From Stilettos to Sneakers

The Swimmers

2009-07-15T20:19:00.003-04:00

This is what we've been working toward all summer... it brought tears to my eyes. I can't believe my little ones can swim!

France

2009-07-01T21:57:00.001-04:00

Angel found a rock that she was playing with. It was a nice rock. She asked me if I liked it. I told her that it was a very nice rock, and asked where did she get it?

"France."

Full Circle

2009-06-17T22:22:00.008-04:00

I always knew that I grew up in a special place. The beauty of the island is unmistakable, and very special. I remember spending all summer on the beach with I was a kid.

We played in the sand....

Played in the water...

Searched for treasures...

And spent time with family.

Life comes full circle. Thoughts while watching my children play at Crescent Beach.

Trying not to laugh...

2009-05-26T20:52:00.003-04:00

My little Angel has always had a knack for voicing her opinion. From her newborn days when she made it very clear that her belly was uncomfortable, or she was hungry, or she wanted to be held.... (I could go on), to her first days of cute baby talk. She's always made her opinions known... or at least the fact that she had one.

Today I was having an argument with her about something mundane like whether she could wear her princess dress to the grocery store or not. It went something like this:

Me: Angel, take off your princess dress, we have to go to the grocery store. I'm not going to tell you again. Take it off now.

Angel: Uh nuh.

Me: Angel, I'm tired of you telling me 'no'. Take it off.

Angel: Mommy, I didn't say 'no', I said 'uh nuh'.

It took all I could muster to not laugh!

Oh, I do love my little independent minded little girl. I hope she keeps that mind when it comes to dating!!!

back at the beach...

2009-05-25T23:27:00.002-04:00

Just got back from the beach. We love the beach. I love it. I grew up on an island, and have a very hard time being away from the water for any extended period of time (for me, lakes don't count...) J loves the beach too. And my kids, they adore the beach! It's one of their favorite places to be.

Here's one of my favorite pics from the weekend.

Last Day of Preschool--at this school.... (sigh)

2009-05-20T22:32:00.004-04:00

Well, all good things come to an end... I hate that. I mean really why is that? Shouldn't good things go on and on?

Anyway, our preschool had to shut down due to the economy. It was a church preschool, and the church couldn't afford the building anymore, and the preschool couldn't operate there anymore either.

This preschool has been so good to Angel, Little Man, and our family. They were so good to us while J was sick, and they even prayed for us! I will miss them terribly. Thank you so much to all of the teachers, past and present, that have been so good to us!

So, some pics from the last day party...

Oh, but I didn't know Angel smuggled her sunglasses into school...

And there were a lot of (perhaps forced?? :-) hugs...

But how cool is she?

Soccer!

2009-05-12T21:24:00.002-04:00

For the past 10 weeks Angel and Little Man have participated in a toddler soccer league called "Lil Kickers". It has been fun and I think they've learned a lot. Here's there photo from the season. Aren't they soooo cute?!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-10T19:44:00.002-04:00

Today is my 4th Mother's Day!! Boy, has time gone by fast! My children are 3.

Every year on Mother's Day I reflect on how my children have changed, how I have changed, and how they have changed me. It is awesome to see their growth, and my growth as a person and as a mother. We had a wonderful Mother's Day! I wish all of you a Happy Mother's Day too!!

Firetrucks and Chopsticks

2009-05-09T20:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a big day for the twins. They got to go on a firetruck. (Ask Little Man to say "truck"!!) They had so much fun and were so excited. The firefighters were so nice to them! They were doing a fundraiser outside our local grocery store... yep, we donated!

In the evening we tried them out at a new restaurant for us. "Green Tea" is a Thai/Japanese/Chinese restaurant. I wasn't sure how they'd do, but look:

I was so proud of them both, especially Little Man for trying the new food. Way to go!

Growth Spurt? Emotional?

2009-05-06T19:02:00.005-04:00

We've had something strange happen with Little Man over the past couple of days. We have a bunch of activities that we participate in. Gymnastics, soccer, and we've just started swimming lessons. Gymnastics and soccer are ending soon, and the swimming lessons will continue all summer.

Yesterday at soccer, Little Man RE-FUSED to participate. No way, no how was he going to get on the field and play. J was very disappointed because I've been bragging about how well they've both been doing at soccer, and J stopped by to see it before it was over. J left, and Little Man sat on my lap, facing me, and holding me. My friend talked about painting her own windowsills and made some sort of comment about falling off the ladder and dying.

Little Man said "Mommy not die". And hugged me tight.

Weird, huh? He's 3...

J's dear friend lost his mother last week, and his children lost their grandmother. Our kids were hanging out this weekend. I'm just wondering if one of the older boys said something and Little Man internalized it.

But then again at swimming today, he would NOT get in the pool. I tried, and he screamed. On Monday, he was the first one in. He was so excited and proud of himself.

Finally, just as the class was finishing, the instructor (awesome, by the way) Ms. Vicki, asked him one last time if he was ready, and he said yes. At 2:39 pm, when the class ended at 2:40. Nice.

Ms. Vicki was so nice and spent almost another 10 minutes with them.

I'm still wondering what's up. He was down for the night at 5:40 tonight with no dinner. He fell asleep in my arms!

Angel... she's taking everything in stride!

Uptown Girl

2009-04-29T21:51:00.004-04:00

Oh, my little girl puppy just went from sneakers to stilettos! Brooklyn got her first Big Girl Haircut! Take a look!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'm Back!!

2009-04-28T21:15:00.003-04:00

Well here I am. I'm back. I think my last post was a number of weeks ago with Angel's ABC's. What a whirlwind it's been since then. Seriously, I don't know how everyone keeps up with everything sometimes.

So as a quick recap, the past few weeks have held for me:

-Spring Break trip to Florida to visit my Dad who hadn't seen the twins since they were 14 months old. We had a wonderful week together, and Angel and Little Man really got to know him well. We have so many photos of the week that I will be able to share soon.

-Drive back from Florida: just me, the twins, the puppy... it took 11 hours. I'll say no more.

-Easter, Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunt...

-J's Dad and family visiting for several days.

-J's Mom's birthday celebration.

-Mom's visit from New York.

-Angel and Little Man's 3rd Birthday (I can't believe my babies are 3!!!) With 3 celebrations--one at school, one at home on their birthday and one big birthday party on the weekend!

-A quick trip to Charleston, SC with Mom, which was amazing. (Photos to come!)

-Angel is potty trained (yay!) and Little Man is desperately close.

-Brooklyn (the puppy) is potty trained, and is working on her obedience skills--somewhat successfully.

So we've been pretty busy here at our house. How about yours?

For any of you that were wondering, the good news is that J is feeling really well these days. The surgery seems to have worked, and we're hoping that it lasts for a LONG time!

Me, I'm up to planning my next marathon!

Angel's ABCs

2009-03-23T23:06:00.004-04:00

We've got a little bit we've been working on to share with you...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2009-03-17T13:15:00.001-04:00

From Snow to Beach!

2009-03-09T20:05:00.003-04:00

We spent the past few days catching up with an old friend of mine from my banking days on St. Simon's Island, GA. It is amazing that her twins are just one month older than mine! We really had the best time. Weather: 70's and beautiful! The kids had so much fun playing together!

Snowstorm pics

2009-03-03T19:50:00.004-05:00

Here's photos of the kids enjoying catching snowflakes with their tongues.

And here's what our backyard looked like with during the snowstorm.

Shrimp and Grits

2009-03-01T20:34:00.003-05:00

Roban from Moments in Time asked for the Shrimp and Grits recipe I used. I can't take any credit for it, as I've never, ever, made it before, but it turned out REALLY good!

It's a Bobby Flay recipe from the FoodNetwork. Click here for the link!

Tonight, I can't seem to get my snow photos off my camera for some reason, so tomorrow I'll post photos from todays "snowstorm". {{giggles}} We got a whole inch!

Lenten Abstinence

2009-02-27T21:54:00.000-05:00

In December, I started going to mass again after a long period of not going-much. Now that it's Lent, J has been giving me a hard time about "following all the rules, all of a sudden". I think he's scared that I'm going become Super-Catholic or something. No worries there, but it's nice and important to have this as a family. In any case, for Penance for Lent I gave up wine. Wish me luck!

I've also been abstaining from meat on the holy days and Fridays in accordance with "the rules". Yesterday, I called my sister, and she said shame on her, that she's eating a chicken salad sandwich for lunch because she forgot. We giggled a little. I had a cheese sandwich with avocado, and was planning shrimp for dinner. Because shrimp isn't meat.

I made a lovely southern dish that I've had many times at many great restaurants down here: Shrimp and grits.

I went to the store, bought my missing ingredients, and was in the process of grilling the bacon that goes into the dish...

Oh yea, bacon is meat isn't it!???

I called my sister immediately, and we had an even bigger giggle.

Oh the Catholic guilt!

Children's Museum of Atlanta

2009-02-19T21:34:00.012-05:00

We joined our friends at the Children's Museum of Atlanta today, and the kids had a blast. We also made some new friends. The museum is set up for the kids to explore with moon sand, a water table, painting, and much more. We spent four hours in there, and the time just flew by.

Here's Little Man playing with the giant Legos.

And playing with the giant Tinker-Toys.

The kids loved the food cycle area, from the tractor:

To the forklift:

To the shopping for groceries:

And driving the truck:

Playing with the "Moon Sand":

ALL the kids enjoyed painting, but our new friend, Ethan, had the best photo:

Angel enjoyed the water table so much she didn't want to leave:

I love this photo of the four kids who have been friends for almost 2 years now. My how they have grown! (Especially Christian!)

Little Man and Angel enjoyed storytime, and playing on the African drum:

(Little) Man of His Own Mind

2009-02-17T20:29:00.002-05:00

Little Man has not been participating in gymnastics as much as he used to lately. Mom reported that last week he only participated in half the class. This week, when I took them, he didn't participate at all. He pretty much laid on the floor and rolled around.

Later he told me, "Mommy, no more gymnastics. I want to play soccer."

OK, 2 1/2 year old.

Needless to say, we're looking into soccer (again)!

Con Artist

2009-02-16T19:41:00.003-05:00

We're home. Hooray!

The kids missed us so much, that today they gave us a bit of a run for our money!

J slept or was just resting in bed through a lot of the day, and Little Man enjoyed some snuggle time with Daddy.

I was cleaning up downstairs, and he came down to me.

Little Man: Mommy, Daddy wants ice cream.

Me: Really? OK, do you want to bring it to him?

Little Man: Yes.

Me: OK, just a minute.

Little Man: No, Mommy, come on! Now!

Me: OK, ok, Little Man. Which kind of ice cream do you think he wants? This one (ice cream sandwiches)?

Little Man: No.

Me: This one (vanilla)?

Little Man: Yes.

He brings it up to Daddy with a spoon, and they ate some together in bed. J later tells me that Little Man wanted ice cream for himself, and J had never asked for it! He tricked me!

We're comin' home...

2009-02-15T00:24:00.004-05:00

J came home from the hospital today... or as home as it gets in Rochester, MN, which would be the hotel. I walked into his room this morning, and he told me he was ready to be discharged. After a couple of rocky days, it was incredibly good news. Sorry for leaving you all out of the loop, but (ahem) I was a bit busy with, oh worrying, I guess. He's feeling good now, but tired.

We get to go home tomorrow though! I just can't wait to see my babies.

Oh yea I forgot... "Mommy, I'm not a baby anymore!"

I get to go home and see my Little Man and my Angel. I've missed them like crazy.

We have so much to thank the wonderful doctors here at the Mayo Clinic for. They are amazing, and we'll continue to come back.

Update on J and Mayo Clinic Art and Architecture

2009-02-11T22:18:00.013-05:00

J is doing much better today. He is without an IV and morphine drip, and showered and feeling (and looking) human again. I sent this photo out to our friends and family today. Doesn't he look good!? And I don't mean just handsome, because of course he's incredibly handsome (even Clark Kent-ish), but good as in on his way to feeling better?!

On to the art and architecture at the Mayo Clinic. This place is amazingly beautiful. We are at the original Mayo in Rochester, MN. So when you walk through the new Gonda Building of Mayo, it looks like this:

It's just beautiful. Beautiful. This building has so many curves. Then when you walk around the corner, you see the Nathan Landow Atrium:

The bronze statue on the wall is called "Man and Freedom" and it was created by Ivan Mestrovic.

Here's the Atrium from the other angle:

See the piano? The Mayo doctors, nurses and other personnel stop here to play on their way through the Atrium. They have some amazing talent, and I've watched a bunch of mini-concerts over the past few days. I bet it's as stress-relieving to them as it is for me.

There are these amazing chandeliers:

Here's a closer look:

And then finally, there is a work of art you'd expect to find in a New York or Paris museum. It's called "Jean D'Aire" by August Rodin (as in creator of "The Thinker" Rodin fame):

I can't wait to explore the buildings some more, because I'm hoping to never come back!

Update on J

2009-02-11T00:57:00.002-05:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have sent prayers, good wishes, thoughts and blessings. It has been a long couple of days, but it seems that J is making good progress. He got through the surgery well, in half the time they told us to expect, and was up in his room by 5 pm. He was pretty out of it and in a lot of pain the rest of the day, but today he was doing great! We were able to get him to walk and take some liquid nourishment today. Excellent progress!

The doctors said that we should get him discharged by Friday. Fingers crossed. They also said that they didn't know how he was functioning in his "before" condition. Ah! I guess I am married to Superman!

We know that we are at the Mayo Clinic for all the right reasons, and we are getting the best care possible.

It is very late, and I will post another update tomorrow, but, again, thank you all for your support. It's amazing what a wonderful community I have with you all.

Just when we thought things couldn't get worse...

2009-02-09T12:17:00.002-05:00

Everything was set. Mom was going to fly in from New York to take care of the kids. MeMe, my mother-in-law was going to accompany me to Mayo for the first few days. PaPa, my father-in-law was going to take Brooklyn, the puppy, while we were away.

Tuesday of last week, MeMe fell and dislocated her shoulder. She was in the hospital overnight. When she came out of the operating room, she looked at J with a fierce-mother look and stated "I'm still going". Too sweet.

Then Mom arrived, and we all delivered the puppy to MeMe and PaPa's house, and were invited for a very lovely dinner. We left at 8 pm. At around 9:30 pm, we got a call from J's sister that BOTH of his parents were at the hospital. PaPa had a heart attack, and MeMe dislocated her shoulder again trying to help him.

Needless to say, MeMe is not with me here at Mayo. PaPa is having surgery today too.

We arrived here in Minnesota yesterday, and believe it or not, our luggage didn't!!!! I really just couldn't believe it. Delta got us our luggage by about 11 pm. But still. Seriously.

My duke are up. I'm ready for whatever else gets thrown my way.

J's update: he's in surgery right now, and I shouldn't expect to see him until about 7 pm tonight.