These Days....

I've gotten pretty slack lately, at writing down the "Friday Funnies" that come out of Nate's mouth. But I assure you, there are plenty! So instead, I thought I'd just tell you some tidbits, of what the kids have been up to these days....

Nate has a new-found obsession with hot chocolate. Now, everyone knows I'm not a coffee drinker, but prefer hot chocolate instead. I think Nate is going to take after me! Occasionally, I'll let him have some hot chocolate for a snack. Well, my mistake....now he asks (read: whines) for it e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y!! Oh, and technically he doesn't like it hot...rather, I heat up the milk for 30 seconds, put in the hot chocolate mix, and then he "cools it down" in the fridge. So it's basically chocolate milk.

After I put Abby down for a nap each day, Nate and I have about 30 minutes together. And man, do I cherish that time. That's when he usually tells me the most about his day at school. For instance, yesterday I learned that there is a "weather helper" and a "snack helper" and a "line leader" in his class. Little by little he's telling me all of his teacher's rules, and I love it. And also yesterday he mentioned that he's inventing games on the playground with 2 other boys, Chase & Noah. Yesterday they played "space" and today it was "fire!"

Also during this time, we'll play a game or two and his new favorite is GO FISH. I loved this game as a kid. He can't hold all the cards, so instead, he just lays them out on the floor behind him and makes me promise not to look.

Nate has also discovered "chores"....and thank the Lord - he loves them!! Now that he's 4, according to him, it's "time to help Mommy." He helps me unload the dishwasher - mostly the silverware - and likes to set the table for dinner. And every meal I'm cooking, he pulls his little stool up there and says "What can I do?" I love my little helper (most of the time) and hope he becomes a chef when he's older!!

And bless my poor son's heart, he has quite the vivid imagination when it comes to nightmares. Sometimes, I know it's just a stall tactic or a way to get me to lay with him. But other times, he's genuinely scared & crying :( So pitiful. Here are just a few of his recent memorable nightmares:
- his pencils flying away
- a skunk spraying him
- flying squirrels
- dancing cookies
- monsters & bugs in his bed

Today was "Backwards Day" at school....Nate picked out his clothes & dressed himself, of course. He was so proud of himself & couldn't stop laughing!!

Now I don't want to leave out Miss Priss...she and her brother have found some new things they love doing together:
- doing gymnastics on the air mattress
- having bouncy ball contests
- doing artwork with stamps

I love watching the two of them interact. About half the time it's peaceful, half the time one of them is crying. Typical I guess.

Abby continues to be Chatty Cathy and Greg & I laugh at how much she imitates us. We can be in the car, talking to each other and then all of a sudden we hear the last word echoed in the back. She's like a little peanut gallery. And she's gotten so good at saying "Roll Tide" - it's adorable!

Abby & I have found a new activity she loves...Wednesday mornings, we've been going to the public library for a story/music class. I've never seen her so into "singing" the songs and doing all the motions. I love to watch her little fingers try to snap! Her favorite new song is "Where is Thumbkin?!"

And speaking of favorites....she has a new TV show that she's mesmorized with. And it is sooooo old school. Did anyone watch "Fraggle Rock" as a kid?! I did and loved it. Well, it hasn't changed a bit and Abby just adores it.

Lake Time!

The kids had their first boating experience yesterday!! We spent the afternoon on Lake Tuscaloosa in Northport, with two of Greg's colleagues and their families. There were 6 & 7 year old boys there as well, so Nate had a blast...

It was the PERFECT weather....sunny but not too hot. Both kids loved riding on the boat, with the wind blowing their hair, taking turns up at the front of the boat sitting with Daddy.

We toured the lake for awhile, just cruising and looking at all the "rich" houses, and then found a quiet place to anchor and swim. I didn't get in, but Greg took turns with the kids in the water. Nate didn't stay in long - he said it was too cold - but Abby loved it! Her life jacket was bigger than her, but she liked hanging out with the 3 professors and talking econ! :)

After I warmed Nate up a bit, he decided to give it another try and got back in the water. This time, he just wanted to sit on the intertube with Tim, the older boy. They just used it as a raft and pulled each other around.

Before heading back to the house, both Dads wanted to tube. (I think the kids were too cold at that point b/c the sun was going down.) Greg went first and had a ball..Needless to say, I think he's sore today but won't admit it! Here is the only picture I managed to take. Sorry it's a blurry one but Miss Priss was getting a little wild at this point trying to jump out of the boat!


Back at the house, our gracious hostess fixed a feast for dinner, and we got to enjoy the beautiful sunset while eating outside. The kids ran themselves silly, chased the dog, and played tag. All in all, it was a great day and we hope to go back soon!

Broken Record

I hope you're not getting sick of all these tailgating posts; I promise this will be the last one for awhile! Today was a big day though, b/c we finally got to see the parade featuring "Big Al" - the elephant/mascot for UA. Every home game, there is a parade called the "Elephant Stomp" that takes place 1 hour before kick-off. We've missed it twice but finally managed to time our arrival correctly this week. We didn't catch a tshirt from Big Al, but maybe next time! Abby liked the music & dancing, and Nate said the drums were too loud (typical).



Of course we ate (yummy BBQ!) and jumped on the inflatables again too. The kids are getting in a lot of gymnastics practice these days!

But the biggest hit of the day was the Alabama tattoos on the kids' faces. Nate had been wanting them for weeks, and I finally tracked some down. Of course, he had to have one on his face AND hand. Miss Priss barely sat still while I applied one.

Tailgating again!

We had yet another fun weekend of tailgating before the UA game on Saturday!

Abby rocked her new dress....seriously, I think I am obsessed with this one! Picture it with a longsleeve shirt and leggings under it for the Fall...

Listening to the band play on the quad, Miss Priss thought she was too cool for school...

My Alabama boys

Once again, lots of inflatables for the kids to jump on! And thankfully, it wasn't 100 degrees this time!




We kept waiting and waiting for the "Elephant Stomp" parade that's supposed to happen every game, 1 hr before kick-off. For some reason, this one happened 1.5 hrs before the game, so we missed it, oops! Next time!

Abby Reece had fun playing in the dirt while waiting for the non-existent parade

I know I've said it before, but I love this community and how excited they get over UA football! What a great atmosphere and it's so fun to be a part of it every week!!

Gymnastics x2

Nate didn't have school yesterday (due to a teacher workday), so he got to tag along during Abby's weekly gymnastics class. And for the first time, Abby did NOT have a lot of fun. I think she was mad I was paying attention to Nate....since gymnastics is our special "Mommy & Me" time together. Oops! Nate a ball though. And though there were a few other 4 yr olds there, a few moms came up to me and asked me how long he'd been taking gymnastics! Hilarious! He really did amaze me on the rings & bars though.


Abby, on the other hand, had more tantrums than I can count. She would lay down on the floor and just pout and pout. And when she realized I was ignoring her, she'd hop up and go onto a new activity. One time I told her "no" and she hit me on the cheek. I promptly put her in timeout as she cried and kicked her legs the whole time, making a scene. She did, however, stay in timeout. So it could have been worse. A mom even came up to me and asked me how I got her to stay in timeout, b/c her 19 month old NEVER would. I said, "I'm just really mean!" :)


Anyways, Abby did crack a smile a few times, especially when she was running on the trampoline or saying "ta da" on the beams.


Both kids LOVED the "group activity" at the end of class...the parachute! Abby has never once gone to the middle of the parachute & gotten pulled around by the parents. But, of course, since Big Brother was there, she was game & all smiles!

Don't mind Michael Jackson here, he had to potty - clearly - but insisted he didn't have to!

Since it was a special day, Daddy met us for lunch at Moe's after gymnastics. Nate ate all of his kids meal, as well as most of Abby's. Hungry hippo!! Nate had so much fun I have a feeling he's going to ask to miss EVERY Friday of school! :)

Trip to TN

This weekend, Nate and I took a special trip together, back to Murfreesboro for a day. We got to see some good friends, and attend a very special boy's 3 year old birthday party!!

We arrived at Hallie's house around 5 pm and the boys were oh.so.excited to see each other!! Grant didn't waste time opening his bday present from us...a Spiderman costume just like Nate's! They were too cute for words:

While the boys played, I caught up with Hallie & got to love on her little one, Cole, who has the cutest chubby cheeks I've ever seen!! We had a yummy dinner complete with ice cream oreo cake, and then it was time for a double bubble bath!

Then the boys got into their matching Spiderman pjs and attempted to settle down before bedtime. (Didn't happen!)

I tell ya, these boys missed each other something fierce!!

The boys got to sleep on an air mattress, complete with Toy Story sheets! I snuggled between them to read a few books (fittingly: "Franklin Has A Sleepover") but it was about another hour before they settled down and stopped talking/fighting/causing trouble! Hallie & I got a kick out of listening to them on the monitor. At one point, we heard Nate say "Grant, you're annoying me!!" (Nate was SUPER tired since he didn't nap during our drive there). Poor G, he was just so excited to see Nate and wanted to chat all night! :)

The boys woke up bright & early at 6 am, and said they were ready for G's party (um, just wait for 4 more hours please!) We had yummy homemade cinnamon rolls and played Spiderman/Peter Parker 100x before finally leaving for G's party. It was at Jumper's Playhouse (like N's was) and the boys were thrilled to see they had changed some of the bouncy castles and slides!!

Both me & Hallie had to show off our "good sides" :)

Love these boys

Time to grub!!

They had the yummiest cupcakes....banana, chocolate, and strawberry with white chocolate!

After the party, we said tearful goodbyes to lots of friends and headed to our old neighborhood for a quick visit with Miss Amy & Mal Mal. Mallory was THRILLED to see Nate and they got busy playing in her room, building forts, etc while I got to catch up with Amy.

We got back to Murfreesboro around 7 pm Saturday night after an AWFUL drive (again, Nate was way over-tired and just does not know how to nap in the car). Greg & Abby were happy to see us, and enjoyed their day bonding at multiple parks and playing outside! It was a great trip and we hope to do it again soon. Thanks H for having us!!

22 Months

Abby is 22 months old today! This past month, she has earned a new nickname: DESTRUCT-O! Wow, she is into e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!! Not surprisingly, she gets into the most trouble in the morning, if we are at home and Nate is at school. I didn’t realize how good he was at keeping tabs on her until he started school everyday! :) Just a FEW of her favorite things to get into these days: Kleenex, toilet paper, ziplock bags, chocolate chips, wipes, napkins, puzzles, crayons, paper cups, and salt & pepper. And I’ve finally figured out a few of her hiding places when she’s getting into trouble. If I can’t find her, I look in one of 3 places:

1) Behind the couch, where she usually has my phone and is pretending to talk to Nanny.
2) Behind the glider in her room, where she has gathered some type of “treasures” from around the house – see above list.
3) In the bathroom upstairs, on the stool, with the faucet turned on and filling up her water cup (& proceeding to dump it everywhere)
Yes, she keeps my mornings interesting.



With that being said, I’ve tried hard to have some special “Mommy/Abby” time each day, to keep her both entertained and out of trouble! We’ve gotten into a pretty good routine lately...going to music classes at the Children’s Museum, playdates with TuscMoms friends, walking with neighbors, playing with kids in the nursery at church while I attend a Mom’s Group, playing at the park, and of course, gymnastics. Gymnastics is still – by far – her favorite activity. She’s quite the athlete! :)


I do have to report that Miss Priss had her first spanking this week. I had NO idea I would need/want to spank her this early on, but she bit the heck out of Nate’s arm one day and really really hurt him. Picture: blood, bruise, etc. I have no idea if he provoked her – I was cooking dinner and they were in the other room – but he says he didn’t. So, spanking #1 is in the books for Abby Reece. (And unfortunately, it didn’t seem to faze her too bad. She just sat in time-out for a few minutes, not crying, and waited till I came to get her. I hope she learned her lesson but I have a feeling she didn’t!)



A few more tidbits from this month:
- Abby LOVES swings. Not baby/bucket swings...no, she has moved onto “big kid” swings and can hold on like a champ. She likes to be pushed as high as Nate!
- Apparently, Abby is not a fan of the “Wiggles” anymore (which is fine by me). First, just the psychedelic puppets on the dvd scared her, but now the 4 Wiggles’ guys do too. She cries every time it’s on tv. So, she’s moved into a full-blown obsession with Elmo.
- Rarely is Abby seen without a dollbaby in her arms. She has about 10 and takes turns pushing them in her stroller, rocking them, reading to them, or snuggling with them. I love that she’s already a little Mommy!






Happy 22 months, sassy girl!! We love you!