Monday, August 8, 2011

Good Bye to Summer

Summer flew by this year, mainly because school started super early this year, but here's a quick photo recap on how we spent these hot summer days:




Joey and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversay in June. We honeymooned for the night at The Ritz Carlton, enjoyed dinner at Rays in the City and saw "Avenue Q".



I enjoyed a four day girls trip to Savannah for my soon to be sister- in- law, Bonnie's bachelorette trip and hungout with her super-fun girlfriends/bridesmaids.




Took Brendyn for a haircut.


Kate got one too. She's more of a DIY kinda girl.




We celebrated Brendyn's second birthday on July 3rd. But before we could have any cake, someone got a hold of it.










Like the elbow indentions?


Celebrated 4th of July with wonderful neighbors, friends, and family in "Da Sac."




I lost my car keys and camera in the same week following 4th of July-- Brendyn hid my car keys in our pantry and 12 hours later we finally found them.


And the last Friday night before school started, Kate had her first sleepover with four friends. Half of the girls went back home by 12:30 am but it was a great first attempt. :)

Hope you all had an eventful summer too!

First Day of Kindergarten






Monday, August 1, 2011 marked another big milestone for my daughter Kate - her first day of Kindergarten.

As a mom, I thought she would be more nervous than excited, but I was wrong. As I fumbled my camera and carried in three bags of supplies, my four year old immediately exercised her independence on the first day wanting me to go as soon as we got to school--- she was urging me to hurry up as I was trying to enjoy this moment as a parent. I only took a couple of pictures as Kate was eager to get to class and see her friends; we arrive to her class and she immediately puts her own belongings away and kisses me goodbye quickly so she could enjoy all of her new surroundings. As I walked back to my car, a few tears came to my eyes and I thought about my own mom, who is a bigger crier than me, who told me recently (many years later) how she cried from Auburn, Al to Charlotte, NC on the way home from dropping me off at college and how that feeling of no longer being needed hits you hard.

As proud as I am of Kate starting school, I definitely felt "the hit" on day one. I have loosened the reigns from overprotective mama bear and let her ride the bus to school with her good friend who lives down the street, buy lunch in the cafeteria and she's totally thriving so far earning green behavior dots in class!

So far we are off to a great start but waking at 5AM to get two kiddos ready for school/daycare is tough getting used to...and to think I complained about how tough it was to get up for an 8 AM class in college all those years ago...

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Saturday Afternoon Drive

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of driving my two kiddos to a birthday party over in Smyrna. After a pony ride, a few cupcakes and some play time - the ride home was pretty quiet. As we're driving through the Marietta square trying to get back to the interstate, Kate is looking out the window and suddenly she starts chatting  about God and Jesus and where they lived and what they do. So our conversation went something like this:



Kate: Does Jesus live in the sky?
Me: No, that's God and he lives in Heaven.
Kate: Oh...well, where does Jesus live?
Me: Jesus lives in your heart.
Kate: What? He's in my heart???
Me: Yes, say you believe in Jesus, he comes and lives in your heart.
Kate: I don't see him in there.
Me: Just because you don't see him doesn't mean he's there.
Kate: Can he hear me?
Me: Yes, he can hear you talk to him. Jesus and God are really good at listening.
Kate: Huh... Well, if he's in my heart, how does he eat dinner?
...
And I couldn't help but smile. I didn't have an answer that at the time wasn't overly complicated. Yes, there are moments as a parent when your child will triumph with a question that you can't answer. And this is mine.

What are some questions your kids have asked that had you stumped in the moment?

Monday, February 7, 2011

Blogging Challenge #7 - Favorite Movies

Watching a movie has always been a favorite family activity of mine. Growing up,  I always remember how often my brother and I would go with my mom and dad to the theater. I remember the first time I saw my mom cry during a movie- our family went to see "Steel Magnolias" and its during the scene of Shelby's funeral where Sally Fields loses it in front of the other magnolias by the casket in the cemetery -- I distinctly remember how uncomfortable I was watching it then and then I look over at my mom and big black tears were running down her face and she was sobbing loudly - I was 11 then, and I made so much fun of her at the time thinking I would never in a million years cry like that in a movie... And she looked at me and said "Don't make fun of me, it will happen to you too someday. " And she was right, so most of my favorite movies also involve shedding lots of tears:

Favorite Movies
  1.  The Notebook 
  2.  Hope Floats (when Bernice cries when her dad won't take her with him)
  3.  A Walk to Remember (sobbed for the last 45 minutes of the movie - Joey was embarrassed to be seen with me afterward. We saw this after only dating a month or so.)
  4. The Man In the Moon - First Tear Jerker  - when Danny sees Cort get run over by the tractor. I was tormented.
  5. The Proposal

  6. Sweet Home Alabama
  7.  27 Dresses - I have a huge celebrity crush on James Marsden
  8.  Father of the Bride I & II

  9.  Legally Blonde
10.  The Girl Next Door
The reason these have reached favorite status is because I still cry or get teary eyed when I watch them and they'll never get old no matter how many times I watch them.



So what do you think of my list? Do we match up? Did I miss any based on the common criteria? Any movies that you think I haven't seen that I should? If so, leave me a message below:







Thursday, February 3, 2011

Valentine Love Letter to B!

In Brendyn's class this week, they are getting ready for Valentine's Day. Each child made a special mailbox that the teacher's displayed outside the classroom on the class bulletin board. They sent home a heart-shaped piece of paper and asked Mom and Dad to write a love note to their child. Here's mind to Brendyn: 


Dear Brendyn -
Words cannot describe how much I love you! You are truly a gift from God and a huge blessing and a wonderful addition to our family. I can't believe you've only been part of our family for a year and a half. You've changed so much in such a small amount of time and it has been such a pleasure to watch you go from from a precious baby to a sweet little boy. I'm so lucky to have you as a son, and I enjoy watching you grow, learn, laugh and play everyday. Always know that you  are very special to your dad and me, and we love you so much! You have an infectious personality, laugh and smile and know that we are crazy about you! 


Hugs and Kisses,
Mom & Dad




Thursday, January 27, 2011

Brendyn @ 18-Month-Olds

Did I mention I have two children? You probably wouldn't know it since I rarely blog about my youngest. I just figured you probably don't care to know  what percentile he ended up in at his last doctor's visit and now that we're hitting the 18-month-mark, we're starting to see Brendyn exert a little more personality in the house and while we're out and about. So to bring you up to speed, I'll give you some fast facts on my favorite little guy.



  •  Brendyn refers to himself as "baby." If I show him a picture of himself or put him in front of the mirror and ask him "who is that?" he says "baby". Still working on getting him to say his own name.
  • Brendyn knows that when my husband gets out his Big Steel Keg to grill - football is on! We've been working on Auburn's battle cry this season and the most we've gotten so far is "Waaaarrr, Hey!" Still working on inserting "Eagle" in between those two words, but he clearly says FOOTBALL and TOUCH DOWN! 
  •  He can go up the flight of stairs in our house in less than 30 seconds. The kid is fast and is a constant climber so he requires my "hawk eye". 
  • He has two stuffed animals that he sleeps with his brown Ty Beanie Bear named "Boo" and his stuffed "Lion." They are his best friends.
  • His first set of words were Mama, Da-Da, and "Gotta Go". When Kate is dragging in the morning
  • As soon as he finishes his food in his high chair he immediately says "baff" and "teef" which means he's ready to go take his bath and brush his teeth. He's so used to the routine I couldn't skip it if I tried.
  • He thinks that if shuts his eyes real tight when he's in trouble and/or tries to hide from me that he immediately becomes invisible.
  • He loves cars and trucks. He got a Lightning McQueen racecar for Christmas and he calls it Ka-chow, we watched CARS many times while we were snowed in at home for a few days. 
  • He loves Cookies! And at the new school, Thursday is cookie day. They make freshed baked cookies for all the kids. This is heaven for Brendyn.
  • If he is unsuccessful in getting my attention with "Mommy" he has learned to scream "AMY"
  • I can no longer sleep in because of Brendyn. He wakes everyday at 6:30 am on the dot, stands up in his crib, screams loudly for Mommy and immediately asks for milk. Joey (my husband) doesn't mind this a bit.
  • His favorite book is "Barnyard Dance". I've read it so much I can recite it from memory.
  • He loves to look out the window upstairs and look for our neighbors kitty kat that walks on the fence.
  • Brendyn can slide the button on my iphone and unlock it.
  • He's a kissing bandit! 
  • Lately, his favorite thing to say is "Kate. Bit. Me."
  • He likes to dance. His version of dancing resembles hopping like a frog to music. It's quite funny to watch.
  • He loves to swing. If you push him long enough he'll fall asleep in his swing outside.
  • He's a momma's boy! :) And I love it!


"I can't listen because I forgot my hearing aid."

Kate and Brendyn started a new school/daycare on Martin Luther King Day, and I have a really funny first day story that I have to share.


The school switch took place following Snowmaggadon 2011 in Atlanta; GA Pre-K still had not resumed back so Kate's first day at the new school was spent in the  Explorers Club and on her first day she was having a really hard time listening to the teacher. 


Kate's teacher politely asked her "Kate, why are you having so much trouble listening today?" To which Kate replied, "I can't listen because I don't have my hearing aid today."(Backstory: My mom has vertigo and as a result has lost a large percentage of hearing out of one ear so she just recently got a hearing aid and she showed it to Kate while she was at our house and also explained to her how she uses it to hear. My smart-as-a-whip, doesn't-miss-a-beat four-year-old daughter decided at this moment that she would incorporate this as new material for reasons to not do something she was asked.) As a parent, you would think an experienced teacher would have known better, but I can't fault her since Kate was brand new. So the teacher called the director at the front entrance and asked her to double check Kate's paperwork and if Mom had left a hearing aid. And of course there was no note and no hearing aid.


You can imagine what kind of chain reaction this set off at school...

In the meantime, I called around noon to check in and see how the kids were doing, and Ms. Aubrey shares the story about Kate and the hearing aid. With the phone to my ear I put my forehead on my desk and laughed and assured her that Kate is not hearing impaired, but is more of a "selective" listener. So we shared a laugh and she says to me where does she come up with this stuff? 





Monday, January 17, 2011

Post #6 - A Picture of Something that Makes Me Happy....

(Auburn, AL) - A picture of Toomers Corner after Auburn wins the 2011 BCS National Championship Game .

I bet you all thought that I had given up on my 30 Day challenge - in a way I did, but in a way I didn't. I was holding out for something more - in hopes that my Auburn Tigers would have a PERFECT season, and they did. "I believe in Auburn and Love it!"

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Merry Christmas from the Dufours

Merry Montage Christmas
View the entire collection of cards.