We picked the boys up early from school, so we could all watch the eclipse together. We drove about an hour north where totality was longer. My favorite parts, aside from sharing such an historic event with my family and watching the boys play in the lake afterwards in the changing light, was hearing this precious lady say, “Praise Jesus!” and seeing all of the fish start biting when the sky went dark. What an amazing day, and what a gift it was to witness it!
Today was Roman’s first day of kindergarten!!!
Roman, going to kindergarten: “When I grow up, I want to be a drummer.” AND “When I grow up, I want to sell cars.”
After seeing what he came up with to wear on his first day, a gray Minecraft t-shirt and gray athletic shorts…I decided that I would try to finagle him into wearing something nice for his first day of kindergarten. (I know…I know…but I just couldn’t let it go…next year.) I explained to him that every other day of the year, he can wear whatever he wants (besides picture day and church day which are nice clothes days). He heard that and agreed to put on some khaki shorts. So, I thought I’d go for the polo next (not a button down…a polo). He even picked which two he liked best but then totally put the breaks on. Being one of the stronger willed of the three, he REALLY put the breaks on. As I was watching us all lose patience with each other and the anxiety increasing and seeing his sweet little face start to break down and cry and meltdown mode beginning, I decided that it just wasn’t worth it. After Tom stepped out of the front door, Roman walked up to the kitchen counter, with his tear stained face, and started counting out poker chips (we use them as “task coins” for completing tasks and each one counts for a minute of screen time…the boys prize them…especially this one). I said, “Roman, what are you doing?” He counted out 17 task coins (to add to the three already in his jar), pushed them over to my side of the counter, and said, “I’ll do it for 17.” I said, “How about 15?” He said, “Nope. 17.” I shook his hand and said, “You’ve got a deal.” (I’m not in the habit of making deals, mind you, but I made a deal this morning…and my strong willed five and a half year old put on a red polo for his first day of kindergarten with a big confident smile.) Ah, life.
Here Roman is holding his first day of school sign, posing with mommy and daddy in front of the school, walking into the kindergarten hallway with this big brother, putting away his backpack, and getting started on a gingerbread necklace with his sweet teacher. Look out kindergarten…here Roman comes!!!
Today was the first day of school for Jonas and Xander!!!
Jonas, going into 3rd grade: “When I grow up, I want to be an artist.”
Xander, going into 2nd grade: “When I grow up, I want to be a dolphin trainer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.”
You know, I’ve come a long way. I went from picking out their clothes (waaaaaaaaay back in the beginning of their preschool days when they would let me and didn’t have strong opinions about what they wanted to wear) to only requiring nice clothes (that they choose) on the first day of school, picture, and church days. Today, I decided to take a leap and let go of the nice clothes on the first day of school thing and just let them wear what they were comfortable in…I think it was less anxiety inducing for all.
Here they are holding their first day of school signs, being silly in front of the school, and meeting their teachers for the first time. I always love seeing the progression of pictures taken at the beginning of the school year, where they’re holding back and a little nervous…to the end of the school year, where they’re all in and confident. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful school with such precious and caring teachers and staff…they are the best!!! I can’t wait to see how much my boys change, learn, and grow this year.
Today, even though it was the beginning of August, felt like the most beautiful fall day. It had me picking up my step on my morning run at the park, thinking of football afternoons, and not wanting the cool night to end. In the spirit of the day and the quickly approaching fall (one of my favorite times of the year), we had a bonfire tonight (courtesy of Tom…he read my mind)!!! Complete with s’mores, it was such a fun night with the boys…kind of a farewell to summer and a hello to fall. I am looking forward to many more family fall night bonfires to come.
We were BEYOND BLESSED to get to spend a week in Tampa on the bay at the house of a dear friend’s parents. We had so much fun swimming in the pool, going for rides on the boat (looking for dolphins, eating at a bayside restaurant, and riding on Big Mabel), and visiting Winter at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It really was one of our best family trips yet.
For more pictures, click on the “Tampa 2017” page to the right…
I got to see one of my dearest friends from college this morning…Kim!!! She was in town with her husband for a conference at the Opryland Hotel, and all of my boys were in VBS…so we were able to steal away for a few hours and catch up over coffee. So precious those lifelong friends that no matter how far away you live from each other or how long it’s been since you’ve seen or talked to each other…you always just pick up right where you left off…like water for the soul!!! Praise God for dear friends.
Tom and I went to the wedding rehearsal dinner for the sweet daughter of precious friends tonight at the Belle Meade Plantation. What a beautiful night!!!
I loved getting to run our local 5K with my dear friend, Honora, this morning. Her husband, Ryan, ran it as well…but he totally left us in the dust pretty early on…haha!!! I’m already looking forward to and training for a 10K coming up at the end of the summer.
Jonas came with me on my Saturday morning run at Crockett Park…he rode his bike and champed out four miles with me!!! He loves being outside as much as I do and really enjoyed watching all of the wildlife and following the creek along the trail. We can’t wait to do it together again.
The boys and I went strawberry picking this morning at Valley Home Farms…our very favorite place to go pick berries. We’ve gone every spring/summer since Roman was 2 months old, and he’s 5 years old now!!! We picked strawberries, sampled homemade treats (blueberry and strawberry ice cream for the boys and a blackberry/blueberry ice pop for me), and picnicked in the sun.
For Tom’s birthday, I surprised him with a fun night out together with dear friends…we went to Extreme Escape Games (we missed escaping the room in time by just a few seconds but still got to take a birthday loop around the parking lot in a festive vehicle) and then out for a nice, relaxing Italian dinner. Happy Birthday, Tom!!!
Roman and I went on our Mommy and Me Trip this week to the Atlanta Zoo and to the Georgia Aquarium!!!
We had fun at the zoo on Sunday afternoon…seeing the animals, riding the carousel, and riding the train. Afterwards, we checked in at the hotel and went for a swim before walking to the Waffle House for dinner. On Monday, we walked to the aquarium and spent the morning: checking out the Ocean Voyager, the Cold Quest, and the Tropical Diver exhibits; watching the amazing dolphin show; and getting Roman’s face painted. We picked up a Subway for lunch and walked back to the hotel for a rest. Feeling refreshed, we walked back to the aquarium for the sea lion show, the Aquanaut Adventure and the River exhibits, and Happy Feet in 4D. We had dinner at Johnny Rocket’s before walking back to the hotel and crashing for the night. What a special time with my little guy!!!
Click on the “Mommy and Me: Roman 2017” picture page to the right for more pictures…
Roman had his Kindergarten Sneak Peak tonight!!! As soon as we pulled up in the parking lot, he jumped out of the van and started running into the building saying, “Mooooooom, cooooome ooooon!!!” He’s seen everything a hundred times before, but we talked about where he’ll go for lunch and for specials (the library, the gym, music class, art class, computer class, etc.). He got to check out all of the kindergarten classrooms as well…he was super pumped to find the desks of two of his best neighborhood friends. Kindergarten, here he comes!!!
On Easter, we celebrated with mass at church and an Easter Egg Hunt at Aunt Jean’s house. Here’s a photo of the whole gang on the steps of MeMe and PaPa’s house and one of me and my dear cousin, Heather. Happy Easter!!!
We got to go camping over spring break which was so much fun!!! On Thursday, we got settled in, walked down the dry creek bed, gathered wood for a fire, filtered water from the creek, checked out Tom’s survival gear, put together a peach cobbler (in the Dutch oven Grandma and Grandpa gave us for Christmas), grilled hot dogs, ate a yummy dinner and dessert, sat around the campfire, and tucked in for the night. On Friday, we ate breakfast, went exploring, hung out around the pond (Petra swam for the very first time in her life!), and headed home.
Yay for camping with all of the Seyfried boys!!!
I had fun hanging out with Jonas and Xander at their classroom spring parties this afternoon…they played bingo, ate snacks, won prizes, made crafts, etc.
Tom has been working on making fire with a bow drill…
I was so excited to finally run the half-marathon today that I’ve been training for for three months now!!! It’s been a great way for me to keep my spirits up over the winter (spending time alone, listening to music, being in the great outdoors, boosting serotonin, and having a goal to work towards). I’ve had good days and bad days…fast days and slow days…feeling good days and feeling rough days…running through all of them. I’ve been learning how to pace and race myself. I even felt like Rocky a few times…haha…running in the freezing cold, crossing over snow-covered bridges…and running in the pouring rain, finishing up those last few miles. I felt somewhat young while I was running and really old when I stopped.
The last (and only) half-marathon I ran was about 14 years ago. My goal after Roman was born was just to get back to where I could run 3 miles 3 times a week. This fall, I started bumping up the mileage on the weekend a little bit just to see if I could do it. I’m so grateful to my chiropractor, Dr. Todd Smith, for inspiring me and encouraging me at that point to “resurrect the dream” and try to run another half-marathon!!!
It ended up SNOWING the day of the run. Crazy. Tom was so great and set up a course for me at Crockett Park, where I did the majority of my training. He and the boys met me at different points along the way with precious signs and exuberant cheers which really helped…especially past the halfway mark and beyond. It was so beautiful running in the snow…even though at times I could hardly see for all of the snowflakes blowing in my face. I was surprised but not to see quite a few other runners out there on the trail, grinning from ear to ear. Tom even set up a finish line for me, complete with dear friends and family cheering me on and a medal!!! So fun. So grateful.
Jonas, Xander, and I had a BLAST at Mommy Son Game Night. We did everything from golfing and bowling to ring tossing and ladder balling in the hallway. Our favorite thing by far was the dodge ball tournament (1st grade boys against 1st grade boy moms, 2nd grade boys against 2nd grade boy moms, etc.) and dancing in the gym…so much fun to participate in and to watch. Hands down one of the best mommy and son nights ever!!!
Xander was chosen out of his class to receive a Cardinal Pride Award this morning!!! Students are awarded based on their behavior…being responsible, showing respect, giving 100%, and doing the extra. It was so sweet for me to see all of the kids in Xander’s class and in other classes holding their hands up to high five him. Way to go, Xan-Man!!!
