"Pride is not the word I'm looking for ..."

I have never in my life been more proud of my second son.

His tiny little, tender heart has never gone unnoticed by ME, but today, it was noticed by others, and I never want to forget what happened.

As Mrs. Shana put him in the car after school, she said, "If he tells you he got put in time-out today, he didn't." My curiosity piqued, I said, "What happened?"

Apparently, a little boy was throwing mulch on the playground. The teacher told him to stop, but he did it again, so she said, "You need to sit in time-out." Freddie must've seen and heard this all go down, because he walked over to her and said, "Do you want me to sit, too?" She said, "Why would I want you to sit, Freddie?" And Freddie said, "Because I threw some mulch, too."

In that moment, my child showed more character at age 3 than certain NCAA basketball coaches show at age 65 (cough ... Rick Pitino ... cough), and Webster does not have a superlative to express my joy at that fact.

Father, 

You have given Freddie the sweetest, softest, kindest heart. Never let it harden. Always make it supple, tender to the whisper of Your Spirit. Thank You for the character he showed today. Please help him to always put the truth first, even if it means turning himself in.

In Jesus's name, 
Amen

For the record, the teacher rewarded his honesty and didn't make him sit.

This came on the heels of our first-ever parent/teacher conferences with Mrs. Shana and Mrs. Doris. Both boys are totally on par with their classmates, which is good, but the best parts of the conferences were hearing how they're doing BEYOND the curriculum. It's a total God-send that Jones had Mrs. Doris this summer and has her again this year. She's able to see his maturation and said, "That little boy I saw at the start of the summer is not the same as the one in my class."

THAT, my friends, is a very, VERY good thing.

For her part, Mrs. Shana couldn't say enough good about Freddie. In fact, Mrs. Sandy, the school director, walked by as we were meeting. She peeked her head into the room where we were and jokingly said, "Did she tell you Freddie's her favorite?"

She hadn't (of course), but could you blame her for picking him?!

At the meeting, Mrs. Shana told us another story about Freddie. He and another boy were rolling a truck across a table to one another when a little girl came up and asked if she could play. They both said yes, and then the other little boy said, "I'll go first." Freddie corrected him: "No. LADIES first."

So he wasn't scared to correct his friend, AND he's a gentleman.

I'm not faking modesty when I say I have no idea how he turned out so wonderful, but I sure am grateful to the God Who made him that he did.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Last year, on an impulse, the boys dressed up like pirates to take up Krispy Kreme on its offer of a free dozen donuts for  customers scally-clad on International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ever since, I've planned to repeat on that same day year. As I laid out the boys' costumes the nite before, however, it occurred to me that I hadn't seen any such offer advertised this year.                       So I did a little digging - by which I mean I tweeted @KrispyKreme on the Twitter - and learned that the reason I hadn't seen any such offer advertised this year is because THERE WAS NO SUCH OFFER BEING MADE THIS YEAR. 

Ugh.

a.

Wugh.

This morning, the boys STILL wanted to dress up like pirates, so they did ... and then we went to Dunkin Donuts, just to spite Krispy Kreme, because it felt like the right thing to do.

Sky Top 2017

The truth is that, even though I grew up a within an hour of it, I'd never heard of Sky Top Orchard until I was a teenager and started babysitting. Somehow, I heard of it then and started spending many an Autumn Saturday there, chasing children, while the kids' parents were at a Clemson football game or something.

Now, I can't imagine a fall without a trip atop Flat Rock. Whether or not we pick a single apple (and, SPOILER ALERT, we NEVER do), running through the orchard - or at least through the playground at the mouth of the orchard - is the official start of our Fall.

Today was that day this year. It was blissful. For the first time in a long time, we went on a day that didn't coincide with field trips of half of the elementary schools in Greenville County, so we had the playground, largely, to ourselves. Also, there was no line for Apple Cider Donuts - speaking OF "blissful" ...

The weather wasn't cool, but it wasn't hot, either, and Sky Top's brand new bathroom facilities made up for the fact that the place is LITERALLY overrun with every form of stinging bee.

Our visit concluded with a tailgate picnic of donuts and apple juice, and our countdown to this time next year officially commenced.

Curious George with Jones & Freddie

Curious George has never been one of my favorites. All of the chaos he creates kinda makes me crazy. The boys like him, though; I wouldn't say they "LOVE" him, but they do enjoy his stories enough that taking them to meet him at Spellbound Children's Bookshop today was totally worth the $5 it took to get us in the door.

Jones was able to show George his impersonation of him (which George loved, by the way). There were stickers and tattoos, and both boys made masks that made them look just like everyone's favorite somewhat-domesticated monkey.

It was the kind of outing they'll probably outgrow before too many more years have passed, and so I jumped at it.

Here are the pictures to prove it.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE.

Great Day at Great Beginnings!

Jones is wearing one of Jeremy's
old sweatshirts! I love it!

I am VERY pleased to report that Jones and Freddie Pressley are still members of the Cavity Free Club. I am JUST as pleased to inform you that, for the first time, since he was two years old, Jones Pressley did not have to be physically restrained on the exam table at the dentist's office.

Wonders never cease.

When the hygienist came to get the boys from the waiting room, she said, "I have a note here that we're going to try taking them back without you." They'd told me last time that kids often do a LOT better without their mamas around. I let her take them, though everything in me thought, "They're too young for this!" as I watched them walk away.

I stood just outside the closed door of the exam room, listening for an explosion of tears, waiting to be asked in. Neither ever came. All I got instead were thumbs up from every hygienist who left the room. One at a time, the hygienists walked the boys to get their X-rays. They looked so big going down that hall, holding someone else's hand. My heart broke a teeny bit - but it also thrilled to see them capable of calm without me around.

When the cleanings and X-rays were done, I DID go into the exam room. I talked to Dr. Bill as he looked at Freddie's hypoplasia (it's still holding steady, so there are no problems there! YAY!), and when it was Jones's turn, the hygienist cleverly ushered me out "to pay for Freddie's cleaning," so it was just Jones, an assistant, and Dr. Bill. A few minutes later, Dr. Bill popped out and shook my hand - "They look great, Mom," he said.

He could've also said, "He did GREAT, Mom," because Jones DID.

I can't tell you how very, very thankful I am for this sign of maturity. Next time, I'm sending them in an Uber to their appointment.

That was Tuesday. Today, the boys and I were having lunch at "the Pizza Shop" (Waynesville Pizza Company) when I noticed Freddie playing with his napkin. I thought he was making a beard, so I said, "You look like Santa Claus!" He immediately - good-naturedly - corrected me: "I look like Dr. Bill" (which sounds like "Dr. Bail" when my boys say it).

Maybe he'll be a dentist for Halloween.

Just the Facts, Ma'am.

That they bring home things like this may be my favorite part of Jones and Freddie being in preschool - that, plus the twelve hours a week I have to myself ...

Today, Jones gave me this - and it pretty perfectly sums up my favorite almost-five year old.

I am 4 years old.
I love to PLAY WITH CARS.
My hair is BROWN.
My eyes are BROWN.
My favorite food is CHICKEN PIE.
I live in A HOUSE with my family - MAMA, DADDY, FREDDIE.
When I grow up, I want to DRIVE A STEAM ENGINE.

Yep.
That's my boy.

Tailgate Picnics

So-called "Tailgate Picnics" have become a regular part of the routine for the boys and me. The seats in the way back of my van are laid down, so it makes the perfect, flat spot for the three of us to sit and picnic without having to worry about the bees or the heat or the nasty grass outside.

Tailgate Picnics were invented one day when we went to the Cherrydale Chick-fil-A. It was our first day back after it'd been closed for renovations, and the boys were very excited to revisit the playground.

What we didn't know was that the renovation had been to REMOVE the playground, which, to this day, makes ZERO sense to me, but whatever. Trying to quickly come up with something else for them to be excited about, I suggested a "tailgate picnic."

Thus was born our terrific tradition.

We have these about once a week - most often in the shady spot behind Jeremy's office. The boys love them, and so do I.

I don't have much else to say about these - except that I know the boys will soon be too big to fit in the way back of my minivan, and when they are, I'll want to remember the time when they were not.

So there you have it.

Am I BLUE?

There's this random machine shop on the stretch of Asheville Highway that connects Canton to I-40. Even more randomly, the shop is painted the most BEAUTIFUL blue color - a cross between Carolina and Kentucky, now that I think about it. It's trimmed in red with white doors and honestly catches my eye every time we pass by it. Whenever it does, I think to myself, "That's a PERFECT backdrop for taking pictures of the boys."

One day earlier this week, I decided to check my hypothesis. The lighting seemed just right, so I poured the boys into their first-day-of-school clothes and rushed down, hoping all the way that no one was at work there during my impromptu shoot.

As it turned out, the shots weren't as great as I was hoping they'd be but for reasons that have nothing to do with the lighting OR the background. The boys were just NOT in the mood to have their pictures taken. They tried to help me out, but ultimately, I realized I was trying to get blood from a turnip, so I left with these few favorites and every intention of returning again some other day - when the boys are as cooperative as the weather.

Since birth, Jones has had these
monstrously long, thin fingers -
just like his daddy's, not surprisingly.
I love how this photo (accidentally)
captured those.

School's in!

It feels like we've been waiting forever, but today, the boys had their first official day of preschool.

The morning went pretty smoothly. Having learned our lesson from Meet the Teacher nite, we took Freddie to Mrs. Shana's class first. He was definitely aware that this was an all-new experience, but he didn't put up any struggle to stay in his classroom.

I was braced for a completely different reaction when we walked into Jones's classroom. It didn't come, though. He sat in the seat with his name plate on it - no muss, no fuss. Like Freddie, he was slightly uptight. Sensing this, Mrs. Doris said, "Remember this summer when we'd have to find your smile? Do we need to find your smile today?"

I snuck out while she did her thing, shed a few tears (but not as many s I'd expected), and accepted Jeremy's invitation to grab a doughnut at the Bakery.

When we picked them up - it took 30 minutes for our first carline experience (eye roll emoji) - both boys were given great reports and both were excitedly telling us about the day they'd had. Chick-fil-A, of course, was on the menu for our celebratory lunch. We ate it at Jeremy's office, which the boys enjoy almost as much as the "tailgate picnics" we often have in the wayback of my minivan.

The boys' reactions to school totally affirmed that we made the right decision to enroll them for the year. I can't wait to see what all they learn at Clyde First Baptist!