Good Times with the Garrett's

Happy Birthday Justin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-01T08:48:00.006-06:00

Did you know, yesterday was Justin Bieber's birthday. My daughter is a big fan!!! So, yesterday, she and her Bieber Buddy, Madelyn, (that's her to the left of Kate) started a movement. They passed out flyers letting everyone know that it was Justin Bieber's birthday. Told them to all wear there Justin Bieber shirts and if they didn't have a shirt, just wear purple.

Well, it was quite a movement. Most of the 5th grade girls are somehow Biebered up. If they didn't have purple or a JB shirt, they have a tatoo, or a purple ribbon in their hair. Even some of the teachers wore purple today!!!

Whether you are a Bieber fan or not, I thought it very cute that these girls got this going at their school. It's just fun!!

AUHD- 2010 Compilation

2010-11-15T16:25:00.001-06:00

This will clear up any one's writer's block. It's AUsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pause my music player at the bottom of the page so you can hear. And dance along!!

post signature

Wheelerisms

2010-02-19T15:59:00.002-06:00

Wheeler was eating his breakfast the other morning and staring at the back of the Cheerios box. Trying to read something on the box when he asked, "Daddy, do you speak cursive?".

I love that little guy!

She Can't be 10!!

2010-02-17T07:51:00.007-06:00

Dear God,

Please, please, please turn back the clock. And please God, after you turn the clock back, let me still know all I know now.

God, I've made so many mistakes, lost my temper so many times. Always in a hurry, rushing her into that car seat. I think I expected her to be mature and grown up when she was only 5. Please let me have those days back. Please.

She had her 10th birthday yesterday. Over half of my life with her here, in my house, is gone. It can't be so. She was just pretending to be Spirit and Pocahontas last month wasn't it? We were just playing Barbies together, last week, I'm sure. That laundry that I was so worried about while we were playing Barbies really didn't matter did it. Why couldn't I figure that out then....Please.

Again, I'm begging, please. Just back to when she was 3, after Wheeler was born, as I don't want to risk him not being here. I don't think I'm being unreasonable. A second chance with my first born is all I ask...Please.

If you can't honor that request, then please God, help me with this one. Please make the next 8 years go by much slower than the last 10. Please help me to make sure she knows how incredibly much I love her. Please let her forgive me for the many, many times I have been so hard on her. She is so wonderful, despite her mothers mistakes. Please let her know how proud I am of her. Please let me cherish every moment I have with her...Please.

Amen.

Rosey Nappier

2010-02-14T21:15:00.004-06:00

Is your heart melting? Isn't she the cutest? She isn't even mine, she belongs to a neighbor. She is sooooo bad. I've caught her stealing my cats bowls, my neighbors trash etc... but I can't help it, I just think she is the cutest thing. She is a Golden Doodle, which means she is a golden retriever mixed with a poodle, but it must have been a toy poodle, because her body is almost the size of a retriever, but her legs are probably 4 inches long. Did I mention how cute I think she is. She is...

NYC Travel Tip 1

2009-07-27T22:42:00.003-05:00

Ask somebody!!

On our first full day in NY, Joe had to leave us at the museum of Natural History to go back and have dinner with some colleagues. When we left the museum at closing (5:45), it was absolutely pouring down rain. I had promised the kids we would go to Dylan's Candy Bar. So rain or not, that's where we were headed. I hailed a cab, yes, I, non agressive me, got a cab to pull over and didn't allow any body to jump in ahead of me and he took us there. After, I had to figure out how to get us back to our hotel. So we stepped out into the rain again and ran across the street to Patsy's Pizza (which I highly recommend!) and had dinner.

As I entered Patsy's Pizza place in my soaking wet clothes and baseball cap. I noticed right off that there were not many tourists in there. It was definitely more of a neighborhood place, I felt like I looked out of place, but everyone was very nice. Sitting next to us was a young couple, and I don't know how, but you can just tell the locals from the tourists, and they were locals. So I had my subway map out and was trying to figure out how to get home, I leaned over and asked them the best way to get to Time Square. "Just take the 6 to Grand Central, then get on the _ and it will take you straight to 42nd street", she said. Then he said "Or, just take the R, and it will express you straight to 42nd street". They both showed me on the map how either one would work and I opted for Grand Central Station so the kids could see that.

Down in the subway, I knew I was trying to catch the "6", but the sign lists about 4 numbers so I'm a little worried I might get on a wrong train. I see a man, sitting on a bench, texting on his cell phone, wearing a suit...probably not a tourist. So I ask him, "Am I in the right place to catch the 6 to Grand Central?" He tells me yes, says he is getting on the same train, sits across from us on the train, and makes sure I don't miss my stop. Thank you kind gentleman!!

In Grand Central I found another guy and asked him about which train to get on to go to Time Square, he tells me to just walk and tells me how to get there. So easy!!

After that night, that one subway trip, NY was a breeze. I felt so confident getting on and off trains and in and out of cabs. I figured out ho to read the subway map, but still always asked someone just to be on the safe side.

Oh! I forgot to tell you that I had to buy a Metro Card and couldn't figure out the machine. A very nice girl, stood with me patiently and helped me with that. I even thought she was going to pull out some cash to give me if I couldn't make my card work. I wouldn't have taken it, but wasn't that nice!!

New Yorkers get a bad rap. They are not rude, they are very helpful. It is a great place, we had a very pleasant time.

More tips to follow.....

Off To The Big Apple!!

2009-07-21T22:06:00.004-05:00

We're off! I was doing really well with my packing when we had a little set back. Did you know Delta now charges you to check your baggage!!! I swear, I already had our bags packed when I had to downsize. Had to take everything out of Wheeler's suitcase and share mine with him. His Daddy better hope I don't find any great designer jeans or boots, or he'll be shopping at Target for new clothes with all the money he saved by not checking that extra bag!! Cause I gotta have room to bring back some goods.

I'm just kidding, maybe.

The Marshall Tucker Band

2009-07-18T15:37:00.006-05:00

I hope Tiffany doesn't mind, I've pretty much stolen this entry from her blog. She doesn't have writers block. And my creativity is stumped, especially since her post says it all!

Yes, the Marshall Tucker Band!! You know "Heard It In a Love Song", "Can't You See", "High on the Mountain, Lightnin in the Air"... and....that's all. But still, I love those songs, plus, I heard that Phenix City had just built this fabulous amphitheatre.

We really had a good time, but I can't say the band was the reason. That poor guy, the lead singer, who I think is the only original band member left, has pretty much had it. You couldn't hear him, I was never sure what he was singing, his voice has just gone. He seemed like a really nice guy though.

We got lost on the way, maybe now Mark might get an i-phone.

Once we got there, it was sold out, we had to watch through the bars. Truthfully, not bad seats though!

Asking for directions was a little bit scary, and yet funny at the same time. Joe had just been telling us some shady history on Phenix City and how, many years ago, the attorney general had come to clean up the town but was killed for trying to do so. Let me tell you, from the looks of the people at that ampitheatre, and at the Family Dollar where we asked for directions, the AG didn't get much done before he died.

We did finally get in, because so many people were leaving, and didn't even have to pay. Tiffany and I got some new fashion ideas, though Mark says Phenix City is not where we should be getting style tips (I don't know why). We were absolutely obsessed with the 14 year old beauty who was double fisting the Budweisers and smoking cigarettes. We kept debating on whether or not she was really 14 or we were just so old that they all look so young. She was so cute, reminded me of Jennifer Anniston, but wonder what she will look like in 15 years.

Joe waited in a very long line to get us something to drink. About 5 minutes before he got back with our Beer they started singing, "Can't You See". I was worried that he wouldn't be back in time for us to share the experience together. No worries, they sang it for about 15 minutes, they sang it, then the drunk down in front got up and sang it, then some little girls got up and sang it, then the little girls sang it wrong, so he had a talking with the little girl and then they started over. Actually, it was very sweet, the girls were cute. Maybe the highlight of the concert. And then...It was over. And they never sang "Heard It in a Love Song!!!!!" I had been singing that one in my head in great anticipation all day that day!!!

But, as I sit here and make fun, we truly had a great time. I'm going to plagiarized from Tiffany's blog and list these reasons as to why it was such a good time.

1. the weather was awesome

2. the Mexican food was the really good.

3. the Budweiser was cold and I was thirsty

4. we got in FREE

5. the flutist was great! If you remember those songs, you'll remember that the flute is sort of the MT band's signature, and it is actually really cool!

6.Their number one fan was just a few rows in front of us. He loved The Marshall Tucker Band so much that it warmed my heart!

7. And Tiffany, I know you said this about us, but truly, we just had a great time with yall. You and Mark are a lot of fun and we had a lot of laughs!

Breaking the Block!

2009-07-16T14:28:00.019-05:00

All right so I have writers block (even though I don't think you can really call me a writer) since Earth Day. I just ran out of fun things to say. I don't really think I have much to say now but I'm just gonna try. I'll just start by summarizing our summer I guess.

In May, before school was out, I participated in Operation Boot Camp! I highly recommend it. It was great! I didn't miss a day, and now about 6 weeks after I finished, I am running about 3 miles several times a week! I always said I didn't want to run because I didn't want to have to get a knee replacement. Now, I'm running. Now, I'm icing my knee and limping...only 6 weeks into it. I'm considering signing up for a 10k, which is a little over 6 miles. Even I think I'm an idiot.

The kids had a great June! Kate was swimming with the Auburn Aquatics program and swam in a couple of meets. Wheeler has been taking diving from Jeff Shaffer, Auburn's head diving coach. I think it is amazing that we live in this town where you can get an olympic coach to teach you, and through the city parks and rec at that!!

They both went to Camp! Can you believe I sent my 6 year old to camp! I know, you would never send your 6 year old to camp but I am a bad mommy!! But he begged, and begged, so I let him go. I loved camp as a kid (even though I didn't go until I was 10). They both really had a good time and can't wait to go back. I'm telling you, if you didn't go as a kid, you missed out. And if you think your child might want to go, encourage it, it is so fantastic!!

Went to Lake Martin twice. Got to swim, boat, tube and ride Sea Doos. Thanks Barclay and Tiffany! Had a great time, both times!

Went to the Marshall Tucker concert, which is a post in itself.

Now, we are heading off to New York! We leave Wednesday, can't wait!!! Kate is really excited, she has a little better idea of what to expect.

I'm not sure if I have really "broken the block" but maybe it's a start. I'll keep trying by elaborating on previously mentioned activities.

Earth Day

2009-04-22T11:06:00.007-05:00

Kate's class went on an awesome fieldtrip yesterday!! We are so fortunate to live in a town with such fantastic schools. I think our school in particualar is really fantastic. We have a counselor who does so many extra things for and with our kids. We have a principal who is open to new ideas and allows are teachers to think outside the box.

Yesterday, the whole 3rd grade got to go on a hike to a nearby state park. We didn't hike down the road. We hiked through the woods and entered the park through the back (with permission ofcourse). For almost an hour we hiked over logs and rocks, next to a big creek. Absolutely getting those kids out in nature.

Once we got there, we got to canoe in the lake, fish, and learn about trees and wildlife from county extension agents. We were there the whole day, the adults involved in this fieldtrip were great. They really put there all into what they were teaching. Thank you to Mr. Hooks, Ms. Moar (our venture teacher), Ms. Goodling (our computer teacher), and Ms. Calloway (our P.E. teacher). (And please forgive me if I'm not thanking all of the teachers, don't mean to leave anyone out.) Thanks to the County Extension office and to Auburn University for participating.

Kate is so fortunate to be getting an education like this. She has a message for everyone...Starting today, earth day...Let's remember to turn off our computers at night when they aren't in use, don't overwater your lawns this summer (about every 5 days is enough), call Pottery Barn and ask them to take you off of their mailing list (we can order from the website), carpool when you can, and reduce, reuse, and recycle....Instead of a New Years Resolution, make it an Earthday Resolution.

Sticks Country Music Festival

2009-04-19T22:49:00.002-05:00

I had a great time last night with some friends. There was a BIG country music festival going on right outside of town here. I love country music, if you haven't already figured that out. So I was trying all week to figure out how we could go. How I could justfiy paying for the tickets when I knew I wouldn't be able to go for long. (The whole thing was 2 days and the price reflected it).

Well, Saturday morning my friend called and said she had free tickets!!! She got them through her work, and with some extra work, was able to get 4 more free tickets and have them upgraded to VIP!! VIP meant we got to sit closer to the stage, got free food in the VIP tent, got to use the VIP bathrooms which were much nicer than the Jiffy Jon's up on the top of the hill (Vicki even saw Gretchen Wilson in the VIP bathrooms!!!) and got to go backstage (where Sarah Evans and Jay Barker rode by us in a golf cart, I thought Heather was going to pull my finger off).

We had a great time. It's been a long time since I've done anything like that (I went to June Jam in Ft. Payne AL when I was about 21.) This was fairly tame. We only saw one fight...even though it took every police officer there to break it up and get this one guy to stop. Seriously, three police officers walked past us (or should I say were dragged past us) as they escorted this guy out of there. He was a pretty big guy, and he was mad about something. These police officers were struggling to hang on to this guy. One of them was hanging on to his hair (like you would the mane of a horse as he is galloping away with you).

But they got him out and all was fine, until these 2 guys came to sit behind us. In the VIP Section! They were decked out head to toe in black leather, nascar jackets, big cowboy hats, cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. And these guys had had way too much to drink. They were making lude comments about every girl who walked by. Joe started calling them Dale Jr. and Dale Sr., and I'm not one to sit around and watch or talk NASCAR, but that was just disrespectful. I mean this guy was awful and I think Dale Sr. is looking down on Joe saying "Thanks a lot buddy! You don't even know me!!"

Once the music started (as you would have about a 30 minute intermission between acts), it was all good. Dale Jr. and Dale Sr. stopped looking at girls and started listening and enjoying the music and so did we. We all sang along and hooped and hollered at every song. Vicki's daughter who is 13 I think, knew every word to every song. She wants to be a country singer when she grows up... So do I!

The dumbest thing I did was forget to take my camera, so I'll just put a few songs on my playlist by some of the artists we got to see. I'll see if Heather has any pictures and I'll get them from her.

Thanks Vicki and Sheppard for a great time!!! It was a blast.

A New Era

2009-03-31T23:07:00.010-05:00

You hear the term "Young Mother" all the time. At what point do you become just a "Mother" and not a "Young Mother" anymore. Does it have to do with your age as a mother or is it when your children are no longer babies.

I've been thinking I fit into the "Young Mother" category, even though I am approaching 40. I think it has more to do with the age of the children...new mother. Today, when my kids got home from school, I realized that our family has entered a new era.

Wheeler lost his 1st top tooth today. At school. He had lost the 2 on the bottom but I still thought of him as a baby. I don't know why the top ones are more of a milestone. Maybe just because that hole is just so visible. Plus, Kate got glasses today. The eye doctor's office called so I went and picke them up and took them straight to school. But I couldn't see her in them because they are testing so she couldn't be interrupted. So, when they got home from school today, they didn't look like the babies I sent to school this morning. It just felt like a milestone day.

They aren't babies anymore. But I think there new milestones make them cute.

Spring Break

2009-03-23T08:43:00.010-05:00

We had a great time at the beach!

We played in the sand

My sweet boy helped me set up some shade! Poor thing the umbrella came open just as he tried to bring it to me, with the wind blowing him back all the time. He didn't give up though, he brought it on.

We swam in the ocean! Well, the kids did.

We made a new friend.

There was a rare moment...very rare!

We flew a kite

The boys played trains in the sand

Cute thing

They swam till they turned blue, it only took 15 minutes each time.

We rode bikes to the park,

swang while we were there,

then rode back to the crib.

Ate at an old favorite spot.

And ended the day with a beautiful sunset!

I do love the beach!!!

Monkey Park

2009-03-16T15:47:00.009-05:00

We have the greatest park near here. It is called Monkey Park. It is called that because there actually used to be monkeys in cages there. My husband says he remembers them from when he was little. I'm glad they are not there any more. It would make me really sad.

It really is a great park. They have this

and this

and even these. You never see swings anymore. Why not? Swings are the best!!

but wait...with all of this great monkey equipment where are my kids?

Here they are!

and here

This park is awesome. My kids did use the monkey equipment some but the nature and adventure was fun too.

We are going back next month because there is a train that runs around the park from April through September.

Sinning

2009-03-15T10:07:00.002-05:00

A mama does more sinning on Sunday, than any other day of the week!! ...I'm just sayin.

Life is a Roller Coaster

2009-03-10T20:03:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted in a while and right now haven't much to say. I've been saving this video clip for a while, although you may have seen it on my friends blog a while back. Anyway, I love it, I love this movie too. So I just thought I would post it, no time like the present right?

'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1h_hmdVJAc">

Alabama Weather

2009-03-04T08:57:00.007-06:00

Believe it or not, these 1st 3 pictures were taken less than 24 hours before the last 4 pictures. From the same spot!! Seems crazy.

Maybe it's not so crazy. I've never lived anywhere but in the south so I think it's funny that we can wear shorts one day and need to pull out our snow gear the next. I say that like I have snow gear. We live in Alabama, we don't have snow gear.

So we wake up to snow falling and I start scurrying around to find things to keep my kids dry and warm. I know I better figure it out before they wake up because once they do, they aren't going to wait for me to go outside and play. This is their first snow, and it might be there last for another 5 years or so.

Growing up near Atlanta and in the 70's before global warming...We usually got snow or sleet once a year. Missed school one or maybe 2 days if we were lucky. So I did learn you had to layer and stay dry. We were able to layer. Long johns first, a turtleneck next, then a sweater or sweatshirt, and then a coat that can keep you dry. (Kate wore my rubber raincoat from Target which she was not happy about, but let me tell you, it worked) We had rain boots so 2 pair of socks for layers and the rain boots seem to work. The hard part is the pants, long johns then jeans, but that is going to get wet quick. I wish I had taken a picture of all of the wet clothes right inside my front door. We go out for about an hour, have all we can take, go inside strip it down, layer it up again with clean dry clothes then head out again. We do this atleast 3 or 4 times that day. So the pile of wet clothes in my dining room was rather large.

I don't know if this is crazy or not. I don't know what it is like to live where they get snow more often. Maybe there it is sunny and beautiful the day before the snow comes too. I don't know. I do know that in Alabama, you never put away your shorts. Even in January and February there are going to be short days. I also know that in June, July, or August...there is not going to be a sweater day and layers will not be needed, you can put those away. Hopefully soon!

Teacher Appreciation

2009-02-28T09:45:00.003-06:00

This week at my son's kindergarten was Teacher Appreciation week. One of the days the PTA had asked for one mom per class to "lunch sit". Stay with the class during lunch so that the teacher can go down the hall, to the PTA room and have lunch with the other teachers. I said I would. It's only 45 minutes, how bad could it be.

Now, there is no lunch room at the school, so they eat in their classrooms. I get to school just in time to take them down the hall, to the lunch service area so they can pick up their lunches and take them back to the room. It immediately begins! Miss Elizabeth! Can Wheeler pick me? (you see, normally when I go have lunch with him we eat out in the hall and Wheeler gets to pick 2 friends to come with us). Well, I explain that today, I'll be eating in the room with all of them. They either don't hear that or don't understand it because it goes on all the way down the hall. "Is Wheeler going to pick me?" "Wheeler never picks me."

Somehow on the way back down the hall they are beginning to get it. "Are you our teacher?" they ask. But they all ask it, one at a time, as if they didn't just hear the other one ask it. So 20 times I say, "Sort of, just while Ms. Holloway goes to have lunch with the other teachers."

So we get back in the room and Ms. Holloway has told me that the first 10 minutes of lunch is silent lunch, or they won't eat. They all know this, they do it every day. That's great! I'm thinking, 10 minutes of silence. Hah! I go to sit at Ms. Holloway's desk and one comes to give me a hug, I say thank you but go back to your seat and eat your lunch. Then comes the next one, then the next etc...So we go through that for about 10 kids. Funny thing about this, it's not Wheeler. He has no interest in giving me a hug or holding my hand while we walk down the hall, it is all the other ones. Finally, they are all in their seats, we have about 7 minutes to go on silent lunch, and they all start, one at a time of course, tattling! Tattling a little bit on each other but mostly tattling on Wheeler. Tattling on anything he might have done to them any time this past school year. "One time, Wheeler pushed me into the bathrooom.", "Wheeler doesn't eat his sandwich at lunch", "Wheeler's not nice, he wouldn't pick me to eat with him at lunch today" etc.... I just said over and over, "Tattling is talking too!" Didn't matter, they kept on.

In the meantime, one of them burps, LOUD!!. Well, if you don't know me, let me just tell you, that is not acceptable. All he can say is "I said excuse me". So he and I go round and round about closing your mouth, keeping your lips together and covering your mouth, make it as quiet as possible. Well, he does it 3 more times, then another one does is, then another one. And their response to me is..."I said excuse me" No matter how loud it was or how wide they opened their mouth. You would think they might stop after they saw the steam coming out of my ears.

After they eat, they line up to go to the bathroom, they have a bathroom in their class room so that is nice. One little girl I notice is in the front of the line to go to the bathroom next. But the next time I look up, she is still there, but the child who was behind her has now gone in. She is doing the dance, she needs to go bad! I say, "How come boy child went in? Girl child was next?" They all inform me that she is scared to go in to the bathroom by herself and close the door. Well I can't go with her, then the other 19 kids are left unsupervised. "What do I do?" I ask the wise 5 year olds. They tell me she has to go but leave the door open. "Okay, I say, go ahead and just leave the door cracked" But she is still scared and fixing to have a panic attack right there, or go to the bathroom on the floor one. Finally, with some coaxing and actual pushing (gentle ofcourse), I get her in the bathroom but have to stand in the doorway with the door closed to my hip.

Well, that's all I can take, we are going outside! Right now! So, I sit on the bench, and 6 of them sit right down with me. I shoo them away and tell them they need to run that energy off. They keep coming back, I keep shooing them away. Then of course, there is more tattling etc...

Finally, Ms. Holloway comes back and they all are elated to see her! But no one was as elated as I was!

Thank you Ms. Holloway for remaining calm around these little guys. Thank you for somehow, managing to teach them to read and write among all of this chaos!! You are greatly appreciated!

Mom Awards

2009-02-25T09:23:00.007-06:00

I was in Kate's room last night and I noticed a note on her Bulletin Board.

Well, that was about a year ago when she broke her thumb but it reminded of the story behind it all. And how I know Dr. Greer was probably thinking he should turn me into DHR.

As you know, kids fall and get hurt all the time. A Ziploc with ice or a band-aid almost always makes it better. One day, while out shopping or somewhere and had forgotten to take my phone into the store with me (Mom mistake #1, I always try have my phone in case the school needs to call with an emergency), I have a voicemail from the school nurse. "Ms. Garrett, Kate has hurt her thumb in P.E., we just wanted to let you know so you can look at it when she gets home". Well it doesn't sound too serious but I call just so the school doesn't think I'm not paying attention at all. The nurse tells me she thought it was o.k., that she gave her an ice pack and sent her back to class.

So it comes time to pick her up after school and I have a car full. I carpool in this crazy neighborhood so I had atleast 5 or 6 kids in the car. Kate gets in first and goes all the way to the back of the van, where I can't see her thumb. So as we are pulling away and everyone is buckling up I say "Kate, how's you thumb?" She says, "O.K., I can't move it though". Okay, I know that should have been reason for concern, but I swear just 2 days before that she had hurt another finger and swore she couldn't move it, so I just figured it was the same kind of thing, plus, I had to ask, she didn't tell me anything about the thumb. So we get home, I drop off all the extra kids, I'm dealing with a sick cat...I forget all about the thumb.

At about 4:30, my college age niece comes over to help me with my cat and Kate comes joyfully bouncing into the living room, "Hey Jessi! Look at my thumb!" I am not kidding, that thing was black and blue, bent, and as big as my big toe! Jessi looks at me (budding doctor that she is) and says, "Have you seen this, I think you better take her to the doctor right now." So I call the doctor, they say come right in and when I get there of course the nurse is asking me when this happened and my answer is around 11:00 a.m. She barely looks at me while I'm fumbling with my explanation of why I just now bringing her to the doctor 6 hours later.

Well, because it is so late in the day, we had to sit in the doctors office for a long time, probably an hour in the patient room just waiting. About 30 minutes into sitting there, Wheeler crawls up in my lap, complaining that he's cold and that his throat hurts. I think he feels a little warm so the next time the nurse comes in I ask her to take his temperature. It's 102! They do a strep test, and it comes back immediately positive! I wasn't even there for him! Double whammy!

I'm thinking that Dr.'s office watches me closely everytime I go in there. I know they are thinking I deserve an award for such attentiveness to my kids.

And don't even ask me why the note to Dr. Godsil is on her bulletin board and not in the mail to the good doctor! Like I said, it was only a year ago, I've just been so busy!

Girls Campout Cake

2009-02-22T22:46:00.008-06:00

Martha Stewart I am not, but I got this idea from Parents Magazine online (I think, I've already thrown away the printout). Kate wanted to have a Camp Out at our farm. So I went on line to find ideas...I got this one, and thought it was great! I didn't follow the directions exactly, I used my own creativity but didn't want to take full credit for the idea. I'm still pretty proud of it though.

I bought the cake, iced with the chocolate and green and added the girls in the sleeping bags. I just bought a can of vanilla icing, mixed small amounts with different colors of food coloring and iced 1/4 piece of graham cracker for sleeping bag. The girls faces are Mini Nilla Wafers. I do have one of those icing bags with the different tips for decorating the faces, but you can use the colored icing in the tubes from the grocery store (from Betty Crocker) but make sure you buy the tips so you can use the little writing tip. I also bought a can of chocolate icing for the brown. (I used the canned vanilla icing because it tastes so much better than the tube colored icing, yuch!) I let Kate decorate the sleeping bags and draw on the faces and hair of the girls.

The coolest part, I thought, was the fire, I broke some red and orange gum drops for the flames and covered them with pretzel sticks for logs. Then I put one candle right in the middle of the fire, for a real flame.

If you noticed the 2 extra campers freezing in back because they can't get near the fire for all the girls...That is Wheeler and Mitchel. Wheeler of course kept asking where he and Mitchell were so I let him make 2 more campers. (Really, he just wanted to mix the colors in the icing).

Mitchell doesn't really have yellow eyes.

Flashback Friday

2009-02-20T23:36:00.004-06:00

I'm flashin back to 7th grade, when I wore these on my white leather Nike's with the red swoosh!....Nope, it's current. Just bought them today, putting them in goody bags for Kate's birthday party tomorrow. Hope they love em' as much as I loved mine!

Me and the Man I'm Married To

2009-02-18T09:12:00.006-06:00

I saw this on a friends FaceBook Page and though I wasn't tagged, I thought it was cute. It is a great post for Valentine's Day, so I'm just a little late. I'm not tagging anyone, but if anyone is so inclined to copy, I would love to read it! These things are usually fun. Hope you'll listen to the Faith Hill/Georgia Middleman song playing too.

♥ What are your middle names? Wheeler and Elizabeth

♥ How long have you been together? Since the summer of 1992, married in May 1997 so dating, 17 years (gulp) married almost 12.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? about 9 months, met at work in Sept 1991, he had a girlfriend, then I had a boyfriend, then he came in and swept me up from a cracked (not broken, but cracked) heart. Aint I glad!

♥ Who asked who out? He did, but like I said, we had been friends so neither of us were sure what the other's feelings were.

♥ How old are each of you? I'm 39, he's 37 (he is almost 38!)

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? It's about equal

♥ Do you have any children together? Two, girl 9, boy 5 (almost 6)

♥ What about pets? Banjo, sweetest dog you'll ever meet, unless you are a cat.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? I don't know, nothing big, little things here and there. We do pretty well.

♥ Did you go to the same school? High school, no, college, yes.

♥ Are you from the same home town? No, I grew up in Peachtree City, Ga he's from LaFayette, AL

♥ Who is the smartest? him, damn it.

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Me, me, me, me, me.....

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Amsterdam Cafe

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? San Diego or Jamaica

♥ Who has the craziest exes? me, but none have been crazy like stalking or calling or anything like that. Just crazy while in the relationship. It's all good.

♥ Who has the worst temper? me,me,me,me, me, me, me, me, ...........

♥ Who does the cooking? both of us, but who likes to do the cooking...he does, who despises it...I do.

♥ Who is more social? Me, me, me, me, me!!!!!!!

♥ Who is the neat-freak? I wish we had a neat freak!

♥ Who is the more stubborn? I think he would say me, but I'm just more vocal about it. He quietley gets what he wants, he is not going to be walked on.

♥ Who hogs the bed? neither, we aren't cuddlers, so we tend to keep to ourselves.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Joe

♥ Where was your first date? Horseback riding in LaFayette

♥ Who has the bigger family? Joe, he is the youngest with 3 sisters, I am the youngest with 2 brothers

♥ Do you get flowers often? Just sometimes, enough times.

♥ How do you spend the holidays? Christmas Eve at the fraternity house (see previous post), Christmas day afternoon at my dad's house, and the weekend following my mother and brothers come to my house and we do it all over again.

♥ Who is more jealous? Neither of us really gets jealous

♥ How long did it take to get serious? I don't know, once we were sure that each of us wanted more than just friendship, it just was...

♥ Who eats more? that's hard, probably me, I love junk, sweets, candy cookies etc...

♥ Who does/ did the laundry? Usually me, sometimes his mom comes over and does it, isn't that nice!

♥ Who’s better with the computer? him, no question.

♥ Who drives when you are together? Him, but I am a great back seat driver, just ask him!

9 Years Ago!!

2009-02-15T21:50:00.009-06:00

9 years ago tonight my husband and I laid in our bed watching the beginning of reality TV. Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire!! Remember that tacky show, it was like a beauty contest, but at the end, this cheezy man came out and got down on one knee with a huge diamond and proposed. But then "Darla" who was the winner wouldn't go through with it. But didn't let that known until days later. Tacky, tacky, tacky, and I'll never forget it... because as we laid there, we were also counting the minutes between my contractions. And as soon as it was over, we got up, called the nurse and headed to the hospital!

I had been having contractions all day, and I was a week late. Kate's due date was Feb. 8th. Once I started having contractions everyone told me to "go for a walk, do jumping jacks, get active and speed those contractions up". So I did, I straightened, I vaccuumed, I raked the whole front yard, I knew company would be coming as soon as we got home. But the more I worked, the got further and further apart the contractions got. So finally, after dinner, as we began to relax, and watch tacky tv, the contractions got closer together.

So we got to the hospital, and without going into too many gory details...after lots of screaming and lots of drugs...here is what I got!

Katherine Cawthorne Garrett

6 lbs. 15 oz.

19 inches long

She has grown and changed so much. The only time I see that baby in her now is when she sleeps, her long eyelashes and the way she holds her mouth.

Okay, crying now. Gotta go to bed.

My Sister is 9!

2009-02-15T10:26:00.006-06:00

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. She will be 9.

She holded me when I was a baby, like tiny, teeny.

We have fun when we play in the dirt.

We have fun at the beach when we make a sand castle and surf on the waves.

I love my sister because she is funny and nice.

Happy Birthday Kate!!

Love,

Wheeler

Another Funny E-mail, Perfect for Valentines Day

2009-02-12T15:23:00.004-06:00

This was just e-mailed to me this morning...

"I had lunch with 2 of my unmarried friends. One is engaged, one is a mistress, and of course I have been married for awhile.
We were chatting about our relationships and decided to amaze our men by wearing a black leather bra, stiletto heels and a mask over our eyes. We agreed to meet in a few days to exchange notes. Here's how it all went.

My engaged friend: The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black leather bodice, tall stilettos and a mask. He saw me and said, 'You are the woman of my dreams. I love you." Then we had a magical night of romance.

The mistress: Me too! The other night I met my lover at his office and I was wearing the leather bodice, heels and mask over my eyes and a raincoat. When I opened the raincoat he didn't say a word, but we had a wild night!

Then I had to share my story: When my husband came home I was wearing the leather bodice, black stockings, stilettos and a mask over my eyes. As soon as he came in the door and saw me he said, "What's for dinner, Batman?"

So true! And truthfully, I am just great with that!

Time for a Good Laugh

2009-02-08T15:47:00.007-06:00

A friend sent me this in an e-mail. I thought it was really cute! I might just try it with Wheeler later to see what his answers are. I'll let ya know.

1stgrade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you.

1.> Don't change horses..................................................until they stop running.
2.> Strike while the........................................................ bug is close.
3.> It's always darkest before........................................ Daylight Saving Time.
4.> Never underestimate the power of........................... termites.
5.> You can lead a horse to water but.............................How?
6.> Don't bite the hand that........................................... looks dirty.
7.> No news is...............................................................impossible
8.> A miss is as good as a.............................................. Mr.
9.> You can't teach an old dog new................................Math
10.> If you lie down with dogs, you'll........................... stink in the morning.
11.> Love all, trust........................................................Me.
12.> The pen is mightier than the..................................pigs.
13.> An idle mind is.....................................................the best way to relax.
14.> Where there's smoke there's..................................pollution.
15.> Happy the bride who.............................................gets all the presents.
16.> A penny saved is...................................................not much.
17.> Two's company, three's.........................................the Musketeers.
18.> Don't put off till tomorrow what.............................you put on to go to bed.
19.> Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry
and..........................................................................You have to blow your nose.
20.> There are none so blind as.....................................Stevie Wonder.
21.> Children should be seen and not.............................spanked or grounded.
22.> If at first you don't succeed.....................................get new batteries.
23.> You get out of something only what you.................See in the picture on the box
24.> When the blind lead the blind...................................get out of the way.
25.> A bird in the hand.................................................... is going to poop on you.
26.> Better late than....................................................... Pregnant

Bobby Bryson

2009-01-23T08:06:00.014-06:00

I didn't go to my 20th High School Reunion because we had some fun stuff going on around here that I didn't want to miss. I wish I had gone. I wish that for many reasons, it will probably be another 20 before we do it again. But today I'm wishing it for another reason.

I lost an old friend on Wednesday. Bob (Bobby is what I call him) Bryson, someone I've known since pre-school/Kindergarten, died yesterday. I'm so shocked and saddened. We had known each other since we were little kids. We had gone to the same school (there was only one school in our town) all of our lives, all the way through high school.

There are a lot of us like that. Peachtree City was a very small town, growing as we grew up, but very small. We went to the same church, our parents were friends, he lived near another friend of mine so we would all play outside together when I was over at her house. In High School, our church youth group would all go to the beach together, every summer. I even pierced his ear on one of those beach trips, yes with 2 ice cubes and a gold ball bought at the souvenir shop. He and I would practicing driving a stick shift by taking turns in Chris Kendall's green Datsun B210. Good crazy memories.

Bobby and I weren't inclined to keep in touch after High School, I guess because as our high school grew we hung around with some different people, plus we'd each always been around. One of those things you don't think about, they are just there. So I still feel like we were friends, even though we hadn't seen each other in a very long time. I think time stands still for friends like that, they've been there your whole life, you figure you'll see them again sometime and just pick up where you left off. I wish I had gone to my reunion, just to say hello, just to hear what he'd been doing, how his family is, see pictures of his kids etc...

I've recently just gotten into facebook and enjoyed it but not given it much thought. Today, I think it is a wonderful tool. I'm sad to say that Bobby wasn't on FB or if he was, he and I had not made that connection, but I have reconnected with so many people from my past and right now I am so glad!! Why does it take such a tragic accident to make you realize you miss a person.

To Lisa, Dylan, Colt, David, Martha, and Gene, I'm so sorry to hear this news and will be thinking about you and praying for you. I will miss him.

Advice

2009-01-21T09:02:00.004-06:00

Don't let your 5 year old go to sleep with Silly Putty in his hand.
I'm just sayin it might not make for a good laundry day the next day.

Honest Scrap

2009-01-19T22:50:00.014-06:00

Okay, I've been tagged again. 10 honest things about me. Here goes.

1. I'm actually pretty smart, but I hide it well. If I'm interested in a subject, I can learn it pretty quickly. I am just not very up on important things, like politics, economics etc... I call myself a democrat, because of the social issues. I think I'm pretty liberal. Maybe that makes me a Libertarian but I don't know because I don't know what that is...duh....I'm not stupid, but for some reason, never got to that place in my life where I turned on the news instead of HGTV. I think I might be getting there soon though...After they give away the HGTV Dream House.

2. I don't watch football. I know I might get arrested for living in this town and saying that, but I don't. I love tailgating, but when it is time for the game to start, I head home...to watch HGTV, or to the mall, it is really not very crowded on certain Saturday's around here. I was thrilled when Jack asked Joe to go to the Auburn v Alabama game in Tuscaloosa this year because that meant I could pretend it wasn't even happening. And I did, I think the kids and I went to a movie.

3. I have control issues. I think some people would say "What!?" to that because I come across as pretty laid back. But I think if you ask my husband or my daughter they would agree. I can't delegate or give chores because I think I have to do it all myself or it won't get done right. I try to nicely suggest things for my daughter to wear to school, but when she rejects my idea, I get all in a tizzy. It's bad, and Kate suffers for it.

4. I wish more than anything I could turn the clock back to right after Wheeler was born and be less of a Mommy Dearest to Kate. I would turn it back even further if I weren't afraid it would change the fact that Wheeler is here or something Back to the Futurish like that.

5. I second guess every thing I say. After I have a conversation with anyone, I go over it in my head and think "I shouldn't have said that", or "I hope that didn't sound like I meant...",

6. I love staying up late. Sitting around with a group of friends girls or couples and just talking.

7. I can remember almost anything. I can tell you what grade I was in when a song was popular. I can remember a story you told me about people I don't even know, and can probably remember their names. I can remember all of my teachers from High School, Junior High and Elementary School. I can probably remember all or most of my classmates in those classes. At least through Junior High.

8. I try my best to avoid Name Brand Items. At least if there is any type of logo showing. I don't want my son walking around with a Tommy Hilfiger flag on his chest. You'll probably never see me in a Lexus or a Mercedes. Honda or Nissan is more my speed.

9. I have no will power at all. I can not resist cookies or candy. My latest vice is a calorie packed coffee from Starbucks. The good thing about this is I knew this about myself from a very early age. (Because I could eat a pound bag of M&M's in an hour and never blink) And because I knew this about myself, I knew never to try any drugs, I was so afraid I would like them and would never be able to stop.

10. I don't want to go back to work. Not yet, Although there are some jobs that are very appealing. Even though Wheeler is now in full day Kindergarten. I am such an unorganized person I feel that this is possibly my chance to get a handle on things around here and have a somewhat neat house, laundry done, and bills that are paid on time, etc...I'm working on food on the table at night but that might be when he starts junior high. I am hoping to just get rich and famous from this blog. Help me Out!!

So who am I tagging. Well I think my close little circle of bloggers is all taken so I'm branching out. Dona Markert, I bet you are a pretty good writer. A at the Hinesly House, (maybe this will get you back on the wagon), Dani at My Little Munchkins http://icrafty.com/, Searcy Kelly, it will be interesting to hear honest thoughts from a brand new mom as so much of life as you know it changes once a baby comes, ditto for you too Elizabeth Spratlin. One more, Lea Davis Roark I think I saw that you have a blog and it has been a while since you posted, so maybe this will make you want to write.

I Love a Good Ghost Story!!!!!!

2009-01-15T18:04:00.009-06:00

You usually think any ghost story is going to take place in an old, turn of the century house, right? Well is 2 1/2 years old enough for ya!

I have a neighbor who lives across the street. She has been in her house right about 2 1/2 years. One night probably about a year ago, somehow, all the girls are together and we get on ghost subjects. Probably because another neighbor's husband grew up in a true antebellum home and his brother was interviewed by Katie Couric or the today show about the ghost in their house. (But that is a story for her to blog about) Anyway, the subject comes up and my friend J says, "We think we have a ghost in our house". What!!! The house you live in right now? The brand new house, that our other neighbor just finished building!!

"Yep. We hear running up and down the halls and the kids are all asleep, once I was in the playroom on the computer and I heard someone sneaking up on me but when I turned around to say "gotcha" there was no one there."

OOOhhhh! We all say. Well some of the girls are done with that conversation. Don't want to hear anymore of that, it's freaking them out. Not me, I want to hear more. I'm getting all into this! Love it!

So she goes on to tell us that the morning after someone snuck up on her, her 6 year old son says at the breakfast table. "There was a girl in my room last night". J-"What, did you have a bad dream?" K-"No, there was a girl in my room last night" J-"No, I think you were dreaming" K-"No, I wasn't she had long dark hair, and she was blue". J - "Well then why didn't you come and get me?" K-"Because I didn't want her to know I was awake".

That was a year ago, and that child has not slept in that room again. He has been sleeping on the couch for a year now.

So, now, another neighbor, who has been living in the neighborhood less that a year has a blog, she doesn't know J's story, and today... Here is her post:

"Yes, these are drawings on my kitchen wall. (Linzi, make a note to secure all writing utensils out of reach), but this story is NOT about toddler creativity with markers, nail polish, yogurt, toothpaste..... This is about Camryn and her Witch. I'm capitalizing Witch, because Witch is now part of our family. Camryn had been talking about the witch in her room for quite some time, Saturday after Thanksgiving to be exact. Black Friday was my last night of uninterrupted sleep in my own bed. Every night since, I have been either woken by Camryn calling to me or just slept in her bed with her. I know many of you are thinking that she is using the witch to sleep with Mom and Dad, but I'm not sure that's the case. The first time the witch showed up, it was in the afternoon. Camryn was "scared" of the witch in her room. I told her witches weren't real, they were just cartoons. Every time after, she would tell me she wasn't scared of the witch in her room, it was just a cartoon, and then wake in the night crying about the witch. When I told her she couldn't leave her Big Girl bed and come in Mommy and Daddy's room to sleep, we found her sleeping on the Hardwood floor outside our room. It broke my heart, so I decided that making her feel safe was more important than the stigma of a child that won't sleep alone. Over the last couple of months, Witch has shown up in the kitchen mid-day, in the corner of her room, on the ceiling in the hall, but always out of the blue. We've swept Witch out the back door, vacuumed Witch up, scolded Witch away, but Witch has become a permanent resident.
The great thing about Witch is that "she" is not scary or mean. She's purple, with long hair, and a girl. After being asked so many times about Witch, Camryn finally decided to draw her (maybe life-size) on the kitchen wall. I'm sure she'll eventually go away, but until then, every day, as darkness falls, pajamas are put on , Camryn asks me "you sleep in my Big Girl bed?". And I do... hoping that night will be my last. So if anyone would like to adopt a nice, female, purple witch with long hair you can inquire under Camryn's bed. She's free to a good home! "

OOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!! So how about that! Did you get Chill Bumps cause I sure did. I love this stuff, but if the Indigo Girl comes to my house (both of these houses are within 150 yards from my house)...I'm puttin this thing up for sale! Well, it's gettin late and time for me to go to bed. I think tonight, I'll leave a few lights on and make the dog come upstairs to sleep by the bed.

My Son!!

2009-01-13T08:39:00.010-06:00

Okay, if you read yesterday's post you know that I had to take W to the doctor to get playdough out of his ear! But playdough in his ear is only one example what an adventure his life must be for him everyday.

Yesterday I went to check him out of school to go to the doctor and as he is coming down the hall, I think..."He has got jelly all over his face." No, he's all scratched up, and his lip is busted.

"What happened?" I say

"Well, I was jumping off of the playground and my foot got tangled up in Adrevian's head, and so I did a flip and landed with my face in the bark."

Which reminds me, right before Christmas, I went to school to have lunch with him. Right after lunch is recess, so out we go to the playground, now I hear Wheeler and Beckett talking about skydiving but I don't know what they are talking about. I'm sitting on the bench with his teacher who suddenly nudges me and says "You gonna let him go that high?" (He is standing on the top of the monkey bars). I say, "well, I don't know, is it against the rules, is it gonna cause problems with the other children?" She says, "Your his mama, if you wanna let him go that high, it's ok with me". Just then he jumps! Lands on his feet, sort of, and goes again.

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine was having a birthday party for her little man. About 40 minutes after I dropped him off, she called to lovingly say "I'm just calling to tell you that I could not be his mother!"

"Oh, I thought you were calling to tell me he got hurt"

"No, but he should be. He has fallen out of the treehouse, backward and has gone higher on the rope swing than anyone has ever gone before.

Whew!!! I love that little monkey! Like I said, adventure. These are just a few, and I mean a small few, examples. I'm so glad I get to be his mother.

My Son

2009-01-12T08:31:00.003-06:00

We are going directly to the doctor when the kids get home from school today. Why? My son shoved playdough in his ear...during Sunday School.

Not According to Plan

2009-01-11T09:21:00.005-06:00

My friend at http://greengrassgrowshere.blogspot.com/ just posted about family game night and how she had pictured 4 happy children playing games and being great sports with each other ....(I wish I knew how to spell the sound effect of a vinyl record scratching)...it wasn't like that.

Meanwhile, just across town...The Garretts are planning "Family Movie Night".

We had been out of the house all day. Wheeler's basketball game was at 8:15 am on Saturday morning. Then it is off to eat breakfast at our favorite restaurant, Kate and I have to run buy a birthday present, go pick up a friend and get back to her basketball game by 12:00. Kate's game is over so Wheeler and I run Kate and her friend to a skate party at 2:00. We have some errands to run and so I think "I am looking forward to a nice family meal, curling up on the couch and watching some happy, family friendly movie while the rain pitters on the deck outside.

So I let Wheeler pick the movies, with some guidance. At first he wants Ninja Turtles. I say, no you need to think of something that we will all enjoy, you are the only one who will enjoy Ninja Turtles. So he goes back. After lots of no's he finally picks 3...Speed Racer, Inspector Gadget 2, and Firehouse Dog. Yes, he is a boy.

So we pick up Kate and head home. We get in the house, and they start playing Lego Batman on the Wii, which I HATE! I don't hate the game as much as I hate his addiction to it. (But maybe that will be another post) and we don't say hate in this house.

Finally, dinner is ready. There is some whining about turning off Batman. We sit down for some nice family conversation, it is all between Wheeler and his best friend Macy, with some comments from Kate about...Batman Wii! Joe and I have nothing to contribute, so we just eat in silence. Dinner is over, Daddy and I are cleaning up after dinner, Wheeler is whining again about playing Batman Wii until we turn on the movie.....

Finally, movie time. Oops, Daddy forgot to buy the popcorn. Out the kids go in the rain to borrow popcorn from next door. Finally movie time. We put in Speed Racer. Everything is going well, Speed is driving fast and winning races, he is being wined and dined to a big sponsor, then (vinyl record scratches) Some scary looking men are all in this meeting room with a piranah tank beeting another man to a pulp! They are about to feed him to the piranhas! I don't know about you, but I don't remember any piranahs when I watched Speed Racer as a kid. So we skip ahead to a scene with Trixie and Speed sitting in a car talking...but the talking is getting kind of sexy... New movie choice!!!

So after some discussion and whining from my oldest child, we choose Firehouse Dog! Cute movie! I've seen bits and pieces of this, I know it is PG but I think it is fine. All is going well the boy calls the dog "The dog from H---"...Only once, I can overlook that. Then, as I am falling in love with this dog and talking about how cute he is...He jumps up on the table in the firehouse and uses the bathroom in the pot of stew the firemen are about to eat. And I don't mean Number One! Okay, If you know me, you know we do NOT do potty humor in this house. That's it. Joe is done, he gets up and he is done, not watching that anymore. Movie night is over...I finally convince him to come back, maybe that was all the tackiness. No, there was a little bit more passing gas...My children know they better not laugh at that it is off to bed for everyone. After the dog's stomach seems to regulate the movie starts getting good. Now we are getting toward the end and the boy has solved the mystery, it's getting tense, the kids are getting scared for the boy because the firehouse is on fire and the boy is inside. Wheeler wants me to turn it off, but I convince him to come sit in my lap so I can continue telling him that it will be o.k....Here come's Kate, she climbs up in Joe's lap. "C'mon Macy!"..So here she comes to my lap. I can hardly breathe...And the movie is SCRATCHED!!! We watched the whole rest of the movie in still photos. Not breathing.

Not exactly what I had pictured. Oh, well. I'm definitely sticking to G movies from now on. And I am begging any movie makers out there to please...realize that there are children out there. That not all movie watchers want sex, violence, and gas!

Sorry to be such a downer, The next post will be a happy one, I promise!!

We will watch Inspector Gadget 2 soon. It is G. So I think it will be safe, if not, it's back to Winnie the Pooh in this house.

Nothing Says Holidays Like .... The Frat House?!

2009-01-06T22:11:00.007-06:00

Yup, that's what I said, the Frat house. We spend Christmas Eve at The Auburn Theta Xi house. Really!

It is actually great. Joe's mom is the Theta Xi house mom and all the boys are gone, so we cook a big feast and have all of Joe's sisters, brother in laws, nieces, nephews etc.... There are at least 20 of us, so it is nice...plenty of room.

Only last year, Ni Ni's christmas tree was stolen!! On December 23! I'm sure some other fraternity like Beta, or KA thought that was just a great prank...but there were no boys there to get the joke. Only NiNi, who didn't think it was funny at all. She made sweet Michelle come over there on Christmas Eve and put together another artificial tree and decorate it. The rest of us didn't help it all. But you can always count on Michelle to pull it together for the family.

I wish I knew the Theta Xi handshake, or code words or whatever brotherly secret they have. It could be our secret meaning for Merry Christmas! I wonder how NiNi would feel if we pulled out a funnell; or maybe we could just play a nice family game of three man, I might be able to remember the rules to that one. But I don't think Santa should drive his sleigh after that.

Oh The Sounds of Christmas in Alabama....

2008-12-20T21:42:00.006-06:00

...The musaac of the Ice Cream Man. Yes, I said the Ice Cream Man. The kids are in shorts and flip flops and the ice cream man came today. It is December 20th. Most people would say that's crazy but my friend DeAnne and I were talking today and I remember more warm Christmases (sp?) than cold ones. So here are some "traditional" Christmas Pictures...from the South.

I very comfortably walked down the street barefooted to find my kids for these pictures. I really like this weather, it sho is easy!

If you read this, please comment so I know you are out there.

Rose and Ian

2008-12-03T08:06:00.003-06:00

Yay!! We did it. I have wanted to do this forever, and for no good reason, never did. I think it is just one of those things you think "I'll do it tomorrow" and then you don't get around to it. Meanwhile there is a child out there anxiously awaiting some help.

We went to church Sunday and were to pick our child. Well of course the children couldn't agree, so we got 2!! Maybe that makes up a little for waiting so long to do one. They are cute aren't they, Rose and Ian. We know very little about them, but hope to learn more. I hope that we will communicate with them through letters. I know that Rose is in Kindergarten and Ian is in 3rd grade. They live in Buloba, in the African Region of Uganda. With the money and help from our church, these children will get to go to school, this will pay for their books, their uniforms, and a meal at school. We did this through the ARM Project. Africa Renewal Ministries. You can look it up on http://www.africarenewal.org.

My kids asked me why they aren't smiling. Wheeler said "they were sad because they don't have much" but I don't think so. I imagine these children are very happy children and very happy with what ever they do have. I think they don't smile because they don't get there pictures taken very often and probably just don't know that smiling is what you do. Interesting I think.

We plan to write them a letter and tell them about us and hope to hear back from them but I don't know how long that takes. I'll update about them as soon as I know something.

2008-11-27T21:19:00.004-06:00

Okay, I know, I haven't posted in a long time. I felt like I couldn't until I did something about sponsoring a child somewhere somehow. I have been waiting to hear from my church as I signed up a long time ago and was waiting for more sponsors before we could get the program going. I got an e-mail this week that says we can pick out our child this Sunday so the kids and I will do that and then I can fill you in on more details. I'm excited.

As for what we have been up to lately. Not a lot but it's been nice. Today is Thanksgiving and I am very full. We went to Joe's sister's house today and ate way too much. Joe's mom makes the best dressing and I just can't stop until it is time to go,and then we pack a lot more into tupperware containers and bring it home to eat more tomorrow. Actually, I'm thinking I might go eat some now....

We also went to my dad's for a short visit. He is doing a lot better. He doesn't have much of an appetite so he has lost a lot of weight. It is getting better though. He is eating a little and gaining strength. He is frustrated because it isn't moving fast enough for his satisfaction, but isn't that the way all recoveries go?

My birthday was Sunday. I've had a really nice week. We went to eat at a friends house Friday night and really had a good time. I thought about my parents as we finished our dinner but still sat at the dining room table for a long time after and just talked and laughed. I remember my parents having people over for dinner and they would stay at the dining room table for hours. I never understood what they were doing. Now I understand, you are just having so much fun, you don't dare move to the living room for fear of breaking the groove and having to end the night. Thanks, T and M, we really enjoyed it.

I have also been taken to lunch with 2 friends that was fun, Thanks B and T. Went shopping with a friend, thanks A. Ate at the Olive Garden with 2 more friends and then we did some late night Target shopping, thanks D and K. Anyway, it has been nice and I've been spoiled.

Whoops, forgot to mention that Joe and I had a date to Amsterdam Cafe and then to a movie.

This was my first 39th birthday and I plan to have 10 more, until my 1st 49th birthday. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some Flashback Friday pictures of a younger me.

First though, I'm getting up really early to go Black Friday shopping!!

One of these days I'll tell you about last years birthday and black Friday. It is a memory I'll never forget, and I'm telling you, my friend Anne and I are the smartest people in Auburn!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

2008-11-05T08:34:00.005-06:00

I got on the computer this morning and read all of my favorite blogs. I thought if anyone is reading mine that doesn't read these other 3 is really missing out. My friend at Where the Green Grass Grows (please check my friends blogs on the right hand column as I can't figure out how to put a link directly in a post) tells the best stories. She really has me laughing out loud or nodding my head in agreement with every post. I look forward to your posts every day Tiff, you add a smile to my day every time you have a new post.

My other favorites are Big Mama and The Pioneer Woman, usually also telling funny stories or posting about their daily life. But right now, Big Mama and The Pioneer Woman's family are in the Dominican Republic on a Compassion Trip. I hope you will check out their blogs as they are posting pictures and thoughts about this trip. Compassion is an organization where you sponsor a child to provide food and healthcare, and also you form a relationship with this child. I think if I can slow my self down tonight and realize how much I have and how much these people don't, I will show these posts to my children and probably sign up to sponsor a child.

Maybe I'll do some research, I know there are many organizations like this. Is there one that looks at some of the children right here in America? Maybe that is a much harder thing to do. I don't know, but I think it is important. For me and for my children. I'll keep you updated. I hope you will check out these blogs too as they are very interesting.

And on a lighter note, these 2 girls are just like me on a daily basis and their blogs are fun and head nodding too. Check out Ree on The Pioneer Woman, her love story of her and her husband is great, it is a novel you can't put down. The links are again in my right hand column, under my favorite sites.

I am also going to let Kate post about the election. It was a historic day, she might be the first 8 year old to actually vote in a presidential election! Though I do hope that who ever you voted for you are excited about the history that was made last night and how involved so many more people are in this process than ever before.

Double the Loot!!

2008-11-01T15:04:00.020-05:00

Boy did my kids ever luck out. We got to go Trick or Treating twice!

In the town we live in, if Halloween falls on a Friday, they reschedule Trick or Treat for Thursday. They say it is for High School Football. I also think that it probably helps to keep the mischief and partying down if the teenagers have a school night curfew.

We had a fun time in our neighborhhod. We all get together in the cul-de-sac for a pizza party before dark so the kids can all see each other's costumes and play for a while. Before we get down to serious gettin candy business.

There were some great costumes!!
Then the race is on!!! Nobody is home because they all are about our age and have kids too. So the kids just run and get a piece of candy out of a bucket left on the porches. It is an all out sprint, fast as you can before the buckets are emptied!! We had a great time and thanks to my nephew Will, I didn't have to sprint with my kids, he kept up with them and made sure they were safe. Thanks Will!!

So, On Friday night. We went back home to my hometown. Now they do Halloween up right!!! Golf Carts are a main means of transportation so we can go all over town in the golf cart for trick or treating. The golfcart paths in town run all through the woods and behind the neighborhoods, off the main streetways, so that is fun because it is dark and quiet and perfect for Halloween.

This guy had "Ghostbusters" playing as he drove his kids around to get their goodies. Looks like there is a skeleton in the background who needs a ride!!

There are several neighborhoods in town that really get into Halloween. They decorate their houses, have haunted mazes, live action drama etc... We had a great time!!

Thank you Wendy and Bobby for the fun and hospitality!! Thanks to all the Conners for allowing me to keep my Honorary Connerary status!

And my kids got the Double the Loot!!!

(This picture aint nothin, cause they have eaten half of it already!!

Who "Just Wants to Have Fun"...We Did!!!

2008-10-27T09:00:00.059-05:00

Oh wow, did we ever have fun. What a fun night, the 80's added such a great twist to Halloween. The costumes were great, the band was really awesome!!! We had so much fun, thanks to everyone who hosted but a big thanks to Jack, Barclay, Jodi, Paul, and Ronnie and Tamara who did most of the work. It was just fantastic!!!!

Coming up with all of these costumes was so much fun. I had about 5 different ideas when my friend, Anne, and I went to the local thrift store to find some 80's clothes. Hate to say it but the 80's was so long ago that the even the thrift store threw that stuff out a lllooooonnnnngggg time ago. So for some reason I was drawn to the wedding dresses. "Puffy sleeves, I think I can make this look 80's", so I go home and try to find some pictures of anybody I knew who got married in the 80's. I'm proud to say, that I am too young to have friends who got married in the 80's, Most of my friends (that I would have wedding pictures of anyway) got married in the 90's.

In the 80's I was very attached to Patch and Kayla on Days of Our Lives, I'm sure I'll never forget their wedding and all the turmoil that they had to go through to get to that glorius (how do you spell that?) day. And so, I modeled my headpiece after her, what do you think?!

But then, when I would tell people that I bought a wedding dress they would say, "Oh, is Joe gonna be Billy Idol?", well, we hadn't thought of that, he was going to be Jason, from Friday the 13th. But the more I thought of it, it sounded fun. Joe thought it sounded hard, didn't think anyone would know who he was. I had to do some real convincing, then I had to put Jack and Ronnie up to coaxing and convincing. Well, I think he is glad he decided to be Billy Idol. He said he got more attention from women that night than he ever remembers getting. (I find that hard to believe considering how used to look in his gold chain and pink shirt).

I think there was even a record set for Most Pictures Taken of Your Rear End

Paul (or Camille) and Joe (Billy) tied for this award.

Eric wins the prize for most pictures taken from the front. I don't know why. Neither does Kim.

Paul also wins for most original? or just most......likely....to leave us...speechless.

The Best Hair award goes to Nick and DeAnne.
That mullett is really scary, look close, he is wearing his gold chain, the one from that 20 year old picture you've seen before.

I'll say Kim and Amanda had some pretty good hair too.

The award for scariest goes to Britton Herbert as Teen Wolf; Jack as the Heavy Metal Dude,(who brought along his beautiful groupie); and.................Paul.
So is Jim Baker trying to lead Camille in a different direction spiritually or is he making a pass at her?

Most Creative goes to Mark Cantor as Elliot with ET.
Loved it when Mark started handing out Reese's Pieces.

I think I'll have to take away Most Original from Paul and give it to Mo and Allison Wright as John McEnroe and Borg.

The 2 that really got into character were definately Rebecca and Will as Axel Rose and Slash from Guns and Roses
Jodi I wish I had a picture of that split, you'd be running a close second here.

Best Group...The Maxwells and the Emfingers, KISS

Tina Turner said she had fun but she thought the party was a little short?! On the other hand, the nerd she came with , said it was so much fun it felt like 2 parties!!!

There were so many great costumes, Mad Max, Jane Jetson, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Cheech and Isaac from the Love Boat (Jonathon's got the fingerpoint down pat).

Jane Fonda, Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper ; Cheech and the Valley Girl; The Greatest American Hero brought his Aerobics Queen.

I thought Lynn and Dale Lightfoot were cute as Def Leopard (look close the ears are taped) and a Rubiks Cube

Shannon Chandler was by far the best Madonna.

Bartles and James were even there to thank us for their support.

I have no idea who this 1st guy is but I liked his shirt, cut off shirts were definitely the thing in the mid 80's. As for Michael and Rachel who were rubbing it in that they were babies in the 80's...you may be young but I bet you learned a thing or two Saturday night! Maybe Kenny and Dolly taught it to ya.

Here is Jonathon, Jodi, and Paul cutting a rug.

The Auburn University Swim Team was represented by Hugh Heffner, one of his bunnies I guess, Tom Cruise and the FlashDance girl.

Here are some Madeline girls: Carrie in a prom dress, Jennifer as Wonder Woman and Tracy Cantor as Daisy Duke. Anne and Todd came all decked out in 80's attire, is that a Members Only jacket you have on?

I bet you didn't know that was Kayla Brady in the White Wedding video did you?

By the way, please click on comments and let me know you are out there. It isn't hard, just click on the word "comments" at the bottom of each post.

Totally Psyched!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-25T00:28:00.009-05:00

Like, Oh My God, I can't wait. There is a big 80's party tonight and it is going to be Totally Killer.

Dude, I hope you will listen, while you get ready tonight. Here are some tunes to take you Back to the Future!

What I wish is that I had some pictures of parachute pants, splatter paint, even Pappagallo purses but i don't. Here is what I could find.

This is my junior prom, I couldn't do the wrist corsage because it would get in the way of my gloves. The gloves that only had one piece of elastic to fit around my middle finger (remember those?) Also, I can't tell if this is the year that my boyfriend with the thin straight hair got a perm, just in the back!!Joe with his pink polo and his cool gold chain. I guess these guys below him were his thugs.

Even Nick DeWeese has the gold chain.

These pictures of Nick and Joe come from their senior class group picture (there were only 22 in the class) and the 2 with the biggest gold chains...Joe and Nick!

This isn't fair, DeAnne with really big hair, purple eye shadow and she is still just so pretty.

Do you like my "Dolphin" shorts and my airbrush shirt? I think the shirt my brother has on must have been a "Hobie". Just to clear the record, I am not the one with the knee high socks.

Closest I've Been to Nashville

2008-10-19T23:14:00.021-05:00

Man, we had a great weekend!!! A busy weekend! Started Saturday off with Wheeler's soccer game, which was fun. The weather was great. After the game Kate and I went shopping!! We actually enjoyed it! No arguing about clothes we agreed on what we thought was cute etc... We went to Starbucks, where they had these cute activity notebooks (the kind with crossword puzzles, mad lib type games etc...), perfect for her age, on the clearance table. The books were originally $5.99 so I figured, clearance would be a great price...I was right, it was free!!! I don't know why exactly, but it was. Then I look down and they have these sample cups or hot chocolate, not the little shot glass samples, a 6 oz. cup of hot chocolate, Free!! So I came out of there with a happy 8 year old, FREE!!

Today, I helped give a baby shower for a neighbor. It is her first baby and I think that all of us in the neighborhood are about as excited as she is! She is so cute and she and T (or Santa Claus as I like to call him) are going to be great parents!

Now, the best part of the whole weekend was last night. My friend, Heather, invited us and some friends to her company party. This is no ordinary company party. I promise Mr. Wells, if I ever start a business, I'll use your services!! This company party was called a Night in Nashville. It was like going to the Bluebird Cafe. 2 singer songwriters from Nashville came down to the Hank Williams museum in downtown Montgomery and sat on their stools, told the stories behind their songs and sang them to us. Radney Foster was one of them!!! You should recognize his name and if you don't, I know you would recognized his songs. I knew every country song played on the radio in the late 80's through the 90's, and his songs were a lot of them. He hit the charts several times with his own recordings and is hitting the charts still with his songs being recorded by some big names like Keith Urban, Sara Evans, and Tim McGraw. I have a few playing for you now but not many can be found on Playlist, he has a bunch you know. The other writer was Georgia Middleman, I had not heard of her, but when she sang her songs, I knew quite a few of them. She is a great singer and performer but I couldn't find her at all on playlist. Her songs have been recorded by artists like Faith Hill and Terri Clark. We had 2 uninterupted hours of great music!!

One of the songs that you hear now (if you don't read too fast) is the Dixie Chicks "Godspeed" I sang that song to Wheeler every night while I rocked him to sleep. Well, Radney Foster wrote that song, but I didn't know that. I nearly jumped out of my seat when he started singing that one. I almost ran up to the microphone to sing it with him, but it wasn't that kind of night. That wouldn't have been respectful. Neither would videoing every song he sang and hooping & hollering like we were in the omni. Who would do that?

We went with Jay and Jennifer and Stephen and Weatherly. We really had a great time with them. They are 2 couples we've known for a while and have always considered friends, but have never had the chance to really go out and hang out together. I had a blast. The car rides, the dinner, the venue were all great fun and I'm so glad we got to do it with such fun people. Sorry Weatherly for making you run with your hurt toe. Thanks Jay for helping her out.

Here are some photos and make sure you listen to the music, you'll recognize it I'm sure!

Heather, Kevin and Mr. Wells, thanks so much for having us!! When you do it again "I'm In"!!

Code Question

2008-10-17T23:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, here is a code word I haven't learned yet. ............Meme, or meme, or MEme. I've seen it written all three ways. Help, can someone decode that one for me?

Codes

2008-10-16T22:24:00.004-05:00

So let me just explain what blogging has done to me. But first, let me say that I didn't even want a blog. I told my blogging friend, "I can't, I won't get anything done, I will never do laundry, etc...But she talked me into it, and let me say I love it!!!! I'm addicted to it. I log on at least 6 times a day to see if I have any new comments. Then I go and check all of my favorite blogs to see if they have anything new on theirs.

One of my favorite blogs is actually of a friend of mine who is in a LCR group with me (LCR is sort of like Bunco). Tonight I went to my monthly girls night out LCR game. It was sad. Every time someone told a story or had a funny little joke to tell or whatever, I would say...Oh, have you seen T's blog? She has the funniest post about that! I swear I must have said it 5 times before she got there.

Now, she and I are definately the bloggers of the group, and then there are 2 or 3 who are facebookers, and then the rest aren't interested. We are lucky if we get e-mails from them! (Just kidding J.C. you send great E-mails) So we all start talking and we are talking about T's latest post, and I'm mad because I tagged 6 people and 5 have ignored me. I'm telling T how she can go into her dashboard to create links. Then the facebookers join in and they are talking about flairs and getting poked. So J.C. pipes in and she is neither a blogger nor a facebooker and says "Are yall talking in code?" I can't keep up!

Let me just say, I never thought I would be someone who had the upper hand in anything computer oriented, speaking in computer language. And believe me I know I really don't have much of an upperhand, I think it just had to do with the group I was with. So now I am home and as I review tonights LCR (which was great fun C, thanks!) I realize it is just as I imagined it would be...I'm not doing laundry!!!

By the way, "The eggs are coming tomorrow, front porch, in the cooler". I don't think anyone can decode that one.

Thank you Amanda for my blog, I love it!!

Flashback Friday

2008-10-10T09:18:00.009-05:00

Just found Flashback Friday on The Carroll Crew http://kamrynandchristian.blogspot.com/ where she posts old (flashback) photos. I love that idea!

I decided the best Flashback to do right now would be a flasback for my Dad. He is in the hospital right now, he just had open heart surgery and is having a really rough time with his recovery. He is on my mind all the time right now.

This is a picture of him in his glory days, he was the pitcher for the Auburn University Baseball Team. I think this was in 1956 or 1957. I'd say he is about 23 in this picture as he was drafted for the Korean War before he came to Auburn. He was pretty darn handsome don't you think?

I Love you, Daddy.

Roll Out the Red Carpet!

2008-10-08T20:47:00.013-05:00

Wow, so what do you know! I got a blogger award!!!! I'm very honored, but not really sure what that means, but I guess I'll make a speech now...

ahem...

I'd like to thank Amanda Parker at Kiss My Blog (you'll find a link down at the bottom of my blog) for creating my blog. Also I'd like to thank Amanda Parker at "It's Always a Party at the Parkers" and Julee Nappier at "Those Little Nappieheads" for starting this blogging craze among our circle of friends. I'd like to thank my mother and father for giving me life, I'd like to thank...Oh, oh sorry back to the real world.

Also thank you to The Hinesely House, who presented me with the award. I appreciate your encouragement and am enjoying getting closer to you through our blogs.

O.K. so now, I am to pass this award on to my favorite blogs. As with every blog award, there are a few rules that must be followed.These rules are:

1. You may only choose five people/blogs to give the award to...

2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog...

3. One has to be a new follower of your blog, or live in another part of the world...

Allright, I have no idea if I have any followers at all on my blog. I don't even know how you find that out. I just know that I pester everyone I know, "Have you seen my blog", "Did you see my latest post" I'm driving everyone in my family crazy with this thing, but it sure is fun. I'm just going to pick the ones that I follow. (Even if everyone of you ignored my tag!!!!!!!!!)

So here I go passing on this prestigious award:

Hmmmm

This is tough.

Okay, I am going to break the rules right off the bat. I either have to pick 6 or pick 2. I feel like there are 4 that are great, pretty much of equal billing but I have 2 that absolutely get the Grand Prizes, The Entertainers of the Year if you will.

I love:

Blogging at the Bell House

The Smith Family News

It's Always a Party at the Parkers

Those Little Nappieheads

But the 2 that go above and beyond are......................................................................

Where the Green Grass Grows
Although this is a friend of mine, I really love her blog. She has me laughing and not wanting her short stories to end. I look forward to her posts everyday and am genuinely disappointed when there is nothing new to read.

The Pioneer Woman
My friend from Green Grass told me about her and she is awesome. You must go to this website (you'll find the link on my favorite sites in the right hand column). Go to her love story "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels". You've heard of the book you can't put down. This is the blog you can't put down. I'm waiting desperately on the next "chapter" I read the whole thing in 2 nights, really couldn't put it down. Love her!!!

The Pioneer Woman is my far away blog. All the rest are friends. Like I said I am really new to this and don't know who follows or how to even let someone know I follow them. Thanks again, A Hinesely, I'm honored.

"Tag!!, I'm It"

2008-09-27T16:37:00.015-05:00

I've been tagged. My friend, Mrs. Hinesley we will call her, has tagged me. I am supposed to reveal 6 things about myself and then tag 6 friends. Okay, sounds fun, now let's see.

1. I might answer to the name, Stephen. When I was a little girl, my family would go camping at the beach! I was less than 6 years old and of course within the first day or 2 would have gotten sand all in my bathing suit. So my mom would just let me swim in shorts (cutoff Winnie the Pooh's from Sears) and no shirt. Oh, let me mention that my mom kept my hair pretty short. One day, after we had been at the beach for almost a week, my parents walked over to talk to a family, that I had been hanging out with all week. (Can't imagine that I would have made some new friends after only a few days). The man and woman said to my parents, "We really have enjoyed Stephen these last few days". My Dad said, "Oh, that is great, but Stephen's name is Elizabeth!" What can I say, I had 2 older brothers and I thought they were pretty cool.

2. I was Lost at Sea in the Gulf of Mexico. July 4, 1992. I was at the beach with The Haring Family, A wonderful family that I used to babysit for here in Auburn. They treated me just like family and I got to go to the beach with them. After a long day of sailboat racing at Grayton Beach, we were all ready to return to the condo in SeaGrove. The Haring's Uncle Jim Patrie was offering sailing lessons to anyone who would help him take the boat back, so I said yes. There was no wind close to the coast so we went out kind of far to find a breeze. Finally, we turned and headed East, back toward home. (What I haven't mentioned was that while in the actual race, Harrison((boyfriend of a cousin))and I had to fight to keep the boat from tipping over, but we got it back down. Anyway, Jim and I get to the point where we need to turn the boat in toward the shore, we can see the house. As we turn, the boat starts to flip, we scramble to the top to shift our weight but to no avail, the boat ends up on its side. Over the next few hours we pull, we push, we do everything we can to right the boat but it can't be done. One of the pontoons had a run (like a run in your stocking) in it and had been taking on water all week long, it had reached its fill point. Because we had gone out so far to catch the wind, no one could see us. We spent all night in the ocean, watching the coast guard plane fly overhead looking for us. Fortunately, floated east instead of south, and ended up out in front of Panama City, just in time for the fishing boats that were heading out the next morning. One of them called the Coast Guard and were finally rescued around 9:00 am the next day.

3. I studied in Spain for a Summer Yes, my degree is in Spanish, but if you don't use it, you lose it, so don't ask me to speak it for you, because I can't.

4. My first car was a 1977 Honda Accord Hatchback. It wasn't as old as it sounds, I'm the one that is old. I turned 16 in November of 1985, so the car wasn't even 10 years old. My father bought this car from my Uncle Jimmy. It didn't have very many miles on it, my aunt just drove it around Montgomery most of the time. My Dad had it refurbished, it was really nice. The gear shift was mahogony, it had a pull choke for cold mornings, and best of all the new paint job my dad had done for me. It was a gold color, much like the original color, except my dad is color blind, he didn't see the green tint that was mixed in with the gold. My friend Ashley said it looked like a big sneeze.

5. I've been to the top of Jordan Hare at well past midnight. Joe and I used to work for the Electrical Distribution Department for Auburn University. Terry Bowden's first season and Auburn was expected to be really good! ESPN told Auburn they had to change the light bulbs at the stadium to be a certain brightness if they were going to come and put the Tigers on TV. So, at night, after the campus had cleared out, and so the linemen that we worked with could get overtime, we would go to the stadium, go all the way to the top decks and with Joe at the bottom of one light pole and me at the bottom of another, we would hoist one light bulb at a time, up in a bucket on a pulley, to our friends who were way up at the top of those poles, risking their lives for sure just to put the Tigers on ESPN! They even had to change out some of the fixtures. Did I mention that it was Terry Bowden's first season, which if you will remember was in the heart of the Eric Ramsey scandal. We got the brightness just right, and then for part of the Eric Ramsey penalty, Bowden and Housell opted that Auburn wouldn't be on TV at all that year! Oh well, we had fun.

6. I Love the Beach Anywhere in the Appalachiacola region, Cape San Blas, Pt. St. Joe, Appalachiacola, Indian Pass, or St. George. I wish I could just stay there all summer.

Now, I Tag 6 people. Please don't get offended if I don't tag you. I can only pick 6 and at least 2 of them I am going to tag because they haven't blogged in over a month, or ever Tamara!! I am trying to encourage you non-bloggers to get in the game!!

If you are tagged here are the rules:
1.Post the rules on your blog
2.Write 6 random things about yourself
3.Tag 6 people and pass it on for fun!

I TAG
Holly's Follies (Holly, tag Julee for me will ya?)
The Earles Girls
Where the Green Grass Grows
Hanging w/The Hansells
The Smith Family News

Yall know I can't stand to leave anyone out. I can't wait to read everyone's!

If Joe and I Had Known Each Other as Kids

2008-09-26T14:28:00.004-05:00

I went to AEEC's celebration today! So cute. I really enjoyed being able to see from the inside. When Kate was there, there was no Gym or Cafeteria, so I was out in the parking lot trying to see over 100 adult heads. This was much better, and Dr. Land even came to see it!

This video is so cute, I couldn't help but notice the little girl to Wheeler's left, in the pink. As I watched them I thought "That looks just like me and Joe at a party!" Click on the video and see what I mean, this would have been us if we had been in the same kindergarten class. She is so jolly!! Leslie Kate, I can't wait to get to know you better!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ni Ni turns 70

2008-09-24T10:42:00.003-05:00

Joe's mom turned 70 on Sunday. We celebrated with a big party. Lots of her friends, old and new came.

Thanks Nita for all that you have given us all throughout the years. You have taught everyone the great value of family. We Love You.

Auburn v LSU

2008-09-20T23:27:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Jodi and Paul for organizing a tailgate today, it was lots of fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

To Joe

2008-09-19T22:47:00.007-05:00

I don't say it much and I probably say it publicly even less, but I really have a great husband.

Today, he stayed home from work because he really wasn't feeling very well. Well I went to the school to make cookies with Wheeler's class. When I finished it was 11:30, as usual I know that at home there is a pile of laundry that needs to be done, clutter all over the place etc... I really should have gone home, but I do have a few errands to run, so I call Joe to see if he can get the kids off the bus while I run these errands. So I go to pick up shirts from the cleaners, go to Home Depot, and the grocery store to get food for our tailgate...but first...I head downtown to see if I can find any cute jewlery to wear to the tailgate tomorrow. I haven't told Joe about this errand and actually he will probably not find out about it until he reads this (unless he notices the new jewelry, which is just not likely). So about an hour and 1/2 into this 1st errand he calls and says, "I can get the kids off of the bus but when will you be home because I have some errands to run to". Well I haven't run any of my necessary errands yet!!! So I say 3:00 and believe it or not bought my jewelry, and ran the other errands and made it home by 3:10. Not too shabby. He in the meantime, on top of being sick was able to mow the grass, fix the broken toy box, clean out the computer desk, get the kids off of the bus, and do some office work like a conference call and e-mails.

Many times his oh-so-good and perfect personality makes me so mad!! I feel very inadequate most of the time.

So tonight, I'm in the middle of making cookies for tailgate tomorrow, when I have to leave, there is a bunco meeting across the street and I can't miss it, it is important! I get the dough complete and tell him I will bake the cookies when I get home to please just leave the mess and I will get when I get back. He asks if he can please clean it up (1st, how many husbands would do that) and I say NO!! It makes me feel bad, it makes me feel guilty just leave it and I'll get it when I get back. I will be up while the cookies are in the oven I can clean it then. Well the ever important bunco meeting lasted longer than I expected and I came home to a very clean kitchen! Normally,this would have made me mad because that is just the unreasonable wife that I am, but tonight, it was soooooo nice. I also came home to bathed, sleeping children. I am pretty lucky I think.

Thank you Joe, for helping me around the house and putting up with my inadequacies and my pride.

Thursday, September 18

2008-09-18T13:37:00.005-05:00

So, I am looking at everyone's blog today, nobody really has any new news. I certainly don't have any new news. Although, let me say, I did watch my friend Holly's sister in law on Top Design last night. You go Natalie!!! You are doing terrific! I hated to see Big Daddy go though. He wasn't who I would have picked.

So anyway, I don't have anything to change or add so I think I'll change my music. I started thinking about American Idol and David Cook. I can't wait until his new album comes out. I think he is an incredible talent. I am not a real hard rocker so I hope he isn't too hard core. The cool thing about American Idol is that it shows how versatile some of these singers are. What you are listening to now is him singing Music of the Night, from Phantom of the Opera. I'm certainly not an Opera fan but thought this was a fantastic song for him. His voice is amazing. I remember he didn't get good feedback from the judges on this song, which I just couldn't understand as he blew everyone out of the water. I thought it was incredible. So, I thought I'd play it for ya.

So, anyway, that is all for today. Looking forward to the weekend. WAR EAGLE!!

1st Soccer Game of the Season

2008-09-17T11:08:00.011-05:00

Wow, we had so much fun at Wheeler's soccer game Monday night! He really did fantastic! It was funny, you could see it in his face in the beginning of the game that he really had no idea what was going on. But somewhere, at sometime during the game, he figured it out and did really well. He scored 3 goals!!!

He was also the captain of the team, which meant he was in charge of getting the team warmed up and stretched. You did a good job bud!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

A Visit from GrandBill and Gram

2008-09-11T16:22:00.009-05:00

Just yesterday my grandparents came to town and Gram made Wheeler a baby blanket just like his old one! She made me an Auburn scarf. I would like for her to make alot so that I can sell them on tailgete days. Come on over if you want one.

Callaway Gardens

2008-09-05T20:52:00.007-05:00

Callaway Gardens is so close to Auburn it is a great place to go and spend a day! We actually went twice this summer and really enjoyed it. There is so much to do. The beach, iceburg island (an inflatable playground in the water), bike riding, putt-putt, etc.. The kids loved it.

We went once with my friend Patrick Ware (who was my next door neighbor when I was 4 and he was 2. We were great friends, it is nice now that our children will know each other even if it is just once a summer that they get to play. I wish I had some pictures of me and Patrick as kids because Leslie Ann looks so much like him and I think Wheeler looks a lot like me.

We also went with my friend Anne Daniels, where we went to Mr. Casons Garden. 5 year old Lily was impressive when she identified Rosemary as we walked by it. She could tell by the smell!! I forgot my camera that day. Sorry Anne, maybe we can go back this fall.

This is a video of Kate flying high on the bungee. I have tried and tried to rotate this video but can't figure it out. Sorry, tilt your head to watch this, it really is cool.

2008-08-31T21:52:00.005-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

First Auburn Tailgate!! We had a good time, walked around, saw a lot of people and went to the first half of the game. The kids were great!! It was hot and we did a lot of walking but they didn't complain and really seemed to have a good time! WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look At My New Smile!!

2008-08-26T14:06:00.003-05:00

Wheeler lost his first tooth in Aisle 6 at Target on Friday! He was so excited. Our good friend Lydia Araya was about 4 aisles over. He went running to her through all the other customers, as Target was crowded. "Mrs Lydia, look at my loose tooth! It came out! See my new smile!!"

Hello to Blogger World

2008-08-26T08:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, my first post. Writing is not my gift. I barely made it through school and I blame it all on English Composition! When we moved back to Auburn I had a fleeting thought of getting another degree until I remembered I would have to write a paper, or many papers, delete that idea!

I love photographs, so that will be my main thing. I used to scrapbook a lot when Kate was a baby and then along came Wheeler. Poor thing, second child never gets the picture books and memories the first one gets. I still have lots of paper and scrapbook stuff just gathering dust. Maybe this will be my new scrapbook, I'd like to find out if there is a way I can keep this stuff, maybe download it onto a disc once a year to chronicle our lives and have something for the kids.

When I do write, I hope I will be forgiven for my poor skills. My grammar is fine. I know when to say "me" and when to say "I", I know when not to say "was" and "at". But Jack, I may need some help with my run on sentences. I still don't know when you use a comma, a semi-colon, a colon etc... Actually that may be something we learn in 3rd grade this year! I think they are starting on sentence structure.

Now Kate loves to write so I will probably let her be our family journalist.

Thanks Amanda for doing this, I'm excited, I am having fun with it already.

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Welcome to my world!

2008-08-24T13:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Elizabeth!! It's me... your blog designer. Thought I'd give you you're first post in the blog-world. I'm so happy that you may start blogging with me & Julee and hopefully Holly, too. Maybe we can even get Tamara to post a thing or two. Thanks for taking the time to do this with me. Love Ya! Amanda

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