Friday Facts

1. My week has been so busy that I just realized my last blog post was 7 days ago. What is the deal with that?! (Well, I'll tell you what the deal with that is: kids, cleaning, groceries, homework, soccer, putting Liam in time out. All things that take up a huge chunk of my time.)

2. On Tuesday I got the chance to chaperon my first field trip with Noah's class. I joined all 4 kindergarten classes and rode the bus to Caw Caw Interpretive Center to explore nature. Noah's class is doing a unit on bugs and Caw Caw was the perfect place to experience bugs. (Seriously, we were attacked by gnats and mosquitoes all morning.) They also got to go on nature walks where they saw snakes, bugs, frogs, and even several alligators. Most of the alligators were babies but we did experience a rather big guy on one of our walks. We were strolling, and I was chatting with Noah's teacher, when all the sudden she gasped and pointed. The line of children stopped and we all stared in awe - and a little fear - at this guy.

And, just for giggles, here is a picture of Noah wearing his honey bee mask. Immediately after this the class did a "Bee dance" which turned into all the boys in the class running around like fools while the girls danced. Typical.

The field trip was such a fun experience for me! Noah was so excited that I came and held my hand everywhere we went. He was also really stoked to get to sit by me on the bus and even fell asleep in my lap on the drive back to school. I am soaking it all up now because I am sure that the day is coming when he will not want a thing to do with me in front of his friends.

Oh, and while I was with Noah, Liam got to go to school and then play with his buddy Harper until I got home. This meant he had no nap at all. Well, this is what happens at 5pm on a day when you've had no nap and played hard with friends.

3. Speaking of Liam. That child is lucky he made it all the way to Friday without me losing my mind. Even though his birthday is not until next month, I have gone ahead and diagnosed him as having a case of Early Onset Terrible Twos. The symptoms are as follows: Screaming, crying, fits of anger and rage, throwing random objects at people's heads, jumping off of furniture, ubiquitous use of the word No, refusing to do anything I ask, and generally being a royal pain in the ass. At this time, there are no known cures.

4. The weather here as been AMAZING! Highs in the 80's and sunshine. I am getting a serious taste in my mouth for summer. I am having visions of the pool and the beach and refreshing beverages and no schedule to follow. Can. Not.Wait.

5. Yesterday, I almost had a mental breakdown - for many reasons - and so I headed to yoga to de-stress myself. Instead of feeling all calm and focused though, I spent half the class trying not to crack up. I was standing next to this guy, and at first I though he was a super serious yogi. (Usually, the length of a man's shorts will tell you how serious he is about his practice, and this guy had on some seriously short shorts.) However, as soon as class started he was wobbling and fidgeting, and falling over, and chugging water in a serious way. (FYI, all things that are NOT the signs of a yoga master.) Then he just kept flopping on his mat in exhaustion and just laying there, through 2 or 3 postures at a time. He was almost like a Saturday Night Live character or something. I decided that God was trying to tell me that what I needed at the end of my stressful day was a good laugh. Well, mission accomplished.

6. Four words for you: The Hunger Games movie. Bam! Who else is going this weekend?

Spring Has Sprung - So We Chased A Leprechaun

I was in the car driving earlier this week (who knows where I was going - I drive a lot!) and I noticed that all of the sudden the world seemed very vivid. Like we had gone from regular TV to high definition. And then I realized why. The grass was green. The azaleas were blooming and the Bradford Pears were sprouting their white flowers. Overnight spring had sprung. And that can only mean one thing. Life is about to get crazy! This week was no exception.

You would think a Monday morning at the start of a busy week would feel daunting but it didn't. Want to know why? 'Cause of our new Monday morning play date thank you very much. My friends Lisa and Katy and I have been getting together with the little kids while the big ones are in school. We have coffee - and some sort of yummy breakfast treat - and chat while the kids play. It is the best way to begin the week!

Harper, Liam and Connor enjoy their very own yummy breakfast treat - Fruit Loops!

We rounded our Monday evening out with soccer practice and then I went to my ballet class. 

Tuesday was the usual stuff. I start my grocery store rounds on Tuesday - Trader Joe's and my CSA pick up - while Liam is in school. Then it's lunch, nap, school pick up, homework, dinner, and rush out the door to small group. Where Noah promptly discovered Cheese Puffs. He refused to try avocado at dinner that night, but hand him a bright orange puffy treat (that isn't really a food at all) and he is all about it. I give up with that child.

Wednesday was more of the same. More groceries - and more Liam demanding cookies while in said grocery store. Cleaning my house, more homework. And one very hard yoga class at 7:15 that night. For some reason doing 90 minutes of hot yoga that late at night just makes me want to roll over and die. 

I spent Thursday morning clothes shopping for Noah while Liam was at school. Poor Noah has had a growth spurt (Not in weight - just height. Don't worry, you can still count his ribs.) and none of his summer clothes fit. The weather has been so warm here that he was attempting to wear some short sleeve tops from last year, and was walking out the door looking like a street urchin every morning. Seriously, crop top anyone? (Oh, and he is also really into putting gel in his hair now. He likes to spike it up into a "faux-hawk". So he was basically rocking a faux hawk and a polo shirt that looked like a crop top. It was not a good look. At least I can do something about the ill-fitting shirts. I'm not sure there is anything to be done about the faux hawk.)

And then, last night, Wes and I chased a leprechaun. 

Well, we ran a 5K called "Catch The Leprechaun 5K". Noah informed us that we would have to be really speedy because Leprechauns are really fast and super tricky. He also seemed to think there was a lot we could do with that pot of gold, so we were sent to the race with one assignment. Catch the tricky bastard. 

We meant up with our friends Brandy and Joe and lined up behind the bagpipers and the "Leprechaun". When the guy dressed as the leprechaun took his head start pushing a jogging stroller and taunting the crowd I knew there was no way I would catch him. I informed Wes that getting the pot of gold was all up to him. Sadly, the stroller pushing leprechaun was faster than both of us so we did not get a pot of gold. But we did find some post race beer!

Oh, and I have to include this next picture so you can see how festive we were.

Check out our socks! And it's hard to see, but we were wearing little shamrock headbands. And just in case you were wondering, I was not responsible for any of this festive stuff. Brandy was the one who went to Party City and Target ahead of time and stocked up on green gear for the race. She is so organized! Had it been up to me, I would have spent 3 days thinking, I have no green running gear and then thirty minutes before the race, gone to my closet, opened it up and been very upset because no green running gear had magically appeared. I love having friends who take care of me!

And now it is Friday. The week has flown by and I am ready to relax with the fam over the weekend. But first, I must attend Noah's school for a kindergarten performance. Noah singing and dancing on stage - is there anything better? I think not!

A Grown Up Birthday Party

The weeks have been flying in our house. Soccer has started again, and it just feels as though we seem to have something going on almost every night. It's enough to make you want to stay home and hibernate when Friday rolls around.

Unless of course there is a surprise birthday party for your friend Denise. Then you put all thoughts of hibernating aside, hire a baby sitter and head over to the coolest place in town to hang with some awesome people and celebrate a sweet friend.

                                              Jan, Lisa, the Birthday Girl, me, and Katy

Denise's husband (Brian) and her brother (Derek) own D.D. Peckers on hwy 17. It is a wing place/bar and it was the perfect place to party for Denise's birthday. (A side note... Even I, the self affirmed vegetarian, eat the wings when I am there. So good!) Everyone had a blast eating, talking, and hanging out. Many thanks to Brian and Derek for hosting us all - and providing the great refreshments.

No, I was not totally hammered, even though I appear to be in this group shot.

Oh, and there may or may not have been some dancing.

Let's just say that even thought the live entertainment was of the combat boot wearing, guitar strumming variety - and refused to do "happy" songs - we made it work. You can do the electric slide to any song if you really put your mind to it! Our moves were even good enough to entice Jeff to join us on the dance floor.

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No, not Wes. He doesn't dance in public.

Happy Birthday Denise, we love ya! (Oh, and next time we will surprise you at High Cotton!)