Milestones

These are the years of milestones....it could not be more fitting that the school that my children have called home for most of their lives is called Milestones.  What a perfect name.  Every event at this time of their lives is most likely a milestone.  Infancy and toddlerhood and - we are in the process of learning - childhood is a series of milestones.  The first steps, the first solid food, the first words, the first sport, the first night away from home, the first taste of chocolate, the first pair of big kid underwear, the first ride in a convertible, the first visit to the beach, the first day of school......everything can be classified as a first.  

If childhood is a series of milestones, Jacks had a lot of them this week.  He started his week by ending his first successful soccer season.  This isn't his first season - not at all.  But this is his first successful season; the first season that he finished every game, he learned to be a good sport, he made mistakes and learned from them, he celebrated his own accomplishments as well as his teammates'. This was his first successful season.  All of that makes this trophy so much sweeter.

Two days later, we have reached the middle of the week and more milestones. First, Jacks got to wear his first ever necktie.  I never really thought about it, but that is kind of a big deal for a boy.  Maybe even a bigger deal for his daddy who proudly tied it on. 

Sister decided she needed to pose for a few shots in her new outfit. 

 

Of course, the necktie milestone came about because Jacks got to have his big Pre-K graduation.  This is a short little ritual designed to make the kids feel a sense of accomplishment and make the parents sniffle over their growing babies, plus it's always a nice reason to celebrate with your kids. Once again.....Milestones.  

Here are the kids posing in the front yard in their Sunday best.  

 

And the graduate......

 

We couldn't have been more proud than when he proudly marched across the room to collect his diploma (which was plain white paper rolled into a scroll - nice touch).  

 

I'll work on loading the videos on to You Tube later on.....the kids sang a few songs, and Jacks was the loudest and the proudest for each and every song.  

Jacks was amazingly lucky to have two of the greatest teachers this year. Michelle and Jessi have been a saving grace for us.  Jacks is, to state it gently, a challenging child.  But these ladies took such good care of him, disciplined him, taught him, and loved him all year long.  

 

After the ceremony, cake and punch was enjoyed by all.  Jacks posed for a few silly shots with his oldest friends, the boys he has been with since infancy. 

 

We managed to get a little family shot before getting in the car.

And the whole gang went out for pizza after the graduation.  It was a raucous good time, and everyone came home exhausted and grumpy and NOT ready to go to bed at 9:30 that night.  It takes a lot of sacrifice to party this hard.  ;)   

 

Yes, yes, this is a sappy and boring post.  But it was such a special, bittersweet night - all milestones in the life of your child are so precious, but also come with a hint of sadness.  The days are long, but the years are short. I want to savor every second.  

And, as usual, I am writing this post late at night completely mind addled from exhaustion, so all of my deep and thought provoking sentiment seems to have fled from my mind.  I'm sure I'll think of all those things I wish I'd said in this post in about a half an hour as I'm moment away from dream land.  We always get our best ideas when we're nowhere near the computer. 

Recently....

And so begins the downward spiral.....
Summer is coming.  And as each year comes and goes, one thing remains the same:  The last few weeks of school are so difficult as summer plans begin to take shape, gain anticipation, and just become a much more desired time of year than the one we're in right now.  The grass is always greener, you know?
As the children get older, their involvement in summer programs will increase.  There are the old faithfuls to pencil into the calendar: swim lessons, family vacation, art camp, some sort of sport camp.  As my interest in getting the kids involved in more and more programs grew, my method of organization began to dwindle.  An iPhone calendar is great, but it isn't the best for a BIG PICTURE glance at what's going on.  So the time came to go back to the old fashioned method: queue the giant refrigerator calendar. 

You'll notice this only represents May, and it's already filling up (and the photo is a little out of focus, but Nealy added a few events of her own at the bottom of the calendar).  There is a week in July that Jacks will be scuttled around town at a breakneck speed in order to reach all of his destinations, and there are some days in June that I'll need reinforcements in order to get Jacks to one place, Nealy to another, all while I'm trying to complete a 3 day meeting for work.  Joe will be very busy on my behalf (which he usually is - sweet husband). 
And this calendar only shows the actual events that we will be planning to attend.  This does not include the house projects that we are planning. (on the agenda this summer?  de-cluttering the basement.....again.)
So, why is it that we count down until summer days when the summer is just as hectic as the year?  I guess it's because I have the great privilege of being a working mother who gets to play a stay-at-home for a few months a year.  And I so look forward to my one chance each year to play that part. 
And right now, we have one more thing to possibly look forward to: a longer summer.  Our state has decided to implement legislation to dictate when the school year can begin and end while still mandating students attend 180 days of school.  The issue on the table is to begin later in August and still end before Memorial Day.  This is only about a week or two off of what we do now, but that means that some holidays throughout the year will be shaved off a bit and minutes in the day will be beefed up a bit.  I know if and when this happens, we will all have very conflicted feelings about having less time with family at the holidays, more federal holidays spent at school, and a few extra minutes in the classroom each afternoon.....but right now?  I can't believe we will actually have a little bit of August to enjoy!  We are so used to hitting the skids come August 1st because summer is basically over (we usually get back to it in that first week or so), even though the dog days have arrived and the best activity for the dog days is sitting still in a pool, not sitting still in a classroom.  
So what does all this mean for us?  All of our activities come to an abrupt halt at the end of July, mostly because summer programs have been designed to wrap up before the start of school, which was originally going to be early August.  But now, it could be mid-August.  A tiny difference, but it might mean that we'll get a little bit of down time before the beginning of the school year.  And right now, despite all the negative aspects of this possible legislation, that down time sounds like a little slice of heaven. 
But who knows? It might not happen.....
One things WILL, however, happen come August.  My oldest child will be starting Kindergarten.  I will be talking about this later, as I am not ready to face the reality of my child growing up into a big boy.  But this will be a major topic as the time grows closer.  Be still my heart.....
Until next time!  

Nealy Turned 3!!

Well, it has been a week of birthday fun. This year, Nealy's birthday fell on a Monday, and her birthday party was held the following Saturday due to the fact that we returned from our Spring Break vacation the Saturday before her birthday. So that meant:

• Cupcakes at School on Monday

• Dinner of choice Monday night

• More cake at home Monday night followed by gifts

• Squeezing in fun Easter events during the week

• Family coming into town on Friday and Saturday morning for the party

• Crazy/Insane party prep in the days before the party (which wasn't all that much - just cake pick up/favor acquisition/reminder to friends to come to the party)

• Birthday party event on Saturday

• Wind down Saturday mid-day before launching directly into more Easter activities

It's been kind of a crazy week.....

Luckily, Nealy has been taking tumbling at day care this past year through Premier Spirit Academy, and a Premier party was just what she wanted. She waffled quite a bit on the party theme (princess, Rapunzel, Dora, princess again, Fairies, Hello Kitty), but in the end we settled on Hello Kitty. Thanks to the ease of the Premier party, all I had to worry about was getting the cake (and my cake baker, Mandi Buckalew of Cakeapotomous is a Hello Kitty aficionado), some extra snacks, and additional favors for the cups that Mr. Frank of Premier already had prepared for us. Gotta love the Premier party!
Okay, my party prep story is growing tiresome. Here are some pictures:

Brother and Sister pre-party - holding hands and smiling big. So super sweet...Pure joy

One of many, many attempts at a group picture. This is one of my favorites because Nealy is cracking up at something. We love Mr. Frank! He takes good care of all the babies - such a good daddy.

Nealy posing by her cakes.
Time to enjoy some party food!!
Fun was had by all!! Phew - another birthday party down. Just 6 short months until it's time for another one. Jacks is already planning for it.....

Thanks to all of Nealy's sweet friends for coming and celebrating her big day with her, and thanks to our parents for traveling great distances to be here for the party.

Egg Saga

This is the time of year when we all boil 2 dozen eggs, dye them on the back deck, then put them back into the refrigerator for a couple of weeks when we finally decide to throw them out. Sure, I'll make some deviled eggs from some of them, maybe a round of egg salad, but several will still go to waste. I'm guessing that Joe has decided otherwise.

A few nights ago, I heard him rooting around in the kitchen. Something went into the microwave, then he wandered out of the kitchen for a while to do something else. A couple of minutes later, a smell hit my nose that nearly knocked me the hell over. Apparently, Joe chopped up an egg, added some butter, salt and pepper, then stuck that concoction into the microwave to melt the butter.

I cannot deny that buttered, salted, peppered, and chopped boiled egg might be kind of a nice treat, but I have to firmly stand by the fact that boiled eggs SHOULD. NOT. BE. MICROWAVED. You might ask yourself, how do you melt the butter? How will it taste as good if it's cold? To that I say, melt the butter first, and cold boiled eggs are far preferable to hot boiled eggs. Especially RE-HEATED boiled eggs. I cannot condone this behavior.

I understand that this was a treat that Joe's mother used to make, and she is no longer with us so these types of snacks that are in her style are special to my sweet husband. But, I really think I have to draw the line.

After opening an exterior door, running some fans, and lighting a couple of candles, the smell finally started to evaporate. But it never fully got out of my nose until the next day. UGH - brutal!

The eggs turned out really cute, though.


And come Sunday, I'll eat too many deviled eggs, then spend a little time doubled over on the floor wishing I had stopped eating them much, much sooner than I did.

Spring Soccer

Jacks's last soccer season was slightly painful. It was last spring, he was 4, he was clearly the youngest kid on the team, there were hissy fits. It was so difficult that we skipped out on the fall season in favor of waiting for a new year - and hopefully an all new, aged kid. Well, we got what we wished for. Jacks is doing so well, we almost can't believe it. See the list below of things he did NOT do at his first soccer team:

1. Quit playing soccer and start playing tag
2. Attempt to start sword fights with team mates with sticks found on the ground
3. Pick up the ball and throw it
4. Collapse on the side line in a heap of tears and anger
5. Pick a fight with his sister for getting to sit down in a chair
6. Freak out over the color of his gatorade
7. Try to eat snacks in the middle of the first half when he is actually playing
8. Decide to wait to inform someone that he had to use the bathroom until just after the game begins.
9. Hide behind my tail gating chair and beg to go home
10. Have a bad attitude

I think we've come a long way.

About 20 minutes into the hour long game, I noticed him getting a little slower, a little more halting, and getting very red faced. I fully expected the "I'm tired" whining to begin any second. But it didn't. I am so proud of my big boy. He made it all the way through the game, he sat patiently on the side line when he was swapped out of the game for a few minutes, and he was still smiling when the final whistle blew. I think we're in for a good season with the Simmons Super Heroes. And how about the yellow and black uniform? So much better than the Mississippi State maroon of last year (although that team was wonderful).

It was also Nealy's third birthday that day. She spent most of the game being silly, but being very good considering she was so excited for her super special Chick Fil A birthday dinner (her choice) followed by cake and presents at home. She is having her birthday party this weekend, so I'll be sure to post all about her birthday after the big event. I'm going simple this year - we're just doing a tumbling party at the gym with a Hello Kitty theme. I figured I'd take it easy on myself this year considering how busy we've been. I did manage to make some cupcakes for her class on Monday and an extra bundt cake to enjoy after dinner. It ain't pretty, but it tasted goooooood. Yep - that's Crisco icing, baby. There's clearly a reason I contract out all of my cakery. Until next time...

Dinner on the high seas

For those of you who have not cruised before, the wait staff that serves you dinner in the main dining room each night is kind of a big deal. You are assigned a table, usually with another family if you are not already a large group, and that is your table for the duration of the cruise. You are assigned a head waiter, a waiter, and an assistant waiter. The head waiter doesn't really do any serving - he wears a blazer, distinguishing him from the others, he offers colorful entertainment by coming around to the tables and checking in on everyone, and he basically supervises a large section of the dining room. He's kind of a meet and greet guy. The waiter is your constant attendant. He takes the orders, offers information about the specials, takes your order, serves the food, etc....but he also knows everyone's name, your favorite drink, some things that you really like, what kinds of foods the kids like, remembers to get crayons and coloring sheets for the kids, and if he's really good, he's pretty good and magic tricks - like card tricks, napkin folding, and general sleight of hand illusions. The assistant waiter is just that, the assistant. He makes sure your water stays full, clears the empty plates, and basic stuff like that.

This cruise offered an exceptionally colorful dining room staff for our family.

Our head waiter was named Habib. He is from Tunisia, and he totally freaked out Nealy. He would make a big deal of seeing us when we came in the dining room by loudly greeting the kids in his swarthy, Mediterranean accent. If it weren't for the cruise ship dress code guidelines, we get the feeling that Habib would be wearing some gold chains, a lot more hair product, an insane amount of cologne, and possibly one of those shiny button up shirts with some chest hair exposed, and he might try to sell you a car stereo. You can imagine why Nealy was freaked out. She refused to look directly at him when he was nearby, but she asked for him and talked about him when he wasn't around. Particularly because he would say insane things like, "Hey, hello, Nealy is my friend, no? I like her. I will buy her a dolphin. Come on!!!" I feel like his general way about him isn't really translating into my explanation. I will provide a picture to help you along.....This picture is CLASSIC! Joe is grinning ear to ear because he loved Habib so much. Nealy is hiding her face because she refuses to look him in the eye. And Jacks looks so uncomfortable with the entire situation. I can't get over this picture. It's honestly just too much. Get a load of that guy! Can you stand it?

Our waiter was a young man from the Phillipines named Edwin. He was an amazing guy. Edwin has a 3 year old daughter back home, so he really loved Nealy because she reminded him of his daughter. And we actually saw Edwin around the ship during the days sometimes. He was in his full waiter uniform, so I don't know what he was up to wandering through the promenade, but I've never seen one of our waiters outside of the dining room on a ship. I always assumed they were kept busy in the kitchen all day long doing some sort of brutal work while the rest of the world basks in the Caribbean sun. I mean, work on a cruise ship sounds like a great way to see the world, but I get the impression that most of the staff is kept way too busy to see anything except the interior of the kitchen most of each day.

Except for the entertainment...the dancers, the singers, the ice skaters, the entertainment staff, they are the ones who really get the best of both worlds. They work hard, but they get to enjoy the amenities of the ship, and they also disembark when the ship is at port if they like (if you see a super fabulous, tiny black man with diva sunglasses, hot pants, and an entourage on the dock, he's probably a dancer). You might notice the fancy people sitting behind Nealy in this picture.....

They were some of the acrobats from the "In the Air" show. Nealy flirted with them a little bit, and they smiled sweetly back at her - in that, "I don't speak English but I think your baby is cute" sort of a way.

And that was a little information about our dining experience on the ship. It was a trip to remember.

And speaking of the trip, I noticed a lot of interesting billboards along the interstate in Florida. Many of you know that although I am originally from the great state of Florida, I also fully acknowledge that our neighbor to the south is truly the "crazy state." It is the state that attracts the most vocally militant people of all walks of life. Right now, it seems the pro-lifers have a huge stake in billboard advertising along the Florida Turnpike. I will not take this opportunity to get political, but some of their billboards are nuts.
I tried to find you an image of the one that Joe and I enjoyed mocking, but I couldn't find one. Instead I'll describe it for you.....
The copy asks, "Pregnant and alone?" Then there is a close up picture of a troubled looking woman holding a pregnancy test. But she's holding the test dangerously close to her mouth. Think Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, when he holds his pinky to his mouth after saying something eeee-vil. Why is she holding that pregnancy strip so close to her face? Does she remember peeing on it? Come on! That billboard does NOT make me worry about single mothers and the fate of their future, it DOES make me worry about people who forget that you shouldn't wave pee sticks around their faces!

Other than that, it was really beautiful in Florida. The stretch beyond Gainesville has some really gorgeous rolling hills and farm land. When you can see it past the billboards.....

More later - this week we got back to work, had Nealy's birthday, Jacks played his first soccer game of the year, Easter egg hunts were/will be enjoyed, Nealy's birthday party to come in 2 days, we are expecting a visit with Chet and Queenie.... I think I need a vacation. Oh wait.....

A few vacation observations.....

Joe and I just took our babies on an amazing 5 night cruise to Haiti and Jamaica. We just got out of the car a couple of hours ago after a very long drive home from Fort Lauderdale. It was a wonderful trip, which is miraculous considering that the voyage south at the beginning of the week began with some ominous omens....

1. I saw a dead body on the side of the road on Highway 280. I'm not kidding. Just outside of Opelika, we had to slow down a bit due to a couple of police cars stopped on the side of the road. I glanced their way as we creeped by, and I saw what they were looking for lying next to a power pole. Joe didn't see it, and as he speculated as to what was going on, I told him that it was a body. Bad chills ran up my spine, and it made me feel a little woozy for a while. I've never seen anything like that. Bless that poor man and his family. I have since read in the paper that he was the victim of a hit and run, and his killers have yet to be found.
The next two omens are less chilling....
2. I nearly had a side swiping incident with a crazy driver in Valdosta. I will say, first of all, that I-75 can suck it. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Every inch of that interstate is the devil. The stretch through Valdosta is particularly horrible because the road work is never ending. Anyway, I changed lanes in very heavy traffic, after double checking my blind spot and mirrors AND using my blinker, and as soon as I changed lanes I noticed another car careening through the lanes behind me. I was visibly shaken thinking of how far our van might have spun had we collided as such high speeds.
3. I killed a bird. It swooped down in front of our car, ricocheted off the windshield and plummeted into the traffic behind me dying a brutal death. It happened so fast - there was nothing I could do. Poor fella.

I was worried about the fate of our trip after these bad omens. I do tend to be superstitious, so it caused me worry. As it turns out, the omens themselves ended up being the worst events of our trip. Everything after that was all peaches and cream and wine and roses. We had an amazing time. But, I did make some observations about cruising and people in general while on the cruise.

1. Plastic surgery is alive and well all over the world. The travelers on a cruise are truly international. You see and hear people from all nationalities around the boat, and more interestingly, you see them in their bathing suits. I saw lots of very good work by some very good surgeons. From top to bottom, people have been worked on. A lot.

2. Cruise entertainment is wonderful. And cheesy and weird and bizarre and very well done. And not so well done. We saw some amazing flying acrobats, a not so amazing song impersonator in the shiniest patent leather pants I've ever seen, an awesome juggler with some jokes that could easily be eliminated from his routine, and a musical version of Saturday Night Fever that was actually pretty great. We also got to see an impressive ice show on the on board ice skating rink.

I actually had several other observations to share, but I am currently being inundated with multiple Easter baskets and eggs from the kids. The Easter decor was pulled out today (I started this blog post last night, and I'm still working on it today - Sunday. And it seems it will still be completed unsuccessfully), and they are having a ball pretending to be the Easter bunny. Right now, I am surrounded with four baskets, several stuffed animals, and tons of plastic eggs. Needless to say, I'm a little distracted. Here are some pictures from our trip for you to enjoy since I've lost my train of thought.....

The ship had a perfect kids' spash park that Jacks and Nealy loved. There were two hot tubs that they spent a lot of time in because the water in the pools was pretty cold.
Here is our table where we sat each night for dinner. Stories about our waiters will be saved for another blog post.
Here we are in Labadee, Haiti! It was overcast that morning, but it ended up being a beautiful day.
The kids took a cupcake decorating class on the ship. Nealy was a little young for it, but the chef was nice to us about it.
Here are some pics from Falmouth, Jamaica! It was gorgeous. We spent the day on a beach, of course.
Jacks spent a few minutes each meal looking out the window at the ocean.
Pirate night!
Dreamworks breakfast!
Superhero night!!
Nealy got ONE braid on the beach in Jamaica. I didn't think she'd tolerate that much, but she froze up the second that Rastafarian woman got her hands in those curls.

That's all for now. Right now we are spending a great deal of time in denial that we have to return to the real world tomorrow. We're not ready!!!
More on the cruise later. Ask me questions to help me along!