Video from concert

Check out the video from the NKOTBBSB concert. Towards the end, I am taping Ashley and you can see her getting in to the song and all of the sudden she has to plug her nose because of the stinky girl next to her. Read my post about the concert and it will explain.

You got the right stuff...

Listen up everybody if you wanna take a chance....cuz Ashley & I did the New Kids dance!

Back in July, my sister and I went to the NKOTBBSB concert. That stands for New Kids On The Block/Backstreet Boys for those of you who are out of the loop ;)

I'm just going to throw this out there and say that we were their biggest fans! The last New Kids concert we went to was when I was a senior in high school and she was in college. So that was way back in 1994. And this was when they weren't nearly as popular as they were in the 80's. I believe this was our 4th show. Jordan was/is Ashley's favorite and Donnie was/is my favorite (I've always had a thing for bad boys)!

So this summer, Aaron (Ashley's husband) asked me if I wanted to go to the concert. He wanted to do something nice for Ash and he knew she would love this. Truth is, she and I had talked about wanting to go so bad but we didn't know if we had the extra money. I was, in no way, going to sit in the nose bleed section. If I was going to see New Kids, I was going to SEE them. This may be their last concert that I see and I wanted to make it special. We decided to buy some of the more expensive tickets. We didn't tell Ashley we were going until a couple of weeks before. I couldn't hold it in any longer and asked Aaron if it was okay if we told her. Her reaction was priceless and we were stoked!!

The night came and we drove to Indianapolis, ate dinner and went to the coliseum. We knew we had 10th row but we had no idea how close we were! It was awesome. You could see them crystal clear. We're pretty sure that they gave us a "how you doin'" smile and wave a few times. We were right next to the catwalk where they spent a lot of time. Unfortunately, the security wouldn't let us stand by it.

I was never a huge fan of Backstreet Boys. That was past my era. But, they were great! And at one point they all went off stage and picked a girl out of the audience. Lo and behold, they picked the chick who was sitting behind me. Nick Carter came down to get her. I was screaming, "Who is it? Who is it?" because I'm short and there were a few people in my way. Ashley screamed, "It's Nick Carter!". And then I saw him...like 8 feet from me. And he looked like a normal human being? I guess I thought celebrities looked different :)

The only unfortunate part of the night (besides them not pulling Ash & I backstage) was that the girl next to Ash had the foulest smelling B.O. EVER! It was bad. You would think that with the thousands and thousands of people there and all the odor's, this wouldn't stand out so much. IT DID. I kept getting big whiffs of it but I think if I was directly next to her, I wouldn't have made it through the night. (Side note: Check out my video posted on the next blog entry. I couldn't get it to post on this one for some reason. Towards the end you see Ashley singing and enjoying the song and then she suddenly plugs her nose because of the smell. It was so funny!)

It was a super fun night and I'm glad I got to spend it with my sister. We started our New Kids journey together and I wouldn't have wanted to go with anyone else but her.

This was before we left.

This is a picture from the first New Kids concert we went to. It was at a Six Flags park. This was when they were starting to get big. We stood in line for about 5 hours. I had to circle us because your eyes can't seem to get past the girl who is screaming with the Harry Potter glasses on.

There is the stage from our seats. I didn't realize you could take real cameras in. I so would have brought mine. Unfortunately I just got some pics of my camera phone.
Me...."Look how close we are!"

Ash by the catwalk

Check out this guy! He was hysterical. He had on a bright pink New Kids shirt that was way too short. He had on thong underwear over his pants and he was with his wife. If I ever get to go to another one of their concerts, Nate WILL be going with me and he will be wearing some sort of get up. You wouldn't believe the attention this guy got. Plus, at one point, Danny (from NK) grabbed Jonathan's (from NK) arm and pointed to this guy and they were loving it! So Nate, I will be your pimp that night and you will work it!

Me with the guy and his wife.

At the end of the concert!

Kindergarten Update

Well...I think my kids have lost a couple of pounds this week because they are not eating. I'm not sure if it is nerves or what. All I know is that it makes me nervous and I think they are too skinny. I can't begin to tell you how much food I've thrown away. I've made pancakes, toast and cinnamon rolls this week for breakfast and no one hardly ate. Isabel ate almost one cinnamon roll. Jasper ate about 2 bites and told me he didn't like them. So I got him a pop tart and he took one bite and said he didn't like it. Jonah didn't touch his toast. Jasper and Jonah both gagged when we had pancakes.

This morning I had donuts because I knew they would eat those. Wrong! Isabel did pretty good and ate half of her long john donut. Jonah and Jasper both took about 2 bites. I pack their lunch daily because my kids are crazy picky (thanks to Nate and I...God is paying me back, I just know it!) They eat their chips and yogurt and that is it.

Today I waited in the car line to pick them up. As I got a little closer I noticed the aide walking the kids towards me instead of waiting for me to get to the front of the line. At first I thought, "Cool! Am I getting triplet privileges?" Wrong again. I rolled down my window and immediately all three began talking at once. It sounded like this, "Isabel puked! I got sick! My lunch bag has puke all down it! I laid my head down. She got it on her shoes! It's on my shorts!" And so on and so on.

Finally Mrs. Maloyed (the teacher's aide) says, "Isabel just got sick before we walked out. She vomited everywhere. Jonah's lunch bag is covered and we left it laying on the floor inside the school." So, I pulled in to a parking space and we got out and went inside. The janitor had a mop and bucket and was cleaning the hallway. This girl really did puke! And there was Jonah's lunch bag. She was right...it was covered in puke. The janitor was super nice and picked it up with her gloved hands. She took and hosed it down in the sink and put it in a plastic bag. Jasper's teacher took her and washed her flip flops. Isabel's teacher (my preacher's wife) said she had laid her head down on her desk about 2:40. Mrs. K asked her if she was okay & she said, "Yes."

When we got back to the van I said, " Sissy? Do you not feel well? Does your belly hurt?" She said, "No. I'm not sick. I miss you and I don't want to be at kindergarten now."

Welp...talk about breaking my heart! My poor baby wants me. I tried to reassure her that I will always be here and I will always pick them up when school is over. I texted Mrs. K and told her what she had said. She promised me it does get better. I hope.

It happened...they started Kindergarten

Today was the big day! The kids started kindergarten. And I, well I was filled with mixed emotions. People expected me to be hanging from the rafters, to be out celebrating. But honestly, I've been a hot mess dealing with all of this. I struggled all through the last half of preschool with the decision of sending them half day or full day. Ultimately, we chose full day. And I finally feel good about that choice. Is it easy? No. But I think it's what's best for them. For two years they went to preschool, everyday from 8 am - 10:30. That is how long half day Kindergarten is. I felt like they wouldn't be advancing since they were already use to going 2 1/2 hours.

We stopped naps after the first day of summer. They did fine. Really the biggest adjustment for that was....me. I was use to having that 2 hours during the day to relax and sometimes, nap. But honestly we got use to it quickly. We quickly had a routine going. And the summer turned out to be pretty good.

Our lives have changed now. This is the biggest thing that has happened since they were born. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad. Sure, my family thinks, "What!?" They are the ones who get to hear when I'm struggling, screaming, cussing, crying, etc. But isn't that what family is for? :) Absolutely there was a time or 10 when I cussed. And sure, there was a time or 20 when I cried because I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to have 5 minutes to poop alone. But I think (hope) that is normal. I still love my kids to the moon and back. Nate & I fought so hard to have these 3 babies and for them to be healthy and for them to stay on this earth with us.

It hurts to think that this is it for us. Our babies are no longer babies. They are now at the beginning of their 12 years of school. It seems weird without them here with me during the day. I worried today thinking, "Will someone help them open their lunch? Will the teacher's hear them if they are hurt? Will they remember to go pee on their own? Will they make friends easily? Will they miss each other since they are separated?" I realize that this will be never ending.

I know we all will adjust. I can't tell you how excited they were to go today. That made me smile and made it a tad bit easier. Of course I still cried. But knowing that they couldn't wait to get to school made it a little less chaotic. And I know I will enjoy my peace and quiet at times, but I will ALWAYS miss them madly!

Jonah in his class

Trying to find his name

Jasper walking in to his class

When I walked out, I peeked back in and Jasper had put his head on his table. Sniff, sniff

Isabel making her entrance. Check out the boy giving her a looksy!

She looks a little nervous here (luckily, our preacher's wife is her teacher. Yay me...it sure takes a load off)

Hanging her things

And this is after school. Luckily, Nate took the day off so he could help me take them. They came home and crashed on the couch.

Memories with friends

I had forgotten I had these photos until now. Back in June we went exploring in the back of our friends, Brian & Courtenay's house. We walked through the open fields and the kids found where a creek starts. Brian and Nate have been best friends since Junior high. And Brian and Courtenay were high school sweethearts and have 3 amazing boys. So, I met them both when Nate and I started dating. And what fun we have had with them! You couldn't ask for more loyal, caring and loving friends. Our kids love going to their house and playing with the boys.

Abe

This is Isabel's pee mark. She had to go soooo bad and there was no bathroom near. Courtenay and I got the pleasure of showing Isabel how to squat and pee. Sheesh! She had on a jumper that day so we had to take the entire thing off. Luckily the boys were exploring the creek and it was just us girls. Here's a funny...about a week later, Jonah came in the house and said, "Isabel is peeing on the driveway." I ran outside and she had just pulled up her panties and was walking holding her shorts. I said, "What are you doing, sis?" She said, "Peeing. I had to go." I said, "Why didn't you come inside?" Her response, "I pee'd outside at Brian and Courtenay's!" I had to explain to her that girls usually only pee outside when it is an emergency and that she couldn't just drop her pants and pee wherever she liked. I'm sure my neighborhood got a kick out of Isabel squatting on our driveway.

Footprints of animals

The boys exploring

Isabel tried to trek through the trees/brush, etc. and this is what happened...

Whoa...losing balance

And she's down

Abe saved the day! How cute are these two? Maybe a future match?

And daddy helped out...

Simon found some bones...

and gave Abe some.

I love this picture! Two best friends with 2 of their boys.

The tea set

About 4 1/2 years ago, Nate's mamaw Cummings bought Isabel her first tea set. Yes, she was still an infant but I'm so glad she got it. She passed away unexpectedly while the kids were still babies. They never got to know her but she was a fantastic woman! She was deeply loved by her entire family & I'm grateful I got to know her pretty well.


A few weeks ago, Isabel asked if she could play with the tea set. It had been sitting at the top of the boys' closet and she finally asked me one day if she could have it. At first I wondered if I should let her play with it or keep it set back. I'm not one that is good at keeping things in boxes. And, I figured Nate's mamaw would want Isabel to play with it. I told the kids that daddy's mamaw got Izzy the tea set. I'm not sure they understand, but one day they will.

And the boys love playing with it as well.

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