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My Little Graduate

The transition from Kindergarten to First Grade is a huge step. I never fully grasped this until this year. Noah has been thriving in his Kindergarten class (well when he's not getting in trouble).  This year has been one of tremendous growth for him, not only physical growth but in maturity as well.  He amazes me daily with the things he says and the way he rationalizes things. He seem so young but then will bust out with something that smacks me in the face that he's not a little kid anymore.  Kindergarten graduation was one of those moments.

Noah's school has a graduation ceremony for the 8th graders and another one for the Kindergartners.  They wear cap and gowns, the whole 9 yards. I always thought that was kinda silly but after seeing them all dressed up, there's nothing cuter than a 6 yr old in a cap and gown!  Noah was so excited all week and the day of graduation was probably his favorite day ever. He was all smiles and wanted to take pictures with everyone (so out of character for him).  The class put on a little play prior to the ceremony which was so cute. Noah was a frog and one of the main characters.  He did an amazing job as usual!  Then we all headed to the church for the ceremony.

They were all so cute!  Every kid got a diploma and a special award.  There were a few other awards given out and then we headed back to the parish center for a reception. It was fun to watch him interact with all of his classmates and having a blast! I'm so proud of him and everything that he's accomplished this year!

Oh I forgot to mention.....Noah was elected by his classmates to be a 1st grade representative for Student Council!!!  I am beyond thrilled by this because Student Council at his school is very dear to my  heart.  I was a 1st grade rep (and a class rep a few other years) along with being Treasurer and the Student Council President.  My brothers were all in Student Council too so he's following in the rich tradition of Trowbridge Student Council presence!!!!!

OK time for photo overload!!!!

Last day of Kindergarten!!!!

Even Froggy graduates!

My lil graduate!

Getting his diploma

Proud parents

Aunt Sharon

Uncle Tim

My two men

Love my Graduate!!!!

Noah and his 8th grade buddy Noah.  I'm so thankful Noah had such an amazing buddy.  He adored his Noah so much.  He went to Big Noah's graduation the night before his and then Big Noah came to my Noah's graduation.  He was such a role model for Noah and I could just tell how much they adored each other!!!

Noah.....we're so proud of you!!!  Keep up the good work and we love you!!!!

Don't forget to enter my Easy Canvas Prints giveaway!!!!
 

 

Getting Crafty

I'm sharing one of my favorite DIY projects (my Christmas gifts from this year) over on the Tampa Bay Moms Blog today!  Head on over and say hi!!!

Don't forget about my Easy Canvas Prints giveaway!

Packed Up and Heading Out

The day we've been waiting for has finally arrived! We are finally on our summer vacation!!!  The Hubs and I have had this week planned for months now and we've all been looking forward to it. And after the week I had at work, I need a break more than I realized. I'm ready to turn my brain off and just enjoy my family. I might not be too active on social media (except on Instagram I'm sure!!!)

Instead, I'll be hanging out here:

And here:

And here:

And here:

See ya in a week!!!!!

Deck the Walls

I'm obsessed with pictures.  I have dreams of gallery walls in every room of my house.  I tried my hand at making my own photo canvases for Christmas gifts, which actually turned out pretty good, but nothing beats a professionally made photo canvas.

That's where Easy Canvas Prints comes in.  Not only is their website easy to use, their prices are excellent as well!!!  All you have to do is upload your favorite picture to the site, choose your canvas size and any enhancements you would like, and a beautiful photo canvas arrives at your front door!  There are so many sizes to choose from, ranging from 8x8 to 30x40 or you can even create a custom sized canvas!  I was also stoked to see that you can even upload pictures from Instagram!  This is awesome for me because favorite pictures lately have come from my Instagram! I just can't decide which one to pick for my next canvas!!!

One of my favorite pics of the kiddos

A sweet moment

You better start thinking about your favorite picture because one lucky reader will receive their very own 8x10 canvas (valued at $44.71) from Easy Canvas Prints!!!  How awesome is that?!?!?  All you have to do is enter below!  Good luck!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


     

photo canvas prints
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Disclaimer: I was provided with my own Easy Canvas Print to review. All opinions are my own.

Under the Knife

Man I can't believe it's been over a month since Em had surgery.  I started writing this post on May 13th (her surgery was on May 10th) and now it's June 11th.  Huge slacker over here!!!!  So let's pick up where I left off......

Everyone knows that we've been facing some challenges with Em's health.  Friday was the big day.  Em's adenoids were finally coming out and we could get back on our journey to normalcy.  I was in full on nurse mode for most of the morning.  Surgery wasn't scheduled until 1:45pm, which I was not thrilled about.  She couldn't eat after midnight but could drink clear liquids and have popsicles until 10:45am.  Well let me tell you...she woke up demanding food.  I've never felt so bad for anyone in my life.  She had no idea why she couldn't eat breakfast like any other day.  It was so bad that I made the Hubs got to Publix and buy popsicles for her.  She ate about 3 for breakfast, which she thought was pretty cool.  But then the hard part came when she couldn't have anything else.  That was the longest few hours of my life. She just cried and would get mad and not understand.  But we all stuck it out and survived!  We loaded the car and headed to Brandon to have her surgery.

Not happy to be going to surgery

Google Maps gave me the most ridiculous directions to the surgery center but we found it no problem.  She was all excited to go in and play.  We waited for her name to be called and finally we headed back to meet up with the doc and anesthesia.  Let me tell you, Dr Vaughn was awesome!  Not only was he great with Em, he was very knowledgeable and very nice on the eyes!!! I know that shouldn't make a difference but it helped.  Plus a good friend of mine used to work with him and spoke so highly of him.  I was blessed that he would be the one managing our sweet girl. Both he and Dr Andrews (our surgeon) explained the procedure, we signed the consents and Em walked off to the OR hand in hand with Dr Vaughn and never looked back.  I kid you not, about 5 minutes later, Dr Andrews came out and was finished!  He said to prepare for about 15-20 minutes and it might have been 10 tops.  He said it was HUGE and that she'll finally be able to breathe out of her nose.  My poor baby hadn't been able to breathe normally for years!!!  I felt like the worst mom on the planet.  He said she'd be as good as new in a few days but she'd have a cough and runny nose for a few weeks.  He headed back to the OR while we waited to be called back to Recovery.

Hanging out, waiting to go to the OR....she dressed herself for the occasion

When we got the call to come back, the minute I opened the door, I recognized the screams.  Em was not a happy camper.  She and anesthesia don't mix too well.  She was sooooo mad that the nurse took her IV out and put tape on it instead of a bandaid.  She constantly asked us to take her "out of this place" and to take her home.  She refused to drink a thing and when it came time for vitals, you would have thought we were killing her. I think they discharged us from PACU because they couldn't handle her screams anymore!!!  So off we went on our journey home.

She got hungry and thirsty about 15 minutes later so we stopped to get her whatever she wanted.  She didn't have her tonsils removed so she didn't have a diet restriction. What did she pick? Chips and Coke. And of course her Daddy got it for her!  She ate like there was no tomorrow!  She took it easy the rest of the day but really, you wouldn't have been able to tell anything was wrong with her.

Left: leaving the surgery center
Right: about 30 minutes later, enjoying her chips

She did an amazing job and was so brave!  I'm so thankful for the amazing work her surgeons and surgical team did.  We are truly blessed to have such amazing doctors in our area!

Our road to recovery definitely doesn't end here but it's a very long and emotional one for me that's best left for another post......

The Hubs's Father's Day Gift

The Hubs has asked for one thing for the past 6 years for Father's Day or his birthday....a day to himself.  A day where I would take the kids and go do something from sunrise to sunset.  And I know this isn't because he doesn't want us around. Every so often, we just want to relish in the silence. Not be caught up in the craziness that is our house on most days.  And I never give it to him. Until this year.

This Father's Day, he'll get his wish, for half the day.  I'm taking the kids to The Great Father's Day Race. I had a blast at the Great Mother's Day race last month so I was more than excited when I was given the opportunity to participate in the Father's Day part of the series!  I decided to take the kids with me this time around.  I'll be struggling for 3.1 miles pushing the jogging stroller.  I don't know if I'll be able to run the entire time with them but I'm looking forward to spending the morning with my kids knowing that their Daddy is having a few peaceful hours. 

The official course map

The Great Father's Day Race will take place at Al Lopez Park in Tampa on Sunday, June 16th at 9am. Packet pick up will begin at 8am and includes a Dri Fit shirt (I hope it's like the shirt from GMDR...I love that one!!!!)  There will  be chip timing and awards for top finishers (I will not be one of those top finishers) There will be plenty of snacks and water and fun on race day!!! I know I won't be the only one with a stroller so pack the kids up and head out for a morning of fun, fitness, family, and fathers!!!!  I also know it will be a great event because the race directors are awesome!  They really want to make this a successful race series and I'm glad that I can be a part of helping this happen!

Come on out and let's celebrate Fatherhood!!!!

Sign up here and run with us!!!

I was provided a race entry in return for promoting this event.  All opinions are my own.  I truly love the message behind this race series and I'm glad to be a part of it!!

Far too long

Life has really kicked me in the gut.  I'm just now getting things back in order and I have plenty to share with you....ER visits, surgeries, rehearsals, recitals, graduations, vacations, recipes, and more!!!  I promise I'm still alive and still want to be here!!!!!!!

In the mean time, enjoy this little face.....

and this one......