Silly Bands at 3 years old?

It's been a while and I've found new inspiration to blog again (at least at this moment) because I started this blog hoping to document Kyle's childhood and he's going to be 4 in August - I should probably get on it. And I know Mammy enjoys it too :) For the 1st time I was at the mercy of the retail gods searching for "silly bands" And they don't sell them at Target?! WHAT, I can't find it at Target - it must not exist! Someday I just know I will be duped into getting a Target CC becuase I'll answer yes without listening and before you know it I'll owe thousands to them. Got off track, sorry. No, I have to search gas stations and Trucchi's markets to find the latest and greatest "it" toy which is in danger of being banned from schools. Silly bands. Kyle is officially sporting 35 of them and I know this becuase he takes them off, lays them out and counts them 35 times a day. I won't know what the lower half of his left arm looks like for some time I'm sure and if he gets kicked out of pre-school for trading them its over. But, I'll admit I'm kinda into it. I was accused of such when my eyes lit up while hopping into the 4th store yesterday in search of them and I dug through the bin asking things like "is there a limit to how many pkgs I can buy?" and " Are they all animals or do they Oh look fruit one! " Yup - I'm that Mom. Felt a little bit of pride even when Kyle walked into school this AM and showed off that his Mom found silly bands. I'm kinda cool like that and get what the kids are into! LOL

Breast Cancer 3Day- Get something for Giving something

Dear Friends and Family,

I have decided to join the thousands of people walking the Susan G Komen Walk for a Cure 3DAY in Boston this year being held on July 23rd - 25th. I am blessed and thankful to say that I have not been touched personally by this terrible disease, but do have friends and family who have been and I walk for them. I am walking simply because I can. I am thankful that I can and I feel its important for me to walk for those who cannot, to support those who are in the middle of battle and for those who may face this one day.

I realize that there are many very important causes that need funds and this time of year a number of you will be asked for your donations in support of those causes which is why I am doing something a little bit different to raise the funds to support my walk. As many of you know I have made a rather successful mini-career out of photography and someday hope to expand into business. In an effort to raise funds for my walk and add to my photography experience I am offering a 1 hour photo shoot and in lieu of the $75 sitting fee I ask that you make a donation of your choice to the Susan G Komen 3Day Walk for a Cure. http://www.the3day.org/goto/ericajeanie

I will meet you somewhere outdoors or come to your house, spend 1 hour taking as many photos as I can and e-mail all of them to you as yours to keep. There is no copyright attached to them and you can do with them as you please. It's rather easy these days to upload them to many free sites i.e. Kodak and order as many or as little as you prefer in a variety of sizes. This is a way to help an important cause while getting a keepsake that you will have for years to come.

If this is of interest to you, please contact me at ericajeanie@yahoo.com to set up an appt. I have a variety of times and dates available and as the days are getting longer we have more sunlight to work with. Also, if you've donated already I thank you very much and send this to you asking that you pass this along to anyone who you think may be interested.

And of course, if you'd like to make a donation "just because" please do so at http://www.the3day.org/goto/ericajeanie

I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Erica Grady

So long, GiGi - (interesting timing too)

you were a good fish! GiGi almost lasted a year, Papa and Deeda got Kyle GiGi last year on Mother's Day and she's been a good fish! I was surprised actually that in a house with 2 hunting cats she lasted as long as she did and who would have thought her own plastic plant would be the culprit! *Note to self and fish owners alike, the plastic plants are a no no too daffy. GiGi got trapped under her plant and couldn't get out and as we know unless a fish can swim its gills don't work properly and therefore, meets its demise. I am actually sad to lose our fish but was VERY nervous about telling Ky and actually considered not telling him hoping he wouldn't notice her bowl missing. Especially since the conversation we had the other day.....

Matt and I were confronted with a tough question coming from a very smart 3 year old who wouldn't let us get away with simple answers to the question "how do people die, mama"? I was literally tripping over my words as Matt entered the room to help me double team the situation. I was asking him why he wanted to know wondering if he was referring to something he saw on TV or an animal dying and trying to figure out just how detailed my answer needed to be but he wasn't giving me anything to work with. He's been asking about death a lot lately but this is the 1st time he outright asked the question. It was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be trying to be honest without scaring him. I was at a total loss and failing miserably"well, uhh, errr, sometimes..., ugh" Matt jumped in and said "sometimes people have bad accidents and die but we don't want you to worry about that at all because we all still have a lot of living to do" Good answer Daddy! Feeewf. (list of potential accidents now includes getting trapped under the plastic plant you once swam around) He seemed to be satisfied with Daddy's answer and quickly moved on to asking us how he could be on the show America's Funniest H0me Videos.

Bubble Popping with Papa Billy Bob

I am so thankful for the amazing relationships that Kyle has with each of his grandparents and that each of them is a constant positive influence in his daily life. This video is a small example of the fun he and Papa Billy Bob have together :)