When in Rome....

We were finally able to take a break and travel up to the lake house this past weekend. I will eventually post many pictures from our lazy, yet fun filled weekend with friends, but this story about M I just had to share, especially for my Midwestern friends and family.

The house happens to be in South Carolina. M had a birthday party to attend on Saturday, and I had a hair appointment, so the two of us traveled together on Saturday afternoon to meet up with K, C, and a few friends. We had an enjoyable ride, talking and listening to our favorite country music, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, etc.

M, the ever persistent seven year old, continued to ask, "Mom, when will we be in South Carolina?"

After the fourth time, I finally stated, "M, when we cross over the lake, we will be in South Carolina. Just watch for the lake." I assumed that her strong desire to know when we would actually be in South Carolina was because she knew that we only had fifteen more minutes of driving to the house once we were in that state. I thought wrong...

With her eyes glued to the blur of Georgia pines out the window, and her right cheek smashed against the glass, trying to look ahead, M finally exclaimed, "Ooh, ooh, ooh! Here's the lake, here's the lake, here's the lake.... we're crossing, we're crossing, we're crossing.... Yes! We're in South Carolina...... naw I cayan sta-art tawkin' lak theeis!"

Between hysterical bursts of laughter, I finally asked, "Why are you talking like that???"

M replied, "Wayell, averywun eein Sowth Cay-ro-lana tawks lak theeis." By everyone, she is referring to her aunt and uncle, E (Lizb'th) and K (Cow), and her cousins KP (Kay Pay), M (Ma-yut), and C (Care-line), who, by all midwestern standards, all talk like Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Merle Haggard, George Jones...you get the picture.

So... the mini Minnie Pearl and I tawk'd lak thayut fo' the rayest of the treeip. When in South Carolina...

We are the champions!

M's summer softball season came to an end this past weekend. And what an exciting end it was! During the month of June, her team competed in three different tournaments. The first two were considered "practice tournaments" which lead up to the third, BIG tournament which occurred this past weekend. After not placing at either of the first two tournaments, M's team came home with the Championship Trophy from the third tournament! The girls, as well as their parents, were so proud! Here are a few pictures from the tournament.

The girls running off the field to meet their biggest fans...

The proud coaches with our Champion... The Champions and the Runners Up (what sportsmanship!)...

The Champion herself...

The Champion and her proud parents...

K and I both don't know how our parents' hearts and nerves withstood so many years of their children's athletics. We also both said that this tops any of our own athletic accomplishments. Watching your child work so hard, succeed and be a part of such an amazing accomplishment is simply an unbelievable feeling.

We know... she's only seven! We only have 11 or more years of this!

The Other Members of Our Family

K and I refer to him as our oldest child. He is one of M's best buddies. Sampson is the yellow lab below whom we all absolutely adore.

This 11 1/2 year old "puppy" still greets us each morning as if we are the royal family and he our butler. His goal in life is to please us. His unbounded love for us is evident in every one of his waking moments. Although he is the "senior citizen" of the family (I believe he may be on more meds than my 85 year old grandfather.), he will still play fetch for as long as we allow, or until his arthritic legs have had enough. Below is a letter written last October to Sampson by M (hence, the abundance of exclamation marks) on his 11th birthday.

Dear Sampson,

Happy Birthday Sampson! We love you! We cannot believe you are 11 years old! You are older than me M! Man you would be 77 years old if you were a person rite now! We hope you can stay a lot more years after C is born! We love you so much!

Love,

Mom, Dad and M

Below, according to M and M only, is another member of our family, Fluffy.

M received Fluffy on her 6th birthday. Although K refers to this hamster as "that rat," I, actually, have grown to love her as well. Yes, she basically eats, poops, and sleeps, but she is a cute and cuddly little thing.

Here, you can see clearly that Sampson's opinion of Fluffy is similar to K's. If K had been in the room at this point, he probably would have commanded "sick 'em, Sampson," and Fluffy would have been history.

A Cassidy Male With Too Much Hair???

C was born with a head full of hair... more hair than most of the grown Cassidy men in the family. His hair became quite the conversation piece. "Whoa! That baby has a LOT of hair!" or K's favorite, "He has more hair than his daddy!" Even when he was dressed from head to toe in blue, he would consistently be mistaken for a girl.

I had heard so many different tales about cutting a baby's hair before he turns one.... if you cut a baby's hair before he turns one, it will stunt its growth (the baby's hair, not the baby).... if you cut a baby's hair before he turns one, he will have "bad" hair, etc., that I was a bit apprehensive about taking the scissors to his mane.

Well.... here is why, at the age of three months, we decided to go ahead and cut C's hair.



With those sideburns, we're thinking Elvis just has to be perched on some wee little twig of our family tree.

Here is the "after" shot...

Much better, don't you think???

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad,

I hope you have a great Father's Day. You are the best dad in the whole wide world. You always make me laugh. I love when you play with C and make him laugh. Thank you for being my softball coach, teaching me how to hit the ball really hard, and playing catch with me. I love it when you read Harry Potter to me and play games with me. Thanks for being the best dad!

Love,

M (and C... he loves you, too, but he can't write!)

Our Reasons to Smile

Since I'm new at this blogging thing, I haven't quite figured out how to include a picture on my template. I have, however, figured out how to include pictures in my posts, so here are a couple of M and C.

M is into some serious 6U summer softball right now...only two strawberries this week. (But Mom, I had to slide!) And C is into some serious "I want to get up and go so badly" moments right now... only two bloody lips this week... (But Mom, I have to crawl!)

Bubble Gum Golf

Our family is one of those crazy sports nuts kind of families. My husband, K, and I were both heavily involved in sports while we were growing up, and we both played a sport in college, which is where we met.

While in college, K taught me how to golf. I must admit, I picked the game up rather easily, most likely due to the fact that the sport I played in college (field hockey) basically requires a golf swing to hit the ball. Completely frustrating to K is that my success with the sport has never quite led to the same passion for the game that he possesses. It absolutely drives him nuts that as we're traveling from one shot on the course to the next, he's commenting on his swing, the trajectory of his ball, my swing, the trajectory of my ball, etc., and I decide to divert his attention to the absolutely stunning deck and backyard pool that's coming up on the right.

So... when M became an age at which K felt was old enough to begin swinging a golf club, he had her by his side at the driving range whenever possible. If I remember correctly, I'm thinking this was around 18 months. O.K., maybe 2, but still... you get the point. By the age of 3, M was riding alongside her dad in the golf cart, attempting drives down the fairway at each hole, and then putting alongside him on each green. She became familiar with the standard golf terms... club, drive, putt, par, bogey, eagle, etc.

By now, based on the title of this post, you're probably wondering what all this has to do with bubble gum. Well, one afternoon, as I picked M up from preschool, buckled her into her carseat, and allowed her to chew a piece of gum (of course, sugarless... we called all gum "bubble gum" back then), she began to, in between chomps, express her joy for the delicious, sticky, pink stuff.

"Mommy, I looovvvve bubble gum! Do you love bubble gum?" She asked.

"Mmm hmmm... I looovvve bubble gum." I answered.

"Mommy loves bubble gum. I love bubble gum. Daddy loves bubble gum. Everyone loves bubble gum!"

"Mmm hmmm... everyone loves bubble gum, " I replied, wondering when this thought provoking conversation may lead into another.

"Well, " M stated, "Daddy likes bubble gum, but he does NOT like bubble bogies!"

Daddy was so proud...