Maddie and the Summer of Bravery

It's really happening.

A little background....

My sweet Mads was fearless! ....... up until last summer. Then she did a 180 and became afraid of everything and all things. That is not an exaggeration. (although it may be redundant)

Exhibit A:
Swim lessons - this is non-negotiable in our household. The adults are outnumbered. It's a safety issue. Which means they have to go to class. Which means Maddie screamed for an hour straight for 4 days in a row.

Exhibit B:
Ballet camp - she didn't even last 5 min. in the ballet room (I know this for a fact, I timed it). This is not a safety issue, so we cut our losses and took our cute tutu home for the dress up box.

Exhibit C:
VBS - different song, same tune.

This doesn't include the numerous parties where she wouldn't get out of my lap, the play-dates where she wouldn't get out of my lap, and the countless phobias (bugs, animals, getting left behind ...) that seemed to plague her daily.

Now, here we are, summertime once again.

Jeff and I sat her down and told her that this summer is the Summer of Bravery.
Lo and behold, Mads took this seriously. It almost makes me feel guilty because we made it up and she took it to be gospel truth. Almost.

So, this summer she has learned to slip-n-slide the correct way (not the tip-toe , scoot on your knees way), and started sticking her face in the bathwater for a brief second.

It's a start. We've signed up for swimming again and she says she is pumped.

I have to say, so am I.

We might even get that tutu back out! (fingers crossed, oh please, oh please)

A whole pile of lake

Thanks to Beverly Tripp for the photo!

Reasons today was the best ever (according to the wee three):

• we got to fish in the pouring rain (true story)


• we peed in some rocks! (no bathrooms)


• we almost got hit by an airplane (cropduster)


• we got stopped by a train and got to see the WHOLE THING pass by (we're talking engine to caboose)


• We saw an entire rainbow (another true story and a pretty awesome one)

We went to a fishing derby tonight! Super fun.

Girls of course wore their tutus. Sophie wore her gladiator jellies.

Someday we will have a lesson on dressing for the occasion.

We caught two (actually 3, but the line broke as we were dragging it onto the land and well ....).

When Sophie caught the second one, all three girls screamed at the top of their lungs. I felt like apologizing to all the old folks who got the heart palpitations over that one.

We scream. That's just how we does it. At least it was the "happy scream".

One last quote:

"mom, come over here where nobody else is. We can catch ALL the fish in this whole pile of lake."

Jesus is coming soon

Gonna try this blog thing for the summer.

So.... what's new?

Started potty training Miss Eliza Belle today.

She went 5 for 11. Not too bad for her first day.

If this were the major leagues, they'd be offering her a multimillion dollar contract for those stats.

And she went 2 for 2 when it came to number 2.

a hem.

Did I just discuss bowel movements on this blog?

Is this the dark side?

Moving on .......

Sophie turned 6 (with Eva Grace) and graduated kindergarten. Yep, she's been busy. Soooooo ready for the big school. Or, in her very own words, "ready to make all the friends at the big school". She's come a long way this year.

Maddie is playing t-ball for the first time. Doing really well for a 4 yr old, I think. (But, really, I'm her mom. Can't exactly be objective on this subject. And, no photos. Will work on it.)

And, one last story before I close:

Tonight, we were on our way home and turned the corner. In front of us were some beautiful sunbeams shining through the clouds .......

Sophie shrieks, "IT'S JESUS!!!! HE'S COMING DOWN!!!"

Overheard ...

Maddie, yelling from the bathroom - "MOM-MY, I WENT POT-TY! I'm wenting potty cause I needed to go potty."

I really have no idea what she is trying to tell me.

time capsule - Mads turns 4

Madeline Claire Ramsey, Age 4

loves to watch: Dora, Super Why, and Barbie movies

could eat every day: hot dogs, cheeto puffs, apple cinnamon cheerios, and salad with ranch dressing

besties: Lauren Box, her sisters, and John Mark's mommy (random, but that's what she says)

interested in: Littlest Pet Shop, boots, doing flips, and all kinds of rain-gear

can usually be found: wearing dress up clothes

Maddie at 4 ... is a little fragile. She is sooooooo emotional! Is that normal for a 3-4 yr old? I was spoiled by my eldest because she is the most matter-of-fact child .... not too much drama when you are like that.

Mads' reasoning is that things scare her and that she'd just rather be with me.

*Big smile*

Not trying to raise a timid, co-dependent child but ....... when they say sweet things like that, I guess I'll let it slide for another year.

5 going on 15

So, Sophie has spent the entire day referring to Eliza as "the two year old".

As in, the two year old smells poopy or the two year old needs to go take a nap or the two year old just wrote all over her face with a pen ...

Well, 5 year olds are mighty superior. We all know that.

It is getting a little, um, obnoxious. Maybe.

It reminds me of that movie Zathura, where the little boy can't really read but insists that he can. That's what our life is like.

She can read all. She can do all. She knows all. Awesome.

In all fairness to my little girl, she did actually cook supper for us Thursday night.

After gymnastics we were debating what to eat.

Sophie said, "Sweetie, (she was referring to me) why don't I make you some bear paws."

I said, "why don't you?"

and so she did.

They were yummy.

recipe:

take two refrigerated biscuits. divide one biscuit into five pieces and roll into balls. attach to other biscuit in a paw formation. bake and serve with honey.

For Sharon

Been a while. Not such the consistent blogger these days. Intentions are there, so are the distractions .... 3 distractions in fact.

Sooooooo, hmm, what's new ......

Maddie is trying to potty train Eliza by herself. Every time Mads needs to go, she says, "C'mon, Eliza! Time to potty!" and she takes her into the bathroom. Maddie pulls down E's pants and Eliza sits on her little pink potty.

Still wearing her diaper.

Last night WAY after they were in bed, Maddie needed to go and woke Eliza up to go with her. And so she did with no fuss whatsoever.

Of course, this is an unconventional way of potty training since Eliza has yet to actually potty on the potty. But, Mads is convinced it's working, so whatevs.

Along those same lines ...

Sophie uses the phrase "awesome, dude" a lot. She got it from Mr. Kevin. Eliza has now taken to using the phrase, too.

However, she says, "awesome, Pude".

And, yes, we think it's hysterical.

We Ramseys are nothing if not mature.