Gabriel's Golf Lesson

Gabriel had his first golf lesson with Ms. Heidi at Stone Mountain. She said right away, "Wow! Gabriel's been practicing!" I guess it had been some time since she saw him for summer camp. I'm not really sure how much he has practiced with the cold weather, but I guess he's made improvement. He had us all cracking up because he went through three buckets of balls in the time others were still working on their first. When he came to get more balls he asked her "Uh, how much are they?"

She wants him to spend more time on his set up and gave a wonderful analogy. She asked him if he baked with his mommy? Does she spend time getting out all of the ingredients first, then mixes in the bowl and then finally bakes it? He was putting his ball down and just swinging away and she wanted him to set up. He has a good swing and follow through. I told him on the way home if he likes golf and wants to, we can sign up for a tournament once he turns seven years old. That means not until this time next year will he be able to join. Meanwhile, I guess we have a year to teach him the rules and etiquette of the game.

Edit: we shared the photos of his swing with our good friend Larry who was on the pro tour once. Here are his comments:
"I like his swing, particularly his footwork/position through the ball. If a player has good footwork, it overcomes most any other bad habit. The only slight criticism I would offer is the flying left elbow which looks to be caused by his right shoulder being a little bit low coming through the ball. No big deal! Fundamentally sound."

Valentine's Day

Gabriel and I enjoyed making these homemade Valentine's cards for his homeschool friends out of some good construction paper. Accomplished approximately 20 cards in two nights, about 2-1/2 hours total. Fold, cut-out hearts, glue, envelopes, done. We all met at Jumpin' Jamboree since the weather was a little cold and wet. The kids made mailboxes to receive the cards. Everyone's was so creative.


As for us, it's considered a Hallmark Holiday, but we still take advantage of the time to do something. We finally used a Groupon I had since last April, our friends the Morreys watched the kids while we went to Eclipse di Luna for some scrumptious tapas. We ended up talking mostly about the kids all evening laughing at some of the crazy and silly things they do and say.

Beds, Car Seats and Sleep Overs, Oh My!

They say things happen in threes – we had three milestones happen three days in a row!

1/20/11 – First, Giselle crawled out of her crib so we placed her mattress on the floor and with a big smile, she happily clutched her baby doll and slept in a "big girl bed" for the first time. She didn't come out of the room even once.

1/21/11 – The very next day, I noticed her legs were beginning to become squished in her rear-facing car seat. They recommend to keep rear-facing until age two nowadays, but seeing her birthday is just a month away I went ahead on a whim and turned it around in a Lowe's parking lot. She seemed to like being able to face forward like her big brother.

1/22/11 – The very next day we had some friends children come to visit whilst they went out on birthday dinners, respectively, and ended up having one of Gabriel's friends, Sean, sleep over. It was Gabriel's first time having a sleep over – and oh my goodness, you would have thought I bought him a pot of gold, he was so excited. In fact, both of them were excited – they were so cute.

I tucked them into bed and was surprised they both were quiet. At one point, Gabriel came to me saying he needed some lotion because he was itchy. I asked if Sean was asleep and he said, "yep, he's asleep, but I'm still, um, er... alive." Jim and I busted out laughing. I hope you're alive! Another classic Gabriel-ism.

Here they are together the following morning in their adorable p.j.'s.


1/23/11 – On the fourth day, we went and bought a bunk bed from someone I found off Craigslist. It was the perfect color, style, sturdy as a rock with Brazilian Pine wood and most of all the perfect price. Jimmy and Matt spent 2.5 hours putting it together while the kids ran around it jumping up and down with excitement. Gabriel said, "I finally have my bunk beds that I've been wanting. It's the first time I've had a bunk bed, ever!"

Ok, I guess that could officially count as four, but you weren't really counting, were you?

2011 Junior Spelling Bee

Gabriel participated in the Scripps Junior Spelling Bee for the first time (and just for fun) today. There were about 20 children grades 3 and under. They each spelled their name first and then progressively spelled harder words each round. Gabriel made it the third round. He spelled Rat and Hip, but was dismissed on the word Must. We had fun. I got a lot of comments on how cute he was and one precocious.

Winter Storm of 2011

Atlanta usually gets at least one snow day a year with which the snow melts by the next day. This season we were blessed with 6" of snow which turned into ice. Atlanta isn't equipped but with approximately 700,000 snow equipment (according to GaDot) and ill prepared to plow or de-ice pavement, therefore, the entire city was shut down for a whole week. Wherever you were, you were stuck there. It snowed on a Sunday evening - our office was closed Monday through most of Friday although we all tried to work from home as much as we could. We took advantage of the event dubbed "snowpocalypse" by sledding down the street and our neighbors sloped driveway. Giselle wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but warmed up to the ice by weeks end. We certainly got to know our neighbors a little bit better with my only regret being my neighbor friend Erin who was 32 weeks pregnant and under the weather being unable to join us. Hoping we'll have another opportunity like this next year when she'll have three little snow bunnies.

Here is a video of Jimmy pushing Gabriel down the street in a laundry basket.


Slideshow of our January "Snowpocalypse"

Mid-year Report

We are required to do 180 days of schooling which means we are upon the half-way point. I'll save the in-depth report for the end of school year when I'm supposed to write one, but just wanted to say how very proud I am of my son. His reading has clicked and can read chapter books now, willingly. His math is exceptional and has most of his multiplication tables memorized. The other day I asked him how many steps we had on our stairs. He counted 14. I said what if we had two sets of stairs side-by-side, how many stairs would we have. He said that's easy just add 14+14. I said yes, or you could just do 14x2. He says, oh yea, and without hesitating he said 28. Blew me away. We're learning geography with a fun website he can snap any country or state shape into place. He still loves science and conducting "tests" and is enjoying learning Ancient history (and so are we!). But the one thing I'm most happy about at the very moment is that he is finally drawing his "O's" in the correct direction (counter clock-wise). Ack, it's been killing me so one day I just had him do it over and over and over and over, quizzed him on it and then over and over again until it became second nature. Good reason to learn how to do it right from the start.

Santa?

Every year I tell Gabriel Santa isn't real, but Jesus is. I know this is controversial, but every family has their "way" to celebrate the holiday. We are Christian, and believe the focus should be kept on Jesus. Despite my efforts in telling him the gentle truth, he's not sure he believes me. With all the Christmas commercialism, movies and music about Santa, I think he wants to believe. So for the first time this Christmas, I'm all torn up inside because I don't want to disappoint him, but I've always been honest with him.

I asked him the other night what he thought.

"I don't know. I think we should do a test," he replied.
"What kind of test?" I questioned.
"Let's set out cookies and milk and see if they are there in the morning," he remarked.
I nervously asked, "and what if they aren't there in the morning?"
He exclaimed, "then we'll eat the cookies!"

I wanted to gauge how much he'd be disappointed, but we set out to complete his experiment. It tortured me all night having those cookies displayed. The next morning he completely forgot about them until after breakfast, "oh yea, the cookies!" as he ran into the family room by the fire place.

He had a big smile on his face as he ate the sugar cookie and I felt a little better. Then I thought I needed to go into a little more detail with him about how Saint Nicholas was a person who loved Jesus long ago who was very loving who gave secret gifts and now people play the "Santa game". I also went into serious detail that in no way is he to interrupt anyone who is playing the game or they (and their parents) will be really upset with us. He seems to get it and my spirit feels at peace again. Whew, for a moment there, I contemplated going with what majority of society does simply because it would have been easier....and honestly maybe a little fun, but I'm glad we have our strong belief in the Lord. He is the center of our world. I've considered perhaps playing our own version of a "Santa game" next year by pinpointing someone who we can give secret gifts to....that would be fun.

December 2010 Photos

A lot this month .... Cirque du Soleil, Madeline's Christmas play at Horizon Theatre, Matt's holiday party, Point of Vision Holiday party, Christmas at Callanwolde and of course... Christmas!

Giselle 21 month stats

We switched healthcare providers for the kids to reduce our rate and because of that she missed her 18 month doctor well visit. Here are her stats for her well visit when she's 21 months:

Date: 12/14/2010
Height 35"
Weight: 24 lbs and 6 oz
Head Circumference: 41.3 cn

"She's doing great," according to Dr. Deeb who surprised my husband with a good bedside manner. He was either in a very good mood or he's caught on that his condescending attitude towards patients doesn't make for a healthy pediatric practice.

She's still obsessed with baby dolls and babies in general. Always going up to babies when we're out and about, driving down the street she points to Callista's house and says, "Mama, ....baby!" and asks for me to show her babies online.

She will try to say any word you ask her to although they are hard to make out still. She has certain "sounds" that mean certain words. Here are the ones we know:

Nane : Shawna
Nee Nee : Sit down with me
Ba : Bread
Kh-eeze : Cheese
Juu : Juice or Water
O : Open or Off
DeeDee: candy
Gaga: cracker

She's a little terror still getting into everything and anything. Typical toddler. She's a lot of fun and very loving.

Year in Review: via Facebook statuses

Interesting to see all of my remarks on Facebook this year - you can certainly see where your interests lie.

I love this time of year

Christmas is my favorite holiday by far and I love this time of year. Not the cold weather and certainly not the virus' and colds that come along with it, but a time when you get to celebrate life a little more and everyone else is doing the same whether they celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, winter solstice or just the festive winter holiday - everyone seems to focus on family and friends collectively.

What I love about Christmas:

• Christmas music
• Christmas movies
• Christmas decorations
• Hot chocolate by the fireplace
• Beautifully wrapped presents
• Time spent with family
• The pine smell of the Christmas tree
• Twinklie lights
• Christmas parties
• Christmas cookies
• Christmas dinner -- more turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and rolls!
  
• Watching a Christmas play
• Decorating the Christmas tree
• Stockings hung over the mantle (okay I guess that is classified under decoration and so should Twinklie lights but they deserved their own mention in my book)
• Christmas cards in the mail
• Secret Santas
• Surprising someone with that "perfect" gift
• And this year, especially looking forward to the kids faces light up when they open their gifts Christmas morning
  

And if you're thinking that Christmas is just to celebrate the birth of Christ, and not all of my superfluous list above, I say we are thankful for our Lord, and God sending him to earth to die for our sins, every day.

What's your favorite holiday?

Look Alike?

Many people tell me that Gabriel and Giselle look a lot alike. So I drudged up a old photo of him from when he was younger. She's on the left and he's on the right. I guess I can see what they are talking about although obviously she has earrings, less hair and a thinner face like her daddy. They both have smiling eyes and an infectious smile.

What do you think?

(In these photos they are four months apart: she is 14 months and he is only 10 months old.)

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts by Marcy

Gabriel must be wishing it was Christmas already. Two days after Thanksgiving, he says, "I think almost everyone thinks it's Christmas except for us."

Giselle is obsessed with babies: Baby, baby, baby, daddy, baby, baby, de-de (food), baby, baby, mommy, baby, baby, gog (dog), baby, baby, BABY!

Bullying in schools is out of control.

The new TSA full body scans which emit small radiation or body pat downs on toddlers is ridiculous. I won't be flying any time soon.

I'm so glad I'm not sick anymore. Gabriel is now sick, but taking care of a sick child is MUCH easier when you aren't sick yourself.

So thankful for Matt and Shawna - not sure what we would do without them! Not only do they love and watch our kids for us, Shawna took me to see Carrie Underwood for my birthday. How sweet is that?

I wonder if there will be a war between South and North Korea?

November 2010

This month has flown by...

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.

We decided to stay home rather than travel with two small children to either of our family which would be an 8-or-13 hour drive. You really have to be up for an adventure like that and with us all being sick recently, my recent heavy workload and my mom's poor health - we didn't need any added stress. So staying home sounded perfect to us.

Jim normally cooks Thanksgiving dinner whether we travel or not so by him stating he wanted to have the neighbors over and do it again this year was no surprise. We have grown close with several of our neighbors on our street and we had three families over with their children, along with Matt and Shawna and another family we've grown close with over the years, Assia and Lydia.

Everyone arrived around 2 pm – dinner was ready by 2:45. We joined a folding table along with our dining room table with the leaf in it to accommodate 12 people. Then used the other folding table for the kids and put them right next to us. I made the place cards, and Jimmy made the entire dinner himself. He served salad, juicy turkey and dressing, along with corn, asparagus, rolls from our favorite baker, enough mashed potatoes to feed a small army and the perfect mushroom gravy which doused most of it. I'm very proud of him, he did an amazing job.


The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we opened up every window and the french doors, and the kids spent a good amount of time playing outside. I just love how well they all play together–no arguments and only one accident that I know of :-) Gabriel wasn't feeling too well so I laid him down for a bit and gave him Advil. As soon as the medicine kicked in, he was up and about with his friends, but we knew it was a little more serious when at about 7:00 he had a temperature of 103°. More medicine and in a hot shower he went and then straight to bed. Everyone left around 8 pm which leads me to believe they all had just as much as an enjoyable time as we did. We are so thankful for our friends for without our lives would undoubtedly be much duller. (I'm also thankful Gabriel felt much better in the morning) :)

Beauti-Fall

The Last Soccer Game

The last soccer game .... of the season. We're pretty sure we'll come back in the spring unless something else comes along of interest. All of the Strikers improved this season and he made some new friends - to us a success.

A Day in the Life....

A Day in the Life of the Petts ... where we homeschool, golf, work, are potty-training, bake cookies, play soccer and snuggle, but more importantly are all healthy and happy.

That's the summary version so if you're a light reader no need to go any further - but if you want the chronicled, slice of life version continue reading. I did this a year ago for this post and promised myself I'd try to do every so often - apparently at this rate, it's once a year.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

7:00 – Gabriel wakes and comes in to snuggle with us. It's a little chilly outside so we warm him up under the covers. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. Gabriel tells me he had a dream about the show "MythBusters" - I'm not surprised. So I figured now was a good time to let him know the new series began this week (every Wed at 9 pm) and I recorded it for him.

7:30 – I don't have to go to work today (I'm off every other Friday), but do have to get a proposal done and sent out so I get up and take a hot shower and feel so thankful. I was sick with a virus last week along with the kids - we're all so happy to be feeling better.

7:45 – I'm sitting in front of my computer with a quick check on facebook and my work emails and begin finishing up a proposal for a company who needs branding, identity, naming and a website. Jimmy brings me up some homemade beignets, but I have to send them and the kids (Giselle is now awake) downstairs with him so I can concentrate and get this done.

8:30 – BREAKFAST: I'm finished with the proposal and sent it off to my colleague for a final review and send off to the prospective client. Meanwhile, I hear Gabriel downstairs complaining about his eczema. Jim puts on some Triamcinolone to help clear it up. Jimmy made pancakes too so we all sit down to eat together.

8:45 – All Giselle wants me to do is to hold her. She wants to be held in the mornings for a bit - and Jim and I are chasing Gabriel around saying "Ching" (our version of the Claw if you've seen the movie "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carey). He is so ticklish. We call a truce and I cut Jimmy's hair. This is our way of saving $20 at the barber and I've become quite good at cutting his hair over the years. While I'm cutting, I send Gabriel upstairs to finish his morning routine which is: potty, brush his teeth, make his bed, get dressed and turn off his light and air cleaner. He had *forgotten* to make his bed and turn off the light ;)

9:15 – We normally start our school by 9 am, but due to the haircut we're running fifteen minutes behind. We don't stick to a strict schedule anyway (it's more of a routine). I had Gabriel do a worksheet on reading comprehension about fireflies (he asks me if I did that because we live on Fire Fly Court) and answer questions on the story while I got Giselle dressed and tried to find his helmet. Today was going to be "ride your bike day" with his homeschool group. We're always multi-tasking it seems, and that's exactly what I'm doing as I try to sneak in some one-on-one, quality time with Giselle to introduce her to the potty, and as we read her favorite book. It's pictures of dogs and babies.

10:00 – I created a review test for him with double digit addition and subtraction, multiplication for 2's and 5's, telling time, greater than/less than and a spelling test. He did really well and I'm so proud at how well he is learning. Guess daddy is doing a good job teaching and working with him during the week. Giselle joins us at the table and pretends to be working too.

10:30 – I'm desperately trying to find her shoes, pack snacks, get everything into the car and out the door for our NEACH homeschool group at the park. Why is this so difficult? Regardless, I ultimately always leave something behind that I wish I had?

11:15 – We arrive at Lucky Shoals park and see everyone with their bikes and gear. Gabriel rode for a little bit, but didn't want to ride the trail (I think he wants a bike with training wheels rather than his glider) and ended up playing with Emma.

Giselle is my fearless daughter who went up and down the slides about 20 times and then later fell off the playset. I was standing right there but on the opposite side of where she fell so I couldn't catch her. She's ok, but landed on her face/side. I'm still a little blue over this. I know as a parent your toddler (and children) are bound to have bumps and bruises, but it's so difficult to see them get hurt.

1:00 – LUNCH: Back home, made some macaroni and cheese. This is dad's "world famous" that he has pre-made as part of his way of still taking care of us from the golf course, and all we have to do is warm it up on the stove with a little water on low heat.

1:30 – Giselle is down for her nap. She chatters a bit before falling asleep. I worry a little about her and will keep an extra eye on her today. I notice she has some cuts on her face from her fall that weren't there before so I'm hoping her fall wasn't worse than I thought.

2:00 – It's break time!! Gabriel is down stairs playing his computer games for 30 minutes while I check work emails and call a client who wants to start a new project. The day is only half over and I'm completely exhausted already!!! I really want a nap, but I work instead. I'm thankful I get to take every other Friday off from work so it's the least I can do.

2:30 – Gabriel and I reviewed some old School House Rock videos on YouTube about prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions, then went to this site to begin typing skills and a fun geographical map, and visited our recently favorite and resourceful Khan Academy math website with thousands of videos.

4:00 – SNACK: Giselle wakes up and appears to be doing just fine. Instead of doing our normal crackers and cheese for snack time, I hustled to get Gabriel in his soccer gear and out the door early so we could swing by Chick-fil-A - my favorite fast food spot. (I seriously should own stock in Target and Chick-fil-A with as often as I frequent those companies).

4:45 – It's already forty-five minutes later by the time I change my second poopy diaper of the day, get her bundled in warm clothing, find his soccer ball, shin guards and water bottle. On the way, Gabriel asks to turn some music on and I opt for my Carrie Underwood CD. It's the second of the three I own. Playing track 7, it's an intense, very grown-up, melancholy song and Gabriel says "I really like this song." I really like it too, but I'm surprised because he normally just likes either rock or pop songs for which he can dance fast.

5:30 – We're munching on some chicken nuggets still - Gabriel is kindly sharing with his sister – as we pull up to the Gwinnett Soccer Association (GSA) fields and realize the gates are closed. All the other soccer moms are pulling up next to me and we're trying to figure out what to do from here. We decide to go to Mountain Park Park (yes, there are two parks in the name, it's not accidentally redundant). We end up only getting in 15 minutes worth of practice since it gets dark so early now after Day Light Savings. There is a playground nearby and Gabriel comes running up to me after they announced they are done to ask if he can play. I say, "sure, for five minutes" and off he runs. Another mom mentions to me, "my son didn't ask me." I feel proud for a moment. Being a parent is hard and he just made me look good at this instance - I'm sure there are plenty of other times exactly the opposite is true.

6:00 – DINNER: Jimmy called and we meet him at Pizza Cafe for a large, pepperoni pizza. This has been our favorite pizza joint this year every since Gabriel's last soccer coach (Coach Adam) introduced us to it. You have to get a pie though, slices aren't anything to write home about. Giselle must have had more nuggets than I thought because she barely eats and just wants to head over to the games to pretend drive.

7:15 – We arrive back home, it's dark, cold and the kids are rambunctious so I let them play for a little bit with their toys in the family room.

7:30 – I announce it's bath time! The kids both love to take baths so they both run to the bottom of the stairs where Gabriel opens the gate for Giselle and I follow them up into the bathroom. I pour some bubbles and baby soap into the tub along with their toys and they excitedly get undressed. Gabriel pretends the bubbles are burger patties which I have to pretend to eat and Giselle just loves playing in the water (pour out, pour in, pour out, pour in, ....).

8:00 – I get Giselle out first to dry her off and get her into warm p.j.'s. I put her on my bed while she plays with daddy while I get the boy out, dried, dressed in his p.j.'s. At this point, I'm really tired myself, and now secretly thankful it's nearing their bedtime. Daddy puts more lotion on Gabriel for his eczema. I have Gabriel read to me one page out of his book, Giselle has some milk and we say time for bed. Sometimes we let Gabriel stay up a half hour later than her, but tonight we say "that's not one of those nights and both to bed."

8:30 – We all go into their room (they share a bedroom), turn out the lights, look at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and sing soft worship songs. Gabriel sings with us (this is new) and Giselle is swaying, clapping and snuggling.

9:00 – We're free!! Strangely Gabriel didn't come back out of his room tonight asking to snuggle. He must have been tired and went straight to sleep. Jim and I do a light work out routine. Then I take a shower, then we lay in bed and do a little talking, praying and sailing (yes, that means what you think).

10:15 – Jim is snoring and I'm typing in my blog post for today and thinking how incredibly boring this all must sound. Our lives used to be gymnastics, swing dancing, college...we're parents now and our day proves it. After the day I've had with the kids, schooling, driving around to here and there, I'm thinking Jim is some kind of Super Dad. I'm really unsure how he does this every day and does everything else like pay the bills, grocery shop, cook, dishes, clean, laundry and work on the home? I'm sure he'll get a kick out of me telling him that in the morning ... or... I could just keep it our little secret ;)

11:00 – The kids are sound asleep - and that's where I'm headed now. I bid thee adieu.

Gabriel's Golf Swing

The weather is beautiful and daddy took Gabriel to go play 9 holes of golf at Mystery Valley. It's great - he only has to pay his age, $6!

Gabriel Flashback

Cleaning up the server - found some videos of Gabriel when he was two and three...

October 2010 - Block Party & Halloween

Wow - October blew by in a blink. I guess that's what happens when you are super busy at work, spend a week in Tampa caring for your Mom, organize a neighborhood block party and prep for Halloween.

But first I have an update on Jerry (my homeless friend)...who from what I hear on the street....is no longer. His family came and got him. I'm so thankful my prayers for him were answered, especially since the problem is so much bigger than me - God worked on the hearts of people who could truly help him. I'm so elated! Meanwhile, I met another man without a home who had his three year old son with him. Gabriel, Giselle and I took him some Chinese food, but since they don't want my assistance in the way of finding temporary shelter, I just keep some t-shirts, bottled water and $5 Subway gift cards on hand with me in the car. Everyone needs food and clothing - and water is a necessity so it's the least I can do. The t-shirts are new and donated to me by my marketing agency from old swag we did way back when - they were just sitting in the closet, so really they are brand new "old" shirts that hopefully will be worn someday.

I'm thrilled our first neighborhood block party turned out well. About 40 or so neighbors came, brought food and drinks and spend the afternoon just talking. How wonderful to finally get to know everyone.

Giselle is a little red, lobster and Gabriel is Super Mario - along with Sean - the two Mario Brothers. The neighbors came over to start out trick-or-treating from our home - it's all about the kids, costumes and candy!

A busy, scary month

This month has been quite stressful with my unmanageable workload and my mothers emergency triple bypass surgery. The prospect of losing my Mama was quite scary. It all worked out nicely in the end. She is recuperating well and I was able to take a week to work from her kitchen and help nurse her back to health. I'm undomesticated so being out of my element just a bit with cooking, cleaning, giving meds, taking blood pressure, etc., but loved every minute of it.

We were able to launch three websites and a 28 page magazine the same week our friend Greg Hammer has returned to work. Together, should make my work load feel like a vacation, at least says my boss. I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel and making a concerted effort with my stress level. Nothing is worth the risk its toll such as hypertension, or worse, cancer, stroke or heart attack. This is my own method for stress-reducing:

1. Working more efficiently and smartly
2. Delegating to others
3. Learning how to say the simple word "no" so you don't over commit yourself and spread too thin -- by the way, I'm TERRIBLE at this
4. Make yourself take breaks - get up from your desk for five minute walks/stretches to refresh your brain in order to be productive
5. Learn to relax my muscles at my desk and just breathe. Studies have shown when you are stressed you take shorter breaths, trying to take deliberately longer breaths for much needed oxygen.
6. Don't worry. Worry leads to stress which leads to illness like hypertension, or worse... cancer, heart attack or stroke. Worry generates confusion and leads you down the backwards path.
7. Remembering that it's "not the end of the world" if you ask to push back an interim deadline or maneuver other meetings around to accommodate your stress level and manage your day.
8. Prioritizing my responsibilities. God, family, work, friends, extra curricular activities, etc.
9. Pray - always having a mental attitude of thankfulness and optimism. "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you."

Finally, realizing that I'm not alone in this world. God is always with me and I have family and friends who love and support me.

Phonics and Reading and Spelling ... Oh My!

We love getting to be the ones to teach Gabriel his phonics, reading and spelling.

Almost every night I have him read to me out of this book (see blue book on right) and then answer the comprehension questions. Next I have him conduct the Explode the Code workbook which breaks down words and sounds. I'll also give him a spelling test about once a week which he loves. We're having a great time doing it and I'm so proud of him.

CNN: Less families homeschool for religious reasons

Less families home schooling primarily for religious reasons.

CNN reports.

Giselle at 18 months

Giselle eating her dinner and talking. She's obsessed right now with her little pink bear blanket she calls her "baby".

Back to School - Gabriel is a First Grader!

First of all, I can't believe I have a first grader. Secondly, I never thought in a million years we would be homeschooling! I've come a long way from a year ago when we were just "trying out this home school thing." We really see the benefits of getting to educate our son and all the perks that come along with it. We're so happy.

Here is his first day of school picture. He is saluting the new year:



At Sandy Springs "Big Trees Forest Preserve" for play in the creek with one of his homeschool groups.

Our Birthday Bashes

Both Gabriel and I had birthdays the month of August which turned out to be very special.

I plan my own birthday every year, which enables me to get exactly what I want. It's brilliant, I think. I take off from work and off from "home". Normally I get a massage and it's my one time a year luxury, but this year I found a place right around the corner which gives discounts with insurance. With the discount in place, I was able to get a two hour massage at the same rate I was accustomed to paying for one hour. It was so relaxing and still went by so fast. I remember her saying, "Ok, Marcy, we're going to begin." And the next thing I know she is telling me we are done.

Then Jimmy and Gabriel took me to Farm Burger in Decatur to get a good cheeseburger. The day ended with a date with my honey to see a movie, "Eat. Pray. Love." with Julia Roberts. Mixed reviews, but still enjoyed an evening out and being taken on a journey to lands I'll probably never get to go. My birthday continued the following day to Tacqueria Del Sol for lunch...one of my favorite restaurants.






Gabriel turned six - and I can still hardly believe. I wanted to package up the five year old age and keep it my pocket forever. We celebrated with a MythBusters themed party. It's his favorite show so in honor of turning six, we conducted six science experiments with his friends. Of course, we had to do the Mentos and Diet Coke Geyser one and we made a bottle rocket shoot off. I think the kids enjoyed it, but afterward, I asked Gabriel what his favorite part of the party was .... the experiments, dancing, opening presents, or the ice cream? None of those. I was secretly hoping he would say, "It's your marvelous organization skills Mommy," but was taken back when he said, "Playing with my friends." Such a sweetie. Ok, I must remember this for next year....Less is More.....maybe just cake and friends and less hoopla? We'll see....six weeks before his party, I may not be able to resist the planning....it's chronic.

Here's his birthday song. He wanted just ice cream this year - no birthday cake!


Here he is performing his birthday breakdance routine with his friend Kevin:

Sir-Marce-A-Lot, MC Mar-c

I recommend you rap at your next staff meeting!

Giselle is 17 months old

Giselle is quite the handful right now and into...EVERYTHING!!! She crawls up to the kitchen table and generally just wants to do everything herself. Here she is saying her latest word: "Up!

We're waiting for her to learn a new word but for now this and "uh-oh" are her favorites.

Our Very Cool, Hot Summer

It's been a blazing hot summer with the temperatures in the upper 90s almost every day. The heat index says 105° in some cases. But does that slow us down? No! We've had a very productive, fun and cool summer so far .... and it's not over ... I'm planning Gabriel's six year old birthday party. I've been bitten by the planning bug, what can I say? Some other planning endeavors are:

– Next will be a welcoming party for baby Callista for our neighbors Tricia and Corey;
– Then, with the creation of a Facebook group page am making an effort to plan our block party for our FireFox Community this October;
– And will try to organize a group trip to tour inside the Hindu Temple around the corner from us. Jim and Gabriel have called it the "Giant Wedding Cake" for years and we're curious to look inside and maybe learn something along the way.

In addition to my community-oriented organizational efforts, I'm happy to report that I'm making an effort for myself finally too. I'm not doing a strict diet, but being a carb-oholic I am trying to reduce my carb intake, eat more vegetables and work out. Jimmy bought us kettle bells and we work out sometimes in the morning and other times we sneak it in at night. No major weight loss yet, but am feeling more energy and tone to my body. The most exciting part is I bought myself a 10 class dance card at Dance 101 and took my first jazz dance class in years last Saturday. And who do I run into? None other than my old dance teacher and friend Leon Von Brown.
Believe it or not, the studio had been trying to get him to teach there for six years and it was his first day teaching there. It felt like a divine appointment to meet up with our firsts. We used to dance together with the Atlanta Ballet adult program probably 9-10 years ago. This is our non-sweaty selves just before class.

Gabriel and I are fans of the show "So You Think You Can Dance" (SYTYCD) and the producer Nigel Lythgoe has helped to begin the first ever National Dance Day. They held the event in Atlantic Station in Atlanta and we went to participate. This year seems to be shaping up to be a year of reunions, firsts and new beginnings.

Speaking of new, we moved Giselle into her brother's room.
They love being roommates and one morning proved it when I overheard giggles and peaked in on them. She was playing "peek-a-boo" and he was laughing and talking with her. It just warmed my heart so much. Jim and I are really enjoying watching them love each other and generally grow up.


We're healthy, happy and feeling really blessed.

The Dynamic Dance Duo

Check out Sean and Gabriel, the two b-boys, crafting their breakdancing skills together...

My Friend Jerry's Birthday

I was so happy all day – I was going to take my friend Jerry out to dinner for his birthday. What's so special you say? Well, he is homeless and I know this gesture will mean a lot to him. I've been talking to him about it for weeks and the day has finally arrived. After spending 30 seconds at the stoplight for two years, you get to know someone. I went to Publix and bought a small cake and the gentleman behind the pastry counter placed "Happy Birthday Jerry" in a really pretty cursive handwriting...I just couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he sees the cake.

I usually see him on the street corner holding his sign at the corner of Mountain Industrial Blvd and Hwy 78, but I didn't see him today. I got nervous. Oh no...he must have forgotten about our date tonight, or worse, didn't think I would follow through on my request to take him out and decided not to endure the pain of rejection. I went home and retrieved the family. Jimmy was surprisingly ready to go and so were the kids. Our friend Shawna came along too...it was a family affair. Jim had to drive separately since there wouldn't be enough room in my car for all of us, and not only that, he preferred it that way as he is a little cautious for his wife's and children's safety....he was leery since he hadn't met Jerry yet. I was hoping I would find him at his motel, The Stone Mountain Inn, but I was nervous that I was dragging everyone out and I wouldn't be able to find him. I drove up to the hotel and for some reason I couldn't get in....the doors were locked to the main lobby doors. It was only 7 pm on a Monday night, why would this be? I peered through the window and saw a little girl probably the age of 7 dancing around and I motioned to the door. She finally got my hint and came to open it. I asked the attendant behind the desk if he could point me to room 303? He told me to go out the lobby door, climb the stairs three flights and turn around and go through another set of doors as it's on the inside. I started my trek up the stairs with my heart beating out of my chest. What was I going to find? I was excited and nervous that I may see things out of the norm and potentially put myself in harm's way. My thoughts went wild and at the same time, I saw three black gentlemen calling for me. What did they want. Just play it cool Marcy and give a nonchalant wave to acknowledge them but to also state you weren't interested. I got to the top of the floor and saw the door the attendant mentioned. It was locked! Oh no, what was I going to do now? I hollered a big, "Heelllloooo??" and no answer and then I noticed one of the window panes was broken. It crossed my mind that maybe it was intentionally broken so they could get in and out...of course, that doesn't make any sense, right? But not much was making sense at this moment, especially the next. I knocked, really hard, on door 303 and a tall African American gentlemen answered. I thought, oh no, I've bothered a motel guest, but I asked anyway....out came of my mouth with thoughts of being shot in a hallway and my husband being really mad at me, "Uh, is Jerry here?" He said, "No, he's not." Oh good, that must mean at least he knows him and I'm in the right place. And also, everything that Jerry had told me up until now has some plausible truth to it. I continued, "Do you know where he went? I'm supposed to meet him." He said he had just left. Right when I was turning around thinking maybe Jerry went to go and find me, he little head popped out from behind the corner. He briskly walked up to me and hugged me the tightest hug I've had in a very long time. He said he was surprised to see me. "Why were you surprised? We've been talking about doing this for a while now." I asked him if he was ready and he said yes, but walked back into the room. I suspected he needed to get on his shoes so I started back toward the stairwell. I wasn't exactly comfortable standing in this dark, mysterious hallway and the faster I could get out of there and let my husband know where I was, the better. We walked down making chit chat and around to my car where the kids and Shawna were. Right at that time, Jimmy drove up in his truck. "Thank goodness", I thought, and perfect timing. Jerry asked me what my husband's name was again and he got in. I told him to buckle up and we were off to the restaurant.

All was seemingly going well. I was still very excited and now even more so with the relief of finding him and being on our way. I was wondering what they were talking about in Jim's truck? What was tonight going to offer? When we got to the pizza place, they were very crowded...so much that we sat on the patio with the risk of never being served because there was no other place to sit. I felt bad because Jerry was sitting in the sun and didn't he have to be in the sun too much as it is? I wanted him to relax in the air conditioning. He told us how he liked to be a vegetarian when he can be so we ordered a half cheese and half pepperoni pizza. It was a bit awkward, but I tried to lighten things up a bit by taking some photos and making conversation. We were more than halfway through our meal when it became stressful. Jerry asked if he could play a game with us. He remarked how he knows it's difficult for us to understand him with his southern accent and missing teeth (he mumbles and I can really only get one word a sentence). But excitedly went on to ask Shawna to think of a home. What kind of home is it? When you are there what kind of key is there? And the questions continued.....it was a psychological examination. I quickly remembered the homeless coordinator I had spoken to months ago telling me he may have a mental illness and was playing some kind of word game with her in the van on the way to housing in downtown Atlanta. Jim and I looked at each other with a knowing of what do we do now? He was locked into this mode. Giselle was spilling water all over me and wanted in my purse. Gabriel was playing with quarters and singing which made it harder to hear and understand Jerry. I decided we needed to wrap up our pizza event and brought out the cake. He seemed appreciative and I was glad for that....but I learned that while I can try to reach out in love those who are in need. I may not be the best person for the job. He needs mental help. The night ended up being very hard to get through. I don't regret it, but it was stressful and hard. It may be a while before we can take Jerry out again. I may need to call professional help to see what they can do for Jerry as a next step. And possibly find his brother to see what he knows and if he can be of any help to him.

Giselle's 16 month stats

Our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Laura Rich, is leaving the practice. Gabriel was her very first patient as I remember meeting her at Northside Hospital and she hadn't even officially came on board with Briarcliff Pediatrics yet. We're not happy with the other remaining doctor there as he is lacking in patience and bedside manner, not to mention his condescending nature. He actually physically slapped my hand once for not taking Gabriel in to see him sooner when he was diagnosed with RSV.

We had to have Giselle's 15 month check-up, but because they were running late, their next availability with the new doctor was when she was 16-1/2 months old. It went ok according to Jimmy, but I think we'll still keep our ears peeled for a new pediatrician.

Here are her stats from that visit:
Height: 31-3/4" (75%)
Weight: 22 lbs and 8 oz (25-50%)
Head circumference: 46.5 cm (50-75%)

She has a little rash near her mouth which could be caused by too much tomato sauce and acidic fruits. We're putting Aquafor by day and Hydrocortizone by night and it's starting to clear up.

She's working hard on her two top teeth. She's got her right one half way in and her left looks like it just broke through the gum. I'm calling her "snaggletooth" right now.

Still sleeping in the pack-n-play although she's gotten too big for it. I want to move her to her crib in Gabriel's room. He'd like the roommate as long as she's not crying. She has a little pink bear blankie lovey that she holds and sucks her thumb when she sleeps. It's adorable.

"Up" is her latest word she has learned after "Mama", "Dada", "Nummy", "Uh-oh" and she can say "Gabriel" too but sounds more like "Gab-eeuh". She understands a lot and wants to do everything she sees Gabriel do. She doesn't understand she can't do it....she's is Miss Independent.

Honesty of Gabriel

We watched Paul Goydos shoot a 59 yesterday and we asked Gabriel if he becomes a pro golfer to buy us a summer home. He asked "how much do you win, a $1,000?" We said "more like a million." Expecting shock and awe, instead he returned with... "and a trophy?"

Another day I took him clothes shopping with me at Ross. In the dressing room I asked him to tell me which pair of pants I was trying on looked the best? He said so sweetly, "You look beautiful Mommy. I like them." I told him that since Daddy wasn't there he needed to let me know which pair didn't make my butt look as fat. Thinking someone in the next stall is listening to me ask my son to look at my butt and that they could call DFCS he retorted with such a painfully honest answer .... "Well, in that case, both of them are out."

Jim says to me one day driving in my red Toyota Prius: "Why did you buy this car [if you aren't going to maximize the mileage out of it]?" Gabriel from the backseat: "Because it's shiny!"

Reunion of Plenty

June was very much about seeing old friends from high school to Busch Gardens dancing days to family friends like Cristal and the Beebes. It was amazing to see everyone, laugh and reminisce.
With my high school best friend, Tricia...

With my lifelong childhood best friend, Kim...

Here with my family for a mini family reunion...

With our close family friends the Beebes...

With my Busch Gardens friends Joilee and Andrew ...

With my high school girlfriends Tricia, Phuong and PK...