White Christmas

In my 32 years of life I've never seen a white Christmas. I can finally say I've seen one and we're still in the midst of the snow coming down. What a beautiful way to wrap up this Christmas season! Once the boys are up and going there will be pictures and I'm sure a story or 2.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We hope your day was filled with lots of love, time with family and remembering why we celebrate Christmas.



Love, The Perrys

Mommy Bloggers Needed

I read Kelly's Korner daily. I'm sure many of you do. Anyhoo, Kelly's friend is doing her thesis on Mommy bloggers. If you're interested please take her survey. It doesn't take too long and the questions aren't hard or tricky.

From Brittney:
If you are a woman who writes a blog with content predominantly about her family, and you have 10-15 minutes to spare, we would love to hear from you! We are doing research on bloggers, and invite you to take a survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/mommyblog. Your participation will help one graduate student get one step closer to completing her thesis, and one step closer to graduation! Thank you for your input and for your time!

Thanks!

Loose Tooth

We have one!! We have a loose tooth! Soon, very, very soon the tooth fairy will be visiting Andrew while he has sweet dreams. What's the going rate for the tooth fairy? I'm not sure who is more excited about this loose tooth, me or him?.?

My baby is quickly leaving "my babyhood" behind. Sigh.

Thanksgiving Recap

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It's so much easier with kids to have things in your own house. My brother, SIL, 3 nephews, mom, aunt, uncle and my crazy crew feasted on so... many good things. My aunt knows she's not allowed in the door unless she brings collards. I cannot describe with words how wonderfully delicious they are. Smack your mama kind of good. I was up bright and early (well 7:00am) getting the turkey ready for its oven time. I don't do anything fancy with my turkey. I slap some butter on the outside, shove it in a bag and put it in the oven. Man, it was juicy and good! We're still feasting off leftovers. What'd you eat for Thanksgiving that just knocked your socks off? Anything new or unusual? Do you do anything special for Thanksgiving (volunteer at Rescue Mission, run a Turkey Trot, eat something other than turkey?)

I'm so thankful for my family, friends, good health, roof over my head, food on my plate, clothes on my back and those worldly possessions that really don't mean much in the big picture, but the things we still like to have. I don't need one day in November to be thankful. I really should strive to be thankful every day because we're never guaranteed the next day.

If you're reading this post... I'm thankful for you!

Tis the Season

to run my fanny off. The time is upon us. After a whole year of waiting the OBX Marathon is this weekend. Ready or not I will be there, sneakers laced up, bib firmly affixed to my shirt and a smile on my face. I can't say that I've been dedicated to training because I haven't, but I've given a good attempt. Close in this case does count because we're not playing horse shoes nor with hand grenades. Please pray I finish. I don't care what my time is this go round. I just want to finish.

Also, please pray for my dear, sweet, wonderful friend, Karen. She and her family are supposed to go with us this weekend, but Karen's back is giving her a fit and she's basically in pain unless taking meds or receiving treatment. Not a good thing! I'd love for them to be there this weekend, but I'd prefer she be pain free, so if that means not going, then that's ok.

Shout out to Katie C! I hope to see you this weekend. Run Katie Run!

Pancake Breakfast Compliments of a 2 Year Old

Zachary's preschool class treated parents to a pancake lunch on Thursday. The book of the week was If You Give A Pig A Pancake. We don't currently own this book, but I think Santa may have it in his bag. It also happened to be pajama week for Zachary at school. Can I get an Amen? AMEN! Nothing better than rolling your kid out of bed and sending him on his way. I love pajama day!

Once we arrived for the pancake lunch the kids took turns "helping" Mrs. B make the batter for the pancakes. Each child added a few spoonfuls of Bisquick and a nice pour of water to the bowl. *** This wasn't the actual batter used for our pancakes.*** Well, it came to Zachary's turn to add Bisquick and water. Only my child would take a spoonful of mix and eat it. Yes, you read that right. Only it wasn't Bisquick. It was self rising flower. Imagine the face he made once it hit his tongue. I'll give him credit. He knows that a spoon is used for eating, which in this case wasn't what we were doing, but A for effort and F for execution.

Pancake lunch was a success and it's always fun doing things with Zachary's class.

This post is going to be a hodge podge of things. First, I'm a terrible mother for not taking one picture of my kids in their Halloween costumes. By the time we finally got Zachary in his it was dark and it felt like I'd done an hour workout (sweat included). The good news is that I don't need it to be October 31st to get pictures of them in their costumes. There's hope!

The boys had a great time Trick or Treating this year. Zachary caught on after the first couple of homes the whole "Trick or Treat" followed by a thank you. He and Andrew both scored lots of sugary pieces. All of which are now high, high, high in the pantry and are rationed out when Robbie and I feel necessary. For the 2nd year in a row we went back to our hold 'hood and TOTed with old neighbors/friends. It's so much fun to go back and see everyone. I miss the people, but I'll be honest, I don't miss the "house farm" any longer. I do, however, miss my sidewalks.

This year Andrew was originally supposed to be Indiana (Indian) Jones, but at the 11th hour he switched to Batman. Thank goodness we house quite a few super hero costumes. Zachary was a tornado. I honestly didn't have to dress him up, but what's Halloween without a costume?

In other news, school is going well for both boys. I think we're finally settling down with how Kindergarten rolls. I've seen a nice improvement in Andrew's work since August. I'm not wishing my life away, but I look forward to what May brings when he completes Kindergarten. His handwriting has gone from little kid writing to very impressive D'Nealian manuscript. We work hard on his letters every night. Right now we're tackling sounding out words and putting all the sounds together. We received our first list of words to learn (13 total). His class has learned to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. This quarter this penny and nickel will be introduced. Robbie and I have a hard time grasping what's being expected of Andrew. We remember Kindergarten, but that was also 27 years ago and as we know... times have changed. What I really love is that his teachers (albeit they come across as strict/firm) genuinely love Andrew and want nothing but the best for him. They are helping Robbie and me cultivate him into a wonder, Godly boy. As a mom I cannot ask for anything more.

Last week I had the privilege of chaperoning his class' Pumpkin Patch trip. I had a blast running the corn maze with some of his friends and I loved watching the kids interact with the teachers. It was also nice talking with some of the other moms. I learned that Andrew has a few "girlfriends" in class. One even calls him "My Andrew, my sweet, little Andrew". Oy ve!

Zachary, wild man Zachary is finally settling into his 2 year old class. We had a few drop offs that didn't go so smoothly, but all in all he's doing well. We've had a few time out moments, but we'll get there. He's 2 and I have to remember he's just starting to learn about his world and limitations. He loves "B" and Mrs. Moore and asks for them when he's not at school. He also names his classmates and seems to really love being with them. He's definitely James Dobson's interpretation of a strong willed child. It's only fitting since he came into this world a fighter. Ah, but I love him so! His vocabulary is shaping up quite nicely. He has a ton of words and adds to his list daily. If you say something there's a 80% chance he'll repeat what you said and remember it. He's mastered using our iPhones and can turn You Tube and Netflix on when using our phones. He's also mastered turning on Netflix via the Wii. Don't ask me how, but he knows. When it comes to basics like naming shapes and colors he still hasn't gotten them all learned, but he's getting there. We're learning to jump right now too. He doesn't get the "land of your feet and not your bottom" part. It's amazing to see the difference in the boys and how one learned one thing quickly and the other not as quickly.

As for the Mr. and me, we're just chilling. We're looking forward to the holidays with family. It's hard for me to believe Thanksgiving is 20 some days away and Christmas isn't too far behind.

Oh and if you'd be so kind (if you've stayed with me and read this post) pray that we're able to recover our pictures from the bad hard drive.

That's it for now!

Welcome Home, Jackson!

Many, many congratulations to Nate and Shannon on bringing home their precious son, Jackson! Jackson, you've been prayed for for many months. Welcome home, sweet boy! I look forward to watching you grow.

Many, many thanks to God for answering prayers and always being right on time. Pray for this sweet family as they transition into their new roles.

Disney 2010

We finally took our yearly vacation last week. Three guesses as to where we went?

This year we went to WDW with Robbie's sister (Christy), BIL (Brent) and our 2 nieces (Bryn and Reese). Nonnie joined us as well, but a day after we all arrived. We had a BLAST! Andrew and Zachary were so excited to have friends to play with and enjoy the fun. We arrived on Monday afternoon to beautiful, warm weather (think 80s). This year we stayed at Saratoga Springs, which is within walking distance to Downtown Disney. Sadly, we only walked to Dtwn Disney once.

Tuesday was designated for the Magic Kingdom. Our plan was to stay there until closing time. Friends, we wore that park OUT. This year Andrew was finally tall enough to ride some of the roller coasters (YAY! YAY! YAY!). I'm here to tell you my child is fearless. He rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad over and over and over. He couldn't get enough of them. I lost count of how many times we rode the roller coasters. We also got to catch the 3:00 parade and lo, what did our eyes see? We saw Mickey, Minnie and rounding out the parade was Tiana and Prince Naveen! Andrew loves him some Tiana. She was rather pretty, too! We retired to our hotel room pretty late and really weary, but...

Wednesday came and we headed to Hollywood Studios (AKA MGM Studios). Nonnie was now a part of the crew, which brought much delight to my children. The main attractions at HS are Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Andrew, unfortunately wasn't tall enough for Rockin' Roller Coaster, but he was for Tower of Terror. I thought for sure we'd have a major melt down after getting on TT, but surprise of all surprises he loved it and wanted to go again. He even put his hands in the air the next time we went on it.

*I should also add that at the MK and HS we did not have to wait at all for rides. There were no crowds at all! YAY!

Hollywood Studios is where Zachary got his fill for the week. Sully and crew are a big part of the 3:00 Block Party parade. All I can say is his eyes were WIDE open the whole 30 minutes we saw this parade. Again, we did not leave HS until closing time and the dogs were barkin' and the crew was gettin' cranky, but we had to press on because...

Thursday was Animal Kingdom and we had Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party to attend. Sadly, poor Reese notified us early in the morning that she didn't feel well. Shortly after we got to AK she showed us and all parties passing by. She spent the day at the hotel room resting up for the party. Meanwhile we hauled all over AK to ride rides (Expedition Mt. Everest is my new fav ride), watch a few animals and play a few kiddie games. Andrew didn't win anything at the kiddie games, so of course I had to buy a $12.00 stuffed toy to get the tear level to a minimum. After we exhausted our time at AK, we headed home to change clothes for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party. I will say this party was well worth the admission we paid. We've done Mickey's Christmas party and it was fun the first time, but got old after the first visit. I can honestly say I'd take the kids back to the Halloween party. When you walk in you receive a trick-or-treat bag. They have stations set up all over the MK where you can trick or treat and we're not talking chintzy candy, we're talking the real deal candy. We had free reign over most of the popular rides and the parade ran twice during the party. Andrew got his fill of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that night. I think we got off and got on at least 5 or 6 times AND we got to pick our cart for Splash Mountain. There was no one, not one soul in line. That never happens. Never.

We feasted on our best meal that night as well. It's a tradition to eat at Tony's Restaurant when we're in FL. The spaghetti and meatballs are on the money plus we had a view of the parade as we ate. If you go to WDW and you have time to eat a nice dinner while visiting the MK, go to Tony's. It's so delicious!

Friday was a free day for the Perry family. Our nieces and BIL and SIL went to Universal/Harry Potter park. Andrew isn't quite tall enough to ride most of the rides there, so we weren't going to pay part of our mortgage for nothing. Andrew decided for some reason that Epcot is where he wanted to go. Why? I have no idea. Epcot isn't my favorite park. There really isn't much to do, but we went anyway. It was boring as expected. Wasted park pass, wasted day. We did relax a little more, which was nice. We ended our trip with dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The boys love it there. The thunder storm and animals going nuts remind me of a night at our house on a normal day. We felt right at home.

Saturday was going home day. I love vacation and I love WDW, but there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Dorothy had it right. There is no place like home.

I have pictures to load, but the drive we have them all loaded to is broken and possibly beyond repair. Pray that we don't lose every last picture we have. If and when Robbie gets it fixed I'll post pics. Most of them are on facebook, though.

It's Gonna Be a Long Season

If you've kept up with us, you know we're Duke fans. We're fully aware that our football team isn't good. We know. We don't need another team's fan (Take your pick, Alabama, UNC, State, etc) to tell us this because we know, but we stick with our team through good and bad. We aren't fair weather fans. Robbie's dad graciously buys us Duke football tickets each year. He went with Robbie and Nick when they were younger and he likes to keep the tradition going. We missed the first game to visit the Thompson family (well worth missing the game to spend time with them), but the 2nd game was a BIG one. The Alabama tide was rolling into Durham. To all you Alabama fans, most Duke fans knew we didn't have a fighting chance. We were excited to have a good team come into town, a #1 team at that and also a Heisman trophy winner play in our presence. The ACC doesn't see that often. I digress.

So, Robbie and I loaded up the minivan with a couple of friends in tow and headed to Wallace Wade stadium for a little tailgating and football. Matt (AKA Matts) hooked us up with delicious food - steak and chicken kabobs, grilled veggies and Texas toast. For dessert we dined on fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. The boys played a little football before it was time to head into the massive crowd of Alabama tide rollers (I kinda like that name) and Dukies. The stadium was packed for the first time since the 1980's. It was hotter than 7 hells and we were packed in like sardines. Awful!

To add insult to injury, the Tide scored within the first 45 seconds. This set the pace for the rest of the game. Nothing short of torture. I will give props to Duke. So far this football season not one team has managed to score a touchdown against Alabama. Duke took care of that for them. Way to go, team. We wouldn't have minded a few more of those.

Anyhoo, a good time was had by all. Sadly, Duke managed to hose up another game this past weekend. We're not bitter. A little disappointed, but still holding out hope. Of course with the seasons changing, a new kinda season is rolling around... basketball. Yep, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Kimmy and Me

We set up camp

Swagger wagon loaded

The grill with its delicious goodness

The hubs and me

Matts and Kimmy

Packed to the right of me

Packed to the left of me

The only time we were ever even with Alabama (notice there's 4:17 left before the game started).

Proverbial self photo

Flag Pinning

The Kindergartners at CCS participate in a Flag Pinning Ceremony each year. Andrew's class had their Flag Pinning Ceremony on Thursday, September 16th. The students recited the Pledge of Allegiance as well as told the significance of each line and what it means to us.

Andrew's line: Nation means a country ruled by one government.

The students sang a couple of patriotic songs and at the end one parent went up on stage to pin their child with their cross and flag. Robbie did the honors for the Perry family.

The students did a wonderful job and I'm proud at all that Andrew is learning. He's proud too. During the performance he'd give us the thumbs up sign.

We were treated to a small reception in the classroom at the end of the ceremony. It's only September and it's very obvious Mrs. Farnsworth and Mrs. Huber's class is working really hard.

1st Day of Preschool - A Little Tardy

Zachary started 2 year old preschool this year. I cannot even begin to tell you how nice it is to have 3 hours on Tuesday and Thursday to do things that you just can't do with kids in tow. You moms know what I'm talking about. Grocery shopping, post office, bank, errands that take less time than it took you to get all kids out of the car. Zachary has done really well with preschool. Last week was a little tough with me leaving him, but this week he was back to his old self.

His teachers this year are Mrs. Braswell and Mrs Moore. Mrs. Braswell doesn't have a preference as to what the kids call her. Thankfully she loves that Zachary calls her "B". Not Mrs. B, Ms. B, Mrs. Braswell, but plain ol' B. He lovingly says, "Hey B!" every time he sees her. He's fallen asleep in chapel once (as to why is a whole different post) and been to time out once. All in all he's breaking preschool in quite nicely. Also, several of his classmates are potty trained or a work in progress. Now, he asks to go "pee pee" in the potty. Unfortunately, he produces nothing. We'll stick with it because he has to be potty trained by 3.

It's hard for me to believe Zachary is old enough for preschool. Where has the time gone?

Philippians 4:19

This past week has been a hard week for the Perry crew. We received an unexpected phone call Sunday night from Robbie's brother. A call that I think Robbie knew would come soon, but not this soon. Robbie's father, my FIL, Andrew and Zachary's Grandpa Robert had passed away. Heartbroken doesn't even begin to touch how we feel. On Wednesday, we laid his body to rest, but thankfully we know he's not in there. He's home with his mother, his brother and other family members celebrating a new life. A life without physical ailments and limitations. For that, I am thankful.

Andrew understands that Grandpa Robert is in heaven, but his prayers on Tuesday night broke me down. Here's the conversation.

Me: Andrew, who would you like to thank God for tonight?
Andrew: Grandpa Robert
Me: You want me to pray or do you want to?
Andrew: I'll do it. Thank you God for Grandpa Robert. I hope you are having fun playing with him. Please take care of him until I see him again in heaven.
Me: (holding back tears and to myself) I can add nothing to this. His sweet, childlike faith says it all.

Each week Andrew has a memory verse for school. This week's memory is Philippians 4:19 - My God will meet all your needs.

This week, that exact verse is what we needed. For various reasons we found ourselves in need and each and every time our needs were met. Some needs met more than what we could have ever imagined. Lord, we thank you! How wonderful it is to know that there is someone who no matter what is wanting to meet all your needs?!? Someone who loves to meet your needs and takes joy in meeting your needs.

Keep Robbie and his family in your prayers.

Yeah, What She Posted

I'll have to load my pics from the camera, but we visited The Thompson family this past weekend. To say we had a great time would be a huge understatement. We arrived on Friday evening to a nice dinner of steak, salad and corn on the cob. I know Robbie didn't know what to do with himself! The kids hit it off immediately. Thankfully they all got along ALL weekend (little to no crying involved).

On Saturday, Pete graciously volunteered to be our tour guide of D.C. We hit the hot spots: White House, Washington Monument, and Smithsonian. By the time we ate lunch, tromped all over the land and ate ice cream we were ready to haul it back to the Thompson house. We had plans of going out to eat, but ordering in won out. Remind Karen and me to NEVER, ever, NEVER send Pete and Robbie or Pete sans Robbie or Robbie sans Pete to get the food. It took them almost 2 hours to retrieve said food. Of course the car just "happened" to detour to a driving range. Yeah, right! Still, a good time was had by all.

On Sunday, Karen and I watched the kids while the boys played golf. The favors are so stacked that I feel at least a week off from "mom" duty coming on. The kids, though, were really good. Once the boys got home we packed the car and headed south.

I know Andrew is ready to see Davis again. I could always spend time with Karen. She kept me in stitches most of the weekend, and Robbie, well, he met his twin.

Thank you Thompson family for hosting us. We hope to do it again soon! Of course our house is always open.

PS. It's been well over a week, but I am really lazy and haven't loaded pics. I promise to get them up by the weekend.

They make the Republicans stand waaay back.

Zachary not the least bit impressed.

T-Rex. Andrew was fascinated with him.

That's it for pictures. I remember now that my battery died half way through our day out.

Kindergarten

This past Wednesday marked Andrew's 1st day of Kindergarten. He wasn't nervous one bit. In fact, he was ready to go. I didn't cry either. I was too excited about his first day to cry. Maybe in a few years I'll cry when I truly realize how fast time is flying by.

The first day of school the students have to wear their "dress" uniforms, which for boys is a white Oxford shirt, navy pants and black dress shoes. Dress uniforms are only mandatory only on certain days of the year (ig. picture day, class performances, etc.). The rest of the school year Andrew gets to choose either white, navy or hunter green polo shirts with either khaki or navy shorts/pants. I love it! I love that we no longer have to do battle over what to wear. It's a beautiful thing. I happen to think he's one extremely cute little man in his uniform.

We met Andrew's teachers on Tuesday, so by Wednesday when I walked him in he was set to put his book bag in his cubby and find his seat. He's told me very little about what they actually do in class. He showed me how they keep their words in. Don't get alarmed, it's actually pretty clever. So, the motions go as follows: 1) one hand over your mouth 2) your other arm is raised HIGH in the air and 3) the teacher calls on you and then you let ALL of your words out. He's even tried it out at home. It's genius I tell you.

Each day I ask him what happened in class and he always gives me a progress report on if any of the kid's bears moved from green to yellow, red or purple. It's amazing to me how he wants to report on the other kid's behavior. Green = good, yellow = caution, red = parents called and purple = principal. Each day the kids start over on green because God's mercies are new every day. Thankfully we've been on green for the 3 days we've been in school. Andrew was sad to report one sweet child couldn't keep his words in on Friday and had to be moved to yellow. That was exactly the first thing he told me before he even buckled his seat belt.

I'm excited about the things in store for Andrew at school. He's so eager to learn and it thrills my heart. I hope he's always eager to learn new things. The curriculum list given to us is quite packed, but I know he can do it. I'm so thankful God has provided the opportunity at Cary Christian.

I can't wait to post more about what's going on in his class as the year gets into full swing. Side note: Andrew's teachers asked us at the Meet Your Teacher day to please lift them and the children up in prayer. So, I ask you to please lift up your children's teachers (Andrew's too if you're so inclined) as they do what God has called them to do. What a huge responsibility these men and women have to guide and teach our kids.

And lastly (I know you've all been waiting for this)... pictures.

Happy Birthday OFZ!

Two years ago today at precisely12:05pm Zachary Ryan Perry made his grand entrance into this crazy world. He makes my world crazy. A good kind of crazy. I'm crazy in love with this little creature. My days are crazy running around after him. He moves non.stop. Non.Stop. He is wild. He is tough and he is resilient He is nothing like what I thought a preemie would be. He is exactly polar opposite. I thank God for proving me wrong. The joke is on me. God - 1, Me - 0. I'm ok with that.

2 Year Old Stats

• Weight - 24.5 lbs (12%)
  
• Height - 34.25 inches (10%)
  
• Head - 19 inches (40%) - cause he's smart like that
  

In honor of your 2nd Birthday Zachary, here are some facts about you.

• You are wild (as mentioned before).
• You love to play.
• You are obsessed with Bob the Tomato (Veggie Tales) and Sully (Monsters Inc.). You are slowly learning to love Mickey Mouse.
• You respectively call Bob, Bob, Sully, Sul-wee and Mickey Mouse, Mee Mouse
• You love french toast sticks and dip them in your yogurt. You call them both by name.
• Your favorite munchkin is chocolate, but the blueberry ones are making a fast sweep.
• You sleep like an angel. You take a 3 - 4 hour nap and still go to bed at 8:30 and sleep until 7:30ish.
• You call out to me when you're ready to get up.
• You can sing the words to Step by Step - you refer to the song as Oh God.
• You say, "Watch Jesus" when you want to see your Praise Baby DVD.
• You can name most of your body parts. We haven't quite covered elbow, shin, and so forth, but those aren't important. Take caution when he wants to point out your body parts... he jabs really hard.
• You apologize when yo've done something wrong or hurtful.
• You are in love with Nonnie. Madly.in.love. I can totally understand it. I'm thankful he has a wonderful grandmother.
• You always run. Never walks. On the slim chance you walk, you're always holding my hand.
• You will eat anything. You love to eat salads now. We call you feast and your brother famine.
• You call me Mama, but every once in a while you slip in an Amy. Andrew gets called E-doo or Andrew. Daddy is Daddy or Robbie and Maggie is Magsters.
• You respectfully Maggie to MOVE, which you've learned honestly. She means well, but she gets in the way.
• If Maggie licks you, you tell me she hurt you. Don't be a wuss!
• You don't like it now when she crowds your space at meal time.
• You've been known to shove and hit. YIKES!
• You tattle on your brother, which I find hilarious. Nothing is a secret around you.
• You have more words than I can count. And to think the developmental evaluators thought you might have a mild delay. HA! Again, you proved them wrong.
• You love when Nerissa, your developmental specialist comes. You wait patiently for her by the front door. You call her Reesa. She loves it.
• You're obsessed with keys and playing in the van. We're smart enough not to give you access to both at the same time.
• You call Dora, Doorah (say Do and Rah). We'll tackle vowels after your 5 year old brother tackles them first.
• You start preschool in August.
• You love to suck your thumb at nap time and bed time and your "tags" must be in hand.
• You wear 18 month clothes and size 4 or 5 diapers.
• You are beautiful. There isn't one feature that is cuter than the other. You are perfect in every way.
• You're tough. A yellow jacket sting doesn't even keep you down.
• You like to ride on the lawn mower with your daddy.
• You say thank you at the appropriate times. You'll even slide in a you're welcome too.
• You look forward to our standard Friday lunch date with Mereme and sometimes Aunt Hoolie.
• Speaking of Aunt Hoolie (Julie), she's going to give you a girlfriend in January. Congrats Aunt Hoolie and Uncle Hesse! We love you!
• You love to sip your daddy's coffee. Actually you like to sip off anyone's drink.
• You like Chick Fil-A nuggets
• You LOVE to dip everything. You'll politely ask to "dip it".
• You like to try on mine, your daddy's and Andrew's shoes
• You like to take showers
• You'll swim in the bathtub
• You've started kicking your legs in the pool. It won't be long before you're swimming.
• You know how to answer the phone with Hello.
• You can operate an iPhone. You've even been known to delete apps and call people.
• You know how to turn the TV on and operate the DVD player.
• You like to tinker with things and figure out how they work and/or put together. I think you'd make a fine engineer.
• You've been to Disney World more times than your age.
• You love the beach! You'll play in the waves or run around in the sand, but can't sit still for too long.
• You don't like for me to be our of your sight.
• You cry when we leave Nonnie's house and know when we're near her house.
• You love to brush your teeth.
• You tell me when you need to poop, but won't go on the potty.
• You love for me to sing the "Good Morning" song to you. You sing along with me.
  

I'm sure there are more wonderful things about you that I've forgotten, but my body and mind are tired from chasing after you all day. Zachary Ryan, you are the delight of my heart. I love you more than mere words could ever express. It's a joy and honor to be your mother. I do praise God because you are most definitely "fearfully and wonderfully made." Thank you for making my life complete. These past 2 years have flown by. I guess I better hang on because you are growing at warp speed.

I love you,
Mama

Tattle Tale

Scene: Mommy at kitchen table working.

Enter Zachary from living room.

Zachary: E-doo (Andrew) hurt me.
Me: What honey?
Zachary: E-doo hurt me.
Me: Well, what did Andrew do?
Zachary: He popped me.
Me: He popped you?
Zachary: E-doo popped me (pointing to his bottom). All the while keeping a straight and serious face.

There you have it. Let the sibling fun begin.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Celebrate the wonderful country we live in and the freedom that we're given. God bless our military at home and abroad as they serve to keep us safe.

One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore! - Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Partial or Total Obscuring of One Celestial Body by Another

also known as Eclipse (be it solar or lunar). It's time, long overdue time for Eclipse! I'm ready to go. I've read and re-read and re-read the Twilight series and finally we're getting to the good stuff. I'm neither Team Jacob or Edward. I cannot choose between these two guys when I'd take either. I mean, what girl wouldn't want two incredibly different, but quite wonderful guys fighting over her? If you say you wouldn't, then I'm calling your bluff.

Tomorrow night I have a date with a friend (and hopefully one more, eh hmmm Heather S.) to bask in the glory of Eclipse. I hope I'm not disappointed. New Moon let me down. Let's hope it's not a repeat. I'm saving up my calories for a tub of popcorn, Reese's Pieces and a Diet Coke. I'm going ALL out!

It's Been

ETA - I started this post the week of June 21st. I didn't get to finish, so some info is old, but it's better than nothing.

It's been 20 plus days since my last post. I have no excuses. None. I'll use the old saying, "I'm busier than a 1 armed paper hanger" to describe the chaos known as the Perry household. Speaking of Perry household, if Andrew comes in contact with or witnesses someone doing something we don't do in or at the Perry household, he will politely (unless it's Zachary) say, "Oh no sir, we don't do that in the Perry household. Ain't that right, Mama?". Add in a little bit of know-it-all 'tude and you've got my incredibly cute son telling people how it is. Back to being busy. We have been on the go, go, go lately. Robbie started a new job, we've been to the beach twice, we're in the midst of VBS at church and we've got one month left until Kindergarten starts. Lord, deliver me!

It's been hotter than seven or more hells in NC the past few weeks. I'm talking upper 90's and tomorrow is supposed to be 100 or more. I love hot weather. Don't get me wrong. I welcome this heat over snow and cold, but I need a beach or a LARGE pool to enjoy as well. Since our moving to the cawntry (that's country for you city slickers) almost 2 years ago, we gave up neighborhood pool for a small 'hood and a bigger yard. I don't regret it, but I have to drive 20 plus min to get to a pool and by the time I get there I am aggravated, tired and not in the mood to fight the pool battle. You mamas out there know exactly what I'm talking about. The one on two defensive strategy doesn't work. I've got one kid who is semi ok to swim with floaties and one completely WILD 2 year old who wants to get in, get out, get in, get out and run around the pool deck. Can I get an AMEN? I'm trying to win the battle and by summer's end I shall prevail.

I've got almost one month to plan for Zachary's 2nd birthday. Can you believe my littlest guy is 2? Where has the time gone? This sweet child of mine is wild. I mean dare devil, won't sit still, into everything wild. You cannot take your eyes off of him for one second. He's learned how to climb onto the counter in his bathroom (this counter is so high that I have to stand on my tip toes to wash my face.) and play with Zoubek. He's into Monster's, Inc. and is obsessed with Sulwee. At least we can't complain of dull moments at our house.

Andrew is really getting into swimming this year. He wants so badly to swim without his swimmies, but I just can't go there. We may try to get him some one on one lessons this year. Since Kindergarten is only half day for us we'll have more opportunities for afternoon lessons. We ended T-ball on a high note. He really wants to play for Coach Steve again next year. Did I mention he was pitcher during our last game and threw to 1st and got the kid out? This, my friends, is a big deal for my man. Huge! I don't know who was thrilled more. Me or the coaches. They screamed and cheered like it was their own kid. I'm super proud. Can you tell?

We'll be back at the beach in August for a long weekend and I cannot wait. The boys had so much fun the last time we went. I'm ready to do it again.

Ok, I've rambled enough. Will post pics later.

Preschool Graduation

It's been a couple of weeks since my BIG boy graduated from preschool. How is it possible that I have a child old enough to enter Kindergarten? I don't feel old. By most standards I'm not "officially" old... yet. Time flying is NO joke. Shall we start working on a device to stop time? Anyone?

Graduation from preschool (I know, I know, it's not high school or college, but humor me) became even more real when we learned who his Kindergarten teachers will be, received the school supply list AND when the big consignment sale for school uniforms was to be held (um, that was last week too). AGHHH! It's on, my friends. On like Donkey Kong ON. Before I know it, August 3rd will be here and I'll be even more unsure how I got to that point.

To commemorate my son's special occasion:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Say it ain't so. How can 24 be over?

Dear Jack,
I missed the first few seasons of 24, but I promise Robbie and I will not rest this summer until we've seen every episode. Thank you for taking names and kicking good ol' fashion tushy. Ahhh, if only things really worked the way they do on 24 and especially at CTU. You didn't disappoint me tonight. I'm sad (just like Chloe), but there's small hope that your ending leaves room for the door to open again. One can hope, right?

XOXO,
Amy

Meredith College Y2K 10 Year Reunion

This past weekend my fellow alumna and I celebrated our 10 year reunion at Meredith College. I don't think words can fully express the fun we had, the memories shared from oh so long ago and the memories made this past weekend. Some of the below pictures were borrowed (notice I didn't say stolen and of course with permission) and some I took. I wish we could celebrate every month like we did this past weekend. I know we talked about getting together once a year, but I honestly don't think once a year is enough.

PS. Dear Frankie - I'll donate just for you. Cause, you know, "everyone loves Frankie"!