Cheer Camp - Nobody's Perfect Dance

Izzy attended Cheer Camp at the Y this week and here is one of her dance routines. She was very serious :-)

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Countdown to School

I can't believe that in less than one month my firstborn will be starting Kindergarten. Sniff, sniff :-(

She is ubber excited! I can't help but be excited for her. She desperately wants to ride the bus to school. I told her that for the first couple weeks I will drive her, and then she might be able to ride it home. Her day starts VERY early. If she were to ride the bus to school she would get picked up just before 7. The first bell doesn't ring until 7:35 - with the school being maybe 2 miles away, I think I will drive her.

Her school ROCKS! It is our public school and is a school of excellence. This is saying quite a lot since many school around us aren't so hot...remember we are in the south. The principal is FANTASTIC! He greets the children in the morning and has lunch with them daily. He has been at the school for 5 years and has done some incredible things while there. He radiates enthusiasm and it sure is contagious.

We are fortunate that Izzy will be familiar with about 8-10 kids starting Kindergarten. There will be 4 Kindergarten classes and I am comfortable with any class Izzy is placed in. From talking to the principal, each teacher brings something unique to her classroom. I think Izzy could benefit from any of them and will trust that she will end up with the teacher she was meant to have.

We went to tour the school with Rylie and Stephanie. We were greeted by the principal, of course, and spent 90 min. just touring and talking about the school. I came away feeling as if I had made a real friend. ...and what a great feeling that is!

Look at these two cuties holding hands and getting ready to enter their future school for the very first time!

Drew is leading the pack and attempting to read the signs on the door.

Waiting out in the hall for the principal to give us the grand tour!

Drew was playing the role of the bus driver.

Always a good idea to check out the awards a school has won - and the recognition it has received!


Scoping out the library. While Stephanie and I talked the principal's ear off the kids got bored and decided to play "library". ...the role of the librarian was played by Izzy.


The first day of school is August 25th. Can you believe that? Less than one month away! I am not sure what Izzy will wear for her first day, but I do know what she will be carrying her lunch in :-)

Check out this beauty!


back view:


inside: ice pack and fun containers


Aside from the fact that I can change out the front/back faceplates (the Izzy cover - there are lots of different cover/backs to choose from) this entire lunchbox can go in the dishwasher. I am in no way a germaphobe. Heck, I let my kids eat food that they drop on the floor, drink out of cups a friend has used, eat cookies on the playground after getting off the equipment...you get my drift...but the thought of food sitting in a lunchbox for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week just grosses me out! Strange, huh? So, this lunchbox is all "eco" friendly and dishwasher safe! SOLD!....even if it was ridiculously expensive. (but we will use it for years - all we have to do is change out the faceplate).

...to top it off, Izzy LOVES it! She wants to use it on a picnic tomorrow and I said "absolutely not! This is for school." Heaven forbid it doesn't look brand spankin new on the first day, right?

Kid Funnies~

Pete asking Drew...

Pete: Drew, do you like Tupperware?
Drew: Yes, I'm silverware!

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Izzy and I were talking one morning and I said to her, "sometimes I just don't get your brother?". Izzy replies, "Mommy, sometimes I just don't get myself!"

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On Sunday Izzy asked for a friend to come over and play. I told her "no" and she continued to ask. I said, "Izzy today is a family day - no friends." She said, "But Mom, I thought yesterday was a family day?" I am not sure whether she just loves her friends or doesn't like hanging out with us?

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Drew came downstairs all upset and whining. When I asked him what was wrong he showed me a booger on his finger and said, "I can't get dis booger back in my nose." Really? Really???? Who tries to put a booger back in their nose?

Durham Life and Science Center

These pictures have been sitting in my photobucket account, sized and ready to go for quite some time. I have no idea why I didn't post this earlier?

Pete's birthday was back on May 19th. My gift to him was tickets to see Seinfeld. Not only did we got, but his best friend and his wife drove in to see it with us! All I had to do was find the babysitter and they were game.


...this picture was taken after the show and "after show cocktails"...


We had SO much fun. The kids all did great and this is how we found everyone when we got home that night.


Chloe was such a fluff ball - had yet to have her first grooming session

And their boys...


Krista and I had talked that night about meeting up again a couple weeks later at the Life and Science Center in Durham, NC. It is such a neat place. There are animals, a butterfly house, train ride, dino exhibit, fossil dig, huge play area with sandbox/jungle gym, interactive exhibits, and much much more!

I am pretty sure I want one of these. Isn't he just the cutest thing!


Butterfly House...the kids were armed with pictures to identify the various butterflies. I am pretty sure they think they saw one of every kind. I heard "Oh, there is this one! Look, I see this one! Here is this one!!!" Yup, probably 3 dozen butterflies on that flyer and we saw them all ;-)


Izzy hoping one lands on her hand.






All aboard for the train ride! What is it about kids and trains? This ride lasted 5 min. and we saw nothing but trees, but the kids LOVED it!




I think Izzy enjoyed the day more than anyone. She absolutely loved digging for fossils. If only her brother wouldn't have been begging for lunch we would have been able to stay and let her dig her heart out.




We had some water fun...steering boats




Here they are steering fish


And Drew is simulating what it feels like to "paddle like a duck"


The boys also formed their own little rock band


Izzy tried to join in


And then Drew decided he'd prefer to go on tour solo


After our visit to the Science Center we decided to go to one of my most favorite little places...the Mad Hatter! I love it because aside from the fantastic baked goods they have, the kids are able to decorate their own cupcakes.








And if the day wasn't jammed packed and long enough I decided since we were in the neighborhood we would hit up Southpoint Mall! Southpoint has a Nordstrom, Pottery Barn Kids, Restoration Hardware, ...you get the idea. Some of my best shopping is done pushing two "too tired to care what we are doing" (I think Drew actually slept through the first hour) and happy to simply sit and have a soft pretzel kids.

Let's just say it was a long, and expensive, day in Raleigh!

Dearest Drew

Dearest Drew,
I hope you don't push me any further or you may not make it through the night. I can't help but laugh at you and your antics - though they sure do infuriate me. You are the boy I always dreamed of and I sure do love you! Thank goodness you are in bed though :-)

To say you are obsessed with the Wii and Mario Bros would be an understatement. If you were permitted to do so then you would play Mario all day long. When you tire of playing the Wii, you request to watch youtube videos of Mario. And just recently you like for us to find Mario games for you to play online. I CAN'T stand the time you spend "gaming" and while I know I am the parent and I can control this for some reason I struggle.

Lately though it has gotten WAY out of control. You will decide that your game is too important and you can't possibly take time out of your game to go potty. This evening you were playing a game on my computer and simply stood up on my chair and began to pee. YOU PEED ON MY DINING ROOM CHAIR WHILE NOT ONCE LOOKING AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! You little sh!t!

I put you into the tub and told you that you would not do any sort of gaming for the next couple days. You were upset, but got over it rather quickly. I cleaned up the mess you made and then came up to the bathroom to wash you off. You asked me if you could play Mario when you got out and I chuckled and told you that you would not be playing any sort of Mario game for the next two days. I turned around to clean the toilet (figured I might as well clean the bathroom while I was in there) and you started splashing me. I shot you a look and told you to drain the water and then I turned around to finish cleaning the toilet. While turned around this time you shot me in the backside with a squirt gun! ...I couldn't help but smile and laugh to myself.

I took you out of the tub and you asked to "sweep naked". I told you absolutely not!

You are now in bed and I can't help but smile as I type this cause you are the boy I always dreamed I would have. ALL BOY!

When I went to check on you before I went to bed this is how I found you, or rather Chloe - resting her cone head on top of your head.

Baseball Game

Back in May we were invited to the baseball game. A large group of us went to support the son of a friend's friend...if her son sold the most tickets then he got to throw out the first pitch and do some sort of other fun stuff. We typically like to see a game or two a season with the kids so we bought tickets to support a kid we don't even know :-) Yup, we are just good folk that way.

The kids rocked it! I thought for sure they would be begging to go to the playground the entire night, but they were pretty interested in the game. What a difference a year makes. They sat in their seats, asked questions and watched the game.











A ball game isn't a ball game without a nice cold beer!



And lots of food! ...while the tickets were pretty cheap we sure made up for it by eating lots of overpriced food.







The game was followed by fireworks. Look how sweet Izzy looks all snuggled up next to her daddy.



Drew does not care for fireworks - hency the covered eyes and fingers in the ears. At least he didn't cry/scream.



And no family outing would be complete without our favorite friends ...

Space Dog

Friday morning at 9 I dropped Chloe off at the vet to get spayed.

Friday around 5 I picked Chloe up from the vet. I brought her home and a little while later took her out where she peed. I thought to myself, "this isn't so bad."

Saturday and Sunday she peed ONLY in the house. ...on blankets, throw pillows, the leather couch, area rugs...whatever she wasn't particular. I *think* it had something to do with not liking the grass on her bare belly (she was shaved). I say this because every time I would take her out, she would walk a step and then retreat to lick her stomach and not move.

Sunday night she got her energy back and must have been feeling better because she blitzed all around the backyard and peed outside!

Monday she popped two stitches.

This is what she looks like now :-(



...and now she is just so embarrassed that she won't even walk, let alone try to pee outside. I keep telling her how cute she looks but she just keeps that tail between her legs with her head down. Poor thing.

Florida Continued

I really wish that I had more time in my day. More time to get all the things done that I want/need to. I have so many posts that I want to write - back as far as Easter - but I just don't seem to have/make the time these days.

So, continuing on with our Florida trip...while we made the trip down to Orlando for my Mom's 65th birthday we were able to have lots of other fun as well. A good time will always be had when Uncle Wes and Uncle Andy are around.

Check out Drew's face in this picture.


I am not sure whether Izzy has a crush on Uncle Wes or vice-versa? (truth be told she likes that Uncle Andy makes up silly names for toys and uses silly voices (ie: Squirty McSquirterson))




While we were there we did lots of swimming (except the one afternoon it rained and we saw Toy Story 3).






Papa got the kids each a putter and then took them golfing. Izzy was most excited that she got to keep her pink golf ball.


We spent some time just lounging around (Drew watching Mario videos on Pete's iTouch)


...and playing silly games (Drew's head above Pete's feet to make an really big person!)

...yup, we are easily entertained.

However, the highlight could have been Friday nite karaoke. Karaoke with the seniors! Nothin says rockin good time like "the elderly" (sorry Mom and Al) singing their hearts out. Omi even got in on the action - with her bowling group (aka: drinking buddies).


While I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and watching Izzy and Drew have a great time, at one point both my brothers were fully engaged in their smart phones.


Certainly Izzy and Drew had the best time - as well as providing entertainment to those watching them bounce around.

From them chasing colorful circles...


to playing leapfrog over the circles...


my favorite was them asking one another to dance and them dragging each other to the dance floor...








While I loved watching the kids dance together, one of my favorite moments of the weekend (or EVER) was when Drew said to me, "Mama, you wanna dance wiff me?" ...that kid had me from the moment he was born and hasn't stopped pulling at my heartstrings since!