No more pencils, no more books

 

This week was our first official week of summer here at the GRITS household. 

We wrapped up school last Friday with Honors Day where both Lego-Man and the Princess received a few awards:

 

 

Lego-Man won the Science Award in his class and was on the All A Honor Roll ALL YEAR!

 

 

 

The Princess won the Music Award, All A Honor Roll, and the Academic Excellence Award for her classroom (which came as a shocker to us since we struggled with her getting “seat work” done all year).

 

It’s hard to believe my 4th and 2nd graders are now, officially, 5th and 3rd graders.  *sigh*

 

 

And what better way to start our first official Monday out of school than at a Memorial Day pool party?!  Even though the water was FREEZING, the kids did not seem to care….and I tried to overlook their blue, chattering lips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope everyone has a great summer!

Some Gave All

 

On this special day take time to remember those who have made great sacrifices that we may have freedom.  And say a prayer for those that continue to serve all around the world!

 

If not family members, we all know someone who currently serves, or has served our country.  Take time to say thank you to these wonderful people! 

 

Meet my brother, Constantine.  He is currently serving with the Navy in South Korea.  Thanks, bro….I am very proud of you, I miss you a lot, and I love you! 

 

 

 

 

I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men and women who died, who gave that right to me!

 

All gave some, and some gave all.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday—Cheeky Chick

For more Wordless Wednesday click HERE.

Double Digits

 

 

Seems like yesterday we were celebrating this:

 

Lego-Man’s first birthday!  That was in 2000. 

 

It seems as though someone has hit life’s fast forward button.

 

 

2001

 

 

2002

 

 

2003

 

 

 

2004

 

 

2005

 

 

 

2006

 

 

 

2007

 

 

2008

 

 

Those were the single digit years.  Sadly, they are no more.  From now on, it’s all DOUBLE DIGIT birthdays.

 

 

HAPPY

10th

BIRTHDAY!!

 

We are honored God gave you to us.  You have been a blessing these last 10 years and we look forward to the next 10.

We love you, Lego-Man!!

Thank you, thank you very much

I just want to start out by saying thank you to my faithful readers and followers. Don't worry, this is not a dear John letter. I just want to take a moment to recognize you and let you know I appreciate you greatly!

This blog started out as an endeavor for family and friends to keep up with us, and along the way I have met some really great people. People whose blogs I follow and vice versa. I never dreamed in a million years that I would have official “followers” that are not slightly obligated family members.

All of you bloggers know the validation of receiving comments. So thanks to y’all who take the time to validate my existence in the blog world. It means so much!

My posting has been kind of sparse lately and my creativity lacking. I apologize for both. The blog is the thing that goes to the back burner first when things get busy. And something tells me you folks don’t want to hear about my day at work in the operating room.

Like most bloggers I am always thinking about and looking for a great blog post, but sometimes I find myself stressing over it. I’m sure BooMama and BigMama don’t have this problem. And, NO, I am certainly not comparing my dinky little blog to theirs.

I am just going to quit letting myself stress out over this blog and write when the spirit moves me to write. It might be as little as 2 or as many as 5 days a week. I hope you’ll stick around.

So without further babbling, which I can do with the best of them, I just want to give a hearty thank you to my GRITS peeps… family, real life friends, and even my bloggy friends are included. Your visits and comments are what inspires me to continue!

‘Fro Me to You -- Chillaxin’

 

 

 

Due to being on call 24 hours yesterday, I am a little late to Marcy’s Sincerely ‘Fro Me to You blog party.  Better late than never….or perhaps I am just fashionably late!

 

This week’s photo reveals how I feel after working 24 hours of being on call at the hospital.  However, this photo was taken a little over 20 years ago while in college. 

Back then my stress level was due to different things such as an organic chemistry or American Literature test! 

Or perhaps I was subconsciously stressed that I had been sporting a mullet for almost the entire 80’s decade!

 

 

 

(sorry, Jules, I had to bring you with me under the bus)

 

 

For more FRO fun click HERE.

I am so very sad to announce that Marcy is moving the FRO party to just the 2nd Thursday of the month.  Which means I have come up with more original posts for Thursdays. 

But on the flip side, this means YOU have plenty of time to get your posts ready for June’s FRO Party.  Be there or be square!

Triple A

No, that’s not my bra size….ahem.

It is my newest nickname. If you have followed me regularly, you might remember my post on my various and sundry nicknames.

Tonight, I went with my GNO crew to a new place called Sips N Strokes. It is an instructional painting class where people sip on the drink of their choice and become one with the paint and canvas.

Tonight's painting was called “Retro Flowers”. Which really turned out to be WHIMSICAL flowers. And it quickly became quite apparent that Type A people and whimsical go together like oil and water.

My name is Tammy and I am NOT whimsical. I want things symmetrical and perfect, not free flowing and every which way.

My dear friends (love y’all) were quick to point out my need for perfection no sooner than we were slapping paint on the canvas. The instructor was quickly on to me like white on rice.

From the stage I heard:

“How you doing Triple A???” (Me wondering who she is talking to)

And then I felt eyes beaming down on me. I look up to see her pointing straight at me.

“Let me see what you’ve got done Triple A.” (Eeek, she is calling me out in front of everyone)

All I can guess is that she how now dubbed me “Triple A”, because she suspects I *might* be Type A to the third degree. Perhaps she sensed my unwillingness to embrace the whimsical spirit. Hmph!

I refocused and became one with the canvas. I decided to BE the painting. I let the brush flow freely across the canvas (are you buying this junk?).

The rest is now painting history.

Here’s me and my crew:

(Triple A got there too late for a cute apron and had to wear some old man’s HUGE shirt)

How about these WHIMSICAL flowers?!

And here’s what you came for…or not. I present to you WHIMSICAL flowers, as seen through the eyes of one Triple A, Type A, Greek girl:

Everybody needs a GNO, even un-whimsical Type A girls!

Because I’m the Mama

 

 

That’s why I got these marvelous handmade items from these cuties for Mother’s Day:

 

 

The Princess’ Silhouette

which was accompanied by this sweet poem:

 

 

And she is right…I would LOVE to go the beach! Now!

 

 

 

Lego-Man is a man of few words. 

 

 

 

His teacher helped all the kids make a bar of glycerin soap for their moms.  Lego-Man wanted to make sure I knew he did not get to pick out the scent.  He said, “I didn’t get a choice. I’m not sure it smells good”. 

Little does he know, it doesn’t matter!

 

I had a great Mother’s Day complete with an afternoon nap.  The only thing I plan on doing differently next year is adding a little Doris Day to my Mother’s Day plan.  Because it just seems right!

 

How was your Mother’s Day and what fabulous homemade items did you unwrap?

‘Fro Me to You—Mother’s Day

 

 

 

In honors of the the Mother’s Day weekend, I bring to you a photo from Day 2 of being a mother of two small children:

 

 

How about another rousing game of I Spy??

 

I Spy:

• A new mom who should not be wearing yellow and looks very tired and puffy.
• A proud big brother holding his new sister!
• A new little sister who is NOT happy about her current position in life.

 

 

 

 

For more photos that are not worthy of any scrapbook, check out Marcy’s ‘Fro Me to You Carnival HERE.

 

***Marcy is also hosting a giveaway for a Kodak printer go check it out HERE.***

Chatty Cathy

The Princess is a girl of many words...and there is NO telling what is going to come out of that little mouth of hers.

She pretty much talks from the minute she gets up until her eyes close for sleep at night. Any and every conversation with her is very dramatic animated. There is always a lot of facial expressions, hand gestures and usually some head bobbing.

When I pick her up from the carpool line, I basically get a run down of her complete day and everyone else in her classroom. I know which kid has step-parents and who gets in the most trouble each day. I know that her friend, C., has a step-sister that is "old....like 20 or something....I think". Yes, Princess, because 20 is OLD. Which makes your mother closely related to a fossil!


She is a thinker and asks a LOT of questions. All day. Every day.


True Story:
When the Princess was about 4 (F-O-U-R), she asked AND pointed, "do babies come out from up here or down there...because I don't know". SERIOUSLY!! I am not sure what my answer was, but I am positive it involved a quick change in the subject.

Fast forward to a ride in the car with my anatomy/physiology flash cards in the back seat....because I was in nursing grad. school. When I arrived at our destination and helped her out of the car, she had a flashcard in her hand and said, "see Mom, they (babies) come out from down here." I said, "well, what do you know".

She has not asked anything about babies since then. Phew!



I guess it stinks to have a Mom that's a nurse because, last week I held a family briefing on the Swine Flu pandemonium sickness. I discussed the importance of not sharing things at school and strongly reiterated WASHING YOUR HANDS frequently.

I also reminded them to take a little extra time in washing their hands. As a hint, I told them to wash their hands for about 15 seconds or through one verse of Happy Birthday!

Without missing a beat, the Princess wanted to know "to who" we would be singing Happy Birthday! LOL.


Today she wanted me to know that her teacher is "THE BEST tracer". I was puzzled by her word "tracer".

She said, "Mrs. H. borrowed Mrs. So&So's overhead so she could trace our heads on a black piece of paper."

She also informed me that her head traced on paper look "a lot like George Washington's head".

Ohhhh-kay. Whatever.

I then realized she was telling me all about my Mother's Day present. So I asked , "what are you going to do with those tracings of your heads".

She got a funny grin on her face and said, "I can't tell you".


And she didn't. Yet.

Raindrops on Roses….

 

You know the song and I’ve had this post in my head for the last few weeks. 

 

Oprah’s got a list.

Cindy’s got a list.

And I’ve got a list.

 

Allow me to introduce to you, a few of my new favorite things:

 

 

1.   Meet my new morning BFF made by Keurig.  This is a single serve coffee system and brews a STEAMING hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa in mere seconds!  This little invention is right up there with the DVR!

 

 

 

2.  My feet are pretty happy about these next little gems.  They are Rainbow Sandals, the latest and greatest shoe craze among the generation I refer to as “kids”.  Which would include anyone in college and below! 

The pair I bought has what Rainbow refers to as a “double layer” arch support, which is so much better than just plain ol’ flat flip flops.  They are a little more expensive than, say, Yellow Box flip flops; however, they come with a sole guarantee.  If I could wear these to work, I would!

 

 

 

 

 

3.  This next item will probably result in harassment from people who actually know me, but I don’t care.  For my birthday month, I got a coupon in the mail for $20 off any Vera Bradley item.  And quite frankly I needed a new purse.  So I thought why not get something cute, so I did.

The print I chose matches NOTHING I own.  Come to think of it I’m not sure any of their prints do.  If I may Ms. Bradley, I’d like to throw out a suggestion right here.  How about a Madras Plaid collection for the LL Bean girls of the world???  Would that be too much to ask?

Meet my “Purple Punch Hipster” :

 

 

Thank you, thank you very much. 

 

 

Now, you tell me a few of your favorite things!