Magnolia Blossom's Blog

Proud FSU Alums {Sharing the Seminole Tradition}

magnoliablossom — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:57:41 +0000

FSU College of Law, Where Mike and I Attended

Our Family at the Entrance to THE Florida State University

Daddy's a Proud Seminole!

A Day at the Circus

magnoliablossom — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:36:03 +0000

When I think of the circus, I think of my Aunt Bertia Everly, my mom’s sister. She always took us and made a big fuss out of going. Her best friend, an African-American lady with whom she worked, came with us one year and brought her grandchildren. We had such a great time. It is one of my fondest memories.

A family in town, the Carrolls, gave our family tickets to the circus for Mason’s birthday. How generous is that?! Mason was thrilled and kept talking about going, although I am pretty sure he had no idea what it meant. Kids are great that way.

Mason Want to By-Pass Lunch and Go Straight to the Circus.

We started our day by going to Voodoo Dog for lunch. This is a little dive located in the Railroad District off of Gaines, not far from the Doak. I was nervous about going there, because I knew it would not be kid-friendly. By kids, I meant our toddlers and I was right. They had no high chairs or booster seats. However, I felt pretty old myself, as the place filled up with college kids who looked like babies.

The Fries at Voodoo Dog are Delish!

I love a great hot dog, and the menu selection of mind-boggling. However, I kept it simple for fear that the more condiments on my plate, the more at risk we were of having a big mess at our table.

The kids were incrediby well-behaved, however, and lunch was spectacular!

A Wringling Brothers Performer Made His Way Right Beside Me.

We found great parking by the law school and headed over to the Civic Center for the Circus. We were astounded to find that we had front-row seats! Miss Julia was very scared at first and sat quietly in her daddy’s lap sucking her fingers throughout most of the show. Mason snuggled in mine. At intermission, he asked for popcorn and a coke, which we all shared; but, thankfully, he did not want any of the over-priced goodies. Whew!

We all very much enjoyed the show, though it seemed a litted scaled down from what I remember. There was only one clown that I recall seeing, no tigers, and no traditional trapeze artists flying across the arena. It seemed like something was missing. Do not get me wrong, though. It was a full two-hour presentation, and we were ready to get out of there by the end. But in a good way!

Afterwards, we strolled past the law school, telling the kids about our days as students. We also drove around campus and stopped at FSU’s entrance to take pictures in front of the famous fountain. This kids had a blast and we did, too. I honestly cannot remember having such a perfect family outing in a long time.

Might I Recommend…

magnoliablossom — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:39:28 +0000

About a week before Christmas, I was looking for favors for Mason’s third birthday party. I hate it when I know parents have spent good money on candy and toys that end up in the trash or pushed aside soon after the event is over. Instead, I wanted to buy books for my guests, which I correctly guessed would cost less than buying a bunch of novelty items, and I knew that the books could be enjoyed and shared.

A google search led me to Scholastic’s Storybook Classics. The product was on sale for less than half of its retail value and contains over 100 children’s tales. I was thrilled and bought it immediately.

Silly me! In my glee over finding such an amazing collection at such a great price, I failed to read carefully. This is a collection of DVDs. When it arrived, I was frustrated and wrapped it for Miss Julia for Christmas, thinking that is was probably a series of poor quality story adaptations which would never get my kids’ attention.

I was wrong again. This set is one of their favorites. Each of the 100 stories is “read” by well-known stars such as James Earl Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Meryl Streep, as the words flash across the screen. The illustrations are beautifully done, the music perfect, and each tale comes to life before the viewer.

The individual DVDs are organized by story theme, and I enjoy watching Mason and Miss Julia pick out their favorites to watch. Mason likes the Curious George tales, “Where the Wild Things Are,” and another about a stinky dump truck. Miss Julia likes “Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom,” probably because that is her Meme’s favorite one, too.

If you are looking for the perfect gift, please consider Scholastic’s Storybook Collection. I purchased it on Amazon, but I also found it at Target, as well.

Pearls & Grace

magnoliablossom — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:50:53 +0000

Honestly, I stumbled upon Sibi’s blog, Pearls and Grace, over a year ago when I was planning Miss Julia’s “Girls in Pearls” birthday party and googled the idea in search of inspiration. Low and behold, I found this source of spiritual inspiration that just touched and moved me in such a sweet, precious way.

Sibi has an amazing testimony that she generously shares through the eyes of motherhood. She is beautiful, her family is beautiful and everything she touches seems to just sparkle with loveliness.

You would think that she has had the perfect life–one to envy. Yet, in fact, her story is one of triumph over a very dark start.

I am open about my own childhood. My mom came from an extremely abusive home and was not affectionate at all to me or my siblings. In fact, she could be down-right cold. My parents were young and divorced when I was four, at the same time my beloved Papaw Bandy was dying of cancer. Those two events were enough to instill anxiety into my fragile heart. We were very poor and life was not easy. But “when God closes a door, He opens a window!”

So many times, my search for spiritual guidance from others has led me to pompous, overly-sanctified, holier-than-thou individuals who have left me a little bitter, even sickened. That is why I really like Pearls and Grace. Sibi’s testimony is expressed with humility, calmness, and compassion. It is sincere.

I feel like God is leading me to the upcoming Pearl Event II, and I am excited to be going with my precious cousin Susie. We both need girl time away from our kids. She has five, so she really needs time to herself. And we need some family bonding, too.

Come join us, ladies! We would love to see you there.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for things to do and see while we are in Nashville, I would love to hear from you. It has been about six years since I have been there, so I am open to ideas.

Mason’s 3rd Birthday Party {Part 3}

magnoliablossom — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:12:02 +0000

Tanya, My Mom, and Me

The Two Michaels

Poppy Steve

Jami and Me

Mason’s 3rd Birthday Party {Part 2}

magnoliablossom — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:30:35 +0000

For Mason’s 3rd birthday, we had a Chick-Fil-A Cow-themed party. Eleven of his friends came and helped us celebrate, and Mommy and Daddy even had some friends of their own come, too. Meme, Poppy, Aunt Tanya, Uncle Michael, Miss Courtney, Miss Jami, and Miss Hilary (my friend from work) all came to the party. We had a fantastically magical day.

I want to thank Kim at Tupelo’s Bakery in Monticello. She created the super yummy and adorable cake and cupcakes for our party. They were ADORABLE!

The Party Tables

Mason's Birthday Cake

Cow Cupcakes

My favorite part of the entire day was a visit from the Chick-Fil-A cow. I had no idea that this was included in our party. The kids loved the cow. They gave him kisses and hugs. I mean, just look at Mason’s face in the picture below! Priceless.

A Surprise Visitor

Mason and Sweet Miss Aubrey

My good friend Jami came to the party with her precious son, Jackson. We do not get to see each other often, but you would never tell it by how close Mason and Jackson acted! They were practically inseparable the whole morning.

Mase and Jax

The BEST surprise of the day was a visit from Aunt Tanya and Uncle Michael! They drove three hours just to spend the day with us. Of course, we had them over for a cook-out afterwards. It was so great to see them and to watch them with Mason and Julia. I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

Miss Julia With Her Aunt Tanya

Sweet Miss Julia

Mason’s 3rd Birthday Party {Part 1}

magnoliablossom — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:27:31 +0000

Mason’s birthday is really hard. It is right after the holidays and the weather here is unpredictable. Last year, we took him to the Jacksonville Zoo to ride the train, which he loved, and we all had a great time; however, it was freezing cold! We then had a nice party at my grandmother’s home with family and close friends from the area.

This year, we knew we wanted to invite Mason’s “buddies” from pre-school. We decided to have his party at Chick-Fil-A in Thomasville. Both he and Miss Julia love their nuggets, it is really nice and clean, and they love to play on their indoor playground. I figured this was as good a place as any to keep little ones busy and contained for two hours.

I cannot tell you how easy it was to plan this birthday! I put a small deposit down back in November to reserve the date and time, then worked with the store’s marketing representative, Tracy, to make the arrangements by phone. And the price for the party was extremely reasonable! When we got there Saturday morning, all I had to do was bring the cake and cupcakes. CFA had a hostess for us who had set up our tables, complete with a balloon for each child, and flowers on the tables.

The cost of the party included a kids meal for each attendee, ice cream after their meal, and a bag of goodies for each, which contained a CFA cup, a pencil and a coupon for a free ice cream on their next visit. We also had a special spotted visitor who came to our party to add to the fun!

Rebekah at A Blissful Nest created my party invitations and favor tags. She always does such a fantastic job. I usually just email her my theme and she does the magic. Without fail, her vision always matches mine. I told her I wanted a CFA “cow”-themed party, and this is what she came up with. I love how the invitation turned out.

For our personal favors, I wanted to get each child a book. I love giving gifts that have meaning and, actually, I ended up spending less on these than I would have had I bought numerous small token items. The book I chose for this party was The Story of Ferdinand by Munroe Leaf. The colors of the cover matched, and the story of the sweet bull Ferdinand is a classic. I also picked out two other titles for the girls, Kiss the Cow by Phyllis Root and Cows Can’t Fly by David Milgrim.

Favor Tag

I also had Mason custom longalls made especially for his 3rd birthday party. I know I do not have much time before he wants to pick out all of his own clothes. So I decided to take full advantage now. A twitter friend recommended I use Charlie Britches on Etsy to have these made, and Summer, the owner of the shop, did a fantastic job. The longalls fit perfectly and went exactly with the theme.

My Sweet "Big" Boy

Surrounded by His Favorite Things

Wordless Wednesday

magnoliablossom — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:45:55 +0000

Happy 3rd Birthday, Mason!

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Mason Man

magnoliablossom — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:03:02 +0000

At 8:14 a.m., Mason turned three. THREE! Oh my, how time flies. I remember thinking that I would be pregnant forever. Then I was in labor for what seemed like forever. And, now, he is already so grown. My 10-pound baby now weighs a solid 40. As my students say, he’s a beast!

I know all parents think their children are special, but Mason really is exceptional. He has the biggest heart of any human being I know and is teaching me about love in ways that I have never imagined possible.

He is advanced verbally, and says things daily that astound Mike and me. Just the other day, he said, “I adore Sissy.” What todder says “adore”? He frequently says, “Mommy, I love you with all my hearts,” and it warms my soul. I like to think he makes “hearts” plural because Jesus is living in his.

Mason is also really strong-willed. He gets a tad bit jealous of Miss Julia, but they are so different. He is really good at play and has a very active imagination, even if he is also a bit rigid. His favorite toys are his Match Box cars and his Thomas the Tank Engine trains. He lines them up just so and talks to them, even role playing, using different voices for each one. Of course, Sissy likes to come over and mess with him, which drives him nuts! She already knows how to push his buttons.

But he actually asks to go to “Big Boy School” every day and has a blast playing with all of his buddies. He loves being outside on the playground, especially when playing ball is involved. He talks about everyone in his class on a regular basis, but his best buddies seem to be Graham, Case, Brigs, and Aubrey.

Mason likes to read. He loves the Thomas catalogues we get from Miss Linda at Shapes and More in Thomasville. He likes Good Night Moon and can “read” us the whole story. He also has the machine book that he calls his “excavator” story, and he likes that a lot.

He is a movie buff, too. His favorites right now are Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, Thomas: Day of the Diesels, and The Lion King.

Just the other day, Mason told Mike he needed to put on his work clothes to save Sadie Mae, our kitty, who was stuck on the ceiling. The outfit above is his rescue garb. And on Sunday, he sat at our desk in the back and told us he was “Mike Bonfanti” and that he “had to go to work to do his papers.” Mike says he is going to be a police officer or some other type of authority figure. I say he is going to be THE doctor who finds a cure for cancer.

On the sweet side, Mason is also a home body. He does not really like to travel and is satisfied putting on his PJs and snuggling on the couch under his “softy” blanket. He is his Mommy’s child.

And my guilty pleasure is that he also likes to crawl in bed with Mike and me. I know this is a parenting NO-NO, but I do not care. I like having him in the middle and I like having him rub my hair in the morning and tell me that he loves me.

Afterall, he will only be three once.

I Never Want to Forget

magnoliablossom — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:25:55 +0000

On this day, three years ago, I was in the hospital being induced. I was surrounded by Mike and my mom. My Daddy, Steve, Joe and Robin, Meme and Pete, Pastor Greg, Carl and Katie, Jami Lewis, and Courtney Rubin were all a phone call away. I was ready to meet my sweet baby boy. I watched Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth version) and tried to sleep in the lumpy bed. I watched Mason’s healthy heart beat strongly in the monitor. And, still, he did not come.