Hi . . . We're the Borings.

1 down, 19 to go

2012-02-11T22:54:00.007-06:00

It's me again, Clarissa the rare blogger. I have to write this down before I forget it all. I forget a lot of things these days, something I chalk up to a side effect of 6+ years of sleep deprivation.

Anyway. I started my life as a sometime single mother this week since Jason started a new job and went to training in Titusville, Florida. He was gone Tuesday through Thursday and wouldn't you know it, when I picked Caroline up after school on Tuesday afternoon, she had a loose tooth. Just like that! I sent her to school on Tuesday morning with all teeth intact and a few hours later she's got a wiggler.

She WOULD NOT let that thing alone and kept shoving her tongue against it all evening long. She wouldn't eat at the dinner table because it would take time away from the tooth wiggling. Now, don't forget that I was all alone in this adventure because her dad was livin' it up in Florida and too bad for me because I can't stand loose teeth. They make my insides squirm. I told her that she better not expect any help from me because I was NOT pulling any teeth. If I'd wanted to touch teeth, I would've gone to dental school.

I guess she took me seriously because after the non-eating of dinner, she wandered off and then came running back into the kitchen (while I'm on the phone, of course) and shrieked, "There's blood!" And sure enough, that little-girl tongue had pushed that tooth right out! I hung up on my phone conversation (sorry, Grandma) and rushed her to the bathroom to rinse out the blood. And there on the counter was a little white rock of baby Caroline tooth. I held it in my hand and thought about when I first saw that tooth pop out of her little baby gums and of course started to get teary looking at this big girl standing excitedly before me. How did the last six years go by in what seems like a blink and oh my gosh, are the next six going to go by so quickly and oh, how sad, her daddy missed all of this and HOLY MOLY next thing I know she'll be getting married. The rational side of me tried to reason with myself, saying, "Get real, Clarissa, she still has a lot of teeth to lose and this is just a part of life - it means you are doing your job by helping her grow up - look how excited she is! Enjoy living these milestones again through her eyes!" But of course the other side was saying, "SHUT UP, look how big she is, graduation is just around the corner!"

I know it sounds like I am crazy, but these are my internal voices, I'm not hearing strange other voices telling me to do things, so I think I am still OK. For now.

Anyway, Caroline was SO excited and kept asking me, "Are you proud of me, Mom? Aren't you happy?" And I wasn't, because my BABY just lost a tooth, so I said, "Yes, I'm proud that you did it all by yourself, and I can tell that you are so happy about it!" (See, all that was true.) I put the tooth on a high shelf in her closet so that little sister wouldn't mess with it, and we went about our bedtime routine.

And then . . . she just couldn't bear to be without that tooth, so she climbed up to the shelf and got it down. She walked to my bedroom with it in her open hand . . . and then . . .

(you see this coming, right?)

SHE DROPPED THE TOOTH.

Several minutes on hands and knees later, and I finally told her I just couldn't find that itty bitty tooth, and she dissolved into tears. I felt so bad for her. So I suggested that we write a note to the tooth fairy explaining the problem and put that under the pillow and hope for the best.

Caroline dictated,

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

I have dropped my tooth in my mommy's room and I never got a visit from you. Will you leave me money anyway?

Your friend,

Caroline"

So, still sniffling, Caroline put the letter under her pillow and fell asleep (pretty quickly, thankfully, unlike her sister but that's a different story). The Tooth Fairy apparently accepts lost-tooth notes because she took the note and left a gold dollar coin (which, thankfully, she had gotten a few months ago just for this purpose because she had no cash in her wallet at all and, if not for the gold dollars, would've had a lot of 'splainin to do in the morning). The Tooth Fairy breathed a sigh of relief, patted herself on the back for her quick thinking and preplanning, and waited for morning.

When Caroline woke up, the tears started to flow again because, she claimed, the Tooth Fairy didn't leave her any money after all. And, sure enough, there was nothing under that pillow. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I know for a FACT that Tooth Fairy left it there. So, even with the very real threat of a tardy slip looming, we searched all over the area for the money and finally found it under the bed. (?) Caroline was half happy, but still sad that the Tooth Fairy didn't get to take her tooth. I told her that the Tooth Fairy probably picked up a lot of other kids' teeth that night and would be OK with accepting her letter in lieu of a tooth.

So, that is the story of the first lost (literally!) tooth in the Hodges household. I sure hope Daddy is here for the next one!

Disney movies of the week

2010-03-10T13:03:00.004-06:00

Last week we watched "Aladdin" on Thursday and "The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" on Friday. Caroline was a little bit scared during Aladdin (at the end, when Jafar turns into a big snake), but she liked the movie. I had forgotten how Robin Williams gave such a rapid-fire delivery of the genie's lines; you had to listen really closely to get all his references, and I know I missed a lot of them. It's hard to pay close attention when you have a destructive, squealing one-year-old roaming about the room. I would've watched it again, but we had to get it back to the library before they started charging me the dollar-a-day late fees.

Winnie the Pooh was sooooo sweet. Caroline got a little bored toward the end, but I loved it. I guess it reminded me of a simpler time. We have been saying, "Tut tut, looks like rain," (we had a lot of rain this weekend) and singing the Pooh song. Willy nilly silly old bear.

I think this week we'll watch some of the movies we have at home that I haven't seen beginning to end, probably Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Oh and, I just found out Monday that the Pirates of the Carribbean series is Disney too, so I have to watch them as well -- (no I haven't seen them, I'm not really a movie watcher so much) -- I don't know if I'm going to get all the movies watched by May that I need to see!

Scatting queen.

2010-02-26T23:54:00.004-06:00

So. Basically, the reason that this blog is so unhappenin' is that I put all my photos on the "slow" computer, the one that we use solely to house pics and iTunes, but I do all my web surfing on the "fast" (comparatively speaking) computer. Therefore, I'm rarely on the photo-equipped computer to do any posts. That's why you're getting this words-only one today, just for the purpose of telling you that we are still here and still boring.

One non-boring thing coming up is that we have a trip planned to Disney World in May (yay!). Accordingly, I announced a weekly "Disney Movie Night" from now until then so that we will know what we are seeing when we're there (besides the princesses, of course -- we're all stocked up on that knowledge). The girls and I went to the library to borrow a couple of Disney movies and walked out with 101 Dalmatians and Aladdin, plus a children's book about Ella Fitzgerald that I thought looked interesting. Side note: I think I'll take a stroller next time to keep Julia corralled -- that girl can run pretty quickly for a one-year-old, and one of her favorite activities is pulling books off shelves. Need I say more?

Well, the inaugural Disney Movie Night didn't happen because of Dad's calling dibs on the TV to watch bobsledding. We did read the Ella Fitzgerald book, though, and I found a song on my iPod by Jane Monheit that had some scatting in it so that I could let Caroline hear what scat sounds like. Then we practiced our scatting, which was interesting. Ella was called "Queen of Scat" and Caroline informed me that she wants to be a queen too, but Queen of God. Hm. I asked her why, and she replied, "Because I want to cook for Jesus."

I didn't really know where to go with that, so I just told her that Jesus was probably set for food and what he really wanted was just to be her friend and for her to make him happy by doing things like being kind to others. I could tell she wasn't too sold on that, she still wants to make dinner for Jesus.

I'm on the faster computer, so you get no pictures tonight.

Look what I've learned!

2010-01-21T22:46:00.000-06:00

Caroline is really learning a lot at Primer School (well, it seems to me she is anyway). I tried and tried to help her learn her alphabet with these soft letters and she never took to it much (well, except for C and X -- X is a fun letter to say). But now she can identify all the letters and put them in order -- something I never could teach her to do -- I guess homeschooling is NOT in our future.
She can also spell her name, and she likes to write it everywhere now. I think it's funny how she (and, for that matter I guess, kids generally -- I've seen lots of little ones do this) is not fazed if she runs out of room on the page; she just writes the letters wherever she finds space for them. There's an "i" over here, and an "ne" over there, but no matter, she's still pleased as punch. But she did have enough room to spell her name here. (Like the glitter in her hair? That was a stocking stuffer, thanks Santa.)

I had never realized before how fun it is to watch your kid learn new things!

Eating at the big(ish) table

2010-01-15T22:25:00.001-06:00

Julia's eating habits have been frustrating lately because she throws everything on the floor. Not just the food that she doesn't want -- it's everything, including drinks. As an experiment, I put her at the little table with Caroline to see if freeing her from the highchair and letting her sit at the table like a big girl would improve her table manners. So here's the two Miss Messes at their first breakfast together:

(Notice all the stickers and markings on the table and chairs? We got this little set for Caroline for Christmas when she was 1 1/2 years old. She has obviously given it lots of "love" since then.)

Both girls liked it -- here they are waving at each other:

And here is Juju's silly face:

So, that was fun, but as of now she's back in the highchair because the experiment didn't work -- she still threw food on the floor, and added plate tossing as well. Since I don't have a plate that suctions to the table, I'm now trying the "Love and Logic" method of saying empathetically when she starts launching the food off her tray, "Uh-oh. Looks like dinner is over since you have decided to throw food. We'll see you again when it's time for snack." Then I clean her off and send her on her way. That has worked better than the big girls' table -- I guess she wasn't quite ready for that. (Or was it that I wasn't quite ready to take on her plate tossing? Yeah, probably it's more the latter.)

Train up a child . . .

2010-01-10T21:55:00.007-06:00

So it should come as no surprise if you know me at all that I'm a worrier. I always worry that I'm not doing good enough at whatever it is I'm doing -- school, work, social life, it's been that way forever. Lately, Caroline never wants to pray at bedtime so of course I worry that it's because of something wrong I've done. But I pray anyway in an attempt to model behavior for her, and tonight she broke in three times to say her own stuff, so maybe she wants to pray after all :)

First, it's short and sweet: "Dear God. Amen."

Later, it's some instructions: "God, please help Julia to stop screaming so much and stop throwing her food on the floor." I added a silent "SECOND" to that one in my head.

Finally, it's just sharing & being real, which I love: "Hey God, guess what? I learned to color in the lines today and used some pretty colors! Amen."

So, maybe she actually is learning the way she should go. God please bless our fumbling efforts to parent these girls . . . and please help me to worry less!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T11:40:00.003-06:00

Sweet Caroline

2009-11-30T12:56:00.000-06:00

So I sing the song of love for Julia . . .

2009-11-29T12:29:00.000-06:00

We would like to say . . .

2009-09-18T23:26:00.001-05:00

Caroline's First Day of Preschool

2009-08-26T23:41:00.003-05:00

Caroline is going to The Primer School, a small preschool that's actually in a little house in a nearby neighborhood. There are three classes of 8 four-year-olds in the little house, and they attend 3 days a week. I was afraid that she would not want to go when the first day came because her previous school experience (the school she attended when I used to work at the courthouse) was not a positive one for her, but when I dropped her off at Primer, she hopped out and didn't look back. And I was excited for her to start on her new adventure!

Little sister managed to rouse herself out of bed to see big sister off, too.

Random bits and pieces

2009-08-07T12:25:00.003-05:00

- I know I need to put birthday pictures up here . . . it's just that I was so busy during the party that I didn't take any. My mom put some up on Shutterfly, but my technically challenged self does not know how to save them to my computer in a way that will look any good. I think my neighbor has some, so I need to get a disc and get her to copy them for me. Hopefully soon!

- Julia figured out how to click her tongue Wednesday. It is so funny. She just crawls all around making that clicking noise the whole way.

- This one is for you, Amy TK and Gretch: Julia LOVES the Dell "Lollipop" commercial. We can be engrossed in blocks or whatever with our backs completely turned toward the TV, but upon the first couple notes of that commercial (you know ... "Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly lollipop"), she whips her little head around so fast to see those laptops! Last night we kept rewinding the DVR to see her do it again and again. Easily entertained, yes we are.

- Our MANY hours spent at Chick-fil-a are paying off in the manners department, at least. When I tell Caroline, "Thank you," she has started to respond, "My pleasure." It's hilarious to hear a four-year-old say that. And since no one really says that in real life, I know she learned it at Chick-fil-a. Just another entry on a long list of reasons why I love that place.

Randoms over for today -- hope to return to your regularly scheduled postings soon!

What was I thinking?

2009-07-12T22:29:00.004-05:00

I'm going to have to go off the grid for a bit while I make twelve tutus for Caroline's birthday party. I thought it would take about 30 minutes each -- HAHAHAHAHA! More like 3 hours each. So you know what I'll be doing in all my spare time the next 13 days. This would be what you might call "biting off more than I can chew."

To sleep, perchance to dream?

2009-07-02T23:45:00.004-05:00

Julia really is a fairly good sleeper. Well, all I have to compare her to is Caroline, who quite possibly might have been the worst sleeper ever. She had to be rocked or swung to sleep every night, and we usually got her to take naps by driving her around in the car. Julia, on the other hand, can go to sleep on her own and doesn't like to be rocked to sleep. She fusses for a little bit, rubs her face into the bed, usually scooches her head into a corner of the crib, and then goes to sleep. (After which I go into her room, scoot her back into the middle of the crib, and turn her head a little bit to the side . . . makes me feel a little better knowing there is some space for her to get some air!) She can nap for a good long while except, if I leave her door unattended, I find this:

Caught in the act! Of course I have tried to explain to Caroline that JuJu cannot sleep if she climbs into the crib too, and I have told her to stay out of the baby's room while she's napping, but you can see what good that does. So now, if Caroline even takes a step in the direction of Julia's room, I immediately start with the "Do not go into your sister's room!" To which Caroline innocently replies, "I'll not get into the crib, Mama." (Yes, she really says "I'll not" -- I have no idea why she says that instead of "I won't," and I don't know where she heard it, but it's cute to hear that come out of a three-year-old's mouth.) She continues, "I'm just going to check on the baby." Yeah right kid, I'm not as dumb as I look. But who can resist some sisterly love:

As for Caroline herself these days, she still has a hard time going to sleep most nights. Now she's queen of procrastination ("Wait! I need some water! Please just one more little story? Come open my door just a little more!") Usually Jason handles the bedtime for her b/c I'm feeding Julia. But when it's up to me, I just tell her that she can talk to her animals as much as she wants as long as she does not come out of her room. I know that she'll go to sleep eventually. You can lead a horse to the bed but you can't make him go to sleep, so to speak. Anyway, my philosophy led to this scene one night:

At least Bobo the sheep, Dora, Winnie the Pooh, and her baby are comfortable. Apparently no one requires a pillow or covers. Hey, it's a hot summer this year.

Julia - Seven and a half months (yeah, yeah, I missed the seven-month mark)

2009-07-02T23:11:00.007-05:00

So June had lots going on for us and was such a crazy month I missed taking that seven-month picture. I was a little sad that I didn't get it accomplished, but we are all happier when we have a busy schedule (every morning Caroline asks me, "Where are we goin' today, Mommy?") and I try to enjoy the moments as they come and impress them on my heart, even if I don't get as many pictures as I would like. So here are some pictures of Julia at seven and a half months:

I put this last one in because that's the way Jujy rolls now -- not ever in one place for long, always ready to crawl off! She made a few tentative crawling moves at 7 months 1 week old, and in the last week or so she has really figured out how to move! She is really good about entertaining herself now (if she is not hungry or tired) -- one afternoon she played happily on the floor with her toys for a whole hour and a half. But once I stepped out of the room to put some laundry in the dryer and start a new load in the washing machine, she started crawling off down the hallway looking for me. She wants to be where the action is, I guess!

I also just love her little shoes that she's wearing. I like Robeez because they are so flexible (good for little feet that are learning to stand and walk), nearly impossible to kick off, washable, and just so darn cute! I almost got her some with a little brunette princess on them (like her), but I could not resist these butterfly ones. I remember her big sister in Robeez too and cannot believe how fast time flies.

Julia's had a busy time since she turned seven months old. She started to get to a sitting position on her own (without the tripod for support), went to her first Vacation Bible School, went down the slide at the park for the first time, and started to crawl! She laughs and squeals and just observes things all the time. I think it might be a little hard on Caroline because she has started to talk baby talk quite a bit, and she's quick to say "Look at me!" if Julia gets cheered for something. Sometimes she feels generous and shares with Julia, but more often if she sees Julia holding something of hers, she runs over and takes it away. I am trying hard to give her attention and recognize the things she does too, but I think these are the beginnings of some natural sibling rivalry that I won't be able to praise away. Oh well, my sister & I once had a swordfight with hot curling irons, so I know a thing or two about sibling rivalry. And we turned out fine.

Julia - 6 months (a month and a half ago, I know)

2009-07-02T22:47:00.004-05:00

So I saw this done on other people's blogs and I wanted to try it for Julia too -- taking a picture of her each month to show how she grows throughout her first year. I got on the bandwagon too late, however, and I missed the first half of the year. So I just started at six months and here she is back in May, six months old:

May was the month when things started to pick up for JuJu. She finally started to stay sitting up by herself once placed in a sitting position (albeit like a frog or a tripod, leaning on her hands between her legs for support) at 6 months 1 week. A few days later she started rocking back and forth on all fours, along with lots of squealing and drooling! I introduced fruits this month, but she doesn't want any part of that. I remember that Caroline liked the vegs better too. JuJu was getting pretty long for the baby tub, so she got to graduate to the big bathtub:

She also started grabbing everything in sight. Sometimes I sit her on the counter in her Bumbo as I get ready in the mornings if she gets too fussy on the floor, and she immediately starts knocking down everything on the countertop. Sit her at the table, and she's going for your plate, cup, food -- whatever she can get her little hands on. That's how we got this picture:

What a good little helper already!

Caroline had a full month too with her dance recital and the end of gymnastics, preschool choir, and Mission Friends for the year. We went to the lake with our young adult Sunday school department, and Caroline got rides on a boat AND a Sea Doo! Julia put her swimsuit on too and took a dip for the first time in her little life. And that was our May!

Ballerina Girl

2009-05-24T00:19:00.012-05:00

When I became a mother, one of the areas of parenthood that I was not sure how to navigate was activities. As in, how do I decide what kinds of things Caroline should do? The list of possibilities is seemingly endless: soccer, T-ball, piano lessons, art classes, gymnastics, dance, violin lessons, Girl Scouts, swimming, tennis, golf . . . you get the drift. Growing up in a small town, I didn't have a wide variety of opportunities for extracurricular activities, and what opportunities there were, everybody participated in them. So I don't recall any dilemma, really, about what to choose. I just did what everyone else did.

In the city, however, there are all kinds of things to do, and I guess you can get your kids involved in as many activities as your schedule -- and your wallet -- will allow. I decided that I would introduce Caroline to several diverse activities and then watch to see what she gravitates toward. She took Kindermusik until she was old enough to start preschool choir at church, and we've done swimming lessons at the Y. But I knew that it was time to start looking for dance lessons when we watched the movie "The Game Plan," which contained several ballet scenes; when the ballet came on, Caroline would flit and float around the room and try to dance like the girls on the TV. It was obviously something that interested her!

I settled on Jo-Ann's Little Dancers, and we started in September. Caroline's instructor is a sweet college student named Miss Laura, and she teaches tap and ballet to the class of five little girls aged three to five years old. There was a Christmas recital (not a full-blown recital with costumes -- the girls wore black leotards and their own Christmas sweaters), but I didn't have Caroline participate in it because it wasn't even a month after Julia's birth and I was still trying to get my bearings. I didn't think that Caroline would even notice, but one night she came out from class with a sad face and told me, "I want to be in the show. I wish I could be in the show." I felt so awful. I promised her that she would be in the spring show for sure.

So, the spring show this year was held the afternoon of Mother's Day. I stayed up late the night before gluing Caroline's headpieces, taking up her ballet skirt, sewing the straps on her leotard, labeling her shoes, and taking care of all the other little details that needed to be done. I really was excited about Caroline's first recital!

The first number that Caroline's class performed was a tap dance to "Winnie the Pooh." Here is her tap costume; I was sad that the fringe got all tangled up because I had spent a lot of time the night before making sure that it was all untangled! I guess in the hustle and bustle of backstage changing, it got a little wild. Oh well, I thought she still looked cute.

Here are some action shots:

And here is a shot of Caroline taking an impromptu solo venture downstage. I think she enjoyed the spotlight!

The girls' ballet dance was to another Winnie the Pooh song, "Little Black Raincloud." The girls danced this one with umbrellas. It was so sweet that I thought I would just burst with all the cuteness.

I'm just a little black rain cloud/Hovering under the honey tree

I'm just a little black rain cloud/Pay no attention to little me

Everyone knows that a rain cloud/Never eats honey, no not a nip

I'm just floating around, over the ground/Wondering where I will drip

Twirling the umbrella

Sweet little dancers

In the following picture, Caroline is twirling the umbrella while she taps her little pointed foot on the ground. My mom, who had driven in with my dad from Perryton to see the recital, told Caroline that it was so cute when she tapped her little foot. "No!" Caroline told her. "It's not tapping, it's pointing!" Now every single time that she sees the following picture or watches the video of this dance, she has to inform us that she is not tapping her toe, she's pointing it. She can be pretty particular that way! It's one of the little things that makes her our Caroline, and I love her for it.

At the end of the show, all the dancers came back on stage, got their little awards, and sang the little song "Skidamarink a dinky dink." And just like that, the show was over. I got sad thinking, that's it -- never again will Caroline be in the youngest class of dancers at the recital. Time is passing so quickly, and I love watching her grow into the person she's becoming, but I also wish that I could slow moments like these down a little and live in them a little while longer. I guess that's why I'm trying to blog more -- so that I can better remember these special moments of being a mommy. I made a big and scary decision fourteen months ago to take a break in my career to stay home for a couple of years to raise my girls while they are small, and while I am still quite worried about whether the legal world will take me back after my "sabbatical," one thing I do know for sure: I am thankful for all the time I have gotten to spend with my sweet little girls, and I'll never regret it.

From the fullness of his grace

we have all received one blessing after another.

John 1:16

Well, it's official: I'm old.

2009-05-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

I found my first gray hair this morning. Jason tried hard to convince me that it was blond, not gray ("It's the same color as your hair at the bottom!" -- i.e., the old highlighted hair that's growing out -- that did not make me feel any better, by the way). But there's no denying it, I'm getting gray hair.

Hear that? That's the creaking of my knee as I lower one foot into the grave . . . .

There's a party in my tummy . . .

2009-05-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

Well, so much for that posting-every-week thing. Sorry!

Anyway, around the third week of April, I looked at the calendar and realized that maybe I should start thinking about giving Julia some solid food since she was coming up on 5 1/2 months old. With Caroline, we were so excited to start solids; I believe she was 4 1/2 months when we started cereal with her and right at 5 months with sweet potatoes. Well, poor Julia, time just flies this time around and I wasn't anticipating it as much this time -- probably now because I know what a mess it makes and I'm not looking forward to cleaning that up! It's so much easier just to sit down and nurse whenever we feel like it. But I can't keep her a little baby forever, so I decided to break out the rice cereal the next week. And man, did she like it! She kept diving for the spoon so much that it was hard to get it in her mouth:

Look at that tongue!

(I love how she's holding her toes in this one)

Looks like she's an eater like her mom & dad, but seriously . . . she likes rice cereal? I bet it tastes like cardboard. No, I haven't tasted it. In fact, I have not tasted any of that baby stuff -- no formula, no breastmilk, no baby food has passed or will ever pass these lips. I know lots of moms that do taste the stuff, and hats off to them, but I can't screw up the courage and I figure, if the baby's eating it, that's fine with me -- I don't need to jump in on the action. Curiosity won't kill this cat.

"I like it, Mom!"

It was so different from Caroline's experience. Here Caroline is in December 2005 upon her first taste of rice cereal:

Obviously, she was not a fan. We tried it only a few times and then went to the jarred food. I did try another kind of cereal (oat, I think), but she did only marginally better with that. So no more cereal for her! But her baby sister eats a bowl every morning. They are definitely different girls -- Julia so far has been more laid back than Caroline ever was, although Julia isn't exactly a shrinking violet herself (little kids typically like to come talk to her when we're out in public, and they're always amazed at how loudly she can scream)! But I think they'll still be sweet sisters. I know I was (and still am) very different from my younger sister, but I'm blessed to have her and I love her lots. I think my girls feel the same way:

Bluebonnets!

2009-04-19T00:35:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, Jason had the fabulous idea to load up the fam and drive to the country for some bluebonnet viewing. Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I recalled that there was a bluebonnet trail around here somewhere, so . . .

After checking the Ennis Convention and Visitors Bureau's website, I found that the town was conveniently holding its bluebonnet festival this weekend too! So we shared the idea with Caroline, who proclaimed that "it's not bluebonnet festival, it's bluebonnet day," and that we would get a chocolate milkshake as we looked at the bluebonnets. Alrighty then.

First stop was the festival for a quick pickup of the bluebonnet trails map. The quick stop turned into an hour and a half of bounce housing, shopping, pony and whale riding, and corn dog and kettle corn eating.

"I call this pony Princess!"

Whale riding, Ennis bluebonnet festival style

Sweet Julia, having fun just watching with her daddy

After the festival stuff, were were off to see some bluebonnets and take some pictures! This Panhandle girl didn't see bluebonnets until she was a college student at Baylor, and I could never understand why it's the state flower of Texas if you can't see it in Perryton (hey, Perryton is part of Texas too!!). But now that I've seen it, I do love bluebonnet season . . . the beautiful azure sea of flowers tipped with little white caps . . . the way they appear seemingly out of nowhere in meadows, in neighbors' flower beds, and alongside even the busiest of highways . . . popping up nearly always around Easter time, serving as yet another reminder of God's continuous renewal and everlasting love for us. And today I got to smell the perfume of a field of bluebonnets -- I'd never smelled that before, but it's wonderful!

So we got the kids out and tried to take some pictures of some moderately willing subjects -- here's a couple:

Caroline kept wanting to get back into the car to watch Mary Poppins on her DVD player. At 3 years old, she's already bored with Mom & Dad's plans! Caroline can already make the words "Dad" or "Mom" into three-syllable words. Three going on thirteen, I guess! I can remember being a kid and wanting to read my book rather than look out the window, so I decided to respect her wishes and didn't insist that she watch field after field of flowers at 35 mph (I can see how that might be a little boring for a preschooler after the first 10 minutes or so). So as we drove, JuJu slept, Caroline watched her movie, and Jason and I rolled down the windows, enjoyed the countryside, and talked.

Caroline loves to watch movies -- just like her daddy!

We found another field near the end of our drive with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes and got a few more pictures by informing Caroline that her posing was a condition precedent to acquiring the chocolate milkshake. JuJu didn't even bother to get out of her carseat at this stop; she was obviously over all the picture taking too.

Beautiful field of flowers

More pictures? Seriously?

One last stop on the way home: Kincaid's for burgers and fries, as well as for that bluebonnet day chocolate milkshake!

It's been a long, long time . . .

2009-04-19T00:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I see that it's been over a year since we have made an entry on our blog. You might think it's because of the boringness . . . but no, it's been a very eventful year. I have been composing this post in my head for a long time, and there was so much I wanted to say about my journey over the last year and a half, and maybe I'll write more in the future about that. But for now, suffice it to say that I stopped blogging around September 2007, when I learned after about ten months of trying to have another baby that I had a blocked fallopian tube. I was devastated and really went through a period of despair. But I have several friends who have been on this journey, and from some of them I got a recommendation for a good doctor who, with lots of pills and injections (and the answered prayers of our gracious God), helped us to get pregnant again! And now we have a sister for Caroline: Julia Elizabeth, born on November 14, 2008!

We're starting this blog back up again (hopefully with some amount of semi-regularity) because it's been very crazy over the past year, and I find that I don't remember things that have happened even a month or two ago (lack of sleep and utter disorganization will do that to you, I guess). So I hope this will be a way to capture my memories while at the same time sharing our lives with friends and family, both here and far away. Plus, I think this blog is linked on a few of my friends' blogs, and I don't want them to delete me :) Our lives are pretty busy now, maybe a bit less boring than they used to be . . . but definitely blessed beyond measure.

Home from the hospital, our first family picture - November 17, 2008

Christmas in Cowtown

2008-12-31T15:31:00.000-06:00

Well Christmas came and went. And with Family in from London, England we had no choice but to take them to Cowtown and the World Famous Fort Worth Stockyards!

Which of course meant a mandatory fitting for custom-made boots at Leddy's for the Londoners. And I am proud to report that they both purchased cowboy boots...

Not sure if Auntie Kimberly's boots are going to be red or if it was Uncle James's, but the boots were purchased. (And Caroline was SOOOO Jealous!)But all of this goes to show you that Lyle Lovett was right when he sang, "That's right you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway!"

Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas!

2007-11-04T16:10:00.000-06:00

We have a calendar in our Study that shows various pictures of DFW landmarks and Caroline had never mentioned one of them, until the picture of Big Tex came up. I explained to her who Big Tex was and where he was... Soon it became a promise that we would take her to the State Fair to see Big Tex.

And then we were there! Caroline informed us that "Big Tex is tall" and that "he got boots"... And like every good female in America (never miss an opportunity to get more shoes!) she proclaimed that she wanted some boots.

Caroline bought right into to her Daddy's philosophy on the State Fair... EAT! EAT! and then EAT some more! We had corndogs, candy-apples, corn on the cob, french fries, funnel cakes, oh my!

She also got to experience what life would be like working on a farm! The exhibit "Little Hands on the Farm" was great fun.

Caroline loved the State Fair and Big Tex. She often requests to be tall like Big Tex... And she does an excellent impersonation of him as well. We're already excited about next year's State Fair. More importantly, Caroline would like to say to each of you-

"HOWDY FOLKS! WELCOME TO THE STATE FAIR OF BIG TEX!"

Swimming Lessons

2007-09-03T16:33:00.000-05:00

For two weeks in August, four afternoons a week, we went to parent/child swimming lessons at the local YMCA. Caroline learned to "swim" on her stomach and on her back (with mom helping to stay afloat), blow bubbles, climb out of the pool (elbow, elbow, knee, knee), and get her head wet. She did make a lot of progress over the two weeks and still talks about swimming lessons every now and then. When we make the turn off the highway to go home, sometimes she points in the opposite direction from our usual turn (towards the Y) and says, "I go swimming lessons!"

Here she is going down the steps into the pool:

The last day, the swim teacher put this canoe in the pool and all the kids got to sit in it.

Caroline loved the canoe! So much that she was quite mad when it was time to get out. She kept crying and pointing, "My boat! My boat!"

Swimming on her stomach.

Swimming on her back. Caroline never really liked this part, so I had to float on my back and tow her along with her on my chest.

Good times.

More Marker Fun

2007-08-18T15:18:00.000-05:00

I got smart and bought the washable kind. I don't get the allure of marking all over yourself? Surely we all did it when we were younger, but I don't remember doing it. Caroline just LOVES this activity, obviously. Bathtime immediately followed this little art project.

Yes, she's still in diapers. We've had a potty for oh six months now and she really has no desire to use it. She sure loves Pull-Ups, though! I have explained till I'm blue in the face that only big girls who use the potty wear Pull-Ups and that if she wants to wear Pull-Ups she has to sit on the potty. She'll go sit on the potty for a bit to humor me, but nothing ever happens on there. Then she hops up, ready for her Pull-Up because she held up her end of the deal -- she did sit on the potty! Hmmm . . . methinks I need a new strategy.

Birthday Happenings

2007-08-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Aunt Kimmy and Uncle James celebrated with Caroline in a big way even though they are way across the pond in London. They sent Caroline a couple of cute dresses including this navy polo dress, along with the must-have item for any hip two-year-old: a Barbie four-wheeler!

Eat my dust!

Love this expression when she opened her sack of birthday books.

Caroline was fascinated with the musical card from Kim and James that sings "Happy Birthday" when you open it, complete with British accents. This remains on her bookshelf and not in her scrapbook because she still likes to look at it from time to time.

With a little help from Dad, Caroline figured out how to blow out the candles! Here she is putting her bubble-blowing skills to use.

Go Cats!

2007-08-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

One of Caroline's birthday activities was attending the Fort Worth Cats game. Some VeggieTales characters were in attendance and, since Caroline loves VeggieTales, she was very excited to see Larry and Bob. That is, until we actually got up close and personal!

This is about as close as she'd get on her own. I said hi to Bob myself and heard the whirring of a fan inside that costume. That explains how they can wear these things in the middle of July without fainting!

Dodger, the Cats' mascot, was a big hit with Caroline. She sat on her dad's shoulders and yelled and clapped for him. Dodger acknowledged her by throwing her this T-shirt and Jason caught it one-handed! He was pretty proud of himself. I have to agree it was a pretty good snag.

The Cats game was a perfect first outing like this for Caroline because there were lots of things going on for her to do. She doesn't sit still for very long, so with meeting Larry and Bob, jumping in the bounce house, eating Kincaid's hamburgers, stalking Dodger around the stadium, playing in the sandbox, and coloring in the coloring book provided by the folks in the KCBI radio station booth, there was plenty going on to keep her busy. It was a great first baseball game for Caroline!

Happy Birthday Caroline!

2007-07-22T13:40:00.001-05:00

Caroline is 2 today! I just cannot believe how fast the last two years have flown. It honestly seems like yesterday that I was holding this little one in my arms. I think she will always be this little in my heart :)

Why Purple Marker Should Not Be Used As Lip Gloss

2007-07-17T21:55:00.001-05:00

Must ... lock up .... markers ...

Dad's Wedding/Vacation Diaries.

2007-06-26T17:40:00.000-05:00

Well... We're still the Borings.

Just kidding! Ol' Clarissa decided to sleep in while Caroline and I went to the pool. Of course as soon as we got to the pool the "Back Room" edict came from Miss Caroline... So back to the room we went to catch/wake up Mommy!

The day after the Wedding we visited the East Battery (I could be wrong on name, but it's a battery nonetheless). This where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Pretty cool to be near these cannons and look out at Fort Sumter... AND it was an excellent place for Caroline to chase pigeons!

As well as learn the role of a Civil War Artillery officer...

Obviously... She couldn't grasp the concept of the safest position to be in relation to the cannon. Or that the Confederate Army didn't use "Sic 'Em Bears" as part of Artillery communication... But as you can see, Caroline believes they should have!

The Vacation Diaries: Part Deux

2007-06-09T17:21:00.001-05:00

Well, once the pre-wedding festivities kicked in Thursday, we got pretty busy so were not as good at taking pictures. Thursday evening, Caroline went with the boys to eat barbecue while the girls went to Charleston Cooks! for a cooking class. We made a delicious salad with fried shoestring sweet potatoes on top, seared flounder with succotash and grit cakes, and parfaits for dessert. Here is my mom, my sister Kimberly, and her two friends from A&M, Lauren and Rachel, as we were sitting down to dinner.

As I said in my previous entry, I finally found a way to cook grits that I like: Grit cakes! The cooks showed us how to make grits as usual, then stir in chopped asparagus and parmesan cheese. You spread it out in a pan and chill to firm it up a little, then use a round biscuit cutter to cut out circles of the grits. Then you fry them up in a skillet with hot oil. Oh so good. Of course, it's hard to not like anything fried, this is the South after all. We even fried up the scraps left over after we cut out the grit cakes so that we could eat every bit. The grit cakes were used as part of the main course: first the grit cake, then succotash on top (peas, corn, tomatoes, etc. with a viniagrette), then seared flounder on top of that, then a lovely butter sauce. It was so good and a nice way for all the girls to get to know each other.

Afterwards it was the long-awaited Charleston Idol competition a/k/a karaoke contest! It was my first time to karaoke, believe it or not, and I was pumped. I love to sing so I really got into it. And I probably hogged the microphone too much but hey, you snooze you lose. I don't think I ever did a solo though -- "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar was supposed to be my big number, but Kimberly wanted to sing it with me, so she did and it was more fun that way anyway. Rachel from A&M sang several Dixie Chicks songs with me while the Brits looked on blankly. I guess you don't get much Dixie Chicks in Tokyo or London or wherever they all came from. But you have to agree that "Goodbye Earl" is a rockin' karaoke song. And the best of all: I won the trophy! I don't know who picked the winner, but who cares, I won! I'll have to take a picture of it to show off. It has an engraved plaque on the front and everything.

The next day was the wedding rehearsal, a beautiful sunny day. We spent some time in the park beforehand at Spoleto, Charleston's annual arts festival. But Caroline was more impressed with throwing pennies in the fountain than with any of the paintings or music. Here we are leaving for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner:

After a week filled with gorgeous late spring, sunny days, we woke up Saturday to rain. It rained all day. I'm talking wind-lashing, incessent, dreary rain, apparently extending from Tropical Storm Barry. My sister was so disappointed because the wedding was supposed to be outdoors on the lawn of a beautiful historic home in downtown Charleston. Well, we just moved the wedding inside and had a wonderful time anyway. My uncle Ronald performed the ceremony -- his first wedding -- and it was a beautiful service. We had a lovely dinner and then dancing outside (under a tent). I hope that any disappointment my sister & her husband have about the weather and the change in plans fades over time because everything really was lovely and all of us there were just happy to be there with them on their big day!

We had a babysitter for Caroline on-site who tried to get her to sleep, but she would have none of it. She loves to dance! She tore up the dance floor at the reception. Here she is dancing with bridesmaid Heidi, Kim's friend from Tokyo. Check out Heidi's shoes. Caroline was wearing them before the wedding and threw a major fit when we had to take them off her so we could get her dressed in her flower girl dress. I mean, she was mad for a couple of hours about it! Whenever she sees a picture of Heidi, even now, a week later, she always points to her and says "Heidi's shoes." What can I say, the girl loves her shoes.

I was really excited to be at a half-English wedding because I was hoping to see some hats. I was informed that hats are not proper attire for evening weddings -- but little feather things called "fascinators" are. I had to get a picture of the groom's mother wearing her fascinator in her hair. (She is also wearing a navy bow in her hair -- the feathers are above the bow.) I love it!

And here are more dancing pictures. Caroline looks serious in these, but she was not in a bad mood (I guess she had forgotten about Heidi's shoes by this time). She just is serious about her dancing!
And Uncle James and Aunt Kimmy are married! Congratulations y'all!

The Vacation Diaries: First Day

2007-06-07T23:04:00.000-05:00

First installment of The Vacation Diaries:

We flew out to Charleston the day after Memorial Day. My sister, Kimberly's, wedding wasn't until Saturday, June 2, but we thought we would make a vacation out of the trip out there. That night we met Kimmy's fiance's family at a restaurant called Fleet Landing, right on the harbor, but we didn't take any pictures that night. We had a good time, although I refused to eat shrimp and grits. I won't even eat grits with breakfast; I don't know whose idea it was to mix grits with brown gravy or whatever and call it supper. Blech. (Note: Later in the week I did learn a way to cook grits that I actually liked. More on that in a future installment.)

Anyway, the next morning we went to the aquarium. It was very interesting, and Caroline really enjoyed it, but she is not one to stand in one place for too long so we really had to speed through it at times.

Here are the real live alligator pictures. Caroline talked a big talk about seeing the alligator, but when it came time to actually touch it, she was not so brave. I think Jason eventually coaxed her into it. I touched it too -- it felt like hard plastic to me.

First encounter with the alligator:

Getting a little closer ... look at her face, she's not so sure about this!

And some pictures of the family in front of the large diving tank and the harbor outside. Did you know this little city is the second largest container seaport on the East Coast? It's also the second most productive container port in the world, behind Hong Kong. (According to Wikipedia, anyway.)

After lunch, I saw a sign indicating the distance to London (where my sister and her now-husband will make their home), and I just had to get a picture of it.

After a nap, we went on a carriage ride through downtown Charleston, including some residential areas. That was my favorite part of the whole day. Our driver narrated the tour and told us all kinds of interesting facts and history about the city. Caroline's favorite part was watching the Belgian Draft Horse, Ralph, drink water at the end of the ride. For days afterwards she reminded us, "Ralph. Drink. Water."

What a fun day!

Charleston: Executive Summary

2007-06-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

We're back from a week in Charleston, South Carolina, where we attended my little sister's wedding. Here are some highlights:

Caroline and friend.
Caroline and another new friend: baby alligator!

The lovely bride.Caroline was the belle of the reception -- danced all night!

More to come -- we had a great time!

Boots 'n Bubbles

2007-05-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

Caroline loves shoes. Every morning it's a hide-and-go-seek hunt for my shoes because Caroline likes to go in my closet, try on several pairs, and clomp around the house with a satisfied grin on her face. That's often accompanied by "I did it!" We hear that a lot these days, and I try to encourage it, something about building your child's self-confidence blah blah blah psychobabble.

Anyway, she recently discovered her true Texas roots.

Although, it can be a bit hard to walk in boots that are 10 sizes too big for you.

Now for the bubbles part of this post ... we love blowing bubbles. Caroline used to like to watch me blow them, but now she has to be the one blowing. She can't quite get the idea of holding the wand out a bit from her lips, though; she always sticks it right on her mouth and then the film of soap breaks, of course, eventually frustrating her enough that she hands it to me ... I demonstrate proper bubble-blowing technique ... she takes it away and promptly sticks the wand on her lips again ... she gets frustrated and hands it to me ... repeat ad nauseum.

Out For a Walk

2007-05-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

There's no real point to this post, just a shameless picture display. Caroline & I went out after supper last Friday to see what treasures we could find to bring home. We ended up with 2 leaves, a rock, and a roly-poly. We also met another little girl about Caroline's age being pulled in a wagon by her dad. It was nice to meet another little kid in the neighborhood, although who knows when we'll see them again.

It's often hard to get a close-up picture of Caroline because she always tries to grab for the camera ("My cam'ra!") Her face is so expressive and I think she's so cute when she furrows those eyebrows.

Life Is Sweet

2007-05-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, one of life's greatest milestones: First time to lick the beaters.

Obviously, Caroline picked up on the concept: neatness goes out the window if you want to get the full experience of licking the beaters (and get all the batter off)

I think this one was a hit! Daddy was outside for this one ... next time might pose a problem if he's around -- there are 3 of us and only 2 beaters. Maybe he can lick the bowl instead.

Easter!

2007-05-07T21:52:00.000-05:00

OK finally with the Easter pictures ... I had some Blogger technical difficulties. Anyway, this year was colllllld ... good thing Caroline's dress had a cute little matching jacket!

Getting ready for the hunt.

First Easter egg hunt!

The Borings, saying cheese.

My First Petting Zoo

2007-04-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

Caroline's friend Ainsley (daughter of my college roommate, Leslie) had her first birthday party the Saturday before Easter. Ainsley had a petting zoo come to her house, but nobody anticipated that it would snow the day before Easter -- requiring the pen to be set up in the garage instead of the backyard. But everyone had a great time anyway! Caroline talked about the "animals" for days before the party, but when she actually got into the pen with them, she was a little skittish. But she came around, and by the end it was hard to get her to leave. Given the choice between the animals and a cupcake, though, she chose the cupcake. She's our daughter for sure.

Bunny!

Chicks!

Goat!

Here's a picture just to show a full-length of her dress that Granny Ruth got her for Christmas. It is sooo cute.

Back in Business!

2007-04-11T17:19:00.000-05:00

We've got a new camera! That's right people the Borings are going visual again... Which may or may not be a good thing.

Please know that even though we have a fancy new digital camera, we will not forget our humble, boring beginning. Here's a little taste for those of you who have their doubts...

As you can see we're still upholding our esteemed tradition.

Hey... The yard work starts here!

2007-03-12T15:23:00.000-05:00

We spent this past weekend doing "fun things" in the yard. We're actually quite proud of ourselves. We cleaned up and refined a flower bed in our backyard and cleaned up the leaves, weeds, and "doggie land mines" in the yard. It was a great time... I know you all wish you were there to help.

Unfortunately because of our camera situation there are no pictures.

Well Miss Caroline was a tremendous help. She help her mother take countless numbers of decorative rocks out of the flower bed and put them into the wheelbarrow. She really was fun to watch... Especially when she decided to clean the rocks off by licking them! I know most of you were waiting to find out the talent she got from her father... And it's rock licking! I'm so proud.

Now I don't recall ever licking rocks... But I find it hard to believe that anyone will think that Miss Caroline got that talent from a mother who went to two different universities on full academic scholarships. Needless to say, I think ol' Mommy & Daddy will be sending checks to some institution of higher learning (i.e. Technical Institute or Texas Tech) on Miss Caroline's behalf.

Miss Caroline was also a great help at watering the redone flower bed. So much so that she didn't want to do anything else. That's right, she was going to pour water on something or lick rocks. And it was up to Mommy & Daddy to decide which...

So we did what all great parents would do in that situation... We let her lick rocks.

"Hodge"podge

2007-03-06T22:07:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone ... (ha ha -- I think like only 5 people know about this blog, so hi to all 5 of you) The Hodges camera has been down again, so we don't have any new pictures to post. So that's why this blog has been more "Boring" than ever lately. We will try to get another camera as soon as we can so that we can upload some more exciting updates. In the interim, here are some pictures from last month -- a hodgepodge montage, if you will:

Jason has taught Caroline something he calls "game face." I don't understand, myself.

Here is Caroline's impression of a bear (and/or lion, tiger, etc.) -- Rrowl!

Daddy love.

Mmmm ... yogurt!

2007-02-26T22:13:00.000-06:00

Let's see . . . Caroline refuses vegetables and is only semi-interested in fruit, but give her anything from the dairy group and it's down the hatch. Especially if she can make a mess while eating it!

Remember what I said about "cheese"?

She makes me smile so much . . . I'm so blessed to be her mom.

Brainwash 'Em Early

2007-02-19T22:17:00.000-06:00

OK, I like -- and understand -- baseball probably more than the average female, but this is beyond the pale. I was not present for this picture, but I have a sneaking suspicion there was some "encouragement" going on in the posing of this shot.

Um, I'm not sure what Daddy was watching on TV that night.

Hey, she already has the shoes ... Ron Washington, maybe you should give us a call. We're just down the road.

We Were Swingin'

2007-02-19T21:54:00.000-06:00

Little Caroline she's as pretty as the angels when they sang ...

The last time we tried the swing was last fall. Caroline just wasn't sure about it back then. But this weekend the weather was nice, so we tried it again. And all we heard was "Whee!" and "Whoo!"

Here she is signing "More!"

She now also knows how to "Say cheese!" Can you tell she's saying "cheese"?

You can trust me...

2007-02-01T17:12:00.000-06:00

Funny thing about Caroline... She ain't the sweet, innocent little girl everyone thinks. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I've got proof.

Of course, she is sweet. She is fun. She is soooo cute. She is everything you want your daughter to be...

BUT, she ISN'T sweet and innocent. Mischievous is the word that comes to mind. In fact she is so mischievous that she knows when to run and hide (which is the crucial part of proper mischievous execution... I speak from experience). Many times have I been looking all over the house for her just to find her hiding under her bed or behind the chair in her room. Now I'm not going to go into detail about her alleged crimes, after all I don't confess anything to Clarissa until I'm sure that I've already been caught. So I can't possibly do that to Caroline.

For those of you who still doubt me...

DO YOU trust this face? I told you she's soooo cute.

Congratulations to Uncle Justin!

2007-01-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

Caroline, Clarissa and I would like to congratulate Uncle Justin on his deal with Sony BMG Music Entertainment! We're all very proud of you.

In fact, Caroline wants you all to know that Uncle Justin uses her expertise whenever he's in Texas.

"Can't you see I'm on the phone with Uncle Justin's people!"

"If I'm clapping... This song's a hit!"

3 Days...

2007-01-22T16:18:00.000-06:00

And we've already moved the Borings' Blog... How's that for excitement!? If we keep this up then "The Incredibles" better watch their backs!

We actually moved the Blog because we get more space here and that means posting more pictures of Miss Caroline. And as you can tell... She's absolutely thrilled.

Our vile little tongues...

2007-01-22T15:01:00.000-06:00

In the last few days, Caroline started telling us "Night, Night". It was a huge rush for Clarissa and me that first evening when I told Caroline to tell mommy "night, night" and she did. Clarissa and I got very excited and Caroline got to stay up another hour telling us, the dogs, the cat, the furniture "night, night".

Oh, how great she thought those words were! Unfortunately for her, she has learned exactly what those words mean when she says them... I'm going to bed. Of course she's already known the meaning of "night, night", but until recently she hadn't put it together that "once I say those words... It's lights out for me".

I found it quite a coincidence that today's Bible Study Involved James' (Jam. 3:1-12) warnings regarding our tongues. It really hit home for me considering that the Bears lost by 40 yesterday and I really can't repeat most of the things that came out of my mouth. It was a much needed lesson for me. I need to make more of an effort to control my tongue...

A lesson that Caroline has seemed to have learned. Especially when it comes to bed time!

Hi... We're the Borings.

2007-01-22T13:24:00.000-06:00

Well, I don't think so but Clarissa does. She asks what we do fun... And one day I'll come up with something.

As of this moment she appears to be correct. All we've done today is have the carpet cleaned... Yep, that's the bell-ringer of the day. Carpet cleaning! Be sure to stay tuned however... I'm sure we'll take on watching paint dry in the near future.