SHORT SWIM

Gramma and the kiddos met us at the pool for a short swim this afternoon. 

Such a couple of goons. 

I'll leave it up to you to decide which two I'm talking about :-)

SOMETIMES...

 ...you just need to SPLASH!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

This was the kids on Monday morning...

Not too enthused about going to school. They wanted to stay home and watch a movie on the guest bed mattress that we dragged out to the living room on Saturday (all the better to laze around on Mother's Day). Plus, James was still feeling yucky due to his ear infection (making this the 3rd one since his tubes fell out in January, meaning he is likely to need another set of tubes, unless he survives the rest of the summer without another infection), as diagnosed Friday after school (he'd been snotty and coughing with a sore/swollen throat, which is why we took him in - we had no idea he had an ear infection, since he hadn't mentioned any pain and hadn't had a fever - he just tends not to get fevers with his ear infections). It's his left ear again, and it's "bad". Poor kid.

Luckily, they had a very short week with a sweet reward at the end. They had a party day on Tuesday, complete with snow cones and bounce houses. Today was the last day of school until summer semester starts (a week and a half away), and the kids are THRILLED to be staying home with Gramma for the duration! (And we're thrilled that she was willing to come brave our humid-and-no-ocean-breeze variety of hot, travel all the way to Mississippi when we know she has things to attend to in Florida whenever she's not in Georgia tending to GG, and make our kids SO happy. Seriously, within an hour we were completely replaced in the favorite department. Good thing this mama and daddy know it's temporary!)

Anyway, to celebrate the last day of school, the kids brought their three teachers little gifts:

Last week they each brought a couple of flowers to add to a big vase that each classroom filled for their teacher. The end result was pretty fun (lots of varieties of store-bought and locally grown blooms) and I know the teachers enjoyed their 'Teacher Appreciation Week' bouquets!

I tried SO hard this morning to get a picture of them together on their "last day of school", but this was the best I could do. It required dinosaur roaring...

Let the summer begin!

CORA AND MOMMY AND THE MUFFINS

One benefit of living in a small town is that it's very easy to make the paper. You may recall that James and I were in the Vicksburg Post a long while back. This time it was Cora and I, at Agape's annual "Muffins with Mommy" breakfast, the Friday before Mother's Day. Thanks for sharing the article Sophie!

BUBBLE SHORTS

When I saw her at Easter, Jean gave me 3 sets of fabric, already cut into capri/bermuda pant legs for Cora. All I had to do was sew them up. So I started with the pretty bird and butterfly fabric. And when I was done, I decided to finish off the legs differently. So I measured Cora's legs just above the knee, and finished them off with elastic to make "bubble shorts". At least, that's what I had in mind, anyway. Imagine my delight when they actually worked out as planned, and look SO CUTE on her! Gotta enjoy that bubble butt before we potty train her and sell her fluff!

RIDING AROUND THE 'HOOD

He rode half the neighborhood tonight, pedaling himself the whole way (with a little push from Mama up the 2 hills). That's at least half a mile. His muscular little legs were pumping and his booty was swaying with the effort, it was SO CUTE! We're really proud of him for doing so well, and also being careful and listening to Mama and Daddy. If only we could get him to keep his "eyes forward"!

She's addicted to Sweet Gum balls...

She was telling me "NO!" because she wanted Gramma to snuggle her and wouldn't let me carry her or take her picture.

After dinner walks are often the best kind. We're glad to have Gramma back in town for a while and some nice early summer weather to allow dinners outside and evening walks.

CORA MAELOO-WHO

Sorry, couldn't resist. Baby Doll's fine hair is too thin still though, regardless of length. The band just slides right out after a couple of minutes. Maybe when she's 2... And yes, I think she looks like a Whoville character in this photo.

ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR 2013!

We loved Warrior Dash SO MUCH that when the call came out recently for Early Bird registration for the 2013 race here in Mississippi (same event location), we decided to recruit as many of our friends as possible and sign up NOW! And yes, we did volunteer to raise $250 each for St. Jude, so when it comes time for us to start fundraising, you'll hear from us again. In the meantime, Early Bird registration of $50 (includes race registration, t-shirt and helmet, medal, and one free beer!) is good through tomorrow (05/15/12). If you're interested, we're running the 10:30am wave (currently 490 spots left, so you don't have to commit right now if you're unsure), and we're happy to host any long-distance friends or family that want to run with us and stay at our place that weekend (April 21, 2013)! Dude, we even have a Vicksburg Warriors Facebook group, all set up and ready to motivate our fellow participants! Just email or Facebook message Jay or I if you're interested in joining us, and we'll help get you situated for one of the most fun days of your life!

Until we post about Warrior Dash again in fundraising efforts, check out our short video of the start of the 3:30pm wave (the one right after Sandy's start). If you think you can't do this race, think again. People ran it in full costume, half naked, partially inebriated, and/or with helmet cams recording their every move. Shoot, one girl took off from the starting line double-fisting cans of beer (she's at the 28 second mark, if you want to find her). If THEY can do it, and WE can do it, then YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

P.S. To tide us over on mud runs for the next year while we wait for Warrior Dash to return to our area, we're highly considering doing the Run For Your Lives (mud run/obstacle course/zombie chase) race in Florida in November. Any takers to join us on that one?...

MOTHER'S DAY 2012

My 4th Mother's Day, and the first time I remembered to take a photo with my babies!

This Mother's Day was exactly what I was hoping for: sleeping in, no cooking, no cleaning, no wiping booty duty, bathing alone, a massage, napping, and just enjoying the day with the 3 people who made me a mama. I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Though I did get an awesome, bright, patio table (our first ever patio furniture!), and for the first time, we were able to eat outside like civilized folk. Jay picked the yellow varnish, and I love how happy it turned out! The white center is actually a piece of rain gutter - an idea I found on Pinterest, to use as a drink chiller (just add ice). No, there is no ice in there in these photos. The kids were too thrilled with it at breakfast (Did I mention we had grilled bacon for breakfast? We ate outside at our table all day. And I actually had bacon with EVERY meal today - aren't you proud Stephen?!) and kept eating the ice instead of their pancakes, so we left it out tonight at dinner.

First time eating corn-on-the-cob all by herself! She LOVED it and ate 2 whole pieces.

Little man was a fan too. Also his first solo cob eating. I think we have a pair of converts!

Thank you Jay for the lovely day, and Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas and mom-to-be's out there! I am blessed to know SO MANY wonderful moms, and am especially lucky to have the amazing examples that are my own mom and grandma and Jean. A VERY Happy Mother's Day to all of you! LOVE YOU!

PARTY CRASHERS

Not really, Aunt Sandy invited us! Though it did feel a bit like crashing to show up with a couple of munchkins to a brewing party. It was followed by a grilling party (mmmmmmm, fresh caught cobia and mahi mahi from Sandy's latest trip out into the blue), where the kids ate fish and bread and deviled eggs. We couldn't convince them to eat the asparagus, but I assure you it was also delicious. Thank you for the invitation Sandy, and for sharing your haul!

WAITING FOR THE AMERICAN IDOL PARADE

"LIKE THIS CO-WAH!"

We've been meaning to take video of James' pedaling skills for months now (he learned to pedal his trike in early February), so here you go. This is long (I know the grandparents won't mind!), but there are a few entertaining parts. I think the difference in our kids' personalities is hilarious - James can be SO CAUTIOUS when riding his trike or bike, but Cora is a full-on dare devil, barreling down hills with legs raised, screaming all the way! And you wonder why we make her wear her crash helmet so often...

James is determined to teach Cora to pedal soon: "Like this Co-wah!"

FRIDAY NIGHT SWEETNESS

STILL A FAV!

Like the ride-on dump truck, this toy is still used on a regular basis. By both kids. Cora pushes her dolls and other sundry items around. James uses it to tote trains and whatnot between rooms. And they often take turns pushing each other around in the buggy. Sometimes Cora crawls in and just sits there though. Contemplating life, I suppose.

SOMETIMES...

...it's exhausting being a full-time growing learning on-the-go toddler.

(After school. She was passed out in the aftercare teacher's arms when I got there. Stayed asleep through the transfer to my arms, into the car, the whole drive to the post office, and the transition back to my arms. Growth spurt?)

SECURITY CAMS WORK FOR ADULTS TOO

(Now you know where we lay as we wait for Cora to fall asleep. Sometimes she takes long enough that Daddy passes out in the meantime. Now, do I let the thunderstorm wake him up, or do I go down there and rescue him?...)

BIRDIE SHORTIES

Cora outgrew her Birdie Pants. Lengthwise, anyway. And since I LOVE that fabric, I decided to turn them into shorts so that she can wear them longer (since her waist has only increased by about an inch since I first made them, and the elastic had room to spare). I cut them off just above her knee and added light pink bias tape to finish them off. Cute, eh?

And lets reminisce, shall we? Look how much her hair has grown in the past 8 months! She's still got that belly, but those legs and arms have thinned and lengthened significantly. Baby Doll is growing up!

OUR VIEW THIS MORNING

Thanks for the new security cams Grambot and Pawpaw! Now Mama and Daddy can watch our every move, even setting the camera to auto-rotate around the room, and scold us over the intercom to lay down and go to sleep when we're goofing off. No really, thanks. (No really, thanks Mom and Dad, we LOVE the new cameras! Love Denise and Jay)

CINCO DE MAYO SALSA PARTY!

Dawn had a brilliant idea a few weeks ago - a salsa canning party (complete with salsa tasting and associated unspoken competition among salsa recipes) held on Cinco de Mayo. We were totally in, of course (regardless of never having made salsa or canning anything in our lives). We learned a few things, ate a TON of salsa and chips (and tacos), and enjoyed hanging out with friends while the kids played with their buddies. We sure hope this becomes and annual tradition!

Emma and Cora (sampling the Mexican liquid yogurt)

Plenty of sun for our little Sunshine

She could reach the pedals on this one, but didn't feel like trying them out

"Working" on their "com-pooters"

Jacob teaching James how to fish

They were SO cute out there, and Jacob was so good with James. We sat leisurely up on the patio and didn't worry a bit. It's nice for James to have some older buddies around to learn from, and it doesn't hurt that Jacob (and Bridger) are such sweet boys, and are really good with kids. James thinks they're both very cool!

Bridger out on the boat with Stirlin, while James fishes with Jacob. This picture was taken RIGHT BEFORE HE CAUGHT HIS VERY FIRST FISH ALL BY HIMSELF!

He was very proud of his little brim, but also really shy about taking his picture with it.

Miss Emma is almost 15-months-old, and still in the phase of tasting everything, even dirt. She's so adorable!

Sweet little Bella. Can't believe Cora is afraid of her!

Dinner time!

Cooling off and calming down inside, pretending to watch a movie. (2 minutes later they were up jumping on the bed, and when I confronted them about it and asked if they thought it was OK to jump on the bed, Coltin said "Yeah, I have my shoes off!" and James said "We're being angels!"...)

Cora didn't want to share the baby swing at first, but then realized it was low enough for her to help push Emma, and she loved it! These girls swung for almost a half hour at the end of the day!

One of Cora's favorite activities... laying her belly across a ball (or balloon) and rolling forward until she falls off). She can do this over and over and over!



The Cinco Salsas! Ours is 2nd from the left: Chipotle BACON Salsa! Don't worry Stephen and Dad, we'll be sending jars your way (it's SPICY!)

Jay enjoyed breaking his 3 drink limit with tequila shots. And I wanted a picture of his newest WOOT shirt, purchased on Earth Day. (The robots are sparkly, which I find hilarious.)

We camped out at the Hancock's house longest. Good thing we planned ahead and brought the kids' jammies.

Hopefully they didn't break Emma's swing... at least Cora is still under the weight limit!

Sweet Emma came to sit in my lap and Cora got jealous, so I took the opportunity to take a picture with both girls. Emma was saying "Cheese!" Guess she does the squinty eye smile too. So cute!

 And thus ended our Cinco de Mayo day. Lots of fun! Thanks again Dawn and Stirlin!