Happy Birthday Jordan!!

More than a week has passed since your birthday which was May 11th (last Friday) aka "the day we moved back into our house" so it was and has been a busy birthday week! This was a big one...you turned 10. Double digits. Wow.

I'm going to relate a story that illustrates what a terriffic person you are. A day or two before your birthday Daddy and I were talking to you about how the timing is so bad for celebrating your birthday because we were in the throes of moving from the temporary apartment back into the house. We were explaining that we hadn't even gotten you a gift yet. We were feeling so guilty and neglectful as parents and promised to make it up to you. We told you that on Saturday or Sunday we would go out and get you whatever you wanted (this is safe to say to you becuase you never want much; if we ever said such a thing to your brother we'd have to be prepared to just hand over our wallets). A lot of kids I know would whine and complain and be pouty about it but not you. You said, "that's okay; moving back into our house is the best present." Wow.



It is almost the end of the school year. 4th grade is coming to a close and it's onward and upward to 5th grade. You had a great year at school...a teacher you really clicked with, great friends in your class, awesome grades, a spot on the "Rockin' Recorders," and now a spot on the safety patrol for next year.



This was also your first year of gymnastics competition. You did great and had a great time with your team. You continue to love gymnastics and still want to do it again next year.



The gymnastics practice schedule doesn't leave much time for other activities but you are on the GTR Gators swim team for another year. This marks your 5th year on the team. Every summer we have so much fun being part of the swim team even though it means getting up at the crack of dawn every Saturday for 6 weeks and daily swim practices. As I write this you and Jackson are at the first dual swim meet of the season with Daddy. I can't wait to see how you do this year.



All in all you had a great year even through all the upheaval in our lives. You've been so adaptable to all the moves we've had to make (first to the house on Fern Creek, then to the apartment, then to a second apartment, and finally back to our house on Misty River) and have continued to thrive. Hopefully in the next year there will be more stability in our lives and you will thrive even more and really enjoy the year of being 10!

You always make me and Daddy so proud in everything you do. We love you, Jordan!

One of Those Days

Just because I feel like whining, this is how my day went:
* 5:30 a.m. alarm goes off. I get up at about 5:40 and start a pot of coffee. Drink coffee and check e-mail.
* 6:00 a.m. shower
* 6:30 a.m. wake up kids (one was sleeping in my bed since Jim is out of town so that one was easy).
* 6:30 - 7:27 a.m. Get kids dressed, fed, lunches made, etc. Yell at Jordan for backtalk. Off to school for 7:30 a.m. parent/child book club meeting before school starts. Late as usual.
* 8:06 a.m. back to the apartment to get Jensen's things for school and put my makeup on since I didn't have time to do it before.
* 8:40 a.m. Take Jensen to school. Get there about 8:55...late as usual.
* 9:00 a.m. Go to house on Misty River to unpack more boxes.
* 9:30 a.m. Meet with landscaper. Go to his nursery to see some stone selections. Get call from city inspector that he is at my house and needs to get in. Rush back to house.
* 10:00 a.m. House passes mechanical inspection...the last inspection (we think).
* 10:30 a.m. Back to landscaper and off to see a few houses he's done.
*11:00 a.m. Bed Bath and Beyond to get items for the bed, bath, and beyond. The list is endless.
* 1:00 p.m. Drop off beach towels to be monogrammed for birthday gifts. Pick up lunch on the way back to house.
*1:30 p.m. Back at house to unpack a few more boxes and wait for people from Star Furniture to show up to fix something they delivered last week.
* 2:00 p.m. No guys from Star furniture yet, but I have to leave to go pick Jensen up from school.
* 2:30 p.m. Back to apartment to pack up kids' gear for swim practice. Head out to pick Jackson and Jordan up from school.
* 3:00 p.m. Back to house. Wait for guys from Star Furniture. Kids play out on the street with other neighbor kids. That is awesome!
* 4:45 p.m. Neighbor Jen takes Jackson and Jordan to swim practice for me (love her) since I am still waiting for guys from Star Furniture.
* 5:20 p.m. Guys finally show up. Fix the problem while they sweat all over everything.
* 5:55 p.m. Guys are done in the nick of time and I leave to go pick up kids at swim practice. Rush back to house, kids inhale leftover pizza and change clothes.
* 6:30 p.m. Last Cub Scout meeting of the year.
* 7:45 p.m. Meeting over; head back to apartment.
* 8:00 p.m. Get kids showered, in pjs and off to bed.
* 9:00 p.m. Ahhhhh.

Wow

It's been over two months since I last updated here. There's been many times that I've wanted to post, but felt overwhelmed with the need to catch everyone up to date. So much has gone on in the past two months that I just never knew where to start. So I decided not to. I decided just to start fresh tonight with what happened today. And what happened today was Jackson's First Communion.

You'll never see him look so angelic, pious and clean so take a good look. We were so proud of him today. He made it through another school year of CCE and was definitely ready for this big day.

Being in church today felt good. Most weeks we're there I'm so worried about whether or not the kids are behaving, whether or not they're disturbing the people around them, etc. to pay much attention to what's actually going on. Today, though, I had a definite feeling that this was a good place to be. Whenever we're at church I do three things. 1). I thank God for getting Jim and I through our recent tough times without killing each other and now that we are preparing to move back into our house I thank Him more and more. 2). I pray for Him to keep all of our family safe and healthy. And, 3). I ask God to help me be a better mother. I always feel the need when I'm there to pray for some help in being the best parent I can be. I don't know if He hears me or feels the need to intercede but I always feel the need for a little extra help.

Anyway, to celebrate Jackson's accomplishment we planned lunch at The Aquarium restaurant downtown. It is a pretty cool place and we all really enjoyed it. Surrounding the restaurant is a little amusement park with a ferris wheel, train ride, arcade games, etc. We spent a little time doing that stuff before heading back home. Jackson had a baseball practice in the afternoon then Jim had to catch a flight out of town for the next few days. I think Jackson had a good day and is definitely excited to have made his First Communion and able to "take the bread" at church each week along with Jordan. I definitely had a good day...feeling very proud of my son and loving my family.

Here's a funny story. When we were driving out of the church parking lot, Jackson said, "Mom, I think that woman over there is wearing the same dress you are." I looked across the parking lot and saw a 75 year old woman wearing a dress, while not exactly the same, remarkably similar to mine. And when I left the house this morning I thought, "hey, I look pretty good in this dress." Hmmm.