Jones lost a tooth!

You will NOT believe what happened tonite!

It all started with what happened a few weeks ago - Jones, FINALLY, got a loose tooth! It's probably been loose for two weeks or so. Every nite, I'd wiggle it as I sang to him at bedtime. Well, tonite, as I wiggled, it came almost all of the way out. It just dangled there, stuck by a single root. At that point, Jones took over. He popped it out, like a man with nerves of steel, without so much as a single whimper.

Did I tell you you wouldn't believe it?

It's probably easier to imagine his excitement in the aftermath of the loss. He proceeded to FaceTime most everyone that he knows to give them the news. Those he didn't FaceTime, he asked me to send his picture to (Luke, "Mrs. Holly Clackett," for instance).

He bounced around the back half of the house, Tigger on a pogo stick, until, finally, placing his lost tooth in the orange, plastic case Dr. Bill gave him two years ago. It went under his Captain America pillow. According to him, the Tooth Fairy brings golden coins. Where he got that idea, I don't know, but we'll find out if he's right first thing tomorrow morning!

a Big Day for my Little Boys

It was a big day for the Pressley boys. 

There's a couple of reasons why:

A few weeks ago, Freddie told me he would like to wear neckties "like Daddy" instead of the bowties that have been the mainstay of their Sunday wardrobes for years. As much as I love bowties, it was a hard accommodation for me to make, but I did it, so long as both boys promised that they'd wear bowties without complaining whenever I insisted (say on Easter, for instance). 

They agreed. 

They were both so proud. When we dropped them off at Sunday school, Jones's red and white tie was tucked into his Carolina blue sweater vest, but by the time we picked him up, he'd untucked it. When I asked him why (already knowing what the answer would be), he said, "so everybody can see it."Of course. From church, we went to Outback for lunch. Jeremy and Freddie played their customary game of Tic Tac Toe. For the first time ever, FREDDIE WON! Talk about proud. As we were celebrating at the table, the manager walked by. She said that anybody who wins at Tic Tac Toe gets a free Blooming Onion for the table. Freddie was BESIDE himself. He kept asking, "Mama, you can't believe I won dat?"

Then, he gave me the coloring page with his winning game on it. "Mama, you can keep this paper, so you can always remember that I did that," he told me.

As if I could EVER forget ...

SCCT Character Breakfast

Today, the boys and I went to their second annual South Carolina Children's Theatre Character Breakfast. They enjoyed themselves - and especially loved meeting Pete the Cat, the Cat in the Hat, and Tigger - but what I enjoyed was their behavior. They were very, very, VERY good, and made me very, very, VERY proud. For the second year in a row, Daniel, Elaine, and Reagan Moore went with us. Maribeth, Olivia, Wren, and Jasper Scott met us there, as well. The event is so spectacularly done. As I sat there, I marveled at how far the Children's Theatre has come and think how proud I am of all that it's accomplished and how honored I am to be a part of its Board. The best part of the whole affair, though, may have been getting to crash at Mayme and Pop's lakehouse the night before. Mom and Daddy are gonna have to change the locks to keep me out of that place this Summer. Anyway, here are some pictures!

These are the guys from "A Year
with Frog & Toad." Jones really liked
"the Skinny One."

Mayme's Lake Cottage, Trip One

I can't even tell you how spectacularly awesome our first overnight stay at "Mayme's Lake Cottage" was.  We went down on Saturday for the North Carolina vs. Clemson game. Originally, we'd planned for Mom and Daddy to keep the boys, but they both said they wanted to go to the game, so they went with us.

First, though, Jones had to "bust Pop's rump" for playing around in Jones and Freddie's "laboratory." After that, Lila, who'd come over for the afternoon, took the boys on a treasure hunt through the house. Their loot was 26 cents each. Jones said he wanted to use his money to buy Skittles at the ballgame. Freddie, not surprisingly, said he wanted to use his to buy a "Clemson Tiger sport (Nike) shirt."

He ended up with both a shirt AND a camouflage trucker hat with a Tiger paw on it. He's been saying it wanted a camo hat ever since he saw AJ's. When he tried that one on at Alumni Hall on College Avenue after the ballgame, I could.not.say.no.to.it. It looks SO CUTE on him.

HOW CUTE IS THAT HAT?!?

I'm ahead of myself.

The game was fun. I love going to Littlejohn. It's just the right size, and I love the seats Daddy gets - not that there's a bad one in the house. Every time a Tiger would take a foul shot, Jones would copy the student section by holding his hands up in the air. It was so cute.

After the 'heels' win, we went to Alumni Hall for Freddie the Fashionista to spend his 26 cents on $55 worth of Clemson souvenirs (at some point, we'll discuss the actual value of money). Between that and eating Happy Meals at the kitchen counter when we got back to Hartwell, the boys didn't get to bed until 10:30. That didn't stop them, though, from being awake and whispering in their room by 6:45.

We spent the latter part of Sunday morning in the service at Oakwood Baptist Church, which will be our "lake church" when we're in Anderson. Not only was it an incredible service, but it was so fun to walk Jones around the hallway, pointing out which classrooms were my own. He was especially excited to see my Kindergarten classroom, where I was one of Mrs. Metcalf's "Eager Beavers."


After lunch at Logan's, the boys took looooooooooonnnngggg, very necessary naps, while Mom, Daddy, Jeremy, and I watched several episodes of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." I love that show. It's almost as awesome as rainy days on a comfy couch. Lucky me, I got to experience both things earlier today.

As we drove home, I asked Mom and Daddy if we can come back on Friday. They're going to have a very hard time getting me to stay away from their home on Hartwell.

Freddie decided to make THIS his
"Sleepy," like the little blue blankie
Jones sometimes sleeps with.

Freddie's HAD to have a "sport"
(Nike swoosh) on it. I don't know
where he got his obsession with Nike,
but it's a VERY real thing.

Freddie picked the marshmallows out of Fruit Loops
with marshmallows.