I'm not trying to be dramatic...

Wednesday, May 25th was a dark day at casa de Galbraith. Not only did Carter have strep throat, but it was the finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show. After 25 years she was leaving me. If you know me even a little bit, you know this was cause for me to check into Bridgeway...no drama intended (well, maybe just a little)! I started watching her majesty when I was 12 (that's one year older than Alex is now) and I'm now 37. I've watched her while doing my homework after drill team practice and I've watched her while rocking my babies to sleep. I don't have the luxury of sitting down at 4:00 every day, but I religiously DVR her shows and use them as my evening nightcap.

HOWEVER, on Wednesday I was bound and determined to watch the final episode at 4:00 the way nature intended. I actually contemplated having an Oprah watch party, but thought it best to cry alone (insert more drama). We were scheduled to have bad weather that afternoon and evening. It has been a horrible tornado season! The wind started whipping up at 3:10 and the sirens were going off at 3:15. I huddled the boys in the laundry room and began responsibly watching the weather...while secretly praying, "PLEASE let this by over by 4:00. I need to tell "my girl" goodbye." As if on cue, the weather not only cleared, but the sun came out by 3:45! I breathed a sigh of relief and told the boys to occupy themselves because mommy was going to a funeral (insert drama, panic and grief).

I settled in at 4:00 with a blanket and a box of Kleenex. Imagine my horror when I clicked the remote and found this:

That, folks, is our trusted Channel 7 weatherman and tanning expert (for you non-Arkansans, he has elevated tanning to a new art form), Ned Perme. That's right, the storms had passed through Little Rock, but were apparently hitting other locations. While I was selfishly wondering why they couldn't broadcast those small town risks over the RADIO (I know, it's not my finest moment, but I'm being honest), Ned says, "I know we are interrupting the scheduled finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show. We are reading your emails and hearing your calls. However, let's keep this in perspective. These are potentially deadly tornadoes." These words should have squelched the flames of my anger. Unfortunately, my brain heard two things: 1) Keep those calls coming in, sisters! We have to ban together! 2) The key word, Ned, is POTENTIAL. There is NOTHING on the ground, so GET OFF MY TV!

Ned didn't get off my TV. He continued to do his job, which I suspect was the responsible thing to do. I finally got to watch "my girl" the next day when it re-aired. I cried as I suspected (come on, it was touching!) and tried to picture my life without the Oprah Show as the background music (put on your seatbelts, I just took drama to a new elevation). Upon serious reflection, I had an "aha moment." Oprah wouldn't want me to be bitter. She would want me to go on and "live my best life"...at least until I can coax her back onto the airwaves!

FYI: She's waving specifically to me...it's a little thing we like to do.

Space Camp

Alex and Russ went to space camp in Huntsville, Alabama last week (May 13-15). It was a school sponsored trip that Russ helped to organize. Russ attended as kid almost 22 years ago, so it was a walk down memory lane for him. I'm not sure who was more excited! Since I did not attend, I am going to turn this blog entry over to Alex...

Space Camp was really fun and there were so many things to do. I don't know where to start. I will say my least favorite thing was waking up at 4:00 in the morning. My favorite thing was doing the simulators whether it was G-force or a M.A.T. I loved simulators. I also got to go on a mission. I was flight engineer #1. I made experiments. My team name was Charlie Brown and my team leader was Tricia. We learned about rockets, famous people, the history of space and more. It all led up to Space Bowl on the last day. Space Bowl was just like Jeopardy, but it was all about space. My team scored over 8,000 points, but lost to some middle school. Space Camp was a great experience and I really hope I get to go again because it was really great.

The Saturn V at the rocket park.

My group: Wyatt Chandler, Me, Mcrae Cook, Timmy Huckabee,
Amber Hobbs, Bushra Sardar, Mikaela Pinili, Maddie Williams

Me and Dad holding our rockets. On the first day, we built our own

rockets. We launched them on the 2nd day. Mine went high and far.

Doing the moonwalk simulator. You had sit in the 1/6 chair (the gravity on the moon is 1/6 of the gravity here on Earth) and do three motions: the bunny hop, side to side hop and slow motion jog. The person behind me is my team leader, Tricia.

Wearing our orange flight suits before beginning our mission. During our mission I

was on the space station. I was doing experiments waiting for the shuttle to dock.

Posing in front of the shuttle before our mission.

Me doing the Multi-Axis-Trainer (M.A.T.). It simulated an out of control spin.

This was one of my favorite simulators. I thought it would be scary, but it wasn't.

Me and Wyatt in Apollo capsule.

Me and Dad in front of the habitats. This is like a dorm

where we slept.

My group graduating on the final day.

My Piano Virtuoso

Alex had his 4th piano recital on Saturday, May 7th. I have to figure out how to get video on here! Pictures of a recital are kind of lame...you really need to hear it! Until that happens, you'll have to take my word for it: He did awesome! Mrs. Kennedy requires all of her students to write their own original composition each year. They can choose to play their original piece or a piece from their adopted composer for the recital.

Side note: Mrs. Kennedy's piano studio adopts a current American composer each year. Throughout the school year, the students correspond with the artist. The ask him/her questions and learn his/her music. Then at the end of the year, the composer is flown to Little Rock to perform at the recital, autograph compositions, and do a Q&A session. It's actually pretty impressive for a small town studio.

Alex chose to perform his own composition which he titled "Change in Attitude." OK...I might have helped him with the title, but he did the actual composing! It was definitely his best one to date. I could tell he was a 4th year student and not a beginner!

Playing during the actual recital.

The students are asked to do a poster representing the title of one of the adopted composers pieces. Alex's was "Over and Out." Alex came up with the poster idea, but Russ gets the credit for the actual artwork. It received an honorary mention. Russ was a bit disgruntled!

Mimi, Papa, Chris, Wendy, Natalie and Grandaddy all came for Alex's performance. Unfortunately, I only have pics with Mimi and Papa. Everyone else had to leave after Alex performed and we didn't take pictures until the entire recital was over.

Afterwards, we went to P.F. Changs (Alex's pick!) for a belated family birthday celebration. This was the biggest piece of chocolate cake I had ever seen!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a bit unusual this year. Carter's asthma was kicking into high gear due to all of the fabulous spring allergens (that was sarcasm, folks!). We were up for a good portion of Saturday night trying to get it under control. This being the case, we didn't make it to church Sunday morning...which means we didn't get to do a fabulous Mother's Day brunch afterwards. We had a lazy morning at the house. When Carter's coughing subsided, we decided to make an impromptu trip to Hot Springs to get our Magic Springs season passes and let the boys ride a few rides. This trip was spur of the moment which translates to chaos which is something the Galbraith's don't do well. So...there are no pictures of Magic Springs because the camera was left at home. We rolled back into Little Rock around 6:00 and stopped at Outback for their curbside service. Russ did clean the kitchen for me and even squeezed in a few loads of laundry. I'll take that any day!

Carter did this sheet and a coupon book for me at school. He actually got most of them right! My favorite is my mom's pet name for me is "Crishden." I call him CHRISTIAN alot...guess we need to work on how to spell his middle name!

Poor baby! We took him to the doctor on Monday and he got a new inhaler. He has upgraded from the full mask to one that you put directly into your mouth. He is so proud of it! He keeps calling it his "fancy" inhaler. Bless his heart!

My gift that Alex made for me at school. This will likely be my last homemade gift because my baby goes to middle school next year. I suspect it's not cool to do crafts for your mom in the 6th grade!

Both boys made me cards that opened up to reveal a copy of their smushed faces.

Life with boys...

Love these guys that made me a mom!

Disney Freaks

Yes, we are Disney Freaks. We wear this title with great honor. We have averaged a trip every other year for the past 10 years. It is with tremendous sadness that I announce the booking of our "final" Disney vacation. October 29th-November 5th will be our last hurrah. The boys are getting older and it's time to expose them to broader horizons...time to let them know there is a world outside of the one created by good ole Walt.

I grew up going to Disney. I made my maiden voyage on my 4th birthday and haven't stopped. I went on my honeymoon and my first anniversary. I've been in the scorching heat of every summer month, Halloween, Christmas, Spring Break...you name it! I love organizing the trip almost as much as going. My OCD kicks in to high gear when it's time to book dining reservations (180 days in advance). I actually make charts to coordinate the parks closing times and extra magic hours with restaurant choices to maximize our park experience and lessen our transit times. I have also been known to color coordinate our clothing by the dominate colors in each of the parks. I say this with a tad bit of embarrassment, but really, a picture is the best souvenir!

We took Alex on his first trip when he was 2 years old and Carter when he was 3. I have the best memories of watching them meet their "real life" heroes. Is there anything more magical than having your baby say, "Momma, Buzz just hugged me!" I swear I could cry just thinking about it and I generally try to leave the sappiness to Hallmark. I try not to think about the years of college tuition we have handed over to the Disney machine. The boys may have to go to vo-tech, but they're going to have magical childhood memories...and I will have fabulously coordinated pictures to carry me through my old age!

Alex's first trip in October 2002. He's dressed up like Buzz Lightyear for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (one of my favorite Disney events!).

Trying to wrestle that sword out of the stone. Bless his heart, he wanted to try "one more time" every time we passed it.

The stuff of Disney dreams!

I love the sweet look on his face as he "pets" Stitch.

Hanging out at Blizzard Beach on Carter's first trip in 2006.

One of my all time favorite pictures! How's that for coordinating clothes?

At the end of a long day. I have pictures of both boys

zonked out in their stroller or on Russ' shoulder.

Crazy faces at Epcot. Love those sweet babies!

We used this one on our Christmas card in 2007. It said, "Have an Incredible Christmas." I know it's cheesy, but I bet it garnered a few smiles!

Carter was all about Lightening McQueen on this trip. We

waited in this line forever, but he was so, so happy!

At the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian Resort. Please note the

Hawaiian shirts that tie in with Mickey's lei...ok, I'll stop now!

I love the fact, that at 3 years old, it's perfectly "normal" to have

a giant chipmunk hop into your booth and color with you.

Where does the time go?

Gotta have the classic shot with the mouse ears!

Can't even begin to describe Carter's awe during the Jedi training academy.

I think I brushed away a tear when I saw my little guy battle Darth Vader.

Hamming it up with our old friend, Buzz Lightyear.

This is six years to the week after Alex's first trip.

Lunch at the Crystal Palace with Tigger.

My Baby Turns 11...

Today was Alex's official birthday! We have loved every minute of being his parents. He truly has the most gentle spirit and kindest heart of any kid I know...perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I doubt anyone would argue with me! Since he is such a fabulous kid and since he is becoming more independent, we decided this was the year to get him a cell phone. Generally speaking, Russ and I are strongly opposed to kids having cell phones. Cell phones make them forget how to use eye-contact and carry on an intelligent conversation...perhaps I am exaggerating, but it is a valid fear. Nonetheless, we were fighting the inevitable. He is staying home alone on occasion and needs a mode of communication. And according to Alex, "everyone else has one." Is there a better reason to cave? This is where you insert sarcasm! Despite my concerns, I have to confess that it was worth it to see the shock on his face and the incredible joy that followed. He opened his gifts at 9:30 a.m. and has probably said "THANK YOU" (complete with bear hugs) no less than 50 times. I love that he is so grateful...heck, I just love him, PERIOD!

Carter always wakes up before anyone else in the house. He made this for Alex first thing this morning...then threw it on top of his face while he was still sleeping.

Shock and awe!

Posing with our angel baby before heading to On The Border. We braved the major thunderstorms and flooding to get our guy a steak and chicken quesadilla!

Brotherly love...or something like it!

Posing with his new BFF...the Apple 3G iPhone.

He looks like a teenager!