Who loves the dentis? Who loves the water park??

Seriously, Marina had an absolute blast at the dentist. Whodathunkit? She has 5 cavities but that is not very much damage in my opinion considering the number of times she probably has not brushed her teeth since she got them. Her bottom two teeth are her permanent ones and she is right on target so said the magic dentist. They will fill her teeth with a composit that has NO METALS in it ( I still and always will link Caylyn's mouthful of metal dental work to her leukemia-God can tell me if I am wrong when I see Him). Anyhow we will exercise caution with all the lessons we have learned along the way, our working parenting manual coupled with prayers morning noon and night. That's pretty much all I've got:)

We also found this really cool water park called Rays splash zone that the kids took me to in Charlotte NC for our mother's day blowout weekend. They had a total complete blast and it is a cool place--we got tickets from living social for half price and I am glad we got another set waiting in the wings for more fun sometime in the future. The next day (Mother's day) Evan wanted to go back...HA! 30 dollars in gas is not a donation I want to make twice in a weekend much less twice in 6 months! That was only half a tank...but I digress...anyhow we ended up at big lots and opted for the small splash zone pool. Now if I could convince Marina that bathing suits are not optional (she did wear one at Rays). I am grateful we live in the country. Tully is coming home this weekend and will surprise the kids tomorrow as we pick them up together from school in the afternoon. At 6:45 this morning Marina wanted to call daddy so I let her (He sure was surprised!) She signed and jabbered away about play and school, and then made this huge arch with her arm like COME ON! and said DADDY< HOME NOW! I think he went to hang up and pack a bag!

I took them to Monkey Joes blow up air zone indoor fun place yesterday because they were so good at the dentist, and had some energy to run out...and after playing for about ten minutes Marina found a lady who would let Marina play with the lady's little 7 month old baby which Marina did for nearly an hour. That little girl is destined to work in child care...she was so amazing with that baby! She is gentle and sweet and very in tune to a smile that has been returned to her...she about goes into orbit. The love and joy that expands in Marina almost daily should be a poster ad for adoption I am not kidding. I love when she crawls up in my lap and just lays her head down, or RUNS to greet her brother with huge hugs when we pick him up from school... she is feisty and bossy but she is also the most gentle soul. A fine and beautiful combination!

She and Evan will attend the local karate school day camp this summer, and they love that they will go to summer school together. ME TOO! Kickin' kids has a ton of things planned for the summer, and they will have way more fun than me working out on that hot tarmac at the airport:) By the way, both Marina and Evan will graduate kindergarten this year--and both will be in the first grade next year:) How cool is that? Marina will have to work very hard to keep her status in her appropriate grade but I have seen her determination...it shames mine, and mine is fierce:) Well I have bragged enough for the day, and am feeling all sappy about how much I love my kids, all of them, including the one I can't hug right now. Life turned out a little more amazing than I was expecting three years ago...from black and bottomless to filled with hope and flowers and laughter. There are still hollow moments but I do not let them in to steal anything from us, or from remembering Caylyn. I have to push sometimes to make that happen, but sorrow is not where I want my energy to go when there is so much left to do on this planet. And Caylyn deserves better than sorrow anyway, she is the fortunate one:)Yeah, being a mom rocks the planet in my book. And God keeps his promises. He turned my sorrow to joy. Psalm 126:5

All Amercian Girl:)

It has been too long since my last entry but boy, have we been busy! We have gone to Pennsylvania twice by plane, and planted a good sized garden. Marina and Evan have lots of end of year programs, and getting ready to attend Kickin' Kids summer day camp where those folks have got every single activity in the whole of South Carolina on their calendar! These two kiddos are going to have a blast this summer! Easter was so neat, and Marina figured out to hunt for the colored eggs hidden in the grass...candy is a motivator for nearly everyone in my family and she is no exception to that rule! She had an open house day where we could visit during her art class and the teacher was so kind to even let Evan participate in the project. So that is why Evan is in Marina's class photo...he goes to school an hour after she does so we had that time slot open for him to be with me.
Tully and I celebrated our 11th year anniversary this past friday night and we all went to a baseball game in Lancaster PA with Gramma Sue. It was sure cold compared to our beautiful southern spring, so we could not stay for the whole game, but Marina and Evan had hot dogs and popcorn and lemonade and cheered each time anyone hit the ball ( no team affiliation necessary:). This particular ball park had an amazing playground as well, so we finished up the night with a round of that big fun. The next day we met with a few of Tully's old buddies who brought kids to gramma sue's house and the best fun of all began to unravel! The kids who came were so cool, Wyatt is 5 and his sister Cara is 6 (nearly 7). Evan and Wyatt played in the creek and caught toads and hoped to catch minnows in the trap that they checked 68 times, and Cara and Marina wandered around hand in hand, chasing a stray cat and generally just happy in the sunshine. Finished up the day with a camp fire and the sun went down on tired children worn out from the tree swing on the hill. Huck Finn surely never had such a great day!
Marina and Evan are wonderful travelers and I am so grateful for that!

Coming up we have a general medical check up, and a trip to the dentist with both kids...dreading that day! (may 11th). Marina is learning her version of English in leaps and bounds. Ice cream is now at the top of the list, followed by "stop it mommy!" That probably is from putting the ice cream back in the freezer before the half gallon is either melted or empty...
She always gets her point across and is a master signer, whether it is ASL correct or not, it is so applicable to the subject matter that one is never left guessing what her point is. She has stopped calling us mama and dada and now calls us mommy and daddy, which is really sweet. That was something she just did on her own, nothing we asked of her. Our goal this month is for Evan and Marina to work on manners towards each other, they have gotten too much like brother and sister, now we have to back it up a bit and see if we can be more cordial like friends. It is off to a much better start than I was anticipating, which goes to show, make the standards high!

Evan asked me the other day why we picked Marina instead of any other kid and honestly, I hope I give him the best answer there is....because we simply let God pick her for us. She is a perfect fit for this family, and I could never take any credit for that. Life is normal, like I had always dreamed it would be...of course our sort of Normal is all over the page and not within the lines, which is just how we like it. I am looking forward to planning a long weekend heading to the beach sometime soon, either the west coast or maybe Puerto Rico. (I love free airfare.) After that, I will have to buckle down and work like crazy through the summer on all those vacation bids that I am to cover. Lots of coworkers say I will lose weight, that is a real bonus:) But something tells me its' going to be hot out there! My parents already opened their pool this year so that might have to be my stop on the way home from work alot of days...

Happy spring, summer on the horizon. Life is great! Simply amazingly great...