Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A New Adventure!

 

 

 

Preschool! The big day is here!
Yesterday Gus went to preschool for the first time! He is scheduled to go every day for the morning and so far so good. He loves his new teachers and all his classmates were very nice to him!

He says he likes "peeschool"

I couldn't believe my baby is wearing a backpack, getting out of the bike trailer and setting off on his own - without looking over his shoulder once...

...today though he showed a bit of clinginess and cried when I left...it almost made me feel good....bad momma...
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Sunday, September 19, 2010

On the fast track

 

 

 

Saturday brought my fall run challenge to myself. This year I set my sight on an uphill calf-blaster in the beautiful woods of Dupont State Forest called the Hickory Mountain 10K Trail Run. A highly competitive but small field of runners made the start ambitious and the rest of the race a blurr, but this year - unlike in races of the past - I decided to go along and hang with the fast ones from the start rather than hang back and pick off runners at the end...it paid off!

I set a new personal record for a trail 10K of 53:26 (unofficial) which means I ran the entire 6 miles at sub-9 min. miles. I came in 27th overall and 7th of all women - I flew high for the rest of the day!!!

I was so fast, Heather's pictures of me are blurry...until Gus tackled me at the finish...that was the sweetest kiss I've ever gotten from my son, followed by the best admiring hug from Jacob...I might be 40 but I'm still getting faster...
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Fun @ the Amazing Savings!

 

 

 

 

While Jacob played in a tennis tournament on a nearby court, Gus and I decided to explore downtown Asheville this past Saturday. Asheville - 30 min. from Brevard - is a spunky small city with a lot of crunch. Case in point the discount health food store, where we always have a great time. Gus loves the bright green walls in the edgy little cafe...and I love the 5 minutes of uninterrupted bliss i get from gazing into a perfectly foamed cappuchino while sitting on a designer cool orange couch, kicking back in my decidedly un-cool running gear (I had just rocked a trail race...so I cared little about not being fashionable...plus the staff in the little cafe always makes us feel so welcome...we feel like royalty regardless of attire-faux-pas.)
They also added the sweetest little kitchen play set, which I want to steal and Gus wants to marry...we had a good time and even picked up a few healthy groceries all in one giggle-filled trip.

oh...and Jacob won...handy...both of his matches...yeah! Team Dinkins showed up on Saturday and rocked!
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Friday, September 17, 2010

A Fair Day!

 

 

 

 

The Western North Carolina Mountain State Fair (that is the full name of this annual week-long shindig!!!) happens to almost always fall around Gus' birthday - so we continue the beloved tradition we began last year (this year with our good friends Heather and Rion) of shlepping to the fair, sweating through a sun-soaked parking lot, stuffing ourselves with overpriced yet under-nutrient fair food (we stayed away from anything on a stick this year)and then ride midway rides until the nap-nasties set in...this year, just like last year...the last ride was rough...Gus - even after 17 go arounds on the SAME merri-go-round (no joke, he did, however, vary his choice of transportation between the blue motorcycle and the orange bus) - lost it all, when it was time to pack in...

...he slept the sleep of the truly exhausted on the way home, dreaming no doubt about a blue motorcycle, a green tractor, an orange bus and a lellow (not a typo) helicopter and maybe a goat and a lama and a camel (which he fed like a champ at the petting zoo).

I can't wait to forcefully pluck him off the last ride next year...what will I do when he starts riding those truly scary things that drop at zero-gravity???

Hang on for my dear life???
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

One more gift!

 

I had to get this one included, just because I slaved over it for weeks (sewing velvet is not for the faint of heart). Voila! Gus' new, personalized, hand-made beanbag chair....he's always wanted something slouchy to cuddle up in to read all his books, now he's got it!
I know he doesn't look excited here, but he is, he just wasn't because I forced him to sit down when he wanted to stomp around in his brand-new firefighter rain boots...

Happy birthday, Bud, you are my favorite!
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Gifts so good!

 

 

 

 

Many presents with Granna and Pap over the weekend and even more today from Auntie Leah and Momma & Daddy. The firefighter rain boots take the grand prize, but the vintage Fisher Price house (with all the furniture!) is not far behind. The beanbag, money for fair rides and a winter coat and trainset table are going to be appreciated in days to come.

Thank you everyone, for making a little boy's birthday very special!
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I'm three!!!

 

Three
What a tiny number.
What a great journey.
Too many "new" to keep track.
Too many memories to contain.
So much happiness to revel in.
We love you. Augustus!

Because...
-You don't have a favorite color, though "lellow" and blue are your go-to color guesses.
-You will sit down and read a book - to yourself, if you have to - anywhere, anytime, before doing anything else.
-The washer in motion is your favorite place in the house. Your Grosspape is proud of you for that.
-All our photo albums are dog-eared because of your daily search through them - as all good photo albums should be.
-You make a peepee like a big boy, but have no interest in the whole poopie business.
-You can play so beautifully, so contained, so alone, so happy, so creatively - I stand in awe of that.
-You run, climb, swing, bike circles around everyone - I'd be amazed if I wasn't so tired of it.
-You treat wounds, booboos and injuries with much courage and show mind over matter in all things pain.
-You are starting to tell jokes - often just the punchlines - and love getting a good laugh.
-You hurt when I hurt, even when you are the one who hurt me.
-The dryer (not working) is your second favorite place in the house.
-You hate socks, love butter and miss "The Little Engine That Could" whenever Daddy hides it.
-You have caught on to us "abbreviating" books and you are now in charge of turning the pages.
-You can sing "Firetruck," "You are my Sunshine" and "Froggie went a'courtin'" beautifully if out of tune.
-You still like to go for a jog in the stroller and urge your Momma to go faster.
-You sleep like a baby, eat like a supermodel and make a mess like a repairman.
-You are excited about going to "peeschool" - soon!
-You love your friends and delight seeing them - even if you adore alone time just as much.
-You love your little toys (playmobil men, matchbox cars etc.) and will search the house to find a missing one.
-Your memorization skills are par none - unmatchable.
-You say "what's wrong?" or "What's the matter?" when you mean to tell me something is wrong.
-You are funny, warm, cuddly and still so sweet.
Stay three for me forever - please?
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Friday, September 10, 2010

Whee Whee Whee, Gus is turning Three!

 

 

 

Ten boys, one firetruck, 24 cupcakes and too many memorable moments to keep count. The birthday boy loved it all and our guests made the day special for us.
Thank you all for coming, for thoughtful and fun presents, for being sweet to Gus and for giving us lots of memories to revisit and smile about.

Our Gus is almost three - all little boy - well except for the poopie-in-the-potty thing.
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Monday, September 6, 2010

Rag-tag fire

 

 

 

 

On our way back from Elijah's birthday party, Daddy got paged to a fire at a local restaurant. It turned out to be a dryer-full of rags on fire, but still, Gus got to see it all first-hand and up-close. He loved every moment of it. Hey! My Daddy is a firefighter!
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Elijah's birthday party

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Elijah and family, for inviting us to the family farm in Fairplay for a rockin' birthday party, complete with pool and pony rides...we had a great time!
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Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sweet end-of-summer fun

 

 

 

 

Friday we went to our secret summer swim hole in Dupont State Forest, where the water is always sun-warmed, the breeze just right and the lazy current forgiving to wanna-be swimmers. We love this place, the many laughs we shared with fellow mommas and toddlers add to a new layer of fond memories each summer.

Saturday we went to the farm fair in Brevard. First, Gus held court on the fire department's vintage fire truck, then he reluctantly moved on only to find a great play table filled with feed corn at the other end of the fair. We spent a whole hour there, honing our get-along-with-other skills - those will come in handy in a few weeks when Gus enters preschool.

Three weeks until preschool! We have to make the most of it!
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