long distance supper club

Last night our long-standing supper club group loaded up in the Sequoia and drove to Tupelo for dinner. We met our friend Mary who has moved (many times) and has now landed in Cleveland, Ohio. She is in the south for her annual summer trip to her parents' home in Columbus, MS and we were able to met her half way for dinner. It was a great time catching up and spending the evening together and the food was yummy as well. It made for a super late night but nothing we moms can't handle!! Here's to good times, good food and great friends!

the girls at park heights restaurant
mary and me

Anna lost her first tooth!!

We have been working with a loose tooth FOREVER it seems in the Zyriek house. Anna finally let me pull it tonight and with one simple tug, it came out. I have never seen such joy and excitement on Anna's face. She was dancing around and smiling at herself in the mirror. Of course, Caroline was already in the bathtub and Anna was about to get in, so during this peak of joy in her life she was naked. I made her put back on her shirt to snap a few pictures. She keeps telling us that she is special and can't wait for the tooth fairy to come tonight. She promptly called her best friend Mckayla who told her at church tonight "you better not have that tooth tomorrow at camp" as well as all the grandparents. Gary's mom is in Las Vegas at a conference but we located her hotel room voicemail and Anna left a message. Gary and I are relieved as this has been a focus for us for quite some time and Anna was determined to have that tooth out before first grade starts in a few weeks. Yay for Anna!!!

anna smiling after losing her first tooth

another picture right after her shower, hence the wet hair. she's still excited and proud!!

anna at 6:15 this morning with her $5 treasure from the tooth fairy....more $$ for the first tooth. i think i got a quarter or 50 cents!!!

The Mom Song

If you are a mom, or even if you are not, I think you will enjoy the video. I laughed outloud and realized how many of those things I have said to my perfectly behaved angels, Anna and Caroline!

Enjoy!

I finished!!!

Today, I came out of retirement to run my first 5k in a LONG time. I have been running for the past 6 weeks or so and thought scheduling a few 5k's would be good motivation. It has been the HOTTEST 6 weeks in Memphis in my mind for June/early July. Nevertheless, I was determined to finish without embarrassing myself. I ran the Hope 5k this morning and managed to finish a little bit over 31 minutes, which was not too bad. I would love to get faster, but I will take a finish at this point. Gary brought the girls out to watch the race. Anna has primarily watched bike races in her life so hopefully I can get some cheers from her for my running. I am definitely motivated to keep running a do a few more races. Maybe this brutal heat will subside?? I fear August!!

my cheering section

i finished!!

vickie, lisa and danna from deloitte

Today's science lesson: the toilet

Caroline woke up this morning with all of her "favorite things" in her bed beside her. Lately that includes Ra-Ra (#1 baby doll), Be-Be (#2 baby doll), a book that we did not get time to read the night before (because she wants to read 100 books each night), her monkey (that makes very whacko noises, thanks Gammy) and a small baby bottle that she uses to feed Be-Be. On Wednesdays at camp, Caroline's class has water day at 8:30, so to make things easy, the teachers ask that we send our 2 year olds to school with their suits on under their clothes and a swimmy diaper. To avoid filling the swim diaper immediately (which I don't think takes too much!!), I had Caroline use the potty when she woke up...not her favorite thing to do lately. She went and was all excited and all her favorite things were in the bathroom with her waiting on her. Right when she flushed the toilet, she decided to throw in the baby bottle that she feeds Be-Be with....well, so starts the science lesson of the day. Immediately, Caroline has a look of horror on her face and cries out "Where's Be-Be's bottle?". I knew it was gone. But to humor her I asked Gary...."Anything we can do?" to which he promptly replied "No...sorry". Caroline is now standing naked in the hall crying, no let me correct that, wailing for her baby bottle that has gone down the toilet. We try to calm her down which takes a while. In enters big sister. Anna hugs Caroline and said "One day when Mommy was walking Ally, I flushed my ring that Gammy gave me down the toilet and it was gone." I am now saying to myself "Is that where that ring ended up that we looked all over this house for?!" This seems to help Caroline a little bit but she is still sobbing. She slowly calms down but continues to ask every few minutes before leaving for school, "Where's Be-Be's bottle?" I told Gary that we should look on ebay for a replacement and what do you know...someone is selling 2 of them for $1.99 and the auction ends tomorrow. I will be promptly bidding and WINNING that auction tomorrow!! So goes the science lesson for the day. And to think, in school, I was a math whiz and hated science.

July 4th weekend

Top 10 things we enjoyed over the July 4th weekend:

1. Sleeping in (somewhat since the girls wake up at 6:30 no matter what!!)
2. Ice Age movie
3. Running/biking/walking (nice to have the time to get all of our workouts in!)
4. Swimming at the pool
5. Enjoying BBQ with extended family
6. Smiling and laughing at girls entertaining the family by jumping off the
diving board and going down the slide at my aunts' pool
7. Putt-Putt golf and go karts
8. Watching the girls play with new water guns and run through sprinklers
9. Cooking out with my parents before the fireworks
10. Germantown fireworks!!

We really had fun with our family this weekend. Too bad there are no more holidays until Labor Day....

american flag cookies fresh from the oven at cookie bouquet
the water gun wars begin
caroline enjoying the sprinklers
caroline making "turf angels" at putt putt while she waits her turn
the girls in their flag shirts posing before heading to fireworks
anna with her "everything" flavor sno-cone

the fireworks were great!!

Cheer Camp

Anna has been in Cheer Camp at Harding all week and today the campers showed off their skills. Anna and the other girls showed off two cheers they learned. Each girl received an award and a t-shirt that they were all sporting for us to see. Anna was given the "Best Jumper" award. She was super excited about it. Miss Jessica, a former Harding cheerleader, told Anna that she did a great job and really was a great cheerleader. Anna was beaming. Overall, a great week!

our "best jumper" showing off her skills
the happy camper
anna with miss jessica>

Patriotic Parade

An annual tradition at Harding during summer camp is the July 4th parade. All the kids from age 2 through entering 6th grade participate. They walk or ride in wagons, on tricycles or cozy coupes that are all decorated for the holiday. All the kids wear red, white and blue and it is a great time. The parade begins with a sheriff's escort (one of the early childhood teachers is married to the chief of police in Bartlett) and a banner expressing their love for the USA. Music is playing and overall it is super cute. The girls wore matching outfits and had a great time! Afterwards they all enjoy popsicles or "firebombs" which are red, white and blue bomb pops! Yay for July 4th!

the girls before camp
anna, mckayla and nia in the parade

caroline, brandon and ryan in the parade...caroline requested to "ride" rather than walk. such a princess!!