Happy New Year

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy New Year tonight. And, a wonderful 2007. I'll be sitting home ringing in the New Year. Michael has to work. Luckily, I have some adult beverages I can consume after the kids go to bed. I'm going to bake a New Year cake today for the kids. I get to try out my new baking pans I got for Christmas! LOL

Damn!! Titans 23 Patriots 40

Well, it was a fun year overall. The Titans couldn't get it done today. We lost to the Patriots while 2 of the 3 things that needed to happen with other teams happened. Cincinnati lost to the Steelers and Jacksonville lost to Kansas City. What is really going to be frustrating is if San Francisco beats Denver. *SIGH* I guess I'll pull for the Broncos now. I like their rookie QB, Jay Cutler. He played college ball at Vandy. It'd be nice to see him go to the playoffs in his rookie year. I also have a UGA boy on the team(Champ Bailey). Micheal will be pulling for the Ravens since Steve McNair went there when he left the Titans, but I just can't bring myself to pull for the Ravens for any reason.

I really tried not to get my hopes up about us getting into the playoffs, but it didn't work. We were playing so well and winning against huge odds. Heck, we overcame a 0-5 start to the year. We ended the season 8-8 which while isn't great it isn't bad considering our start. And, it was even good enough for us to still be in the playoff hunt the last week of the season.

I'd like to thank the Titans and Coach Fisher for a very entertaining year. I've had a blast watching. I'm definitely looking forward to the next few years. VY is going to be so much fun to watch. I have high hopes for the years to come. I'll be counting the days until next season.

EDITED TO ADD: You've got to be kidding me!! All 3 scenarios with the other teams that needed to happen for us to get in the playoffs HAPPENED!!!! Only thing is.........we needed to win and we didn't. Well hell!!

Freshman QB referenced by NFL announcers

I'm sitting here watching my Tennessee Titans and the guys announcing the game just referenced my Dawgs QB, Matthew Stafford. Last night Stafford had a very good fake hand off play where he held the ball on his hip for what seemed like forever. Then he threw a completed pass. It was a great play. Well, the NFL announcers just made reference to it while talking about a fake by the Patriots. Pretty cool if you ask me. Stafford getting some notice as a freshman even if it is just from the announcers. I'm sure he is getting some notice from others too though. He really is going to be an awesome QB.

2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl~UGA v. Virginia Tech

Okay kids I am going to try this live blogging thing. I will be watching the football game and blogging about the good, the bad, and the ugly. We will see how it goes. Hopefully I won't get bored with it or so frustrated with my Dawgs that I give up.

7:15~UGA kicks off to VT. VT starts their drive on their own 23. On their second play from scrimmage they get a 15 yard personal foul penalty. They go 3 and out.

7:19~UGA's Lumpkin (6) runs for 23 yards on 2nd down. They are now at the VT 40.

7:24~UGA kicks a field goal. Score UGA 3 VT 0.

7:29~Darn!! VT called time out. Wish they didn't. The snap was over the QB's head and UGA picked it up. Would have been an easy TD. *SIGH*

7:37~VT punts to UGA. UGA starts at their own 9 yard line. Not a very good return for us, but it was a 50 yard punt for VT.

7:41~Not a good possession for us. We go 3 and out and have to punt from our own end zone. Great punt 49 yards and -1 on the return. Still good field position for VT though.

7:48~Damn!! Stafford throws and interception deep in our territory (our 17 yard line). Come on defense lets hold them to 3. Ticky tack personal foul call on us too.

7:55~Double Damn! VT scores a TD on 4th down. Score UGA 3 VT 7

8:02~Our offense is not playing well at all. Now our special teams isn't working well either. VT almost returned the punt for a TD. It was a 54 yard kick and a 54 yard return. Geez, we may have well just gave them the ball and forget about kicking it to them. I need a rolly eye emoticon.

8:11~Officials reverse call on the field and call a nonTD a TD. Yeah, they probably would have gotten it on the next play, but that's not the point. Score UGA 3 VT 14. Ugh! I'm biting my nails. Freakin' football!

8:17~Dropped balls.........dropped balls.............dropped balls! That would be the story so far. Does this surprise anyone? As for the 3rd down play........Stafford sacked. Man oh man this is getting ugly.

8:21~Fuck! (sorry mom) VT scores another TD on a 53 yard pass play. Score UGA 3 VT 21. Told you this was getting ugly.

8:26~Ugh, another 3 and out. We keep giving them good field position. I sure hope they can make some adjustments during half time or it's going to be a very long night.

8:29~Half time................finally!

9:13~Sorry folks. Weird things were happening with blogger and I couldn't edit my posts. We still aren't playing well on offense, but Coutu just kicked a 51 yard field goal. Score UGA 6 VT 21

9:15~WOOHOO! Onside kick by UGA and recovered by UGA on our 48. Okay boys lets get a TD!!

9:21~Another dropped pass. This has been a problem all year.

9:23~TOUCHDOWN UGA!!! About time!! Score UGA 13 VT 21

9:30~Okay my boys start of the 4th quarter. This one is ours. Let's take this baby home!! (VT has the ball still though.)

9:35~UGA intercepted the ball!! VT got a personal foul penalty on top of it. UGA gets the ball on VT 43. Huge pass play............Milner tackled on 2 yard line!! Let's go boys!!!

9:39~TOUCHDOWN UGA!! Lumpkin runs it in. Going for 2............got it!! Score UGA 21 VT 21

9:44~VT fumbles...........recovered by UGA. We get the ball on VT 19!!!!

9:45~Dammit!! Another dropped pass. Would have been a TD. That is 7 for the night!

9:47~Ugh!! Had to go for a field goal. Damn dropped passes!! Score UGA 24 VT 21 Come on defense lets hold them now and get that ball back.

9:53~UGA intercepts and is down on the 1 foot line!! WOOHOO!!!!! Our defense is kicking butt...ummm bottom (can't say "butt" in our house or the 3 year old gets upset. LOL) right now!!

9:57~Dammit why throw on 3rd down when you are inches from the goal line? Okay, redemption. We went for it on 4th down and TOUCHDOWN UGA!!! Score UGA 31 VT 21

10:04~Another ticky tack penalty on us. It was a pass interference call, but the offensive player pushed off. It should have been offensive pass interference.

10:06~VT throws another interception!! This time we will start on our own 10 yard line! Still..........WOOHOO!!!! They didn't score!!

10:12~What a horrible punt! It was 16 yards b/c of a bad snap. VT gets really good field position. Okay defense lets hold them here...............please!

10:16~VT kicks a field goal. Score UGA 31 VT 24 Now we need for our offense to get some first downs. Plus, we need to watch for an onside kick here..................yep and UGA gets it!

10:26~UGA gets the ball back with 5 seconds left on the clock!!

10:27~FINAL SCORE........UGA 31 VT 24

Whew, this was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. LOL This was a pretty good game...........in the 2nd half!! This is the biggest comeback for a UGA team under Coach Richt. We scored 28 unanswered points in the 2nd half. This is also the first time in UGA history that we have beat 3 consecutive ranked opponents! Go Dawgs..........go Dawgs...........go Dawgs!!

Thoughts on today's Chick-fil-A Bowl

I'm a little nervous. I hate that there is so much time between the last game of the season and the bowl game. UGA's last game was on November 25 so it's been over a month since they've been on the field. They were playing pretty well there at the end and with this long of a break I'm afraid they are going to lose their rhythm. I guess the good thing is that Virginia Tech is in the same boat. It's sure to be a pretty ugly game at least in the beginning. I think once they settle down (both teams) it should be a good game.

What are you thoughts on the game or do you even care? LOL I know I have a couple UGA fans who read this very random blog, but there are several others who couldn't care less. (Can't even imagine that though!! LOL)

SEC Bowl results

We have 9 teams in bowl games this year. I may have to do some research to see how many teams the other conferences have in the post season. I'm thinking that 9 out of 12 is pretty high. I know we are the best and toughest conference to play in, but I just wonder how our bowl season stacks up to others. If you already know this answer please feel free to leave me a comment.

EDITED WITH ABOVE INFORMATION: The SEC leads the league with 9 teams in bowl games. We are followed closely by the ACC and Big 12 who both have 8 teams. Then comes the Big 10 and Pac-10 with 7. Conference USA and the Big East both have 5 while WAC and MWC come in with 4. The 2 conferences with the least are MAC with 3 and Sun Belt with 2. Oh, and Notre Dame and Navy are not members of any confernece. So, again we find out that the SEC is the best conference. We already knew that though, didn't we? ;-)


Alabama lost to Oklahoma State in the Independence Bowl 34-41

Kentucky beat Clemson in the Music City Bowl 28-20

South Carolina beat Houston in the Liberty Bowl 44-36

Georgia beats Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl 31-24

Tennessee lost to Penn State in the Outback Bowl 20-10 (bad for the SEC, but hee hee UT lost!)

Auburn beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl 17-14

Arkansas lost to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl 17-14

LSU beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl 41-14

Florida beats Ohio State in the BCS National Championship 41-14 (damn the hated Gators won, but..............yay THE Ohio State University lost!! I hate that I have to hear about the damn Gators being National Champs for an entire year, but I'm glad th SEC pulled this one out.We apparently aren't very good as a conference, but hey who can dispute the butt kicking of last night? We'll still get no respect next year. *SIGH*)

Right now we are sitting at 6-3. I'll update as the games happen.

2006 recap

(thanks for the idea Aisby)

January~Ari turned 1 (Where does the time go?)
February~Bon Jovi concert on Valentine's Day (thanks Honey! It is always a great V-Day gift!)
March~Spring Break on Amelia Island
April~Testing month for my first graders (very busy at school with last minute reviewing and preparations)
May~Last month of school before summer break (WOOHOO!)
June~Joshua turned 3 (finally sold the house in Murfreesboro)
July~Moved into our apartment and vacation on Amelia Island
August~Back to school (Summer just seems to go by so quickly)
September~My birthday
October~Fall Break and my girls' weekend in Blue Ridge, GA and mom came to watch the kids (annual weekend with my best friends in a mountain cabin........no kids or husbands allowed)
November~Thanksgiving on Amelia Island (are you beginning to see a pattern here?)
December~Michael's birthday and Christmas on Amelia Island (oh and we were robbed.......not a fun thing to have happen)

Overall it was a pretty good year. I'm looking forward to 2007.

On with the show!

Okay, no more about the break in. I've made all the calls I need to make and talked to everyone I needed to talk to. I'm moving on now.

Our vacation was wonderful. We were on Amelia Island in Florida. I grew up there and my family is all still there. It was great seeing my mom. I really miss her. We did some shopping of course. LOL I think we opened presents 3 or 4 times altogether. The kids loved it. We will open presents one more time at least. Christian is coming over on his next day off. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the them opening their presents. They were very excited though. Joshua loved his big boy bicycle and even wears his helmet. Ari loved her baby and stroller. I don't think she has stopped playing with it yet. They baby is almost as big as she is, but she doesn't care.

It took us almost 12 hours to get home yesterday. Traffic in Atlanta was horrible as usual. This time, though, we got caught on both the north side and the south side. When we unpacked the car last night we just piled everything in the living room. Talk about a huge mess!! So, today has been very busy. We've cleaned out the living room (now the kids' rooms are a mess! LOL) and I've started laundry. The kitchen and bar are still a disaster, but they can wait awhile. I had to go grocery shopping this morning since there was absolutely nothing in this house to eat. The kids were starving of course. Michael had to go to work today so now I have the kids down for naps and I'm playing on the computer. I should be continuing to clean, but it's just not happening now. The living room is clean so that will do for now. LOL

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was good to you. If you want to see the pictures Michael did take just click here. There are some pretty good shots and please ignore the pictures of me. They are not the good shots!!

It's always nice to come home to.......

a house that has been broken into....................NOT!! We got home from Florida today to find that we had been robbed!! Yep, some shithead petty thief broke into our house and took my jewelry and a jar of coins. They left the tv and all the dvds, the dvd player, and stereo. They just searched in our bedroom. The kids' rooms were untouched thankfully. I've had an officer here to take the report and now the crime scene guy is here taking finger prints. As much as I watch CSI I never even dreamed that they would be in my house taking prints. LOL I've also had the maintenance guy here fixing our sliding glass door. It's been a busy night. I've just now gotten to eat dinner. It is 11pm. We drove for 12 hours home so I'm completely exhausted. I think I'm handling it pretty well though. I'm a little nervous, but I think I'm more ticked off to tell the truth. How dare someone come into my house and go through my things!! It just pisses me off!!

Merry Christmas!!

I would just like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We leave tomorrow for Amelia Island and I don't know if we are taking the laptop. There may be no updates for about a week.

I'll be sure to update with Christmas pictures when I return. I hope everyone has a great holiday and stay safe and warm.

What the heck is up with my daughter?

The last few nights she has not wanted to go to bed. She has been up until 10pm or later. Her bedtime is 6:30pm and I've put her down at that time each night. She just doesn't stay in bed. I have to put her back to bed a dozen or more times each night until she finally falls asleep. Why has she turned into a night owl? This is not a good thing. Mommy isn't a night owl!! I really hope that this changes really really soon.

WOOHOO!! I'm free!!

Well, for 2 weeks anyway. Today was the last day of school until January 3. Actually, the teachers have to be back on the second for a workday, but I consider that a "free" day too.........no kids! I really needed this break. I was getting incredibly stressed out. I know that most of it was just the last week before Christmas break is horrible. The kids are so excited that it's hard to get them to concentrate on anything. Either way, I needed this break.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I have to take the kids for haircuts, wrap the remaining presents, clean the house really well, clean out the van (so we have room for the presents, luggage, and dog), pack our stuff, oh......and do laundry. Geez, I just keep thinking of things I have to do.

Luckily, I'm finished shopping. Well, except for 3 people. I know what I am getting them though. I just haven't picked the stuff up yet. I won't see them until after Christmas so I'll just wait to do that.

I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation!!

Some days I hate my job

I can't go into it, but there really are days that I hate my job. These days are seldom due to my kids and this time is no different. I'll leave it up to you to figure out just who caused it today. I left with a migraine again today.

I'm a snowman

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

This makes me so sad

One of the missing climbers on Mt. Hood was found dead today. I can't even imagine what their families are going through right now. The not knowing would drive me crazy. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

My kids are mesmerized! They are both sitting in front of the television with eyes glued to Good 'Ol Charlie Brown. It's good to know that the Christmas shows I loved as a kid have stood the test of time. I'm loving watching them with my kids now.

Tomorrow is his birthday! (12/18)

Happy Birthday Honey!! I love you! Sorry you have to work, but hopefully you will enjoy the cake before you have to go in.

They did it again! 24-17

The Titans won! This time, though, it wasn't the offense. The defense scored 3 touchdowns!! We returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns as well as a fumble! It was incredibly fun to watch. The announcers kept talking about how the Jags offense was dominating, but heck they only scored 17 pts and had 4 turnovers.......with 3 of them returned all the way. Yeah, they kept the ball for 44.22 minutes as opposed to our 15.38 minutes, but hey when you have a defense who is returning turnovers for touchdowns I guess your offense doesn't need to be on the field much. LOL

Okay, I'm looking at some of the stats and I can't believe that with these two teams and the animosity between them there was only 1 penalty in the entire game!! I even remember what it was. It was a face mask penalty on the Jags....the 15 yard variety. That really amazes me. I don't think I've watched a game with only 1 penalty in a very long time............if ever.

Good job guys! Y'all are definitely making this season fun to watch!

The never ending week

I swear this has been the longest week. My 1st graders are driving me completely batty. This is the absolute worst week of the entire school year. Worse even than the week before summer vacation. The kids are way too excited to sit still. I left school on Monday with the worst migraine. I just knew I was going to be sick. Drinking a Coke didn't even work and that usually fixes me right up. I had to come home, take some medicine, and lie on the couch. I put Star Wars in the DVD player and let the kids watch that while I slept. I knew that it would keep them occupied and quiet while the medicine did it's job. I think today was actually the first day I left school without a headache. Bad thing is I have one more day this week. We will be in school 2 days next week, but they really aren't "teaching" days. We will be doing fun activities and watching some Christmas movies. I won't need to keep their attention for academic reasons really.

Okay, I think I'm done rambling now. ;-)

I finally did it...........100 things.

I can't believe I actually found 100 things to say. LOL It's pretty boring so read at your own risk.


1. I'm married with 2 kids.
2. I dated my husband for 6 years before we got married.
3. I teach 1st grade.
4. Teaching is not my original degree.
5. I have a BA degree in Speech Communications.
6. I graduated from UGA (blog name gives that away! LOL)
7. My second degree (teaching) comes from Middle Tennessee State.
8. I moved to Nashville because while on vacation I fell in love with the city.
9. I met my husband at our place of work when I first moved to Nashville.
10. I used to live on Amelia Island and hope to get back one day.
11. I have 3 best friends and they all live in different states (FL, GA, MI).
12. Fall is my favorite time of year.
13. My favorite sound is the laughter of my children.
14. UGA football is my passion and has been for longer than I can remember.
15. I have a tattoo. It's the face of a white tiger on my right hip.
16. I want another one. This time I want the UGA "G" in the small of my back.
17. I have an English Bulldog from the Uga line (her name is Georgia.....what else.)
18. I talk to my mom almost daily.
19. I hate shopping unless I can go with my mom.
20. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister.
21. I love spending time with my extended family.
22. I'm addicted to blogging and message boards.
23. I have naturally red hair although it's not all that red anymore.
24. I've never colored my hair other than highlights.
25. I have to shower at night before I go to bed.
26. I have to shave my legs every night.
27. I collect snowmen for Christmas.
28. I had braces in high school.
29. I went to 2 different elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools. (no, we were not military)
30. I got engaged on top of Stone Mountain.
31. I love to go to sporting events.
32. My favorite sport is football.
33. I hate basketball.
34. I have more male friends than female friends.
35. I spent 2 weeks in Australia. I really want to go back!
36. I snorkled on the Great Barrier Reef.
37. I spent 2 weeks in Scotland. I want to got back there too. We didn't get to see Nessie! ;-)
38. I want to go on an African safari.
39. I love to watch tv.
40. I hate reality tv (except Dancing With the Stars)
41. I love music.
42. I listen mostly to country now, but I love the 50s rock and 80s hair bands.
43. Bon Jovi is my all time favorite.
44. I'm fashion deficient. Give me my jeans and t-shirt or sweatshirt.
45. I seldom "fix" my hair. It gets pulled back in a pony tail more often than not.
46. I have no musical talent.........none.
47. The above does not stop my from singing in the car or the shower........or to my kids.
48. I hate to cook, but........
49. I love to bake.
50. My grandmother taught me how to quilt. I made my first one at 14 and my cousin (who I made it for) still has it.
51. I'm really a closet red neck (shhh, don't tell anyone...........especially my husband)
52. I've gone hunting.
53. I love to fish.
54. I can't really swim, but I love the water.
55. I've been an arms length from a 6 foot shark......no, it wasn't at an aquarium. I was swimming in the ocean!
56. When I first went to college I couldn't sleep at night b/c I couldn't hear the ocean waves. I had to buy a CD.
57. My favorite colors are red, blue, and green.
58. I have to have a fan going when I sleep.
59. I don't like peppermint candies, but I love candy canes (yeah, I know)
60. My quilty pleasure tv movies usually have Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in them. (again.........shhhhh!)
61. Coloring relaxes me as does putting together puzzles.
62. The thing I miss most about my house is the garage........it's freakin' cold in the winter without it!!
63. I love snow, but not really cold temps without it.
64. I love rain.
65. I love Disney movies (my favorite is Little Mermaid)
66. I was in therapy once a week for 2 years during my Junior and Senior year of college (every Thursday at 10am. I scheduled my classes around it. Maggie was my savior at that time)
67. I would still be in therapy if I could afford it (thankfully UGA had free mental health benefits).
68. I tend to keep my more negative feelings (when it comes to me) to myself. I'm very vocal if someone hurts my friends or family, but I'll keep it to myself if I'm hurt.)
69. I hate to fight (yeah, goes against everything you've ever heard about a redhead I know.........I do have a temper though and once I reach that point............watch out!)
70. I have a thing for men who can sing and quarterbacks. LOL (No, my husband is neither! LOL)
71. I have a shoe thing..............I have more shoes than I really want to think about! (and I used to laugh at my mom b/c she had so many!)
72. My favorite drinks are sweet tea and Coke.
73. I feel guilty if I take a day of work b/c I'm sick, but not so if I take a day b/c the kids are sick.
74. I don't always love my job.
75. I'm lazy. (may be why I love the computer so much.................takes real little effort on my part.)
76. I actually like my step son. (not all step parents do ya know............I learned that first hand)
78. I'm a country girl at heart. I'd love to live on a ranch somewhere (Montana without the bears and cougars)
79. I want to visit every NFL football stadium and watch the home team play.
80. I love to read...........nothing too brain taxing though. Give me a good romance anyday!
81. I love being pregnant..........even with gestational diabetes.
82. I hate to clean house..............see above..........I'm lazy.
83. I love to dance. I miss it a lot. I think that is what I miss most about college. We used to go dancing at the Country Rock Cafe at least 3 days a week in Athens and I took ballroom dance classes even after I satisfied my PE credit.
84. I have to drive when we go on a trip. I get annoyed if anyone else isn't driving fast enough for me. LOL
85. I enjoy it when my husband reads to me. He usually does this in the car when I am driving!
86. My favorite play is Phantom of the Opera...............Lion King is pretty close now though.
87. I have a fabulous red dress hanging in my closet that is my incentive to lose weight..........unfortunately it's been in there for about 3 years. *SIGH*
88. I sometimes resent not having the money to do the things or buy the things I want.
89. I want a Harley.
90. I'm a pick up truck kinda girl. I really really want a full size Dodge Ram Quadcab...........Silver.
91. I'd be happy being a stay at home mom.
92. I'd rather have plain yellow cake (no frosting) than chocolate.
93. I worry that I'm not being a good mommy (or wife, or daughter, or sister)
94. I love musicals (Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is my favorite.........thanks Nicol!)
95. I miss my grandparents everyday (my son is named after my grandfather)
96. I daydream a lot.
97. I'm not a board game player. I do like the loud obnoxious games though.
98. My toenails are always painted red, but I seldom or never paint my fingernails.
99. I actually bite my nails during football season.
100. I don't like to have my picture made.

Send a "Thank You" to a soldier

Just click here to send a postcard to a soldier overseas. It's free and I'm sure greatly appreciated by those who receive them. I know I love to get mail here at home so I could imagine how much the soldiers so far from home enjoy getting it.

Make your own snowflake

Go ahead click here to go make your own. It's fun..........and addicting!

Welcome back to Texas Vince!!

How 'bout them Titans!!!

What? Did you think you would get through more than a week with no football talk? It's still football season, isn't it? LOL

Welcome home Vince!! Great game my boys! I was worried there for a little while, but our fearless leader lead us to victory once again. I think it was fitting that he run for the winning touchdown. It was, after all, his homecoming. I have to wonder where this team would be if we would have started Vince at the beginning of the season. He sure is fun to watch and the team seems to have a lot of confidence in him. It looks like they are having so much fun these days. I'm excited about the coming years.

Some stats from today's game.

Vince was 19 of 29 for 218 yards, 1 interception, 7 rushes for 86 yards, and 1 rushing touchdown. He was spreading the ball around again throwing to 8 different receivers. Drew Bennett was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 113 yards. The leading rusher was Travis Henry with 20 carries for 88 yards.

And, the other game of interest for me today was Jags/Colts. Colts lost! WOOHOO!! They lost big too (44-17). The Colts defense is horrible. The gave up 375 yards of rushing! Even Peyton couldn't keep them in the game with that kind of defense. I like Dan Marino's take on the situation. He says that the Colts have a "drug" problem. "They are being drug up one side of the field and drug down the other." LOL Seems to fit.

Ari is in underwear today

Oh my!! I decided to try it today. It has been my plan all along to start potty training her over Christmas break anyway, but I figured I'd see what happened today. So far so good. No accidents, but she hasn't gone on the potty yet either. I'll be putting her in a diaper for nap time of course, but I'm going to try to keep her in underwear all day.

*SNIFF* *SNIFF* My baby is growing up.

Kids and Christmas trees

Ugh!! Our Christmas tree has been up for a week now. It seems that in the last 2 days my children have been messing with it more than they did when I first put it up. You would think that it would be more interesting to them in the beginning. It is looking kinda pitiful right now with bare spots where Ari has taken ornaments off and Joshua has tried to put them back. Only problem is that he is putting them back in different spots or trying to put them higher so Ari can't reach them. *SIGH*

Christmas shopping

So, how far have you gotten on your Christmas list? I'm almost done, thankfully. I have a couple more things to get for Michael (Yes, Honey, I know you told me not to get you anything else.) and something for a couple other people. The kids are done though. Mom wants me to pick up something for one of my nephews that she can't seem to find in Florida. We are drawing names for extended family and I'll get those names this weekend so hopefully I can get it knocked out completely in the next couple days.

Oww! Oww! Oww!! Hand cramp!

I just sat down and addressed our Christmas cards. Boy do we need a printer. Then, I could just type them in and print them out. Alas, we don't have one that works so I have to hand write them all out. That was 51 total cards. Luckily I had address labels for the return address even though they have our old address. At that point I really didn't care if it was the wrong address. LOL At least it is done and now all I have to do is go mail them. That is usually the hardest part for me.......finding the time to stop at the post office and buy stamps. I'm making it a priority for tomorrow. I'll let you know if it actually gets done! LOL

Ah, the childhood memories!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman

I just sat down with my 3 year old to watch both of these shows. Man do they bring back lots of memories of Christmases past! They are just as good now as they were when I was a kid. Or, maybe I'm just seeing them through the eyes of my kids. Joshua loved Rudolph. Every time a commercial would come on he would tell me that he wanted Rudolph back. He liked Frosty too. He thought that the magician was very mean and needed a time out. LOL I'm glad that he likes these shows. This is the first year we have watched them together and I hope to make it a holiday tradition.

We watched Frosty Returns too. This one is bad...........really bad! Tonight was the first time I'd seen it and I have to say that I think it will be the last. It didn't hold Joshua's interest either. Did I say that it was really really bad? No..........really!!

I want to go to Alaska

If for no other reason than to see this......Aurora Borealis.

Ain't she purty?

"I can smell them! Where are they? I know they are here somewhere!"


"Ah ha!! There they are! Should I chase them?"

The love of my life

I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I'm thankful that I did. The more I talk to people online and in real life or the more stories I read in the news I realize just how wonderful my husband is. He loves me without measure and he treats me like I'm the most precious thing in his world. He isn't perfect, but it doesn't matter. He is perfect for me. I love him more than I know how to express and I just hope that he knows that.

Petty Rant! Feel free to ignore.

I HATE being sick! I knew it was pretty much inevitable since 4 out of the 5 daycare teachers had it and then Ari got it last Thursday. I figured we would have a really rough weekend with my or Joshua or both getting it. Didn't happen though. Noooo!! I got sick yesterday afternoon. I've thrown up 3 times (yeah I know you wanted to know that) and I had to stay home from work today. If I have to be sick why couldn't it have been the weekend? I can't afford to miss work. Now I'm afraid Joshua is going to get it this week and I'll have to miss another day of work. UGH!!!

*SIGH*

Man of the house?

Who do you think that would be in my house? Depends on the subject. LOL My wonderful husband has an idea. Go read it. Those who know me well will totally agree! LOL

Bowl Game Announcements for 2006

BCS Championship Game~Ohio State v. Florida (Can I just say.......BLECH!!!! I HATE the damn Gators!! I would have much rather seen Michigan play Ohio State. At least then I would have a team to root for. I just can't root for the damn Gators for any reason and I don't much like OSU either. I'm not going to enjoy this year's Championship game. I guess I should be happy that USC isn't playing again.)

My beloved Dawgs are going to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta against Virginia Tech. This will be played on December 30 at 7pm CST. I know what I'll be doing that night!

For a complete list of the bowl games click here.

More football.

Titans 20 Colts 17

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO! I'm impressed. I'm lovin' young Vince Young!! He was my pick for us in the draft and I was so excited when the Titans made that pick. I have a feeling that the next few years are going to be fun!!

Today, Vince was 15 of 25 for 163 yards with 2 interceptions. He ran 9 times for 78 yards. Man is he fun to watch! He threw to 10 different receivers! Wow, talk about spreading the ball around. Heck, even Pacman caught a pass and no it wasn't an interception! He was playing on offense and it was for a 17 yard gain. For the win, Rob Bironas kicked a 60 yard (yes, you read that right.....60 yards!) field goal with 7 seconds left in the game. That tied him with 3 others for 4th longest field goal in the league. Impressive. It was also his career longest. Congrats to him. It was a fun game. I always enjoy seeing Peyton Manning lose a game. You know, being a Bulldog and all. LOL

Now I get to watch another rookie QB get his first NFL start. I'm pulling for Jay Cutler in tonight's Seattle/Denver game. He played really well in the preseason, but let's see how he does in a real game.

Football.........football...........football!!

I didn't think I'd have any interest in football today since my beloved Dawgs aren't playing, but dang I'm having fun!!

1. Georgia Tech lost the ACC Championship to Wake Forest! He! He! He!
2. USC lost to UCLA! He! He! He!
3. The hated Gators are in a fight for the the SEC Championship. GOOOO Arkansas!! I'll update this one later. UPDATE: Damn! The hated Gators pulled it out. I guess I couldn't win them all today. Sure does suck though.
4. I'm even watching Oklahoma v. Nebraska. I don't really care who wins this one though.

Ahhhh, I love college football!! It's always exciting. Makes me sad that we are coming to the end of another season. *SIGH*

Ugh, sick again!

Well, sickness has once again invaded our home. *SIGH* Ari was up all night throwing up. Poor girl. My wonderful husband sums it up pretty well here.

Larry Munson is the best play caller ever!!

I just got to watch a clip of UGAs winning touchdown against Tech complete with Munson making the call. I found the link at The Bulldawg Blawg. It's great! I loved hearing it live, but it's even better seeing AND hearing it. I miss being able to do both. Here in the land of the hated Orange we can't get Munson even when we play in the state. I guess their (UT and Vandy) play callers don't want the competition! LOL Everybody knows Larry is the best!!

Here is the clip if you care to watch! I highly recommend it!!

Things I've done

Things You've Done, bold the things you’ve done and post. Here are mine:

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon.
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

I have been such a horrible friend lately

I have been missing birthdays and anniversaries. This is soooooo unlike me. I was always the one who remembered everyone's birthday and even sent cards. I even completely forgot about a very good friend's birthday (tomorrow actually). Luckily, his wife called me tonight and mentioned it. Happy Birthday Matthew!! Since having children all that has changed. *SIGH* Heck, I can't even find my address book which has all this stuff written down. I had to send out an email tonight asking my friends to send me their addresses so that I can get Christmas cards to them. Now I just have to worry about how I'm going to get the addresses for those who don't have email (yes, I still know people who do not have email). I am going to buy a new address/date book this weekend so that I can regain my "good friend" status.

UGA v. GA Tech

WOOHOO!!!! GOOOOO DAWGS!!!! UGA 15 and Tech 12!!

For the first time all season I was able to listen to the great Larry Munson call the game. I had to keep changing the radio station, but luckily I had talked to Michael earlier in the day and he gave me all the radio affiliates for UGA football. I didn't have to search!! I think my favorite call was when we drove down the field and scored the final time. "TOUCHDOWN!! TOUCHDOWN!! MY GOD, A TOUCHDOWN!! TOUCHDOWN!! TOUCHDOWN!! TOUCHDOWN!!"~Larry Munson I think he couldn't believe what he was seeing! I LOVE Larry Munson!!

Side note: Did you know that Larry and I share a birthday? I found that out a few years ago when I was at a UGA game on my birthday and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Larry.

It was a pretty ugly game and our offense didn't play well at all until our last scoring drive, but our defense really stepped up and kept us in the game even running in a fumble for a touchdown.

We've had a really bad season by all accounts, but beating Auburn and Tech have helped sooth some of the pain. LOL I love beating ranked teams!! Oh wait............I just love beating our rivals! I don't care if they are ranked or not!!

We are home from FL

We had a great time! Thanksgiving was great. Aunt Nez outdid herself with the food. Debbie dropped the whole platter of turkey on the kitchen floor during clean up. It was hilarious!! Oh heck!! I just remembered that I brought a whole pumpkin pie back to Mom's and I left it there!! Man!!!

Mom and I went shopping on Friday. No, we were not one of the crazy people up at the crack of dawn to be the first ones there. We left the house at around 9:30am and didn't have to fight all the crazy people. It was crowded, but nothing major. We found DVDs at Target for $3.96. DVDs like all the Harry Potters, Must Love Dogs, The Notebook, Spiderman 2, and Batman Returns.

Between the 2 of us we bought 7 pairs of shoes! I bought her 3 pairs for Christmas. She bought me 1 pair and I bought Ari a new pair. Then I bought myself 2 pairs!! LOL Just couldn't pass up the great deals really. I bought $65+ shoes for less than $20. Ari's were normally $35+ and I got them for $12.99. Mom got some great deals on designer clothes too. I have to say that if you have a Ross Store and have never been you really need to go. You have to look through some stuff, but you can find great deals. Mom got Levi jeans for $3.00. She bought my nephews some really nice t-shirt like shirts for less than $2. You will spend a lot of time weeding through clothes so I don't recommend that you take kids, but you can find some great deals.

We got stuck on the south side of Atlanta on the trip home for about 2 hours. Traffic was horrible, but it will be worse today so I'm glad we came home yesterday. At the sign that said 40 miles to Atlanta we were going at a crawl and stayed that way until about 15 miles outside of downtown. I've never seen it that bad. It took us almost 12 hours to get home and it really should have only taken us about 9.

Anyway, I'm glad to be home. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

What were you doing at 1:30am this morning?

I was sitting in my recliner while the apartment maintenance man cut into my ceiling trying to find a leak in a pipe that had wet my entire hallway. I went to bed at 11pm and there was no leak that I heard. Michael started to bed at 1:00am and the floor was soaked. Luckily, he found the leak pretty quickly, but he had to go into the upstairs apartment to fix it through their floor. Yep, he had to wake them up. All 3 kids slept through the entire thing! How? I have no idea. He was cutting my ceiling right outside of Joshua's and Ari's rooms. I just knew they were going to wake up and be up for a long time. I'm glad they didn't.

The good things:
1. We were able to get it taken care of quickly.
2. No money out of our pockets so no stress for us.
3. The apartment people will call the carpet people to come in and clean up.
4. The apartment people will call the drywall people to fix the ceiling.
5. If it killed my dryer the apartment people are responsible for replacing/fixing it.

The bad:
1. I was up from 1:30am-3:00am after an exhausting trip home from FL.
2. The kids were up at 6am.
3. I can't get to my washer and dryer to do laundry until the carpet people come extract the water.
4. The kids keep walking through the hallway getting their socks wet.
5. Did I mention that I was up at 6am?

Ever wonder why you don't see very many professional pics of my kids?

I thought it was difficult to get one kid to cooperate for pictures. Try getting two of them to both smile and look at the camera.............at the same time!! These are our attempts at pictures for this year's Christmas cards. We did get a couple really cute ones that we will use, but definitely not the ones I wanted. I'm guessing I have to wait a few more years before I get really good Christmas pictures. I do like that their personalities shine through in these pictures though.

I've made a decision.

I'm not going to call it a "resolution" because I have a tendency to break those. The coming year is going to be all about me. At least in a small part. I am going to lose weight and get into better shape. The weight part is easy to figure out. I just have to change my eating habits (yeah, easier said than done, but I'm determined). The only thing I have to figure out is how to get into better shape. I admit it, I'm lazy. Exercise is not my favorite thing even though I feel so much better after I do it. I would love to join a gym or the YMCA, but we can't afford to do that right now. It would motivate me to go if I were paying money to do it. Not to mention those places usually have childcare. I could use the apartment complex gym, but they don't provide childcare. I don't think it's a very good idea to have my two munchkins in there while I'm trying to workout. I guess I could do it at home with DVDs. That doesn't sound really appealing to me either though. I do better in a group. Walking doesn't seem to help much. I was doing that all last Spring at school and it just didn't seem to make a difference. *SIGH* This is not going to be easy, but I really need to figure it out. I WANT to do this. I NEED to do this. I want to feel better about myself.

Think she might be a Daddy's Girl?

Ari is standing at the front door saying, "Daddy, where are you?" She is trying to unlock and open the door. Poor baby misses her daddy when he has to work.

No UGA football today. Whatever will I do?

My Dawgs have a much needed Saturday off. Poor guys have played 11 straight weeks. They really do need this break. Hopefully they will all get healed and recharged and be ready for Tech next week. We just can't lose to the bugs. That would be worse than losing to Vandy for me. LOL

I'm hearing rumors that the Music City Bowl is looking like where we are going. This may be a sucky bowl according to most, but hey, it works for me! It means that I will get to go. Although we haven't had much luck in this bowl game. The last time we were in Nashville for a bowl game we lost to Boston College. Yes, I was there. It was horrible!

I may take Joshua to his first UGA game if they do come to Nashville. It's not Athens, but he will have fun anyway. I'll take him to Athens next year, maybe. He wanted to go this year when I took Christian to his first one. I just wasn't sure how he would do being 3 and having such a short attention span. He can watch an entire movie and sometimes twice so maybe he will be fine at a football game. The thing I worry about for a bowl game is that it is going to be cold!

GOOOOOOOO DAWGS!!!! Squish those bugs!!

Sesame Street Live

The kids had a blast!! Looking at their faces was too much fun. Before the show Big Bird made an announcement. As soon as Joshua heard it his little face just lit up and he got the biggest smile on his face. He said, "Momma!!! It's Big Bird!!" When the characters came out the kids were amazed. Ari points to the stage and says, "Look Momma!" She kept saying that throughout the show. LOL They both clapped and danced. At one point Joshua was yelling like you would do at a football game. It was so funny!!

They were both so tired they could hardly keep their eyes open, but they did great. Ari was asleep on the way, but both stayed awake on the way home. I was amazed by that.

Michael's work didn't let him off work when they were supposed to so the kids and I had to drive downtown by ourselves. The only problem there was that I had to walk both of them around downtown with all the traffic. I would have preferred to be able to carry them, but I couldn't do that alone. We met Granddad and went on in. Michael came in about 15-20 minutes into the show.

Elmo was the most popular with last night's crowd. I'm guessing that he is the most popular with most crowds. LOL

Anyway, it was lots of fun for the kids. I'm glad we went.

Yay!!! Emmitt won!!!

Go Emmitt........go Emmitt..........go Emmitt!!

How sad is my life that this really makes my night? ROFL

What work of art describes you?

Here is mine. I described my mood as "reflective."

You Are Best Described By...

From the Lake, No. 1 by Georgia O'Keeffe

What Famous Work of Art Are You?

Thanks for the link Stephanie.

Taco night. Always a hit.

Yep, my very picky kids will actually eat their weight in tacos. LOL They may not eat much else, but I can always count on them to stuff themselves on taco night. Unfortunately, we can't have those every night.

They will also eat spaghetti and I've learned to puree vegetables to put in the sauce. This is the only way they will eat them.

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong here, but neither of my kids will eat much of anything. It's not like I never exposed them to veggies and such. They were both great eaters when they were tiny. There were very few baby foods they wouldn't eat. Now, however, I'm lucky if they eat anything good for them. Well, they WILL eat any fruit you put in front of them and yogurt.........they like yogurt. They may or may not eat chicken nuggets (depends on their mood I guess) and they like french fries. Pizza is another hit or miss food. Luckily, neither are really into sweets like cake, cookies, and such. They will eat them, but not in huge quantities and not often.

One of my problems is that I can't get them to even TRY things. Not even one little bitty bite. It drives me nuts. I know if they would try some other foods they would like them. How did/do you get your kids to eat better? I need help here!!!

Why yes, we do live in Music City!

Figures

Okay, the one UGA game I DON'T watch (I went to see The Lion King instead) and apparently we played pretty well. That just figures. Lucky for me CSS will be replaying the game on Tuesday. You know I will be watching it. I did text message my cousin who goes to Auburn to find out the score before the play started, but she never responded. I guess I know why now. LOL

I'm happy that we won, but it kinda ticks me off too. I mean really, just think about it. We play lousy and lose to the likes of Vandy and Kentucky and then beat the #5 team in the nation. What the heck is up with that? Where has today's team been hiding?

Either way..................GOOOOO DAWGS!!!!!

Oh AND Tennessee lost today!! WOOHOO!!!!! What a great day!! LOL

Wow!

That's about all I can say! We were able to go see The Lion King today (thanks Vickie) and it was absolutely amazing!! I got chills as the first notes of the opening song began. I even got teary eyed a couple times during the show. It followed the movie pretty closely, but there were also scenes that were not in the movie. I'm so glad we were able to go. If you get the opportunity to go I recommend that you go. It's fantastic!

It was nice to dress up too. I don't get that chance very often. I even wore my hair down! Michael appreciated that. LOL

The kids had a great time with their cousins, Sydney and Sarah. Luckily they were well behaved. My kids. I had no worries about their cousins. LOL Joshua cried when we got home because he wanted to go back and play with the girls. I guess we will have to plan more opportunities for them to play together. Again, thanks Vickie for coming to our rescue.

How pathetic are we?

We need friends. Michael was given FREE tickets to the Lion King today. We are trying to find a babysitter so we can go. Right now we aren't having much luck. The person I usually call isn't answering her phone and she doesn't have an answering machine. I believe I will buy her one!! She is really the only friend I am comfortable asking to babysit. I have other friends, but I don't think I'd be comfortable asking any of them to babysit for me especially last minute. UGH!!! We may not be able to go!!! Did I mention that these tickets are FREE?!

We really are pathetic!!!!

My Georgia Girl

I've come to the realization that I haven't blogged about my first baby in a very long time. My 50 pound baby! She has finally gotten that bulldog laziness that you hear about. We were beginning to wonder. She still has her energetic moments, but mostly she lies around, moving only when one of the kids get too close. LOL Poor thing doesn't get much peace with the kids around. I think her favorite part of the evening is when they go to bed. She will come out from behind my recliner, jump on the couch (using one of the pillows as her own), and go back to sleep. I sure do love my Georgia Girl!!

Whew!!

Emmitt made it to the finals!! Yay!! Yes, I'm talking about Dancing with the Stars.

Man, that was stressful. I really didn't want to watch the show tonight. LOL Yeah, I realize I'm a little pathetic. LOL This is the first season I've watched and it is all because of Emmitt. He really is a great dancer. Next week should be interesting though. He and Mario (Lopez) are both fabulous. I'll be voting for E though.

My UGA thoughts of the week

I've been reading an awful lot of opinions about the Dawgs today so I decided to add my own. I've heard a lot of criticism about Coach Richt being Head Coach as well as calling the offensive plays. They seem to think he needs to hire an Offensive Coordinator. To me this is neither here nor there. We are going to question play calling regardless of who is calling the plays. That is just the nature of a fan. It doesn't matter WHO calls the plays if the wide receivers or tight ends can't catch the ball or if the running back or quarterback fumble it. We have to learn how to hold onto the ball before any calls by Coach Richt or an official Coordinator are going to be effective. Until that happens I will hold my opinion on whether Coach needs to make a change.

I pretty much agree with everyone else on the whole Defense thing and the kicking game. They both suck and need major work. Anyone know a kicker who needs a scholarship? We are in need of one. Our kicking game is a joke. I can't even watch when we have to kick a field goal or a PAT and I always say a quick prayer (that usually goes unanswered). A change definitely needs to be made there.

All that said, I love my Dawgs and will be bleeding red and black until the end of time. Living in the land of Orange makes me appreciate my red and black all the more. LOL

World's Worst Mom

Yep, that's me. At least today or this week. I feel like all I've done today is yell at my kids. I'm not sure if it is the steroids the doctor shot me with on Thursday affecting my mood or if they are just trying my patience today in general. Whatever the reason, I'm feeling incredibly guilty about it. I just want to sit down and cry. It is only 6:00pm and I'm contemplating putting them to bed already. Is that just horrible of me? Poor Joshua has spent a good amount of time in time out today and Ari has spent a lot of time crying because of things he has done to her.

*SIGH* I just hope I feel better tomorrow and we have a better day.



On a brighter note~ LSU just scored a touchdown to go ahead of UT with 9 seconds left in the game. At least one football game is going the way I wanted today.

Yep, over did it today.

I woke up this morning feeling so much better than I have all week. So, what do I do? I clean house and go grocery shopping all before picking the kids up from daycare. Now I am hurting. The problem is that I can't take the pain medication until the kids go to bed because it knocks me out or makes me loopy if I don't get to go to sleep. Can I put them to bed soon? Please? LOL

I'm so proud of my little guy!!

Not only did he stay in his bed all night (well until about 5:30am, but that is when I normally get up anyway), but he even got up in the middle of the night and went poop all by himself!!! He usually just yells for us saying he's got to pee and we have to get up with him. Not last night!! He did it all by himself!!! Also, he's been dry at night for 2 weeks now. I think we are going to try underware at night starting this weekend.

He is getting to be such a big boy!!

Give me a break!

I just have to say that I absolutely hate political commercials. The most recent one I have seen really has me rolling my eyes.

"I may not be as good looking (ummm, this is important why?), and I may not be as articulate (whatever, you are a politician), and I may not be able to make those slick commercials (again, whatever, you are a politician).............."

This really is ridiculous. Corker needs to find some other way to make his point. I'll be so glad when this election is over. It has definitely turned into a mud slinging party. I'm pretty disgusted with both sides.

Pleurisy

Ever had it? Let me just tell you that it is excruciatingly painful! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Well, maybe one person, but I'd wish a lot worse on her. LOL I was finally diagnosed with it today. I could have gotten medicine for it on Tuesday if the stupid doctor would have listened to me, but I had to suffer for 2 more days before getting relief. I went to a different doctor today. She diagnosed me in just a few minutes. The dang CT Scan that I wrote about earlier was so not necessary. That really ticks me off. So anyway, a steroid shot and 800mg of Ibuprofen later and I'm feeling much better. I still have pain when I breathe, but at least it is bearable now.

Being sick sucks!!

So apparently the pain I was having in my upper torso was just my body's way of telling me that I was going to get sick. I woke up this morning feeling horrible. Sore throat, and a fever of 102. I've also been in the bathroom more than not today. Yeah, I know.....TMI. Sorry. I'm nauseous and in desperate need of Sprite. Michael had to go get the kids from daycare because they called to say that Joshua was throwing up. Just great!! Now not only will I have to deal with the kids as I am sick, but he is sick too. This is not going to be fun! Forget making dinner. I can't stand up long enough to do it. I'm guessing it will be chicken nuggets. If I still have this fever tomorrow I am going back to the doctor.

Oh, the pain in my chest and back is pretty much gone. I still have a little pain when I take a really deep breath, but nothing like yesterday. I can actually breathe normally with an occasional deep breath. Much better than yesterday.

I HATE NEEDLES!!!!

So, today really sucked. It started last night actually. Around 6pm my chest started hurting really badly on the right side. By 8pm my whole torso hurt every time I would take a deep breath and I had to take deep breaths because a regular breath didn't feel like it was enough. I took some Tylenol and went to bed at 8:00. I woke up at 2:30am in tears because I hurt so bad. I almost went to the ER. You know it has to be bad for me to even think about that!! Well, I got up this morning and went to work. The school nurse came and listened to my lungs and said that I should go to the doctor. I went. They did a chest x-ray and blood draw (damn if they didn't have to stick me twice!!). The x-rays came back fine. The doctor wants me to have a CT Scan to check my appendix and gall bladder. I go over to the hospital and have to drink this horrible dye. I had to drink 3 (yes 3) cups of the nasty stuff. They take me back for the scan where I have to get more dye through an IV. Now I am a major needle phobe. I hate needles!! I tell the nurses this and we laugh about it. Well, they shouldn't have laughed. They blew 2 veins in my hand before they were able to get the IV in. Yeah, I was not very happy!! Did I mention that I am a needle phobe? I was stuck 5 times today!!!! They were not getting another chance let me just tell you! Anyway, I get to go home after the scan and wait on the call from the doctor. They finally call and tell me that the scan came back negative. So, no problem with my appendix or gall bladder. They tell me that if I am still hurting in a couple days that I should come back in. Umm, so in the mean time what do I do about the pain? Suffer? Yep! They gave me nothing to ease the pain in my chest. It's not like I can just lie still or not move much to help. It hurts when I breathe for crying out loud. I can't stop doing that now can I? Doctors really irritate me.

Happy Halloween!

My little devils!

He is definitely our son!!

So, after seeing the Star Wars contingent at several different events in recent weeks and having Joshua afraid of them, Michael and I decided that we needed to introduce him to the movie. We came home from the Pumpkinfest in Franklin yesterday and put in Star Wars. I was afraid that it would scare him. It didn't. He was mesmerized. He sat through the entire movie without getting bored. When it was over he wanted to watch it again...............immediately. He has watched it several times today. He cries and whines if we don't let him watch it. He played Star Wars with his daddy today when he wasn't watching the movie. Joshua was a Stormtrooper and Daddy was Leia. LOL

I would say that we now have another Star Wars geek in the world. And, this suits us just fine!

Football sucks!!

That is all!

Dancin' a jig!!!!

JOSHUA IS COMPLETELY POTTY TRAINED!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!

He is dry all day. He poops on the potty (finally)! AND, he has been dry at night for the past week!! We are going to finish this bag of pull ups and then he is in underware even at bedtime!!

Now, let's just hope that I didn't jinx us!!

Captured!

Yesterday was a very busy day for the family. We started out at a comic book show where we were captured by some Imperial Stormtroopers. Joshua wanted to see them from afar, but when we got close he became a clinging vine. Ari didn't care one way or the other. She would put on her shy act, but she didn't cry or act scared.

As you can see we were captured.
Christian looks like a defiant prisoner. I guess it's the Army coming out in him! LOL


Ari just looks curious about the bounty hunter who helped bring us in. Michael was having fun though!


Joshua looks scared to be the most recent prisoner of Imperial Forces. I, however, was having a great time! Yes, we all realize that we are geeks! LOL

The next order of business on our busy day was the search for the Peter Pan costume. See the post below for details of that one.

After we got the costume we headed to Charlie Daniels Park in Mt. Juliet to attend a benefit for a friend's husband who needs a liver transplant. We spent about an hour to an hour and a half there.

When we left there we went home for dinner. After eating we got the kids dressed in their costumes to go to "Ghouls at Grassmere." We ran into the Imperial contingent there too. Joshua wasn't really happy about that! LOL We also saw some of the Rebel Forces too. Chewy and R2D2 made an appearance.

It was a fun day, but it was a long one. We got home around 9pm. The kids were exhausted. So was I. I think I was in bed by 10pm. Today is a day for relaxation and some football. I have to get some rest in before going back to my first graders tomorrow.

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (aka~Joshua and Ari)

We've had Ari's Tinkerbell costume for a couple weeks now. Joshua couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to be. He changed from a potato (umm, no idea where that came from), to a ghost, to a cat. He wouldn't let me buy any costume when we would go searching. We were trying to talk him into Peter Pan to go with Tink, but he just didn't want to do it. Yesterday we were finally able to convince him. We drove all the way out to Cool Springs to the Disney Store to get the costume. When we got there they were sold out. The sales lady says she can call the other 2 stores in Nashville and see if they had one. What? Nashville has more than 1 Disney Store? Where have I been? I had no idea. Heck, there is even one at the closest mall to me, Opry Mills. Now, I have to say that I absolutely HATE going to the any mall and Opry Mills especially. Apparently I haven't been in a very long time. The Disney Store has been there for about a year. Anyway, they have one there and hold it for us.

They look so cute!!

Hello, my name is Paige and I have an addiction.

No, it's not cigarettes. No, it's not alcohol. What is it, you ask? Books. More specifically romance novels. Mindless entertainment. A requirement for me as a working mother and wife. I need the mindlessness of a good romance. I have several authors who I just absolutely love (Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsay, Catherine Coulter, and Nora Roberts). I MUST own their books. No library for me, they have to reside on my book shelf. While this isn't the worst vice I could have, it is a vice nonetheless. I spend way too much money on books.

I read my first romance novel at the tender age of 13. It was This Calder Sky by Janet Dailey (thanks Aunt Carolyn). I still have that copy. I have since bought the whole series in hardback.

Presently I am reading Nora Roberts. I've become obsessed with her new Circle Trilogy. I've read books one and two, but the third doesn't come out until November. I'm going nuts!!!!! *SIGH* Not only that, but I just got my book club flyer and they have 4 of her trilogies each in 1 book for only $14.99 a piece. I'm dying here!! I need (okay, maybe not need) these books. I don't currently own many of Ms. Robert's books and these would take up much less shelf space (I'm running out of shelf space) being all bound together. Oh AND shipping is a flat $1.99 for an entire order!! I need help. I CANNOT buy those books!!! It is not a smart idea right now. Not to mention Christmas is coming and I can put them on my list. Ugh, but I WANT them now!!!!!!!

What is your addiction?

Well Hell!!

Season pretty much over! I could say a really really ugly word right here, but I'll keep it clean for now. At least I will try! LOL

Lose to Vandy?!! How much worse could it get? Oh wait, we still have to play the hated Gators (who lost to Auburn last night by the way!! WOOHOO for that!!) and Tech. Is losing to Vandy that bad, you ask? Ummmm, yeah! I live in Nashville for crying out loud. It was horrible to lose to UT, but to Vandy!!! Geez. Not only that, but my in-laws are Vandy fans....................oh and my wonderful husband! Blech!! Luckily they know me well enough not to even think about rubbing it in. Well, okay I'm sure they think about it, but they don't DO it. That could cause a very ugly scene and make for a very uncomfortable week or so until I get over the damn loss. LOL

I have to say that I'm really not all that surprised about this season though. I went into it feeling like we were ranked higher than we really should have been. We lost a lot of talent last year and we didn't even know who our starting QB was until about 2 weeks before the season started. Then they went 5-0 and I had high hopes. Yeah, I should have known better considering how badly we played against Colorado and Ol' Miss, but hey I'm an optimist. I try to be anyway. LOL

Oh well, we have a pretty good freshman learning the QB position and the offense so I will look to next year. Now don't think I'm not looking to the big games we have left. We can still play spoiler to many teams. I'm guessing though that I have to pull for Auburn as SEC Champs. I just can't bring myself to pull for the hated Gators or Vols. Not going to happen. I NEVER EVER pull for either of those teams. My fellow UGA fans/friends will pull for them in bowl games (should always pull for the SEC in bowl games they say), but not me. I just can't do it.

*SIGH*

2 out of 3 ain't bad!

1. Dry in underware all day.....................check.
2. Poop on the potty.................................check.
3. Dry all night........................................not yet.

He is 3 and I think we are pretty much done with potty training. We will be working on staying dry all night, but he likes to have water close by at night so that may take a little while. I'm just happy that he will now poop on the potty. We've been working on this for about a year now. He refused to do it for the longest time. I'm so proud of my little guy!!

What a relaxing weekend!!

I love my annual girls' weekend. My best friends and I really only see each other once a year. Every year we go to the North Georgia Mountains and rent a cabin. We do nothing all weekend! LOL We may or may not even get out of our pjs. This weekend we did come off the mountain once to go get ice cream at Sweet Treats. It was fabulous as always. We watched movies, I read 2 books, Nat and Nicol were knitting, and the best part was just sitting around talking. I really miss doing that with my best friends.

I had a great time, but it's good to be back home with Michael and the kids. I missed them.

Here is a picture of our view.

HA!! I knew we were good!!

I just read an article about UGA players in the NFL. We are ranked 4th in the Nation with number of former players in the NFL. UGA has 39 and the only other SEC team with more is Tennessee and they have 40. Not only that, but the SEC has more active players than any other conference with 266. Congrats to UGA and to the SEC!!! I always knew we were the best!!

Ummm, yeah that's the solution.

Teachers with guns? Ummm, yeah I don't think so. How safe is it to have a gun in a classroom with 18+ children? I'm a teacher and I'm a mom. As both I think this is a very bad idea. I'm not anti-gun in any way, but I just can't see how this can be the solution to the violence we've seen in schools. The guns would be too easily accessible for the kids and how many teachers do you know who are comfortable being around/holding/shooting guns? I don't know many. I grew up with guns in the house and I'm not uncomfortable around them, but I would not want one in my child's classroom. This is just crazy. I'm sure it won't go past the "idea" stage, but still. The thought scares me heck out of me.

Hey Granddad!! When can we start my lessons?

We were at Granddad's on Saturday where Joshua took his first real interest in the many guitars that Granddad has. He strummed for awhile before asking if he could have a "little guitar." We gave the generic answer of, "We'll see." thinking that his interest would wain in the next couple days or even hours. This is usually the case with a 3 year old. Much to our surprise though he woke up Sunday morning and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Let's go get my little guitar Mommy." I heard that same thing several times throughout the day. I heard it again this morning. I had to run errands and as I was leaving he asked, "Momma, are you going to get my little guitar now?" Well, I bought him his very first guitar today. He was so excited when I got home with it. It was worth it for that excitement even if his interest diminishes quickly.

Here are a couple pictures we took this morning. Does he have the look of a rock star, or what? LOL


So, Granddad, when DO his lessons start?

Hmmm, who'da thought?

You Are 48% Pure

You're usually the typical girl or guy next door... But you also have a secret naughty side!

How Pure Are You?

Okay, I wouldn't have thought this was true, but after answering those questions................

You Are 28% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Now this one I can see! LOL

This should be fun...............NOT!!

Joshua is sleeping in underwear tonight all night for the first time. I'm completely doing away with diapers with him. I'm hoping that this will start him pooping in the potty. If he goes in his underwear it is up to him to clean himself and the underwear up. See how long he wants that job. LOL

Ari is in her toddler bed for the first time at night. She sleeps in it for naps, but has always wanted to sleep in her crib at night. I'd say she will probably end up in her crib at some point tonight.

Happy birthday to me!

Well, tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my birthday. No, I'm not going to tell you how old I am and it's not polite to ask! ;-)

Dancing With the Stars

Okay, I'll be the first to say that I absolutely HATE reality TV. But, I also have to admit that I have found ONE that I am addicted to. I LOVE Dancing With the Stars. This is the first season I've watched and I started watching it because Emmitt Smith was one of the contestants. Emmitt is my absolute favorite football player (yeah, I realize that it's weird that a huge UGA fan's favorite football player used to play for the hated Gators). A lot of people thought that he wouldn't be any good, but I knew he would. Have you ever seen him run a ball on the football field? I also used to watch him do the "Emmitt Shuffle" when he was in college! LOL He's got the moves!! Emmit is doing great and I do my part by voting each week.

I do like some of the others too. Vivica A. Fox is a wonderful dancer and I love her attitude. Sara Evans is looking more comfortable as the weeks go on and she put on a heck of a performance this week.

The show brings back a lot of great memories from college too. Instead of taking a regular PE class I opted to take ballroom dancing. I had the best time and learned a lot. I even took the class after I had satisfied my PE credits. We didn't have enough guys in the class (imagine that!) so a couple of the guys in the Ballroom Dance Society would come in to help. I was paired with one guy every time. He taught me 2 very important things: 1. If a man can lead I can dance. 2. It is always the man's fault. [Now he said that it only applied in dancing, but I prefer to apply it to everyday life! ;-) ] He used to drive me nuts though. If I even thought about looking at my feet when we were dancing he would immediately stop. He would make me look him in the eyes the whole time. This isn't usually a problem, but I was attracted to him (I had a thing for men who could dance or sing) and being the shy person that I am I had a very hard time doing that. LOL I just knew that he would be able to tell. Anyway, I had so much fun dancing and I miss it. Watching the show makes me wish I could get back into it. I was never and will never be good enough to compete, but it is great fun, not to mention good exercise.

I thought we made a breakthrough tonight.

I was wrong. Joshua is potty trained...............almost. He stays dry all day in underwear. Our problem lies in the pooping on the potty thing. He absolutely refuses to do it. I'm not sure what his hang up is at this point. He has done it a couple times, but not in a very long time. Tonight we talked about how all his friends do it and that only babies wear diapers. He said that he didn't want to be a baby, he wanted to be a big boy. I even bribed him with stickers! He was all excited to do it. We went to the potty and he sat there..........................and sat there. We were in the bathroom for about half an hour. He kept saying that he wanted to poop and he didn't want to get off the potty. Finally, I just had to give up. I put a diaper on him and within minutes I had to change him. I'm not sure what to do to get him to go on the potty. Any been there done that advice? Please share!

What are you listening to right now?

At this very moment I am sitting in my recliner watching SEC football (Florida and Kentucky) and my English Bulldog is sleeping behind me. I can hear her snoring above the sounds of football. LOL

This is a very common sound in our house. What are the most common sounds in your house?

Did I really say that I love football?

I hate football!! LOL Well not exactly, but I sure don't like close games. Today my Dawgs (ranked # 9) played Colorado (unranked). It had to be the most horrible game I've seen Georgia play in a very long time. The first 3 quarters were a disgrace. Stafford was 8 of 16 for 76 yards (I can forgive this somewhat considering he is a freshman, but this is the SEC and he needs to be ready!). We couldn't run the ball. We had 27 rushes for only 54 yards. We fumbled 3 times and lost 2 of them. Only 3 of 11 on third down? You cannot win like that. I certainly hope that they fix this before we get into the heart of our SEC schedule. We cannot expect to beat the big boys playing like we did today. Heck, we almost lost to an unranked team who had lost their last 7 games (if I remember correctly). I have to say though that we looked much better in the 4th quarter. Joe Cox came in and threw for 154 yards completing 10 of 13 passes. Our defense forced and recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass to secure the victory. Our final touchdown came with 46 seconds on the clock. Only 46 seconds people!! Do you know what that does to a heart? We only won by 1 measly point and the winning score came with 46 freakin' seconds on the clock!! I HATE games like that. Way too stressful!! At least I wasn't watching on tv. I don't know where my foam brick is and throwing anything else might break my new tv!! Michael would have been rolling his eyes too since I would have been on my knees with my head on the floor there at the end. LOL

Big sigh of relief for now. I'm sure Coach Richt will correct what went wrong today and we will come back strong next week against Ol' Miss.

2 weeks from tomorrow!

Only 14 more days and I am off on my girls' weekend. I can't wait. I need some nice, quiet, relaxing time with my best friends. My mom flies in at 7:40 am on Friday and I drive out around 9am. I'll be gone for 4 days. I've got my books all ready to go. I'm going to take some movies and I have my grocery shopping list in my head. I hope that it's cold so that the leaves will be nice. The hot tub at this cabin is actually on the screened in porch that I think is on the second level. That will be nice. It has a wood burning fireplace right beside it. *SIGH* I can't wait. If I remember to take the camera I will post pictures of the view.

New pics of the rugrats!

Is this the face of a little girl having fun or what?


Her serious face.


Joshua playing in the rocks with one of Bob the Builder's backhoes. Ari looking on wishing her brother would share.


Joshua playing with my Dad's dog, Bell. Bell loves to chase sticks and she is pretty big compared to my little guy. He wasn't scared though.


He looks so much older than 3 in this picture. My little man.