For Nana and Boppa

Spencer wanted to leave Nana and Boppa a BLOG update so this entry is from Spencer:

Hi Nana and Boppa-

Mom let me have a mohawk today. I looked cool.

I watched IV's soccer game and then had lunch.

After lunch, IV and I had our face painted into EAGLES. Boppa would love it!

Then we met the Easter Bunny and hunted eggs.

I found a silver egg at the Easter Egg hunt and won a blue bunny!

After the hunt, Mom took me to WalMart and I used the gift card you sent me to buy LOTS of fun stuff like a Little E pillow, blanket and stretchy toys!

I love you and I miss you lots!

Happy Spring!

It is 80 degress today--and beautiful! Spencer is out in the yard trying to catch butterflies-- it was really cute, so I snapped a couple pictures, and then two bully bumble bees chased him all over the yard. Of course it didn't help that I was cracking up....

At Last!

In 1992, Toby fulfilled the requirements for his major (Physical Education) but lacked two elective credits. He was able to walk/attend the graduation ceremony; however, the university held his actual diploma until his two electives were satisfied. Because his "Major" was fulflled, this was no big deal to him...until now! Toby did the two electives online and the university released his diploma (1992 to 2006 wasn't too slow, huh???haha) Not only did he complete the two electives, but he got straight A's!!! (and no I did NOT write his papers for him!) Way to go Toby! next up?...grad school....

Another fun filled week

Spencer had his Kindergarten program and it was adorable! I now know why he didn't want to be the wolf... the wolf comes down the chimney into a pot of boiling water and runs around the stage clinging to his burned bum...Spencer turned red just *watching* the other kid act it out!!! he is shy...what can we say?

This week just flew by! We had baseball sign ups. Toby and Jimmy are coaching Spencer and IV's team. Spencer picked out lots of fun books at the Book Fair this week. I made the "famous" SJ Italian Chicken recipe Friday and it was a hit! We went to a Barbecue and Mission Fundraiser at church tonight-- Toby bid and won on a new piece of exercise equipment for his home gym and he also (secretly) bid and won theater tickets for us in a few weeks! What a nice surpise...can't wait for date night! Oh and Jimmy and I found the "PERFECT" Father's day gift--so we bid together and won that one--can't list it here since Dad reads my blog!!!

and the Heels won tonight!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!!!! Love March Madness!!!

*** for my international friends (specifically, Sherri, Paula and Michele) Toby and I both graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is basketball tournament time, and our team-- the Tar Heels-- are in the tournament and doing well! Our lives revolve around the tournament--as long as our team is in :-)

Go Heels!

What an awesome weekend! UNC wins the ACC tourney! Sunday was a fantastic day-- we were actually *on time* for church, we had a spaghetti lunch (Girl Scouts fundraiser) after church, we watched the awesome Tar Heel win over State. Then I actually cooked (yes! cooked!) a big dinner-- ham, sweet potatoes, collard greens, rolls, cheese and fruit plate. It was SO good!

Spencer finally asked to have his hair cut this weekend. It is really short now--but he loves it...I'm still not used to it yet. I liked it long!

Speaking of Spencer, guess what the little goofball did! His kindergarten class is performing "The Three Little Pigs" at the School Fair and Spencer was asked to be the Big Bad Wolf. I was proud of him! But.... after one practice, he asked his teachers if someone else could be the wolf because "all that huffing and puffing was bad on his asthma." !!!????!!!! Okay--either the kid had stage fright, is just plain goofy, or his asthma really did flare up. Who knows-- but that was certainly strange!!! We didn't know whether to laugh or be worried about him....

Toby is on his 400th round of antibiotics. He has the sinus infection from hell. They decided not to do allergy tests because they know he is allergic to everything so he is on two different allergy meds, steriods and antibiotics...still. When Spring hits, it is just going to get worse--- poor guy!

My friend Christy has me addicted to HGTV's Rate My Room. It is the "hot or not" of decorating and those divas are viscious! I have laughed so hard! of course I am not brave enough to post any room of my house!!!! Ha!

I'm still in limbo about Idol. For the first time since it started, I don't have a favorite. I like Blake, Melinda and Lakisha. But I am fairly certain that I would never buy a Melinda or Lakisha CD. Blake is debateable. In fact-- for all the idol-analysis I have done over the years, Chris Daughtry is the ONLY idol CD I own. Hmmm... makes me wonder....

So... I finished reading True Evil by Greg Isles-- it was pretty good-- I always enjoy his books! I started Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille last night. I love the John Corey novels-- I laugh out loud at this character. Only DeMille can keep you in suspense and laughing at the same time reading a thriller about terrorism!

My nieces, A&K, are seventeen today. Happy Birthday girls! Where does time go??? They were tiny babies when Toby and I started dating...and now they are looking at colleges????

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! We are celebrating with a group dinner at Chilis tonight. We gave him a couple of Petty autographed items we won at the auction from the FCA banquet last night!

We went to another Carolina Kid's Club Event this past Sunday. I was so worried about bundling up in the cold that it never dawned on me that we would be sitting in direct sun and 55 degrees. I actually got sun burned. My skin is so fair! Spencer and Toby were fine and Spencer has a new found love for Lacrosse. We spent the rest of Saturday shopping in Chapel Hill. I tell ya-- I could spend all afternoon in A Southern Season!

Spencer's Snowplowing (ice skating) lessons ended this past week and he did not want to go on to play hockey. We don't know why??? He said he just wants to play baseball. That's fine with me-- one activity at a time is plenty!

6 Quirks

My friend Leslie tagged me to post 6 quirks on my blog...so let's see.. Only 6??? I'm full of quirks!!!

1. I guess one of my biggest quirks is brushing my teeth. If I wake up anytime during the night I *have* to brush my teeth. I can't stand it if my mouth is warm. Yuck!
2. OOH! I'm addicted to handwipes! I love the feeling of just washed hands!
3. Eargasms--- love me some Qtips!
4. Canned air-- Dust Remover spray-- Damn I love that stuff. I love how cold the can gets when you spray it! I love how you can master blaster dust with it. Oh Yeah!
5. I can't sleep with my feet covered. My feet are clausterphobic.
6. No one and I repeat no one-- I don't give a flip about your medical degree-- no one touches my belly button. Ever.

If I had any sense at all, I would not post this on my blog but I guess stupidity and lack of self control are additional quirks.

Share the Love!

Today was Valentine's Day! Spencer sprang out of bed this morning READY to bring his Valentines to school--he was really excited! When we picked him up this afternoon, he told us about his special snack day and we read through all of his Valentines. He gave me the play-by-play of who gave him which cartoon characters and why. Evidently, there is an untapped psychoanalysis of Kindergarten Valentine exchanges that only my son subscribes to... ??? !!!

He received special yummies and presents from Donna, JJ, Peggy, Nana, Boppa, Auntie, III and IV today-- lots of Valentine's goodies! Daddy gave him a bracket for his DVD player --what a nerdy RadioShack gift--ha!- and Mommy gave him a Walter the Farting Dog Book (what a nerdy Barnes and Nobles gift--ha!ha!

Then he checked the mail and got cards from his Grandma Becky and his Aunt Tammy, Uncle Scott, Ashley, Kristin and Aaron-- with "pocket dollars" and well wishes for a super Valentine's day! He tucked his pocket dollars in his suitcase for his beach trip this weekend!

He also had a doctor's visit this afternoon. He has been having headaches so we had his eyes examined-- his vision is fine, so the doctor thinks it is viral.

Toby went to the doctor today as well. It is his turn to be sick I guess. He has a nice sinus infection and chest cold. Lovely for Valentines day, eh?

Carolina Kids Club Day

We spent today in Chapel Hill. Spencer had a Carolina Kids Club event so we made an entire day of it. We got down there in time for Toby to have his Big Bird Omelet at Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe. I swear he salivated during the entire drive! The last couple of times we have gone, Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe has been closed (it's just a breakfast/brunch joint) or they had sold out of his favorite omelet. But not today! We had a BIG OL' Breakfast! and little Mr. Spencer ordered himself a cup of decaf!!!??? What is up with that? The waitress looked at us for approval and we went ahead and let him have it. If it is decaf, then I guess it is not too bad, right? Just kind of shocked us. Most kindergartners drink chocolate milk....

After breakfast, we went shopping on Franklin Street. Toby found himself several Valentine's presents, of course. Spencer got two long sleeved T-shirts, a sweatshirt, a backpack and a pennant. We put one of his new shirts and the sweatshirt on him immediately because the little goofball had dribbled coffee down him at breakfast. (I think he gets that after my dad!)

After shopping we went to Carmichael Auditorium for the Kids Club Event. This event was sponsored by the Women's Gymnastics team and the meet was a competition with 4 other universities. Lunch was catered by Firehouse Subs. During the meet, the sponsors threw Tshirts out into the crowd and Spencer caught one! It is way too big--but he is sleeping in it right now and he is so proud of himself for catching it! Spencer also received a Sharpie marker, poster, window cling, stickers, and program. After the meet (Carolina won by the way!!!) Spencer met the team and had his poster autographed by each of the gymnasts. Then he got to play on the mats and equipment. The springy floor really amazed him. His had a great time jumping into the big mats and walking on the balance beam.

After the meet, we went to Mama Dips for dinner. I have her cookbook and there were so many things I wanted to try! We ended up ordering sampler plates and tried the following: fried chicken, ribs, sweet potato fries, brunswick stew, bbq, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, pintos, limas, and an assortment of sweet potato biscuits, rolls and corn bread. We brought home a ton of leftovers (the dog was thrilled) and Toby got blackberry cobbler to go.

Spencer slept all the way home. We got in right at 8:00-- just in time to put Spencer in bed and call it a weekend!

Little bit of Winter Wonderland

It was just enough snow to make Spencer VERY VERY happy. School was closed. He could make snowballs and sled. It was the perfect winter day! He went four wheeling with Boppa, sledding with IV and Auntie, and had a snowball fight with Daddy!

Selling Sweetness

Spencer is selling candy bars for his school. Okay..... You have officially been warned! He will come at you with his box o'sweetness and a smile and hit you up for a dollar! When he first came home with the box, he thought people donated a $1 and *he* got to eat the candy bars. I quickly explained the concept of SELLING candy bars to my innocent child. He has sold about 30 so far--mostly to family. He actually sold 6 to strangers at a restaurant when we were having lunch on Saturday after hockey practice. He gets really into it! Little IV was his partner-- they were all about selling some candy bars!

Love Languages

Last night, Toby and I went to hear Dr. Gary Chapman speak on the Five Love Languages. What a fantastic speaker! He gave highlights from several of his books and shared communication tips for children, marriage, family, workplace, etc. that were intuitive, enlightening and entertaining. Before the speaking engagement, we met some friends (Dee, Julie, Barry and the kids) for dinner and had a nice evening out with friends. While we listened to the speaker the kids watched movies and did crafts-- I think they had as much fun as we did!

Pop Culture Madness

I was looking for old stuff for my Ipod and I found this tag from a friends blog:

The rules are as follows: Go to popculturemadness.com, click on the "Pop Music" box and select the year you turned 18. Paste the list of the top 75 songs. Make snide comments as appropriate.

Here are mine:
1988's Greatest Hits
1. What A Wonderful World* - Louis Armstrong *didn't even make it in the top 100 when released in 1967!
2. It Takes Two - Rob Base & E-Z Rock (who???)
3. Da Butt - EU (Da Butt was #3??????)
4. Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard (Still a classic!!!)
5. I'll Always Love You -Taylor Dayne (blah)
6. Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns N Roses (this CD is still in my car)
7. Hot Hot Hot -Buster Poindexter (blah)
8. Just Got Paid -Johnny Kemp (who?)
9. Paradise - Sade (blah)
10. Kokomo - Beach Boys (Gotta love the Beach boys!Esp. if Stamos is drumming...)
11.Man In The Mirror - Michael Jackson (this is when he had a nose...)
12.Red Red Wine - UB40 (white boy Reggae)
13.Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin (this was cute the first million times)
14.Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison (Rock on)
15.Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N Roses (they went shark jumping after this album)
16.Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
17.One Moment In Time - Whitney Houston (was she sober then?)
18.Wild, Wild West -Kool Moe Dee
19.Roll With It - Steve Winwood
20.Push It - Salt N Pepa (I swear I thought this song came out in Jr High)
21.The Flame - Cheap Trick (good one!)
22.Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird (Medley) - Will To Power (blah)
23.1 2 3 - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
24.Power Of Love - Laura Branigan (blah)
25.Need You Tonight - INXS (I like this one!)
26.One More Try - George Michael
27.Can't Stay Away From You - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
28.Hot Hot Hot!!! - The Cure
29.The Promise - When In Rome
30.Don't Be Cruel - Bobby Brown
31.Nothin' But A Good Time - Poison
32.Chains Of Love - Erasure
33.Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi (80's metal still rocks)
34.Honestly - Stryper
35.The Way You Make Me Feel - Micheal Jackson
36.Strangelove - Depeche Mode
37.Angel - Aerosmith
38.Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys
39.Candle In The Wind - Elton John
40.Tomorrow People - Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers
41.Forever Young - Alphaville
42.Pink Cadillac - Natalie Cole
43.Forever Young - Rod Stewart
44.Parents Just Don't Understand - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
45.Tall Cool One - Robert Plant (this one used to be a favorite!)
46.Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil (ugh! I hated this song!)
47.In God's Country - U2
48.What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) - Information Society
49.Just Like Heaven - The Cure
50.I Know You're Out There Somewhere - Moody Blues
51.Wild Wild West - The Escape Club
52.So Emotional - Whitney Houston ( I bet she is...)
53.Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
54.Wishing Well - Terence Trent D"Arby (ugh! hated this one, too!)
55.It's Money That Matters - Randy Newman (He sings?)
56.It's The End Of The World As We Know It - R.E.M. (I swear, I can NOT sing this sober.)
57.Under The Milky Way - The Church
58.Like The Weather - 10,000 Maniacs
59.Tell It To My Heart - Taylor Dayne
60Kiss Me Deadly - Lita Ford (she can ROCK!)
61.Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley (HE can NOT Rock.)
62.Never Can Say Goodbye - Communards
63.Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - Robert Cray Band
64.What's The Matter Here? - 10,000 Maniacs
65.Groovy Kind Of Love - Phil Collins
66.Fat - Weird Al Yankovic (I admit it. Werid Al cracks me up.)
67.Monkey - George Michael (IS this the same monkey that George spanks???)
68.Rocket 2 U - Jets
69.Hazy Shade of Winter - the Bangles
70.Piano In The Dark - Brenda Russell
71.Tell That Girl To Shut Up - Transvision Vamp
72.I Found Someone - Cher
73.Spotlight - Madonna
74.When Will I Be Famous? - Bros
75.Englishman In New York - Sting (I don't remember this one either!!??!!)

My Chickie

According to "Bless this Chick"-- this is me! Damn near eerie how close the resemblance is, eh?

I got a call from my friend Maureen last night at 8:00 pm, she was heading south on I-85 towards Charlotte for a meeting and was getting ready to pass by the closest exit to my house. I quickly grabbed my keys and jumped in my car (true friends don't care if your hair and make up aren't touched up, right?) and ran up to the local diner and met her for a bite to eat and a few laughs!

Native Henna

The color curse has been broken! We are redoing our bathroom this weekend and I actually chose a COLOR (yes a color!) for the walls! I have an odd fascination with offwhite/cottage white/antique white/eggshell and I have a slight phobia about painting with color. BUT... I chose Native Henna (which is a mush of sage, artichoke-ish green) for the walls, trimmed in Antique White to match my bathroom fixtures. I am accenting with accessories in a very pale pink that looks really nice with the sage green--not too girly but very pleasant. We cleaned out EVERYTHING, taped and trimmed-in last night. We hope to finish up tonight when Toby gets home from work.

Before we painted, we cleaned out our closets. Then when we got ready to paint, we realized that we had thrown out all of our old clothes and couldn't find anything we wanted to ruin with paint...so.... Toby ended up painting in just an old pair of boxer shorts and I painted in an old Tshirt and panties. The next morning, Spencer wanted to paint the outlet and light switch cover plates (we had promised him he could paint them!) so I went to get some newspaper to put down and he stripped down to his underwear...HE THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PAINT IN YOUR SKIVVIES!!!!! I explained to him that Mommy and Daddy had only painted in our undies the night before because we had packed all our old clothes up and because all our summer clothes were put away ----GEEZ!

I also scrapbooked a little this weekend! I worked on a few layouts from our Sept 2006 Beach vacation!

His vacation...

You know how Toby works CRAZY hours during the holidays??? The poor guy works around the clock 7 days a week at Christmas! Anyway... I was in the hospital, the week between Christmas and New Year's. Toby was very supportive-- he had not used any sick time all year so he used some sick days (since the Christmas rush was over) and stayed with me at the hospital. Spencer was MORE THAN HAPPY to stay with Nana and Boppa. Toby brought me some nice Aveda bath products and tried to convince me to pretend I was at a spa get away--haha. He packed himself a bag, full of treats he received at Christmas, and stretched out on the couch in the private suite I was lucky enough to score at the hospital (ironically donated by Bank of America) and slept on and off for 4 of the 5 days that I was there!!!! I was thinking of what a sweet, supportive husband I had and how he stayed by my side the entire time....but I think my poor guy was just tired and I was his ticket to a little R&R compliments of High Point Regional Hospital!!!!! Regardless, he got some much needed rest and I had him with me so I guess it worked out... but still, I'm onto him!!!!!!

Card Crazy

Friday Night-- Card Making Class
Friday--late night--Came home and I had the most wonderful (HUGE!) get well gift of awesome cards from my friend Valerie from Florida! They look like handmade cards--really cute, perfectly embellished but they are manufactured. I am totally impressed with the organizer box that they are in. I can use that for the cards that came with it and my handmade cards!
Saturday-- I went to a Card Making workshop (Stamp Camp) with a group of friends. We had so much fun!...and then I totally crashed. I am still sore and VERY tired from being sick and the change of medications, etc. But... I have lots of cards now and I had a creative weekend of play!

A beautiful surprise

Today was a banner day for Random Acts of Kindness!! I got "get well" flowers from my friend Maureen in Virginia. I was really feeling lousy and they TOTALLY brightened my entire day. There are some people in this world that make you smile no matter what and Maureen is one of those folks! She and I have worked together for nearly 10 years surviving reorganizations and mergers. I don't have many loud mouth, Syracuse-orange wearing yankee friends that I claim, but I will keep Maureen!--hahah!~

Welcome 2007

I know..I have a stale blog! But at least I know lots of friends and family read my blog because I have had many hints and jabs that I need a fresh posting!!!!

Spencer had a magical Christmas! Santa brought everything he asked for plus a few surprises. Everything Spencer unwrapped became his new favorite toy. He oohed and ahhed over every single thing--no matter if it was a $100 toy, clothes, or a $1 stocking stuffer, everything impressed him! Here are some of our favorite Christmas memories from this year:

• Spencer getting his new little robe on and just perfect (a la Hugh Heffner) before he came down the steps for Christmas.


• Christmas Eve, Spencer left "Reindeer Food" out on the lawn...and just as he posed for a picture sprinkling the Reindeer food, our dog walked up beside him and pooped right on top of the pile of reindeer food!!!!!!!


• The big hug I got when he opened Hide-and-Seek Sammie from Me.


• The big hug Daddy got when he opened the new Baseball Bat from Daddy!

Those of you that are local know that I have been sick nearly all of December with sinus crud, bronchitis, etc. and by Christmas I was REALLY sick. The morning after Christmas, Mom and I both went to Urgent Care. She had a sinus/respiratory infection and got some medicine but my white blood cell count was way off as well as my sugar so they put me in the hospital. All that infection was pretty much raging and my sugar was dangerously high (over 500). The worst infection was in my right kidney (very painful!) I stayed in the hospital Tuesday through Saturday and they pumped me full of antibiotics and insulin. We had one little mishap where the night pharmacy sent my antibiotics mixed with dextrose (sugar water) instead of saline for my IV and no one noticed until the next morning when my sugar went up 200 points--ugh!!! The week of high sugar messed up my vision. Goodbye to my perfect 20/10 eyesight and hello farsightedness and "loss of focus"--but at least I didn't have any permanent damage that didn't require anything other than (gag!) these new goofy ass reading glasses. I miss my perfect eyesight. It would have been okay to have a gradual decline but this sudden shift is hard to get used to!

Now for a New Years update. We had our usual New Years Eve Party and it was awesome. Okay...I couldn't partake in the food or beverages since I had just come home from the hospital but I had one drink and very moderate food choices--- everyone else was off the hook. We played the Newlywed Game and Julie and Barry won as they should have since they cheat like hell. Mike and Dee tied with me and Toby and Jimmy and Lucy came in last. Some of the singles heckled us but we had a blast and I am STILL razzing Toby about one of his answers!!!!! In his defense, he had several drinks--but still...what was he thinking??????

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!