Stop Now if You Have a Weak Stomach

This is David's foot. It's gross...really gross. He had a planter wart.

Happy Third Birthday to Baylie!

Ever since Jalen's birthday two months ago, Baylie has been anxiously awaiting her birthday. Last month she went to the party of a friend and decided that she wanted to have "games and bubbles." She also wanted a tea party.

So on Thursday, Baylie washed all her tea dishes.

Then we had a tea party with all her Music Maker friends (I don't include a picture of them because I don't like to post pictures of other people's children without their permission.)

The kids pinned lips and crowns on the prince and princess (as opposed to a tail on the donkey). (Thanks Alicia, they looked great.) And then we had bubbles - lots of bubbles.

On Friday, we also went to the zoo and the library. I'm actually just throwing in these photos because I can't even handle the cuteness of these kids.

Today, Saturday, was her actual birthday. She woke us up at the crack of dawn to open her presents. As she told her Grammy, "hundreds and hundreds of presents."

It was actually kind of ridiculous. I didn't realize how many presents she had. (Thanks to all of you who were so generous to her.) After every present, she would say "Oh, my gosh! Look!" At one point, she opened a gift that was wrapped in David's shoe box and all excited she said, "Look! Daddy's shoes!"

And this is Baylie sobbing because there aren't any more presents to open. Poor neglected girl.

But later, she went on a treasure hunt and found her last present.

I shocked myself and made a successful Barbie cake. The Barbie is a ballerina and only cost $5. Baylie was so excited about her ballerina. The cake isn't as awesome as what Aunt Shanelle would have made, but for those of you who know me, this is an amazing accomplishment.

To cap off the day, we watched BYU decisively defeat Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament. It was a great day from sunrise to way past sunset.

I love this little girl more than I ever thought possible. She brings me so much joy and watching her grow is pure pleasure.

Hypersensitive

I'm pretty sure that I'm hypersensitive when it comes to my kids. I'm always looking for things that might happen.

Case #1: Today while I was laying down with Baylie for naptime, she licked my face. I asked why she did it and she said she was kissing me. I immediately demanded, "Who kisses you like that?" She answered, "Jalen."

Crisis averted.

Case #2: At dinner we were discussing the incident this morning when she let herself and her brother out of the house (by undoing a deadbolt) while I was in the bathroom. We were talking about how she could get kidnapped. She said, "The black man will steal Jalen." I prepared myself for a long discussion on race and asked, "Why would you say a black man would steal Jalen?" She responded, "The black man will steal Jalen and the blue man will steal me."

Crisis averted.

Perspective

This morning I was lounging in bed (as much as you can lounge with little ones clamoring for attention). I looked around my room at my books, scrapbooks, handmade quilts and keepsakes. I found myself reflecting on the people in Sendai, Japan, who have lost all of this and more. I thought of my kids and how they woke up in a place that is safe and dry. I thought of all the mothers who are now struggling to provide for their children. Last I heard, they couldn't get relief supplies into the area because roads and airports are destroyed. Then I thought of the mothers who can't find their children or who were unable to protect them from the devastation. It brought the disaster a little closer to home for me. Sometimes devastation is so huge that my mind just blocks it out.

My brother was in Kobe, Japan when they had the last big earthquake and over 6,000 people lost their lives. He was serving as a missionary for our church and ended up doing relief work for much of the time.

I was living in Los Cabos, Mexico when we were hit by a hurricane. My condo flooded slightly, but nothing was destroyed. Condos all around me had the windows blown out, but mine did not. I was on crutches waiting for achilles tendon surgery at the time. I felt trapped and helpless. The fear I lived through that day and night are not like anything else I've experienced. I felt like it would never stop. I can't imagine going through and seeing what the people in Sendai did. The helplessness and discouragement must be overwhelming.

David had the opportunity to go into Slidell, Louisiana after hurricane Katrina and do relief work.

picture by Matt Zmolek

Then a few weeks later we evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Rita. Like so many others, we got stuck for hours trying to get out.

At times like these, I am always amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit - of the desire that men have to rise above catastrophe and start almost immediately to make things right again. I'm also touched by how quickly people react to try and help one another and to offer aid. It reminds me that even though we live in a time of constant war, disaster, heartache and crime, there is still more good than bad in this world. We may not hear about it on the news, but it is out there.

I have a strong belief in the ability of one person to have an enormous impact on the world around them. You don't have to be a politician or a celebrity to make a difference. The little things we do every day to make life better for those around us has a ripple effect that we can't even comprehend. On a day like today, I feel inspired to make a difference in my little part of the world. I hope you feel the same.

What I Did Over Spring Break Vacation

For many students, spring break equals party time. We even live near the spring break mecca of Myrtle Beach and are not far from the Florida beaches. There was a time not too long ago when a week's vacation would have found us choosing between London, Italy, Argentina or the Orient. But alas, nowadays, I'm content just to make it to Savannah, GA. Even that short trip seemed to take great time and effort, but fortunately not too much money.

Savannah is located about 2 1/2 hours from Columbia. My mom, sister and I had visited there just before I got married and David and I visited once while his sister was living there. It's not really a great kids' destination, but I figured that since I do kid activities all week, I could choose the spring break activities. Note: If you ever visit Savannah, I would recommend that you go in spring or summer when the trees have more foliage. The city looks a little barren and dirty this time of year.

We rode the Old Town Trolley. I chose this trolley because I love their Boston tour, and the Savannah tour was good as well. I think the trolley is a great way to see the city and the drivers were full of information. Historic Savannah has beautiful homes built around little parks. Trivia: It is the setting for the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and is the home of Paula Deen.

It's a hop on and off trolley, but we only got off at the Savannah River, which is an area with shops and restaurants.

Baylie loved walking along the river and was fascinated by the boats.

She and Jalen were even more fascinated by the candy shop we visited. Jalen got a white chocolate covered pretzel, Baylie got a big sucker (why as kids do we love these when they're really not that good?), David had fudge and I had a white chocolate covered praline (awesome!).

One of the popular landmarks in Savannah is the waving girl. David is waving Baylie.

Then we drove out to Tybee Island. It has a great lighthouse. It's been restored so you can climb to the top. We didn't do this since Baylie just wanted to get to the beach. Note: This is where they filmed the Saundra Bullock/Ben Affleck movie Forces of Nature. Ms. Bullock owns property there.

Tybee Island has those awesome beaches that look like something out of a movie or a Nicholas Sparks novel, with dry grasses and bridges stretching over small dunes.

It was freezing cold, but Baylie and I waded anyway. In fact, I couldn't get her out of the water. When it was time to leave, she cried and cried. I told her that she could stay and live by herself on the beach, but the rest of us were leaving. We started to go and she sat in the sand, perfectly happy without us. I finally had to go and make her come - with much drama. (It's scary how much this little girl is like I was at her age.)

On Friday, I decided to braid Baylie's hair. Her hair is actually very long, but it's so curly you can't tell. It took ALL DAY to braid and I didn't part it very well, so I'm not happy with the final results. Oh well, it will have to do for the next several weeks. You can see how thrilled she was at the prospect (and you can also see me stretching out her hair to show its length).

Today was plantation day. I found a website that lists all the plantations in South Carolina. Originally, we had planned to visit this awesome looking plantation called Milford. Unfortunately, it's only open on the first Saturday of every month. We will definitely check it out some other time. I found three other plantations that weren't too far away.

First was the Kensington Mansion. This place was really beautiful. I took awesome pictures, but they ask that you not post pictures on the internet. So if you want to see it, go here. They give tours for just $5.50. My favorite part was the basement kitchen, which features a huge cistern that provided the home with hot running water clear back in the 1800's.

The owners of this plantation had approximately 500 slaves. While there we purchased a book called My Life in the South that was written by a slave that lived on the plantation. What a historical treasure! This book was first published in 1879 when he was 30 years old. He was born into slavery and was not freed until the Proclamation of 1864 (age 15). Note: the Proclamation was actually issued in 1863, but the book lists it as '64.

I was suprised to learn on the tour that a black plantation slave owner had lived nearby. I Googled it when I got home and learned that "In 1860 William Ellison was South Carolina's largest Negro slaveowner." You can read more about this topic here. I was shocked to read that he treated his slaves cruelly. The tour guide mentioned to us that the family always lived in fear that the South would pass a law revoking the status of freed slaves and return them all to slavery. He also pointed out that even though Ellison was wealthy, he wasn't always accepted in society because of his race. Ellison was fortunate in that his neighbor and friend was an influential general.

On the tour I also learned that many slaves that escaped didn't flee north. They set up communities in the forests and swamps. These were called maroon colonies. You can read more about these here and here (scroll down). I don't remember ever hearing about this, but then there is much of black history that isn't taught in schools.

Our next stop was Laurelwood Plantation. Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), this mansion is being restored. We weren't able to see it. The closest we got was a tantalizing glimpse down a pathway called Laurelwood Lane. This must be really lovely when the trees are green. You can see pictures of the house here or on this interesting blog.

Our last stop was Wavering Place. I love how the plantations all seem to have long sweeping, tree-lined drives. I'm sure this one is also beautiful when the trees are green instead of bare.

It's obvious that this plantation was one of the most impressive at one time. Today it is home to a garden and nursery, but we were sad to see that it was somewhat in disrepair.

We had hoped to get out and walk around, but we found that the "Beware of Dog" sign was true. We were greeted by three less-than-friendly canines.

These three plantations were all within about five miles of each other and only about 10 miles from the Mormon temple. We stopped at the temple to take pictures.

Our favorite thing about spring break was just spending time together.

And somewhere during the course of the week, Jalen learned to say "cheese!".

Bedtime at the Batchelors

As my husband is the man he is, bedtime at our house is full of singing and dancing. The final step of this ritual is a song/ballet written by David for Baylie. Each night they sing and dance it together. Baylie loves it.

Here she is performing it on her own (she leaves out a line).

And here she is with her daddy.

Jalen usually sits on my lap to enjoy the performance, but tonight he was already in bed. I doubt many kids have so much fun getting ready for bed.

Groovy Grammy

I love my mom. She does so much for all of her children and grandchildren. In my case, I wouldn't be a mother if it weren't for her and my dad helping to finance our adoptions. I think Baylie may love my mom even more than I do. She and her Grammy have a very close bond, so we were really excited to have a visit from Grammy last week.

We went to the zoo (forgot the camera) and to the marionette theater, where we saw Aladdin. The marionette theater is really cool. Here is a picture of Baylie with Alice in Wonderland.

Then we went for a walk down by the river. Near the river is little red one-room school house built in the late 1800's.

There are some great photo ops by the river. For some reason, Baylie always looks like she's strangling Jalen.

Baylie loved dancing on this platform. Every time a plane went overhead, Baylie covered her head to keep it from falling on her.

We really miss Grammy.

I should also mention that once again I've proven that I should have a GPS chip inserted in my brain. When driving Grammy back to the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina (where the fares are much lower), I fogot to exit the I-20 to the I-77 and ended up in Florence, South Carolina - an hour in the wrong direction. I have driven to Charlotte at least five times, including in the dark on my way to pick up my mom, and yet I still found a way to get lost. She missed her flight, but luckily was able to reschedule - for a fee.

And as long as I'm blogging about my shortcomings, I'll confess that today Baylie locked us out of the house for the THIRD time. Only this time she was out on the porch with me, so she couldn't let me back in. I actually remained very calm. I was impressed with myself for climbing over the deck railing and jumping to the ground. (Okay, it's only about three feet, but still.) Meanwhile, inside the house the iron was on and Jalen was asleep. I ran to a neighbor friend who in turn ran to the office and got us a master key. Apparently we're going to have to hide a key.