PRO Fall Festival

My first PTO Fall Festival at the kids elementary school!   

 I was in charge of the cotton candy...hence the blue gloves

The life flight helicopter came out to the school.  Coco, Cameron and I were not prepared for how emotional that would make us.  We saw where Jim would have been laying when he was taken to the hospital just weeks before.  There are only two helicopters in the area so this very well could have been the one that Jim was taken in.  It was small and cramped, but the medics told us where his head would have been and that he would have been cradling the head and talking to Jim throughout the entire flight.  That brought some comfort.  It was good to see, but hard to see at the same time.  It is just still so unreal.

As an official Co Chair of CES, I was proud of this event and excited to be a part of it.  Yay for PTO moms!

Gentleman of the Road Tour 2013

Gentleman of the Road Tour 2013

St Augustine, Florida

For our Anniversary and Birthdays this year, we decided to go with some friends to Florida to see the beach and some amazing bands...without kids!  We have only done this 3 times since having children, so it was a treat.  We went for 6 days with our good friends, Jeremy and Lisa Anderson.  It was fantastic and such a needed break from reality, especially after the recent passing of Jim.  Cameron needed something to take his mind off of life, and music was just the ticket!

Cameron in his element:

The set:

 Mumford and Sons (my favorite band at the moment):

This prego takes breaks between sets...sorry peeps.  I was HOT and TIRED!

The festival was great but we were severely disappointed to find out that the band FUN cancelled last minute.  They were the main reason Cameron wanted to go in the first place, but luckily they were able to get John Fogarty from Creedence Clearwater to come play with the band in the opening set.  It was memorable especially hearing and singing some of Jim's old favorites.  It got us both pretty emotional :)

 THE BEACH:

This was the highlight for me considering it had been a while since my toes last touched sand.  The water was warm, the beaches were empty, and the weather was beautiful.  We slept in, went to the beach, slept some more, read, swam, went to the pool, then ate tacos.  It was the perfect break without kids, and in preparation for the new baby.

St Augustine is the oldest city in the US.  It was a beautiful town with some fun history:

Dolphins:

Zoo Atlanta

We took a trip to the Atlanta Zoo when the weather cooled down. They just opened a fun little splash pad for the kids, and the kids LOVE it.  It will be so great for summers.

I love how well my kids play together. They are best friends...they will even tell you that when you ask them. Dylan says Sydney is his best friend, Macey says Sydney is her best friend, and Sydney will always say both Dyan and Macey. It is so sweet. They truly love and care about each other, and tey play so well together...for the most part :)

 The Train.  

Super Lion

 Sydney was awarded “Super Lion” for the first 8 weeks of school! Each class picks a Super Lion and a Learning Lion every two months. Sydney was the first to be picked in her class!! I was so proud. She was acknowledged at the PTO meeting and got to shake the Principle's had (along with getting a bag of goodies).  She has been doing so well this year and has amazed us all with her reading and socialization. She still is super shy, but she has adjusted well and continues to make strides in her learning and development.

Grandpas Favorites

We all helped Grandma clear out her closet of Grandpas things. It was so bittersweet as we all shared memories about certain items as they tried them on, tossed out, or given away. The kids had a lot of fun, as did the adults :)

  The fishing hat was one that everybody was sad over.  Dylan talks about it a lot as that was the hat that grandpa always wore when he was driving the boat and/or jumping in the lake

 How many Mounts does it take to move a closet shelf?

Gmama had some yard work as well for these strong boys:

JD and DJ

Dylan has really struggled with the death of his Grandpa.  They were very close.  Its always hard to know how someone is struggling and grieving, but with kids it is 10 times harder!  Dylan's grades dropped dramatically (he started getting 20's on his spelling tests down from his average of 90's and 100's. He also started having massive behavior issues at school and was missing recess almost daily.  It was incredibly sad and hard to help him with.  Recently however he has been doing really well and getting his act back together.  He sees a therapist weekly and we take him to grandpas grave as often as we can.  He likes to go there and "feel close" to grandpa.  

Here are a few of Dylan's quotes from this last month.  He is so sweet:

These were from the first week or so after Jim's death:

"I want to get a gun and shoot grandpa so that he will wake up"

When down at the lake one early morning with grandma, Dylan said to her, "I want to take the lake to Grandpa", "I want to catch a fish and put it in this bucket and take it to Grandpa so he can see it at the hospital"

While saying a prayer tonight he prays for Grandpa to be "happy in heaven" and when he puts his hands in to say family he said, "I wanna put my other hand in for Grandpa so that we don't ever forget hes in our family"

"When I am at school, I just stop what I am doing and put my pencil down, because I just can't stop thinking about Grandpa".  "In PE I sometimes start running as fast as I can because I am so mad at the lady that hit grandpa, and all I can do is run and yell because I am just so mad"

These have been in the last few weeks:

At the grave sight the first time after the burial, Dylan layed down next to Grandpa and said, "I don't really ever want to leave here, I want to build a house underground so that I can just be close to Grandpa".  "I know he is just bones, but I want to be close to him".


When asked if he still thinks about Grandpa at school a lot, he said, "yes, I think of all the good things we used to do together."  Like what?  "Like when he took me fishing, and jumped in the lake with his hat all the time, took me tubing, and made stuff with me, and played basketball with me..."

"Mommy, in class my teacher said that nobody is perfect, but I think Grandpa was perfect".




Dylan was asked to write a poem about someone in his QUEST class:

James Dee Mount

Loveing, content, thrilled

Who loves his Grandkids, his kids, and Jesus

Who feels happy, nice, good

Who needs friends, Grandkids, wife

Who gives happiness, love

Who fears not being able to care for others

Who would like to see his kids and Grandkids

That says it all doesn't it?  He truly loved and admired his Grandpa Jim.