Happy birthday to me!

What a great day!

Birmingham was wonderful! We had a great time, and it went too fast! Then we came home today, and we had a wonderful time too. My parents made one of my favorite childhood dinners and bought me my favorite cake! And, the presents...wow...I hit the jackpot! Here are a few:

This was from my parents...a huge surprise! I have wanted one of these for YEARS! Thank you so much!!!

















I had a nice crockpot, but it was small. Now I have a super deluxe model that I cannot wait to use! This was from the Big Man.

















The Big Man also gave me a cast iron Dutch oven. I've also wanted one for a long time. Life has been so hectic with my new job...it is definitely time to start cooking for the family more often...or at all.



















I'm already hoarse from playing this. I have been a Beatles fan since I was a teenager..what a great gift!






















And a pink Eagles watch from my in-laws!!! They also gave me some money, and I have something all picked out. It's something I've wanted for years too...and I'm finally going to get it. Pictures to follow when I go shopping.


















One gift I can't show you yet should be here before long. It's the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I can't show it to you because it hasn't been released yet. It will be on Tuesday, and I will show it to you as soon as it arrives!!!

I was spoiled and am truly blessed! Thanks to all of you for the wonderful wishes! Forty has started out really well!!

Wrap up

It was a great night. The Cheesecake Factory was packed, but we had a
great time. We sat outside. It was a beautifully chilly night, but
there were several heaters, and it was really comfortable. The food
did not disappoint, and I'm happily full. It was dark, but I managed
to get a picture by candlelight.

Counting down

So...I turn 40 tomorrow.

It is a milestone event, and I'm absolutely okay with it. I even
embrace it. I love my life, and any changes I'd like to make are
totally mine to make. I am blessed.

The Big Man brought me to Birmingham to celebrate. It was a beautiful
fall day for a drive. We had sushi for lunch then shopped for
awhile. We came back to the hotel to rest (interpret this as
nap...after all, we are getting old and want to stay up late) and the
best part is next. We're going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.
I am looking forward to my favorite meal: the only thing I ever get:
Thai Lettuce Wraps and Key Lime cheesecake. If we had one closer, I
might get something different, but we don't, so I get the same thing
every time.

So, I will enjoy the last hours of my 30s and look forward to what the
40s have to offer.

Yes, I do live in the South

Poor MK

This is a picture from tonight's game. As the color guard was leaving
the stands, we called her name, and this was her reaction.

Boiled peanuts and football

It must be Friday night!!!!

This play was touchdown Bulldogs!!

Field Trip!!!

T. Willy took a field trip to the pumpkin patch today! My parents are still in town, and they were able to meet his class there. T. Willy was so excited! Flat Stanley even joined the action. Here are some pictures:

Easier than I expected.

My mom and I took MK shopping today for Homecoming. It was a kind of
rite of passage...her first formal(ish) dress. It is absolutely
beautiful and so perfect for MK. We found it at a store we nearly
didn't try because I thought it would be too expensive. However,
there it was: the only one like it and 50% off. The fit is perfect;
we just need to find shoes.

Tonight's picture is of MK and Flat Stanley again. We ate dinner at
Moe's, so we had to take a picture of it.

Hold the ball, and look at me

The directions seemed very simple, wouldn't you think?

MK is so "hood"

This is a picture of her after school today.

MK said something that I appreciated today. She was correcting
someone's grammar and they called her a "grammar queen." She said,
"I'm the grammar princess...my mom is the queen."

Flat Stanley...the adventure continues

MK took Flat Stanley to the high school band competition yesterday. She had a lot of fun with him, so here are some pictures!

Here he is with MK and her friend, Tayer...that isn't really her name, but that's how T. Willy pronounced it.


















Here he is watching one of the bands.















Finally, here he is with Tayer and a snowball. It seemed way too cold for snowballs, but people were buying them.















The competition was a lot of fun. We planned pretty well and stayed warm! We saw lots of friends and made some new ones. The Big Man even managed to get away from work in time to see some of it. It was a great night!

T. Willy keeping warm with G-mom

Meet Flat Stanley

Learn about Flat Stanley here!

Our friend, Savannah, sent Flat Stanley to us today. We are excited to have him here, and we have a lot of fun planned for him.

Today he is with MK at the high school. There is a big band competition today. MK's band is hosting it, so she went early to watch some of the bands, and she took FS with her. She took a picture of him on the way to the school. My parents are in town, and my mom wanted to see the bands, so we'll head up there in a little while. Maybe we'll get some more pictures of Flat Stanley too.

The shrine

I am gradually decorating my classroom. I have dedicated some wall
space to my hometown teams...the Eagles, Phillies and Flyers. A
student from another class and I share stories about the Phillies. We
were happy for a win last night, but tonight was disappointing. We
are hoping the next game goes our way.

Big Man/Little Man

The Big Man's parents are in town. We went out to dinner tonight, and
I snapped a picture of T. Willy with the Big Man. MK was at color
guard, so I'm afraid she missed it tonight. But we saved her some
garlic bread.

Now we're watching the Phillies game. As much as I'd like for them to
win, it's hard to watch. Go, Phils!!

That time of day.

This is my favorite time of day. MK and I
are home from school, and I'm sitting on the front porch rocking chair
waiting for T. Willy's bus. I've had some alone time on the drive home
with MK, and now it's time for the excitement to start all over when
T. gets home from school. On top of that, it's pouring rain and
thundering today (which I also enjoy,) but it isn't windy so I'm still
staying dry. I have a good book to read. Life is good.

And here is a picture of what I see from my chair. I'm not sure it
will capture the intensity of the rain, but it is pouring!! You can
also see my pitiful scarecrow. His face fell off in storage...I think
it's time for a new one.

Sleeping Beauty awakens!

What we do while MK sleeps

MK is napping. She has had a very full schedule, and she really needed
rest. Tonight there is no band practice, so when she wakes up we are
going out to eat. The Big Man has been on a very long stretch of
nights, and this is the only way the kids get to see their dad. The
plus? I don't have to cook.

Here is a picture of T. Willy while we wait for MK.

MK in her new shirt

Celebrations

MK's friend had a birthday this weekend, but she wasn't able to see
her friend. Instead she made this shirt to send her wishes. She's
wearing it today. It has things on it that are jokes between them and
some other friends. I am eager to visit her at lunch to see what
her friend thought.

The T and M Hotel

T. Willy has been wanting to play "hotel." MK graciously played it with him today, and they had a blast. She wrote a menu for room service, and he took the orders. I ordered soda and bread & butter. Here is my meal. If you look closely, you can see that MK fashioned T and M into the butter. The note regards the menu: ice in a drink was 25 cents extra, but the soda was warm, so they provided it at no charge. What a great hotel!

"Blog worthy"

After the competition last night, MK wanted to ride the bus home. I
understood, because they were excited about their high scores. They
were fed there, so T. Willy and I came back to town and ate dinner at
the Big Man's restaurant before picking her up at the school. There
was only one other couple in the restaurant, so T. had a fun time
getting to explore a little.

At one point, the Big Man brought a server out. She was acting kind
of shy. He explained that she wanted to know how old I was. I asked
how old she thought I was. She guessed 25! I think she is my new
best friend! I explained that, no, I am actually turning 40 in two
weeks, but thanks for making an "old" woman feel good.

T. Willy has been wanting to have a campout. I intended to put the
tent up, but the weekend was too busy. Instead, we "camped out" in
the living room last night. We didn't get home last night until 11:45,
but he still enjoyed it. I even slept until 7:30...a big deal for me!

MK texted on her way home last night that her hair was looking less
than lovely. She even said it was "blog worthy." Of course that meant
that I had to take a picture of it. So here is a before picture of
her with her "guard hair," then an after picture of her in the parking
lot right off the bus. I love that girl!

Super!

T. Willy and I drove to Milton tonight to watch MK and the band
perform at the district competition. They earned straight superiors
which is the highest score they could get!!! I was so impressed with
them. I've watched them several times now, but this was the best I've
seen them do. So congratulations to the Big Red Machine! You made us
proud once again!!!

It must be time for a manicure...

Because tonight was a nailbiter. Unfortunately, we came out on the
losing end. We lost in overtime 26-23. But it was an amazing game!

The band performed well. Tomorrow they will go to district
competition. I may go to watch some of it. I try not to miss much,
but the Big Man is working, so we'll have to play it by ear. The
picture is of MK after the band performed. They were watching the
home team's band.

As close as he would get.

Our mascot was walking by, and T wanted to see it. If you look at the
very far right, you'll see T. and, at the very far left, you can see
the bulldog. He wouldn't get any closer.

This feels like a real football game.

That is what T. Willy said. It's windy and raining, but thankfully not
cold and no lightning. We have ponchos, stadium seats and a golf
umbrella. Go, Bulldogs!!

Are you ready for some football?

It's football night again. MK is at the school already, and T.Willy
and I will be driving to the away game in a little while. I hope that
I'll remember to pack enough to keep him busy. It should be a fun
time. It's a district game, so it means something. We're just hoping
for a fun night...but a win would be great too!

We had a pep rally today, so here is a picture. MK is somewhere on
the left on the field with the girls in white shirts and black pants.

Bright-eyed and bushy tailed

The Big Man sent this picture to me of T. Willy fresh from the shower
this morning.

Waiting for dinner.

It's already been three times tonight.

Make that four and five.

T. Willy and MK watched the Toy Story movies this weekend and had a blast together. We found a "Woody" doll in his toybox, and he's been thrilled with it. However, in addition to asking if there is going to be fire, he is now asking with trepidation if Woody will ever be alive. While I was typing, he brought Woody to me...so that I can "...keep an eye on this guy."

While I'm in a posting mood...

Here is another video that has always made us laugh. I think I've posted it before, but it bears repeating. I think T. is around 2 1/2 in this one. I could watch it over and over. You'll need volume for this one.

Time for T. Willy to get a break

After his traumatic day yesterday, we put T. Willy to bed, and the Big Man, MK and I watched some tv. T.Willy has always been really good about going to bed, but last night he was up at least three times. He kept asking if we would ever have a fire in our house. He must have really been listening to the firemen who visited the school yesterday. I didn't promise him we absolutely wouldn't have a fire, but I told him that we are very careful and take precautions toward fire safety. I guess he believed me after the third visit, because he finally went to sleep.

Then today at school, I saw a missed call from an unknown number on my phone. There was no message, so I figured it was a wrong number. Then the phone began to ring (during my free period,) so I answered it, and it was T. Willy's teacher. This is rarely a good thing. She said that he had thrown up at lunch and wanted to see what I wanted to do. He has always had a really strong gag reflex. He will throw up if he is crying too hard. I asked if that had been the case, but it hadn't, so the Big Man picked him up and brought him home. Then, he was feeling great for the rest of the day. Go figure.

She did, however, tell me a story about him that I really appreciated. They journal at school. Today's prompt was something like, "I have fun when..." T. Willy wrote that he has fun when he goes to his friend, Dylan's, house. The noteworthy part was that he had written "Dylan's" with an apostrophe. She was quite pleased with that for a Kindergartener. They are having a night where they are going to display some writing, and she said that she is going to submit his. That was pretty exciting. Of course, on the way home, he was spelling some words, and he was using apostrophes to make words plural, so he doesn't have a complete understanding of it, but it's a start!

While this isn't a picture, it's a favorite video of MK and T. Willy in the bathtub when he was about 20 months old. He has always loved letters and his big sister.

Tonight T. Willy can have anything he wants

T. Willy's bus usually comes at 3:40. At 3:28 today, my phone rang. It was my neighbor. She asked, "Do you have T.?" My heart dropped. "Uh, no. Are your kids home?" And they were. She said that there had been a substitute bus driver. By the time we got to the bottom of the story, it seemed that he had driven the route in reverse. T. Willy had not recognized that it was time to get off, so he didn't get off the bus. I called two other families in the neighborhood to see if their kids had gotten off the bus yet. One had, and I didn't get to speak to the other. So, I sent MK to another street in case the bus came by, and I waited by our stop to see if the bus came that way. Thankfully, it did in a matter of minutes. I flagged it down, and it stopped. Whew. There was my sweet little boy in his regular front seat with a fireman's hat on crying his eyes out. Somehow the fact that he kept the fireman's hat on the whole time made him seem that much more pitiful. He calmed down, and we explained that when our next door neighbors get off that he should get off too. They also assured him that they would make sure he gets off. He was never in danger; we were all just scared for a couple of minutes.

I had a class tonight. If it didn't take up a whole weekday evening, I would absolutely love it. The subject matter is interesting, and the teacher is really good. It will end in January, so I'm glad it isn't terrible.

MK took this picture of T. Willy while I was in the class. I appreciated her taking it, because T. had been so upset. He was calm when I left, but I still hated leaving him. So, thanks, MK, for the picture! And here is a picture of T. Willy with his "Stop, drop and roll" lollipop. It's Fire Safety month!

I have nothing to say

So here is a picture of the front yard in the rain today.

On the bus

My friend, Darlene, took this picture of MK and a friend on the bus
heading to the football game last night.

What a night!

We had a great time last night at the game. I sat with two of my friends, and we had a lot of fun. The weather was wonderful. It started to rain, but that only lasted for a couple of minutes. The air wasn't exactly cool, but it wasn't hot and humid. October is here! It was the other school's Homecoming, so I was able to get some ideas for our Homecoming, and we won the game! We were supposed to get home around 11:00, but some serious situations came up.

One of the band members had an asthma attack and had to be taken to the hospital. Another kid started running a fever and became dehydrated. We heard other things, but we weren't able to separate fact from fiction, so I'll just wait to hear what really happened. Anyway, the buses pulled into the school around 1:00 a.m. Everyone was exhausted...but we made it back.

Hey guys, let's play some bus games.

I am on a bus heading to Navarre for our first away game. I'm
chaperoning, but not for MK. She's on another bus. It's a good idea,
because she can get a bit of independence. I'm having a blast
listening to and occasionally interacting with the girls around me.

The day started with a hyper me. I have no idea why...I guess I was
just glad that it was Friday. To add to my mood, a tiny lizard joined
our first period class. Only one girl volunteered to help me with
it. When she finally grabbed it, its tail broke off. Girls
screamed, and I think I'd have been okay, but the tail wiggled for at
least 3 minutes. It was hilarious. I was laughing so hard that I was
crying. So much for my dignity. So here is a picture of a lizard,
technically an anole, similar to the one in our class.

Game day!

Tonight is MK's first away game. I am going to chaperone, and the Big
Man is going to stay home with T. Willy. It should be a fun night for
everyone. MK missed the trip last week, and I know she's looking
forward to this one. Go, Bulldogs!

Guess what I'm watching!

Go, Mountaineers!

Good night, T.

T. Willy has decided that he'd rather sleep in his dad's t-shirt than
his pajamas. We compromised with the t-shirt and pajama bottoms.