THE PRESTIDGES

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Mothers Day Craziness!

I swear each year on Mother's Day I get more and more grateful (and emotional) to be a mother. Maybe as each child comes I feel my love for the job grow. Or maybe its because my hubby always surpasses my expectations and shows me more love than I ever thought possible. Either way, this one was especially wonderful. Lots of happy tears were shed. Solana kept saying to me and Adam, "Why are you guys crying?" (Yes, Adam is allowing me to write that yes, he was crying too, just a little bit.) We would have to explain that you can have sad tears and happy tears (which has been a fun, new concept for her in the last few weeks). So this Mother's Day fell on the same day as graduation, and even though it was busy, it was so great to combine two great events. I will get another Mother's Day next year but Adam only graduates from law school once (hopefully it's his last degree). So here are the few but perfect highlights of the Mother's Day festivities:

Solana is my flower girl in every way. So that morning while Adam was making some waffles, Solana and I ventured out early to pick flowers in the neighborhood. It was one of the highlights of my day :)

My first Mother's Day with him was spent with him sleeping the day away (he was only 4 months old) and Adam had just moved to NYC the day before, so not very memorable with those standards. But this year was spent with him being silly and having so much fun.

I cried when she gave her homemade card (Adam did a great job helping her). I also got a wooden spoon she painted at school and the another great card. Homemade cards are the very best!!

Helping me open up some presents.

Adam made some delicious waffles with all the fruit toppings. It was perfect. And later his mom and family came over for the brunch as well. It was so fun to spend the day all together.

I loved that Adam snagged this realistic candid photo. You work so hard to get a nice photo with smiles, but we usually end up with 10 like this before you get…

This!

I'm sure I feel like most moms when I say that I'm the luckiest mom in the world to have such wonderful and perfect kids. How I got so lucky to get to love and be loved by these 3 amazing people is beyond my every expectation.

It was best Mother's Day/Graduation Day!

The Law School Journey Comes to a Thrilling Conclusion!

"Hmmm, wonderful world, what shall I do now that I am a law school graduate?"

This is me and Solana in front ot the law school street sign when I first came to visit the school, in April of 2011!

3 years later! May 11, 2014, graduation day! The rest of the family was present, but it was too wild and crazy (i.e. hot, cranky, etc) to get a nice family portrait. But still, it's good.

First day of Law School August 2011. I was so fresh-faced and ambitious!

First and last day of school with this little cutie. She was a big drive for his success! My little cheerleader! Now, she is cheering me on through the bar exam!

On my last day of finals! I had just taken an 8 hour final the day before, and then knocked out another final the next morning! I felt so good to be done, and it was awesome to have the whole family there to celebrate with me!

Our first visit to the school in April 2011 when we made the decision to attend. We didn't know why, but we knew we were meant to come to W&M. (It's funny, because I didn't really know anything at all about the school when I applied, and then I got in, and had to tell CheyAnn about it, and then we came to visit. As soon as we got to Williamsburg, we were pretty much hooked!)

3 years later in April 2014. We survived (barely at times) but always happy!

Yep. I got a robe.

There's my beautiful law school teammate! We definitely did it together 100%! I'm so lucky to have had her support for 3 years!

Really, it was an adventure for the whole family!

In the time that I've been in law school, Solana has grown from a little 1-year old to an incredible, bright, spirited little girl!

Little Boston has grown from a twinkle in our eyes to a bright ball of happiness and cuteness that lights up our life!

One of my favorite things I've been able to see is how they have become great friends!

Just me and my son, dressed up and sitting on a park bench.

Of course, flowers must be picked.

This is my attempt at looking like a serious learned man of the law.

I calculated that I spent like 1500 hours studying at this table during my 1L year.

This was my 2L and 3L spot - much more relaxed, as you can see.

Always fun when kids are on my desk!

Now that Solana understands that I am going to be a lawyer, she loves to talk about how she is going to be a lawyer! Hitting the books early!

Speaking of hitting the books early, Boston is going for the Atticus Finch look with the bow tie.

Behold, I am a law school graduate! (Apparently, the "Mace" is a replica of some 1600 British House of Lords thing, given to the law school like 70 years ago, so I felt pretty good to wield it like a giant staff of power!!!!!

Hey, what's up! I'm graduating!!

The nice, and unique Lake Matoaka Amphitheater. Pretty cool place for a graduation, even though it was like SUPER hot.

Hmmm, this law school thing seems interesting...

Hey there! Miraculously, throughout the entire 2.5 hour ceremony, Boston was perfect! Probably because he is a perfect little guy!

Walking across the stage, Juris Doctor degree in hand! (Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the background to my right...)

Solana, my most enthusiastic fan, was there to greet me as I descended the stage.

Everyone in the family (except for Olivia, of course, who is wonderfully serving her mission in Chicago) was able to make it out to my graduation, which made me SO happy! (Even though Aaron's flight got cancelled multiple times due to weather, and Sarah had EMERGENCY SURGERY to remove kidney stones THE DAY BEFORE! That is epic.)

Siblings!

Solana and Miles Dansie, sporting the cool hats post-grad.

Me and Peter Dansie, catching a pic after we successfully dominated law school together!

Law school graduation was an incredible experience for me and my family. It was such an amazing experience, because while yeah, I'm happy that I could accomplish it or whatever, it really was such a big family accomplishment, and we all did it together, and I was just so grateful to CheyAnn and Solana and Boston for all patiently enduring and successfully completing the journey together. I feel like it was a team and family effort in every regard, and I'm so grateful and excited we did it!

Friday, May 30, 2014

Easter Festivities!

Easter season is always so fun! We love any kind of holidays around here, but this one is always seems especially cheerful. It's so great to have Solana learn about Easter in our home, at church, and at school. I love sending her to a religious school. She is always singing the happiest songs about Jesus. And she understands both the real meaning and the fun meaning of Easter.

So this season we soaked up all the egg hunts we could. And we enjoyed adding another egg hunter to the mix. Here are the Easter festivities in action.

Egg hunt at Walsingham Academy.

Getting her face painted for the first time. A flower of course.

The kids playing under the parachute

The big kids let her help.

Riding up high (his favorite)

First hunt was for the young ones ages 0-2. Solana is teaching Bostie the ropes.

He figured it was a more practical way to carry his basket.

The men I love the most :)

She said that her wings would help her catch her eggs faster. And she was right. And her wings helped her get a spot in the local paper, The Virginia Gazette!