How Do You Complain About THAT?!

     Yes, lots of posts need to be published. Lots of photos to come... But, today, we received a note from Presleigh's teacher at Mother's Morning Out. Actually, it was her behavior report - she got a straight face - not a smile or a frown, but a straight face. (Alright, it looks more like the number "11" with a straight line underneath, but we get the point, and so do you, right?) But, the straight face, followed by the comment was all Presleigh, all day long.

     Cristine and I looked at it and agreed we couldn't get mad at her - she was caught in the act of being a little girl. Here's what it said:

    

    How else would Presleigh make her way down the hall?! Way to be a little princess-ballerina!!!

    

Movie Time with Presleigh...

It's time for "Presleigh Gets Busted" and the hijinks that can only be seen with the help of a hidden camera. The angle you're about to see is from the bathroom off the nursery ("nursery" means "master bedroom given to the babies because Mommy and Daddy were outnumbered and needed the kids to have a larger and more secure play area without building an addition").

Hopefully, this will stream fine on your screen. Enjoy an update on Presleigh's antics!

AP

Miles and Miles Ago (Part 1)

Nothing's happened in Presleigh's life since March. She's just been sitting in her room, taking up space...

Alright, that's a total lie.

     The truth is, Presleigh has passed the 2 and a half year mark, grown greatly in her vocabulary, grammar, and wit, and ridden over 4,000 miles. No joke! Thanks, to the grace of God and a plot to conspire for Papa's birthday, the whole family packed up the van and drove wayyy up north to Cape Cod for a week! It was a daunting undertaking and had God not provided in many ways we'd have needed a daunting undertaker for Papa!!!

     Presleigh had no problem making friends with her cousins from Boston and Cape Cod (can you believe it?) Though she's too young for Facebook, she certainly "friended" a whole lot of people at Papa's birthday party. Though she can't (nor can I) tell you the difference between a second cousin and a first cousin twice removed, she knows the word "family" has a very wide scope. Legos and crayons may not be her favorite things to play with (or may they...), but they sure were familiar and welcome. In this photo, Presleigh, the twins, and a bunch of cousins are playing with the legos. Here, you'll see Presleigh building her favorite lego construct: "a beautiful tower".

     The Favorite Uncle award has to go to Uncle Jeremy after his "throw Presleigh in the air" routine. She likes this routine a lot at home, too. In this photo, we have evidence that even though Papa left it off the packing list, Presleigh remembered to bring a large belly full of raucous laughter. We always knew she could giggle with the best of them, but after mere seconds playing with Uncle Jay, it was clear she was ready to take cross country chuckling to an Olympic level. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

     Cake, salad, more cake, juice, some cake that Papa gave her because he didn't know Mommy had said "no more cake for Presleigh", were her favorite fare when it came to party time. "Daddy's birthday?" Not according to who got the most cakes and had the most fun. A big shoutout to cousin Michael, who may or may not have out run Presleigh in the "run around the room until you fall down" contest. They hit it off really well and we hope to have cousin Michael shipped to Georgia for some babysitting someday!

Squatting in the Sand, Collecting
"Shiny Shells"

     About 20 hours worth of driving was divided up over two days to cover the 1,100 mile journey to Massachusetts with a brief stopover in northern Virginia. We saw trees, cows, cars, trucks, people, gas stations, hours upon hours of VeggieTales (portable DVD player - blessing or curse?), what seemed like bushels of cheerios and goldfish, and a whole lot of the interior of our minivan!!!

     Day 1 on Cape Cod didn't provide us with very good beach weather. Nor did day 2. But, Mommy made the most of it, taking Presleigh for a walk to the shore less than a minute away from where we were staying. (Huge thanks go out to the Edwards family, who graciously allowed us to use their beach rental for the week for nuthin. Wow, God is so good!)

     Presleigh hadn't seen the ocean up close and personal since she was about 9 months old. So, this was quite a treat for her. On day 3 of our trip, the clouds finally gave us a great break and our only "beach day" of the week. While the week before Memorial Day isn't exactly swimming weather, Mommy did take a "dip" in Nantucket Sound while Papa and Presleigh played on the shore.

     The highlight of the beach from Presleigh's perspective had to be "Shiny shells". "Shiny?" You ask? Well, "Dinosaur Train" is one of Presleigh's favorite PBSKids programs. It's about a family of pteranodons who time travel through pre-history on the Dinosaur Train visiting other dinosaurs in different eras. The main characters include three pteranodon children (chicks?) named "Tiny", "Shiny", and "Don". Are you following? Needless to say, it took us a while, too, to figure out what Shiny shells were, until we remembered that Shiny Pteranodon has a collection of shells from a variety of time periods that the family has visited. Amazing what kids use for points of reference, right? "All aboard!"

     Presleigh really enjoyed her beach day with Mommy, Papa, Bri-bri, and the twins. It was a great time for the two oldest sisters to bond. It was also a great time for Presleigh to learn about ocean wildlife. She got to see seagulls (yucky trash-birds), horseshoe crabs (mostly washed up shells), barnacles on the jetty, and seaweed. Of all of the above, the only one she didn't develop a love for was the seaweed. Papa tried as hard as he could to get her befriend it, but she just never took to it. Well, there's something nice left for next time, right?

    In part 2 of "Miles and Miles" we'll see some of the sights Presleigh got to see, including sights that Papa hadn't seen even having lived on Cape Cod for 20 odd years. Today's Photoshop collage includes some great fun at the beach, highlighting Papa's horrible tendency to try to get Presleigh over her fear of seaweed by force. Note to self: this only results in tears and greater fear of seaweed... Bummer.

Fun, fun, FUN!!!

Sisterly Cuteness

The Fun Meter

     Presleigh is learning a great variety of was to have fun. Lately, she's discovered playing drums is fun - provided you keep a very loose definition of what "drums" means. Most of the time, she understands that her baby brother and sisters' heads are not appropriately categorized as drums, and everything is peachy keen. However, with no photographic evidence to prove it, I will say that Jovi and Jez have decided "our heads as drums" = 0 on the fun meter.

     Papa has decided that Adobe Illustrator equals about a 900 on the fun meter, even though the fun meter only goes to 10. Here's his take on Presleigh and Jovi having their own fun in the big chair. As you can see, Jovi is loaded with teeth and is not shy about showing them off. We think she got it from her sister, but rumor has it, it came from Mommy.

     She's really doing well with playing with the twins, although Jezreel often grabs at her gorgeous hair because... well, it's there. Someday, he'll learn to "do nice" to Presleigh and leave her lovely locks alone. For now, it's a fun game of chase for these two. Soon enough, it will be a chase for all three as we expect Jovi to begin walking next month!

     Someone did the unthinkable and introduced Presleigh to Veggie-Tales. Just when you thought you had gotten the last catchy kid show jingle out of your head, here comes a new one! Well, in true Presleigh style, she's made certain that everyone in the house is accidentally walking around with "If you like... to... talk... to tomatoes. If... a... squash... can... make... you... smile." in their heads. I guess it's better than the theme song to "Dinosaur Train", isn't it? Well, isn't it? PLEASE TELL ME IT IS?!

Weekends of Fun

     Presleigh had two amazing weekends in a row. Grandma, Nana, and RC (her great-grandparents) made it all the way up from sunny Florida to visit two weeks ago. And, last weekend, her Grand Dad (Poppop) made it up from another part of the Sunshine State. She got some really great gifts, like a new ballerina outfit, which of course, she adores. Here she is showing Grandma how to begin a perfect pirouette.

     It's amazing to think that in one room we had four generations all on the same couch at the same time. That's a rarity and we don't want to ever take it for granted.  Here's the group shot for posterity sake:

 

     The next weekend was Poppop's turn, and there were plenty of opportunities to have cake, BBQ, and pictures of all kinds of family members - sisters and cousins and aunts, oh-my! Poppop made a huge splash and added wisely to Presleigh's diaper stash and Veggie Tales collection. Thanks, Poppop!!!

This just in...

     Just noticed I haven't uploaded those photos from the camera. So, surprise, Poppop - you get your own blog entry when Papa gets a free moment!

     Last, I had to share this collage of entries on the fun meter. Mommy brought Presleigh to the local Barnes & Noble for a fun day of painting and a visit from none other than the Moose from "If You Give a Moose a Muffin". Somehow, I don't think this is how the story really goes...

 

Since Thanksgiving?!

     Updates have been spotty lately, haven't they? And, with all this great weather (60's and possibly 70s this week!) who can think of Christmas?! Well, as I look through iPhoto and share these with you, I'm sure you'll be thinking "Ahh, the holidays!" right along with us.

     Presleigh probably won't remember this Thanksgiving when she's older, but she can look back at her blog and see photographic evidence that Papa actually cooked the whole meal for once. With so many relatives out of town, it came down to us to host for the guests who came. It was quite a change from the "You make dessert and bring a few Cokes." Especially, since Papa hasn't had a drop of soda since February of 2010.

     Not only did we do the turkey, the sides, and all of the trimmings this year, but Mommy actually tried her hand as a prep-cook and sous-chef. She rocked the house, and Papa was proud of her.

Sunny Days... Keepin' the Clouds Away...

Whatever your opinion on Global Warming, you have to love it when we get an oasis of the nice stuff in February after a frigid January. And, by the way, unseasonably warm in GA is much nicer than unseasonably warm back in New England or New Jersey, right?

Mommy decided it was a great day for Presleigh to get out with the twins and it was a perfect opportunity to use that cool jogging stroller we picked up for free from a guy down in Buckhead who was tired of having it in his garage. Win/win, I always say, right? Well, more of a win/win/win/win/win/win when there's three kids' transportation and a happy Mommy at stake. Plus, I win for finding it... Can we just call it multi-win?

Math and meteorology aside, here's the result of a nearly full CF card on the camera when it met with these three awesome subjects enjoying the lovely global warming fun, Atlanta-style. Presleigh in he middle, time!

Papa

Really, There ARE Updates Coming!

For now, just a photo or two. Next week, a bona-fide update on Presleigh since November. Thanks, for following Presleigh, she's doing great!

Presleigh and Brianna in the Snow

Riding the Tire Swing Like it's the Dinosaur Train

Can I wear THIS for Christmas?

Papa