seven year old blogger: videos...

Hi, Everyone!
This is my favorite blog post. I would like to share with you
two awesome videos.

1. My school report.
2. Piano.

I LOVE these videos! My school report was about a
heroic lady. Abigail Adams. That day was American Hero's day so
we all took home a paragraph to look at and take out three important words in the sentence.
We underlined the three important words so we could remember which ones were the words we were using.

Then, we wrote our own sentence using the three words we picked in our sentence. We all dressed up in red, white, and blue. We invited all our parents to our classroom to see our paragraphs.
Here is a video of my paragraph...

'

Now here is #2. I love it! Now, this is the piano piece: "The Waltz", and
the next piano piece: "Old Woman". My mom teaches me piano lessons.
I started with piano lesson books 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Then I learned a book that I will be playing these
two pieces.

the boy needs his mama...

It's always pretty cool to see something you've envisioned actually come to LIFE!

My sweet friend and I collaborated together to put together a 3-day children's backyard bible club for our small church this year.  We kept it small, simple, and easy using free curriculum online based off of the  "Jesus Storybook Bible" (by the way, best book EVER, for kids or for grown ups.  Trust me when I say you need this book!!)  We centered the theme around God's "never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever LOVE."  (that's the phrase often repeated throughout the children's bible that's printed on our t-shirts)

It was a great three days.  Our youth volunteered to help out with the kids as they did crafts, learned Bible stories, played games, sang songs, and worked on a memory verse.

 I was in charge of the music time each day (you can see how well my kid is listening from this picture..oh Jameson), and we had a good time with all the old, cheesy VBS favorites like "The B-I-B-L-E," "I'm in the Lord's Army," "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," "Father Abraham," and "Our God is So Big."  

(If you grew up in any kind of evangelical church, you've likely been exposed to the silliness of these kids' songs at some point...and if not, it's really okay.  Consider yourself more normal that way, ha!)

I talked to the kids about how God has given each of them a voice to sing Him praise.

But the real hit was the day I showed them my violin and how it's played.  They couldn't believe the bow hair came from horse tails!

 Jameson was so cute during prayer time, squinting his eyes and folding his little hands.

Caroline had a blast with the gals.

I'm pretty proud of our little church for our first attempt at this ever!!  It was so fun to invest in the lives of the kids this way.

This Sunday morning at church the kids sang our theme song of the week, and of course, when it was time to stand up and sing, my kid's gonna have the toddler meltdown if he's not positioned in my lap to do it. (Murphy's Law)  So suddenly,  you'll see that I, TOO, became a part of the performance, ha!

What can I say?  The boy needs his mama.
(And listen to him sing!)

toil...

I was emotionally and physically exhausted on the drive home alone late last night.

After a long day of strenuous manual labor on our 1820 house that amounted to us completing absolutely NOTHING except causing more future work for ourselves, I quickly had to jump into musician mode with a 4 1/2 hour rehearsal for an outdoor production I'm playing this weekend.

And after factoring in a sinus infection that just won't go away and the backyard Bible club I helped lead this week, I was just struck with such an overwhelming sense of how toilsome and chaotic life feels right now.

I couldn't help but ask God out loud, "Why does nothing ever seem EASY, God?  Why must life always be full of toil and tension?"  (I love that we have a God who invites His children to come and complain to him.  [see the Psalms])

In the "befores" and "afters," I guess I'm just ready to skip right along to the "after" part.

 When you're in the middle of a home renovation and trying to be a mom to two young, spirited kids who are both home and needing from you constantly, life feels unusually unbalanced and overwhelming.   

Frustrations run high.  

Lots of opportunities to apologize and forgive are created.

But amid all the current toil, I'm looking back at the simplicity and peace we had just a few short weeks ago at the beach, when the only thing we had to do was enjoy ourselves and make memories together.  

Ahhh, how I'm longing for that again!

I'm remembering how sweet it was to watch Jameson gain the courage to take the first step in wave riding: throwing down his board into the water and hopping on just like daddy does when he rides onto the shore.

Caroline's now an old pro

wave riders

I'm remembering the joy of playfulness.

 I'm remembering how magical it was to capture the unbelievable moment we saw dolphins jumping FROM THE SHORE, as if they were giving us our own show.

During all the struggle and toil and sawdust and fleas it helps to look back and know it won't always feel this way.  Happier, more peaceful days are truly ahead...

bald, bold, beautiful...

Bald.
Bold.
Beautiful.

3 words that most certainly describe my sweet Caroline.

When a little girl is bald, I suppose people expect her to be shy and withdrawn.

Or sick and ashamed.

I can tell from their reactions they don't expect the active, energetic, well-spoken gal that she is, and often times it's like strangers have no idea what to think of us!

Caroline would, of course, prefer to have hair.  (What girl wouldn't?)  She tries not to let the long, confusing stares from little kids hurt her feelings, but that's what bothers her the most.

What bothers me is when I see mothers shushing their children and whispering into their little ears to attempt their best explanation as to why my daughter has no hair.

Because I'm 100% sure that explanation is WRONG everytime.

My daughter is not sick.  She doesn't have cancer.  She's not in treatment.   We're doing just fine, thank you very much.

I wonder if any mom would simply answer their child's questions similar to how I would if I was in that situation?  "Yeah, I see that girl!  She doesn't have any hair, and I'm not exactly sure why- sometimes it means someone is sick, but not always- but God made all of us different and special, and isn't she beautiful?  She looks very nice.  Shall we go up to her and tell her 'hello'?"

Moms, let's teach our children to see differences as NORMAL.  They take their cues from us.  Let's teach our children that everybody's got something that makes them different, whether it's something we can immediately see with our eyes or not.  Let's model to our children what it looks like to lovingly approach others who are different with respect and a willingness to listen to their stories.  

It also bothers Caroline when people think she's a boy.  She is almost always wearing skirts and dresses, pink and purple, and yet people still think she's a boy.  Thankfully she understands that most people don't even know what alopecia IS, and that unfortunately she's going to have to do alot of explaining throughout her life.  (I'm sure that gets really old.)  Maybe one day, with enough awareness out there, there will be a category in people's minds for alopecia.

But even amidst all the challenges of alopecia, Caroline's very comfortable in her skin and likes some of the advantages a bald head brings...

(these are the good things about alopecia according to her)

1) no lice  (ha ha ha!)
2) your head doesn't get so hot under all that hair
3) hair never gets in your face
4) you never have a bad hair day (ha!)
5) you don't have to shampoo or style it, you can just wake up and go!

My daughter is bold and confident, and I pray that doesn't ever change.  God has gifted her with a beautiful inner strength, impeccable verbal skills, and not to mention gorgeous outer beauty that will serve her well with this condition.

She knows alopecia is a part of her, but it's not HER.

Who needs hair to be beautiful?  She rocks the bald.

And I couldn't be more proud.

heart & soul...

Need a little soothing jazz break?  Found this fun ditty on my phone from when Pop and Mamie were here to visit!

the cycle of siblings..

Brother and sister playing happily together.

Brother gets a mischievous idea. 

A mud fight quickly follows.

Sooner or later, laughter turns into tears...

...which either ends in someone getting hurt or the need to go your own way.

This time, separation was the key.

Until it's time to get back together and do it all over again.

hi ho & the big bad wolf...

We interrupt our vacation pictures to bring you a few videos I found on my phone to share!  One of Caroline's favorite things to do is to watch old videos I've posted here on crazyforcaroline, so I've realized I need to keep 'em coming as this blog is half functioning as my children's "baby books."

Jameson's currently obsessed with the movie "Snow White."  Not really for Snow White herself, but he mostly wants to watch the seven dwarfs who carry hammers and hit the walls of the mines.  So here's my kid who has progressed from always having to carry a baseball bat to a sword to NOW- a hammer.

He even took his "hammer" to surgery with him as his comfort item, ha ha!

Here's a very common scene around my house right now!  Jameson and Caroline with their "hammers" acting out Jameson's favorite scene from Snow White: And the next is from a few months ago when Jameson (age 2) was helping me tell the story of the Three Little Pigs in the car.

a place like no other...

I know, I know.  I promised to spare you from a million horse pictures.

But I can't help it.  This place is HOPPING with wild horses, it's crazy!

We are having so much fun spotting the horses every time we go to the beach.

 They're in people's yards, 

they're along the roads 

and on the beach.  

Rockstars of the beach

 This afternoon we were enjoying some family time on the beach, and look who suddenly walked right in front of us?

Horse Crossing

Yep.  Just on their way.

Oblivious to everyone pulling out their cameras.

This horse kinda creeped me out when it appeared to start following us.

After a certain point, we just let him pass and continue his evening stroll along the ocean.

 This place is so, so beautiful and surreal.

Perfect for horsing around....

7 year old blogger at OBX...

Hi! My family is at the beach for seven days. There are wild horses on the beach.

I love to see the wild horses. You cannot be closer than 50 feet from them.

I decided to write a blog post about our time at the beach yesterday. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere...

Well, the water was FREEZING and my teeth were chattering, but, I wanted to ride my boogie-board. So, I did. I wanted to have fun, so I did.

We looked in the car and saw a super-hero boogie-board and I thought Jameson (my little brother) would like it. He does whatever I do, so, I got my boogie-board, he got his, I got in the water, he didn't dare to go in the water. He does whatever I do!!! I guess maybe not this time. (Haha!)

There were HUGE jumping fish in the waves, splashing and playing. A fisher-bird swooped down, grabbed a fish, and flew off. The picture is the fisher-bird grabbing a fish. I thought, Wow! This is amazing!

At first I thought I saw a shark fin and then, we screamed. "It's a...DOLPHIN!!!!!" Sorry, but it is NOT a shark. I know you all like sharks. (Haha!)

 That is me. Scanning the water for dolphins. As soon as I saw one swimming away from me, I raced down the beach where it was. Mom was running down the beach behind me with her camera.

"Eek, Eek, Eek!" Here is a picture of two dolphins playing. "ADORABLE!" I shrieked. They were playing wildly. Their fins were up out of the water.

Me and Jameson LOVE building sandcastles. "Ah we building nec, Caline?" Jameson said. Do you need the translation? Ok. Here it is: "What are we building next, Caroline?"

I'm telling dad which wave to ride. He chose....that one!

Finally, the end. Time to say good-bye to all your friends. But before you go, my mom wants to say something. "My 7 year old blogger loves to write to you."   See you all very soon! Bye!

wild horses can't drag me away...

I know of very few places on earth like this place, where wild horses roam freely along the beach.  It's unbelievable, and every time I spot one, I can't help but reach for my camera.  (I promise to sift through my pictures and spare you from 1,000 endless horse pictures...)  It's the law to stay 50+ feet away from them, but it just looks and feels so surreal that about 100 of these endangered wild horses, descended straight from Spanish conquistadors, are right here with us.

the jeep tour companies are rolling in the dough

It's popular for visitors to the Outer Banks to take Jeep tours to see the horses.  At around $150 a pop, folks load up into commercial 4x4 vehicles that will give them an hour's ride on the 4x4 beach and a guaranteed horse sighting.   

 But if you go that route, you don't get the advantage of spotting the wild horses around "town."

 And you may not be lucky enough to see the horses on full display.  

To be able to drive onto the beach morning, noon, and night with your own 4x4 is so much better, not to mention tons more convenient with kids, since there's nothing you have to lug to the beach with you-- it's already in your car and you simply pull out what you need!

Here's a few horse shots from yesterday...

Insert "why did the horse cross the road" joke here

 Oh, you know,

just another day seeing wild horses walk the beach.

Loving this place! 

I'll keep putting up with the smelly water and creepy pirate guy for this any day. 

a birthday to remember