"Super" Kids

I am posting this picture with the hopes that this is what my children will be tomorrow--SUPER! After my last day of post-planning, the three of us will be hitting the road for a 6+ hour trip to Myrtle Beach for a week followed by 5 days at Sunset Beach. I doubt I will post again until I get back, but of course I will have tons of pictures.

I need to be in bed right now, because I have my two-month Bootcamp assessment tomorrow morning at 5:10 AM. Night night!

ANOTHER goodbye :(

This week finished the last week that Max and Amelia (aka Baby Mela) stayed together. She and her family are moving down to south Georgia. We have had a wonderful year and were so blessed that our precious babes could stay together in our home. You would not believe that we didn't have one single day all school year where we had to take a day off of work due to illness (babies OR babysitters). Quite an amazing feat! We are still hoping to find a similar arrangement for next year, so pass the word!

Well, summer has officially begun as of 3:30 yesterday--at least for the students! Teachers have two days of post-planning until we are out of there! So how am I spending my first weekend? Graduations. Kinsey and I attended one ceremony last night, we are all headed to a celebration party this afternoon for a cousin and then I will be going to a third one tomorrow night. I was also able to squeeze in a Saturday morning Boot Camp since we have Memorial Day off. Let me tell you--now I KNOW why I go at 5:30 in the morning and not when the sun comes up. I think I really almost passed out two or three times because of the heat. The crazy thing was my car thermometer only read 73 when I was headed home! I guess I'm a temperature wimp!

Get ready...

...to be amazed by the story and the words of Angie Smith. Click on her family's link under "Our Friends" and make sure you read the background first. What heart-break, but what faith this woman and this family have. I have just begun reading her blog, but am hooked, as I am sure you will be.

Almost forgot...

Here's a picture of our new baby "Blackie" as Kinsey calls it. We cannot keep her out of it! I must admit, I'm a new fan myself--go mini!

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Well, today was our nanny, Jessica's last day with us. I am so excited for her and her new life that awaits her in West Virginia. She will soon become a married woman and a football coach's wife. But, I have to say, she will be SORELY missed here in Georgia. She has become a second mother to our kids and they have learned so much from her. As we said our goodbyes today, we all found a few tears in our eyes. I just think none of us knew how much we were all going to get attached.

Yesterday, we threw Jessica a bridal shower at our house. She got some wonderful gifts and I hope it helped her get excited about starting a new home and getting ready for the wedding. Here are some pictures from the shower of Ame and Amelia (Max's best bed playmate) and Kinsey with her good friend Hannah, who comes to play 3 days a week.


After the shower, we headed to Athens for Max's friend, Davis's first birthday. The weather was beautiful, despite a few strong gusts of wind and all the kids seemed to have a wonderful time playing in their backyard. Happy Birthday Davis!

Busy little nothings

What a busy week this has been, and there is more still to come. Kinsey got a treat getting to stay with her Nanny and Papadad (and Granny) at their house on Lake Keowee until late yesterday afternoon. Some of her highlights included a "Fancy Nancy" dinner at their clubhouse for Nanny's birthday, some hot tub fun, and a fishing trip where she caught TWO fish. Hopefully I will post her fish pictures soon. While she was gone, Jack and I found a new minivan which was delivered today and ready for pickup tomorrow. So, I guess it's official that I'm a soccer mom DORK! I must admit that I am excited about the dual DVD with 3 continuous cartoon channels and the nav system that also doubles as a photo viewer and MP3 player. The gadgets are all helping me adjust to what is going on here. No mid-life crisis yet, though, so that's good. I've also spent the week ironing as well as getting ready for a wedding shower than I'm hosting Sunday for Jessica. Tonight, Jack is being honored at a local high school awards banquet and Saturday we are going to Atlanta for a big dinner concert for his work as well.

Kinsey's last day at her preschool was today and I snuck in for their goodbye party and snapped a few pictures of her having fun in the inflatables and snacking on "nanilla" ice cream.




In other news, Max woke up with a pretty high fever this morning, but the trip to the pediatrician just discovered a sore throat. I guess that's good news! And, oh yes, ONE more day until the last week of school for me! YEA!!! However, these are the hardest days of the year. For example, today was supposed to be field day, but the weather had other plans. Try deal with 250 13-year-olds who came to school ready to play all day! Agh!

Graduation

Yesterday, our dear friend Todd graduated from Georgia and we were honored to be invited to the ceremony. So after I finished running my 2nd 5K (yea!) Kinsey and I went to the UGA football stadium to see him. Clarence Thomas was the keynote speaker and halfway through his speech, Kinsey started saying "this is boring" and decided she wanted to go home. She WAS a pretty good judge of speakers, though (sorry if I offend anyone, it was just a very lengthy and monotone speech). Anyway, she was a trooper and held out until the very end and to see her run up to Todd and give him a huge hug was worth the wait!

Here's a picture of Kinsey with Jessica, our nanny, also Todd's fiance.


Later in the day, we drove up to Lake Keowee to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, dad, grandmother and aunt and uncle. We had two fabulous meals and one swim in the hottub in the rain. Kinsey's wish came true, though, because she got to stay with her Nanny and Papadad while Jack, Max and I came home to finish laundry and get ready for the coming week. Oh yeah, and a little of Superboy flying around in his size 4T Underoos!!!


Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. It's the best job on Earth!

The end..and the beginning

May 9, 2008 Yesterday kind of marked the end and then again the beginning. The end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Kinsey preschool had a Mother's Day party at the church. We had craft time and lunch and then the children sang two adorable songs and gave us our gifts. They made cute little candle holders, but what was even more adorable was the scrapbook that one of the mothers put together and photocopied for each child, personalized with a few pages about each child and their family. My favorite page was "All about my mom". Some of the higlights from the teacher's interview with Kinsey was that when asked my age, her response was "she's old like you Mrs. Susan" and my height was "tall like Daddy's truck!" Apparently, my favorite color is orange (yuck), Daddy's favorite TV show was "my Daddy doesn't watch TV" (oh really?!?) and Jack's job is to wear earphones?!? Kinsey's really going to miss her school and her two teachers.

After school, we went to the Miller's house to try out the pool for the first swim of the season. I was thrilled that Kinsey still knew how to swim and wasn't afraid of the water. Max is going to be a handful, however (imagine that), because all he wants to do is run around the deck of the pool. In his defense, the water WAS a little chilly. Hopefully, he'll chill a little in the next few weeks.

We are headed into a busy weekend. Tonight we'll celebrate Mother's Day with Jack's side. Tomorrow, I'm running my second 5K and attending our Nanny's fiance's UGA graduation, then we will head to the lake to celebrate Mother's Day and my mother's birthday. I'm sure I'll be exhausted by the end of the weekend.

Just Me & the Boys

While Kinsey was in the mountains this weekend, I got to enjoy some quality time with my two best boys. Jack and I really enjoyed out date night at the Braves game Friday, while Max enjoyed his evening with Jessica and Todd. They went to Longhorns and then took him to a UGA baseball game. Saturday, all three of us went to the high school cross country course and did some jogging then went to a fun birthday party up in Cornelia. That night, Jack and I got to spend some time with our great friends Melissa and Alan seeing Forgetting Sarah Marshall (hilarious movie, but viewer discretion is definitely advised) and eating at our new fav restaurant, Gnat's Landing (mmmm, yummy seafood). Today, the three of us went to homecoming at the church then went on an hour-long hike at Sandy Creek Nature Center in Athens. Max is just crazy about his backpack carrier, although it is pretty tiring toting that almost-30-lb child along the trails. We nicknamed him "Meatball" this weekend after his round little tummy. Kinsey came back this evening and we all enjoyed a nice dinner together in the kitchen and got to listen to her favorite parts of the weekend. Nan and Granddaddy took her to a fair Friday and Saturday that had games and rides and apparently her favorite was a game where she got to milk the cow. Too funny! Only 15 days of school left--Woo hooooooo!

Assessment Day

With great anticipation, I faced my first BootCamp assessment day this morning. Measurements were made, calculations were performed and the dreaded timed mile took place! It was a great morning for me though (even though it started at 4:30). I shaved a minute and a half off of my timed mile--from 10 minutes to 8.5--and lost a total of over 4 inches!!! I am very excited and motivated to face this next month.

Tonight, Jack and I are headed to Atlanta for our first Braves game of the season. Kinsey was so excited as she headed to the mountains with Nan for their first long weekend together and Max was all excited about his date night with Jessica and Todd. Bless those two! I hope she still comes back to work on Monday after dinner out with the Mad Man!!!

Max's First Sign!!!

I can't remember how old Kinsey was when she first started using sign language, but tonight at supper, Max made his first sign! We have been trying to teach him "more" and just introduced "mommy" and "daddy". Here's a shot of him saying "more". Yeah, I know, it looks like every other picture of him in his high chair, but he really WAS doing the motion! :)

Cubbies Award Ceremony

Last night, Kinsey completed her first year in the AWANA Cubbies program at church. She graduated with perfect attendance and memorized and recited a bible verse each week of the year. It was also cute that her Daddy was asked to be the director for next year!!!