Strawberry Shortcake

Just in case anyone was wondering, here is the infamous Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake.

When I Grow Up...

Well, it has finally happened. Our Makenna has now declared what she is going to be when she grows up. Ready...wait for it..."cake maker."

Yes, it is true. Last night Makenna announced to me that she wants to be a cake maker when she grows up and that she wants to be on the cake maker shows on TV. You're probably wondering how in the world she came up with this. Well, I guess it all really started when she was about three years old. This is when she really started to want to help out in the kitchen. We would let her do a few things here and there, but the whole cake thing really began to manifest itself when she saw a picture of a Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake in a magazine. She let me know in no uncertain terms that she wanted that cake for her 3rd birthday. Now, this was no ordinary Wal-Mart sheet cake, mind you. This was one of those fancy three tier, stacked, covered in fondant and all sorts of decoration type cake. Well, not wanting to dissapoint, I decided, with the help of Nana, of course, that we would attempt to make this cake. How hard could it be, right? I had all of the instructions in the back of the magazine and bought all of the tools necessary. Little did I know what I was getting into. I thought this cake was literally going to drive me crazy, but hey, it was for my little girl. It took almost three days to make the silly thing and we were even putting the last touches on it as people were coming in for her party. Nana and I have made a pact to never let her forget that cake.

I guess the cake interest has just really grown from there. She and I have started a ritual where we will sit down together and watch the Food Network Challenges on the Food Network. This is where the "cake maker on TV" thing came from. In fact, last night, we watched as four cake designers designed cakes inspired by the Cirque de Soliel "La Nouba" show at Walt Disney World. She watches these things and the look on her face is pure fascination. We've also seen the Disney Princess cakes, Disney Villians cakes and the Pixar cakes. She just loves it. If this is what she wants to do, I'm all for it. Do you know what those cakes cost nowadays?

Here are a few pictures of our chef in the making. Notice the attire.

What We Did On Summer Vacation

As long as I can remember, my parents have been taking my sister and I down to Litchfield Beach for our summer vacation. Litchfield Beach is located on Pawley's Island, South Carolina and is about 20 or so miles south of Myrtle Beach. We always stay at the Litchfield Inn and I have so many good memories of that family time spent together. Now, that I have a family of my own, we have continued that tradition. Actually, Keith and I have been going just about every summer even before the kids arrived. We especially love this area becuase it is not overly crowded and the area is very family oriented. There aren't many crazy teenagers running around and it's just a nice quiet place to take a family with young children.

This year, we headed down for a four-night stay. Keith works for BMW and this year the powers that be decided to schedule a plant-wide shut down, so we decided to take advantage of the time he would have off anyway.

I have found that traveling with kids is a huge undertaking and no trip is ever the same. This year was no different. We begin about a week in advance buying groceries and all of the necessities. We like to eat our breakfast and lunch in our hotel room, and usually take things to make sandwhiches and things like that. We end up with this huge box of non-perishable items which usually ends up parked on the kitchen table until it is time to pack the car. Speaking of packing the car, that in itself requires some sort of degree, I'm convinced. This is definitely my area of expertise and I don't let Keith anywhere near the car while I'm trying to figure things out. I like to be able to pack the minivan so that we can still have two of the three seats in the way-back available for use as Makenna usually claims this as her little hideaway. I have noticed that she inherited some of her organizing traits from her momma. She has a precise place for all of her animals/dolls, activites and a stack of movies to play in the car. I then find the perfect location for the beach tent, chairs, all of the luggage, pool toys and floats and of course, the cooler. Keith seems to not be able to go very long without a soda, but it seems to get worse when taking trips in the car that will last anymore than 30 minutes.

The kids had so much fun this year as they are getting older and getting more and more comfortable in the water and on the beach. Makenna has always liked it. From the first time she set foot (or I should say knees as she was crawling at the time) in the sand, she has enjoyed every minute. Noah, on the other hand, has been a completely different story. For a boy, he certainly does not like to get too dirty, which I find a little odd. Anyway, once Noah figured out that the sand was not too big of a deal, he was pretty okay with the whole thing. The past two years, he wouldn't even walk in the sand, even with his shoes on. This year we actually got him to play in the water and dig in the sand and he had a blast. Makenna put her swimming lessons to good use and we just about couldn't keep her out of the water. She's become much more comfortable in the water and has even given up her swim belt for the most part. She learned to swim in the waves and her daddy even purchased a Hannah Montana boogie board, which she got pretty good at. The pool is always a big hit and we ended up going back and forth from the beach to the pool just about the whole day.

We did get to experience something very special during our trip this year. It turned out that Papa Mike and Mema Joyce would be vacationing in North Myrtle Beach at the same time. We were all able to get together a few times and have supper. Makenna was so excited to see her Mema and Papa at Myrtle Beach that she could hardly contain herself. Even more special, for Makenna, was that she was able to take Mema and Papa to Build a Bear so that they could watch her complete her most recent creation.

What a fun time. We can't wait to go back next year!!

Right of Passage

Several weeks ago, Makenna experienced a right of passage that just about every girl goes through at some point in their lives. Right around the age of 5, she started talking about getting her ears pierced. I thought it was kind of cute and didn't really discourage her because I was hoping she would forget about it and move on. Boy was I wrong. Every time we passed the store in the mall, she would ask, "Can I get my ears pierced today?" I always tried to find an excuse as to why we could not do it that day. I would tell her that daddy wants to be here or maybe Nana would like to be with us...anything I could think of. As a mom and as well as the fact that she is only 5, I wasn't quite sure I was ready for it. We even went as far as telling her that it hurt. As far as she was concerned, this didn't matter. We kept telling her to wait a while...wait until she was bigger...wait until she turned 6...7...nothing seemed to work. At that point, I slowly began to prepare myself for the inevitable.

We took the kids on a weekend trip to Gatlinburg and decided that if she really wanted to do it, she could do it in Gatlinburg. We went to the store and talked to the girl who was working about the cost and such. Now, when I got my ears pierced (I was 10, I think)I was able to have both ears pierced at the exact same time. I figured this would work out much better for Makenna as well. Since there was only one girl working in the store at the time, we decided to continue with our shopping instead. Later that afternoon, we went to another store, and they happened to have more than one girl working at the time. We were all set. It's now or never. Well, Makenna chickened out. I cannot express the relief I felt when she said, "I think I'll wait until I'm 7." Whew!!!

After returning home, that same night even, she then declared that she had changed her mind and that she wanted it done. We told her okay and that she had one more shot at it. If we got to the store and she decided against it, that would be it for a while and we would no longer be discussing it. Her mind was made up. The next morning, we set out for the mall. Makenna marched right into the store and announced to the clerk that she wanted her ears pierced. We signed the papers and Makenna picked out her earings. The rest of this story describes one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through in my life.

As I said before, we thought it would be much better for both ears to be done at the same time. However, only one person was working in the store at the time. She assured us that it would not be that big of a deal, and I reluctantly agreed. The time had come...

I do have to say that I am so grateful that Keith is the type of dad who wants to be involved in everything. He wouldn't have missed this for the world. The strange thing is that I have always been the one to hold the children at the doctor's office when it came time for drawing blood and shots, etc. I don't think Keith would survive something like that. For this, he was a rock. He sat down in the chair and held her in his lap. By this time, Noah was getting tired of being in his stroller, so I got him out to hold him while the deed was done. Right before the first earing, I just knew I had to leave the store. I hated feeling like this because ear piercing is something a mom is supposed to share with her daughter. I couldn't do it for the life of me. I kept trying to peek through the window to see how she was doing, but almost immediately had to turn away. Then...I heard it. Oh, the screams...!!! The first was over with, but there was still one to go. I went into the store to try to help console her. The poor thing...face so read from the crying. My heart was breaking. She was then determined she was finished and wasn't getting the other done. I had a feeling this would happen.

After several minutes of coaxing, hugging...anything we could think of, she was still satisfied with only one earing. We even bribed her with a Build A Bear when she was finished. Finally, Keith had to basically pick her up and wrap his arms and legs around her to hold her down so we could finish. Right as the clerk was getting ready, I bolted. Noah and I ended up across the hallway, all the way in the back of another store. The tears were just running down my face. I don't know who was crying harder. Then, I heard it again. The scream that came out of my daughter was the worst sound I had ever heard in my entire life. It was done.

Now, don't you know that about 10 minutes later, she was back to her old self. Now it's out of the way and she is so happy with her new earings.

Future Olympian

In honor of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, I thought I would take the time to pay tribute to a future United States Olympian...
Makenna began taking gymnastics about two years ago, when she was about 3 1/2, at Greenville Gymnastics. I've always lived near the gym and have passed by it thousands of times, but never really gave it any thought. Two summers ago, I was surfing the Internet one day trying to get some ideas for something that Makenna could get involved in for the summer and then it hit me...gymnastics. I checked out their website and was able to get Makenna into a trial class that afternoon. I figured this would be so perfect for her because she has always been such a ball of energy. She took part in the class that afternoon and we haven't looked back since. I signed her up for the rest of the summer on that very day and we've been taking lessons once a week since then.

We are very proud of her and she has progressed rather quickly. She is now in the Preschool Level 3/4 class and has her lessons in the "big gym" for one hour per week. She abolutely loves every second and her teachers have been so great with her. She especially loves Ms. Stacy and Ms. Bobbie. Every Tuesday, as soon as she is able, she puts on her leotard (she pronounces it leegatard) and not-so-patiently waits until the time arrives to leave for class.

We will allow her to continue lessons as long as she wants and who knows...maybe one day we will all be watching her receive her Gold Medal at the Olympics.

Obsessed with Shoes

We have a member of our family who is obsessed with shoes. Now, even though I enjoy a great pair of shoes just as much as the next girl, I have to say, this person is not me. Surprise, surprise! Actually, the person in our family who is obsessed with shoes is...Noah!

Every morning, after breakfast, the first thing our little man wants to do is get dressed. As soon as he is dressed he begins to holler...my shoes!!! my shoes!!! Now, this is just not any old pair of shoes. He absolutely loves his Crocs. He refuses to wear anything but his Crocs. Also, if he's not wearing his Crocs, he's throwing them or waving them in the air. He rarely parts with his Crocs.

I thought this was something really cute about Noah that makes him the precious little boy that he is.