Toddler Graduation

St. James had a ceremony this morning for the Toddler's graduating into primary. Each kid moving into primary crosses a bridge signaling their movement into the preschool/primary program. Here is Mr. David:

Crazy Hat Day

Today was Crazy Hat Day at St. James. Considering we only have one hat that I could find - the infamous fedora that David found at Gap and decided he MUST have - that is what he wore today. Here is our cool kid in his hat:

 

Here are some other pictures that David's teach sent to me over the past few weeks showing David focusing on his "work":

David's name

David and I have been working on writing his name the last few weeks. He knows how to spell it and is great with sounding things out and working on his phonics, but doesn't really care to sit down and focus on writing. Nevertheless (and completely based on promises of stickers), he has humored me and last night - he finally got all of the letters in his name on one sheet of paper all by himself:

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a packed weekend. Matt had a break from trial on Friday, so he took the afternoon off to go help me get his car turned in and to find a new one. We didn't expect him to be in trial, so we elected not to extend his car lease - which was up on May 25th- thinking we would have time to research and find a new car during the month of May. Matt has had literally no time off since the beginning of May, so I have been car shopping on my own. We were planning on him taking my small SUV and me getting a Tahoe to have some extra room for the kids. Turns out, however, the Tahoe just feels too big for me - especially with the daily parking garages I deal with and the realities of city living. So we decided to find another car for Matt - similar to what he had, but a little larger to accommodate the growing brood. We planned on getting another Mercedes, but Matt found a Jaguar XF at the Mercedes dealership (parked next to the cars we were looking at) and we bought it Friday afternoon. It was a corporate car, so it only had 11K miles on it and was in perfect condition. He loves it! He has actually been a fan of this car model the last few years, but they seemed a bit overpriced, etc. This one was just in the right place at the right time and at a good price... so here it is (my pictures do not do the car any justice - it is actually a very pretty car):

 

 

David taking a ride in Daddy's new car... I just love this facial expression.

 

 

 

On Saturday, Matt was able to spend a little more time with us before heading back into the office. We went to have an early breakfast, spent some time at JumpStreet and then took David to soccer. It was nice to catch up!! That afternoon, however, David started running a fever and seemed a bit lethargic. When he woke up from his nap, you could tell he was not feeling great (fever of about 102 degrees and an upset stomach). So I spent Saturday night and most of Sunday taking care of David. Luckily, by Sunday evening - he was feeling a little better and we all went out for dinner at Red Lobster before turning in early.
 

David checking out the lobsters...

By Monday morning, David was back in business. We got up early, cleaned Mommy's car (seeing Matt's new car made me motivated to clean mine up a little..), packed a picnic and headed to the Arboretum for a Memorial Day concert. The weather was so nice and the Arboretum is a popular spot on holidays, especially since they have a kid's concert in the garden, so I was betting we could find some "friends" to play with.  This worked out perfect - we ran into one of David's classmates and her parents...so I had someone to visit with and David had a buddy to enjoy the concert with. We also took a long walk around the garden, checking out the squirrels and bugs along the way, and spent some time in the petting zoo that they brought in for the holiday celebration. Pretty much made for a perfect morning/early afternoon. 

 

 

David picked up my phone and figure out he could take photos of himself.. this is one of the 25 he clicked before I grabbed the phone.

 

On the way home from the Arboretum, David and I had a scary close call and witnessed a pretty bad accident. We were driving down Buckner and I saw two cars speeding up behind us extremely fast - they were racing. I tried to get over to get out of the way as one of the cars, a black mustang, came super close to hitting us. He cut in front of us and then lost control of the car - spinning around a number of times, flipping the car and then rolling over into a soccer field - finally stopping when he hit a tree. The other car in the race pulled over and got out to help his friend. I pulled over and called 911, along with a mini-van that almost got hit. The kids in the mustang were ok (although pretty banged up) and, when the second car realized that we were calling the cops - zoomed off (but not before I was able to give his license plates to the police). We waited and gave our statement to the cops, who were taking the driver into custody for reckless endangerment when we left.  In addition to the two of us stopping to give a statement, a few other concerned citizens called and gave them names and a statement as well. I am glad the driver is ok, but even happier that he will likely not be driving for a while. 

 

After all that excitement, we went and both took a nap. After the nap, we went to get a snow cone to take to the park to end a pretty great day. Matt came home a little earlier than expected (7pm), so he and David also got to take a swim in the pool before the end of the long weekend.

 

 

This morning was a little rough. David did not want to go to school and wanted to have another "hang-out day" with Mommy. It has been nice that he and I have gotten to spend so much quality time together the last few weeks. It is especially nice given that his days as an only child are coming to an end. I know he will love having a brother and he really does seem excited about it, but it has been good bonding time for us.

 

We also have lots of upcoming changes - this is the last week of school, David has his bridge crossing ceremony on Thursday morning (where the kids "graduate" from the toddler class to the primary preschool classes) and HAYLEY is coming on Friday.

 

 

Weekend Updates

With Matt starting trial tomorrow (pre-trial hearing today), it was another Mommy and David weekend. Here is a glance at what we were up to:


Played a lot in the back-yard. This was the first weekend that we could really use the pool and David discovered that the floaties are not so bad...

 

Went to the mall and David decided he could not live without this hat (which he wore the rest of the weekend)

Played some soccer:

 

Got a new watch - another item that he wore the entire weekend, including while sleeping.

 

We ate lots of meals out since this is the status of our kitchen:

 

Checked on our rolly-pollies - which is now part of the daily routine...

 

This was last week, but David and I got to try out the safe room during the most recent storms. It is nice to have - although you literally can hear nothing because it is like being inside a steel vault (which I guess is technically what it is - the prior owners were art dealers and they had a steel enforced fireproof room added to the house. We intend to use it for a gym, but it makes for a nice tornado shelter)

Congrats to Matt

You guys might recall that I posted a few weeks ago that Matt was out of town for a trial (it was technically an arbitration) that he was handling by himself....well, he just found out today that he WON!!  His client got awarded all damages they were seeking plus attorneys fees - which is a great outcome. Yay Matt!!

Too bad we can't go celebrate since he is getting ready for a big trial set to start on Monday.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, David and I loaded up and went to Corsicana to visit my grandmother- Grandma Gil. She prepared a great lunch for David and I and we had an outstanding visit. Like Matt's MiMar, Grandma Gil played such an important role in my life growing up. It was special that we got to spend the day with her.

Matt felt terrible that he got stuck at the office on Mother's Day and told me a number of times that he would make it up to me. I have to say, however, he goes above and beyond every day to make my job as both a mother and a professional possible. It is not always easy and things don't always flow seamlessly, but I could not do everything I do without him. We are truly equal partners in every aspect of our lives and he is an amazing husband, dad and person. I could not ask for anything more.

Ok - End of the mushy stuff. Here are the pics:

All trips now require the backpack:

Our photo op turned into a game of chase:

So exhausted from our big trip:

 

 

Evening trip to the park to end a great Mother's Day (and yes, there was more gelato involved):