Chattahoochee Mama

A 5 Year Old's Moving Inventory

The boys have been double checking everything to make sure their belongings will meet them on the other side. Dylan cares mostly about his favorite cars, blankie and pacifiers. But Wyatt is particularly concerned about leaving nothing behind. Yesterday he told me to be sure to pack this flower from our garden so we could take it to Va Beach with us.

Moving Crew Arrived (Early) At 8 AM Sharp

Jealous Anyone?

This is my dining room... which pretty much represents the condition of my entire house. The moving truck arrives tomorrow at 8:30 AM, so I keep telling myself it will all be over then.

But the truth is it's only the beginning of more chaos... living out of suitcases, sleeping in hotels, driving 800 miles, and then... unpacking the boxes. No rest for the weary (or 8 months pregnant=).

Five Years In Photos

Ben just posted the most recent string of photos of Wyatt taken on the same weekend in May every year.

A Lesson in Foreign Language

There's a Scooby Doo episode where Shaggy and Scooby get abducted by aliens. When the aliens are binding them with rope,  Shaggy says, "Like, we don't taste very good. We're all stringy."

Wyatt turned to me and said, "That just means 'all tied up' in Spanish, right Mommy?"

The Birthday Boy - He's 5!

 

This year, I won't get overly sentimental about my son's birthday... but I am going to mention just a few noteworthy things about Wyatt from this past year. =)

• He is sweet, sensitive and cares about all living thing
• He treats non-living things as if they are living
• He is a performer and, at times, a complete ham
• He is always right
• He is sometimes wrong, but in those cases he is also right
• His favorite thing to do is draw and do learning activites
• He has trouble pronouncing his "Ls" and "Rs"
• He loves the preposition "instead" and uses it in lieu of all others
• His second favorite thing to do is sing
• He sleeps with about 20 stuffed animals and knows when one is missing
• His little brother idolizes him, even though he has no clue
• He is a natural encourager of others, even strangers
• He can't resist sneaking raw cake batter when I'm not looking 
• He is brave and honest with his feelings
• He keeps a journal with him, so he can write and draw at any given moment
• He loves his Dad's Scooby Doo stories
• He is LOVED more than he'll ever know!

How Do You Display Your Kid's Artwork?

Wyatt produces so much artwork in a day that I can't possibly keep it all. When he's not around I sort through his most recent stack and only keep a few pieces... eventually, the best of the best make it to a bin that we'll keep for posterity's sake.

My intent is always to display some of his favorite doodles for us to all enjoy but have always struggled with the best method (I really don't like things hanging on my refrigerator). I found a few ideas at Cookie Mag, but I'd love to hear from you for more inspiration... how do you display your kid's artwork?

Last Day Of School

So this week of blogging is turning out to be mainly dedicated to Wyatt... but it's a big one for him. Today is his last day of Pre-K and he is in total denial. He even made cards for his teachers, but refused to take them to school this morning since "IT'S TUESDAY, not LAST DAY!" Somehow I managed to slip them into their giftbags when he wasn't looking. Let's hope he's as enthusiastic about school come September.

Big Week For My Little Man

Last night, we attended Wyatt's Pre-K Graduation. He was so incredibly cute and mature-looking in his cap and gown... plus, he did such a great job in the performance and walking up to get his diploma. I was definitely a proud mama and plan on sharing pics and possibly video as soon as I get them uploaded (so just humor me when I do=).

Today is field day at his school and his class is the purple team, so they all wore matching shirts. I can't believe my little man is growing up and will actually be going to kindergarten next year. I'm not ready...

Waiting In The Carpool Line

I got to Wyatt's school early today, so Dylan and I played around in the car while we waited for Wy to get out. Dylan found a paci under the seat, which is like finding gold in his eyes... and he kept trying to fake me out to get it in his mouth.=)

  

Orla Kiely For Target - Get 'Em While You Still Can

I totally fell in love with the Orla Kiely Collections for Target when I saw them a few weeks ago. Her line is almost completely sold out on-line, but I've seen a few pieces left in some of my local Target stores here in Georgia.

My personal favorites include the Sky Abacus and the Orange Flower Collections... as well as the Brown Pears. I'd love to have a set of 2 mugs in every color.

Too Young For This Kind of Trauma

On Friday, I took the boys to the dentist for their exams and check-up - a first for Dylan, who turns 3 in September. Wyatt did great, loved getting his teeth cleaned and still no cavities - yeah!

We were mainly worried about Dylan who has had a few nasty face falls this past year and has damaged 4 teeth in the process.

He now has a few cavities that have formed in the cracks of his broken teeth and a broken molar that may need a crown and possibly root repair. I knew he'd need a little work... but oh my goodness! My poor baby is only 2 1/2 and already in need of major dental repair.

We go back this Thursday to get it all taken care of and I'm just praying that he is cooperative and the sedation works like a charm. I don't know who will be more traumatized when this is all said and done... him or me.=( 

Another Big Announcement

Today, Ben announced our next big adventure on his blog. On October 28, he'll be leading a unique event called STORY in Chicago. It's for communicators in ministry and will be held at the beautiful Paramount Theater. Donald Miller, Ed Young, and Nancy Beach will be speaking, along with many others. This is going to be a theatrical, first-of-its-kind event. Check it out at www.StoryChicago.com - and I hope you'll join us for it! More info to come.

Short Hair, Skivvies, and Clumsy Scissorhands

I'm experimenting with giving the boys short haircuts, so they both got chopped today. This is the first time I've seen Wyatt's ears exposed and I have to admit... they're pretty cute.=)

Wyatt absolutely hates the feeling of hair on his skin or down his shirt. Today he stripped down to his undies for the 5 minute ride to our house so that he wouldn't have to feel the hair poking through the back of his shirt. Then he ran straight to the bathtub when we got home to wash off the excess. He's a little OCD about it, but I totally understand... freshly-cut hairs are extremely irritating to me, too.

On a more serious note, the lady accidentally cut Wyatt's arm while wielding her scissors around in the air. Our consolation was a complimentary haircut... and seeing as Wyatt recovered once bandaged, I guess that'll suffice. But I admit, I was a little surprised to leave Snipits with a wounded child.

Big Life Changes For Our Family

 Ben and I recently decided that our lives weren't crazy enough with moving our family to Atlanta last summer, Ben's event/travelling shedule, raising our 2 boys and having another baby in July.

So we thought we'd shake things up a bit... with a huge career transition for Ben and another big move to Virginia Beach for our family this Memorial Day weekend. That would be 2 weeks from today and 7 weeks before this baby is due to arrive - crazy I know!

You can read more about what Ben will be doing on his blog, but the skinny version is that he is leaving Catalyst to follow his dream of starting his own production company. Although sad to leave some of the great friends we have down here, we are super excited about this new chapter of our lives and thrilled to be moving back to the beach after 9 years.

We would greatly appreciate any prayers you want to say for our family through this time of transition. I'm so grateful for all of my wonderful readers and can't wait to share more of our adventure with you over the next few weeks and months.

Mother's Day Comes Early

Dylan and I spent the morning at Wyatt's preschool for an early Mother's Day celebration. We made crafts together, ate brunch, and I got lavished with fun gifts that Wyatt had made. Goody, goody.