Life lately

Guess who is done teaching preschool for the year!!! Wooohooooo! Today is a workday for us, but no kiddos.  I actually really enjoyed our class this year and loved all of the parents too- it was such a great year, and I am sad it is over.  Love the munchkins....and their hugs!

While I am working on cleaning out the classroom and next year prep (oh yes, I will be doing it again next year!), here's a look at life lately!

Bruce was neutered last week (actually week before last) and both boys insisted on coming with me to pick him up--  although one boy forgot his shoes.... I am pretty sure we got quite a few looks at the vet...between no shoes, a child attempting to wear a cone and me crying-- they tried to take us into the room where it *all* went down with Hank.  I froze in the hall way and started crying and shaking my head-- we really had it all together....

At a baseball game last week, Cal had an unassisted triple play.  It was kinda unbelieveable.  He caught a pop fly, tagged a runner out on second and then sprinted to third and got another guy out.  He was the first baseman hahahahahahahahaha.  It was really fun to watch and thankfully both of my parents and Eddie were there to witness it-- he earned the game ball and was SO proud. 

 Meanwhile, this one with his cone....

Mother's Day was last weekend and the boys brought home sweet gifts they made at school-- Cal's says "I love you because you work so hard and make me dinner." ha! 

The jersey prep for Andy's party was a process.  Bruce was there to help me along the way....

Some neighbors had a cookout last weekend-- these wild boys played SO hard the whole time! 

Heading back to the car after a game-- they had had a rough afternoon, but watching them walk next to each other chatting away made my heart want to explode.  

 Swim team has started! I got a pic of these two last year on the first day of practice so I had to get one this year too-- so fun to be back in the water!

Cal's teacher sent this to me--

The goal for all first graders is to end the year on a level J or K for reading- Cal finished the year at an O! We are super proud of him... he has had a really great year, thankfully.  They test reading waaaayyyyyyyy differently than I am used to, so this was a big learning curve for us all. 

The boys were invited to a birthday party at a UNC baseball game last Friday night and they had so much fun!

 The basketball team was there too (!!) so I had to snag a picture with JB... bless his heart, he was hit up for pics the whole night. 

 I took several pics of this crew-- not realizing the team in the background was cheesing it up too--- in another picture, Theo is full on smiling for the camera.

 Andy decided they probably would like to play with his fidget spinner-- but not for keeps.  Just for looks. 

Andy and Bruce were hanging out on the porch and totally had a moment.  

Bruce was in heaven.  

 And decided not to move for a while.  Bless his heart. 

 My sister in law sent me this picture from the triathlon last weekend-- this was right after he crossed the finish line.  SO proud of him and his brother!

That's a wrap! Bring on the beach this weekend!!!!!



 

Happy SIX, Andy!

On May 18th, Andy turned six! I say it every year, but really, how can that be? I swear he was just my little two year old buddy.  Makes my head spin how fast all of this is happening.  He drives me up a wall most days, but no one loves harder than Andy-- he has the best heart.  He is funny as hell and makes me laugh every day.  He is sensitive and friendly and loves to have fun.  He is a momma's boy....big time.  I roll my eyes that he will only let ME take him potty (etc etc etc), but secretly, I soak it all up and love it.  He won't want me around him for long, so I truly try to enjoy all of his attention now.

Okay, on to the birthday...

 I had a lot of fun with balloons with the decorations this year:

 and his face when he came down the stairs the morning of his birthday was pretty much priceless: "hey! that spells my name!"

 I decorated after he went to bed, and then had to sneak in for one last picture of my precious Nugget Williamson- out like a light.  I was emotional on this birthday- I think because 6 sounds so old? Maybe it's because of two hands? I don't know.... but it feels old. 

 He woke up at 5 with a pillow falling off the bed, but then fell back asleep again-- I, on the other hand, couldn't fall back asleep- I was too excited! haha, I am a birthday freak, what can I say?

side note: I remember when I was younger, I was so excited on the night before my bestie's birthday, I couldn't sleep either.  And then I would wake up extra early and wait to call her every year before school-- how crazy is that? Ange, you remember those calls?!?!?!

So, Andy woke up and was pumped to see his name in balloons.... those letters are BIG!

He opened presents and was super excited about it all-- this was a big time basketball theme year!

And then blew out six candles in a donut-

 He was off to school and I went to work and then we went to his class to take cupcakes-- they were so sweet to sing to him and make him feel special!

That afternoon was a little rough.  I think they were tired and jealous (Cal) and grumpy and whatever else.  Ugh, hate to admit this, but both boys were sent to their rooms and a spanking was given.... not proud.  Keeping it real.  Ugh. Again, not proud.

But we regrouped and had a baseball game! Sadly, they lost 8-9 to put us out of the tournament...it was a heart breaking loss, but these two both ended the season with smiles, so I am proud of them.

And for the next four months, I get to have a 6 and 7 year old.... how crazy is that?

Andy opened presents from my parents after the game and the next morning, he had the VERY difficult task of deciding which new shirt to wear.  This was the final outfit-- he dabbed for a pic to send to grandma and grandpa:

He's going through a bit of a Steph Curry phase.... can you tell?????

 CB came in Saturday morning and gave Andy his gift of catcher's gear! SO fun!

And then it was party time on Saturday! I made these jerseys for all the kiddos (I should say boys because it was an all boys party!) and had them out for the kids to grab upon arrival.  

I asked Andy what he wanted on his jersey and without hesitating, he said "Nuggie, 106." Soooo, who am I to argue??? Honestly, y'all.... who is this kid?

All he wanted for his party was to play basketball.  This was, quite possibly, the most perfect party for him EVER.  All the kids arrived and shot around for a while....

 And then a massive game of knockout happened, and it was crazy exciting and everyone was screaming and cheering.....

And then they decided they wanted to play a game-- this has all been without any adult help.  They all sat on the bleachers and then two captains came out and picked the teams-- there was zero drama with this (how?!?!?!? I don't get it.... but there wasn't!). 

 And the jerseys were reversible so one team turned theirs inside out and next thing I knew, we had a jump ball happening!

 A team huddle to discuss the plan. 

 These boys played HARD... omg, so hard.  They were dripping in sweat when it was over.  I am not sure I have ever seen so much sweat.  After an hour of hoops, we headed into the party room where they had cuties (drawn on like basketballs), orange gatorade, pirates booty and some cake!

As soon as they were done eating (about 3 minutes....), they headed back into the gym to continue playing-- no one wanted to stop! It could have gone on for several more hours, amazingly.  

Cal was just as happy as the birthday boy-- grinning ear to ear the whole time!

 Blowing out the candles, ready to dig in!

 It was such a fun few days celebrating Andy! Bring on SIX!!!!

 

Weekend Update: part one, Just Tryan It

It was a VERY busy, action-packed weekend over here.  Andy had his birthday party and the boys participated in the Just Tryan It Triathlon on Sunday.  My in laws were in town for the party, so they got to see it all, which was fun. 

This post is going to be about the triathlon, and I will do a separate post (maybe tomorrow, maybe next month....!) about the birthday. 

This whole past week it has been H-O-T here-- in the 90s every day.  The morning of the event, we woke up and it was COLD out.  Well, in the 60s, which isn't cold to some, but to us, it was pretty much freezing. 

We had to be at the location at 7:30, so we were up and moving early!

They have the kids go into the transition area and set up their bikes and bags and they remove their shoes and shirts-- let me just say: burrrrrrrrr.......

 They do this because they are going straight from the "opening ceremonies" to the pool for the race to start. 
Cal did this race last year, but this was Andy's first time. I was a little worried he might freak out or have a last minute panic, but he totally did great! I am sure it helped having big brother there. 

 Funny story-- after I took the below picture, I noticed Cal's booty was looking a little...odd... he came over and said he had to tell me a secret-- turns out he put his jammers (bathing suit) on OVER his boxers--- hahahahaha he totally forgot to take them off...! What in the world?!?! So he had to go do a quick change up. 

Andy ended up getting in the line up next to Charlie-- they were cute together waiting. 

My friend was volunteering down at the starting line and sent me this picture:



Then they were off! The boys were not in the same "heat" so we were kind of scrambling to see everyone.  They swam first, then ran to transitions.  I ran up to the start of the bike ride, and caught Andy as he was heading out (these volunteers are amazing).  

Then, as Andy was off on his bike, Cal came running up from the pool:

He was off on his bike before I knew it (volunteers would run their bikes down the hill for the participants).  

 I was watching the line where the bikers came from-- they rode into the transition area and dropped their bikes and then ran out, past us to begin the run portion-- to see Andy come out and I totally missed him! He was so much faster than I thought he would be!

I blinked and he was past me-- so then I waited for Cal to come out of the bike transition, thinking I had loads of time before Andy would finish the running portion, when all of a sudden I heard the announcer say "and well done, Andy Williamson......!" I totally missed him running through the finish line! Thankfully my dad got this shot:

 So then I could focus my attention back to Cal who was finishing up his run strong:

 And straight across that finish line!

 

I'm going to be REAL honest here: I started crying when he crossed.  I am SO lucky I have two healthy children who are ABLE to do stuff like this.  There was a little girl who spoke during the opening ceremonies about her battle with leukemia--  and I thank the sweet Lord above that my children are healthy kiddos...

Both boys loved every minute of it.  They are little competitors and said it was so much fun.  

 After the race, they got to go to the party zone! There was dancing and face painting and all kinds of fun games.  The kids had a blast.....even though it really was pretty chilly!

These two smiling mustache boys are my world.....

SUPER proud of them!!!!