Amelia's performances

The kindergarten did a musical based on the book Frog & Toad.

 During the last week of school, Amelia did a knock out dramatic interpretation of a Biscuit book, and then a cringe-worthy story about a dragon app we have on the ipad.  Luckily we were in small groups for the second part.

Blue & Gold 2014

Both kids were on the gold team this year for Blue & Gold, and I was able to attend both days for their events.  Each day ended with a picnic lunch, and whichever kid participated got to come home an hour or so early from school with mom.  

announcement

In case you haven't heard...

...we'll be attending a wedding next summer.

no green thumb required

These friends grow back every year!

strawberry picking

May wouldn't be complete without strawberry picking, right?

I swear I always end up picking the hottest day of the year to go.

Xcel 2 Fitness

This spring Seth participated in Xcel 2 Fitness.  It was presented as a running club, but really was more of a fitness/agility/team building group.  He loved it and his confidence went through the roof, to the point that teachers were stopping me at school to tell me they had noticed a change in how he carried himself.  At the end of the season, they had a "Big Event" obstacle course.  I must say, it was fun having plank/burpee/etc contests with him, but I'm afraid it won't be long before he's showing me up!

soccer girl

Amelia tried soccer this spring, and she either loved it or she hated it.  The week Gram & Pops came to watch, she was taking her turn in goal and took a shot right to the nose, and she got really timid after that.  We're taking the fall off, and maybe we'll try it again in the spring.

Daisy Award

The background story doesn't matter, but I was pleasantly surprised to be nominated for the Daisy Award by a patient's parents.  I didn't win the big prize, but I did get recognized by the hospital and I received this nomination and a really nice follow up email from the family.  If you are ever a patient in a hospital, and something the staff does stands out to you, please take the time to write a note.  It means more to us than you'll ever know.  My nursery isn't always busy, but there are some days I eat my lunch two bites at a time over the course of six hours, and days where I don't get to go to the bathroom, um, ever.  (TMI? Back to keeping it real, here.)  I have to play the bad guy when what the family has in mind isn't in the baby's best interest. I miss a lot of YMCA basketball and soccer games because I have to work.  I lose a lot of sleep when night shifts need to be covered.  I work holidays.  My boss is quick to hear it if a family is unhappy.  Parents are in such a rush to get their new baby to the house, very rarely do we even get a thank you.  So this note, it means a LOT, especially because I received it during Nurse's Week my first year at this job.

Bike to School 2014

This year's bike-to-school day went off without a hitch, unlike last year where I spent the rest of the day trying to find my key that had mysteriously disappeared.  Which is a good thing, because I had a nursing reception and a staff meeting to go to that morning.  Lesson learned this year:  Amelia off training wheels is too fast for a running momma.  Next year I ride my bike as well.

brrr

Parry's new house has a heated salt water pool.  Heated or not, early May I was no more than putting my big toe in.  Not these four kiddos!  If I had a dollar for every minute my kids spent in this pool more than what I had planned for them to, I'd be rich!

Dinosaurs!

The dinosaur exhibit at Carowinds was free with our passes this year.  We checked it out on our first visit this spring:

 Love this one, as the triceratops roared and scared the pants off Amelia!

we're on tv!

Remember how we won the bikes last year?  Besides having our picture with the bikes on FB, we didn't hear anything else back.  Then, I was contacted by Coca-Cola, and asked if we would be on a local morning show to help promote the Fit Family Challenge.  Well, I was supposed to work night shift, but my boss found someone to cover me.  The kids' teachers both said it was okay for them to miss a few hours of school.  The message was important to us, so we decided to do it.  The kids went to school for a few hours, and then we picked them up and drove across town.

 Our segment was towards the end of the show, so we had a lot of time to kill in the green room...

 When we got there, we were told one of the normal hosts (who I have listened to on the radio for years) was off that day.  Bummer.  But in her place was Jordan Gross, a Panthers' football player!

 Here we are, in front of the evening news desk.  Nathan met Larry Sprinkle, the local weather man, and it was a very close second to him with meeting Jordan Gross!

 Here we are with Jordan Gross after the show...I was expecting to be interviewed by a lady, so I had worn sandals...who knew I could have cracked out my tallest heels?

Wells Fargo Golf Championship

We went to the Wells Fargo Golf Championship on the first day of tournament play with Nathan's parents.  The weather was beautiful, and it was really cool to get within twenty feet of Phil, Rory, Ricky, etc.  Next year I'd like to go on Wednesday, because you can take pictures with the golfers!

Apparently when you've been together as long as we have, you can dress alike and not even notice until you're on the charter bus to the event taking a selfie, even though you've been in the car together already for almost an hour...

I spy with my own little eye...

...a silly Millie.

Publix

Publix came into town.  I tried to give it a fair shake, but I'm a loyal HT girl.  Plus, HT has been running this great gas card promotion since Publix moved across the street AND has been sending me coupons, so my grocery and gas bills are ridiculously low.  Keep competing, you two!  I'm a happy customer!

the kids' spring break

On Monday, the kids hopped on Amtrak with Gram and Pops and went to Cary for a few days so I could work.  Or not.  There were NO babies at work, so I was put on call the one day I was scheduled to work.  Oh well.  I met my parents at our McD's rendezvous location and then took the kids to the new aquarium in the outlet mall (yes, you read that right).  On Thursday, we went to a Charlotte Knights game to celebrate Evan's birthday, and Friday, we went to the movies.  I then worked day shift Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend and night shift on Monday, so that was the extent of Spring Break in these parts.

GWL 2014

For the first weekend of spring break, my parents came over on the train, and then stayed with Colette overnight so we could go to Great Wolf Lodge.  I was the only one who really seemed into the water slides this time.  The other three were obsessed with MagiQuest and the arcade.  But we had fun, and it was as close to the beach as we were going to get for Spring Break this year.

Bridge Run 2014

This year I did my favorite race again, the Bridge Run 10k in Charleston.  This time I switched it up a little bit, and made it a girls' weekend with my BFF Stephanie.  (Celebrating 30 years of friendship!)  

Sunset from Patriot's Point on Friday

 Early morning selfie:

 Chad met us at the hotel, and we walked to the starting line.  Sunrise over Shem Creek:

Chad is way faster than me, so we didn't see him at the finish because he had to go to Brian's tee-ball game.  The nice part about it being girl time is that we could linger at Marion Square, eat fruit, try Chia Pods, get misty at a proposal, and watch a free Edwin McCain concert:

 This is the mass of humanity we were a part of.  I'm pretty sure we were cut out of the picture on the left side:

 Crazy thing...we registered the same day, separately, and were assigned race numbers one apart.  Another crazy thing...we finished so close together that we actually could find each other at the finish line.  And the craziest thing...I talked one of the race photographers into taking a posed picture, AND it turned out okay, AND I paid $20 for it!

We had a great time!  We need to make it an annual thing!

virtual 5k

FB has taken fundraising to a whole new level.  I didn't document it on the blog, but I ran a virtual half marathon over the course of a week in mid-February for Mended Little Hearts.  On April 1st, I ran a virtual 5k, this time for Team Fox.  The premise:  Join the FB page, register to "race", post your results on FB.  I was training for a 10k at the time, so I ran a couple extra miles that day. It was nice enough outside that I was able to wear my Team Fox singlet, but I got a nice long sleeve tech shirt for the "race" in the mail that I look forward to being able to wear soon!

also in March...

Seth was a Kiwanis Terrific Kid...

 Amelia and Hannah took their mommies to the Cinderella ballet to earn a patch for Daisies...

 ...and the school had a western wear spirit day.

Now, on to April!