Countdown to Joy

Again, I know….

Yes, again with the weekend-only (or almost) posting. The end of school is CRAZY busy, and this week that was compounded with my 10 year reunion. I have been helping plan it for almost a  year now (with two other class officers) and last night was finally the big night. 

So here (just for my memory, mostly) is a quick week recap:

Monday-I mixed up the time for Jack’s doctor appointment-grrr!

Tuesday-First off-it was mine and Jake’s 8th anniversary! We didn’t really celebrate on Tuesday, but the celebration is coming :). I can’t express how very blessed I am to have been married to my best friend for EIGHT years. Each year is sweeter and sweeter-full of ups and downs, but always an adventure. 

Josie had water day at preschool! She was BEYOND excited, and she even went down the big waterslide! I thought she would be really afraid of it, but she went down it a million times. I am so blessed that she is able to go to preschool at my school, because I was able to go watch her!

Tuesday evening Jake wanted to go to the driving range, so the kids and I tagged along, too. We went to a local place that also has a putt-putt course, so we let Josie play putt-putt for the first time. She had a blast! We had to help her hold the club correctly, but she did pretty good. :) She also kept calling it hockey :P. 

Wednesday-Crazy day at school, faculty meeting, church.

Thursday-This was Josie’s last day of preschool, so I of course had to get a picture:

Here was the FIRST day of preschool picture-

She has already gotten so much bigger, in just one little school year! 

Thursday was another CRAZY day at school, and then I had about a million things to do to get things ready for our reunion on Friday. 

We had to run by Mom and Dad’s to get some reunion decorations, and OF COURSE the kids had to see the garden with Pappy :). Funny side note: Jack fell asleep on the way home (at like 6:00) and he never woke up! I just brought his seat inside, and when he stirred I took him out and put him in his bed and patted his back for a minute. He slept until 6:00 the next morning-12 hours of sleep! He has been one tired little boy here lately, but when he’s awake, he NEVER stops. 

Friday-Right after school I hurried over to the golf course where we were having our reunion to start decorating. We were trying to keep the budget small, so we used leftover decorations from mine and Casey’s weddings. I think it turned out pretty good, though! :)

Table decorations

Yummy cake

Our memory table-yearbooks, and candles and pictures in remembrance of those members of our class who have passed away-four in total. 

After we got everything decorated, I met Jake at Nana’s so that he could take the kiddos to Mama Judy’s-they spent the night there so I could go to the reunion and Jake could go to his guy’s night :). And yes, Jake was totally willing to go to the reunion with me-but I told him not to…..I didn’t even really want to go, so I was going to make him go, too! :)

Quick snapshot before I left….

Robin and I at the reunion

We took a whole group shot of everyone that was there, too, but I don’t have a copy yet. As soon as someone sends me one, I will post it, too. 

Today-Ran out early this morning to pick up the kids, and also let Abby come home with us to play with Josie-they were beyond THRILLED, of course :). They are cousins, but also the best of friends.

Donut breakfast picnic!

They played hard, and after lunch we took her back to Mee-Maw’s so she could go to her ballgame. Then we went back home to get the kiddos down for naps. I was SOOO tired from being out late last night at the reunion, and just the crazy busy-ness of the week, and Jack would.not.go.to.sleep. So my super-awesome-sweet-loving hubby took Jack to play outside so I could nap while Josie was napping, and when I woke up, realized he had taken Jack on a drive to get him to sleep AND he had picked up dinner while he was out! He loves me :). 

Jack was SO funny tonight. He is getting so big, so fast-faster than Josie did-must be a second child thing? He just had to sit on the bench beside Josie to eat dinner tonight-and he did GREAT! In fact, it was the most pleasant meal we have had in a long time. He ate like a horse, laughing and smiling the whole time, and even used his manners and asked for “more” in words/sign language instead of crying and whining like normal! :)

Such a big boy! (and Josie is totally a photo-bomber!)

They love each other SO much-I love seeing them be so sweet to each other. 

Monkey see, monkey do-Jack saw Josie coloring, so of course he had to, too!

Now it is TOTALLY time to for me to hit the sack….I am looking forward to this next week, mainly because it *shouldn’t* be so busy! Only time will tell, though! :)

Josie-isms

Josie sometimes says things wrong, and I think it is the cutest thing. Here are the ones from today:
Sap=zap
Antlers=anklers

World’s Worst Mommy award….

Goes to me today! I realized at 3:45 today that Jack’s well check appointment was at *3:00* NOT 4:30 like I thought. GGRRRR! I get so mad at myself when I do dumb things like that. I was really looking forward to this appointment, too, because I actually had several questions to ask the doctor. Plus, our doctor is really popular, and the soonest they can reschedule our appointment is June 5th! Bleh! I am such a dummy today!

A picture is worth a thousand words….

Do I really have to tell you how incredibly, beyond all measure, blessed I am?

Happy Mother’s Day! 

Just a couple of pictures from our lazy Saturday

Monkey see, monkey do……I absolutely LOVE seeing my kiddos play nicely together. :)

Jack LOVES to color….

Whew!

We have a had a CRAZY (but good!) week around here. I feel like I am always doing these “weekly” updates here lately, but the end of the school year is always a little wild. Maybe I can be more regular about posting once school lets out for summer…

Monday was just a regular old day, but I thought this picture was cute, so I wanted to share it-Jack was FASCINATED by a sandwich truck that pulled up outside of Josie’s ballet studio. He stood at the window and just watched it forever….

Tuesday was my birthday! I have the best family and friends-they made my whole WEEK special! :) I got lots of sweet cards from family and friends at school, and Mom invited us, Chad and Lesa, and Casey and Kyle over and made my favorite meal for dinner-dumplings! Yum! 

Sweet girl playing with the bubbles at Grammy’s

Jack discovered this play blower….and carried it around ALL NIGHT.

Josie loves to help her Pappy….

Jack loves Lesa….and bubbles. :)

Wednesday morning Jake got up with me and fixed me a SUPER yummy breakfast before I went to school-ham/omelet sandwich-yum! He is the BEST breakfast cook.  :) Wednesday afternoons are always crazy. I go straight from school to Nana’s and give the kiddos baths (if Nana hasn’t already done it-she’s sweet like that), then get them dressed and we head to Hendersonville to meet Jake somewhere for dinner, then head to community group (church group). This Wednesday, Jake didn’t meet us (he wasn’t feeling well), so I let Josie pick where we ate-Chick Fil A, of course :). 

Thursday evening Mom and Dad watched the kids for us so that Jake could take me out for my birthday. We went to Opry Mills so that I could go to Macaroni Grill-it is one of my favorite restaurants, and I hadn’t been since Opry Mills flooded. And it didn’t disappoint-SO good. After we ate, we walked around the mall (we hadn’t been since it has reopened). I shopped and bought some clothes. Jake’s birthday present (and everybody else’s in my family) to me was money for clothes. Because of marathon training, and my effort to eat healthier, I have actually lost quite a bit of weight. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all….except now none of my clothes fit! :) So the money for clothes is a much needed thing :). I had a great time shopping-I haven’t clothes shopped in a long time. 

Here’s some pictures of the kids from Thursday afternoon. Uncle Bill has chickens now, so every time we go to Grammy and Pappy’s the kids want to go see them….

Monkey see, monkey do

Friday was a crazy day at school. Every year the fifth grade students host a “Wax Museum” to raise money. They all dress up as a historical figure, and then act like statues. If you put a silver coin in their cup, they will “come alive” and tell you all about their character. It really is cool, and a great fundraiser, and but it makes for a CRAZY school day. Elizabeth was bringing her girls to see the museum, and asked if she could pick Josie up and bring her, too. 

Josie had an AWESOME time hanging out with her friends Caroline and Annsley. Thanks, Mrs. Elizabeth! :)

I caught them being sweet and holding hands :). 

Friday night after I picked up the kids, we headed BACK over to Opry Mills to meet Jake and do some more shopping. I didn’t have time to finish before the mall closed on Thursday night, and some of the stores were having some really good sales. We had both forgotten how umm…challenging  it is to shop with a toddler-bleh! We preserved through the fit-throwing, however, and I was able to get some more good deals :). We even let the kiddos ride the carousel-this was Jack’s first time, and he LOVED it! 

He held on tight the entire time-so funny! 

He loved looking at everything he passed…he kept pointing and saying, “look!”

After the ride was over, they put a horse stamp on his hand, and he was amazed-he kept looking at it, and then looking at the other hand. It was like he was wondering why the other hand didn’t match or something. :)

Today has been a much needed LAZY day at home. Kiddos woke up early, of course, but we have just stayed in our pjs. I cooked a big breakfast (I always like to cook breakfast on Saturday mornings), Jack has gotten into everything he can think of, I have done some laundry/straightening of the house, and now the kiddos are napping :). Mee-maw is coming over for dinner, and I’ve already got it all planned: bbq pork chops, mashed potatoes, pineapple/cheese casserole, salad, rolls-yum!! :)

Jack has finally stopped trying to climb the staircase every two seconds, so now he has decided to move on to other challenges….

15 months old

Jack, 

You are 15 months old now! Wow…time really flies, because it seems just like yesterday you were still little enough to curl into a ball. You actually aren’t that much bigger, but you sure are different! And WILDER! :) You have been into EVERYTHING this month…..

-You started this month with a bang…literally. You fell out of Nana’s camper, and got a huge bump above your left eye, and a HUMONGOUS rug burn on your forehead. But you were absolutely over it within five minutes…typical.

-You came with Mommy to her 10k “Dairy Dash” in Nashville. Aunt Casey watched you and Josie while Mommy ran. 

-You drew with markers for the first time at Grammy’s. You LOVE to color-with pencils, crayons, markers, etc. You will sit in anyone’s lap for a long time as long as you have something to draw with. 

-Mommy got you your first “big boy” toothbrush-you LOVE brushing teeth. You climb up on the stool all the time, get your toothbrush, turn the water on, and “brush” away! 

-You went on a 5 mile jog with Mommy, and loved every minute of it. 

-You unrolled an ENTIRE roll of paper towels at Nana’s. 

-We went camping at Defeated Creek, and you loved every.minute.of.it. You slept on the table bed in the camper for the first time, too. 

-You are obsessed with straws and straw paper. 

-You are still not eating very much, at  all. If we can get you to eat at least a couple of bites at every meal, we consider it a successful day. You still LOVE milk, though.

-You discovered Josie’s old “hop-hop” boots, and you really like to put them on and off. 

-Some words you learned this month: Pa-Pa (Pappy), shh!, Jack-Jack, knock-knock. Your favorite words are still “Ma-ma” and “look!” You also growl, sometimes-it is super cute. 

-You wet through your diaper almost every.single.night. I even bought you nighttime diapers…and you still wet through!

-You love Josie. You follow her around all day and do EVERYTHING she does…..monkey see, monkey do. 

-Other things you like a lot: microphones, dancing, music, unrolling paper towels or toilet paper, throwing things in the trash, “helping” with anything-dishes, sweeping, picking up sticks, laundry, etc; throwing things (you ALWAYS chuck your milk cup as far as it will go when it is empty); MILK, sausage, grapes (cut into pieces), raw carrots,  OUTSIDE, climbing anything and everything, tearing up paper, balls, trains/trucks, receiving blankets (you carry one around all the time), being naked, the stairs, animals of all kinds (especially dogs), books-you love being read to, especially Eric Carle books; fishing poles, water, boats, brooms and mops….and rakes (actually, pretty much anything that is taller than you), vacuum cleaners, riding in the wagon, things with pedals, being destructive, riding on Mommy’s back in the Ergo

-Things you do NOT like: baths (you used to love them!), coming inside, getting dressed, getting undressed, getting your diaper changed, getting in your car seat, wiping your nose, getting in your high chair, bibs, being told no, not getting to climb the stairs, not getting to walk in stores, not getting your way……you are a VERY strong-willed (and opinionated!) little boy! 

Jack-Jack, you are such a bundle of joy and destructiveness, all rolled into one :). You are SO different than your sister, in every single way, but that just makes it that much more fun to watch you grow and change. We love you SO much, and I cannot even remember what life was like before you were part of our family. 

Love, 

Mommy

The week in (mostly) pictures

I have been a horribly inconsistent blogger here lately. This time of year is CRAZY around our house. End of school events, millions of other things to do, yard work to get under control, kiddos wanting to be outside every.waking.minute, etc. Anyways, I thought I would do a quick recap of the past week. Warning: yes, I know there are waaay more picture of Jack in here than Josie. Right now, he is just easier to get pictures of :). 

Tuesday afternoon my fellow fourth grade teachers and I went to visit another one of our fourth grade teachers who just had a baby. We brought her dinner, and just hung out and met this sweet, precious little thing: 

Have you ever seen this much hair on a newborn??? She is only 2 weeks old (and SO adorable). 

One day this week, Jack discovered Josie’s old “hop hop” boots….and wanted to put them on, over and over again. He was so proud of them! 

And that same night, he was so tired he fell asleep at the dinner table…I think it is so funny when kiddos do that! 

Chad was at Nana’s a couple of days this week doing some work on her yard, so the kiddos got to visit with him a lot, too. 

Friday night we went to the Catfish House for Jackie’s graduation party-she has her DOCTORATE in Occupational Therapy-isn’t that awesome? 

Josie was SOOOO excited for this party. She loves Jackie, and she LOVES parties, so it was the perfect combo for her!

I think this picture is hilarious, and it really does show JUST how excited Josie was to be at the party….

She loved giving Jackie her present….

After the party, Josie went home with Grammy and Pappy to spend the night, so Saturday it was just Jake, Jack, and myself hanging out. It is good for us to just have Jack by himself sometimes; Helps us to give him some undivided attention, which he totally needs. 

So after breakfast Saturday, we headed to Lowe’s to get plants for our garden. We got cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and squash. 

I LOVE having raised beds….makes everything SO much easier!

After lunch, we started picking up the MASS amounts of scraps the workers had left around the barn. (Have I mentioned the workers finished our barn this week? They did, and we are SO excited to finally be able to use it! I will post pics soon.) Jack did great-he actually picked up a ton, and put them right where they go. He LOVES helping, especially if he is outside. 

He wore one of my gloves almost the entire day-Monkey see, Monkey do! 

Last night we went down to Mom and Dad’s to pick up Josie, and Daddy and I ran together. Mom and Casey ran, too-(just less, so they ran with each other). Then Mom and Dad fixed a yummy grilled deer dinner-yum! 

Today church, Ghengis Grill with Mama Judy (YUM), came home, yard work (Jack mowed), laundry, storms!, cutting Jake’s hair, lots of laundry, etc. A good day, though! 

Camping!

Last weekend we took our first camping trip of the season. We went to Defeated Creek Campground on Cordell Hull Lake. It is a beautiful campground, and a really pretty lake. It rained on Friday night, but the rest of the weekend was perfect weather. Josie was SOOO excited to be camping again. Camping is all she has talked about, all winter long. She even plays “going camping.” ALL.THE.TIME. It was great to see friends we haven’t seen in awhile, too. This was Jack’s first camping trip that he has been big enough to actually play-and he had a BLAST. He loved “fishing”  and playing in the sand at the playground-he never stopped, except to sleep at night, and the occasional nap in the stroller. 

“Fishing” with Pappy

Josie really did go fishing with Pappy a couple of times- and caught fish both times!

She refused to actually touch them, though. 

She did, however, have to take them around and show everyone…..

Jack LOVES fishing poles…

Nana and Shshr came to visit for the day on Saturday….Jack made Nana take him on the playset at the playground…

Zay, Claude and Becky’s grandson, is SUCH  little acrobat!

Jack loves to slide…I think he did this at least 4,000 times….

Josie had so much fun playing with Lily. Lily is just a month older than her, and they played really well together-Josie was so excited to have another girl to play with!

Little stinker….

Jack loved the sand, too…

I love this picture, because I remember when I was playing in the sand with Lily and Zay’s parents…..It is the second (or I guess third!) generation of campers :). 

Wyatt and Jolene-so cute!

Mrs. Becky and Zay

The Jack-man…

Jack loves his Daddy….and he is ALWAYS pointing and saying “look!” at something…

Owen, Josie, and Mason playing in the lake…they were having so much fun…and then we had a “visitor” (a SNAKE-yuck!)

Jack was all about the rocks…

And he definitely wasn’t afraid to touch the fish!

It was a great weekend. Funny/Sad story: on the way home, the drive was great…until about 2 minutes from our house. Then a TURKEY flew up off the side of the road, just missed the windshield, and ran into the front of our camper! It hit so hard, that it left a big dent and a hole in the front of the camper! It was the craziest thing, ever. So very random. 

On our way to my first HALF MARATHON!!! ;)

Josie, on camping:

“And I think it’s so fun I can’t hardly tell what I’m doing!”