Camper

A Locket full of love!

Mom mentioned briefly in her Disney World recap that Campbell had her heart set on a locket and found one our first full day there.  Well, once she had fulfilled that wish she immediately turned her energies into worrying about what she could put in her locket.  I suggested we make pictures of her babies to put in there since they are her most treasured possessions.  So, today since I was home nursing a sinus infection, we got down to business.

Now, Campbell has a locket full of love and is tickled pink!

Express Yourself

It should be known that Campbell has never had a problem expressing herself!  From the advent of what is now the classic Campbell face:

to the miriad faces that she makes daily to her above average verbal skills - you are rarely left wondering how Campbell feels about any given issue.  As Mom mentioned yesterday, Campbell is getting to the age where she is expressing herself more artistically as well.  Yesterday it was taking pictures.  A few days ago she was making up stories about how excited she was to go to Disney World next week.

Well, as happens with all little girls Campbell has reached the age of wanting to express her sense of style - as well as assert her independence - by choosing her own clothes. For the most part she does a pretty good job and definitely has a very clear view of what she likes and doesn't like fashion wise. But from time to time she puts together ensembles that definitely reflect her own sense of style.  

There have been several such outfits I've thought as I was taking them off at bed time - "I should have taken a picture of her today!"  Like the striped leggins paired with the psychedelic flower dress and rain boots or red cable knit stockings, jean skirt, pink striped tank top and clear plastic Cinderella slippers or . . . . You get the point!  Some of the ensembles are very entertaining.  Here is an example from a few days ago.  It's actually one of the tamer ones, but I would definitely call it shabby chic.

Because the leaves are falling . . .

Fall has been a whirlwind for the Rinehart/Johnson family! Good grief! Last time I wrote I had just finished my week away for Tolls and was dreading a looming 9-day trip to Seattle. Well, I have since survived that week, celebrated the beginning of UK's basketball season at the Blue/White scrimmage, traveled to Franklin, TN for a family weekend, finished soccer season and attended a new, local BBQ festival.  

What little bit I got to see of Seattle was pretty cool including this larger than life, moving flower pot in downtown Seattle.

And yes, that flower pot pretty much captures all that I got to see of Seattle. That's the trouble with traveling for work.  You have to work.  And when you're there to run a meeting, work generally equals 10-12 hours/day on a light day.  So, no I didn't get to see much people! Stop rubbing it by asking me if I went to the top of the Space Needle or ate at Dahlia's or visited Pike Place Market!

When I got home from Seattle I stayed home for a week enjoying much deserved comp time and doting on my very Mommy-needy child. It was such a fun week and for the first time since I returned to work after having Campbell I found myself thinking - I could stay at home and do this parenting thing full-time.  That's not to say the week was without it's trials.  Campbell and I went approximatley 200 rounds about her taking a nap before I finally caved on day three and agreed to "quiet time" instead thus making actual sleep optional.  Of course that's when this happened:

The week was also a struggle as some reprogramming was necessary after a week of living in the wild with Daddy.  For instance, Campbell still doesn't understand my reluctance to embrace Daddy's preference for dressing her the night before and letting her sleep in her clothes for the next day.  But the week with her was such a wonderful dose of time with my sweet, funny girl.  Hardly an hour went by where we weren't laughing at something silly she'd done or said.  And not a day went by that I didn't marvel at life through her eyes - for example: "Did you know we call it Fall because the leaves are falling?"

So as not to be selfish - and since I can't regale you with wonderous stories of my amazing times traveling - here is a sprinkling of the Campbellisms that have made life colorful this fall.

 "Mickey Mouse Club! Mickey Mouse Club! M-I-C-K-E-Y! Elmo-U-S-E!"

"Sometimes I'm not buying what you're selling!" (No doubt in response to one of Adam's attempts to feed his child a tall tale.)

To Adam: "Don't freak out or say a word when I tell you this - but let's say I'm 16 and you're my boyfriend."

"I will start calling you Father."

"We are worried about the Nazi's because they took over Austria." (explaining the background politics of The Sound of Music to Adam)

"I will get there right perfectly timed." (Apparently we need to work harder at teaching her not to talk like a  country bumpkin.)

"Do you think Disney World was around then? And if so, do you think the oldest one was allowed to ride Space Mountain?" (Another Sound of Music inspired inquiry.)

"When I move out you can live with me until you die."

"They didn't date back then. They just danced in greenhouses." (You guessed it - Sound of Music)

"If you see a guy in a blue shirt with short gray hair, it might be my Daddy."

"They had to replace our playground because the old one  was bandalized."

New Addition to the Family

For Campbell's very first Christmas, when she was only six months old, I gave her a BlaBla Kid called "Pumpkin". It was an instant hit, even though Campbell was so young. The rag-doll characteristics and knit body make it perfect for snuggling . When Campbell learned to talk, she immediately renamed the baby "Dolly" and it became her most cherished companion at naptimes and bedtimes.

On the occasion of Campbell's second Christmas, when she was 18 months old, Dolly's sister, Coco, joined the family. Like her sister before her, Coco is also a BlaBla Kid. She, too, was an instant hit and now there were two babies for Campbell to snuggle with.

In the month right after her second Christmas, we had the misfortune of experiencing a havoc-wreaking ice storm in our home town. Electricity was off, water was off, and we were reduced to truly roughing it. Because we have a fireplace, Campbell and her mommy and daddy came to live  with us. And, of course, Dolly and Coco came along for the adventure.

  

About six months after the ice storm experience, a third sister, Violet, joined Dolly and Coco. She blended in beautifully with the other two sisters and it seemed that Campbell's family was complete. These babies are so special to Campbell that we had a portrait made to hang on Campbell's bedroom wall.

 

We all thought Campbell's little family would forever be "DollyCocoViolet", as they've come to be known in the family. But a funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago. While visiting Campbell and her mommy and daddy, friends told Campbell that there was another baby named "Apple" who had green hair.

Campbell decided then and there to ask DotDot if she would get Apple to join DollyCocoViolet. Well, the rest, as they say, is history. There are few things that I'm able to deny Campbell. After all, my job is to spoil her. So a few days later, who do you think showed up at Campbell's door step?

 

DotDot

PS - If you look for "Apple" on the BlaBla website, you'll find her under "April".

Dear Campbell: 49 & 50 Months

It's been an eventful summer and I could spend the next few paragraphs putting everyone to sleep with a play-by-play of our trips to NY and Paducah, your efforts at swimming and the other things that have happened but I will spare you and the other five people who read this blog such tedious details.  Instead, I'm going to turn the recollecting of this summer over to you!

First a brief photo essay of our doings.  These first few photos were taken during the car ride to New York to visit your Daddy's side of the family.  Unfortunately, once we arrived the fun and excitement of swimming with your cousins far outshadowed the concept of taking pictures.

I think what these pictures clearly illustrate is your deep desire to get the heck out of the car!  

You captured a similar series of photos en route to our friend Martha's wedding a couple of weeks ago.

Once again the event itself proved too entertaining for you to bother with pictures once the party was in full swing.  You can thank your father for passing down his great fear of missing something.  A few  years ago he just had to have an expensive camera for Christmas - it ended up being both of our Christmas presents - and after the initial excitement wore off he has since abandoned the camera in order to remain in the thick of all the excitement as well.  Destraction aside, your wedding photography debut did result in a pretty good picture of the lovely wedding cake.

Last week - as Dotdot already indicated - we took a trip out to Shaker Village.  You showed there that when you aren't destracted by pools and parties you can actually take a pretty mean picture - especially for a four-year old!

I marvel everyday at how quickly you are growing and learning.  These pictures, though not of you, illustrate your growth as well.  When we got your first camera and downloaded your first set of pictures it was nothing but the floor or unidentifyable blurs.  Now more often than not, you produce actual pictures.  Some of them remarkably good!

And yet, as telling as these photos are - I think the following installment of "Life According to Campbell" snippets from Mommy's and Daddy's Facebook pages indicates more than anything just how big you're getting.  You are so curious and smart and funny! 

    "Big bad boy is called alliteration."

    "Sometimes if you are too close to something - you can't see it."

    "It's KiaWAH - not KiaWUH!"

    "You rock a baby in a house. Not in a tree top.  Super unsafe!"

    "I'm sweating out my arm pits."

    "I stubborned my toe."

    "Oh man! We forgot to give my too small sneakers and boots to Karla when she went to Guacamala!"

    "He lives in Marion County? Do a lot of people get married there?"

    "Why do they call it a hurricane? Because they hurry a lot?"

    "You must be INSANE!" (to your Daddy)

    "I didn't know Presidents had wives."

This last quote came just the other day in response to the news that when Dotdot takes over your childcare in January that she is going to take you to the library every week and check out books on stuff to help you learn and read more outside of school.  The first lesson topic you decided on was presidents.  So when we got home that day I got out two of my books on the presidents and first ladies and you have been toting them around every since.    We've shared a few factoids about various presidents while helping you read the books.  Not sure what else has stuck but the fact that presidents are married apparently has.  I guess it's a start!

As always - you have my heart forever!
Mommy 

Farmer Campbell

 

It's been mentioned in these pages before that Campbell has a tomato patch at our house. Okay, tomato patch may be an exaggeration. Two of her four tomato plants survived long enough to produce fruit. Every couple of days, Campbell comes to our house to harvest her tomato crop. The ritual goes something like this:

Prance into DotDot and Peepaw's kitchen

Grab colander from cupboard

Put said colander on head

March across the yard

"Hop, two, three, four!

Hop, two, three, four!"

Pick two tomatoes, declare that it's too hot out here and leave DotDot and Mommy to pick the rest of the tomatoes.

 

DotDot

[iPhoneography]

The Ordinary and the Extraordinary

 

Tracey Clark of Shutter Sisters has been telling us about her participation in Ali Edwards' Week in a Life challenge. The idea is to look at your life and document in some way, both the ordinary and the extraordinary moments that make up the fabric of your life each day.

I thought about this today when I was reviewing my Thursday. It was DotDot pick up day, so Campbell and I hatched a plan to do a mini-shopping trip downtown, just the two of us. We found her a lovely yellow headband but not until after she touched every pretty object in the stores. This girl is destined to be a shopper. When I asked her the other day what she wanted to do for Girls’ Night Out, she replied, “Probably go to the mall.”

Back to yesterday: When we completed our little shopping event, Campbell and I headed home where we immediately went to the garden to harvest tomatoes from her tomato plants. She has two “baby” tomato plants in our yard. Peepaw planted them, with Campbell’s help, and DotDot waters them most days. These two little plants have yielded quite a bumper crop and this photo shows the harvest from yesterday.

 

After washing them, Campbell and I sat down to eat them. There are few things in life that are sweeter than just-picked, vine-ripened “baby” tomatoes … made sweeter when shared with someone you love.

Our neighbor, Ms. Betsy, had a swing in a tree near the shared border of our properties and for the past four years, she has been very gracious in allowing Campbell to swing in it. There haven’t been too many times when Campbell has come over that didn’t include a trip to the swing. However, the tree limb on which the swing hung, was dead, so Ms. Betsy very wisely had it removed, and with it, of course, the swing.

When I told Campbell this sad news, she promptly had to go check it out for herself. When I followed a few minutes later, I found her out there with a sad sack face,  talking to herself with dramatic gestures. Thinking, “Oh, great! She’s gonna cry!”, I joined her. When I told her the thing I was going to miss most was the squeals of joy that came from her whenever we pushed her, the squeals that could be heard all over the neighborhood. That did the trick and a huge smile appeared on her face, “Yeah, they could hear me all the way up the street!”

 

Finally, when her mother came to pick her up, Campbell decided she needed one last drink before she hit the road, so she trotted off into the house. In a flash she was back, beckoning us to “come see what I found!” As she marched in ahead of us, we all followed, filing single file. What she “found” was the broken door handle on the refrigerator. She didn’t do it, mind you; she “found” it, the handle that miraculously found its way from the front of the fridge to the top of the kitchen counter.  

This morning I laughed out loud at the memory of this little exchange and at the same time came to recognize how the “ordinary” in my day became “extraordinary”  -- with the help of a wonderful, funny, bright, cherished 4-year old granddaughter.

Does life get any sweeter?

Dotti

Making Memories

Today's photo prompt for Picture Summer is "Making Memories". Although I knew Campbell would be visiting us this afternoon, I didn't know if there would be an opportunity to make memories ... you can't plan those kind of things. With that in mind, I decided to post a photo from our recent beach vacation. A bit of post-editing made this rather ordinary photo of Campbell playing on the beach feel a bit more special.

As is usually the case, when Campbell woke up from her nap, she was ready for a snack. It was her lucky day! Peepaw had some strawberry shortcake to share. As I watched them, I realized that this was a moment in time that should be captured as a memory.

 

A while later, there was another moment in time to be captured. When Krista was a little girl, she used to love to color in her coloring books with her dad. Here we are, a generation later, with Campbell coloring in her coloring book with her Peepaw. This is not an unusual scene around here, today I just happened to be thinking about making memories and grabbed the camera.

 

After the coloring was completed, Campbell and Peepaw sat together on the couch watching ... are you ready for this ... This Old House. Yes, you read that right. And when Peepaw had the audacity to change the channel, Campbell protested: "Hey! I want to watch them fix that house!" As I watched this amazing scene, I couldn't help but think that Campbell adores her Peepaw so much, she would sit still and listen to him read the phone book!

The final memory of the day came when Campbell decided she wanted to take pictures. Since my "big" camera is a bit of a handful for a four year-old, I pulled out my point and shoot. With just a few words of instructions, these are the photos that Campbell took today. These are straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC).

 
 Campbell's very best babies, Dolly, Cocoa and Violet

 
Coral bells in front of Peepaw and DotDot's house

 
Red and yellow daylilies ... one of DotDot's favorites

 
The sign in front of our house speaks for itself

 
Campbell's tomato plants

 
DotDot's white impatiens

 
Flowers in front of Peepaw and DotDot's house

There you have it! Campbell's very first digital photographs, taken with minimal help from me. I don't know about you, but I think she shows some real talent. And I promise to do everything I can to encourage it!

Dotti

Coach Mommy?

I started running track in the 6th grade and loved it!  I started hurdling when I was a sophomore in high school and loved that even more!  When I ended up back in town for college I spent my sophomore and junior years of college helping coach back at my old high school and loved it!

Fast forward to this year - my oldest and dearest friend Brent is now the new head track coach at our old high school. And I am back at the volunteer coaching gig - coming out a couple days a week to help with the hurdlers and jumpers. While there are days when my schedule is so crazy that I wonder what I've gotten myself into, it is a lot of fun being back out there.

Brent also happens to be Campbell's godfather and so he was very nice and told me that he had no problem with me bringing her to practice from time to time.  The first time I took Campbell to practice was very revealing for the team.  Brent presents this hard-ass demeanor at practice which is hilarious for those of us who know him well and know he is all bark and no bite.  But the kids think he is really this hard nosed, sometimes scary, ultra-intense guy.  So I show up with Campbell and she goes running onto the track as the team is stretching at the beginning of practice and Brent's facade instantly cracks as he runs over and scoops Campbell up to kiss on her and tickle her.  The kids all watched slightly amazed at first and then one of them said "Wow - He really does have a heart!" and everyone laughed.

Campbell has been to practice a couple of times since and has said repeatedly she wants to hurdle which makes me so happy! Though I got quit the upper body workout yesterday lifting her over every hurdle on the track.  She also tried her hand at long jump yesterday and Adam caught it on video when he came to pick her up.  

 

Not bad for a three year old . . . though we need to teach her to watch where she is going.  But the face she's making - a Campbell classic - is the best part! Who knows, maybe these early days at practice will lead to the day when I'm helping coach her!

The World According to Campbell

It has been mentioned here before what a deep attachment Campbell has to her three babies - DollyCocoViolet.  A slightly traumatic attempt to sleep the night without a pull-up last night once again illustrated how closely bonded the babies and Campbell are.

Friday night I accidentally forgot to put a pull-up on Campbell at bed time and we didn't realize it until the next morning when we were getting dressed.  She made it the whole night without an accident and wanted to try again last night.  Unfortunately she showed up at my bedside this morning at 6:20 dripping wet from peeing herself.  I got her changed and squared away in bed next to Adam and went back to her room to retrieve the babies and strip the bed when I discovered that Violet was also wet. Luckily I was able to mask Violet's absence by complimenting the babies with an assortment of other small toys that she often sleeps with so she didn't notice and went back to sleep.

Once she woke up, however, and went looking for the babies later in the morning she realized Violet was missing and I told her we had to give Violet a bath and put her in the dryer so she would be ready for nap time. Apparently to Campbell this sounded more like "I'm going to make you spend the next hour torturing puppies" because she was instantly hysterical. 

"It takes foooooooorevvvvverrrrrrrrr to dry Violet!"

"I don't feeeeeeel right without all of the babies!"

"Violet will be lonely by herself without me and Dolly and Coco!"

"This is the worst thing that has ever happened!"

I finally convinced Campbell that Violet didn't want to run around smelling like peepee because the other toys would make fun of her so we washed her off and Campbell accompanied Adam down to put her in the dryer.  Only then Adam came back upstairs without our child because she didn't want to leave Violet alone.  So she was sitting at the bottom of our stairs talking to her.

In order for you to appreciate this situation you need a full mental picture of our basement. It ain't pretty.  We live in a circa 1920s house which has a lot of charm - on the upper two floors.  The basement has a bit of a Silence of the Lambs feel to it because it has a poured concrete floor and dry laid stone walls. So, as I struggle not to say "She puts the lotion in the basket" I look down to see my sweet, crying little girl telling her dryer-spinning baby:

"What have I done to you? What have I done to my best friend? I love my most special babies the most! I'm so sorry Violet!"

Later we went down to check on the babies and Campbell - now calm and accepting of the situation - says:

"I needed some alone time downstairs.  Sometimes you need that to say sorry to yourself."

These few precious gems from today's incident, aside from illustrating that Dotdot may just be right that Campbell will be taking these babies to college with her, also reminded me that I have been meaning to blog Campbellisms for sometime.

Adam and I have a habit of posting the funny things Campbell says on each other's Facebook pages so I went through the last few weeks and collected some of the nuggets of wisdom.   Enjoy!

"If I sneak out of the house when I'm bigger will I be groundhogged?"

"Are there any poisonous birds?"

"You are the only one in our house with blue eyes." (to Adam)

"You need to start coloring your hair.  Too much grey." (also to Adam)

"You are one strange, strange Daddy."

"It's good Moombrak is gone but those people should not jump on cars like that. They are going to get hurt or scare somebody and then they will be in trouble!" (Adam has been keeping her up to date on Egypt.)

"Today is my worst day! I'm limping! I burned [my tongue] on my oatmeal! My nose is running! Marlo ate my puppy! I still have bangs! This is the worst, worst day!"

"Pinky promise you won't turn into an evil Hagrid!"

"By the way, I just ate your pants and there is no time to change."

"Do they serve bad food in Hell?"

"My Mommy always struggles in the morning." (This I can't deny . . . . . )