Under the Weather

For the first time in a really long time, Jack and Hannah are both healthier than me and Brad.  Brad and I seem to have something we can't quite get rid of.  A residual cough, headaches, and for me, ear pain.  Today, while Jack and Hannah spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa, I went back to the doctor to see I was doing okay after a week of antibiotics.

Turns out both of my ears are near infection, so it's another round of antibiotics for me.  Certainly explains why I've been getting dizzy when I stand up or why I feel like I'm still moving when the car comes to stop.  Hopefully, I'll feel better in no time.

The funny thing is, that aside from the occasional dizzy spell, I actually feel quite good.  I haven't lost my appetite, I'm not sneezing or blowing my nose constantly, I'm not exhausted or achy.  Apparently the first antibiotic did a little something, so that's always good.

Brad?  Hasn't been so lucky.  He still feels pretty sick, and only went back to work towards the tail-end of last week.

Thank goodness that the littles are healthy - otherwise, this would be a very unhappy household!

*****

In other news, while mourning the loss of Dexter (worst series finale I can remember, by the way - one blogger likened it to his best friend drop-kicking his puppy after eight years, and I tend to agree) and Breaking Bad (best series finale I can remember - thank you, Vince Gilligan!), Brad introduced me to The Walking Dead, and I'm hooked.  I'm currently watching crazy amounts of The Walking Dead to catch up to the current season.  Once you get past the zombie part, it's actually very good.  I wouldn't advise snacking as you watch:)

*****

Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Julie, and her newborn baby boy, Thomas.  It was so good to catch up after many, many months (too long, Julie!), and Thomas was just absolutely beautiful.  I got to hold him while Julie went to the bathroom, and for a tiny moment, I wanted one more.  And then it passed.

Today I met up with one of my past co-workers, Jeannette, and we chatted and shared work stories.  Always so nice to catch up - and especially so when I can enjoy an adult lunch with friends while the littles play happily with Daddy or their grandparents.

*****

Also, not sure if I've mentioned this on the blog or not, but I might be addicted to building things with Legos.  Yesterday, Jack and I finished The Daily Bugle:

*****

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  Hoping that everyone is healthy and the sun is shining - I'm dying to take Jack and Hannah on a fall, farm outing.  It's also time to decorate for Halloween - I can't believe it's already right around the corner!

Thankful Thursday

It's been awhile...

Today I'm thankful for several things:

I am thankful for Jack's creativity.  He continues to astound me on a daily basis.  Really, I'm just in awe, and it makes me wonder what he'll end up being when he grows up...

Just the other day, when Brad realized Japanese beetles are attacking his beloved Crepe Myrtle, Jack made a bug trap.

How adorable is that?  I only helped by giving him the empty box, and he did the rest.

Luring the bugs in with other bug friends...

Ladybugs...

Bumble bees...

Lightning bugs?

And inside the box, a spider.  I helped him cut out the circles and the legs, but Jack did the gluing and that fancy design on its body.

Then I came downstairs yesterday to find my little man making a knight helmet.

And so, I'm thankful for the creative little boy that is all ours:)

I'm also thankful for longtime friends.  I had lunch with my friend Jeannette today, and we had a great time catching up at Burger King while Jack and Hannah chased each other through the tunnels.  It's nice to sit and talk to another adult and catch up on our jobs and families.  I miss working with her, and so it was good to see her again.

I'm thankful for this little boy (below), who has stolen my heart.  And for his Momma, who has stepped into this role with nothing but grace.

I'm thankful for Hannah's big, blue eyes.  Seriously, they make me swoon.

I'm seriously a happy girl.

In my head...

Last Thursday, we spent time with this guy and his mama:

 {This is what happens when you try to take a picture of three kids under the age of five.  I cannot explain what my children are doing in these pictures.  Not at all.}

The boys did an art project that I found on Pinterest and their Frankensteins came out so cute!

*****

Having children has changed the way I watch TV.  I get teary-eyed at commercials of baby girls waking up with messy hair (Oh.my.word!  Have you seen it?).  News stories about kids who became heroes by calling 911 when something horrible happened make me wonder...  I can't watch TV shows where children go missing without getting a lump in my throat...  I don't like movies where to get to someone, they threaten the safety of that someone's children - I literally have to leave the room.  These things come out of nowhere - and take my breath away.  And not in a good way.

*****

For that matter - I don't listen to the radio the same way either.  Music about little ones and kids growing up too quickly...makes me a weepy mess.  Cried my way to work this morning, actually.  Anyone familiar with "You're Gonna Miss This?" by Trace Adkins.  That was all it took.  Suddenly I feel like kindergarten starts tomorrow and before I know it, we're dropping Hannah off at college.

*****

For the past two days, Jack has left Skinny Bear at home, and taken Baby Panda to school.  When I asked him why, he said, "Mama, Skinny Bear hibernates when the leaves change color."  Oh.  I see.  

*****

Hannah Bear came up and hugged my leg this evening.  I was checking the weather on my phone inbetween doing the dishes after dinner, and before I know it, these tiny little arms wrapped around my leg and squeezed.  Made my night, and I let her know it, too.  I scooped her up and gave her tons of kisses and said, "I love you."  And she?  She repeated back three little syllables.  She loves me too!

*****

I can wear jeans to work tomorrow.  I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me.

*****

Hannah apparently loves donuts.  Her teachers were kind enough to share their breakfast with her, and she just couldn't get enough.  You should have seen how excited she was when they sent her home with a donut this afternoon - she couldn't eat it fast enough.

Happy Birthday, Friend!

We just wanted to say Happy Birthday to a very special friend!

I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday and now - YOU'RE THREE!!!

You are such a good friend to both Jack and Hannah.  You have the biggest heart and are so good at sharing:)  You love Hannah just as much as you adore Jack (maybe even a tiny bit more!).  I'm so lucky to get to watch you grow and change, and I'm so happy that you and my little lovelies are close.  I hope it stays that way forever!

We love you!  Happy Birthday!

Boycott?

So...

let it be known that when it comes to concerts with Kimmee, we don't have the best luck.

Let me quickly get you caught up to speed:

• We saw Gavin DeGraw with Julie and it rained and we had to huddle under a tiny awning with lots of people.
• We saw The Pussycat Dolls and The Black Eyed Peas, and it rained so hard that we had to change out of our clothes and into back-up clothes once we got back to my car, and overnight, my clothes molded.  I'm not talking about a drizzle - I'm talking about a downpour.
• We saw The Dave Matthews band on the hottest day of the year in 2010 and maybe you remember, but Kimmee's flip-flop broke and we NEVER stopped sweating the entire night.  The temps read 103 when we got out of the car.

So I'm not exactly sure, to be perfectly honest, how I talked her into venturing out again with me to see The Dave Matthews Band this year, but I did:)

And our adventure certainly did not disappoint.

Aside from the fact that I couldn't decide what to wear and was feeling too old to be going to concerts anymore, we were doing great (and running! on! time!) until we were in concert traffic and the temperature gauge on my car came on.  We were overheating - and quickly.

We moved out of concert traffic, pulled over, stopped the car, and called for back-up.  Our plan was to head to the nearest gas station for coolant.  We never made it there.  We tried, but Siri was confused and there wasn't a gas station close enough to keep the car from dying. 

We ended up back in concert traffic, but were able to pull off to the side literally second before the car cut off.  We were 1.9 miles from the concert.  Now what?

As thousands of concert-goes filed past, we sat on the side of the road while waiting for a tow-truck.  Kimmee was sure we were heading home.  I was sure we were getting to the concert.  We decided a tow-truck would come get the car, the driver would drop us off at the concert, and then Brad would come pick us up while my dad stayed with the sleeping babies.  I was bound and determined to make this mommy's night out happen.  One way, or another.

Turned out to be another.

The first tow-truck somehow got messed up, but our insurance called to assure us that another company was on the way.  They'd be there within the hour - uh oh, we're cutting it close to Dave coming on now, and I was starting to panic.  Not to mention we were being eaten alive by mosquitos but didn't want to wait in the car because it was smoking, smelled horrible, and might have blown up at any moment.  Or so we thought.  We finally decided we'd take our chances - the mosquitos were vicious.  Good thing I'd decided to wear jeans.

The tow-truck driver called and announced he was at the Hooters and he was looking in our direction.  "Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm no where near a Hooters!  I'm 1.9 miles from a Dave Matthews concert that starts any minute!!!"  

Turns out he was not in the right location.  The motorcycle cops who happened to drive by (for the second time) gave him directions and said he'd be there within 15 minutes.  We could wait 15 minutes.  I asked the cops if they had extra helmets we could use so they could drop us off.  That was a "no."

A few minutes later, the phone rings, and the insurance company informs me that the tow-truck driver decided it was too far and that he was no longer coming.  They were trying to locate another tow-truck driver to help us.  It wasn't easy, but about 20 minutes later they found one that was on its way.  I informed the company that the car would be unoccupied, we wrote a note on a napkin for the cops so they didn't tow the car, and we were off.  On foot.  For 1.9 miles.

As we got closer and it started to get dark, we could hear Dave playing.  So we ran.  Yes, we did.

{This is us, running.}

We jumped a fence (no sense in running around to the road since we didn't have a car), 

and made our way into the concert venue, tickets in hand.  Finally.  And it seemed as though Dave wasn't playing.  In fact, everyone was out and about, getting food, and chatting.  We! made! it!  We were so excited.  We grabbed some food and found our seats just as he started to play.

During a song neither of us recognized, we decided to go get another snack, when we heard a vendor yell out, "Last call for alcohol!"  The alcohol part didn't matter because neither of us were drinking, but how was this possible?  We'd only been there for 45 minutes!

I'll tell you how it's possible.  We arrived during intermission.  

It's okay.  Really.  I took a deep breath, and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the concert.  We still had an hour to go and heard lots of great music...some of which I'd never heard them play live before.  It was a good time.

When the concert ended, we gave Brad a call, and he was already on his way towards us.  We began to walk, planning to meet him on a road about a 1/2 mile away.  Key word: planning.

That road was closed to incoming traffic.  What this basically means is that Kimmee and I had to run 1.9 miles, in the dark, to get to Brad.  We called him on Kimmee's cell phone, and for safety reasons, kept him on the phone as we made our way to him.  He had to listen to us huff and puff and laugh for 1.9 miles.  I'm sure it was amusing.  For him - not for us.  

I was sweaty and hot - running 1.9 miles isn't easy when you don't run.  Too bad I decided to wear jeans.  But we made it - safely and soundly!  We had fun:)

So...will we boycott concerts in the future?  We probably should.

But something tells me when Dave tickets go on sale next year, we'll be in line:)

Happy Birthday, Dear Friend

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, Dear Kimmee!

Happy Birthday to you!

We hope your birthday was everything you hoped it would be, and more.  And since you finally got the macaroni necklace you've been dying for, my guess is that it was:)

Thankful Thursday

I realize that it's actually Friday, and I was going to blog this last night, but unfortunately even if I'd held my eyelids open with toothpicks, I still would've fallen asleep.  Yes, I was that tired.  Why do you ask?  Well, Brad traveled for work this week and I had our little lovelies for (ohmygoodness, only) two nights, but it felt like a lot longer.  Anyway, it was the first time in a long time that he traveled, the first time since Jack's been able to comprehend the fact that he's gone, and the first time since Miss Hannah joined our lives.  Sheer craziness, I tell you.

So today, I actually have a lot to be thankful for:

* I am thankful for my husband.  I take for granted all that he does around here, and it becomes very obvious what all that is when he's not here.  We were so excited to see his face when he came home last night before swimming.  Oh, so excited:)

* I am thankful for my in-laws.  Not only do they adoringly watch our baby girl every day when I go to work (just like they did with Baby Jack), but this week, they warmly welcomed Jack and Hannah at 6:30 in the morning (such sleepy, hungry, need a new diaper, well one of them, children) when I had to train teachers on a day when Brad was out of town and couldn't help out with drop off.  I love you both, and I am so glad that our babies get to spend so much time with you.  I know it is hard to watch a baby all day, every day, and I just want you to know how much I really do appreciate all of your help.  I never have to worry about our little lovelies when I drop them off.  It is a priceless gift each and every day.

* I am thankful for my mom.  Each Wednesday afternoon she picks Jack-Jack up from school so that this Momma can have some one-on-one time with my baby girl and a much more relaxing evening than I would have had otherwise.  I actually get some stuff done on Wednesday evenings, and it's really rather nice.  This past Wednesday, I treated myself to a massage, in fact, because she also agreed to watch Hannah for a bit.  I am very lucky to have so much extra help and family that love my babies as much as I do living so close to us.  Not everyone is so lucky, and I get it.  I love you - thank you for giving up one of your relaxing weeknights each week to play with Jack!  I know he's busy-busy after school, and sometimes rather clingy, but he loves going to Grammy's to play:)

* I am thankful for writing workshop training sessions.  I love writing workshop.  Love it.  Capital L.  If I could go back to the primary classroom and only teach writing, or really the whole language arts block, I'd do it.  Writing is just my favorite, and I love that training day with teachers.  I love browsing through children's books I've heard about through various conferences with teachers and showing them how to look at all those beautiful pages through the eyes of a writer.  I just find it to be a very powerful day, and I'm glad I get to be a part of writing workshop in classrooms even though I don't have my own classroom anymore.

* I am thankful for Kimmee.  Last night, as I sat at my kitchen table and finished up dinner with Channing and Brad (Jack and Hannah had long since finished), I watched as Kimmee cleaned our kitchen and unloaded and loaded our dishwasher.  I know that sounds horrible, but it really was amazing.  I don't always love to ask for help or let people help all the time, but the truth is I always need help.  So as weird as it was to sit there while my best friend straightened up after a play date and dinner at our house, I just took a deep breath, relinquished control, and allowed it.  And it was nice.  It wasn't until Kimmee and Channing left and we were rushing to swimming at 7:15 that I realized what a huge sacrifice it was for Kimmee to stay and help us get ready for swimming.  Kimmee and Channing are usually heading upstairs at 6:45 to get ready for a bath and bedtime.  And I know this because Kimmee is very scheduled at home and every night runs exactly the same.  She was 1/2 an hour behind schedule and Channing had to be bathed and in bed in 45 minutes.  I know that Channing was still in bed by 8 because that's how Kimmee is.  She's wonder-woman.  I don't know how she does it.  My kids haven't bathed in days (does the pool count?) because I couldn't figure out how to do that without Brad.  But somehow Kimmee managed to bathe Channing and get him to bed on time even though she gave up her schedule a bit to help a friend in need.  Which I'm sure wasn't easy, and I didn't even see her glance at a clock.  Not once.  So thank you - I love you.  I know how you are with your schedule, and I really did appreciate all of your help:)

I am a lucky girl.  And I know it.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 3

Today I'm thankful for good friends, clean bedrooms, online shopping, and videos on demand.

To celebrate my birthday a little early, Hannah and I had lunch with my friend Julie and her sweet baby, Kate.  Kate is exactly three weeks younger than Hannah, and Julie and I can't wait until our girls can play together.  Today they just kind of looked on at one another and listened to one another squeal and cry during lunch.  We enjoyed great salads and cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and Julie got me the most beautiful infinity scarf from The Loft (and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thankful for ALL of those things!).

When I got home, we cleaned the kids' bedrooms and changed their bedding and because I'm a dork, I absolutely love the feeling of clean bedrooms and new sheets.

Thanks to online shopping, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, and I feel like I just started.

And as to video on demand...let's just say that someone is very excited to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1.  That person shall remain nameless.  In order to do so, said person must first catch up by watching The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, video on demand.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kimmee!

Kimmee and I have known each other now for eight years, but it seems like we've known each other forever.  When I got my first teaching job, our students shared a bathroom that was housed between our two classrooms, and Kimmee and I immediately hit it off.  We found we had a lot in common, in some ways were polar opposites, and our personalities just clicked.  We'd sometimes show up to work dressed similarly; very often we'd find that we'd made some of the same purchases.  Students and parents alike asked us if we were sisters.  We never run out of things to talk about.  In the past eight years, each of us has gotten married, had babies, changed jobs...through it all, we've been there for one another.

Kimmee - I'm so lucky to have met you and to have you in my life.  Your friendship is very special to me, and I'm so glad that even though our lives have changed so much since we first met, we're still able to keep our friendship strong.  I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Future College Roommates? Perhaps.

Peeking out of Madison and Cooper's playground

Last Saturday we headed down to the Rappahannock River to celebrate a very special birthday.  Brad's best friends from college, Drew and Lindsay, have a son who is a month older than Jack.  Cooper was having a 3rd birthday party - a dinosaur party, and we couldn't wait to see Jack and Cooper play together.

Scoping out the pinata with Daddy

Lindsay did a super job planning the party - I was very impressed.  The kids were occupied for two straight hours with nothing but dinosaur-driven activities: digging for dinosaurs, hunting for dinosaur eggs, a dinosaur adoption, a dinosaur coloring station, dinosaur fruit snacks and chicken nuggets...it was simply amazing.  Jack thoroughly enjoyed himself!

In fact, here he is taking his very first swing at a pinata - a dinosaur pinata to be exact.

Scooping up some candy...even though he doesn't like to eat any of it!

The birthday boy and his dinosaur ice cream cake - so yummy:)

Uncle Drew, Cooper, and Jack playing with birthday toys after opening presents.

It was so fun to see Drew, Lindsay, Madison, and Cooper.  On the way home, Brad and I were talking about how much we miss hanging out with them.  We'll have to make it a point to see each other more often...we'd love for our kids to be close friends growing up.  

Who knows?  Maybe one day, Jack and Cooper will be roommates at JMU just like their daddies:)

SoccerTots

Lately, Jack has been doing pretty well at SoccerTots.  When we first started, I wasn't quite sure that soccer would be something Jack would enjoy.  However, this is our second season, and I think Jack's skills have greatly improved.  In fact, within a few weeks, he'll move from the Teddies to the Koalas - a class that is not parent-participation!  Daddy and I will be able to watch and cheer our little man on from the "sidelines."  How cute that will be...

Working on his warm-up skills

"1, 2, 3, Go...SoccerTots!"

Helping Coach Len with the noodles

Running along with his BFF, Channing

Ice cream cones to the coach

These pictures were taken last Saturday, but this morning, I was incredibly impressed because Jack's "tick-tock" skills are getting pretty sharp.  He was able to tick-tock (dribble slowly all the way down the gym) and score a goal - three times, in fact!  He also did really well during a hoop game where I spin a hula hoop, and he has to chase it down and jump through it while it's still moving.  He made it every time!  I'm not quite sure what that has to do with soccer skills, but I'm hoping it's exercising his speed and agility:)

Another Year of Fabulous

On Saturday, my best friend's planned a special girl's day out in honor of my 30th birthday!  It was so fun, although I have to admit, I was a little nervous because it was a surprise.  All Kimmee shared with me was that I couldn't wear any makeup, I was supposed to wear my hair down, and I may want to wear pink or black.  To say the least, I was a little stressed, and Kimmee had said that I was not getting a makeover, and I couldn't think of any other way to get makeup on my face!  Then I found out that we were going to Reston Town Center which I was very excited about it because it's always decorated so nicely for the holidays.  I started thinking maybe she'd pick me up and she was going to do my makeup and hair at her house before we went out.  I could deal with that...no problem.

Except when she picked me up it was clear we were going straight to the Town Center, without my makeup.  And when we arrived, both Kimmee and Julie were looking super-cute.  They asked me to open my presents as we were standing close to the ice rink, and inside the bag I found a fuzzy pink and silver tiara, a hot pink ring, and a banner that read, "Another Year of Fabulous."  As I was dying of shock and embarrassment, my two best friends donned themselves with matching pink tiaras:)  Next, I opened a gift card to Sephora, and that's when I found out that I was having a makeup consultation, so that not only was I going to get my makeup done, but someone was going to teach me how to do it, and then I could do a little makeup shopping:)  What an awesome gift!

{pre makeup, in all the pink add-ons}

We rushed to Sephora, and I had a chance to put my hair half-up and put on my tiara.  Then I put on my beads (oh yes, I forgot to mention, we were also wearing hot-pink metallic beads), my ring, and my banner, and sat down to have my makeup consultation.  The makeup artist did a really great job, and while I did have to adamantly admit that the first lip color would just not do, she quickly found something that was much more suitable for me.  The eyes were a little more intense than I would normally wear, but they did look really good.  And I got some new makeup:)  It was so fun, and hopefully, now my makeup will look better when I do it myself since she gave me some really great tips.  One fun fact I learned was that I was actually applying my eyeshadow with a blending brush rather than an eyeshadow brush.  Nice.

{some intense eyeshadow application}

Then we were off to a fabulous lunch at Uncle Julio's which was wonderful.  My Sprite was served in a hot-pink martini glass (you know - the one Jack wanted his milk in?).  I ate everything on my plate of enchiladas not to mention most of the sopapillas they brought as a complimentary birthday dessert.  It was soooooo good - I love Mexican food:)

After that Kim and Julie whisked me away for manicures, and it was so nice to be pampered and to have so much time to chat and catch up since we don't get to get together that often.  My nails look so nice, and I couldn't wait to show them off at work!

Finally, we went to a really cute little cupcake shop where I was able to get a free cupcake for my birthday (compliments of the owner).  The stipulation was we had to have our picture taken (in all of our hot-pink glory) by the lady who rang us up, and then she had to email it to the owner.

It was a perfect day, and it was so thoughtful and sweet.  Every second was filled with the things I love:)  Kimmee and Julie know me too well - 7 1/2 years now.  Time flies...

Girls - you are wonderful, and you made me feel so special.  I love having you as my best friends, and that we can share all the ups and downs of our lives together.  What would I ever do without you?  Thank you so much!!!!

{post makeovers}