cate turned nine this week. nine more and we have to set her free out into the world. wow. life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around every once in awhile, you just might miss it.
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© 2012 kelly mccaleb
love
cate and i had a photo shoot with justin hackworth today as part of his 30 strangers project. he posted this shot on facebook and i was in instant tears. i LOVE that child. i LOVE being her mother.
a couple of love notes
to the blue-eyed one,
my little darling, you are getting an earlier bed-time. i'm sorry, but that kind of grumpiness is not going to fly. in a lot of ways this was a hard weekend for you/ us, but, i love you no matter what and will help you in all your struggles. always. i hope you enjoy family home evening tonight, i have thought a lot about what concerns you have expressed lately. i look forward to teaching and talking with you. specifically about why some prayers seem to go unanswered and why life is hard. you stretch me as a mother, but i am so grateful that you have such a sharp mind, mature spirit, and determined personality. i wouldn't have it any other way. and believe or not, i was exactly like you when i was little. i get it. love, mom
to the green-eyed one,
the things you said to me yesterday will help me through a thousand hard days. thank you. expressing your confidence in the way i conduct myself and express my thoughts, erased, at least for awhile, the constant embarrassment i feel about my over-sharing and debbie downerness. nicole tells me she needs "kelly-lite" sometimes, and i know you do too, bless your hearts! i am an over-analytical handful. but when you told me what a strength my depth and spirituality is to our family, i felt so safe. i felt so happy. i felt so sure i married the right man! love, wifey
cate and spring and my camera
we checked photo shoot off our spring to-do list. these are a few of my favorites. i love that girl. i wanted a pensive yet wild and natural look. she nailed it, meaning, she didn't pose at all.
also checked off: slumber party, movies, friends play, thrifting, taking daddy to lunch, painting nails, and a reading picnic. two days left, gotta make them count!
cate and kelly's week of spring fun
it is spring break for cate. our hard working daddy is putting in major overtime during his busy season at work and moving offices. so you know what that means? mccaleb girl time. we have a list of ideas: picnics and reading in the shade, home pedicures, photo shoots, baking, yoga, movies, writing poems, crafts, biking, thrifting...
i'll fill ya in on how it goes because, true to my mother before me, our first activity was cleaning bathrooms and wiping baseboards. also, it is only noon and i've lost my temper (albeit only slightly) twice. i'm doing a little better because my mom would have also made me mop and would have lost her temper not slightly. love you mom, i know you are so much happier where you are now :)
but! we are back on track eating lunch and preparing for reading on the lawn with easter treats. it's 75 degrees and we are ready for some rays of happiness! ps- here's grant and my new favorite picture of cate ever:
who could lose their patience with that amazing, cool, creative girl? this picture reminds me of when she was a newborn, the first thing i noticed was her red red lips. she has always had beautiful red heart shaped lips. i love her! it's going to be a great week.
cate right now, 8.75 years old
one of my very favorite pictures ever taken of my cate, instagrammed this morning. (follow me @kellymccaleb). the sun was out, she was excited for school, and she was wearing her new "mommy shoes" aka minnetonkas i found that had never been worn at the thrift store in her size. those little thrills make life so good.
cate is growing up in hyper speed right now. she's lost the little girl look in her face and seems taller every day. when we watch a movie together she suggests things like father of the bride, rather than a kid show. her vocabulary is huge and makes me chuckle everyday with the five dollar words she uses so casually with her little lisp.
ever the straight A student, i usually have to wait 5 to 10 minutes past when school's out for her to come out of the building. she is determined to never have homework and finishes it all in her spare time at school. i've never even seen one spelling list this year, and she's gotten 100% every time. sometimes she's late coming out because she can't put the book down that she's reading.
she keeps grant and i honest. we have to pay her $1 for every swear word (whether she hears it or not, she interviews us), and frequently questions if we are saying our personal prayers. she makes grant leave a pillow by the side of her bed early in the morning to prove that he has knelt and said his prayers before leaving for work. she does not accept that there are movies and shows that she can't watch that we can because of content. cate implores us to up our standards. and i quote: "if they are too bad for me, then they are too bad for you." we fight about that one.
her temper, ever present, seems to be mellowing finally. however, the little smarty pants likes to be argumentative and right, and that's the main thing she gets in trouble for. she gets sent to her room to calm down, which inevitably leads to notes written to us either expressing sorrow, or defending her position.
her daddy's girl title is still in full force and lately she's taken to even not allowing grant and i to kiss around her. i had a big talk with her about that and how lucky she is to have parents that love each other and that she needs to let us show our love without interfering. "but he's my dad" was all she could say over and over again. she's doing better about it, though. (i think she's just weirded out because of life facts she's learned recently, ha).
cakies, i love you so much. will you help me with my homework soon? thanks. and will you let me hug on dad when he gets home from work? double thanks.
