{Almost} End of July Photo Dump

Did I mention....4 days until we close and move!!!! WOOT!!!!

Ok, then. On to the photos!!

Another great day for the McWane Center!

Stealing the last handful of boxes to color on, play in, or watch movies. Love it!

One CRAZY storm. I mean it. I heard that a LOT of trees went down near this house and the new one. WOW!

Finished packing up the rest of the kitchen leaving a few essentials for the final day.

Watching Toy Story together <3

Oh! And I have a movie to share, too!! Alex was reading the Micky Mouse Clubhouse Look and Find book to Austin. It was just too cute to not share!

 Have a great weekend!!

 

Getting Ready for Kindergarten {A Special Day...or 2...Out}

Current Countdown: 24 Days Until Kindergarten!!!!


OH. MY. GOSH.

Y'all. Kindergarten? I know... We all knew this day was coming. Only, in normal circumstances, you are only counting down to that day a not a handful of other life changes all in one season. Oh, dear.

Anyway, as a way of getting this Kindergarten show on the road, Jason and I each took a Saturday and had ourselves an "Andrew and Me Day" - YAY!!

Basically, we told Andrew, "This Saturday is with just Mommy. Next Saturday is with just Daddy." Then he asks what the Saturday after that was and that made this all even more exciting to him. That 3rd Saturday will be in our new house!!

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Anyway, in true Mama-Style, here is a recap of last Saturday's "Andrew Extravaganza!"

#1: Breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

#2: Hanging out with "Iron Man" aka The Vulcan!

I will say, at first I didn't know we were going to go up. I am NOT a fan of the grated walkway area at the top. I mean, if y'all want to see where you will meet death, then look over the rail... I do NOT need to see it right under my feet! Ahhh!

As we were walking inside to see the museum, which I have never been in before, Andrew bonked his head on one of the rails... Poor guy. Well, the museum guy, felt bad for him and gave us free admission into the museum and the Vulcan. I asked Andrew if he wanted to go up (secretly hoping he would say a big no thanks), and after about 5 minutes of thinking he decided to do it. (Super.) He LOVED going up the glass elevator and he thought it was so cool to see the while city from way up high. I had to put my brave face on and agree with all of it, snap a photo, and prayed we would get back down the same way we got up there. I know... I know... I am so lame. But we did it and it really was a lot of fun!

Mama's attempt and having Andrew "hold" the Vulcan LOL

#3: We cooled off in the car on the way to grab a tank of gas and figure out what to do for lunch. After a lot of debating and deciding, Andrew chose Chili's. 

#4: What better way to end the fun than wandering the aisles of Target with a super fun drink!! And, no! This wasn't my idea. Andrew totally asked about kids drinks at "Target Coffee" aka Starbucks. 

How exciting!! Starbucks is featuring the mini-sized frappes right now. They are like half the size of a tall, I think. Perfect for little hands. Andrew chose Birthday Cake complete with sprinkles. He said he knows it's not his birthday yet, but this day was like a party! Love this kid!

It was a fantastic day!!

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Now, of course, in true Daddy-Style... there are no pictures of "Andrew Day" with Jason. But, I heard all of the stories. Andrew, in fact is telling me about it while I type it out for you!

#1: They stopped by the new house to check out the backsplash and see a few things before starting out their super day!

#2: Lunch at Firehouse Subs - Andrew's favorite place to go with Jason. He said he got a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich with the blue spicy triangle chips (Cool Ranch Doritos) and Hi-C. Yum!

#3: They made a cool stop at Ruffner Mountain and went on a really cool nature hike! They hiked about 2 miles or so. Andrew said they found some secret trails, clues, and a tree that got struck by lightning!

The Lightning Tree - an ELECTRICAL engineers favorite! ;)

#4: Last stop! Coldstone Creamery for a yummy treat! Andrew got the Blue Cotton Candy Ice Cream with sprinkles in a tiny waffle cone (I think he means the sugar cone). Jason got the Vanilla Bean mixed with graham cracker crust in a big waffle cone. 

Another day of fun in the books!!

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Next up - some play dates with friends to take a break from all the packing. And, maybe...just maybe...a sneak peek at the new house!!! Maybe!

4 DAYS UNTIL WE CLOSE!!!! 

 

Currently. {Vol. 6}

Enjoying:

All the packing!!! Seriously. I am loving it! The boys are, too!

Took all the boxes home from a friend who just moved!

Austin makes sure to pack the essentials! LOL

Loving: 

My amazing friends!!!

Last night, my awesome girls and I parties it up to celebrate this little girl of mine! We had so much fun!! I am pretty blessed to have them in my life! Love, y'all!

Planning:

Oh, the planning. The planning is tuning into something else, let me tell you!

A. 15 days until we move!
B. 34 days until Andrew starts kindergarten - aaah!!!!
C. 49 days until Aria is in my arms!! GASP!!

I mean...WOW!! There is SO much to get done.

For moving - I'm averaging about 5 boxes packed a day. The majority of our stuff is already over at the new house. I got the U-Haul reserved. Our address has been changed. Mail taken care of. Utilities stuff mostly done. I'm sure there is more...

For Kindergarten - I have Andrew partially registered. I just need the deed and all those things that prove we live where we will be living in the next 15 days!

For Aria - I know. You are wondering... I had my doc appointment today and we schedule the c-section!! YAY!!! She will be born (she better not come before...) on August 26th!!! YAY!!!! I have a few more things I need to get, but that will all happen very soon.

Feeling: 

EXCITING TIMES!!!!

Making: 

Lots of to do lists!

Listening:

A lot of explosions from imaginations!

Reading:

Parenting Nerd Alert! LOL

Amazon

A few of our friends use this and we started it a couple weeks ago. It seems to be working out. There's no more yelling (mostly) from me. So, I'm good with it.

Watching: 

Way too much TV. It is too hot outside for this mama. But, I live in the South and wouldn't trade that for anything!

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Next time you read another "currently" we should be at the new house!!!! YAY!!!! Stay cool, y'all!

Rewind: Happy 4th of July {in photos}

Fireworks Cake I baked for our church's 4th of July Festival!

FREEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!

BBQ Chicken cooking all day. Good thing. It was raining most of the day.

Hanging out on the should of a bridge in Downtown Birmingham read to see the show!

With every "boom!" from the sky there was a "wow!" from the little guy

A nice and cozy 4th of July. Just perfect!

Oh, and this is perfect, too! 

Lindsay Letters - In God We Trust Print

That will definitely be going up somewhere in the new house next 4th of July!! Though, I may get the blue version. Either way, it is perfect!

Hope y'all had a great 4th of July!!

Brendan's Visit

This past weekend, plus a few extra days, was great!! My third youngest brother, Brendan, came up for a visit. We had such a great time!

Our first stops, of course, were Dave's Pizza and The Shops of Grand River, with my mom who had brought him. It is one of the few, but good, places that allows pets. It was fun! And, the boys knew that about half way through the numerous stores they could get slushies and pretzels out of Grandma. Haha! Thanks for the treats, Mom! 

 

After dinner on Friday, Brendan and I ran to Target to get the needed goodies for us grown ups. This not only included Orange Fanta, gummy bears, and licorice... But also a taste of the Force:

Yes, that is a marshmallow Stormtrooper and a cereal TIE Fighter and X-Wing. Score!

Saturday, we introduce Brendan to the wonders of Costco! He was rather impressed with the sizes of things that you could buy. We even got a huge Costco pizza to take home! Yum!

While the boys played with Jason, he helped me get dinner started in the kitchen. I'm not sure if he knew I took this picture or not. But, you can only take so many of Brendan before reaching his personal quota. Love you!

Sundays are lazy family days around here. After Mass and lunch at Moe's, Austin went down for a nap while the rest of us played Super Mario Brothers and Wii Resort. I have been banned (by my doing...) from playing Mario with the boys. But, listening to all the guys playing, big and little, was HILARIOUS!

On Monday (sadly, Jason was out of town most of this week), we traveled a little south of Birmingham to check out the sights at The American Village. What a cool place!! I have had this on my list of places to go for a good while now. I'm glad Brendan had picked it out. Andrew and Alex loved it, too! 

The Colonial Chapel where we heard Patrick Henry's famous speech. Andrew thought he was pretty cool.

Where Patrick Henry stood in the Chapel. Beautiful!

Liberty Bell Garden

The National Veterans Shrine - Brendan's favorite place! He was able to speak with one of the Veterans while we toured this beautiful building.

Andrew and Alex went on a Scavenger Hunt to find some pretty amazing things inside the Shrine.

 

Liberty embracing the fall of one of Her men during the Revolutionary War.

 

Mount Vernon

Brendan hard at work in the Oval Office

Encampment

Brendan took Andrew and Alex down to see the Encampment up close

After some shopping was done in the gift shop, which YES! included a new addition to my coffee mug collection, we headed back up the road and stopped for lunch. Everyone was starving from all the fun that was had at the American Village. We can't wait to go back!!

Tuesday morning, we headed out to the movies for one of the summer $1 flicks. Brendan hadn't seen Mr. Peabody and Sherman. So, after watching the trailer for it on YouTube, among many other videos we had to share with each other, he decided it would be fun to watch. And, yeah! We got the butter soaked movie popcorn and huge drinks! We don't get out much... Ha!

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Wednesday came around and it was time for the fun to {almost} end. Brendan was heading back home today. Mom drove back up and met us at the Galleria this time. There was a "threat" of storms (which apparently decided to hold off until today...and for the 4th of July...) so our normal outside options weren't in the cards. 

Seeing an Ironman Transformer of some sort was cool.

But, since the Lego store is at the Galleria, the boys were fine with the change of plans. 

Well...Austin wasn't a fan.. He was told not to open the Legos until we got home. But, we knew a cookie would fix that frown in a heartbeat.

But, our time with Brendan was coming to an end... So, once we said our goodbyes, we all headed in our different directions back home.

Mr. Sleepy

Austin was pretty tired, so he took more of a real nap at home. The other two knew that the time has come for their new Lego sets to be taken care of finally! Here are two of them -Lunar Rovers (by the way, go Lego Store for the freebies to honor space exploration this month!). I'll have to get a better pic of Andrew's Snow Truck and Alex's Swamp Police set later. 

 Once Austin woke up he got down to business with his little pond set.

Busy builder man

It is so crazy to think that the next time we see Brendan... He will be a soldier of the United States Army. I am so very proud of him. We all are! He is one amazing guy and I am so very happy to call him my brother. And, I am so grateful for the time he was able to spend with us these past few days. Sure, he may not like his photo taken, but I grabbed what I could and I am so thrilled that I did. Here are my favorites that I will end with. We love you Brendan!!

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