Monthly Archives: September 2014

Family Movie Night

Every weekend we have “movie night”.  Movie night consists of a movie, popcorn and sometimes a pizza.  I typically don’t get too excited about movie night because it is usually a kid movie that I have seen a couple of times already or it just isn’t a very good movie.  Some movies we have seen lately are Rango, Superman 2, and Nut Job.  Last month I introduced the kids to Disney’s “Escape to Witch Mountain”.  I remember loving this movie as a child.  It is about two kids that are really aliens and they are trying to get home.  The movie definitely doesn’t have the special effects of today’s movies, but the kids loved it.  They watched it over and over again.

Tonight we watched our family’s favorite TV show – Survivor!  The kids love to watch the show because of the games and challenges.  Tom and I have been watching Survivor together for years now.  It is nice to be able to watch a TV show together as a family and have everyone enjoy it (and by “everyone”, I mean me).   We all sat together on the couch, ate popcorn, and watched the show.  The kids watched the entire thing, even Miller.  I look forward to spending this time with the kids each week.  Faith sat in my lap while Wilson snuggled in next to me.  It was fun to be together, sharing the same interest, and talking about the show as it was going on.  I was even able to snap a family selfie….

IMG_2954.JPG

Highlights and Lowlights

I haven’t written a blog post in almost two weeks. There are many reasons why, but most of it is due to lack of energy and inspiration. Things are going well in the Dressler household, but nothing earth-shattering. I decided that I would give you the highlights and lowlights of the last two weeks. Some highs went with a low and vise verse. Here they are in no particular order….

Lowlight: On August 29 Tom was told that they no longer needed him at work. It was the last Friday of the month and he was done there for good. I told him that I wasn’t going to freak right away – I would wait two weeks.

Highlight: He was offered a comparable job exactly two weeks later. Hallelujah!!

Lowlight: Wilson’s stomach hurt last Thursday so I kept him out for preschool for a few hours. He said he felt better so I sent him to school after 11 o’clock, only for him to throw up in my car at 3:00pm. I had to quickly pull off the road right outside of faiths school after I picked her up. I am sure most if her school saw wilson throwing up in the side of the road while I cleaned up the car.

Highlight: I really enjoyed spending the morning with him before he got sick. We had a lot of fun. I realized how much I missed having our time together.

Lowlight: I began teaching preschool again three mornings a week. Life got much busier.

Highlight: I get to spend eleven hours a week with my friend and co-worker, Yolanda, laughing and talking. Best job ever!!

Lowlight: Because of Toms new job, he is in Cambridge, MA for the week. This leaves me with the kids and taxi duty for the week.

Highlight: I have really enjoyed spending time with the kids. It has reminded me of the days when we spent all of our time together. However, I couldn’t have done with without my assistants: mom and dad. Tom being gone means that I also get to so some of my favorite things: projects!!! This week I am scraping the ceiling in Faiths room while I prepare to put in the new flooring this weekend. In our house, new floors = new ceiling. It is a lot of work but worth the final result.

Every day, week and month has it highs and lows. I am so thankful that I can see the lows and yet still rejoice in the highs. God is good!

Cordele, GA

A few weeks ago my mom told me that she and my dad were going to drive down to Cordele, GA to visit her dad and step mom, Grandpa and Marylene (Muv).  She also mentioned that Marylene wished that Faith could go down there with them.  I don’t mind Faith missing school in order to visit her great-grandparents so I said that Faith could go with them.  As the weeks passed, I realized that I wanted to go too.  After my Grandma Madeline died in May, I have realized that time is precious and that I need to  see my grandparents as much as I can.   In fact, my mom was making the trip down to see Grandpa because it was his 85th birthday.

The seven of us left Charlotte on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Cordele seven hours later.  Of course, I made my parents find a Chick-fil-A on the way down so that the kids could run around and play.  We arrived after dinner on Thursday and left to drive back to Charlotte on Saturday morning.  It was a very quick trip, but totally worth it.

I think that Muv was the most excited to have us visit.  She and Faith were inseparable for most of the time.  At one point I looked around for Faith and found her trying on Muv’s clip on earrings…..

IMG_2901.JPG

 

The boys decided that they wanted to get in on the action.  Notice Miller’s large, colorful earring….

IMG_2903.JPG

Then it was time for the much anticipated painting lesson with Muv.  She had already set everything up when we arrived in town.  Faith had been looking forward to this part for days…

IMG_2905.JPG

Oddly enough, Wilson and Faith loved the hammock the best.  My dad and I swung them so high on it that they almost fell out.  They enjoyed it so much that my parents are considering getting a hammock…

IMG_2893.JPG

Here is Grandpa’s birthday dinner: Mom, dad, Wilson, Miller, Grandpa, Uncle Jimmy and Marylene/Muv, and Faith…

IMG_2908.JPG

Miller was so sweet to Grandpa, and vise versa.  Miller wanted Grandpa to hold him and he kept complimenting him on his shirt (not sure where Miller learned to say, “I like your shirt”.)

IMG_2912.JPG

Grandpa and Muv thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  Muv called Grandpa into the room when Faith did flips onto the bed because she thought it was cute and showed talent.  Grandpa laughed when Miller was announced and introduced into the room by Wilson to do a “naked baby” dance.   They let the kids jump on the bed, run through the house and play with some old canes that were in a large basket in the hall.   I have the best grandparents in the world!  I am so blessed to have grown up with four sets of grandparents that have loved me throughout my life and love my children just as much.  Going down to Georgia with the kids was a great decision and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my parents.  It takes a village.

The seven hour drive was quite long with the three kids, but it was worth the effort.  I hope that I remember how much we all enjoyed it and do it again next year. As we pulled out of the drive way, Wilson started to cry and say that he didn’t want to leave.  I asked him why and he said (between tears), “Because I love the hammock….and the pink lemonade…and the pizza restaurant….”

IMG_2909.JPG

Trip to Alan’s

Towards the end of Lisa’s birthday bash, Faith came up to me and asked if she could go home to Greensboro with Anna and Caroline.  I asked her if Kendra, their mom and my cousin, invited her and she said, “No, but Caroline did.”  Caroline is four years old.  Tom and I discussed it for a minute and decided that if she wanted to go to Greensboro for the night we would let her and we would drive the two hours the next day to go and get her.  I spoke to Kendra about it and she said that it was fine.  Tom even suggested that I go with Faith so that I could relax a bit at Alan’s as well.  (He knows that I love going to my Uncle Alan’s house as it is a bit of an oasis for me.)  Alan agreed to let me tag along as well and off we went for the night.

We didn’t arrive at Alan’s house until late that night.  I went to bed and sent Faith across the “compound” to Kendra’s house for her sleep over with the girls.  I slept through the night without anyone crawling into my bed and waking me up.  It was divine!  Eventually the girls did come into my room around 8:30am and told me that they wanted to play barbies, which were in my room.  Kendra followed them up and hung out with me in bed for a long time.  Sabrina, Stephen’s girlfriend, came up to hang out as well.  We finally meandered downstairs for coffee and pancakes, a Saturday morning ritual.

So many things happen on “the compound” that don’t happen in the ordinary life of others.  “The compound”, which I have written about before, is over 100 acres of pasture, two small lakes, a swimming pool, and five houses – two of which Alan and Kendra live in.  Because some of the houses are over 100 yards apart, Kendra has a golf cart that she uses to get from one house to the next.  Anna, her 7 year old, is very proficient at driving the golf car and has been for years.  It should seem strange that I let a seven-year-old drive my daughter back and forth from house to house, but it didn’t.  Anna drove the girls back and forth all morning.  I even took a picture of her driving me to the pool.  My chauffeur …..

IMG_2874.JPGIMG_2875.JPG

We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, eating and lounging around.  Tom drove over with Wilson and Miller after church so that they could play too.

IMG_2876.JPG

The cousins and others….

IMG_2877.JPG

Uncle Alan and Aunt Betty:  the hosts with the mosts!!

IMG_2879.JPG

Aunt Lisa’s Surprise Party

My Aunt Lisa is turning fifty this month (although you would never guess that she was over 40). She has been telling everyone that she knows that she did not want a party. All of the parties that she has been going to lately consist of a party and then an hour of toasts to the birthday girl that result in heartfelt tears. Lisa didn’t want to cry nor have everyone say all these wonderful things about her at her party. My Uncle Brian’s response to her not wanting a party was, “Well, if she didn’t want a party then she married the wrong guy”. He threw her a surprise party anyway.

She was lured to my parents house on false pretenses only to be surprised by fifty of her closest friends and relatives. She was truly surprised! As per her request, there were no sappy speeches that made her cry…only lots of food, cake and laughter. Although she did wear a tacky pink hat that said, “Old Loser”. It was a trade off that she was willing to make.

Here are a few pictures of Lisa with her family. We laughed that she must be getting old if she is getting pictures taken with little people as if she were the matriarch of the family.

IMG_2363.JPG

IMG_2366.JPG

IMG_2365.JPG

Labor Day Parade

We were told that the town of Matthews had the largest Labor Day parade in the southeast.  Who knew?  This was especially surprising since Matthews itself is such a small town.  We decided that we needed to check it out….everybody loves a good parade.  I packed up the car with the kids, and Tom’s dad, and we drove the three miles to the parade site.  (Matthews is right next door).  :)  I don’t even know if I have to say this anymore or if it is just assumed by now, but the Youngs went to the parade with us also.  As luck would have it, we sat right in front of the announcers booth for the parade.  The first group in the parade was a high school band and then the Matthews School of Dance.  The dance school did a routine of their own, and then they played two songs for the crowd to join in.  Sidney jumped right up and took the kids out onto the street to dance.  The kids loved it!!  As you can see, the four kid are in sync with each other, but not the crowd.  They were dancing to the “to the right, to the right, to right…” song.  I have no idea what the name of it is.  It is basically another version of the electric slide.

IMG_2821.JPG

Wilson got to sit on Grandpa’s shoulders for a while….and wear his hat.

IMG_2819.JPG

Ella and her dad Erik also joined us at the parade.  Here is Miller, Faith, Ella and Wilson….

 

 

 

IMG_2817.JPG

 

The kids loved the parade because of the music, the princesses, and the mass amounts of candy that they consumed.  I think we will definitely do this again next year.