Little brother/sister to arrive mid-April.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Birmingham Blackwell birthday bonanza
Last Wednesday Taylor and I headed south to help my Grandaddy and my sister celebrate their big birthdays. And when I say BIG, I mean my grandfather turned 90 and Libba was welcoming in her 30s. And with such momentous milestones in the family happening, of course my mother flew down from Iowa to help party. Because ain’t no party like a Blackwell birthday party, ‘cause a Blackwell birthday party don’t stop. Seriously. We’re gangsta like that.
And because the before mentioned birthdays took place on Wednesday and Thursday, my sweet hubba had to stay behind to put bread on the table. And because I was less than thrilled to drive the nearly six-hour trek by myself with a sassy toddler in the back, we managed to borrow a friend’s portable-DVD player and Disney Princess movie library for the trip. And, OH MY GOODNESS!, it was a lifesaver. I kept having to remind myself that Taylor was even in the car... But the Little Mermaid soundtrack in the backseat was a good reminder. And wouldn’t you know that I still can recite EVERY word to that entire movie and sang along with all the songs. Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat, wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete... You can probably pick it up from there, Steph.
So we made it down to Birmingham just after lunchtime, beating Mom and Grandaddy back to his house and found this in the front yard:
That night, all of the local and visiting Blackwell family members gathered at a fancy restaurant to toast Grandaddy and his 90 tremendous years. Well, everyone but Taylor. Let’s just say it wasn’t a toddler-friendly environment. So Libba lined-up a friend to stay with T at her house for the two hours we were gone. And, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty nice to be out with my family and actually be able to listen to and partake in conversations without interruption, savor my delicious dinner without someone grabbing the avocados off my plate and carry a purse that didn’t have an entire toybox full of attention-occupying stuff in it. Yes, it was nice. But at the end of the night, I was super anxious to get back to my little peanut. Ah, such is motherhood.
So, YES, Grandaddy’s party was a truly special event. And emotional. All 16 guests took turns standing up and toasting and thanking the matriarch of our family, and with the amount of vino flowing, you can imagine some got a bit choked up. And then the birthday boy gave his rebuttal, thank you toast, and didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. My grandfather is very special to myself and a lot of other people, and I felt very blessed to be able to spend such a joyous occasion with him that night. And I can’t wait to toast him again on his 91st birthday next September.
And to keep the birthday train rolling, Libba turned the big three-oh the very next day. And in trying to plan something totally wonderful and amazing for her big day, her husband, my mother and myself decided to throw a bit of a surprise party for her at one of her fave restaurants, Cantina. And other than a few balloon malfunctions and mid-day cookie meltdowns, the actual party was a total success. And we had one super happy 30 year old on our hands.
Another wonderful birthday party, this time accompanied by Taylor, a DQ ice cream cake, birthday girl tequila shots and lots of queso dip and guacamole. And Miss T was a social butterfly at the party, constantly keeping DIRKY and HER BEEBA at an arm’s length. That girl loves her aunt and uncle, and they seem to be pretty fond of her too.
Friday we shook off our post-party cobwebs and the Young women spent the morning shopping and lunching. Which, of course, was followed by naps. You know us Blackwell females, we require at least one nap and one bag of cheese curls each day of vacation. And after naps, Libba had an organized photo shoot of my precious daughter that I cannot wait for you to see the results of. Between the wedding and previous bridal parties, it had been some time since Taylor had some focused attention in front of Lib’s camera. And you all know how amazingly talented my sister is, so you only imagine the cuteness that you will all see once the edits are done.
And Saturday was the day T and I headed back home to the mountains, which resulted in another successful princess movie-filled roadtrip. A wonderful trip all-around, that didn’t even end with sad Goodbyes being that Lib will be visiting Asheville in the coming weeks and we will be seeing my parents again before the end of the year. Of course you’ll have to check my sister’s blog for more pictures of the adventure – It’s always pretty useless to have my camera around when she’s shooting. But without a bunch of photographic evidence, just trust me when I say it was an amazing trip, and a wonderful reminder of how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by so much love within my family. And I miss them already.
And because the before mentioned birthdays took place on Wednesday and Thursday, my sweet hubba had to stay behind to put bread on the table. And because I was less than thrilled to drive the nearly six-hour trek by myself with a sassy toddler in the back, we managed to borrow a friend’s portable-DVD player and Disney Princess movie library for the trip. And, OH MY GOODNESS!, it was a lifesaver. I kept having to remind myself that Taylor was even in the car... But the Little Mermaid soundtrack in the backseat was a good reminder. And wouldn’t you know that I still can recite EVERY word to that entire movie and sang along with all the songs. Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat, wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete... You can probably pick it up from there, Steph.
So we made it down to Birmingham just after lunchtime, beating Mom and Grandaddy back to his house and found this in the front yard:
That night, all of the local and visiting Blackwell family members gathered at a fancy restaurant to toast Grandaddy and his 90 tremendous years. Well, everyone but Taylor. Let’s just say it wasn’t a toddler-friendly environment. So Libba lined-up a friend to stay with T at her house for the two hours we were gone. And, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty nice to be out with my family and actually be able to listen to and partake in conversations without interruption, savor my delicious dinner without someone grabbing the avocados off my plate and carry a purse that didn’t have an entire toybox full of attention-occupying stuff in it. Yes, it was nice. But at the end of the night, I was super anxious to get back to my little peanut. Ah, such is motherhood.
So, YES, Grandaddy’s party was a truly special event. And emotional. All 16 guests took turns standing up and toasting and thanking the matriarch of our family, and with the amount of vino flowing, you can imagine some got a bit choked up. And then the birthday boy gave his rebuttal, thank you toast, and didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. My grandfather is very special to myself and a lot of other people, and I felt very blessed to be able to spend such a joyous occasion with him that night. And I can’t wait to toast him again on his 91st birthday next September.
And to keep the birthday train rolling, Libba turned the big three-oh the very next day. And in trying to plan something totally wonderful and amazing for her big day, her husband, my mother and myself decided to throw a bit of a surprise party for her at one of her fave restaurants, Cantina. And other than a few balloon malfunctions and mid-day cookie meltdowns, the actual party was a total success. And we had one super happy 30 year old on our hands.
Another wonderful birthday party, this time accompanied by Taylor, a DQ ice cream cake, birthday girl tequila shots and lots of queso dip and guacamole. And Miss T was a social butterfly at the party, constantly keeping DIRKY and HER BEEBA at an arm’s length. That girl loves her aunt and uncle, and they seem to be pretty fond of her too.
Friday we shook off our post-party cobwebs and the Young women spent the morning shopping and lunching. Which, of course, was followed by naps. You know us Blackwell females, we require at least one nap and one bag of cheese curls each day of vacation. And after naps, Libba had an organized photo shoot of my precious daughter that I cannot wait for you to see the results of. Between the wedding and previous bridal parties, it had been some time since Taylor had some focused attention in front of Lib’s camera. And you all know how amazingly talented my sister is, so you only imagine the cuteness that you will all see once the edits are done.
And Saturday was the day T and I headed back home to the mountains, which resulted in another successful princess movie-filled roadtrip. A wonderful trip all-around, that didn’t even end with sad Goodbyes being that Lib will be visiting Asheville in the coming weeks and we will be seeing my parents again before the end of the year. Of course you’ll have to check my sister’s blog for more pictures of the adventure – It’s always pretty useless to have my camera around when she’s shooting. But without a bunch of photographic evidence, just trust me when I say it was an amazing trip, and a wonderful reminder of how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by so much love within my family. And I miss them already.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Finding new ways to exhaust a two year old
Between the pool being closed for summer and the weather cooling down, Taylor has seemed to accumulate enough pent-up energy in her toddler body to fuel a small nation. At any point during the day, she’ll just drop what she’s doing and take off in hot laps around our house. And I’m all for enthusiasm for life, but this Mama Bear’s in hunker-down-for-fall mode, and this kid’s wearing me out.
So yesterday morning in an attempt to release a bit of the oomph, I took Miss T to open gym for kiddos at the High Flight gymnastics studio downtown. And because my friend, Jen, also has a two year old who was used to treading water all summer, she, Marin and her son, Isaac, joined us.
And I wish I had gotten better pictures of them running in circles, but most of the images turned out blurry. So these were the best I got:
Taylor just LOVED every second of the hour we were there, especially jumping into the foam pit and running underneath the parachute. At the end of the session, we all sat in a circle, sang a song and then the kids got stamps on their hands.
And you would have thought the director had branded T’s hands with tiny diamonds, the way she walked out the door looking at the ladybug stamps. Totally in awe of the whole experience. And totally worn out. Success!
So yesterday morning in an attempt to release a bit of the oomph, I took Miss T to open gym for kiddos at the High Flight gymnastics studio downtown. And because my friend, Jen, also has a two year old who was used to treading water all summer, she, Marin and her son, Isaac, joined us.
And I wish I had gotten better pictures of them running in circles, but most of the images turned out blurry. So these were the best I got:
Taylor just LOVED every second of the hour we were there, especially jumping into the foam pit and running underneath the parachute. At the end of the session, we all sat in a circle, sang a song and then the kids got stamps on their hands.
And you would have thought the director had branded T’s hands with tiny diamonds, the way she walked out the door looking at the ladybug stamps. Totally in awe of the whole experience. And totally worn out. Success!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Great times with great friends
About six months ago I was on the phone with Emily, my college roomie and bestie, gabbing on and on about how much we missed each other, our respective crazy lives and common interests, and we started talking about running. Both Em and I had started running-running during the beginning of the year, and were remarking on how awesome it felt to up our distances and how much better we felt physically and emotionally after a good run. So then I threw it out there – Hey, Em. Why don’t you come down to Asheville and run the Half-Marathon with me in September? To which she answered with an enthusiastic, Okay!
So last weekend, after nearly three years since the last time we saw each other, Taylor and I waited anxiously at the airport for Emily and her husband, Mike, to arrive in Asheville. And it was all I could do to not tackle her to the ground the minute I saw her. This woman is my soul sister, and just the sight of her made me get tears in my eyes.
And, of course, she and Mike were pretty excited to meet Taylor. And Taylor was more than happy to show-off for company the whole weekend. In fact, Miss T kept referring to Em and Mike as HER friends, as in, Mom. I wanna go play with MY friends.
And even though the primary reason they came in last weekend was for the Half, a race that both my body and my doctor wouldn’t let me run, we all got up bright and early on Saturday to cheer on Chris and Em as they rocked the grueling 13.1-mile course.
And I am so proud of both of them. Especially my husband, who killed it with an amazing time of 1:59:59 on one of the hilliest half marathon courses in the country.
It was also a super treat to be able to watch an Iowa game with other true – read, OBSESSED – Hawkeye fans. And even though the final score wasn’t in our favor, we all stayed up into the wee-hours of Sunday morning cheering on our Hawkeyes in that emotional rollercoaster of a game.
And after sleeping in a bit on Sunday, we all drove North on the Blue Ridge Parkway to soak in the sunshine and marvel at the views.
And for their final night in town, we opted for a toddler-free night of drinks and dinner at the Grove Park and downtown. Not that having Taylor with isn’t a good time, but sometimes it nice to indulge in places that don’t offer kiddie-meals.
All-in-all, it was an absolutely amazing weekend. And other than it going by way too fast, I was so happy to be able to spend some quality time with my friend. Even though we are so far apart in distance, Emily holds such a special place in my heart and in my life. Thank you so much, Friend. Best weekend ever.
So last weekend, after nearly three years since the last time we saw each other, Taylor and I waited anxiously at the airport for Emily and her husband, Mike, to arrive in Asheville. And it was all I could do to not tackle her to the ground the minute I saw her. This woman is my soul sister, and just the sight of her made me get tears in my eyes.
And, of course, she and Mike were pretty excited to meet Taylor. And Taylor was more than happy to show-off for company the whole weekend. In fact, Miss T kept referring to Em and Mike as HER friends, as in, Mom. I wanna go play with MY friends.
And even though the primary reason they came in last weekend was for the Half, a race that both my body and my doctor wouldn’t let me run, we all got up bright and early on Saturday to cheer on Chris and Em as they rocked the grueling 13.1-mile course.
And I am so proud of both of them. Especially my husband, who killed it with an amazing time of 1:59:59 on one of the hilliest half marathon courses in the country.
It was also a super treat to be able to watch an Iowa game with other true – read, OBSESSED – Hawkeye fans. And even though the final score wasn’t in our favor, we all stayed up into the wee-hours of Sunday morning cheering on our Hawkeyes in that emotional rollercoaster of a game.
And after sleeping in a bit on Sunday, we all drove North on the Blue Ridge Parkway to soak in the sunshine and marvel at the views.
And for their final night in town, we opted for a toddler-free night of drinks and dinner at the Grove Park and downtown. Not that having Taylor with isn’t a good time, but sometimes it nice to indulge in places that don’t offer kiddie-meals.
All-in-all, it was an absolutely amazing weekend. And other than it going by way too fast, I was so happy to be able to spend some quality time with my friend. Even though we are so far apart in distance, Emily holds such a special place in my heart and in my life. Thank you so much, Friend. Best weekend ever.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Go Daddy Go
Yesterday morning we got up bright and early to cheer Chris on as he ran in the JBL Memorial 5k. And because I ran in this event last year, I gave him the same pep-talk he gave me while I was stretching for last year’s race – Babe. If you’re not first, you’re last.
Inspirational words that he pretty much took to heart, being that he finished 14th out of the 200-plus runners with an impressive time of 22:40. Way to go, Speedy!
Taylor cheering on Chris at the finish line.
Enjoying a post-race treat.
I am so proud of my husband, and can’t wait to cheer him on at the Asheville half marathon next weekend. Yep, I said Cheer not Run With. I hate even talking about it, but after training so hard for so long, I pulled a muscle in my hip during a long run in July that I never was fully able to recover from. And after suffering through a seven mile run last week and then talking with my doctor, we both decided that it would be best to sit this race out and listen to my body.
And after pounding the pavement for the past year to get ready for the half, I would be totally crushed about not being able to run if it weren’t that one of my bestest friends and old college roommate, Emily, and her husband, Mike, are coming into Asheville for the weekend. And the chance to spend time with such a great friend is way better than crossing any finish line.
Inspirational words that he pretty much took to heart, being that he finished 14th out of the 200-plus runners with an impressive time of 22:40. Way to go, Speedy!
Taylor cheering on Chris at the finish line.
Enjoying a post-race treat.
I am so proud of my husband, and can’t wait to cheer him on at the Asheville half marathon next weekend. Yep, I said Cheer not Run With. I hate even talking about it, but after training so hard for so long, I pulled a muscle in my hip during a long run in July that I never was fully able to recover from. And after suffering through a seven mile run last week and then talking with my doctor, we both decided that it would be best to sit this race out and listen to my body.
And after pounding the pavement for the past year to get ready for the half, I would be totally crushed about not being able to run if it weren’t that one of my bestest friends and old college roommate, Emily, and her husband, Mike, are coming into Asheville for the weekend. And the chance to spend time with such a great friend is way better than crossing any finish line.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Back to the park
Well, Bloggers, summertime is officially gone and the pool is closed. Meaning we have to start getting creative with our afternoon activities again. And since the weather is still nice and warm, we had a park playdate with Paige and Elliot today to burn some two-year-old energy. And the girls had so much fun, I don’t think they missed the pool one bit.
And I can honestly say that I missed the park too. Especially Jones Park. It’s such a wonderful place for the kids to play, and it’s been an instrumental block in Taylor and Elliot’s friendship since birth. A place where they’ve both grown up. A place that brings back many memories, and we’re sure that many, many more will take place there in the upcoming years.
And I can honestly say that I missed the park too. Especially Jones Park. It’s such a wonderful place for the kids to play, and it’s been an instrumental block in Taylor and Elliot’s friendship since birth. A place where they’ve both grown up. A place that brings back many memories, and we’re sure that many, many more will take place there in the upcoming years.
Monday, August 30, 2010
A bouncing good time
Yesterday afternoon we headed to the Scully’s house to help Logan celebrate his eighth birthday, and Paige and Danny made sure to make his party extra special by renting a bounce house for the afternoon. And I don’t know who was more jazzed about the inflatable castle, the kiddos or the parents.
And you may remember me retelling how Taylor was scared to death of the bouncy houses during our beach trip earlier this summer, so I was a bit apprehensive as to how she would handle the castle yesterday. But after watching the other kiddos jump their hearts out, it only took her about two seconds to get over her fear of inflatable-fun. And then it was pretty much impossible to get her out of it.
We all worked off enough calories to enjoy some cake and ice cream.
The Bouncing Queens – Beth, Paige, LeAnn and yours truly
Needless to say, we headed home with one sweaty, exhausted little bouncer after the party, which allowed us to bathe and put her down in time for me to enjoy the Emmy’s and all of the redcarpet magic that came with it, all while Chris made gagging noises in the background. To which I simply rolled my eyes and said, Babe. Hawkeyes kick off in less than a week. Just let me enjoy this.
And you may remember me retelling how Taylor was scared to death of the bouncy houses during our beach trip earlier this summer, so I was a bit apprehensive as to how she would handle the castle yesterday. But after watching the other kiddos jump their hearts out, it only took her about two seconds to get over her fear of inflatable-fun. And then it was pretty much impossible to get her out of it.
We all worked off enough calories to enjoy some cake and ice cream.
The Bouncing Queens – Beth, Paige, LeAnn and yours truly
Needless to say, we headed home with one sweaty, exhausted little bouncer after the party, which allowed us to bathe and put her down in time for me to enjoy the Emmy’s and all of the redcarpet magic that came with it, all while Chris made gagging noises in the background. To which I simply rolled my eyes and said, Babe. Hawkeyes kick off in less than a week. Just let me enjoy this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)