Vrrrooom into three!

When I first asked Luke what kind of birthday party he wanted, he told me BLUE!! While that was fine, I wasn't sure if he actually understood what I meant. So we gave him choices - A Cars party, Monster Inc party or Wreck It Ralph party. He choice Cars and was super excited about it!

So we vrrroooommmmed into 3 years old!

 

There were lots of presents!

Brother was veeeeery helpful with opening the presents. LOL!

  

We loved celebrating with family and friends!

 

Of course, there was a lot of play time!

 

Luke is three!

Luke turned three on 9/9/13! 

3 days old - sleepy baby, sleepy momma

He is still my quiet child, but not in volume. He speaks when he needs to be heard and is loud if he is not heard. He has started repeating his brother in every way. Actions, words and deeds.

 

Favorite Food: Ritz Bitz

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Book: Cars Galore

Favorite Movie: Wreck It Ralph

Favorite Activity: Wrestling in 'daddy's bed'

Favorite Saying: "I say yes!" Said only when we tell him no...

Luke, you are such a sweet beautiful boy. Your smile and eyes make people fall in love instantly. And we truly believe you will always have the coolest hair in the family. You only let a few people close, but when you do, they are yours forever. I pray you keep your strong silent personality. Lord knows, the world needs more people like that. 

"Mommy's a healer!"

There are many many reason I love working at the school in which  my son attends. I get to be a part of the family who teaches him. His teachers are not only my colleagues but my friends. I know, understand, and live the mission of the school. Like I said, many reasons.

Another reason I enjoy being on campus is everyone loves to tell me "Evan stories". About twice a week, one of my fellow colleagues pops their head in my office and says, "I have to tell you what Evan said today!" Sometimes I want to hide under my desk when the story is over and sometimes I have tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.

So, when every Kindergarten teacher from the school walks towards me trying to stifle their laughter, I knew I was in for a doozie.

On their first day in the cafeteria, Miss Monroe sat across from Evan and another sweet little boy. The other little boy asked Miss Monroe if she was a doctor. She explained very nicely that no, she wasn't a doctor but a teacher. That is why she was at school with him. Nodding in agreement, Evan states, "My mommy is a doctor and a teacher." Before dismissing him, Miss Monroe, as any good teacher would, kept the dialogue going. Evan explained to her and the table that his mommy had this special medicine. Sometimes she has to take it and sometimes she lets her friends have it. It has grapes in the bottom of the bottle that have to sit there a long long time before the medicine is ready. It's in a biiiig bottle that is really fat at the bottom and gets skinny skinny at the top. And sometimes she shares the medicine with her friends when they are sick. After everyone has had the medicine they are really happy and feel so much better.

Cheers and happy medicating my friends.

First Week or Kindergarten

My BIG boy started Kindergarten last week!! How did this happen??

He is blessed with two amazing teachers, Mrs. Finney and Miss Monroe. Mrs. Finney has taught at St. George's for 30 years. This is Miss Monroe's first year to teach. We are so lucky!

He has so many friends in his class, old and new!

From PK to SK, these two are true blue friends!

This year something very special happens. The SK kiddos get to eat in the lunchroom!! Evan has been completely stoked about buying his lunch. I went in Friday to catch the action. I warned Mrs. Finney he is the pickiest eater ever, but we were going to give it a try. He told me he was going to buy chicken and popcorn. So, I just sent apples. When I went to check on him he had an apple, a sugar cookie and an ice cream on his tray. Needless to say he had not made it past Mrs. Finney's watchful eye yet. He was told to go put a dessert back. I explained he had apples, so he didn't need another apple. So he put that back. We have some work to do.

So I asked him why he didn't get the chicken and popcorn. He informed me they didn't have that today. What I found out later was the cafeteria made popcorn chicken the day before. Note to self: chicken and popcorn equals popcorn chicken. Also, print the menu, mom!

Mrs. Finney asked the cafeteria to make him a PB sandwich on wheat and they obliged. Little did they know just how picky my son is. This is the kid who refused to eat regular PB when it was bought on accident the other day. He only will eat reduced fat PB. Uuuuuugh!

Either way, both he and I will learn. If he's happy, I'm happy.

The night before Kindergarten

Evan has been attending 'school' since he was 3 months old. He is used to being away from us during the day and we are used to saying goodbye. He still runs to me in the afternoon shouting my name and still grab him in a hug as soon as I see him.

Evan's first day of daycare - August 2008

Since he has been going to school so long, I didn't think Kindergarten would affect me. And for the most part, it hasn't. Except for the Sunday night before he started.

Evan choose to read "The Kissing Hand" for his night time story. If you have never read "The Kissing Hand", it is a story about a little raccoon going off to school for the first time. He is scared and wants to stay home. His mom tells him about a secret, the kissing hand. She kissed the middle of his palm and tells him her kiss will stay with him the entire day. If he misses her, he can put his hand on his cheek and feel her love.
It was the part of the story where Chester, the little raccoon, decides to kiss his mommy's hand so she won't miss him that I lost it.

First days of PK, JK and SK

My boy is growing up.

I never thought he'd be old enough to go to Kindergarten and one day he's going to go to middle school and high school and then leave me for college.

And there is nothing I can do to slow this process down.

So as I laid there blubbering through the end of the story, Evan didn't say a word. He hasn't seen me cry much, but he always acknowledges when I do. That night he tucked himself as tight as he could into my chest. When the story was over, Evan sat up, uncurled my hand and kissed it. Then he said, "Don't worry momma, if you put that hand on your cheek you'll know I'll be with you."

And I will be with you Evan. I will always be with you.

Get away weekend

The boys' pediatrician gave John and I some advice during the first year of Evan's life. Every time he saw Evan for a visit (and in that first year there are a ton) he would make sure we were prioritizing our marriage. He gave us what I thought was an impossible feat in the first couple visits. He said to date once a month and go on an out of town trip, even if it was for one night, just the two of us. I laughed inside my sleep deprived head and sarcastically thought, 'yeah right'.

Come to find out, we both really took his advice to heart. We have gone out of town 4 of the 5 years we've had kids just the two of us. We have taken the kids out of town before and plan to again next summer, but the time as a couple is crucial for our marriage.

Since we did a big trip to Cancun last year and want to take the boys to the beach next year, we played it low key and went to Nashville. We wanted to not only spend the weekend together, but I also wanted to visit some friends I haven't seen in a while also! Love when I can do both!

We had no specific plans for the days. We did normal things like sleep in (which is 8am for us), eat breakfast in a coffee shop, walk around the mall (it was raining), go to a movie, eat lunch on a patio, have a drink in a bar.

 

But the HIGHLIGHT of our trip was seeing my friends!! Heather has been my best bud since about 2nd grade. This girl knows me through and through and still loves me. Over the course of 27 years we have laughed together, cried together, perfected the cheek picture, loved together, been heart broken together, danced together and supported each other through a whole host of life's ups and downs.

Heather and her wonderful husband Shane had a sweet baby girl back in November. This was the first time I got to meet her!!! She could not BE more precious!! Do you see this face!! I DIE!!!

 

Heather and Shane took us to Holland House. They are known for their drinks and boy, do I know why. John had the Barnburner which was burbon over ginger ice cubes. Heather and I had a basil gimlet, aka - the forestini.

We then stood in line for an hour for ice cream. Now, if you know me, you know I will do just about anything for good ice cream. John used to joke in our dating years that I had an ice cream pocket. No matter how full I was, I was always ready for some ice cream for dessert. When Heather and Shane told me we would probably have to wait an hour, I almost faltered. After hearing from literally everyone I knew in Nashville, I knew Jeni's was worth the wait. It wasn't until I experienced it that I realized I would stand in line for 2 hours for this amazingness.

On Sunday morning, we met Ginny and Jack for brunch at The Tavern. We were so lucky to have gorgeous weather. It felt like a cool October day which is rare for July in TN! It was so nice for Ginny and Jack to take time to eat with us. We stretched that brunch out over several hours! 

Even though we were gone only 48 hours, it was a wonderful little get away. But who wouldn't want to come back to these two cute little guys??

Independence Day

We celebrated the 4th with some friends in our neighborhood. It was good to get the kids together to play. We lived in a cove for 10 years before this. It was very nice to sit in our driveway and let the kids play. Now that we are on a street I kind of feel disconnected. It felt good to 'go down the street' and play with friends.

Evan stayed up for the fireworks, but Luke didn't make it. There was someone shooting them off early so Luke got to see some fireworks, just not the town's version. He found a new friend, so I don't think he minded.

Collierville Town Fireworks