First Day of School!

Today was the Big Day! RJ looked so adorable in his uniform and brand new white sneakers. We got up today around 6:30am and he had a bowl of grits for breakfast, then we went potty, washed hands and face, brushed teeth and go dressed. After we got dressed and combed his hair, we took his picture out front by the Japanese Maple tree.

We left the house about 7:15am and got to the school at about 7:30am, we parked across the street in the church parking lot and walked down to the crosswalk to cross. Then we followed the crowd into the courtyard and went into the building and into Mrs. Hutchins class. Both Mrs. Hutchins and Mrs. Esrael were waiting to greet him and he was the first child there.

At first I thought he was gonna be fine with me leaving, Mrs. Hutchins took him by the hand and walked him over to his seat, but then he decided that was too far away from Mommy
and came back over by the door to stand near me. I walked him around the room and showed him where the bathroom was. By this time the other kids were there and the Mommies were all leaving, but RJ was still hangin near me and saying he didn't want me to leave. When the school bell rang, RJ was staning behind his seat and had let go of my hand. Mrs. Hutchins was sitting down at the table with all the kids and Mrs. Esrael was helping me "escape", as I backed away she stepped in and guided RJ to his seat.

I went back to pick him up at 10am and he was all smiles and then I walked him over to the cafeteria where the After Care program will be (this is where RJ will go after class regularly). Tomorrow and Wednesday RJ does not have to be in the classroom so he will go to the After Care program in the cafeteria and he'll be able to play with the other kids.

On Thursday, I will take him back to the classroom where he will be for a half day and then he will go to the After Care. Friday will be his first full day of being in the classroom (7:50am - 3pm), then he will go to the After Care.

Typical of my child, he's very non-talkative about his day (other than that he had a good time), I did manage to get out of him that they played on the playground, had storytime, and colored for a while. He also brought home a little teddy bear that they gave to everyone in the class.

After we left the school, we went to the pet store and got two fish, we bought a tank on Friday and had it set up and running just waiting for fish. We got the fish comfy in their new home and fed them, then had our own lunch. After lunch, we watched a little TV and now RJ is napping with Daddy (who has to go to work at midnight tonight so he is sleeping till mid-afternoon).

Ok enough for now, I'm gonna try and be productive while he is napping.

RJ in the pool!

RJ in the swimming pool!

Swimming Lessons!

RJ started swimming lessons this week and he is doing very well, however I think he is more interested in flirting with Kaylie. Monday, Kaylie and RJ started out talking and on Tuesday they progressed to kisses on the cheek, then as the week progressed, the hand-holding started. :-) He has one more week of swim lessons, and then we'll have to break his little heart cause he won't see Kaylie again -- lol!

Today RJ and I are going to Brandon Ripberger's birthday party in a little bit, then we are meeting friends up at the church where the kids will stay in the nursery and the adults are going to dinner and to see Pride and Prejudice at Theater Memphis.

Then tomorrow we are just home after church (at least at this point).

First Day Back at work!

Well the worst is over - the first day back wasn't so bad today!! I worked from home last Friday afternoon and went through all mine and my boss' email which was a good thing cause today was much easier getting back into the swing of things. This afternoon I set up the lobby of Bldg. 60 for our pancake breakfast in the morning -- my boss (Steve) does these twice a year, once a Christmas and once in the summer in both his offices (Colorado Springs and Memphis). The team really seems to appreciate them.

After work, I picked up RJ and took him to his first swim lesson. His instructor said he did really well. RJ was so proud of the fact that he went under the water all by himself.

He will go back for swimming lessons for the next two weeks (Mon - Thursday) and will then get a report card and a little bag of goodies.

More later....

Lazy Day!

Today is a bit of a lazy day at home, Daddy is working midnights right now so he is in bed sleeping. RJ and slept in a little bit and then got up and had breakfast and watched Cailou. At the moment he is playing independently with his trucks. Tonight after Daddy gets up we are going to a members party at the zoo with the Schwegman's and the Ripberger's and their kids.

It promises to be lots of fun, the kiddie rides are free and they have a sea lion show at 7pm. Plus the kids will get to swim in the Nile (the river at the zoo), which they love to do.

More later....

Back home again!

It's good to be home! After I took RJ to daycare this morning, I spent the day re-organizing my kitchen and getting stuff done around the house. Andy got up around one o'clock this afternoon (he's going into work at midnight tonight) and we had lunch together and continued to work around the house. Around three o'clock Andy went to pick up RJ so he could play with my neighbors nephew, Anthony. RJ and Anthony played outside for most of the afternoon and when it started raining, they played inside my neighbors house.

We had dinner together and now RJ is asleep, at the moment Andy and I are watching a taped episode of the Deal No Deal finale, then it's finally time to unpack the suitcases.

After I drop RJ at daycare tomorrow, I'm headed to the grocery store.

Buffalo, NY

It's been a few days since I wrote as we've been very busy since our arrival in Buffalo last Thursday, July 3! We got to Elaine's house about 3pm and after unloading the car and resting for a short bit, we headed off to the train station to pick up Nancy and Doug. Then we picked up Bocce's pizza (Andy's favorite) and brought it back to Elaine's -- after dinner, we got RJ settled in bed and headed to Duff's for wings. Elaine and Rick and Rose came with us and Daniel and Angelina stayed home to keep an eye on RJ! Andy's high school friends, Bill and Kathy joined us at Duff's and we had a great time.

We officially "closed down a bar in Buffalo" - ok so Duff's closed at midnight, we still were the last to leave! :-) (Most Buffalo bars close at 4am!) We got home and chatted for a hour or so and then we all headed to bed.

Friday morning once everyone was up and moving, Nancy and I headed to the store to get some shopping done for the weekend while Elaine met Rose at BJ's since Rose doesn't have a BJ's card. We went over to Rose's house that afternoon and Angelina and RJ went swimming all afternoon except for when they were eating. RJ did really well in the pool, especially considering that he hasn't had swimming lessons yet.

We watched the fireworks from the end of Rose's street and then I raided Rose's photographs of Nick for a project I wanted to do for his graduation party on Saturday.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed to A.C. Moore (Big Craft store), to buy some poster boards and some other miscellaneous items. When I got home, everyone was up so we had breakfast and then I started working on Nick's blanket, once that was finished, I got all the photograph's (mine, Elaine's, and Rose's) and put together two collages of Nick through the years! Everyone loved the collages and I was pleased that they turned out so well.

Everyone went in the pool once we got to Rose, and after a few hours RJ was swimming around the pool by himself, as opposed to sitting on the steps or being carried around the pool. RJ had both arm floaties and an inner tube on him at first and then after a bit took the inner tube off and swam with just his arm floaties on. He got out of the pool when he took the arm floaties off!

Saturday night when we got back to Elaine's house, we stayed up till 2am and played 80's Trivial Pursuit, which was great fun!

On Sunday we spent the day relaxing around the house and at about 5pm we headed for the Casino's. We drove there with Elaine and Rick and they stayed for a little while and then left to head home. Doug and Nancy who had spent the day at Niagra Falls met us at the casino and drove us home. A good time was had by all!

On Monday, we drove down to Rochester, NY to visit my friend Kathleen for a few hours. Kathy grew up two houses down from me in my hometown and we had a very nice day. Angelina came with us which was great cause she played very well with Kathy's oldest daughter, Caitlin who is almost 7; RJ played with Kathy's son, Conner who is 5. Joey is the youngest at 1 and he was up for lunch, but then went back down for a nap.

We got home from Rochester around 5pm and had dinner and then went to Friendly's for dessert -- after that we just hung out at the house till bedtime. Doug and Nancy had spent the day doing some geneology research as Doug had family in Buffalo at one time and then they headed to the airport as their flight for home left at about 5:30pm.

Today we are headed home to Memphis, Andy is sleeping at the moment and RJ is downstairs with Angelina. I've got to pack (my favorite thing) and then we are headed to pick up Aunt Nancy and her son Josh for lunch and after that we will hit the road. I booked us a hotel in Wilmington, OH which is about 6 - 7 hours away.

Ok - enough procrastinating on my part, I have to go and pack now!

Cleveland, OH - end of a long day

We had a nice time at the zoo today, the weather was great. We did lots of walking up and down hills and saw just about all the animals that there were to see. After the zoo we came back to the hotel and of course RJ feel asleep in the car.

Once we got back to the hotel, we ordered subs and pizza to be delivered to the hotel room. My niece, Angelina helped give RJ a bath and then after dinner he went down to sleep (at least I think he's asleep). As I type this, Andy is in the next room trying to get him to sleep.

In the morning, we are checking out of the hotel and leaving for Buffalo.

I'll upload photos to the blog from today later tonight.

Cleveland, OH

We made it to Cleveland last night at about 7pm EST on Tuesday, 7/1. RJ and Daddy took a nap in the car from 3 - 4pm which was good. When we arrived at the hotel, we parked the car and had to wind our way through the downtown Cleveland construction to get to the front door, but we made it. We got checked in and our room is right next door to Aunt Elaine's rooms (she has one for her son and her boyfriend, and one for her and her daughter) which are connected.

We walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and it was very delicious, however RJ was really tired and didn't do so well. So after we paid the bill, while everyone was wandering and looking at all the stuff on the walls, I sent Andy on ahead to the hotel to start getting RJ settled. About 10 minutes later the rest of us had made just about made it to the hotel and Andy called to say they were lost! They actually weren't too far from the hotel, and so we were able to give them directions (or rather, Elaine was). The kids and I went back to the car to get the rest of our suitcases and then I went into their rooms while Andy put RJ down to bed, which ended up being a trial and a half. I could hear through the walls, and ended up coming over once to help out and then finally at 10:45 came and took over. RJ was just so overtired that he was beyond reasoning. At any rate, he ended up falling asleep around 11pm EST and slept till 8am which was great.

The guys are already dressed and so I need to get off of here and get myself dressed as well so we can get moving for the day. After breakfast, we are headed for the zoo.

Summer Vacation 2008

I'm tying this from our hotel room in White House, TN. We got on the road late yesterday around 7pm and arrived at the hotel around 11pm. Our built in alarm clock woke us up at 6:30am and Dad and I got showers. At the moment Dad and RJ went downstairs for breakfast and I'm going to join them as soon as I finish this note.

The hotel is nice, but it has a very sheer shade and therefore it let's in a lot of sunlight which might be why our little one couldn't sleep much.

After breakfast we are going to pack up the room and check out. We are headed for Cleveland, OH - about 8 hours away. We are hoping that we don't hit much traffic on our way and that we'll be able to join Elaine and the kids for dinner this evening.

I'm just hoping that the shades in the next hotel are a bit thicker so we can sleep in just a little bit, and that RJ get's a good nap in the car today.

Well I"m off to breakfast and will right more later.

What's happening with the Sniezak's!

I thought I'd try something different and write about what's happening at the Sniezak's. RJ finished T-ball on Monday, June 16 and got his trophy (pictures to follow), he is so proud of his trophy he even took it to Show and Tell at Daycare (Ms. Jackie's). We are getting ready to go on vacation next week. We leave on Monday, June 30 and will head to Buffalo with a stopover in Cleveland where we will meet up with Aunt Elaine and the kids. Then on to Buffalo to help celebrate at Nick's graduation party -- my how time flies. I can still picture a little boy in a green jumper crawlin across the dance floor at my wedding and now he's driving and graduating! Boy do I feel old!

After we get back from Buffalo, RJ will start swimming lessons for a couple of weeks and then in mid-August we start Jr. Kindergarten at St. Francis Elementary. I know RJ is ready for "Big Boy" school, but I'm not really sure I am - alas, time marches on (as I said above) and before I know it RJ will be the one graduating from high school.

That's all for now -- will write more later.

T-ball

RJ started playing T-ball this year -- here he is in his Orange t-shirt. Isn't he just the cutest!

He does pretty well hitting the ball -- he likes to run the bases and especially likes to run home!!

He has games up at the church on Monday and Friday nights and two of his friends, Gabe and Matthew are on his team which he really likes.