Our Little Fish

Nate had his first swim lesson today and did great!!

Now, let me back up a bit. I'm sure most of you are thinking....um, hello, he's 4.5 yrs old....it's about time he learned to swim!! Well, I wanted to do it at 2, but he was deathly afraid of the water. Hated the beach/ocean and not the biggest fan of the pool either. Same thing at 3 - not a big "water" fan. And I didn't want to scar him.

So then we were looking at last summer when he was almost 4 to do lessons, while we were still in TN. With all the moving and traveling, there was never an 4-5 wk stretch where we could do it.

Skip forward to now. He's 4.5 yrs old and raring to go! He was super excited about his lessons and can't wait to try out the massive waterslide at the UA pool this summer. (As an incentive to do well as his lessons, I told him he cannot go down the slide until he can learn to swim, go under the water, etc. He is pumped!)

We are doing Bama Swim School at the University Rec Center. It was recommended by a classmate's mom. There were initially 9 kids in the lesson today, and then it broke up into groups of 3 with 3 instructors. Of course Nate was in the "level 1/beginner" group since he was a newbie. He had two younger girls with him, but thankfully, didn't notice that he was the only "big" kid.

Parents were allowed to watch but had to sit way far down on the opposite end of the pool. This was hard for me! But I had to keep Abby entertained so that took my mind off Nate.

He did great though...he practiced putting his head under/blowing bubbles, "swimming" with help, floating, using a kickboard, jumping in the water, etc.





Abby did a good job too. I was worried she would try to jump in the pool (to save Nate perhaps), but she was pretty content to sit on the bench with me and wave constantly/cheer on BRUBA! :) I pulled out the dvd player towards the end and that was the ticket; she was mesmorized. God bless technology.

We'll go back on Thursday, and then go every T/TH for the next 4 wks. I can't wait to see the progress he makes and am so proud of our little fish!

Litchfield Beach 2012, here we come!!

Egg Hunt #1

If I haven't said it before, we have the best church!!

They hosted a Springtime Benefit Pancake Breakfast & Easter Egg Hunt yesterday. A few of my friends from MOMs group worked really hard to put it all together and it was a big success (and wonderful fundraiser for both the youth group & MOMs group)!

We headed to the pancake breakfast after church, and the kids chowed down. Each had 2 pancakes & 2 sausages, and then Nate begged for one more pancake. Hoss! He actually won a door prize too - a pack of 75 glow in the dark stars. He was thrilled! (And a little confused why this random lady was calling his name!)

Then...finally...it was time for the egg hunt. The little kids headed over to the school playground and were told to only pick up 8 eggs. Nate found his 8 quickly, and then offered to help Abby :) Sweet brother.



They were allowed to pick up a few more eggs since there were extras, and Nate had fun hunting with his buddies from soccer, Alex & Anthony.

They traded in their (empty) eggs at the end and got a goodie bag full of sweets.

Egg Hunt #1 in the books!

It's Someone's Birthday!!

Happy 34th birthday to my wonderful husband!!!

Greg, you do so much for us, so I hope that today we make you feel special and that you know how loved you are.

Oops...scratch that.

Because tonight I will be leaving you alone for bath & bed duty with the kids, while I head to see "Hunger Games" with some friends! Sorry I'm the worst wife ever and told the kids that yesterday was your real birthday! :) Hope you enjoyed your Mexican fiesta, balloons, gifts, and pinterest dessert last night!

Greg, I've enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you for the last 12 years....wow, we've come a long way. Let's take a look back to your birthday celebration in 2000, just for kicks:

Hope you have a wonderful day and know how much all 3 of us love you!!

P.S. I'm sure you're reading this on your lunch break, so... how's that measly, plain turkey sandwich?! Love you, stud! :)

New Orleans

Eat. Drink. Sleep.

Those were our 3 objectives for our trip to New Orleans this past weekend, and we succeeded! We took the train there – a nice, relaxing 6 hour ride – and ate & drank SO many wonderful things while in NOLA. Mission accomplished!

When I told Greg on Thursday that we were taking a trip to New Orleans for his birthday, he was excited (& shocked). However, it wasn’t until I mentioned that we were taking a TRAIN that he really got excited!! Hilarious. It was a fun experience though...and we did feel as though we were riding in “luxury.”

Surprisingly, Tuscaloosa has an Amtrak station literally 2 miles from our house. Our train had around 15 passenger cars, including 3 sleeper cars, a lounge car, snack/bar car, and dining car. So neat! It was nice to be able & walk around, go sit in the lounge for a drink/snack, and not be stuck in your seat the whole time. Some people were starting their St. Patty’s Day celebrations a day early, and turned part of the train into a party bus, ha! We also enjoyed being able to see a bit of the countryside. The sun was almost starting to set as we traveled over Lake Pontchartrain and it was breathtaking.



We got to our hotel around 8:30 pm and it was super cute! A really old and charming place on St. Ann street called Place d’Armes – great proximity to both Bourbon St. and activities around Jackson Square so we were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go all weekend. I highly recommend it for anyone headed to New Orleans.




I was lucky enough to have many many friends give me many many suggestions of where to eat once we were in NOLA. (I received so many that I think we’re just going to have to make this a yearly trip!) The place we picked for dinner was waaaay down on Bourbon Street, so we got to walk a ways and see all the crazies. This place was recommended by one of Greg’s old TN colleagues, who has exceptional taste. And he was not kidding...Galatoire’s was excellent!! (And a bit dressier than we had expected...Greg was required to put on a coat when we got there. Man, was he stylin’ in his too-big blazer, jeans, and Reebok sneakers!!)


We split two appetizers – seafood okra gumbo and canapé Lorenzo which had the most succulent crabmeat. I had shrimp etouffee and Greg had the red fish with more crabmeat on top. Both of us cleaned our plates and agreed it was some of the best food we’d ever had!! By the time we got out of dinner, it was close to midnight and this momma was ready to hit the sack! (Yes I'm old, but in my defense, I knew Saturday would be quite the party day...)

Saturday, we SLEPT IN! Heaven! :) We didn’t get to Café du Monde for breakfast until after 10 am. There was a massive line, but we hopped around the back near the take-out side, and didn’t have to wait too long. We took our beignets over to Jackson Square and found a nice, shady spot to stuff our faces with French doughnuts. This was my first time trying beignets, and I seriously think they were the best thing I’ve ever eaten!!!!! Please don't get grossed out by the 6 extra pounds of powdered sugar they gave us.




We had such a lazy/wonderful day... meandering around Decatur St, sightseeing, strolling along the river, finding some bargains at the flea market in the French Market District, window shopping and people-watching.








For lunch (and a magnolia tea!) we headed to K. Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. We split a plate of the jambalaya pasta and it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! (Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but truly everything we ate was out of this world. We definitely need to go back b/c there are so many other things I want to try!)


After lunch, we dropped off our purchases at the hotel, changed shoes, and then headed to Pat O’Brien’s to begin our St. Patty’s Day celebration! Though it was only 3 o’clock, the party was already in full swing. We started in the dueling piano room and were lucky enough to get a table right away. We sampled both Hurricanes & Fuzzy Leprechauns...both delicious drinks! We talked away with people we met...from MD, Memphis, and Chattanooga. After a few hours, we headed out to the courtyard to hear the band, drink some more Fuzzy Leprechauns, and dance dance dance! (Sidenote: I love that my husband loves to dance as much as I do. Well, close.)




Instead of drinking our dinner, we decided to get some real food into our bellies and headed to the Gumbo Shop. Once again, we had some amazing food! We split two appetizers – turkey & sausage gumbo, and salad – and then each had some tasty entrees: Creole Combo for me (red beans, jambalaya, and shrimp creole) and Crawfish Etouffee for Greg. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Our last pitstop of the night was at New Orleans Original Daiquiri. I had a bellini daiquiri and Greg tried the hurricane daiquiri. So good! We took our daiquiris down the street to Bourbon Street Blues Co. for some more dancing, watched some more crazies on Bourbon Street, and then headed back to the hotel b/c we had an EARLY morning wake-up call (5:30 am).


Sunday was pretty uneventful, just another long & relaxing ride on the train home. We ate breakfast in the “dining car” and it was nice to have a sit-down meal while traveling. We will definitely be taking the train again! (We just need to remember to bring a blanket next time....the A/C was on way too high and we froze!!)

Granddaddy and Nate met us at the train station to pick us up and I will *never* forget the look on my boy's face... as he was running with his arms wide-spread, to give me a hug. Love him! Abby was happy to see us once we got home, and Mum Mum filled us in on all the shenanigans we missed. Everyone had a good time though.

Thank you again to Mum Mum and "D-Daddy" for allowing Greg and I to take this trip!

Spring Break

Nate was on Spring Break this past week and I tried to keep us busy so he wouldn’t get bored! As a result, we had lots of fun...

MONDAY
We played at the playground and then went on an “adventure hike,” complete with walking sticks. We went down slides, played on the swings, picked flowers (and weeds!), had races, and jumped in puddles.



Abby found Nate a stick that was shaped like a gun!

TUESDAY
It was a rainy morning, so we were lazy & stayed in our pjs till lunch. (Actually, I let Nate stay in his through his nap and he thought that was the coolest!) I pulled out some games they had gotten for Christmas (and had been hidden b/c they got WAY too much stuff) and they took turns delighting in the “new toys.”

In fact, that afternoon Miss Priss decided to put new pjs over her clothes. Guess she is a fan of staying in her pjs!!

WEDNESDAY
We went bowling for the first time with some friends!!! I love love love bowling and was happy to share that experience with the kids. They played like pros (thanks to the the bumpers and the ball ramp) and had a blast. They didn’t have shoes small enough to fit Abby’s feet, and I was afraid the 6 lb ball would be too much for her to handle. But the first time I turned my back, she was lifting it up HERSELF and carrying it to the ball ramp to bowl. She nearly gave me a heart attack! Thankfully, none of the kiddos we went with dropped a ball on their toesies!


When did my "baby" get so tall & skinny!? :(



After bowling, we picked up Chic-fil-a for lunch and headed to another nearby park to eat lunch & play on the playground with our friends.

THURSDAY
We had an (early) St. Patrick’s Day playdate at a friend’s house. She is Irish, and takes the holiday very seriously!!!! We had green lemonade, cupcakes, cookies, kiwi, cucumbers, pickles, lucky charms, green-sprinkled graham crackers, honeydew, and grapes. The kids had a ball icing the cupcakes (then promptly eating them) and it was such a nice day we played outside as well. We are loving this 80 degree weather!


Abby peeking in on Nate as he goes to the bathroom. Poor guy can't ever get any privacy!


In the afternoon, we put up the bouncy house in the backyard to play in. And we had some special visitors arrive too – Mum Mum & Granddaddy! They came into town for a few days so I could surprise Greg with a weekend trip to New Orleans for his upcoming birthday.

FRIDAY
Before Greg & I left for NOLA, we all took the kids to gymnastics in the morning. Nate never gets to go since he’s usually in school, and was SO EXCITED to show me his “trick”...which involved jumping & running on the long trampoline, and then dismounting with a “flip” (or rather, a forward roll). His buddy Anthony was there too and they played Super Hero Battle most of the time on the beams, floor, climbing wall, etc. Abby was her usual busy self, and made sure her audience was watching her every move! She definitely likes all eyes to be on her.


Abby taking a much-needed break


Nate told me his spring break was “so fun,” and I agree. I am, however, exhausted! :)