Fall Break 2010

Graeme has woken up and Ceilidh is out of quiet time, so I don't have time to write about the weekend right now. I will update later. Pictures are probably more what most want to see anyway! ha


Great pictures of Pops, ZZ, and the children




The "twins"! wink The Thomas men!




Three Clendenin generations










Making Candy Apples...Ceilidh LOVED every minute of it. She enjoyed eating it too! ha




Great picture of Lauren and Jack






One of my favorite of the weekend!


















Playing in the tent










Couture Camping! ha Three guesses as to who brought a LongChamp bag on a camping trip, and the first two don't count! wink I love you SRC, and your incredible fashion!






















Three first borns




Pops and Buddy Graeme


Hank Williams Jr. and Ceilidh (ha!)


The Thomas'


Hanging out at the campsite Saturday night for a weenie roast and smores!










Andrew camped here, I "camped" at the house! ha


When you roll in style, you can seat three carseats across! Thanks for letting us cruise in the "cruiser" Sus! wink


ZZ's photo shoot!






Ceilidh's photo shoot at the water wheel! ha












A "DP" before the big hike


All of the Hikers... Andrew is still having trouble with his eyes. That is why he is wearing sunglasses in all of these.


The Male Hikers


Another brown-eyed cutie on the "Clendenin" side!


My camera died (of course) at the State Fair, but I did get a cute picture of them both enthralled with the cows!


Ceilidh was very proud of a spider craft she made at preschool


Just call me Martha! Yes, I totally made this from scratch, with the help of a professional card maker! ha


He loves watching things bake... and eat whatever is baking! ha


Graeme growing into a self-feeder! In fact, he gets REALLY upset when you don't let him feed himself... I can almost hear in his little brain, "I do it myself!" ha

Where is the delete button?!

Can I just delete this weekend/week off of the calendar this year!!!??? I was really hopeful we were all on the mend Monday evening; but things took another turn last night. frown I had noticed a rash starting to form on Graeme's torso, Monday evening, but didn't think much of it b/c it was small and didn't seem to be irritating him. By Tuesday afternoon, the rash had engulfed his entire torso (front and back), and had started creeping down his legs. It still did not seem to bother him, but I was getting slightly worried he was reacting to the penicillin shot. To make matters more interesting; Andrew comes home complaining about irritation in his eyes. They are totally bloodshot and obviously bothering him excessively. I think, "Great, pink eye! Just what we need now!" ha Well, both of my men thankfully checked out just fine this morning. Graeme's rash is just another symptom of the Strep bacteria or a virus that is just presenting as a rash instead of vomiting (whew!). Andrew supposedly doesn't have pink eye, but his congestion has literally backed up behind his eyes, and is creating the pressure and redness. Poor guy.

After finding all this out, I uttered the "no no" statement of all time...."Can my week get any worse?" Trying to be cool (wink), Graeme was standing up and drinking from his sippie cup at the same time this afternoon. He lost his balance, and landed mouth first on the cup without any bracing. Blood is from ear to ear on the poor kid. I am panicky slightly, and Ceilidh is running from the room screaming, " I don't want to see it, I don't want to see it!" HA She is not a fan of blood or people in pain. She is so tender-hearted it can make you cry! Anyway... I am trying to calm Graeme down, call Andrew to see if I need to make a Dental appointment, and reassure Ceilidh (and myself); all at the same time. Finally he calms down, and I see that really it isn't that bad. He had a fat lip for a while, and the inside of his mouth is pretty cut up. He knocked a slightly bigger hole for the tooth that is coming through right now, so at least there is a little positive in all this! ha

Therefore, no more off the cuff remarks, I am sticking to praise to Jesus that we are all alive, happy, and overall healthy! I have to leave you with a funny Ceilidh story tonight. Apparently she likes to orchestrate a game of princesses and dragons on the playground at preschool (this is all per her teacher). All the "gaeruls" are princesses and all the boys are dragons, and they play chase. Ceilidh apparently out ran two little "dragons" today, to the point that they had to sit down to catch their breath! HA This is for another post when Modern Family isn't coming on in 10 minutes (wink), but Andrew and I have actually noticed more and more that Ceilidh isn't into performing. She doesn't get her props from being the "actress," she is COMPETITIVE. She wants to win ALWAYS. ha I love her persistence and her drive. This is going to be interesting to learn how to direct/mold this competitiveness into something God-honoring!

P.S. I have some fun pictures I will add soon. Sorry for the last couple of pictureless posts!

Augmentin....Oh, How I love thee

Wow... this weekend was one for the books. And i don't mean in a good way! ha Thursday afternoon I started feeling pretty achy, chills, fever, and a sore throat. I texted Andrew and he told me he was feeling the exact same way. I mean, even down to the left side of our throat hurting! By Thursday evening, we both thought we were on our death bed. My body aches were worst than any post-delivery aches I have EVER had, and Andrew is still struggling to talk with such a sore throat. Poor Ceilidh was really weirded out that mommy and daddy were acting so strange, and letting her watch a lot of t.v.! ha By Saturday, we literally had to ask his parents to come get the children for a little while so we could try to rest. After seeing huge blisters down our throats on Saturday night, we decided to get seen Sunday morning and we both were diagnosed with severe Strep Throat. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!

Though I am still really weak and my throat is still a little sensitive, Augmentin saved my life! Then to add to the overall Clendenin "pitifulness," Graeme started running a fever and acting totally out of it. FROWN He got a penicillin shot Monday morning, and he seems to be doing better this morning. That shot was huge, they had to go slowly, and apparently it burns when the medicine is being injected. I think I cried more than he did watching him "get shoted" as Ceilidh says! ha The nurse was comforting him, and then started telling me, "You are doing a good job too, mom!" HA Thankfully Ceilidh has been the picture of perfect health this weekend.

So, this is my "Grandma DDD report" you Clendenins (wink), but we are seeing the light of day! woohoo Now we are on to a week filled with the State Fair (not the biggest fan, but I think the children would love it), Andrew's Fall break, and a camping trip to the mountains to celebrate Randy T's birthday! I hope to have some fun posts soon!

P.S. Make sure you wash your hands like 50 times a day, and stay away from sick looking people! ha

Meeting a Legend

One pretty awesome thing about living in CH, and not just CH, but literally on-campus; is you never know who just might be around the corner. Yesterday, Ceilidh, Graeme, and I were meeting Andrew at the Basketball ticket office to pick up some tickets for an upcoming game. When I started down the hill out of the PR parking lot, I noticed an older man speaking to a family standing next to a car. When I reached Andrew, he said, "Cyndy, that's Dean Smith!" I knew he had an office at the Smith center (I mean it's only named after him! ha), and I knew he reportedly went into the office everyday, even now. I thought about walking the children to meet him, but it seemed like he may have known the family he was speaking with and I didn't want to interrupt. We got our tickets and were walking back through the parking lot, when he and (I'm assuming) his wife start to pull out. She stops for me, and I stopped for her. ha We both start laughing and she pulls up beside us. She starts talking to Ceilidh about how pretty her dress is, and then asks her what she was doing at the ticket office. This whole time I'm thinking in my head, "Ceilidh, you have NO idea who you are talking to! ha Ceilidh tells them she was getting bball tickets, and Dean starts telling her he is proud she is a Tar Heel. I tell Ceilidh who Dean Smith is, and she says, "Oh." HA Right before pulling off, Dean's wife asks Ceilidh who she pulls for, obviously expecting a resounding "Tar Heels!" She looks right at them and says "Coach Davis!" HAHA Thats my girl. Start talking about the football coach when you are speaking to one of, if not THE greatest college b-ball coach ever. They both laughed, and he told her they supported football too. It is neat to be able to say we had a conversation with Dean Smith on a random Monday afternoon. Couple this with Ceilidh's Roy Williams Target experience, and the numerous times we run into bball and football stars around campus/Franklin St.; she will have quite the montage of memories from CH! I will too! wink

"To Cracker Barrel....," I mean "To Grandmother's House We Go!"

I LOVE food! If you know me AT ALL, you know that I love food! ha I love Birthdays on both sides of my family, b/c we eat well when we celebrate! We decided to get out of CH for a while, and spent Sunday with Andrew's parents, Susanna, and Ryan to celebrate his birthday. We wanted to spend as much of the day as we could, so we got up early and went to church with them as well. After I got the children settled in nursery/children's church, Suzanne slips me a piece of paper that reads, " Cracker Barrel has come to town. Menu for lunch: Chicken n' Dumplings, pinto beans, cornbread, stewed apples, sweet potatos, biscuits, beets, slaw, sweet tea, and an apple cake." OH YEA! It was every bit as good as it sounds too! I had also brought an apple crumble, so we literally feasted when we got back to their house! ha Thank you Suzanne for slaving away in the kitchen for Andrew/us!

It was wonderful to be "home" again in our little church in WP, where I couldn't make it a foot down the hall before someone else was grabbing my arm to say "Hi, welcome back!" Spending a lazy afternoon with the family was just what the doctor ordered for our souls, I believe. Graeme even showcased his walking skills right before we headed out the door. I thought he was going to keep going and not look back; but alas, he decided to sit down after about 6 steps and start crawling again! At least they all know I'm not lying when I say he really can walk! ha

Please pray for our job/home decision process that has already begun. We have lots of issues to weigh out; and one moment I think "this" is the best solution, and the next moment I think "that" is the best solution. I do have to say though, I almost cried when we drove through Carthage on the way home.... I do miss feeling "at home."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andrew!!!

My computer is being ghetto, so I have no fun pictures to accompany this post. We don't need pictures though to remember how good looking my husband is! wink I am so thankful for the 29 years that Andrew has lived and all that has shaped him into the man he is today. You are an amazing husband and father. You had me smitten on our wedding day, but I didn't even realize then, how incredible you were and continue to be! I will forever be thankful for the sacrifices you made for us during your 28th and 29th years of life! Thank you for "leading us, fighting for us, and making us the love of your life!" I love you so much!