So Proud of My Boy

What an amazing day! Sean's last day of first grade is this week and today his teacher threw an end of the year party and awards ceremony. My Mom and Dad came with me and went to Sean's classroom where we enjoyed a yummy lunch of pizza, fruit and treats. :)

The best part though was the awards ceremony. A few weeks ago, Sean's teacher had each kid draw a name and they had to write an award for the person whose name they drew. It was so touching to see the amazing things the kids wrote about each other. Sean's was about how he was a math wizard who always raised his hand in class. :) Clearly, the math wizard got his father's genes, cause we all know that's not my special talent. :) Then Sean's teacher said a few words and was very emotional as she talked about how much she loved the kids and would miss them. There wasn't a dry eye in the room by the time she was done. It also meant a lot to Sean (and to me) to have Grammy and Grandpa there to share the experience with him.

It was a fantastic experience and I feel so grateful that Sean was blessed to have such an amazing teacher. He has grown so much under her care and she's really set the bar high for his next teacher.

Sean and his AMAZING teacher, Mrs, Romines. :)

Out with the old, in with the new....or is it old friends are the best friends?

We have been talking about getting a van forever and finally decided to just do it. Everything just sort of fell into place and we knew it was the right time. We traded in our Honda CR-V that we've had for 7 years and replaced it with a Toyota Sienna that can seat 8. I have to admit that even though I love our new van and we desperately needed the extra seats, I am missing my old friend, Hondi Hondi (the kids named it that years ago). It was our family car for 7 of the 9 years that we've been married. Sean grew up in it and Avery rode home from the hospital in it. We have taken so many vacations and trips inside it. It protected us when we were in an accident. It sounds silly to miss a car, but I found myself tearing up as my new van was parked next to it at the dealer. I just couldn't help but think of Hondi Hondi as an old friend that I was saying goodbye to. Laugh if you will, but I do miss my old friend. But in the interest of moving on, here's to all the new memories we will make in the new van. No doubt they will include a million trips to church, tae kwon do, preschool, carpooling, etc...

Race for the Cure

Every year since we've moved here, I've been involved in someway with Race for the Cure. It's an important cause for me for more reasons that I can name. This year, I was able to go with just my Dad and support him as he raced. I am so proud of him. He is my hero in so many ways and it was a pleasure to be with him on such a great day! I feel so blessed to call him my Dad! :)

REAL MEN DO WEAR PINK!! :)

Cone of Shame

Poor Emma! She was spayed yesterday and because she keeps trying to lick her stitches we had to put her in the protective collar. Now, since my kids have seen UP about a million times, the only name they call it is "the cone of shame". Everytime they see her, they say "Poor Emma, stuck in the cone of shame".

I really hate that we have to put her in it, but everytime I take it off, she goes right to lick her stitches. Poor Emmy! It's going to be a long 7 days for her.

Disney Magic

Last month we went to Disneyworld for a week. This is our absolute favorite vacation spot and we would live there if we could. :) This time, we drove to Florida and it went great. The drive was about 9.5 hours but it went by pretty fast. The kids did great and had plenty of things to entertain them. It was easier and less stressful than flying in some ways.

Our favorite way to do Disney is to stay at a Disney resort and let Disney take care of everything while we're there. So, we stayed at one of their resorts and just hopped on a Disney bus or monorail anytime we wanted to go anywhere. It was wonderful. And perhaps the best part of staying at a Disney resort is Magic Hours. It's the best way to see all that Disney has to offer without the normal crowds. This time, we also did the two waterparks and those were amazing!

We all loved different things about the trip. For Avery it was breakfast with the princesses in the castle, and riding Peter Pan as much as possible. :) For Sean, it was all about the mountains....Splash, Space and Everest. :) And he was finally big enough for Rock N Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He LOVED it! That's my boy! For me...well, I love everything. I have too many favorites to name. I love the mountains and the classic rides (like Peter Pan and Small World). I think Eric's favorite part was the food. Disney is truly amazing for people with allergies. He was able to go anywhere and get gluten-free food. Even the little food stands and small quick service places had gluten-free buns, fries, pizza, burritos and even dessert. He was sooo happy!

The only bad part about going to Disney world is leaving. It took all our willpower to pull away and watch it get smaller and smaller in the distance. Eric even talked on the way home about moving to Florida so we could be closer and go more often. But we decided that North Carolina is just to awesome to leave. :) It is the best place we have ever lived, hands down.

Ay-ya!!!

Sean has wanted to take Tae Kwon Do for a long time and about two months ago, we finally signed him up. :) Better late than never, right? He goes to classes three times a week and he is loving it. And so am I. He is learning so many important values and skills and the focus has really been good for him. Here are some pics I took on his first day...