set up a tent in the back yard, with the intent of camping overnight with the kids. For whatever reason, it never panned out. So I came up with the "fun" idea of taking the kids - all three of them - back yard camping myself.

 

I wanted to make this as exciting as possible, so I decided to pop some popcorn and have us eat it on the porch before retiring for the evening.



Abby, using her "telescope."

At this point it was 8:30 and about 51 degrees. I was chilly, but the kids were too excited to notice. Despite my best efforts to delay bedtime (because I knew once we were in the tent, I was there to stay), Abby and William were ready to go to bed. So we piled in the tent.

You can't really tell, but there were LAYERS of blankets on these kids.

Mommy's spot was on the far left.
 

"This isn't so bad," I thought, 30 minutes into our adventure. By this point, Abby and William were asleep. Miraculous! Maddie took a little longer. After about an hour of tossing and turning and possibly wondering what in the world was going on, our littlest camper dozed off.

It was almost 10. My nose was frozen. I checked my phone, and it said the temp was 49. After checking on all three kids for the umpteenth time, I decided they were probably warm enough, but one more blanket wouldn't hurt.

Trying not to wake the kids, I quietly unzipped only the lower portion of the tent and (quite literally) slithered out through the small slit. I laughed out loud at the sight it must have been. Oh well. This'll give the neighbors even more to talk about, I snickered.

On my way in the house, I noticed a strange odor. After a little investigating (i.e. sniffing myself), I noticed the odor was on me. I smelled of urine. Then it dawned on me that during my sleeping bag allocation, I somehow overlooked the fact that I had allotted William's sleeping bag as mine. The bag, I might add, that he sleeps in at night when he comes into my bedroom. The bag that he has pee-peed in on more than one occasion...

I added a comforter to the mounting pile of bedding, and despite its large size, it didn't quite reach Mommy's side of the tent. I made the most of it, and snuggled extra close to Maddie.

I must have dozed off, because the next time I checked my phone, it was 11:15. Forty-eight degrees. Hmph. I was cold. My head hurt. I was wide awake. And I smelled of pee.

So I lie there shivering. And then this happened:

Maddie, wide awake, at midnight.

There was no getting Maddie to go back to sleep. When she started messing with Abby, I knew it was time to throw in the towel. Begrudgingly (and somewhat relieved), I woke William and Abby and told them it was time to go inside.

After LOTS of tears (theirs, not mine), I finally got everyone in bed. I think I fell asleep about 2 a.m.

We certainly wished Daddy could have been there to join in the fun. But before he returned, we decided to do something nice for Chip. We washed his car...

 

Poor Chip. That'll teach him to leave town, won't it?

Celebrating Like a Champ

Like a national champ, that is.

I decided to try my hand at making Chip's birthday cake this year, and I settled on an Alabama theme. Chip seemed to appreciate my effort, especially since I'm an Auburn fan...

Papa Hartin was here to help us celebrate, which made the day quite special.

Here's to at least 35 more years, Chip!

Silly Maddie

Maddie is 21 months old now. (Yes, I had to stop and count, because by child number three, you sorta lose track of those kinda things). I've enjoyed seeing her little personality come out here and there. So far she reminds me a lot of William -- comical, independent and very go-with-the-flow. She's also got a sweet servant's heart, as she's always the first to help out. It's so cute to watch her after the kids' gymnastics practice. Maddie eagerly retrieves Abby and William's shoes, without even being asked. Here are some recent silly shots of my silly little girl.



"Why, yes. I DO look like Elton John as a Viking."



"Reading" in her under-the-island cabinet.



Let me tell you, this girl knows how to do laundry.



Forget baby sign language. This is how she tells me she's done.



Holding your cup with your hands is for babies.



Mismatched gold-toned high heels are so in right now.



"Maybe one day mama will remember to keep the cookie box out of arm's reach. Until then, I'll have one more."

Masterpiece

Abby LOVES to draw. And she's pretty good at it. I'll catch her drawing in her room late at night; she's always got a story to go along with each creation.

Here's one of my favorites, which just so happens to have adorned our driveway a few weeks ago.

 

I think it's funny that she always labels Madeline as "baby."

 

It's Official!

Dr. Hartin has an office. What's more, he has his name ON THE SIGN.

We are so proud of you, Chip!



Of course the kids loved the kitchen...

Books, Castles, and Bears ... Oh, My!

Abby took a field trip at the end of August to the Upcountry History Museum. To see Smokey the Bear. Yeah.

She loved the Smokey exhibit SO much that she talked me into taking the kids back the next day. So I did. It was Saturday, and NO ONE was at the museum. The kids and I spent almost a good hour just playing and goofing off at the cool campsite exhibit. And to top it off, we met Smokey.

 

 

After the museum we strolled next door to the library. (We lived it up that Saturday, let me tell you!)

 



School Boy

I caught this shot one day after preschool. Where is my little boy?