Wedding Whirlwind

Well, I finished one wedding - took a week off and then whamo - my sister-in-law gets engaged!! Tori is engaged to Kevin and so far in one week we have set a date, booked a location for the ceremony AND reception, bought dresses for Sarah-Grace & Charlotte and have Tori narrowed down to 3 dresses so far (although yesterday we were down to 2 dresses so techincally today we are going in the wrong direction). We spent the whole weekend in a wedding whirlwind, which is hectic but I'm in heaven. I love weddings, I love planning, I love details and I love Tori so this has been wonderful. It's also time we all get to spend with her because once she is married in July she will be moving to Oklahoma to live with her husband and so whatever precious time we can spend with her - we will take!!

I'm off to start planning the details of the engagement party we are hosting this weekend, so there's not much time to blog but here are a few items to note:

The girl's now know the entire chorus to the "apple bottom jeans song". They picked it up off the preview commercial for a new movie out and one of the kids at school. Very cute and very not appropriate.

Charlotte was asking Tori who her parents were the other day and when Tori said JeJe and Grampa (the same as Tad's) she responded "Why can't you get your own parents?".

Sarah-Grace just realized she has a webkinz and spent the entire day on the computer with Tad in webkinz world (lucky him).

While blog stalking a few weeks ago I have found the funniest blog ever. It is http://www.tobaccobrunette.blogspot.com/ and I think this chick is hysterical. Her post this week titled "Who's Afraid of Fertlity Support Groups?" and past posts like "Practicing Aloof" and "Reigning It In" had me laughing so hard I was crying. I only wish I was a good a writer as she is!

Shin Splints for Infants 2008

Hi everyone! I am participating in a March for Babies event on April 26th that raises funds for March of Dimes. If you aren't familiar with March of Dimes it is an organization that funds research and development to understand and prevent prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality. This event and organization is very near and dear to my heart because of our experience with Charlotte and also because of the experiences my friends and family members have had with complications and prematurity.

I am hoping you will help support me in whatever way you feel moved, either through a donation, by joining our team (Shin Splints for Infants) and walking with us or through your thoughts & prayers. If you would like to donate please know donations don't have to be large to make a difference. Tad and I have started a "Dime Bank" where we are emptying any change (especially dimes) we have at the end of each day into the bank. Sarah-Grace and Charlotte are collecting their dimes as well.

I have a personal web page that you can visit to read more about the event, why I am participating and where you can choose to make a donation if you feel moved to do so. You can visit this web page by clicking on the following link: http://www.marchforbabies.org/kgraces
I know so many of you have been affected by prematurity. If you would like to join our team please visit the following website and click on the 'Join this team' link at the top:
http://www.marchforbabies.org/498855

I appreciate each and every one of you, your thoughts and prayers for us and for Charlotte where overwhelming and that experience was life changing for us. Thank you for your love, your support, your friendships and God bless you all!

Kimberly

The Weekend-O-Frenzy is a Success!

Hi everyone! Not a lot of time or energy, but I survived the weekend-o-frenzy!! Kristina and Joe are happily married and in Hawaii!! Their wedding was beautiful and wonderful and all things lovely. BeBe & Papa had their surprise 60th wedding anniversary brunch that I heard was wonderful. Charlotte had a great birthday party yesterday. And today Charlotte's much anticpated doctor's appointment went well. Her AFP levels have actually come down a little which is good and most importantly normal!! We aren't sure why the nurse wanted us to speak with a doctor about the results - but we would much rather everyone be a little on the cautious side when it comes to her scans! The doctor was also very pleased with Charlotte's progress over the past year. She said she has come very far and surpassed where she wanted and needed Charlotte to be so we were very pleased to hear this. I am now sick and don't have much of a voice, so if I promised to call and update you I apologize!!

On another note... my term "blog stalking" has officially reached the blogging world (outside of my blog). I was reading a friend of a friend's blog the other day (actually "blog stalking" myself) when I saw that this person used my term on her blog!! http://www.shawnaherring.blogspot.com/ Notice the January 20th entry AND the list on the top right titled "Blogs I Stalk"!!

On and even other note.... During my "blog stalking" I found out about this amazing non profit organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. It's an organization that helps bereaved families of stillborns and early infant deaths for FREE. I encourage everyone to check out their site and tell people about it. It's something that I hope never happens to anyone I know ever again, but if it does I would like to know this organization exists to possibly help them. http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

Working on a Heart of Gratefulness

My life is CRAZY right now. Can I say I wouldn't recommend serving on the board of the school's PTA, chairing the room mom committee, being a liaison for 4 other committees AND running a lunch program? I am insane. I did it to myself and right now the only valuable lesson I've learned is that at least I am making these mistakes early in the girls' lives so hopefully they won't remember too much of this. I hope, I pray. I keep telling myself (and Tad) that even though I'm technically working 40 hours a week for free, I at least have current work experience just in case I choose to go back to work anytime soon. I do think the girls, especially Sarah-Grace, find comfort in the fact that I'm pretty much at the school or involved in almost every aspect of the school everyday. At church on Sunday we were asked to try and pursue a heart of gratefulness each day by writing down 10 things (small or big) that we are thankful for that day. So even though I cringe every morning when my alarm goes off and my stomach aches when I look at my calendar I choose to have a heart of gratefulness today. Today I am thankful for…
1. A husband and 2 precious little girls.
2. A calendar that is full of activities.
3. The opportunity to serve at my children’s school, to be involved and have a voice for my children’s needs.
4. Being able to stop by and watch my girls in class. Sarah-Grace usually invested in some detailed math problem and Charlotte eating snack for the 3rd time that day!!
5. The benefit of forgetting snack the second week in a row and no one really saying anything to me because they are too worried I might snap.
6. A mother-in-law who calls out of the blue because she misses seeing her grandchildren since last week and wants to know if she can pick them up any day or if I need to drop them off to run some errands. A mom who is willing to drive Sarah-Grace home everyday so Charlotte can get a good long nap (even though today she was at JeJe’s house).
7. Cousins who call or write an e-mail out of the blue with encouraging words for no reason – just because.
8. The fact that as of this very moment I only have 3 loads of laundry to get “caught up”.
9. Friends to pray for over days, and months and years.
10. Answered prayers, especially for those expecting little miracles of their own!

Grace-r-osity

Well, it was that time again on Saturday. I measured Sarah-Grace's hair last week and she was begging me to take her to get it cut. So on Saturday, after she convinced her daddy to get online and donate $10 from her piggy bank to the 'Nothing but Nets' program for Africa she insisted we get her hair cut and donated. I took her to a children's hair salon I heard about and below are the pictures from our trip. I must say that Sarah-Grace is such a generous, thoughtful, sensitive and compassionate little girl. Everyday she just amazes me with the things she says and does. I am so blessed to be her mother and I can't wait to see what an amazing woman she grows up to be!! I've listed just some of the little stories about her below. I love her so much!!


- So on Saturday Sarah-Grace had Tad count up all her money (over $100) from her piggy bank. We had NO idea she had that much money. She really doesn't get that the money is for her - she thinks it is all to give away. She really wants to sponsor a child in Africa because she was up late one night and saw a commercial and hasn't stopped talking about it. In the mean time we all agreed she could donate $10 to the Nothing but Nets campaign that sends nets to families in Africa to use when they sleep and protect them from mosquitoes that carry dangerous and fatal diseases. This she also saw on TV. Their logo is "let's cover Africa". Anyway, while Tad and Sarah-Grace were online trying to donate the money Charlotte kept yelling for Sarah-Grace to come play with her. Sarah-Grace finally frustrated with Charlotte screamed back "Charlotte just wait a minute I am trying to cover Africa right now and when I'm done I will come play with you". Priceless.

- We had the Discovery channel on the other day and a special on tornadoes was on. Sarah-Grace asked me if God created the earth and loves us all then why would he let a horrible storm come destroy things and kill people. I told her that her daddy was the one who turned the Discovery channel on, he's the science guy in our family so go ask him!

- I thought it was genius of me to "pass the buck" to Tad on the whole tornado conversation. However God "one upped" me the very next day! I was reading the new princess Bible that Sarah-Grace received for Christmas. We were reading the story of Adam and Eve's fall. I finished reading the story and was ready to put her to bed when she asked, "Mommy, I don't understand. If God wanted to be with Adam & Eve in the garden then why did he put the tree there in the first place, why did they have to have rules?". Are you kidding me? What child gets done with the creation story and asks this question? Maybe lots, but no one ever asked this question in my Sunday school class. We asked questions like, can snakes really talk, why didn't Adam stop Eve or not listen to her. It ended up being one of the most amazing conversations she and I have had. We talked about free will and how the only way that God could show Adam & Eve that their obedience to Him was their choice and Him not forcing it upon them was to have a rule, this tree. I was so amazed she actually understood what I was trying to say. She has been so excited about our conversation she begs to read her Bible with me every night. I was so amazed that when she asked such a deep question at her age God gave me the words to explain an answer to her.

- Last story, this one I'm sure everyone but Tad & me will think is funny. So, Sunday we went to church. We are in the drive through (at Starbucks of course) afterwards and Tad and I are having a discussion in the front seat. Tad decided to reprogram all of his seat settings and radio stations on my keyring and I was simply pointing out that he was wrong in doing so. He begged to differ. Sarah-Grace was sitting in the back seat and said "Um, Mommy & Daddy you know what we studied in church today?" To which we responded "No, What?" And she said, "Peace". Tad and I busted out laughing. She then went on to say that we needed to decide if we wanted to be "peace makers" or "peace breakers". Nice, real nice.

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Christmas Morning

We have a million pictures, but I think this video sums it up. The girls had a great morning - we still don't know what Sarah-Grace told Charlotte.

International Night 2007

International Night is an event the girl's school hosts each year. Each child dresses in a costume (preferably a from a specific culture), each class stands and sings a few songs and the parents bring food from the region/country of their heritage. The girl's class studied Africa and the songs they sang were I'm Proud to be an American, Put a Little Love in Your Heart and Lean on Me. What these have to do with Africa I have no idea - but it was adorable. That is until Charlotte decided her belly was more interesting than paying attention and singing like she was suppose to. Nope, instead she thought pulling a string from her skirt and then insisting someone come take it from her was far more pressing to accomplish. Tad didn't happen to video the part where Sarah-Grace finally tired off Charlotte's antics grabbing the string from Charlotte - which ensued a small tug of war until the teacher came to get it. Sarah-Grace never stopped singing or looking forward like she was suppose to when she grabbed the string or when Charlotte went looking for it once Sarah-Grace grabbed it. Mind you my 2 children were at the CENTER of the line of children on stage. It was hysterical.


This video was when they were singing sweetly...




OK, and here is the beginning of the debacle...

Merry Christmas 2007!

Christmas is over!!! Woo Hoo!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, but it was really stressful this year with the week or so we lost due to Tad's surgery. Tad is doing very well, he can actually breath through his nose now!! The girls had so much fun the past week! We had a Christmas dinner with Josh & Anna, then with Judge & Kathy, they a Christmas brunch with my mom and sister and the spent the rest of Christmas with all of Tad's family!

Charlotte received 4 gift cards and $10 cash from her aunts and from BeBe. My sister took her to the mall to spend her $10 and she of course chose drum sticks (wondeful)! Thankfully Sarah-Grace chose a quiet webkinz, however on Christmas Eve she received a keyboard AND guitar from her grandparents, so we now have a little band going! The girls got so much stuff. I still don't know where we are going to put it all. Tad's decided to give up his office in the basement to make way for the girl's "new" playroom! I'm not sure if the amount of stuff or their new instruments helped make this decision!! They each got a bike from santa as well as a new power wheels Escalade that they can "share" and ride in together. The battery has been charging since yesterday morning, so they didn't even realized it actually moves until tonight when Tad explained it to them. Charlotte loves it because it has a real radio in it. For the record she loves the latino station. She keeps turning it on and blaring it around the house. The girls also got a new cleaning set that has a squeegee. I think they've played with that the most! They keep cleaning all thier new toys, especially the car. Tad says they are detailing it!

I'll have more pictures to post soon from Christmas and Christmas Eve, but until then I am posting my Christmas card. Anna came to our house, took all the pictures and then made the card!! She is so wonderful. I highly recommend her. I have had so many people ask for her website after they received our Christmas card that I decided to post it here - http://annacookbrown.com/. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Holiday Stressmas Season 2007

Well, November came and went and now December is flying by as well!! November was just NUTS - I had my annual Oprah's Favorite Things party (which I think went well this year - dish gloves, lip gloss, room spray, custom koozies and a Williams & Sonoma cookbook made my list), Thanksgiving with 28 people at our house and then another party with Anna the last week of November!

Last week I got to see my friend Jenny at her Junior League event!! I miss Jenny, she is so much fun - I would have never lasted at Federated without her. I can't say I miss Federated but I do miss working with her. Even better she got to meet Anna and just loved her (let's face it who doesn't she is pretty incredible). Tad had sinus surgery on Thursday. Thursday was insane - I had a small meltdown at the pharmacy and poor Anna bore the worst of it. Think Shirley McClain in Terms of Endearment - Tad was overdue for a pain pill and the pharmacist went to lunch and wouldn't give me the prescription for someone else to fill it. Needless to say, several phone calls later once I calmed down and swore off Rite Aid I got home and settled in. That night Tad had to have pain medicine every 4 hours, his dressing changed often and Charlotte got up twice in the night. His grandparents and aunt came into town Friday, thank the sweet Lord, Tad's parents and family took the girls for the entire weekend (I don't think I would have made it otherwise)!! Ian was dedicated on Sunday morning and he did wonderful!! He was so precious and we are so happy that Julie & Elliott have a church home that they love and have as a place for Ian to grow up in. Tad rested all weekend and he willed himself to be there. We were only able to stay for the dedication and most of the music before he got really dizzy and we had to leave, but we were glad we got to be there at all.

Today we had to go and have all the packing and straws removed from Tad's nose and head. He had 5 sinuses operated on and all 5 had their own packing that had to be "unpacked". He felt much better after getting all that stuff out (the pressure of it all in there was driving him crazy), but he is still pretty beat today and has a killer headache (no wonder)! I'm just on hold this week waiting for him to get back on his feet and trying to get ready for Christmas?!! Anyway I wrote most of this so years from now I will have something to explain (to myself) why I was such an absent blogger for the past 2 months!! Below are some things about the girls I didn't want to forget...

Two weeks ago Sarah-Grace had a memory verse from church, John 3:16. It took she and Charlotte all of 15 minutes to memorize it!! I was so proud. That makes 7 scriptures that they know, John 3:16, Deuteronomy 6:5, 1 Kings 3:9, Psalm 139:14, Psalm 47:1, Jeremiah 29:11, James 1:17. I hope that they keep going!!

The girls have International night next Thursday. I will definitely be taking pictures. Tad doesn't really know his heritage, of what I do know of mine it is German, Austrian, Scottish and Dutch. Normally I would have taken time to hunt down the perfect costumes that matched one of the countries I have to choose from my lineage. However due to the insanity of our life right now I opted to choose from the assortment of costumes the school has for us to borrow for free (just the dry cleaning bill once they wear them). In that spirit Charlotte will be wearing a red and gold outfit from India and Sarah-Grace will be wearing a fuchsia outfit from Asia!! It's going to be hilarious!! And, just another reason why I love their teachers, Katy & Courtney, the children will be singing "I'm Proud to be an American" at International Night.

Sarah-Grace is working diligently on a latch hook rug - I think it's so funny that she loves to do that.

Peanut, our Elf on the Shelf, is back and I swear Charlotte has an "elf lo-jack" tracker because the child can locate the elf in a matter of seconds no matter where he has "flown" to.

Tonight I asked Charlotte what she wanted for Christmas, she said "a ring, a bell and a gift card"?! The child is 2 and hysterical.

Everyone keeps asking so I thought I would give an update that Charlotte's next scan is scheduled for December 27th, it's just her regular abdominal ultrasound and AFP blood work. Her nurse from Scottish Rite called last week and stared the process to set up her appointments for the Pediatric Plastics & Pediatric Orthopedic doctors. Things are going well and we appreciate everyone's prayers.

October

Yep, so I wrote this post about 4 weeks ago and haven't had time to post it!! Oh well, at least I can do it now.

Well, we went to GA/FL game last weekend, and it was awesome! The girls went to Waycross and stayed with BeBe and Papa while we were in Florida. They had a blast too. Charlotte didn't want to come home! We got home pretty late on Sunday night just in time to get to bed for the insane week that was ahead of us.

On Monday the president of the PTO board I serve on resigned. So my week was crazy handling the transition to president, holding an emergency election to replace my former VP position and just trying to get up to speed on the by laws and the upcoming board meetings - and don't forget school lunch (it was chicken soft tacos, rice, black beans and pineapple). I'm still pretty uncomfortable with all of this. I get sick everytime I think about the school wide PTO meeting in 2 weeks - hopefully by the time it rolls around I'll be better.

Tad also, had an insane week at work. He worked basically 36 hours straight the other day and night getting ready for a very important proposal. He did come home and sleep for a few hours - well I think he slept when I finally went to bed he was still typing on the laptop and when I woke up he was still sitting in the bed typing away on his laptop.

Halloween was fun. The girls were Cinderella again. Yes, again because apparently the time is soon coming when Sarah-Grace will tell me she doesn't want to be anything "pretty" for Halloween and per my friends' suggestions I'm wearing out the princess thing until she forces me not to! Plus she and Charlotte are just too cute! We had the whole family over for dinner, and several friends - 23 people in all. I made a huge pot of corn chowder, candied bacon (as an appetizer), mini grilled cheese sandwiches (Jeannie made some grown up ones), strawberry short cake and as usual I freaked out that we wouldn't have enough food so Tad ordered some pizza. Needless to say (as usual) I have a ton of food left over (except for the candied bacon)!! Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Mundane Weekday

Today was "mundane weekday" and it was wonderful. I dropped the girls off at school, met a friend at Target just in time to grab a Starbucks and pick up some things, spent the rest of the morning with Kathy (one of my favorite people ever), picked up Charlotte, went to the grocery store, dropped some gifts off to a friend, made dinner and then spent the evening with my girls!!

Sarah-Grace accomplished a lot today at school and was very eager to share at dinner. She worked on verbs today, division and an art project she whipped up out of wiki sticks. One of the things I love best about the class she is in is that if she has an idea to do something - she is given the time, freedom and resources to accomplish it. She is so creative and I love that about her. Case in point, the picture below is her standing beside an idea she and her friend came up with on Friday. They asked their teacher if she could trace their bodies onto a BIG piece of paper. Ms. Katy obliged them and found a roll of paper that she laid on the floor and the girls laid down so Katy could trace them. Sarah-Grace then "filled in" her outline by drawing all the bones of her body and labeling them. Yes, she copied it out of a book - but still I think it's amazing (I am her mom after all). She actually knows most of these bones because they've spent the month studying them.

When we were discussing it I asked Tad where my scapula was Sarah-Grace replied, "Just look at the picture Mommy!". So smart that one. Charlotte of course ran in circles around the house while Sarah-Grace gave Tad and I a "lecture" on her artwork. She stopped long enough to yell at us "Look Mommy these are my phalanges" while she wiggled her fingers. Sarah-Grace and Charlotte are in the same class now - this must be what Charlotte has picked up out of the month long study on the skeleton!! Oh, well I'm off to give baths.

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Fair Pictures 2007

These are the pictures from the fair last month. I don't do rides so Tad had to go with the girls.

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Build-A-Bear

So, Sunday the girls and I went to spend a gift card we received last Christmas from our very special friends (and adopted family) "Judge" & Kathy. Here are pictures from the girls very first experience at Build a Bear - it was so wonderful. They were so excited!! Enjoy, we did!

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Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride...

So, my team let me down yesterday - it hurt I'll admit it. But, NOTHING is going to keep me down when I awoke this morning to check ESPN and see that Florida lost (there may be hope yet) but MOST importantly USC LOST at HOME!!!!!!! OK, I know that I hold an unusual hatred toward Pete Carol, but I do. I'm not sure when it started or why, maybe 3 years ago. I just got so sick of waiting up Saturday nights to watch College Gameday Final only to see 1/2 of it be devoted to worshiping USC when they had played oh I don't know, yet ANOTHER team that hadn't been ranked in the top 25 anytime in the past decade. I mean give any mediocre team a schedule like that and they will dominate. A team develops character and real strength when they have to battle every week with a formidable, RANKED opponent and then get back up from that game and the very next Saturday do it again even if they are still tired, still injured, still hurting.

And then to watch Pete Carol all these years, THE most cockiest coach I have ever seen. And seriously, (yes I'm gonna say it) I swear he and Matt Leinart had a thing. I mean their interviews were just sickening!! "Oh, Matt is just the best", "No, no coach Pete is just the best", "No, no Matt you are REALLY the best". I mean seriously! The game last night was awesome! The fans were silenced!! How wonderful! No NOTHING is going to get me down today!!

Insanity in September

This week was insane. Monday the fair was in town (which I insist we go to every year no matter how busy we are in memory of my grandfather who died a few weeks before Sarah-Grace was born, loved his grandchildren like no one else and would always drag us to the fair every year), Wednesday Tad had his 1st launch, Thursday I had school lunch (corn chowder with hot ham & cheese sandwiches), also on Thursday there was a benefit for adoption I promised to go to and a Brad Paisely concert (which I missed in order to stay home and make sure Charlotte got lots of rest for yesterday), yesterday was Charlotte's 1st CT scan, a school Hoedown that I was helping coordinate and Tad hosted a hayride for and then when all that was over Tad left around 11pm for Tuscaloosa for the weekend. The only night we had free was Tuesday and it feels long ago.

Charlotte did very good yesterday. She had to have her 1st AFP blood test and an abdominal CT scan with dye contrast (something she hasn't had before) and she had to be sedated. She did well. She didn't cry for her IV - so far 4 sticks and no tears for any of them!! She couldn't eat or drink anything all day and she didn't complain ONCE. We are so blessed. Every time we are at Scottish Rite the nurses just gush over what an amazing patient she is - Tad and I truly believe God is with us and especially her on these days. A sense of calm comes over her that no one can explain. And trust me, anyone who has a 2 year old who has to sit in a hospital for 6 hours with no food, no drink and people coming in every few minutes to poke and prod your child would know it's a miracle that she doesn't cry or complain ONCE all day. It took her a little longer this time to come out of the sedation and her heart rate spiked a few times while she was waking up, but other than that she did wonderful. We should have the results sometime next week but we are expecting everything to be normal. These are just baseline tests to give the ultrasound techs a good reference for her regular screenings. Since we did all this yesterday her next round of AFP bloodwork and abdominal ultrasounds will be in December.


Below are some pictures from the Hoedown yesterday. It was a fundraiser/social event that the PTO board I am on this year hosted in response to requests for more "social type fundraisers hosted at the school". We sold Whitt's (or whatever it's now called) BBQ, had a petting zoo (with the farm animals the school has running around), hayrides, a chili cook off and a bake off (that was won by an upper elementary girl who is constantly by my side every week during school lunch preparations so I was super proud of her). I think it was a great success!!

Sarah Grace, Lexy and the new baby goat "Gretta".

Sarah-Grace with Mary Elizabeth - aren't they so cute. Mary Elizabeth had her 1st hayride and ended up loving it!!

Sarah-Grace & Tad on the 4-wheeler pulling the hayriders.

The hayride!!

Whirlwind September 07

Wow! It's been almost a month since I've posted. I just realized that today. It feels like a whirlwind since we started school and it basically has been. Tad started a new job, he has to go to an office now and he doesn't get home until around 7pm every night. But, bigger and better jobs take time and long hours in the beginning. The girls have settled into school. Tad says I basically work there for free, which lately I would have to agree with him. I am sitting on the board this year, chairing 3 committees, I've started a school lunch program - so yeah I basically live at the school. I just keep promising myself that once this month is over things will calm down - if it doesn't I think I may have to quit, or at least cut back!! You haven't lived until you have a group of kids ranging from 3 - 9 helping you cook lunch for the whole school.

We had a nice Labor Day weekend. Kim kept the girls in Augusta while I went to the game. They had so much fun and I so appreciated it. The girls love Kim and Heather. We spent a relaxing 2 days at the lake. It was nice being with Rick, Kelly, Beamer and Laura-Kate again. The girls really miss them. It's always nice to see Tommy & Connie too - they are always so sweet to open their home to all of us. Shopping at Rue 21 with Kim and Kelly was a hoot!!

Last weekend was my birthday and it was a good one. The staff and board of the school had lots of gifts and surprises for me all day long on Friday -which ended with an amazing cake and b-day song sung by the whole school at the school picnic. I got lots of wonderful cards and gifts from family all last week too!! I was overwhelmed, I am so blessed to have so many friends and family who are so kind and thoughtful. Saturday was fun too. Most of the girls that used to tailgate (but since have become mothers and therefore can't attend games anymore) came last weekend and we had a blast at the tailgate spot. Julie made the cutest cake ( it was pink and brown with a Georgia G). The actual game was well, disappointing - but oh well what are you gonna do (scoring a touchdown would have been something but we couldn't seem to get that done). Apparently Sarah-Grace was so upset after the game she was crying. Jeannie tried several reasonable explanations for helping her understand that sometimes your team loses - she finally had to move to plan B which was "you're five and you will get over it". We thought that was hysterical.

Charlotte keeps informing everyone that when she's 5 she will get to go to Kindergarten - a result of her big sister getting to stay at school all day. I'm so proud of both of them and so happy that they love school. Sarah-Grace is working very hard everyday. She's reading more and more each week. She still loves math (I think it's her favorite). She LOVES the bank game (which is basically addition in the thousands) , she's getting into multiplication and division and she still loves practical life - sewing (she threads all her friends' needles thanks to spending time with BeBe) and all things arts and crafts. The primary classroom consists of ages 3-6. This allows each child the opportunity to be the youngest (1st year), the middle (2nd year) and the oldest (3rd year). This year Sarah-Grace is a 3rd year student and so she gets special privileges and gets to give lessons to the younger students. She is really enjoying this. She's "adopted" a little girl Natalie in the class and helps her with everything. She gets a chance to be nurturing which is such a huge part of her personality. I think she may be a teacher one day.

One of the cutest stories over the past month occurred last week. Charlotte has been bit 4 times since school started - and last week she decided to do the same to one of her little friends at school. We were very upset and disappointed (not surprised) but we still had several discussions about it over the weekend. She and Sarah-Grace were talking about it with Julie. Well ,actually Sarah-Grace was tattling to Julie about it and informing Charlotte she really needed to use her words when she was upset. Sarah-Grace told Charlotte she really needed to talk to her JuJu because JuJu was a teacher and could help her "with these things". Julie and I thought this was so funny.

Well, that's all for now. I have a couple pics Megan took from the picnic of my b-day cake (the whole thing was edible) and my new haircut (she didn't take any of the girls, although you can see the back of Sarah-Grace in the second one)...

Beach Trip 2007

We did it! We squeezed in a beach trip this summer and I must say I am so glad we did because it was so worth it. Me, Tad, the girls, Josh & Anna all went to Destin. Tad got home around 10pm last Monday night and we got up and left Tuesday morning at 6am. We came home Sunday night just in time for Tad to pack and leave for the airport to catch a flight to Boston at 10:50pm and me to get the girls dinner and off to bed on their first "back to school" night! I posted some highlights below of things to remember. I'll post pictures once I get them uploaded.

• Listening to the CRAZY mine owner go off and put Fox news, AP and CNN on notice.


• Josh realizing the first day at the pool that Sarah-Grace didn't know what the ice cream truck was. Them then running at the speed of light to catch it. Apparently Sarah-Grace wiped out during their sprint but never lost sight of her target because she still beat Josh to the truck. Josh "berating" me when I got home for keeping this knowledge from her for so long.


• Josh & Tad trying to "hide" the fact that they got jellyfish stings.


• Sarah-Grace getting her first jellyfish sting. Tad & Josh were glad I wasn't there. Josh said she screamed for about 3 minutes. He said he was serious, hysterically laughing, then serious, then laughing again during the incident. They formally created the "Jellyfish Club". Only people who have been stung can be members, this wouldn't include Charlotte, Anna or myself.


• Two days later Charlotte joined the Jellyfish club. She "took a hit" as Tad & Josh would say, on the hand. They are convinced it was just a tentacle floating in the ocean. She whined for a minute and then was off.


• Somehow every seafood restaurant we ate at was on the beach or water and had no air conditioning. Did I mention it was the hottest week of the year.


• We decided we will never eat at The Back Porch again, it was horrible. We weren't real happy at Pompano Joe's, but our server was sweet.


• Josh decided he will now just rotate between Dewey Destin's and Graffiti when visiting Destin. Watching Tad & Josh eat at Dewey Destin's was worth the heat. Between the 2 of them they ate 1 lb of boiled shrimp, 1 lb of crab and a fried shrimp dinner. There was spit, bits of crab, sweat and more flying everywhere. And you should hear the 2 of them talk about the bacon on their pizza at Graffiti. I never knew bacon could be so perfectly made. Hearing Josh rave about food is hysterical, he is so animated. But I will say I experienced a little kavod at Graffiti.


• Anna still has the plastic on her phone and Josh went 6 days before charging. "Um, what you say..."


• Anna & I blog stalking. Tad & Josh making fun of us for it.


• Anna and I just knowing that we could catch those fish with a bucket and a sandcastle mold. We were determined - I still think we could have done it. We ain't afraid.


• Bad Ass Coffee being out of whatever we were there for every time we went.


• Anna and I discovered just because a place says it has bagels and coffee doesn't mean it can't really be an ice cream shop.


• "Um, what you", Um, what you", Um, what you say..."


• Redneck, or dare I say pathetic, weddings.


• The girls & I discovered Mika. And just so I acknowledge Josh, the master of all music, HE's been listening to Mika since January.


• Anna and I dancing around like maniacs to Grace Kelly and Big Girls You are Beautiful.


• Kirk Cameron, funnier that ANY stand up comic on Comedy Central, only he's dead serious people.


• Tad & Sarah-Grace fishing on the pier and some super smart dolphin eating people's catches off their lines!!


• Anna hiking almost 1 mile one way (so almost 2 once she walked all the way back to the beach) for a net that she knew was probably not the right one for fishing but she was following the boys' instructions. This is why I love this girl.


• Anna has been to the beach probably almost every year of her life. She never noticed the tiny clams on the beach. She discovered them with the girls - it was so cute!


• Apparently I threw a hissy fit because Tad didn't bring towels down to the beach - I wasn't aware of this but it was unanimously confirmed. Don't even get me started on lunch or sandwiches I didn't ask for.


• Anna remembering her grandma.


• Seriously, is EVERYONE we know pregnant?!


• Tad teaching us Tonk. Anna & Tad spanking the tar out of Josh and I at the game.


• Night swimming.


• The bird call Josh made every morning to let us know they were up.


• Sarah-Grace having to be beside Anna & Josh at ALL times.


• Hearing Josh talk about going to a surf shop to buy some flip flops all day. Going to the surf shop, Josh actually injuring himself on a pair of board shorts he was trying on (who does this??), finding the flip flops in his size on sale, Josh buying the flip flops, raving about them in the car the first 5 minutes after he bought them (they are eco friendly you know) then 10 minutes after he had them on complaining they hurt his feet. You have to love him.


• "I still can't believe only 7 people died." Now it's up to 9 thank you very much - I knew it couldn't only be 7!! And thank goodness it wasn't 7, because then Garth Brooks would have been involved.


• Anna & Josh's laugh when they remembered a girl's outfit from 2 years ago. It's funny enough that Josh actually remembered the outfit, but his giggle was priceless.


• Josh's giggle when he and Tad watched Charlotte mimic putting on deodorant.


• Josh & awkward situations.


• Josh hates being around local bar scenes, no wait he loves them, or rather watching them.


• We finally went to What-A-Burger.


• Learning Josh likes to harmonize when he sings. Who knew?


• Playing the "most pathetic" game. I still don't believe a mixed tape isn't floating around out there with Tad's name on it!


• Charlotte freaking out that we were leaving Anna at a gas station in Alabama.

End of Summer

Well, the rest of July and the start of August was slammed. Tad was gone almost the entire time. His travel schedule was insane the past 3 weeks. I listed some highlights below.

• Charlotte is officially potty trained and has been for a couple of weeks. I started in June and then stopped because we were too hectic with my grandma's visit. I started in pull ups over the 4th of July and the following week we started in "big girl" panties with plastic lined pants over those. Every once and a while she will have an accident but now it's down to once a week, if that. The first week was not fun - it took her about 2 weeks to understand that you poop in the POTTY not your pants!! Once we explained she could have a sleep over in Sarah-Grace's room when she did poop in the potty she had about 2 accidents after that. She now calls her bottom her "shiny hiney". It's so funny.
• The girls were inseparable this summer. Example, 2 weeks ago they cried and screamed at me when I put Charlotte down for a nap because "they are sisters and they love each other". It was so sweet. Don't get me wrong they bicker and get frustrated. Well mostly Sarah-Grace gets frustrated, Charlotte really doesn't let anything bother her. I think she inherited Tad's "fog". Ha, Ha. But they really are so wonderful together and to listen in on their conversations is AWESOME.
• Sarah-Grace decided the week before last she wanted her ears pierced. We went to the store, watched another little girl FREAK OUT at the last minute and then we decided clip-on's are good for right now.
• The girls started school yesterday and Sarah-Grace is in Kindergarten. I can't believe it. They LOVE it. Charlotte was the only one not crying when I dropped her off. She was not happy when I picked her up, but she came without a fight. Sarah-Grace LOVES Kindergarten. She said today she loves it so much she wants to wake up everyday and go there - which is good because she will!! She stays for lunch now and is so excited to eat with her friends. Yesterday she spent the whole day completing equations with the bank game, "because it takes a while mommy". Today she sewed a pillow, pasted a foam castle, made an animal book by tracing and drawing animal cut outs, wrote a "book" using 5 words she made with the movable alphabet and she came home with a book she read from cover to cover - and pretty well I must say. Usually it takes us a long time to read a whole book - but her reading is becoming smoother.
• Tad officially turned in his notice at Par 3/Varolii last night. He will soon be the Vice President at a new start up company. He is sad to leave Varolii, he loves the people he works with but we feel like God is leading him to a new venture.
• It's been a pretty productive summer for me and new recipes. I made new recipes for sun dried tomato & smoked mozzarella cigars, berry Sangria, sauteed corn, green beans with shallots, broccoli with lemon, rosemary scones, balsamic chicken and a new peanut butter swirl brownie which just might replace the one I've used since I was a sophomore in college! I think Josh just might have introduced me to quicker and easier lunch. I discovered Boars Head Cajun turkey and it makes a mean wrap when you use a sun dried tomato tortilla, a little spicy mayo, lettuce and diced tomatoes, YUM!!
• We went to the beach last week - it was Charlotte's first time. The trip deserves it's own post plus pictures, so stay tuned!

Moving On...

Our room mates moved out this weekend. It was a little sad - we've been together with Rick since last October and Kelly since March!! Sarah-Grace was sad we no longer have a baby in the house and Charlotte misses Beamer (the dog). Moving was an adventure - as everything is with the 4 of us. Here are a few highlights from this weekend and a few things I'll miss:

Highlights:

• Tad and Rick somehow taking 3-4 hours to show up where Kelly, myself and everyone else is working/unpacking, then expecting sympathy because "they've had a rough day".
• Tommy "rushing" Tad and Rick at Home Depot. I put rushing in quotation marks because after 2 hours I think Tommy had a point.
• Home Depot having a time warp that only seems to suck up Tad & Rick while shopping.
• Watching Elliott, Tad & Rick HOIST the glass and iron patio table on a rope from the back patio up to the main level deck.
• Rick asking Kelly every 15-20 minutes if she still likes the roman shades in the dining room.
• Tad and Rick can't pass by a pawn shop without going in. The pawn shop guy knowing that Tad & Rick are looking for guns without them saying a word.
• Rick's face when I told him I cracked the glass shelf in their dining room hutch (I really just chipped it).
• Rick trying to tell Elliott, Tad, me and Kelly that Conyers is the bomb on the way home - and Covington is old news. This is only funny because we heard for MONTHS every random fact about, celebrity originating from, movie and TV show ever filmed in Convington. Covington was actually beginning to rival California - which if you know ANYTHING, California is pretty much the perfect place on earth.
• Rick not knowing his way around Conyers.
• Rick asking everyone every 15-20 minutes if they liked the fried chicken at the train depot.
• Rick telling us he wanted to mow the lawn before the PODS were unloaded - Kelly's face when he told her.
• Me ALMOST buying an "authentic" brass diving helmet in honor of Rick's brother. Kelly and I laughing that Rick would actually think that was cool and then he would tell us again that his brother is in diving school.
• Rick walking from room to room frantically when a project or issue came up.
• Tad & Rick trying to dig a post for the mailbox - one of them digs and the other stands and watches. Me telling them they should wet the ground first, them telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, me seeing them 15 minutes later get the hose.
• Every time I walk outside Tad standing in the garage and drinking something different (sometimes it's a Sonic drink, sometimes it's a beer or soda from a can) and Rick smoking - except when they were digging the hole.
• Tad & Rick FINALLY showing up at 3pm on Saturday at the house to start unloading/unpacking, then leaving at 5:45pm to go where...back to HOME DEPOT?!!! We finally just stopped working at the house and met them out for dinner. If you can't beat them (or guilt them in our case), you might as well join them!!

Things I'll miss:

• Rick recounting the fire drills his father used to have in the middle of the night.
• Rick's weird but sort of sweet fascination/adoration with his dad. I really think deep down Rick thinks his dad is a super hero.
• The fact that Rick's mom is a super hero - or at least she thinks she is.
• Starting an argument with Tad and then finishing it with Rick.
• Rick starting an argument with Kelly and then finishing it with me.
• Kelly's expressions when Rick talks, talks with his mouth full, sings, sings with his mouth full, or just stands there.
• Laura-Kate's smile, her dimple, the way she stares at the ceiling in our den, the fact that most every time Rick handed her to Kelly or me she would stop crying, the fact that most every time Rick would take her from Kelly or me she would start crying, her sleeping on our green chair, her little grunts/sounds.
• Tad & Kelly wondering why everyone else in the world isn't more like them - people would be much more happy and content in life, less stressed out and have more people they got along with.
• Kelly to talk to, run errands with and laugh with.
• Having the house not be empty when Tad travels.
• "Venus" and "Fly Trap" playing Wii tennis - Tad and Rick not knowing which one was Venus and which one was Fly Trap.
• The bon fire party we won't be able to have at Rick & Kelly's new house.
• Tommy & Connie's lake place because now we have Rick and Kelly's to go to on Labor Day, Memorial Day and 4th of July!!
• "That's a good point."
• Me hearing every morning Kelly tell Charlotte, "Are you sure your mommy said you NEEDED cheese" or "Did your mommy tell you you could have some" everytime Kelly opened the pantry door.
• Laughing a lot at ourselves, our family, our kids, our friends & our lives.

Game Night

Well, we were gone most of last week at the lake for the 4th of July. We had lots of fun and sun. The pontoon boat is so wonderful with the girls. On days were we got out late, Charlotte would nap on the boat in the shade. I took the girls to see Ratatouille. Unfortunately Sarah-Grace had to pee 3 times during the movie. The last time being the 10 minutes before it ended - so we missed the end of the movie. We went straight from the movie to Borders to buy the book so I could see how it ended - and to stop the flow of tears from Sarah-Grace. We didn't take any pictures at the lake (bad parents!).
But here are some from the past game night with the old group that Anna took (great friend!). You know, no matter what church we go to or where our lives take us - this group will always have a special bond. No matter what.

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