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We (aka: my children) are already trying to fight the summer bordom blues. We had a little family meeting today (Eric, be so glad you weren't here for this one). I explained to the kids that we are on a tight budget, and that we are going to have to get creative when it comes to summer entertainment. I'm going to do my best to keep them busy with the hope that lots-o-activities will help control the fighting between them. They are at an all time WWF wrestling high, and I can't handle it. They will fight over anything. They will yell at each other because one of them accidentally breathed in the same room as the other. Really guys? I belive they might have teamed up secretly and made a pact to see how many times they can drive me to the point of screaming in chinese this summer. Eric and I watched a show called The Middle last night. It is as if the writers had been following us around for months and wrote several episodes about our current lives. I laughed so hard. I will watch that show weekly now, just to keep my spirits up that this indeed, is normal. Whatever that is......

~i love the editing in the photo.....i had to add this one~

Best.Blog.Ever.

http://www.kellehampton.com/

Her story will bring you to tears. Thank you Ivey.

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This is me~jumping for joy~my summer has offically begun!

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I had to go back to work today for post planning, so my family stepped in to help with the kids. The best part of the day was seeing Layton and Jack play video games together. Jack acts 16 when he is with him. It's so cute. Layton is usually too busy being a super star to see us so we were excited that he had a moment today. I'm pumped about spending some time with my sister this summer. We don't see each other a lot anymore. I'm looking forward to the laughter.

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Ths image speaks for itself.........pure joy.

Today I am thankful for all of the soldiers who died trying to protect me from losing my freedom. It makes me so sad that we have to wage war on each other in order to maintain peace, but it is what it is. I know as a mother of two that one of the last things on earth I would want my children to experience is war, but I also know that this is a possibility....being a mother to Jack.

I watched him play today......intently. I thought about how much I love him. When I really, truly allow myself to feel how much I love my kids....it hurts. It is a literal, physical ache.....as if I can't even bare it. And then my mind led me to a very dark place........to all of the mothers who have to watch their sons take off in an airplane to the dreaded desert, and I flinched. I couldn't rap my head around it. All I could do was sit in silence and pray for them, for all of them.

It's ironic that we celebrate the day by grillling delicious food and spending time at the lake or pool with our family and friends, while thousands of very young men and women are away from their families....sweating (and dodging) bullets in the desert and missing their loved ones. My eyes filled with tears a few times today when I thought about all the people who have died for me. For my family. For my friends. And the saddest part of the day was that I realized that this was the first Memorial Day that I have ever really felt the spirit of the day. I've spent 3o years celebrating this day in typical Americana fashion....food, drinks, family, friends, parties, fun, ......but this year felt different. I guess its because some of my freedoms have been taken away from me recently, and I now truly realize the value of living in a free country. I love my freedom. I love this country. And I love every single man and woman who has ever fought for it, deeply.

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This is most definitely a perfect picture collage for this 365 project. I can guarentee that every weekend 2 things will happen. #1: Kaitlin will have a friend spend the night. #2 They will make up a dance, or two, or three, and Eric and I will be their audience. I have seen hundreds of dances (she's been doing this since she was 5), and I have to admit....her choreographic skills are improving. :)

On a side note.....After 3 years of livingin this house and brainstorming about what to do with this open space upstairs, I finally have an idea! Only now we are trying to move. I may do it anyway. I bet the house would sell as soon as I finished the project. That's how life works. It might be a good luck charm.

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Hayes and his dog Simba (M-ba....as he calls him)

We had some friends over for dinner tonight, and they brought along their son, Hayes, and their beautiful dog, Simba. I got this picture of Hayes feeding Simba. I laughed when I saw this through the camera. This is how he feeds him everyday. Simba is so gentle when he takes the food out of Hayes' hand. It doesn't look like it, but he never bites down on his hand. There is a very sweet love between this dog and his family. Simba won our hearts over tonight.......weetest dog on earth. He is not doing so well though. He's got cancer and doesn't have long to live. His parents and brother spend every waking moment with him. It made me so sad to watch them all interact knowing this. They've had Simba for 11 years. This is their baby. I took a lot of pictures of them together. I have something special planned for this one. The kids and Eric want a dog so bad they can't stand it. I told them we could get one when we move and have a yard again. I get it now. Dogs make life better. They bring families together. I want that for my kids, but especially for my husband. I finally get it.

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~The look on Kaitlin's face says it all~

Today was the last day of school....and what an emotional day it was! I cried no less than 5 times throughout the day. My class gave me a scrapbook with a page for each child in it. I cried the whole time I flipped through it. The pages were sent home with each student,and they put a lot of love into creating a page that made me feel special. I cried when my room moms cried as we all said goodbye at the end of the day. I cried when the graduation song was played on the intercom, and the 5th graders walked the halls in tears on their last day of elementary school. I cried when I saw Jack running up to me with all of his end of the year stuff.....telling me how he was going to be a first grader now. I cried when the limo arrived at school to pick up my grown daughter and her friends....because the look on her face was worth a few tears. I then went back to my room an cried by myself in my classroom. I sat in my desk, looked around the room, and couldn't swallow how fast my life was moving. Was it really the end of the year? Did I really just say goodbye to all of my sweet little students....my first Kindergarten class? Is my daughter really going to that huge school next door with all those vultures? Am I really finished with my 4th year of teaching? I was so tired. May is such a whirlwind. It doesn't stop. And there I sat....at the end of all this craziness. And I just cried. And then I went home a took a nap, and I woke up and befriended my vino. And Eric cooked a beautiful meal for us. And I felt so at ease...for the fist time in 10 months, I was relaxed.

~Thank you to Samantha for inviting Kaitlin along for the limo ride! What a fabulous way to end a fabulous year for these girls.

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Today was a day to celebrate. We had our school wide end of the year party and the kids had a blast. Jack spent the day with my class and loved every minute of it. Mama came to volunteer and brought me a a large Starbucks coffee....and I needed it. Party days as a teacher are exhausting, but so much fun. Kaitlin had the 5th grade talent show, and she sang one of her own songs....which made me very happy. She did great, and my heart was full watching the 5th grade stand up and yell for her. There was a lot of love and support in the air. These kids are so pumped about going off to middle school!

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Awards Night

Kaitlin made us very proud tonight. She came home happy, and with 8 awards and 14 certificates. Eric and I sat in the crowd in wonderment thinking.......What planet did she come from? Whose kid is that? And I was secretly thinking....thank you God for giving her Paw Paw's intelligence!!I am blown away by her. I stay in awe of herability to do everything she does..really well.

However, I can't stand award-events. Probobly because I never got anything growing up, but I think it is all wrong....the whole thing. It always seems like a night to make all that smart people feel even more awesome than they already get to feel on a daily basis, and the average people feel even more pathetic than they already feel. And I have to admit, even though my kid was racking (sp?) up the awards like nobody's business, I still didn't enjoy watching some kids get nothing. I know how it feels to be average. God gives us the mind he gives us and there's just not a whole lot a person can do about how smart they are. I could have studied 5 hours a day and not made straight A's. So I had this incredible urge to run up on stage to all those poor kids who got nothing, give them a hug, and tell them that they are beautiful.....just the way they are. I wanted to tell them that life goes on, and that just because they may not grow up and go to med school, doesn't mean they won't have a great life and find success. :)

Regardless of my disdain for award events, we were, and still are..... super proud of Kaitlin. And most of all, we love how humble she is. We came home and I called the whole family to tell them how proud we were. I grabbed her and hugged her for the thousandth time, and she was like "Ok mom, I get it....your proud of me......but I'm hungry....when is dinner? She threw the awards on the table and went to her room. :)

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I could sit and listen to her play the guitar and sing to me all day long.

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Jack told his entire class a very dramatic story today. Apparently he was kidnapped a while back and he got away from the kidnapper by throwing a chair at him. His Kindergarten teacher's assistant came to give me the details of the story this afternoon. I'm not sure when this kidnapping took place, but I'm so glad he's home safe.

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I woke up from my strep coma today feeling like a whole different person. I am still sore and tired, but so so so much better. I walked around the house to see what everyone was doing and heard Jack in his playroom, making all kinda noise. I watched him for a little bit, and realize how much I missed my family while I was down for the count. Anyway, he was in battle with several guys, and there were bombs dropping left and right! I asked him if I could take a picture of him, and he said that was okay. He kinda liked the attention I think. He hasn't gotten any real mom time in a few days. Every now and then he would peak into my room and ask me if I needed anything. Kaitlin did the same. Sometimes they would fly through the doors yelling at each other over something rediculous, but would quickly see the pained look on my face and decide to solve their drama....momma free. All it took was a look. Eric was wonderful this weekend. He's at the pool right now with Jack. He stepped up to the plate and took care of business. He entertained kids, took them for ice-cream, cleaned, did laundry, ran them around everywhere, and kept the kids away from me as best he could. Kaitlin has one more performance on Monday and I do not want her getting this. I don't want anyone to get this. I am seriously considering have my tonsils removed after this crazy sick year. Strep throat three times in one year, at 31 years old, is insane to me.

Now onto our.........LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I was in bed all day yesterday (which should be today, but I am posting these all at once) with strep. Needless to say, there was no picture taking on my part. But, I do vaguely remember Kaitlin storming into my room while I was in my coma-like fever state and saying something about finding red berries growing on trees outside our house. I remember telling her "just don't eat them", and falling back to a deep sleep. When I woke up from my two day fever-strep-throat a-thon(for the third time this year), I saw berries on my kitchen counter in a bowl. She had gone to a friend's house by then, but I am anxious to hear whether or not she obeyed me about NOT eating the berries, or if I even said that (I may have been dreaming). As I went thumbing through my pictures of the week, I saw this one from yesterday. I was stunned at what a great picture she took. I certainly didn't take a single picture yesterday while in my strep coma, so I know this was her. That girl has got all kinda skills.

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Jack Jack got to say the pledge on the morning announcements this morning. He ran by my classroom and yelled, "Hey mommy....I'm gunna be on T.V. for the PWEDGE!" Oh how happy I was that I brought my camera to school!!! He was so cute, and so proud of himself. He didn't take his eyes off that flag!

this.melted.my.heart.

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ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!

Doo Wop Wed Widing Hood had its opening night tonight! Kaitlin, who plays the Queen, did awesome. I was so nervous for her before the show that I thought I get sick. That, and the fact that I realized at noon today that I was coming down with strep again, and was so tired and emotional. She nailed her part, and was much more confident this year than last year. Aspen and Jenna also did amazing as the Evil Queen (Jenna) and Little Red Riding Hood (Aspen). Kaitlin had a solo and sang really well. That was the part I was most nervous for. She made us very proud. We literally took up the entire front row of the cafeteria. We have a BIG family, and they were almost all there to support her on her big night. I got teary eyed watching her up there. She is so much her Nana on that stage! My mom was in everyplay in high school. She got Nana's acting genes for sure. Great Job K.K! We are all so stinkin' proud of you!!!!

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Kaitlin colored this awesome picture of an egyptian king and Jack freaked out over it. He HAD to color one too, so I copied the picture at school and let him color his own. He kept asking me if his was better than hers, and I can only say "they are both great Jack, don't compare yourself to your sister." I am feeling he is starting to compete with her and it breaks my heart. She is an over-acheiver, and we love her for exactly who she is, but what he doesn't understand is this. You don't have to DO anything special to be loved by your family. We love you because you ARE. Not for what you DO. I hope he hears me when I say this over and over. I never want him to feel any less loved because he has such an activity driven sister. My children are both amazing to me, no matter how much they do or don't do.

On another note, Kaitlin overheard me telling Eric that I don't want to keep a blog anymore, and she reacted unexpectedly. I told her it was no longer fun because its so hard to get pictures of her when she runs from the camera. I have other reasons, but that is the main one. She told me she really wants me to keep recording their lives and taking pictures and she promises me she'll be nicer about having her picture taken. I was surprised to hear this. I don't plan on EVER doing a 365 project again, but I would like to keep up with big events in their lives thru this blog. I know a lot of family reads this and loves the all access pass to their grandchildren's, neice/nephew/cousin's lives, but it isn't something I am willing to do if the kids aren't up to it. So I guess she approves. I have the princess' approval to continue!!!....or should I say "Queen's approval". See tomorrow's post.

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This was the most exciting part of my day. I love stuff like this. This is when I realize I am truly a girly girl. My room mother for my class got Kaitlin and I these precious lunch boxes. And what lunchbox would be complete without a matching coffee mug? Love it. Love me some end of the year teacher gifts!

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Ants have invaded Jack's room. Carpet Cleaner has invaded Kaitlin's room. Looks like the kids will be sleeping on our floor for the week. That's the short story. And after being sick for 3 days with strep (AGAIN)....I'm not telling the long one.

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doin' a little dance...

Jumping Jack

He did this for over an hour last night. He ran from one side of the kitchen to another, jumped onto the beanbag, ran to my camera to look at the picture, and then back to do it all again. He even broke out the stool and the chair for a "diffwent kind of action shot". An hour is a long time for that kind of movement. I'm not sure where all that energy came from, but it was hysterical to watch. He LOVES the way it looks to see himself floating in the air like this. He laughed so hard when I told him he looked like crouching tiger hidden dragon, even though he has no idea who that is. I got over 4o pictures of him doing this. It was hard to choose which ones to put in the collage.

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Anna's dedication was today so we got to hang with the Galbraith family. Steven and Michelle.....we love you guys so much! We love going over to your house. It feels like we are at home. Thank you for inviting us and letting us celebrate with you. We loved watching Sam run around like a typical destructive boy, and dip his entire hand in the chocolate fountain tryin to cover his strawberry. We loved holding Anna. We loved seeing your whole family. The chocolate fountain was YUM. Eric and I sat and talked last night about how much we love you guys.....and your little peeps. I really do wish we lived closer, but I think we do a pretty good job of seeing each other considering the distance and the crazines of our lives.

The colors outside were so vivid, so we took advantage of our being dressed up snapped these cute pics. Kaitlin did her hair in the MOST precious way today. She brushed it and scrunched it and let it air dry. She looked so adorable with curly hair!

Oh the sweetness in this photo is too much to bare. Jack, Kaitlin and I fought over Anna for most of the afternoon. This was the first time Jack really showed a baby so much love. He layed there with her and snuggled with her and asked me if we could have a baby. When he didn't have her, he was whining for her. Kaitlin and I are always baby hogs, but Jack surprised me (and yes, he now has "96" silly bands). Both the kids were begging for us to add to our family. They kept talking about it throughout the afternoon. Oh my....they have no concept of the sacrafices they would have to make for a little sibling! They even made Eric and I have a real conversation about it. We obviously came to the conclusion that it can't happen, but we do lose our minds every now and then and think about #3 as a possibility. I swear we would if there weren't 100 really good reasons not to.

Curly Kate. LoVe this hair on her. Yes, she is such a rule follower, and she takes life very seriously, but there is also this really carefree song writer in her, and the lose curls match that girl. I can see her on stage years from now with a very distinct style and messy wavy hair, singing her beautiful music. Her most recent songs are WOW. You could put a few of them on the radio tomorrow. I tear up every time she sings me one of her new songs. She is so humble,yet confident in her talent. God- please keep her this way!

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This is a sweet photo of Jack's amazing lashes while he patiently waited for his sister to return from her field trip yesterday. This picture will hold the place of the photo I am patiently waiting for someone to send me from our girls night at Jessica's.

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Kaitlin had an awesome day. The 5th grade went on a field trip the Calloway Gardens today, and because it is a long way away, they got to take those giant charter buses with bathrooms..... which was really cool. We arrived at the school at 6:15 in the morning to a bunch of very sleepy 5th graders, and Jack and I arrived at the school at 6:30 that evening to the same group of very sleepy 5th graders. They had fun, of course, but Kaitlin was so tired. No time for tiredness though....we immediatly had to go home and get Kaitlin ready for dance practice. Her recital is in less than a month and they are busting their chops trying to put the routine together. You can tell how nervous Kaitin is about all of it because she is biting her lip in thie picture. She already knows the whole routine, but it stresses her out that others don't, and have missed practices. She doesn't understand why people don't take things more serisouly sometimes. :) I am not this way at all, but I love this about her. She Ain't Messin Around.....as my sister would say.

bubbles

These sweet photos were such a happy accident yesterday. I realized I needed a photo and was completely uninspired to take one. I haven't been into blogging lately because it's been to busy around here, and I keep forgetting to take pictures. I realized I had bubbles in my purse from school and was like, "Jack, Kaitlin, go on the back porch, and blow some bubbles. I'll take a picture of you and call it a day." I know how meanigless this is, but it's May, and I am tired. So they did it, and they had more fun than I thought. And I had more fun than I thought. And I got some great pictures of my ~growing up way too fast~ children doing something everyone should do everyday. Bubbles are fun. They make people happy. And they are great in pictures. I edited these in piknic and used the poloroid action. I love the 70's look.

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Happy 32nd Birthday Eric!!!

Nice Muscles!

DId you learn that trick from Stephen?

Thank you Beth for helping to make it special for him. I worked late today, which is the theme of May, and Beth took care of business. Eric was able to come home to his favorite meal, a cake, and a happy wife after he worked a long day as well. Our little foursome was hanging out, doting on the birthday boy, when Jack asked, "Where are all the people?" "Why is there not music and fwends and family?" We explained to him that as you get older you don't always have a party for every birthday. You only have one for the big ones. HE did NOT like that idea. HE does NOT EVER want to have a birthday with no pawty. Sweetness boy. We loved you with all our hearts Eric!!

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Kaitlin, we are SO proud of you!!!! Congratulations on your test scores! You should be proud of yourself for your hard work!

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Today was crazy busy. Our first event was Jack's Awards Day. Not surprisingly, he was voted Best Sense of Humor by his classmates. He is a clown, and he knows it. I bet he gets class clown in High School. I can already see it. Jack would rather talk and entertain than justabout anything. His imagination is amazing. He takes after his uncle Scott! We are very proud of our little clown. Jack, we love your awesome sense of humor and dramatic stories, and we love YOU! We hope you take it to the stage one day little man....you would make a great actor!

After school, we attended Mrs. Wise's Retirement Tea. She is Kaitlin's reading teacher and she has been teaching for 30 years! The girls got all dressed and Aspen performed a song she wrote for Mrs. Wise. There were a lot of tears! Mrs. Wise is very loved at our school.

I left the Tea Party and went to my Technology Presentation. I am now offically DONE with the 2 year program!!!!!!!!!!! YAY FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got home, put on my PJ's, and got in the bed at 7:30. The kids and I layed in bed for an hour and then we were OUT. May is so crazy. SO Crazy. OH SO CRAZY every year. I am always so glad for June. It's always shocking to stand so still and enjoy just living after 10 months of running 100 mph. Oh how I long for JUNE! Until then, I am just glad to be alive in the chaos of May.

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Happy Mother's Day to all my wonderful momma's and mama friends! I love you all to pieces.

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The girls ran the River Green Run to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta this morning. Kaitlin was 5th over all. I ran with them (and 50 other kids) and was really thinking I would beat her. I was wrong. She beat me by almost 2 minutes! It was so awesome to watch her fly by all those boys. MAN that girl can run.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

I recently reunited (thru FB) with some of my old friends from middle school. We have had dinner twice and are trying to make it a regular thing. Its funny how 17 years have passed but we are all still very much the same. The only real difference is that we have added 7 kids and 4 husbands, and we have grown into 4 fabulous women, of course. It is always fun to chat with these sweet girls and catch up on years of life we all missed. I really hope we keep this up. It's so great to get away and talk with other moms.

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Words cannot possibly express how relieved I will be to wake up Tuesday morning with this technology project behind me.

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I can't say the meaning behind this picture, but it will forever make me laugh. Some clues for my future memory: Allison, ASP, last minute, forgetting a photo, project procrastination. Thanks Allison. I'm still giggling.

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This is the only picture I took today. The kids have such a great time hanging out with our hysterical neighbors. I love Brit.....he will do anything for a good laugh. Nice Erkle shorts buddy. :)

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We had field day today. I was busy running around with my class, but I did get a few shots of Jack in action. He was loving every moment of this day.

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One of my favorite times of day is tucking the kids in at bedtime. Jack and I read a book, and talk about life. We snuggle and scratch and love on each other. Kaitlin and I catch up on girly drama. It's a sweet time that I treasure. The day is done. The chaos has calmed. The blessings ar being counted. The prayers are said. The love is felt. And the lights go out. And WOW do I LOVE a good nights sleep. I did take one picture of Kaitlin all tucked in, but let's just say.....I couldn't post it. It did give me a BIG laugh though. I love her humor. I love my kids. SO MUCH.

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Who invented the recorder, and WHY?

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After a very long and fun day at Dave and Cristina's house, Colby and Jack were done. I realized at 11:00 p.m. that I had not taken one picture all day. What I didn't realize at the time, is that a lack of pictures would be the theme of my week.

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We had the school sock hop today. I was surprised that Kaitlin let me come and take a picture of her and her friends.......pleasantly surprised.

I got some adorable pictures of Jack at the sock hop. He ran around in complete and utter joy.....dancing his little tail off. He did the chicken dance, the electric slide, and many others....with a GIANT smile on his face. The only problem was that he was moving around so fast that I couldn't catch him to get a decent picture. They were all too blurry, but still so cute. He loved the freedom of being able to run around and dance at school without anyone telling him to be quiet or sit down. After school we had the Friday Boys Club come over.....with its newest member, Leo. He is the little spiky haired buy in the plaid shirt. He is hysterical! I love this little rat pack that Jack has formed. He is so happy now! I prayed hard for him to have friends this year and my prayers were answered. THANK YOU!

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Jack performed a couple of songs with the Kindergarten at the PTA meeting tonight. He was not expecting to be in the front row, and ended up right in the middle. You can see his shyness. I thought this was the perfect capture of his sweetness. I love the look on his face, I love his giant flip flops, and I love love love him.

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I am loving this beautiful weather. The pollen is gone, and I am aware of how short lived this heavenly cool breeze is, so I am encouraging the kids to GET.OUT.SIDE. I just love watching Jack ride his scooter. He cracks me up. You have to see it to understand. It's most definitely time for a bike for this child! One of my goals this summer is to buy him a bike and teach him how to ride. I would really love to have family bikes, but that is a purchase on the bottom of my list. Kaitin needs a new one too. Do you hear that Santa? Do you visit in June by any chance?

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I finally got a shot of Jack telling one of his very animated stories about army guys. He usually runs away when I get out the camera. His stories are much like my moms, and mine, and Uncle Scott's, and Uncle Joe's. What can I say.....Jack comes from a family of intense story tellers.

Kaitlin is not excited about being photographed lately, but she was willing to pose with her pet rock. Her friends got together today to train for their upcoming 5K and they made these rocks with MaMa after they ran. This was all I could get out of her today.

(Thank you Angie for explaining to me how to create these collages. I have been trying to figure this out since I started reading Kelle Hampton's blog. She has so many comments on her blog that she does not have time to explain to me how to do this. I am glad I have a blog savvy friend who can update me on how to do cool stuff.)

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We get mad at each other, but we don't stay mad long.