Tay-Dayz!

Okay, peeps.

I'm going to attempt a Double Post Day to get caught up on some of the fun happenings, of late, before life continues to spiral and these things are left by the wayside!

Last post was unabashed fangirling over my son and his wonderful (alleged) award winning behavior, ha.

And, now, this post is unabashed fangirling of a totally different variety!

(If you're a Swiftie, you know where I'm going, here.)

Like most other fans out there, I'd marked October 3rd on my calendar weeks and weeks ago, and the JOY of the new and happy did not disappoint!

I was totally that chick who watched the clock last Thursday night until it struck eleven. I frantically downloaded the new album, made poor bedtime decisions, and previewed at least a bit of all the new tracks before shutting it down.

And I gotta say, the sleep deprivation was absolutely worth it!

Jamming out (with my AirPods, so the hubby could go to sleep), sampling new beats and lyrics and tunes that are already instant classics in my book was exactly what I needed after a rough physical week (more on that in a later post). Musicality and the emotions it brings is a unique kind of spark, in life. At least, in my humble opinion. And this filled may cup in a specific and wonderful way.

By Friday morning, when I rolled up for my Barre class (with a devoted, Swiftie playlist, natch), dressed in my mint and orange to celebrate the album release, I was already well in love with some of the new songs. It was a delight to rave with some of my fellow Swiftie buddies. If you know you know (and if you don't, that's okay; just don't yuck the yum!).

The celebratory vibe continued for a whole different reason (a birthday lunch for one of my Barre buddies!), and though I didn't get to stay long amidst the busyness of the morning, I was so happy to be able to make it at all, to celebrate my rowdy friend.

Then, the following night, the girlies and I had the joy of going to the movie theater for the limited album release showing, featuring the new music video, plus a whole lot of behind-the-scenes insight and commentary, straight from Tay-Tay.

Obviously, we had to merch up for the event and order special t-shirts (mine was the same one I sported the prior day for my Barre class). 

It's SO much better to fangirl with like-minded friends. There's nothing like that hyped, hive mentally to really getting you joyful over something you already love!

We all enjoyed the extra insight into the album so much.

In fact, it was Chicklet who surprised me, most!

She's always been a fringe Swiftie: happy to participate, but not overtly over-the-moon about it all. But after the movie theater experience, she was all in on this album.

I think her imaginative brain really enjoyed some of the additional backstory behind the tracks, and the visuals seemed to help her forge an even deeper connection with this particular album. More than any other release, she's been singing along to all the new melodies, and I dig it.

The best, best part of our fangirling?

The men were exempt. Ha.

Little Man was invited to a special Spurs scrimmage game with a buddy. His enthusiasm was already through the roof before he learned it would keep him far away from any Taylor action, tehe.

And that left the hubby home alone (a very rare occurrence, indeed) to blast something loud on the upstairs sound system. A movie of his choosing, without anybody to interrupt, and only Coda pup as his date for the night. ;)

You know, once upon a time, we all did pretty much everything together, as a family. Group play dates, group outings, group adventures. We were all for one, and one for all!

We had a good run of it, even when I knew those days wouldn't last, ha.

Still, I'm proud of the fact that we seem to be able to follow the friends and interests of our household members in whatever direction they lead, but we still manage to keep it pretty tight knit. I'm sure that will be a harder and harder challenge as the kiddos age, but for now, it's a pretty decent balance.

Again, busy is the status quo. But at least we get to pepper some fun busy into the mandatory of it all!

Okay. More, soon, peeps!

Over and out!

P.S. Just because I'm a cranky, stuck-in-my-ways curmudgeon sometimes, I gotta say (again, again) for the record that I miss my old posting app! I'm trying so hard to adapt to the new way that I, personally, now have to post, so...continue to bear with me in this Spotty Post Timing Era! It's hard to break more than a decade of doing things one way!

Little Man’s Superstar District Award!

Okay, peeps.

LIFE.

Holy moly, we wake up at 5:50 a.m., already feeling behind, most days.

This is not a problem unique to us; it’s true of busy people and families, everywhere. But, I fully admit (every day, all the time), that we are in the thick of it: the golden, overwhelming years of family life.

The calendars are packed, the to-dos are plentiful, and the marathon seems endless.

However.

Every now and then, it seems God gifts us with a moment to press the big, red pause button. It often happens due to illness (sad, but true), but every now and then, it’s thanks to a really positive and celebratory reason. And we had a major one to celebrate, last Friday!

The week prior, I’d received word from the school that Little Man would be honored with a big district award, and, honestly, my first reaction was: Wait; my son?!

Don’t get me wrong: my boy is absolutely the coolest, sharpest, most fantastic kid in the universe, but…he’s loud. And confident. And chock-full of all that rambunctious BOY energy in this age and stage. He has a very quick brain and, apparently, an extremely high word count to get in, every day, so the talking never stops, ha. And for all those reasons, I'm often on high alert regarding his behavior at school.

So, color me shocked to my core that he was singled out amongst all the stinking boys in the entire school (they award the honor to one boy and one girl) to be the one to represent the campus as the Superstar Student of the Month; a relatively new, district-wide program of recognition that highlights all sorts of core character traits and accomplishment--and comes with a letter of accommodation from the district superintendent, and a pretty awesome sign for the yard, ha.

I mean…man. Talk about pulling at my Mama heart strings!

The pride was MAJOR. (Probably in part, due to the shock, ha.)

The award was meant to be a surprise to Little Man, to be revealed by the Principal on the morning announcements that are broadcast live to the entire school.

The announcements are recorded in the library (both girlies participated in Tech Team in the past, which is the group responsible for running the show!), so Little Man was sent down there by his teacher, without any explanation as to why.

It was hysterical to watch him arrive in the library, and then discover the hubby and I there, and waiting. Little Man immediately started panicking about what he’d done wrong, baha. I literally watched every emotion cross his face as his brain raced through all the things that might have landed him in trouble. It was tempting to let him stew in his angst, but we put him out of his misery by letting him know we were there for a good reason. :) The best reason! Here he is, getting a little cute and squirmy when the announcement was approaching and he was starting to piece together what was happening:

The emphasis for this month’s award was Leadership, and, goodness, hearing the Principals’s words about my crazy, amazing son…ugh. It got me right in the emotions!

Here's what she read to the school:

* * *

Little Man's greatest strengths are his impeccable manners, strong work ethic, and natural leadership. He is always mindful of his actions and the environment he's in, consistently setting a positive example for his peers. His work is neat, organized, and completed with pride, showing his commitment to excellence. Little Man's excitement for learning and his determination to be the best version of himself inspire those around him.

Little Man is special because he leads through example and treats everyone--peers and staff alike--with kindness and respect. He is thoughtful, responsible, and consistently demonstrates maturity beyond his years. His enthusiasm for learning and his ability to balance excellence with humility make him someone others naturally look up to. Friends are proud to call him a friend, and teachers are honored to teach him.

We are proud to have Little Man on our campus because he embodies what it means to be a (insert school). He represents our values of respect, responsibility, and leadership in everything he does. Little Man's positive attitude and drive for greatness make him a true "leader of the pack." He is a student who uplifts our school community, and we are excited to watch him continue to grow and achieve amazing things.

* * *

I mean, seriously. I don't even know what to say (or type!). Hearing this kind of praise for my incredible, rambunctious, bright and lively son is just everything. 

We're not new to this parenting game. In fact, as I've expressed in a lot of recent posts, we're sort of at the apex, about to start our descent on this rollercoaster ride of getting our kids to legal age. There is so much track behind us, and, yet, there is so much still ahead. And every age and stage is a whole different type of challenge.

We've never been parents who look to awards or grades as a barometer for our children's success or wellbeing. But, much like our pastor said in last week's sermon: Encouragement is oxygen.

Though we never sought--and certainly never expected--this kind of praise for Little Man, man, it is still so, dang encouraging to hear.

Parenting is nothing, if not a mind game. The constant second-guessing and questioning of everything is so hard to navigate. So, hearing from an outside source that your child is doing well is the best kind of encouragement. One I definitely needed, for my son, in particular. ;)

As I put Little Man to bed Friday night, he said, "See, I told you I was behaving at school." Ha. You got me there, kid. But then, we had an even funnier follow-up conversation where I asked him how much leeway this would give him--like, a legitimate number of months or years--before I'd need to worry, again. And I love that he actually spent long enough thinking about an accurate answer that...he got too sleepy and needed to close his eyes. Best. Ever. 

So, here's to Little Man, my newly-minted 10-year-old son, who is apparently, fooling quite a lot of people at school, and making himself--and us!--look pretty darn good (for now).

More catch-up posts as I'm able, peeps! I feel like I'm loads behind, but we're just gonna take it one step at a time!

Happy Tuesday!

Over and out.

P.S. I was extremely not bright when I took Little Man to Tarjay after school on Friday for a celebratory prize on behalf of his award.

He's long wanted an over-the-door basketball hoop, and...I finally caved. And immediately regretted it, ha. 

As if we needed more noise and overstimulation in our house. Now we have the constant thumping of tiny basketballs up on the landing--plus, Coda pup barking over any rogue balls or the sound of the electronic scoring system.

Best laid plans and all that. Gotta love it.

It's a good thing I love my kid.

Little Man's 10th Birthday!

Oh. My. Goodness. PEEPS.

How is it possible that my youngest, my baby, my not-so-Little-Man is now double digits in age???

I. CAN'T. EVEN.

Quite some time ago, when we started talking about bday plans for this year, my son made it clear that he wanted to hang at home with his buddies for this go-'round. OYE.

Now, I'm sure some parents might be like: Yes, this is fantastic! No major party location costs!

But, me, I was basically like: Noooooooooo. There might not be a house left standing when all is said and done!

Because the cold, hard truth is this: I have girls, and I have a boy, and as much as I like to claim gender neutrality, when it comes to get-togethers, there is a difference. A big, rowdy, insane difference!

I mean, don't get me wrong: when we have girl-power get-togethers, it's LOUD. And when we have our mixed gender, out-of-control Flash Craft Holiday parties, it's LOUD. But when it's just my boy and his friends, it's not only LOUD, it's destructive, ha. Boys are just a whole lotta energy and violence and chaos that is unique unto them (in my humble, personal-experience-only opinion).

Nevertheless, it's my firm preference to actually live and make memories in our household--regardless of what it does to my blood pressure, ha. So when Little Man never really strayed from his let's-do-it-at-home request, I did my best to: 1) talk him about of it, and 2) if #1 failed, make the at-home shebang as fun and "grown up" as possible.

Enter: A Friday night event!

Now. There were a whole lotta factors that made Friday night the winner for a rare birthday get-together:

First, it was Little Man's actual bday! Fantastic, right?

Second, our Chicklet is out of town this weekend for her Confirmation retreat (more on that, later), so I felt an event to distract me from her absence would be just the thing.

And, third: it's really, really hard to get kids together on a Saturday during the school year. Sports conflicts abound. And Sundays aren't much better. Plus, since we narrowed it down to just a small gathering of Little Man's closest friends, I wanted to make sure they could all be present and accounted for!

And, lastly...this might be shameful to admit, but life has been, and will continue to be, really crazy for us (shocker/not shocker). And I very much liked the idea of knocking out this major social event on a Friday night so it wouldn't be looming over my head the whole weekend!

And, boy, am I glad I did!

That's not to say that it was easy. Oh-hoooo-NO, it was not. The hubby and I were running around like maniacs all dang afternoon, basically racing the clock to prep and clean and wrap and get everything pulled together.

It was also pretty overwhelming to get Chicklet packed and ready to go out of town, but...you know what? WE DID IT. And it was a huge, raucous, SMASHING success, with nothing by smiles for miles for my now 10 YEAR OLD son!

Victory!

Oh!

One final bit of context for the party!

When Little Man originally requested an at-home event, he wanted to arrange for a gaming truck to come to the household, which is essentially a small fancy trailer with all sorts of gaming consoles and seating for kids to just go nuts. But when I checked into the cost of the rental of said truck, combined with the small number of boys we were planning to invite, it just didn't seem economical.

So the hubby and I gently steered Little Man toward a more economical option: ditch the idea of a gaming truck and he could receive an Xbox for his bday, like he'd been dreaming of. In the end, it was kind of a no-brainer. The gaming truck would have been a brief couple of hours; the Xbox is for a lifetime!

Luckily, the hubby spent time in the afternoon getting the Xbox all set up so things would be ready for the party--though, it wasn't really necessary, because the gaggle of boys basically spent 85% of their time wresting, playing dodge ball, playing soccer, playing football, eating, and just being happy, giggling maniacs, ha.

But it was still nice for Little Man and the hubby to get some gaming time in before everybody arrived!

Now, for kicks and giggles, I'll share this hysterical run of text messages Chica sent to one of her friends about an hour into the party.

I think it says it all that she used all caps--and that she has some frantic typos, because my eldest is nothing, if not a grammatical texting teenager, ha:

Chica, myself and Coda definitely escaped during the party for a quick 10 minutes of quiet and mental health--leaving the hubby in charge, of course--to go for a Starbucks run. Just for a decibel level breather before joining the fray again, ha. It was a smart move and helped to recharge our eardrums. ;)

It really was such good fun that none of us made it to bed (the kiddos, included) until well after 10:30 p.m. But I went to bed with mopped floors and a house that was put back together--Amen, Hallelujah! So it was worth the effort!

Then, this morning, Chica had a cross country preview meet in the morning, then a few friends over for lunch and a short round of chill time, before I showered, collapsed and declared us on household LOCKDOWN. And I sat for the first time in what felt like weeks. 

The hubby and I are getting ready to do some outdoor Halloween decorating now that it's dusk (Little Man asked us to wait to really let our freak flag fly until after his party), but, all in all, it's been such a beautiful--if busy!--weekend.

Missing my Chicklet SO MUCH right about now, but I know she's having an amazing time, and I'll love up on her as much as she'll let me, tomorrow!

Another birthday, another celebration, another year IN THE BOOKS!

It's wild to know my youngest is now so old, but...life is beautiful, peeps. :)

More, soon! Until then...

OVER AND OUT.