Marley the flower girl

Marley had her flower girl debut this weekend.

Going through this experience, I realized just how crazy it is that people seem to think it is a good idea to incorporate small children into their special day. Imagine the happy couple saying to themselves, "Oh, now that we have spent a small fortune and have invested hours of planning into this one day, how can we add a completely unpredictable element into the mix? How can we give some unsuspecting mother a ridiculous amount of stress and anxiety? Oh! We will just ask her three year old to walk nicely in front of a hundred people and then stand still in front of them for twenty minutes while we perform our most solemn vows! Sounds like a great idea!"

Not to say that Marley did not perform her duties; she did a wonderful job and we could not have been more proud. But the anxiety leading up to this event was enough to turn me away from this tradition forever. I had only laughingly thought of it, not feeling the true stress of the moment untill the dress rehearsal. Instead of easing any fears, as a rehearsal should, it made me more nervous for the event. During the first run through of the ceremony, Marley literally sprinted down the aisle, leaving the two ring bearers in her dust. During the second run through, the much older and faster ring bearers were not to be outdone, and I cringed, imagining what the next day had in store, as they ran down the aisle with little Marley running after them, shouting, "Hey! Wait for me!" repeatedly in her shrill, 3-year-old voice.

But when it came to the real show, she did an amazing job. Though she forgot to scatter her petals, no one noticed. She walked nicely down the aisle and smiled at everyone. I think she actually might have been kind of nervous, which for those who know the girl know what a stretch that is. And she really did look like a little princess. Looking back, I am glad that Logan and Mackenzie thought enough of Marley to want her to be a part of their wedding. I am sure we will all remember it forever. I will just think twice if anyone else ever asks her to do this for them.

summer sports

This year we signed Marley up for a 3-5 year T-ball team. Marley turned three about a week before it started and she was a head shorter than everyone else on her team. Lets just say she might have been too young. To be fair, baseball is a much more complicated game than it seems to someone who has grown up watching it. But whatever the reason, Marley's attention span does not cover the length of a two inning t-ball game. I realized this when I looked out and saw her wearing her glove as a mask, running blindly at full speed into whoever happened to be in her way; umpire, small child, innocent bystander. At least they give every kid a fair chance with batting or she may never have done anything.( I think the same three kids fielded every ball all season, regardless of where they were standing.) The games were hot and humid, Marley fought every step of the way (she truly hates the team shirt) and there was three games a week, but it was worth it. There is nothing like watching kids pass milestones and enjoy the same activities that you did when you were their age...even if they don't quite appreciate the experience yet.

You cant find me!!!!!!!!!!!

Recently Marley has learned the time honored game that children everywhere have grown up with: Hide and Go Seek. It started out really cute. She would hide, under her covers, and when we would walk in she would jump out and yell at us. Then she would count to ten by saying "one, two, ten" as fast as she could. After her abbreviated counting she would run after us , usually catching us running as fast as we could to get to a decent hiding spot. The next time it was her turn to hide she would be back under her covers. Well, wanting our child to get the most from this experience, we taught her how it was more fun to hide in different places every time, and to stay put until we found her. BIG MISTAKE! She is small enough to fit just about anywhere. This includes any cupboard, in the coffee table, in her dresser drawers, her toy boxes, under any bed and in all closets. Her hiding repotaire has grown to include about thirty hiding spots and now she does not make a peep until she is found. Now I can imagine some of you out there going, "Well hey, that doesnt sound all that bad. Let her hide a while and give yourself a break." In theory I completely agree with this philosophy, but there are some problems with this. Like i said earlier, she is JUST AbOUT small enough to fit anywhere. Small enough in fact for her to believe she can fit anywhere. This leads to episodes of her being stuck in any number of places. I have found her feet sticking out of a toy box head covered by stuffed animals and another time completely stuck between my dresser and the wall. Both places the amount of oxygen she is getting is compromised. Regardless of safety hazard though, this is definately her new favorite pasttime. (& Josh and I love it almost as much as she does. )

Josh's Hair

Josh, being the wonderfully creative freespirit that he is, has a head entirely covered with dreadlocks. I am torn on this issue. Part of me thinks they are cool and fun, and the other part of me hates them. Regardless of my opinion though, Josh is proud of this development. He hasn't brushed his hair in almost a year now. For the record, he does wash them almost every day and they really dont smell. From a sanitation standpoint, this seems to be an acceptable do. My problem with Josh hair is that people seem to be a lot quicker to judge him than when he had nondreaded hair. Oh well. He doesnt' let it get to him so neither will I.

Marley's new life calling

Marley has recently enrolled in ballet/tap dance. She is in a class with about seven other two year old girls. It really is precious. Marley's teacher doesn't seem to know what to make of her. Any time she says anything, Marley claps and cheers. This led to the comment, "Well. There's a cheerleader in every group." I'm not sure if that was an insult or not. Another time the class had joined hands and was walking in circle. Marley flung her hands free, jumped into the center of the circle and started shaking her booty for all she was worth. I certainly don't move like that. The music just spoke to her i guess. I do have to say that Marley is the best dancer in her class. She seems to remember the moves from week to week when the other kids don't seem to remember ever being in the studio before. They have a recital at christmas , they are performing Rudolph. It should be pretty cute, but we are still waiting for her solo performance to be announced.

The pumpkin patch

Today we had an event filled day at the corn maze/pumpkin patch in Millcreek, IL. It was a family operation, quaint being the operative word. Free hay rides, three different patches and a corn maze. The maze was small, but perfect for Marley's little legs. She walked the whole way, making almost all of the directional decisions. The goal was to find six different buckets hidden throughout the maze and I am proud to say the Lanier clan accomplished this feat in under twenty minutes. We got three big pumpkins and three tickets to the corn maze for thirteen dollars. I dont think the woman's math was spot on when she added our total, but we all seemed happy with the transaction. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to carve my pumpkin into some form of respectable artwork. These pictures are the results of three hours of focused carving. Josh still has to carve his, and though he does not know it yet, we are having a carving competitiion. I will keep you posted on his results...

Our trip to Missouri

Growing up, we were blessed to have one pair of extraordinary grandparents living close enough to see on a very regular basis. And we had a set of grandparents living across the country that we got to travel to, giving us a worldly air. With our recent move to Illinois, I am lucky enough now to live much closer to the family that I used to get to see for a week or two in the summer. Last weekend Mars and I took a road trip to visit her "gramma souri" as we so affectionately call her. We stayed two nights and had a great time. Mars, Gramma Souri and I went to the drive through animal park that had some interestingly aggressive animals that frankly scared the three of us. (Missouri has more lax animal laws than the rest of the country, making it a breeding ground for upstart zoos.) We also went to the old reliable Bass Pro Shop, only to find it under complete remodeling, with all of the cool stuff off display. That was a bit of a disapointment, but we ending up taking marley to the park to play. She was instantly inducted into a wild pack of children running all over the park. They ranged from about 8 years old to 18 months old. The avidly played some intricate game that had them all laughing at specific times, but left all the parents watching them scratching their heads. It was really cute and when it was time to go, Mars ran up and kissed the only child younger than her on the lips. (She had been mothering him the whole time, making sure he was keeping up with the group.)
The next night we went to Uncle Bob's for dinner. Aunt Nancy made a wonderful meal and it was good to sit around and get caught up. The Fieldings all came and we sat around talking and laughing for quite some time. The best part is that we now live close enough to come back whenver we want. We actually have a trip planned for next week end so I am really excited!!

We didnt roll our windows down too much through this drive through.

Here is Mars climbing the tree in the front yard that we always used to climb, and the other is Marley helping Gramma Souri do her yard work.