She's Kind of a Big Deal...

Our Grammie, that is.


And today, she is 50.

You would never believe this if you met her on the street... and if you do happen to know her, you only believe its true because she has kids in their mid 20's.



I hope time is half as kind to me as it has been to her. She is the picture of health, youth, and vitality.


My kids have a Grammie who swings on the swing set, chases them down the beach giggling like a kid, and Shakes her Sillys Out like nobody is watching to the tune of Raffi blasting thru the living room.

Before I got married, people always said how important the groom's family background was, because 'you marry them all...'

I consider myself beyond blessed that I wound up with a mother in law who made the man I married who he is, loves my kids quite possibly more than I do, and who is so generous with her life in so many ways.

We love you, Grammie! Cheers to the next half decade.

Aaaaand, He's Off!

This morning my little bundle of blue who arrived just yesterday woke up a kindergartner.





He chose granola with yogurt and peaches for breakfast. Making mature decisions already. I threw in the waffle just to keep him grounded, and remind him he was still a kid. :)

He dressed promptly after breakfast, and kept insisting he was going to be late. I hope they make it a priority to teach him how to tell time soon, it will make my life a LOT easier when that day comes around.

Of course, we were early. So we took pictures.


This is my favorite masterpiece of the day. How tiny does he look with that GIGANTIC backpack swallowing him whole?

He very matter of factly showed his sister where the back packs went.

How adorable are these?:

I asked Dawson what mom's of kindergartners were supposed to wear the first day. He told me to pick out something fancy, and then nodded in utmost approval at my tasteful choice of a pink and white dress. Anabelle was also delighted for a change. Who knew they could be so easy to please? You'd think I wore elastic wasted denim every day or something!

Tyson was able to take a day off to be there. It meant the world to our little family to be able to be a complete unit for this spectacular send off.

Mrs. Romera personally welcomed each kid into the class and gave them a name tag. This time, Dawson was able to mutter a good morning greeting! A definite victory after his stage fright in front of his new leading lady during last Friday's 'meet your teacher' event.

There was about 5 minutes of 'free play' while everyone found their way inside,

...and then the new mistress in his life rang her silver bell and froze us all in place, dismissing the parents off to wander the lonesome parking lot in a nostalgic stupor while the biggest part of our lives sat Indian style on a carpet square singing songs and making silly faces. They hardly looked up.

There were no tears from where we were standing, because we know our Dawson is confident, secure, and completely ready and excited to drink this all in. It was actually a really great feeling.

His faithful companion and partner in crime, however, was a completely different story. Miss Anabelle Lee cried her baby blue eyes out thru a nasty scowl and a mop of blond hair crusted to her face all the way home. It took awhile to process, because I couldn't understand if she was sad for leaving her superstar behind, or angry that she was being left out of the experience for herself.

I should have guessed.

She can not for the life of her process the fact that Dawson is her older brother, and that her day has not yet arrived. In her baby mind, they are equal. All this special attention for Dawson... the new clothes, special supplies, royal treatment, haircuts, pep talks, etc... she doesn't understand that it will all be waiting for her in a day that will be here in an instant. I never stopped to consider that she would have a hard time with this. I was sidetracked... and I felt horrible.

Thankfully, she is forgiving. Nothing cheers a gloomy pink princess up like a little girlie time with your bff (who HAPPENS to live up the street)!

Thanks for the loaner(s), Hammies. Addie Rae saves the day. I'm sure it won't be the last time.

We picked the boy up after 3 hours FLEW by... and it would seem kindergarten was a hit.

When we tucked him in tonight, he briefed us on all the rules. There were at least a dozen, he remembered them all. This boy genius has officially arrived, and is ready to play.

Roll Call

New back pack?

here.

New Wardrobe?

here.

Crayons, markers, every other supply known to kindergarten kind?

here.

Handsome new haircut?

here.

Class assignment?

here.

AWESOME goddess of kindergartner teacher...

here.

Shots?

here.

Camera charged, day off for Dad, clothes laid out, emergency forms filled out...

here.

Courage to send my kid out the door and into a world full of school yard bullies and potentially awkward social situations...

ABSENT.

Lets hope I get it together soon... because in less than 24 hours, I will be the parent of the smartest, sweetest kindergarten baby boy in town.

Coming Out of My Closet

So, as most of my loyal readers are more than aware of... since I got married right out of high school this meant I was engaged during High School.

My girlfriends and I spent many of the final days of our Senior year planning for the months ahead. They were all so excited to be part of our big up and coming wedding event, and it just so happened that during our senior class trip we found ourselves giddily browsing the lingerie rack at Frederick's of Hollywood in southern California.

We were all being silly, relishing the scandal of it all, trying on ridiculous frilly novelties as you might expect from unsupervised teenage girls teetering on a horizon of freedom.

For some reason that is completely unknown to me now, I particularly admired this little number:

...so my darling girlfriends purchased it without my knowing and gifted it to me later at a shower.

Fast forward nearly 8 years, and I must admit its been sitting lonely and forgotten in a dark and dusty corner of my closet for quite some time now (~sigh~).

Until recently that is.

One day, I came home, and found it sprawled in the middle of my bedroom floor.

My first thought was that Tyson might be trying to tell me something...?, but then it seemed unlikely that he would do so by rummaging thru my things and throwing it carelessly in the middle of the floor, so I reasoned again that Anabelle must have been rooting around my closet.

I didn't ponder it for long, and quickly tucked it away far out of sight thinking again how silly my 18 year old taste was. I chuckled to myself in sarcasm, muttering something of how I was "practically Anabelle's age when I picked the darn thing out!, of COURSE she couldn't resist playing with it!... It must have been her."

Mystery solved....or so I thought...

...for the very next day, there it was again sprawled irreverently across my bedroom floor.

I generally have a good sense of keeping track of my kid's whereabouts. At this point, I thought it odd that Anabelle was having so much free time to sneak into my closet undetected.

I was again completely puzzled about how my lingerie kept finding its way into the light of day... and then suddenly Anabelle pushed her nosey little way into my room and spotted it laying out in all its pink and feathery glory and began to shriek in delight...

"OHHHH, MOM! Its SO beautiful! Was that your wedding dress?!?!?"

"Uhhh, kind of."

"!!!Did you wear it at your wedding?!"

"Er... not at the wedding..."

"Can I please play dress up in it?"

"No."

"What do you have it for?"...

I realized by now that she hadn't been the one dragging it out to put on display. And if it wasn't her, and it wasn't Tyson,... oh for the love, WHO is digging thru my unmentionables?!?!?

The mystery was really starting to get to me.

I stashed it in a different drawer this time. I kept thinking about it though.

Finally, a few days later, I walked into my room and heard some scuffling in my closet.

A few moments later, our dear Forest emerged.

He was completely love drunk, purring like a mad-cat, and dragging this along with him.

Apparently my lingerie makes more than one of our family members feel a little frisky.

I'm just glad the case is closed, and my darling daughter was not the culprit.

Lets hope this stays true for a very very very long time.

Its About Time!

FINALLY,

...the first ripe tomato of this season.

Isnt she (and he!) a beauty?

The Princess and Her Royal Subject

Saturday morning, Anabelle emerged from her bedroom already dressed as usual. She does this because she is a control freak who is afraid her ridiculously unstylish mother just might have the nerve to choose her an outfit that consists of something other than her preference of something pink and frilly that twirls.

This particular morning, tho, she happened to find a fashion victim to drag along with her.


Thats right. She scrounged up the teeniest doll dress she could possibly find... and proceeded to half cram poor Forest into it upside down and sideways with his paws twisted and tangled in ways kittens ought not to bend.


The silly cat purred his face off the entire time, and only seemed annoyed when I helped him work out his kinks so as to properly display her wardrobe selection.

Moments after I took these pictures, she announced that "this morning, I will eat my breakfast in my bed, Mom. You can bring it to me there."

Where did I get this princess child?

Thank God she's pretty.

HA!

xo