Reality Check

 

 

Where to begin?

This week has been really sobering for me.

After Monday, I will no longer be the Mom

with a kid in preschool and a baby...

I'll be the Mom with a kindergartner and a

preschooler.

It seems like only yesterday I was swaddling each of them to take their naps or watching them sleep while we sat in the rocking chair.

Those are precious fleeting moments, I will store up in

my heart for the rest of my life.

My kids have grown up so quickly in the grand scheme of things!

Too quickly...

Every moment I have spent at home with them over the past 5 years has been such a blessing.  One that I don't take for granted now that I am about to return to the work place.  Everyday I stayed home was a chance for me to love, nurture, care for, play with, teach, and listen to with the ears, eyes, and hands of a mother.  Molding and making memories, that's what we did together.  Molded each other into the person we needed them to be. 

Cade is my first born. 

He MADE me a mother and taught me how to be one. 

Gracyn came along and molded me into the mother of a precious girl.  My heart will never be the same because it sees the world differently.  And the world is different because of them

and so am I.

In all of the best ways imaginable

So I will cherish each and every day

because

I know the memories will be with me always,

but my little boy and little girl won't. 

 

 

 

The End of an Era...

 

We said GOOD-BYE to all of

Cade's pre-k friends and

teachers at a special

end of the year

PaRtY at the PaRk.

 

 

The kids had a chance to visit, play, explore,

snack, and give gifts

to their teacher Mrs. Theodore

I cannot begin to say enough good things about our sweet teacher, she has truly been a blessing to Cade this year!

 

Thank you a bushel and a peck Mrs. Theodore!

 

So with a slice of cake, a gift basket, hugs,

and farewells,

 

we traded our school days in for

summertime smiles!

 

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!!!

{when life gives you lemons....}

As most of you know,

we were involved in a car accident last month.

The responsible party's closest insurance adjustor

was about a 40 mile drive away!

We made the drive down several weeks ago and the kids were

Mr & Mrs Manners Plus

the whole way down and were very well behaved at the State Farm Office while the adjustor wrote up our estimate and everything.

Afterward we were hungry and decided to stop by a newly opened,

to pick up one of these

and 2 of these

There was a park near by so instead of eating inside, we had

an impromptu picnic.

It was a BrIgHt afternoon, SuNNy & cOOl...

my favorite kind of day!

Cade, Gracie and I all had such a pleasant afternoon.

So if life gives you lemons, squeeze the fire out of them

and

make yourself a

lemon drop martini

{soccer celebration at mazzios}

another soccer season

comes to a close...

♥ we love you coach amy ♥
:: soccer pride ::

okay, kids...

look EVERYWHERE but the camera!

NICE ;)

{my FIRST customer}

Step right up...

I've been thinking about cutting Cade's hair myself

for awhile now.

Just haven't mustered up the confidence to

ACTUALLY BELIEVE

I could pull it off.

His hair grows SOOOOOO FAST, I'm talking like he could seriously get a hair cut every 2 weeks. Now in truth we get it cut about once every 6 weeks and it costs about 15 bucks with tip!

This kid can put away some milk and you can tell by watching his hair and nails.

They both grow like weeds :)

So I told myself to buck up and live a little...

I borrowed a WAHL clipper set from friends

{who also cut their boys hair},

made sure he was fed and happy,

and watched a YOU TUBE video tutorial

{yes I really did}

then I was ready to roll...

Plus it helps when your kid is saying,

"Go ahead Mom, I know you can do it"

I set up shop on the back patio in a lawn chair with a towel drape and he went

from shabby

to shapely!

Check out a back view!

And yes, that is a lolly pop in his hand...

he gets one at the "official" barbershop

so I figured I could spring for pops

since I was saving myself 30 bucks a month.

Gotta keep up with my competition!

Truth be told I really enjoyed it and Cade did super!

I saved money, had some one-on-one conversation time

with my oldest, and did something I was proud of!

I can't ask anymore of myself.

Always room for improvement, but

I think it turned out pretty good for a

first time Mom cut, what do you think?

Conversations with a 5 year old

On our way to school this morning...

Cade: Mommy, look at that red race car!

Me: {seeing the red corvette zoom past us}

Wow, it's really pretty and so fast I barely saw it!

Cade: Speed up to 70 Mom so we can look at it some more.

Me: I can't go that fast Cade, the speed limit is only

60 and besides my car isn't a race car.

Cade: Yes it is Mom, your car goes to 120 miles so we

ARE

a race car!

In the realm of 5 year olds even a Tahoe can qualify as a race car!

Happy Friday,

we'll enjoy driving our race car around

all weekend.

Lord Jehovah Reigns!!!!

On Tuesday night, while on our way to Cade's Spring Musical, we were involved in a car accident. A car rear-ended us, pushing us into the car in front of us, which in turn pushed him into the car in the very front.

No one was injured {although I'm a little stiff now} and everyone's car was still driveable {except the car who rear-ended me}. Police were called, reports filed, stories told, information given. But Cade missed his concert. I thought giving him a chance to sing and make a little "movie" might capture some of those moments missed Tuesday night! He was excited for me to turn on the camera and continued to click replay once it was uploaded on the blog! He watched himself proudly

SIX times!!!

Lord Jehovah does reign!!

What a great song choice for the upcoming weekend,

good singing little man, Mommy is so proud.

Way Back Wednesday

The Biltmore Estate

Asheville, North Carolina

February 2006

Cade

(14 months)

Conversations with a 5 year old

There is no doubt about it,

Number

has some MAD

on the

court.

Just check out the scoreboard.

He of course plays for the MAVS with one hand and makes shots for Texas with the other.

How industrious is that I ask you?!??!

According to my son the future NBA'er, guess who sponsored the half time break....

and I quote,

Mommy...it's Target whose sponsoring half time today!!!

The kid knows how to get me hooked :)

Way Back Wednesday

Cowboy Cade

14 months old

Fayetteville, North Carolina

The things I remember most about you at this age:

- you loved to carry your link-a-doos around the house and

shake them as LOUDLY as possible or drag them on the floor to hear them rattle.

- you would squeal with delight when I'd push the button and make your

stuffed Schnauzer sing and dance to "Deck the Halls" --

it was your favorite gift from Santa that year, who'd have thought?!?

- you loved carrying your sippy cup around, whether anything was in it or not.

- your favorite lunch was what I named a "monkey sandwich"

peanut butter and mashed bananas on wheat!

- you were a sound night sleeper as well as 2 naps each day

- you absolutely loved to swing on your swingset as well as

play & explore outside, which is still true today!

Fun Fridays, my favorite things...

Spontaneous moments of doing things together.

Boy oh Boy,

have we been having some fantastic spring weather down south!

It has been in the 70's for the past 3 days!

The three of us have been taking advantage of all the sunshine

by playing outside in the yard as much as possible.

On Wednesday, Cade and I made a mad dash for the trampoline,

after Gracie went down for her nap.

We bounced,

laughed,

held hands,

flopped down,

made silly faces,

got up

and did it all over again!

We just had ourselves the best little time.

While we were doing a "half time" from jumping, I ran in to snatch up my camera and shoot some shots of my little buddy!

These were taken with my Canon 50 mm lens, which I really L-O-V-E.

Plus I mean, let's be honest...it does help when you've got

the cutest boy on the block to photograph :)

Conversations with a 5 year old

{image from here}

When I went into Cade's room to wake him up from quiet time on Friday,

our conversation was as follows....

Me- Hi Cade, it's time to get up buddy.

Cade- Hey Mommy. {big stretch and eye rub} I have a surprise for you.

M- What is it?

C- I saved you a spot right here, to lay in my bed and snuggle with me.

M- {climbing into his twin bed}

Oh Cade, that is so sweet of you, thank you!

C- I'll save you a spot forever Mommy.

M- Cade, you just melted my heart! I sure do love you!

C- I'll save you a spot forever Mommy because

I LOVE YOU forever

{he proceeds to give me a gigantic hug}

It was a Kodak moment for my heart...

Numero C-I-N-C-O

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Cader,

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!

We plan on celebrating in grand style this year with a "Hoop It Up" Basketball party on the 9th!

You stole my heart 5 years ago today when I laid eyes on you for the very first time. You were so tiny with a head full of coal black hair! I loved to just sit with you in the rocking chair while you held on so tightly to my finger with your sweet, delicate hands.

Since then I've had the privilege of discovering FuN-NeW things to love about you each and every day for the past 1,825 days!

It is something I will never grow tired of...

I love you always,

Mommy

Your a COLD one, Mr. Grinch!

We've heard the stories of the Gaylord Texan's ICE exhibit for several years now, so we decided to check it out for ourselves on Sunday afternoon!

And it didn't disappoint.

This year, ICE tells the story of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, by recreating scenes from the book in intricately carved, larger-than-life ice sculptures set in a walk-through world.

Here are a few fun facts about ICE:

3:

the number of types of ice used in the construction of ICE! ~ Clear “glass-like” crystal ice – so flawless that it is compared to Waterford Crystal – makes up 80 percent of the sculptures ~ “White ice” blocks, which are more like compacted snow, make up 15 percent of the sculptures ~ Colored ice, which is dyed brilliant colors, is used for highlighting and accenting the remaining 5 percent of the sculptures

9:

DEGREES that is! The temperature inside the exhibit.

Don't worry though, they provide HUGE blue parkas to keep you warm!

34:

the approximate number of days needed to hand-carve the ICE display

40:

the number of artisans from the City of Harbin (China) Tourism and Development Commission, who sculpt the attraction by hand

1,400+:

the number of LED lights frozen within ICE

5,000:

the number of ICE blocks hand-carved and transformed into our winter wonderland

2,000,000:

pounds.

That's the amount of ice it took to create the exhibit this year!

Oh and I'll throw in one more TIP...wait till after Christmas Day to visit, like we did.

You can thank me for that little jewel next year when you don't have to wait, like some folks did,

in line for 2 hours.

And now my favorite stanza from the Grinch theme song...

ah, hem!

"You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,

Your heart's an empty hole,

Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Gri-inch,

I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!"