Tennessee Travelers

My oldest nephew, Ethan Lucenti, turned 12 this past July. This is an important age in our church. It means that he is old enough to receive the Priesthood. To celebrate in this special occasion, I convinced my dear husband to DRIVE to Memphis, TN. From Charlotte, that is approximately a 10 hour drive.


Since 10 hours in a car with 2 little children didn't sound too appealing, we decided to do it during the night. We left at 10pm on a Thursday night, and arrived there at 8am Friday morning. Woohoo!


Once we were there and could catch our breath, we did a little site seeing and of course eating! Here are some of the highlights!
Clayton, Ethan and Haley perusing the merchandise.

The silly bands Grammie gave them!

Clayton and Daddy checking out the ducks at the Peabody Hotel!

The gang on the top of the Peabody Hotel!

Mommy Musings

So generally, my sweet child has cute and funny things to say. I try to write them down in a book so that I have them to look back on.

Such things might be like when I was having a "mommy melt-down" the other day. As I was crying, wallowing in my own pity, Clayton came into the room. He knelt beside me and told me things we okay. He said "Don't worry mommy. I will make you happy." Then he proceeded to sing to me. His song, I think, comes from a Dora show and is as follows:

"When you get a boo-boo, it always makes me laugh. Cause when you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, you wiggle all the day. It always makes me giggle..."

Needless to say, it made me smile!

However, these days, Clayton has been saying not-so-great and cute things. His responses generally consists of:

"No, no, and no"

"You stop it right now!"

"I quit you!"

And now I wonder...does every parent wonder if their child has multiple personalities? Do they all have tempers? Or is mine just that great?!

Maecie's First Meal

After following my every bite, grabbing for all food and drinks, I figured it was time to starts some cereal for Maecie. I was thinking that I would wait until she was 6 months. Of course, this was not the case. Here are the cute pics!

Getting ready for the food!

First bite ........ She likes it!!
REALLY likes it!

Clayton turns 3!

Clayton and his "best friend" Ennzo!

My oldest little one turned 3 on June 20th! So I decided to have a "Clayton's Birthday Week"! I am always so proud of Clayton that I wanted to make sure he knew how much we all love him. We started with a friend party, taking some close friends on a train ride (well, light rail) and to have pizza and cake. They loved the train and had a

blast!

(Ms. Rachel and Clayton)

Then the following Monday, we met friends for playdates at the Airport Overlook park to gaze at planes taking off and landing. The kids (and moms) had a great time!

Clayton and Quinn at Plaza Fiesta

The next day was his actual birthday and we went to Plaza Fiesta to play at the indoor playground. Then all of the Beare family came to play and have a cookout. While Dad and Papa cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill, the boys played a bean bag toss that Grandma bought. Then we celebrated with cupcakes and presents!

On Thursday we went to the Splash playground where they have free water fountain/sprinklers to play in. On such hot summer days, this is a great time for all!

We rounded out the week with a playdate at the pool. I think all the fun was a great time for Clayton, however, it made me very tired!

Clayton still thinks about his birthday and the fun times he had! We will have to try birthday week again next year!

Mom and Dad of the Year!

So here is my entry for Mom and Dad of the Year....

First, we had a loud thunderstorm the other day. Of course rainy days are always hard on us moms since the kids have a hard time getting their energy out if they have no outside time. So during a break between storms, we walked out to get the mail. Then Clayton asks if he can play in the puddles. I said that I supposed that would be okay. Off he went to make sure he touched every puddle in our driveway!

Fairly deep puddles I might add!

Just a little wet!Then the next night, we were sitting at home, just finishing dinner. Clayton, of course, was a little excited to have dad home and was bouncing all over the place. I mentioned that perhaps we should go to the playground to let him burn off some energy. Patrick jumped at the chance. So off we went to play on the neighborhood school playground. Patrick and Clayton had a blast trying to scare each other and race to slide down the slide first!
Some thoughtful swinging!
The scaring slide!! So yep, we are the winners!!

Holy Constellations, Batman!

The 4th of July has never been so much fun for our family as it was this year! We have always celebrated with family, friends, and fireworks, but this year just seemed to be kicked up a notch!

We started with a neighborhood parade in the morning. Clayton was so into picking up every piece of candy he possibly could, that I don't know if he even remembers the fire trucks, horses, or motorcycles! We decided we would have a Beare Air float in the parade next year and pass out popsicles....keep cool with Beare Air!

We then continued to the neighborhood block party where free popcorn and lemonade were being served. Clayton had a ball playing on the swings and jungle gym (that badly need replacing)! They served Sonic hot dogs and ice! Actually, they served tea, but we just got a cup of ice and added our own drink!

After going home for a short nap, some dinner and regrouping, we left again for the great city of Waxhaw, NC. It's about 45 minutes from our house to downtown Waxhaw. Here, these guys really knew how to party! They had inflatables, funnel cakes, cotton candy, BBQ sandwiches, free balloon animals, that were all part of their Red, White, and Blues Festival! Of course, all Clayton ate was cotton candy, a snow cone, and a granola bar. This combination hyped him to a place I had never seen before!

It was time for fireworks and we found a place on the grassy area to see the display. Clayton was already jumping around, excited for the "fire pops" to begin. Once they started up, the words flowing from Clayton kept us all laughing. As my usually excited, but not quite so hyper, son was watching the fireworks, phrases like "Go fireworks, go!" and "I know you can do it, fireworks!", and the funniest, "Holy Constellations!" were flowing from his lips. Where the latter phrase even came from, we have no idea!
Amazing to some, but not to me, Maecie was awake and unaffected from the fireworks. See, when I was pregnant with her, we were undergoing major renovations. It seems that NOTHING will affect her, even when sleeping. Sometimes it's the silence that will cause her to wake up. So the fireworks were quite entertaining for the whole family.

I love that my family can spend time together while celebrating our freedom on America's birthday. The 4th of July has been an exciting time for us this year. As the year continues, I hope that we can continue to experience the freedoms we are used to and share them together, as a family!

Maecie's Blessing

In our church, we bless our newborn babies. This is the first blessing they receive through the Priesthood that gives the baby a name and records their birth in the church records.

On June 20, 2010, Maecie Jane Beare was blessed. Her blessing took place in the Mtn. Island Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was performed by her dad, Patrick. He was assisted by Pat Beare, Eddie Watkins, Adam Watkins, Ed Watkins, and Jimmy Webb (a long time family friend to the Beares).

Afterwards, we regrouped at our home for a generous meal. Those who came to support us were Da and Papa Watkins, Libby and Jacqueline Rhodes, Layne and Anna Harvey with their two girls, Mina and Calla, Tim, Terry and Sarah Harvey, Adam and Ann Watkins, Miranda and Eddie Watkins, Pat and Pattie Beare with Savannah, Ethan and Alex, and Aunt Lois. It was a great time for family to join together to celebrate the birth of our little girl and we are grateful for all of their efforts to attend. Maecie looked absolutely adorable in her white dress and head band.

I always intend to take family pictures at these events. However, I have a difficult time playing hostess, as well as photographer and mom. I will work on this!