Family Vacation

There's so much to write about our trip to NC, I hardly know where to begin! After a great airplane ride there (2, actually) we hung out at Stacy and Kevin's for the first night. The kids had a ball swinging on Viv's swing set. Eddie and Staci got there that night and we had a big party! The kids all got presents, and we gave mom her surprise for the weekend: A weekend trip to a beach house on Bald Head Island!

We drove to the island the next day for a beautiful, relaxing weekend! It was Sammy and Will's first time to see the ocean and play on the beach. They loved playing in the sand, but weren't too crazy about swimming in the ocean! It was so good to be all together! The kids had so much fun playing with Uncle Eddie and Aunt Staci! Viv, Sam, and Will were, of course the center of everyone's attention. Tooling around the island every day on golf carts, hanging out on the beach, cooking great dinners every night, and laughing a ton made for a perfect weekend! When we asked Will what his favorite part of our trip was, he said it was riding on 2 airplanes! It was definitely tough to come back to the real world. I think mom had a good 50th birthday! I attached a bunch of pictures below. I just couldn't narrow it down to 1 or 2.
(And, no Sam and Viv aren't drinking and toasting with wine! It's lemonade, I swear! But they thought they were too cool!)

Day after vacation

As I thought about what to write on this post I thought it might be comical to give you a glimpse of my day post-vacation:
6:30 Sam wakes up. Ryan brings her in to (hopefully) sleep with me some more.
6:32 Will wakes up, walks in, lays down on the other side of me to (hopefully) sleep some more.
6:35 Both kids awake and ready to watch cartoons and take a bath. Choice time starts for the day!
6:40 In the bath, with the choice being made to bathe first before cartoons.
7:00 Cartoons!
7:20 Breakfast time! What? No food? No milk? "Ok, kids, would you like ice water or tap water? Bread or toast?"
8:00 take Will to school, pray the hearing/vision screening goes well
8:30 Go to store to buy food for children
9:30 Get home, unload groceries. Sam is happily playing in the car. (Door open, keys out) I'm elated that I actually get to unload car and put groceries away all at once!
9:40 go out to car to get Sam who has managed to quietly write with a pen all over driver's side door! Quick thinking: don't get mad, at least you got groceries put away!
9:42 Clean driver's side door with minimal success
9:45-10:45 Do as many loads of laundry as humanly possible in an hour
11:00 Leave to pick up Will. *Give Sam gum
11:15 arrive to pick up Will. Sam has fallen asleep with chewed gum in hand. (I think "At least it's not in her mouth where she can choke!")
11:25 Will out of school. Did his hearing test wearing headphones with NO opposition. Did small cartwheel in the parking lot! (Not really)
11:45 arrive home, unload from car, Sam wakes up, I wonder where gum has gone, but don't worry too much
12:00 begin lunch
12:10 Sam comes to me kinda whiny pulling at her neck. I immediately think she's been bitten by deadly poisonus spider so I put her on the counter, look at her neck, and spot a large, green, sticky, blob. Oh, there's the gum! Lovely! There's no point trying. I grab scissors, trim the gum from her hair, and continue making mac and cheese.
1:30 naps
1:45 Check master's classes information, and discover that I have 4 assignments and one test due yesterday! Quickly skim chapter, pray that I can pass the test, do 2 of 4 assignments, 2 loads of laundry, unpack suitcases, clean up lunch, pray the kids sleep until 5:00 so I can keep going!

4:00 Sam up
4:30 Will up
Not too bad!
5:00 more laundry, vacuum, dinner
7:30 bed time
7:45 Ryan home to say good night (after fun meeting)
8:00 Decide to check e-mail and blog instead of finishing 2 past-due assignments

Man, I love vacation, but coming home afterwards is quite an adjustment! Oh well, it was so worth it!!! The vacation pics are soon to come!

Back in the swing!

Just to update you a bit on the Petzold family, we're back in the swing of things to say the least! Now that Will and I are back to school, it's early to bed, early to rise. That is still a tough transition! I am so lucky to be able to work part time this year as a special education teacher. The kids are eternally happy every day because they get to go to Grandma's when I work. So far, so good!

Will is an experienced, 4 year old preschool student now, and he's loving it! He gets to go to school 4 days a week which means Sammy gets to be an only child for a half day. The transition has been fantastic!

Last update!! We celebrated Mom's 50th birthday on Friday with all of her brothers and sisters and parents! We gave her a little surprise, but a fun night to celebrate! The celebration isn't over though! We're headed to North Carolina this weekend (actually Thursday) to really celebrate with Stacy, Kevin, Viv, Eddie and Staci! It was so hard not to wish away the days of the summer so this vacation would come, but now we're going!

Mom, We're so blessed to have you for a mom, grandma, sister, wife, and daughter! Words could never express how grateful we are to you for all you do! Happy Birthday! We love you!

4

Will celebrated his 4th birthday today with lots of family and friends. It was so fun! He woke up at about 6:00 and was ready for his party to start! It was like torture to wait until 11:30. We loved watching the little kiddos zip down the water slide. Will only had one speed: turbo!

The Spiderman theme of his party continued with a lot of his gifts, and he loved them all! It is just so hard to believe that 4 years ago we were becoming parents! Little William Joseph wasn't just our first, but he was the first grandchild for both sets of grandparents and the first great grandchild for G&G Huggins. Now he's starting preschool on Monday! He is such an amazing, funny, active, busy, smart, sweet little boy. He makes us smile and laugh every day! He made us a "family", and we are so blessed every single day to love him!

Racing

Yesterday we walked in the "Race for the Cure". This is one walk I've always tried to do. There are many women in my life who have faught Breast Cancer, and this is a small way to honor them and their tremendous courage. When my Aunt Pam was in the middle of her fight I came across this poem by Maya Angelou and shared it with her. When I think of her, My Grandma Moore, and most recently, my friend Amylee Tyler, I think of this poem. I am so blessed to have so very many phenomenal women in my life.

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size But when I start to tell them They think I'm telling lies. I say It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips The stride of my steps The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me.
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please And to a man The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees Then they swarm around me A hive of honey bees. I say It's the fire in my eyes And the flash of my teeth The swing of my waist And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me.
Men themselves have wondered What they see in me They try so much But they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say It's in the arch of my back The sun of my smile The ride of my breasts The grace of my style. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me.
Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say It's in the click of my heels The bend of my hair The palm of my hand The need for my care. 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally

Phenomenal woman

That's me.

Marshmallows

Yesterday after Sammy's nap I brought her into my room where Will and I were hanging out. She was pretty cranky from just waking up. Suddenly Will just got up and said he was going in the bathroom. He said something about marshmallows on his way in there. When he came out, he was putting cotton balls into his ears. He said "I'm putting marshmallows in my ears because Sammy is being so loud!" I just cracked up. First because he looked so cute and called the cotton balls marshmallows, second because he was so clever to plug his ears when his sister was annoying him! As you can see, Sammy quickly got over it after seeing Will looking so funny. Then, of course, she wanted to eat real marshmallows since Will mentioned it. They enjoyed some marshmallows in mommy's bed after nap! So cute!











By the way, we so appreciated all of the responses to our "potty problem". I'm happy to report that we are back to diapers until Miss SammyLou decides she is ready! It is so not worth it until then!

To Potty or not to Potty?

That is definitely the question around our house this weekend! We're on attempt #3 of the summer with poor luck. Sammy can be a tiny bit stubborn sometimes, which leads to a rather high-pitched scream when she doesn't want to do something. Since I'm thinking of having to go back to work in a couple weeks I thought I'd give this potty training thing another whirl. We broke out the Hello Kitty panties, bribed her with lipstick and fingernail polish, and set out to have another diaperless child. Occasionally, she really goes, without first going in her pants. We celebrate with various beauty products (which she LOVES) and await the next celebration asking her 10 million times in the next 3 minutes if she needs to go. Then the next minute she has an accident and we start all over again. AHHH! I swear, whoever said boys were harder to potty train than girls was nuts! Will was a piece of cake!

So, do we throw in the towel, or in this case, the Hello Kitty Panties, or keep goin' to save loads of moola on diapers? Any advice is welcome!

Enjoy a few other pics of the kids while you ponder your response to our urgent dilemma!