Special kind of love

This afternoon when I woke Quinn up from her nap she hugged her panda bear and told him "I love you panda bear" Then she sweetly smiled at me and got up and proceeded to jump on Panda's head and told me "I jump on Panda's head." Now that is love.....

Lance Armstrong watch out...

This weekend we packed up the fam and headed to the bustling metropolis of Dahlonega GA for the Dahlonega 6 Gap Century bike race. My husband was crazy enough to ride 50 miles (well technically 58) and 3 mountains. He did an amazing job and we are very proud of him. We had a wonderful weekend. Susanna and Keith and Kinley came up from Atlanta as well as Evan and Heather. Keith, Evan and Heather rode with Raif while Sus and I played babysitter. It is up for debate as who did more work on Sunday - the riders or the sitters.

The two highlights of the trip came courtesy of Greyson. As anyone who has ever spent time around Greyson can attest to he loves his Daddy and wants to be just like him. Saturday morning Raif took him to the bike expo and Greyson wanted to play with all the bikes and the helmets to be 'just like Daddy'. Well later that afternoon Raif was taking Greyson to the potty and passed by one of the sales tents and the guy gave Greyson his very own helmet (a really nice like $150 helmet) because he was so taken by Greyson and wanting to be like Daddy. Greyson was on cloud nine and seriously wore that helmet from the time we got it to the time we left Dahlonega. Of course, a cute little kid in a bike helmet at a bike race draws a lot of attention. I can't tell you how many people had to stop him and tell him they loved his helmet which made him even happier.

The kids loved the race and loved to watch the bicycles go by and they cheered for everyone coming across the finish lane (though sometimes they did say "Go football game"). Greyson was sitting at the finish line when Raif finally came across the finish line and he was so excited he could hardly stand it. As we were running by the announcer Greyson was yelling and cheering for his Daddy and the announcer dude asked him if he would like to say something - which of course he did so Raif got the best announcement of his finish - Greyson telling him he loved him and how proud he was of him. Raif even said it made him a bit misty - though that could have also been sheer glee from finishing a 6 hour race.

For those of you Vandy faithful who are aghast that my husband is outfitted in KU gear - we actually got him as a surprise for the race a Vandy jersey which was unfortunately too small and couldn't be exchanged before the race so he was forced to wear his second choice!

Hide and Seek (version 2.0)

This morning Quinn and I spent most of the time playing hide and seek. However, she decided to alter the rules a bit. Being her usual 'in charge' self. She kindly informed me where to hide each time we played. "Mommy, you hide in my bed." Then she would scamper off across the house yelling "Mommy, where are you?" Occasionally, she would even come to me in my hiding place and tell me where she was going to look for me next. "Mommy, I look for you in the bathtub." And off she would go again in search of me. I don't know what would eventually prompt her to find me and proclaim "I found you!!" Then the next sentence would be "Mommy, you go hide behind the chair." And so on and so on... I don't know why but I foresee a lot of battles of the wills going on in this house for the next two decades or so.

You turn your back for one minute

I went to the grocery store this morning and came back to find that my husband had bungee corded my children to the riding mower and was driving all over the neighborhood with them. I guess we are really country now....

First field trip

Wheh - what a day. Today was the first of what I am sure will be many days of chaperoning one of my children's field trips. I even got a chaperone sticker to prove it! Greyson's preschool went to the Adventure Science Center and Quinn got to tag along too. The kids spent the morning exploring the planetarium, and the human body section and all sorts of fun activities. What, you ask, was my children's favorite activity - what did they enjoy most and spend the most time doing? That would be playing with the automatic toilet flusher in the bathroom (you know the one where you wave your hand in front and it flushes). Only my children!

And on another note: To that horrid woman at the Science Center (not with the Susan Gray group) who let her child play forever in the children's ambulance and THEN had the audacity to watch her child walk off and then herself play with the knobs and levers for like 5 minutes while several preschoolers patiently waited, if my children hadn't been there I would have taken you outside and beaten the snot out of you. You selfish little.... (thanks, I needed to vent... oh that woman ticked me off!!)

OK, Seriously...

So after nap today I decided to take the kids to Maggie Moo's to get a treat after their long morning at the hospital. As we are sitting outside I noticed a woman walking past wearing a Baby Bjorn-esque carrier on her chest except instead of a baby inside she had a Pomeranian dog.

Now I will be the first to admit that I am ga-ga over my dogs - as I am sure everyone already knows. But a baby carrier- for a dog -seriously?????? I only wish I had had my camera.

Super Trooper

Today was Greyson's annual nephrology appointment, and as always he was a trooper. Just to remind everyone, Greyson due to trauma in the NICU, lost one of his kidneys. Therefore we go every year to the nephrologist (kidney doctor) to see that his one kidney is growing well (it should be larger than normal to compensate) and to monitor him for any issues that exist due to having a solitary kidney (high blood pressure is a common one). He sat patiently through the ultrasound, even with tech pressing on a required full bladder. He then even peed in a cup for his urinalysis (way to go Raif for getting him to do that). Sat calmly while they took his blood pressure (which was normal, yeah). And then he survived having his blood drawn. All in all the Erim family sat in one waiting room or another for a little over 3 hours today. Ugh. Everything looks good - the kidney is growing well and it looks good and healthy. Yeah Greyson!!

I would also like to give a 'good job' to the Vanderbilt Children's hospital. They really do an excellent job keeping the children entertained while they are there. From the fish pond outside of diagnostic imaging (where they give the kids free fish food) to the volunteers who walk around with coloring books and stickers for the kids they do a lot to make it easier on both the kids and the parents. Yeah Vanderbilt!!

Grand 'Ole Opry

We continued our tourist ways today and went to the Grand 'Ole Opry. The hotel there contains a section designed after the French Quarter and even has a quarter mile river running through it and boat tours on the river. Afterwards we had lunch and Daddy got them some presents which they have been wearing ever since they got them.

Where oh where has my willy gone....

Greyson and I were sitting in bed this morning, working on our letters and completely out of the blue he asked me "How is your willy?" I explained to him that just boys like him and Daddy have willies - girls don't have them. Then he thought for a minute and then asked "Does Grandpa have a willy?" Yes "Does Grandma have a willy?" "No" We spent the next 5 minutes or so going over everyone we know and finding out if they do or do not have a willy. After we exhausted his list of family and friends, he again sat thoughtfully for a minute. "Did you lose your willy?" "No, sweetie, Mommy never had one to begin with." Then he got this big smile on his face - the same smile he gets when he helps with the dishwasher or watering the plants. "I find it for you!!!" And so off he went searching under the bed and in the bathroom all the time calling out "Mommy's willy!!" "Mommy's willy where are you?" About halfway through his search he found an engine for his railroad track. Apparently that was a better find than my willy because he stopped looking and proceeded to play with his trains. That is OK, I never really wanted one anyway.

Good 'Ole Country Fun

Raif's parents came into town so we decided to take the whole family to the Tennessee State Fair today. The kids had a blast. There was a petting zoo, a pony ride and a farm equipment display that they got to climb all over and pretend to drive. There were animals galore to see and we were even lucky enough to walk by as they were presenting the blue ribbon in the junior ewe competition. I mean, c'mon people - the blue ribbon ewe!! We also got to see Little Miss Tennessee Twirler perform her baton routine. And as we were walking out we caught the tail end of the Nocks death defying motorcycle stunt show. It was good wholesome fun y'all!!

Greyson says Thanks but no Thanks to Catholicism

My son has always been terrified of people in hats. Don't ask me why - I guess it is one of those random toddler/preschooler fears. At one of our favorite restaurants in town the chef/owner makes it a habit of coming out to greet his guests wearing a chef hat and Greyson gets terrified. So much so that the last time we pulled into the parking lot he started crying and saying "I don't want to see Mr. Raz" (the owner).

Well today at school, they had some special visitors. Apparently some nuns from a local convent came in to volunteer and help out today. According to his teacher, as soon as they walked into the room Greyson got hysterical and nothing they did could calm him down. He was so upset that they had to ask the nuns to leave. Can you go to hell for chasing nuns away??

I guess this means that my son will never be Pope or a member of the Village People.

Sibling Support

Overhead this afternoon:

Greyson: I went poop!
Quinn: I want to see it.
Greyson: Look
Quinn: Wow Good job.
Greyson: Thanks Quinn

New Exercise Sweeping the Nation

It is called: Chase The Power Wheels and it goes something like this: Get your husband to buy your son a Power Wheels for his birthday and then have your husband, without your knowledge, take off the safety on the PowerWheels so that the car can now go slow and fast. Put your children in the car and watch them zoom away down the street. Then of course you must chase after them in order to keep them from playing chicken with the neighbor's Ford F-150. Great Fun. The best part is that after you spend 45 minutes in a 5 mph jog around the neighborhood and are completely exhausted your children are completely refreshed from their ride in the car and want to run around like crazy. It is awesome.

Like Father Like Son

So this weekend Raif was hard at work doing all those manly things that middle-aged men do on the weekend once they are saddled with a house, wife and children. Greyson decided that he needed to help and so off they went to mow the grass. I admit the shot would have been better in live action but by the time I got the camera my little worker bees had already finished. But they were thoughtful enough to stop for this picture before they came inside, cracked a beer and watched some football.