Happy Birthday to Me

Today I am 33... what in the world?!?!?

It's funny, when you get older, birthdays are not nearly as exciting as they were when you were younger or even in your early 20s!

Here's what I did today:

• dropped S off at school
• took C to speech
• went to the gym
• made lunch, prepped dinner, did laundry
• took S to dance
• got C a haircut
• went to PTA meeting, volunteer meeting and open house at S's school

Now, doesn't that sound super excited!  HAHA!!!

I did come home to a homemade cake baked by M and the kids and the kids made me sweet cards throughout the day and told me "happy birthday" about 100 times!!!  It's the little things:)

Last Lake Day of 2013

This afternoon after church, we made our last trip of the year to the lake - and only our second one as well thanks to a very rainy summer!!

It was a chilly day and I was not going to get in the water(and was in my fleece the entire boat ride) but the other three crazies in my family were all about it!  The water wasn't all that cold, but the air was!!  Brrr!!

It was a great day for the lake, with very few other boats out there and a good ending for the 2013 boating season!

'Til next year!!

Up, Up, Up and Away!

This evening we went to the coolest birthday party.. EVER!!!

Our friends had a hot air balloon themed party and actually had a real hot air balloon that we were able to go up in!!  Oh.My.Goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the kids!

We were able to go up with a little girl and her mom and brother.  The girls were a little nervous, but excited at the same time.  S wasn't scared, but I think she was definitely glad that she had me and her friend there with her!  C and I, however, were all about it!  I had to hold him in while he waved to everyone down below!!!

The kids also got to swing on tire swing horses, ride the zip line, play on the playground and get their faces painted.  Really, what more could a kid(or mommy!) ask for!?!?

It really is the best party we've ever been to and probably will ever go to:)

Lollipops Concert

I took the kids to the library for the Lollipops concert this morning.

First we had to return some books which was obviously very exciting for them:)  The concert was a story read by a representative from South Carolina Children's Theatre and music by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra!  Very cool and great for the kids to see!

Today the book was The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig with percussion accompaniment!

All of this for free... we will be going again:)

BMI Kids

This is seriously the first time I've taken out my camera in a solid week!

What is wrong with me!?!?!?!

Nothing like a worm to entertain the kids!

They have the exact same bike  HA!!  Crazy!  C's is from a garage sale
and D's is from the dump:)  You think their dads are best friends??

This n' That

Blowing Bubbles

Glitter craft - I was smart this time and did it outside!  A couple of notes:
1. C is not usually into crafts, but I guess this one was messy enough that he enjoyed it:)
2. S decorates with glitter like she decorates her cookies - the more the better!!

The kids have really enjoyed coloring on the way to school in the morning.  S told me that she told
her teacher that coloring with her brother in the car is the best part of her day - sweet girl!!

C and I had a breakfast date at Chick-fil-A.  He was still hungry after
his first order of chicken minis so I sent him back up to the counter,
by himself, to get another box.  He was SO PROUD of himself!  He was such
a big boy doing that!!  Luckily for my wallet, I had two free orders
of chicken minis.  Otherwise, he would be quite the expensive little date!

These pesky stink bugs have made themselves at home at our house!  They are mostly around the garage
so end up hitching rides with me in the car frequently!  Just awesome!!  Been reading up on ways to get rid
of these guys - apparently mint alcohol(a version of rubbing alcohol) will help!  Gotta get on it:)

I was treated to a sweet concert!!

On days that C goes to school, we have about 45 minutes to kill after
dropping S off at school.  I have gotten into the routine of running
with C in the stroller at his school.  This way, I am done with my workout
and don't have to spend precious "me time" at the gym.  And, C likes it because
I have made this the only time that he is allowed to play games on  my
phone!  Win, win!  

This is what I did for a couple hours after dropping both kids off at school:
drank a quiet cup of coffee:)
surfed the internet
watched Kelly and Michael Live
Then I got busy cleaning the kids' bathroom and dusting and vacuuming... bleh!

We ended the week as we have started doing each week... at a park!

Funny things the kids are saying/doing:

C - "I gottcha", "Ohhh yeah!!"

S - calls a shirt a "blouse", pointing to someone(her brother usually!) and doing circles around the side of her head, meaning "coo coo, crazy", gives me the details of how gross boys are in the bathroom at school, calling all groups of animals "flocks", 

This Boy LOVES His Bike

I know I've said it before, but it's worth repeating because he pretty much rides it every day!!

10 Years from Now...

this will be my reality!!!!!

A Week of Fun

C has been well-entertained this week!

Three park play dates(S was able to join us on one of them!), gymnastics, and two days of school!!!  I didn't take pictures of everything, but did manage to get a couple throughout the week!

He should sleep well this weekend:)

Going to the Ball

Oh my!

They were on their way to the ball!:)

C did have sense enough that when we went outside later that he needed to take off the dress because "it kinda too girly"!  HA!  Yes it is!!!

Soccer Game #2 - Video and Team Pictures

Tonight was S's second soccer game and also team pictures!

She did great, had fun, and loved every minute of it!!

And, C wants to play like a big boy too!  He wears his cleats and brings his own ball to every practice/game:)  In the spring Buddy, in the spring!!

Car Wash

M decided he needed to wash his truck and the kids were all in on this activity!

S was actually a great helper and got a lot of washing done!  C on the other hand washed about everything else except the truck(notice how he isn't actually washing the truck in any of the pictures - lol!)!  

So much fun for them!!

No Training Wheels

C absolutely loves to ride his bike!  I think he would ride it all day every day if we let him:)  He also has really good balance and coordination so we thought we'd try taking his training wheels off to see how he did!  Well, he was very excited about this until he got on the bike and realized that it now could tip over.  We took the training wheels off the extra bike that we have.  After several attempts we decided to raise the training wheels up some on his bike so that it rocked a bit more and allowed him the chance to learn to balance it by himself.  We'll try again in a few months!

PS - S does not have hers off either and shows no interest in having them off either!  She's also not a bike fanatic like her brother is!

Homework Time

Last week S started getting her first homework assignments from school and since then I've been trying to figure out how I was going to go about helping her with her homework and establishing a routine for it while at the same time keeping the boy entertained and out of her way.  What a feat!

What has seemed to work best is to have them both do their homework at the same time!  Now, C doesn't actually have homework, but I'm going to take this time to start working with him on ABCs and 123s.

He likes it because he thinks he's a big kid like S and she likes it because we are all working together at the table.  Double win!

Go Team Thunder!

Tonight was S's first soccer game!

After two practices(one of which S missed because of her lip incident last week), the kids were put on the field to "play ball" - oh, wait, that's what they say in baseball!  Oh well!  It is fitting, though, because boy did they ever play!

S came out and was dynamite!  This was much to our surprise, but she was actually really good!!!!  She scored 2 or 3 goals right away and was aggressive in getting the ball from the other team!  After that, the coach made her and her teammate, Peyton, stay back so that some of their teammates could get a chance to play as well!  It is all about fun and being fair at this point which is definitely a good thing!

At this age, the score is not kept so I don't know the official score of the game, but I do know that Team Thunder definitely won:)  They had so much fun and were so excited and dirty and sweaty!!

I love being a soccer mom - or on the sidelines of any team for that matter!!

1st Day of School for C-Man

C finally got to go to school today!

He was so so so excited:)  We dropped off S, had about 45 minutes so we went for a "stroller ride" around the gym at church and then walked over to C's new class.  We have come back to our home church for the remainder of C's Parents' Day Out/Preschool.  Our intention is to hold him back a year and our previous school didn't have a good way in which to do that, so we have moved back to our church.  I am very excited about this year and so is C!  

I didn't even get to hug him goodbye because as soon as we saw his classroom, he rushed past everyone else and didn't look back!  I think it is safe to say he was comfortable with his new school and teachers!  

Just as I did with S and started with C last year, here are C's favorites:
TV Show - Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Food - Strawberries(It's true!  He'll eat the entire container by himself in one sitting and still ask for more!)
Best Friend - Mark
Candy - Suckers
Color - Red
Book - the soccer book(I don't even know what book he is talking about.  I put in my opinion and vote for 5 Little Monkeys and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.)
Activity - Playing with his cars and trucks.
What he wants to be - a Daddy(Be still, my heart!)

Here's to a great year!!

9th Anniversary

August 28th is our actual anniversary, but this week was a crazy, busy week for all of us so we opted to celebrate it tonight instead!

We had a great, quiet dinner at The Hare and the Hound in Landrum, SC(one of our favorite places to go!) and then went by our new lot and staked out where our house was going to sit on it!

It was fun to think what things would look like once we get there - where the kids will play in the backyard, the porch where I can drink my coffee, what the view will be like from each of the rooms, etc.

We've had a wonderful NINE years and this coming year is already proving to be one of excitement and change!  We are looking forward to many more years together!!