It was was a Hurricanific Birthday Weekend!

Today is my birthday so the plan was to spend the weekend celebrating.  We had planned a family barbecue to celebrate but Hurricane Irene put a huge damper on those plans.  Family bbq's are one of my favorite things in the world so I was disappointed but all in all it turned out  be a great weekend. 

Colton is ready for Irene:-)

Mom and Glenn were able to make it over Saturday morning and to stay for lunch (which was fabulous because we had a TON of party food that was already prepared).  We enjoyed some time with them and the kids were thrilled to have some visitors and eat birthday cake (the cake was prepared by Brynn and Dan it was SO yummy).  The decorations just crack me up!

Don't you just love the Christmas tree sprinkles?!  and...ahem, the age:-)

 Later in the day (and the best part of the weekend) we decided to let the kids go out and play in the rain. When we first went out, it was not raining too hard.  The kids were just playing on the deck and I was watching from the door. They were having a blast so I decided to join them to do a rain dance.  That turned into a game of rain tag with Brynn.  It wasn't long before Dan saw all of the fun we were having and joined in.  We went racing around in the back yard for a few minutes and then I noticed all of the puddles in the front of the house. Brynn's favorite thing in the world is to jump in puddles so we decided to head out front (despite the fact that neither of this kids were wearing pants...I can just imagine what our neighbors were thinking.  Lol!).  At this point the heavens opened up and it started to rain buckets!  Brynn and I splashed in the giant puddles for awhile, sang dancing in the rain, and checked out the drainage system (I love an opportunity to teach!).  We were all soaked through by then and Colton was starting to shiver so we decided to go back inside.  So...I have decided for forgive Irene for ruining my bbq because I know I will never forget the fun I had with the kids out in the rain;-)

Just after running around like crazy in the downpour.

                                       

Playing tag in the rain

Saturday night was a bit scary...okay a lot scary!  In the end, we made out fine.  There were a couple of homes in our neighborhood that had some minor damage but we managed to escape with just a bit of water in our electrical box. My entire family made it through safe and sound so I am a very thankful girl!

On Sunday, we had the best dinner!  Weeks ago Dan and I were watching "Man vs. Food".  If you haven't seen that show you have to watch it!  Anyway, they were showing all of the best foods from ballparks and one of the things we saw was a bacon cheeseburger served on a glazed crispy creme donut.  I thought that it looked like a brilliant idea (I love the salty/sweet combo...Mmmmmm!).  This is not something I would eat on a regular basis because I am still trying to lose weight and I would guess that it has a billion calories.  However, when Dan asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner, this was the first thing that jumped to my mind.  Because we had eaten SO horribly for the rest of the weekend we decided to just go ahead and top it off with my birthday dinner a day early so we could get the major fatness out of the way.  So Danny cooked up our bacon cheeseburger donuts.  OMG...this is the greatest thing in the entire world.  I'm sure it raised my cholesterol several points (and is responsible for at least 2 of the 4 lbs I put on this weekend) but it was SO worth it!!!! I will just add in an extra workout (or two) this week:-)

Best thing ever!!!!

                                             

I love being an Aunt

I'm feeling pretty nostalgic today.  Eleven years ago today was one of the best days of my life...I became an Aunt for the first time.  My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  She was all snuggly with gorgeous little chunky cheeks and thighs and I fell head over heels in love with her.  I can not even begin to tell you how much I anticipated Kaylee Danielle Willman's arrival.  At the time, my own babies were not even on the radar, but I could not wait to get my hands on my sisters (and the best part was, that I could give her back when she cried or was stinky;-)   ).  Eleven years later, my niece is this beautiful young woman whom I am SO proud of.  She is a dancer, a violinist, super smart and beautiful inside and out!  Where did the time go?!!!  Happy Birthday Kaylee...we love you tons!

Kaylee and I at a Miss America Party a couple of years ago

At this time, I am an Aunt 12 times over.   Kaylee, Ronnie, Seth, Colby, Hunter, Riley, Kaies (okay, technically he is our Godson), Aiden, Abby, Ava, Emma and Henry have all brought so much to our lives and with each one of them I felt that same feeling of falling head over heals in love with them at very first sight.  I am endlessly proud of each of them and find it so hard to believe how big they are getting.  There are a lot of moments these days where I wish I could stop time!  Since I can't do that, Plan B is to take as many pictures as I possibly can so that I can look back at every single moment of their lives:-)

In other news...THERE IS A HURRICANE COMING....AHHHHHHHHHH (I'm freaking out a little)!

THE EARTH MOVED!!!!

So, yesterday I'm in Wilmington in an important business meeting.  We were reviewing this publication that I have been working on that is now officially behind the deadline (not a major deal because I set the deadline and am a bit of a slave driver when it comes to work).  We had been working on it for hours and we were really making some headway.

All of the sudden the conference room table starts to shake.  I couldn't figure out what was going on.  I looked up at my co-workers who all were just frozen and then I noticed that the walls behind my boss were shaking. Did I mention that I was in a sky scraper (ok...a 10 story building may not technically be a skyscraper but to us small town girls IT IS!)?  I grabbed my cell phone and said, "We have to get out of the building".  September 11th flashed through my head and I just knew the whole building was going to collapse (I told you I was a small town girl) and the only thing I wanted to do was get out of that building. 

What a surreal moment!  It's funny how in the flash of a second so many things can go through your head.  My first thought as I said was 9/11 but then I thought:  hurricane?, OMG!, Is this the end?, gotta call Danny, the kids!, #@!%, GET OUT!.  I'm sure there were more thoughts in there but those are the ones that stand out in my head.

So we did finally get out of the building and for as far as I could see there were just people streaming out of all of the buildings in the city.  We were being told that we had to walk away from the building (which made no sense to me because then we just walked in front of another high rise building).  I knew Dan was in the city as well so I tried to call him but couldn't get a call through.  I tried to call my mom but couldn't get a call out to her either.  My sister somehow got a text through asking if I was okay but I wasn't able to respond to her text.  So frustrating!!!!

In the end it turned out to be such a minor thing, thank God,  (though very annoying because my car was stuck in the parking garage which had to be inspected for safety before we could get our cars) but...HOW SCARY?!  I just know that it is one of those moments that I will always remember with vivid clarity.  This is one experience that I hope to never have again!

She loved it:-)

Brynn LOVED her first day of school! Here is a little Q and A about her first day...

How was your first day?  It was good.  I like it!  I made new friends

Did you have fun?  yup

What was your favorite part of the day?  Playing outside.  I played on a seesaw.  When it went up my toosh came off the seat but I landed back on it.

Who did you play on the seesaw with?  Well...everyone.

Who did you play with today?  I remember one girl's name is Shelby and I played with the Riley in a yellow shirt (there are two Rileys).

Did you do centers today?  Yup.  We had to take our monkey (this is a name card) and put it on the center that we wanted to play in.  We were allowed to pick whatever center we wanted and could stay a long time.

What centers did you play in?  Ummm...playdough, coloring, and pony's (she played with My Little Pony Dolls)

Did you read a book?  Yup.  We read The Kissing Hand.

That's funny, we read that last night.  Did you tell your teacher that?  No, but I did tell Grammie that I gave Colton a kissing hand.  Oh, and Mama guess what?  We get to go outside and play in the winter too so we will have to pack warm clothes (not sure why she was so excited about this...she played outside at her old schools too.  Lol.)

What did you learn about today?  The rules and the letter A.

You already know the letter A right?  Yes...cause I'm smart!

Do you want to go back tomorrow or should we go back to your old school?  No Mama, I want to go to my new school.  I like it and my teacher is nice.

PS.  Colton had a great day too and Mama survived.  On to day 2...

The Kissing Hand

Today is Brynn's First Day of Pre-K.  She was so excited to attend her new school and must have asked at least 20 times on the way "Are we there yet?".  Dan and I both dropped her off because we both really wanted to see her off.  She walked right in, put her stuff in her cubby, and went off to play.  She is so ready for this new adventure.  I am so happy for her and proud of her but...Sigh...Mama is struggling a bit!

Brynn in front of her cubby

The hardest part of the morning was not seeing Brynn off (because she was so happy.  And I'm in no way saying that it was easy) but in watching Colton walk into his school all by himself.  Colton and Brynn are very close.  He used to cry when I dropped him off at daycare but in the past several months  Brynn has taken his hand and they very happily walk off together into the multi-purpose room (this is where all of the kids play in the morning until their teachers come get them).  So...I'm really sad about Colton being there by himself.  Last week another little boy hit Colton and Colton took off running for his big sister.  It breaks my heart to think that he doesn't have anyone to run to now.  I'm sure he will be fine and that this is much harder on me than him but like I said...I'm struggling a bit.

Last night in preparation for today, we read the book "The Kissing Hand".  If you have not read this book and you have a child that is about to go to school, camp, a weekend away, etc., you have to get this book.  It's about a little raccoon that is scared to leave his Mama to go to school for the first time.  His Mama places a kiss in the palm of the little raccoon's hand so that he will be able to feel his mother's love whenever he wants.  We read the book and then took turns exchanging kisses for our kissing hands.  I don't know about anyone else but I am sure happy to have my kissing hand today!!!

Brynn at her Pre-K open house the other night.  This is her classroom.

I'll let you know what Brynnie says about her first day of school...

Let's Go Wolfpack!

Brynn's soccer season officially started on Saturday morning with the first practice.  She did amazingly well.  Last season was a bit rough for Brynn.  She cried nearly every practice when someone would take her (pink) ball and she was a bit sad when she went through the entire season without making a goal (though we told her she was still a star:-)  ).  When it was time to sign-up for fall soccer we weren't sure that she would want to do it again but my girls is a trooper because she was eager to get back on the team.

I was blown away by the change in her at her first practice.  There were no tears, she was really going after the ball (last season she was happier to pick flowers out in the field), and she almost scored a goal.  She was so excited and proud with how well she did and told us that she was older now so that is why she is so much better;-)

She was also excited to have a few friends on her team.  Her cousin Aiden (who rocked his very first practice) is on her team as is a friend from her ballet class, a friend from her new Pre-K class and a couple of friends that we met last soccer season.

So...Let's go Wolfpack!!!  Fingers crossed that Brynn scores that much anticipated first goal this season:-)

Brynn and Aiden

 Colton and Emma organizing the equipment

Huddle time:-)

                                        
                                            

God Needs a Flower Pot

When I was little and it would rain outside, my brother and sister always told me that it was just God watering his flowers (just like thunder happened when God moved his furniture).  So, at some point we started telling Brynn the same thing.  Everytime it rains we jokingly say..."God must be watering his flowers again today."

A couple of days ago, it was one of those days where it just rained all day long.  Brynn really wanted to ride her bike outside and was  little frustrated that it wouldn't stop raining so she could go out.  On our way to the grocery store to pick up a few things Brynn looked sadly out the car window and asked me why it was still raining.  Like always I casually said, "I guess God's flowers needed a lot water today".  To which Brynn responded, "Why does God make it rain everytime he waters his flowers?  He really needs to get a flower pot!".

Lol...I love that girl!