A Few Firsts

This girl is a trooper.

She and I enjoyed a few firsts together this past Sunday.

*  First Merlefest 

*  First Avett Brothers concert

*  GoGo's first real concert.

Good Stuff.

It rained to beat the band.  

I mean a steady, hard rain.  Temps in the very low 50's.  In the mountains of NC.

Mud galore.  Bog boots, ponchos and layers of clothing.

I know in my heart of hearts that D would never have survived.  Not many would, however.

But the people who did were definitely my kind of people.

Nobody cared how cute their outfit was or the escalating frizz factor of their hair.

There was no alcohol (except for the older gentleman next to us) and no tobacco.  

The buzz was from the music only.  

Real music too-with actual instruments!  That people shredded on!

I was in heaven.  We scored kickass seats that we never had to vacate, thankfully.  Our ponchos kept our behinds fairly dry and GoGo held her new polkadot umbrella.  Alright, then.

GoGo was good for about the first hour and half.  She took videos and danced around a bit in our soggy seats.  Then she was done.  

But guess what?  The whole reason we drove 2 hours in the rain hadn't even taken the stage yet.  

The Avett Brothers.

And so began a 2 hour game of "What Will You Give Me If I Sit Here Another 30 Minutes?"  

And guess who won that?  GoGo = 1.  Mom = 0.

In the end, 2 bags of candy from the gas station were enough to keep her there.

I'm sure the people around us were wondering what kind of mother I was, making my young child stand in chilly, pouring rain to watch a band she had clearly lost interest in.  

As she begged me to leave and as I kept saying, "Just One More Song!"

We started walking back to the car just as they started their encore.

I was a bit bummed about missing one of my fave songs when GoGo grabbed my hand and smiling, said "That was fun, Mom!"

And it was.

Love this girl!!!

Slumber Party

So at 8am on a Sunday morning, who wouldn't want to roller blade, bike and screech through the yard?  I know my 3 would.

This one is getting pretty good on her bike-she apparently can ride and kick her leg at the same time.

Hence, this one yelling for me…"MOM!  D needs you!  N just kicked him in the NUTS!"  And I seriously hope all of my neighbors had enjoyed at least 1 cup of coffee before hearing this.

This one and her recent fascination with all animals - stuffed.  

Her newest pal is Raspberry and they do "evrefing togedder!"

This photo reminds me of John Lennon and Yoko when they were married at Gibraltar in their white suits.  White long johns are not quite the same but they'll do in a pinch.

This guy just started roller blading like, yesterday.  He isn't quite as agile as GoGo but he'll get there.

Something he is quite good at - stilts.  Yes, of the circus variety.  I do not know what possessed his father to order them but he did and they are a big hit with both D and every neighborhood child who comes this way.

Thank God the strawberry plant shows signs of life.  

D thought he killed it, like Charlie Brown did the tree.

This picture just cracks me up.  She looks like she just let a SBD fly and he looks like he is being forced to smell it during Church.

In reality, they were enjoying a fun day at the zoo with oodles of friends.

Yesterday I took GoGo to pick out her First Holy Communion dress.

It gave me a good idea of what prom dress shopping will be like.

We settled on a really beautiful dress complete with a bolero.  Jeez.

At her retreat on Saturday, she seemed a bit scared of going up to the Altar.  

A little bit of fear in this child is not a bad thing.

The finish line is in sight-about 7 weeks left of school.  Thank God.

If we can just keep up with all the end of year events, checks to write, things to donate and tests to take between now and June 7th.  

My kids are super psyched I'm letting them skip the last day of school to take a trip to Texas instead.  How often do you get to visit your best friend in another state AND mommy gets to see Mumford and Sons?  Yep.  Well worth missing cleaning out desks and packing up pencils.

My Wee One

My youngest is…

a singer, sweet, hilarious, stubborn, smart, active, incredibly cute, expressive.  My baby.

She loves to be outside.  She loves to do what her big bro and sister do.

She is a clown.  Big Time.

She cracks the rest of us up.

And her lisp.  Please don't get me started.

Becuthz sthe is sthooo pweshush!  

And yes, I probably should look into speech therapy.  But hey, she's only 3.

Have you met Sammy?  The pink horse on the chair, enjoying peanuts with my little friend?

He used to live in her preschool classroom and take turns going home with her classmates.

But it seems Squeezalicious had a serious thing for this horse.  In fact, I spent a rather insane amount of time and money, attempting to find a Sammy to keep at our house forever.

Well.  Just last week Sammy was "retired" and Blueberry the Bear has taken over.

Guess where Sammy's forever home is?  Right here with Squeezalicous.  

Somebody couldn't be happier.

Did I mention she was adorable?  I could seriously eat her up.

She is growing up so quickly.  Plus, she is off the charts tall so she looks older than she really is.

But she'll always be my baby.

And for that, I am so very thankful.

A Letter to my Sweet D

Dear D,

I.Love.You.  Let's start there, okay?
I am your biggest fan.
Your turned 10 this past Sunday.  You are a decade, dude.  Unbelievable.

I genuninely enjoy the person you're becoming.  The young man I see when I look at you is someone special.  Cue my he was  born on 3/24 at 4:23! line.  You are not perfect, of course.  You are my child, remember.

There was a time, roughly from 3-4.5 years, that I thought I would not survive.
There were days when we were like oil and water, you and I.  You had some clothing issues that led you to only want to wear soccer shorts, short sleeve shirts with the tags cut out and Crocs.  Every day.  Weather be damned.  Being a first time mother who knew nothing, I fought you on this.  And lost.
Your preschool teacher told me to pick my battles better and to let go.  As soon as I did, your stubborn streak broke.  Not that we haven't had other glimpses of that side of you-but I know now to give you space and let you make your own choices.  You are a person who requires space and a bit of unstructured time.  I can appreciate that.

No Napoleon Syndrome for you.  Although it helps you are off the charts tall for your age.
You are sweet and sensitive.  Not in a weak way.  You are certainly capable of dishing it out to your sisters.  I have seen you dish to friends when the situation called for it.  But those exchanges bother you a bit.  It's not in your nature to hurt someone's feelings intentionally.  But if you feel cornered, watch out.  I can appreciate that, also.

You are incredibly creative.  I wish I had more of what you have in that arena.  You are a great artist, writer and conceptual builder.  You can see something in your mind and replicate it on paper or through Legos.  I really dig that about you.

You are like me and can get lost in good fiction for days.  You are reading series books now that even I enjoy reading.  Cool stuff.

You love to be outside.  Building forts, playing flashlight tag, fishing, archery, Nerf wars, shooting hoops, riding bikes.  I love that you appreciate nature so much.  You have a huge heart for animals and remind me so much of my dad sometimes in that way.

I wish I could shrink you back down to 3 again, after having survived another 2 kids.  I would re-do that year and half.  Push less, listen more.  Thankfully, you seem to remember very little of that time.

I am thankful that you have made it to 10.  The Paranoid Patty in me is always worried about your health and safety.  To the extremes, sometimes.  I don't think that apple fell too far from this tree, with you.  You are a lot like me in that any health situation could be cause for a freakout.  Whereas your sister's arm could be hanging by a thread and she would probably tap it to see it swing.  Different strokes, I guess.

You are insanely handsome.  And you don't even know it.  That will change, someday, when some PYT starts chatting you up.  Better hope she gets my blessing.

You are an amazing kid-funny, thoughtful, smart and creative.  You are going to do big things.  The road will not always be without bumps-you have already seen that.  But I have faith in you.  I see the husband, father and man you will become.  And I really dig it.

I adore you!!

Love and happiness always,
Mom

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours, 

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world 

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Where To Start...

This boy just got another great report card.  I work in his class every Wednesday so his teacher just gave me his card early-AB Honor Roll again.  Missed A Honor Roll by a hair, again.  They also had practice EOG's last week and he had the highest score in the class on the reading portion.

So proud of my D!

The other day Kitty brought a baby snake into the garage.  D, my animal lover, saw it and was trying to  entice Kitty to find a new plaything.  He said, "The snake is alive, but looks damaged."  Way to call it.

The Big Kids' school has a new music teacher this year and apparently, he rocks.  Which is what a music teacher should do.  But, anyway.

Last night some of the grades had a European Extravaganza, highlighting music, heritage, etc from various countries.  Very cool.  Third grade played African drums, with a tom-tom drum thrown in to keep it "Old Country."

D was not thrilled about having his picture taken or playing in front of so many people but he did fine.

It snowed here several a couple of weeks ago and Squeezalicious was the only little person home at the time.  She partied.  We ended up getting a couple of inches and she and Kitty ran around like maniacs.

Apparently we then came inside to do laundry, as my bed in the background is naked.

 Groucho here, helped.  With the laundry that is, fully clothed in her princess nightgown.

This morning before school she informed that she is going to be a "cooker" when she grows up.  

I can only assume this means chef.

This weekend the girls enjoyed a birthday party for a sweet friend at a horse farm.

Very cool.

This little baby was checking out her tired mama.  

And this baby was loving the horse, but not enough to do a summer camp there.  

Bummer.  I would if I could.

This one vacillates between teacher, hair stylist and "nail girl."  What happened to shark doctor??

I feel very Seinfeldish when I say "Not that there is anything wrong with that"…but this is a child who makes up geometry problems on her whiteboard at home because she likes to.  Potential?  Check.

Second grade did a skit based on a Scottish song.  GoGo had a line as a Police Officer.  She loved it.  She told me she was going for a brogue but it kind of came off as Gomer Pyle.  It worked.

The weather is starting to break here, finally.

I am counting the days to summer break, almost as much as my kids.

Yes, there will be days where they drive me out of my ever livin' mind and I will mentally count the days until they go back to school and drink a Blue Moon or 3.  But the larger part of summer will be spent enjoying their giggles, our road trips, lounging in our jammies watching movies and playing flashlight tag with friends.

Let's start there.

Toe Dippin'

This weekend we headed to the beach for a half-marathon for hubs.  He did very well, almost in the top 100 finishers.
It was chillier than I had hoped but we still got in a walk on the beach and some pool time.  It seems strange to be in swimsuits outside while the air temperature is about 55 but the little people did it.  Thank God for heated pools.  The place we stayed was so nice-the kids totally partied.

And it did me good to see the sunrise and sunset at the edge of the Earth.  At least from where I stand.

The hotel had this amazing tree house/playground and my kids had the best time. 

 Coats and swimsuits?  Why not.

And then it snowed.  I had never seen snow at the beach.  To go from playing in the sand and swimming, albeit in coats and heated pools, to snow in the palms was a bit strange.  But cool.

The night we left for the beach was the Father/Daughter dance at Gogo's school.  It killed me to see her so grown up.  She's only 7, for the love of pete.  She had a great time, according to Daddy.  She boogied with her friends and even got her daddy to dance.  In public, without alcohol.  Hate I missed that.  While getting ready, we borrowed a friends curling iron.  I hadn't used one since maybe, 1988?  GoGo even asked if I knew how to use that thing.  I did alright, no one got burned.

So ready for spring and summer after this little weekend jaunt.  

Kids are ready for road trips, sleepovers and lazy days.

Got a ways to go.  

Have a few birthdays, Easter and  Holy Communion first.  

Gonna need that light at the end of the tunnel.

Apples and Trees

When I look at my kids, I know for a fact that the old adage, "The apple doesn't fall from the tree" is so real.
In sometimes hilarious and occasionally annoying ways, they continually demonstrate their connection to my gene pool.
Santa brought Just Dance for the Xbox and all 3 enjoy cuttin' a rug.  D was doing this song called "Da Funk" the other day and told me he was boss at it.  I about fell over.  For those who know my son, this was a step out of his box.  He is not one to draw attention to himself in negative or positive ways-he gets embarrassed easily.
This picture sums him up nicely-outside, laid back, sweet smile.  Love him.

This picture also sums Squeezalicous up nicely.  Outside, playing, a bit grubby, trying to be like big bro.  Adore her.

She and D are tight and play very well together.  Even though her blond hair is more like her big sis, her features remind me of D.  

Her hard core giggle is like his too-when they both get going, it's like all my favorite songs rolled into one big music note.  

They both think poop and fart jokes are hilarious.  (Full disclosure, so does this immature mom.)

In fact, yesterday she turned her bottom to face our kitty and ripped one.  She and D almost hurt themselves cackling.  I may or may not have pulled a stomach muscle laughing.

I couldn't have found a better picture to sum up my GoGo.  Hair up "fashion", having a hula hoop contest by the water.  She is a beach girl.  She is competitive, extremely.  

She is hilarious without meaning to be so, sometimes.  The other day Squeezalicous had a big accident in the bathroom and I was in there cleaning it up.  GoGo walked up, surveyed the situation and without any sarcasm in her voice, wished me "Good Luck with That."  Love, love.

I wish these 3 could see themselves the way I see them - wonderfully, imperfect beings with imagination, smarts and loads of possibilities waiting for them. 

 I don't want to wish the next 10 years away, but sometimes I can't wait to see how they turn out.  

Despite my gene pool.