Jack-in-a-blog

Halloween 2011

2011-12-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

Jack Myers decided to be a Braves player for Halloween. After last year, I declared Jack was going to be able to be anything we had in this house. And the boy has quite a few costume bags!

The kid's mom dressed up as a friendly witch, too!

Daddy worked really hard on our scary Jack-O-lantern, too!

This was my set up for the evening... I had some scary music blaring from the windows and a little glass of wine behind the table, too!

These two rascals palled around together throughout the night. So did their Daddys!

Happy Halloween! Many many many treats were given to the boy!

Halloween Parade

2011-12-15T21:16:00.000-05:00

See my little army man parading around the upstairs of the gym?!

He is right next to the column in the middle of the next picture.

Jack is just right of the middle of the next shot giving someone five!

Here Jack's class enters the floor!

Library Helper

2011-12-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

I just love the library at Jack's school. He gets to be in this one for Pre-K and Kindergarten. The librarian is a trip!

Each week a different parent from the class gets to get in the library, shelve books, help with the activity, and check out books. Can we say HEAVEN for me!?!?

As each class comes in, they see if there is a queen or a king hanging outside the door. That dictates who gets to sit on the window sets! The kings got it this go round!

It is really something to be able to see what all the kids check out. They each get two books. The boys totally pick out non fiction and the girls pick out storybooks! Oh, to read something other than Arachnids, Big Cats, Platapus', or Firetrucks...

Homecoming

2011-12-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

Jack's school's Homecoming was cute. It was our first experience with Sports there and I don't think we really gave it much attention!

I thought we were going to watch the football game and then the half time homecoming announcment, but really it was a mess of running around, playing, tackling, throwing the football, and having a riot! Jack loved each and every minute of it!

The Chick-fil-A picture above is for Mena and Pappap. Jack and they always yell 'Eat more chicken' to each other.

Yikes. Then they had the pep band come out to play the Star Spangled Banner.

In the next picture, you can see Jack inthe bottom right hand corner. He LOVED this part of the evening!

And Joey T, the school mascot.

Jack's PE teacher asked him and one of his friends to throw out footballs during one time of the evening. They were beyond thrilled to do the honor.

Up close with Joey T.

We even took a little moment to go see our babysitter. She got Jack over the fence!

If one mom went for drinks, the other went for snacks, and the next went for Blow Pops. You take care of them all at football games!

And just for fun, the below centered guy is the Senior Advisor at the school. He is also a friend of mine from high school and college!

Bad Mom

2011-12-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

That is right.

That Bad Mom is me.

And I am totally feeling it.

Today Jack earned 50 points for saying Yes Sirs and Yes Ma'ams. He was then able to choose ANYTHING he wanted to do. ANYTHING. The other day when he realized how close he was to earning it, he wanted to go to the local bounce house and just shoot the air balls. That was it. Pretty cute, I thought, for being able to do ANYTHING.

I was at the Hobby Lobby making some Christmas stuff returns and I get a call when I am at the check out going through three different transactions worth of those returns and it is Jason telling me that Jack has earned his 50 and he would like to tell me what he would like to do.

The sweet baby's voice gets on the phone and tells me he would like to cuddle and watch a movie together tonight.

I just paused in typing.

I am still just so upset with the way I handled tonight.

I had yet to go to Old Navy to exchange a pair of blue jeans for him. I got the dark pair, and heaven for bid I put him in a dark pair. No luck. The only ones they had were 'aggresive wash' in the boot cut 6 slim that fit him perfectly right now. By the way, 'aggresive wash' is the look where you buy the jeans and they already have holes in them and they look about 28 years old. No thanks. I told the lady we weren't the 'aggresive' type.

I then had to go by the grocery store to pick up dog food and dinner for tonight, I chose sloppy joes. I chose sloppy joes because I just went and volunteered at Children's today and did a few different crafts for kids who were at the hospital. One boy who went to the doctor on Friday due to a headache ended up going in on Monday to have a brain tumor tumor removed. They have yet to find out if it is benign. He had surgery that day and was up and moving and decorating snowmen and snowflakes today. He also wanted his mom to call her best friend to make him 'homemade sloppy joes and bring them to him.'

I got home and unloaded everything. I unloaded the eight new red baskets for our pantry that is exploding at the scenes I had planned to organize tonight, and I did, as I made those sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese. It looks good. I even have signs made out of black paper with white pen identifying what is in each basket.

We all ate. Jack ate hardly a bit. He has been home from school this whole week. Monday I took him to the doctor because his throat was hurting so badly from coughing. It was the beginning of ear infections. Tuesday he was burning up and has maintained a 101.5 temp this whole time. He is fever free now and probably needs to go back to school tomorrow for his Christmas party, but I want to keep him home.

Probably only to get distracted by more things.

I then had to get in the office and place some pretty serious orders, you know, because the customer just HAS to have a confirmation back tomorrow about descriptions matching serial numbers. I swear it is important, for this is our way of making a living, but I put that before my boy tonight, too.

I am putting so much before him these days, hence the blog.

Today at school they had pajama day and they were doing something with Polar Express. I had a whole wonderful plan to do something special here for the two of us today. Then we woke up and I had to pick the entire house up in preparation for the gal who helps me clean and then I had to square around some details with the Myers extended family about the Christmas celebration here on Sunday.

Polar Express didn't happen. Pajama day did, but only until I had to get in the shower to get ready to go.

Cuddling and a movie didn't happen either.

In fact, Jack did all he could to stay awake with his dad on the couch while I was in the office, working and talking on the phone with two friends.

Jason carried him up, I thought to our room, but by the time I finished everything, he was already in his own bed sound asleep, snoring, with his thumb in his mouth. I smooched him all over and told him how much I loved him and he just snored louder.

I am going to bed with a heavy heart tonight.

Actually it may be suffocating.

Balance is really hard sometimes.

Really hard.

I will just go to bed now wondering why I made the choices I did today.

I know deep down Jack would never in a million years doubt my love for him, but he is so much like me that I just know it is those little, special things that mean the world to him.

And I failed him.

The boy is still here

2011-11-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

He is. And there are SO many pictures on my computer to prove it.

We have been busy, we have been having fun, we have been going nuts, we have been getting sick (like pukes kind of sick), we have finished (yet still practicing!!) baseball, we have started basketball, we are LOVING school, we have been disciplining, we have been loving, we have been cuddling, and we have been HERE.

The mother, on the other hand, has been a bit distracted.

But here is Jack.

The big, great, reading, writing, adding, subtracting, arting, you name it Kindergartner.

And he totally wants to go.

Which is beautiful!

We get Friday Folders packed with stuff he did in class, we get art projects home, there are activities he does in the library, homework packs, homework games, 'tests', and though at first it was quite overwhelming, we are in a rhythm and routine now and it works. A brand new pencil sharpener helps, too. The one we had worked, but the new red one with the razer on the top really does the trick!

By the way, my Jack writes and draws ALL the time now! So sweet.

The picture above shows the boy in a button down shirt. He calls them boring. He tells his mother he doesn't want to wear them anymore. Please do note, he is still wearing them!

He is still here, we are still capturing every bit we can. I look forward to sharing everything...slowly but surely!

Jersey Day

2011-10-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

Jersey Day brought the request for Mother to walk Jack into school. Sure! Jack said he had some things to show me in his classroom...like the tooth chart. I never saw it, by the way.

As I snapped a few shots in the hallway, one of Jack's buds stopped for some camera action, too! Love it!

Look who else was wearing a Braves jersey, too!! She had Brian McCann's on! Jack's teacher giggled when she saw Jack's was MYERS 4.

I then got some art shots as they were displayed out in the hallway...

I assume this is a little splatter paint action.

Jack's pumpkin he decorated is in the patch here...

I honestly loved that his didn't look too out of place. You can see him pointing to it. It is the one with the black circle eyes, black circle nose, and black circles making up the mouth. There isn't one of his master pieces complete without some glitter glue, either!

Jack wrote about his scarecrow...My scarecrow is nice because he makes friends with the animals.

And that was that. He went in. His sweet teacher encouraged him to come out and say goodbye. He did. And agian, he was off and busy!

Pajama Day!

2011-10-11T07:24:00.000-04:00

And this is how we roll!!! Jamas that don't match. Today is a PE day at school, so he had to wear tennis shoes, but all we did was switch from one tshirt to another, add some comfy pants, switch a robe for a jacket, and run a brush through already perfected pajama hair!

Today is also end of the quarter, so the entire school gets out half day. Jack is going home with Joey. Will is also going to be there. Boys playing boy things in pajamas - how funny!

***Keep your fingers crossed our ball field dries out today...we are supposed to have a game!!

Captain Jack goes to Kindergarten

2011-10-10T07:36:00.000-04:00

This week begins Homecoming Week at Jack's school and to kick off Spirit week, the kids could go to school dressed like a King or Queen or a Pirate. Oh, I would love to be able to go in and see all these babes dressed up. How great is it that the school even includes the littles?!

Family Playdate

2011-10-10T07:31:00.000-04:00

Oh, the best medicine for a girl anyday! After a not so great week, my girls 'rsvp-ed' for me to attend a low key get together at Kari's. The men watched UGA football, the little men played Wii, catch, tag, you name it, and the girls played birthday party, talking, and just sharing families together. Em and Kari, you were so right with our playdate.

The big boys loving the little boy.

The little boy loving the big boys.

Us loving all the boys!! Um. Precious!

All we needed to add were two little girls who were up in Nashville to the mix. Then it would have been true perfection!

Thank you Thank you Thank you a million times over!!

Morning

2011-10-06T06:41:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of the school year, mornings were TERRIBLE. I mean it. I would get Jack up at 6:30, we would get him dressed, wash hands, make bed, eat breakfast, and out the door at 7:15. Oh, it was TERRIBLE.

Jack didn't want to go to school, all of our moods were poor at the beginning of each day, and this Mother changed it.

Jack now gets up around 6:00 (!! early !!) and it has made all the difference in the world. I go in and snuggle with him, the first words he hears after a morning smooch are I love you. I ask him if he had sweet dreams, sometimes he remembers them, sometimes he doesn't, and sometimes I think he just makes some up! Jack then, 75% still asleep, picks out two babies to take downstairs and I carry him. My five and a half year old reverts back to the 'olden days' and I am eating it up. He rests that big 'ole head on my shoulder, the babies are around my neck as he is squeezing tightly, and I have my arms wrapped all the way around him so I make sure I don't drop the kid going down the stairs! I put him on the couch, wrap him up with a blanket, turn on the tv, and he sets up those babies, every single morning, to watch with him!

If I have learned, being the 'hard' way it was, my boy likes to wake up slowly...and I completely understand. I have to set the alarm to wake up even earlier, so I can have my coffee in peace before everyone else moves about me (except for Niki, she comes down with me, lays on her rug, and expects an extended rub down with no interruptions!).

Jack sips his orange juice, watches Word World and a bit of Wild Kratts (currently probably his absolute favorite show), we pause it, go upstairs to get dressed, wash hands, fix hair, and make the bed, go back down to eat and finish Wild Kratts, he then goes back upstairs to brush his teeth and Jack and his Daddy are out the door. Yes. Jason takes Jack to school every morning and I pick Jack up. Isn't that funny?!

That is our morning routine, Monday through Friday, and now it works.

....except for when Jack has gone to bed late the night before. But that is for another post. We go back to things being TERRIBLE!

Myers #4

2011-10-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

I somehow missed this one earlier.

Jack looks so much older to me these days.

My baseball stud.

Horse Farm

2011-10-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

The Friday before Kindergarten started (I am so behind on this, yes...), DeeDee and Papa took Jack to DeeDee's friend's horse farm. Jack L.O.V.E.D. it!

(Now, everytime we go to Fabric and Fringe, we have to go into the Man Hang Out room, and touch the saddle they have in there!)

So sweet.

There were also some bonus 'animals' to check out, but Jack did make a point to tell me that the crane in the bottom right-hand corner is just pretend. So, please know, it wasn't real!

What a very special experience to have. Thank you so much DeeDee, Papa, Carolyn, and Charles!!

Jack's Music Class

2011-10-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

We were invited by Jack's Music Teacher to go to one of his classes. Last year I nearly missed it (totally looked at my calendar at the last minute) and after being over the top impressed by the class last year, made sure that Jason and I both were able to go.

This is what was on the bulletin board outside his classroom. So sweet.

This is the holding area until they are properly welcomed to Music...

Each child is sung to to be invited to sit down. Do you think they like that?!?

The kids LOVED having their parents there!

Please note: Jack's hand motions and such are more in sinc with what is to be going on this year!

Quickly, each row goes up to switch around the heart 'notes' and the whole class then plays the beats and rests. Awesome.

I just love how happy he is here.

Express

2011-10-04T08:53:00.000-04:00

Our Fall Ball Express team is special. We are loving every single minute of it. Our whole family is, actually.

Get ready for some baseball picture overload!!!

In the next picture, can you notice who else is on the field for every game besides Jack and his teammates??

Yep! Pappap has been videoing each game and submitting 'film' to everyone!! How awesome!

Check out this next play between Jack and Carter...

OUT!

Our coaching "staff" is beyond awesome. The plays are just getting better and better. All the boys are imporving by leaps and bounds.

As we all like to cheer - THE EXPRESS IS COMIN' FOR YA!

9-11

2011-10-04T08:07:00.001-04:00

This year, 9-11 fell on a Sunday. I was glued to the television all over again. I was just overwhelmed by the new memorial. Beautiful. Simply amazing. What got me were the kids that never really knew their parent(s). I just continued looking at my Jack that whole morning. A boy without his mother. Terrible thoughts invaded my mind.

Jack's school all gathered Monday morning in the gym for the Pledge of Allegiance, National Songs, and a Moment of Silence. They were all asked to wear red, white, and blue.

Kennesaw Mountain had an overwhelming display in remembrance of those who lost their life during that tragic day. After school, Jack and I stopped by to look for ourselves.

A lot has happened in the past ten years. I vividly remember sitting with my first little angels of a class in a reading group. Now I have this one little guy and 'protection' doesn't seem like enough sometimes.

Crab

2011-10-04T07:54:00.000-04:00

This is the crab Jack painted yesterday.

After school, I had a dentist appointment with DeeDee and, of course, Jack was there - all hands on deck! The water sprayer and 'Mr. Thirsty' probably spent more time in Jack's mouth than mine. And I was the only one having my teeth cleaned this time! HA! We then went to get Jack's hair cut. Finally, poor thing.

When we got home, all he wanted to do was paint.

Okay. Random, but great! He went upstairs to get the water colors, I got the bowl with water and a thick piece of paper and the kid went at it. Honestly, he probably sat there, focused and serious for well over a half hour.

His crab came from it.

I am going to go ahead and get it out there. I didn't see it. Not one bit. This morning it actually came to me. I am going to help you out, for I am really hoping that Jack's Mother isn't the only one having difficulty!!

The rest of the colors is the underwater-scape! Corals of all colors were included.

He continues to surprise me everyday...

Man!

2011-09-27T18:44:00.000-04:00

Pushing the PUBLISH button just felt so good.

It has been TOO long.

Poor Dave has been 60 for a month, we have been working, shipping, painting, decorating, going to school, playing baseball, doing homework, playing, etc and time has slipped by.

There are lots of pictures to share.

Guys' Night

2011-09-27T18:41:00.002-04:00

My boys left. They went out for a night on the town. They went on what I have been thinking of as a 'double date.' I am just grinning thinking about how much fun they are going to have.

Jack and his Daddy were invited by his teammate/neighbor/friend, Carter, and his Daddy (who is Jack Jack's coach this fall) to head to BRAVES COUNTRY!

We didn't tell Jack until yesterday. He didn't find out who he was going with until this morning. After a good day at school, a two hour nap, dressing his part as he does, Jack stood at the front door windows for thirty minutes waiting on them to get here. He was SO excited.

Carter came running to the door and it was so sweet from that moment on...

Jack gave Carter a baseball bracelet like his to say 'Thanks for taking me to the game," and Carter's reaction was so genuine, THANK YOU, JACK!

And they were off.

I think they are so ready for this game tonight. HA!

PS...Jason is supposed to email me a picture from the ball park...stay tuned!

****** This just in!!!

PPS... This is the message I emailed to Jack's coach this morning:

At Jack’s school, they can’t take in one of their favorite things or anything like that for Show and Tell. It is always something that has to do with what they are studying and right now in Social Studies, they are learning about time lines. Attached is Jack’s time line. He was instructed to include a baby picture, one from being a toddler and a current picture. Jack and I sat down at the computer and went through files of pictures for him to choose from each period. Please know how many pictures we honestly have. His mother totally didn’t make the cut. I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall and hear what he shares….

Thanks for making a big impact on Jack already!!
Stephanie

This is the attachment:

And this just sums up what an incredible man Coach Phillip is:

Wow, so honored!! Not that your son could move up any further in my book, but if there was ever a doubt - he is my favorite ballplayer on the team outside of Carter!! I must say, I wish I could be at the Show and Tell as well!

Please tell him that Coach is SO proud and that it made my day!! Look forward to hanging out with him tonight as well - should be fun!

Awesome.

Dave is 60

2011-09-06T06:36:00.000-04:00

We had full intentions (and plane tickets) to go to Daytona for Pappap's 60th birthday. With the hurricane making its way towards the Atlantic side of Florida, we decided to have the Pappap Bus make its way back up to Atlanta and we could change our tickets! Daytona didn't get hit by the storm, thankfully, they did have a day and night, I believe, with lots of rain, but our Coon/Myers family was safe and that is what was ultimately most important...

Plus, we vacationed at Mena's Big House instead!

After school on Thursday, Mena picked Jack up and took him back to her place. I was able to go to Parent's Night at Jack's school, so that was a bonus. I headed over to my parents after the meeting and our vacation started then! Yes, I kept Jack out of school Friday...which beats the half Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday he was going to be out for our planned trip!

We all woke up Friday for Pappap's birthday and the fun began. If there is one day a year my dad does not like, it is his birthday, crazy, huh?! Needless to say, there was no big deal made out of it. He got a haircut. He took a little nap. We did some grocery shopping, for Dave wanted dinner in. Terry and Cathy came over to join all of us and that was it.

My Dad turned 60 off the radar to nearly everyone.

(Maybe in this new decade, however, he will learn to smile for the camera with his eyes open!!! HA!)

There are three people in my Dad's life who do love a birthday celebration - ME, his WIFE, and his GRANDSON! There was going to have to be a candle and a song, no doubt.

Dave handled it quite well, I will have to say.

Sixty. With many, MANY more to go in not only those sixties Dad, but the seventies, eighties, and beyond...no matter how grumpy you may get, we will still celebrate and love you and your birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday.

EARLY

2011-09-06T06:15:00.000-04:00

5:55 this morning I hear, Mom-mie, Wake me uuu-up!

Our thing this year is I ask him every night, 'Do you want me to wake you up so you can watch a little TV?' It has SO helped our morning routine, therefore helping Jack-man's attitude going to school!

He must have heard my coffee pot and layed up in bed waiting for me. He got tired of waiting I guess, but that morning snuggle time is so worth the call for me!

Upstairs Jack talked about Center 4 and that today was going to be a PE day, since it is a pattern, PE, PE, Moosic, PE, PE, Moosic...A A B, A A B. GREAT thinking, Jack!

Destin 2011 - Day 4

2011-09-05T08:25:00.000-04:00

We called it over.

It was pouring rain, it was so windy, and it was dark. Jason woke up to the rain and got everything off our porch. As we read the weather report, Jason had to say a few words to me for me to buy into the decision: flooding, tornado, and wind gusts.

We had full intentions of just staying down there Saturday and 'watching football all day.'

The packing began and we were out the door at ten to nine. Thankfully so, for once we got through the clouds and rain, we had a nice, easy drive home...including a bit of entertainment...

The kid finds and uses anything and turns it into something else.

It has been nice being home. There is something to say about being home, with nothing planned, nothing to do, just relaxing and laying low.

Destin 2011 - Day 3

2011-09-05T08:13:00.000-04:00

This ended up being our last day in Destin. Jack knew very well that we were going to be there for five, and he kept count very well, and when he found out it was going to be cut short, he was not pleased.

The seas were rough again, the storm brought us a rank smell, and a light breeze to keep us comfortable throughout the day.

The boy played in the sand and he swam in the pool. He got in the ocean, again, following the rules, to his knees and ended up getting another jelly fish sting. He handled it...I was actually asleep in my chair during it! Go Daddy for being the hero!

Camille's is where we headed for dinner. Jason and I tried it during our trip there over Memorial Day weekend and I fell in love with it. It is relaxed, I enjoy sitting on the covered patio, and the food is excellent. I think the whole Myers crew agreed when we were done. It was another lovely family dinner and we had all already started planning our next eating adventures...

Destin 2011 - Day 2

2011-09-05T07:49:00.000-04:00

Red Flag. Can't get in the ocean. The guy renting the chairs to us told Jack he could get his feet in and if he was careful, up to his knees. Jack then proceeded to tell all of us the same rules.

Basically, Jack's day at the beach was really no different than any other day at the beach for him. He doesn't actually like to submerge in the ocean, he likes to play games with it, chase it, run from it, collect shells from it, dig around it and such. What is awesome, is he can do it for hours.

Jack and I headed in for lunch and a nap...we had BEACH PICTURES for the first time at sunset! I wanted my boy to be rested and sweet and it worked! Due to the incoming of "Lee" looming, our photographer suggested we move our shoot up to 4:30 in the afternoon, especially since it was overcast and there would be no official sunset to capture. We also had a window with no rain. Absolutely.

We made it. We braved the wind, the major wind, and even more wind. We will just say our pictures this year will be a very natural, wind-blown look! She was so sweet to capture an 'after' shot for me, so I could see how the grays turned out.

Rather than the early breakfast we have everyone meet us for after our pictures, we all met for dinner. Again, it was a most wonderful dinner together.

We all enjoyed some BANG BANG, glow sticks, butter snatching, doodling, and tic tac toe, which in Jack's world, can be won not by a straight line, but diagonally, meaning, however he wishes! Sorry DeeDee!

Destin 2011 - Day 1

2011-09-05T07:14:00.000-04:00

Objective: Destination!

We had full intentions of Jack going to school half-day Wednesday for us to pick him up and hit the road around 11:30, until his cough seemed out of control. I made an appointment to see Dr. Dixon and he confirmed there was nothing to be concerned about, everything checked out, and we were good to go.

Daddy began the process of packing our precious cargo....

(And for those of you out there that may be a little wacko, this shot was taken in our garage, while we were literally packing, we all then sat in our proper seats, buckled up for safety for our travels.)

We made it to Destin in exactly six hours with a nap,

a movie, Harry Potter on tape, and plenty of family talks.

It was just as we remembered it...just a little feistier!

Once we arrived, we checked out our condo, Debbie, Max, and Marcus's condo and got ready to grab a bite to eat.

We headed to none other than Harbor Docks.

I wish I would have had my other lens on my camera, but Jack was in awe of this boat...there was a motorcycle strapped to the top of it!

The temperature was perfect, there was a light breeze, dinner was delicious, and the company couldn't have been any better!

The first night was a hit, more than we could have hoped for. We were all just exhausted from travel and had great ocean hopes for Day 2!

Kari's Wedding

2011-08-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

Dear Kari got married July 30th. We celebrated, we planned, we wrote, we talked, we stuffed, we shopped, we got ready for a wedding for nearly a year! The weekend of her big day, was no different. We all palled around with one another non-stop beginning Friday at 10:00 and ending after the wedding.

We did nails, we did lunch, we did wedding coordinater, we did rehersal, we did dinner, we did late night talks.

We stayed in a hotel room together, we did coffee and breakfast in bed, we did hair, we did make up, we did lunch, and we headed to the church.

We had a beautiful bride.

And my boy was able to share in watching his Kari walk down the aisle as a princess.

I love that I share my friends with him and I love more than anything they let let me and love him right back.

I love that Jack Myers wants to be a part of everthing no matter how small, or in this case, how big. I also love he likes to get all fancy, too!

It was the most perfect wedding, celebrating a very special couple, and a very best friend and her future.

And I just love having this sweet little momento on my refrigerator to look at everyday to remember what an incredible group of friends I have - and the love that is between all of us.

Fall Ball Begins

2011-08-22T09:04:00.001-04:00

HIT IT, RIP IT, KNOCK IT OUT, DRIIIIIVE IT, DRIIIIIIIVE IT!

That is only one of the cute little team cheers Team Express will be chanting this fall. You can already tell what a bonded little team they are!

Our first practice was Saturday and it was amazing.

Our coach this season has it 1000% together. Everything is organized and planned down to the minute, literally, and as he said at the conclusion of practice - 4:01, not too bad. Meaning, practice was to be over at 4:00! I love it!

The boys warmed up, they stretched, they ran. They did drills, they went after ground balls, they threw balls, they practiced catching pop flies, they hit off the tee, they hit in the cages while being coach-pitched. They aimed at a garbage can while throwing to practice accuracy with their throws, they ran bases, they looked at coaches, they learned a stop motion while approaching those bases, they also learned keep on moving while approaching those bases. The boys cheered for one another, they took turns, they kept their hands to themselves. I don't even think dirt was touched, unless a coach told them to. There are Yes, Sirs and there are only listen to your three coaches. There are parents you need to be quiet now and parents now you can cheer. There are clear objectives, there are clear plans, and there are clear expectations. There is perfect use of time, space, and people. It is, honestly, beyond perfection.

And it is this guy (the bigger one) who I just know will be a coach that we will never, ever forget. Already. He is amazing, he already knows how to channel talent, behavior, and interest. Incredible.

OH, YEAH, THE KENNESAW EXPRESS IS COMING AT YA! OH, YEAH!

Jason and I were both beyond pleased with our first practice and Jack's performance after being out of it for the summer, we decided an ice cream cone was in order.

I can hardly wait for practice #2 tomorrow night!!!! Jack can't either, for he was hoping we had another practice yesterday!

Fourth of July

2011-08-22T07:51:00.000-04:00

Going back in history...

Our little Myers, Party of 3, headed to the Marietta Square to celebrate the 4th of July this year. I don't require big cookouts, hamburgers, parades, or pools, I just REALLY need fireworks. Big Time. I have not seen a firework display on the 4th of July for over five years, Jack was just an infant, a baby, a tot, a little one with a bedtime, or a kid who just did not like loud noises at all. Over this past year, we have been able to sit on our front porch and watch a little firework display put on by the neighbors and of course, being in Disney, we loved them, but this year both Jack and I were totally ready.

So, like I said, we headed to the Marietta Square.

We parked in the parking lot of Jack's old preschool, for Jason thought it a perfect place to watch the fireworks light up the sky, I however, had in my head, that we would take a blanket and park our bottoms right on the road there on the Square. Nope. It didn't happen that way, and thankfully so!

After wandering around a bit and seeing all the street vendors, a terribly big, black cloud started making its way towards us. It was terrifying. People started packing up all of the things they brought to sell, their tents, cop cars started circling the square notifying people that a bad storm was heading our way. You can only imagine how this made me feel.

We headed into a restaurant to 'let it pass.' Fortunately we were seated immediately, and we were happy!

One police officer came into the restaurant, and Jason, very well knowing I was a wreck and realizing he left his iphone in the car, went to see what was really going on. After I snagged this pic, all three men laughed!

After dinner and after the downpour, we headed back to the car and dropped the tailgate. It was still raining, but the show went on. It was wonderful. It was perfect. We had Dippin Dots, Country Music going in sinc with everyone around us playing beautiful American songs, and a firework display that honestly, we couldn't have had any better view of.

Jack sat in awe of the entire show. He had no clue I was taking his picture here. He just sat in the back of the truck, with a grin, and those eyes casted towards the sky. Between each huge firework seemed to be a lightning bolt that crossed the sky. It was really something else.

Firework shows are never long enough, and we left that parking lot wishing for more and so looking forward to next year!

Kindergarten

2011-08-21T21:54:00.001-04:00

Here is the latest and greatest.

Jack does not want to go to school, no really (his words).

He has been in school for two weeks (minus one sick day) and already there is a negative feeling towards it.

Week 1 -

The first two days went beautifully, it was new, it was exciting, it was fun. I got updates on recess, lunch, the behavior clip situation. I was able to pry out more info regarding library, pe, and such with v.e.r.y. direct questions. By Wednesday and Thursday, the difficulty of waking up early and being shooshed out the door before you are ready, then returning home to no nap, a bit of play time, dinner, bath, and bedtime hit. Thursday afternoon brought that terrible temperature and bug.

Last weekend allowed for random projects and what we like to call 'lock ins.' Perhaps Jack and his Mother are home bodies?! Interesting thought.

Week 2 -

Monday Jack returned to school with out a tooth, to which he told the teachers and supposedly she 'didn't hear.' Tuesday he brought back up the fact that he lost his first tooth, she did hear, yet didn't have the correct marker to put it on the tooth chart. By the end of the week, Jack was able to write JM on the chart.

Monday night, the bomb dropped. Jack told me, I do not want to go to school, no, really. After I asked him why, he just told me it was hard. I laughed. Tuesday he said again he didn't want to go to school, that it was hard, but he also added that it was boring. I then asked Jack what he meant by, boring. He didn't have a way to explain that. Wednesday brought on that not only did he not want to go, Center 4 was too hard, he explained they had to do patterns. I encouraged him by reminding him how great he was at patterns. Thursday morning I actually walked Jack into class. He had a nasty cough, and though it sounded terrible, he had no fever or ear infection, so he should be fine. The assistant was fighting something similar and told me others in the class had it, too. Jack, so far, was the only one that had that stomach bug in the class. I discussed with her the upcoming absences Jack would have and I dropped a little something about how 'hard' Center 4 was. She giggled a little bit and said it actually changes every day and she was surprised he thought that. I left it at that. Thursday brought more ill feelings towards school and we got to the descriptive word of it was just long. Jack wants to be half day again. How I wish!!! Friday morning, I drove Jack to school (very rare) and I heard sniffles coming from the back seat. When I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw the bluest of eyes filled, ready to explode, with real, wet tears. His face was red.

Jack Myers honestly doesn't cry. Not about things like this, especially. He is so go with the flow.

Jason and I have had flags up, but this one got me terribly. It was all I could do to not go to meet him for lunch, and honestly, pick him up early. Boy would win, however. Bad choice! I do know this as a mother! Jason, on the other hand, is ready to march into that school and get to the bottom of it. He is ready to find out about bullying, teachers being mean, etc! We do have a meeting set up already on Wednesday morning to discuss our 'goals' this year. I feel good about discussing our issues then.

This weekend, the discussion has come up a few times Saturday, but today many talks about not going to school happened today. In Michaels, Jack started balling. I hugged and held him, reminded him that he was not going today and that it wasn't something he even needed to be thinking about right now. He told me his mind just couldn't stop. We got through it, but off and on, he would just start crying. So sad.

Tonight we had a little family dinner meeting. Jason explained to him that I had already shared how he cried today and didn't want to go to school. Jack retold Daddy about Center 4 and that Daddy broke down the day for Jack. They figured Jack was at school for seven hours. Jack told him Center 4 lasted for thirty minutes. Daddy suggested he do his absolute best and work really hard for that thirty minutes and he would have six and a half more hours of fun. Yes, sir, Jack said proudly and happily.

With that we handled the rest of the night just as normal - plus getting the tooth ready for the Tooth Fairy!!

Jason and I have thought it will probably be good to wake Jack up early - 6ish from the normal 6:30 time, to allow for a slower wake up time, orange juice on the couch, etc. We will see if that makes for a smoother experience. Jason does want to walk him in to class in the morning. I am planning on meeting him for lunch. Even if we have to wait for a month before going.

Jason is having a difficult time since his Jack's feelings are hurt and he can't fix it. Stephanie is having a difficult time because her boy is gone waaaaayyyyyy tooooooooo looonnnggggg each day and she has NO clue what is happening while he is gone. Jack is having a difficult time being away from home for so long each day and honestly, I think he is just exhausted. Our little world here on Whitekirk is a special one, though we may not do the fanciest of things every day or entertain Jack one thousand percent of the time, our life in these four walls is just safe, normal, and honestly pretty even. The three of us like it that way. As of now, however, each of our hearts are hurting.

Now there have been some things we have gotten from Jack that are funny:
Jack made two new friends during nap time. A boy and a girl.
Jack had to do some counting for his teacher and he did well, so she gave him a high five. She said she was proud of him.
Jack made a bee in Art.
Jack eats cold lunch every day - including Foot Chips (Cool Ranch Doritos)
Jack eats hot lunch on Wednesdays - cheese pizza!
Jack loves nap time on his towel. (He told me he does suck his thumb sometimes)
Katie (his girl from PreK, back when they decided they were going to get married) was holding hands with another boy in line, and Jack can't figure out why she was doing that.
In PE one day, they threw balls at each other made out of cotton balls, so Jack and I made some that day when he got home.
Jack loves doing writing in school and he is working on a class book for us right now!
The new Head Guy's name is JACK.
They have already had a birthday celebration in class, so instead of eating his snack, he at the cookie cake that she brought in!
Recess is the best - one boy had to sit out during recess because he didn't finish his center work.
Jack hasn't had to move his clip yet, but can report every day who has.

I am hoping for a Marvelous Monday, for sure!

Weekend Project Follow Up

2011-08-21T11:29:00.000-04:00

Before:

After:

And we are BOTH quite pleased if we don't say so ourselves!! Jack's big reveal was quite hilarious. Poor kid watches entirely too much HGTV with me. Once the dresser wall was complete, I pulled him in by his hand with my hand over his eyes to the other side of his bed. I turned him to face the wall, then counted and had him open his eyes. His mouth dropped, he got a huge smile, and fell into the bed! I just love his over reactions to things!

And here is the little tale about the things on the wall. Basically, I went to Hobby Lobby to see what kind of theme-y things they may have. I saw the ship wheel, honestly thought it to be a bit cheesy, but brought it home to just see. When I pulled it out of the bag, I told Jack we would just try it but I would probably have to return it. He about went nuts saying it was from a real pirate ship, when I insisted it came from Hobby Lobby, he said that is where they got it. Needless to say, the wheel was staying! They had the pretend boat weights and the little sail boat there, as well. I happened upon the 4 5 6 (Jack's birthday) rustic numbers, got the frame, and some net. The J was there (let me tell you how hard it is to find a J with the cross on the top, by the way, and that is the way Jack is learning to write his name...with that line at the top!), but it was gold, so I painted it. The lantern I found at an antique shop. The sand dollars are from a trip I went on several years ago. So happy and so complete.

Curtains are still to be modified, as are toss pillows, but this is the only before picture of in between the windows...

After: Clock that actually has numbers, so we can not only count by fives, but now do it around a clock, therefore telling time! On the shelf is Jack's jar of fossils he finds, plus a little jar now filled with the shells Jason and I got at Shell Beach the night he proposed, and the string is just stuff I had in my craft closet.

Again, now I just can't wait to update the tie part of the curtains to make it a little more masculine!

It is so funny how I waited nearly five and a half years to complete this!!

#2

2011-08-21T10:56:00.000-04:00

IS OUT!!!!

That bad boy, again, hung on until the very end.

So did its owner. This Jack lets it hang on BEYOND the point of coming out, yet is cool as a cat when it does!

Today I was in the laundry room starting a load of clothes when Jack came in and casually asked me, How do I look without my tooth?! I, of course, went nuts, got the camera, and everything. Jack then pointed out that we know what gets teeth out...eating!

Funny Mother observation from losing the first tooth to the second. Sick Jack and Healthy Jack look completely different...though pictured in the same pajama shirt!

He's still here!

2011-08-21T10:47:00.001-04:00

And doing better - though you can see a little nose drippage below. We are going to be starting a new vitamin plan, so hopefully in a few months, when his sickness rate is usually at its worse, will be significantly better. He toyed with a little junky cough all last week, but it seems to have gone at this point.

And, yes, here is Jack's self portrait before dinner the other night. Art is not his 'favorite' subject, hence the question the other day after school, Why do I even have to do art?! So, I display, frame, hang on the fridge, everything I can....

But he is a sweet pea. His Momma's Baby. Artistic or not. He is just perfect the way he is!

Weekend Project

2011-08-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

While sweet baby was sleeping his sickness away, I decided to take on a little project. We have tons and tons of paint in our garage, so I decided to make the most of them. We have been talking for quite a while, and as Jason says it was his idea back when we had a little baby to paint the ceiling in Jack's room blue. I finally did it. I love it. I also took extra brown and pained beneath his chair rail. I really like how it made it a bit more masculine.

I still have to paint around the chandelier, and I am going to change out the ties on his curtains, and on the bed above, I am going to have my favorite JMM monogrammed on that little blue pillow. I found the great coverlet and sham set at Target this past week. Now that Jack and I are making his bed every morning, this will really be easy...and neat all the time since the little Nik likes to be up there at her look out station all day long. As a bonus and must have for me, too, it is machine washable. No fancy bedding for us here! I also can't wait for Pappap to make some night stands to go beside each side of Jack's bed!! I know just how I want them to look. The little family of three turtles above his bed is just like ours.

I also moved that chair and ottoman set to the corner...the king's chair as described earlier. I just can't part with that chair from Jack's room yet. I am just not ready. His sailboat is from DeeDee and Papa, that horse is from Courtie. Such a unique baby gift. On top of the armoire is the globe I always had in my classroom, which was a neat gift from my Dad for Christmas the year I started teaching. The bird is from a group of ladies at my old school. That ore was my Pappap's - or as we now call him - Pappap's Old Dad. You know, like a 'old pair of shoes' you used to have!

Then there is this map. It has always bothered me that it didn't have more power up there on that wall. It just needs more around it. That is where I used to change Jack's diapers, so it wasn't fitting then to have anything else up there, but now I am ready. So I have to really think.... I want it, of course, to be personal, so it may take some time.

For now, though, I am pleased with the way the weekend project turned out.

And just for sweet measure, here is how it used to be. I just love going down memory lane.

Mini Jason

2011-08-16T07:47:00.000-04:00

OK, people, so I know my son looks like his Dad.

In this picture (though I wish it were a better shot) he totally does - from the white polo with blue stripes, kakai shorts, white ankle socks, and nice tennis shoes - he is his Daddy up and down.

Another way it was quite apparent to me happened this weekend. Once Jack's fever broke on Saturday, we just took it easy. He really wanted pizza, so we had it delivered (Jack's favorite kind). He ate maybe three bites and the entire crust of his piece. It was the most he had eaten, though, in three days.

Sunday we headed out. We went all kinds of places. I even took my boy to Toys R Us. He really has been wanting a knight costume...made completely out of metal. They are no where to be found, by the way for kids. The adult ones cost around $300, too! Ha. So, he has been on the lookout for a shield, sword, and helmet set. Most of them, either in a store or on the internet don't cut it. He is very particular about his wants and knows exactly what those wants are.

That is how the Big Jason is, too.

While we were in Toys R Us, however, we did find an army set that had a knife in it. Fortunately, it is plastic, but it also had a canteen, headset, grenade, etc. He loved it and was thrilled. It was $8 with a sign that said if you but this you can get something else made by the same company for half off! Well, this Mother loves a great bargain. There was a fireman set right next to it that had a fire extinguisher that really pumped out water and a face mask. This meant Jack could finally have a more realistic face mask than his old nebulizer one!

As soon as we got in the car, he tore both sets open. First thing to inspect was that knife and it totally passed the test. It was perfect. Next thing up was the headset. It is more like an adjustable headband that has a circle that is supposed to line up at one ear and another circle that is supposed to line up at the other ear with a narrow piece that comes out before your mouth so you can talk in it. Ah...like you visualize an AT&T operator having.

The stinkin' headset would not stay in the correct position and Jack nearly had a fit. I couldn't help but laugh because if this was the $8 set or if it was the $4 set, it was cheap! Jack was very disgusted with this item and couldn't believe it wouldn't work. Oh, and the walkie talkie that was included, didn't even work, it was just plastic!

This is Jason completely. The man hates cheap things. He likes to invest in something and have it for a long time. He likes good things. Always has.

Now I have a Mini-Jason.

Officially.

It is out!

2011-08-13T09:41:00.001-04:00

It wasn't as magical as I had thought it would be either.

Sad.

What was super sad is that my boy looked a lot like this all day.

104 temp, terribly lethargic. He didn't want to eat anything. He drank his orange juice that morning and sipped ginger ale all day. I decided to take him to the doctor since, not only was that temp super high, but it was Friday. The kid ALWAYS gets sick on Fridays. The doctor confirmed it is probably something viral. Something that couldn't be helped except by time. It could turn into Roseola again, it could turn into a stomach bug. He wrote us a prescription since Jack's one ear had a little bit of build up, but encouraged us to wait this out to see what it ended up being.

After the doctor's office, we headed back home got a little something to eat and decided to head to Rite Aid to pick a little something up. Jack took a quarter of an apple (that ended up being all the sweet baby ate all day yesterday) and out came the tooth. We were in the car and he casually said to me sitting from the back seat, me only having the rectangular view of him from my rear view mirror, Here's my tooth. It was fairly monotone, no real smile, no real emotion, just matter of fact, or perhaps, just 'I didn't want this thing out and I feel like absolute crap.' I was thrilled for him, of course, announced it to everyone we came in contact with at Rite Aid, and we were out of there.

So, here is Jack, minus one tooth, and pitiful as ever. His deep sicknesses are so apparent in those baby blues.

It just makes my heart hurt looking at him.

The rest of the day, he rested. Jack napped from 1:30-5:00. He didn't get out of bed at all. DeeDee came over to peek at his tooth, and the lack there of. She was able to get a little lovin' on him, but really, he was just miserable.

Jack said he wanted McDonalds so off we went for a ride. He ordered nuggets and apples and said when we got home he needed to go right back upstairs. I delivered his food on a tray in bed. He never touched it. Poor Jack lost everything in his system at around 7.

After all that excitement, we had to prepare the tooth for the Tooth Fairy. Like I have said before, Jack did not want her to take it. I am not quite sure why, but he was very serious about this fact. So, I wrote her a note on his behalf, since he was so sick. He was able to sign it for her. We just requested that she leave it with Jack and he would be very thankful. I wrote a little note to her, too, to let her know that she probably remembered me as Stephie Coon and that she may recognize the bear he was using since it used to be mine! Jack and I did giggle a little bit about that! Well, as you can tell in the next picture, just about the giggle he could...

So, Jack and I talked that it would probably be best to put the Tooth Fairy Bear in his room, since he might be up and down all night and really the fact that his room would be where he would be from here on, too.

This is where the bear sat...and you can kind of see my little project while Jack napped all day...a blue ceiling and brown under the chair rail. I am making his room a little more 'big boy.'

At this point, his temperature dropped to 102, we were able to get some Motrin in him, and Jack and I set up camp together in the sewing room and watched TV together until 9. I never heard anything from him until 4 in the morning and he was dying of thirst. Great news! When we officially got up around 7, the bug hit again. Since then, he has felt great. He is off and playing as I type!

The Tooth Fairy did leave Jack his tooth. Whew. She also left a Gold Dollar Coin!

So, I hope for more positive experiences for Jack with losing his teeth, especially because the one he just lost has a next door neighbor who is close behind! I also hope for a more positive health day for the boy, too!

This could be gross for you...

2011-08-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

Jack Myers has a loose tooth.

Like, way loose.

It is hanging on by a thread.

It can go all the way back.

It can go all the way forward.

And by the time we were done tonight 'playing' with it, it could go nearly all the way around.

I tried to push it and pull it, Jack freaked. He 'tried' to push it and pull it and he freaked. He, for some reason, has a tiny bit of separation anxiety with this tooth...and for the life of me, I can't figure out where he gets it (wink, wink!!). So, after enough time and talent was given to this little, barely attached, bottom right incisor, the boy went to bed with it still in his mouth. I wished him sweet dreams and told him that I really hope he doesn't swallow it tonight. I also said I wanted to kiss him, for probably the last night, with all of those sweet, baby teeth in his mouth. He smooched me and assured me it would be okay. The boy just makes me laugh.

So, be tomorrow, I can't seem to figure how it won't, or however many days it maybe, that first one is about to come out.

And this boy's look will be changed forever!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-11T20:04:00.000-04:00

Man, alive, did he do wonderfully! I didn't even have to wake the kid up! He heard my second cup of coffee making at 6:30 on the nose and came downstairs to surprise me. I hugged the daylights out of him and said "Good morning, you Kindergartner, you!"

We went back up stairs, made his bed together (we haven't done this as a morning routine yet due to the napping situation), got dressed, Daddy did his hair, and we headed back down stairs for a blueberry bagel and orange juice.

We did our traditional first day pics.

And see how 'crazy' he is?!

For this picture, after I captured it, Jack told me he thought I would really like this pose on him. He saw another boy do it and wanted to do it, too. Rascal!

This one, I just can't get over. The boy is so tall. And seemingly overnight. And boyish...not kidish.

This is the one on the first day of Pre-K....such a difference.

Oh, it just takes my breath away.

And here he was again on the first day...so crazy!

Jason and I both took him to school, parked the car, and walked him in. Jason's excuse was that he had not met the teachers yet. Mine, I didn't really have one besides the fact that I am 'the mom.' That's enough, right?!

Sweet baby with his Daddy...

Then he could do it. He knew where to go after Jason jokingly took him down the Pre-K hallway! The three of us sure got a laugh out of that one.

This is right outside his classroom. The teachers took pictures of the kids with a safari hat on when they got there, so I can only imagine how cute this board is going to look with all of their sweet faces on the bus!

Jack gave the two teachers their little zebra and leopard watches stating something like 'looking forward to a wild time in kindergarten.' They both went nuts and put them on immediately. Jack, on the other hand, got super shy and I said to the one teacher...Do you remember the kid who was in here last Thursday?! It was very out of the Jackster's personality.

And with that, we let him stay there. All day. With two people we hardly know. I got a little choked up as Jason pulled out of our parking spot there, but held it together.

So what do the two of us do better than eat? That is how we made it all better. There we sat, just the two of us at the Cracker Barrel. Jason even let me take my time in the little shop there. We talked about work, we talked about our house, we talked about how nice it was to be just the two of us, and we talked about our son.

He is one special gift to the two of us.

So, yes, here we are, the proud parents of a kid who is in kindergarten.

The Eve

2011-08-07T20:33:00.001-04:00

That is tonight.

The night before my kid goes to Kindergarten.

Yeah, my Baby Jack.

You know, Mommie's Baby?

Tonight is the night before Jack Myers is in Kindergarten - full day.

From 7:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon.

Eating lunch there.

And no nap. He has gone close to three weeks without a nap, but yesterday he passed out for nearly three hours still.

What is the wildest to me is that I honestly never thought I would have these feelings. I distinctly remember on Facebook last year people posting pictures of their little one getting on the bus for the first day of Kindergarten and the mother says she just cried and cried. I didn't think I would have that feeling since he would be at the same school, same building, etc. as he was in Pre-K. I was wrong. There is going to be a big difference. The boy is not going to be a 'half-day friend' due to his mother's choice, he is going to be a 'full-day friend' because that same mother doesn't have a choice.

Things just seem to be changing so fast and there is nothing I can do about it. That is the feeling I hate most of all, too. Being completely out of control.

So, a few nights ago, I went in to look at Jack sleeping. Never ever ever could have we done this when he was younger, for he would pop that head up over the cushions in his crib, or even twist his head around to face the door in his big boy bed. Now I can do it and not cause any excitement at all and I will behonest, I am totally addicted! The boy loves for me to lay with him at night, because he just loves to cuddle, or it is just so comfortable to be close to you, or you are the best Mommie to lay with me. He so has me figured out. But lately, to get out of his room, I will tell him something about how I have to finish up my work and I will come up to tell him night, night, or just smooch him, or tuck him in a little tighter. I totally have him figured out, too!

A few nights ago, he just looked so sweet. And so out.

So I took his picture.

I looked at it and then looked at his little silhouette laying there. I then noticed how really big those lips are in the picture I took, so I smooched them. He moved just slightly, but I snapped another shot.

How sweet. So I went and showed them to Jason in our room and he grinned. I think sometimes he thinks I am crazy, but he will love stuff like this in years to come! With that, I had sweet dreams.

I have to add right now, that Jack is 100% completely pumped up about going back to school - kindergarten or whatever, he has several of his good buds in his class, and his beloved Katie, so he is really looking forward to it. He told me just tonight he can't wait for that playground again.

We even met his teachers. They were great. I was more than pleased with the experience and with them. They even have a classroom theme. They are "Wild About Learning" and it looks like a safari in there. There are prints, heads, you name it, all kinds of animals in there. This is the first time Jack's class has a theme - not even in preschool 1s, 2s, 3s, or Pre-K. I thought all teachers/classrooms had themes...

He made himself right at home. He talked like it was his job. He was the only one in there, so he ate that up.

Then things started to crumble. Thursday I was near breakdown that afternoon. I had SO MUCH work to do, yet this was my 'last day' with my boy and I had to work. It was beyond necessary. The near breakdown had much to do with these mixed emotions I am having with school, but also being terribly behind with everything around in the office, the house...blah, blah, blah, so Jason said he was taking Jack to the golf course and he would like for me to just meet them up there for dinner. Whew. And with that, that day ended somewhat successfully.

Then there was last night. Oh, last night. That boy put it out there how much he loved cuddling with me and he just hugged my neck as tightly as he could. He has this move, too, that I can't quite figure out, that when I end up making it out of the neck hold, the kid somehow manages to wrap and wrap and wrap himself around my arm. It stumps me. So, very well knowing I would not be allowed this chance during a school night...i.e. 5 nights (!!), I was going to take advantage of this special time. As I layed there on my right side, looking at him staring at me laying on his left, big ole' tears started just falling out of my eyes. I couldn't help it, nor could I stop them. It was also 9:30 at night (golf story that will follow!!). We started with our heads maybe 8 inches apart and after he said he loved being close a few times and while saying that scooting in closer and closer, his little head was touching my nose by the time I called it a night. That was the last night of his baby-hood. My head was overwhelmed with all kinds of thoughts. Ultimately, he has been mine all this time. Now the time has come that I share him with the world. These two ladies will have my boy 7 of his waking ours and I will have him 5 and a half.

That's pretty big.

There has also been a lot of excitement with the big day tomorrow, too, I promise. Jack and I went shopping for a watch for each of his teachers. One is black with a zebra print face and the other is brown with a leopard print face. They are a little first day of school surprise since we are 'Looking forward to a Wild Time" with them!

We went grocery shopping, so we have all kinds of great snacks and dinner plans...since dinner will now be happening around 5:30!

I joked with him by asking if he was sure he didn't want to stay home with me tomorrow, and he gives me this, head cocked to the side, batting those blue eyes and that half grin saying, Mother, I have to grow up! You know that! I also asked if I could just go to Kindergarten with him, he excitedly said, Do you want to sign up?!

If going to kindergarten wasn't enough, the boy's two front bottom teeth are just about ready to fall right out.

My goodness, right?

Which brings me to the King's Chair.

The boy ate dinner in his room tonight.

Today I cleaned out Jack's room. His dresser had clothes in it that he isn't even close to being able to wear anymore, his little white ankle socks can't hold any more stains on the bottoms, his closet had boots in it three sizes too small, and there were tennis shoes that had seen much better days. It was just time to clean up shop and organize things way overdue! Earlier in the day, Jack had taken his table and chairs into the playroom to play regeger (normally pronounced register) whit our old fax machine. The one corner in his room was completely empty, so I had Jason move his chair and ottoman (also known as his rocker from the nursery...the only one I could sit in the first night I had my screaming baby home as it sat right smack in the middle of our unfurnished master bedroom and Jason and I both thought we were not ready for this baby...see where my head is all over the place?!?!) to that corner and I threw the toss pillows in it and Jack announced, This looks so cute! I love him. I now have planned some end tables that Pappap can now make to go in there and how I am going to modify the curtains to make it a bit more masculine in that room.

BUT.

Back to where I was going with the chair now in the corner. Not only did Jack think it 'looked so cute,' he also just loved sitting in it and looking out his window and seeing the world. If Niki barked downstairs, he just looked out the window to check it out for himself. He told me he would like to have a romantic dinner up in his new room. He arranged the nesting tables to be just right for his meal and he was just as happy and proud as could be. Me, that rambling above about that chair on the first night home with that baby, turned into hours put into that chair nursing him and rocking him and just being the two of us together. For him to want to sit in it that Eve before Kindergarten meant the world to me.

He was out at 7:15 tonight, just as Jason and I had planned and will be woken up at 6:30 in the morning to get ready.

And with that, ends today, the Eve before Kindergarten, and sweet dreams for all is wished for all.

Braves vs. those Birds

2011-07-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

HA! The Toronto Blue Jays, but that is how Jack has referred to the team since we went and saw them play!

Mom and Dad treated us to a Braves game again. A night game and that was so exciting. We were at the game in the dark!

Do you see Jack with his glove in the below picture? He brought it because he just knew one of those players was going to hit a ball to him, so he was going to be ready!

By the way, they never did.

And the boy really paid attention to the game. It was cute.

His Daddy took him to pitch the balls in one of the cages and he loved it. They came back with pizza and we camped out in our seats the whole time. We saw some fireworks, some Ks drop, and it was just what the little guy loved.

On the way out (not at the end of the game, mind you!!) that Mena and Pappap got Jack a little souvenir from the game. A Jason Heyward jersey. Man, there was nothing better that night!

Jack was quite 'jacked up' on the way home. He had all of us cracking up. He did Indian calls, thanks to his Daddy getting us prepped for the game by playing the home run song prior to getting to Mena and Pappap's house. He also whipped out some of his one liners that are quite entertaining.

Thank you again for such a fun time in BRAVES COUNTRY!!

Father's Day

2011-07-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

For Father's Day to celebrate my Dad, Dave, Pappap, Jack and I took him for a tour of Turner Field. Now, this man knows this place forward and backwards - knows the most perfect way to get down there and back. But we were able to sneak in a few extra places he had never been.

Before we headed over to his house to hop in the Pappap Bus, Jack had to pack a little something special - Mike n Ikes! That Pappap of his always has fire balls in his bus, so Jack thought it appropriate to have a little something for him, too!

Our first stop was in the Museum. We were able to see the World Champion trophy, lockers set up by years with special mementos that marked each season, a train car set up to look like back in the day before the teams traveled by planes and the area of the US they traveled was much smaller. Jack could not get enough of the train car! Their was a movie playing of all the special highlights of the years and one that proved most moving to Jack was that Jason Heyward had his first at bat and first Major League home run on April 5th, 2010 - Jack's birthday!

I just love this one of Dad and Jack.

Here are the guys in the announcer booth!

And Jack is pretending to keep up with the Stats of the game here!

That is home plate there behind Jack. We were MUCH closer to it in person than the shot shows.

And the guys - doing what they love best - baseball - to celebrate Father's Day.

This is us in the Braves dugout, too. Really cool.

We went up an elevator, we went down an elevator, we went up ramps, we went seemingly everywhere in this stadium.

We finished right about lunch time and headed, of course, to the Varsity. This was Jack's first time at the one in Atlanta.

And this was the boy on the way home.

And to my dad. I couldn't ask for a better Dad. A better man to have looked up to my entire life. You are a man who is focused and driven. A man who has a heart and isn't afraid to use it. A man who is creative, helpful, and willing to do whatever his daughter wishes for him to do. A man who has quirks and I am thankful I got all of them or know that I will. I am so proud to call you Dave.

I also couldn't be more thankful to watch you as a grandfather. You have a little boy who looks up to you. More than that. A boy who idolizes you. You can do anything in his eyes. You can build anything. You can fix anything. You can play anything. Whatever it is, Pappap can do it. Most importantly I know how deep down and genuinely you love and care for my son.

Dad you are a man we celebrated this year not only because we wanted to see that Braves stadium up close and personal or because I wanted to get a good picture or two of you and Jack, but because we love you so very much. It was a time for us, just the three of us.

A Boy and his Dog

2011-07-22T11:07:00.001-04:00

As I did the shipment this week, Jack's entertainment was our baby girl. He realized that a cup of animal crackers can get her to do just about anything he wanted. He chose beneath his Daddy's desk to cuddle with her.

He also thought I may like some pictures of him and my baby girl.

Of course.

Man, I love them. They are both so cute!!

Tennis Camp - Week 2

2011-07-22T10:55:00.000-04:00

Jack did a second week of tennis camp a little while back. His Daddy captured the grand finale - hitting water balloons! What a brilliant idea!

You can just imagine how much Jack loved it!

Key West - Part 4 and 5

2011-07-22T10:53:00.000-04:00

Last Day.

July 10th.

Anniversary.

7 years.

And man, are we 'itchy!"

Itchy for so much more together!

I woke up to Jason remembering our anniversary before I did. Sweet man. Dad was the Pappap Bus Driver taking a few different loads to the airport. Jason, Jack, and I ventured out on our own. We stopped in to our favorite (and only, if you haven't noticed) breakfast spot. We then shopped a bit - the boy wanted a pirate shirt and come to find out it was one he noticed every morning on our way to breakfast. So funny.

I am not going to lie. I was exhausted. Worn out. After breakfast, I went back to bed! I didn't tell anyone, didn't ask, I just went. Jack went swimming again. I woke up to hearing that and found my parents back along with GG and Aunt Lori. We all hung out together. We headed to the Southern Most Point of the Continental US.

We headed back to Sloppy Joes - there is nothing like hanging out in a bar with your hubby, kid, parents, grandmother and aunt on your anniversary. How fortunate I am. That is really something I will never forget. I just wish I would have gotten a picture of all of us!

GG and Lori were pretty tired then, too , and headed back to their hotel, so the five of us decided to head to a new place for dinner. I really liked it. Come to find out, I don't think anyone else did...sad...and especially Jason, who ended up dealing with food poisoning all night long.

We actually had a waterfall! Daddy found it at the last minute (and thankfully so!!) and scared the ever living daylights out of Jack and I!

What fun!

PART 5

Travel day - no rain, which was wonderful. The jets going was waaaaayyyyy too loud for my boy. As we headed up the stairs to board the plane, the pilot saw us waving and opened his window and invited Jack into the cockpit.

Come to find out the pilot lives about a mile or so away from us!

I was ready to be home. I was tired of sweating. I missed my dog. She sure missed us, too. We did Subway for dinner - early, easy and fast. Jack was in bed early. Jason was a workaholic. I was an inpacking machine.

What I loved was being with my little family. I loved being with the big family. I loved getting away. I loved getting home.

Key West - Part 3

2011-07-22T10:32:00.000-04:00

Day three began E.A.R.L.Y. for a Mommie and Daddy who had a late late night! After a slow start the Party of Five headed to our special little breakfast place. Though there was a big party next to us - Dad, do you remember the laugh on that one lady!?! - it was a lovely little experience again.

Mom and I headed to Duval Street on our own to do a little window browsing and store shopping, if it had air conditioning, and made it to get a pair of flip flops made right there in Key West. On our way home, we stopped in Sloppy Joes, just the two of us. And just because we could, we hopped a ride from one the the bicycle taxis. It was just what we needed!

We got home to find Jack in the pool, Dad and Jason out on the deck watching him, and this guy up in the tree...

Yikes!

We decided to let Jack take a nap. Naps really worked best for him on this trip. It allowed for a much better Jack experience for all of this! This meant that just Mom and I went to the wedding together. We like all the wedding details more than our guys anyway!!

Cousin Brian

After the wedding, we all headed to the big house to celebrate. Krissy and Ty did come over to do their cake, so it was nice to be a part of that. We all had some food that was catered in and just visited together. Cameras came out, of course, with us all being together, and my boy held it together so well. All he wanted to do was get in that pool!!

And here is our whole family - give or take a few (bride and groom, especially!!!) - some new, some old. Our family has transitioned so much lately... my thoughts are all over the place with it, but what I love most is Dad and Jason in these. What in the world did one of them say?!?!

As a whole family, we headed to the top of a building to watch the sunset - which was actually closed due to another wedding, but it was still special.

This boy doesn't even realize yet that this world is totally his....

Mom and Dad took Jack home again, Jason and I walked due to a miscommunication about being hungry! We settled for an ice cream together on the way home. We got back to our place to Dad bringing in a pizza and Coke Zero for his boy...served in no other than a wine glass. So funny.

Needless to say, it was an early evening, but it was a nice ending to a great day.

Key West - Part 2

2011-07-12T22:45:00.000-04:00

Now, typically, I start mornings very slowly. Jack calls for one of us, if I am the one to get him, I will get coffee and orange juice going, head to my computer and ease into the day. There is something special about being with my parents, however, that makes mornings even better. Not only do they (here it should actually be read, Dad) has the coffee machine up and going, but not once do I have to think about the water level, grounds, or beans. Its the little things, right?! Dad said from his room he could hear Jack calling out, Oh Mommie, where are you Mommie, to which neither Jason or myself could hear through our door, Dad laughed aloud, and woke up Mom! It was sweet. Jack knows, when we are with Mena and Pappap, once we hear that coffee pot, getting up is fair game. He heard it and we were headed downstairs.

We all sat around, sure, Jason was ready to eat, but being as good as gold as he is, let me enjoy that wonderful morning time with my parents. Jack took a swim after about a second or two of being awake, so hey - with a swim the night before and a swim that morning, there was no bath needed!

The five of us did find a perfect breakfast place. It wasn't too far of a walk (Humidity Part 2) and it was just what we were looking for.

Croissant de France. Has a cute ring to it doesn't it - oh, and make sure you read it with a little French accent! They had outside dining (Humidity Part 3), but thankfully they also had huge fans - you can notice Mom's hair!

Key West has roosters, hens, chickens, chicks, whatever you want to call them, everywhere.

None of us were familiar with Key West. I had been there on a diving trip many years back, but was on somewhat of a tour, so I don't remember sightseeing much. Mom and Dad had been there on a cruise stop, so time was limited for them. We decided, we would, by foot (Humidity Part 4) find the hotel where my grandmother and three aunts were staying. Two of them were at the pool, so we bopped in there for a quick visit. (Humidity Part 5) The wedding party had rented a house not too far away, I thought it was the "Real World" house, but I guess it wasn't available, and two of my aunts (one of which is the mother of the bride) rented the one next door. We decided we would then by foot, find where it was. It was further than we had thought. And (Humidity Part 6....I think you are getting the point I am making there...) finally after two iphones, S.E.A. directions from the Aunts, and directions from a street vendor, we got there. Hot, wet, and tired! Jack got blisters from his flip flops, so that was a deal in itself. We had a nice visit, but Daddy knew it best to get the young prince back to his chambers.

After our walk back, with Jack on Jason's shoulders nearly the whole way, we successfully and by a straighter shot, found "Absolute Paradise." That was the name of our house. So cute. Both the Mother and the Son in their respectful rooms, passed out. The Daddy found a marathon of Harry Potter on television that I think all of us have memorized from this past weekend! Mena and Pappap headed to Sloppy Joes and met up with Leslie and Loni.

Mom, Dad, Jason, Jack and I headed to a locally recommended restaurant for dinner - Cuban. When we stepped foot in there, I held everything about my being together not to have everyone turn right back around and thankfully so. The hole in the wall place was actually pretty good.

We then headed to the family house. Everyone was there - minus the bride - I don't think we even saw here that night, actually...and when the family got together, the cameras came out!

Cute little note about the pictures above. These were the cousins at the house that night - GG, of course, Jason and I, Melissa and David, Annie, and Nick, and Matt and Steph. Jack asked why Katie wasn't there with him after looking back at these pictures seeing everyone with his or her 'friends.'

And the sisters who started it all - Leigh, Lori, Linda, Libby, Laura, Loni, and Leslie!

The big group then headed out to watch the sunset that never actually happened, due to the clouds. Boo. We were down at Mallory Square.

My Sweet Melissa.

Mom and Dad took Jack home and put him to bed for us. They were tired and Jason and I were so thankful they were willing to do it. Because afterall, we let off a little steam!

Ha. This one just makes me laugh every time. It was at the beginning of the evening, so we weren't even crazy yet, I saw a picture opportunity and without even asking, Jason ready my mind and was heading over. He took the first hole and I went around him, not even knowing what it was! No wonder everyone was laughing so much.

We had a ball that night and the fun just continued from there. One by one they all kept dropping and yes, Melissa and David, I know you were there until the very 'bittersweet' (shall I describe it that way) end, you did take a time out, remember??

I did not grow up with family around and it was wonderful for me to be able to hang out with Aunts an Cousins I don't get to see for months and even years at a time. They probably think I am crazy at this point, but 'whatev!'

A special shout out to Mom for waiting up for us, though I don't think you had ever done it before, it made me feel very loved and to Melissa, for the most perfect and direct directions anyone could have ever given!

Key West - Part 1

2011-07-12T22:00:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday, we headed to Key West to celebrate my cousin, Kristina's wedding.

I planned ahead, planned accordingly, was packed the weekend before, and my new friend, Nuca came to help me with my house. Thursday morning, late for the week, Larry delivered our shipment, we were able to get it out and make it to the car at noon - on time!

Our drive was smooth to the airport - Jason drove my requested direct and easy route, rather than a different one he chooses each time. That made me so much at ease. We dropped off our car, hopped on the bus, and were delivered to the airport. My bag was right smack at 50 pounds, no additional fees required. We made it to our gate, Jack and I ventured off for lunch, as then Jason did. We have traveling down. We are a team.

The flight went well. A bit bumpy due to the weather we flew through. Jack was prepared, for he seemingly memorized the safety pamphlet. He was really hoping the masks would come down so we could breathe through them. I didn't have the heart to tell him what it actually meant if they came down, for I found no need to scare the ever living life out of him with 'what coulds' like my mind always seems to do...

Which brings up the next detail. I ALWAYS pick the row of seats right in front or right behind the exit over the wing. I have my reasons for the wing, and not the front or back, but I will just go into the most important reason, not the 'what could.' Selfishly, I do not want to be responsible for the door. I do not want Jason responsible for the door. I don't know if you can sit in an exit row with a child anyway. But, I like to be right in front or behind, so we have a smooth and quick exit. I always say a little something to the person sitting right next to that door when we get on...something like, "Oh, I know I can trust you! Or, I love that you are there, for I am traveling with some very precious cargo!" It makes me feel better for them to know someone is counting on them, you know?! Maybe it makes them pay a little more attention to the flight attendants? Whatever, my mind is then at ease. Little did I know, I would get a positive reaction back. The man (thirty-ish) said he would take good care of us. He told us he was an airport fireman...in Key West! BINGO! He knew just what to do in an emergency AND knew the location we were heading. What he did forget to tell us was the little bit the pilot came on to tell us - the landing in Key West would be FIRM and FAST. The man looked back at me and grinned. We hit that runway hard and screeched to a halt. No doubt. Firm and Fast!

In Key West, you get off and on the plane outside. Even when it is POURING rain, which it was, when we got there. Our big joke was me going through that rain saying in a super southern accent, "My ha-air, my ha-air!" We got into the baggage claim, and now thinking about it, I think there was only one claim, but just on the other side were Mena and Pappap coming in from that same pouring rain! We all grinned and smiled and hugged like we were long lost family!

We headed back to our little house. It was precious.

It was three stories high. The first level was the living level, couch and chairs, kitchen table and kitchen, complete with Mom and Dad's coffee pot! We had a lovely little back deck with a perfectly sized pool for Jack. As soon as we got there, he was in that pool, rain and all!

He was as tickled and could be!

The second floor was where Mom and Dad stayed, they had their room and bathroom, and as we kept circling up and up and up the stairs, our floor was found. Jason and I had our room and Jack had his (he picked the one with the bigger tv, by the way!!) and we shared a bathroom. We all had our space. It couldn't have been any better.

Dad and I headed down the street after the rain passed (and Humidity Part 1 came in) to find a little bottle shop to stock the place. He guy working the store suggested a few spots for some dinners and we took our map and bottles home.

There was even a little 'pre-game' before dinner!

We just headed two doors down for dinner, which ended up being very good. We ran into my Uncle, the father of the bride, his new family, and my cousin, brother of the bride - the one I didn't recognize the back of his head! We hadn't seen my uncle for probably close to twenty years, so it was nice to catch up with him and meet everyone!

Needless to say, Mena and Pappap had quite a drive from Daytona to Key West that day, we had the work/travel bug taken care of, so it was a nice, easy going evening.

June 19th

2011-07-01T08:45:00.001-04:00

June 19th was Father's Day this year. It was also Jason's birthday! After much thought, talk, and nagging about what he wanted to do, he came up with an interesting plan. He wanted to invite everyone over to our house for breakfast at 8:30. Precisely. I called everyone and they were all on board.

Jason wanted Egg Casserole, one of his favorites, and onion new potatoes, his other favorite and that was all. He was again, very precise with his wishes!

We would celebrate Jason's birthday from the time we got up to lunch and transition into Father's Day.

Good plan, I thought!

One thing I hope I never, ever forget is that Jack came up with 4 stations of games for everyone to play during Daddy's birthday party. I loved it. Honestly, more than words can say. He is so my boy!

There was Nerf gun shooting at the windows, then you had to throw a bean bag at the darts to get them off the windows. There was an area to race cars. Jack has two little hand held games - one race cars one and one basketball one. The final station was to play with Niki with all of her toys. Sweet thing.

Here's the Birthday Boy. He sure has changed his attitude a little bit about birthdays being with me for...um 10 years at this point!

And yes, folks, we had some peanut butter and chocolate cake concoction from Cold Stone that early in the morning!

At exactly noon, we transitioned to Father's Day. Jack excitedly brought his presents to him. One by one, Jason pulled everything out. There was a pair of grey tennis shorts, a pair of white tennis shorts, a can of tennis balls, and very special handmade frame, and an all about Daddy note. (The last two were mimicked after what he brought home from school for Mother's Day!)

Jason did exactly what he wanted for his Father's Day - he played golf. And lots of it. He decided at the last minute to go across the street and Jack and I...we passed out together for a nap for nearly FOUR hours! Jason came home to his favorite dinner of pork and rice and he vegged in front of the tv to watch the rest of the golf tournament.

He was a happy man!

Mom's Cooking

2011-06-29T08:17:00.000-04:00

When Mom and Dad were home this last time, we saw each other nearly every single day. I needed that. I also invited my family to their house for dinner. I love that I was able to state the menu and everything and it just appeared before me!

We were all so excited to be on our way...

Even Baby Niki was thrilled...just look at her grin!

The guys sat out on the porch and enjoyed their cocktails and I watched Mom cook. It was relaxing, comfortable, and wonderful.

At the end of dinner, Jack cleared the table and lined everything up on the counter right where he could reach. It was really cute.

And, of course, the Grands with their grandson and granddog.

Tennis Camp - Week 1

2011-06-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

Let me first begin by saying how BEYOND excited Jack has been to play tennis. Jack and his Daddy picked out at special tennis racket just for him from the tennis shop - it came with a bag, a water bottle, and two special kid tennis balls. And that Daddy made him wait an entire WEEK(!!) before he could test it out, until he could learn the correct way to use it. It nearly killed Jack!

Let me secondly say how hard it was for this Mommie to be up and ready to go to tennis camp at 9:00 am. I know that sounds crazy. We wake up here in the summer time around 7:30. It is lovely. I hear the standard, Oh Mommie, where are you Mommie?! It sure beats that darned alarm clock that screams at me! We leisurely do coffee and orange juice. When we are ready we do breakfast. There is no hustle or rushing, it is just 'summer vacation!' I am so grateful that Jason has really taken control of this tennis camp - not only week 1, but all of week 2 on himself!

Jack learned forehand and back hand. He makes great contact with the ball. It was a funny transition, however, from baseball to tennis, for he wanted to hit that poor tennis ball with all his might! His Coach Alberto, very well knowing that Jack's Daddy and Jack play golf, told him his tennis swing is just as smooth as his golf swing. There was no need to take a step into the ball like you do in baseball, just go with it! Jack did well.

He also hit the ground running, literally. His poor little knee is still recovering.

Jack's girl coach told me at the conclusion of the camp that she thought he really had some natural talent. That sure was sweet!

We returned for week two and the conclusion of that week will follow - they sure have a fun GRAND FINALE!!

Goggles

2011-06-28T21:44:00.001-04:00

Oh, it was AWFUL. Jack and I headed to the pool one day. He had swimming lessons, then we spent the rest of the time up there and ended up ordering lunch. It was supposed to be a perfect day.

Until Jack could barely keep his eyes open. The chlorine got him.

It makes my eyes water just thinking about it.

I got cold wash cloths up there as we ate. Jack wore my sunglasses.

Nothing was working.

We just packed up our stuff and headed home.

What really got me is that Jack was miserably crying.

And the boy hardly ever cries. I knew it hurt.

I changed his clothes for him and we crawled in my bed for a little rest together. The only thing he said would help him is if I scratched his back.

That back I did scratch - forever.

Then Daddy came upstairs to see what was happening.

The two of them jumped in the shower and Jason made Jack rinse his eyes in the shower. It was terrible. I just stood in my closet, holding back my own tears.

That Daddy knew what the right thing to do was, though.

Jack did calm down and ended up falling asleep.

He woke to having his eyes feel better and was in a great mood.

I came home with two pairs of goggles, this was his favorite...

You can see how swollen those baby blues were.

To this day, we haven't gone to any body of water without these goggles (minus the bathtub, much to Jack's desire). We also, thankfully, haven't had any more burned eye ball episodes, either!

Spend the Night Party

2011-06-28T21:33:00.000-04:00

A little over two weeks ago, we had a Spend the Night Party - in our room! Jack brought in his sleeping bag and tent, thankfully the tent didn't make it into the formal equation. We padded it up with some extra blankets below and the party began. We watched all kinds of crazy things - Swamp People, Dual Survivor, total boy shows and Jason and Jack LOVED it. We stayed up late, Jack needed to be rearranged twice in the middle of the night and I woke up so tired.

As I was sipping my coffee that next morning, I asked Jack if he would ever again sleep in a sleeping bag. He said, Oh, YES. Besides, it is my vacation, too! Night two happened...and a night three! Night three was totally because Jason is a softy!

Here's the view from my side of the bed!

I am not going to lie. I did love it. Minus being so tired. I loved hearing Jason breathe right next to me, I could also hear Niki snoring as she was sandwiched up against Jason's leg, but I also heard the sweet sounds of my boy down on the floor...every single time I woke up throughout each night.

Melinda's Pool

2011-06-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

We had SUCH a great time today visiting with Melinda at her pool. We are officially kicking off Summer of 2011. We have been doing this tradition, we figured, for three years now! Melinda has seen Jack in his swim vest, barely making it through the water, to taking off that vest and 'knowing' he could do it, to this year...he can just go for anything. It doesn't hurt that the women can get totally caught up in life, too!

After all the diving, jumping, lizard watching, water gun shooting, basketball, volleyball, catch, football, water fountain drinking, hose playing, raft scares, and a special little can of Sprite, Melinda and Jack started some tricks.

They first planned on taking it to Sea World with the dolphins, but Melinda finished the day with saying it was going to Vegas!

We can't wait for our date next week!

I LOVE him

2011-06-27T21:24:00.003-04:00

And, man, did I ever miss this sweet boy.

I was gone on Kari's Bachelorette Weekend this past weekend, got home today at 11:00, was like Velcro, or maybe rubber cement, or perhaps modeling clay with this little guy, whichever it was, we were stuck together for thirty minutes straight. Then I went to get my hair done for two hours.

Jack asked if he could go with me to get my hair done. It is no mystery that we do pretty much everything together. This was just the same as going to the grocery store, the dermatologist, to make returns, you name it. I encouraged him to stay home and have lunch, followed buy a good nap, however, upon my return home at 2:30, he was just sitting at the top of the stairs waiting.

We decided to go across town to see our baby girls, the twins up in Nashville. They are staying at their Jellybean's house, so we thought it a great idea to go get some baby girl lovin'. They had just be put down for their afternoon nap, not to wake up until nearly 6:00. We just dropped of a special bag of animal crackers, counted out by twos, for each of the girls. He also put a nice little pearl surrounded by diamonds charm on a silly band for them. He said every girl needed to feel special and Courtie said she had something perfect on their bookcases in their room she could keep it in.

We then went shoe shopping. My boy picked out the fastest pair in the shop. The guy running the place even confirmed it. They were perfect.

Jack, Jason, and I headed to the local butcher shop for some meat and came back home to cook dinner. Jack pulled his chair up right.next.to.mine and there we sat to have dinner together, hence the pictures.

He totally passed gas and it WREAKED. We all got a kick out of that one.

Yes, I am exhausted. To say the least. Late night talks with the some of the best girlfriends in the world is the best therapy. That is what made coming home to my two men so perfect. And that made Jack taking a quick shower so we could start reading this first big boy book - one with more words than pictures - The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl do-able when I was so tired. It also helped me stay laying up in Jack's bed a few extra minutes, along with his Daddy, to have Daddy "shut his ears" (he only closed his eyes) so I could tell Jack that Daddys love cuddling and loving just as much as Mommies - maybe even more. Jack would then tap Jason's arm, and Jas would open his eyes. The three of us would laugh and laugh. It also made going back up to Jack calling Oh Mommie, Where are you, Mommie to retrieve a boogie that needed to be carefully wrapped in tissue paper and disposed in the toilet. I did get four extra kisses from that one.

Maybe it was hot glue that kept us together tonight, but man, I missed my Jack, my Momma's Baby, the boy who now weighs 46.5 pounds and wears a 13.5 shoe and ate 10, oh, yeah, you read that right, 10 McNuggets on Saturday night. He also drank Jason's chocolate milk at the Waffle House on Sunday morning when I was gone. My boy is getting bold by trying things and actually liking them. I could totally tell he missed me, too.

Now, of course, when Jason took our picture, Jack already knew how to do it, so he took a picture of his Daddy. His spacing was just perfect.

And, man, did I ever miss this amazing man, too.

Tonight I have my lucky stars to thank, that is for sure.

My Little Helper

2011-06-10T09:08:00.000-04:00

This morning Jack tried out doing the dishes.

He started small a side plate or two.

Then Daddy asked him to take his cereal bowl over and Jack's oj cup (we have it now, plus dog food!).

Jack took care of all of that.

I then started making muffins, so he took care of all of my dishes from that.

His shirt was soaked, as was the floor beneath him, and all of the counters around him.

But, what a great helper he is.

Jack and his Sister

2011-06-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

This is what we lovingly refer to Baby Niki as.

They both love each other.

I sometimes think Jack loves Niki just a hair bit more, for her little warning growls at him when she is tired, or has a special treat, or is just pain ole' worn out from him, makes me believe that she can have enough of him at times. Jack, I don't think, can ever get tired of his dog.

Now, what is important about this morning is not that we have absolutely no orange juice for Jack or food for Niki. Nope, it is not that we are not providing for our young ones today. It is that these two have been playing, touching, loving, rubbing, chasing, catching for an hour and a half straight.

There have been no cartoons, no breakfast (as mentioned before), no activities to get to.

It has just been good old fashioned boy plays with dog and dog plays with boy time.

(And for the record, the 'cast' that Jack was using at night to quit sucking his thumb is gone. It was a tough habit to break right now in his life. It will come...)

How sweet my babies are.

Goin' Fishin'

2011-06-06T22:31:00.000-04:00

On Mondays the golf club is closed. Hap got special permission to go finshing. Our boys joing those boys and it is a fishing night. I was a fifth wheel to snag some shots and get a bit of the action - or lack there of that night!

Oops...one Jason caught fell off the hook at the last minute and got stuck in the grass. Hap saved his life. Can't you just see how concerned they all were!?

See who actually did most of the fishing??

This is what the boys did.

OH MY!! THERE WAS ONE! THE ONE AND ONLY. IT WAS THRILLING!

Okay, back to the sand.

And the grounds committee reported to duty.

Now I know what happens when guys go fishing. And with my folding chair and cup of wine, I felt like I captured real fishermen. Only one fish, but major stories to come home with!

What have we been doing?

2011-06-06T22:03:00.001-04:00

Well, since the morning of Jack's last day of school...

We had an end of the school year party. They made visors, book marks, photo frames, they played out on the playground, there was a bouncy, there were bubbles and there were popsicles. They dined in for lunch, as well. My last day with my half-day friend ended with tears when we got home and Jack said it would be okay.

We then headed to the pool with the sky looking ominous.

Thank goodness we went, for our dear friend, Sawyer was there! The boys were in heaven!! We did have to cut the evening short for a lightning show, but it was wonderful.

Swimming lessons started - every weekday in June at 10:00. They do it differently than I did when I was a swim instructor, and this is yet another way I am needing to let go and relax. I am trying. After a week+ of him going, he is really getting smoother and more confident!

We had a play date with Lucas. After picking him up, we headed to the grocery store together and they rode in the fire rocket cart. The whole store knew we were there. It was hilarious. They each picked out random things, from Gatorade to Cheetos and it was wonderful. The boys played and played until it was time for lunch. They decided on peanut butter and jelly cut out into bunny shapes. They just giggled the entire time they were together.

That night Jack and I headed back to the pool. Jason came up to meet us after he played golf. Jason and I sat back in the lounge chairs watching Jack and he posed the question: Where do you want to go and when? After much discussion of when we could go, and oh, then that is happening, and such, I threw out, let's go to Destin right now. We called our neighborhood friend who I also taught, he was available to watch Baby Niki, Debbie said to come on down, since they had a place. We left the pool at 7, were on the road at 8, and arrived in the parking lot of Emerald Towers to smell the salt air at 2. My boy only snoozed for about 45 minutes the entire trip! We saw deer, wolves and cougars (HA!! funny memories) but we made it safely for Jack and I to crash in the guest room of their condo and our amazing Daddy slept on the fold out couch. We woke to sipping orange juice on the balcony.

The waters were welcoming, the sand was soft, and man, the sun was just right. Our little family desperately needed a get away and we really needed something spur of the moment like that. It was completely out of both Jason and I's characters and it made it all the better. Here we are at Jason's favorite restaurant!

Jason ended up securing us a place with a three night minimum stay (darn) so we stayed in Destin, over Memorial Day weekend through Tuesday morning. It was heaven. Debbie and I took the boy out to jump the waves and he enjoyed it. He liked it so much, he took them on himself and we had to motion for him to come back in. He got so brave and I loved it! Our boy got stung by a jellyfish and you would have never known it. He kept messing with his leg when the two of us were playing catch and when I asked to see it , I knew just what it was. The boy never cried, he never reacted, he just wanted to play catch. Well, he reaction was he wouldn't go out deep in the water in the waves anymore. That is where they sting you. My husband and I enjoyed some cold beers out on the beach and believe it or not, he suggested a QUICK shopping trip to the outlets. Um, in our hurry to pack, I remembered dirty underwear and we needed an extra outfit each for our stay! We will remember this forever.

We then hosted a margarita/Cantina/Mexican wedding shower for Kari. Kari is getting married and we celebrated her.

Tonight after dinner Jack and I headed to the pool. He played with the big boys (second graders) and he fit right in. I told him while tucking him in tonight that he needed to just slow down. He is so good to me and assured me, It's okay Mom. Jason just laughed.

The lights are officially down, command strips are successfully off the ceiling everywhere, the house is clean, and I only have one 'to-do' pile left in the office.

Life is getting into summer mode and I am so glad. It is so time to get back to us.

Last Day of Pre-K

2011-05-26T07:34:00.000-04:00

Jack has sure grown a lot. That sweet little face has thinned out, too.

And the little Miss has gotten in on the action each time. I guess she likes to check out her brother on these big days, too! Funny.

Soooo...

2011-05-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

This is what it looks like the night before your last day of being a Pre-Kindergartner

Yearbooks

2011-05-21T08:32:00.000-04:00

At Jack's school, everyone gets a yearbook. It is covered in the tuition.

The book is amazing.

Jack couldn't get enough of it on the way home from school yesterday.

He even made a big full double page!

I also circled below the two spots he can be found.

So cute.

For you, Pappap!

2011-05-19T08:22:00.000-04:00

Jack woke up on his own this morning at 6:15, just talking away in bed.

He came downstairs with me and first thing did this:

You wouldn't belive the motivation he had to get ready and eat his breakfast!

Jack then said he needed to get a little excercise.

Then his Daddy said it was time to go to school...

Season Finale

2011-05-18T09:08:00.000-04:00

The season is through.

The Rockies lost against the Marlins.

Jack got one of the two/three game balls.

And I haven't a memory of a deserving play.

We have a 'party' next week.

HERE'S TO FALL BALL!

The Cast

2011-05-14T07:26:00.000-04:00

I went in and peeked at the boy at 11:00 last night - the cast was still in place.

Jason got him this morning when Jack woke up at 6:00! He said the cast was still in place then, too.

When I got up, Jack met me half way up the stairs and I grabbed his thumb to smell. It definitely hadn't been sucked.

Unreal.

This would so be like Jack Myers.

That would be so incredible if he stuck with it and did this all on his own. It would be also mean it would be nearly pain free for his Mommie and Daddy!

On another note before my first cup of coffee this morning, Jack had a box of legos in front of me with a precious smiling face Do you want to build another lego together?! Maybe after you wake up?

The kid sure is growing up!

TV?

2011-05-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

Today was Jack's field day - I have thirteen texts saved on my phone that Jason sent me with a play by play as to what they were doing...that will follow.

Jack woke up at 6:15, too. That is EARLY for him.

After lunch, it was time for him to rest.

The kid was mean and the kid was rude.

Oh, it was nasty.

He slept from 1:00 - 5:00.

I think the mother was right in this particular case.

Jack has been saying things here and there about sucking his thumb and stopping. I know he needs to, believe me, I do, but it honestly makes me a bit sad, too. I am a bit touchy when it comes to it quite honestly. Jack isn't a public sucker. He only really does it in his room/bed.

Tonight he went to bed with a cast on. It is the sack for my little camera tripod. He thought it would be a good idea to put over his hand. He would really like to get a prize. So, he slipped it on over his hand.

I told him when I stopped sucking my thumb, and he interrupted and said you got a tv in your room! After we talked about it, he would like one in his room, too. A special treat for him is to lay in my bed before bed and watch tv.

I can't wait to go up there tonight to see if that cast is still on.

Jack said some people just know when it is time. I would be so impressed and proud of my little lovey if he knew it was 'his time.'

To be 5 must really be something...

Game Ball

2011-05-13T22:28:00.000-04:00

Jack officially received the game ball nine days ago.

That is how long it has taken me to be ready to get my thoughts ready.

Myers 4 has been doing a good job playing ball. He has some star moments, he has some others that could really use a little practice, but all in all, he is really becoming a little ball player.

Jason and I have awarded Jack three 'pretend' game balls in our car after three different games. They have played many many more than that, but on these three particular games, Jack did an exceptional job, all around...hitting and playing at one of his bases. Little to the coach's awareness.

Nine days ago, Jack said yet again, Maybe today I will get the game ball! We then talked about earning it and really trying hard during each and every play and so on and so forth. He also told me he never hears me yelling for him. Done and done.

I yelled for my boy. Loudly. And about everything!

GOOOOO Jack Myers!
Get a big hit out there Jack Myers!
You look great playing third base Jack Myers!
AWESOME OUT Jack Myers!
I LOVE YOU JACK MYERS!

Oh, yeah. I was so that mom.

Jack had three awesome hits - all of which made it to the outfield. He made two outs at first and stopped the ball and called time at third when the play was a first base. It was a great decision not to throw it all the way over there. He really rocked.

There was a joke going on in the stands with a few of us with how loud I was and I had joked with one of the grandmas that we were 'going for the game ball tonight!' She couldn't believe Jack hadn't gotten one yet and she said I should say something to the coach. I quickly explained that she was just going to wait until Jack 'earned' it. I told her we would never say something to the coach.

At the end of the game, I went into the dugout to get Jack's things and met my boy's eyes as he was running off the field. "Could you hear your Momma?!?!" He just looked at me with the biggest grin and our eyes just locked. It was a very special moment to freeze in time. As I headed into the dugout, I caught sight of that grandma telling the coach that Jack hadn't gotten the game ball.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Flustered, the coach said, "Well we are giving two tonight, we can definitely make it three, Jack can get one, too. I thought Jack had already gotten one!"

I was pissed. I wasn't just mad, I wasn't livid. I was pissed.

I was pissed the grandma had opened her big mouth. I was pissed the coach didn't remember not giving one to Jack. I was really pissed that three games before this particular one, she started giving kids a second game ball, yet Jack didn't get one. He freakin' deserved a second one at that point, regardless. I was pissed the coach had chosen two other kids on the team that 'earned' the game ball that night and Jack wasn't one of them.

It was just icing on the cake when it comes to this ridiculous baseball season.

She announced to everyone that Jack had a good hit and he got the game ball.

That was it. He had one hit. I was pissed there, too.

But my boy, got that ball, looked at me and came running with that thing proudly coming at me. He was so happy.

That was a Wednesday night.

Thursday went by. I stewed. I didn't quite know how to handle the situation. I wanted to raise all kinds of you-know-what. I wanted to cry. Jason told me to not worry about it, that this year wasn't anything to even get worked up about. He thought all along she hadn't given Jack the game ball just to keep us coming back to the next game...

Friday morning, the coach called me. Jason answered the phone. He put her on hold. I knew just who it was and I went upstairs to take the call.

Immediately, she said how sorry she was that Jack hadn't gotten the game ball. She faulted herself for being unorganized and said it was her responsibility to keep up with that stuff. She told me that Jack had 'earned' it many times during the season. I asked her why didn't he get one then?! I said he was happy to get the game ball, but she announced to everyone that Jack had a great hit. He in fact, had three great hits, yet doesn't receive the credit since he follows Fat _ _ _ _ _ and no matter how great of a hit Jack gets, he can only make it to first base. How fair is that for my son? He had two outs at first and he made that great play at third. Jack had an awesome game. (For the record, yes, I said the boy's name preceded with the word Fat. It is a disgusting situation. The kid goes to the bathroom every inning because his mother sneaks him french fries or Cheetos or coke. He can barely run. His shirt can't stay tucked in and his butt crack shows. EVERY SINGLE play someone is yelling at him to pay attention, baseball ready, look at the batter, etc. If the kid strikes out, he goes off crying and is snuck more 'treats' if he gets tagged out, he comes off the field crying and again, gets more of the same crappy crap. It is ridiculous. so yes, for the record and on the record, the kid is Fat _ _ _ _ _ in my book. The blanks spell out his name.) I said he deserved that game ball singlehandedly. I said that one of the other boys, yes had a good hit, but he spent the rest of the time laying in the dirt and having to be picked up out of it after each play and what in the world did the other do to deserve it?! She old me he had one hit and he has been working all season on that. That was his second game ball for that record, too.

I further explained how one game in particular, I gave her all the specifics again of Jack's plays, and that at the end of the game, my parents and my mother in law all had their cameras ready to capture the moment and it went to Fat _ _ _ _ _ for crying each time he came off the field. I told her that was pretty bad.

I didn't hold much back. I did it with a nice tone, but I also did it firmly.

She went on and on about how she would love for Jack and her son to be on the same team again, since Jack is such an inspiration as a ball player for her son. They have all learned so much this season together as a team and it would just be so great to keep them all together again in the fall. All I have to do is put down her son's name on our registration form and she will put Jack's.

I was silent.

I basically told her we would just have to see what happened.

She told me that since we are 'such good friends' that either Jason or me need to tell her anytime there is a concern about something like that. I explained that if there is anything Jason and I wouldn't do it would be to ask for the game ball for our son. That is not us.

She is still expecting us to get our boys together to play.

The coach then let me know that the boy who usually play pitcher would not be there and she would like to put Jack at that position. I told her NO WAY. The kid hasn't been there since the beginning of the season and he has first and third down. Why in the world would she want to mess that up. I told her he had not been coached at that position, so what would she expect for him to do there? I told her it was good if that kid wasn't going to be there, because all he does when he gets that ball is run around like a maniac. I said that, too. I recommended two other boys that have played the position and actually make baseball plays like THROWING it to a baseman. I told her that would be the best choice.

I just let it all out.

Now, this whole recap of everything is just that, a recap. I am still upset about it. It isn't word for word, but it now gets it out there for our little family to remember this forever. I know that this time next year, it will be meaningless, but right now, it is definitely meaningFULL.

To boot, since that game, we have had two games. One was Saturday, and they all weren't really there. She told everyone there would be no game ball for they all needed to learn to play together as a team. Nice. Too bad they weren't COACHED that way since the beginning. Wednesday night was another. I was able to watch Jack bat - oh yeah, the kid KNOCKED one out there on the first pitch and I watched him at third. Jason said once I left, he made two outs, knocked another one out to the fence from a pitch and the third at bat he hit off the tee and it went to the fence. Fat _ _ _ _ _ got the game ball this game since he hit it off the tee.

They won that game, so we have another game this weekend. We are in the 'tournament.'

I am so ready for this season to be done.

I am really going insane at each game.

So, yes, Jack got the game ball, yes he deserved it, yes he earned it, but no, the credit wasn't even close to being given.

Clueless.

Legos

2011-05-13T21:44:00.000-04:00

The tanker truck may not look like a big thing to you, but that thing was in a million and one pieces when we opened the box. Jack and I worked together on it this afternoon for quite a bit and finished it after dinner.

I love the way his tongue comes out when he is really concentrating...

We went step by step in the book, looked for the exact pieces we needed to have placed in exactly the right spots. As the cab began to come together, you could just see Jack's eyes get bigger and bigger. He just kept repeating, Isn't this just great, Mom?! This is just so awesome. This is just so great just me and you doing this, working together as a team, with no one else! I just kept sneaking kisses in here and there after many of those statements, that was for sure!

It was just special taking time out for "Just Jack." I didn't say I needed to work, I didn't say I needed to clean, I didn't say I needed to get laundry done, I didn't say I needed to sew. I definitely needed to do all of those things. I chose, however, to work in the right now moment with my boy.

We now have race cars up there waiting to be put together, you know, so the tanker truck can take gas to the cars. It should be interesting!

Welcomed Guests

2011-05-13T21:32:00.000-04:00

These two fellas came and feasted in our backyard along with our baby birds the other afternoon. They stayed for probably a good ten minutes. They then waddled their way next door to our neighbor's little pond. It just was funny seeing ducks in our back yard.

We then hosted a little playdate after school. Jack had one of his other 'half-day friends,' Joey, come home with him after school. Joey's mom and I made these plans last week and I have SO learned not to tell Jack about fun things like this until the day before.... there was a ton of count downing and today is tomorrow, right?! It was an exhausting week! The boys were beyond thrilled with each other and being in the car together. They were literally like two little giddy school girls together. They squealed, they laughed, they told jokes, they were so funny!

They played upstairs in the playroom right off the bat. I fixed lunch for all of us, including Jack's Daddy and we all sat at the kitchen table together and talked. They then went back upstairs and played. Eventually the race track came out, so it got put together.

They raced and raced and raced each other. They made the cards to tricks and they tried to get them to stay on the tracks the longest. The boys played basketball. The boys played with Niki. Joey was addicted to our dog. He just wanted to touch her. With Nik, I just feel like I have to be so careful, especially with her now being an older woman. She is nine! They rubbed her head, they rubbed her back, and they rubbed her belly. They even got out some of her toys to play catch, but I think it was really Niki's naptime! We took Joey back home in our car and for Jack, I think one of the best parts was having someone else in his car.

It is always so funny to have someone over to our house to play. Jack was saying over and over upstairs, Hey Joey, watch this... and by the over and over part, I could totally see Joey was not 'watching this.' All of Jack's things were new to Joey and he wanted to check it all out. And just as soon as we were heading downstairs, Joey opened the closet doors and saw all of Jack's trucks... those will be for next time!

Neither of the boys wanted the afternoon to end. When it was time to get shoes back on, Jack had a little private time upstairs with his Dad and Joey simply held tight to his shoes and socks and politely said I'm just staying here. My dad said it was okay. Ha.

We officially welcomed some new guests to our home and such a hit they all were!

Five Year Photo Shoot

2011-05-09T17:59:00.000-04:00

I took a stab at saving a bit of dough and taking some shots of my boy to mark him officially being five.

Here are some of my favorites...

Now, my favorite memories from doing this is that doing it on Mother's Day weekend works. My hubby feels 'obligated' to help! Ha! Jack Myers was a COMPLETE HAM. If you could see the entire 'shoot' you would laugh your head off. Wardrobe changes are a MUST - even when that hubby says I cannot do that with my son, for he is not my toy to play dress up with. I think that hubby now sees why it was so important. I love that we did them 'on the other side of the tracks.' I am thrilled that the background of the greenish door/bricks/purple flowers was a complete accident - just happened to see it and loved it! I am also glad to be working a bit in Photoshop to edit, rather than just using it to upload and organize pics!

My boy is five and I have shots to print out and put the label on the back that says so. History has been made and recorded!

Fisherman

2011-05-09T12:14:00.000-04:00

Jack and his Daddy went fishing.

They first went and picked out a special fishing pole just for Jack.

It worked!

They headed across the street when the golf course was closed to see what they could catch. Come to find out, Jack was only teasing me when he told me, but he held his arms out to show me the size of a fish they caught - nearly two feet long - and he said they had to go in the water for it - twice!

The two of them both came back happy and excited about their first fishing trip.

Butterflies

2011-05-09T09:16:00.000-04:00

Oh, it was a last minute invite to read to Jack's class, but I was thrilled! Jack's assistant teacher emailed me Monday and asked if I could come in at 8:00 Thursday morning. Absolutely. Any reason to get in that boy's classroom, I am there.

Wednesday morning, I finally had time to get to the library to find out that most books about butterflies are actually checked out this time of year...go figure! After going to a few of our public libraries around here, I nailed down some great ones!

And I didn't go empty handed, either! Oh, no!

Can you tell the 'lesson' I was doing with them, since they are watching the live version in their classroom?

It was really funny, the kids were so excited to see what I brought in, the teachers, too. I had these plates covered with colorful napkins, so no one, but Jack, of course, knew what was going to happen.

Before I started, though, I told them I had heard they had babies in their room. They all looked at me like I was crazy, thinking THEY were the babies! Ha. I loved it. Jack told everyone that I meant the butterflies! I asked them if they knew what the absolute, first thing, complete beginning of a butterfly's life was. One boy raised his hand and said that a butterfly layed an egg on a leaf. I then asked the class how many people agreed with him. They all did. Good for them, that meant they all got to have a jelly bean. I did of course, go a little over the top, and didn't EVER say it WAS a jelly bean, I said they could all eat an egg. Ha. I am laughing now thinking back to it. Jack was my fine assistant who walked the plate around to all of his friends.

We then read:

It is about a sweet little bear who is friends with a caterpillar and the bear is worried sick through all kinds of weather and settings about his friend who is in his chrysalis. The caterpillar puts him at ease until the day bear shows up and he finds the chrysalis on the ground with a hole in it. Oh, he is so sad. That caterpillar, now a butterfly, lets bear know he is still just fine. It was a really nice story about friendship, yet throwing the life cycle in there about the butterfly.

I asked who knew what happened in the life of a butterfly AFTER the egg. Jack Myers raised his hand, so this Mommie called on him. He correctly answered caterpillar, everyone agreed, so they got to eat one. As Jack was handing everyone a gummy worm, I told them that I hope after eating a caterpillar that no one threw up. HA! There I go laughing again. The kids were just so into it, the girls truly looked like they were going to puke and the boys were just so loving every bit of eating 'bugs!'

We moved into this book:

It was a beautifully illustrated book, definitely more on the non-fiction side of things of the butterfly life cycle, and the kids had already seen this book done in movie form. One of the girls told me it was actually sung in the movie - so I told her that I would just be reading it, I didn't really have a voice for singing it to them!

Next question after reading that story - so a butterfly begins as an egg, then comes out as a caterpillar, what is next? A sweet little girl told us all the cocoon answer, so I went briefly into the difference between a cocoon (soft, cotton-y, and moth) and chrysalis (hard, shelly-y, and butterfly) and that again, since everyone agreed, they could all have a chrysalis to suck on. It was a jolly rancher. It was also, very exciting! My fine assistant took the plate around to everyone and each kiddo was able to pick the color chrysalis that was most perfect!

Last but not least, was this book:

This is a precious book about the life cycle of a butterfly, again, not thrown in your face. It also shows the difference between a worm and a caterpillar. I really tried to go with more of a fiction story time, rather than the fiction ones I had shared with them in the past.

Believe it or not, they all figured out what came after the chrysalis, so they were all able to devour their own butterfly - made out of none other than a strawberry fruit roll up. I hadn't had one in years, and people, go and get some, they are still DELICIOUS! If they come as one roll with lots of colors anywhere, that really would have been better.

Jack's class is just awesome. They are all so polite, kind, and well behaved. All that candy/sweets, and they held it together every single minute. It was wonderful being with them.

I did get a note home from Jack's teacher in his Friday folder that read: Stephanie - Thank you so much for your "presentation" about butterflies! The kids loved it! I'll probably steal your idea for next year! Thanks again!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-09T08:18:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day morning began with my boy calling for me at 7:00 sharp - Jason hopped out of bed to go get him so I could sleep in. Over the monitor (yes, I still have one at my bedside) I hear Jack say with a slight whine...But I wanted my Mommie. I thought about how sweet that was, and immediately fell back asleep - ha!

At 9:00 sharp, my boys were standing at my side with card and picture in hand. Jack said, Happy Mother's Day!

We are going through a phase right now of Jack a.l.w.a.y.s. being right about anything and everything. This card absolutely cracked me up!

I got some sweet smooches and was advised to get out of bed and to get ready, we were leaving the house in thirty minutes. Hm. I had no coffee in me yet, was woken up from a DEAD sleep, what? Thirty minutes?! Jack and I headed down stairs.

There was a cup of coffee already brewed sitting there waiting to be sipped. There were also two more surprises.

Oh, to watch Jack watch me open it was priceless. He was sure to point out the pink frame he painted and all the jewels, especially the pink heart on the top left corner. He just knew I would love all of them. That Momma's Boy! I went on and on of course, with how handsome he looked in that picture, too. He just grinned.

Then I opened this:

If you make it bigger, you can see everything about me from Jack's perspective. I just love him. I just love, also, that my boy thinks I spend all day at the grocery store. Especially since we never have food in our house these days, nor do I cook. Yes, I am trying to change that, but Jason and I sure got a chuckle out of that one!

Our big Mother's Day celebration was had at SIX FLAGS! Roller Coaster fun for this girl!

We started at the Mine Train, which was a bit much for Jack. He said he did not like the jerking around at all. And the boy was quite firm on that! He said he would prefer to go on the zip line a.k.a. sky buckets. As we got off, he started saying BEST DAY EVER! I love that he loves the easy going things. How funny. We feasted on fries, diet coke, Dippin Dots, funnel cake. Oh, yes, it was perfect. My boy loved the bumper cars - we rode those twice. He enjoyed driving us around in the old time cars that thankfully were on a track he couldn't get off. Jack handled the gas, brakes, and steering all by himself. It was hilarious! We ran into one of his great buds from school, so they rode the pirate ships together. They were so excited to see each other. This Mom rode the Ninja, Scream Machine, Superman, and Scorcher. It was awesome. We watched a cowboy comedy show where they shot blanks out of guns and Jack loved every bit of it. My boy played some of the carnival games they had set up - one where you throw a baseball at something and another where you shoot a ball out of a gun and try to knock down cups. Jack could have done those all day long. When it was time to go, my boy sobbed like you wouldn't believe. He didn't throw a fit or anything, he just was held in his Daddy's arms and cried. It was pitiful, but Jason and I took it as a sign of a perfect afternoon!

My Mother's Day dinner was Johnny's Pizza, sitting inside being served. That is our joke, too. A cold draft beer, to go with it. We all took early showers and early bedtimes.

I am so loved by my boys - and no lie here, I am lucky to say, the way my guys treat me every day, it is like Mother's Day all the time.