All Good Things Must Come to an End

as you can see, Ryan was very enthusiastic about posing for these pictures

The day I have been dreading since the fall of 2005 has come and gone. I knew I couldn't write about right away because it was just too close to the surface. Am I over the top dramatic-yes! Am I way too sentimental for my own good-yes! But I just can't help it. For the past 3 years Ryan Hinckley has been attending this wonderful, perfect little preschool, Decatur First United Methodist Weekday Children's Ministry, and Wednesday was his last day,FOREVER!! He has graduated to the next phase of his life, Kindergarten. I wish I could express what a truly wonderful experience we've had at this little school. It is just a happy place. And the joy that spills out from that building cannot be faked. I remember before I was even pregnant with Ryan driving by it one day when the kids were being dismissed and thinking "Well there's a happy little school, with happy little children." So years later when I was in the market for a preschool I looked them up, took a tour and fell in love . The playground is top notch and the rainy day room really won me over. Don't we all need a "rainy day room" to cheer us up! And of course the teachers and staff were great. Ryan knew he safe there and he knew he was loved. What parent could ask for more? One day last week when I was picking him up after school in the car pool line Green Day came on the radio singing "I hope you had the time of your life..." I watched him walk down the front steps and it was as if a slide show of all the past years of watching him walk down those steps flashed before me. I lost it!! And it was so embarrassing earlier this week when I took banana bread to some of his favorite teachers. I would hand them the bread, start to say thank you , start crying instead, then the teacher would give me a hug and reassure me of the year to come. This happened 4 separate times! I kid you not! Ryan however seems completely unphased by all of this . I asked him if was sad to leave his school and he said "No I just want to watch Curious George." Okay, I get it, change is harder on the parents. Especially sentimental saps like me.

Let There Be Light

The first lightning bug of the season has arrived!!(whoever calls them fireflies out there no longer has permission to read my blog) I spotted him not but 2hrs ago on evening stroll with my mom. We stopped immediately and paid homage to the tiny, radiant creature of the night... May your beautiful green glow give forth joy to all who walk amongst you...

Seriously, this is how I know I am meant to live east of the Mississippi-because life w/out lightning bugs is well, beyond words. I've done my time out west. And I do LOVE California. But a front yard empty of the luminous glow of a lightning bug on a dark summer night... it is unthinkable!

on a side note-I do NOT believe in putting lightning bugs in jar. They should be free to fly and fill the night sky for all to admire. But this was the best picture I could find online.

Tiny Dancer (Redux)

Big Girls Don't Cry

Well, a few weeks ago Adelaide, our baby, took her next step to full fledged "toddlerhood" and learned how to climb out of her crib. So a few days ago we, her parents, took the next step that must inevitably follow and put her in a bed! Who can believe this?? My baby is old enough, big enough, grown enough to be in a bed??She likes to stand by it with a big smile and say "my bed". She LOVES it!! I on the other hand am still a little teary eyed over it. Our friends the Croxalls kindly loaned us their toddler bed for this momentous step. They have two boys so the fact that it is blue works great for them. Doesn't really go with the lavender walls in A's room. And until we get her an official twin this summer we're not going to get her a new bedspread. So she is stuck with Ryan's old dinosaur quilt and pillow. Although her sheet is pink...

Oh, they grow up so fast...

My Son Has Gourmet Taste...

I've been suspecting my sons love affair with cheese for quite some time now. Since he was a wee boy he has loved all things dairy and cheese has always been at the top of the list. Now I didn't mind it so much when I could get away with the publix brand block of cheddar, but he has moved on to the finer things in life... I thought it was just a fluke when the two of us went to Mother's Night at his school and he had eyes only for the fancy, spreadable garlic and herb on miniature slices of Italian bread. The goldfish I'd piled on our plate of shared food didn't even get a first glance. And then yesterday I splurged and bought some for myself for lunch. Sharing was not on my lunch agenda. But when he saw what I was eating, there was no stopping him. I am not proud, but we finished the entire container and 1/2 a loaf of yummy bread in 2 sittings. We even went as far as scraping off the remaining cheese with our fingers. Oh and we licked the knives clean too.

Tiny Dancer

back stage jitters

warm ups

show time

Big Finish

The End....

Happy Birthday Boys!!!

Just wanted to give a Birthday Shout Out to my sweet husband Ryan and our brother-in-law Jason. Yes, Molly and I married great friends who just happend to have the exact same birthday. May 5 1973 was a significant day for both of us gals. We just didn't know it yet since neither of us were born till much, much, much, much later:)

Ice Cream Summer

Really, as Mother's, this is what we should all be doing... Encouraging our children to take treats from a strange man in a big white van with a clown on the front...

The whole thing really does play out just like a horror movie: You hear the melodies music, the intermittent, hypnotic "hellos" shout at you from the loud speaker, you turn your head, your eyes glaze over, your hands extend outward, you walk forward... It is "The Ice Cream Man" and he has come to make all your dreams come true, you just need to get a little bit closer...

So yes, we had a new neighborhood visitor come acallin this week. And Ryan, who has never seen an ice cream truck before in his life, knew what it was and he wanted it bad! How is it that every child in the world can hear and know the ice cream truck?! I don't care if you're in the back bedroom, back yard or 6 feet deep under water (I speak from personal experience on that one) you hear the song and you go running- barefoot in a bathing suit, head full of shampoo, favorite show still going strong-it doesn't matter- the ICE CREAM MAN is here! And he is here just for you and he will give you that ice cream taco you didn't know you needed and all will be right with world!!! Summer is fast upon us, this is only the beginning...