transition on the horizon and busy times

Its been busy latetly, but not so busy that I do not want to document some serious parental and individual milestones for Jackson!!!  This past month we made some parental and personal milestones for Jackson.  We paid our first year of Catholic school tuition (one of many) to begin the foundation of his Catholic School education which we firmly feel is the right choice for him and for our family.  In the fall he will attend the ONE AND ONLY Catholic school in our community.  Since our blog is not public I will refrain from naming it.  Coupled with making that first epic tuition payment this past month (parental milestone of sorts), he and I shared a special end of the afternoon yesterday when I picked him up a bit early from pre-school yesterday to go to the "uniform" store to purchase his uniforms for next year.  When I attended Kindergarden we did not wear a uniform but at his school here he is required to dress in full uniform.  He is sleeping now and the uniforms are in his room but I will snap a photo of the stack of items we purchased soon and add them to this post for our blog documentation purposes:)  His uniform consists of blue dress shorts, a belt (even kindergarden boys are required to wear a belt..this should be interesting considering he can barely navigate a button) and tuck in a shirt.  He wears a yellow polo shirt with his school crest sewn on it.  On mass days (Tuesdays) the boys must wear long navy pants.  He also has a little gym uniform!!  So for now becuase I am accounting for growth and we do laundry regularly I bought 4 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and one pair of pants and two belts (you know we need an extra because for sure one will get lost).  Next up I need to get him a back pack!!  We recently picked up his supply list.  I cut our Ohio trip a WEE BIT close in that we are returning to Florida on  the Friday morning the weekend before he starts school the following Monday so I have to have my act fully together well in advance.  Sheesh...it's already nearly the 4th of july...a month or so after that we will be heading to Ohio and then school...ahhh.  His day will start earlier than he is used to...school starts promptly at 8, he must be there by 7:50 and gets out at 2:30...I got the school calendar and THANK GOD I have a nanny because there seem to be a ton of noon dismissals, teacher work days, etc etc etc etc.....I do not know how i could have ever done this whole deal with my old job!!!  Everything happens for a reason, that is FOR SURE. 

June 2013 family photo shoot

Last week we had family photos taken to mark Jackson turning 5 and Sarabeth turning 2.  At this stage, this takes GREAT EFFORT, and it is HOT here...the beach is an ideal back drop for photos but I am telling you it is hot, sandy, gritty, and sweaty and windy...amazingly the photos DO NOT show the hot mess that we were after it all was over with!!!  It is always a lot of effort and because photographers are so busy this time of year with weddings these are always taken on say a Monday night so the effort is unbelievable in the heat of the moment but the results are worth it!  The colors are beautiful and I think my paralegal Laura put it best when she said they looked like magazine ad photos some of the candid shots.......those are my favorites.  Sarabeth is fully of 2 year old wiggles these days so was extra hard to photograph but our photographer who has been photographing our family since Jack was 3 months old rolled with it and got some good ones!!!  Enjoy seeing how our family has grown, I can't even believe how big they look here!!!

Take some time to relive the special memories from the Peshke Family 2013 website. Your favorite photos can be easily ordered with your credit card in a highly secure purchasing environment. Please save this e-mail to quickly access this website, as it contains your unique event information. Please visit http://www.enjoyphotos.com, and fill in the following information: Username: Peshke Family 2013 Password: 21893

surfer boy!!!

We had another relatively slow weekend before we embark on a week long vacation to the Florida keys next weekend!  We spent most of this weekend relaxing at home after a busy week and gathering up items we will need for our vacation.  Jon had to work Saturday ( he has to work one Saturday a month) so the kids and I got things in order for the trip at home Saturday and Jackson also had his first surfing lesson with one of the life guards from our club, Campbell.  Jackson became buddies with Campbell last summer and was happy to see him back again this summer.  Campbell offered to do some surfing lessons so we took him up on it. The lesson was just about an hour around 9:30 on Saturday morning before it got too hot.  Sarabeth and I played in the sand and surf from the sidelines while Jack took his lesson.  The waves were perfect and it was just a tad over cast so the lighting was perfect!! 

came across an old photo

Jon and I were doing something the other day and came across an old photo of me and it stopped us clear in our tracks as it is like looking at nearly a mirror image of Sarabeth now!!  You be the judge!!  My mom can probably gage this better, but I think it is probably August or So of 1982 so that would mean I am probably about 2 and a half or so and Courtney is 7 months or so???  We are on a slide at my grandma's old house!

Happy Father's Day!!

We have had another slow weekend around here..summer is settling in and I am loving it.  The heat and hot summer sun is here, I don't love that as it is just downright HOT by mid day and we could not survive these months without our pool, it is life essential in Florida if you live here year long, I am telling you.  In just a week's time, with the days getting increasingly longer and more strong sun on the pool with higher temps, the pool temp has gone up about 10 degrees already, it is in the mid 90's...felt like bath water yesterday and it is only June!  Jack has learned to dive properly and now dives to the deep end of the pool to retrieve things like dive sticks, dive rings, etc. (got to keep him busy) and said yesterday "I found the cool water, but it's at the bottom of the pool"...he's right about that....only the deep end and the water way down deep is cold any more!!!

Yesterday despite the heat Jon and I cleaned out the garage (again) we seem to have to do this like ever 6 months. We put up more shelves and paired down more stuff and once again the garage looks like it belongs in a magazine...for now.  Somehow after a few months it is a hot mess again, oh well!  At least we stay on top of the chaos.  By the time we were finished we had a large trash pile (always makes me feel good to see junk go) I had a large consignment pile, a pile to go to storage, and we were both drenched in sweat it was just so hot.  We of course jumped in the pool to cool off only to find the pool was not so cool after all, oh well.

Last night we went out to a fundraiser for Youth Guidance, a local non for profit for children from single parent homes.  I am on their board and we attended their annual Luau fundraiser.  It was a nice night for a very good cause. 

Today we are enjoying a lazy slow morning, Jon is watching some golf, and fiddling which his new Timex Tide, Temp and Time watch!  He LOVES watches and Sunglasses...and gadgets of any kind and he really did need a new everyday watch that was water proof etc. so I found this cool one on Amazon and surprised him with it.  Who wouldn't want to know when it is high tide...right??!!  This watch has that feature lol!!  He also got a special Little Critter book called "Me and My Dad" from Jack and SB and some home-made cards and he and Jack went to 7-11 this AM via the golf cart (at Jack's request) for donuts (gross, I know) but Jack loves it as a special treat once in a while.  We may go boating this afternoon with some friends and their families to cap off the weekend.

We are starting to prepare for our upcoming week in the Florida Keys which is two weeks away.  We booked this vacation way back during Christmas vacation so it seems crazy that it is finally upon us!  I've gathered up a bin of art supplies and fun quiet indoor activities for the time when we need some things to do out of the scorching sun, and I've also started to make a list of the things we will want to bring with us for our week in this home away from home we have rented with two other families.  I've also done some internet research for the area to see what fun things we might want to do while there.  So far we've heard good things about local snorkeling for the older kids and adults, lots of boating activities and island hopping, swimming of course (thankfully we rented a house with a pool) and there is a nice nearby beach, and also a dolphin research center and aquarium that would be a fun activity for a hot afternoon or rainy time.  We will also do a day trip to Key West which is only about 45 minutes from where we will be.  Mostly I am looking forward to some R and R, and maybe a nap or two, and maybe just maybe I can read a bit from my Kindle that I got for Mothe'rs day!!  Finally my work is starting to slow down a bit.  Summer is here and I am taking advantage of having more time off  while I can get it as January-May were totally crazy resulting in me working many many 6 day weeks...heres to summer time fun and less working hours for a little while, we all need the break!!!

new baby in our household!!!!

GOTCHA...no, I am NOT pregnant....but we DO have a new little 10 week old baby...kitten...in our family!  I was NOT completely thrilled about the addition of little "Ariel" to our family because in true Jon fashion...HE DID NOT CONSULT me but thought otherwise, that it was a good idea to bring a 9 week kitten home on the eve of the mother of all birthday parties but SHE IS SO CUTE and really is not any work and has assimilated into our household no problem so thank heaven God made kittens so cute because I said we could keep her.  It all started when Jon took the dogs to the vet to be boarded last week Thursday for the birthday party weekend.  There was no way I could have 63 people at my house and set up for a party and serve food with two dogs running around so away they went.  Next thing I know Jon ran into a litter of kittens at the vet and decided it was a good idea to adopt one...........here she is!  I video-taped the introduction of Ariel when Jack and SB first saw her.  I will try to upload it as it is PRECIOUS and at that moment I knew regardless, I had to accept the kitten so I did:)  After the escape and loss of Nicco I swore no more cats but I guess we will try again!

At first Jack wanted to name her "Nicco" but we explained that we already had a "Nicco" and besides, that was a boy name and THIS kitty is a girl so we needed a girl name.  We've been very much into Disney and the Little Mermaid of late so without missing a beat he and Sarabeth agreed on "Ariel".  Jon said after the fact to me that he was not so sure about the name but I told him affirmatively, they named her Ariel so if we have her 15 years from now still...we will ALWAYS remember with a smile on our faces just how little and sweet they were when they named our kitten Ariel.

Here she is...she has a squeak of a meow and the softest grey hair and sweetest grey eyes:)  She rules the house and puts the dogs in their place already and I forgot how much I love having a cat!

"Celebrate Together"

This past weekend we had a birthday blowout double birthday party at our house for Jackson and Sarabeth's 5th and 2nd birthdays.  I did a head count at one point and there were 63 people at our house!  Good thing we have a large lot and had great weather and lot of outdoor entertainment.  I am organized and planned a lot in advance but I am not going to lie...this party took all I had and all that Jon had and THANK GOODNESS we had auntie Megan on hand for a long weekend to help out as an extra set of hands, eyes and ears!!!  Thank you for working so hard with us this past weekend Megan, I hope you had some fun and got some sun too:)  We will see her again in a month for a week in the Florida Keys for vacation so we will make it up to you then!!!

Here are some pictures from the party.  I did a monster truck theme for Jackson since that is what he wanted, and Minnie Mouse for Sarabeth since that is what she wanted and it really worked out.  We had a swim party and it was hot and sunny, we had a tent and tables and chairs for shade for the luncheon, and we had a blow up bounce house with a slide on one side of the yard and a giant blow up water slide on the other side of the yard...Jon was in charge of the "outdoor" entertainment:)

We did a sweet treats candy station inside the house and I think this was the hit of the day (we watched it and have lots leftover so no one got totally over loaded).  We had special layer birthday cakes in rainbow colors special ordered from a lady that bakes in her own home and her husband hand delivered the cakes the morning of the party..YUM!!  All in all it was a busy weekend but a very fun weekend and I know Jack and SB had a great party and a great special day!  The best part was after Jon and I had set up outside and set the plates and favors, etc. and all of the tent decorations up and Jackson came outside and saw it all...the look on his face was worth it all, he was so impressed and so excited that the party had come together and everything was set up.  He said "wow mom, I can't believe this is me and Sissy's party, it looks so nice, thankyou, I love you"!!!  Worth all the work right there.