Favorite Photo(s) Friday

I am including two separate Favorites today since I was unable to post last Friday due to my grueling work schedule and terrible procrastination.  So here's a favorite for last Friday and today.

Rachel, Keisha, & Jackie

July 2010

We are laughing because we are all Class of 1996, yet the picture was taken at the Class of 1995 reunion ... and yes, we have aged well.  Rachel and Jackie are two of my oldest friends; by oldest I mean I've known them the longest, not that we are old, per se.  I've known Jackie since elementary school -- and we've been through it together.  I have some terribly incriminating photos from a few years of cheerleading and a trip to Gatlinburg where we made it on the cover of a teen magazine. (ha!)  We started our periods together.  We started wearing bras together.  We started finding boys interesting together.  We cheered together.  And through it all, Jackie was always my friend.  One thing I admire about her is that she never lets gossip affect the way she feels about something.  (That could be why our friendship survived through high school ....) I've known Rachel since middle school, and we become especially close in high school when we had Mr. Claiborne for homeroom.  Rachel and I dated guys that ran in the same circles, and we spent a lot of time together.  Her mom was out cheerleading coach, and we spent a lot of time at her home.  One of my favorite memories (OK, there are several ...) is from our Spring Break trips to Destin.  I believe there are also some incriminating photos from those trips, as well. ;0)

It seems crazy to me that life has brought us full circle.  After Tim and I moved to Canton, I reconnected with Rachel and Jackie because we all live within miles of each other.  After years of losing touch (in college we were in different schools in different towns), somehow we all ended up with guys from NCHS (Class of '95, mind you) and living in Holly Springs, GA.  And I couldn't be happier to still have both of these girls as my friends!

Tanner Michael

August 2010

Because I hate for everyone to think that he never smiles for me anymore ...

This was taken after Tanner's 4th day of school.  He's still in tact, whole, and in a good mood.  I love this picture because he looks so big!!  I love my little angel.  And don't tell him I said this, but he could probably get just about anything he wants from me if he'd flash me that smile!

Here's An Idea

I am taking a much-needed break from the hours of tedious researching and typing I've been doing for this job I won on Freelancer last week.

Silly me, I thought that this one sounded easy peesy.  Boy, was I wrong.  I'm supposed to type 100 articles about anything I want and create 5 comprehension questions to go with each.  A super cinch, right?  It should be, except that I bid on the job honestly believing that I would have time to work on the 100 articles before I said I would have them completed (I said 7 days.).

Silly Mommy.

You know better.

So I bid on the job Friday; I won the job Friday; Saturday was Birthdaypalooza; Sunday was recovery from Birthdaypalooza, complete with 102 fever from the girl child.

OK, so I shouldn't have said 7 days if I wasn't even going to start to think about the job until Monday.

So Monday morning I was ready -- thinking cap was on.  Then Kendall was sick with the fever and the sore throat that are over-taking Cherokee county.  And I had to take Tanner to his Open House.  And I had to watch Brady.  And I had to go to the bank and the pet store to buy food for the other "kids."

You know -- I had to do my real job.

OK, so I should've just removed the thinking cap and saved it for Tuesday.

Oh, wait.  Tuesday is today, right?

Anyway, by dinner time Monday evening I had 8 articles written without questions.  And it was GRUELING getting that many done.  I felt so guilty -- like I was neglecting my role as mom and caretaker for my kids.

And that's not how it's supposed to be.

Then my super-awesome-and-fabulous SIL saved me by giving me some ideas -- topics, if you will.  You see, that is part of my problem here.  I am slightly Type A (Yes, just slightly), and I need direction.  Give me boundaries.  Instructions.  Many people hear, "Any topic you want," and they are ecstatic.  I was to begin with.  But then, once I started to write, my brain was overwhelmed by the idea of "anything."

Maybe it's because I know so much.  There are so many topics floating around in there.  I'm not trying to boast -- I just mean I have a lot of information in the grey matter.  (Of course, most of it is buried under the years of cobwebs brought about by childbirth and child-rearing.  Lack of use, I suppose.)  I taught for 6 years.  This job should be easy.

But it's not.  So here I am, at 4 PM on Day 4 of my 7 day job with only 18 articles written and 0 comprehension questions.

Mostly because I've been at the doctor and the pharmacy and washing anything with germs (which is everything) for the past few hours while trying to get some work done.  Both kiddos are sick now, one with strep throat and one with a nasty cold.  Because I'm so busy trying to keep straight when one took meds last and when the other one can have meds again, I seriously just can't focus on anything else.

And they just want to sit with me and get lovin'.

So here's my proposal.

You can read my blog.  And then you can pay me.  How does that sound?

Favorite Photo(s) Friday

Sorry.  I couldn't pick just one.  This week, my sweet "baby" boy turned 4.  No longer a baby, my big boy came running out of his room on his "birthday" (OK, it was the day after his real birthday -- but that's another story altogether.) with a big grin and empty hands.

I asked, "Good morning, Birthday Boy.  Where's your lovey?"

He replied with, "Mommy, I'm a big boy now.  I'm four.  I don't need my lovey and blankie."

How awesome.  I can't believe how big he's gotten.  Looking back at these pictures, each taken on his birthday or at his birthday party, really shows how much he's grown and changed.  He doesn't look like a baby anymore, that's for sure.

And yesterday (his "birthday") was filled with many fun things that just flooded out of his mouth.  All day he talked about how much bigger he is -- Mommy, look at my big 4-year-old teeth.  Mommy, I have huge big boy muscles now.  Look.  Mommy, I think I have fuzzy armpits now ... no, not yet ...

I love it.

Every second of it.

He wanted to go to Fuddruckers for dinner, so Tim and I obliged, complete with chocolate milkshakes, cookies, and "pretend" playing on video games.

Now I'm taking a tiny break in the cleaning of the house to post my favorite photos from the past 4 years with Tannerbug.

Big birthday party tomorrow!

More Firsts!

Anyone who has talked to Kendall in the last few weeks has heard her talking about how excited she is about being a big first grader.  We met her teacher last week, and she is super sweet and appears to be very loving.  (On the first day K came home and told me, "She doesn't yell, Mommy.  And that's a good thing.")  So Sunday night, as we climbed into bed, I don't know who was more excited/nervous -- K or me.  She, luckily, went right to sleep.  And though I feared she would wake up all night long, she slept all night, and woke up refreshed and raring to go.

Of course, I had to wake her at 6:25 after an entire summer of her waking at 6:15 on her own.  But that's the nature of the beast, right?

So Monday morning K got up, got dressed in the clothes she picked out the night before (that were strategically hanging inside her closet -- my newest attempt at making our mornings a little easier), packed her lunch box, brushed her teeth and hair, and came to the breakfast table with a smile on her face.  Two bites into her breakfast she informed me that her tummy hurt and she didn't want to eat anymore.  I knew it was nerves, and so did she, which tells me that she is growing up too fast.

Nana came over at 7 to sit with Tannerbug so I could walk K in at school; I was anticipating tears, so I wanted to have both arms empty for her.

But I didn't need my arms after all.

After 20 minutes in the carpool line, we parked, entered the building, and Kendall walked in front of me to her classroom.  I had to take her to the cafeteria since it was before the 7:30 bell, and that was the first sign of unease (from either of us!)  The thought of leaving her, sitting in the cafeteria, alone, not among friends, terrified me and left me feeling so sad.  But I also didn't want her to the only 1st grader whose Mommy was standing beside her the entire time, unable to leave her to be a big girl.

So I stood with her for a minute, pointing out people we knew from last year.  When I knew she only had about 5 minutes left before the bell, I reminded her how to get back to her classroom, kissed her on the head, sniffed back some tears, and walked out the cafeteria door.

I looked back one time, just to make sure she wasn't running after me, and she was fine, sitting quietly in her seat, a tiny little head among a sea of other tiny heads.

Then, when it was time to pick her up, she met me at the car door with the biggest smile!!  As she climbed in the car (and buckled herself ... things sure have changed since last year!), I asked about her day, to which she went on about her new teacher and how different 1st grade is all the way home.  (Also a big change from last year when she never told me anything about her day!)  She said she only cried for a minute when she couldn't find her crayons (I had moved them in her book bag ... that's my girl ... getting upset because she thinks she's not prepared and feels out of control ...), but that Ms. Cervone helped her find them and then she was fine.  She loves not being "the baby" anymore.  And on Day Two, she didn't even want me to walk her in anymore (though she did say that she didn't want to sit in the cafeteria, so we made sure we got to school after the 7:30 bell).

And when she's gone I miss her so much.

And she misses me.

So I guess this is just what we needed.