A Big Day

Today is a big day for Brady! His preschool class is going to Kindergarten today!! He is so excited and said to me this morning that he is now a big kid going to Kindergarten.

His class will ride a school bus from their school to the elementary school this morning and become part of a Kindergarten class. They will have circle time, recess and even lunch with them. I'm not sure if Brady realizes that this is just for one day.

It has been a struggle this year to get Brady to go to school each day. He gets frustrated so easily and gives up. I feel like we are finally making progress with him and he is truly "getting" it. He has been so much fun to watch lately. He gets so proud of himself with each little accomplishment and beams for the rest of the day!

This morning has been so much fun getting him ready for school. I cannot wait to pick him up to find out how much fun Kindergarten is!!

Randomness on Friday

Thought today's blog post would be my random thoughts/actions/deeds on an early Friday morning.

*I had to take Jacob to school this morning because it was his turn (well, my turn really) to bring in the Friday Special Snack. Big deal for a second grader! He was loaded down with snacks and Capri Suns! I realized that I needed to get gas on the way home, and I am still in my pajamas! It was cold last night so I had on my flannel plaid PJ's. I was quite a sight at the pump.

*Speaking of the pump! Geesh! Next time I get gas I'm going to have to take out a loan!

*Brady loves to play in his sandbox. Loves it. Well, you can't have a sandbox inside..so...we have a bean box! I filled a rubbermaid container with beans and he plays in it constantly. A couple of days ago a little bean sprouted up from my ficus tree! Brady planted on of the beans! I've left it there to see if we get more beans!

*I've been thinking about going back to work full time. I have two leads and am really nervous about taking the next step. It has been so important for me to be home with the boys. Brady is going to be in Kindergarten in the Fall so I feel like now is a good time to go back to work. I just have so many unknowns. I don't want to put the boys in camps all summer. I may just have to wait until August and see what happens then.

February

Tod and I are strong believers that you NEVER make big decisions/plans in February!! These are very important words to live by. If we did make big decisions this month I'm sure we would be living on a tropical island somewhere selling trinkets to tourists. We are not winter/cold weather people. We made a pact that we have to wait until March 1st then reevaluate our situation and usually our big plans/decisions are thrown out the window.

This February we have been busy planning. Planning TRIPS!! And, yes, these are big plans we are making in February!

We have finalized trips to Florida, Hilton Head, New York City, another trip to Florida, and planning more trips to Myrtle Beach, Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls, and Kentucky. Yep...we are breaking all of our rules! And we may need to change our February rule.

Go West!

Tod came home from work one day last November and told me that he was going to have to spend two weeks in Seattle for work in January. At first I thought, "That is so cool! Seattle! Wow!" Then I thought, "Two weeks???!!!" He was going to come home on the weekend for the boys. We talked about it for a few days and realized with the time change that just wouldn't be practical. We got online and found a cheap ticket for me to come over the weekend. Our Super Sitters (my folks) took the boys home with them for the weekend.



It was a long 6 hour flight out to Seattle, but the views out my window were beautiful. It looks like snow, but it is a total cloud cover over Washington State.






We toured around Seattle on Friday afternoon. Had a wonderful Sushi dinner and planned our weekend. One thing about Tod and I...we are great travelers. We are always up for an adventure and never afraid to just get in the car and GO. We haven't been able to do this in quite a while. (The boys are not big on riding in the car!)



Our first adventure was up to Vancouver. Tod had never been to Canada. We woke up around 4am and headed north. The sun came up as we crossed over the boarder. A very friendly Canadian Boarder Agent checked our passports and gave us a friendly Welcome to Canada smile. We were in! Miles quickly turned into kilometers and we could never figure out how much gasoline was... dumb Americans!



Vancouver was breathtakingly beautiful!



This is the view from the Olympic Village. Just an amazing city.

We spent the morning in Canada and headed south back into Washington. At the US boarder...it was a little different getting back into the country. It took about 90 minutes. Once we reached the Boarder Patrol Agent we both felt a little nervous. She was very polite, but she meant business. She asked very good questions and I'm sure she didn't see folks from South Carolina come through that boarder every day. Here is a picture of the boarder. Lots of quotes about brotherhood and friendship between the countries on the monument. It didn't feel friendly, but I did feel safe!

That afternoon we went to Snoqualmie Falls about an hour west of Seattle. You could feel the mist from the falls across the street! I love waterfalls. Love them! This one was raging, loud, and incredibly beautiful.

Once back in Seattle, Tod took me to see his office where he has been working. This is the view from his window. He said sometimes he gets caught sitting and staring at this incredible view.

Watching the sunset over the Sound.

The next day we headed south! Oregon here we come!

The first thing we noticed about Oregon was it's beautiful trees. If you have ever seen Twilight...these are the trees you see in the movie!

I've always heard that the Oregon Coast is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Well they were right!

At every turn the scenery was ever changing and surprisingly rugged.

A chilly Tod.

You can tell it is a little windy. All of the trees grew in the direction of the wind.

More of these beautifully mossy trees.

This was such an amazing trip.

The Artist

We are constantly trying to find that one thing that the boys truly want to do. Something that they are passionate about. Jacob has been a very hard nut to crack. He likes so many different things.

He loves sports. He plays soccer, football, and baseball. He doesn't want to play for a team. He doesn't want to practice. He just wants to play. Not keeping score. Just play. He doesn't have a competitive bone in his body. Once at soccer camp the other team scored a goal and Jacob was giving them all high fives!! He just doesn't care if he wins or loses. He just wants to play.

Last year he told me that he wanted to be in commercials. I cringed a little. (I didn't want to be a stage mom!) I found a great talent agency in Charlotte that works with talent of all ages for commercials and print work. I had no idea what to expect. There were about fifty people there to audition. Jacob was the 5th person in line. He looked so cute and confident. He had to walk in front of all of the applicants and repeat a two line commercial. He did OK. We didn't make it to the second round, but it was a great experience. As we left Jacob said, "That was fun, but I don't want to do that again." (whew!)

This year Jacob has a great art teacher at school. He has been bringing home some great paintings. My Mother-in-law, who is an incredible artist, noticed that Jacob has quite a talent. I found a place that teaches kids all about art. He is learning so much and I think we found his passion.


Here is his Koi fish painting...


Cherry Blossom Tree...


This one he did at school..it is my favorite!!

Blocked

For some reason I have complete writers block. It's not that I don't have anything to write about. I have TONS to write about. I just can't seem to get it all into words. Many times I have made a mental note.."this is blog worthy!" Yet I cannot seem to blog. Nothing. Nada. I've even written a few entries, but couldn't post them because they were completely lame. Ugh! It is frustrating.

I have heard that if you want to be good at something you have to do it every day. I'm not sure I can blog every day, but I am going to try. This does count for today's entry! Right?