Fishin' Kiawah Island Style

Scott and I took the kids to a couple of fishing spots on Kiawah last week.
While Will is getting a little better about paying attention when casting, it continues to be a risky business.
This night his back swing threw his baited hook right onto my upper chest. Splat!
Thankfully it smacked me bait first instead of hook first. Whew!

It was at that point I decided to step back and do what I do best when fishing: take pictures.

The fish whisper-er does it again.
She caught the only fish of the night, a nice sized bass.
One of these days I am going to count all those freckles. That little face just melts me. Even when it is smirking ever so slightly. "You eyeballin' me girl?"

I call this picture "Kiawahhhhh," said like a sigh.

Tears & Laughter & Holding Hands

Last Friday, Will's preschool class had their Christmas sing and holiday party. Unlike his sister, Will does not exactly enjoy being in the spotlight.

As soon as the teachers asked the kids to stand up to sing, he immediately burst into tears. Miss Chrissie, bless her sweet heart (and I mean that!) spent a good 5 minutes trying to comfort him. She told him that she, Mommy & Daddy and Jesus all love him and Jesus did not give him a heart of fear.

Wiping away that last tear and trying to be brave

And when that did not work, she conceded and let him stand next to his best buddy Gabe - typically not allowed in these situations as they tend to get a little a rowdy together :)

And all is well now that he got to hold Gabe's hand
for support - thank goodness for good friends!

I love these kinds of things because the kids are all so unpredictable and adorable, even the ones like mine that go from nervous tears to holding his buddy's hand for comfort to vigorously scratching his bottom right there in front of everyone to giving shout outs to friends in the audience to dancing and generally being silly.

Obviously he survived and finished with a smile.

Songs I Sing to My Babies- I Love To Singa

When I was a kid, cartoons were so much simpler. No evil characters to speak of, with the exception maybe of Bluto on Popeye, but he was more mean than evil.

When were allowed to watch Saturday morning cartoons, my favorites were the more unique Merrie Melodies, especially the really old ones from the 1930s and 1940s. While admittedly many of them are terribly offensive with ridiculous stereotypes, there were others that were just plain fun.

One of my all time favorites is called "I Love To Singa." This eight-minute Tex Avery gem dealt with expectations, rejection and acceptance. Ok, so it was not that serious, but the song that the little owl sang has stuck in my brain for decades.

And decades later I taught it to my little ones, jazz hands and all. Eliza Grace was a performing it for family by age 2!

Enjoy "I Love to Singa." I promise it will make you smile!

Songs I Sing to My Babies- Edelweiss

Ok, stay with me here because I know this one may seem odd.

When I was pregnant with Will, I decided that since I sang Baby Mine to Eliza Grace so much, I needed to find a lullaby that was just for Will. And during this same time, Eliza Grace watched the sound of music for the first time. It was so fun sharing this movie with her and there are so many songs to love.

The scene that always got to me -and I am sure just about everyone who has ever seen it - is when the Captain is singing Edelweiss on stage and cannot finish because he gets choked up, then Maria joins in and then the kids join in and then the entire audience joins in. It would make me just weep and weep. (Dang, I am emotional, no?)

As far as I know, I am not of Austrian decent, but I doubt there is a patriot in any country that would not get choked up during that scene. So, for some reason, that song just stuck in my mind as the one I would deem as Will's lullaby.

Of course, I tweaked the final line a bit to fit my purposes. Here is the way I sing it to my Willby:

Edelweiss,
Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white
clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss,
Edelweiss
Bless my sweet child forever.

And here is the original (click on the picture):

Songs I Sing to My Babies-In My Favorite Dream

This one hails from yet another Disney movie, Fun and Fancy Free, specifically Mickey & The Beanstalk.

In the story, the golden harp is stolen by Willie, the giant. At one point, the harp sings the giant to sleep so that Mickey can steal the key to the box where his friends (Goofy & Donald Duck) have been captured - thus the odd ending to the song as she directs Mickey to where the key is. Everyone on the web must be petrified of Disney lawyers, because I could not find a snippet of the song out there anywhere. But, here are the lyrics:
In my favorite dreamEveryone is so delightfulNo one's mean or spitefulIn my favorite dream

Yes, and in my favorite dreamThere my heart can go romancingDancing to a heavenly theme

But there's something else I look forward to

It's a secret, but here's a clue

He's my favorite you-know-who

You're the hero of my most favorite dream

In his right vest pocket you'll find the key
The right vest pocket, go carefully

More Classics from the Scoob

Eliza Grace pleaded with me to record her singing her "newest" favorite song.

She had been sneezing all day (have no clue why) so her eyes and nose were sort of swollen but she managed to belt it out.

You may want to turn your volume DOWN, as she gets a wee bit loud on the second line :)

To Prove My Earlier Point...

...Eliza Grace knew darn well I was filming her.

Which is why, despite forgetting the words a bit,
she managed to finish strong for her audience!

Will sings....

...the Scooby Doo theme song.

Unlike his sister, if he had had any idea I was taping him, he would have stopped immediately.

Just goes to show you, the classics never die!