Happy Birthday Annie!

A Mickey Pirate theme cake before our Mickey cruise!

This sweet girl turned four! Can you believe it? Annie really feels like a "big" girl now and you can tell how proud she is of herself. She's learning sight words and lowercase letters in school and sits in her "big girl" booster seat in the car, just like her big sister. She is one smart and sassy cookie, let me tell you.

We celebrated her birthday with our neighbors and Annie got two different costumes, perfect for our Disney cruise. The next day we headed to Peachtree City so we could celebrate with family.

Celebrating with the neighbors.

Back to School

And then the summer was over, and we all headed back to school. Somehow I ended up with a second grader! How did that happen?! The days are long, but my how the years are short! Violet once again wants to be a teacher when she grows up. (I'll keep my opinions about that intended profession to myself.) She was totally ready to go - no tears, no whining, no "please walk me to my classroom while I hang onto your leg". I was so excited to learn Ms. Post was her teacher this year - I have a thing for second-year teachers. They're still full of enthusiasm and innovation; they haven't been beaten down by the system yet, haha!

Off she goes!

Violet and Ms. Post!

Matt took a "first day" picture with Annie too, even though she officially started a week early due to my pre-planning schedule. She's in Early Pre-K this year, thanks to that September birthday. She just missed the cut-off! This is hopefully our last year of daycare - my school opened up two special needs pre-k classes, and each classroom has two "typical peer" slots for staff kids. We toyed with the idea of trying to get her in this year, but it was too last minute for me to think through properly. Plus there would be no guarantee of a slot next year, which is when she is supposed to go. So, we're with Carrington for one more year. It's not a bad thing, either. Her teacher from last year looped up, so it made for a smooth transition, and we LOVE Ms. Breanna!

The first-ish day of Pre-ish K!

Annie's class... see her self-portrait in the top right corner?

And as for me... well, the best part of starting this year was not being the new teacher anymore! It's a relief to have a year under my belt at this beautiful school. I know how things work, I know what to expect, I know what's coming up. It makes a huge difference, let me tell you. And although I was sad to see the summer end, it reaches a point where you just want the school year to start and get the waiting over with!

A beautiful day to go back to school!

First grade team!

Race Day!

Back in April, when I found out the race entry lottery Matt entered me had indeed yielded me a Peachtree Road Race number, I immediately wished I'd entered the Powerball lottery instead. I kid! I was excited. I haven't run a race since the last Peachtree I ran eight years ago with Matt and my dad. And after watching Matt train so diligently for his half marathon and become quite the runner in the process, I wanted a turn to lace up my own shoes and hit the pavement.

I've slowly been transforming myself into a "runner" of sorts. There was the downloading of the Nike+ Training app, the trip to Big Peach Running to get professionally fitted for the proper shoes, the purchasing of running related accessories like the ear buds and flip belt. There have been runs around the neighborhood (hilly) and runs at the Greenway (beautiful) and runs in the rain. I even managed to squeeze in runs while both girls were in the water at swim practice. I've done squats and more squats to try to fend off runner's knee injuries. I've picked up a random yoga routine here and there and marveled that I was ever able to do this three times a week - yoga is hard!

And all this effort, the work, the knee pain... it was all leading to July 4 and the famed Peachtree Road Race 10k. My knees had been bothering me (I sound like such an old lady) so I hadn't been on anything long than a one mile jaunt around the 'hood for the last two weeks, and I'd only managed two or three of those as it was. The longest distance I'd ever hit was four miles, and every big distance had always led to protesting joints. Hit 5k, take two weeks off to heal. Hit four miles, end up on the coach for ten days, etc. While I knew I could go the distance, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it without crying into my kneecaps. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I watched the days tick down on the calendar.

On Marta, heading to the expo for our numbers. Game faces on.

                                  

We decided to take Marta to the expo as our dry run. We bought our tickets for the next day as well, which proved to be a wise decision when we saw the lines trying to navigate the ticket machines the next day. The expo was crowded, with offerings from running clothes to "energy" jelly beans. Matt picked up his number in the Wave A booth. It had a few fast, fit looking people lined up. I picked up my number in the Wave W booth. The people in line with me, lets just say they didn't look like the people waiting with Matt. Although I figured they would be good company for me and my knees. We took our numbers, signed the wall and headed home.

The road would prove to be as crowded as the signatures on the wall.

Staking my claim.

It pays to be prepared the night before.

Matt set the alarm for 4:45. That would give us enough time to get up, have our coffee and breakfast (half an English muffin with almond butter, in case you're wondering what an elite athlete like myself eats on race day), get dressed and get to Marta. It was shocking how different the station looked than it had the day before. It was clogged with runners of every shape and size. Families, couples, random dudes, it was packed. Everyone had their race bib on, so it was easy to spot the top runners (seeded, yellow bib, no wave) from my fellow W's. Everyone seemed awake and excited, despite the early hour. We stuffed ourselves into the first train that showed up, packed almost as tightly as we would be in the race later, and took off.

Waiting for the train.

Going up!

Once we spilled out into the sunshine, Matt pretty quickly had to ditch me. His wave was called in one direction, the rest of us were herded in another. We took a picture and then he was off. He would be done running before I even got started! I waited for my friend Sheri, who had graciously agreed to run with me once she found out that I was in need of a friend at the race.

Good luck, Matt!

Things back in Wave W were decidedly less serious than I'm sure they were in Wave A. Back here there were plenty of costumes, tutus, crazy headbands with streamers. It was definitely more of a party atmosphere. Which was good! It helped me relax and realize that ultimately my goal was just to get to the end and no one really cared overly much about technique and form from where we were. Sheri decked me out in shades and beads, which turned out to be so helpful as we ran - the beads kept clicking together and made it easier to keep track of each other. I could always hear Sheri next to me!

My running partner and bling bringer!

We were still hanging out in our staging area when I got the text from Matt that he was already done and hanging out in the Atlanta Track Club members-only tent with his free beer. Jealous! At this point what had dawned as a fairly pleasant morning was rapidly becoming a typical Atlanta summer scorcher. But as we finally starting walking towards the starting line, I got excited that this show was finally on the road.

Passing under the giant flag at the starting line.

Let's get this party started!

The actual running part was part jogging, part dodging the professional walkers all around us, looking for holes in the masses to quick-step through... I probably logged an extra mile just trying to get around people. I one point I turned to Sheri and pointed out that we were pretty much the only people running - everyone else was walking! But that also served to make me feel super accomplished - look at how many people we're passing! While I had warned Sheri that my training had been mainly intervals (run three minutes, walk one), we ended up running three miles straight before taking a potty break. As we told Matt later, the two hours we had to wait before starting meant nature came a'calling in the middle of the race. Had we started when he did, we would have made it to the end without a problem. But we ended up stopping at the perfect time. By the time we made it through the line and were back on the road, we were rested enough to tackle Cardiac Hill. We did make sure to grab water at every opportunity and walk while we drank it so as not to waste a precious drop.

For all my worries that I wouldn't be able to make it, I feel rather proud of myself. I managed to run basically the whole race, minus our water walks. There was enough going on around us, from the guys dressed as space men and the random dude that offered us beer from the rolling cooler he was running with, to the cheering spectators and encouragement along the way, that it carried me along. I texted Matt as we rounded the corner onto 10th Street and knew that the finish line was coming up. We finished strong and headed through the masses to pick up our shirts, snacks, and finally reunited with Matt. I was tired, but more from the 5 a.m. wake-up call than the actual race. The race kind of kills your holiday, but I would definitely do it again. I better get a higher wave though!

The finishers!

Many thanks go out to Matt, for getting me my race number and encouraging me to go out for a job while he watched the girls. Thanks to Sheri for running with me on the big day. Thanks to Virginia and my mom for texting me these last three months to check in on my training progress and my knees. Thanks to Nike+ for all those squats. Thanks to the amazingly organized race and its countless volunteers who run the show. Thanks to America for being born. Thanks everyone!

Last Swim Meet

A beautiful day for a swim!

Violet wrapped up her first swim team season in spectacular fashion. I could not be more proud of this girl. At our last regular season swim meet, she posted her fastest times yet in both freestyle and backstroke. I volunteered to be the "shepherd" for her age group, so I had the opportunity to be front and center for all her events as I got the girls lined up on the blocks. With a season of meets under her belt, Violet is a pro. She was even telling me how to do my job! It's nice that she has enjoyed swim so much - I never have to drag her to practice or bribe her through the meets. She's happy to hop of on the block, wait for the whistle and take off for the other end. Even if she gets sloppy in practice and bobs the last few feet to the wall, she turns it on in competition.

So proud of this girl!

After we wrapped up our last meet, we had a pizza party to celebrate all our swimmers and say goodbye to our fabulous head coach Blaire. All the kids won a "paper plate" award, with everything from "Most Likely to Be a Princess" to "Best Attitude" and more. Annie got "best attitude" but I wasn't sure if they meant "best" as in having a good attitude, or having, you know, attitude. Haha! And then Violet... she got Rookie of the Year! I had to explain the term rookie to her, and I don't think it meant much in her mind, but Matt and I were thrilled for her! She did make the comment that at her very first practice, the coaches had to help her reach the other side of the pool, but now she doesn't need any help at all (understatement!)

Rookie of the Year!

But before we could officially retire her swim cap for the summer, there was one last thing we had to do. Violet decided (okay well, Matt and I decided) that she would compete at the county-wide swim meet down at Georgia Tech. She was scheduled for four events, two relays and the backstroke and freestyle. In my head, I knew it would be a little intimidating, but it was still a bit of a shock when we walked in. The place was huge! There were so many swimmers! (We're talking something like eight heats of 7-8 year old girls 25 meter freestyle alone!) I could tell Violet was feeling a little overwhelmed, but she gamely jumped in the pool for warm-ups. When she came out, she was very concerned about the fact that the pool was so deep and she couldn't touch the bottom. She said she didn't like looking down at it. Still, all seemed okay. Until the parent volunteer texted me to say that Violet was on her way up to the stands, where she completely freaked out and started crying, insisting we go home immediately. I think the whole day, waking up at 6 a.m., being too nervous for breakfast, everything just crashed down on her. Poor thing. I basically told her she had to swim the relays because her team depended on her. Her sweet coach came to escort her down and promised to jump into the pool fully dressed if need be, which made Violet crack up and calm down. Watching from the stands, I could tell she was nervous on the block but she didn't hesitate when it was her turn to swim the relay. And that first race seemed to get her over her fear, as the parent volunteer reported that she was all smiles after that. She didn't post her best times at the meet, but it was a great experience and I am just so proud of the fact that she got in the water at all, given her initial fear. Hopefully she'll want to come back again next year!

Getting ready for the county meet!

School's Out for Summer!

Last Day of First Grade! 

We did it! One more year is in the books! I officially have a second grader! Violet has turned into an awesome reader, and her speech has improved to the point that she might get to graduate out next year. Most importantly, she enjoys school. She likes learning. I never get any "I don't want to go to school" complaints from this girl.

Look how much she's grown!

It's been a privilege to have her at the same school where I teach. I saw so much of this girl during the day, passing through the halls, on the playground at recess each afternoon. Next year will be a little different because our paths won't intersect as much. But that's probably a good thing, too.

First Day/Last Day with the fabulous Mrs. Lockett!

It's been such a busy week, what with our end of the year carnival, our first swim meet, the general last week of school busyness of packing up the classroom and setting up our first grade "camp" that I don't think it truly hit me that the year was done until I saw the buses pulling out of the parking lot for the last time. There are always so many mixed emotions to watching the kids load up for the last time - a little bit of sadness, a whole lot of relief, some giddiness thrown in... I'm relieved to have my first year at this new school under my belt and I won't be the new kid on the block anymore. It's been a good ride, but man am I looking forward to summer!

That's a wrap!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

SunTrust Park

Regardless of your feelings towards the new Braves stadium (Why did they have to move it? Man, traffic is the worst! Who's going to drive all the way over there? The Braves are terrible!) you know we were going to jump at the chance to check things out for ourselves, especially when the tickets came free, fell on our anniversary weekend, and lined up with a babysitting offer. So off we went to the new SunTrust Park!

The park is lovely, truly. It's smaller than the old Turner Field, and it's odd not to see the downtown skyline. But for as nice as the actual stadium is, the surrounding complex is perhaps the real star of the show. There are tons of restaurants built adjacent to the stadium, places you can access without needing a ticket, which means if you don't mind paying extravagantly for parking, you have some pretty cool places to hang out and watch the game. We actually entered the stadium via the Terrapin Taphouse (fun fact - the beer is much cheaper in here than in the actual stadium, as long as you don't mind going through another metal detector - and you can go back and forth as many times as you please). 

We took these fine people along for the ride!

Happy 12 years to this handsome husband of mine!

Running Man

Matt casually went out the other weekend and ran a half marathon. I think he's what you'd call a "runner" now. I got periodic updates on his progress as I sat around leisurely eating breakfast and getting the girls ready for church. It was fun to follow along... he was done before we even made it to church! By the time we got home, he was back, showered, and cooking up a post-race feast of bacon and eggs, none of which I had earned but all of which I gladly partook.

Picking up the race number.

Look at that pace!

Annie made him the medal at the bottom... she made it a first, second and third place medal, just in case. But who are we kidding, Daddy totally won.

Then Matt casually announced he was entering me into the Peachtree Road Race lottery. He gets an automatic in now that he's part of the Atlanta Track Club, but I had to cross my fingers (I didn't) and hope to get a spot (I wasn't holding my asthmatic breath).

Then Friday morning I woke up to this:

Um, yay?

So now I have to learn how to run!

Fun fact: I've actually run the fabled Peachtree Road Race before. It was... difficult. Sweltering. Uphill. Crowded. I was quite nervous, truth be told. I'm not a runner. I really don't like running. Partly because my exercise-induced asthma tends to flair up when I, um, exercise.  But that fated July 4, 2009, Matt and my dad and I took our places on the starting line, despite my distinct lack of training. Matt eventually abandoned us slowpokes, and even my dad edged past me as I huffed and puffed and churned my way along at what amounted to a walk masquerading as a jog. To be fair, I don't begrudge either man for leaving me in the dust. (And to be even more fair, around Mile 5 I realized that something was quite different about this run, the difference being that I was pregnant - whoops!) I will NOT be running pregnant this time.

But I do need to figure out how this whole running thing works again. So I've designated our resident Running Man to be my trainer. He's put me on the run/walk/run method, in hopes of keeping me below my asthma threshold. I headed out today with instructions to run for a minute, walk for a minute, and repeat for 30 minutes total. Somehow every walking period was downhill and every running round hit during an uphill stint, but whatever, I managed to keep it up for all 30 minutes and "closed my circle" as my slightly pretentious but honestly very helpful Apple Watch would say. I think the plan is to eventually run for two minutes for every one of walking, then three running minutes, etc until I can make it a whole 10k.

So after my first successful day of training, I'm going to go eat some Five Guys and feel good about myself. T minus three months to go.

Happy Birthday Violet!

In what is quickly becoming a new tradition, I didn't manage to get Violet's birthday party scheduled until March! But nonetheless, it happened and it was awesome and I'm getting smart enough to outsource the entire thing. Last year we took a small group out to the movies and ice cream, which was great, but turned out to be rather like chaperoning a field trip. 

This year Violet insisted on a party at our local trampoline park. For one lovely price, all I had to do is show up with a cake. Everything else was taken care of - we had our own party room, our own hostess who served the pizza, cut the cake, cleaned everything up... it was a steal. Instead of goody bags full of cheap crap just begging to be thrown away, I went to Walmart and bought each guest their own giant bouncing ball. Everyone jumped until they were dizzy, gobbled up lunch and cake, and went home happy. Plus it happened to be an absolutely gorgeous day, which means that most people were playing outside and home, and we had the place practically to ourselves (as opposed to rainy days when desperate parents with cranky kids flood the place).

Here's to my seven-year-old. She's reading chapter books now, can tie her shoes, showers instead of taking baths, but still wants to snuggle in bed with me and play with her little sister. She has mastered the cartwheel and handstand in gymnastics, insists on hugging me when we run into each other in the school hallways, and holds Friday night movie night sacred above all other family traditions. It's good to be Violet. It's good to be her mom.

Oops, January is over

Snow day!

So when I said my word of the year was going to be "intentional" that clearly didn't apply to keeping this place updated regularly, since I've posted all of one time in January and we're already into February. Oh well. Fail. Thing is, I don't actually feel that guilty about it. I guess I'm just not feeling the writing juice these days. But since I had to hope on the laptop to finish something for school before the work week kicks off again, I figured I'd mosey on over to this little space and show you what happened earlier this month.

We had a snow day.

Hahahahaha! The picture above looks fairly legit, but if I zoom out, you quickly see the "snow" is rather paltry. All the promise of the Blizzard of 2017 quickly turned into a rain-freeze scenario that left a crunchy layer of ice over the grass, rather than the fluffy whiteout the entire state was hoping for. Oh well. It was a day to stay home and snuggle in our pajamas.

Just kidding. It's not really snow.

Of course, we don't actually get snow days anymore. Anytime our county closes due to weather, we have an online learning day. We teachers post lessons, the kids have assignments, I even have to hold "office hours" where parents can get in touch with me. We've had an online learning day or two every year since we adopted this new policy, and it gets smoother every time. I had a grand total of one parent email me.

Gus helps out with online learning day.

Other January highlights include... Our country getting a new president and the general sense of unease that has pervaded ever since, me getting to the point of probably needing to get off social media for a while and deciding I should probably only get my news from the BBC from now on, and the sense of disbelief and just about every headline I read these days.

Oh, and I turned 36. And Violet had her first grade school concert, featuring songs about the ocean. That little noodle (top row, third from left) was so cute during rehearsals, but then completely clammed up in front of a cafeteria's worth of parents watching. Sweet thing.

First Grade Concert!

Now we're just waiting for the Superbowl to start, ready to cheer on our Atlanta Falcons! 

Happy New Year!

Hello 2017! 

We had a pretty tame New Year's Eve around here, which given the way 2016 has rapidly gone downhill (barring a significant upturn in December brought on by the holidays and my brother's wedding), seemed just fine with me. We drove in from said wedding around 5:30 on NYE, unpacked the car and our bags and headed over to our neighbor's house for a low-key hang out until midnight. Keeping it simple! Both girls, after being cooped up in the car for six-plus hours, were ready to run around and have some fun but quickly crashed. Violet made it to midnight, barely, and Annie found herself a nice spot on the couch and called it a night.

Traditional family photo.

I was talking with these lovely ladies about the new year. I've decided one of my resolutions will be to start wearing lipstick. Not changing the world over here by any means, but since I've graduated to washing my face everyday and wearing real makeup, I might as well add lipstick as the final touch. I just need to find an expert who can tell me what type/shade/brand of lipstick I need. And how to apply it. And when to wear it. But I can do hard things!

We were also talking about our words for the year. Last year I picked "abide." I wanted to make sure I was abiding in, living in, God's will for my life. I wanted to make sure I was where He wanted me. I wanted to be saturated with His will, His plan. Lo and behold, I followed the call straight over to a new school, a bigger commitment at church, I even agreed to be Violet's Daisy troop co-leader! I can't say I feel saturated, but I certainly feel like I've waded up past my knees.

This year, I'm going with "intentional". I want to be very intentional about how I spend my time, my money, what words I use, my attitude. What is important? What actually needs my "yes"? Intentional, present, aware, all those things. I haven't quite figured out what tools I'm going to need to help me on this journey. Is there a good book out there? Do I need an alarm on my phone to beep my head out of the clouds and back onto the moment at hand? Do you have a word of the year? (The above ladies picked "peace" and "simplify"...)

Let's get this year started!

Sweet girl couldn't make it to midnight, and this mama wasn't far behind her!

The Wedding! Part 2

The bridal par-tay! 

Then it was wedding time! We took so. many. pictures. before the ceremony. (Note to all brides, please take your pictures ahead of time. You can have a romantic "first look" and all that, but for the love of your bridal party, guests, and anyone under the age of six, get those pictures out of the way!) Virginia asked all her bridesmaid to choose a black dress that made them feel beautiful to wear in the wedding, and the boys all wore silly socks under those austere suits of theirs. The pictures will be beautiful but man, was it chilly! The temperature dropped 20 degrees overnight, into the low 50s. We would huddle in our hoodies, then throw everything off to smile for the cameras. Matt surprised me with a cup of coffee when we all reunited at the photo site - it's true love, people. We finally wrapped things up and boarded the trolley back to the church for more pictures, followed by a very special blessing from both fathers, before the guests finally arrived and it was showtime!

My beautiful mother and I, waiting backstage.

Funny story. In the room where we were waiting for go time, we had thoughtfully been provided with a basket of snacks. Annie picked a bag of popcorn and wandered around the room, munching. At this point it was about quarter to five on a no-nap day where she had spent the majority of her time being told to alternately get in the picture and smile or get out of the way. The other flower girl had a total meltdown and I was worried it would set my girls off but neither of them seemed to notice. Annie just kept munching that popcorn. Well, it was finally time to line up for the processional, and still Annie has that darned bag of popcorn! I tried taking it from her, only to have my fingers nearly bitten off. I tried getting her to eat faster. I tried asking if I could eat some for her. Even Virginia tried her best, to no avail. Well, the music started and as I took my turn to march into the church, I had to leave it all in Grandma's hands.

I reached the front of the sanctuary and turned just as the maid and matron of honor are also taking their places. The previously crying flower girl made her way with no tears in sight. Now all that was left was my girls, carrying their signs that read "Uncle Lukas..." and "here comes your bride!" From the foyer I hear a loud and insistent "No! MY popcorn!" I see Lee Anne throw her hands up and send them on their way, Annie clutching her sign in one hand and that bag of popcorn in the other! (Hey, at least the black and white bag color-coordinated!)

The ceremony proceeded without a hitch until there was just one last thing to do. After the pronouncement of husband and wife, the girls were supposed to flip around their signs to now read "Mr. Fortunato" and "Mrs. Fortunato" and follow the bride and groom out of the church. As the final blessing is being given, I glance to the pew where they have been parked with Grandma and Grandpa and Matt's dad points at Annie... totally and completely asleep, Minnie Mouse underwear flashing the world, practically snoring in her exhaustion! But not to fear, Grandpa also motions to Violet, who grins and holds up both signs, one in each hand. Perfectly on cue, she hopped into the aisle just when she was supposed to. We walked out of the church, straight onto the trolley, and hightailed it to the reception. (I did have Matt text his parents to confirm that they would bring Sleeping Beauty to the reception since she missed her trolley ride!) Then we just partied the night away!

Look who I bumped into in the lighthouse!

What a great place for a party!

The view from the top (and the spot of the proposal).

She finally woke up!

Wedding selfie!

You know it's a party when the Chick-fil-a cow shows up!