Backing Up a Bit

I realized that I haven't posted a couple of items from earlier this spring, so here they are. The bigger boys had spring break for a week in March. I asked them at the beginning of the week what were some fun things they wanted to do during their week off. They each had only one request. Coleman wanted to go eat lunch with his Daddy at his office. We did that on Monday, but I cannot get the picture to upload.

Andrew asked to go to Monkey Joe's. So we did that on Tuesday and then ate lunch at The Collegiate. Here is a picture of all the monkeys.

Also, I missed our St. Patrick's Day activities. Here is Coleman mixing up our rainbow cupcakes.

He and Andrew both stood at the counter and stirred the coloring into the different batter bowls. I heard some commotion behind me and looked around to see what was going on. Jonathan had gone to his dish drawer and gotten out a bowl and spoon and was stirring away. He was super proud of himself!

And here are the yahoos with the cupcakes that night. Please no comments about Coleman's hysterical expression.


We also repeated the Froot Loop rainbows. They went a lot better this year.

Tomorrow we'll be back to our end of school activities.

Karate

Every Wednesday at preschool this year, Andrew got to take karate. He has enjoyed it all year, and has brought home several belts he has earned. From time to time he would show us, with great gusto, the moves he was learning. We have been looking forward to his end of the year demonstration for a long time, yet couldn't believe it was here when the day arrived.

Brent rearranged his schedule a bit and was able to come for the lunchtime show. We sat with the other parents upstairs while Mr. Brad and the boys did their demonstration. It was a riot. Here they are getting ready to begin. You can see how seriously Andrew took the whole thing.


A big smile while showing some kind of block.



Andrew and Mr. Brad


And here is what we've all been waiting for. Mr. Brad taught the class a form (which is karate for routine). They performed it a couple of times. You can see that Andrew gets a bit ahead of the class and is super serious. We are so proud of him and all that he has learned this year.

Strawberries 2011

Last week we donned our red shirts and made our annual pilgrimage to the strawberry patch. Andrew and Coleman were super excited that morning when I told them what we were going to do. We left right after breakfast to avoid the heat.


Coleman's first berry shortly before it made its way to his mouth.




Andrew and I worked very hard to fill our buckets quickly. Coleman worked hard sampling as many berries as he could. Guess which bucket is his.


Jonathan got to try a berry this year,


but he wasn't too impressed.

Here are the yahoos with our haul. We had strawberry shortcake that night for dessert and then made two dozen jars of freezer jam. Yummy!

Mother's Day

What a sweet Mother's Day I had this year. The weekend started off with a Mother's Coffee at Andrew's school on Friday morning. Nana and Pop-O were here and kept Jonathan so I could attend. Andrew was beyond excited to be cooking breakfast for me. I told him I thought Ms. Stephanie probably would have it cooked when we got there, but that I bet she had a special way for him to help. He seemed okay with that.

We arrived to a pretty table set up in the hall with juice and coffee. Then, we were seated at our child's table. Waiting for us was a plethora of gifts! We had a sweet basil plant they had grown from seed, a card, a placemat, a recipe book, and their end of the year scrapbook. As I looked through his scrapbook I got quite teary (I know. I know. Shocker.) thinking about how far he has come just this year. I know how much work those kinds of keepsakes are for teachers, and we will treasure our books always. I'll show more pictures of his book and journal in another post with Coleman's book too.

While I was looking at my card, I saw Andrew out of the corner of my eye bringing me my plate with the biggest smile he may have ever smiled. He was so proud. We had blueberry muffins, strawberries, grapes and cantaloupe. It was delicious! There were two muffins, so I told Andrew he could have one. He wanted to be sure that was alright, so he dashed over to Ms. Stephanie and asked if it was okay. She said sure, so he came right back and enjoyed his muffin. Then he said, "Hey Mommy. I see you have two strawberries there too." So of course I shared a berry with my boy. Here's a picture Ms. Stephanie took of the two of us.


Here are the rest of my gifts. The placemat is in back in blue and he wrote his first "I love you" on it. Coleman made me a sweet flowerpot magnet with his picture on it and his Sunday School teachers helped him make that little green frame with his picture. It is a GREAT picture of Coleman. Brent also helped the boys secure me a massage at a spa on Green Street!


Here's Andrew's card he made me. It has those funny questions inside, but since the pic is sideways, I don't know if you can read it. He said I am 76 and his dad is 77. Oil of Olay anyone? He also said my favorite place to go is the grocery store. My favorite foods are collards and carrots. I am good at cooking. He noted that his mommy likes to work and talk and give kisses to him. And his favorite thing to do with me is have a special day just the two of us.



That card was a big improvement over last year's interview where he told Ms. Sharon that something his mommy liked to do was give him spankings. It seems we've had a better year.

Here is Coleman's sweet card. Ms. Christel had his magnet and card wrapped in his backpack Friday and when I picked him up he couldn't wait for me to open it. So we stopped in the hall outside his room and I opened my gift. He can be so precious and loving, and he was just oozing with tenderness that day. While I was still opening it, he snuggled in to me and said, "I just love you Mommy."

Here is the cookbook from Andrew. I'll post more about it later. Hilarious I tell you!

And then Brent helped them make this card for me for Sunday.


I can't get these turned the right way, but each boy drew a picture for me. They worked for a long time on it. Andrew's picture has all five of us in it. He drew Coleman as a snowman.


Coleman's picture is upside down, but he drew grass, a sun, and clouds for me.


And then an "unknown artist" drew a family portrait and helped everyone sign their names.

After church we ate at Moe's and then everyone napped. It was a great day! I am so very thankful to be mommy to these boys. The days are not always easy, but I know I am right where I am supposed to be, doing what I was made to do. I'll close with a paraphrase of Hannah's precious words.

"For these boys I have prayed, and the LORD has granted what I asked of Him."

1 Samuel 1:27

Yahoo Mother's Day Lunch 2011

I heard a new phrase yesterday. A friend and I were talking about how incredibly busy the last two weeks have been. She called it "Maycember." A clever combo of May and December. So if you've been wondering what the Quiver has been up to and why we've been quiet lately, just picture us running around like we do the last two weeks before Christmas. Our calendar quiets down next Monday, so after that, we'll be back to our normal postings.

We did however, celebrate Mother's Day around here. Yesterday the yahoos invited their grands and great grands to come for a special lunch. Here is a picture of the whole group.


The gentlemen above age six were sent off to lunch at Longstreet while we enjoyed chicken salad, broccoli salad and strawberry salad with pimento cheese biscuits. A carrot cake finished the meal off quite nicely. I can say that without bragging because I didn't make it. Brent picked it up from Green's for me. It was delicious!

We ate, opened their gifts, and made some pictures on the deck. It was a great time, but you will see that Jonathan had had his share of fun and was finished by the time we got to the pictures.

Wordless Wednesday: Edition Learning to Use a Spoon

Introducing Snaggletooth

How is it that he just got those teeth yesterday,


and now they are falling out?


Last Thursday morning, Andrew said, out of the clear blue sky, "I think my tooth is loose." I couldn't believe it and so I took a look for myself. Sure enough, the bottom front right side tooth, the first one he ever got, was loose. I figured it would take several days and lots of convincing for it to finally be pulled. Because who loses their first tooth the very same day they realize it's loose? Apparently Andrew does.

That night, while I was on an errand, he just went in the bathroom and pulled it all by himself. Came walking out and showed it to Brent. Fortunately, we had a tooth pillow already, so out it came. At bedtime he tucked his tooth in the pillow and went right to sleep, anxious to see what the Tooth Fairy might bring.



The next morning his tooth was gone, and he had "one whole bill dollar!" in it's place.