Every weekend should be 3 days...

Memorial Day was a nice day filled with good friends, getting water logged in the pool and eating way too much food!  It was great.  Having a pool has been such a wonderful addition and brought countless hours of fun for so many people.

I had to work all weekend but still managed to make it fun, since I was out in the Mosquito Lagoon with a team of wonderful people working to save the world one oyster at a time.  :)  My busy season is starting up at work just in time for Brandon to be home with Graham.  I will still have my Mommy/Dude days that I dedicate just to him but it won't be only Tuesday each week for a few months.

So since I know you all are so curious, I have to tell you that Friday (Graham's first day with new teacher/new class) went GREAT!!!!!  I dropped him off and stayed for about 15 minutes to show him Winsten, the class hamster and the beta fish in a bowl attached to the wall.  Graham loves animals so that was his highlight of the day.  Although he doesn't like to play with his classmates much, if at all...he seemed comforted that it was familiar faces that moved up with him to the new class.  His new teacher, Ms. Alicia is absolutely wonderful and already knew and loved Graham.  (She was close with G's previous teacher that we liked so much so she already knew some of his 'quirky needs' and rather than making them a negative, she has embraced him as he is which is what he needs).  When I left he stood there and frowned, but waved and said 'bye Mommy...bye.'  It was sad and sweet and promising all at the same time.  On one side it killed me not to see him freak out when I left, because that all I've ever known but on the other side I loved seeing him comfortable and at peace with me leaving.
When Brandon picked him up she said he had a great day and all went well.  (deep sigh of relief)  Ms. Alicia is known for her students learning to use the potty so we hope between at home practice and school practice, we can get this potty training thing taken care of!  I'll be so glad when I buy his last box of diapers (and sad because my baby is growing up!)

I hope you all had a nice long weekend and got to relax with friends, family and think about this great country that we live in and how some people are so selfless that they have given their lives so we can live.  We are so blessed.  Way more than we deserve.

Gratification from simplification

So lately I've been really trying to simplify my life.  Getting rid of stuff we don't need, not committing to more than I can handle, chilling out with the social media, working smarter and not harder at the Zoo.  It's been great, I'm getting so much pleasure from these cut backs.  It's almost become a challenge on how much I can do without and still live comfortably and it's amazing how much 'stuff' (emotional, physical, mental) we hold onto and don't need to.  I know I tend to go through phases and I hope this one sticks for a good long while, if not forever.  Once I get a little confidence in it I'll be challenging others to do the same because it's more refreshing than you could ever imagine!!  I actually keep getting emails for different apps and programs and they annoy me so much because there is just SO much unnecessary junk out there.  Needless to say, I've been 'unsubscribing' from everything and I'm down to about 5 personal emails/day and I LOVE IT!!!  (I used to get about 25).

Anyway, lets talk about my favorite subject...Graham!  We had a great weekend. Saturday was spent by the pool and playing in the yard, enjoying this beautiful FL spring.  Sunday was spent split between work and play in New Smyrna Beach.  We unloaded oyster mats, make some oyster shell bags for restoration and relaxed on the beach and had ice cream (which Graham didn't eat...what?!?!).  It was perfect and amazing and all that a great weekend should be.

All played out

 

Waterbug

 



Graham will be moving from 3 days/week to 2 days/week for summer.  He will spend the other days home with either Brandon or I.  Brandon will be at the school a lot working with his basketball guys and Graham will be in tow some of these days.  Graham loves the gym and being around the older boys.  He is a great little ball boy from what I hear and has learned how to blow a whistle.

With the move to 2 days/week at school he will be in a new classroom with a new teacher.  I see many meltdowns in our future, as Graham HATES change but we do love his new teacher and her enthusiasm.  She loves Jesus and is always smiling and they even have a pet hamster named Winsten!  He will hopefully settle in nicely.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Welcome Back...

Wow...so I'm really ashamed that it's been almost 2 years since I posted anything on this site I created with such great intentions.  It's been a crazy couple of years, so many ups and downs but I have learned so much and most importantly (to me anyway) I love that little Graham Cracker more than ever.
The intent of this site is for those of you who are interested to be able to keep up to date on some of our adventures, developments, good times and bad...but you know me, I like to stick to the good.  :)   Thank you for joining us over here after I made the decision to chill out on social networking that was taking over my life.  It was time to simplify and re-prioritize my time and attentions.

"One day you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the tings you've always wanted.  Do it now."  -Paulo Coelho

Graham is 3! Where did time go?!

I remember people telling me 'don't blink' and 'they grow up so fast' and I knew it was true but wow....where did it go?  He has grown to have such a genuinely sweet and kind heart and it makes both Brandon and I so proud.  He is generous and loves to laugh, giggle, smile and dance.  He is stubborn and determined, hard-headed and competitive.  No idea where those traits came from!  ;) 
He loves to swim.  I think it's probably his favorite thing to do.  Bath tub, pool, hot tub, wherever...just let the boy swim and he's happy.  I always knew I wanted a pool but it wasn't until moving into a house with one that I realized what we were missing!  It's great!!!!  He wakes up and asks to swim almost everyday. 

I think the last time I blogged he was eating healthy foods that I made from fresh fruits and veggies and it was so amazing.  I felt like SuperMom.  Then life got in the way and somehow he has turned into a regular child that loves hot dogs (at least I only buy Turkey Dogs or all Beef hot dogs), goldfish and many others.  However, the one thing that boy can't get enough of is PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES.  He would eat one for every meal and snack if he could.  He asks for them constantly and always brings me the peanut butter and bread no matter where in the house I am.  It's always funny to step out of the bathroom and him be standing there with a loaf of bread and a jar of Skippy.  He cracks me up.  We do lots of fruit too but sadly he won't go near a vegetable.  The whole 'your going to bed hungry if you don't eat what we eat' thing is WAY easier said than done by the way!! 

Graham moved to a new daycare at the first of the year.  With many changes going on and a new house I thought it best to find a place that he could grow into and was closer to home.  At first, I loved it and really loved his teacher.  She was great to work with him on some of his 'quirky' behaviors and tendencies (more on this later) and he really took to her.  But she no longer works there and he is having a hard time getting used to his new teacher.  They are finally starting to jive but learned last week his is moving up to another room...so another new teacher.  Sigh.  He's not good with chance but I'm praying for the best and ask you to do the same.  I'll keep you all posted.

On Tuesday I take the day away from the Zoo and Graham and I have what I call 'Mommy Dude Day' where we spend the whole day either in pj's watching cartoons and snuggling and swimming if we feel like it or out and about running errands and buying groceries.  We both look forward to Tuesday and enjoy every second.  I'll probably be doing most of my entries on Tuesday.  :)

I'll have lots of pics to put up soon.  I just got a new computer and I'm trying to figure it out.  (makes me feel old, I hate feeling old).

Have a super great day!!