A-day celebration

This is my only decent photo of our weekend A-day celebration. We had a great party complete with an awesome homemade Elmo cake, the picture of which I seemed to have deleted. I can't tell you how disappointed I am by this, it was really great, if I did make it myself. Complete with enough red dye to send sensitive kids to the moon and back. It is probably best the 4 Silly Sisters weren't able to make it, though they were sorely missed.

Right in the middle of the A-day party, Chase coincidentally decided it was time to pull his second tooth (an attention getting ploy if ever there was one). There has been much discussion at our house regarding the value of subsequent teeth since the first one brought a whopping $5. Considering some of his classmates have pulled in $10 and $15, the value of a tooth to the tooth fairy is a hotly debated topic at our house. I told him I was pretty sure you got a good bit for your first one and less from there on out. Well, he got $2 for this one and has thusly developed a new tooth theory. You get $5 for the first tooth and then the amount of money equals the order the tooth was pulled in. This was his second tooth, so he got $2. Considering the amount of money we have already invested in those teeth, maybe Chase is on to something in trying to recoup that cost???

Noel got a really cool water table which will hopefully keep him busy this summer and some great sand/dirt toys. We are definitely summer ready, now all we need is the sunshine. There has not been much of that to be had around here. Sunday we went to a cookout at the lake, and Noel got to take his first boat ride. It lasted all of five minutes until we got rained out. He was not impressed. Monday was fairly nice but Noel was so beat from his adventurous weekend he napped all afternoon and missed playing outside. And while it is pouring down rain as I type this blog, I feel confident there will be ample water-table, sand toy opportunity in the days to come.

Happy "A" Day

What is A-Day, you might ask. Well, today is the day it became officially official, Noel was legally adopted (photo above). The State of Georgia recognized what God had ordained, that we were Noel's family. We have a big A-day celebration planned for Saturday. We are making a big deal out of A-Day from here on out since Noel has a Christmas Eve birthday. He is an awesome kid, but it is hard to compete with the baby Jesus. It was so funny because my Grandma asked me yesterday if they have cards for adoption days. I told her I didn't thinks so, that we kind of made the holiday up.
A-day falls in what Chris refers to as the most expensive month of the year for our family. We have both our Grandmother's birthdays, both our mother's birthdays, my birthday, and Mother's day. Not to mention, end of the school year teacher gifts, but this celebration is well worth it. As Noel grows up, I never want him to doubt for a second how wanted and loved he is and always has been.

Farmer Noel

I distinctly remember when we bought our house it had a full garden. That was very appealing, but Chase was not quite a year old and the draw of the garden was far out shadowed by worrying about my toddler. I mean there was no telling what he might get into. Can you tell I have lightened up? Noel loves the dirt and I love to watch him play in it.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

Ever noticed how most of my posts have belated in the title? I have. Oh well, that is an accurate reflection of the author.

I had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. The University where I work granted over 700 degrees in ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. I have in the past avoided graduation ceremonies at all costs because I tend to get attached to my students, and so if I don't go it is like it never happens. Not logical, I know, but most coping mechanisms are not. So yes, as I watched some of my favorite little darlings marching in to receive their degrees, I shed a few tears. Here I am pre-ceremony handing our programs with one of our fine Grad students.

Those emotions were quickly put aside as Chris and I entered the challenge of our lives...trying to get decent pictures of the kids (especially one very busy toddler) at the photography studio. Do you like the way I waited until Mother's Day weekend to tackle this overdue task, so everyone had to be on board without complaining? Chris has never been to get pictures made with the two fun sons before and had no idea what a stressful ordeal it is. Noel literally made laps around the studio and the photographer had to be like Quick Draw McGraw snapping the pictures. In the end we got some great ones.

This one is the most accurate of our experience though with Noel heading out of frame as fast as possible.

I hadn't really intended to purchase any individuals of Chase because between school and soccer pictures we are covered, but get a load of this handsome, grown-up kid.

And, of course, the shot that everyone wants, the two of them together so they can be fairly displayed in wallets and pocketbooks by grandparents far and wide.

On Sunday, I had not one but two meals cooked for me. Lunch by my dad and dinner by my husband. It had already been a most full day and the kids were way past bedtime when this happened.

Chase lost his very first tooth. It was long overdue. He is nearly 8 for goodness sakes but upon further inspection it became evident why the baby tooth hadn't ever gotten very loose. The permanent tooth had grown in well behind it. Yikes! Looks like we are going to be making an Orthodontist very happy in the near future. Speaking of happy, I hope each of you felt as blessed and content as I did this Mother's day.

Celebrate good times!

I have a lot of celebration blogging to catch up on. The first of which was a huge surprise celebration given in my honor on the Thursday before Easter to celebrate a promotion at work. In a record amount of sneaky activity my wonderful coworkers managed to get family, friends, students and fellow staff members there and I was none the wiser. I even gave them great comedy when I pitched a royal fit about having to change a hair appointment for an "emergency meeting". I cannot stress how surprised and humbled by the event I was. If you cannot tell, by my very red face above.

Last weekend, I got to relive my college days at my first annual sorority reunion. There were only a few of us this go around, but we had a blast and already have people promising they will be there next year.

And last but certainly not least, Cinco de Mayo found me turning 33. And instead of doing this (only in a sombrero) like I did during my college days.

We did this.

But that was just fine too. Especially since right before the game my three guys presented me with my gift and sang Happy birthday. And this little fella's new favorite word is Mama. Which he says with such great inflection and draws out both M's so it is MMMMMaMMa. It sounds just beautiful to me. In fact, he woke up calling me in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, and while we usually only go in if he is really crying , I went straight in there. Hmm, maybe he should call me SSSSSuckerrrr.