The new bridge

Itty Bitty Kiddie Festival

My work hosts an annual family resource fair. The big event was yesterday and boy was it great. Shawn came and volunteered, too. He manned the pizza and drinks table, which was a good fit for him. It was that or dress up in one of the Pig mascot outfits and shake kids' hands all day! Just kidding, honey, I wouldn't make you do that!
I can't think of another event that compares to it, and I'm proud that my executive director at the Smart Start office demands that the event happen each year! It's a big expense but well worth it. Everyone, I mean everyone, like 1000 people, get free Dominoe's pizza and a drink. There's free sno-cones, free crafts for the kids, several magic shows, storytellers, and a balloon man. All for free. Canned food item at the gate actually. Oh, and three of those blow-up bounce house things.
What's neat is that the community is fairly small so I ended up recognizing many of the children and that made it easier to approach the parents about our free preschool program. This sort of thing happened many times, "Oh, there's Nicky, she's in Miss Meredith's class. I think she has a little brother. I'll go talk to the parents." Or "I know that child's in Katie's class, so she's taken care of." Meeting new families was great, but it was neat to realize that I already knew many families and knew whether or not their children were age-eligible for our program. It was a great day. Plus, I get the day off tomorrow because of it! Woohoo!

Nancy's Memorial

It's Sunday evening, and Shawn and I just got back from South Carolina. We picked up Shawn's brother Kevin at the Charlotte airport on Friday and headed down. It was an emotional, moving, and fun weekend. On Saturday, about 50 people came to celebrate the life of Nancy Bottomley, John's sister. She passed away from breast cancer. All three of Nancy's sons and her husband David were there. "The Bottomley Boys" as they are affectionately named. They are a blast. Warm, open, and jolly people. David is English, and the boys have lived in England the U.S. One of the sons still lives in London and came over just for this event! I only met Nancy twice but I feel like I know her from hearing stories about her all weekend and getting to know her sons and husband. Wee hours of the morning were filled with laughter, let me tell you! Notice the keg of beer and lots of red plastic cups....hmmm

Greensboro Gassshoppers!

We had a blast at our first Grasshoppers game of the season. Our friends Joel, Marla, Jarrod, Gwen and J&G's kids were in attendance. We were partly celebrating Will's fourth birthday, and guess what? He caught a foul ball! Well, his grandpa caught it for him and of course Will got it in the end.

It's been a while...

Whoa! It's been a while...Life has been great although nothing overly exciting going on. Spring has sprung and we are so excited. Our forsythias are in bloom in the backyard, Grasshoppers baseball tickets have been purchased, good friends abound, and weekends soon will be filled with PROJECTS! We are hoping to put a deck on the back of the house this summer, so we've bought a deck building book. Hmm, we'll see how that goes. :-)

Shawn is really enjoying his new job, which is a big relief. It makes this home a happier place!
As for me, I've got my hands in a couple things outside of work that are satisfying-I volunteer as a Lunch Buddy for a school near my job-I'm assigned to an awesome 4th grade girl. After our very first visit together, she made me a homemade card that said "You're my favorite buddy!" How sweet! If I can, I will continue being her friend through the end of fifth grade...then the program ends, but I hope I can keep in touch with her. She is soo smart and "with it" and I would love to see her go on to college after high school; I'd love to be an influence on her about college. It's a small isolated community where almost noone goes on to a university. But for HER, it's not too early to get her thinking about the possibility! Children are so mold-able! I can't think of a better word right now! Example: She excitedly told me that it was ice cream day, and she was getting her quarters out to buy some. She asked me if I wanted some ice cream and I told her no thanks, that I don't eat sweets. She looked at me funny and didn't say anything. About 10 minutes later when it was time to buy her ice cream, she said, " I don't think I'll get ice cream today." I can tell that my words and actions are watched closely with her! Also, I'm still taking care of the babies in the Nursery at my friend's church once a month. I get my "baby fix" that way! (which is a MUST!) Shawn and I hope to have our own little bundle(s) sooner than later, but not just yet. :-)

I'm also reading a great book called The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children. It will definitely be a guide book for me when Shawn and I raise our own. A friend of mine's women's group at church just finished reading it...a Christian church...that's nice that they were not turned off by the fact that it's Jewish teachings...as far as I'm concerned, they're just Great teachings!

Jobby Job

Hooray! Shawn officially starts his job as a Project Manager with Allen Industries this Monday, the 25th! Congrats, babe!