Andrew's 8th Birthday Party: HiWire and CiCi's!

Our big guy turns 8 next weekend and we celebrated today with his brother, our neighbor, a classmate, and a buddy he's known since he was 4 (half his life - eek!).  They are all his best friends and we had a great time bouncing on trampolines for an hour, then heading to the boys' favorite pizza buffet.

Schoolyear's End: A Haiku

Oh, dear "end of school..."
You have made me so, so tired.
Summer, where are you?

Aunt Phyl's 80th Birthday Weekend

Aunt Phyl turned 80! The weekend was a very special one with family that hadn't been together in a long time.

I took a personal day April 17 so Andrew, Ethan and I could embark upon the whirlwind WV adventure to celebrate. It went like this:

Friday, April 17
Drove to York, SC at 5:45 am, piled stuff and people and hound dogs into Jack's truck and headed to Yeager airport in Charleston, WV, where we picked up a rental car in the afternoon, then picked up Aunt Rena in Sissonville, then headed to the farm at the Mellin Ridge, where the boys and I hung for a while before driving to Harrisville to be with Mom for a couple of hours and then journey North to Morgantown to Mary Beth's place, where we arrived before 10 pm and crashed in her gorgeous basement.  Woosh!

Saturday, April 18
Breakfast at MB's, then I took the guys to Skyview Elementary for a few minutes so I could see and hug Jennifer, Heidi, and Janet because they were running an Orff music workshop there, played for a while at Aunt Phyl's and had lunch there, I bummed around Morgantown for an hour or so by myself, then we headed back to MB's for naps.  By then it was time to get ready for dinner at the Montmartre restaurant, which tops the historic and beautiful Hotel Morgan.  It was definitely the fanciest dinner the boys had ever attended and they both did pretty well.  After that, we all headed back to MB's to chat for a while and then it was off to bed for all.

Sunday, April 19
We awoke early and were on the road headed South by a little after 8 am.  It rained on us nearly the entire drive home, but we arrived back in Columbia around 6:30 safe, sound, and a little weary.

The weather was beautiful Friday and Saturday.  Here are my favorite photos from the trip....

Playing on the swing that was just hung by Uncle Jack as I know their Grandad Chuck overlooked

Three generations of the Welch family!  Here we are with Aunt Rena, Dad's sister

Pre-dinner chat at the Hotel Morgan

Asked a purple-haired passerby to take some shots of us.  She did well.

Beautiful Welch sisters.... I can only hope I look that great at 80 or 85!

Right before digging in!  Al was hiding.

This time, Aunt Rena was the one hiding.

Aunt Phyl and Uncle Jack (who the boys call Big Jack)

Ethan's reaction after witnessing a kiss moments before...

Always giggling

Still broken up over Ethan the comedian

Peek-a-boo

Ethan was "leading" the Happy Birthday song, but decided to
 take a ginormous bite of his ice cream right in the middle of the song.

Happy Birthday Aunt Phyl!

Carowinds!

We've been on spring break!  One of the fun things we did was check out our local amusement park on Tuesday.  We have season passes this year and really plan to get lots of use out of them, especially when the water park opens in a couple of months.

Andrew's very first loop-d-loop coaster: Carolina Cyclone.  This was a huge dad moment.

Cool animatronic dino exhibit!  The boys were supposed to be looking scared here,
although they really just look like they might throw up.

Mommy/Andrew coaster time!

This was our first ride of the day.... a dangling feet coaster.  We feared Ethan might freak out but he loved it and we ended up doing it a second time!

In a few months, Andrew will be tall enough to ride "The Intimidator." (sigh)

The only "Easter Bunny" pic we'll have this year.

Can't wait to go back!

Field Day 2015

Our school's annual field day was today.  There were so many wonderful volunteers that I got to spend most of the morning taking photos and hanging with Andrew's class.  Second graders are hilarious.

And, maybe I am giddy because this is the BEGINNING OF SPRING BREAK!!!

Andrew scored some points for his team by chucking beanbags into hoops.

High knees

Andrew's favorite, BY FAR, was the tug of war.  It was always mine.
His class did really well against a THIRD grade class!

They are checking out the bodies all over the ground on the other side of the rope.

This could be my most favorite photo of the day. Or ever.  Third grade goes down! Check out the student in the red shirt with sore hands, the guy in blue shorts who has clearly had enough, the other bodies all over the ground,
and the boy in red shorts laughing about it all.

Uh oh.  This was a loss from the 2nd/3rd grade boys after the game leader put them against all the girls.
The female teachers MAY have helped out on the girl side a little.....

Cute 2nd grade feet learning how to march and chant from a real drill sergeant.

One of Andrew's sweet, pretty classmates.

Reason, Season, or Lifetime?

Thoughts on friendship lately....

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person. 

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty; to provide you with guidance and support; to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on. 

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it. It is real. But only for a season. 

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. 

 — Unknown