Eleven Years and Counting

Thanks again to my wonderful Mom, Jon and I were able to steal away for two days to enjoy some peace and quiet of Blowing Rock and celebrate our 11th year as an old married couple. Here I am on the actual Blowing Rock. The rain that came the next day was on it's way in at this time. Those mountains are always smokey, but they were really smokey that day.

On our way to a really disappointing dinner at Storie Street Grille. I was so excited to eat at this restaurant. The menu lists all the local farms they use. All organic, grass fed beef, organic free range chicken. Organic local fruit and veggies. I couldn't have been more excited. While the food may have been good quality, it was poorly prepared. I need to right the owner a letter ... they have a great thing going, they just need to hire a chef who knows what they are doing!

We didn't let dinner spoil our time away though. Chetola resort where we stayed was beautiful. Here is the lake at sunset. The entire town of Blowing Rock sits on the ridge of a mountain. I love everything about it. I could live there. In the summer, for about a month. Thats about as long as I could make it without Starbucks. Or Target.

Here's the main lodge and restaurant at Chetola. And while our dinner at Storie Street Grille was a downer, our lunch here was fantastic. Next time you are in Blowing Rock, check out the Manor Restaurant. You will not be disappointed. Or hungry for hours.

We drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit and stopped here at the Cone Mansion. Thousands of acres of hiking, biking, horseback riding trails complete with a stocked lake and a gorgeous mansion.

Can you see the refection of the Cone Mansion in my sun glasses? It was beyond beautiful. Oh, and aren't we cute?!

My cowboy. Okay, so Jon's not the cowboy type. Horse riding and cow wrangling are not his thing, but he looks pretty darn cute in the hat. He drew the line at the chaps.

They don't call it Blowing Rock for nothin'!

Ah, mountain air. Gosh I love this planet.

Happy Anniversary to us. Love you baby, there's no one I'd rather be on this crazy ride with than you. Here's to many, many more years.

Thanks again mom. What would we do with out you? No, don't answer that. Can't even think about that!

Finally!

It started last year before he turned three years old:



"Mommy, me pay occer?"



"You can play soccer next year buddy"



"Okay."



And the next day we would have the same conversation. Followed by the same conversation the day after that. And so on and so forth.



Well the day has come and Will gets to play soccer at the Y. He's been practicing for over a year now, putting us all to shame as he ran circle around us, through us and over us. The boy loves soccer. Just look at that tongue out in concentration! (He gets that from Jon. And it still makes me laugh to this day to see the faces Jon makes when he's cooking up a storm in the kitchen or building legos with the kids. I love it!)

Will had fun but took his practice very seriously. He was a little disappointed when he didn't get a jersey or play a real game. At his age soccer is really a skills clinic. Will wants to play on a team, with big nets and officials with whistles. Baby steps little man, baby steps.

But you can mark my words, this boy will be an athlete. He LOVES sports. Wants to play all of them, watch them all, understand everything about every one of them. A few days ago he comes shuffling downstairs rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawns ...

"Mommy, guess what I dreamed 'bout?"

"What baby?"

"Soccer!"

Regret

My best friend is leaving Charlotte. In about a week. There is a part of me that just wants to grab her and cry and tell her she can't go.

Don't leave! You can't me leave me here with all these kids! What will I do without you?

But then another part of me says it doesn't matter where she is.

No matter how far away you are, you will always remain a true and active friend in my life. A couple hundred miles? Pah! Just try me. I love you for who you are, not where you are. Do you really think moving away will get rid of me? Not a chance. I'm stubborn. Plus now I have a great excuse to kiss my family goodbye, blow this town, jump on an airplane and come visit you. I ain't afraid of no snow.

But there is one thing I can't shake as I think back to all the memories through all these years. I met Liza on a group date night with Ryan Homes in the fall of 1998. I remember the night like it was yesterday, but I have no pictures to show for it. I remember visiting her three days after she gave birth to her first child. SHE made ME dinner! But I have no pictures to show for it. There have been hundreds of times we've just hung out. Thousands of glasses of wine, and even more laughs. There have been tears. And even miles covered (how in the world did I ever get her to start running??). Yet I have no pictures. I have the memories in my heart, but no pictures in my hands.

As a mom I am aware of how fast my children grow and change. They are photographed almost daily. Yet when it comes to MY life, to MY friends, well, I regret I haven't been as diligent. It's not that I will ever forget those times. I just wish I had a way of preserving them forever. For everyone. Friendship deserves to be documented. It deserves to be shown off and displayed. It deserves to be preserved and used as an example. Do me a favor, pick up that camera and take picture of ALL the people around you. You never know when they are going to get up and leave.

Date Night

Jon and I took our eldest on a date last weekend. We started off with a nice romantic meal at JoJo's China Bistro and then by some strange force of nature we ended up at Zuma Fun Park. That's what happens when you date an eight year old. Everything starts out nice and sweet as you play footsie over shrimp rolls and chat about the latest discoveries in second grade. He sips his Shirley Temple, you down your Cosmo ... and before you know it your at some place you would never agree to go to if it were discussed ahead of time.

But then that adorable boy gets into a go-cart for the first time and giggles with such passion that you can't help but smile.

His giggles turn to serious race car driving as he starts passing other drivers. Then you giggle and realize taking your eight year old on a date is all about him and spending time doing what he wants to do with his two biggest fans looking on. (I did go on to beat him in mini-golf so the night wasn't a complete waste of time).

Ben had a blast. And we thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with our growing boy.
As the kids get older we are trying to spend more one-on-one time with them. It's not easy to make that time but it is so very important. For all of us.

Will's First Day of Fours.

Will started his second year of preschool today. I've loved having him home for the last couple of days while Ben and Kate were at school, but he's been chomping at the bit to get back to 'school'.
Jon showed up at the preschool to help Will kick off his year the right way. I will stand by this statement always: Jon is the best Dad any kid could ask for. Will was so excited when we pulled into the parking lot and saw Daddy's car. Way to go Jon! Once again you have shown our kids where your priorities lie. They will always know that what they were doing every day was just as important to you as what you were doing everyday. Someday they will realize this and thank you, until then, I will have to say it. Thank you for being such a fantastic Dad!

Will is going to go to preschool four mornings a week this year. I will miss him but have a feeling he's going to have a wonderful year in Ms. Cecily's class.

Here is Ms. Cecily reading to Wesley as Will looks on. Will knows almost all the kids in his class this year, including his buddy Wesley. Will and Wesley have know each other since before birth. I love seeing how much they have grown and changed together over the past four years and I'm so excited they are in class together this year!

One of the best parts of being back at school? The hill! Will LOVES 'the hill' outside his school and must roll down it everyday before getting into the car. Oh, to be four again.

Here is Will with the totebag he decorated with Ms. Cecliy last week when she came for our home visit. I love that the teachers at Providence come to each child's house. What a great way to start a great year!!

I Can't Take Any More Birthdays!

If anyone has seen this cute little toddler and this chubby little baby could you please bring them back to me? I seem to have misplaced them somewhere along the way.

Look at that baby boy smiling in his big brother's arms. I think my heart just broke a little. It's a good thing we can't have any more babies. Pictures like these make we want more. Many, many more babies.

This is my mom's hand on Will just minutes after he came into this world. My mom was in the room as he was born. It remains one of the most wonderful memories of my life. My mom there guiding and helping me through ... I was so glad she was there! Ignore that blue head of Will's. He was very big and wanted to present face up (instead of chin tucked). It was not a fun labor or birth. But I learned a lot about myself that day that allowed me to have the perfect labor and birth with Camryn.

Will turned four years old today. My biggest baby of all is no longer a baby. (And he's not very big any more either.) I found myself getting lost in these pictures that I have taken over the years. The ones that I was there for. The ones that I've seen a million times. The ones I took with my very own camera. It's amazing what the mind forgets.

Here is that very large baby. All 9lbs and 10oz of him on a very long 23 inch frame. The largest human I will ever push out of my body for sure. All three of his siblings were in ounces of each others' birth weight. Not Mr. Will. He had a statement to make: "Look out world, here I come!"

At one year Will was a handful. He started crawling at 7 months, walking at 10. Into and on-top of everything. A climber, a mover, a do-er. Active boy right from the start. But he also had the biggest brown eyes and widest smile I've ever seen.

At two Will went through a phase of wearing this pink dance outfit EVERY DAY. We were concerned. But like most things in toddlerhood, it passed. He no longer where's pink tu-tus. Now it's tank-tops and athletic shorts.

I miss the tu-tu.

The three year old Will brought boundless energy and love. When Will is happy the world is happy, but when Will is not happy the world is an ugly place. He could make or break our days with his roller coaster emotions. All very typical three year old stuff. Never a dull moment with this firecracker around.

And now we begin our fourth year together. Will hasn't shown any signs that he plans to slow down any time soon. It's always a game, or a sport, or building, or dancing, or jumping or something. He's smart and funny, kind and energetic. A total handful. And he still has the largest brown eyes and widest smile I've ever seen. Happy Birthday to my little man.

And they're off!!

School started for Ben and Kate today. I can't believe the summer is over.

And I have a first and second grader!

Katie and Ben will now be on the same schedule. So no more running to Latin twice a day for pick up. That will be nice.

But they are getting so big, it just breaks my heart.

Knowing they have each other at school does help to ease my worries though.

They really are best friends. They may not always admit it, but they are each others' favorite playmate.

Kate was a little nervous this morning. She cried because she still had all her school supplies in her bag and didn't know what to do with them. The fact that she knows Mrs. Cook so well is helping relieve some of that tension, but she's still unsure of what to expect in FIRST GRADE.

She has four friends from her Kindergarten class with her this year and she'll be just fine. Kate asked Jon to walk her in this morning, but then ran into the classroom after a brief kiss.

Ben was more than ready to start school this morning. He's very excited to learn all the new things they will cover this year. Now that the foundation of reading, writing and math are laid second graders get to study fun stuff like dinosaurs and Native American History. He's going to have a wonderful year!

Ben's teacher, Mrs. Owen, has been teaching at Charlotte Latin since 1971. In my mind she is the perfect teacher for Ben: experienced parent with kids no longer at home, one who has been teaching long enough that she really knows and understands second graders but who LOVES what she does. As sad as it was to send them off this morning, I am excited about all they will do in school this year. Happy First Day kiddos!