Representing the Class of 2015

Apparently Pre-School graduations are a real thing. 

And, it is a good thing because this kid was SO cute at his!

Also, this. How cute are his little neon shoes?? I will be eternally grateful for the dedication and patience and overall wonderfulness of his teachers; they did an amazing job with preschool. Also, most of these kids were such a part of his life-I am going to miss them, too! Because I am an "after 5" picker upper, I don't know all of them, but from birthday parties and Anderson's stories, I feel like I do know most of them. I am hoping that I see them again as they move through school. 

Love the recapturing of the year on his cubby collage. 

Kindergarten doesn't send me a picture everyday, do they? 

On to the actual graduation-

Every family has different strengths that they regularly carry out and perhaps my family's most prevalent one is that of "If there is an event, we will be in the front row." 

Other strengths are "Lasagna as an appetizer," "Awareness of hidden clearance spots in multiple stores" and "Always having a back up of everything, especially toothpaste."

Getting there early allows for pictures like this-

and this. 

And, most importantly, out of a crowd of over 200, we got to wave at our graduate and see his preciousness the entire time. 

Also, I am always grateful for the proximity of grandparents. We know how lucky we are to have them there. 

Max? Where is Max? Duh-in my arms. Homeboy cannot even sit down in a seat without me when I am around-the separation anxiety is strong with that one. Also, the crowd was very pleased to see that the family on the front row also had a 2 year old with them. 

An unable to sit still, really loud 2 year old. 

My heart! Love this. 

Also-Landon and Brayden next to him. 

He was so focused when it was his turn for his diploma. He was really so serious the entire time, which I think was a combination of his teachers/parents being in such close proximity to him for so long. There was a lot of pressure. 

I love when I catch glimpses of his personality and realize he is so my kid, despite outward appearances. As soon as he threw his hat, he was desperate to locate it and then sort of hoarded it while the other kids kept throwing theirs.

This family. 

Of course, Noni & Bop were there! And, my Mom brought the Eeyore that she gave me when I graduated from high school (16 years ago?)-see above reference on "talents of my family" and add hoarding/documenting. 

I must have missed the memo about Preschool graduation gifts, but I came through by quickly writing "This is good for one trip to HobbyTown" on a piece of paper with a crayon. 

I am all about presentation. 

We took him there a few days later and he picked out a blue whale-he loves collecting animals and developing an obsession with each new one for about a week before it finds it's permanent home in a bathtub toy basket. 

To celebrate graduation, they had "Sprit Week" with different days, including "Pajama/Picnic Day" and I got this pic sent to me. When I first saw this I had a moment of Gold Star Momness where I patted myself on the back for his perfect little lunch and the note and the fact that I remembered pajamas, a towel AND the lunch. And, then that was crushed by his story about feeding the strawberries to some birds, but not the cookies because those were eaten first. Whatever. We have to choose our battles. 

At Graduation I got his "portfolio," which was a ton of his work/projects over the last 2 years. I loved  it because most of the stuff was new to me. 

His fish makes me happy because we debated getting that thing. Also, he is thankful for "pumpkins and mom." 

Finally, he "read" 10 books! They are all very early reader books (1 word per page and the picture was basically the word, but still!)

Of all things, please let my kids be readers! 

A few videos:

Anderson singing

A getting his diploma

I can't believe this stage is over. Actually, I can believe it because I think Anderson is at least 27. I definitely teared up a bit when I picked up all of his stuff on the last day because I can't believe I am not doing our routine anymore-bring him in, set up his breakfast, organize his lunch, hang up his backpack, set out show & tell, extra hugs every morning (about 5) until I can leave, waving at him through the window, getting his updates during the day, picking him up (almost always when they were outside), having him tell me about his day, hearing about his day & friends, picking up his artwork at the end of the day....all of it. 

But, I am also really excited about kindergarten! I can't wait to see how the next stage looks. 

I said Yes to tadpoles on my counter.

I have these boys. And they have a love of all things outside, animal and science. 

And these boys now have tadpole turned frogs on our porch. 

I worship Jen Hatmaker and act like we are actual friends by following her on Social Media. She is hilarious, in general. Her most recent blog post was about how nobody really knows how to correctly parent, but it comes down to choosing what to say yes/no to during your parenting attempt. As I was reading it, she asked other people to share their yes moments and, even though I did not share, I totally thought of these tadpoles as my yes. 

"Mama, look at all of these tadpoles! Can you get one, please?"

yes.

"Mama, can we take them home? Please!"

yes.

"Mama, can we please keep them until they become frogs?"

yes.

"Mama, can we please keep them until they become bigger frogs?" 

(this one might be a no-the jury is still out. And, by jury, I mean my sanity.)

We went to Dollywood about 3 weeks ago where I was totally swindled into fishing in the random pond thing with a free water cup to gather some tadpoles. I say "swindled" because when your 5 year old asks you to get them out, with the assumption that you CAN and WILL, you just have to give in to him. One day, I will not be cool in his eyes, but on that day, it was no question that I was willing and able to illegally? fish in a Dollwood water area. So, peer pressure won. And, my sister documented. Of course. 

Max's sippy cup had to take one for the team that day. I DID end up throwing it away because tadpoles AND amphibian ebola were not on my list of things to bring home as souvenirs that day. 

They promptly took up residence on my counter where I fed them boiled lettuce. Thank you, Google, for that info. Look how little they were! I am sort of nostalgic about them now. 

Also, I was boiling lettuce as I was making 4 lunches and doing breakfast prep and cleaning up dinner and letting the dogs out thinking....I am boiling lettuce for tadpoles. Where did I go WRONG??

In some kind of "it keeps getting more free" twist, the Science theme of Anderson's school that week was the life cycle of a frog. So, in to Goddard went the plastic tupperware with tape around it, full of nasty water and 2 tadpoles. BEAMING does not even begin to describe how Anderson felt when he told me about showing his friends the tadpoles. I am sure many mothers that night were cussing me as the kids went home talking about the tadpoles living on Anderson's counter. 

They were seriously on the counter. 

Brandon always comes through for us in every life event with words of wisdom. 

For this situation, it was-

1. Please move them outside, I think there are tapeworms or some kind of parasites in the water, which is on our counter where we eat.  

2. Yes, they will do that; that is what they do. (This was in response to me telling him "We have tadpoles! They are going to turn into frogs!")

We love his logical and rational mind and his ability to keep us parasite free. 

After a week or so, the water was super gross, so we got new pond water at GG's house. In this round, we also brought home a snail that we didn't realize until later. The gift just keeps giving!

They started to grow legs-see them?

Despite his initial reaction, Brandon also grew attached to them (they were so cute!) and sent me this pic one night while I was at work- 4 legs!

And, today we went outside to check on them and this guy was just perched on the moss. 

A FROG!!!!

So, I realize that most people probably are not that excited about these frogs, but I am just so impressed that they actually stayed alive long enough to become frogs. This might be the most fun parenting thing that I have done in awhile & Anderson got to actually see this happen. I am documenting this in case I ever need to send in "frog life cycle" pics for something. You know, because the tupperware on the counter is very scientific and official. 

Also, I had to do this post today because I am not sure how much longer they will be with us since Anderson is obsessed with picking them up. I figured it was best to document now. 

Mother's Day

I am a bit late, but we had some great celebrations for Mother's Day!

Awhile ago, I had Anderson paint these canvases and he chose what to paint on each of them and gave them as fits. The top left is the city of Knoxville (mine), the top right is ...I can't remember (Brandon's), the bottom left is a scene with the sky and grass and a butterfly (GG's) and the bottom right is a building with a lot of windows (Noni's.)

I love celebrating my mom because, let's be honest, she is the best. I love her on the skating rink. 

On Mother's Day, we went to brunch with GG and everyone was very happy that we crashed the place with 2 small kids. 

Brothers. 

Also, brothers with GG. I think this picture turned out really good! We are so lucky that GG lives so close to us so that she can be such  part of our lives every day. We really should celebrate her everyday because she does so much for us!

Being the mama to these boys is, without a doubt, my main purpose in life. I know that every mom feels this way, but who were we before we had kids??? I was not even me. 

When your babies are taller than you...

Another good pic! We were on it that day!

Selfie with J-Pa. We are so proud of how hard our J-Pa is fighting and staying strong despite having to overcome so many obstacles! 

Anderson made this at school. 

So many thoughts. 

First, Kroger is my hobby. Should I be sad that this is what he thinks I love doing? Or, should I be super proud that I am clearly NEVER going to think, "I wish I had spent more time with them," since they are with me everywhere...

Also, I love work. Again, am I sad that he thinks I work too much? Or, am I DAMN PROUD that my kids sees my able to balance work and going to Kroger and jumping off the bed and playing with him?? I mean, we even love to go swimming together! I actually see this as a win. 

He made his at school for me. I love it, but need to get one of those plate stand things because it keeps ending up in our cabinet and I do not want any part of eating off of it. 

Max made me this sweetness. 

On Mother's Day, he wanted to make me something, so he said, "I need a plain white plate and paint!" as if our house is his preschool classroom. This was the best I could do, so he painted us on it. I really need to get him some other colors of paint. 

Mom was out of town on Mother's Day, so we celebrated last week. I took a half day (See, I don't love work TOO much!) and we went to lunch and got pedicures and then I exploited her Sam's membership to buy stuff for Max's party. It was a win for everyone. 

Truly, I cannot imagine my life without my mom. She is my reason for surviving every day. Love you, Mom. 

A Construction Party & a Birthday Airplane Ride

Max had quite the celebrations for his birthday this year, including a party with very 1980's looking truck invitations. 

Brandon made this cake. I know. 

I actually knew he was going to do an awesome job, which is why I bought the cake and the stuff and sort of dumped it on the counter at him. I was SO impressed-it turned out perfect and, as Sam's cakes always are, it was also delicious. 

The goody bags.

 I love making goody bags for parties because it puts my hoarding to good use. I always try to keep everything under $1/bag and I struggled with Max's this year because the construction hats were .50/each so that left me with just .50 to complete the rest of the bag. Thankfully, the CVS Easter clearance arrived just in the nick of time.

Since we crashed GG's last year, we decided to share the love and moved the party to Noni's house this year! 

Also, you are looking at the extent of the decorations right here. Gold Star to Nicole for the sign. 

Is there anything better than a backyard party? Especially when my parents have the perfect set up? 

Reese= Cutest kid ever. 

Levi was there and received lots of love from the Glover gang!

The kites turned out to be more the entertainment of the adults than the kids, I think. They kept running into each other and tripping over the strings. But, they were very proud when they did "fly" for a few seconds. 

Also, Lily in her boot held her own. Actually, I think her kite stayed up the longest. Leave it to the girl to do the best, even in a boot!

My parents' backyard. And, my thumb?

Love this pic of this kid. Also, love Reese in the background and the PERFECT cake. 

The only pic that I got of Pappaw. As usual, once it was over, I was immediately mad at myself for not taking more pics of people other than Max. 

I did manage to snag this one of Lucy practicing being a big sister! How cute is her hair??

Max had all kinds of helpers with his gifts. I love how Lucy and Kennadee are actually listening to me read the card and Max is totally obvious. The male genes are strong forces. 

Also, how is this the only pic of Kennadee??

Grateful for my parents' willingness to host a bunch of people at their house and clean out the smushed bananas from the playhouse as a result of playing "Restaurant."

We didn't to the party until the week after his party, but we celebrated the birthday weekend, too! These events are not in chronological order, but I am feeling a bit like Chloe looks in the above pic (tired) and am not moving them. 

Seriously, I love Chloe's nonchalant attitude about her screaming brother. Just another day.

I think this was the first pic that I got of him at 2, though, so I had to include it. 

Things did perk up quite a bit when we went worm hunting at about 7am that day. 

Then, we met up with Jessica at ChickFilA for a 2 hour lunch. 

She is AMAZING because she not only met us at Chickfila on a Saturday at lunch and sat outside in the heat, but ALSO brought everyone gifts! And, did I mention she was "Teacher of the Year"?? She is my favorite. 

2 years of being able to love this guy is the greatest gift ever!

Back to the day-Anderson was invited to a party that day and I, like always, brought Max. It turns out that the "Planes" themed party ACTUALLY involved a plane. What on earth. 

They got to fly in it! So, Anderson went up first (I let him go up in a plane with someone I just met...what has happened to me?) and Max lost his mind, so they let him go, too. He was beyond excited about it. I was basically terrified the entire time we were up because I had left Anderson on the ground with his friend's mom and I kept thinking that I didn't even leave her a number to call if we crashed. 

I ams so grateful for the mom who planned this party on Max's birthday so that I could fully exploit her. Also, I will always remind Max of the time that I flew with him in an airplane on his birthday. That's just the kind of mom I am. 

We finished the day with a trip to the park/splash pad and pizza for dinner!

Anderson & Brandon had awesome days, too. 

And, finally, a cupcake for the birthday guy!

A few videos:

Max started screaming when the plane took off with Anderson & everyone thought he was scared of the noise, but....he wanted to ride. Hilarious.

Anderson giving Max a digger