Weekend wedding

Saturday was another cloudy, rainy day.  My friend had planned on taking Luke on a canoe fishing trip, but due to the drizzle he couldn't.  Then Cody called and asked if he could have Luke for the day, so away they went.  Having all that time with a little girl who still takes good naps was unheard of! I used my nap time wisely.....

sorry for the phone picture.  not sure why I didn't pull out the real camera

and made my girl a new dress.  I let her wear it to church on Sunday with cream tights and brown boots. 

The cute.  It killed me.

My plan is to make Luke a tie out of the leftover material from the sleeves fabric, and then I'll get a picture of the two of them in coordinating outfits.  Which will kill me again.

Sunday afternoon my cousin John got married.  The wedding was at 5:30.  I put the kids down to nap at 1:30ish, and at 4 I had to wake them both up to toss their clothes on them and put them in the car.  Mom, Dad, Ashley, Patrick, and Grandmother all came for us right at about that time.

You can tell it took Evan awhile to wake up.  And do you know how she got in that chair?  I was sitting there, letting her run around the foyer before the ceremony started, when she comes up to me and wraps her arms around my knees, tugging.  So I stood up.  She gently pushed me out of the way, then climbed up in MY chair.  Well then.  I told you girlfriend had some jazz to her.

We took some family pictures outside after the ceremony, waiting for the reception. The location was the cutest place, with the chapel and reception hall together- just a little courtyard separating the two.  Loved it. 

ashley, grandmother, and i

And then the best thing ever happened.  You know those pictures that are so perfect, unplanned, and just the right amount of cute that makes your heart explode?  Well get ready......

I die.  Just die.  For highly obvious reasons, I think these will go down as my favorite photos of all time.  EVER.

The ceremony was beautiful.  Small and perfect.  I've been dating a boy for awhile and I hated that he couldn't be there.  The reception was so fun. 

The food was actually amazing and they even had separate kids plates for the littles.  Wanna know the difference between my two children?

Yeah.  Girlfriend loved it.  Luke?  I guess he's just being 4? He ate 3 bites and declared himself SO. FULL. She managed to finish off that entire bowl of mac n cheese.  Even if that meant she had to lick the bottom just to make sure.

Evan made a bee line for the dance floor every time her feet hit the ground, and my boy has some moves on him!  This was the first time either of them have been to an event like this, and I'm so glad they rolled with it all.  Behaved perfectly the whole time, even at 9:45 when we were gearing up to leave. 

My feet were dead by the end of the night.  My legs are still a little sore today.  I think that means it was a great evening.

The last couple of weeks

Hello, hello.  Taking the time to drop in a few pictures from the last couple of weeks and some funny things my boy has said.  And he says the funniest things.  He responds in conversations in a very grown up manner, but his logic is still very obviously from the brain of a 4 year old.  He's beginning to pull away from his lovies- "snuggle buddies" as Cindy calls them- but he's not ready to give them up yet.  He frequently will put all of his stuffed animals on my bed in the morning (no, he doesn't actually sleep with all of those), declaring that he doesn't need them anymore so I can have them. 

Then at bed time he'll decide that one or two are lonely and might need to come to bed with him.  Mostly it's Puppy that he wants, the lovie he's had since he was a babe.  While I'm glad that I probably won't have one of those kids that still takes stuffed animals with them to kindergarten, I am sad that he is growing up so much. 

Thursday the 13th we all (Mom, Dad, Ashley, Patrick, and I) (Patrick is Ashley's boyfriend) took the kids to Grapefest.  It was fun! I hadn't gone since Luke was Evan's age, and it was perfect weather.

I took Evan on her first merry-go-round ride, and Luke insisted that he ride the ferris wheel.  Ashley volunteered to be the adult chaperon on that one.  We ate, we shopped, we laughed, we had a good time.

So two Saturdays ago, we were having a quiet morning at home.  It was cloudy and misty outside, but apparently too bright inside.

I almost laughed and asked him if he had too much to drink last night, but I knew that would bring on an onslaught of questions I wasn't prepared to answer, so I didn't.  Mom called mid morning and asked us to go shopping with her.  So an hour later or so, we loaded up and hit the stores.  First location?  Once Upon A Child.  Y'all have these places right?  Nice children's consignment shop?  If not, bummer.  I got BOTH of the kids their Halloween costumes for less than what Evan's was brand new at Old Navy.  We are only going to talk about how she will be the cutest little cupcake in the history of baked goods costumes, and not about the fact that it is a size 2T/3T and it FITS. 

O_O

She was right under 27 lbs at her well check on the 20ths.  That's still in the 95% for weight.  I don't remember length exactly, but it was only 50%.

Anyway, after OUAC we headed over to the shops of Highland Village.  But like any smart mother would do, I fed the childrens first on a bench outside of Charming Charlie's.

I knew we would last longer if we had sustenance.  Turns out we didn't last as long as I thought.  Two stores later, I round the corner to see this.

Yep. Sister friend was so tired that she layed down in the middle of the store's cold tile floor.  We went home for naps shortly there after.

What were some of the fruits of this shopping endeavor?  New black-with-white-stars Converse for m'lady.....

and a vacuum that Luke just had to have.  Yes, it's pink.  And yes, Evan is playing with it in this picture.  But he HAD to have it.  He loves to push my big vacuum around when I'm cleaning, and now he gets to "vacuum" with his while I use the big one.  He even takes the little suction tube out and "vacuums" the corners of my walls.  It's the cutest thing ever.  Best $6.50 ever.

The next night was life group at the Raymond's and the boys decided to dress up.

They kill me.

With no real way to segway into Luke's funny conversations, here's one I put on facebook last week:

Me: Luke, did you eat your spaghetti?
Luke: I ate about half.
M: What? Do you even know what half is?
L: Uh, yes.
Me: So what is half?
L: I dunno. Maybe a lot? Or medium? You know, medium size?

He has really gotten into picking out my jewelry for me in the mornings.  Is that weird?  And unfortunately he has become the favorite chew toy of a certain little girl who is cutting her molars.  Like, for real.  She just walks up to him with an open mouth and chews on him.  Which leads me to say things like "Well if you see her coming at you, then WALK AWAY SON.  Don't just stand there and let her bite you." He starts yelling before she even gets to him, so I know he has time to react in such a manor.  He loves her though.  Thursday I found a bracelet in his backpack after school.  I asked him what it was, and he said it was from the treasure box.  I asked him if it was for him or for Evan, and he said it was for Evan.  I hope that precious heart of his stays good.  That it doesn't let the world stamp out all the beauty in it.  I couldn't love him more.

 

And that Evan.  Poor girl.  She's currently cutting both top molars.  She finally cut a third bottom tooth, hoping a fourth makes an appearance soon.  That little things is mischievous!!  Not in a devious kind of way, but highly curious.  Highly.  And with Luke, I was always able to tell him no and trust that he would stop.  Her? Nope.  She just looks at you like "No? What does that mean?  Are you speaking English?" and just carries on.  But oh how I love her.  I squeeze her into hugs until she whines to get away from me.  Like her bubba, she isn't a hugger or a cuddler, but she is liberal with her kisses and friendly as all get out.  Loves to wave and flirt with people who pass us by at the store, or the man sitting next to us at a restaurant.

It's over

So.  I've put this off for a few days.  Notice I said DAYS and not MONTHS like I did last time I had some unfortunate news. Friday I took the day off and met Cody at the courthouse.  I got there at 8, and by 8:45 the divorce was finalized and the marriage was officially over.  We all know that it's really been over for a very long time, but there was something so......I don't even know what......about standing in front of that judge. 

I didn't cry.

I've cried all my tears. 

I didn't smile. 

It's not what was supposed to happen.

But it's done. And there really isn't too much more to say on the topic. I've written how I feel in various posts along the way.  Now I've just got closure. 

The tricky part from here on out is when the questions start coming in from the kids.  Just two days ago Luke asked for the first time why Daddy and Daisy don't live with us.  I didn't know what to say.  I don't know how to answer that.  And I have the feeling it's not really going to get easier. 

So.  There's that.

Now I've just got a whole slew of pictures from the last few weeks.  Most of them don't need explaining.  Some of them do.  That boy of mine is coming up with some pretty hilarious ideas in his head. 

See?  I had no clue he even knew what ghosts were.  The way that he "argues" with you and tries to convince you of his way cracks me up.  Take last night.  He really wanted Smarties with his dinner.  I told him if he ate his dinner THEN he could have them.  "Ooooor, maybe I'll just have them with my dinner." (said with the cutest grin ever) I echoed him with AFTER dinner.  His response was the same.  Guess who eventually won?

ME!  One day he'll learn that I always win.  ;)

They had a big bulletin up at church with lots of kid's artwork explaining what they were thankful for.  Luke's?

The sticker says "I am thankful for..." Train Tracks.  No surprise there.

 

Cody brought over some superhero costumes the other day that a friend of his had passed on from his kid.  After a few days of sitting there, Luke finally took an interest.  This was a first.

 

 

And I don't think he knew what to do about it. Sure he has his ornery moments.  He gets stubborn and frustrated and impossible when he doesn't know how to handle all of his feelings. But this face?

 

 

I could cuddle for a million years. 

 

Her face too.

 

 

Girlfriend has been BUSY.  She explores and tastes and plays and wants to be just like Bubba in all the worst ways.  His cup is the best.  His toys are the best.  When the big kids play she tries so hard to keep up.  She gets frustrated when she can't.  She still doesn't have any words except for Mom, which makes her frustrations even harder to handle.  She's taken up biting.  :(  Not hard, not ever broken skin, but she does put her teeth on you and squeezes ever so slightly.  Luke didn't bite at all, so I have no idea what to do about it. 

 

Evan has also started to have a little bit of separations anxiety.  Breaks my momma heart.  During bath time she can't bear for me to even step out of the room for a second.  Luke takes 10 years to eat dinner and wants me to sit at the table with him.  Obviously I can't do both at the same time.  Which makes for evenings like this.

 

 

One kid in the bath happily drawing on my back with an old soap dispenser, while the other one dines on the potty telling me about his day.  It's parenting at it's finest.

 

And finally, just a few more of the shenanigans of the Little.

 

 

Feed me? Put me in here and give me food?

 

I was tossing out the very end of an old box of Cheerios that had gone way stale.  She found them.  She opened them. She didn't care.

 

This is what happens when you FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT the mid-church nap.  You don't even make it out of the parking lot.

Sprinklers.  Need I say more?

 

 

 

 

First day of PreK

'ello.  I'm breaking my silence.  I didn't mean to fall silent.  A lot of things have been going on, most of which I can't really talk about yet, and the idea of sitting down to peck something out actually made my skin crawl a little.  Just couldn't do it.  But....I think I may be better now.  Besides, the picture are piling up and I need to do something about it.

 

Yesterday was Luke's first day of Pre-K.  Not nursery school.  Not preschool.  Pre. KINDERGARTEN.  Holy moly sakes alive.  His teacher has sent home laminated papers to practice handwriting.

 

HANDWRITING.

 

My child can't even trace a shape, but by the end of the year he's going to be writing?

 

No.  No, I refuse to believe he's growing up. 

 

Cindy's house is waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of the way from school and work, so I had Mom come a grab Evan on her way to school yesterday morning and drop her off (which happens to be on the way for her).  This left me and the boy at home alone for about an hour before I got to take him.  What a sweet treat for me.  We ate breakfast.  We made the beds together.  I took his picture.  He insisted on taking mine.  I was a little sad that Evan couldn't be in the pictures too, but I'll survive.

 

When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, he said "I wanna grow up like you do Mom." Cue the tears.  I asked him a couple of more times to make sure that's what he wanted, and I was always met with the same response.  Oh, my heart.

 

 

Some of his pictures were actually fairly steady, not the usual blurs of motion.

 

 

Single parenting 101: learn to take self portraits.

 

 

Walking in.  I wanted to make him an awesome messenger style bag, but people made fun of me, telling me I couldn't send him to school with a messenger bag.  :(  So, I hadn't gotten him a new one yet.

 

 

His sweet sweet teacher.  I think she is going to be EXCELLENT for my boy.

 

One thing I don't think his teacher planned on was that Luke and his three best friends are all in the same class together.  He he he.  Good luck with that!  Dakota and Zane both were in preschool last year too, but this is Jadyn's (pictured above) first year.  Tamara handled it like a champ.  I got teary eyed in the car right before we walked in, telling Luke how much I loved him and how proud I was of him, but then I chided myself to get it together.  We weren't even in the building yet.  As I was about to walk out the door, leaving my baby, Shae walked in.  She squeezed my arm, told me it was okay, and reminded me that we've done this before and it wasn't kindergarten.  She had a point.  I held it together and was grateful that my baby was about to have a great day.

And a great day he did.  Mrs. Stuart has TRAINS and CARS to play with.  So, life is perfection in his eyes.

Goal for tomorrow: catch up on the last two (three?) weeks.

Wild Child

My baby girl, the heart of my heart, my beautiful daughter.

This week you have taken about 10 years off my life.

You are so very different than your brother.  So different.  He was (is) a cautious watcher, who weighs his options and observes life around him. 

You my dear?  Dive face first into everything you do.  Both literally and figuratively.  I believe your personal motto is "Go hard or go home".  Which is also different from me since my personal motto is "Stay fancy, ya'll". 

Can I just tell you how many times you've scared me this week?  Saturday night we went to Walmart.  I know.  Big plans there.  I had you up front like always, and you were sitting so nicely.  I turned to the side to grab a can of icing and when I turned back you were sitting on the handle of the cart, feet in the seat, talking to your brother (in the basket) like it was no big thing.  Visions of you falling backwards onto the cold hard tile consumed me as I snatched you up lightening fast.  I placed you back in the seat properly, and confined you with the buckle (side note, not once did I even have to THINK about buckling Luke in.  Just sayin).  We continued shopping for a few more minutes, making our way to the rotisserie chickens.  Again, I turned to the side to pick one out, and I turned back just in time to see you topple into the basket, backwards.  See, the buckle created a pivot point so when you tried to stand up all you could do was go back.  I didn't know what else to do but to carry you, squirmy-almost-30-lb-girl, around with one arm while trying to push the full cart with the other.  Shopping didn't last too much longer after that.

I say NO!! more times in one day than I ever thought possible, and I can't count the number of times I have dug odd objects out of your mouth.  Nor do I care to recount what those odd object were.  I keep a pretty clean house, so I'm not really sure where you find it all.  And for all of your meddlings, you aren't even all that crazy about it.  You're attitude is so calm and chill, with looks of "Heck yeah I'm 15 stairs up when I'm not supposed to be here at all.  Whatevs."  Case in point: Bubba reads while you pull everything out of the pantry while I cook dinner.

But that face.  How can that face do anything but kill me with cuteness?  I love you.  I love you a thousand times over.

And not to leave Brother out, Luke got a hair cut this week.  He's so handsome.  And funny as all get out.  Last night we had small groups at my house.  He and Dakota were playing in his room, when all of the sudden he comes running up to me and askes if they can build a forest.  Unsure of what that meant, I asked him to tell me how he would build this forest.  "Wif polite words!"  I told him if he could build a forest with polite words, he was more than welcome to.  Come to find out he meant "fort" instead of "forest".  But I was okay with that too. 

We've been taking time for the little things.  Funny faces.  Science experiments. 

 Sunday afternoon we went to watch a friend play hockey.  A good time was had by all.

Luke enjoyed running up and down the stairs with intermittent shouts of GO! and Evan just wanted to follow him around with occiassional shrieks and clapping.

And me?  I spent most of the weekend cleaning before everyone came over on Sunday.  I took an hour and a half on just the kitchen so pretty much I'm never cooking again.  I also finally, after a long break, finished that hoop for the bedroom. 

I haven't had anything in my Etsy shop since I've started working because I don't have time to get the sewing machine out anymore, but this was all hand sewn- not nearly the mess of the baby stuff like before.  Whatddaya think? Could I put this kinda thing in there?  (obviously I'd put a little more effort into spacing and stitching than I did here.  This is my bed room wall.  Me and my hypothetical cat are the only ones who will see it.)

Summer fun

You know it's been too long when your mother asks you if you've given up writing. 

I didn't give up writing.  I didn't even forget.  I just got lazy.

 But I'm here.  And I've survived the last couple of weeks.  I guess I should say lazy in writing over the last couple of weeks.  Because those two childrens up there do not allow for a lazy life.  At. All.  Those pictures were one day when I came home from work and we got a little silly with my phone. 

Last Monday something really exciting happened.  For us.  Not for our neighbors.  I was getting Evan in the bath when Dad came in (he was over and about to start mowing), asking me about fire extinguishers.  I looked at him suspiciously and asked why.  BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORS HOUSE WAS ON FIRE, THATS WHY.  Like, for real life on fire.

There were 7 fire trucks that zoomed in front of my house within two minutes, along with multiple ambulances, police officers, and fire chiefs.  Luke was beside himself with excitement.  I got Evan out of the tub and we stood there for a few minutes watching all the action until I realized how smokey it was for her and I made her wait inside.

She wasn't thrilled with it. I can just hear the whine coming from that face.

One day while Mom was watching the kids, Luke convinced her to let him try out his bike some more.  Don't ask me why he's wearing long sleeves in 100+ degrees.  Kids has a mind of his own. 

Mom sent me the picture and said it lasted all of 3 minutes.  He just can't get the peddle thing down and is over it.  But of course Sister wants to do what Bubba is doing.

Mom said that she will probably learn to ride a bike before he does. 

Let's see...what else.....what else....

Tee ball has come to an end.  Luke did so much better than I expected.  I am so proud of him! His last game was on Saturday and every time he went up to bat he hit the ball on the first time.  Although, he got into this funny habit where he would "dive" for the ball all dramatically when playing outfield- way after someone had picked it up- and would lay there until one of the dads came over and patted him on the back.  Then he would just go back to playing like nothing had ever happened.  So not only do we get our Saturday mornings back, but we get our Thursday nights as well.  Although, I know two little people that have enjoyed the playground after practice each week.

She climbed up there all by herself!  SUCH a different kid than Luke.

Speaking of that boy, he's really enjoyed using my phone to take pictures.  I'm talking close to 200 pictures that I've deleted over the last few days. Sometimes he gets good ones....

Every now and then he gets himself....

But mostly he takes pictures of giant unrecognizable blurs.  Which is odd because one of the few things my house is lacking is blurs.

We've also gone to the pool a bunch.

Luke has learned how to float on his back.  Evan has learned that I keep 4 spare paci's in the diaper bag.  But that girl loves the water.  She is FEARLESS.  She thinks it's high-larious to stumble around the baby pool and dive face first into the water.

And I've done okay too.  Thursday was my ninth and last anniversary. It made me wonder how I'll deal with August 2nd from now on. Evan got a virus for a few days, which happen to coincide with Mom, Dad, AND Ashley being out of town.  Luckily, God proved true when He chose my friends.  I got an email from a good one saying if I needed anything to let her know (and she didn't even know about my family).