Farewell Vinery Lane!

I knew the day would come…when we’d have to move from the neighborhood that we have loved so much for the past 8 ½ years, but I never imagined how emotional that day would really be.  Vinery Lane has been very good to us and it will always have a special place in my heart.

 When we moved to Smyrna back in 2006, we never imagined the amazing life we would have. If you would have told me all the fun we would have, all the amazing friends we would make and the kids we would bring home from the hospital to that house, I wouldn’t have believed you. Because when we bought our house, we literally thought we’d be there 3 years tops. But then the market crashed and so we made ourselves comfortable and called it home for much longer than we anticipated.

Us being ‘stuck’ on Vinery Lane has been a blessing in disguise. It’s funny how things work out how they are supposed to. It has been an amazing 8 years and most of that is due to the great friendships we made on Vinery Lane. To live amongst your best friends is fun…very, very fun. One blog post can’t even capture all of the crazy, wild times we have had with our friends on our street. The wine nights, the NYE parties, the Christmas parties, Easter parties, the ‘cocktails on the driveway’ nights, the gameday parties, the Oscar viewing parties, the Derby parties, the dinner parties…we definitely had our fair share of parties! But we also traveled together, had babies together and shared special moments together. And this goes without saying, but we laughed together…a lot.

And as we paint over the door frame where we have tracked our kid’s growth over the past 5 years, I think about all of the memories and friendships that have been made on Vinery Lane and it brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. My heart is full, and happy, and thankful for the friendships we built on Vinery Lane.  I will miss walking home after a late night party, but I look forward to more laughs, more parties and a lot more wine with the Vinery Lane crew in the years to come!

I love you all. Thanks for being amazing friends and my family here in Atlanta. 

Happy 60th Birthday!

Today is my mom's 60th birthday!

She is officially 'old'. She officially can fully claim that 'grandma' title. And I officially love every part of her 60 year old self more today than I probably have in my whole life. Being a mother makes you appreciate your own mom and all of her sacrifices so much more, and these past 5 years I have loved my mom and appreciated her more than ever. I am super happy and thankful I get to wish her a Happy Birthday today, even if it is her 60th!!!

We actually celebrated my mom early. At the end of September, me and my sisters as well as my mom's 7 brothers and sisters (and most of the spouses) all surprised my mom with a weekend of fun in Orlando. My aunts Eileen and Cindy got all of us rooms at the Reunion Resort out by Disney and we celebrated the weekend away! My mom had no idea so it was a great surprise weekend!

On Thursday night, we did the big 'surprise' at her house. She came in from a day of running errands about 6pm and we all filled her kitchen. She was shocked and in tears. The night was perfect with lots of catching up, laughs and love.  On Friday, since my mom doesn't drink and hates theme parks, we took her to the obvious place, Epcot for the Food and Wine festival.  Sounds right up her alley, right?  But it was a great day, with lots of wine and cocktails and again, full of laughs.  It really was the perfect day and we all had an absolute blast. And on Saturday, we just hung out at the pool at the resort.  It was so relaxing and so fun. It was perfect.

It was so special to have all of my aunts and uncles down in Orlando too.  I think the last time we were all together was at a wedding quite a few years ago.  With everyone having their own families, experiencing different medical issues, and living in different states, it isn't easy to always pull together busy adults for a whole weekend of fun. But we managed to make it happen and I am so thankful that everyone made the weekend a priority for my mom.

Here's a few pictures of the weekend.

And here is the video of the actual surprise...

I absolutely love my family and thank God every day for blessing me with an amazing mom and dad, a wonderful husband, three happy kids, super fun sisters, the cutest nieces and nephew, the best cousins, and aunts and uncles that love me as their own. Sometimes I don't even think the word 'fun' adequately describes our family, but we are exactly that and so much more.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I hope you enjoyed your birthday weekend as much as I did. I love you. And I still can't believe you are SIXTY!!!  :-)

Kahn's in Kindergarten!

It was a very exciting day around the Peterson house today.  Kahn started Kindergarten at Christ the King Catholic School! And he loved his first day!

I just love this boy so much.  I still can't believe we have a kindergartener.  Time flies!

But he looked beyond cute in his little uniform, even with the AWFUL all white shoes!  (I mean, who choose the all white tennis shoes?!?  Even the fanciest brands don't look nice in all white!  Just dreadful.  But I'm sure he'll dirty those up in no time and they will be a lovely brown in a few weeks. I digress...)

Kahn was really excited about school.  He absolutely loves school and was so excited to finally go back.  I guess his excitement about school was what kept the tears away for me.  I was so happy for him to start the new year and so proud of the little boy that he has become.  He truly is a sweetheart and I can only hope him being so sweet and loving continues as he gets older.  

Here's a few pictures from his first day.  Luckily he has quite few friends going to CKS too so there were definitely some familiar faces.  He met lots of new friends too. 

You all know I'm not quite the Pinterest mom and can never quite get my life in order so there were no super cute signs to start this school year, but I did manage to take a video capturing some fun facts about Kahn at the start of his kindergarten year.  This will have to replace the "First Day of Kindergarten" sign that I should have pulled together.  

All in all, he had a great (and exhausting) first day!  We are all looking forward to Day #2 and a very fun and successful kindergarten year!

Tiny Dancer

Olivia had her first ballet recital this weekend.  And I cried through the whole thing.

I'm not really sure why I cried and even though I am a cryer, the tears rolling down my face kind of caught me by surprise.  I guess I cried because it was the cutest damn performance I had ever seen.  Or maybe because she is only 3 and danced up there on that big stage in front of hundreds of people like it was no big deal.  Or maybe it was because I know how hard she practiced and how excited she was to show us what she had been learning.  Or maybe it was because I had only been to one of her classes to watch her over the year and I felt bad for missing out on something she was so proud of. Or  maybe it was just because she is my baby and I was so proud of her and I love her so much and I felt like my heart was just exploding as she danced across that stage.  Maybe it was all of those reasons that brought the tears, but watever the reason, it was really one of the most special performances and something I will remember forever.

Here's some pictures of our tiny dancer.  She was just perfect up there on that stage.  She really is the cutest ballerina we had ever seen and clearly has much more talent than both of her parents combined.  We couldn't be more proud of her and her adorable performance.

 

And the video of her at the dress rehearsal.  She is on the far right.

I am sure there are going to be many more performances and events in her life that are going to bring me to tears, but I will always remember this special day and her first real performance and how I was so overcome with emotions.

Olivia, I love you more than life itself.  I couldn't be more proud of you.  I hope you dance your way through life and continue to do what makes you smile. 

Love, Mom   

Muffins for Moms

Every week prior to Mother's Day, the kids' school celebrates by inviting all of the moms to Muffins for Moms.  It really is the sweetest thing ever.

This year, Kahn, being 5, was so much more into it than previous years, and so excited for me to come into his class and to show me what he had made me and even to serve me breakfast.  The night before he was so excited telling me all about it and how special it was going to be.  Apparently it was going to be sooooo special that he asked me to wear a dress and earrings.  Huh?  I'm not sure what that was all about, but apparently my yoga pants and flip flops were not going to cut it for this celebration.  So of course, I wore a dress, earrings and even heels!

But my favorite part by far is the paintings they do of me and the fun questions they answer about me.  Here's Olivia's picture of me...

I'm pretty sure she nailed the mud puddle brown hair I was cursed with.  Thankfully, she didn't give me roots which I am currently rockin'.

And according to Liv, I am 50.

Here's Kahn's picture of me...

It looks like he may have tried to give me a few highlights.  Thanks, Kahn, for helping me out!  Thankfully, he was a bit more accurate with my age!

But, I love a child's mind and how they think and what they say and how they appreciate the simplest things we do with them.  Like how Liv's favorite thing to do with me is play toys and Kahn's is to lay on the couch with me.  It's just a reminder for me to enjoy the simple things in life with the kids and those moments that don't seem so super special at the time, but obviously mean the world to the kids.  We don't need to be over-the-top with what we do with the kids and always on the go because it is the little things that they obviously love the most.  All they care about is us, as parents, just being with them.  Thanks for that reminder, Kahn and Olivia! I'll be happy to kick up my feet and lay on the couch with you any day! :-)

I am so thankful to be a mom and I am so blessed with the three amazing kids that have been given to me.  

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!  Enjoy your day with your kids, even if it is simple and spent laying on the couch with your little ones.

Camping with the Kids

We decided to take the kids camping at the lake this weekend with some of our best friends.  And it was a blast!

We have taken the kids camping before, but we stayed in a camper and it was only for a night, so this was their first time 'tent' camping.  They LOVED the tent and honestly were pretty good sleepers for sleeping on the ground, outside.  It probably helped that I brought their sound machine with us.  I mean, nothing like enjoying nature by blocking out its sounds while trying to sleep, right?  But hey, they slept and that's all that matters!

We camped right on the lake so it was great just relaxing at our campsite and enjoying the view and sun, going out on the boat (which little Kahn LOVED) and the kids loved playing in the water.  We definitely had beautiful weather, but the water was absolutely freezing and the temperature was only in the 70s.  I have no clue how the kids were able to get in that water, but they did over and over and over again.  They would get out and shiver like crazy, blue lips and all, and then they'd want to be right back in.  They are definitely ready for the pools here in Atlanta to open soon.  

And in the evenings, the kids loved roasting marshmallows and cuddling up together to watch a movie until they fell asleep.  And I'm sure it goes without saying, but the adults enjoyed lots of laughs, lots of great food and totally unhealthy snacks, and lots of cocktails late into the night which for me, is one of my favorite parts of camping.   

But the weekend was full of lots of smiles, lots of kids (9 of them!) running around enjoying being outside, and lots of sun!  We definitely made some great memories this weekend with some great friends that I hope the kids will always remember.  Even after all the unpacking and 10 loads of laundry I have done today after we returned home, I can't wait to do it again.  

Chattanooga Adventures

A few weeks back we took the kids to Chattanooga for the weekend.  If you live in Atlanta and have never taken your kids to Chattanooga, you are really missing out!  Chattanooga is only about 120 miles north of Atlanta and it is just awesome.  We take the kids every year for a weekend and it's always fun.  The Riverfront area is great; everything is in walking distance which is a great change of pace for us from Atlanta. 

There is so much to do in Chattanooga.  The aquarium is supposed to be one of the best attractions there although, sadly, that is the one thing we have not done yet. Maybe on our next trip up, possibly this fall? But this trip we went on one of those DUCK tours, you know one of the boat/truck things that goes in the water and drives on the road.  I found a great deal on Living Social and we decided to give it a try.  And they loved it!  They even let the kids drive the boat which they loved.  

We also walked across the Walnut Street bridge to Coolridge Park, rode the carousel, had cupcakes, played at Riverfront Park and visited the Children's museum.  BTW...if you haven't been, the Chattanooga Children's Museum puts the Atlanta one to shame.  The kids always love it!  

We were even able to visit our favorite family-friendly restaurants there, Lupi's pizza and Taco Mamacita.  Both have great food and Taco Mamacita has awesome margaritas.  A few margaritas at lunch always make a day better! 

And then on Sunday, we went to Rock City.  I wasn't sure what to think about this, but it was actually pretty cool and the kids LOVED it.  They love any adventure, but they especially love caves and bridges and waterfalls and climbing so this was a lot of fun for them.  I highly recommend it!

 

So, visit Chattanooga sometime...it's a great weekend getaway with the kids!  Happy Travels!