Take a deep breath...

BIG HUMUNGO STATE TESTS START TOMORROW!!


I'm as nervous and stressed out as the kids.


Breathe...

Just breathe...

A Time of Firsts

Okay, let's get it out of the way: I have been bad about writing. There, I said it. Moving on...

To explain the title, you would have to have a crystal ball that could view my past month or so. We've had a lot of Firsts around here. Let's see if I can remember all of them, in order.

This is the FIRST time we've lived a good distance from Ms. Cindy and her family. They lost their home through foreclosure about a month ago, and had to move to a subdivision on the other side of our town. It was bittersweet, as we want the best for them and they are saving money on rent, but we will sure miss having them nearby.

We had our FIRST bad experience getting pictures done at Sears. We've gone there since Mason was a baby, and have found the pictures to be overall cute and worth spending more than we should. But at the beginning of Spring Break (2 weeks ago), we took the kiddos and wanted to get pictures of both of them and some of just Gracie. It started out stressful and continued to be breeding anxiety for all of us. The photographer would snap a picture and Grace would crawl away to eat the camera stand or fuzz or something. She'd snap again and Mason would be picking his nose. Great. So, after waiting to view the proofs, we realized none of them were worthwhile. We walked out of there snapping at each other and feeling bummed. We decided to take a different approach. We went to a nearby park the next day and snapped a billion pictures (okay, more like 200) and made our own collage's.

Mason had his FIRST visit to the dentist. There's a local pediatric dentist office here that is supercool: cartoons, video games, balloons, you name it. Mason had a good time and now has a positive mindset of having people look in his mouth. Wish I had had that!!

Grace sat in the big girl carseat that faces forward for the FIRST time. She is so elated to see her brother and be able to see where she's going instead of where she's been!

Both of the kids had their FIRST visit to a real zoo. Mason went to the local zoo, but that's not much to write home about (would you really write home about a zoo visit?). We went to the big city zoo and Mason got a big kick out of it: mostly because his cousin Morgan went with us, but also because he saw animals that he's only seen in books. (Like a giant eagle that looked like it could pick up a school bus!)

While at the zoo, Grace her FIRST ride on a carousel. She looked hesitant, but seemed to enjoy riding with Grandma.

Lastly, and the most unbelievable for us, was Grace's FIRST birthday. Later on the same day as the zoo, we met friends and family at a park near Nana and Papa's and had a great time. Grace was blessed with loads of gifts (including her FIRST doll) and we were blessed with the love of wonderful people. Of course Grandma made the cake and it was tasty.

Phew! I think that's it. Hopefully this makes up for my absence. I promise this won't be the LAST entry...

Almost. Done. With. 3rd Quarter.

Will write after tomorrow. Bear with me. I should have a lot to say. If I can remember anything. My brain is turning to mush...