Last play group for the summer

Yesterday and today were our last play groups for the summer. I start back to work next week, and Jack goes back to school. The group has been SO AWESOME to us. Most of the moms stay home all year, and they are sweet enough to include Jack and me in the group when I am home. (They also invite Jack and his grandmothers to come when they are in town.) The tradition is to meet at Vika's house on Tuesdays (she is pictured above holding Alex) and then to rotate houses on Wednesday. The number of kids and moms varies from week to week, but this summer, the most "regular" players have been Heather and Luke Collier; Kristen, Caleb, and Clayton Butler; Vika and Alex Jones; and Sunny & Claire (I'm not sure of their last name). There are others who come off and on depending on what they have going on, and I think others may be more regular during the school year. All of the kids are close in age and play really well together (and so do the moms!)
Yesterday at Vika's we had a pot luck lunch/brunch, and the girls had a little back-to-work gift for me. They are so thoughtful! Today we were at the Butler's house. The kids played in the pool and had a great time. Jack managed to get pretty dirty between the pool, sandbox, and grass. He was in heaven! We sure will miss the gang in the coming months and look forward to getting together with them when we can! (Next time we see them Alex will have a new baby brother!)

Just a funny moment

I'm not sure what exactly possessed Jack to do this, but I looked over at him yesterday morning and he was shoving balls under his shirt. I don't know how many he actually had in there, but he thought it was pretty funny.

Fun in the sun

GO SAINTS!!!


We had a very busy weekend! It started Thursday evening when we went to Saints' training camp which is being held at Milsaps College in Jackson, MS. The training camp was really fun. They practiced for about an hour and forty-five minutes then several of the players came over to the sidelines to sign autographs. We even got an autograph and picture with Head Coach Sean Payton! After the practice and meet-and-greet concluded, Jack enjoyed jumping in the inflatable jumper on our way out. (For more pics from the training camp, go to http://wrno.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=129002 Picture #30 of 67 is of Jack.)

Dinosaurs are scary!

On Friday, Brent had to work all day, so Jack and I went to the Natural Science Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit. The museum visit started with exhibits of stuffed animals (bears, ducks, etc), fossils, and skeletons. (The first picture above was looking at this stuff.) Jack was a little interested in this stuff, but then we approached the dinosaur exhibit. The exhibit was similar to Jurassic Park (animated, life-like dinosaurs complete with sound effects.) Jack was terrified. I'm not sure if the picture above really conveys his reaction. (For a closer look at the picture, you can right-click it and open it in a new window.) Even after we left the dinosaur exhibit and went through the aquarium, I wasn't able to take his picture with any of the exhibits because he wouldn't let go of me. (I took the picture below while we were looking at the fish.)

The play time with the Edelblutes was great! We are excited that they are moving back to Starkville soon!!

The rest of the weekend (Friday evening & all day Saturday) was spent at a statewide church softball tournament. The guys lost the first game Friday night, but they kept winning on Saturday and placed 4th in the tournament. (They started playing at 9 a.m. and finished at 6:30. They played 6 games! It was very hot, but we stayed in the shade and enjoyed the time with friends from church. (Above is a picture of Jack with our good friend Lana Hamby...Jack LOVES Mrs. Lana!) By the end of the weekend, we were all exhausted, but it was a lot of fun!

No more crib!

The time has come for yet another milestone. Here's how it happened....Last night we had dinner at the Hill's house. Layla is 4 and Ashlyn is 2. They were our neighbors for Jack's first 26 months of life, and last night was our first visit at their new house. In their new house, Ashlyn has a big-girl bed that we oooh'd and ahhh'd over. So, this morning, Jack said, "I want my bed to be a big bed." And, so it is. We converted the crib to a toddler bed. He napped well in it this afternoon and now he is dreaming away (as pictured above.) So far, so good. We'll see how long it takes for him to realize that we aren't able to keep him confined.
Another first happened this afternoon. Jack had chocolate milk for the first time. Brent and I went to see the new Batman movie. I got a babysitter who knows Jack from daycare. (We never get babysitters; this was a treat for us!) When we got home, Jack said, "I got chocolate." Christa said she gave him chocolate milk. She said that when he said, "Ooooh! That's good!" she wondered if he wasn't supposed to have it. (In her defense, I cleaned out the fridge yesterday morning so the fridge was nice and empty and the Hersey's syrup was sitting right next to his cup. I'm sure it looked like we use it often.) So, he had chocolate milk for the first time, and apparently he liked it A LOT!

To know him is to love him!

Since August 2007 Jack has had the BEST daycare teacher! Because I am not teaching this month, I am keeping Jack home. So, he left his class a month earlier than the other children. On Monday we came home from the grocery store to find a package left at our door with Jack’s name on it. Jack immediately plopped down in the middle of the kitchen and started opening it. There were some books and some flashcards/games and a handwritten note. The envelope said, “To Jack, From Someone who is missing you.” It was from his teacher. As I read her note, I sat on the floor next to Jack and cried. I knew she was attentive, patient, and loving, but her note really expressed how well she knows him and how much she loves him. I couldn’t help myself…I’ve retyped the note so that I could share it here. It said:

Dear Jack,
I really hope that you are having a great time at home with mom and dad, but I truly miss you! I think about you everyday! It’s just not the same without you!! ….(omitted something that wouldn’t make sense to everyone)….I miss tickling you! I miss your smile, seeing and hearing your laugh! I miss seeing your arm swing when you run! (lol) I love that! I miss talking to you about your dog, about Mississippi State, Bully, and the games! I miss us chanting MAROON…WHITE! I miss playing in your hair and spinning you around! I miss you saying, “Read it Shonda! Read the book!” (lol) I miss reading to you, hugging you, and you piling on my lap with the rest of the crew!! I miss saying, “No Jack, Not so rough! Tell ‘em you’re sorry and you love him!” (lol) I miss showing you love and receiving it back! I just MISS YOU! You are so cool and so fun! I hope you find these flash cards interesting! I know you will love the books! I love you!
Love,
Ms. Shonda

Meeting Mike the Tiger

We visited all of the grandparents last week, first in Natchez, then in Lafayette. On our way home from Lafayette we stopped at LSU and visited Mike the Tiger. Although we visited the Tiger Cage a year ago after Mike V died, we hadn't met Mike VI. Boy did he put on a show for us! When we first walked up he was pacing in the grass. Though he didn't give us a full-out roar, he gave us a grumble that just about made Jack jump out of my arms. After roaming the grass and rocks, he got in the water and played with his big ball. It was amazing! As we moved around the outside of the cage, he followed us! Either he really liked Jack's bright yellow shirt or he wanted to have us for breakfast! Take a minute to watch the slideshow above for some of what we saw. (But, the pics really don't do it justice!)

It's in his kiss!

There is so much to say; I just don't know where to start. So, I decided to start with some of my favorite pictures from the past few months....here they are. (The 3 pics above are at Jazz Fest.)

We spent the last weekend in April at International Festival in Lafayette and then spent the first weekend in May in NOLA at Jazz Fest. In Lafayette, we enjoyed the festival and the time with my family. We also got to see an old friend and her family, Kristine, Vance, and Kate Morton. On our way to NOLA, we stayed in Mandeville for one night to visit my Aunt Laura Lee and cousin Lisa. We enjoyed our visit with them. In New Orleans we got to meet Aika Lankard. The Lankards are lifelong family friends, and Aika lives in Japan with her mom and dad. Jack is only 11 days older than Aika, but he is tall and she is so petite, they were quite mismatched. It was really sweet to see them together, though.

Then, we spent the rest of the weekend with our friends the Lagraizes. Jack really enjoyed trying to keep up with Avery! Avery was very sweet to him! We all went to JazzFest together on Saturday with my family. I think the highlight for Jack was the snowball that Nana (my Aunt Anna) shared with him. (In fact, that night, as we said our bedtime prayers, I got things started with prayers for the fun day with friends...blah, blah...and Jack said, "And for the snowball with Nana." So sweet!) After Jazz Fest Saturday night we ate dinner at Cafe Degas where my Uncle Paul is a chef. It was a fabulous ending to a terrific day! Then, on Sunday, Leah and I took the boys to Storyland. It was a great weekend. I know it will be crazy next year when Eli is able to keep up with them!

The Fountains

OK, so I'm a little behind on this whole blog-thing. I've thought about blogging for over two years now....everyone I know says it's easy to do, so here I go...just a little behind schedule. So, I'll start with what's happening now, and at some point I may try to go back and give a summary of the last 27 months. Enjoy! (This picture was taken in August 2007. So, yes, I'm already out of date!)

I Put Money In His Hat

June 6 & 7 we headed over to the MS Delta to visit the birthplace of Kermit the Frog (home of Jim Henson), see BB King and go to the Hwy 61 Blues Festival. Here's Brent's rundown of the weekend....We got to Leland in time to take a quick tour of the new location of the Leland Blues Museum and then we walked downtown Leland to see some of the murials most notably the one with Johnny Winter's signature (Johnny and Edwards grandad was a judge in Leland). As we were making the block, we were approached by a lady that asked us to come in to her coffee shop where the were shooting a tv commercial. We had to be in Stoneville to pick up the key before 5:00, so we told her we could only stay for a minute.

We went inside and there was a man playing guitar with his hat in front. This guitarist was Pat Thomas, a famous local blues musician, whose dad was James "Son" Thomas a fairly famous Mississippi bluesman. We stuck around as long as we could and had lemonade and a cookie, but it was time to go. On the way out, I handed Jack a few dollars to put in Pat's hat. Jack stared as Pat Thomas played and after a little nudging he dropped the money in his hat and we left. It seemed a fairly insignificant event.

The next morning, we went to Mississippi Valley State for the BB King workshop. We had a long day in front of us as BB King was about 2 1/2 hours late because of having to see a doctor about his diabetes. It was a very good show as King spends a lot of time answering the student's questions, telling stories, playing with his band, and playing with many of the students. From there we decided it was too late to go to go back to Stoneville, so we went on in to Greenwood and had an early dinner. From there on to Indianola for BB King's homecoming show. We heard some good music from groups like Homemade Jamz and others. BB King was again about 2 hours late, but it was still worth it. The day ended really late and Jack was already asleep by the time the fireworks began. It is important to note that prior to this day, when Jack was asked who his favorite guitarist was he would say daddy; now he says BB King.

Next day, we went to Leland for the Hwy 61 Blues Festival and saw a number of greats, including Eden Brent, L.C. Ulmer, and David "Honeyboy" Edwards. You can see the picture