the Graduate

da...da.dada... daw daw... the graduates enter stage right in dramatic form.  The girls are clad in gold cap and gowns while the boys adorn a lovely shade of royal blue.  They all have one characteristic in common however, giant proud smiles.  What's not to be proud of - they are graduating from preschool!  A monumental step into the real world.

I was so excited for this day as I've watched previous New Horizon graduates over the years and thought to myself "one day that will be my kid."  Well, that one day has arrived.  It's definitely bitter sweet though.  A lot of these kids have been together since they were 3 months old and have grown to be quite close.  They've been through good times - first taste of scary mashed potatoes (call out to Grayson here), first steps, first kiss, and first sit on the big boy potty.  It's sad to think that after summer they won't be seeing their best buddies every day.  

Even the little brothers were proud of their big bro.

And of course Mommy and Daddy were over-the-moon proud of our little graduate!

Not lets blow this pop stand - I've got places to go.

Little J's Big Day

It's official.  Little man Jamison turned the big ONE last week.  As much as I love the first birthday celebration, part of me was also dreading it.  A first birthday unofficially marks the end of babyhood and I'm not too groovy on leaving babyhood behind.  Given the right circumstances, I could have definitely been one of those bizarre Mom's who have litters of kids (Nadya Suleman or the Duggar's ring a bell?) because I love the baby phase so much.  We still have a few more months before J is an official toddler.

The top moments of the day:

10.  Proud big brothers making sure their baby brother felt special at every moment.

9. Yummy appetizer spread created by Mommy - with a little help from her buddy Sam('s).

Joshi, Cousin EJ and Jack, the comedian

8. This outfit.  Could it be any cuter???

7.  Photo ops like these.

Is it me or does this child bare a striking resemblance to our dear old friend, Abe Lincoln?

6.  Grandma, Uncle Colin, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Craig, Auntie Gretchen, and Cousin EJ were on hand to celebrate with us.  I'm pretty sure Uncle Colin finds me and my camera incredibly annoying, just a guess.

  

We can always count on Auntie Gretchen for a big smile.

5.  Oodles of birthday presents for our little man to open (with some help from his big bro's.)  Thanks to our always-so-thoughtful family!

4.  The "Three Boys in a Swimming Pool Cake."  Need I say more on this one?  Well, actually yes, one thing to say.  The Blondie laying on the black tube is not a topless vixon with boy shorts on - it is Jack.

3.  Heavy conversations!  No, not between the adults but the 1 year olds.  Jamison and his cousin Evan were happy to get together and discuss all of the woes of being one.  I love the pics because you can almost read what they are communicating... or what we like to think they are communicating.

Hey, did I say you could eat my ball?

I'm afraid I need to confiscate that now.

What? There's more???

So tell me... do redheads really have more fun?

Abra Cadabra...

2.  Our own little Julie McCoy (a.k.a. Jack) was the party leader extraordinaire.  He devised a grand plot to turn off all the lights in the house while we all wish Jamison a loud, and dark, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  It was midday on a beautiful Sunday afternoon so unfortunately turning off the lights did not have the affect he was hoping for.  He looked up like hey... that's not dark enough.  Just then, Mother Nature stepped in and provided some perfectly timed cloud cover.  It was like she turned off the lights for our little Jack and it was one of those purely magical moments that will not soon be forgotten.

1.  What else could be #1 but the infamous first birthday cake?  True to tradition, Jamison had his very own cake to dig into and although it took a while, he did eventually dig in.  He was far more conservative than Jack and Josh were with their first frosted white stuff, that's for sure.  Cousin E got in on the action too. 

Happy Birthday to our sweet angel Jamison.  We love you to the moon and back a trillion times.

Etiquette 101

I took Jack and Joshua to swimming tonight.  Joshua doesn't actually start his lessons until next month but he likes to tag along and eat fruit snacks while Jack does all the work.  As the night progressed, it occurred to me that we have some work to do in the etiquette department.  How do I know this?  

Clue #1

Just before hopping into the pool, Jack announced he had to go potty.  As he was walking toward the bathroom, all I saw was his little white butt staring me in the face.  Apparently, waiting until you actually get to the bathroom to pull down your pants is entirely inefficient.

Clue #2

I was helping Jack dry his swimsuit and turned around to find Joshua on his knee's peering under a changing room door.  He was flirting with the little girl on the other side - "Hi in there.  What chyou doing in there?"

Clue #3

The post-swim showers are located around the pool and are very open for all to see.  Since Jack is the big five, he insists on washing himself and does a great job of it.  Normally, he washes his tummy, hair, armpits, etc. but tonight, much to my surprise, he decided the boy bits needed a good washing as well... in front of his 50 closest friends.  Hey, why not?  They are skin too. 

It's amazing to me how innocent and care free these little guys are.  When a teachable moment pops up that allows me to explain proper etiquette, they only ask "but why Mommy?"  Good question - the world should be a little more carefree.  We should all feel free to show our little white butts.  Ok - maybe not that but I know there is some kind of lesson here for us grown-ups to take away as well.

Weekend with Grandpa

Grandpa came to town this past weekend to celebrate little J’s 1^st Birthday and what a treat it was for us to spend the weekend with him.  We kicked off the festivities on Friday night with dinner out at Doolittle’s Woodfire Grill.  Mom indulged in a glass… er, make that two glasses, of red wine while Grandpa and Dad enjoyed some good ‘ol fashioned martini’s.  Cece joined in on the fun as well but volunteered to be our sober cab (thanks Cece!) And true to the long-standing, first birthday tradition, she brought freshly cooked corn on the cob to the restaurant for little Jamison to indulge in for the first time.  Now, a normal family might find bringing your own steaming hot cobs to a restaurant strange, but not us, we are used to strange.  Cece carefully divvied out the corn to the boys and they were loving it!  Our trusty waitress spotted the corn and her reaction was priceless.  If you could read her mind it would have said “wth – where did the corn come from… I didn’t know we had corn - wth.”  We explained the corn history and I’m pretty sure she thought we were crazier than even originally thought.

After dinner, we went home and dug into the best cake on earth.  The Keys Café house chocolate cake…. OMG!  If you’ve never had it – hit the road and drive north until you hit Heaven!  

Since Jack doesn’t like cake of the chocolate variety, he was hard at work creating the perfect nest for Grandpa’s abode.  The only part we helped with was the bed and Jack did the rest – including the bedding, pillows, just the right book, remote control, and get this… Jack’s beloved family to keep him company!  He gave up penguin AND his favorite blankets that he’s been sleeping with since he was a baby.  Could this kid be any sweeter!?!  His thoughtfulness almost brought me to tears.

We all awoke bright n’ early Saturday thanks to our little morning birds.  No time to waste so we headed out to Target first thing and bought Mom some toys – a new bike and a child bike carrier.  Unfortunately, the 5 INCHES of rain this weekend didn’t allow for a leisurely bike ride but it’s all set to go in the event we ever have a nice day.  We also hit Sam’s Club, Party City and took Jack to his buddy’s Birthday party at Pump it Up.  After a much needed nap by all (except Mom… hey, what’s the deal here?), we headed to the Mall to do a little shopping and grab some dinner.  Yes, two dinners out (and another two glasses of wine) in a row.  What a treat!!!  The boys clearly enjoyed it too because they were absolute angels – we were so proud of them.

Grandpa headed out early Sunday morning and we were sad to see him go.  Thanks for coming Grandpa!  We didn’t have long to be sad because we had the big birthday party to prepare for.  More to come on that…

Forest Green Crocodiles-4, Purple People Eaters-2

Woot, woot!  We have a soccer ringer on our hands!!!  Jack's team, the Forest Green Crocodiles, beat the Purple People Eaters by a score of 4 - 2 tonight.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, right?  Wrong!  Jack scored a whopping 3 of the 4 goals!  Now I'm not one to brag about my kids (ok, there might be just an unintentional hint of that in my writings), but this kid is seriously GOOD.  He had several breakaways and drove the ball all the way into the net.  And let me tell ya, he's very modest about his mad skills.  Well, we may need to work on that a bit.

Modest or not, the following picture definitely goes down as one of my top favs.  Jack's pose is one for the books but there are a couple of other honorable mentions as well.  Like the little guy behind him with his hands down his pants.  How cute is he?  Or the sassy little red-head.  What exactly is she thinking?  "That's it, I've had enough of this guy, I need to take him DOWN!"  Or "hey blondie, you're good, wanna share a juice box later?" (that one courtesy of Auntie Sarah).  Actually, every kid in the photo has quite the personality.  Love it!

Grandmama, Grandpa Bill, and CeCe were even present to witness the big hat-trick.

Whether he scores one goal, no goals, or 5 goals, we are so proud of our little forest green Beckham!

On a side note - Sorry to my little Moshi and Jamison.  When you are older and able to read this, please know that we love you just as much as your eldest brother - It just happens to be an eventful Jack week.  You're time will come, we promise!