Last Weekend of the Summer

Friday: We finally hung our frame collage on the stand-alone wall in the living room. We're donating the bookcase that used to be there to Brother and Elle, the new homeowners. :)

Step 1: Figure out layout. This took me FOREVER. I bought about 3x more frames than I needed, all of differing sizes, and finally came up with an acceptable arrangement.

Step 2: Arrange onto wall using paper cutouts of each frame. Why didn't you just move it all over an inch to miss the thermostat, you ask? "Well it's completely center on the wall this way and I'm a psycho about things being even on both sides", says the Libra.

Step 3: Hang frames. I might try to find a metal letter 'N' or something to put in that gap. And I know some of them look a teeny lopsided here, but I fixed all that after I took this pic.

The hardest part of all this was searching through my thousands of pictures and picking 17.

Saturday: We ran a bunch of 'prepare for kindergarten' errands...school supplies, lunch stuff, etc. Justin and Davis (and some buddies) went to watch the race cars at Dixie Speedway so Boogs and I could have a girls' night in.

Today: Besides the 2 hours that Justin and Davis went swimming at the Prices', we were so lazy today...lazy enough to watch Harry and the Hendersons. Yeah. I know.

Tomorrow's the big day! When I asked Davis what he wanted to do most tomorrow at kindergarten, he thought for a minute and said, "Ummm...stay with you and hug you." I. Love. My life. Hopefully he'll say that exact same thing when high school rolls around. :)

Meet And Greet...And Watch Momma Fall Apart

Davis had his meet-and-greet for kindergarten last night. I can't believe it's here. I've been an emotional wreck about it. My baby is starting school on Monday. Real. Deal. School.

Good things, though:

• His teacher is AMAZING. I love her. She's sweet and tough. Exactly what Davis needs.



• The special ed teacher is also really geat. Davis will have her help for 3 hours each day.



• Davis' bud, Riley, is in his class. AND they're assigned seats are, coincidentally, right next to each other.



• There's only 19 kids in his class, making it the smallest kindergarten class there.



• The distance between his classroom and the lunch room, bathroom, and carpool line is super short.



• It's soooo close to home!



• EVERYONE knows him there. We walked in and people were, like, "Is this Davis?" and "I've heard a lot about you."



• And the best thing is that a girlfriend of mine is a third grade teacher there and I know she's going to look out for him and make sure he's well taken care of.

Bad stuff:

• I can't stop crying.



• I didn't see an assigned seat for me, leading me to believe that I'm not welcome to sit with him everyday and will have to spy on him from the window.

"¿Dónde Está El Baño, Peter?"

I redid the kids' bathroom last month and I love how it turned out...

Wall Color: Snowdrop from Sherwin Williams

Towel hangers behind the door

Hand towel hanger inside picture frame that I sanded to look distressed

White shower curtain

Decorative shelf above toilet

And the best part...I found a local artist here in Acworth, named Davis Nunley. His abstract paintings are brilliant.

Boogs turned 10 months old yesterday. 23 lbs, 11 oz. I just lubbers her all the days.

Kickin' It And Snuggling And Gettin' My Knit Fix

The whole family got some new kicks...

Davis--They're lightweight and really wide...exactly what he needs. AND only cost $20.

Boogs--$12 Sperry's at Marshall's. Buy the display, save the dolla' bills, y'all. They're a size 7, so she'll look super cute walking around with these in 2013. But, like I told Justin, "They're $12. Put them back in the cart."

Dadda--LOVE these! There's nothing like a boy (without a mustache*) in brand new tennies. Mmm, mmm, mmm...

*And, for those of you who were trying to guess when the 'stache would be put to rest, it happened on Monday, July 18, 2011...One of the Top 10 Happiest Days of my Life.

Me--These were a bit pricey, but I never, ever buy shoes for myself. I hate shoes, actually. I want to live in a world where everyone walks around barefoot. And I got the ones with pink where the blue is shown.

Justin and I watched Insidious on Friday night, after we got home from Orlando. I was really looking forward to cuddling up (boyfried/girlfriend style) and getting super scared, but the movie turned out to be pretty ruh-donkey. Rating: Fail. It had some creepy parts (A possessed kid. 'Nuf said.), but I thought they could've done so much more with the storyline. The ending definitely let you know there's about 8 more to come.


Today, I met Stobbe at the Whole Nine Yarns for their Christmas In July event. The owner of that place is making a KILLING. There are so many dang yarn lovers around here. We walked away with a stack of free patterns and bought a super cute baby sweater one. I really love that I have a pal to knit with.

Potpourri

Davis has been calling me ‘Andrea’ lately. Well, actually, ‘Anj-ra’. I guess this is a phase, or something. Parents are supposed to use that excuse for their child’s silly antics, right? He says ‘Justin’ instead of ‘Dadda’, too.

As most of you know, the Ronald McDonald House has a Pop Tab Recycling Program. Since 1996, the 2 RMH's of Central Florida have collected over 80 tons of pop tabs. This is what I've watched accumulate over the past week or so...

"Good lawd, that's a lotta money soda drinkin'!"

What we contributed…

Kind of puny, huh?!? We were just here 3 months ago, though, so we didn’t have much time to save up. We must be going through a phase, or something. ;)

Davis and I had a nice wake-up call this morning (around 5:50 or so)...the sonic boom sound from the Atlantis' very last landing. It was SO loud. Davis shot right up in bed and was, like, "What. Was. That?!?" When he retold the story to Justin over the phone it turned into this...

"Yeah, I heard the space ship this morning. It was like this, 'swish, swish, boom'. It was so loud, Justin. So, so loud. Really loud. It just made this loud boom in our room. And hit me in the head. And it was on the tv. It had a parachute behind it."

Justin will be here in a couple of hours and I’m so pumped!

And, now, I leave you with some pics...

Weekend In O'town

I wonder if Orlandoians hate that term. Kind of like how Atlantans hate 'Hot-lanta'.


On Saturday, CECO celebrated their 10th anniversary with a BBQ/Supply Drive at a nearby park. The founder took time to share his story behind opening CECO. Being a parent to a special needs child and needing to find an alternative to the public school system, he turned to Conductive Education. Not knowing then, of course, what 10 years of dedication to this COMPLETELY nonprofit school, an outpour of community support, and growth would bring. Today, CECO has a satellite office in Sarasota, FL and plans to open another one in Miami. They also have plans to offer adult housing for the young adults that transition out of CECO. The passion he has for improving the lives of these children is so inspirational. He and the Conductive Education concept makes you really believe that the impossible is possible. Every student there will live more independently than they would without that school.





OH! Their new Executive Director also spoke about what he’s learned in the short 6 weeks he’s been a part of CECO. He’s known Davis for a week and wanted the 100+ guests to know about his amazing rendition of Katy Perry’s Firework song. I’m not even kidding, people.





There’s, of course, play-by-play coverage of Casey Anthony’s release on every channel down here. I’ve been following her case since Caylee’s disappearance in 2008, so it was crazy to be within miles of her as she became a ‘free’ woman. I really wonder where she’s going to end up. And what’s going to happen to her. Hopefully it involves chloroform. And duct tape. And a trunk. I’m just saying.

"This Killing Time...Is Killing Me"

Clint said it best. To pass the time, I’ve been doing lots of…

Knitting…

Watching Big Bertha and Slim Jim settle their differences in the ring…

"Hmmm...what else?"

Listening to Daniel Tosh Radio on Pandora (when children aren’t present, of course). And I highly recommend this station, especially for your morning and afternoon work commutes. Uhhh...you're welcome.

I’m so pumped that my summer addiction, Big Brother, has started! Seriously, best.show.ever. Period.

Eating. And eating. And eating. And eating. There’s always something super yummy waiting for me in the kitchen.

Dance parties before bed…



Watching Davis do work…

And missing Husband. And Dockie Doc Doc.

Look Both Ways. Like, Five Times.

Davis walked right in front of traffic a car driving about 10 mph in the parking garage today.

Me: “Davis, you don’t EVER walk out into the street without Momma.”

Davis: “Right. Or Spiderman.”

I wasn’t sure how to explain to him that if a man is out in public dressed up like ‘Spiderman’ and tries to ‘walk him across the street’ (or ‘show him the puppy he has hiding in his van’ or ‘give him some candy’), chances are he can also be found on Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry and he should scream until someone comes to his rescue. So I just said, “Nope. Only Momma. Or Mustacheman. He’s the REAL superhero, anyway.”


This is the kind of thing that scares the urine out of me with him. He doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings like he should. He has this whole ‘go first, think later’ mentality. And, with his balance being so unreliable, he has more potential than other 5 year olds to get seriously hurt. I can speak from experience since I can barely take 6 steps without tripping, banging into something, or dropping whatever’s in my hand.

We’re working on it, though. Today, in class, the conductor made him do a lot of balancing exercises and walk through obstacle courses that challenge him to actually think about and pay attention to each step he took.

One Less Nunley, One Standing, And One Being A Big Dog

'Stache-tastic left this morning. Boo-to-the-hoo.

After being trapped in her cage pack-and-play off and on for the past two days, Booger finally learned how to stand up!!! She's pretty stinkin' proud of herself.

Note to her: You're growing up too fast and I want it to stop.right.now. Thanks.

Wooder started class today and it went well. He worked hard for five straight hours and when I told him I was thankful for that, he said, “Yeah, well, that’s how the big dogs do it.”

Shampoo and Switch-er-oo

We went back to Sea World today to take full advantage of our year-round passes. This time, Davis sat in the Splash Zone and got soaked by 'Shampoo'.

The Ronald McDonald House is soooo packed right now. We checked in last night and got stuck with a room on the second floor. Davis slept on about 6" worth of foam matting on the floor, but loved every minute of it. "I love my new bed, Momma." Reese slept in her pack-and-play...in the bathroom. (Is that DFCS worthy???) And that, actually, worked out really well because she wasn't going to sleep with Justin and I right next to her. She kept trying to stand up in the p-and-p to look at us in the bed and would get pissed when we ignored her. It was 10 o'clock, people! And we were EXHAUSTED!

Anyway, the room would've been fine, but I really like being on the first floor. It's so much easier to run to the kitchen alone and make a cup of coffee or come to the computer room after the kids have gone to sleep at night. Justin leaves tomorrow so I'll need all the 'easy' I can get. It all worked out, though, because the family in Room 6 (first floor AND the room where Davis stood up for the first time!) wanted a bigger, wheel chair accessible room (second floor) so we did a little swap out and now everyone's happy! Plus, I was bummed about being in Room 13. I actually said, out loud, "What if therapy is a flop now?" You can imagine what 'Stache-eroni had to say about that.

Cars And Back In Our Car

Justin and I try to make a conscious effort to give Davis special two-on-one attention. Once a month, we take him to do something, just the three of us. He's been, very discreetly, struggling with sharing our attention with Baby Sister. The other day, I walked into the living room to find his 5 year old body crammed inside her walker. I don't even know how he got in the damn thing. Every now and then, he'll start talking like a baby, too. And the potty accidents have gotten a little ridiculous in recent weeks.

Last night, we went to see Cars 2 while Boogs hung out with Pa.

Me: "Davis, when Dadda gets home from work, do you want to go see Cars 2?"
Davis: (Shouting and throws his 'duh' on the ground.) "Oh, yeah! I do! I do wanna go see Cars 2! Let's go, Momma! Let's go right now!"
Me: "No? Ok. We don't have to go."
Davis: "Momma, you are tricking me." (Tears immediately follow...)
Me: "I'm kidding, bro. It'll be just me, you, and Dadda. Does that sound like fun?!?"
Davis: "Baby Sister can come, too. She can go whereeeeeever she wants to go."

Such a sweet big bro!

Anyway, the movie was AWFUL! Nothing like the first. No humor and the plot was LAME! It was, like, 'double-oh-seven' meets one of those racing games you play at an arcade.

When I asked him what his favorite part was, he said, "When Barbie and Ken fell into the snow." Of course, he was referring to a Toy Story cartoon that played before Cars 2. He didn't like the movie, either, I guess.


Now, we're off to see the Wizard Orlando!

Davis Goes To College

Davis was filmed today, during PT, for a professor who's writing a textbook for physical therapy students. The footage will be used as a resource guide inserted in the back of the book for the students. How cool is that?!?!

When Kelly, his PT, was asked which of her kids would be a good candidate for this, she immediately thought of Davis because of the fact that he recently had the Rhizotomy procedure.

He totally took his job seriously and sang Michael Jackson during the filming. "Uncle Jackson walks backwards, not forwards. And he wears a white glove." Who has the best kid in the world? This girl.

4th Weekend Review

We had such an awesome time in Pensacola over the holiday weekend.

I'll recap with a few of the 87 million pictures I took...

Justin got his first ever jellyfish sting.

Hunting for crab.

Hanging out on the beach at night.

Anchored at the bay on the 4th.

A traumatizing 'sunscreen in the eyes' moment.

Davis entertained everyone with his Wipeout rendition.

Of course, a photo shoot.
An awesome fireworks show.
Watched the Blue Angels practice for their show this weekend.