The End

Molly is 6!

After much thought, I've decided it's time to end No Spelling at the Table. 

My reasons are several. Josh and Molly are getting older, and soon they may want to have a say in the content of their Internet presence. It has been fun to share all of the adventures of their baby, toddler and preschool years, but now I feel like I need to be more reserved about the pictures and stories about them that are posted online. I also wonder how many times you all want to see pictures of the same events, over and over, that we do every year.

This blog has been a wonderful way for me to record Josh and Molly's early years, and I appreciate all of you who have checked in with us and even, at times, left comments.

I'm ending my blog just after Molly's sixth birthday, and she was an infant when I started writing here. When and if the time opens up, I plan to transfer all of the photos, writing and comments into a scrapbook.

We move forward on Facebook, where I'll continue posting pictures of the kids, and I'll share all of the crazy details of our year in my annual Christmas novel letter. Thank you for reading for so many years! It has been a joy.

Marty

Josh vs. The Intimidator

I was very happy that we were able to talk Josh out of a birthday party this year and instead into taking a family trip to Carowinds, our local version of Six Flags. After teaching Cub Scouts for the past few weeks, Chris and I weren't sure we could handle an additional outing with 9-year-old boys! My parents came to Charlotte for the weekend, and we spent Sunday afternoon at Carowinds.

The Intimidator is the biggest ride at the park and is aptly named. It's 23 stories high and apparently goes almost 80 mph on the first drop. Josh rode all of the other roller coasters first and then decided he wanted to ride The Intimidator. Chris went with him. When they got off, Chris looked a little green and Josh was thrilled.

Josh wanted to ride it one more time before we left, but no one would go with him! I finally told Chris to walk him up to the ride (there was no line), put him on it and walk back to the exit. My dad and I waited for Chris, but instead we saw him and Josh on the front seat of The Intimidator for round 2. Chris later said he didn't want to look like a chicken putting his 9-year-old on the roller coaster and not riding it himself.

Needless to say, things did not go well for Chris. I'm not sure how well you can tell in this picture, but he looked like he was about to lose it when the roller coaster came around the last turn. We spent about half an hour at the park waiting for Chris' nausea to calm down, and then he spent a few hours in bed after we got home. Josh, however, had a great time. 

Molly stuck to the tamer rides, like the Red Barron planes, and talked my mom into buying her several stuffed animals and ice cream. 

We celebrated at home later with chocolate cake. Happy 9th birthday, Josh!

Weekend in the mountains

We took an impromptu trip to the NC mountains this weekend and enjoyed great weather and a generally complaining-free time from the kids. There must be something about the mountain air! We hiked to this waterfall twice -- the first time we were afraid it would get dark while we were in the woods, so we returned the next day with a picnic and our swimsuits. I'll just say that Josh, the dog and I had a great time swimming.

We do feed our children and pets, even though you can count every one of Josh's ribs in this picture. If the dog was standing sideways, you could count her ribs too. 

 

Molly's feelings on swimming in freezing cold waterfall water

 

This is before the first hike, where everyone is clean and dry.

 

After the first hike, where Molly fell into the creek several times. She was a great sport about it, even after falling several more times the second day. Her clothes from this hike will never be the same! I think the back of her shorts will permanently be gray and brown from the creek mud. 

We also visited the apple orchard, but it was raining so we mostly bought pre-picked apples.

First Day of Third Grade

Finally! We had an extra-long summer this year, and Josh got on the bus this morning to start third grade. He seemed a little nervous and quiet at the bus stop, but he has a great teacher and a couple of friends in his class. I'm hoping it will be a good day for him. I wish I had taken a picture of him sitting at the breakfast table staring out the window like a zombie. The early morning start was a bit jarring for everyone!

Josh is holding our new dog, Kaia, who so far has been a wonderful addition to our family. She loves the kids and the cats, although the feeling is definitely not mutual from Homer and Henry. Kaia enjoyed all of the attention at the bus stop, and Josh liked showing her off to all of the kids there. 

Molly starts kindergarten on Wednesday, so only two more days until I start my new life with both kids in school all day! I'm the school yearbook adviser this year, which will be like a part-time job for several months, and I'm trying out a new writing job with a local news website in Charlotte. I'm excited about the possibilities with this large block of time I have every day, although next week I may take one day to read a book, eat and nap as an official day of rest after nine years of staying at home with kids!

Josh and his teacher, Mrs. Hodges, at open house last week

The Fifth Decade

We celebrated Chris' 40th birthday by ziplining with some friends and then enjoying dinner on the patio at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. It was a little more low-key than his 30th birthday blow-out, but with age comes less energy!

I practiced my new cake decorating skills I learned from my cousin in Florida on Chris' birthday cake.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Josh is at sleepaway camp in the N.C. mountains this week, and we have no communication from him. The camp does, however, post hundreds of pictures on its website every day so desperate parents can get a glimpse of what their child is doing and make sure the kid is wearing clean clothes every day. I have been pouring over pages of pictures, and Josh finally showed up in the photos today. Unfortunately, he looks either tired, miserable or confused in all of them. We haven't received any calls from camp (they have a no news is good news policy), so we're hoping he's having a good time.

Josh is behind the girl in the tie-dye shirt playing four square. We're always happy to see that he's participating (our standards are low!). Also glad to see that he is wearing a different shirt in two of the photos.

 Maybe acting out a skit?

I think this is how I looked in every science and math class I ever took (if I wasn't nodding off).

We're picking up Josh early Saturday morning. I've been writing and emailing him daily, and I'm sure he's been enthralled with my updates and photos of our kitchen renovation. I sent several stamped, addressed envelopes for him to write home, but so far, nothing! No news is good news, right?

Billy and Katherine?

I could hardly take these two seriously when they told me they would now be called Billy (Molly) and Katherine (Vivy). We're having a sleepover tonight, and these outfits appeared during the slaphappy phase of the evening. Hopefully everyone will sleep in tomorrow!

I took a picture from the back to show Molly's stuffed gator backpack/butterfly wing ensemble.