Rhinoceros Beetle

What in the hell? Apparently there are these GINORMOUS beetles called Rhinoceros Beetles. The like wooded areas and for some reason I have NEVER EVER seen one until recently.......where I've seen four now.....ALL on my back deck. Our daycare saw one as well and took a picture. I've been scouring the internet for Southern Infestations but all I can find is that they apparently make great pet beetles. Yeah, that's right, I said PET beetles. I have no idea what possesses any sane person to try to domesticate a beetle.

According to my research, they tend to me nocturnal, they fly and apparently are not good at landing. They live for about 24-30 months, but most of that (~18mo) is spent in the larvae state. Another gross fact that you dooms-day preppers might want to note is that in the larvae state they have an extremely high protein percentage (40%) which is much higher than chicken or steak. The males have horns that are just for show (HAHAHA go figure) and for fighting other males (again, not surprised by this fact that seems to permeate ALL make species on this planet. They don't bite or sting, which per my google sources is another reason they make good pets.

I've included two pictures I took this evening so you can see the scale (pardon the trim-work which is in dire need of repair)

Summer Fun

This looks like SOOOOOO much fun, wish my fat butt wouldn't crush the sweet little baby pool. And again, I know I have said/blogged this before, but I am SO glad Mike splurged on the $40 baby pool with the slide! I would have bought the $20 one, but the kids have the best time on the slide.



Sweet Sassafras.......



Fun morning at the big pool, followed by long nap, and a long wake-up time from said nap = LOT'S of cuddles for Mommy.

And so it begins......

Saturday morning one of my nightmares....OK, nightmare is a little dramatic...how about a not so pleasant dream was realized. Ever since Tessa was born, I had these weird, very realistic dreams, that one of the kids would walk into my room in the middle of the night....but they were in a crib and shouldn't be able to get out. Once you get over the whole I'm-freak-out-about-SIDS-issue, cribs are awesome. The babies love them, Mommies know their babies are safe and snuggled up with their precious blankets and stuffed animals. I know if Ellis wakes up crying, he usually goes back to sleep and I don't need to worry. When Tessa was still in her crib, I knew I could take a quick shower while she still talked to herself before she got really demanding.

Although Tessa certainly had the skills, she never climbed out of her crib. My crib is low to the floor so I never worried about physical harm, just unattended toddler was all I worried about. She climbed out of a pack-a-play up in the mountains during nap time, so we put her in the big bed where she slept perfectly. Ellis had just been born and we needed to move her to her big girl bed anyways (already set-up in her room). As soon as we got home, I moved the crib back into the nursery and Tessa has slept in her big girl bed ever since. For about a year, we used a gate in front of her door as well. Again, she could easily climb it and she tried it a couple of times, but on the 2nd time she got her little tow pinched and never tried again. We finally took the gate off last year since she was potty trained and needed to go potty sometimes, etc.

We've casually discussed Ellis moving to a big boy bed. There's no rush since we don't need the crib and he loves his crib and is a great sleeper. He's also never tried to climb out of it...............until now!

So, back to Saturday morning. Mike was still working so I was home by myself with the kids. Tessa had woken up and came into my room at 5:00am and gone back to sleep (anytime after 5:00 she can stay in our room, before that it's back to her room). Something woke me up. It was one of those noises you think you hear but then aren't sure if it was in a dream. I thought it sounded like a door handle, but Tessa was right next to me. Then I heard some other noises and thought maybe Gretchen was on the roof of the front porch and scratching at the bedroom window, but then I realized she was sleeping at the foot of the bed. Maybe it was squirrels or birds flitting around outside. Then I heard "Boingggggg, Boingggggggg, Boingggggg" and I knew immediately and jumped up. I opened Ellis' door and he was standing there with his big, goofy grin playing with the door stop in his room. I asked him "Did you climb out of your bed" and he said "No" Crazy Moose! It just surprised me because he hadn't been awake for a while with me ignoring him and he wasn't calling my name. He just climbed out, tried to open the door (that's what woke me) and then played with some stuff in his room, looked out the window, and then found the door stop. Luckily he hasn't done it again, but I'm on total red alert now and every time I hear a noise or hear him wake I am wide awake. I try to go in right away to put him back to sleep so he doesn't get into a habit of climbing out, but it looks like we are going to have to buy some big boy furniture sooner rather than later.

Sweet Memories

One of the sweet little memories I have from Jekyll was on Sunday while I was working at the Conference, Mike and my mo brought the kids by our booth. All of the sudden I hear this familiar "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" and Tessa comes barreling down towards me with arms outstretched, wearing her cute little blue sear-sucker summer dress and she was just so excited to see me. Then I heard another familiar "Mommy, Mommy" and here comes Ellis. I guess since I'm with them most of the time, I rarely get those excited to see me moments (like Daddy gets every Friday night when he comes home). It was just really sweet. Ellis was so excited about the Turtles they had visited at the Turtle Center. Tessa was showing me all the cool little give-aways she had received from other vendors. But it was just so cool how excited they were to see me, and I was so proud to show them off.

Jekyll Island

OK - I was TERRIBLE this year about taking pictures while in Jekyll. It's so beautiful there, but somehow I just keep forgetting to take pictures. Next time (hopefully I will get to go again) I will take my camera out one day while the kids are napping and just go to town.

We had a wonderful time. I drove down with my parents and the kids and Mike drove down on Saturday since he was coming from Nashville. Had a fun dinner at the Wharf in Jekyll Friday night. My Dad's co-worker Carla and her family were there and Tessa really loved playing with Evan and Katy. When the band started, Katy and Tessa out-danced everyone there. We spent Saturday morning at the pool then everyone took a nice long nap.

We agreed to a Baby-Sitting swap with Carla and Ben, so the first night Carla and Ben went out while we watched the kids and then Mike and I had a really nice, grown-up dinner with Mom and Dad the next night. It worked out great. Our rooms were right across from Carla and Ben so that made it super easy. Tropical Storm Beryl was approaching so we got a little bit of pool time Sunday morning. I had to "work" at the GAPPA Conference Sunday afternoon and the spouses (Mike, Omi, and Ben) took the kids to the Turtle Rescue Center. I think after the pool, this was Ellis' favorite. He still talks about the Turtles. Beryl came ashore Sunday night, although there was minimal damage and some minor flooding, there was spanish moss every where. It's amazing to see the pristine grounds one day and then covered the next.

All in all it was a great trip and can't wait for next year.

Here a few of the pics......

Ellis in the pool with Opa, blowing bubbles. Ellis did awesome. It was his real first time as a grown-up swimming in the pool(he's only 2, but last year he was too young to really swim). He had so much fun and was just paddling his little butt all by himself.





Tessa's Fabulous Purple Birthday Cake for her Jekyll Island Birthday Party.



Her new buddy, Evan. She's totally in love with him and keeps calling him her cousin. She also liked that he knew how to navigate the iPad on his own. Also, thank you Carla and Ben as Tessa now wants her own iPad. I explained that Evan doesn't have his own, it was his Daddy's.

Shots

Tessa had her 4-Yr check-up yesterday. I can't believe she's four already. We celebrated in grand style in Jekyll Island (will post another one on Jekyll with some pics). We had a little Birthday party with the Rivers (Carla, Ben, Evan and Katy) and of course Omi and Opa were there as well. She had a purple cake (duh) with pink hearts all over and is still talking about her cake.

At four they have to get a round of shots. They do this at four now instead of five since so many kids start Pre-K at age four. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tessa will be in Pre-K in the fall. Instead of surprising her with the shots, I figured I would prep her. I have been talking about them for a while and we talked about being brave and how important they are, etc. She talked about how brave Opa and Daddy were and that she was going to be brave as well. Monday morning all bravery went out the window. As she was getting dressed I reminded her we had her Doctor's appointment and she said she didn't want shots today, but would go tomorrow. I picked her up from school, it was nap time so she was still sleeping. On the way over she kept saying she didn't want the shots.

As the Nurse did a Vision Test and Hearing Test, she just kept saying "I don't want any shots". She got to wear a hospital gown, which she wanted to model (see picture below). Dr Beckford came in and checked her out. She said everything looked great. She's obviously advanced in her speech and social skills, so there are no concerns there. Then the nurse came back to give her the shots. She lost it. It was hard because I had to hold her arms so she wouldn't accidentally hit one of the syringes. She got two shots in each leg. She cried, screamed, and was scared. Afterwards, I told her I was very proud of her and I know that that was very hard for her. She said "But I wasn't brave, I was scared" I took her to Coldstone as a treat and she ordered Water Melon Ice Cream with Reese's Pieces and Oreo Cookie. BARF! But she loved it and licked the bowl clean. Of course, my little drama queen is now limping around in a very dramatic fashion when she remembers she got the shots. At school she was limping down the hall, but then saw Ellis running and suddenly and miraculously recovered and chased him down the hall. Then she had to limp again.

I just love my little mini-me so much. She is so smart, sweet, beautiful, sassy, dramatic, and funny. I love watching her when she sleeps because she looks so much like me. She does this funny imitating of my angry face that is dead on. Mike and I laughed so hard this weekend when she showed him my angry face. She loves Ellis and always wants him included in everything. They really are best friends and I hope it stays that way. I am just so proud of what a wonderful little girl she is and I am so lucky to have her. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her. She is truly the light of my life and I am just so in love with her.

Stats: She's 35 lbs (50%) and she's 39 3/4" tall (50%). So she's right in the middle of the pack, she was on the shorter side for a while (35%) but has shot up in the last year.