Mudder's Day

As Nicholas says - HAPPY MUDDER'S DAY!  It was such a great day spent with my two favorite guys, followed by a cookout with Grammy, Mimi, and Papa.  Each year at this time, I make myself take a few extra moments to really thank God for the love and happiness He has blessed me with.  No matter how busy we are or how many days we feel overwhelmed by the task of living a very full life, we are lucky to have what we have.  And what I have is very, very good. No doubt about it.  But while I'm thinking about how lucky I am to be a mom, I also need to talk about how lucky am I to have the most wonderful mother in the world.  She is an amazing woman who has always loved me and been there for me, no matter what.  And if that wasn't enough, I married a man who's mother turned out to be equally special.  I only hope that I can do this job half as well as they've done theirs.  Thank you both for inspring me, loving me, and supporting me in everything I do.  I love you more than you'll ever know.

 This was Friday's school art project.  Another fabulous handprint masterpiece.

 Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and this was the thank you card Nicholas' teacher sent home for us.  One thing I always worried about when it came time to send him to preschool was whether or not his teachers and everyone else would really get him.  Will they fully understand just how awesome he is?  Will he stand out from the crowd?  Will his spirit be dulled amongt the masses of other kids?  Well, they do get him and that makes this Mama beyond happy.  Lesson learned - Nicholas' sweet heart and loving smile could never, ever go unnoticed. 

Yesterday morning, Nicholas sat down with me to "read" the card he

had picked out for me. His rendition is pretty precious.

And while we're at it, I'll go ahead and share a few more pics. First up is Edmond Touch-A-Truck on Saturday, where the kids got to sit in all kinds of work vehicles and explore just about everything about them. They got to honk the horns, play with the sirens, talk on the PA, you name it. A little loud but wildly entertaining. Especially when the rowdy ones got a hold of the PA mic.

And last but not least, I wanted to share a special little picture of Greg and Nicholas with their police cars. Greg has finally gotten his unmarked unit, which means it was time to say good-bye to the good old black & white. And I had to include both of these, even though their practically the same, because I just couldn't pick a favorite.  The cowboy boots definitely had to make the blog!

 Until next time, y'all.  Keep it real.

Return of the Playdate

We kicked off the weekend with a much needed playdate. We've all been so busy lately that time together has been pretty hard to come by, so we definitely savor every second we can get.   

Happy Easter and a Happy Birthday

I'm going to combine two posts into one here for the sake of simplicity.  Things have definitely been a little busy lately, what with Karate, swim lessons, school, work, and all the 101 other things that make up a normal day.  But even though it feels like we're constantly on the go, deep down I love it.  I love keeping my child's schedule full with fun and exciting activities and I love watching him really blossom into a young boy instead of a toddler.  He's doing phenomenally well with everything we've taken on and I know that it's such a good thing for a boy with his level of energy.  But not only is he maturing physically, he's maturing in mentality as well.  He says some of the most grown-up things lately and they just leave me sitting there amazed.  The other night I was cleaning up all the toys in his closet, albeit hastily, and was probably mumbling and grumbling my irritation.  Okay, not probably, definitely.  Anyhow, he walks up behind me, gently places his hand on my back to grab my attention, and ever so calmly says to me, "Mama.  Mama, stop!  You've done enough cleaning.  Let me do the rest."  I about died at his very rational and very reassuring tone of voice.  It snapped me out of my attitude right away and immediately made me giggle with pride.  But for every sweet moment like that we've also got our share of head-butting and battles of will.  He's got a heart of gold but he's also a boy knows what he wants, when he wants it, and how he wants it.  Got to love his independence!  Sorry, I kind of ventured off topic there but I knew I'd want to remember it.

We just wrapped up a terrific 3-day weekend which included all of our spring flower planting, a birthday party for my dad, and a relaxing Easter holiday.  For my dad's birthday, I decided to check out the Meat House and purchase some special steaks to cook on the grill.  Well, they were special alright, and tasted amazing, but not the kind of thing you'd want to buy on a regular basis.  I'll just say that they are ridiculously proud of their meats.  But for a special occasion like a birthday, they truly hit the spot.  On Sunday morning, Nicholas woke up very excited to see the treats the Easter Bunny had left behind for him and then spent the morning dyeing and decorating eggs with Daddy.  In the evening, we joined Mimi and Papa for dinner at their house and a few rounds of egg hunting, because once just wasn't enough.  Great weekend all the way around and I have a million pictures to prove it.  Evidenced below:

Look at the size of these suckers!

Nicholas had his heart set on helicopter cupcakes, but we had some trouble finding

 any decorations.  So, I made my own.  Totally lame but he totally bought it.

Showing Mimi his egg stash.

 And my absolute favorite of the bunch:

Swim Lessons

Greg and I have wanted to get Nicholas in swim lessons for ages but we've never been able to find one that would work with our schedule or one that we were actually lucky enough to get into.  Who knew that swim lessons were in such high demand that it felt like you were camping out to get those awesome first row concert tickets you've been hoping for?  Seriously ridiculous.  But after doing some research I found an opening at a local gym and the classes finally started last week.  Even though he's been swimming a lot with all of our lake weekends, he was still pretty nervous on the first day.  So nervous in fact that he was trembling a little with an apprehensive look glued to his face. But, it didn't slow him down a bit and after just a couple of minutes in the water he relaxed and started having a ton of fun. 

  And more nailbiting, of course.