A Story With No Ending

My Sunday night could be summed up in 2 words....The Perfect Night.  Ok, so that's 3, but whose counting?!

Our little family worked together and played together...no bickering, no complaining, and no whining. 

The day started with lots of cleaning.  Which turned into mass organizing and purging.  Which then turned into a much bigger mess...It happens.

You see, we are having Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and with that comes lots of prep work and preparation.

Is prep work and preparation pretty much the same thing?  Whateve!

Our house had gotten uncharacteristically messy the past few weeks.  We just kind of 'let it go' for a little while.  And let me tell you...it was a little overwhelming when I got going.

I spent ALL DAY Saturday cleaning out our guest room closet, coat closet, linen closet, and utility closet.  Wes spent most of the day cleaning out the garage and re-laying pine straw in the front flower beds.  I also got a jump on our office - I had an entire file box filled to the brim with papers/bills/documents that needed to be sorted through and filed.  It was a tough job, and one that couldn't be completed in a days time.

On Sunday, I spent ALL DAY finishing the filing, re-arranging the office furniture, and completely organizing and purging Will's room.  I hit his closet, his dresser, and all of the toys.  I wish I would have taken before and after pictures to prove just how much I got done in 1 weekend.

Come Sunday night, I was SPENT!!  Tired to the core.  My feet were swollen, my knees hurt and I was just completely worn out! 

Earlier in the day I took out a couple chicken breasts and planned to make chicken Parmesan with penne pasta.  As much as I wanted to scrap my dinner plans and head into town for something that didn't require making more of a mess and cleaning, I decided that Sunday night was meant to be a home cooked meal...plus the thought of showering and getting dressed was more draining to me than sucking it up and just cooking what i had already planned.

So, I got out everything needed and got to work.  As I started preparing the meat - pounding, coating with egg mixture, and breading in Italian bread crumbs; my WONDERFUL helpful husband (who had been hunting most of the day) came in and offered to help.

So, after he poured us both a glass of wine we got to work and got dinner going.  Will was playing nicely at the counter with his play dough, all of the doors and windows were open and a nice cool breeze was blowing through the house.  Both dogs were curled up together, patiently waiting for a morsel of food to drop.  The vocal styling of Ray Lamontagne was playing from the ipod doc...and there we were, our happy little family.  We were talking, working together, and enjoying our special family time.  Right as I was having a nice little personal thought about how lucky I was, and how I would remember this moment forever, and never take it for granted, I heard it...  POW!!! ...... POW, POW, POW!!!

What the hell!?

POW!!  POW!!....POW!! POW!!! POW!!!!

My special little moment was quickly interrupted by our neighbors desire to have target practice on a Sunday evening. 

I guess this is what you get when you live in the boonies.

I just realized this story doesn't really come to a point or an ending...It just kinda, ends.

But that's how it goes with my entries. 

Love, A writer of stories with no endings,
-EmJ

CF Card Full

It always perplexes me when I think about the differences between man and woman. I mean, how can we coexist and ever have successful relationships with the extreme differences that are present?

I've heard of studies done about men only listening with 1/2 of their brain, where we woman listen with our whole brain. Not sure I really understood this particular study until this past weekend.

Disclaimer - For those guys, who may be reading this... I'm not writing this post to bitch about how much better woman are than men. God created us equally, right?            (slight chuckle)

I just have to get this story out there, so I'll get on with it...

So, you'd think that by now I would have posted some pumpkin patch pictures to share. Well, I WOULD have and COULD have, if I had some. Which I did at one point...but not anymore. Let me explain...

Our family dolled ourselves up this past Saturday and headed to a wedding at Maclay gardens. I wore a long-sleeve black dress with some Kim-Kardashian-shoedazzle booties. They remind me of something that could be Chanel...but totally are NOT - Cute as heck, but hurt my feet. Wes wore the standard dark dress pants, and light blue collared button down shirt. He did look pretty handsome! For Will, we dressed him in the most adorable Janie and Jack slacks that had little embroidered mallard ducks all over, a crisp white button down collard shirt with a coordinating embroidered mallard duck tie (thanks Aunt Nunu!). We had a dark khaki blazer to top off his ensemble, but it was much too hot for the blazer. The kicker to Will's outfit was that he demanded to wear his sunglasses. So here is a two year old little boy, all dressed up in a tie while sporting some retro Tom Cruise Risky Business shades.

Anyway, we were looking good...

We got to Maclay, walked down to where the ceremony was taking place and found a nice seat in the very back row. We had a feeling Will wouldn't make it through the whole thing, so it was important we be able to remove him in case he started being loud and disruptive. So we sat down for the ceremony and busted out the camera to take some pictures of Will in his cute little get-up. As Wes tried to take a picture of Will in his adorable outfit we got the error message from our camera that our "CF card was full." This simply means that there is no more room on the card and pictures can not be taken.

The ceremony was just getting started, and the bridesmaids were making their way down the isle. I whispered (loud enough) to Wes, "you can delete all of the pictures except the pumpkin patch pictures." I then grabbed the camera from him, got to a good starting point, handed it back and said, "here, delete from here."

Well, I'm sure you can use your imagination to figure out what happened...but if this story is getting the best of you, I'll continue to explain.
Wes went to town deleting pictures. For a solid 3 minutes he was deleting picture after picture...and then it happened. I glanced over and watched him delete a pumpkin patch picture. WHAT THE HELL!
"What are you doing," I whispered loudly in panic.
"I'm deleting the pictures so we have room on the card," he whispered back and giving me a look like, I'm doing what you told me to do.

"I just saw you delete a pumpkin patch picture." I said, now whispering a little louder because I'm getting a little worked up.

"You told me to delete the pumpkin patch pictures," he says. "I just deleted them all."

Deep breathes, looks of disbelief and on the verge of tears, "NO, (you idiot) I told you NOT to delete the pumpkin patch pictures. I said delete everything BUT the pumpkin patch pictures." At this point I feel like people are looking at me and staring. I feel like the bride herself turned around from the alter and told me to "shut the F*$# up."

Wes laughs quietly, "I swear you said for me to delete just the pumpkin patch pictures."

"NO, I clearly told you NOT to delete them. I have every other picture downloaded from that card, expect the pumpkin patch. Do you not remember that I sent you emails with picture albums of ALL of those other pictures?"

Pause.

I continue, "and have you ever seen any of those pumpkin patch pictures before?"

I wait for his response...

"No," he says. Slight pause and then just to rub salt in the wounds he says, "I was wondering...I mean, there were some really cute pumpkin ones on here and I'd never seen any of these before."

"NO SHIT" I say, "that's because they have not been downloaded yet, and I guess now no one will ever seem them. AND, if you wondered, then why didn't you just ask, I am sitting RIGHT here next to you."

"Sorry," he utters, "I swear you said to delete just the pumpkin patch pictures."

I just look at him and shake my head, I mean, what can I do now? Rip the camera from his hands and beat him over the head with it until I feel better? I'd be lying if I said that thought didn't cross my mind.

Regardless, the pictures are gone, and now people around us probably hate us because we're the "happy" couple fighting over pumpkin patch pictures in the middle of a wedding ceremony.

Luckily, before I could put more thought into my plot to beat him with the camera, Will started talking loudly and asking questions in the middle of the ceremony. "Mama, what's her name?" "What's that noise?" "Dada, fix it." So, I quickly gathered him up and got the hell outta dodge.

Will and I walked around the reception area while the ceremony finished up. As mad as I was, and as disappointed as I was that my 2010 pumpkin patch pictures were never going to be seen by the light of day again, I had to get on with it and move on. Forgive and try to forget.

So I did, and we enjoyed the rest of our evening; sans pumpkin patch pictures.

Crazy camera lady,

EmJ

Making Memories - Will's first spend the night

We took a weekend trip to SGI at the beginning of October. SGI for those that don't know is short for, St. George Island. One of my most favorite, child-hood memory spots in the world.

I've spent countless days in SGI with my family; as a child and also as an adult. I am so fortunate enough to be able to share this place with my son.

You see, my Grandparents (Dad's side) built a quaint little beach cottage YEARS ago (my guess is about 45 or so years ago). Well, the place hasn't changed much, but the memories that have been made there I will cherish forever.

Here I would an insert one of the many pictures that were taken of me and my siblings on the island.  But since I don't have one handy...you can just use your imagination and picture 4 extremely cute, skinny, super tan kids on the beach with remnants of colored zinc sunscreen smeared across their faces.  Remember the colored zinc tubes?! 

Anyway...imaginary Picture rigggght about......HERE.

From heated volleyball matches in front of the house, sailboat rides, sunburns, playing on the sand dunes and just-for-fun poker games, it will be a place I never forget.

This particular beach weekend was not only for relaxation, but it also marked a very special weekend for Will. It was his first weekend spend the night with his best friend, Ryder (AKA: Ry Ry).

Ryder's parents, went on vacation together to celebrate their anniversary.  Wes and I couldn't have been more thrilled when they asked if we could help with Ryder that weekend.

Here's a little re-cap of some of the things that we did.

We all arrived Friday night.  We took the boys down to the beach in the dark to run off some steam.  Will dove right into the ocean which cut the beach walk short because it was too cold for him to be out in soaking wet clothes.

We headed inside for bath and bedtime stories.


Papa reading the boys their bedtime story on night 1.



Night 1 - Ryder slept in between Wes and I.  He missed his parents and was a little upset, so we brought him in bed to comfort him and that's just where he stayed throughout the night.  Will bunked with Yaya and Papa that night, and come morning both boys were up and ready to go!

We fixed them their milk, made our coffee and walked out the sliding glass doors to take in the morning sun rise.

Pj's and sand in your toes.  Doesn't get much better!

The boys played.

Tackled Yaya.

Monkey see...



Monkey do.

We watched the sun rise.



SGI Sun rise, 10/9/2010

Monkey See...

Monkey do.  (There was a lot of this all weekend)

And then headed in for some breakfast.

After breakfast was done, we busted out the swim suits and the sunscreen.  Slathered up the boys, slipped into our suits and headed for a gorgeous morning on the island.

The Island gods were on our side this weekend. The water was clearer than I've ever seen it in my life. It was as calm as a lake and only about 2 feet deep for as far out as you could see. A perfect recipe for active 2 year old little boys.

We were able to do some kayaking.

And some swimming.

The boys were SOOO good.  The only tug-o-war for toys we experienced was this particular instance.

They quickly got over it and went back in for another dip.

We stayed down here for hours.  But before we knew it, it was lunch time.  So we headed up for a bite to eat.

The rest of the day consisted of eating, finger painting, swimming in the kiddie pool, playing with play dough, being silly, and more beach fun.  Here's some pictures to prove it.





That night we settled in and the boys slept better than ever.  They were completely worn out.

The Noles beat Miami that night, and we all got to go to bed with a victory grin on our faces.

The next day was more of the same...sun-rise, breakfast, swimming, kayaking, playing in the sand, and fun activities.  Only this time, nap time for the kiddos meant clean-up time for us adults.  So we packed up, cleaned up and departed the island for home.

We had a blast, and hated to see the weekend come to an end.  But I must say, it was an awesome weekend away, and we were so happy Will got to spend it with his best friend, Ryder!

Forever wishing my toes were in the sand,

EmJ

Happy Berf-day Mama

Today, 4 days after my birthday, I wake up to Will's smiling face as he utters the words, "Happy Berf-day Mama."

You see, over the past four days he finds the perfect opportunity to get my undivided attention and wish me, his Mama, his favorite person in the whole world, a "Happy Berfday."  (Ok, so, my title of being 'his favorite person in the world' is self-proclaimed...but this is my blog, and I'll just tell it as I see it.)

You think one may correct their child for wishing a Happy Birthday to someone days after the actual day...but not me.  I won't care if 6 months from now he's still wishing me a happy birthday.  Truth is, he just says it in the sweetest, cutest way your ears will ever hear.  He says it with such a smile on his face that makes me go crazy and grab him up and kiss his soft little chubby cheeks over, and over, and over again!  I could just shake him!  ...but not in a weird "never, never shake a baby" way; in a loving, I want to hear you giggle and laugh and say, "more Mama" way.

Happy Friday and Happy Berfday, everyone!
-EmJ

Seminole in Training

Wes and I took Will to his first FSU football game a few weekends ago.

It was So.Much.Fun!!



Will and his BFF Ryder Miller.

 We were lucky enough to score a skybox with some good best friends of ours, and it couldn't have been more perfect! We were able to shut the door, cool off in the air-conditioning, feast upon all of the food catered by the University Club, have a few drinks, and let the kids run wild. There wasn't much they could get into and they had a blast chasing each other around; under the seating, under the food tables, and around our room.

Will hung with his friends, did the chop, and ate, and ate, and ATE!

Yes, he is really eating a beet!

I swear the child ate the whole entire game. We'd give him a snack only to turn around and see him back at the buffet table scanning for his next one. He even ate beets...who in the heck eats beets? I guess the big question here is, Who the heck puts beets on a football game-day buffet table?


Regardless, we had an awesome time! And we won!!

Layton and Will taking it all in at Doak!

The skybox was so much fun, but not something we'll be able to get every weekend...So do we brave the stands with our hungry little two year old this year? Or do we wait another year for him to have to sit in 1 seat an entire game? Not sure how he'd do in such a confined space?!

Only time will tell...Until then, GO NOLES!!

Mama Nole,

-EmJ

"Tractors Dig Dirt"

So, as Will's train obsession is still present and right as I'm JUST starting to get down the train lingo and learn all of the names of the train cars I find that he is adding new obsessions to the list.

The latest of which is tractors.  LOTS of tractors.  All shapes, sizes and kinds.

I know nothing about tractors.  So luckily we have Dada, Papa and G-Pa to set me straight and teach Will all of the names.

The other day he went through the list, and it might have been the cutest thing in the world.  "Big tractor" he says, "tractors dig dirt".  Followed by, "Digger; diggers dig dirt."  Then my personal favorite, that he says with complete emphasis, "Back-Hoe!" 

You see, I have no idea what a back-hoe really is, or even if that is the exact pronunciation of it.  But when he says "back-hoe" as he does, it brings a huge smile to my face.  His enthusiasm for "back-hoes" makes the world go round. 

So, I guess my task for the day is to find a 2 year-old friendly tractor book, that can teach me Will all about tractors.

Proud Mama of a tractor toting 2 year old boy,
EmJ

"Will's tractors dig dirt."

Love

I love this boy.  And I love this pic.

The end.

-EmJ