Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween, we just had one good, LOOOONNNGGG night of trick-or-treating instead of spreading it out so much like we did last year. Alli has been saying for months that she wanted to be Edward Scissorhands, which I immediately thought would be difficult with the whole scissor-hand ordeal and his many-belted outfit. But then, I thought about it more (actually I discussed it with a friend) and realized that it was a great idea for a costume. I googled how to make origami claws and made them out of construction paper and then wrapped them in foil. Andy has lots of belts, which all perfectly doubled around Alli's waste. With a lot of hairspray and a little bit of hair teasing and some makeup, I thought she turned out pretty great.

Here's her picture, and the original Edward Scissorhands for anyone who may not be sure who that is.

Evan was a University of Georgia football player, which got LOTS of comments after Georgia's big win Saturday against the Gators! Woohoo!!!

Drew decided that she wanted to be a zombie softball player, She and Andy have been talking about it all month trying to decide how to paint her face. She decided to go with a half-and-half costume - half normal softball player and half zombie softball player. Andy painted her face, and this is what he came up with:

Here's a closeup of the makeup:

And here are the 3 of them, right before we left to trick-or-treat in my parents' neighborhood this year, where the kids loaded up on more candy than could ever really need, which is the whole point of Halloween, right?!

Two Months in a Nut Shell

Yes! I'm updating the much neglected blog! Tell your friends!

Since school started, life has maintained its usual level of insanity. And, to those of you left reading - my true hard core fans - I will fill you in, all short and sweet like, or at least as short as I can make it. So, here goes.

If you'll remember, last year on the 2nd day of school, we ended up in the ER with Alli, who, later down the road, had surgery. This year on the 2nd day of school, Drew made the middle school softball team (who thought she wouldn't?!)......and 3 games in, running to catch a fly ball, she fractured her ankle! We like to keep things exciting around here, and we're also on a mission to single-handedly fund the local ER. This now makes both wrists and 1 ankle - just one more extremity to go, right? She was in a walking boot for 3 weeks, and then played out the rest of the season in a brace. I didn't manage to get a picture of the boot, although it would be pretty easy to stage - those things are SO much better than a cast since you can take them on and off to sleep and shower.Here she is, super disappointed, at her first game without the boot, the day she got the boot off. If you look closely, you can see the brace, but the doctor didn't want her jumping right back into softball on the first day. On a happy note, she played left field this year, and she got 2 individual awards - the Most Spirited Award, for "always having enough energy for the whole team," and the Grass Stain Award, for "making the most diving plays." I was pretty proud of her for that!

So, as much as I love to brag on my child and her athletic abilities, softball season couldn't end soon enough for me. The beginning of the school year is absolutely enough to fill anyone's life with busy-ness (to differentiate from "business"), teacher or not. The shock of homework every night, regular bath and bedtimes, and the demand of clean laundry is plenty, especially if both parents work all day. Toss in there softball practice EVERY afternoon until 5:30, except for game days, which always ran later than that, and driving all over the county for ballgames, plus the unbelievable amount of work that 6th graders in today's time of high competition and technology face (bragging again - being in the gifted program in 6th grade means all advanced classes and crazy projects, the kind I was doing in high school!). So she had projects, including power points and dioramas and essays - ugh! Too much!!! In between ball games and practices, we were fitting in as much fun and relaxation as we could:

Mom & Dad's birthday at the park,

A UGA football game as a family, one against Coastal Carolina University (who???) that Georgia won 59-0 - boring for us grown-ups, but awesome from the kids' perspective.

And a wonderfully relaxing 4-day weekend at Myrtle Beach. We went with Andy's cousin and his wife and their little boy, who just turned 4, and it was such a laid-back trip. Since it's October, it was a little chilly in the morning and evening, but all day Saturday, the weather was really nice. We spent most of the day laying around on the beach, and then after lunch moved up to the pool area. Sunday, it was REALLY windy and a storm was coming in, so we spent the day doing all the touristy stuff. We went to this area called Broadway (I think). The kids got to do this ropes course thing, which they were feeling super confident from the ground, but changed their minds about once they really felt how high it was. Here's Alli waaaay up on the top of the course.

There was a little river filled with fish and little gum-ball machines (for lack of a better word) filled with fish food. The fish are so used to people feeding them that it became sort of disgusting to see the fish come to the surface for food. I just kept imagining a nasty scene from a horror film where some poor sap falls into the river and gets devoured by fish.

Andy and his cousin also decided to go against each other in bull riding - I didn't get a good picture of the 2 of them, but here's Andy hanging on for dear life.

And here's one last picture of the kids standing on the bridge near the nasty fish. We're all fairly rested and in the swing of school, and I have a student teacher, so she's doing a lot of my usual work, while I sit and watch. Maybe I'll update my blog a little more often...I'm not making any promises!

Here it comes...

The first day of school, that is. It's approaching faster than I want it to. I have thoroughly enjoyed my do-nothing summer, with really slow mornings watching every minute of Good Morning America and Regis and Kelly before I even think about functioning. Nice slow showers and no rush at all to get my hair looking right and slap on some makeup before I run out the door. We've bought school supplies, new clothes and shoes, and done all the junk it takes to transfer your kids from one system to another - yes, the kids are changing schools this year. It was inevitable for Drew since she's starting middle school! Unbelievable to me! Evan and Alli aren't going to my school, but another school in the system, a Fine Arts Academy, and all 3 of them will be able to ride to school with me and ride a transfer bus to and from their schools. The kids have expressed a little bit of nervousness, but not as much as I thought they might. Evan and Alli are going to be in the same class, so that's helped them with the worry. Drew has definitely mentioned being nervous, but she met the 8th-grade cheerleader daughter of another teacher at my school and we made plans to meet up at open house, so that helped her a lot knowing that she's going to know at least one person in the building. I have done well being supportive, comforting, and reassuring on the outside, but I'm pretty sure I've woken up every morning for the past 2 weeks with my kids' first day of school on my mind. I changed school systems twice when I was a kid, and both times I adjusted and eventually made great friends, but I remember those first few days so well - especially the year I changed schools in the middle of 8th grade. It was definitely more that a few days before I felt at ease. So while I'm reassuring them, I'm reassuring myself as well. I just tend to make myself sick with worry over things being ok for the kids. It's a trait that I know comes with being a mom, but I know I won't be fully at ease until I get to them at the end of the day. And heaven forbid they tell me they had a bad day and don't like their new school...oh, I can get myself so worked up over the what-ifs. It drives Andy crazy (although he gets himself all worked up over what could've happened that didn't, which drives me equally as crazy). So, this week, as I head back to the grind to get ready for the real grind that starts next week, keep us in your prayers, because as I've said so many times that this may well have been my first phrase as a toddler, I'm nervous.

The Adventure Continues

The majority of yesterday was a pretty calm, uneventful day. Andy took the day off and we pretty much did nothing. I folded a little laundry and cooked dinner, but that was about as exciting as it got. Once it finally cooled down in the evening, the kids went outside to play, so Andy and I decided to watch a movie. Probably an hour and 45 minutes into a 2-hour action packed movie full of suspense, right as we were about to get some resolution, the girls came running in the house yelling, "Evan fell and cut his head and he's bleeding!" Of course, that's not something you repond to with, "Ok, let us finish this movie and we'll be there in a minute," especially when Evan follows them in leaned over with blood running down the back of his head and dripping off the sides of his neck. So we jump up and run to the bathroom with him. The whole way there I'm pretty calm, reassuring myself in my mind that heads tend to bleed more than the rest of the body, so it's probably no big deal. So Andy leans Evan over the sink and I'm standing next to him and he pushes Evan's hair to the side, and, unfortunately, I was visibly shocked by the size of the cut - enough that my face freaked Evan out even worse causing Andy to kindly force me out of the bathroom. It wasn't a super long cut. It was the space that gaped open that shocked me. It appeared as though the skin on Evan's head was stretched so tight that when it was cut, it just stayed wide open instead of closing back up. Andy, on the other hand, stayed very calm and told Evan it was no big deal, but we needed to go to the doctor. Evan explained to us that he was laying in our neighbor's hammock, swinging it back and forth, and he fell out and hit his head on a rock. So, since it was after 8:00, we headed to the ER. Finally, around 11:00, we were headed home, and Evan is quite proud of the 4 staples that he now has in his scalp. This picture is in the parking lot of the hospital, and you can still see blood and numbing gel and Neosporin caked in his hair, and probably a little dirt and dried sweat as well. The doctor said it was fine for him to shower that night, and that we could unthread some of the hair from the staples, so Andy took on that job. This morning his hair is clean and now you have to look hard to find the staples under the hair.

4th of July!

This Fourth of July we pretty much did exactly the same thing we did last year - met up with mom & dad and Stephanie at the very same place - only this time Andy and Jose were able to join us, and because of the horrible heat, we ate at mom & dad's house in the air conditioning before we went instead of doing the picnic thing. Unfortunately, Erin and Lee weren't able to be there, much to Alli's dismay. I think her exact quote when Steph told her they weren't coming was, "I don't believe you. Lee never misses." I'm not sure what her thought is on Erin's attendance, but apparently Lee stands out as always there! Overall the night was nice. The fireworks were great accompanied by a nice patriotic montage of music, including Georgia on My Mind (sorry you Georgia-bred folks, but it just doesn't muster up the same feelings as good old Sweet Home Alabama). Here are some pictures of the kids.Drew is wearing stuff from a party that Steph had a couple of weeks before. My intention was to get pictures of all the kids dressed in the stuff (there were lots, which you can see in pictures here if you'd like), but like so many of my intentions, it never happened.
Here's Evan being a goof-ball. He just looks so sweet in this picture, but in reality, this is him being a dweeb. He's just in that phase where I can't get a normal smile out of him. :)

And, here's sweet Alli with her ice cream, which she and Drew traveled long and hard to find.

And, just for your viewing pleasure, here's an awesome double-rainbow that we spotted one afternoon. We were so amazed by how bright it was that we had to pull over to get a picture!

Softball Champs 2 Years in a Row!

Drew's softball team had another outstanding season. This year, Andy had intended to focus more attention on Evan's team, but the guy that signed up to coach Drew's team didn't have anybody to help, so he asked Andy to step in. I was terrible about getting any pictures at any of the ballgames this year, but I did manage to snag a few at the little awards ceremony after Drew's team won the championship game - yes, that's 1st place in the county tournament! Here's the whole team lined up watching the runners up receive their trophies. Drew is the 2nd girl in uniform from the left - the super short one next to the super tall girl who's nearly as tall as the coach!
Here's Drew receiving her trophy.

Here's the whole team again. Drew's on the far left.

And again. Drew's right there in front!

Here's Drew with her BF Carly. Drew was catcher this year (she's impressively great - there's all kinds of stealing and sliding and catching wild pitches at times), and Carly is the pitcher, who is also impressively great throwing up to 40 mph!!!

I'm back...well, at least for today.

So, if you haven't made the assumption, my life has hit an all time high level of complicated and crazy. This school year rivaled the crappy year I had when my principal told me that I had the most difficult class in the school, which was also the same year I was laid off. No lay-offs this year, but the combination of a couple of very difficult students with a couple of very difficult co-workers put this year at a close second place. To top it off, starting in March, all 3 of my kids were, again, on three different ball teams, but this year their schedules were just spread out enough that we managed to have ball games or practices every night of the week, except for Sunday and Wednesday (thank you to the deep south for still holding on to those values!), and sometimes 2 or 3 games or practices in one night. So, that's where I've been, and now that school is out and as I slowly regain my sanity for the next 2 months, my goal is to be much more active in my blogging. Honestly, there's not much news other than where I've been, and that my attitude and overall demeanor have seen better days to say the least. For now, this is how I'm envisioning myself by the middle of June - happy, much more care-free, and a little bit thinner!

Snowcation 2011

We got an unbelievable amount of snow this January, one week after returning to school from Christmas break. It was nice for a couple of days, but I got soooo stir crazy being trapped in the house for an entire week. Now we're having to start school 10 minutes early every day and add 2 days to the end of the year to make up the time! Ugh. But, the kids couldn't have loved it more if they tried! Here they are with their sleds, which actually survived the week! Here's a shot of all 3 of them from the top of our driveway. This makes it look like we live on a cliff! It's really not that steep in person.

And, here are some videos of the kids sledding. There was so much snow and ice that they sledded right down the road. Usually, even if it sticks to the road at first, it definitely doesn't last long enough to sled down it!

Christmas 2010 - Over a Month Late!

So, things have been so crazy around here that even I'm rolling my eyes at that statement. I won't go into it, because, honestly, it's boring, but I've finally found a moment that I'm caught up enough to blog. We had a great Christmas as usual. We did the 50 trips around the world to family members' houses and got some great stuff. Here are the highlights of the holiday at home: Here are the kids running out of our bedroom (we made them sleep in their because they're getting to old to be trustworthy through the night!).

Above is Alli with her baby changing station. She was all about Baby Alive this year - she now has every kind they make - so we got her a diaper changing/bath/feeding station to go with them.

Drew got a new digital camera. Believe it or not this camera was cheaper, but much nicer than the camera I had before my current one!

And here is Evan with his Tony Hawk skateboard and helmet. Any bets on how long it will be until the impending ER visit from this thing? :)

Internet at home is down - more posts soon to come! (Don't give up on me!!!)