Kalaya's Kuts

When you are born with hair like this----

What else would you be destined to do but style hair?

She most commonly likes to tell us about her husband- Brother John- and his antics or the fact that she does hair for dogs too ("Bring your dog in anytime- but I never do cat's hair").

But make sure you bring enough cash- she's been charging $20 lately.

Swimming, Spelunking, and Soil Aeration

The other day our babysitter's little girl was sick so what did that mean?

WORK DAY WITH MAMA!

Kalaya was soooo excited- she got to come to work with me for awhile that morning.

It was only for a couple of hours to get some things done- but it was definitely fun for her. She asked me at one time " Mama, when I get older can I work like you?"

I wanted to say " No baby! Run! Don't do it!" But of course I told that of course she could.

Poor unsuspecting child.

Anyways, we left early ( a whole day at mama's work would not have cut it) and went to Nana's house in Alabama early. We figured, since we had the day to play, we would do just that.

We stopped in Cave Springs on the way there to play.

If you've never been, Cave Springs is a really cute little town for kids and even adults.

The park there has a cave (duh) and a spring( double duh) that creates a pond and streams for the kids to wade and play in. Nana and Grandaddy used to take Jeff and I there as kids too. Heck, all kinds of people still go there. Kids were in the water, older people were at the mouth of the spring collecting water in gallon jugs to take home, and it was just down right lovely.

Good thing, come summer time, we keep a bathing suit around just in case of such emergencies.

And because Cave Springs has a ----drum roll please-----CAVE!---- we decided to go in and explore.

Finally, we got to Nana's for all the normal good times.

Kalaya planted cucumbers early this year and got her first ones off of the vine.

She's such a good farmer!

2010 Projects

My goal this year is to get into some more hands on projects. Currently I'm sewing Kalaya and nice, new, big picnic blanket but that will take awhile. (and probably even more then that since I haven't picked it up in a few weeks)

But in the mean time, I've been redoing a rocking chair that was Nana and Grandaddy's.

Why you ask?

Oh a whim - I reply.

Just thought it looked like it needed redoing. It's over 30yrs old.

If it was an Orange County resident, it would have already had 2 boob jobs and multiple Botox injections.

So here are the final results!

Pretty good- if I say so myself (and I do).

Especially when it started like this:

Nah- just kidding. I forgot to get a 'before' picture but it was a dark brown stain and had 30+yrs of booties sitting on it. Just use your imagination.

Next project: redoing the mini rocking chair that Jeff and I had as kids.

Dear Mom, I Am So Sorry......

I am so sorry that you had to put up with my stubborness as a child (which, as I'm sure you would like to bring up, has still not disappeared. It's just, oh let's say, mellowed a bit)
You always told me that you couldn't wait till I had kids just so I could get a taste of my own childhood antics.

And, much to your chagrin, I totally LOVE having a child just like me.

She's a tomboy at heart and would rather get in the dirt then wear a dress.
She's tenderhearted to the point that small unimportant things can make her little heart hurt.
She's rambunctious (to say the least) and always on the go.
She LOVES her family with a fierceness.

All of these things that might have made me end up in a mud puddle one too many times or with a couple of time out's now and again- just make me love this little girl even more! She is a little me whether she has my blonde hair and blue eyes or not!

HOWEVER........

You win, Mom. You finally got your wish. I now see how the stubborness, which can I just say is COMPLETELY hereditary (thanks Nana and Grandaddy), made our day to day interactions as a child a challenge, to say the least.

I can remember all my little stubborn quirks as a child.

I recall being given a bite of stir-fry (which I hate) and holding it in my mouth for no less then 2 hours because I refused to eat it. And on that same line, I can remember sitting at the dinner table waaaay after everyone else left because I was supposed to eat my vegetables and yet still not giving in. (Notice, eating was a HUGE issue with me as a kid)

But, mostly, I can remember my stubborness about not wanting to take a nap or go to bed.

On this one issue, Mom, I just want to say " I'm sorry".

I'm sorry for the 3 trillion times I got up at night.

I'm sorry for making you say "If you get out of this bed again (insert threat here)" so many times that you probably considered making it your trademark quip. ( like Mr T and "I pity the fool" but more like Mrs. Mom "I pity the child's rear")

I'm sorry that the multiple spankings you gave me pretty much didn't squelch my sleep-escape attempts anymore then that whole "eat your food or you'll have to sit there all night" threat did.
(point being-- totally didn't work at all)

Why the sudden change of heart you ask?

Oh-- only because I have spent a total of 2 hours a night conjoling, threatening, sweet talking, spanking, ignoring, and praying for a 3 yr old who suddenly doesn't want to sleep in her bed after sleeping consistenly in it for the first 3 yrs of her life for 12-14 hours a night.

I have no idea where this new turn of events came from for her but I do know-- it can hop right back on it's horse and ride on out of town- PRONTO!

At this point, I'm at my wits end.
I have tried everything Nanny 911, Dr.Spock, you- my mom, my nana, and my mail carrier has suggested to no avail.
No threat or amount of spankings scares her or makes her back down. (gotta give her credit for tenacity----like a bulldog on a porkchop)
At this point, I've reached a final, heart breaking, lesson teaching decision.

Guess what Mama Stubborn has to do?
......
Give up.
........

If it comes to a battle of wills between a 3yr old and a 28yr old then I guess I better take the high road and give in on this one. Not that I usually do with her but it gets to a point where you'd rather not spend the 2 hours you see your child in a day spanking and threatening. I much prefer kissing and cuddling (and harassing you, Grana, as a team)

So in closing Mom----

Man, I sure do feel for you and all my stubborn antics as a child (although I could revert to the age old adage "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree")

Love your sleepy, frustrated, and in as much love with her baby as ever,

Sara

Zoobilee Zoo

Do you remember that show? If not-- go here. Man, those were good times.
Took Kalaya to the zoo this past weekend. It was her first time and the last time I went to the Atlanta Zoo was in kindergarten.

Our favorite was the relaxin' and maxin' and chillin' all cool meerkats.
He had the right idea.

Cancel that. These two had the right idea!

Kalaya had no need to worry about keeping up with the lions. She's been working on her growl/pterodactyl scream daily.

Any one else miss Willie B? I do. I mean, he and I didn't have a personal relationship or anything but you know, we were tight in an ATL way.

Biggest honkin' cottonmouth! Not what you want to find in your sleeping bag on the Brownie's camping trip.

Long legs lady! She comes upon it honestly-- gotta give her that.

Definitly the best two animals the zoo had to offer that day. :)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to talk about dental health.

Cute petting zoo- although, was it just me or were the animals comatose? It's like their whole lives are spent letting nutty kids pet and brush them.

Most had this 'one fry short of a Happy Meal' look in their eyes. (No, I mean the animals- not the kids)
AAAAAAAAAAdorable!

Got to go to her first trip to the Varsity afterwards too. Might I add---

Dear Varsity,

I love you and want to bathe in your food every night in order to be closer to you in any way possible.

Love,

Your truly devoted Atlantan friend.

Whaddya have?!

Busier Than a One-Armed Paper Hanger with Green Thumbs (literally)

Kalaya, Nana, and I have been working hard on flowers this spring and summer with alot of beautiful results!

The little bottom pot is Kalaya's that she grew from seeds. They are called lupine and they are taking FOREVER to bloom. We can't wait to see them.
I moved the purple clover from my old house to fill in mom's front flower bed. They took really well.

I also moved TONS of day lilies from around the field in Alabama. Nothing beats free flowers! Nana taught me well. They are around $5 a piece at Home Depot.
Since I couldn't plant a full garden this year- I created my own hanging garden from our old swing set. Tons of different flowers here: kangaroo paws, begonies, geraniums, clamadyis, caladium, potato vines, salvia, and much more.

This is one of my favorite ones because of the colors. I love the green one- Nana introduced it to me. It's called " molten lava".

This has one of my favorite ones-- the potato vine. They are great additions and can grow very long. Nice for climbing up something.

Here are Kalaya's suprise pumpkins. We didn't even plant them. They came up all on their own from when daddy cleaned out the pumpkin for Halloween last year. Can't wait to get a new one for this year.

Kalaya's cucumber garden. She planted a package of them at Nana's. Needless to say, all of them (about 40 seeds) sprouted. We had alot of cucumber seedlings to share.

Laylay smelling her flowers.

And now to why else I have a green thumb! We re-did Kalaya's room when we moved. It's been done for weeks but I just got here to tell you about it.

Here room theme is Paris! oh la la!

And believe it or not, we were able to do the whole room for about $50. We are good at recreating things.

This is her bed. It was a bed frame Aunt Lolly found years ago on the side of the road that someone was getting rid of. Were they crazy to do that? Yes! It's gorgeous and it's an antique.... we love it! The black and white bedding was her toddler bed stuff so it matched everything perfectly. And you can see, yes, we did paint the walls black and green.

Painting the walls black was stressful to some (KK about hurled everywhere LITERALLY when we started) and it was exciting for others ( I LOVED IT!)

It turned out soooo cute!

I had pictures from Paris already in my living room so I gave them to her and we re painted some old shelves and re matted some picture frames all with things we already had around the house. The dresser I have already redone from last year ( painted from brown to white, added the designs, new knobs)

She already had the chandelier too. She loves this part! We plugged it into a cord where all she has to do is step on it to turn it on-- her favorite part.

See her cute little CD player? I love it. And there's a pic of Nana and Grandaddy on their wedding day.

Moved the books shelf in the closet for more room space and, as you can see, she doesn't need anymore clothes.

Little dress up area behind the door.

Bought a plain white lamp when she was born for like $3 and added the pink ribbon. This time I painted it black and glued on the french poodle.

Got the Eiffel Tower sticker at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off so it was only like $7! I love that store!

Hope you enjoyed our hobbies as much as we do!

Odds and Ends

We've been doing all sorts of things lately- but obviously one of them is not taking pictures. I know, I'm failing badly. So here's just a few odd and ends.

Kalaya has her own mailbox at the front door where she gets 'mail' from Grana and Mama. Yesterday she got a congratulations card and stickers because it was her first day of gymnastics (or 'gym-nack-sticks' for you 3yr olds out there)

Chasie-boy graduated and Kalaya and I got to go! He graduated with a full scholarship to Jacksonville State. Congratulations Puddin'!

She's so precious.

And we cooked a bit here and there. Who doesn't love a good cooking mess now and again. She loves putting her 'cooker' (read: Apron) on and helping us in the kitchen.