Not Me Monday!

I decided to play along this week (however, MckMama is not...)

I was not excited at all to be sending ALL the boys to their parents/grandparents house for the weekend. Not me, I have plenty of "me time" and girls weekends.

My feet did not ache after hours of dining and dancing in 6' heels. Not me, I wear those all the time!

I did not have a headache yesterday. And it would not have been self induced. Not me, I know my limits!

I did not go to Home Goods with said headache, when I had an empty house to go home to and nap. Not me, I would never pass up a nap to go shopping!

I was not embarrassed to send back my food last night because it was too spicy. Not me, I would never send anything back to the kitchen!

And that was just my weekend, you can only imagine what my week was like!

"THE Birthday Party"

It's taken me so long to write the post because I have been busy having a debate. With myself. Over what I should post.

Do I post a note to my beloved Q of my thoughts on him turning 3 and how utterly amazed I am by him everyday? Then I decided it was best that I write those thoughts down in the journal (while sobbing) I keep (make that kept) for him. No need for such sappy stuff on these pages.
Wednesday April 4, 2007 12:45am

Instead I will show you all the fun we had and how handsome my favorite newly 3 year old is!!
Saturday April 3, 2009

We decided (uh, I decided) to make Q's birthday a Leukemia Lymphoma Easter Egg Hunt FUNdraiser after my friend Jennifer decided she wanted to be the LLS Woman of the Year. This was our way of helping her and helping the children living with blood diseases. We are so thankful to be healthy! We also have LOTS of toys. So instead of a present people brought donations! The LLS discourages canidates to announce how much they are getting in donations (until the VERY end!!), so I won't tell you dollars. But I will tell you that for a party that was going to happen anyway, we did REALLY well. I was impressed. I was so happy that our awesome friends and family agreed to participate. I know it was hard not buying a present. Some of you did both. For that we are greatful as well.
We started our Easter weekend by dying eggs. A first for Q.

Then Auntie Fer came over and helped us make birds nest and rice crispy eggs dipped in chocolate AND sprinkles!!


Then on Saturday...IT.WAS.ON!! It started with an Egg Hunt

There was a special visitor..



There was lots of cake..

AND LOTS AND LOTS of FRIENDS!!!
Everyone was in love with K's outifit!

Our Friend Mitch!

His brothers Nate & Blake

School Friends

And of course, the birthday boys little brother, B, being held by none other than...Grandma!


Sunday we went to Uncle Todd & Aunt Sarahs for Easter dinner, an egg hunt, and some cousin time!!

First....Easter Baskets for Q & B



Crazy Cousins!!

Precious Faces!


And.....MORE CAKE (Thank you Uncle Todd & Aunt Sarah)


How was that for an official 3rd birthday post? Do you feel like you were there? More than likely you were!
I think it has officially reached 85 maybe 90 degrees in the house. (AC to be fixed TOMORRROW!!! Just in time for the cool wave) Time for me to take a shower and go to bed. But not before I look through the 4lbs of pictures that were delivered from shutterfly today. Along with our monthly fruit & two car seats!! We NEVER get packages! This was like finding Christmas on our porch!!

Weekend Wrap Up

Well there it went, just like that, as fast as the last one. The weekend. It's gone. No getting it back.

Thursday had me going to pick up B at school early because of "bad diapers". Poor guy. I had NO IDEA apricots were that full of fiber. FYI: THEY ARE! And mixed with sweet potatoes they REALLY are! So we have one that can't stop going and one that can't go. Poor boys. With that being said, I was home with B since he couldn't return to school for 24 hours, just in case it was a virus. I didn't mind, this was the first time I have been called since Jan for either boy!!! That is pretty amazing.

Friday morning (1am, that is only a few hours from wake up time, sad I know!) Q woke up and said his ear hurt. When he woke up for school, he was not himself. He again told me his ear hurt. When I asked where, he said on teh inside. Q NEVER EVER complains. He is so clumsy, I guess he is used to a little hurting. I took him to school (I didn't want him to miss his Easter party) and asked the teacher. She said he had complained on Thursday. I went home and called the Dr. An hour later I was back at school getting Q. Dr confirmed an ear infection (his FIRST!!). She also recommended we see an ENT for his "VERY large tonsils". Another fine trait he inherited from his Mama. I thought playground time at Chik Fil A would make him feel better. It only did a little bit. He didn't have the strength or want to pull himself up the "steps". We went to CVS, picked up our amoxicillian and headed home to see if Aunt Nina was there yet. She got there just in time to save me so I could get ona 2pm conference call!! A VERY important conference call! A short stroller ride later and she had both boys napping! How does she do it? They gab and talk the entire time I stroll them around?!

Saturday Daddy had major work to do outside, involving lots of water. He thought it would be best if I took the kids shopping with me & Aunt Linda. So we loaded up and headed to Kohls big sale! Q & B were both great shoppers! We then headed to Sams Club for tires and lunch.

Sunday took us to Cary to cousin Lizas house. We got to visit with cousin Leslie and her boys from Florida! Q also got to enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt! He seemed to know what he was doing, considering he hasn't gone to one in a year! They weren't really hidden for his age.


The fam heading out on our Easter Egg Hunt


Q & Aunt Nina


Pappa Joe giving B an egg


"Seagulls"


Cousins!

That was our weekend! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

You may not remember...

but I will never forget.

I have dreaded writing this post as I know the importance of what is to be said. It will be long but bear with me, there is a lot to say. All of it relevant. ALL OF IT IMPORTANT!

I will never forget the day one of my very best friends called me to tell me that the Drs think she might possibly have "The C word".

"THE.C.WORD?!" I squealed. "What kind of c word?" I had to sit down. My head was spinning. I must have heard her wrong. There was too many horns, too much traffic. The T was too loud. It's breaks were screeching to a halt. I was too tired from a long week at work.

"Lymphoma".

I did hear her right.(me gulping back the tears)"What do we need to do?" "Where do I need to be?"

What I was supposed to do for her, I don't know. We were both pretty fresh out of college living it up in big cities (just a train/plane ride away from each other), trying to make rent and still enjoy our new lives and all it had to offer two little beach girls. All this and trying not to owe our new friend VISA, our first borns. Visions of us as kindergartners, girl scouts, spelunking, camping trips, learning to drive, college parties, road trips, flying across the country to visit each other all swirled through my head, faster than some of the hurricanes we endured growing up.

Thankfully "the C Word" I so dreaded my lifelong friend having turned out to be another C word. Cat Scratch Fever. You can laugh now. After being completely amazed, relieved, and questioning the education of some of the best Drs in this country, she too can laugh.

Unfortunatley "The C word" for so many is not Cat scratch fever. And they won't be laughing about their misdiagnosis. Instead their diagnosis, is real. So very very real. And every day is still so scary. Their questions are unanswered, their future unknown. Little kids, big kids, it doesn't matter. Cancer knows no boundries. Chances are you know someone with some type of cancer. You might even know someone with Leukemia or Lymphoma. That is because every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every 10 minutes someone dies from one of those very same blood cancers.

Well my lifelong friend, Jennifer Perkins, is here to help you.

She wants to help you get answers. She wants to be able to show you the crystal ball with your future inside. She wants to take the "scaries" away. And here is how she is going to do it.

The Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Eastern North Carolina has a contest. A BIG contest. A huge FUNdraising contest! Man & Woman of the year!
http://www.mwoy.org/nce/what/
Contestants are nominated by their peers. (Someone else thinks she is pretty fabulous too!) For 10 weeks this years 7 women and 6 men will raise as much money as they possibly can. Jennifers goal; $15,000. I have no doubt Jennifer will raise $15,000 in 10 weeks. (She once sold over 500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. She's always been driven!) With all honesty, I would love to see her win. However, if she doesn't, I will be even more excited because that means someone else raised more! It's a win win for the LLS. It's a win win for your heart!

LLS has invested more than $680 million in research, including $68 million in 2009. $.75 of EVERY dollar spent by LLS goes directly back to their mission.

This is Kaden.

Kaden is this years boy of the year. He is just one of the 900,00 americans living with blood cancer. Kaden has been living with leukemia since he was diagnosed at age 2. AGE 2. No body should know or have to endure the pain Kaden has been through. No parent should have to watch their child endure the poison that is injected into their veins. He takes chemotherpy daily.

With the help of the LLS, his parents have access to an award winning website loaded with patient services. Webcasts & teleconferences with experts. Financial aid, peer counseling, co-payment assistance, and a school re-entry program, just to name a few. Organizations like this are priceless. But they can't survive on patient feedback. They need you. They need your money. Kaden needs you. And Jennifer wants you to donate through her. http://nce.mwoy.llsevent.org/pledge/index.cfm?mid=JENNIFERPERKINS

However, she isn't just looking for money. There are many ways to donate. You can buy a cookbook (that was completely printed from donations). You can donate an item for the silent auction (this is done the final night and in the past has determined that years winner!!). She will also be awarding prizes every week to one of that weeks donators. That means a fun prize EVERY week could be yours!! She is hosting 2 yard sales. You can get us items. There is also (Drum roll please) THE.GOLDEN.TOILET. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jennifers-Golden-Toilet/297132418140?ref=ts
Yes, you heard me. A.GOLDEN.TOILET. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epScXs2wm_o
In 10 weeks this toilet will be very famous. I'm hoping!

I will keep you updated on her fundraising progress. For starters a very special soon to be 3 year old is "allowing" his birthday party to be a FUNdraiser. An Easter Egg Hunt. Complete WITH a visit from the Easter Bunny!

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend the weather was AHHHHH-MAY-ZING!!!
Friday Chad stayed home and got to get one very important thing done! Q's birthday is coming up and we are having an Easter Egg Hunt FUNdraiser! And as birthdays past, it's at our house. Which means, it's time to get the yard in shape. I don't like yard work. I don't know why, but I don't. It might have something to do with the fact that EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I do yard work I end up with some type of posion ivy and or a rash of some sort. Seriously. I do.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (as usual). Q and I delivered his birthday party invitations (to our neighbors mailboxes). We came home and it was time to get started on daddy's big project. Do you know what that is yet?

This is where B and I hung out and while daddy worked.
Of course we didn't have every single thing we needed so we took an afternoon lunch break and headed to Lowes. This break took us to Snoopys for hot dogs and french fries (no hot dog for mommy, but some actually very yummy chicken salad!!) A first for Q. Chad has been dying to take him there.

Then we delivered a birthday present to cousin Paul, who turned 10!! 10!!! Such a big birthday!! We also delivered Q's birthday invite. At which point Aunt Michelle opened and asked me where the party was going to be. Oh GREAT! was my first thought. I left off the address. No biggie, I reassured myself. It's an invite to Q's birthday, it's at our house.

We came home and watched daddy finish up his major project. Have you figured out what it was yet? Hint: we picked this up when Q was 6 months old. Q & I picked up some pinecones and sticks and trimmed some bushes.

Ahhh, the end of nice long warm spring day....Oh stop, I helped him pick up pinecones too. He got new gardening gloves at Lowes and he was very excited to use them. He was unstoppable.

During this time, I got a call from a neighbor. Yeah they are calling to RSVP. The call was funny and went something like this:
Hi Robin (gotta love caller id)
Hi, who is this?
Um, you called and you don't know who you called? I can't lie, I've done this before too, but usually remember who's number I dialed when I hear their voice. Ok, so I didn't say that.
Jennifer (uncomfortable laugh)
Jennifer who?
Um, Jennifer Phillips (more uncomfortable laughing)
Oh (insert more uncomfortable laughing)from Robin. I got an invite in our mailbox for an Easter Egg Hunt. We are really excited to go but we weren't sure who gave us the invite.
Me thinking...DUH! It says Q is 3 in big letters on the front.
Robin: It just has a telephone number and date!
Me: OMG!!! I can't believe I did that!

I can explain. I made a few variations. There was an evite, there was a card that went to family, saying that it was a party for Q's birthday. The last one I made was for the neighbors and I didn't want to mention Q's birthday. I wanted them to donate not bring a present. And not feel bad and bring both!

Oh mommy brain...

We then played with daddys project. Last guess before pictures! Then we had some dinner and baths and got ready for bed.

What? You think that looks like our fence? That's becuase it is our fence! Chad finished the swing set!! Q is in HEAVEN!!! I'm pretty proud of my Charming Prince. I knew he could do it! I am not sure he thought he could!

We ended our day by reading a book on the picnic blanket. Outside under the moon and a star. It was an absolutely fabulous ending to our absolutely fabulous day!!

Sunday brought more beautiful weather. We headed downtown to the farmers market for some yummy vegetables, sausage and eggs! We also got some great plants (I actually do love to plant flowers, that's not yard work) and a yummy treat from La Farm bakery!

Out my kitchen window.

That is the stuff dreams are made of!

B has his second bottom front tooth. His hair is starting to grow over his bald spot in the back. His ezcema is terrible and I am doing everything naturally that I can. (I have also tried Eucerin. Shhhh) He loves to blow rasberries and I love listening to him! It makes me giggle!

Q loves to talk about being married lately. Everyone that wears a ring is married. Anytime someone is walking together, they must be married. It's pretty funny to hear his concept of marriage.

We ended our weekend at Red Robin with the Phillips cousins celebrating Pauls 10th birthday.

Come on spring! Bring it on! We are ready for you!

One Word Wednesday!

Sittin'

Orange Sheep

Be the orange sheep in the family if black is already taken.

How cool is that? I saw this today on my friend Leahs blog. http://www.leahcphotographyblog.com. I immediately emailed her to find out if she knew where this was from. I went to that really cool stores website and it is no longer available. So I searched google, it lead me back to that really cool store as well as someones blog that had posted about it.

Not only is Bs room done in farm animals, but I LOVE this saying. I don't think your family has to have a black sheep to love this print. I'm not saying we don't have one. But I think about it as being your own sheep. Be who you want to be. Pave your way. Be different. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? Make you think.

This weekend started on Friday night by me uploading hundreds (seriously 354) pictures to shutterfly to print. Sad part is....I haven't even gotten throught October!! I have done great at taking pictures of our second born, I'm just not so good at getting them printed! Of course, once I get them that means I have to put them in albums! YIKES!! That ought to take 4 rainy months or so! And since Q's birthday is coming up, that also means I have to create his photo book!

Saturday we went to see a crazy Lego exhibit in Chapel Hill. Legopalooza! Pretty wild what you can do with Legos! I mean CRAZY wild. These people have waaaayyyy more time than I do. As I sit and type this blog.

YES, every single bit of that is Legos!!

And you can't go to Chapel Hill with out eating at Mama Dips. Mmmmm now that is some good eats! And by good I mean fried dill pickles, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings (pastry), baked apples, sweet potato biscuits....oh the list goes on...

Saturday night B got a sippy for the first time and he did good! Not surprising, it has to do with eating or drinking! If you are in our family you have to like eating AND drinking! No one wants to be that black sheep!

Speaking of being your own sheep....Here is Q on Sunday in an outfit that he picked out! And by the way, he asked me to take a picture of his shoes. It was actually hard to get a picture between the dance moves!! I've said for months now that he has his own style..


I'm just saying, years from now when you are wearing his designs you can say you "remember him when"