Update-ish

I've fallen off the blogging wagon again but I've been taking pictures in an attempt to hop back on. Here's a quick recap of the past week or so; this should catch me up to the current date and then I can start from there, hopefully tomorrow!

Last Friday, I attended the Fiesta tent sale in Flatwoods, WV. It was nothing short of awesome. For an obnoxiously low price, I was able to get all new plates, serving dishes and glasses for our kitchen. Behold the happiness:




I am officially hooked and can not wait for the new color to come out in August--Lemongrass!

I returned home on Saturday afternoon in plenty of time to enjoy the nice weather over the weekend with Jonathan and Bryan. I did, however, miss Jonathan's soccer game, where he actually scored two goals. After the disaster that was the Fall 2008 soccer season, this is a small miracle!

Here's the soccer star himself getting ready to go outside and help us plant flowers. Even as his mother, I have to admit that he's looking a bit dorky here. (Sarah, if you are reading this--note the shine to his skin! Sunscreen will totally take care of that "matte" finish!)



Yesterday after work, I took Jonathan to get a much-needed haircut. He wanted a "buzz" so I had them use the clippers all over rather than just on the sides. He was quite pleased, as were both Bryan and myself:



(Side note: I SWEAR this child has 50 other shirts, but he has two Spongebob shirts that he wants to wear all the time unless I hide them. Getting him to wear something else is a battle that I do not wish to fight most mornings).

Tomorrow at Jonathan's school they are doing their annual parade in honor of the Kentucky Derby. Last year, as a two year old, he wore a hat. This year, as a preschooler, he got to make a "float." The suggestions were to use a stick pony, a bicycle, a wagon, etc. Ever creative, Jonathan chose his shopping cart. We decorated it this evening and here are the results (he insisted I photograph it from both sides):




On another front, the anti-smoking campaign is going quite well. Have their been snippy moments in our household? Yes. Are all items in the household, including ourselves, intact? Yes. I consider it a success thus far. I'm putting $4 aside each day in our checking account, said amount approximating the cost of one pack of cigarettes (even though I think it's actually closer to $5 per pack now). Only 12 days into this and we've saved almost $50!

That is all for now, my loves. I hope to return tomorrow with pictures from the parade. I'll leave you with a picture that I am in that I actually half-way like:

Tailgating

Someone needs to tell Jonathan that tailgating is supposed to look more like this:



and less like this:



Amazing how, despite having multi-million dollar planes flying overhead (we were enjoying the airshow of Thunder Over Louisville) as well as a vast selection of outdoor toys, the main attraction of the day was the back of the CR-V.

Jonathan's Not Getting Any Siblings...

...but if I could pick some, it would be these girls:



Unrelated, this morning, there was a piece on NPR about Spongebob and the longevity of the show. Apparently 9 of the last 20 top rated cable slots were Spongebob. They also reported that Barrack Obama, Scarlett Johansen and LeBron James are fans. Makes me feel a lot better about Jonathan's obsession, but it also worries me a bit that we may be watching it in our house for the next 15 years.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Jonathan has been full of surprises this week; you never know what is going to come out of his mouth these days. My current favorites are "it was the cup's fault that cranberry juice is on the floor" and "damn it." The latter, according to Jonathan, comes to us courtesy of one of his school friends. He has been strongly advised not to use it again, but I'll admit, it cracked me up when he said it last night. So unexpected.

2. Reason 4,486 why I love my husband: Bryan had a guy's night tonight right after work. I called him as I was on my way to get Jonathan, we chatted a bit, I said "love you" and he said bye; we hung up. He called right back to say "I love you, too." He'd realized, before I even had time to think about it, that he hadn't said it. We are not the type to end every conversation with those words, but sometimes it just seems right. Even though I know that he loves me, it was really nice that he called right back to let me know (insert awwww here).

3. Jonathan moves to his new school starting June 1. I intended to tell the director at his current school by May 1. However, his old school has an annual re-registration process, which is basically a form to be completed and $75.00 to be paid by May 1. So I really need to tell them earlier. Even though I am 100% sure the move is the right decision, Jonathan has gone to the old school since September 2005 and I'm feeling guilt. I just need to DO it, but I keep wimping out each day. Jonathan tells me we are going to do it tomorrow. Would it be so bad to let the three year old lead the way??

4. I tried Pilates today. I feel giddy, like back when I was dating and had a good first date. I can't wait to go again.

5. My job was particularly frustrating today. It never ceases to amaze me how people will call for legal advice, I provide them with said legal advise, and then the caller either gets mad at me because I didn't say what he or she wanted to hear or, alternately, wants to argue with me. If you don't want to know the answer or feel that you already know it, why waste both of our time?

6. I'm traveling to WV next week, along with my MIL, to attend the Fiesta Tent Sale with my mom, my sisters and my grandmother. I received the price list via email last week and the prices are incredible. I can't wait to score some good deals and hang out with several of the important women in my life.

7. My youngest sister, Melissa turns 25 next month. Our other sister, Laura and I are getting her this for her birthday. The girl could give Mariah Carey a run for her money with her love of butterflies.

8. Laura and Melissa seem to be mending their relationship, at least to some extent. As the big sister, this pleases me to no end.

9. Confession time here--I turn into a smoker when I have alcohol. The whole "I only smoke when I drink" excuse has just made me find reasons to have a cocktail. And, since he's not here right now to stop me from outing him, Bryan is in the same boat. Now, it's always outside and, obviously, NEVER around Jonathan. This behavior is obviously not healthy and is completely contrary to the other positive changes we have made in our lifestyle. You would think that nine months of not smoking would have cured this addiction, at least for me, but not so much. So we are now on medication and have a stop smoking FOREVER date of Thursday, April 16. It may not be pretty and we may pull each other's hair out, but we are committed and we WILL do this. It just sucks that it has to be so darn difficult!

10. We are running another 5K on Saturday. My second 5K time was almost exactly 2 minutes faster than my first one. I'm hoping to cut another three minutes off my time on this one; however, the first two were flat and this one is hilly "as all get out", as my mother would say.

Easter Weekend

As I mentioned in my last post, Jonathan was literally showered with gifts for Easter this year. My youngest sister, Melissa, called on Thursday and told me she was sending a big box of Easter stuff. We had a lot planned for Saturday, so I assumed we would be gone when the mail arrived as it's always delivered in the afternoon. I planned to set it out the next morning with the Easter bunny's basket. Imagine my surprise when, for the first time in the entire seven years we have lived in our house, the mail was delivered at 8:45 a.m.! Jonathan was so excited; there was no way I could make him wait to open it.

Some pictures of the loot (and, yes, he's still into Spongebob. I've tried to fight it but it's a fight that I am desperately losing):






On Easter day, we attended church with Bryan's family. Jonathan made it to the beginning of the sermon before I had to remove him from the sanctuary. Easter morning is a recipe for disaster--load a kid up with candy and then expect him to be quiet for an hour. Yeah, right. I did, however, get to participate in the singing of "Up From the Grave He Arose" (although I don't think it's actually called that in the hymnal at Immanuel) and that made me happy. (Side note to Kara: I could not stop thinking about your country-fied lyrics from Friday night. "Victory in Jesus" will never sound the same to me again!). I then enjoyed "Shrek 2" while Bryan and the rest of the fam had communion. Such is the life as the mother of a three year old.

After church, we had lunch at my MIL's house. My SIL's mother made the most heavenly lemon cheesecake EVER. After stuffing ourselves to the gills we retired to the backyard so Jonathan and Aiden could hunt Easter eggs. Pat also fixed up several baskets for the two of them, smartly remembering the debacle caused at Christmas with different colored cars and choosing to make the baskets EXACTLY the same. I really like the next-to-last one for some reason, despite the fact that it's horribly out of focus.







All in all, despite the fact that we are dealing with a VERY willful three year old right now, a great Easter was had by all.

S-P-O-I-L-E-D

We came home today to two boxes on the front porch. One was from my mother's mother and one was from my sister, Laura. Both were for Jonathan for Easter. Back in my day, I felt lucky to get a hollow chocolate bunny, but for this kid, it's like a mini-Christmas. The Easter Bunny is totally being outdone, I can tell you that. And apparently there is more coming from other family members. Jonathan has no idea how good he's got it!







Anyone see or know anything about this? It was in the package from Laura. From the reviews on Amazon, I'm not sure if it's going to be really cool or a big mess. Here's hoping for the former!

Flowers for Granddy

In anticipation of visiting the cemetery on Easter (it's a Easter tradition to take the lilys from church to the gravesides of the loved ones for whom the flowers were dedicated), Bryan and I thought it would be best if I took Jonathan by myself beforehand, so that I could answer any questions he might have outside the earshot of Nana (and Bryan, too, for that matter). Jonathan has been past Granddy's grave, but had not gotten out of the car. After careful consideration, we've decided to tell Jonathan (who knows but does not really understand that Granddy has died) that Granddy's grave site is the special place where we can leave flowers and go to talk to Granddy, sort of a designated spot where he knows where to look for us.

Yesterday afternoon after Jonathan's nap, I told him we were going to visit Granddy and then we would go to the park. Jonathan picked out his clothes, choosing his firetruck t-shirt because "Granddy likes firetrucks." We then went to Kroger and picked out flowers. Jonathan carefully perused the options and chose pink carnations. As we drove to the cemetery, we chatted about Granddy. It was a cloudy day and Jonathan explained to me that Granddy was in heaven and showed me a cloud that he is on. According to Jonathan, Granddy has his own cloud that he stays on most of the time but he can move to other ones when the clouds bump together.

Bryan and his mom have yet to pick out and order a gravestone, but there is a vase for the flowers. Jonathan carefully arranged the carnations:





He also gave them a sniff for good measure:



Then, in a move that completely melted my heart, he told me I needed to be quiet so he could talk to Granddy:



As I wiped tears away from my eyes at the sheer sweetness of my little boy, he looked at me, with much this same face, patted me on the shoulder, and reassured me that Granddy is in a better place because he doesn't hurt anymore.



Maybe he understands it more than we know.