Motts Fruit Flavored Snacks Winner Announcement

I didn't feel like taking screen shots of each random drawing image, so I'm just posting the comment number and winner's name.  Congratulations to: #4: Carolsue  #2: Erin; #7: Janice, #8: Karin.  Check your inbox ladies, and get back to me ASAP with contact info so we can get your prize out to you!

Sweet Moments

As my kids have gotten older I don't follow them around with the camera as much as I used to.  We're busier and on the go now more than ever, and our busy schedule just doesn't lend itself to daily photo shoots like it did when they were babies.  Every once in a while though I feel like I get lucky and capture a sweet moment.  Maybe once called a Kodak Moment, I think of it as a special, unplanned, perfect snapshot of a particular moment in time.  Here's my most recent "Sweet Moment" taken last weekend at the beach.

This girl is just crazy about her Nana.  While the other two kids swam and frolicked in the sand, Katelyn laid under the umbrella curled up in Nana's arms.  I was lucky enough to get this sweet moment on camera, and it's one that I know will be treasured forever.

Motts Fruit Flavored Snacks Giveaway

2 blog posts in one day?  Wow.  I must really have some free time on my hands... (not really, I just realized I forgot to post this giveaway like forever ago.)  So here goes:

Summer is here in full force and with that comes a schedule jam packed with play dates, summer camp, and road trips. (And Kindergarten for crazy towns like mine that start school in July!)  With all these activities planned, there is one thing your kids are sure to need … great tasting snacks! Fortunately the Mott’s® taste that kids love is now available in yummy fruit flavored snacks! Available in Assorted Fruit and Berry varieties, Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are the ideal blend of great tasting and quality ingredients that will make both kids and us moms happy. A couple things to consider about Mott's Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are listed below:

Made with real fruit & vegetable juice* and natural colors and flavors Available with year round Double Box Tops Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are great on-the-go, so whether your family is lounging by the pool, playing in the park, or hanging on the beach this summer, Mott’s® has snack time covered! Want to save some money?  Head on over to http://bit.ly/MottsCoupon to download a printable coupon for $0.60 off the purchase of (1) Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks today! *Made with pear, apple and carrot juice concentrate. See package for complete details. Not intended to replace fruit or vegetables in the diet. Want to try some?  Great... here's the fun giveaway part! 4 lucky readers will win a Gift pack complete with 6 boxes of Motts Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks.  That's right... there will be 4 winners!  Leave a comment on this post to be entered to win.  I'm keeping it simple this time around.  One comment per person. Follow my blog if you want to, (please do!) but it won't earn you any extra entries.  This giveaway starts now and will conclude on Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 11:59pm.  All winners will be selected and notified shortly thereafter.  So what are you waiting for?  Post a comment now... you've only got 4 days! Disclosure: The product, gift pack, information, and additional sample have all been provided by Mott’s® through MyBlogSpark.

A Little Olivia Update

I could get used to this afternoon blogging gig again.  Seriously, I hadn't realized how much easier (and peaceful) a few hours of 2 children of the same age and gender would be than 3 of different ages and genders.  My house is Q.U.I.E.T. I love it.

I realize that the blog has been a little Joey-heavy lately, so I figured I'd hop on here real quick to talk about one of my other favorite kids.  Olivia.

Sweet, sassy, adorable, Olivia.  Who is really coming into her own as far as personality, sense of humor, and tantrums.  Oh, those three-year-old-girl tantrums.  Oy.  Anyway, Olivia has struggled a bit with speech and vocabulary development, but is doing much better as of recently.  Her stutter was once so pronounced that she would get hung up on every single syllable.  It broke my heart, but we've worked a lot with her and she's really getting quite confident in expressing herself.

Moments ago Olivia came to me while I was standing in the kitchen hovering over my iPad and said, "Mommy, I is hungry."  This just happens to be one of her favorite phrases, since she has recently realized that she can have some influence over what she eats.  Rarely satisfied with anything other than crackers, cookies, or fruit, this little girl has a serious sweet tooth.  I asked her what she wanted to eat and she said, "Ummmm... Cake Pops."  Cake pops?  What a request... Apparently Olivia is thinking that those are just something I keep laying around in my pantry. (I don't.)  I told her we didn't have any cake pops, to which she whined a little and said, "Mommy, but you can just make me some."  I started to laugh a little, told her that I wouldn't be doing that this afternoon, to which she just became increasingly irritated until she was whining and begging me to whip up a batch smooshed cake dipped in chocolate on a stick.

Ultimately I was able to satiate Olivia with a package of Scooby-Doo gummies, (I know, healthy afternoon snack.)  And I'm sure if it were up to Olivia, I should be adding personal on-demand baker to my mommy repertoire.

The Very Beginning

Well, we made it through the first day of Kindergarten without any tears from Joey.  (I, on the other hand was a basket case.)  He was excited, a little apprehensive, and uncharacteristically quiet as I dropped him off.  When the Assistant Principal opened the car door, he slowly climbed out, hoisted his too-big backpack up onto his shoulders, turned around, and with a wave of his little hand said, "Bye Mom!  See you later!"  And I lost it.  I cried and cried and cried.  I even had to go back to the house real quick before heading to work because I couldn't find any tissues in the car to wipe off the ugly black mascara streaks running down my face.  It was horrible.  My heart hurt after saying goodbye to that precious boy.  The crying lasted a good 15 minutes, and then I was OK.  Puffy blotchy eyes for the remainder of the morning, but OK.  I thought about him a million times throughout the day, but knew he'd be just fine.  And he was.

Here we are moments before lift off:

When pressed for details about his day, I got a lot of, "I'm not sure." or, "I don't really remember." So I left it at that.  I knew he'd tell me in his own time.  As the evening wore on Joey was more and more forthcoming as memories of Kindergarten started to emerge.  Here's what I gathered: *Mommy reactions are marked with *asterisks*)

• His class had Gym as a special.  He told me the name of his P.E. Teacher (impressive) and said that there is a stage in the gym, and isn't that silly?  When I asked him what they did in Gym he said nothing because Kindergartners don't know the rules yet. *???*
• I asked him how his lunch was and if he ate it all.  He said he liked the cheese stick and yogurt, and ate all his cheese-its.  He said he had a couple bites of his granola bar and then had to throw it out.  According to Joey, he had to throw it out because Mrs. Harris (his teacher) tells them when lunch is over and if they don't have any more time they have to be done.  *picking up on routines already... I like it.  Wasting food... not so much.*
• He said they have nap time at school.  I asked if he rested on his towel that I sent.  (Which, by the way he was very concerned about... apparently I sent his FAVORITE towel and he doesn't want the school to think it is theirs.) He said he fell asleep because the teacher put a Winnie the Pooh story on to listen to from the "music player thing" and it made him tired.  *heart melt*
• He was able to tell us about 5 or 6 of his classmate's names, and impressed himself that he already knows where his cubby is.
• Lastly, when I was putting him to bed last night Joey said this proudly: "After rest time I felt like coming home but I didn't even cry.  A girl in my class cried cause she wanted to go home, but not me.  I just waited and waited and waited until you came for me."  *tears welled up in my eyes... my sweet brave boy*

And that's about all I know.  I was impressed that he gave some specific details, and really seemed to enjoy himself while taking it all in.  I love this little guy so much, and my heart strings are barely hanging on as we embark on this new journey towards growing up.  Sigh.

By the way, please take a moment to notice the time of this post.... mid-afternoon.  It's been a long time since I was able to peacefully write a blog post during my childrens' waking hours.  But the girls are keeping to themselves; they are actually very busy enjoying all of Joey's toys while he's not around to scream at them. I'll be the first to admit that a break in the sibling squabbling is an HUGE plus to my little guy going off to school.  Now we're off to pick him up.  Let the fighting commence! 

Happy Birthday Joey!

Tomorrow marks an important chapter in the life of my family.  First off, my first born is turning 5 years old tomorrow.  This seems so surreal, being the mother of a 5-year-old.  How can 5 years have passed already?  The days of nursing, rocking, and cuddling this little baby seem not so long ago.

And definitely not 5 years long ago.

In addition to my sweet boy turning 5, we are about to cross over to a whole new world tommorrow.  Elementary School.  That's right... my little guy is heading off to Kindergarten in the morning.  I am a bag of mixed emotions tonight as I think about my sweet little red-headed boy venturing off into the big world without me.

Obviously, I am happy for him.  First and foremost I am so excited for him to learn new things, make new friends, and spend his days having new adventures in school.  I can just imagine how entranced he will be at his first music class watching and learning about real musical instruments and songs.  He is a careful observer before he is a joiner, and I love picturing him watching and taking it all in.  I'm also enjoying envisioning him entering the cafeteria with his little Spiderman lunch box, and having a good time with new friends while they compare lunches and (hopefully) eat what their mommies packed for them.

There is another side of me that is completely terrified to drop that little guy off at the front of the huge school around the corner from our house, only to pick him up 7 hours later.  What if he doesn't know where to go?  What if there isn't anyone around to help him?  What if he cries that really loud, sad cry and it freaks out his teacher and classmates?  What if he falls at recess?  What if he falls asleep during rest time?  What if they lose him?  What if?  What if? My mind is a whirlwind of what if questions tonight, and I'll probably have to take Benadryl so I can sleep.  I know the rational answers to all of those questions.  But still.  What if?

Lastly, I'm sad.  Obviously I'm sad.  My baby boy is growing up and about to start living his life independent from me.  He has been by my side for 5 years.  That's a long time.  And as much as he drives me absolutely insane sometimes I'll miss him a lot.  He is the person I talk to most during the day. The first person I see (usually far earlier than I'd like) in the morning.  He gives me kisses, hugs, slurberts, and lots of love every single day and the thought of him not being around for all of that makes me super sad.  It's so weird that I won't know what he's doing at any given moment in the day.  I know it's time, but I'm just not ready to let go.  (It's a good thing we base the decision of going to Kindergarten on their readiness, not ours, huh?)

Regardless of how I feel about it, it's here.  The time has come for Joey to spread his little wings and fly.  So with any luck I'll get back on here this week sometime and update y'all with how he's doing.  I'll leave you with some recent pics of my goofy 5! year old while we celebrated his birthday this weekend...