September 2015

So first things first:

My brother sent me this Vine and we STILL cant stop laughing.  Im writing this in December 2015....he sent it to me in September 2015......still cracking up.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/52557613C11249834593700941824_1440957960c7e86ab2b6.4712.mp4?versionId=yQ8otGAE9eFEF6xDr8lIapI25DnR6nme

And to bring us back to reality, THIS:

(not my husband or my kids, but a great reminder as the kids get older.  Im always wondering "is this the last time...."

My heart did a little leap when I spotted a re-designed "The Baby-Sitters Club" at BJs just now. I read every single book in the series multiple times and remember the excitement when I learned a new "Super Special" would arrive in time for Summer break. Looooved Kristy and Stacey and MaryAnn...I remember seeing a little bit of myself in each of the characters. I was sooooo excited that Whitney would have the chance to read the series from the start (maybe with updated technology for the babysitters?) but nope. My hopes were dashed when I opened the pages and found.....comics. Why? Because this generation can't handle too many words on a page? Because girls won't read it unless it has pretty pictures and thought bubbles and short sentences?
Yuck. So disappointing. 💔

Good thing I have the series in the attic, ready for my girl! I might be a little heartbroken if she doesn't like it 😔

This guy's teachers told me he is a master with scissors!  Who knew?!  I quietly let them know that we dont ever typically encourage the use of scissors by the little people in our home, ("ahem, that's what I pay YOU to supervise!") so he must have learned it at school on their watch.  They said they hadnt worked with scissors much, and that he just "picked them up and knew what to do..."  He's apparently handy like that :) 

(And here is the FB post I made about it another day:)

I stuck around a few extra minutes after dropping Grady off at school this morning. I love seeing him in action, laughing with friends, following routine and listening to directions. I watched him cutting paper and told him how great he was doing and his teachers were shocked he hadn't used scissors at home yet. They went on to say how amazed they have been at his memory and all the songs and prayers and hand motions he's learned so quickly. When his teachers talked about him, they talked like he was their own. They love these kids and have SO. MUCH. patience. We've been blessed with really awesome teachers again this year, and it feels so good to watch Grady thrive and succeed and happily enjoy life. Feeling extra blessed today.

PS I'm also happy he gets supervised access to a table of scissors, glue, glue sticks, glitter (?!), and tiny squares of tissue paper at school. Because that means I don't have to clean it up under my own kitchen table.
‪#‎GodBlessPreschoolTeachers‬
‪#‎ImAGoodMomButIDrawTheLineAtGlitter‬

And ridiculously cute, right?!

One of my favorite things he learned at the beginning of the school year:

Bo Peep let us know she wasnt a fan of Spelling words, as Whitney started having weekly homework in first grade this month.  She's earned 100% on every weekly spelling test and while we didnt know it at the time, she was dealing with a pretty difficult classroom situation, but was doing GREAT socially and academically :) Having Bow Peep to come home to after school was a special treat :) 

Bow is a fuzzy cuddle :) 

Sept 3rd, 2015

About an hour ago, Grady turned to me and said, "It's not nap time, Mommy." I assured him it wasn't time for a nap and reminded him we'd be leaving to get Whitney soon. Just now, I was calling Grady to get his shoes on to go get Whitney from school. He wasn't answering me. I rounded the corner and discovered this cuteness. He got his pillow, monkey, and blankie, and covered himself up for a couch nap. I guess it WAS nap time, Dude. Preschool is hard work! ‪#‎ItsAlmostFriday‬

Thankful for my parents who immediately hopped in their car and headed to pick up Whitney (who will be over-the-moon excited)!

With both kids in school all morning, I am realizing I take a lot of pics of this sweet face. :) 

As we prepared for the 2015 College Football season, Grady rocked his solid orange on Fridays, and practiced, "What does a Clemson Tiger say?"

"TOUCHDOWN!!"

After school on Fridays, Grady takes us on a ride in the elevator outside his classroom :) 

This guy cracks me up.  Some things I wrote down to try to remind myself not to forget:

Grady - dat mell? Mell like trawberries!

We pulled into carline and I opened a piece of gum.  Sitting in the back seat, he couldnt see me, but i heard him sniffing and taking long sniffs.  Then he says, "What's dat 'mell, Mommy?? It 'mells like (sniff...sniff...) 'trawberries!!" 

Dats wonderful!

We pulled into car line (again) and Grady said, "Mommy, are we close to duh front of duh line?"  When I told him we were sorta close, he said, "Oh! Mommy, dat's wonduhful!" 

Mommy , I so 'cited.

Again, pulling into car line, Grady saw the kids walking out of her school and said, "Mommy, Im so 'cited!  We get to see Whitney now!!!" 

Seriously? What da heck?!

Pulling into carline (again), we were very clearly at the waaaay end of the line.  Grady starts telling me to move up, get closer, etc.  I told him we are a little later than usual and we are at the back of the line this time.  In the cutest voice he says, "Sewiously? What da heck??!" 

After her first Spelling Test and because she earned 100%, we headed out to dinner to celebrate with Aunt DeeDeeDee and Uncle Eddie!

The next day was the first Clemson football game of the season and I was SOOOO excited!!! 

The three cutest Clemson cheerleaders I know! 

We had our favorites over to swim and watch football.  And Eric and Dave know they are in trouble when these girls grow up! 

And you can take the man out of middle school, but you cant take the middle school outta the man.  

Eric carried the kids through the house in this "Stuff" bin one time.  And they would then drag it through the house saying, "Carry me, Daddy!!" begging him for another ride in the bucket.  At 7:30am...this was the only bucket ride the Dude was getting.  

Grady's school celebrated "Grandparents' Day" with a special chapel and snacks.  Grady was excited for Mac and Gramps' to see his classroom and meet his new class pet, the hermit crab :)

He was SO happy they were there, and I love that my kids get to do stuff like this with my parents.  I remember Gramma Mac was in Connecticut for Grandparents' Day (or some other special occasion day at my school) when I was in first grade, and I was SO proud to show her off and show her my school.  She lived in Ohio and we were in Connecticut.  So its wonderful to see my own kids make these kinds of memories with my kids :) 

Grady gave them the necktie and corsage he made them :) 

And of course, we had the only preschooler who did "Cheers, Gramps!" at the Grandparents' snacks :) 

These three are besties.  I love watching them make memories and take turns following each others' lead.  I look at this picture and can almost hear their excitement and squeals :) 

My brother is one of the coolest people I know.  He just does cool stuff.  Knows cool things.  He's just cool.  I suppose every little sister is supposed to believe that about her older brother, but mine is the real deal.  For example, my brother is cool because he went to see the very first Stephen Colbert Show taping.  And he was on TV.  Twice.  

Whitney can earn Reading Counts points this year.  The first grade goal is "30 points by May".  Whitney got right to work and earned five points in one week :) 

(Its now December and she has 27 points......Im excited and proud to see how many she ends up with by May!)

The kids had our old camera but the card was full for a while. One only needs so many pics of a door or a foot or pillows, so I deleted the card and let Grady go nuts. He had so much fun! And now we have 46,685 pics of Bo.

Eric and Grady were quietly and happily playing trains one evening.  So sweet to watch them interact and for my kids to know their dad is happy to get down on the floor and play with them. :) 

The video will likely only be fun for me or for the kids as they get older, but I want to always remember this stuff:

In September, Whitney started talking about wanting her hair curly again.  It used to be SUPER curly, but as her hair grew and got thicker, the curls have become more wavy and less curly.  If we use a lot of product, we can get it curly-ish, but it doesnt last, and quite honestly, we have YEARS of products ahead of her....I dont need to start at six years old.  But I told her we could do braids overnight to get it "crimped" for school the next day. :) She was super excited :) 

She proudly read to me from one of her first chapter books, and we braided her whole head.

And she was pretty excited about it the next day! And if she has the confidence to pull that off, more power to her! I LOOOVE that she isnt concerned about what anyone else might think or say!

BowPeep had a doc appointment for her rabies vaccine, and Grady was thrilled to get some frozen yogurt and discuss what he wanted to be for Halloween :) 

Pretending to be a vet to take care of the animals!

Hes so stinking cute.  

A great Friday night in the backyard :) 

Grady proved that he knows how to use a mouse and the computer from GG quite nicely :) 

Also:

Well. The day finally arrived. Grady finally pronounced "Captain" correctly. I'll miss his adorable "Pattin Hook" 😢 
I meant to get it on video but the Dude figured it out and won't go back. I need to capture him saying "all plean!" before he realizes it's "clean"! He doesn't have much "toddler-talk" anymore and I am clinging to the last signs of baby before he is really a big kid

Whitney has been begging for a Mommy/Daughter Date Day for pedicures. The day finally arrived and I'm. I'm sure who is more excited!
"Ahhhh. These are the days, Mommy....these are the days...."

😂

"Mommy, we should make this a tradition, right?"

Too many great Whitney quotes....cuteness overload! 

I heard all about her "frenemy" situation and started to learn bits and pieces about the unfortunate teacher situation we were up against.  I love these times with my girl.  She is so smart and so cool.  I love being her mom.  

She picked her own colors :) 

September 15th 2015

This morning I had smudged mascara under my eye. (For the sake of my self esteem and because it doesn't matter in the story, let's all just say it was freshly applied mascara. And definitely not yesterday's mascara that I slept in. Don't judge.)
Grady stared at me intently and said, "Oh no, Mommy! You have a boo boo!" He ran away and came back three seconds later with a bottle of oil. He thrust it towards me and said, "Here, Mommy! I got you 'oyla' for your boo boo! That'll fix it!"

I've been talking to Grady about months of the year lately. I asked him "What month is your birthday?"
He thought a second and I started giving him a hint, "Aaaaaa...."
And he held his finger up and said, "Wait! I know it! It's---Aaaabraham!!!"

Close, Dude. April. But close.

I love these funny ages!!

I have the best mom on the planet. Ever. In the history of forever. They say "it takes a village", and I am SO blessed to have my mom in my village! She swoops in to rescue my day on a weekly basis, answers my phone calls ALL day, listens to me rant about stupid stuff or brag about my kids, and she's just seriously awesome. But today she went above and beyond to allow me to celebrate my tennis team's first win of the season by picking Grady up from school for me, bringing him by the courts to say 'hi", and then insisting she keep him at her house so I could eat a nice lunch with the team. Mac and Gramps rarely turn us down if we need a sitter and we are certain our children would move in with them and leave us in the dust if given the chance! I dont say it enough, and I could never find a way to repay them for all theyve done for me and Eric and our kids. 

My partner and I celebrated our win! 

Whitney with two of her silliest friends :) Love these girls!

Speech therapy tools repurposed as puppy teething toys. Grady (who was 19 months old the last time he stepped foot in a speech therapy office and likely hasn't seen this tool on a year) saw Bo chewing the toy and said, "Hey! Dat's my yellow twiangle!"

Oh how I wish I could walk him back into that office and let him show that therapist what happens when you tell a mom her kid "won't talk".

We saw this poor, underfed bear on our way to school one day.  The bears have been getting closer and closer to our house, even brushing up against our garage and front windows.  My friends who know me best know that I am convinced I will have a significant bear encounter in my lifetime.  lol 

Whitney was so excited for picture day!  Isnt she beautiful!? And she's even prettier on the inside! 

A college friend who knew I was on the hunt for Clemson gear took it upon herself to send my kids the BEST Clemson gear EVER!  How great is that jersey!? And her shirt?!?! LOVE! And apparently they brought us good luck this season :) 

We headed to Disney for an impromptu dinner date at Disney Springs!  

As we approached the exit, this was the scene in the backseat.  Out.  Cold.  On a Friday afternoon :) 

Mac and Gramps grabbed a great seat on the deck over the water and we watched the amphibious cars around the lagoon.  Then we headed inside for a delicious dinner!

In a boat!!! Inside!

Mac and Gramps were dancing to "My Girl", and before they knew it..."MY girl" was in their arms!  My parents love my kids SOOO much!  Their bond is so special and fun to watch :) 

And trying to take a selfie with my parents was comical....

And it wouldnt be a night out with Mac and Gramps without great food and....

......a toy purchase of some kind!  Grady got a cool lego set he LOVED, and Whitney had a hard time deciding, but still loves the Tinkerbell doll she chose :) 

The next day, they played legos forEVER!

And the Tink doll came to a playdate with us :) 

After seeing "Inside Out" this Summer, Whitney decided she HAD to be "Joy" and I should be "Disgust" from the movie for Halloween :) 

Success!!

Grady was reading to the leopard as I left him at school.  SOOO cute :) 

And as I wrote in a previous post, Grady ditched his crib. :( I took one last pic of him in his crib for the last night....

....and then.....

Read the gory details HERE

sniff.  sniff.  

 

He was so happy and excited, I couldnt be THAT sad.  

These two goofs are always decked out for holidays, thanks to Mac!! 

Whitney's school hosted a S.T.E.A.M. night for parents and students.  It was a fun event!

We solved puzzles and built a bridge and a boat.  It was fun!

Some more cute FB memories from September:

Sept. 23rd, 2015:

I was at Sam's today with my mom and Grady. Grady pointed at a Christmas tree as I checked out and an employee said "Yeah, Buddy! You see those trees? Are you excited for Christmas?" And Grady said, "Yeah! It's Jesus' birthday!"
They chatted a little more as I paid and the employee asked my mom how old he was. Mac said, "He's three!" and the woman almost fell over. She couldn't believe he was just three and "talking so well!" She went on and on about him being only three.

My mom took the opportunity to ask me why I haven't brought him back to "that 'professional with so many degrees' to show her how wrong she was". I agreed, it is tempting.

But when my three year old is telling strangers about Jesus' birthday, I should tryyyyy to be the bigger person.

And yes, I just might brag about his speech and language development when he's 23. Or 35. Because it was THAT big a deal for our family. And because it's another story with a happy ending

Also Sept 23rd:

At 14, 17, 18 years old, it always felt good when an opponent or their coach would compliment my serve. When an opponent says, "Wow. Your serve. I can't remember the last time someone aced me more than once. Let alone three times in one game." Yeah. At 36? It feels even better.‪#‎TennisAndWineGetBetterWithAge‬ ‪#‎MyPartnerIsTheBest‬

Every so often, we get the special treat of a FaceTime with Uncle Jay.  The kids were so happy :) 

Our Friday night. Special thanks to Taylor Swift, Peter Pan, Wendy, Tink, and their "secret handshake". My favorite quote after the video stopped, 
Eric Bass: 
"Go wash your hands! Ya ain't Peter Pan or Wendy and we don't need all that germy mess. The last thing we need is Grady Bass going to school on Monday, hawkin' a loogie and sticking his hand out to secret handshake......"
Bwahahaha

We hit up opening day of EPCOT Food and Wine Festival with Mac and Gramps! They renewed our annual passes for us.  BEST.  CHRISTMAS GIFT.  EVER!! 

Grady was pretty excited to get his own wrist band a few days later! 

Sept 28th

Am I the only mom who just doesn't wanna drop her kids off at school some days? I am so thrilled they both love school and run into their classrooms happily. But I just wanted to linger a little longer today. Snatch a few extra hugs and kisses. I wish I could freeze time.

Grady brings a "letter bag" to school each week.  He has to find three items that begin with the letter of the week.  Its his FAVORITE thing to do and he always knows what letter comes next week :) 

And that afternoon:

The parenting handbook clearly states, "Do not, under any circumstances, 'brag' or remark that your children 'never' get sick, or haven't been sick in 'forever'. Because your child(ren) will promptly spike a fever. Out of the clear blue. With no warning. Just don't."

He was great all day. Happy. Silly. Fun. Then we picked Whitney up from school and he carried his giant quilt to the playroom, snuggled up on the couch, and woke up rockin' a 102* fever before dinner.

Has an appetite. Ate a little. Took a bath. Oiled up. Extra snuggly but extra toasty. No other symptoms. Went to sleep smiley and happy.

Wasn't I just saying I didn't wanna bring my kids to school and I wanted extra hugs and cuddles?! Looks like tomorrow's the day!

Grady never developed any other symptoms of illness aside from a red blotch/rough patch on his cheek where he usually gets two teeny bumps if he gets gluten/dairy.  That patch and the fever hung on for several days, on and off, and then it disappeared.  And the two small bumps on his right cheek havent returned since.  So Im not sure if he was having a food reaction, or fighting a strange virus, but Im glad A) its gone and B) no one else got it! 

We had some leftover helium in a small tank we used for a friends' baby shower, so when Whitney had "Crazy Hair Night" at Awana, I knew just what to do!

She was SOOOO excited!

We were excited for our upcoming trip to Clemson to see the Tigers play! After watching our Tigers win week after week, defeating Notre Dame and looking really great, we were excited for a fun trip....and had no idea the season would be so incredible and undefeated! 

Crazy proud to be Clemson Tigers!

And some of my new favorite Clemson pics :) 

GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!