Thanksgiving Day 2008

Pass the smoked turkey, please!

Mel and I hit the road again this year to participate in the YMCA 5K Turkey Trot! We’ve missed the past couple of years because of: A) laziness and B) My pregnancy, not a great reason, but a reason nonetheless. In years past, my entire family braved the cold winter morning to run, however, now that they are all 21, Mac’s Lounge has taken precedence and running on a late night out can’t be fun. We do it for fun and have never “trained” for it at all, still, I smoked Mel this year. Our times this year are nothing to brag about, but the fact that we got up on a Thanksgiving morning, ran 3 miles in the freezing cold and actually finished, it is a feat in itself!!

We always have lots of fun because so many of our friends and neighbors also run. It is more of a social event for Mel, of course. I could hear him behind me chatting away and yelling, “Runner coming through!” He even veered off course to chat with bystanders and played a practical joke on the Mayor, as we ran by his house.

How could I have forgotten PA?

McCanless and Mary Clare have one more grandparent, their only great grandfather, PA! I assume that I only failed to mention his name in their grandparent line up simply because he is MY grandparent. I still see Pa as my Pa. I have yet to pass him down to my children. Pa is that grandparent that makes you feel as though you will never grow up, nor need to grow up. Pa is that one grandparent that you know will always get you out of trouble; the one that will always have a bit of extra spending money for you, and always tell you that you are his favorite. Most of you that knew me growing up, most definitely knew Pa. He was, and still is such an important part of our lives. Kacy, Kate, Alston and I are his only grandchildren and it certainly shows, as he has spoiled each of us rotten and continues to do so, even though all of us are 21+.

Even with his sometimes foul mouth and Ashland accent that can make you question is intellect and morality, Pa is a very smart man. He finished Newberry College in three years, (back when they had classes on Saturday) to come home to manage his family farm. He also opened a very successful convenience store in Ashland. Judge Woodham is also lead magistrate for Lee County. (This is what helps with the “gets you out of trouble” part!) He reads his Bible every night and is at his church whenever the doors are open. He fusses like crazy about my grandmother and “her ways” but we all know how much he misses her and how she was the love of his life.

He loves Merle Haggard and George Jones, and sings out loud in the shower. He hates old people. He can shag like a pro and loves to fish off the pier in Garden City Beach. He used to pay us to scratch his head, and he would always take us with him to the farm to groom his gamecocks. He taught us how to play video poker, not to leave home without money, that family is more important and anything, how to trust, and how to drink liquor. (He also owned a liquor store and made us “taste” it when we were young so we would know “how to drink.”)

He adores “Shoe Gal.” (The name he so poignantly nick-named McCanless when she was a toddler because of her fondness of shoes.) He tells me that she is the spitting image of Kate and although he laughs and says that he can’t handle another Kate, I secretly think he loves having a reminder of a younger Kate and all of her quirky, attitude stricken “ways!” He loves complaining about how we were (and still are) and McCanless loves listening to his stories.

Pa and Mary Clare have a connection. He has always had a certain bond with her that none of us fully understood until we realized exactly why. Mary Clare has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, sometimes refered to as “Blue Baby Syndrome.” Thankfully, we had her in a time where this diagnosis didn’t mean that there was no hope. In years past, having a baby with a severe heart defect meant imminent death. These babies were born blue due to the blood flow from their defect, and thus were called blue babies. Pa’s second son, Alston Wesley Woodham, III, was born a blue baby on Halloween Day in 1964, a time of little hope for blue babies. Pa allowed the doctors to take his newborn son’s tiny heart for research so that one day there could be hope. Hope for babies like his great granddaughter, Mary Clare.

Learning to read…

Grandparent’s Day at THA 2008

One Little, Two Little, Three Little…..Native Americans

This year her Native American name is “Lightning Dancer,” which suits her completely! It has been funny to see what her teachers name her each year. In 2K she was sarcastically dubbed “Princess Morning Dove.” (She has always had problems with mornings.) Last year, her 3K teacher very appropriately named her, “Free Spirit.” It seems that I should invest in a better Native American costume, as it has been our luck that she has been chosen to be one every year!

Guess who can R-E-A-D??

I’m so very proud of my McCanless! Since school began, she has been obsessed with writing. (Although, sometimes it is a bit annoying when every loose piece of paper in the house has letters, names, words, the alphabet, or random words copied from magazines printed in 4-year-old manuscript.) She also began spelling words in the car on the way to school that, apparently, are her popcorn words. (I’m still not 100% what that means. I just know that she knows them inside and out!) Her popcorn words are words that she can read and write and spell without a doubt. Words like: on, off, in, out, a, the, I, me, my, etc…

For a while now she has been asking me all about words that she sees on a daily basis. She is fascinated with words on road signs, restaurant menus, and labels. It is so funny to hear her guess a word or try to sound it out. Each week she brings home small books with short sentences. The books began with simple popcorn words and have progressed to more difficult words like toy and boy and even a few like letters, family, and police. Just last night I realized that she was reading a story about a boy and a dog and a washtub! It dawned on me that she can actually read!! Not just sentences like, “My toy.” She was actually reading real sentences!!

She sounds exactly like what you may think: THE…BOY….AND….THE….DOG….etc. and it is sometimes so hard to listen to her and not laugh aloud. She is very articulate and enunciates each word very distinctly. She is also very proud of herself. She reads with a smug look on her face and occasionally stops to look up and smile at me, making certain I’m aware of her great accomplishment.

We have since tackled a few new real books and she loves reading the words that she knows, and sometimes will make up words in place of those that she doesn’t know. Or she’ll skip “reading” all together and make up her own story based on the illustrations. (It depends on her mood or whatever she has time for at that moment. She is still McCanless!)

My little reader is growing up so quickly!

Our little Gamecock loves Fall!

Sweet Mary Clare at 17 months…

My sweet baby girl is growing so quickly! She continues to amaze me with all that she is learning each and every day. She still prefers a point and a nod to spoken language, but I know she understands many words and phrases. A few words she uses regularly are: juice, thank-you, please, mine-mine, ba-ba (bottle-Yes, I still give her a bottle at night. McCanless was completely finished with bottles at 10 months. Mary Clare, I’m keeping a baby as long as I can!), tee-tee (not sure why) “HAY” (hello), belly, Ommy (my nick name). She’ll also repeat just about anything you say to her, and she continues to sign a few words.

When I ask her to complete a task like taking something to the trash, or hand something to her Daddy, she’ll immediately comply. She has also started to “fake cry,” which is the funniest thing. She’ll scrunch up her little face and make the most pitiful little whine. Now, it is the cutest thing ever. I’m sure it will get old one day. She certainly knows exactly how to get what she wants from any of us, especially her big sister. McCanless continues to treat her more like her own child than her baby sister. She gives in to Mary Clare’s every desire, and they never “fuss.” (Unless Mary Clare cries for what McCanless has. In which case, she’ll always get it.)

She has the most adorable beauty pageant wave and will always wave hello and goodbye to any and everyone. She still loves her baby dolls and loves to play with balls. She is definitely a mommy’s girl and is an absolute snuggle bug! She also continues to drive us crazy with her plundering and nosy little self. I feel like I make circles around the house just cleaning up after Hurricane Mary Clare, as she pulls out everything from pots and pans to laundry to every item in my purse!

She is still at a petite 21 lbs, although those cheeks won’t stop! We have a cardiology appointment in December, which will let us know how that little half heart of hers is doing! If it is anything like her spunky little personality, I’m sure it is just fine! Our little tough-as-nails, sassy, sweetheart is such a joy and we treasure each moment, even those “almost two” fits of hers!

I’ll take the bad with the good…

McCanless always surprises me. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with her and from time to time I learn from her spontaneity and her spunk. Mary Clare taught me to savor life, McCanless reminds me to.

I’ve mentioned that she loves to hang out with my 8th graders, and every morning during homeroom, she has the opportunity. I get to school around 7:45 am on a good day. She has about 15 minutes with my students until I take her (drag her) over to her building. Lately, my students and McCanless have been playing hide-and-seek. She was hiding under my desk at my feet when my headmaster came in to chat with me. As I was looking up at him, McCanless shouted at him (his feet), “Na-Na-Na Boo Boo, you can’t get me.” and knocked his shoe with a balled-up fist. I quickly smiled at him and began to explain. He chuckled as I began to drag McCanless out from under my desk PRAYING that she would at least apologize, or smile, or sing…anything to recover! She didn’t, of course. She didn’t flinch. She wasn’t shocked. She wasn’t scared. She said, “Hey, you’re not an 8th grader!” and ran over to find her pals.

I was certainly embarrassed of that little minor incident and I tried to “not sweat it,” but I certainly couldn’t get it off of my mind. McCanless has a mind of her own and is certainly strong willed. Each day, I get glimpses of others in the grocery store/playground/school of those who I can FEEL thinking, “If my child were saying that to me….” or “I would never let a 4-year-old say those things to me.” “Why would anyone give a 4-year-old an option, anyway.” UGGHH! I get so frustrated. I know she is a fantastically wonderful, creative free spirit, but I wish others did too!

I was thinking this way for a couple of days, and she did it again. McCanless threw me for a loop. We had a SCISA teacher’s conference in Orangeburg yesterday. As I walked around the convention center walking by booths I also noticed the artwork submitted for judging. I knew our art teacher submitted a few and I was glancing at the winners trying to find work from our students. Another teacher from THA saw me and asked if I saw McCanless’ art? What? I had no idea! McCanless’ art was submitted in the 4K/5K division and was given a ribbon. This category wasn’t judged, but hers was only one of about 15 in that category on display out of over 100 SCISA schools. I was so proud of her at that moment! Several other teachers came up to admire her painting and I thought my heart (and my head) would explode with pride. I wanted to say, “Na-Na-Na Boo Boo,” but of course, I didn’t!!

My little wonderful, sassy-mouth artist, Mommy is so very proud of you!