here comes 2011

i wish i knew how to make my blog better. i've seen several blogs lately that have section headers, so there could be an "all about me" section, and a blog for personal, and a blog for "scrapbooking".
i'm going to need to figure this out. i have several blogs, but all in different places. would be nice to have them all from the same page. maybe?

that isn't why i came to type tonight. starting a new year, a new age (my age), a new semester at school....always helps me to contemplate my goals for the upcoming year, and reflect on the ones from the year before that i didn't accomplish.

so do i need to put those goals "out there" so i'll be held accountable? or will i just look like i fell flat on my face when i don't live up to the expectations i set for myself?

i have several, but i'll just mention a few...

POTD - picture of the day, take at least one picture everyday to capture LIFE
i really need to keep up with my blog. and i really want to document my life and all that happens with my family and my scrapbooking. i've tried keeping up with a picture a day before, and i didn't do so well. so, here we go, i'm trying again. a picture everyday, and blogging with the pictures on sunday afternoons! so check back on monday, and if i haven't done my blog post, start pestering me!

EXERCISING -
yes to lose weight, but also because i am happier when i do. doesn't mean i am always happy to do it, but that whole chemical balance thing...yup, it works. so something each day. yes, each day. doesn't have to be a full workout, but something scheduled in my planner each day!

PLANNED DINNERS -
i hate getting to 5 and coming up with something for dinner. sometimes i shrug it off to todd, cause he is so much better at putting ingredients together and "whipping something up" than i am. perhaps we'll do more crockpot recipes, or i'll get the meat started the night before, but something has got to change for this family who is too busy in the afternoon to figure it out after we get home from school.

and lastly
ORGANIZE -
a place for everything and everything in its place. i've been doing okay the last part of this year, going through closets and drawers and throwing things away. but i am far from being done. we won't mention the areas that need it the most, but basically, it is the same areas it has been before. in addition, i will make it a nightly ritual to get out the kids clothes for the next day, pack their bags and mine, start dinner (see above), and go through the file system i created to stay on top of bills, birthdays, and the like.

so? what do you think? do-able?

well, it is technically the last day of the year, so HAPPY NEW YEAR. i'll be back on sunday with pictures, cause that is one of my goals and i'll at least keep up with it the first week, right?

34th

yup, it s here. my mid-30’s.

don’t know if I’m ready for it.
kids made me breakfast, x made the eggs and c made the toast.
spent the afternoon roller skating with the whole fam (except for todd, who had to work.)
mcdonalds for lunch- this one for the kiddos.
a few attempts to get an [accurate] picture of myself on this day.
“on the border” for dinner – this one for me. way too much food! then home again for ice cream cake

so a whole day and I’m still not so sure.
don’t want to look like I’m a 34 year old mom and teacher…even though I am.

well here are some pictures from the day…

this is me...

at 34...







photo taken by xander

they say....

"i'm wearing 5 shirts, 5 pants and 2 pairs of socks on each foot!" - xander
"mom, does xander look fat in that stuff?" - cassidy
"not as fat as the sultan." - xander
after getting dressed in her 5 pairs of pants....
"now i'm fat like the sultan too!" - cassidy

(to explain, xander has been cast as the sultan from Aladdin in cassidy's dance studio's spring recital and we have to make him a costume to make him fat...)

merry christmas

the 25 days of christmas...
last year i put together a scrapbook highlighting 25 things that happened from thanksgiving til after christmas.
i wanted to try again this year. i haven't blogged since thanksgiving, and then i didn't even blog about that day. but i did try to start putting the actual book together.
so here on christmas day i thought i'd put my list together. (in no particular order)

1. christmas caroling (wish i had a picture of this one) - we went caroling with the gormally girls! it was great. we sang "deck the halls", "joy to the world", "rudolph" and "we wish you a merry christmas". we sang at rachel's, the pett's, the crozier's/johnson's, the best's, and the platt's. but of course, before we started our rounds we went out to eat at mcdonald's!

2. making and decorating sugar cookies - wish i had taken a picture of the kids walking through the neighborhood with plates of cookies. but got pictures of making them!

3. rachel's surgery (she'll thank me i have a picture of this one)

4. mom & dad here (still no picture of them together!)

5. christmas eve @ george & pam's - as always, spoiled!

6. christmas day at home, rachel's and george & pam's - lots of pictures

7. the food of christmas - so much food! cookies, pumpkin bread, pies, pretzel candies, and then the food of christmas eve and christmas day. my brothers and sister-in-law outdo themselves each year

8. wrapping presents - not enough pictures of this one. but we had it done before christmas! really!

9. xander painting cassidy's present

10. decorating the christmas tree - we started putting up the tree Thanksgiving night and decorating just a few days later. i was so busy with my master's course that i missed todd and the kids doing most of it, but i joined in at the very end and took pictures of todd putting up the star.

11. elf on the shelf - this is the first year the elf has visited our house. i've heard of the elf and the book, but it was kind of pricey to buy, so i have never invested. this year i looked it up on the internet. turns out the elf looks just like the two that my parents had in our house when i was growing up. i told the kids about it at dinner one night. xander's comment was "did you touch it?" "yes, everytime we set it out them out for decoration." "oh no! you made him lose his magic!" evidentally you can not touch the elves, or they won't work. each day the elf sits in your house and watches you. then at night he leaves, reports back to santa at the north pole. while we sat at dinner that night i called my mom, "mom, do you remember the two elves that we used to put on our organ for decoration....did you know that they were magic elves? all that time they were reporting back to santa! do you think you could bring an elf to us when you come visit?" each day we'd wake up and try to find where the elf was, because he'd have moved to a different place in the house.

12. cassidy's performance @ lake lanier islands - so cute. she did great. she loves dancing. and even commented the other day when listening to the nutcracker music "i love this ballet music".

13. christmas cards - finally finished them this year and got them sent out on the 23-24th! yeah me!

14. attempt at gingerbread houses - we started a box set of gingerbread house that we have had for at least a year, if not longer. the candy was skimpy and the frosting wasn't setting fast enough. so we put it aside for the night. we never got back to it. then, at school i do a gingerbread house decorating party at the end of gingerbread week. it is our "holiday" party. i had extra houses, so i brought them home with extra candy and frosting. but the kids never wanted to do them, so they stayed undecorated the whole time

15. countdown blocks & advents - love these! and so do the kids

16. music -every day, all day

17. sitting on santa's lap - i don't have a picture of us visiting santa at the mall, or when we ran into santa and mrs. claus at kroger when they were buying candy canes. but i did get a picture of cassidy sitting on santa xander's lap telling him what she wants for christmas.

18. hanukkah - each year i get out the menorah and try to do each of the 8 nights. we even did hanukkah with the missionaries here. the kids loved it. we were really close to doing all 8 nights this year. but we haven't done the last night yet because xander wanted latkes when we did the final night, and we haven't had a night that we could put them together. so the menorah is still out, and it is in the middle of the nativity scene. xander asked on christmas eve..."mom, do you think that santa will be confused when he comes down the chimney and see the menorah?"
some of his other comments have been "Mom, do you think we are the only ones who celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah?" at school he was doing an activity with the teacher during class party (so I was there) and the teacher said something to another child about being half-elf by the way he was coloring his activity. Xander's comment was, pointing to me "She's half Jewish." and then pointing to mom (who was already here visiting) "And she's all Jewish!"and the best... "WHAT! Jesus was a Jew? Did he celebrate Hanukkah?"

19. reindeer food & cookies for santa - must take care of them. left reindeer on the lawn christmas eve night. when we saw santa at the mall he specifically told us he loved homemade chocolate chip cookies, and if we didn't have milk his next favorite drink is coca-cola. so that is what he got.

20. family photo - we didn't get it done until the monday before, but did it and sent it out with my christmas cards

21. snow on christmas day - for the first time in over 100 years, snow on christmas day and it stuck! looks like we got 2 inches, and 1:00 church has already been canceled for tomorrow.

22. hand-made ornaments, calendars & shopping plan of attack - projects i made for tombow, but used for myself and presents

23. wish lists & list of presents received -working on this one! but when we went to visit santa at the mall there was no one in line behind us, so he took the time to read the kid's wish lists that we had brought to drop in his mail box. when he was done he told the kids he'd hold onto their letters. on christmas morning, next to the plate that had his cookies and carrots were the kid's letters, signed "Love Santa"! amazing!

24. marshmallow fight -it hasn't happened yet, but it we'll host our annual take down the tree marshmallow fight, to make it not so sad.

25. my birthday - this hasn't happened yet either, but 3 more days of being 33

oops, one more.
26. pj's - love opening new pj's on christmas eve.

time to get to work on it!
merry christmas 2010!

he says...

x has been sick the last 3 days, cough, runny nose, congested, fever...
"mom, i wish Jesus was still alive on the earth."
"why?"
"so he could heal me and make me stop coughing."
"if i am sick tomorrow that will be 4 days...i've never been sick for 4 days before. what if i miss church on sunday? what if i am still sick on monday? will i miss school?"

he has been checking his temperature frequently, sometimes within minutes of each other.

"i'm too sick to do anything but watch tv and play wii."
(poor sick child!)

check!

i was productive today! finally!
i finished one of my master's classes on october 25th. i kept telling myself when it was over i would put all my energy into working out and REALLY cleaning my house.
well, wouldn't you know the weekend before i was feeling a little sick and sure enough, tuesday when the class was over i was wiped out! found out that i had bronchitis (still coughing even now.) and to make matters worse my sciatic nerve was pinched and every time i coughed i had a stabbing pain in my butt, that would shoot down my leg. it was blinding! todd asked which was worse, the sciatic nerve or childbirth. my answer, the sciatic nerve....because nothing good comes from it.
so i've been a little wiped out and haven't had the energy or the time to get anything major done. well last night i made a list of things to get done, hoping that i would wake up with some motivation to work on crossing those things off. AND I DID!

so, just for fun, here is my list and here is what i accomplished:
put away scrapbook supplies from past projects
unload the dishwasher
load the dishwasher & run it
clean the counters
clean the stove
steam mop the floor
go through “to do” basket
straighten living room
dust
vacuum
all toys upstairs
vacuum hall stairs
sort through downstairs hall buckets
fold laundry
do laundry (ended up being 5 loads!)
wipe down washer and dryer
put scarves, hats, etc. in downstairs hall closet
downstairs bathroom
upstairs kids bathroom
lesson plans
shop til you drop project
lay out church clothes
work on lesson

kids to:
wipe down counters
straighten their rooms
help pick up living room
dust living room
vacuum living room

this is not a typical day. even the kids were quasi-cooperative. and yes, there are things that are not done, but I have tomorrow and monday….and then maybe tuesday I’ll make a new list and start on that one.

feels good! (except I have to push the laundry off my bed so I can go to sleep. i’m tired!)

yeah clean house!

christmas here we come....bring on the end of the year...i''ll be ready, and so will my house! for some reason it just feels appropriate to have a clean and uncluttered home when the end of the year rolls around. don't want to carry too much baggage into the next year!

he says/she says...

watching the georgia/auburn game he asks,
"mom, when i get a scholarship to georgia and a scholarship to byu for football, which school do you want me to go to?"


after a fit of coughing and cringing from the blinding pain shooting down my leg she says...
"mom, i'm sorry you are sick, but you're just going to have to work it out."


typically yelled from the bathroom while she is sitting on the throne,
"mom!"
"yes?"
"i love you 85! i love you 40 85!"
"thanks cas"

a sad little boy

my little boy just had his heart broken.
the braves lost.
their season is over, and he is beyond sad.
i am pretty sure he was asleep, but the game was still on the radio in his room.
todd and i were listening to it downstairs and sat in disbelief that it was over, that they didn't pull it out one more time.
then a voice called from upstairs.
"mom, i don't feel well. my stomach hurts." and he was crying.
i asked if he heard the end of the game. "i think so" he says.
he knew they lost.
i held him and then lay down to cuddle with him.
"mom, i can't go to school tomorrow.
i'm just too sad.
i'll spend the day crying.
i'm going to miss bobby cox and chipper.
i know chipper is going to retire.
i'm going to miss wags.
i'm going to miss them all.
brian mccann had a homerun and an rbi tonight. he'll be back next year.
it's boring without braves baseball.
how long until they play again?"

the announcers finished off the game by complimenting the 2010 braves team. they had class and character. and a level of respect for each other and their manager, that even a 7 year old boy noticed.
i too compliment them. for making us believe and giving everything they had to it.
til next spring...

fall, fall, fall

fall is wonderful

love wearing sweaters that come down past my wrists

love watching October baseball and College football

love the cooler weather

the colors…

picking apples and decorating with pumpkins.

soups, breads, apple pies.

yup, my favorite

2 weeks in massachusetts...2.5 weeks away from georgia

finally, a recap of our whereabouts from july 15-august 2nd...

crazy plan of ours, rachel and i concocted a 2.5 week road trip via new york.
four of us in a toyota echo, packed in tight. movies, cd's with music from glee, snacks, books and a gps named "giles"....
we drove to virginia the first day, nine hours, through sc and nc. the road was rural, very few homes along the way, mostly farm land and hills.
we stayed in a super 8 hotel. it had a pool and a continental breakfast. the kids loved it.
we swam, ordered pizza, watched disney channel and skyped with todd.
the next morning, after breakfast we began the 6 hour drive to palmyra and the hill cumorah pageant where we would meet up with karen, tom and the kids.
we were so excited to see them, it could not be contained inside the little car.
arriving at the hill we quickly found karen, ate dinner with them (and the rest of the cast) and then found the seats they had saved for us. i didn't think the kids would make it after driving half of the day, but they stayed awake and into it the whole time. maybe a little wiggly, but that is understandable.
after the performance we drove to a red roof inn rachel had booked. unfortunately, the company rachel booked it with forgot to tell red roof inn. we ended up in a handicapped room, with a king bed and a shower you could walk into. poor rachel slept on the floor, while i managed to avoid getting kicked by two children.
the next day we went to the joseph smith home and the sacred grove. but it was hot and the kids just weren't feeling it. i ended up dragging them out of the grove because I feared they would cast a bad spell on the quiet of the woods. luckily rachel got a picture. it is classic.
but once we got back to the hill they were in good spirits again...seeing katy and chris will do that to them. they love love love them!
we stayed for the show that night too, ate salted potatoes and melting ice cream sandwiches.
slept in our red roof inn handicap room again, and then left in the morning for massachusetts.
a little bit of traffic on the pike, and we made it to the church building my parent were at on sunday night.
and then the fun began...

• sitting in friendly's chatting for two hours with karen, tom, katy & chris
• a touching memorial service for my Auntie Susie
• lots of family i rarely ever see :( (wish we were closer)
  
• swim at the hotel pool with katy and chris
  
• bowling with my friend ted and his entourage
• a walk in a park and time on a playground
• day at the beach on cape cod - skaket and nauset
• hunting for hermit crabs, burying children in the sand, and playing catch on the beach (and then just a hint of sunburn)
• new england aquarium
• boston harbor cruise
• movies, chuck e. cheese's, mcdonalds, and grist mill with rachel
• visit from mikey
• street performers in boston
• dinner at my uncle's house and a rousing game of badminton in the backyard
  
• papa ginos, china ruby and ericksen's
  
• children's museum
• dinner at Mother Anna's in the north end
• riding the "t"
• pretzels, candy & build-a-bear in faneuil hall
• staying up too too late
• skype with todd (and with me when i was in chicago for three days for cha)
• cassidy's fourth birthday
• disney channel at grandma & grandpa d's
• the organ and keyboard at g & g d's
  
• and last of all...ben's wedding!

and then began the drive back. we all knew we would be excited to get back to ga, but driving out of town was bittersweet. it seemed to take forever. we wanted to drive 10 hours the first night and then 8 the next day, but it didn't work out that way. we stopped for the night just outside hershey, pa. (would have been fun to bring the kids there.) we ate leftover chinese we had packed with us and watched more disney channel.
the next day seemed even longer. we were ready to all get tossed out the window. but we arrived home around 7:00 that night. with lots of smiles and hugs we were home.

excuse me...tooth fairy?

he lost another one.
big gapping hole in the front of his mouth.
top left is gone.
pulled it out himself.
so cute.
waiting on the tooth fairy to show up...oh wait, he has to go to bed first.
up at 11:30. he's a night owl like me.
tooth fairy, give him a few more minutes.

date night

with xander!
we had two tickets to a braves game, given to xander when he attended the chevy sponsored day of baseball training at turner field.
originally we were going to get two more and all go, but with work schedules, etc. we decided to keep it just the two of us.
it was a great night. we sat on the left field line, one level up...where xander said the braves hit their foul balls. he was ready with his glove to catch one.
we had a jumbo dog and a hamburger with extra pickles (xander's request, which made the concession stand employees laugh) and extra hot french fries. we ended the night with dippin' dots in a braves hat cup. yup he was spoiled.
he loved yelling at the players and watching the jumbo scoreboard, checking out the players stats.
he loved seeing his friend ashton there and running the base up at the top of the stadium.
and he got a big kick out of the oversized chick-fil-a cow doing the tomahawk chop.
as the game ended with a winning walk off single by jason heyward (one of xander's favorite players!) he told me i was a "cool mom!" for bringing him to a game all by ourselves.
love hearing it now, and keeping my fingers crossed i'll hear it again when he's 16.

here they are...

school's here again

first day of school! first day of school! (name the movie!)
here we go again, but wait, this isn't like any other year! this year both x & c are official! x is first, c is pre-k.
here's what they had to say about their day:
x
"first grade is boring." "sophia and kailey are in my class". "i saw blaine, he is in the classroom next to me." "i went to PE today, but all we did was walk." "wouldn't you know, my snack is before lunch." "i saw CJ in PE."

c
"we didn't get to ride the tricycles." "we didn't get to play in centers." "i have two madison's in my class, and they both wear glasses." "i slept at nap time, and i didn't cry." "i didn't pick my nose, cause rachel told me i'm not supposed to in pre-k." "we made a book. i just writed on paper about how i felt about coming to school. i said happy, but i had to draw a sad face because i don't know how to draw a happy face. can you help me?"

oh how i wish i could watch them in their classrooms. i don't like missing so much of their every day lives. i know, i know, that is just they way it is...cut the strings already. but i miss it, and i want to see my babies. perhaps they'll talk more tomorrow after the second day.

as x puts it...179 days to go.

digital cameras

i love digital cameras....how else would i keep track of when a picture was taken? all these swim meet pictures are looking the same!

we've got one more to go...

go wahoos!

(c helped x out of the pool after his backstoke event at the river club meet. i'll remember this one!)

i know they are different

there are different kinds of fat...but when it says fat, i still think FATi just ate a boston creme donut from dunkin donuts. the box has a big 0g trans fat!!! advertised on the front. for real??? cause everything about donuts screams FAT!
but thank you rachel. it was yummy!
( i really wish i knew how to add images. someday i am going to learn how to do that!)

right now...

right now cassidy is sitting behind me at todd's computer, sining "i'm gonna wash that man right our of my hair, and send him on his waaaayy!"
love it.
i sing that song to her when i'm washing her hair.
she's actually pretty good. keeping a tune very well.

xander is begging me to do something with him.
anything. he's bored.
"what should we do...fun?"
done with wii. no to puzzles. already had a friend, watched a movie and used clay. already been to the pool.
not sure what else to offer.... cleaning anyone?

gotta dance

cassidy's dance recital was last night. for a dance studio's first performance i was impressed, with the organization backstage and the addition of background images during the routines. we were not allowed to bring in cameras during the performance (sad!) but we met her at the stage entrance door with flower, lots of hugs and a trip to bruesters. she was wonderful and totally enchanting on stage. no stage fright! i have to admit one of the reasons i had her do this dance recital, even though it cost more than i was anticipating for her to participate, was the reaction of the crowd to the youngest dance group. this is the year when they steal the show. we ordered a dvd so we will always remember...
what i will remember is cassidy holding her pose at the end of the dance and waving her little hand and flashing an "i love you" sign at us.
and to todd...thank you for the memory of the daddy/daughter dance. yes, i cried!

summer is here

and do you know what i realized???
i do not have enough short-sleeved t-shirts!
and what i do have is too short (long wasn't the style when i bought them 6 years ago!) or have too many holes, or have stains on them!
i think i need some new shirts.
mmm....where do i want to go shopping?

more summer posts to follow...and with lots of pictures. i am definitely looking forward to this summer!

princess day at dance

it is the last week of dance class...the girls got to dress up to practice for the recital, which is a week and a half away!

the end...

it ain't over til the fat lady sings
don't leave a movie theater before the credits one rolling
don't close a hymn book before the song is finished
don't leave a baseball game before the end of the last inning
and go to school...even on the last day.

...some of my life tips!

xander getting on the bus for his last day of kindergarten!

10 years...

hard to believe
goes by so quickly
ups and downs
two kids
two apartments
one house
tears and smiles
i love you's
more to come...
THANK YOU FOR ASKING!


(anniversary bands each have 10 stones - they replace the white gold bands that were my engagement rings. bought them on the 24th. picked up on the 28th. picture taken 29th)

just say no

to the enrollment counselors at university of phoenix,
if a mom of two kids (or more...or even one for that matter!) calls into the university requesting information, and she tells you that she works full-time as a teacher (they bring a lot of work home with them!) and has a part-time job, and is involved in her church..... please tell her to call back when her life isn't so crazy! now may not be the time for her to pursue a master's degree.

tonight i had a moment when i thought i would crack...and everything i am trying to get accomplished in the next few days (and most of it late!) may not get done, and in fact, there may be serious consequences for not getting it done.

well, i'll have to deal with those tomorrow. i'm too tired now to worry about it.

fun night

bowling, dinner (while bowling) and shopping....it was a great night with the kids.
(shhhh! don't tell todd how much it cost! it was worth it.)

mother's day and wii fit plus

here goes nothing...
think it'll work?
happy mother's day to me.

given to me on friday night, after a really good nap and a fabulous dinner!





a new rose bush for the front yard, musical card from the kids that had us all laughing and a really cute handmade gift and card by xander.


mother's day started off with breakfast in bed! thank you todd and xander!
bittersweet day, makes you reflect on all the motherly things, and hope you are doing all that you can for your children, while trying to enjoy a "day off". hmmmm...not so much a day off. they still know how to call for you 'MOOOOOMMM!" yup, not a day off, but so glad they are here. wouldn't be mom without them.

status

so facebook...
after a year and a half i think i'm over it, to a degree.
i like following other people, but not so much into posting my stuff.
but throughout the day, something will happen, someone will say something, and i'll think of a status to post.
do i?
nope, not usually.
but if i kept a log of all the status updates in my head it would give a pretty good idea as to what was going on with me and my family.
so, think i might add them here.
it is easy enough, and they'd be short little additions to the blog that so desperately needs more updates and pictures.
so here is today's

two kids, two beds, two rooms - strange to have them separated

cassidy was so tired she fell right to sleep. xander's comment - "mom, i think i'm going to cry. i'm a little sad and i don't want to be alone." cuddled right up next to that one!

crazys by cassidy

cutting her hair -
luckily she has a lot of it, so it is not noticeable
xander brought it to me "look what i found on cassidy's bed". when questioned, she admitted it. i was impressed with myself. totally kept calm.
me -"cassidy, who cuts your hair?"
c -"courtney"
me -"courtney went to school for a long time to learn how to cut hair. did you go to school to learn how to cut hair?"
c - "no"
me - "then until you do you should not be cutting hair, courtney will." (march 18)

toothpaste -
i came home from working at archiver's one night. 10:30 reach for the door handle and it is covered with something slimy, sticky...pretty much gross! i get in the door and yell for todd.
me -"what is this all over the door knob?"
t- "oh no, i didn't realize it was there too."
then he holds up an empty tube of toothpaste.
t - "this was the brand new, and now there are globs of it all over the yard." (april 23)

art gallery -
came home from working at archiver's at 1:00am. go upstairs to kiss the kids goodnight while they are sleeping. on cassidy's wall there are five pieces of planner/notepad paper stuck on her wall, all lined up almost all at an identical height, held up with a foam shape sticker. they each had been drawn on.
when i questioned todd about it, asking if he had hung them up for her (because they were all so evenly spaced and at the same height) he declined that he had not, and he really didn't know what i was talking about.
so i showed him...he laughed. there had been paper and a pen in the room, but not on her bed. she had gotten out of bed (which is a typical occurrence at bedtime) brought the paper and pen back to bed. done her art work, and then found the foam stickers that were at the top of the landing on the stairs, waiting to go back down to the art supplies. we guess that all of the papers were lined up so neatly because that was as high as she could reach...???
still so funny. unfortunately, xander overheard out conversation with her the next day and took it upon himself to take them down....rip them down is how it ended up. so i saved one from being torn down and took this picture. (march 23)

potd (pictures of the day)

lately i've been saying "i am not the right mother for her...."
but after watching todd deal with a situation, that was quickly escalating to full blown fit, that he manged to turn the fit into giggles and hiccups...








i have to say "he is totally the right dad for her!"


and while the tempest was being calmed inside, outside my son and the neighbor played, oblivious to the 58 degree temperature, the impending storm, winds blowing at 27 mph, and the occasional drizzle.

{more} she says...

no offense to the boy in my life, but this girl is doing a lot of talking lately...
and mostly when x opens his mouth it is to burp the alphabet. yup, that's the talent he is choosing to work on.

so tonight it was...

"i'm a basketball player. i just stood up and threw it in there." - referring to toilet paper and the toilet.

i think she has an imaginary friend. there is a girl at her dance studio that she is fixated with. she is three years older, and the owners daughter. i don't know that c has ever really met her, but when c is playing corinna never leaves her side, always gives her opinion about what is going on, and never fails to call c on the phone.

this one is a little past it's date, but we have a close family friend that was expecting her first baby in march. c's teacher said that she was very attentive when they had calendar time at school each day, excitedly exclaiming each day "yeah, it's march!" and on many occasion she would ask me "mom, is it march for the baby now?"

well, it was march for that baby! and the baby's name is now her favorite name for all her baby dolls - adelaide. everyone of them are adelaide, even the cabbage patch doll.

oh, now that i am typing it i can't think of the other ones. they'll come to me...or she'll come up with more. never fear!

braves vs. white sox

they got us... the boys came out swinging, xander ran the field, but in that 5th inning, the white sox caught the boys by surprise.
but, hanging out in the dugout produces some fun pictures.

primary activity - camp sugarhill

i think it went well...i work with four amazing girls. when i grow up i want to be like them!

braves vs. dodgers

the first time these teams met up the braves gave the "over hyped up" dodgers a run for it. keeping it tied up til the end of the game. unfortunately that game ended with xander, hitting a line drive right to the second baseman, which he caught, and then that player tagging first and second to get a triple play.
this time was no less exciting. the dodgers were ahead the whole time, but we were always within reach.
xander was all over the field. he was totally in the game and knew what was going on at all times. he ran down players. caught a pop fly and threw them out. he was great! his hitting was pretty good too!
the final inning it looked like we could end the game in a tie.
xander was up to bat, hit the ball to the same place he did the first game, but this time it sailed into the outfield untouched. xander pulled around second heading for third. todd, as the third base coach didn't see the ball anywhere near him, so he told xander to start for home. most teams try to end the play by getting the ball to the circle. but this time they threw the ball to the third baseman who caught it...
at that point todd knew xander wasn't going to make it and called him back, but the third baseman was right there and tagged xander out. the third out...
the dodgers stands threw up their hands and cheered...and the braves stands let out a collective sigh of dismay.
i watched my son walk to the dug out with his head hanging slightly. i ran over to the gate and waited while he lined up to congratulate the other team.
he carried his bucket of gear out and i took it from him, setting it on the ground, grabbed his hand and started to walk. "let's go sit for a minute".
at that point he started to cry..."i'm just so mad!"
we got to a picnic bench and i held his hand and gave him a hug. i let him know it was okay to cry. "dad says it's not my fault. that he made the mistake, but i should have known he had the ball."
he was crushed, and so was i. i sat there next to him on that picnic bench with tears on my face too. he had done everything he could have that game, and one little tag out was a pin in a balloon that popped in his face.
he ended up getting one of the game balls that night. if he deserved it anytime it was definitely for that game. he was the team that night...he was amazing!