Macon Soccer Club - Evan

Last night was Evan's first practice with Macon Soccer Club. Oh what a difference from last fall! Evan was completely focused, confident, and fast on the field! This is a different Evan than the one who sat in the middle of the field - crying - during his practices and games last fall with Upward Soccer. Will and I were so proud of him!

Alex's first practice will be on Friday evening. He and I watched Evan & Will from the hillside last night. Alex's did not miss anything. He did all the warm-ups with Evan's group from afar: stretched, jumped, and ran around. I can hardly wait to see him in action in a few days!

Here are more pictures of the big event.

JB James

Just four weeks ago, a close friend of mine took her son to the after hours pediatrician, as he'd been having some headaches. A CT scan was scheduled for the next day, August 24th 2009.
It was at the CT scan that the James family learned of a mass in JB's 4th ventricle. Candi, Erskine and JB packed a bag, piled in the car, and drove through the night to get to Memphis, where JB had surgery on Friday, August 28th. Sweet JB has been at St. Jude's and the Ronald McDonald House ever since. The diagnosis is medulloblastoma and the story of JB's journey can be found here, on his Caringbridge Site. Candi and Erskine write well and often. Their story is heartbreaking, but the support they are receiving from friends, family, and strangers is both phenomenal and moving.

A friend of the James family started a blog for JB. She asked folks to get creative and find ways to "write" or post JB. Will mowed JB into the lawn (see below -- and look very carefully. It is there!) The Jordans took a JB sign to Rocky Mountain National Park and took pictures there. Emmy & Christian took pics of a JB sign in NY & CT. All these pictures and more can be found on the link to the blog (see below). If you want to submit any pics, let me know! It would be wonderful to keep this site stocked with pictures from near and far. I know the Jameses would love it.

JB James Blog

JB's little sister, Elizabeth, is in Alex's class at school. Since Candi is still in Memphis at St. Jude's, several of us offered to help organize a 4th birthday party for Elizabeth. Below are pictures that I took, as well as a picture from a photographer who was there. One of our friends even arranged for Snow White to appear at the party! And once Snow heard about JB and his family, she visited free of charge. The kids were wild about her -- especially Alex!

St Simons Get Away - Labor Day Weekend

We had a super anniversary weekend get-away to St. Simons over Labor Day. We rented a condo on the beach and enjoyed lots of seafood! Alex even tried shrimp -- and loved it! Will and Evan spent almost every minute jumping waves, while Alex preferred sitting in mommy/daddy-made tidal pools and making drip castles!

More pictures here.

Alex on the Beach:




Evan riding and jumping the waves:

Happy Anniversary to us!

Happy 7th Anniversary to us!
Here is the best (and only) picture of us taken this weekend.
Alex (age 3- just barely) was the photographer.

And here is the annual link to pictures from our Wedding!

Show and Tell

Evan's first-ever-show-and-tell was today. He was to bring in his favorite teddy bear, so he chose "Green Teddy," a crocheted bear made by my cousin Sarah. This Teddy is special in many ways that Evan has yet to understand, but his love for the guy (who was a gift from Sarah when Alex was born, and has been on his shelf in a "special spot" (away from dirty kid fingers) for the last three years) is touching.

Sarah made a teddy in the same pattern for our Grandmother when she was in the hospital several years ago. Grammie loved her bear, and Evan loves his. Thanks, Sar.

"The Caf"

How is it possible that we have a child in elementary school already?

Today was my first day on official PTC business at Springdale; I was asked to be "room mom" for the pre-kindergarten class. It seemed surreal as I entered the building, printed an official visitor's badge, and headed to the cafeteria to learn of my new duties. (Overall, I'm in charge of begging other parents to participate in activities, bring food for parties, etc. I can handle this -- especially if it means that I dont have to cook. I get first dibs on paper products for all events!)

Later that morning, I read Blueberries for Sal to Evan's class. (Will read that book to Evan every night for almost a year. They read it so often that the pages fell out and we needed to buy another copy.) It is a special book for our family, and since Evan's class was learning about the letter B and Bears it was a perfect fit.

The highlight of the day was when I ate lunch with Evan in the school lunchroom, or "The Caf," as Evan likes to call it. We stood together in the hot lunch line holding hands. We sat side-by-side at the long cafeteria table with our heads close together to chat. He told me all about his friends, their names, and all the cafeteria rules (seriously! you can only talk at certain times. If caught, you are moved to the "no talking table" for a week!!)

I'm glad I didn't stop to reflect on the experience real-time, else I would have cried... The boys are growing up too quickly.



Gosh. What a day. I sat with my son in his school cafeteria! He eats breakfast and lunch five days a week without me. He pushes his little tray along, picks out his milk, gets his food, sits with friends .... sniff. sniff.

I can't wait to return.

Alex's First Day of School

Alex on his first day of school - wearing his backpack and toting his car-snack: Golden Grahams!

Today was Alex's first day of 3K Preschool. He looked so grown-up marching around this morning, his backpack slung over one shoulder. When we got to school, he held onto my left index finger between the car and the school. No longer does he want to be carried, no longer does he need to bury his tiny hand into mine as we approach the building. Will and I watched as he hung his backpack on the correct hook and posed dutifully for a picture (well, about 10 pictures). He paused in the hall for a spell, watching the other kids and parents, and then went into the room. He is ready. I'm just not sure that I am.

life is good

Evan was positively glowing all afternoon today. At school, he was chosen to hold the flag during the Pledge. Then, during the school-wide morning news, they showed his Chicago and Yellowstone vacation pictures. He got to rest in Rooker's spot for naps (Rooker's spot is near the blocks. Evan was formerly under the backpacks, a "totally boring" spot for someone who doesn't sleep, I hear), and there were mashed potatoes for lunch! Does life get any better?

Books

Will's Center for the Teaching of America's Western Foundations has a new website. (It is rudimentary at this point, but we are working on it.) For the "about us" page, Will needed a picture of himself. Of course, the boys wanted to participate, as well. Here are all 3 Jordan boys in front of "Daddy's important books."

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Alex!
We love you!

Enjoying Alex

Evan started school almost a full month before Alex, Will and me. I thought that with Evan gone, Alex would be super-bored, missing his "best fwend in the ho whirrr-uld." Instead, Alex, Will and I have enjoyed lots of time together reading, playing, doing puzzles, running errands, going on excursions, and generally goofing around. As it turns out, Alex likes undivided attention! :) We even fit in a day-trip to the Zoo for an early birthday present to Alex. (Evan was crazy-jealous when he found out, to say the least!)

Here are some shots of enjoying our time with Alex. We love you little buddy.

Chattanooga & Macon

We spent an awesome weekend in Chattanooga with my parents, followed by a week in Macon. It has become tradition to meet them there for a weekend each August and this was our third trip! I have many pictures and stories to share, but the images are not yet loaded to the computer. Stay tuned!

The School Rollercoaster

Evan's first week of big-boy school was a roller coaster, to say the least. It is probably best described in timeline fashion.

First, a little bit of background: Evan attended a Church preschool for the last three years, most recently 5 mornings a week for 3K. This school year, his name was drawn for the Pre-K lottery at Springdale Elementary, the school in our neighborhood. It was a tough decision to send him to a true "big boy school" that meets all day, but honestly -- had he been born 6 weeks earlier, he would have started kindergarten this year! We decided to go for it with Springdale. He was ready.

On Wednesday night, Aug 5, we attended an open house.

Evan was all smiles. Thumbs up!

He met both his teachers (Miss Clegg, above, and Mrs Jones), and he loved the classroom. He looks a little nervous in this picture, but most of the evening, he was smiling ear to ear.

We bought him a Springdale shirt. He put it on the very minute we got home. Plus, he wanted to wear it to his first day of school. So much for the outfit I'd chosen!

Fast forward to 5:00 am on Thursday morning: Evan's first day of Big-Boy School. Evan crawled into our bed, complaining that his "heart hurt." Seconds later, he threw up all over the bed -- and then two more times before we left for school. He didn't have a fever and I was near positive it was nerves. (Who me, anxious? with an anxious, nervous, excited, over-achiever kid? He told me later that he thought he would need to read on his first day of school!! Poor thing.)

A little green, holding his tummy on the way out the door. After this picture he told me, "Mommy, no pictures when I am ill, please."

Modeling his backpack - full of towels for nap time, a change of clothes, and other goodies.

Will, Alex and I took him to school, where he was just not himself. He sat quietly at his table (see below) while all the other kids ran around and met one another. I told the teachers about our morning and they promised to alert me if he was sick at school.

Evan at his spot on "table 2"

At 10:30 am, I got the call. Evan had thrown up two times at school. They knew it was nerves, and they knew he'd be fine since he didn't want to leave -- but what did I want to do? I drove as fast as possible to that school with an indescribable, heavy sense of disappointment. Poor Evan. I picked him up in the main office and deflected as many stares as possible. What kinda parent sends a puking kid to school on the first day back? I wanted to shout, "He is excited! He wants to learn! It is nerves! He is not contagious!" He (then I) cried the whole way home. "I'm missing my first day of schooooooooollllll, Mommy! My first day ever!"

Thumbs down - Evan at home on his first day of school

Will met us at the door with grilled cheese and other favorites. Within 30 minutes of being home, Evan was eating everything in sight and goofing around with his brother. It has been smooth sailing ever since. He really loves school.

What a roller coaster.

Go West, Young Men

We just returned from 11 days with Nana & Gramps in Colorado & Wyoming. In addition to spending many hours playing on the Pirate Ship in their backyard, we also visited Fort Laramie, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park. (Our National Parks Passport book is quickly filling up, as we have collected 36 stamps in the last 31 days of travel! It helped that every visitor's center in Yellowstone has its own stamp -- seven in all!) We were fortunate to see the boys' Great-Grandmas several times this visit, as well.


Other highlights included dressing up (as Pirates, Davy Crockett, Indians, Park Rangers, Trappers, and ... of course... tourists!); seeing Old Faithful erupt from our hotel window (the kids saw it erupt 6 times!); spotting wildlife (Moose, Elk, Buffalo, Deer, Yellow-Bellied Marmots, a Grizzly Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, and the boys' favorite: PIKA!); riding in a stagecoach at Yellowstone; standing in wheel ruts from the Oregon Trail; sleeping in a real log cabin; driving over Trail Ridge Road in the snow on July 26th; becoming junior rangers at RMNP; seeing Megan and Greg's new house; watching Tanner play T-ball; "messing with" Nana and Gramps in the back of the "Grand-Van" as we drove across Wyoming; visiting a working dairy; and drinking free samples at the Budweiser plant (some of us drank Sprite, some of us did not). We even found time to visit Fort Vasquez (info), too.

Thank you for a wonderful vacation, Nana & Gramps!

Picture Slideshows Here:

Fort Laramie, Oregon Trail Ruts & arrival in Cody

Yellowstone Day 1 & Old Faithful Inn

Yellowstone Day 2 & Colter Bay (Tetons)

Grand Tetons

Visit to a dairy (with homemade ice cream!) and seeing the Great Grandmas

Rocky Mountain National Park

Fort Vasquez, the park in Fort Collins, and the Budweiser tour

Pirate Fun, Water Balloon Fight, Tball, and other misc. pictures

Cash for Clunker

Mom and Dad got in just under the wire with the cash for clunkers deal. Dad traded in his beloved explorer for a prius. What a difference - in so many ways! On the plus side, the prius is totally cute... er... ahh... I mean... macho!? (At one point in time, Dad and I had "matching" navy blue explorers. Mine was better, of course. :) It was hard for me to say g'bye to mine several years ago -- even though I was trading up. I know how you feel, Dad!)

Congrats on your new car guys! We can't wait to see it next week!

Son Rock Kids Camp

It was a busy week at Highland Hills Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was Son Rock Kids Camp and the stories all week dealt with Peter. Evan and Alex participated in the pre-k program, while I helped teach the 1st-2nd graders. The week concluded with an evening program on Friday, including a slide show of pictures and lots of songs from the kids. Evan was on stage at this time last year, but this was Alex's stage debut. The Pre-K group sang two songs, including "My God is so Big, so Strong and so Mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do" and "Five little speckled frogs" (thus the hats).

Evan was especially smitten with one little girl in his class (Rae, pictured above). During recess he pushed her on the swing. In the hallways they held hands. It was very sweet. Unfortunately, she lives in Savannah and was only visiting her grandparents, members of our Church. Evan hopes to see her again next summer at VBS!

Here are a couple more pictures.

Evan jumps off the diving board!

This afternoon we spent a few hours at the home of the Tatums, friends from Church. They have a pool in their backyard and it was the perfect setting for Evan to jump off the diving board for the very first time! He jumped to Emma, one of our babysitters, and he LOVED it. Attached are a few pictures. Once I get the rest of the pictures from my friend Jean (whose girls Cara and Ella are also pictured), I'll publish the diving board shots, too. Yay, Evan!! We are so proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Blog.
This is post #400!

On July 14, 2007 I entered my first entry: a picture. Several days later, I figured out the whole slideshow thing, thanks to much tutoring from my friend Ellen. It is about time for another update on the kids, but for now, this picture will have to suffice. A lot has changed in two years since this same picture was taken in 2007. The boys are growing up quickly, and we count our blessing every day.

Dick and Jane

Pictures worth a million words
And several tears of joy.

Evan reads to his Great Grampa Lauterbach.