Biker Dudes

For Carter's bday, he got a push tricycle - where it appears that mommy or daddy do all the work! It's a great alternative to a stroller and eventually he'll get the swing of the pedals, but until then.... we obviously had to go what is lovingly referred to in my home as the 'racetrack' (aka local elementary school walking track) so the boys could try out Carter's new wheels....

Anderson blazing by me on his bike - I need to make him wear his kneepads - YIkES!

Let the celebration begin!

We had a mini birthday bash in Jacksonville to celebrate Carter's 2nd birthday (June 3rd) - I just wanted to call a couple of hours (or how about 30minutes) special for my little man.


the cupcakes - please tell me you can see the "2"!

getting ready to attack!

silly Daddy animatedly (I'm sure I just made up that word) reading a sweet bday card to Carter from his Nana & Papa

my sweet sweet boy

proud big brother

My 2 Little Fish

WARNING: Proud Mom Alert

Boy oh boy do my little men love to swim. I love that they love the water and enjoy swimming as much as I do. Many of my fondest memories from growing up were at the pool. We spent everyday of the summer at the pool for several hours a day - in addition to swim team early mornings, late nite swim meets, etc. Some of my 1st jobs involved my love of swimming - lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons... In my family, summer = pool.

1 fish 2 fish 3 fish

baby fish

This visit to Jacksonville, Anderson was able to dive in and swim all by himself to the other side of the pool - all in the 'deep end'. It was so great not having to be 'in' the water with him. Of course we were always right there, and I often stood by the edge with a noodle, "just in case", but my little fish never needed my assistance. This is going to be a great summer at the pool for him and I think it will be a breakthrough year for his swimming skills!

Carter, like his brother, wasn't bashful at all with the pool- he is just as fearless of the water as Anderson was as a young toddler. He will totally go and 'jump in' the pool even if you aren't there. A bit scary - suffice to say, he is always within arm's reach anywhere near the pool. Jeepers!!!!!

JAX Beach

We headed to Jacksonville for several days to spend some time with some of Mark's family - to get some much needed rest & relaxation (though I'm not sure watching 2 Judd boys in the pool is relaxing, but nonetheless..... One evening we headed to the oceanfront to listen to some music and stick our feet in the sand....

I just thought this was a sweet photo of my little man holding Nana's hand...

all the ladies- me, Katie-Beth, Jessica, Peggy & Cathy (aka Nana)

the Judd men -this is the only shot I could get of them - Anderson wasn't in a picture taking mood (rawrr!)

Papa showing Anderson how to look for sharks' teeth....

Memorial Day Fun

We joined up with our soon to be neighbors, the O'Neills for some Memorial Day fun - my friend Jill got some fantastic pics with her nice camera that I can't wait to share (can you say AMAZING), but in the meantime, here are just a couple of random pics from the good ole 5year old Canon which has snail-speed shutter speed (oh well)! Brian & Jill are moving to a new home that will be only a few miles away from our hopeful new home. We had a blast -as usual- and if changing the boys rain soaked muddy clothes 2x is any indication, I think Anderson & Carter had a blast too!


Carter getting a baseball tutorial from Daddy

Anderson & Evan enjoying some dirt cups -complete with gummy worms 'oozing' from the dirt

all our boys racing - On your mark, Get set ...

I'm Ready!

I just couldn't resist snapping this pic of Carter in the car - - we were on the way to the baseball field somewhere to let the boys run around with their 'equipment' and I just love how Carter was sitting in the car holding tight to the bat & ball -all set & ready to "PLAY BALL"!

Mountain Men, part deux

We headed back to Kennesaw Mtn this weekend for a continuation of last week's "hiking" trip. We hit a different trail and brought Mimi & Poppi with us this time. We had a great walk and even got to see a couple of deer up close & personal.


Anderson in a battlefield -I was so worried that they were going to get bitten by snakes, the grass was practically taller than my boys!

Carter leading the way. Just ignore his outfit - -he is already expressing himself thru his choice of clothing (goodness, here we go again!)

little rascal

Mimi & Anderson resting on a rock

Mountain men.....

My parents live near Kennesaw Mountain -a small mountain that has many historic battlefields surrounding it - but it has several great hiking trails and we've been waiting for the perfect day to go on a family hiking trip. Well, we packed up some lunches and packed up for a beginner hiker day only for it to begin raining. We went ahead and tried to eat our lunch underneath some trees hoping to find some shelter from the rain, but to no avail. I thought surely our hiking adventure was over before it started, but Mark & Anderson really wanted to do a bit of hiking anyway. So I held Carter's hand and we hiked into the woods for about 15minutes in the rain and then turned back to head home. Anderson simply loved that we "hiked" in the rain. Of course, the rain soaked mommy declined the photo opp, but took this one pic of my "mountain men"..... Here's to many more succesful hiking adventures with my Judd men!

Bye, Bye 3K

Last week Anderson had his 3K farewells - the lead teacher wasn't going to be able to make the end of the year party so we all got together at Chick-fil-A to bid her farewell. The next day the 3year old classes had a party outside in a big field - but it ended up being a great big workout for me since Carter ran from one end to the other then proceeded to roll around in a sand pit. I hate to say it, but I couldn't wait for that party to end!

I am so proud of Anderson - he has gone thru a lot of transition over the last couple of years -but he continues to amaze me at how quickly he makes friends and doesn't miss a beat. His teacher last week told me he was so likeable and all the kids just loved him - music to a mother's ears! While we had some transition issues at home when we first moved to GA, I have been so relieved that our 'growing pains' didn't affect his schooling. In the fall he'll start yet another school for 4K and then finally hopefully stay in one school for a while once he gets to Kindergarten!!!


Anderson & Mrs. Edwards

Anderson & Ms. Deb

Anderson & his friend Andrew

Carter seriously did this for a good hour -when he wasn't running all over the place - people kept looking at me like - are you going to let him do that? Why, YES I am! (really, I didn't have much choice!)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we're obviously crazy excited about our move next month - so excited to get settled again and for once and all to start putting down some roots - I feel like I've been in a holding pattern for 6 years -are we staying in VA or aren't we?! But what I have been thinking about constantly lately is the great big walk-in closet our future new home has. Our Va Beach home had 2 'clothes' closets in our master - but they weren't walk in and they were always jammed and a royal pain in the neck! Obviously here at my parents, we're in a guest room and so all my stuff & Mark's is jammed into (and coming out of) the closet -it's actually a decent sized closet, but no walk-in. I am just dreaming about the new walk-in closet and the organization system that's already built-in - I'm not even sure I'll be able to fill my dresser drawers anymore! I can even lay down and take a nap in there if I wanted to! How silly is it that a closet is what's exciting me these days?

"Macon" Mothers Day special.... 09

Mother's Day 2009

A rare photo of just me & the boys - I asked Mark today to please please please start trying to take a least a couple pics of me on occasion with my boys - I want them to have proof one day that I was there every step of the way!!!! Here we went to a park in Macon after church before lunch.... you should have seen me strutting around the park in heels!!!!

A picture of 3 generations - me, Grandmother Stephens (Mark's maternal grandmother) and Cathy (Mark's mom) - we enjoyed a wonderful barbecue mother's day lunch and then enjoyed dessert of strawberry (whatelse!) shortcake & coffee at home!!! Yummo!

Berry Fun Time!

So we headed to Macon this weekend to spend some time with Nana & Poppa - Cathy was originally going to watch the boys this weekend so that we could do some house-hunting, but that's not necessary any more (hooray!)... On Saturday we went strawberry picking - the boys had a blast - besides the 'pickin, they were able to enjoy some fresh strawberry ice cream and were able to chase around some peacocks & roosters on the farm. It was a beautiful day and memories were made, for sure!!!!!

this picture of Anderson cracked me up - this is something that Mark would do!!! Like father, like son!

A rare moment of Carter standing still - Poppa must be holding on pretty tight! ;)

I just love love love this picture!

I can't believe that strawberry is still in one piece -he either smooshed or ate every strawberry that came his way!!!

Showing off one of his finds!

Anderson sharing his ice cream with Carter - what a brother!

Spend the Nite Party!

So my dear sister-in-law Katie-Beth called me last week and asked if the boys could spend the nite with her on Friday - without hesitation I said "yes!", and then "are you sure?". After all - Katie-Beth is a single socialite and I wasn't sure if that she really would want to give up her Friday nite to hang with her nephews. But indeed she wanted to spend some time with them and also give Mark & I a little date nite. The boys were excited to spend the nite with Katie and so we packed them up and they didn't look back for a second! After I threw Katie-Beth some diapering curve balls with the supplies I sent (um, didn't send), she said they had a great time and Anderson is already ready to go back for another spend-the-nite visit! Mark & I headed to an old favorite restaurant where we wasted absolutely no time polishing off a bowl of the best cheese dip on the planet! And instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning, we opted for an early rise to hit some yard sales! We had a great time and enjoyed our 'boy-free' time!! Thanks Katie-Beth, we love you!!!!

ok, so a crazy picture - but I loved the 'crazy' Anderson pose going on here!!

Aw shucks!

Anderson is at the great age where he LOVES to help me make dinner - I love that he wants to help but I'm sure most of you know that it's often less helpful to have their help! ; ) However, I have found a job that even a 4year old can master - and that is shucking corn!!!!! He cracked me up while he was shucking - I kept heard him saying under his breath how 'this corn is driving me crazy!'.... Love it!

When NOT to skimp:

So there are the standard issue stories of when not to skimp - for example, we've all been told not to skimp on toilet paper, but as many friends know, I've recently become quite the 'frugalista', but I've since learned there are a couple things I won't skimp on ever again - -
1) blue cheese - I absolutely LOVE blue cheese and often adorn salads or dishes with blue cheese- recently the 'block' of blue cheese was on sale versus the good ole already crumbled blue cheese - well, never again will I take on the task of crumbling my own blue cheese -what a mess! I'll gladly pay that premium!!

2) being a southerner, I love me some shrimp 'n' grits so I decided I would treat our family this week with this favorite dish. Well, the grocery store had shrimp on sale - but I would have to peel and devein my shrimp - I thought, sure to save $2, I'll do it! Wrong!!!!! I'm just glad I only had to peel & devein 1lb. of shrimp (about 50 little guys) versus more poundage - goodness! So next time I'll be waiting until the already peeled & deveined shrimp are on sale! But in the end, the shrimp n grits were still delicious and I learned a valuable lesson!!!

Need a Pit Stop?

I spent some time with my friend Stephanie on Friday as she was having a yard sale - she is a minimalist and doesn't keep anything! She's got 2 boys as well - but her oldest is 6 and youngest is 4 1/2.... she passed down these precious costumes! Aren't they the cutest pit crew ever????