Musings from Jonathan's Mommy

Gym Etiquette, Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Dear Guy in Red Tank Top in Noon Spinning Today at the Downtown YMCA:

The beans or whatever you ate today for breakfast and/or morning snack were not a good choice. Further, the Y provides towels for a reason; please utilize them and do not splash your bodily fluids onto those sitting around you.

Thank you,

Chick in the blue dry-fit shirt sitting behind you on December 11

P.S. To the older man in the teensy blue biking shorts--I would say that your attire today was unacceptable but since your milk white legs are even whiter than my own, I welcome you to exercise beside me at any time. Deodorant would be a nice touch before the next class though. Or maybe a shower sometime in the last couple of days. But still, welcome. JRF

Movin' On Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:27:00 +0000

Jonathan finally outgrew his Little Tikes Roadster toddler bed. Bryan and I had been in discussions about whether to buy a new bed or just a frame or whatnot when my mother came to visit and suggested that we just cut the legs off the full-sized bed that was already in his room. Bryan busted out the saw and, voila, a "new" bed.

Jonathan and I immediately set to work finding new bedding. His initial suggestion was Spongebob. I know, shocking. I immediately nixed that idea and offered up my first pick, pirates. We eventually reached a compromise and chose this set.

I ordered everything this weekend and, thanks to Target and their super fast (and may I add FREE) shipping, it arrived today. Jonathan is thrilled with the new bedding and I am happy that it is not a licensed character. Life is all about compromise, right?

Why does he look like he's taking a poo rather than the pretend sleeping as I requested?

Oddly, this is much how I sleep at night. Seriously. I wonder if this sort of thing can be inherited?

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:50:00 +0000

For the third year running, we trick-or-treated this year with our good friends, the Effingers. As always, our children had a blast hanging out and the weather was perfect for the festivities. As an added bonus, the Effingers' live in a neighborhood that strongly favors chocolate and as an even better bonus, Cindy took charge of the pictures so our photo memories are 110% better than they would have been had I been left to my measly point and shoot.

Before heading out, the kids decorated cupcakes. I found a great deal on a pirate themed set at Michaels, complete with edible images and watercolors to paint on the designs.

Despite the fact that endless whining typically occurs when I ask Jonathan to get dressed on a day to day basis, the prospect of putting on his Halloween costume magically cured him of his professed inability to dress himself:

My youngest sister, Melissa, sent Jonathan a huge box of Halloween-related gifts the week before Halloween. Included in the loot were multi-colored teeth. All three children LOVED them. Us parents did not so much love the immense amount of saliva that accompanied them. Ick.

My handsome fireman. If his career goal stays the same, he may actually dress like this for real one day:

Luckiest

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Look at these two--how did I get so lucky?

Untraditional

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:25:00 +0000

I know we've not even had Halloween yet but when I saw this on Playmobil's site (we are a huge fan of Playmobil, BTW, and by we I mean all three of us. Their stuff is so cool!), I had Bryan stop at a locally owned toy store that carries pretty much the entire line so that he could purchase it. Jonathan's going to love it because, seriously, what doesn't say Christmas like police and putative defendants?

Day 23 is a toilet, I assume for the jail cell. Love it--the perfect holiday gift for the child of two attorneys! Combine this with our Elf on a Shelf and we are ready for the holiday season. Hopefully two bribe-able items per day will keep dear Jonathan in line!

First Day of Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Even though preschool started the 24th of August, it was cool that morning, so Jonathan had to wear a jacket, therefore greatly diminishing the effect of his super cute Janie and Jack outfit. Not surprisingly, I am the only one in my household who cares about such things. While I know that there are WAY MORE important things to worry about, I wanted the boy to look nice for school. I'm taking full advantage of the fact that he will still pretty much let me dress him the way I want (so long as the Spongebob shirt is nowhere in site. Ugh.)

This is the face I got when I asked him to smile for me. He just wanted to go inside and told me (and anyone who passed us) that I was embarrassing him. Not exactly the look for which I was hoping:

And this is the look I received when I allowed him to go more "free-style." I just love the little booger and can't wait to share all of his fun preschool experiences with him this year:

Vacation in Destin aka Where I Wish I Were Right Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Loved, loved, LOVED Destin! I thought I was an Outer Banks girl and I still adore the Outer Banks, but the beach in Destin is so amazing that it's now become my new favorite. In addition, the fact that there is a ton of shopping and tourist-y things to do make the area ideal for a family with a restless four year old to find activities to keep everyone amused.

Case in point--we took an excursion on this pirate ship. There was an actual pirate on board, a treasure chest, booty bags, a cannon, the whole nine yards. It was AWESOME. Oh, and Jonathan liked it too :)

Jonathan overcame his fear of the ocean in about 2.4 seconds but the pool was his real love. The $1 we spent on an inflatable Spongebob ring at Target before we left the 'ville was the best $1 I spent on this entire vacation.

Friends of ours were in Destin the same week as we were so we got to have date night at this incredible Italian restaurant. A bit of wine, a lot of fabulous Italian food and great company made this one of the better date nights we've had in some time. This is reason 147 why it is the best idea ever to take a grandmother with you on a family trip!

See, doesn't this look so much more fun than sitting in an office doing work!? I think I would like to live in Europe and get a whole month off for vacation.

Obligatory family self portrait--the expression on Jonathan's face makes me happy:

Jonathan had his first go at miniature golf. Sadly, I do not think we have an aspiring Tiger Woods on our hands. He thought he rocked it, though.

We had a bit of whining from Jonathan over the course of the trip, which was tiring, but, overall, it was so nice to be able to spend tons of time together as a family. Now if only we could win the lottery so we can actually relocate to a beach climate--this is definitely a lifestyle to which I could become accustomed!

Vacay--First Stop, Rock City!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:15:00 +0000

Seriously, this summer flew by like no one's business. How come you can NEVER say that about the winter months? Except for the holidays, February and March seem to last for an eternity but July and August pass with barely a blink of an eye! Maybe I need to add more winter activities to our schedule. Any ideas?

The second week of August, we took a family vacation to Destin, Florida. Since it's a bit of a drive and we have a four year old, we decided to split it up over two days. The first night we stayed in Chattanooga and visited Rock City the next morning. I have wanted to go every time I have seen the billboards off the interstate in western Kentucky and Tennessee. It's a bit cheesy, but in a good, campy way.

I wanted to buy this hat and dress Jonathan as a gnome for Halloween, but Bryan said that would be mean. But would it? Picture this face but with a white beard:

It's so handy to have a fourth person with us so that our little family can be in a photograph all at once! Bryan's mom came with us on this trip; having a grandmother with you on a family vacation is the best. thing. ever.

Signs like these were everywhere--how is this even physically possible?

This is what I meant by campy--LOVE IT!

Fairyland Caverns was one of the best parts. There were little gnomes tucked into the rocks in all sorts of places:

There was also a Mother Goose village where they depicted scenes from nursery rhymes along the way. culminating in a huge room with a display in the middle with pretty much every Mother Goose scene you can imagine. It was dark and lit up by black light. I adjusted the color on the pictures so you can, hopefully, get the idea:

Jonathan tried very hard to stay "in" the trail, but he became, understandably, quite frustrated:

In sum, Rock City totally rocked!

End of Summer Clean Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:09:00 +0000

We have decided to get on the ball with cleaning up around the house--we sure are some clutter gathering people! Our goal is to use one of those plans where you, hopefully, get to a point where you just have to do a bit of maintenance each day to keep everything looking good. I would prefer a cleaning service but getting braces pretty much nixed that option (not that Bryan was going to go for it anyway), at least for now. It's not that we are super messy people, it's just that the dust than cleaning!

So, in the spirit of organizing and bringing everything up to date, below are some pics that will bring us through the end of July, such that I can proceed with August over the next couple of days and then onto a clean slate, much like with our house. Hope it works! :)

One of the gigantic sunflowers that Bryan grew from seeds and planted in the backyard:

Jonathan's fourth birthday cake. Not what I would have picked but it's what he wanted. Thank goodness the Spongebob phase is waning. Oddly, he has been replaced by a love for iCarly. I don't get that one either.

Jonathan with his Nana and one of his favorite birthday gifts--a marble run.

Jonathan with another of his favorites--a Spiderman bike from my sister Laura and her husband Todd:

I took a cookie decorating class in July. It is at least as fun as cake decorating; I can't wait to make cookies for everyone this year. This one was my personal favorite:

Ah, now I need to go have a snack; looking at the baked goods made me hungry! Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and as good of a Monday as possible!

Birthday Pictures--Finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Despite the fact that I did not do a blog entry on the exact day, a fact that bothers me a great deal, Jonathan turned four on July 2. Like every year, we did his four year old pictures on the same day. My friend Cindy is a great photographer and agreed to meet us before she went to work; thank goodness that she did and saved us from a certain local photographer who takes great pictures but has a ridiculously high session fee (and don't even get me started on the print prices. EEK!!)

Here are some of my favorites:

It's so hard for me to believe how the time has flown by and it completely freaks me out to think about how quickly the next four years are likely to pass. So, better late than never, Happy Birthday Jonathan! You have brought more joy to my life than you will ever know.

My "I Don't Want to Work Because I Have a Cold and/or Allergies" Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:34:00 +0000

While I have yet to post Jonathan's four year old pictures (I know, I know!), I have a bunch of random stuff to get out of my head, which is particularly crowded right now by mucous and what not, so here is a long overdue blog post:

1. Stomach flab. Why does it remain despite my best efforts? Will it always be there regardless of my exercise/eating habits? I have worked out more in the past year than I ever have IN MY ENTIRE LIFE yet the stomach area is less than awesome. Much less than awesome.

2. We spent last week on vacation in Destin, Florida. It was incredible. I am now ready to retire there. Or to win the lottery and move there right now.

3. On vacation, our bedroom had the most lovely king sized bed. Our queen sized bed at home now pales in comparison. I want a new bed this instant!

4. Unfortunately, a new bed is not in my immediate future because I am getting braces. Long story short, I had braces when I was in middle school but things have dome some shifting, causing me to have problems with my bite as well as the wear on my back molars. At 31 years old, this is not something that I am necessarily looking forward to experiencing again. And the price--YOWZERS!! It will be nice to have perfectly straight teeth again, however, and it is only supposed to be for 12-14 months. Oh, and get this--I have to pay myself as my parents turned down the opportunity I gave them to pay again. The nerve.

5. While on vacation, a Coach factory store was located half a mile from our condo. I visited it and bought NOTHING as there was nothing that I wanted to buy. And I don't even remember feeling sick that day :)

6. I still love Rick Pitino, despite his recent scandal. He's a good basketball coach regardless of any alleged indiscretions. Go Cards!

7. I am sad that the reviews for The Time Traveler's Wife have been less than stellar as I loved the book a good deal. I still want to go see it, though. Kara, call me!

8. I need to enroll Jonathan in swim lessons because he absolutely loves the water and particularly the pool. I also need swim lessons myself because I don't know how to swim. While this fact embarrasses me, I am plagued by a fear that I can't learn how to swim so I keep putting off the lessons. I really need to do it, though, because I REALLY want to go white water rafting and doing that without being able to swim does not seem at all like a good idea.

9. While driving back from vacation, I wondered--why does it always take so much longer to get home than it does to get to your vacation destination? Or is it just me?

10. At mile marker 6 off I-65 after crossing into Tennessee from Alabama, there are a lot of adult bookstores and "gentlemen's" clubs. One of the places was called Big Jim's Boobie Bungalow. Cracked my ass up.

And just so you know that the birthday pictures really do exist, here is a preview:

Wee Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I've felt less than inspired lately, thus the lack of blog posts. I've been on the computer doing other things--swimsuit shopping, Facebooking, working on Jonathan's fall/winter wardrobe (it is actually finished, but for a new coat, shoes and socks. And yes, I know that it's only July). I've had some pictures of our first Wee Ball game on my memory card for a few weeks now. I want to post about Jonathan's birthday and share the super good pictures my friend Cindy took of Jonathan, but my mild OCD requires that I do things in order, so I can't just skip the Wee Ball pictures and go on with it. So without further ado...

Jonathan liked spring soccer so much that we decided to sign him up for Wee Ball through the YMCA. It's just like T ball but they use a foam bat and tennis balls. Bryan is the coach and our friend Doug is the assistant coach. Every kid hits a home run and when one kid hits, a bunch of tennis balls are thrown out onto the field (or else there will be a pig pile of three year old children. Sometimes there still is). Thank goodness there are only two innings because it may possibly be the most boring sport EVER.

Jonathan is a huge fan of fielding. He's not so much a fan of the Spongebob glove that Cindy gave him. Perhaps that phase is waning and, believe me, not a moment too soon.

Shoot, never mind; he read my thoughts. Again. I will never rid my home of the yellow sponge and his irritating pointy pink friend.

Jonathan's first home run. Seriously, would it kill the YMCA to spring for some toddler sized shirts? I think I could wear this one.

There are eight little boys on our team. Morgan is the son of our friends, Doug and Kelley. Kelley and I were quite pleased when they made friends pretty immediately; they had only been around each other twice prior to Wee Ball season. It's funny how they seemed to know they should be friends.

How cute is this? I am loving that Jonathan is in a place right now where he's making friends.

Stay tuned for birthday pics!

Pictures that Make Me Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:45:00 +0000

Jonathan is in WV again this week and, although it's nice to pretend to be my pre-mother self for a bit, I miss him and am ready for him to come home. I was looking through pictures tonight and found a few from a Sunday afternoon kids festival we attended a few weeks ago.

Jonathan in a rainbow-y cage. Well, not really, it was an inflatable, but every time I take a picture of him in one, it reminds me of Arthur in his kennel:

Jonathan with a fire truck. Just before this picture, he got to go inside the truck which was super cool, even to me. Now both of us want to be firemen when we grow up.

And this one, with the random inflatable horses. I have never seen those before but now secretly covet them. Why?

First Day of (New) School

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:41:00 +0000

June 1 marked what was arguably the biggest day of Jonathan's life--his first day in a new school. He attended the same child care facility since a very early age until the end of May of this year. We were very happy with the program for the bulk of that time, but the preschool curriculum was not structured enough to suit our tastes. I looked around and found a new school with a program that I thought would work better for us as well as for Jonathan. The new school has a summer camp, so we thought it would be good for him to get used to a new place before he's actually supposed to concentrate on learning; the fact that there is a ton of flexibility as far as payments, skipping weeks, etc. didn't hurt either.

Jonathan was well prepped for the move, so much so that this was how he looked that morning before we left the house:

When we got to the new school, he bounded up the stairs and I lagged behind, totally amazed that it was going to be so easy. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite so easy as he lost it as soon as one of the new teachers spoke to him. He went inside my skirt and buried his face between my butt cheeks. I wish I could say I was exaggerating when I report that the teacher had to go inside my skirt to extract him, but I'm not. It was a bit personal for a woman I'd just met but what can you do?

I am happy to report, though, that but for that incident and just a couple of others, the transition has been wonderful and we are in love with the new facility. The new school is Catholic and Jonathan keeps asking me when he gets to see the nuns. I am not even sure that knows what nuns are and I am afraid that he will be disappointed when he finds out...

Camp Out--Grams and Grandpa Style

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:22:00 +0000

During his last trip to WV, Jonathan went camping with my parents, grandparents and my youngest sister and her husband. It was a bit different than the tent camping we did with the Lewises. In fact, it was a LOT different. While our trip was in the forest, theirs was in a campground. Where we slept in sleeping bags on an air mattress (or on rocks, in Bryan's case), they slept in beds in a RV. That's just how my Mom rolls.

My Dad and Jonathan with the Mothman. While I am proud of my father for rockin' killer guns at 52 years old, what's up with the house slippers outdoors?

While the statue apparently depicts the Mothman as seen in the 1960s, a more recent sighting indicates that the Mothman has changed his look a bit over the years:

Jonathan loves to fish, which pleases my father to no end. The poor man could not be more of a "man's man", but he had three daughters. A waste really. If anyone deserved a grandson, it was my dad and he's tickled pink. Well, not pink so much as that's not masculine enough for him. Regardless, until this trip, Jonathan had only ever caught a bluegill or two. This trip, however, he managed to hook a bass. Like a true fisherman, the fish grew in size with each telling of the story, but it actually looked like this:

I'm pretty sure my dad told me that Kenneth, my brother in law, caught his fish using the head off one of Jonathan's blue gills. This picture makes me laugh because only my mother would dress a child in Gymboree to go fishing. Well, except for me. And maybe Janie and Jack too but whatever, we're talking about my mother here...

Here is Jonathan looking completely stumped:

There was a playground located on the camp grounds. Luckily, it was close to their camp site as Jonathan apparently spent alot of time doing this:

My mom let Jonathan use her camera to take some pictures. She still uses a camera WITH FILM and Jonathan had a bit of trouble understanding why he couldn't see the picture right after he took it. Here are a few of his pictures; I wanted to include them because I don't have many photos of my family since they pretty much all live in WV.

This is my Papaw, my dad's dad. He's stubborn as an ox and has a tattoo of a topless hula dancer on his forearm (which, although no doubt a choice he came to regret, brought no end of amusement to my other sister Laura when we were kids. Heck, she STILL gets a kick out of it!). He's a great man through and through; he loves his family fiercely and spoils his grandchildren (and now great grandchild) rotten.

And here is my Mamaw (my dad's mother) and my own mother. Mamaw is the cutest little thing and is feisty as all get out. If you're her family, she'll be your number one supporter. Jonathan is super lucky to have an intact set of great grandparents.

Jonathan had such a great time on the camping trip that he would hardly talk to me on the phone the two and a half days they were there. While I am happy that he is independent, couldn't he at least PRETEND to miss me? Geez.

Bourbon, How I Love Thee

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:08:00 +0000

Until recently, whenever Bryan would drink bourbon and I would smell it on his breath (or coming out of his pores the next morning), it would make me think of Elmer's glue. No idea why, it just DID. But since our quashing of the disgusting-but-I-still-think-about-it-sometimes habit, I've actually enjoyed some bourbon. Now, I'm not the throw it in a glass with a cube of ice kind of girl, but some rocks and a healthy dousing of Diet Coke (or, even better, Diet Cherry Doctor Pepper. YUM!) can certainly hit the spot after a particularly trying day.

Who am I kidding? It works at the end of pretty much any day. Or at lunch (just kidding about that part).

Anyway, a few Fridays ago, Bryan and I took off work so he could attend a conference in Midway, Kentucky. I just tagged along, did some shopping, took a walk, read a book. It was the last day of our child-less week as Jonathan was in WV visiting my family. The conference just lasted a few hours and, since we are not often in that part of the state, we decided to visit the Woodford Reserve distillery. Interestingly, although Bryan has lived in Kentucky all of his life and loves bourbon, he'd never been to a bourbon distillery.

Bryan was in charge of the pictures and he did not disappoint. Our tour guide was a bit too cheesy for my taste, but I suppose that it's required for the job.

Action shot of us walking to the bus. I think it was walkable but I just rolled with it, bourbon trail style.

Fun architectural detail:

The first building we went into smelled very strongly of mash. This is our guide demonstrating how kids react when they get of whiff of this aroma.

Ahhh...fermentation.

The storage house for all of the barrels. Hands down the coolest part of the tour.

Look, everyone--Bryan is artistic! See, bourbon is delicious AND a good portrait subject.

In true Kentucky random alcohol rule fashion, you can't actually buy bourbon by the drink at Woodford Reserve. Rather, they ration out this much to each person:

The do, however, allow you to make a whole bottle purchase in the gift shop. Which, of course, we did:

Hmmm...this post has made me quite thirsty...

Appletrice

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:07:00 +0000

As some of you already know, Jonathan started his first "school" when he was ten weeks old. It was a very difficult thing for me as a new mother to leave my tiny infant son with people I did not know. The ladies in the infant room were fantastic, however, and the adjustment ended up being a relatively easy one for me to make.

One of those ladies was Patrice Williams. She worked in the infant rooms on an "as needed" basis. She was full of love for those babies as well as for the parents. She was one of those people who always made you smile because she was always smiling. As Jonathan got older and we moved out of the infant room, she always stopped to talk to us in the hallway. Jonathan called her "Appletrice" because sometimes she would come into the one and, later, two year old rooms and do what he called "The Apple Dance."

I ran into two other parents at our new school this afternoon (all of us left the old program at the same time). One of them asked me if I knew Patrice. I said yes and was thinking he was going to tell me that she was going to be a teacher at our new school. Unfortunately, the news wasn't happy at all. I knew Patrice had health issues in the past as she'd taken at least one leave of absence during the time we were there. What I did not know is that she had serious heart problems. She suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and, on June 12, she died. She was only 41 years old and she left a 21 year old daughter and a 13 year old son.

The news broke my heart. Patrice was a wonderful person. She had so much love to give that she chose child care as her profession so she would have an outlet for it. She contributed in very positive ways to Jonathan's early months in the world, as I am sure she did for many other children as well. She stands out as one of the most positive experiences I had with daycare as a new mother. For that I am thankful and for that, at least for me, she will be sorely missed.

Camp Out--Lewis Style

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:37:00 +0000

As my friend Kara posted much more contemporaneously with the actual event, we went camping with her and her husband, Todd, a few weekends ago. Todd is an actual Eagle Scout so he's obviously out-doorsy. And for Kara, I think camping was more of an acquired taste but now she's got it down to a science now and it's definitely something they both enjoy. And they are so darn cute while doing it!

We were lucky enough to score ourselves an invite to camp out with them in Jefferson Memorial Forest. As it was Jonathan's first camping out experience, we thought it would be best to plan on just one night. Kara and Todd went for the whole weekend, though, so when we got there, everything was already set up. Sort of like a hotel but outside and stuff.

Todd knew the way to a three year old's heart--a hammock:

Jonathan asked approximately 1,457,652 times when we could do "fireplace" so we finally gave in. This was Jonathan's favorite part of the experience.

Well, favorite after this. I think he had to go a thousand times after I told him he could use a tree rather than the port-a-potty down the road.

Of course, we had to make s'mores. Jonathan LOVED being able to put actual food in the fire. And when he finished eating marshmallows, he just used the stick. Good times.

It got a bit colder that night than we'd thought it would, but besides that, it was a perfect trip. Jonathan and I cuddled up in our sleeping bags and slept like babies. Bryan decided to stay up and chat with Todd for a bit. When he finally decided to go to bed, we'd taken up the entire air mattress, leaving him with the ground. Which was covered with pebbles. I suspect that was not the best night's sleep he's ever had.

Thanks for letting us tag along, Kara and Todd! PLEASE let us come with you again!

Outdone

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:02:00 +0000

I didn't think it was possible for this picture to be topped:

However, I was wrong as my child has totally outdone himself this time. We just got this picture back last night.

Happiness is...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:23:00 +0000

...a rainbow-y batch of mini cupcakes.

Oh, and the fact that today is the start of a three day weekend AND the kiddo comes home tomorrow. Can't wait!

Hope you all have a great weekend, too!

Soccer Success

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:45:00 +0000

After last fall's soccer fiasco (remember our, shall we say, reluctant player?), I was less than excited about soccer this spring. Luckily, I listened to Bryan and signed Jonathan up again; after one game that was peppered with whining, I am proud to report that things have turned around. I don't know if it's the coach or the fact that he's a bit older or what, but I am super pumped. Not only has Jonathan been happy about playing, but he's run around, kicked the ball and actually SCORED GOALS. I am so proud!

Last season, I think I took all of two pictures. Now that it's going better, the need to take pictures and document everything has returned. It is actually enjoyable to go to the games this season. Oh, and the fact that the coach is nice looking doesn't hurt either :)

A pictorial:

Unfortunately, like all good things, Spring 2009 soccer season will soon come to an end. Next up: Wee Ball. Will it be as entertaining? Stay tuned...

Wine + Cheese + Fabulous Weather = Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Bryan and I normally have his family over on Mother's Day, but this year it just sounded like too much work, so we scrapped that idea and decided to go to Huber's Orchard and Winery this afternoon. First, however, I got to sleep in this morning and then, while Bryan took Jonathan to church with my MIL, I went to Panera Bread where I enjoyed the most delicious asiago cheese bagel with sun-dried tomato cream cheese along and a latte. Delish! I rounded out the morning with a solo trip to Wallyworld (the solitude of it being a luxury in and of itself).

My MIL joined us for the trip to Huber's. When else but Mother's day do you eat dinner at 4:00 p.m., the same consisting of cheese, crackers and apple slices accompanied by Sauvignon Blanc, followed by homemade ice cream? I feel happy; puffy, but happy.

Bryan was in charge of the pictures and did such a super great job that I have tons to post here! First, Jonathan with my MIL. He loves some Nana, which is great because I love her, too. Oh, and I guess it's good for Bryan, seeing as how he also thinks she's pretty awesome seeing as how she's his mother and all:

Me and the reason I am a mother. This kid is the greatest! Well, except for when he screams for thirty minutes solid like he did yesterday. Not so great then; luckily those times are few and far between.

For some reason, Jonathan enjoys running with his tongue stuck out like this. I have no idea why but he did it for the whole first quarter of his soccer game yesterday, too. Super weird.

Thank goodness, no more tongue. Maybe he's not a freak after all.

Jonathan packed a bag of things to entertain himself. He included in his bag the ear muffs I got him so he could attend a monster truck show with my parents this past February. When he wears them, he talks really loud and asks repeatedly if you can hear him.

Perhaps stranger than the ear muffs were these glasses, left over from last Halloween:

Sidebar--they have this pond at Huber's, stocked with a bunch of fish you can feed at $0.25 a pop. While part of me thinks they are really cool, a larger part of me is totally creeped out. I think it's because there are so many of them!

The last time we went to Huber's, it was to pick a pumpkin. Jonathan was not happy that it wasn't pumpkin season now, but he was placated (at least to some extent) by the fact that the tractors were still there.

My MIL and me. I am so happy that she was able to join us. Warning: try not to be blinded by my legs.

And here are my two favorite guys, who worked so hard to make sure I had a great Mother's Day. Hope all of you had a great day as well!

Preschool Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:52:00 +0000

I honestly do not know where the time went between my last post and today, but I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from the preschool Derby parade. Jonathan was horribly whiny that morning, such that I thought that his participation in the parade would be a disaster. Fortunately, I was wrong as his mood took a turn for the better while I squeezed in an hour of work before the parade started. Here he is waiting relatively patiently for the director to let his class leave the room to line up:

Jonathan and his friend Hudson waiting for the line to start moving:

A couple of action shots:

This cracked me up for some reason--caffeine is definitely NOT something that this kid needs:

I love this picture of Clover. She and Jonathan have been in the same class for the entire time he's been in school. She is an adorable little girl but her mother tells me that she is a handful! I'm loving the Hawaiian lei themed flowers:

The preschool shares property with a local business; the parade ends inside their building where three stories of people clap and cheer for the kids. Some of the children get really excited about the attention. Jonathan and his friend Aiden, not so much:

The parade has been so much fun each year. It's definitely of the of the things I will miss with our change to the new school!

Update-ish

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:45:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan's Mommy) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:38:00 +0000

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.