The PigBear »

May 24 2013

mother’s day memories.

Mother’s Day weekend seems so far away but these images are priceless to me and must be shared.

Added bonus: This is what I look like in the morning. You have my permission to use these images to feel better about yourself. =)

Growing up my sister and I always prepared breakfast in bed for my Mom on Mother’s Day. So happy my kiddos have kept that tradition alive although our 8:30 start time at Sunday worship puts a little bit of a wrench in the lazy relaxation of it all.

For the last couple of years Brent has scooped Sarah out of bed and taken her to Panera to pick out breakfast for me. This year on Mother’s Day Eve she sweetly asked, “Mama, if you could have any bagel what kind of bagel would you want?”. Her Daddy teased her a bit about giving up the “surprise” which sent her into a terribly sad, heaving, sobbing meltdown. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

She recovered from the debacle when I told her that she had actually saved me from a hazelnut crunch bagel since I was sure that’s what Daddy would have chosen. (I was right.) Instead, I told her, I wanted an asiago cheese bagel so it was a good thing she “spoiled” the (non)surprise. Crisis averted.

Of course we ended up with a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed that included bagels and hot drinks for everyone, extra special snuggles for me and a Mother’s Day video produced by the Daddy and the kiddos that was filled with questions and answers about their mama. LOVE.

Making these sweet moments 100% worth the week of crumbs in our bed.

3 comments

May 20 2013

much cuter jumpers.

Thanks for humoring my awkward walk down memory lane in my last post. These jump roping images promise to be much cuter.

***

Last week our school participated in a “Jump for St. Jude” day to help our kiddos raise money to support the work of St. Jude Children’s Hospital. In the last two years our little elementary school has had two children diagnosed with rare pediatric cancers and both are under the care of St. Jude. Most recently our sweet friend John Randall (who also happens to be a soccer and t-ball team mate of B-Ro) was diagnosed with pediatric melanoma. Given the personal connection to cancer our kids have they were super pumped to get involved in fundraising.

To encourage participation the school allowed the kiddos to wear hats, crazy socks, and sunglasses to the event. Sarah and Ephraim took that very, very seriously. Here’s our littlest jumper in action…

After the jump the students were treated to shaved ice…yum!

Sarah was equally as excited about the jumping and the shaved ice.

And since first graders all have PE together, I got to grab some shots of another one of my first grade favorites…

The minute I took this next picture I turned to Dawn and vowed that it would one day grace a dedication page of their senior yearbook…

Ridiculous.

But this?

Pure sweetness.

Then, more ridiculousness.She makes jump roping look almost as cool as I did all those years ago…

5 comments

May 16 2013

newlywed jumper.

Twelve years ago when Brent and I were married we spent the first 40 days of our new life together crammed into a military TLF (a glorified hotel room) in Columbus, Mississippi. I was 20 years old with a college degree, a teaching license and no clue where we would be stationed next. So job hunting was an impossibility and I had serious time on my hands. If you know me at all then you know “time on my hands” isn’t a good look for me. So I did what any typical 20 year old married college graduate would do – I spent 40 hours a week watching daytime television and crocheting.

To my dismay crocheting and The View didn’t quite meet all of my needs so I found myself at the gym a few hours a week too. I wanted to try a step aerobics class but needed a partner in crime. So I enlisted the only other person I knew in Columbus, Mississippi: my husband of six days.

Now Brent has always been an athlete so I knew he wouldn’t have any trouble with the class. And I had taken step a time or two in college so I figured I could hang well enough. I’m sure we both managed to make it through the class but that part is all a blur. Because the only thing either of us remember from that day is the warm up.

The bubbly blonde instructor scattered jump ropes around the room, turned on some tunes and told us to start jumping. And I guess it had been a while since I’d tried my hand at the ol’ jump rope because somehow I forgot that nimble little bouncy jog you’re supposed to do as you’re skipping along. All I could remember about jumping rope was, well, jumping. So I swung the rope around me once, jumped as high as I could and came down hard with both feet…WHOMP!

Then again…WHOMP!

And again…WHOMP!

After three WHOMP!s I looked around and realized I was the only one WHOMPing. Everyone else was doing a cute little bob. Except, of course, my husband of less than a week. He was just starting at me, aghast, with a look that was simultaneously saying, “what are you doing?!” and “what have I done?!”. Because at that very moment the reality of our gene pool flashed before his eyes. And all hopes for fathering a fast-footed quarterback faded. He was left with only this…

an out of control jump-roping wife…

…and a long, long future ahead of him.

And me? I just went back to crocheting.

(These shots that took me down memory lane were actually taken at our school’s Jump for St. Jude last week. Thankfully sometime in the last 12 years I reacquired the jump roping bouncy bob. Nevertheless, much better pics of much cuter – and more coordinated – subjects coming soon.)

3 comments

May 15 2013

big kids.

Confession: when I had babies and toddlers I looked upon my friends with older children with a smidgeon of pity. They didn’t have cute little cuddly babies anymore and, well, TEETH. Because let’s face it big kid teeth just ain’t pretty.

But. I’ve seen the light. See, I always knew I was cut out to be a mama of the baby/toddler/preschool set but that was pretty much where my assurances ended. School aged children were the great unknown.

I had no idea that when the time came I would absolutely be smitten by a child who would sit under a tree reading a comic book,

in a bicycle helmet,

alone, while the world spun on around him.

I had no clue how deliriously happy it would make me to see a confident seven year old speed off on her two-wheeler to catch up with her friends,

tossing me a quick “I love you” glance as she went.

The wise mamas always said it would only get better.

So far, they’ve been right.

2 comments

May 14 2013

ten on tuesday.

1. We have seven days of school left and the kids and I are counting down the days! I’m just not sure I can muster the strength to make 14 more lunches. Must.Dig.Deep.

2. Do you know about the Video Star app? Sarah has been playing with it all week and it’s super fun. You can make your own music videos using songs you have on your phone. Here’s a little snippet of our first try…

Baby

Surely that earns me some sort of award in Mommy Heaven.

3. On Saturday I’ll be joining my awesome do-gooder friend Amy J. for a Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Bake Sale. We’ll have people staked outside both Mellow Mushroom locations (I’ll be at the Jones Valley one) all day pushing our wares, raising money for pediatric cancer research. If you’re a fan of my chocolate chip cookies I’d love to charge you a couple bucks for them on Saturday…all for a good cause!

4. I also plan to make these Caramel Brownies stolen straight from the blog of my friend Nora Griffin. YUM.

5. Have you followed the Abercrombie and Fitch ridiculousness? I am far from their target market and haven’t set foot in one of their stores anytime in the last decade, but that junk has sealed the deal forever. Check out this creative response to the CEO’s nastiness.

6. Someone I love must be reading my blog because I mysteriously received Patty Griffin’s new album for Mother’s Day. And it’s amazing!

7. Also for Mother’s Day I received a video of my children being asked questions about me by Brent. I particularly liked when Ephraim said I was 13. And that spaghetti is my favorite food. It’s actually his favorite food, which reminded me of this:

8. After starting The Screwtape Letters in Sunday School Brent and I decided to start reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe with the kids. We started on Sunday evening and are almost halfway through. I think we’re all rather obsessed with piling into our bed for a couple of chapters each night!

9. Tonight for dinner we were in a rush so I made my old stand-by and the kids’ fave: B-Ro’s Mac and Cheese.

10. On Sunday we headed to Brown Farm to pick strawberries. If you’re local and you haven’t been, make it happen! It was SO much fun and the strawberries are delish. So far we’ve made strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream and a mother’s day strawberry pie for Miss Donna. And we still have another gallon in the freezer!

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The PigBear »

mother’s day memories.

much cuter jumpers.

newlywed jumper.

big kids.

ten on tuesday.

mama mondays

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