Neither wind, nor rain...

...nor walking pneumonia, nor the stomach bug could stop this crew from the sacred first weekend of UGA football. So, once again, I have been out of the bloggers' world. Midweek, Kinsey came home with walking pneumonia (which actually wasn't bad until Sunday--which has no relation to the fact that we partied so hard Friday and Saturday if that's what you're thinking). Thursday night, Max threw up at the dinner table (um, in a restaurant, yuck). We were hoping that was a fluke. Nope. Jack got it later that night. Two days til kickoff, it'll be alright I thought. So everyone (except me) stayed home Friday, and I was ready to go Friday night. Everyone seemed alright, so to First Friday in downtown Athens we go.



Saturday morning, we met up with our favorite twin fellas and crew for some pre-game tailgating. Mary was sweet (and quite brave) enough to take all four kids home with her while the rest of us melted in the sun to watch the best team in the land kick off the season "Between the Hedges".



They don't look like they feel bad in these pictures, do they?!?

Max Update

Today, he broke the record--THREE accident reports in one day. One kid pushed him down, one kid bit him and he ran into something again. Maybe we need to look into full body armour...

Holy SIT!

This story has made me laugh all day...

So I picked Max up from his school today. Everyday that I pick him up, I feel so good about our decision to put him in "public school" (aka daycare). He really seems to love his teachers, friends and toys. He has been going for about 3 weeks and in this time, we have received 3 accident reports. One time he fell climbing on the furniture, one time he ran into a wall (proud mom moment here) and another time he was bitten.

Today, his sweet teacher met me at the door with a very worried look on her face. She reported to me that Max was "involved in an accident". I could see my little guy running up behind her so I knew the damage was slight and I wasn't very concerned. She went on the tell me that he had again been bitten. After careful observation, I noted no skin had been broken, so once more, I assured her that I was not upset. I went on to ask if he deserved it and they told me that the incident was ALMOST unprovoked but that Max was NOT at fault. OK, great, I thought. I told the teacher it was not a big deal and I felt confident that I would be getting the BITER report one day soon and we will have to deal with role reversal. The teacher looked at the assistant and laughed. She said, "Oh no, Max doesn't bite" and I responded that I'm sure he will one day. Her response--"Oh no, I mean, Max doesn't bite--he SITS!" My puzzled face led her to clarify. When Max gets angry, he sits on the other child. The teachers have gone so far as to warn the other children if they happen to be picking on Max to "watch out, he might sit on you!"

Oh well, I guess sit happens!

Fourth Place Finish

For those of you who know me, you may think I am upset with these results. Motherhood changes EVERYTHING! I am sooo proud of my girl. She ran in the 4-5 year old race and this year instead of a dash it was a whole lap (yeah, I know, just humor me, OK). And Kinsey was by far the smallest in her group. She ran so well and was not upset at all that she didn't win like she did last year. This simple fact alone is a great accomplishment knowing that she is my flesh and blood! Anyway, it was so wonderful to be outside, although it was for less than an hour. The walls of our house were beginning to close in on me after this week. She's already talking about "training" for next year. We'll see!


Pre-race photos

Fast as lighting

Max cheering on his big sis

Proud girl

A little post-race fun

Missing Life

OK, it's official...I'm bored silly. It has been one week (almost) since I've been sick and all I've done is eat, sleep, and watch Olympics. Granted I have been very lucky that it has been one of the most exciting weeks in Olympics ever. If I'd been stuck watching high jump, biking and shot put, I think I would've just gone ahead and thrown in the towel. Micheal Phelps IS Superman. I just had to say it.

I've really missed Boot Camp this week, too. I'm going to take another week off before trying to start back next week, though. I hope I can do it. I'm especially bummed because I was supposed to race in my first 5K in several months tonight and I won't be able to. Tonight is the big race that the high school puts on and Kinsey always competes in the kids races. She IS the reining champion I might add. She had told me she wanted to try the mile this year, but I just don't think it's in my best interests to run and I can't send her on her on just yet. So, we are going to try to go and at least let Kinsey race tonight if she's wants to and if I'm up to it. We'll see.

Here's a picture from my 5:30 Bootcamp class taken a few weeks ago. That's me on the front right, next to super-camper, Ali.

I'm baaack and ready to...REST!

Sooo, a lot has happened in the last week, but not much that I want to remember. Actually some of it, I DON'T remember! Last Saturday I woke up with a headache, which I do not have very many of. I took some medicine and it went away. Good. Later that afternoon, the headache returned--uh oh. This time, I took stronger medicine--nothing. We had promised to take the kids to Stone Mountain to see the Laser Show, and being one who hates to break promises, I decided to "tough it out" and hope for the best. The headache never went away, but didn't stop us from having a good time. On the way home, the lights from traffic began to intensify the pain and by the time we got back to the house, I was in tears and couldn't even undress myself. I fell asleep while Jack put the kids to bed and hoped what I thought was happening wasn't. But at 2:30, I awoke to the most horrific pain and was full of panic. I woke Jack, and we discussed going to the hospital. As we debated, the pain grew stronger until I got sick--the last symptom I had been dreading. Moments later, his parents were at our house and we were on the way to the ER where the doctors immediately did a lumbar puncture and confirmed what we already knew. I had contracted viral meningitis for the second time in 3 years.

I have been home almost two days from the hospital, have had my check up and am on the road to recovery. The doctors tell me there is no need for alarm that I've had it twice, that I am just "lucky" and that I should once again have a full recovery. Of course, there are those thoughts in the back of my mind that I may be prone to this or that there is another reason this is happening. But for now, I am back and on the mend.

Mom had her lumpectomy yesterday (I know, what a week) and the doctors think that the cancer was very localized and feel totally confidant that they got it all. She will recover (albeit partially in Alaska, lucky dog) for about a month and then begin with 6 weeks of radiation.

Thanks to everyone for all there thoughts, prayers, cards, food, time and efforts. The outpouring that we have received this week has been humbling and a COMPLETE blessing. Jack has been my angel this week from chaufeurring the kids, being my rock and running the household (along with my cleaning-machine Granny). I am truly blessed.

Hopefully the future posts will bring much less serious news!

Back to School!

Today, it was back to school for both me and Kinsey. She did suprisingly well and was happy and both drop-off and pick-up, although she tells me she did cry for me at naptime. I heard lots of great things about her teachers, classmates and especially the toys and playground. After school, the two of us went out and celebrated our first day with some Super Cow ice cream at our favorite ice cream store. As an extra-special treat, I took her to the pet store and she picked out her very own fish, whom she named "Angel". Good times, indeed!

She's growing up...

Tomorrow, Kinsey starts pre-K. The last few days, she has been especially nervous and uneasy about this transition, of course resulting in my anxiety as well. Today was Open House and I really enjoyed meeting her two teachers. She was so shy she cowerd behind me almost the whole time (which for those of you that know her is NOT her personality). She finally warmed up when she saw the huge playground. As we went through her supply list and were organizing her big-girl backpack, we studied the parent information packet and found this little story. The teacher was sweet enough to include a tissue...

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand-new book bag.

Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother.

Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year...

Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him. She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word.

He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother.

She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside.

"Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk."

She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing.

"I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications.

"It's not so much that I'm worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up and I'm going to miss him."

Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself.

"Today's the day he starts practicing for them...
And today's the day I start practicing something too: Cheering him on and waving good-bye."

(Author Unknown)

She said "I do"...and I did--my first gig!

Jessica and Todd (our old nanny and her fiance) asked me if I would take some pictures at their wedding. I said I would and today was the day. I have never done anything like this and have had no classes or training with photography, but luckily, the lighting, setting and wedding party (especially the bride) were all naturally so beautiful that I came out with some pretty good pictures.

As a side note, Kinsey was a flower girl and did a wonderful job. Max was the ring bearer (YIKES) and did pretty good considering he carried the pillow with the actual rings on it down the aisle and only dropped it twice. It was precious because he saw Todd standing at the end of the aisle, kicked it into overdrive, and handed Todd the pillow.






I'm so tired. I don't think wedding photography is in my future! Phew!