We are outta hera...

Tomorrow morning, we are heading to the airport to fly to TX for the week...

Dear gracious Lord....PLEASE grant me with tired boys who are willing to sleep, sweet travelers around us who think the boys are so cute they will over look any noise and who realize that they did not buy silence with their ticket price, and a patient husband....Ahhhhhh-men!

Back to packing... Amazing how much is needed for these boys....


Phew.

I'll update later.... :)



 

Life lately

It's been a while since I have posted about what's been happening around here-- I posted about Cal's birthday, about my favorite things, about our busy schedules... but not really a normal post....

I figured I would dump the pictures off of my phone and let them do the talking for what we've been up to lately...

You know you are a mom to boys when....

 We have soccer practice twice a week.  Cal LOVES going and actually really pays attention and tries really hard.  That said, I think we should probably stick to golf.... hahaha.... just kidding.  I think he will get better and better.  When he is solo with the ball (practice), he's great-- at the game where there are people running around and only one ball, he is a bit confused as to what to do.  But he runs hard and pumps his arms as hard as he can.

Here are two pictures from practice this week.  It is not easy keeping Andy contained during this hour, so there aren't many pictures from practices...

We had a charity event this past weekend and we got to get all dressed up.  I couldn't decide what to wear, so my fabulous sister in law, Carrie Beth, was helping me decide...

Again, you know you are the mother of boys when...

Cal is LOVING school.  LOVING it.  And I love that he loves it.  We pull into the parking lot and he can barely contain himself he is so excited.  Walking down the hall, there are kids crying and clinging everywhere, and then there is Cal Williamson-- hauling it down to his Fish class. Once there he cann't put his backpack away fast enough. 

The morning this picture was taken, he found a rock in the parking lot and he said, "I hafta take this in to show erre'one!" I took his picture because it was just really sweet.  He was so happy and excited.

While one boy is in school, I am trying to do something fun with the other one... this day I took Andy to the park for some solo play.  He thought it was great....

Andy also LOVES going to school.  He gets really excited when we tell him he gets to go and at pick up he is clapping and just SO happy.  I am beyond thrilled that they both love school so much.  I think I would have a hard time leaving them if they were the clinging and crying ones.

Also, Hank has been suuuuper attached to me lately.  I took this picture last week because he seriously was never further than 5 inches from me.  Which is cute and all, but when I was trying to get both kids dressed and out the door, it was more than difficult.  I realized he just needed a little attention so I sat down (and he sat as close as he could get without actually being on my lap) and we took this picture....I am starting to see some grey in his face, and I want to cry...

The charity event I was talking about above was Friday night-- I picked the pink dress... you like?? :) haha It was so fun to get dressed up and get OUT of the house with Eddie and our friends.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of me and Eddie together.  There was a fabulous photographer there, holla BROOKE DEVER PHOTOGRAPHY!!!! So hopefully she got a good one of us....

With my handsome daddy....

We had a BLAST dancing like crazy and my feet were ACHING after all of that fun.

The next morning, Saturday, Cal had a soccer game bright and early. We took this chair for Andy... he sat in it for about a millisecond and then was off running. 

 The Heffalump cheer:

 TCU also played on Saturday, after the game, so we came home to do our game day picture:

 This past week at school, they took advantage of "Talk like a pirate day" and made hats, etc... Cal played with his...

 The boys watched the first part of the TCU game, then they went down for naps early because we were going to the UNC game that afternoon! (One friend commented that we were doing a LOT of spectating on Saturday--hahaha!).

After naps, we donned our Carolina Blue and headed downtown. 

Andy just had to mow the driveway before we could leave...

 We were able to get tickets in the blue zone which was great for the kids... they sat with grandpa for the first quarter and then Andy was off and running...

 Cal sat frozen in his seat the entire time.  Did.not.move.frozen...unless someone was clapping and then he would suddenly come to life and start cheering like a crazy person.  We had several people remark they couldn't believe how well behaved and still he was.  He watched every single play.

Andy, on the other hand, discovered a group of cute girls (college girls!) inside and he was ALLLLL about flirting with them.  They thought he was pretty handsome too and they were very sweet to him.  Because of this attention, Andy was very content to walk strut back and forth by them smiling and batting his eyes-- how do they learn this so young???!!!

Cal came in at half time to get some icecream. He wanted to help Andy eat some...

 Sunday, Eddie played golf, so they boys and I played in the driveway a bit...

 Nugget got some ketchup:

Annnnd, Nugget likes to scare me to death....daily. 

Mimi sent Andy a new TCU sweatshirt.  We had a few chilly mornings so he got to wear it...

Again with the ketchup....

 Cal is enjoying gymnastics....
It's funny because Cal is a rule follower and a pleaser, but he is having a really hard time following ALL of the directions his teacher gives him.  They do little circuits in the class with around 5-6 different activities... the teacher starts out by showing them what to do (example: summersault down this ramp, walk over the balance beam with your arms out, then come over here and hop like a frog, then go over to his mat and do a table top, then come over here and do five kick backs, how many kick backs?? FIVE!)... Anyway, Cal does the first few things great, and then he gets a little confused and he tries to follow the kid in front of him by doing exactly what he is doing right then, instead of waiting for his turn, which gets him in trouble.  The teacher keeps saying, "Cal, you need to follow directions!" and you can seriously see he is trying so hard...
He might be a bit young for the class, but I think it will be good for him in the long run. 

 After 'nastics, Cal and I ran a few errands, including a stop at Wendy's where they had some Where's Waldo glasses for the kids meal.  This picture makes me laugh...

This morning, Cal was excited to go to school again....

 At pick up, they were on the playground, like normal, and when Cal saw me walking up, he started SCREAMING and swatting at his face like he was walking in a swarm of bees.  A teacher ran over to him, obviously concerned for this crazed child, and he said, "I don't wanna go home! I wanna stay here on the playground all day long! GO AWAY, MOMMY!"  Now. I am glad he likes school.  I am thrilled he loves the playground.  But to be honest, that little statement crushed me just a bit.  Okay, a lot. 
Once I got him and Andy back in the car (by this point, both were screaming and thrashing in their seats--good times), I looked back at Cal and I said "that makes mommy sad." Cal replied, "don't be sad, mommy, I love you a lot." Sigh.  Roller coaster of emotions! hahaha

And this picture is Andy's new face any time the camera/phone comes out....

This weekend we have a soccer game for Cal and a birthday party on Sunday.  Then on Monday, we leave for Texas for a week!  EEEEK! Let the packing begin-- I know I am ridiculous about packing-- but I kinda have to be!

Also, if y'all could shoot some good vibes my way about flying with Andy... can you even imagine??? Cal will be fine with the iPad, I think.... it'll be keeping Andy IN the seat that'll be the challenge.....

I am pretty sure there will be a funny blog post following our airplane ride...



 

A day in the life....

Warning: this post will bore the bah-dudies out of you. This is more for me looking back in ten years to remember how our days were when the boys were these ages than for any entertainment value.  

We are getting into the groove of things around here and our days are super busy.  I was telling someone that the other day and they looked at me like I was crazy-- I do not work, how can my days be that busy??  (note: they did not say this, but their look said this)

On that note, here is an overview of a typical week's scheduled activities:

Monday
 Cal soccer
Tuesday
 Cal school
Wednesday
 Andy school
 Cal gymnastics
 Cal soccer
Thursday
 Cal school
Friday
 Andy school

Those are just the scheduled things, not including the errands, meetings, appointments, workouts, etc...and also, thrown in there, I make the boys' lunches for school the day before during nap time to ease up on the craziness of our mornings. 

Over at Kelly's Korner, she wrote one day last week that she was planning on doing a day in the life post where she took pictures throughout her day of what she was doing-- the good, the bad, the ugly-- and do a post about it all.  I decided to do one of these posts, but I didn't want to just take random pictures at random times because I thought I would only take cute ones or I would only take a few.  SO, I set the alarm on my phone to go off at :45 past the hour, every hour and whatever I was doing, I made myself stop to take a picture.  Sounds lame, right? I just want to remember what this was like!

A typical day schedule for us is...
7:00 everyone up
7:30 breakfast
8:00 everyone upstairs to get ready for the day
8:15 start a load of laundry
8:30/8:45 load the car
9:00 drop off a boy at school
9:15-10:15 gym
10:15-12:00 errands
12:00 lunch
12:30/1:00 pick up boy from school
1:00-4:00 Andy nap
1:00-2:00 Cal quiet time
1:30 switch laundry
3:00 shower (if cal is staying quiet enough to not wake up andy)
5:00 cook dinner
5:30 dinner
6:00 baths
7:00 bed!
8:00 laundry folding, cleaning, etc...
10:30-11:00 BED for momma!

Obviously, not every day is like that, but it is a pretty good skeleton of our day.  I try to do at least one load of laundry a day or else it piles up like you wouldn't believe.   I also try to make time for blogging (either writing mine or reading yours).  Honestly, it has become my therapy and I love doing it... more on that later.....

Here goes my "Day In The Life" post... please do not judge my appearance throughout the day.  And, yes, I felt lame taking most of these pictures...

This was last Wednesday.  Andy had school and Cal had gymnastics.  My mom is starting to take one grandchild a week on a little "date" and this was the day Cal got to go, so she got him after gymnastics.

7:45 am
First Diet Coke of the day (first of many...).  Give breakfast to the boys, unload dishwasher, take Hank out and feed him, make protein shake.  

 8:45 am
Wrestling the boys, attempting to get them dressed for school (which starts at 9--gulp).  Load of laundry started and beds made.

9:45 am
At the gym on the treadmill (NOT running).  Andy has been taken to school, Cal is playing in the gym playroom.  Listening to LMFAO station on pandora. 

10:45 am
Cal's first gymnastics class.  I had to include a picture of him too, because the picture of just me makes it hard to tell where we are/what we are doing...

11:45 am
Just dropped Cal off at my mom's house for their date...ahhhhh! A silent car... Racing to the grocery store to get things to make dinner tonight before running to pick up Andy at 12:30.

12:45 pm
Kissing nugget before putting him down for his nap.  Picked him up at 12:30 and he was having a blast playing music at school.  Switched the laundry; started another load.

 1:45 pm
Making spaghetti pie for dinner.  Turned out amazing...even Eddie liked it! Put away all groceries and cleaned out the fridge.  Took out trash, wiped counters, swept floors.

 2:45 pm 
Plastic gloves on for cleaning mildew off of our back deck.  The doors and the toys all got damp and didn't get enough sun back there to dry out, so they are covered in mildew.  It was a gorgeous day to be scrubbing things outside.  All toys inside the house are picked up now and the house gets straightened. Also let Hank out again.

3:45 pm
Shower, at last.  Heinous picture.  Ignore me.   And I have a towel on-- you just can't tell. 

4:45 pm
Andy is still sleeping and Cal is still with Grandma and Grandpa.  A chance to sit down and check emails (not just rapidly reading on my phone), pay a few bills, and read some of your blogs.  Didn't feel like drying my hair, so it was tied back (again, do not judge appearances).

5:45 pm
Dinner with Andy! Cal is still with grandma and grandpa, Eddie isn't home yet.  Soccer practice was cancelled, so we can relax in.   After eating, kitchen was cleaned, dishwasher loaded, floor swept, dog fed. 

6:45 pm
Bath time.  My mom was bathing Cal for me on this night (THANK YOU, MOMMA!), so Andy had the whole tub to himself... and I guess it felt really free... so he went #2 in the tub.  a BIG one.  So when the alarm reminding me to take a picture went off at this point, I was not real happy.  I was sanitizing all of the tub toys.  Not real thrilled.  Brushed Andy's teeth, got him ready for bed.
Cal showed up right at 7, as did Eddie.  Everyone came back upstairs to finish getting ready for bed. 

 7:45 pm
Watching DVR'd jeopardy while doing a few leg lifts on the floor.  Classy, right? It's the little things in life that make me happy-- like watching jeopardy.  Laundry from the first load was just folded and loads switched from washer to dryer.  The playroom was also picked up and toys put away. 

8:45 pm
Catching up with Eddie about our days.  He had a late appointment so we weren't able to eat all together.  It worked out nicely to have my mom keep Cal so I only had one kid to deal with during the "poop in the tub" incident.  This right here was probably a highlight of the day.  :)

9:45 pm
Sitting in the playroom, just folded the final load of laundry, getting ready to watch the season finale of Big Brother.  Make up off, robe on, looking suuuuper attractive.  

I stopped this game after seeing how awful this picture was... HA! Actually, I was planning on ending it at 9:45 any way.  I watched the end of the show, which went to 11, and then went to bed. 


So, there, my friends, is a look at a day in my life! I can honestly say I do not remember the last time I felt really and truly BORED. 

You bloggers out there should do one of these posts... it was actually kind of fun to look back at my day. I will appreciate this more in ten years when I look back and think "ha! I thought I was busy THEN....!"

Have a great week!!!