Trike-A-Thon

Last Friday, Jackson's school hosted a Trike-A-Thon to benefit St. Jude’s children’s Hospital.  He learned a little about bike safety, raised money for a good cause and got to ride bikes with his friends from school in our neighborhood.  It was a win-win-win!
There are so many things that are different about life in the Bahamas, and the Trike-A-Thon was no exception!  Before I tell you a long story about this event, there are 3 crucial elements to mention: 1)Jackson’s school is connected to our neighborhood. 2) Bahamians are on island time. 3) Safe driving is just what Bahamians like for everyone else to exercise, but they don’t think that traffic laws apply specifically to them.
The morning of the Trike-A-Thon Jackson rode his bike to school (as normal) and then when it was time for the Trike-A-Thon, he and his class headed out the back gate of the school (into our neighborhood).  Another area school  was participating as well, so it seemed a little chaotic because you had cars from those parents as well as all the children from J’s school. 
On the same road. 
Together. 
Bad drivers + 100 or so preschoolers on bikes = I’m glad I’m not the teacher! 
Seems like maybe they would have stopped traffic in the neighborhood for this.  Um, no.
Oh well, we’re in the Bahamas, right?  How bad can life be?  I was happy to be able to come and participate with Miller (strapped in).  It was so close to our house too!
So here is Jackson’s class at the starting line.  Can you find him?

Oh!  There he is!

There was a lot of this going on.  4 year old boys sees another boy with a helmet on and think, “Oh, I should probably hit him on the head.”  Strange.

He’s got his game face on.  I should have realized at this point what was going to happen.

I didn’t because I was visiting with some other moms, and trying to get pictures of Miller and I on our cool ride.

And they’re off!

Wait!!  They were supposed to stop. 


Let me break it down for you…


About this time I decided to stop taking pictures and put  my bike to work and get them to stop.  Luckily, I was able to ride faster than the teachers could run.
What you can’t see is that these guys are heading for the exit.
Of the whole neighborhood.
They thought it was a race.
Except they didn’t really have a finish line.
They (whoever was in charge)didn’t really think about the kids leaving the teachers in the dust, and no one on the other end of the course.
Things that make you go Hmmm.

The teachers finally rounded up all their kiddos for some fruit and water.

Miller and I headed home.  I can’t take any more of that kind of fun!
p.s. However, if it was a race, which is still up for debate, Jackson came in 2nd!  And he didn’t even break a sweat.
p.p.s. I blurred the name of the school for you, Safety Dad.  I love you.
p.p.p.s. I think Jackson's shoes were on the wrong feet.  Look at that picture.  Man, we could have taken that other kid if his shoes were on the right feet.

Is this my life? Really??

A few weeks ago my sister called me and the conversation went something like this:
Michele:  Hey, what are you doing?
Me: Um, just trying to get pictures of Miller drinking from Hank’s water bowl with a bendy straw.
Michele:  Rolls around laughing hysterically telling anyone who will listen what is going on here at my house.
Me:  Is that wrong?
For me, that isn’t all that unusual.  Yes, this is my life.
My pictures didn’t turn out of that scene.

This my nemesis.  

Miller just lets the water free flow any chance he gets. 
Three times.  Three times while writing this post he got into the water.  Yes, I know what you’re thinking!.  That’s annoying!
Yesterday Miller and I went for a bike ride.  I came home, turned on Curious George for Miller and went upstairs to change the sheets.  I was fully expecting to see 453 Legos on the floor when I came down.
This is a pretty typical sight

To my delight, I saw my child sitting on the sofa watching Curious George intently.  Finally, I thought.  It was a hard road getting to that one time where he didn’t destroy the house when left alone.  I was pretty proud. 
That’s why a little while later, I was looking for something upstairs and I came down to see he had gotten into something, I realized it wasn’t really his fault.  it was mine.  I was too proud.
I was able to grab my camera and document it though!  The pictures aren’t fine photography, but they will give you a good laugh!
For your viewing enjoyment:
Miller and the Barbeque Sauce
   
Yes, this is my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Warm Days or This Might Make You Jealous!

Technorati Tags: beach,winter weather

This may be hard for those of you to read who are in the throes of Winter.  We have had some really warm days recently.  Like high 80's with 80% humidity.

The first day I suffered through the heat and humidity and took the boys to the park after Jackson got home from school.  Hot is hot, and getting sweaty at the park made us all a bit cranky.

The second day I took Miller to the park in the morning, but still sweated more than a lady should.  By that afternoon, the only alternative was to go to the beach. 

We met some friends there and it was won-der-ful!  It was so wonderful that my friend, who also has a two year old, and I decided to hit a more remote beach yesterday.  A-maz-ing!  It was so amazing that we picked up our older children from school and went back to the "neighborhood" beach.  Per-fect.

Beach hopping on January 20.  Now that's what I'm talking about!

The bad news is that today it is overcast and we are going to have storms this afternoon and tomorrow, so my sweet, hardworking husband won’t get to enjoy what the boys and I are soaking up. 

So far, so good on making the most of this experience!

Fast Bath

When we moved here, Allen and I were pretty excited that we have a tub with jets.  Some call it a Jacuzzi, some call it a whirlpool tub.  We call it a fast bath. 

Way back when Allen was a little boy, he moved to a new house that had a Jacuzzi and he called his grandmother to tell her about the “fast bath” they had in the new house.  So a fast bath is what they should always be called.

The night before we got to Nassau we were in a hotel room with a fast bath and the boys were over the moon about the fast bath there.  We managed to keep our fast bath a secret for a while.  I love my boys more than life itself, but there are some things I just don’t want to share with dirty little boys.

A few days ago we were a little bored and I decided to let them take a bubble bath in our tub. 

Oh, the excitement!  Oh, the joy!  Oh, the splashing!

A few moments into the bath, I threw caution to the wind and ran downstairs to get my camera.  The lighting in there is terrific.

Enjoy!
 
Now I have to keep them out of it!!

Experience

Since we are nearly one week into 2011, it may be time to reveal my word for the year.

My word for this year is experience. 

I want to experience everything I can while we are living in an amazing locale.

I want to experience every minute of being a mom to 2 young boys.  They are growing too fast.

I want to rely on my experience as a wife of ten years to make the next ten even better.

I want to experience every bit of this year and leave no regrets.

Melissa was the first one to guess it.  Katie got it too, and being an English teacher, she even provided her interpretation of how it should be used.  Thanks for all the comments!

However, it looks like Michele will be getting the next free night's stay!

Wednesday, January 4, 2011

This photo was taken today at 4:10 p.m.

I'm not trying to rub it in.  It's kinda warm.  See that top number?

No haters please.

One simple word

It is amazing how one simple word can have such a big impact on your life.

For the last couple of years I have chosen a word for the year.  The idea is simple.  You choose one simple word and invite it into your world.  Then once you are open to that one simple word it can surprise you with all the ways it makes itself into different aspects of your life.  Ali Edwards is a big believer in the whole idea!

Last year my word was CHOOSE. 

In the beginning of the year I was really amazed how empowering that one word was.  It made me aware of my ability to choose.  Of course I already knew that I had the right to choose, but it almost gave me permission, if you will, to choose. 

Did I choose to spend my birthday waiting in line at the DMV with two young boys?  Yes and no.  I did choose to stick the auto renewal form into a drawer, even though there was a voice inside my head telling me not to do it.  So in a way I chose to be there.    What I really chose to do was to try and enjoy it as much as I could.  You know what?  By choosing to enjoy it, it wasn't THAT bad.

We had quite an exciting year in 2010.
First there was this

It lasted forever.  I chose to stay inside til it melted.  Well once I went out, and it ended badly.

Then we did this

  We celebrated a special anniversary with this

Then my wonderful sister took me here.  It took a lot of work, but I chose to enjoy it no matter how hard it was!

I'm totally being sarcastic.

Then I got to do this

At this point, maybe I should have just called it a wrap.  I had some fantastic experinces in the first half of 2010.

Then we found out we were moving.  To the Bahamas. 

So the summer was a bit hairy.  However through all the upheaval we still manged to sqeeze in some really wonderful memories.

Chasing fireflies

 Selling our house

Going to the beach

 Seeing the pig races at the Fair

Seeing a baby chick make its way into the world

Riding a Faris Wheel for the first time



The Pirate Party Blowout

Then it was time to move.  I CHOOSE to forget most of that.
Right before we left, the boys got to experience a little Autumn in NC and J learned this cool trick.

As soon as we got here we got busy doing this!

Then he wanted to do this.  My heart is still broken

From Nassa and Beaches

Then I decided that Butterbean and I would enjoy some alone time, and I taught him to do this!

From Miller

All of a sudden we were doing this

Oh my goodness, now we are already done with this-


So back to my word...
Did I choose to all of it?  No, not really, but I did get to choose whether I got to enjoy it or not.  Enjoy it I did!  What an incredible experience this year has been.

Which brings me to my word for 2011.  What do you think it is going to be?  It will be hard to top 2010.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think my word will be.  It is in one of these sentences after the pictures.  First one to guess gets a free nights stay in the Bahamas the prize!