Kindergarten or Bust!

My sweet little preschooler has officially graduated this week and is ready to move on to bigger and better things! I'm pretty sure Zach could care less and just wants to enjoy his summer break, but I'm having a hard time figuring out where time went!

 Last Friday his preschool hosted a Field Day for the whole school (about 8 preschool classes from Southern Pines, Aberdeen, and Pinehurst). He was totally looking forward to field day so he could wear his fast running shoes and get his hands on some water balloons! 

 Leah and I dropped him off with his class and then caught up with him a few hours later. He was playing ring toss and was so excited when he saw Leah-- he even let her have a few turns with his rings. He's such a nice brother!

 Afterwards there was lunch provided for the preschoolers and their family members out on the grass. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! It had rained cats and dogs the night before so the ground was a bit soggy, but the rain had dropped the temperature to a perfect sunny 70 degrees. They had turkey and cheese wraps, chips, and cookies.

 Leah just loved getting to be around other kids and nibbled on her wrap for a few minutes before mom finished it for her. Zach wanted her to sit by him, and one of Zach's friends wanted to see his baby sister, so Zach goes, "Jack, if you want to pet my baby sister you have to come sit by me!"  She is kind of like a puppy.

 The following week his preschool had their end of year concert. Jon had to work in Fayetteville that night, so it was just me and the troops. I took them to Chick fil A first for dinner to celebrate, and then we headed over to the church. 

 They sang "Hey Mr. Elephant" and two other songs I can't remember the names of (Leah destroyed my program), and Zach was so cute up there singing his little heart out.

 Walking back to sit with his class after their turn to sing.

 Leah must have slipped herself some caffeine pills before because she was WIRED. Holy moley! She was bouncing off the walls and running for the exit every time I let her down, and then screamed if I held her. Without Jon there I had to improvise, so we hung out in the very back of the church and she was good as long as Lucy played with her. Thank heavens for Lucy! 

 After the concert, right before we had to turn around and take Lucy to swim team. Somehow Leah ended up with no shoes. It was a crazy night!

 Thursday was Zach's official last day, so he helped me give his teachers their thank-you presents (he was SO excited to give them to them he lined up at the front door 10 minutes early waiting to go in). This is his teacher Mrs. Gerdes (Lucy also had her). He loved her.

 Last time lining up at the end of he day and ready to be dismissed! "Walking feet Zach! Walking feet!" I think I heard that one just about every day.

Here he is! Last day of preschool-- and he did great. He learned all of his capital letters, most of his lowercase, he can identify his numbers up to 10, counts pretty well, writes his name, and knows his shapes and colors. Best of all under behavior on his report card, "always" was circled for being on task, controlling his actions, and listening to the teacher. Kindergarten here we come!

Great Wolf Lodge

All winter long we tried patiently to plan a vacation-- something quick and simple, something we'd have to look forward to, something to beat the winter blues, and something to add a little spice to our lives! Well, as is often the case, some things are easier said than done. Between all the yucky winter snow, Jon's various work commitments (he recently started moonlighting nights in Fayetteville), my classes, and both kids in school full-time, our little vacation kept getting moved back, back, and back... Originally planned for February, our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge finally rolled around last week! 

The Great Wolf Lodge is a chain of family resorts with indoor water parks. There just happens to be one about 2 hours away in Charlotte, and we'd heard great things from everybody who'd been there. We kept a very happy Lucy and Zach home from school, packed up on a Tuesday morning, and headed to Charlotte to spend the next 24 hours enjoying some R&R. We started with lunch on the way at "Dish," a favorite of ours from "Diner's, Drive-In's, and Dives" with quirky Southern food. Yum! 

I got some tasty catfish with a blueberry balsamic sauce, Lucy got the chicken and dumplings, and Jon and Zach both got burgers. I think the baking powder biscuits and deviled eggs that come with every meal were the stars of the show!

 The kids could hardly stand it so we headed straight over to Great Wolf Lodge, which is literally blocks away from the Charlotte Motor Speedway where all the NASCAR events take place. Anyway, not knowing what to expect we pulled up to this HUGE resort built just like a lodge you'd see in Alaska.

Like I said, the kids were bouncing off the walls, so literally seconds after arriving we changed into our swimming suits and headed over to the indoor water park. Our room was perfectly situated about 10 feet away, so it didn't take us long to get started. There was a wave pool, two kiddie pools, and probably about 7 or 8 different water slides. We had a blast and played for about 4 hours our first afternoon. 

We finally talked the kids into getting changed and heading out to find some dinner, as well as a grocery store so we could buy some breakfast for the next morning. I'm happy to report that Leah scarfed down her very first Happy Meal that night. 

 Right before bed there was a story time/musical show in the lobby for the kids. They had some cute songs and singing and dancing animals and a very pretty Indian maiden, and Leah was hooked the whole time. She loved it! 

 Afterwards we got to meet Wiley Wolf the mascot, and then it was off to bed... Or at least it was SUPPOSED to be off to bed. I should have known, since traditionally our children are horrible sleepers anywhere other than their own beds at this age, but Leah had a very, very, rough night, which means I had a very, very rough night. Ugghhhh. I always feel so bad letting my kids cry in a hotel because I don't want to disturb anyone else, but boy it puts the pressure on us to keep them quiet at 3 a.m. (and in Leah's case, midnight, 2, 3, 4, and 5! 

 Oh well. Trying to rally, we ate our little breakfast in the hotel room and since the water park didn't open until 10 a.m. we killed some time in the hotel's arcade. They also had a bowling alley, movie theater, tons of different restaurants, and some cute gift shops. 

 Even though Leah only slept about 4 hours the night before she was off like a shot all morning long, running from kiddie pool to kiddie pool, and even going down the above water slides by herself!! Are we crazy?? Most likely. But we were running on fumes, and she LOVED it. She finally crashed at about noon and the rest of the kids were able to play while she napped until about 3 p.m.  

 By that point we were STARVING for lunch so we let the kids pick again, and they picked Happy Meals (again), so Jon and I got take-out at On the Border, a Mexican restaurant chain that TOTALLY hit the spot. We got the Dos Equis XX double X fish tacos which were killer. Just don't ask me how to pronounce their name (long story, don't ask)!

We made a quick trip to IKEA so I could stock up on scrub brushes and chocolate bars, and made it home just in time to put the kids to bed for school the next day! It was definitely a whirlwind trip, and after our night with Leah I kinda needed a vacation from my vacation, but we had a great time and can't wait to go back... just next time when she's a little older!

Happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! 5.11.14

Perhaps the best gift of all this morning was having three cooperative little kids ready to pose in a picture with me before church. I'm so lucky to be a mommy to these three blessings!

I woke up to a beautiful, super delicious breakfast compliments of my man Jon. Who wouldn't feel spoiled with a table full of gourmet pastries, a dozen red roses, and homemade cards?!?

Miss Lucy went to town creating me all kinds of wonderful Mother's Day gifts and cards. This is a portrait of Yours Truly. She told me, "Your hair is a dirty blonde, so I added some brown streaks to make it realistic." Thanks for keeping it real, Luce!

I never thought much about filling out these little sheets for my mom when I was a kid, but now that I'm a mom, I LOVE them! They are so much fun to read. Lucy's says: "My mom is as pretty as a rose that is red and lovely. She is as sweet as the sweetest hummingbird. She is as smart as the smartest person on Earth. But most of all she is as special as a new born baby!" Awww, melts me! 

"As you can see, my mom is special because she is perfect." I shall be keeping this for later on down the road to teenage-dom...

Zach made me a really cute candle holder at preschool and this nice card. I've felt happy and appreciated all day long, and what a gift that is! I am SO incredibly thankful for the mothers, grandmas, aunts, friends, and women in my life, that have shown me how to love unconditionally. Motherhood is the most trying, exhausting, frustrating, exasperating, beautiful, wonderful, emotional, amazing journey I've ever taken. How grateful I am for Lucy, Zach, and Leah who made me a "mom," and to my Heavenly Father who gave them to me on "loan!" 

A Grandma Joanie Visit!

My mom, aka "Grandma Joanie," flew out last Thursday evening to spend the week with us here in North Carolina. As her opportunities to be the amazing-travelling-granny are quickly dwindling (now that Devin and Sarah have officially moved to Boise), we figured she's only got one or two times before we all kiss the East Coast good bye!  

We kicked the weekend off right by attending my Body Pump class Friday afternoon, and then undoing all that hard work by eating pizza at the brand new Brixx. My mom tried the Spicy Thai pizza, while I got the BLT. Yum!

I talked Jon into letting me fly solo on our dinner date, so while he watched the kiddos at home, I got to relax with my mom and catch up on almost 6 months worth of news!

There also happened to be a pay off for Jon's sacrifice: My mom graciously agreed to give us the next day off so we could head to Myrtle Beach while she babysat the grandkids. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. A much needed "day-off," spent shopping at the outlet malls unhurried and unhassled, a tasty, QUIET picnic lunch basking on the warm sandy beach, and oodles of time to reconnect with my one-and-only was literally just what the doctor ordered! 

We even had time to squeeze in a round of mini-golf before we headed over to Carrabba's for a relaxing dinner out. And may I just add, I WON. Jonathan will make excuse after excuse (i.e. "I wasn't trying that hard," "I wanted to let you win"), but I won fair and square. We finished up dinner and then enjoyed the pretty drive home through South Carolina. It was pretty much one of the best days ever. 

Meanwhile back at home, Grandma spent the day entertaining the kids with Happy Meals at the sand park, Sonic slushies on the way home, taking Lucy to her tennis lesson, and watching movies at home. The best part? Apparently Leah (our resident screamy-head) was as good as gold. Phew!

Sunday we attended church with Grandma, which is always fun, especially considering there are a few total redneck wackos who attend church with us-- like the guy who drove to church in an antique firetruck and then laid on the horn for a good 30 seconds once church was out and blew everyone's eardrums to smithereens! All part of the North Carolina experience...

After a delicious fish dinner and Belgian waffles for dessert (thanks to Grandma's handiwork), we went on a nice sunset walk and enjoyed the 80 degree weather. So beautiful! Spring was in full swing and the kids scooted the whole mile loop around the neighborhood.

Monday night Zachary had his first baseball game. It was coach-pitch this time, so I was a little nervous since he's only played t-ball up until this point, but he did great. He got some good swings in and had a blast running around the outfield trying to catch the ball.

He is on the "Rangers" and since their practices were both canceled because of thunder storms the week before, it's been baptism by fire starting right into the games. He loved having a whole cheering section devoted to him with all five of us there to watch! 

Tuesday we decided it isn't every day that grandmas come to visit, so we played hooky from school and headed out on day trip to the beach. We'd never taken my mom to MB, so that was definitely at the top of the list, and the weather was FANTASTIC. 

We started with a quick stop at the outlet malls, then picked up a quick lunch at Five Guys for burgers and fries. We finally made it to the beach by about 1:30 p.m. and the kids were ready to soak up the wind and waves! Leah LOVED it!

Zach and Lucy are already big water bugs, and this time Leah joined them. I couldn't keep any of them out of the water!

We spent the whole afternoon playing in the water, building sand castles, and basically just soaking up the sun. It was soooo nice to have a day away from school!

Wednesday we were right back to the routine, so as soon as we picked Zach up from preschool we headed to Panera for lunch. This is Zach demolishing his vanilla cupcake. Yum!

Leah helped herself to some frosting too! Don't you just love that little grin? 

We then loaded up the kids and headed out on a treasure hunt for antiques-- or "old stuff" as Zach dubbed it. The South is a mecca for "vintage" furniture and accessories so we took advantage of all the thrift stores and antique shops nearby and found some pretty cool treasures.

My mom found this cute chandelier, and I bought this old door (project still to be determined), and Jon officially thinks I'm CRAZY for paying for something like an old beat up door, but I loved it, so maybe I am!

I also found this adorable little bench for the kids for some sweet photo opps! I think I'll paint it and put it in the girls' room.

Thursday morning we took a quick walk around Southern Pines Reservoir, and then I got some early Mother's Day pampering when I got to get my haircut while my mom watched Leah. I chopped a few inches off and brightened it up a bit, and now I'm ready for summer. It was perfect timing with Zach getting out of preschool, me finishing my cut, and lunch at Chick fil A.

I was so inspired by my new 'do, that I decided to finally get Zach's locks chopped, so we headed over to Great Clips (BIG mistake), so I could pay $12 for some lady to give my sweet innocent little lamb a hack job. I told her to leave about 2 inches on top, but she buzzed him with the clippers and the rest is history. He was pretty much MAD at me and cracked us up when he said he looked like a "dog." The lesson learned? Next time I'm just doing it myself! At least he's nice and cool for summer and he still looks handsome to me!

Thursday evening Lucy had her end-of-year music program at school. It was a "Barnyard Musical" and Lucy's class were the cows. She looked so cute in her cow costume!

They had an adorable concert and those kiddos new every single word and action for each song! The best part is the whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes and thankfully Leah was totally entertained. She clapped enthusiastically after every number. We loved it!

The whole fam after the concert. 

It was so special for Lucy to have Grandma there for a school event! I decided that after three years of being back on the East Coast we are officially starved for family. The first day my mom was here, my kids just followed her around like little lost ducklings and soaked up all of her hugs and kisses. Leah ate up the extra attention, Zach asked for a cuddle every afternoon, and Lucy had one more set of listening ears to tell every detail of Harry Potter to. We loved getting some good quality grandma time in and are so thankful she took the time to come and visit!