Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend. We went back to Pirateland and had a great time cooking out, laying by the pool, and riding around on the golf cart.

On Saturday, we went to a Pelicans game.

Splash is hilarious. He runs around a lot, pumping up the crows. There's also the Rally Shark, who runs onto the field each time the Pelicans score. I felt that the Rally Shark should have been given more to do. Also? The Pelicans has something called "The J-Team", which are college kids who work in between innings and run contests. The have an awesome opening based on "The A-Team".

When it began to rain, I took Cathryn for snacks and shelter. In the Pelicans store, we ran into Dinger, another of their mascots. He totes a bucket full of balls for the umpires. He is very, very friendly and loves children.

Once the rain ended and the game was finished, they brought out the fireworks. They were incredible and so beautiful. Majestic, even. A few more fireworks pictures follow:

I just can't say it enough. A great weekend.

Both Monica and Stacy posted this on their blogs, and I loved it, so I thought I'd use it on mine, too, in honor of my great Labor Day weekend.

How long was your labor?
About eleven hours. I started labor at about 2 in the morning, after one of Trey's All-Star games, and Cathy had walked me all around East Bay Park. Cathryn was born at 1:36 pm.


How did you know you were in labor?
I had passed my plug that morning, but nothing else had happened. I went to work as if nothing was different than the day before. Heartburn woke me up. Terrible, painful heartburn and what I thought were contractions. I immediately got up and started to read the chapter from "What To Expect When You're Expecting" about labor. I was sitting at our kitchen table, staring at the clock on the wall, timing them. They were already five minutes apart!

Where did you deliver?
Georgetown Memorial Hospital in Georgetown, SC

Drugs?
I told my OB/GYN that I wanted drugs on our first visit. They were quite happy to comply.

C-section?
Luckily, no.

Who delivered?
Dr. Regina Boggs and Nurse Linda Brenicky. Truly, two angels from heaven.

My labor was nothing like you see on television. It wasn't dramatic or slapstick. It was a calm, peaceful birth, even though my contractions were extreme and painful. Once the epidural came, though, I alternated between singing and sleeping. I have very happy memories of my labor with Cathryn.

Toodles!

Our Dog Ashe

This is our dog, Ashe. She's kind of needy. Well, more than kind of needy. She's extremely needy. And clingy. For example, this is the first look from her every morning. She's telling us, "Love me. Pet me. Pay attention to me. Please touch me."

Ashe's favorite person is her daddy, Richie. Most of the time she sits at his feet, staring adoringly. You can almost hear her thoughts: "Daddy, you are soooo awesome."

Sometimes, though, she tries to climb into his lap. Most of the time, Richie doesn't mind.

Ashe does not like it when Richie leaves the house without her. She paces back and forth in front of the front door, pausing every few minutes to sniff the door from the floor to the doorknob before sticking her head through the blinds to stare forlornly out the window. Sometimes, you can hear her sigh.

Ashe's other favorite activity is playing with her toys. At one point, she had four toys: a gorilla, a stuffed cat, an orange dinosaur, and a ball. The gorilla was her favorite, and when she bit it, his tongue would fly out, which thrilled her more. She toted around the gorilla all the time, and one day, she destroyed him. I made the mistake of throwing the gorilla away, and she was very upset, and was in a frenzy looking for it. She even went as far as to pull herself up by her front paws to look on my kitchen counters!

She really gets herself going with her toys. She rolls around on the carpet (fun for me!) and gallops up and down the hall. Seriously, gallops. Like a horse. And when she tires herself out? She collapses on the floor with her ears flipped back and her tongue hanging out.

After a busy day of adoring Richie and chasing toys, Ashe is usually ready for bed around ten. She climbs into her bed and stares--no, GLARES at us like this until Richie and I get up and head to the bedroom.

Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the life of our special dog, Ashe. Crazy dog.

Toodles!

AWANA Closing Progam

I am SUCH a bad mommy for not posting these pictures about the closing AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) ceremonies last Sunday!

So, in honor of trying to be a nice, responsible mommy, and not a slacker, I present to you lots of picture of Cathryn, plus a couple of other kids who do not belong to me or Richie:

This is Cathryn and Beth's son Carson entering the church sanctuary with the other Sparks (kindergarten through second grade). Cathryn is obviously engaged in her second favorite activity, talking.

I don't know why Cathryn looks so incredibly disgusted at having to recite The Pledge of Allegiance.

Now she looks like she's saying, "See? I'm totally saying it. Happy now?" Why, yes, Cathryn, we are.

Also, I do not know why Cathryn kept her hand shoved in her pockets. I'm kind of glad she did, because otherwise her hands would have been flailing wildly all over the place. Talks and sings with her hands, you know. Much like her mother.

Gee, Cathryn. Being in front of the sanctuary and singing for the entire congregation just not exciting enough for you?

Cathryn engaging in her very favorite activity, singing and dancing.

Beth's daughter Elizabeth doing her best Saturday Night Fever impression.

And finally, Cathryn Thames, JC Penny catalog model. Tell me I'm not right.

Toodles!

Our Weekend

We went to Pirateland this weekend. As usual, getting ready for it was incredibly busy and hectic, because I was packing things that we could leave at the beach for the summer until midnight on Thursday. And of course, being the worrier I am, I always anticipate the worst things happening, and never allow myself to relax on Friday until we actually get there. But, we finally did get there on Friday night, and I was able to relax. We all went to dinner and then Richie took me and Cathryn on a golf cart ride around the campground.

Saturday, before Cathy and I did some shopping, I learned a few things:
1. My hair looks awful when shampooing with shampoo samples from hotels.
2. Bring small container of my own shampoo from home.
3. Travel hairdryers have NO power.
4. bring my own ionic tourmaline hairdryer from home.

Richie, however, was quite industrious and went to the beach with Richard and Cathryn.
Sunday morning, Richie's escapade with the camera continued:

Sarah--Richard and Cathy's Lab.

Ashe--our insane animal.

Cathy and Cathryn. By the way, she's just decided that she'd like to learn how to fish.

This is Richard telling Richie not to take a picture of him.

That's right, folks--I'm cute even when I first wake up. Burn with jealousy, people--no makeup.

The rest of Sunday wasn't so great because play rehearsal did not go well. Remember Miss Geist from Clueless? That poor, unfortunate soul who loved teaching, but her students could care less? That's how I felt on Sunday, minus the poor fashion sense. I really, really needed a Cher Horowitz on Sunday.

Ah, well. Monday is another day.

Toodles!

Setting Summer Goals

Much to my surprise, I found out there are only like 45 days until school is out (that's counting weekends). With that in mind, I began to think of some things I'd like to accomplish this summer.

1. Spending quality time with my family. Since we usually spend the summer weekends at Pirateland, I feel like this can be accomplished quite easily. I'm really looking forward to shopping for a new swimsuit, reading by the pool, taking golf cart rides with Richie, and maybe actually getting to challenge Cathryn to that game of mini-golf I'd been promising.

2. Being a successful VBS music leader. Much like being the children's choir director, this is my first time taking a leadership role where I've usually been the assistant. The theme this year is "Son Harvest", and is county fair themed, so I'm thinking overalls, a t-shirt, and maybe a hat. VBS is always so much fun, and though it will take some preparation on my part, I'm looking forward to creating a relaxing environment where the kids can have fun while learning their songs.

3. Begin looking at Christmas musicals. Actually, I may have already found one, but I need to talk to the pastor about ordering a sample that Leslie and I can listen to before we actually make a decision. Once we make that decision, we'll spend some time this summer putting lesson plans together and also planning an M&Ms kickoff for the end of August. This first year has really opened our eyes, so I think we'll be much more prepared for our second year.

4. Learn to read music. If I expect to teach these kids what the sheet music says, if I really don't have a knowledge of it myself? That's really the blind leading the blind, isn't it? I've got lots of material to study from MusicTheory.net, as well as a course I purchased from Barnes & Noble (my favorite store). Hopefully, by the time we reconvene for choir on September 3, I'll at least have a working knowledge of music.

5. Learn to sew. I know! It seems like an odd goal for someone like me, who is not at all gifted in the domestic arts. But it's something that has fascinated me since I was a child watching my grandmother sew. She had one of those really nice, old sewing machines that flipped out of a hardwood desk, and I used to love to sit and watch her make things. My mother tried to learn, but she was short, SHORT on patience. Like, shorter than me. (Leslie--I'm sure your mind is boggling. Yes, there is someone out there with a shorter fuse. Her name is Bonnie, and she is my mother.) I want to start small, with a simple sewing machine, and with simple projects. I like to think of this as more of a long-term goal so that I can take on more complex patterns with a really nice sewing machine.

What are y'all working toward this summer?

Toodles!

Bittersweet

Despite the weather, it was a great weekend. The 1988 Georgetown High School baseball team (state champs!) had their 20th reunion, and they were scheduled to play a Georgetown High School alumni team. This is a big deal for our family, because Richie's brother Jason was on the 1988 team, and Trey was asked to play on the alumni team.

First things first--we finally got a picture of Trey's name on the wall at Mike Johnson Park.

Woo-hoo! Doesn't that look good? He worked so hard for that honor. I wanted to put flashing lights around it, and maybe hire a dancing leprechaun, but Trey thought it might be in bad taste. Well, it is his name after all, so I guess I needed to honor his wishes.

When we got to the park, Cathryn immediately wanted to go out on the field. The first place Trey took her was first base. The second was his name on the sign. Then they threw a baseball back and forth for a little while.

I only knew a few guys that were on the '88 team, but it was fun watching Richie and his parents say hello to everyone. I've known since this reunion weekend was announced that it was going to be hard on them, so I give them major points just for showing up. Not that they would have been anywhere else in the world this weekend. After a luncheon in their honor, the '88 players took the field for practice, and they were all so good-natured about it. They were clearly having fun, and so was the crowd.

What I really enjoyed was watching Richie enjoy the practice. As we sat in the stands, he was clearly nostalgic over his high school baseball days. When we got home, I dug out an old video tape of Richie as a senior taking batting practice and catching at the Stratford game. I loved watching Richie do what he loves, but inwardly I was so happy that his fashion sense had improved since his high school days. Folks, he was wearing cut-off orange sweatpants. And not normal orange, either, but bright hunting orange. You wouldn't miss him in the dark. :)

Sunday was...emotional. Trey was on the Alumni team, so we all got to hoot and holler and cheer when his name was announced, but when they announced the '88 team, the mood completely changed. They had Trey present Jason's State Championship ring and uniform to Richard and Cathy. My heart was pounding, my eyes filled with tears, and I felt so helpless. All I could do was cling to Richie and try to be strong for him, because the pain of losing his brother cuts him much deeper than it cuts me. I can share his hurt, his anger, his confusion, but I don't know the pain of losing a sibling.

Once the teams hit the field, though, all our moods lifted. Cathy broke out her cowbell, and ever time the '88 team or Trey did something great, she'd shake it. It really was very funny. It was obvious, though, that the teams were having the most fun, ribbing one another on and off the field. The final score was 10-5 in favor of the Alumni team, but really, they were all winners.

Toodles!

Love Letter

As a kid growing up, I was sure that my life was not going to happen in Georgetown County. I was certain that I was going to have a Big Life as a singer on Broadway, and spent most if my waking moments dreaming about the day my life would begin.
That day never happened, or so I thought. Honestly, I have no one to blame but myself. I'm the one who didn't study hard enough in college and lost my scholarship. I'm the one who was always too afraid to learn to drive, so I never worked up the courage to just pack up and drive. It's easier to dream than it is to do.

That was almost fifteen years ago, and I realized when I woke up this morning that I've wasted the last fifteen years still waiting for my life to begin. What's wrong with the life I have now?

I have a good life. No, wait--scratch that. I have a great life.

I have a husband who loves me. Really, really loves me, and I see it each time he turns his eyes to me. I feel it every time we're in the same room together, and every time we talk on the phone. Richie is my best friend--he accepts me for who I am, and doesn't try to change me. He's given me everything I've ever wanted and more, and I really don't give Richie the credit he needs for being the awesome husband that he is to me. In fact, I've probably taken advantage of his good nature, I'm ashamed to say.

I have a sweet, loving, funny and talented son who has never been mean or disrespectful to me. The entire time he was living with us, I kept waiting for the "you're not my mother" card to be played, but he never did. He was always ready to help me out, whether I asked him to or not. In fact, he was usually disappointed when I would turn him down. I regret not watching him play baseball more, because it's truly something fascinating to see. He's the kind of player that plays with passion, and works so hard at his game that he makes it look easy and effortless when he's on the field. I'm so proud of him for winning MVP last year, and I can't wait to post a picture of his name on the wall at Mike Johnson Park. I'm looking forward to watching him play American Legion baseball this summer and at USC Lancaster next spring. I'm so lucky and so proud to call him my son.

Cathryn is a wonder to behold. She's a melting pot of the Thames family and the Jones family all rolled up into one energetic ball. Looks like Richie straight on and me from the side. Loves hunting, fishing, and baseball with her Daddy. (From what I hear, she's not afraid of the ball, which means that she's already a 100% better athlete than me!) Loves reading reading, singing, and musical like her Mom. Writes her own songs and loves to bang and strum them out on the keyboard and her guitar. Loves to shop like her Granny--she's already a pro at age six-and-a-half. Loves the beach and outdoors like her Pappy. Loves black fingernail polish and tattoos like her Aunt Tracey. And of course, every little thing Cathryn does thrills her Nana to pieces. She's sweet and spunky at the same time, and is never afraid to jump right in and make friends. Most importantly, she never lacks in self-confidence, and that will take her far. God really knew what He was doing when He blessed us with our sassy little diva.

I have a loving mother and sister who never judge me, even though I'm the first to confess that I can be judgmental. My mother still worries about me eating enough, being warm enough, having enough, even though I'm thirty years old and in charge of these things for my own family. My sister is my complete opposite, but she can make me laugh like no one else. She's an Elvis fan, and I'm a Beatlemaniac. She's a Johnny Cash-loving Goth and I'm practically Elle Woods. We love sending each other email surveys, just we can laugh at our differences. I'm the cynic, believe it or not, and she's the open-hearted one who wants to help people. Tracey should have been famous, too--her personality is much too bold and eccentric to be contained by our small town.

I have wonderful, incredible, and diverse friends. Friends from high school who even though we're separated always are able to pick up right where we left off. Newly discovered friends that I knew in school and never realized we had anything in common until we reconnected as adults. Church friends who make me laugh and make me think; good--no, great moms who made me realize that motherhood is a gift from God, not a job. Friends who have an infectious enthusiasm for life. And I cannot forget the women who've been spiritual mothers to me.

Then there's Beth. She's all of those women rolled up into one. She's more than my friend--she's like my sister. She's the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman and an excellent example of I Corinthians 13 love. My love for her is indescribable, and I'm thankful everyday that God put us in each other's lives.

Speaking of God, He's given me a ministry and a calling, not to mention all the other wonderful people I've written about today. I get excited thinking about children's choir, and all the directions Leslie and I can take them. I research and study new ways to teach class and relate to our students. I get the joy of passing my love of music and performance on to these kids each week, and I am eternally thankful. He gave me salvation and life and confidence that I never could muster on my own.

All these years, I've been waiting for my life to begin, and ignoring the life God gave me. It's time to start appreciating the so-called "small life". I just didn't know what I'd been missing.

Toodles!

Doin' The Charleston, Part Two

On Sunday, we decided to go downtown and walk , which is the best way to see the prettiest parts of Charleston. This is where we began:
There are so many beautiful, old houses around Battery Park and East Bay Street. We each had our favorites, but we all agreed: this dude was just showing off.

Cathryn's favorite (naturally) was pink:

This house was Richie's favorite. I believe the museum called this Georgian architecture, and described it as a masculine style. It even had cement lions decorating the outside.

This is the house that really struck me. Maybe because it reminded me of the house in Mary Poppins. Of course my favorite house would be pop-culture related!

Next, we decided to take a break from walking and let Cathryn run around the park, like a lot of the other kids were doing. She quickly became obsessed with this cannon.

Cathryn loves taking pictures so much, that we found it difficult to take a picture of her when she wasn't posing. Richie was the only successful photographer:

Here's another that Richie took. He says that it's his favorite, and it's definitely one of mine. It's my desktop background right now.

Our only family picture! My only regret is that Trey wasn't with us. My mission is to get someone to take a picture will all four of us in it.

I love this picture. They are so sweet together.

The next place we went was Liberty Square, which houses the Fort Sumter National Monument, the American Military Museum, the SC Aquarium, and various shops. This sign was near the shops. I thought it was quite whimsical.

As I've never been to the SC Aquarium, I was thoroughly fascinated by the design of the place. This artwork on the outside of the building continued inside along the ceiling of the main lobby.

These frogs were great. We saw one atop a house on East Bay Street.

River otters in "The Mountains" exhibit! We were all so excited to see them. These guys were total hams. They loved the crowds and continually played to them.

We all agreed that the best thing about the aquarium was the ocean tank. It was phenomenal. You literally felt like you were standing at the bottom of the ocean. Cathryn went wild over the sharks:

Here's a better shot of the ocean tank. We came right at feeding time, which was particularly exciting.

No trip could be complete without sticking your head through a cardboard cutout!

Our trip to Charleston was wonderful. I almost don't have the words to describe how great it was to have us together, doing touristy things. The three of us had the best time being goofy together, and just hanging out together as a family. Really, I can only think of one thing that was missing from our trip, and that was Trey.

Toodles!

Doin' the Charleston, Part One

We had been talking about it and talking about it, and we finally decided to do it. We planned a weekend for Richie, Cathryn and myself to stay in Charleston and do lots of touristy things. We sat down at work one day, made a hotel reservation, and planned out our fun family weekend.

Yep, we stayed at the round Holiday Inn on Savannah Highway, even though Richie told me we could stay anywhere. I'm not ashamed of this, because that place intrigued me.

The hotel was actually really nice, but I wasn't 100% satisfied with our stay. For starters, there was no microwave or minifridge. Second, the service at the Harborview Restaurant left much to be desired. Richie didn't get his baked potato until the end of our dinner, and then when he and Cathryn went to breakfast the next morning, he said that he had eaten much, much better for the $17 he paid for breakfast. While they were at breakfast, I had my special oatmeal and took a few pictures of the view:

I wish I had taken some pictures of the view at night, because all the lights were really beautiful.

After breakfast, we drove around downtown Charleston while we waited for the museum to open, and made plans to go to Battery Park on Sunday before the Aquarium opened. Pulling into the parking lot of The Charleston Musuem, I felt my heart begin to pound. I hadn't been there since the 3rd grade (and neither had Richie), so we were really looking forward to seeing it again, and introducing it to Cathryn for the first time.

Richie and Cathryn in front of the replica of the Hunley. Warning: Most pictures featuring Cathryn will show her apparent deep-seeded need to be a catalog model.

Walking into the museum, the first sign I saw was "No Flash Photography". I was very disappointed, because, man, I wanted to take a picture of that big whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling. When I got over that, we walked upstairs and went into the "History of the Low Country" exhibit, which was exactly how I remembered it. That exhibit became the "Becoming Americans" exhibit, which led into the "Civil War" exhibit. Richie especially enjoyed these exhibits, because he loves antique weaponry. It was so interesting to hear him talk about the different guns, especially. Each time we turned a corner, my eyes welled up, because not only was I reliving a favorite childhood memory, but I was literally walking through the history of the place I love so much.

The Natural History exhibit was creepy, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Not that I'd tell Cathryn, because I want her to be educated. But geez--all those skeletons and that big stuffed polar bear? My size ten feet were trotting hastily. Once we were out of that creepfest, we wandered into "The Early Days" exhibit, which Cathryn found quite creepy herself. I tried to get Cathryn to pose with one of the Ancient Egyptian statues, but she shook her head vehemently and said, "NO WAY!" On our way out, we saw a case containing Gershwin's piano, and they were playing his music. What intrigued me and Cathryn both, though, were these:

A Victorian Dollhouse! Complete with all the dolls and furniture! But the one that made me want to rip open the glass case was...

An exact replica of Hopsewee Plantation. Cathryn and I had a hard time tearing ourselves away from this one.

"Kidstory", though, did a good job of doing just that. This was the exhibit Cathryn had been waiting on, because it means she gets to touch stuff and not get in trouble. She was the only kid in there, which suited her just fine because it meant that she could run around uninhibited. She pressed buttons, turned on the light at a lighthouse, colored, and raised the flag on a pirate ship.

Her favorite part, by far, though, was this:

This is a replica of the Heyward-Washington house in Charleston, where George Washington stayed when he visited Charleston shortly after being named President. Inside was a closet with clothes to try on, music to listen to, games to play, and stories to read. It was Cathryn heaven. It was hard for us to convince her to leave this area to go to the next exhibit.

The next exhibit completely took my breath away. It was titled "Clothes to Dye For" and reflected South Carolina's textiles industry, and the power of color. What immediately struck me was that the clothes were in order according to the ROY G. BIV system, which we learned in elementary school. First, RED:

A hoop skirt and corset. The sign said that the corset was 21 inches at the waist. I hurt thinking about it.

ORANGE:

This picture doesn't show it, but this dress was the most beautiful shade of peachy-orange. I wanted to take it off the mannequin and shove it in my purse. You can't convince me that you couldn't wear that dress this spring.

YELLOW:

Another 1950s dress I fell in love with.

GREEN:

This entire room taunted me with it's retro goodness. I could feel them laughing at me, saying, "Ha, ha...there's not even a glass to separate us! You could reach right over that rope, but we know you won't!" The dress that really broke my heart, though, was:

BLUE:

Richie saw it before I did. I was actually snapping a picture of the green dress above, when I heard him say, "Josie, this one is you up and down." It was on the other side of the room, so I couldn't really see it until I was upon it. Once I saw it, though, it took my breath away. I need to find a dress similar to this, like immediately.

I didn't like any of the the dresses put on display for the remaining colors, so I don't have any pictures of those. However, we did take one last picture at the museum, a nice bookend to our visit:

This was taken in front of a huge antique teller window. I can only imagine the bank that originally housed it.

After leaving the museum, we did a very non-touristy thing and had lunch at North Towne Grill, which is a Greek Restaurant across from Northwoods Mall. After lunch? We killed some time at the mall, wherein I discovered the BEST STORE EVER--Palmetto Moon.

Part Two: Battery Park and the SC Aquarium.

Toodles!