Go Vikings!

Yesterday Daddy took Lauren and Tyler to the Vikings first football game of the season. When I told Lauren she was going to the game she said, "My teacher is going to the game too!! That will be totally cool if I see her" (Remember when we were young and we thought it was special/odd/weird when we'd see our teachers outside of school?)

It had rained earlier so Lauren wanted to be prepared.
Hello Kitty rain jacket and boots

Matt said they had a great time at the game. Lauren found her teacher and sat with her for part of it. She was very excited that she got to ring her teacher's cowbell. ???

And Tyler had a blast as well. I wonder if this will spark an interest in playing football.

At halftime it was 28-7.
We were killing them!

About then their 4 and 6 year-old attention-span ran out and Lauren and Tyler headed to the big grassy area...

for their own game of tackle football.

Next home game is in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to going to that one!

the week in a nutshell/blogpost

Last week my loving husband Matt, father of my children had yet another spot of basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer!) removed from his noggin. He's had so many removed that at this point I'm wondering if his Skin Cancer Doctors offer a punch card. You know...if they remove 9 cancers than the 10th is removed for free?!! (that is not FUNNY...I know...but still!?!)
Here's a pic. If you're faint of heart...don't look.
Well, this text and that photo are really too close. So I apologize. I shaved his head so you could see it better. Nah, I'm lying. Time, Age and Genetics shaved his head. I love it none-the-less.

my poor baby

While Matt recovered, our week went on as usual. School everyday and then playdates most days of the week. We have a weekly playdate set up with Jake and Dylan from across the street. One day L and T play at their house and another day J and D come play at ours.

We love it when Jake and Dylan come to play.
Jake and his sister Dylan are too, too sweet.
Last Tuesday was open house for Lauren's elementary school. Miss Ashley (Jake and Dylan's mom) watched the kids for us while we checked out Lauren's classroom and got the scoop on the year to come.


On our way back to the parking lot this is what we saw. Is it not awesome juxtaposition or what?! (I personally know the driver of the Honda...her daughter was in L's class last year and we got to talk a lot about the University of Oregon. Go Ducks!)
Yesterday, Thursday, August 26th, 2010 was Matt and my NINE year anniversary. (There's no way I'm old enough to have been married for NINE years!)

Our anniversary celebration started off with 7 children getting off the school bus and coming over to play in my house.

big Tyler, Joshua and my Tyler played/watched Super Mario Brothers on the Wii

my Tyler, Joshua, big Tyler
(my Tyler loves to hang out with the big 3rd grade boys)

It didn't take too long until most of the children were drawn to the old fashioned play of Marble Madness.
Sweet Dylan held out though and played in the sandbox until the poor girl was dripping sweat from the humidity.

Later that evening after Jake and Dylan went home, Mr. Mike (Tera and big Tyler's Dad) came over to watch the kiddos while Matt took me out on a date for our anniversary. Our destination was a surprise. All I knew was that it was in downtown Atlanta and I should dress somewhat cute.
We drove up to the Fox Theatre and picked up our will call tickets for...The Sound of Music!
I LOVED it! Matt enjoyed it mostly because I liked it but he also said he didn't realize that "a lot of those famous songs came from that show." ( i.e. Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, So Long Farewell, et.al.) This was an awesome anniversary gift that I'll remember forever. (just so y'all don't think I forgot...I did get Matt 3 (count them...3) replacement heads for his Sonicare Toothbrush!! I know...I RoCk!)


Today, Friday, Lauren and Tyler had a big day planned out for them. In preparation, L and T played some hard core Diego Checkers.

this was an InTeNsE game of Diego Checkers

After the checkers game ended, Matt, Lauren and Tyler headed out the door to watch our local high-school's first football game of the season. I was going to go as well but my knee is really bothering me so I opted out to give it a rest. (I have an appointment on Tuesday to find out what's wrong. Stay Tuned.)

Currently, Matt and the kiddos are at the game. Last time we texted...our team scored and is about to score again. And Lauren is sitting with her teacher. I left Matt with the camera so hopefully he's taking some pictures.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Boosterthon 2010

Lauren's school started a couple of weeks ago so it's time to bring on the fund-raisers. We had our first one last Friday. Lauren did an awesome job getting sponsors (well actually her mom did) and in doing so she won a lot of prizes. **silly bandz, neon football, launching something or other, water bottle and count them...3 t-shirts** WOW! A big thanks to all the family members who donated money to a great cause. (L's public education)

The Boosterthon Fun Run began with a healthy warm-up.
Lauren is the short blond dead center.

The Boosterthon organizers put on a highly energetic pep rally.
They were actually pretty amazing!

and they're OFF!
(L was a bit grumpy because she fell down on take-off)

She was still grumpy during the "clap a lap"

She cheered up, however, after a water break and then ran her little heart out.
She completed 35 out of 35 laps.
Way to go Lauren!

She was very proud of what she accomplished at the Boosterthon. That morning she told me she was going to run all of the laps. I had to wait until the organizers made the kids take a break to get her to drink some water. She just wanted to Run...Run...Run.

On Saturday, Matt hosted a fantasy football draft in the basement. In order to make the evening more exciting for Lauren and Tyler, I acquired some extra kiddos. Ian and Eric's parents were at a triathalon party (like I'd know what that was) and Troy's dad was in the basement fantasizing about football. Lauren and Tyler were very happy to have friends over to play.

We ate dinner...

...and we watched a movie.

The other 2 hours were complete chaos but everyone had a great time.

Tyler's First Day of School

Today was Tyler's first day of Pre-K!!

Before I get to that let me show some pics from Tyler's last day of Summer Vacation.
L and T had some friends over (Dylan and Jake) to celebrate.

the boys
T & J

the girls
D & L

all the friends
L,J,T&D

After a fun day of playing Tyler was ready to get down to business.

My big boy is ready for Pre-K.

What a handsome boy!
(I'm told he favors me.)

and off he goes

Since I didn't walk Tyler into his classroom I told him if he needed help all he had to do was ask a grown-up which way to go to his teacher's class. Right when the "grown-up" opened the door to our car in the carpool line, Tyler said to her, "I think I need some help to get to Mrs. L's class."

After that I knew my social butterfly would be just fine.

And fine he was. When I picked him up from school he was non-stop-talk about what fun he had: He told his class about his stuffed puppy "Ruff Ruff" which he brought to share and he played with a girl in a purple shirt with hair like his. (blond...but not boy-cut short.) There were more boys than girls (which he liked) and he already knew the blessing they sang before snack time.

I know he's going to enjoy Pre-K but I am sure going to miss him when he's gone.

Lauren must have sensed this was a special day for Tyler.
In order to partially stay in the limelight, my sweet 1st-grader somehow knocked her 'just a little bit loose' tooth out on the bus ride home.

Like any other day she ran from the bus to the house, all sweaty from the heat and humidity. She mumbled something to me as she ran by me in the driveway. "Mommy, I losthed ma toosth." As she burst into the house I realized what she had said.

Wow! Lost another tooth...I knew one was a little bit loose but I'm just a Mom and I (according to Lauren) don't know much about life. Well I started looking through her backpack for a tooth in a plastic baggie or something of the sort. When I didn't find it I asked her where her tooth was..."did you swallow it?" "No," Lauren said. "It's in my mouth." At that point I did what any good mother does and put my hand out in front of her mouth. Sure enough she spit out a cute little top tooth who's gap will now extend the still missing two front teeth.

And here is the photo to prove it.

Tooth Number Seven

Tooth Fairy...I hope you are reading this!

the weekend

Lauren had a great first week of school. She had a lot of homework (which first-graders do these days) but she really enjoyed herself. She got 100% on her weekly spelling/sight/vocabulary word test and she also made a new friend. (Who I hear is going to ask her mom for her phone number so us Mom's can chat about setting up a play-date.)

This weekend we had a big "to-do" list. We had to return some clothes to the nearest Belk store. While I made the returns Tyler, Lauren and Daddy enjoyed a fashion show. (picture Toddlers & Tiaras)

We also returned some shoes because they were too small. Lauren ended up with some Size 1 Sketchers. (I can't believe she's a size 1 already!) (and no! I didn't pay $39.99 for the shoes...they were on sale and I had a coupon.) Lauren loves them.
This weekend we had fun with friends. Two blonds and two Tyler's enjoyed Popsicles on a towel on the kitchen floor while their parents played Scrabble at the kitchen table. (That's how we roll these days.)
Matt did some yard work out-doors. In this pic he is installing drainage pipes from the A/C unit to the drainage ditch. I took this picture indoors because it was 90 something degrees out and insanely humid.

The cat and I were the smart ones for this chore.

Today, Monday, I hosted the Mom's Club Monday Movie day. I laid down some blankets and pillows, popped some popcorn (nah...I just bought the popcorn in the bag) and turned on a Nick Jr. DVD. The kiddos watched for about 20 minutes and when their attention spans ran out they ransacked the playroom. But....they had fun and us parents had a good time as well chatting amongst ourselves.



It was a good weekend and a great start to this next week.

shaking his booty

my favorite son, Tyler

even keel

Yesterday was an exceptionally rough day...today was very smooth. We live like the ebb and flow of the tide. (Maybe I'll be a poet when I grow up.)

Yesterday Lauren refused to eat breakfast. Today she picked out her Cocoa Puffs and ate every last one.

Yesterday she spent a good deal of time on the naughty chair. Today she happily did her spelling word homework, played sweetly with her brother and read a bedtime story to Tyler and I.

Yesterday she went to bed dirty. Today she took a shower all by herself. (And I mean 'all by herself' because she does not allow me to help.)

Yesterday and Today, Tyler did what he always does. He tried very hard to be a good boy. (Sometimes I think he'd have more fun if he'd be just a little bit naughty but there's no way I'm going to tell him that!)

In the grand scheme of things we are pretty much even keel. (did I use that right?)

Enjoy today's pictures....

playing "air-conditioning"
(don't ask...they made it up)

They know they aren't supposed to climb all over the furniture but since I'm taking photos they know it's okay today.

Snack Time
(Lauren prepares for her role as bed-time story-teller)

no, the ice-cream didn't make him cringe...this is (still) his 'smile'.

We are all looking forward to Daddy/Matt coming home tomorrow. He's been at a fancy resort in Orlando attending a TAPPI conference. I had fully intended to go but at the last minute I just couldn't justify pulling Lauren out of school during her first week of first grade. Why does school start so early these days?!