Alphabitty Moments--Week 18

This week's Alphabitty Moment is brought to you by the letter R

To me these photos just capture what it is to be a boy in this house.  Busy, busy, always on the move.  I dread the quiet when they are grown...maybe that's why we keep having them, huh? I am so looking forward to this summer and all of its activity.  We kick it off this weekend with a return trip to a local theme park.  (I missed the first trip, because Nick and I were otherwise involved--in the happy occasions of Aunt Annie's engagement party and bridal tea.)  Aunt Annie might even make it up North for the fun! This year's theme park trips are bound to be easier on me than last year's third trimester trips.  Ugh!  Looking forward to introducing Nick to the water!

When you get a chance, cruise on by the campground and check out some other R-Moments.  I look forward to Alphabitty Thursday all week.  My partners in this project give me so much inspiration!  

8th Grade Graduation

Will graduated 8th grade tonight!  Where has the time gone?  I swear it seems like just last Christmas, he was opening his talking Winnie-the-Pooh, giggling, "He said 'Fremd'!"  Now, his voice is several octaves lower and his biggest concern in life is organizing a movie night to celebrate the end of the school year with his friends.  The graduation ceremony was followed by a dance for the "graduates."  I'll think about that tomorrow...
Granted, I was necessarily medicated (I am coping with a 6mm kidney stone and was released from the hospital just in time for the ceremony), but seeing him walk in to the graduation processional theme was unexpectedly tough!  

I'm usually not such a sap!

The class of 2013.

Teachers, Administration, and Support Staff

Will receiving his Academic Excellence Award

Academic Excellence Recipients

Science Award

Science Award Recipients

Spanish Award

Spanish Award Recipients

We are so blessed with the teachers Will had this school year.  Every last one of them is dedicated and rigorous, and we are so happy that we get to work with them again next year with Jack! All year long, they went out of their way to encourage our son and express their appreciation for what can only be called his "Will-ness."  I know that they left their indelible mark on him, and we could not be more grateful.  We are so proud of Will!  It is so hard to believe that he begins high school this year.  2013 will be here all too soon!

Alphabitty Moments--Week 17

The letter Q!  

If there is one thing adding a baby to the mix changed for us this year, it is definitely slowing down!  Each of us has enjoyed many hours of quiet time with our newest family member.  I'll never forget the night I came home from class (the first time I had to leave Nicholas with a babysitter) to find Jack asleep on the love seat with Nicholas perched unconscious on top of him.  I love nothing more than watching the brothers bond at times like these!  I can't wait to see what my Alphabitty friends have come up with this week!

Alphabitty Moments--Week 16

Another week, another letter! I am getting so excited seeing this book come to its fruition. I can't wait to publish it and hold it in my hands. Are you interested in holding a book of your own in your hands? Not into the Alphabet scene? Consider stopping by Alphabitty Moments' creator's blog anyway--Carrie makes beautiful books from blogs. What a cool keepsake of your family memories! You've already done the work: let Carrie do the rest! You can see more samples of her beautiful work on her business blog. But back to the alphabet:

I know this page of my alphabet book will always remind me of movie nights with the family: jockeying for the favored position in the living room, the smell of popcorn, and shopping for a movie on pay-per-view that we can all enjoy. The latter is no small feat these days with our age spread! And judging by the expression on my oldest's face in this photo, these nights will soon be replaced by nights out with friends. Sigh.

Babysitters, Blow-outs, and Baseball

Poor Will!  He had his first babysitting experience yesterday afternoon for a few hours, as I had to go into school for some reading training.  Unfortunately, this first experience coincided with a first experience for Nick as well:  his first blow-out diaper.  I don't know who to feel sorrier for:  the teenagers who used a box and a half of wipes to clean the baby up, because they are not yet allowed to bathe him, or the baby who didn't get bathed after the disgusting experience for another hour.  Thankfully it happened near the end of the sitting session.  I still remember the first time I babysat an infant.  She was about Nick's age, and during their nap time, her three year old sister sidled into her room and slathered her in Vick's Vaporub.  On her face!  

On a happier note, Jim has been in NYC this week for a trade show, and a client took him to a Mets game.  We even saw him while watching the game at home.  A Philly hit a foul ball into right field, right into his section!  He didn't retrieve the ball, and he looked like a MANIAC super-excited fan, so I guess I'll go ahead and claim him as ours.  The boys were so excited to see him there having fun.  They immediately called him to tell him they had seen him.  He called them again in the 8th inning when they were playing Meet the Mets, and he and his friend were up on the Jumbo-tron, singing and swaying arm-in-arm.  Only a baseball game could bring out this side of my husband!  And to top the night off, happily, the Mets won game 1 in this series.  WooHoo!  Let's go, Mets! 

Alphabitty Moments--Week 15

The brain-child of Carrie over at 4 the Love of Family, Alphabitty Moments helps us preserve our family memories, one letter at a time.

Overalls are easily my favorite look for little boys. (Bucket hats are a close second.)  Babyhood is officially over when potty-training forces me to abandon these adorable duds! I dread that day this time around...I just know that it will make this mom, who has never cried on the first day of Kindergarten, bawl like a baby.  I just love 'em!

Don't forget to mosey on over to Carrie's campground to peruse some more O's!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday, the blog carnival created by MckMama, where we blog about the events in our lives that are totally not blog-worthy, while shrouding their severity, by pretending we did NOT do them at all!

This week I most certainly did NOT allow my 9-month-old son to feast on french fries and fried dough at his older brother's baseball game, because I forgot his diaper bag at home. Nope, NOT me!  I am organized hours in advance for such outings, and I am NEVER bathing the baby 15 minutes prior to our scheduled departure!  (Hey, he's teething and we are rolling with his moods, sometimes forsaking routines, and he ate chicken and broccoli the night before for dinner, so it all balances out, right?)  The things I allow myself to get away with on baby #4!  Baby #1 would NEVER have even been allowed to lay eyes on fried dough and french fries, much less eat them!  Maybe the bathing routine will resurface when I return to work in the fall???  I will no longer have the luxury of bathing on a whim, right?

Speaking of things I NEVER would have done with Baby #1, I most certainly did NOT snap this photo of Nicholas eating leaves at the state park before removing them from his mouth.  

NOPE! NOT this overprotective, hyper-vigilant, germ-o-phobic mama. (What is happening to me???)   Let's face it:  this was just NOT a good week for Nick's diet!

(I'm so embarrassed! Poor baby!)

Thankfully, he is still too young to realize that these are NOT the types of greens nutritionists have in mind to replace the bad carbs he consumed at the ball game!

"OOOOHHHH, Mama!  Shame on you!"

And finally, my most embarrassing NM, because I wanted to save the worst for last.  I most certainly did NOT write this post last week, getting more and more frustrated with MckMama by the hour for not getting Mr. Linky up earlier.  Hmmm...this is not like MckMama. right? RIGHT!  My eighth grade son came home from school and reminded me it was TUESDAY!  I did NOT post a NMM on a Tuesday, because I let the holiday weekend knock me off my A-game. It did NOT take me until 2:30 in the afternoon, to realize it was, in fact, NOT Monday!  I also did NOT hurry to edit my post options, so that the date would read Monday, instead of Tuesday, and fewer of my friends and family would realize what a doofus I am!  And, no matter what the neighbors tell you, I did NOT make a similar misjudgment with our garbage collection!  NOT me!  (Unfortunately, life comes with no such editing tool!)

What have you NOT been up to?