Sugar Addicts

Matt loves Frappuccino's.  Starbuck's selfie! Tis' the beginning of our weekend of sugar!

I totally blew it with Miles this Easter. My imaginary character tank is empty these days. I love Miles's innocence. I'm not sure if he is terribly naive or simply doesn't give the whole Easter bunny concept much thought, but I was fairly certain he knew I was, in fact, the bunny. By the time Karson and Isaac were his age, they had already knew about all the imaginary figures.  We've never really made a BIG deal out of any of them, and common sense kind of lends itself to the FICTION that surrounds these characters - flying reindeer, bunny who delivers candy, fairy who takes teeth and leaves money. Come on. For Easter this year, I asked the kids what they would like in their baskets?  I figured that was a definite clue for the bunny identity.  On top of that, every single year, I do a clue game for the kids where they actually have to search for their baskets.  Since we usually don't do any sort of egg hunt at our house on Easter Sunday, I decided years ago that I would hide their baskets and make them hunt for them.  Each kids gets the same amount of clues as their age.  I have done this every year.  If the Easter bunny left a basket, there would be no clues.  Right?!?  Again, I had to assume baby boy knew this.  Easter-Eve as I am tucking the kids in their beds, I decide it's time to see where he stands with the whole "bunny" thing and mentioned that I am the bunny.  His look of shock and confusion immediately told me that he DID believe.  Well, I spoiled it.  Bad Mommy.  The next morning, I felt this obligation to reinforce the idea that we are not to share the bunny news with others.  Sheesh!

 I don't think I blew it entirely, and by it, I mean the whole imaginary character thing  because....

I may have mentioned this in a prior post, but I'm too tired to find it right now.  Around the late summer/early fall of last year, I was sitting in St. Jo's gymnasium thinking about my 7/8th grade glorious days of playing basketball there while Karson and the Lady Spartans volleyball team was warming up for their game.  Matt had taken Miles for his 6-month check up at the dentist. He walked in St. Jo with Miles and proceeded to tell me that he had EIGHT cavities.  What?!?  A bad joke.  Nope, it was completely true - EIGHT.  I don't know if the Spartans won or lost those games - my head was filled with dollar signs and fog that afternoon.  Over the course of about 3-4 months, he had them all filled.  He had another check-up recently when Dr. E noticed that one of his teeth looked like it was abscess.  I'd noticed a giant bubble protruding from his gums at night when flossing.  Being an expert in abscess teeth (Karson had a few), I figured Miles was heading down that path soon.  He told Matt to schedule the appointment for May.  When Matt was brushing his teeth Monday night, the tooth was kind of gray in color and the protrusion was sensitive.  We figured it was time to get it out.  I texted my hygienist Monday, and she got him in at 1:40 for the extraction.  He put on a brave face and handled the entire ordeal perfectly.  How does ALL of this time in with the imaginary characters, you ask?  Sweet Miles asked Matt if the tooth fairy was really small.  Matt said, "yes", and Miles said, "why would God make someone so small?" Matt said, "he just did.  That's how she gets your tooth and gives you money."  Seemed to work for an answer.  Guess I'll have to keep that charade going.

I keep it simple for Easter - all the kids favorite candies and maybe a gift or two.  Cracker Barrel is the best place for little novelties.

 

Karson told me that she didn't want anything in her basket this year, she just wanted a massage from Regina Webb. I'd gotten her one for her birthday, and she loved it.  I splurged and got her a gift card in her basket.  I got off a lot cheaper than last year when I surprised her with Katy Perry tickets.

Miles rocking out his new goggles.  He'd also told me he wanted one of those LARGE hollow bunnies.

Easter Sunday is always a whirlwind.  This year proved to be exactly that.  The boys weren't that resistant to "dressing up." I found my Karson's dream dress at my friend Jennie's store.  I loved the bright colors.  With two graduations (212 and 6th Grade) coming up, I figured we'd get some use out of it.  We aren't big dresser-uppers.  I got the boys some bright shirts that will be nice for the summer.  Time got away from me - so I never got around to shopping for a new outfit for myself.  I knew I could come up with something for an Easter picture.  I got some flowers at Lowe's on Saturday - perfect for the porch pics.

We had a great crowd at church on Sunday.  Matt did his famous Tony Campolo lesson - "It's Friday, but Sunday's a Comin'."

Karson's boyfriend Sawyer is always a fixture on our pew.  His mom Shana told me she was rockin' him the other night and he whispered, "I wuv Karson." They play stickers, trains, planes, and snuggle up with each other.  He gets a little perturbed when she tries to stand up and sing.  He tugs on her, pats the pew, and asks her to sit back down.

Isaac and his buddy Gunner - top left picture about sums them up.  Gunner and Isaac had a playdate on Saturday.  I get a text from his Mom Chas on Sunday night sharing the following conversation:

Gunner: "fine watch your show.  I'm taking a shower, then watching an awesome show Isaac showed me."

Chas: "What show?"

Gunner:  "The Simpson's! It is hilarious, why didn't you tell me?"

Nice.  I told her Isaac is a big Simpson's fan.  He's got a calender in his room and dressed up like Bart for Halloween.  I proceeded to tell her how she could find shows On-Demand. Isaac's always been well above his years in humor and sarcasm.  I'm not surprised he likes the Simpson's.

38th Bday and Looking So-So...

Looking great would be stretching it especially with my crow's feet, forehead wrinkles and gray hairs popping out daily.  However, GREAT, would definitely describe the way I felt with my family and friends showering me with love yesterday!  My co-worker Deb brought me a handmade necklace which was gorgeous.  She even managed to intertwine my kids birthstones into the design.  It was incredibly thoughtful.  My sweet friend, Jennie, brought me a  bouquet of tulips which grace my backporch in a beautiful planter that my friends Lisa and Vicky got me.

My friend Debbie from work surprised me a great summer t-shirt!  I'm spoiled!

 All of my coworkers surprised me with a sweet card and my favorite Krispy Kreme donuts in the break room that morning. It was the perfect start to a wonderful day!

My mother-in-law texted me yesterday morning before work wishing me a Happy Birthday to which I replied..."if only it was raining so I could wear my jacket."  She and I went birthday shopping on Saturday morning.  We met at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then headed over to Gander Mountain.  I told her I had been wanting a rain jacket.  Matt has one, and every time he wears it, I think to myself...wish I had one of those too.  I wouldn't have thought finding a rain jacket would have been tricky, but it was.  Most of the one's that I tried on were really fitted and kind of tight.  I was surprised they weren't a bit more like a standard poncho.  I don't mind the fitted part, but since I will probably have on something underneath my raincoat, I need a little room.  I wasn't about to go a size up either =) - a women's medium should fit.  It was harder than I thought to find one.  I finally found a nice one that I liked and am looking forward to some springtime rain.  Actually, I followed that text to my MIL with "nah I like the sunshine on my birthday."  What gorgeous weather we have had this week so far!  It was also a treat peeking at facebook throughout the day to see all the birthday wishes.  That's one of the small bonuses to social media - loved seeing all the posts!

Matt had a PLC meeting after school.  I'm sure he's explained to me what that is, but I can't remember.  Afterwards, he had another meeting with a friend at Starbucks where he instantly in love with the frappucinno.  He'd made plans with our family to meet us at Chuy's at 5:30.  Chuy's is my absolute favorite place to eat. I had plans to get in a work out after work, but with Matt gone, time got away from me quickly with the kids, homework, Miles leaving his jacket at school, blah, blah (maybe I was just making excuses about not working out).  I grabbed my Chuy's shirt, and  me and the kids headed over to Chuy's to meet everyone.  And by everyone, I mean ....

We had the best waiter in the world.  In fact, I called the manager this morning to brag about him.  We were seated privately in their back room.  The kids had an impromptu dance party (the waiter had showed them how to control the music). 

Our service was great.  The food was wonderful as usual.  The waiter even brought me two sopaipillas.  I usually get a tres leches cake, but I was way too stuffed for one.

 

Shannon got me lots of goodies for my birthday including garden gloves, shears, a new beach towel and sunscreen, a cute pair of earrings and some workout pants.  It was great!  My parents, uncle and grandparents all got me birthday cards filled with cash which is always nice as well =).   

 

To quote my lovely friend from Florida (Hannah Rogers) who is a blogging GREAT - If your life is half as beautiful as the ones that surround you, it must be a very best life indeed!  She wrote that on my facebook wall (about the picture above), and it made such an impact on me.  Thanks Hannah for knowing exactly what to say and putting it so simply.  Love you and all the people in my life!

Chuy's was the perfect end to a perfect day.  However, Isaac had his heart set on a t-shirt from the hostess stand.  I had loaded up all my goodies and got side-tracked when we got to stand.  I love all of Chuy's shirts, and he was really wanting this one.  Of course, generous Pap Colvin was with us and gave him some money to buy it.  Because I was sporting my Chuy's shirt, I got $2 off the purchase.  However, as I was leaving, I took off without my gift bag.  I was waiting at the stoplight on Scottsville Rd. and Ken Bale Blvd. when I realized it.  I wasn't as concerned about the gifts as I was about losing my sister's SKyPAC Camp applications and check which I had stuffed in the gift bag.  I trust people, but it certainly made my heart race.  When the light turned green, I whipped out a U-turn and got right back to the Chuy's.  The hostess at the stand had set it aside in the office and went and grabbed it.  Whew!  Blood pressure officially lowered =).  Maybe my mind is slipping now that I'm 38!  Who are we kidding, it was slipping before.  Happy birthday to me!  Thanks everyone for making me feel so special!

March Madness

 March is slowly slipping away and much has happened this month.  Matt took a group of 24 - AP U.S. History students to Boston in early March.  I decided to sit this trip out (even though it was so much fun last year). He has a Twitter account for his APUSH class.  I felt like I got to experience the entire trip without even being present.  We sure did miss him and were excited when he got back home.  The kids made him a sign that said "Welcome Home Dad" and when they flipped it around, it said "We Missed You."

Our chicken Dumplin' is still around and becoming more and more used to us.  In fact, she will eat out of Karson's hand now.  I've tried to be careful how much we feed her because she's not the most popular hen in our neighborhood.  She belongs to one of our neighbors on an adjoining street.  She gets in everyones mulch and POOPS everywhere.  She's a bit of a nuisance.  However, she's at our doorstep every single morning and ready for some bread.  If I don't feed her immediately, she makes this ridiculous clucking noise.  She's a bit demanding.

 

I believe at one point this month, we had at least 7-8 kids at our house one weekend.  The beautiful weather means kids are OUT.  We are ready for SPRING!  We love having playdates with our neighbors and friends from school.  

  

  Karson's friend Elizabeth hung out with us last Saturday.  We did some running around and started the morning off with a trip to Panera.  From there, we went over to Ollie's Army for some Easter candy and where the girls got these lovely tattooes. A samurai, really?  We also found Karson's Easter dress at my friends Boutique.  I love this dress and wish it came in my size.  I am still working on finding the boys some matching shirts.  I got a nice neon green one at The Children's Place.  I'd love to find a shirt in the baby blue color as well.  I may stick with black and a bright scarf.  I don't know.  I usually throw something together at the last minute.

There are lots of things to plan during the month of March, it seems.  As a mom, you have to plan the whole Easter outfit thing, Matt had to plan the Boston trip, you are looking to plan what you "may" do on Spring Break, March is a birthday month in our family which means you are planning for those, and I have also managed to put myself into the planning of both a 6th Grade Trip for Plano Students and my 20th high school reunion this month. 

 

We love Plano Elementary.  It's a wonderful school, and our teachers are simply awesome.  However, like many of the schools in our area who take big trips with their 6th graders, our school doesn't do that sort of event.  A few of us decided to take it upon ourselves to try and plan a special event for our 6th grade class.  After a few months of discussion and permission from our school's principal and the 6th grade teachers, we organized a fun day in Nashville for our class.  I set up a facebook account through our Panther Happenings page and also sent 80+ flyers home with the all the students.  I hope we have a good turn out - I know spring sports occupy lots of Saturdays.

 

I have also been a part of planning my high school's 20th reunion.   I set up a facebook group page, and a handful of us have been kicking around ideas for the reunion.  I can hardly believe it's already been 20 years!  Wow!  In the spirit of simple, we have decided to couple our reunion with a Friday night football game and picnic in the park on Saturday.  Most of our classmates have kids, and we wanted to do something simple that didn't require collecting money ahead of time or putting a deposit down and family friendly.  We felt like if everyone was actually in town for the weekend, different groups could plan get together's outside of those two events.

 

We celebrated my dad's 65th birthday last Sunday.  His actual birthday was on Thursday, but last Sunday was gorgeous and the perfect time to celebrate.  We went over to Shannon's for a cook out.  I got him one of those DQ Blizzard cakes which are simply divine!  They are my new favorite - solid ice cream with a cookie crunch center and icing.  YUM!

My dad isn't hard to please at all, but it is always tricky trying to figure out what to get him for his birthday.  I had heard the best things about comedian Brian Regan who was scheduled to perform at SKyPAC on Friday night.  Anyone who knows my dad, knows he's a character.  AND, I love a good comedian.  We decided to purchase tickets for the four of us to see him as a birthday gift.  We met at Buckhead for dinner and headed over to SKyPAC after.  Regan was highly entertaining and very clean, which is not mainstream comedy.

 

The church has its annual Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon at my parents house.  It was a bit chilly but sunny and actually perfect for an egg hunt.  Last year it was so hot that all the chocolate candy had melted by the time it was found.  It takes about an hour to hide all the eggs (over 1,000).  We intentionally separated the chocolate eggs into their own bag this year to try and remedy the chocolate mess.  However, the cool weather aided with keeping the chocolate solid.  Our kiddos always look forward to the big hunt.  We are officially down to only two egg hunters, and I'm afraid Isaac may be done after this year =(.  My babies are getting older and bigger.

They are never too big for bubbles.  There's nothing like holding them over the heat/cooling unit to make massive amounts of bubbles too.

Our hunters.  After my mom explained to the kids who would hunt "inside" the fence area and who would hunt "outside" the fence area, we snapped some pictures and off they roared.  I mean, literally, they roared.  It reminded of the 300 Battle cry.

The March Madness continues tomorrow as I celebrate my 38th birthday!  AHHHH! You may hear me scream a rather large Battle Cry!

Mom's gathering post-hunt.  Why no, we were not raiding our kids Easter baskets for goodies!