Where's your box?

Tonight as we attended a Fall Festival at our church I noticed all the little girls in their costumes. Princesses, fairies, cheerleaders, divas, and cute little bugs with bows in their hair filled our church parking lot. And then there's Savannah.



Savannah: I want to be Batman momma.



Me: Uh, how about Bat girl?



Savannah: No, how about Spider man?



Me: You could always be Wonder Woman. She's REALLY cool!



Savannah: No, I want to be Batman or Spider man.



Me: Savannah, look at this pink Super Girl costume. She has an S on her cape. Do you know what the S is for? Super Savannah! This is the best costume ever!



Savannah: Mom, I want to be Batman or Spider man.



And this has been going on for 2 months. She wanted to be M-O from WALL-E for a while (she would pick an abstract robot that no one has ever heard of) but I finally convinced her to be one of the Incredibles (she is Violet, the super hero daughter in a family of super heroes).



I have no one to blame but myself. For a brief moment last summer she mentioned she wanted to be a princess for Halloween and I must admit I was disappointed at the lack of creativity. I think I even told her "But every other little girl will probably be a princess." And let's face it, Disney has oversold us on the princess thing and to be frank it doesn't sound that fun to be cast as a princess in real life. They have to follow a lot of weird rules.



Anyway, our little girl dances to the beat of a different drum, one that only she can hear. Tonight at the face painting booth, she was asked what she wanted painted on her face. My sweet girl picked up the pink paint and said, "An eye." The girl at the table replied, "A pink eye?" I said, "Savannah, that's a disease honey, how about a nice flower or a heart, ("like all the other little girls," I was tempted to add)" We went home with our four eyed super hero girl.



It's not that I am a diva in waiting or anything. I'd rather hike across Europe than spend a day at the spa. But, I am more than happy to strap on stilettos for a 5 star dinner in NYC. It's all about balance and being well rounded. But lately, Savannah statements have sent off alarms in my head that maybe I am not encouraging girlyness enough. Let me accumulate her most common statements for you, "I don't ever want to get married or have a baby in my belly. Never. I want to be a super hero!"



Yes, it's funny and I know it's a stage. At least she wanted the eyeballs on her face to be painted pink! It just makes my life more difficult that she wants to be different in every aspect of life for reasons that would be too long to explain. Even so, her uniqueness is what I treasure most about her. So what if her favorite colors are black and red instead of pink? It doesn't really matter that she doesn't play "momma" with her dolls does it? She's an out-of-the-box kind of kid. OK, maybe she's so far outside of her box that she has lost her box, but that just gives her more room to grow. And I can't wait to see what kind of super hero she becomes.

....the people

Granny and Papa's kids who grew up here.

The grandkids.

The great grandkids. Wait, somethings not right...

OK, that's more like us.




Lastly, the great, great grandkids.



Oh, I almost forgot. Here are the lucky folks who married into this family.

My Pa's side of the family.

Aunt Patsy was getting a little choked up here. She framed a family tree with all of her brothers and sisters' pictures in it. It also included Granny, Papa, and the house in Centerville in which she is standing in when I took the pic. She gave one to all her siblings.

All my great aunts and uncles had a rough year this year so emotions were running high. That's when they did something I had never seen them do before. Each one took a turn expressing how much each other meant to them. Those words are tucked away into my heart forever.

Check out all the old photos on the wall. The big one above the couch is Granny and Papa, my great grandparents.

Don't worry Uncle Jack, Brenda won't hesitate to tell you what's going on!

My Nannie stepped up first to tell everyone how grateful she was to have this family and what we meant to her.

Uncle Wayne.

Yup, that's the best part of Centerville...the people and their stories. We stayed up late that night listening to my grandmother and her brother and sisters reminisce about the old days. The tales the told about growing up in the country with Granny and Papa had me laughing one minute and sitting on the edge of my seat the next. I wanted to stay there all night and soak it up.

The Land

Those of us who grew up going to Centerville have a great appreciation for the dirt we once played in with our cousins. But as I age, I begin to look up more and notice the beauty that surrounds that place. One of my favorite things God has created are trees. Every tree has a unique and intriguing shape but then He adds a sunrise behind it, a blue sky over it, or golden leaves fallen below it. The same tree can recreate it's self a million times over each time taking your breath away.

I think this is a china berry tree. Again if you grew up going to Centerville, someone has probably thrown a china berry at you (in the spirit of love of course) and more than likely you have thrown one or two yourself. Is it the tree or the memory attached to the tree that makes me want to capture it?

For those who do not know, we have the Bain family reunion in Centerville on the land where my grandmother grew up. At least 5 generations (maybe 6, I'm not sure) in our family have pulled those beloved stickers from their shoes and feet.

Below is the sun setting behind the old wash house.

I kind of like this one blurry. It adds a mystic air to the picture. That feeling might have been lost if I had a tripod and shot it in focus. How many nights have we sat by that barn, circled around the fire, telling stories under the full moon?

Now you know my obsession. It's trees and sunsets. I had to shoot the wash house again the 2nd night. I love the meadow peaking through in the background.

From inside the wash house.

Although the land provides the dirt our kids love to play in and the meadow lays out a peaceful backdrop, we know that's not why we come to Centerville. We can find dirt anywhere (although I think Centerville dirt is special) and there are places with greater beauty. No, those are not the reasons we come, it's the...

Let the dirt begin!

Here we are at Centerville all settled in. But before we let the children go for the weekend, we had to take one last picture of them clean.

And they're off! It's funny how no one had to tell them, "Children, look over here. There is dirt that might be fun to play in." No, that's not how it happens. They get out of their vehicle and run directly to the nearest pile of dirt until their mother grabs them and makes them say "hi" to everyone and then she releases the child for the weekend. "See you Sunday kids."

Ella discovered that when you slap the water on top of the dirt you create a mud-splash-bath. Proudly Ella proclaimed "tah dah!" as I took this pic.

It's always fun to hug your aunt when you are covered in mud.

But sometimes you need to take a break, have a snack, and just chat with one a cousin you haven't seen in a while.

Big kids need to do that too.

OK, enough resting. Back to the dirt.

I'm not sure of the plan for this bucket-o-mud they are working on so diligently. Sometimes it's best to pretend you don't see what is happening.

There is nothing like eating a popcorn ball with dirty hands to usher in the fall season. Notice the pockets on the front of Savannah's shirt? They too were filled with dirt as I found at when I helped her to the bathroom and dirt went everywhere. And we wondered why Aunt Patsy swept all the time when we were little!

And we're off!

After our fair day the kids and Grandma needed a day of rest before the next adventure. So, Dawn and I left them at home and we set off for our sister day of drinking lattes, shopping, giggling, talking, and more shopping. I don't know how much rest grandma got while watching the grand kids but Dawn and I sure felt great that day.

Next on our destination list...Centerville! Kids in general are always excited to go to Centerville. The place consists of dirt to dig in, lots of old folks to spoil you, cousins to play with, and a massive amount of homemade tasty snacks. It's paradise.

You might be thinking "What or where is Centerville?" It's a tiny town where my grandparents grew up and the location of a couple of yearly family reunions. The town it's self might be forgettable but the stories and people are as ingrained as my DNA. But, more on that later.

Here is a pic of our kiddos waiting impatiently in the motor coach for our arrival at Centerville.

Luckily nap time kicked in and they were down for the ride. This gave Dawn and I more uninterrupted sister time so that we could contemplate if we will end up like mom and AJ (one of our mom's sisters) someday and dress alike ;) They are so cute.

Uh, I see a pattern here. Our family must do things in unison from an early age. Dawn, I have a feeling we will be dressing alike soon.

The last of it.

Here are just a few more pictures from the fair...

Retro Wednesday

Grandma and Savannah at the Port Caddo/MOPs fundraiser Pumpkin Patch 2005. This is when Savannah's love of all things pumpkin began and it's still going strong.