Cousin Time!

Spencer met up with his cousins tonight for a mini Christmas Party! Tom, Gena, Destiny and Steven met us at Fudruckers for a relaxed dinner and a little gift exchange. We missed having Rodney there but hopefully we can all get together again soon. The kids had a great time in the game room, sipping Cocoa Loco Milkshakes and opening gifts!

Cough Cough Hack Hack and then some fun stuff

Bronchitis. I have had a nasty chest cold and bronchitis. I am so tired of coughing that I want to scream.--but I haven't had a voice in days! My ribs hurt, everyone is tired of my constant coughing and I am exhausted. But I am on my second run of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments so I should get better any minute now....

Spencer had his Christmas program at School today and he was SO STINKIN CUTE!!! He sang with his class, gave his teachers presents, had holiday snacks and showed us his artwork. Nana, Daddy and I were very proud of him!

Several kids cried because their parents weren't there. I am very thankful that (1) I have a flexible job and (2) I go even when I feel lousy because I know *this* is what is really important. (3) My family supports Spencer and goes to his baseball, basketball, karate, church, school-whatever. I hope Spencer never feels the sadness that the other little kids felt today when they didn't have a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle--anyone that could come to their special holiday presentation.

Have I mentioned how many goodies have been sent to our house? Nancy made us a HUGE cookie tray with 16 varieties of gourmet cookies. Valerie sent 5 pounds of the creamiest homemade fudge ever! Spencer has gotten treats from school and church. Debbie sent a tin of sugar cookies. Everyone has really enjoyed all the special treats!

The holiday cards are pouring in! We enjoy all the well wishes, cards, letters and pictures! It is wonderful to check the mail everyday. Spencer has put himself in charge of opening all cards. It is really cute!

And a note about cards-- my friend Christy from Florida sent me a card and called me a 'Ho not once, not twice-BUT THREE times on the front of the card! What's up with that?? HAHA!

Well, I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. Spencer's church program is done and his school program is done. Now it is time for parties with friends and family. If I could get rid of this nasty cough, it would be much easier. In the mean time, I hope all of you are enjoying all the love and fun of the season-- stay safe and be good!

A Choir of Cherubs

Spencer has been sick the last few days with a nasty asthma flare up and a double ear infection. But.... he was finally well enough this evening to participate in the Christmas program at Church tonight. He and IV sang their two little songs proudly! We were so proud of them!

In memory of Teegan

Teegan Wynn O'Neal

8-2-04 to 12-11-06

My ScrapJazz buddy, Sarah, lost her baby girl, Teegan, this morning. Teegan passed from a very aggressive viral infection in her lungs. They said that it most likely set in within 12 hours of her death. It was so massive that it eventually filled her poor little lungs with mucous and suffocated her. She passed due to a severe viral infection, the type of virus is still unknown at this time.

Sarah and Grant-- my heart aches for you. We will keep you and your boys in our prayers.

Go Tar Heels!

It was a Carolina weekend for us! We went to Chapel Hill for the UNC- High Point game. We ate at the Rat, shopped on Franklin, cheered on the Heels at the game, then went back to Franklin to Starbucks. Spencer had a fantastic time! He loves the "bowl of cheese" (aka lasagna) at the Rat and he picked out all kinds of new T-shirts, sweatshirts, basketballs, etc. for himself while shopping! I tell ya, our heart will break if this kid grows up and goes to school anywhere else!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

It was an entire Birthday weekend with Spencer! Friday was his actual Birthday. Toby and I took cupcakes and YooHoos to his class for a special snack. After school, Spencer unwrapped a gift from Valerie while I finished up work. It was a Cars Watch-which he loved! He was also VERY impressed with the card she sent (I have warped that poor child....)

Toby had to work Friday evening, so Nana, Boppa and I took Spencer to his favorite restaurant (Ghasson's)and to Toys R Us. Then we came home and began decorating and making loot bags for his big party on Saturday. His party was awesome! We had dinosaurs everywhere! I spent about 2 days cooking- we had tons of appetizers at the "Dinosaur Party" that afternoon and then I had a big spaghetti dinner for friends and family that night. I had gone to a few holiday market/gourmet shops over the past couple of weeks so I had lots of new, yummy things to serve up!

The kids loved the Dinosaur theme. The loot bags were huge-- dino bath toys, coloring book, crayons, dino cup and crazy straw, dino sucker, candy, dino whistle necklaces (nope! never buying those noisy things again!), stretchy dinos, plastic dinos, dino pencils, notebooks, tattoos, etc. This was such as easy theme!

As the kids came in, we made dino necklaces and Spencer opened gifts. Opening gifts early worked out-- the kids were excited to give the present and they didn't have to keep a secret for a long time! After all the kids trickled in, and we had made necklaces and opened presents, Nana had the big activity set up and we all went into the dining room! The kids gathered round the table and each kid got a kit (similar to Build a Bear) with a dinosaur, hypo-allergenic stuffing, stuffing stick, heart, carrying box, and a GGGGGGGROWL noise modulator for its paw. It was about 15 minutes of chaos while we helped the kids make a T-Rex!! They were so cool!!!!!

After the build-a-dino, the kids had cake and icecream, played outside and then as everyone started leaving and the next party (the spaghetti dinner) started about 30 minutes later. We ate, laughed, and played all evening!

I'm thankful for everything (but the indigestion)

Happy Turkey Day! We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We slept in, then Toby ran to Biscuitville and got us breakfast and we watched the parade on TV. I finished up my cooking ( 2 coconut custard pies, an apple cobbler, 2 gallons of sweet tea, and sweet potato casserole) and then we went to Mom's house. I filled up on dressing before dinner and spent the rest of the evening bellyaching with indigestion. Spencer and IV enjoyed helping Nana and Boppa put up their Christmas tree, then we all had dessert and coffee and came home to crash! Seems like it was just Halloween--where did November go?

Little Mr. Scruffy Head

Spencer wants to let his hair grow out. We knew we would encounter this when he was 13ish but not when he is 5!!! He has seen a few older kids with "surfer dude" hair and now Spencer wants his hair longer. But....his hair just looks scruffy and not cute and curly or wispy! I want him to exercise his independence but I'm thinking of Christmas photos, Children's choir, Holiday programs at school, etc.- all the upcoming things where you *really* want your kid to look good...and not a scruffy head. But I already told him that he could wear his hair how he wanted to...so I guess I can't complain, right?

Girls Weekend Away at the Beach

I went to the beach this weekend! Dad kept Spencer and Toby had to work all weekend. We shopped, and shopped and shopped some more. I got lots of Christmas shopping done! We went to a big Christmas exhibition at the convention center and did plenty of outlet shopping. Dee and I fell in LOVE with the bar menu at our new favorite beach restaurant (check out http://www.cheeseburgerinparadise.com ) We decided we like this place BETTER than Margaritaville! Mom bought me some really cool shirts and a new Christmas pin. The weather was perfect, the oceanfront hotel was nice, the food was delish, and I think all of us laughed the entire time!

Dinner with Valerie!

I was called away quite unexpectedly (on business) to Jacksonville last week-- but luckily, while I was down there, I got to spend Wednesday evening with my friend, Valerie! I toured her beautiful new home, we did a little shopping and then drove down to the beach for dinner. It was so nice to actually have face-to-face conversation! We usually email/IM/phone everyday, so it was a treat to see each other "in real life!" Before coming to the banking industry, Valerie was an elementary school teacher, so she has given me TONS of advice with Spencer!

Halloween!

Halloween was filled with treats and not tricks this year! Spencer had a party at school, another party at his after school care, and then went to our church for Fall Festival and trunk-or-treating. He was the cutest Red Power Ranger there!

Sick House

Well, my little man is sick. This is the first time he has been sick since his surgery back in March. He has infection in both ears, eyes, sinus, asthma flare up, etc. Nasty little bugger. This morning I woke up with goopy eyes, sinus gross stuff, etc. My doctor's office is closed this afternoon so I guess I will hit the over-the-counter stuff and take it easy. Spencer is on a strong antibiotic and taking nebs every two hours so he will be better in a day or so. Poor little guy! Toby is still healing from his surgery last week and can't chew well-- but his joint pain/headaches are better so we think this was the right step. I guess we will have a very calm, restful weekend!

Field Trip

Toby and I both took a long lunch break and accompanied Spencer's class on their first field trip: a tour of the local fire station and to the pumpkin patch. I tell ya-- I don't know how his teachers do it every day! It was like a 3 ring circus! But it was nice to meet some of the kids in Spencer's class. He seems well adjusted and liked by his little friends and "Gracie" seems to get alot of his attention!!! ahem!

Punkin Chunkin

We had our annual Pumpkin Carving party! The kids made bloodshot eyeball cookies (decorated sugar cookies), I made peanut butter, toffee chip chocolate cookies and my brother made chicken fajitas for the crowd. Dinner was yummy and munching on cookies while we carved our pumpkins was fun!

LA LA LA!

Check out Spencer and IV in the little boys choir at church-- They sang "Step, Step, Step" and "Jesus Cares for Me" It was so funny watching them-- IV was commander of the stage but Spencer was shy and played with his shirt the entire time!

Bulldogs and Surgery

Spencer reigned as BULLDOG OF THE WEEK this past week in his kindergarten class! We are so proud of him! He was selected because he is a good student, citizen and friend. He got a commemorative cup and little shoelace embellishments to wear to school. I tried to get him to give me the shoelace things for my scrapbook, but he insisted on wearing them-ha!




Toby had surgery on Friday to correct the TMJ they think is causing his migraines. He has a significant amount of damage and infection in his jaw. The first step was an oral surgery to remove his wisdom teeth and help move out some of the inflammation. As you can see, all the pets surround whomever is ill in our house. The pets think they have healing powers or something weird.... Anyway, Toby is resting and healing up this weekend!

Black Mountain

We spent last weekend in Black Mountain, NC for a scrapbooking retreat with www.scrapnthecarolinas.com It was wonderful! NC Mountains in October are beautiful--perfect weather, the trees changing colors, awesome tourist towns. We drove up Friday morning and then shopped in the "downtown area"- chocolatiers, wine shops, gourmet kitchen supply stores, nick nack shops, crafts, silver jewelry, etc. Then Friday - Sunday we scrapbooked our little hearts out. Well except Dee, she worked on her Christmas cards all weekend! Dee, Julie, Melissa (my sister in law), my Mom and I were at a group of tables together and we laughed so hard my sides hurt AND I had to break out the asthma inhaler. Despite all the giggles (and breaks to partake in the gourmet foods and snacks Pam provided us!), we got lots done this weekend! I completed 35 pages (12 x 12)-- and I even won two contests at the crop (Page Challenge and Best Use of Embellishments) How fun is that? I wasn't even going to enter the embellishments contest but Melissa made me submit a page! After the crop, we shopped our way back home and had a nice meal together to top off the perfect girls weekend away!

Dixie Classic Fair

I forgot to update my blog about our trip to the fair last week!! Spencer and I went to the fair with Jimmy, Melissa and IV. We bought the all-you-can ride wrist band this year so we didn't have to keep up with tickets--well worth the $20! The boys rode the big slide about 15 times-- it was definitely their favorite thing this year! They rode every kiddie ride at least once and went back and rode their favorites a couple more times. We snacked on our favorite fair foods (Roasted corn for me, Fried Snickers bar for Melissa, Candy apple for Spencer, etc.) The boys fell in love with the bunnies on exhibit. Spencer threw a fit for a dwarf bunny that looked like the bunny from one of his favorite books-- but oh no!-- I didn't give in! We loved all the agricultural and animal exhibits! I wished we would have had more time to visit more of them!

What's big, blue and toots?

Today was our Day Out with Thomas! Spencer and IV had so much fun. Boppa's sinus infection was bad so he stayed home but the rest of us went to Spencer, NC to the NC Transportation Museum and had a day full of Thomas, Percy, James, Sir Topam Hat and the crew. We had our ride on Thomas, we road on the roundhouse, did arts and crafts, had "fun foods" at the outdoor fair, had pictures made, toured the museum and, of course, went to the gift shop. The ride on Thomas was 17 minutes long and our 7 tickets were $133.00!! Isn't that crazy? (By the way-- thanks to Nana for buying us tickets and planning an awesome family day!) Spencer got 4 new cars for his Thomas sets, two Tshirts and gloves. I asked him what his favorite parts of our day was and he said (1) riding on Thomas (2) getting new toys and (3) his picnic lunch at the roundhouse.

Congratulations Lydia and Bryan!

We went to Virginia last weekend for Lydia and Bryan's wedding and had a fantastic time. It was a beautiful ceremony and an awesome party! Nothing beats getting together with friends, family, good food and an open bar!

Just a side story here.....The ceremony was outside and we sat on stadium style risers. On a couple of rows in front of us, a guy was moving his hands in a rather rythmic fashion and I thought, "Cool! Lydia has someone signing her ceremony!" Then I noticed he was facing the wedding party--and still signing away with great energy. As I was trying to figure out who was deaf and watching the guy sign, I saw the poor guy sit up a little and lean to the side...and continue to fan two yellow jackets away. Geesh! He wasn't signing--but was being bullied by two Brown's Island Bees!!!

We turned the entire weekend into a mini vacation. We did some power shopping at the outlets, we toured the Edgar Allen Poe museum (and Spencer squaked 'Nevermore' for the next three days) and we toured the Science Musuem. Spencer and IV got a big kick out of the Grossology exhibit! Anything about burps, farts and stinky smells just crack up 4 and 5 year old boys. IV loved the tapeworm slide and Spencer enjoyed moving the balls through the cow's stomachs to create methane..and well you know what that means...

We completed the weekend by getting home in time to celebrate Jimmy's 30th birthday with dinner out at his favorite Italian restaurant!

Weird things tag

I was tagged by Oscar from Scrapjazz to update my blog with 5 weird things.
These are the rules:List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.
Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.
1) I am compulsive about handwipes and brushing my teeth.
2) My cat, Norm, can not meow.
3) I had my tonsils removed. And they grew back.
4) My last 4 new cars have been silver.
5) I can't digest lettuce.
I tag: (I'm not sure who hasn't been tagged?! Leave me a comment if you accept this tag!)

It's official

Well it happened. I am officially old. I have aged out of "lawn seats" at a concert. Last week we had lawn tickets to the Motley Crue/Aerosmith concert. We got there early, got good seats, rented little lawn chairs, had a few drinks and was having fun..... and then the "idiots" showed up. The stupid-drunk, flicking pot ashes on our blanket, trashing our space, no respect for anything, groping idiots that decide lawn section means a free-for-all. I swear this place needed an enema. A few months ago, we went to see Def Leppard at the same venue and it was awesome. It must be the type of people that get seats in the lawn section that act like trash. By the beginning of Aerosmith, Toby and I abanonded our lawn chairs (keeping up with them required a can of mace and a pit bull anyway) and went to the back of the ampitheater and made fun of the drunk people trying to go up and down the steps. Ah! good times indeed.

As for the concert.... Aerosmith is awesome live. They always have been. As for the Crue.... Vince Neil's voice is rough-- too much screaming and smoking the past 20 years I guess. Tommy Lee barely got any visibility. I was truly disappointed at the lack of on stage camera work (no close ups of my man Nikki Sixx???) Not one of their better concerts..but at least I got to see them one more time....while sitting in the (gag!) lawn section.

Thanks Oscar!

My friend, Oscar, in Alberta sent my little guy Chick Hicks from the movie CARS! We have been looking for Chick Hicks for months! He was SO SO SO excited. I used this surprise to reward him for good behavior at school! Thank you Oscar-- you rock!

The Power of Four

I accepted this blog tag from Paula-- my Aussie friend!

A) Four jobs I have had in my life: In order of importance:
Mother, wife, Instructional Designer, Project Manager
B) Four movies I could watch again:
Steel Magnolias, Dumb and Dumber, League of Their Own, The Replacements
C) Four places I have lived:
Chester, High Point, Chapel Hill, Trinity
D) Four TV shows I like to watch:
The Office, Lost, Earl, Family Guy
E) Four places I have holidayed:
Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Disney World
F) Four regular websites I visit:
Google, Scrapjazz, eBay, CNN
G) Four of my favourite foods:
Potatoes, Bread, Cherries, Greek Salad
H) Four places I would rather be right now:
Claiming my winning Lotto ticket, on vacation, sleeping, reading to Spencer
I) Four friends I think will respond:
Oscar, Nancy, Val, and Donna

Catching up my blog!

Another few busy days. I can't believe my weekend is already over!

Tonight was our Hoedown for Hunger at church. We raised a good bit of money for our Missions fund and we had a great time. Everyone enjoyed the Square Dance and the silent auction raised an impressive amount of money as well. The homemade cakes did better at the auction than anything else. I was disappointed that my scrapbook album only raised $16.00. I put about 9 hours of work and $60 in it. But hopefully the person receiving it will appreciate it.

Louise Mandrell was our special guest at church. She played her "fiddle" and sang beautifully. She is quite a hottie, too. Toby added her to his "Top 10" list--haha!

We bought several things at the auction tonight: handmade cards, a handmade glass bead necklace, a gift certificate for printing of our Christmas cards, Apple crumb cake and a jar of honey from a local bee keeper. That's kind of an odd assortment, eh?

Spencer is enrolling in self-defense and basketball this week. My "free evenings" will be coming to an abrupt halt.

I also agreed to host a Tastefully Simple catalog party. You can check out the new stuff at http://www.tastefullysimple.com or let me know if you want to see a catalog. We are out of several of our favorite "party foods" and the holidays will be here before we know it!

Spencer's hermit crabs are still alive. They are diggin' (pun intended) their little crabitat we built for them. They both look like they have grown so we are hoping they change shells soon!

Well we have another busy week filled with softball games, karate class, church, basketball enrollment, my cousin's wedding, Operation Christmas Child kickoff, -- oh and work! And I guess I need to clean the house sometime since I didn't get to it this weekend. (yikes!)

Books!

Most of you know how much I love books so when I got the notice of Spencer's very first Book Fair at school I was thrilled. Luckily, Spencer loves books, too so I wanted to make it a fun evening for him. I was a little surprised at how many toys are at the Book Fair. I was expecting..well..BOOKS. But no.... there are toys, games, posters, video games, etc. Oh and there are books, too. The toys and goofy junk are merchandised FRONT AND CENTER-- that tells me they (Scholastic) are more interested in profits than literacy. Spencer bought a nice stash of goodies: a school sweatshirt, a Leapter game cartridge, a handheld tornado thingy, a stuffed Jaguar with a little Rain Forest book, he bought 5 books for us to read together, he picked out a book to donate to his classroom and he bought his cousin, IV, a book about a Bad Kitty.

After the Book Fair, we went to his Open House. We had cheese pizza and I met some of his classmates. He showed me some of his artwork and I talked with his teachers. I *really* like his teachers. What a relief!

Toby and I are meeting up with Melissa and Jimmy this afternoon after work to drive to Charlotte for the Motley Crue/Aerosmith concert. Spencer and IV will spend with night and Nana and Boppa's since I'm sure we will be getting in quite late. I bet we will be a real treat tomorrow at work-ha! Funny, late nights to a weeknight concert used to be no big deal when we were younger.... now we have to get a sitter, adjust our morning meeting schedule, hit a triple espresso from starbucks, oh, and whine about it on our blog BEFORE we even go....heehee

The Square Dance for our Missions Fundraiser is this Sunday at church. So if you don't see me around this weekend, I will be quite busy getting things ready for that!

Things that frighten fish

We have been quite busy since we got back from vacation. We have caught up on the shopping, laundry, visited some of Toby's family, and Spencer even went to a Professional Bullriding tournament-- hold the hatemail-- I hate that crap but he wanted to go with my brother. Actually, I think he just wanted to dress up in cowboy boots, hat and old jeans and ride the little mechanical bull. He did look really cute. I hate that bullriding junk but at least I got some really cute pictures for my scrapbook-haha!

Spencer also got to visit with his cousins, Ashley and Kristin this weekend. He missed Aaron but A&K kept him plenty entertained and he fell asleep in the car within 2 minutes of leaving them!

Now we need to get the house cleaned up and build the "crabitat" for the hermit crabs. Toby got this brilliant idea that we can make the crabitat out of our 10 gallon fish tank and we can buy a new 20 gallon fish tank. We found a "sale" but then Toby just had to spend the extra and have the tacky air-opening coffin with skeleton that hooks up to the air hose. He and Spencer thought it was awesome-- must be something in guy DNA that attracts them to it because I thought it was just ugly as hell. Our poor fish will need therapy...

Vacation was Wonderful!

We spent this past week at Myrtle Beach, SC and had a wonderful time! Spencer and IV enjoyed playing on the beach with the 15 million toys they *had* to bring along.

It was the perfect week-- no schedules, great weather, just whatever. The only bad part was when that little freak Lukas won Rockstar SuperNova--UGH!!! Oh well.

We stayed on the beach every day. We had a huge tent--big enough for all 8 of us so no sun burn! Casual week all the way. Dinners were whatever and whenever: pizza, subs, Japanese, seafood, Fiesta del Burro Loco (our favorite Mexican) and the boys wanted to go to Medieval Times one night. Spencer and IV *loved* the fighting and jousting at Medieval Times. We thought the food was lousy and we spent and insane amount of money on crappy souvenirs for Spencer-but he is a typical 5 year old boy and these things really impress him.


Speaking of typical souvenirs at the beach, Spencer and IV got hermit crabs.... and freaking $40 worth of cages, shells, food, etc. etc. etc. They really rope you in with that whole "free hermit crab" sign don't they? Spencer named his crabs Amy and Chooka Boy.

Spencer and IV also played miniature golf at their favorite place, shopped at the "beach junk" stores, and got new body boards to ride the waves!

We also celebrated Grandparents Day last weekend when we first got to the beach. Spencer was excited to give Nana and Boppa their presents and card! As usual, Nana and Boppa had gifts for them as well. Nana gave them new Power Rangers pajamas and Boppa gave them new flashlights and batteries perfect for their nightly walks on the beach!

Toby Rocks

Yay! the weekend is here and I am on vacation! I went to stamp class last night. I really liked the three cards we made and learned a couple new things as well! We laughed pretty much the entire time and dished about Rockstar SuperNova. I like Toby but I think Magni will win-- he seems to have the "fit" for the band. Throughout the show I liked: Dilana, Storm, Magni, and Toby. In fact I joking say I want a T-shirt that says "Toby ROCKS" hahaha! I have had Toby's song (Throw It Away) stuck in my head for days! I hope that little freak show Lukas is next to go....

I love my new car! But..... the black carpet shows EVERY grain of dirt--I think I will go out and get some clear mats today.

Spencer got his first week behavioral report from K. He got all green happy faces-- which means he was good all week at school (his 1st week) so he was rewarded with a Power Ranger car. He had "manly man" night with Boppa last night while Toby was at work and I went to stamp class. They went to Arby's for dinner, piddled around the lawn and garden department of K-Mart, played outside, then watched Meerkat Manor on the Animal Planet and fell asleep. Spencer couldn't wait for Friday night so he could have his Boppa time!

PTSA

Trying to be good, active parents of our Kindergartner, Mom and I went to the first PTSA meeting tonight at the school. (Toby is sick)
There were 8 people there.
Yep Eight.
As in 6 other people beside me and Mom!!!!
Where were the other parents?? Where were the Teachers?
All the new kindergartners at this school and *I* was the ONLY parent of the entire Kindergarten class to show up!!! I am so upset. This is supposed to be a Superior school with triple excellence this and that with Active Board classrooms and yadda yadda yadda-- I thought for sure we would have a huge turnout! We even showed up 20 minutes early to make sure we would get a seat! (that's funny, huh?)
The Principal was there (I really like her by the way) -- but none of the teachers came back and many of them live locally. Students are invited to attend so that no one feels the need to find daycare.
I am so dissappointed!
Anyway... the school's first fundraiser starts tomorrow--cookie dough. And it's the good kind-- already mixed, pre-portioned and flash frozen! Just pop them in the oven and bake when you are ready! So..if you are reading this and live near me, let me know if you would like to see the yummy brochure! All orders come with a hug and kiss from Spencer!

Toby didn't make it to his game tonight or to the PTA meeting. He has a bad sinus infection/head and chest cold thing going on. He went to the doctor today and got a shot in his patootie and then they loaded him up with prescriptions and a consult with a specialist to see about getting his tonsils and adenoids removed. Of course he has laid in bed all day and whined... men are such babies when they are sick.

Spencer and IV rode their motorcycles all evening. They are so glad that the evenings are finally getting cooler so they can put on their riding gear without having a heat stroke!

Okay! I'm off to watch Rockstar Supernova.....

Happy Labor Day!

Today is Labor Day. And I am doing anything EXCEPT laboring... Today is going to be a nice, relaxing day! Well...for me anyway. Toby has to work today--and then he has school stuff to do tonight. We had a cookout/pool party last night and we still have lots of leftovers so dinner is taken care of--yay!

Spencer is running around in his Power Rangers costume fighting imaginary bad guys. If he is still doing that when he is 17 I promise I will put him in therapy.

Well, we decided to go with a new Honda CR-V in Alabaster Silver Metallic. The CR-V gets better gas mileage and it is very comfortable, plus it has superior safety features for Spencer in the back seat. It will be about a week before we get it. It is in the detail shop having black leather put in right now. I named her Yolanda. (Yolanda the Honda- or Yo the Ho) The I-Pod (MusicLink) hook up will be installed in two weeks.

My friend Deann made me an awesome necklace and earring set last night! Thanks Dee!

1st day of Kindergarten!

Today was Spencer's first day of Kindergarten! I think we ALL learned something today....

• Mommy and Daddy BOTH cried after they dropped Spencer off!
• Traffic in front of an elementary school is as bad as a rock concert! We need to adjust our leave time 15 minutes sooner!
• Getting up an hour earlier than you are used to is rough!
• It's really cool to have a new CARS backpack and lunchbox!
• Teachers aren't even phased when they have 5 children that don't speak English!
• Teachers are VERY grateful when you bring lots of extra supplies.
• Even though you spend hundreds of dollars on nice, new school clothes, your child will insist on wearing the $3 clearance Dino T-shirt on the first day.
• When they teach your son a new song about a dog named RAGS, he will sing it over and over all evening.
• Spencer's biggest thrill was buying chocolate milk at snack, going to PE class and giving Nana and Boppa a tour of his classroom after school today.

Peer to Peer rocks!

My brother is the king of mp3 files. Okay maybe not the king-- maybe the court jester. We stayed up half the night last night sharing mp3 files, loading up the Ipods for upcoming vacation! It was fun reminiscing through 80s tunes, making fun of songs and finding new favorites!

Car Shopping

Mom and Dad got a new Honda Pilot yesterday. Jimmy and Melissa got a new Honda Odyssey Friday. Now we have the new car bug..... Toby wants a hybrid but I'm worried about the "newness" of this technology. But the bonus and tax credits are quite an incentive....

But, I test drove the CR-V yesterday and loved it! Maybe I will go out and try something else tonight just to compare...

End of Summer challenge

I received this blog challenge from my friend, Oscar:

Challenge: Since summer is coming to a close soon..Answer this list of questions about your 2006 summer.

1. What was your favorite summer event? This summer has flown by! We have done lots of fun things (trips, visits, games, outings and goofing off) but I think the best moments have been surrounding ourselves with good friends around the pool and cooking out and mixing drinks-- just total relaxation!

2. Favorite picture of the summer? I love my summer pics of my little guy playing ball and the pool pictures!

3. Favorite movie of the summer?Probably Cars-- it doesn't take much to amuse us!

4. Best song of the summer? Buckcherry's Crazy Bitch

5. Did you go on vacation, where? We went to DisneyWorld this spring, we went to Virginia several times to visit Family, we are going to Myrtle Beach in a couple of weeks, I did several scrapbooking events (crops, conventions, retreats), We had a great trip to Atlanta to see Wicked, The Braves and shopping. Oh! and my birthday Romanza package at the Oh Henry was pretty sweet!

Mystic Force

Legend says that when Darkness arises, the chosen will embark on magical adventures, befriend mystical dragons, encounter evil and transform into the Power Rangers Mystic Force.

My little, red Power Ranger's journey began tonight with an inspiring Halloween costume choice at the Disney store. He has two months to wait....but he will be ready to Trick or Treat and fight the bad guys!

Random Blog

It has been a few days since I blogged--so this will probably be a pretty random entry.

First of all, my Uncle Jim passed away. I went to his memorial on Monday. I'm glad he is no longer in pain and battling cancer. But I hate that my aunt lost her soulmate and my cousins lost a fantastic Dad. I hate that he worked hard all his life and then died so soon after he retired.
Despite the reason for the trip, I really enjoyed seeing the family. It's a shame that we only see everyone at funerals. My cousin is getting married next month and I'm looking forward to the family coming together during a happy occassion.

Toby is in Las Vegas on a business trip. Before his flight out, he was all "I wish you could come with me, I'm gonna hate this trip, blah blah blah" Then once his big, stinkin' feet hit the Vegas strip his phone calls have been all "WooHoo! Having a blast--gotta go honey!" Hmmmpf!
As a funny side note... When I took him to the airport, I was giving him my cash since he had forgotten to stop at an ATM and I made a point to dig out extra singles for him -- I was thinking for tipping at the hotel and quick purchases in the airport, etc. He sat there and grinned like a bandit and said, "Do you realize that I'm going to Vegas and you're making sure I have plenty of singles???? What a wife!!!" Ugh!!! Hoochie Coochie capital of the US and I load my man up with ones--where was my brain? (in my defense, I drove him to the airport at 4am and I had gone to bed at 2:30 am!!!)

I went back to the doctor today. I will not need the second surgery for the kidney stones--Yay!! (but I have 4 other appointments to follow up on a minor complication...but that's typical for me. never a dull medical moment in my world.) Anyway... when I was in the waiting room, a little old lady was yelling at a little old man--obviously her husband of many years. It was such a lively little spat that I couldn't help over hearing. It seems that the little old man started the dishwasher and they didn't have any detergent so he used.......shampoo!!! Now their floor is covered in suds and they had to leave for his doctor's appointment and they were arguing over who should clean up the mess when they get home. He blames her for not having dish detergent for him to use. She thinks that anyone with half a brain would just wait and run the dishwasher AFTER she went to the store and picked more up. He was determined that it wasn't his fault. It was hilarious! When I left she was still yelling at him and he told her to pick up paper plates and plastic forks and it wouldn't be an issue. Pffhhhhht!

I loaded an additional 97 songs to my Ipod tonight. I got on an 80's kick tonight-- gotta love some Hair Metal! Speaking of Hair Metal-- we got crappy seats to the Motley Crue/Aerosmith concert. But I'm sure we will make the best of it.

By the way-- if you're reading this and you know Donna A. --her parents were hit head-on by a drunk driver this weekend. They are still in ICU and could use some prayers!

I went to a scrapbooking retreat this past weekend with my Mom and Melissa at www.scrapnthecarolinas.com. It was awesome! I finished my Disney Album!!! Pam had a company there to emboss our albums. I had my wedding album, Disney album and Spencer's baby album embossed. Mel and Vera (our CM reps) came and did make and takes and had fantastic deals for everyone, too! We had a blast, as usual and I can't wait for our next retreat in October!

Wibbly Wobbly Gone!

9 days after Spencer lost his 1st tooth, he lost his second tooth! And when I say "lost" I don't mean it *just* came out... I mean IT IS GONE! We were out to eat with The Halls (Happy 40th B-day Mike!) and Spencer was eating salad and bread and the next thing we know, the tooth is GONE! I think he swallowed it but Spencer is ADAMANT that he did not. He won't even entertain the idea that he *might* have swallowed it! I think this is because my brother has told Spencer that if he swallows his loose tooth that it will bite his hiney on the way out.... ugh!!!!!

We looked everywhere but couldn't find it. The waitress wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining that the lost tooth might be somewhere at the restaurant. That way the Tooth Fairy can get the tooth from there and still leave Spencer some $$ under his pillow!

The Tooth Fairy was very understanding. She left $3.50, an encouraging note and a funny Missing/Reward poster.

This is SOOOO not right....

Don't laugh. You will go to hell if you laugh.

Hangman

Today at church, I saw two kids playing hangman. I haven't played hangman in years but I nearly giggled out loud remembering all the games my brother and I played. Hangman was not only a game of vocabulary skill-- it was the ultimate in mockery! Oh yeah...when we would draw our hangman, the bodies were fat and bloated, the eyes were crossed, the nose had boogers, the mouth had pumpkin teeth, etc. Yep, it was funny to draw each other-- no simple stickman for us!

OOOOH! and Dots! Did you ever play dots? You know, the page of dots and you take turns connecting them and claim squares. III and I played a mean game of dots growing up!

We played normal board games, too. And UNO!!! But my brother always cheated....That Draw 4 card would appear from beneath his leg and he would SWEAR he had just drawn it-- what a goober.

Now that we are older, we play Rook. Toby and III against me and Melissa. And by the way, III still cheats--haha!

The Tooth Fairy is coming to our house!

Spencer lost his first baby tooth tonight!!! We were at Creekside Park at Toby's softball game and the little tooth was hanging down by the end of the game. It has been wibbly-wobbly for the past couple of weeks and tonight it was literally hanging from one little, tiny shred. He barely had to tug it and it cleanly came out. He couldn't wait to go to Nana and Boppa's and show them his tooth!!!

He has his tooth in a little Carolina Blue (of course) pouch and is waiting for the Tooth Fairy to bring him some "pocket dollars." I asked him what he is going to do with the money the Tooth Fairy brings and he is going to save it for when we go to the beach in a few weeks. Such a practical little guy!

What a weekend!

What a weekend! Mom and I went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday. We really enjoyed our classes and had a great time shopping at the vendor faire. Unfortunately, I had "kidney stone" issues on Saturday and came home a little early on Saturday-- but overall, we had fun! I met my first ScrapJazzer this weekend-- Faith! She is so much fun- I wish we would have had to more time to chat!

Toby played in a softball tournament this weekend. His team didn't do that well and he has slide burns up and down his legs but he said he had fun. He also got into a nest of yellow jackets while mowing the yard and was stung 7 times so I guess in comparison playing softball in the heat was fun, huh?

Sunday, we had a few friends over for a cookout/pool party. The kids had a blast and of course, cookout food and cold drinks by the pool are always nice!!!

Today, I went back to the doctor. I still have a few kidney stones to pass. He gave me more pain pills, told me to drink tons of water and gave me two more weeks to pass them. If not, I have to have another surgery(lithotripsy) to break them up. UGH!

Casual date night

We could not think of anything we wanted to do for our anniversary. We did the luxury hotel night out thing a few weeks ago at my birthday; we are going to the beach in a few weeks, we couldn't think of any restaurants we wanted to try...so we decided to have a quiet, relaxing evening at home. I made us some of our favorite goodies, we rented a funny movie and we just enjoyed a stress-free evening! Spencer stayed the night with my parents--- but before he left he put a big dent in the fruit/cheese/goodie tray I was making!!!!

Fun Weekend!

Other than heading up to Virginia, we also spent Friday night at the water park at the Kernersville YMCA for Maddie's Bday party. Maddie and Jenna are too stinkin' cute (no pics on my blog because I didn't ask their mommy if it was okay) but Spencer sure had a fun time at the party!

Sunday night, we went to the American Idols tour at the coliseum. The show was great and we had awesome seats (7th row center!) We went with a group of friends and had a blast! Chris is awesome live and I can't wait for him to put out an album! Bucky's family sat to our right and it was cool to watch how proud they were of him. Bucky's twin got *TONS* of attention from silly girls, but his wife was pretty cool about it. Chris's band was there to support him, too.

Congrats Lydia!

We went to Virginia this weekend for a bridal shower for my cousin, Lydia. Mom and I went to the shower while Spencer and Dad stayed with Aunt Jean and Uncle Jim. Toby had to work and didn't get to go with us. Lydia's shower was very nice and she looked beautiful! The wedding is September 30th and I am looking forward to coming back up then and seeing her on her special day!
Sadly, Uncle Jim is struggling with his battle against cancer. He could use some extra thoughts and prayers.

Dinosoles!

I *finally* found Dinosoles for my dinosaur obsessed son! He was SO EXCITED to get his blue suede stegosaurus shoes! The outside has the 3-D molded dino, the instep has the piercing eye and the sole makes dino tracks--are these the coolest or what?!?!

It doesn't matter to Spencer

It didn't matter to Spencer that he didn't have a smooth, concrete playing surface.

It didn't matter to Spencer that he couldn't find his tennis shoes and had to play in his baseball cleats.

It didn't matter that Daddy was 3 feet taller.

It didn't matter that the goal was WAY higher than it should have been for his size.

He was shooting some hoops and having fun!!!

Spencer has developed a keen interest in basketball recently-- and has firmly announced that he is not playing on Auntie's soccer team with IV but wants to play basketball this fall. Is this his first non-influenced social decision????