Long Live the Eagles!

Nate's soccer team, the Eagles, finished their season on Thursday. Nate had so.much.fun this year and improved a ton over the course of 2 months! We worked especially hard on learning to play "defense" and I am proud to say my boy is a born defender (like his Momma)! As the season went on, he would measure his success in each game by how many "blocks" he got rather than how many goals he scored. Click here for a short video of my little defender, which was taken about 2 weeks ago.

 

After every game, the parents from both teams form a tunnel on the field, and we all clap for the kids as they run through. Of course, the kids love this and would do it 100x if we all stood there that long.

 After the game on Thursday, Coach Elle gave out certificates and medals to each member of the team. And when she called Nate's name, she called him the "hardest working kid she's ever seen." That didn't mean much to Nate, but Greg and I were super proud!!

I'm not sure who is going to miss our Tuesday/Thursday soccer nights more, Nate or Abby. Nate cried for 15 minutes once we got to the car to go home. (Not kidding. Maybe I need to look into an indoor/winter soccer league!?) And Abby will miss playing on the sidelines with David (Anthony's little brother) and Mindy (Mason's big sister).

 

Some of the team went out for pizza Thursday after the game and Nate was in heaven! He didn't take off his medal the whole time, and I loved watching him bond with his little buddies. One of the dads gave him a quarter for the bubble machine & he was so thrilled.

 

We will definitely be playing soccer again next season! (Hurry up, March!) I'm just so glad that Nate has really taken a liking to soccer, because it's something both Greg and I grew up playing and enjoying so much. Let's just hope this continues!!

Fall Festivities, Part 2

Tuesday was "costume day" at Nate's soccer practice. Of course he was thrilled to wear his Power Ranger costume to yet another place. And Abby - as always - was thrilled to see her BFF Mindy, who is the sweet older sister of one of Nate's buddies.

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On Halloween, I opted to go into Abby's class, since I'd be to Nate's last year. (Trying to be fair, here!) Don't let this smile fool you, this only lasted for 30 seconds. Then the meltdowns began....

It was just a total disaster. She wouldn't listen to the teachers, would barely stand in line to trick-or-treat down the halls, she'd throw her Minnie ears down the hall & step or them, or she wanted me to carry her and when I said no she would lay on the floor and kick her legs. 

One of her teachers, Miss Melissa (shown below) stared at her - many times - in amazement and said to me "I've never seen her like this!" Every time they tell me she's an angel & the sweetest thing at school, I look surprised. And now they know why!!

This is a common face I get from Abby at home. Pretty much all.the.time!

After trick-or-treating, we went back to the classroom for a few songs (and she participated in 1 of 4) and then there was a dance party with the other 2 yr old class. Again, she wasn't cooperating so I just left and I think that made it all better. Guess I know which kids' class I'll be going to for the Christmas party!!

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On Halloween night, Greg was teaching late so I met up with some neighbors at the front of the neighborhood to walk around together. Nate was thrilled that he finally got to bring his sword along!

Is this not the cutest costume ever?!?!? My neighbor Paige made it for her daughter, Loa. Best Umpa Loompa ever!! And everyone else in her family was a Willy Wonka character as well. Even Paige's mom dressed up!

A friend from MOMs Group came over to trick-or-treat with us b/c she has a lame neighborhood! And Abby has been bonding lately with this little girl, Mia. They are around the same age and just moved here a few months ago. 

After trick-or-treating, we met Greg at home and sat outside since it was a beautiful night and not too chilly. The kids had a ball handing out candy to the "big kids" that came by, and Nate & Greg rode bikes in the dead end together as well. 

It was a good Halloween and a busy week! Now onto Abby's birthday party on Saturday.....no rest for the weary :)

Fall Festivities, Part 1

I just realized I have 6 different Fall events to post about, so I will have to divide this into 2 blogposts to prevent it from getting too lengthy!

First up, I'm going to toot my own horn! I hosted Bunco for my MOMs group at church last Friday. Of course I went straight to Pinterest the minute I found out I was hosting for October. Love that site! Here are a few pics of my decor & some of the food. Everyone brought an appetizer or dessert to contribute, so as a result, we had a huge (and yummy) spread. The drinks were a-flowing as well, and I think the "Witches' Brew" I made was a big hit, since people stayed well past 11:30 pm :)

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 Probably my favorite day of the year was on Sunday...carving pumpkins! The funny thing is, I HATE carving. I hate the goo, the seeds, scraping it all out, trying to do a good design....I hate every bit of it. But I love love love to see how "into it" Greg gets. He spends hours working on a very elaborate design, and the kids are always so excited once he's done. And "carving pumpkin day" goes hand in hand with something we call nuts & bolts, which is a homemade chex mix that Greg grew up with. Such a fun family day!

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Monday, we headed to Sorority Row on campus with some friends to meet up for early trick-or-treating. It was super windy/cold but the kids hung in there. And since they each came away with about 10 lbs of candy, I think they had a good time :)

Stay tuned for "Fall Festivities, Part 2!"

Tailgate Time!

We braved the "cold" temperature Saturday (think: 55 and windy) to attend another tailgate on campus, for the Mississippi State game.

Before heading to the quad for the normal bouncy house fun, we decided to stop at another tailgate party downtown, near Government Plaza. Once we found out the wristbands were $20 PER KID for a few rides, we left immediately. Insane!!

The kids had fun on the quad but it's crazy what a 30 degree drop in temperature will do. (Literally, it was 85 on Friday and we were in tshirts & shorts. And then Saturday, we were freezing, ha! Funny how quickly you become a wimp when you live in the "Deep South!")

 After about an hour, the kids (and I) started to get super cold so we headed over to the Business College for our meal. It was a bit disappointing - we thought they'd go all out for the Homecoming game - but at least the cupcakes were yummy :)

 As we were walking back to the car, the kids started racing and got super far ahead of us. I yelled for them to stop, and when we caught up, this is what they were doing:

 What goofballs! Nate said they were meditating. I think he got that from a friend at school, but regardless, it's hilarious. 

Love my kids' silly personalities, and love our family fun days on the weekends!!

Our New Home!!!

Ups and Downs

It's been awhile since I posted!! That's usually not like me, but these past few weeks have been such a series of ups and downs. That's how life goes with a 5 yr old and (almost) 3 yr old I guess....

So, two weekends ago, I participated in the Color Run (5K) with some friends. If you've never heard about it, click here. It's an amazing time and some of the ladies I did it with had deemed themselves "non-runners." So we walked! And danced. And sang. And had colored cornstarch throw on us. So fun! If they come to town again next year, I am going to try and talk Greg into doing it with me. Or maybe Nate. On second thought, Abby is probably the only one who wouldn't fuss if she got dirty. So I'll do it with Abby! :)

Later that afternoon, Abby woke up from her nap really upset, crying, and saying her ear hurt & that she couldn't hear. At first we thought she was being dramatic, but after about 20 minutes, she was still pitiful and complaining.  So, we took her temperature and it was only around 100, but off to the walk-in clinic we went.   Oddly enough, there was so much earwax in her ears that they couldn't examine them. Instead, they had to irrigate them both first. Let me say, I have NEVER heard Abby scream like that. It was just warm water, but since her ears hurt so bad, I guess it was pretty painful :( Bless her little heart. They finally got her ears cleaned out and deemed she had a double ear infection. Her first one. Of course I felt awful for her, but selfishly I was upset b/c Greg and I had a date night planned. Had a sitter coming and everything. (And for everyone who knows my cheap husband well....we don't hire sitters often!) Oh well, lots of snuggle time that night with Miss Priss and the amoxicillin seemed to ease her pain pretty fast. And a extra big dose of Tylenol for that fever :) And luckily, the antibiotic worked super fast and we didn't hear her complain about her ears again....

Then, last weekend, my sisters and I treated my mom to a spa/winery weekend getaway at Chateau Elan outside of Atlanta. It was a (very) belated 60th birthday present from April. As you can imagine, we had way too much to eat & drink, relaxed a lot, and my sides still hurt from laughing so much. Other than not sleeping well b/c of my coughing/snoring/lovely mother, the weekend was such a fun time & made me miss my family even more than usual!!

I rushed back from Atlanta that Sunday, to make it home in time to take the kids to a 2 pm birthday party. And what did I find when I got home? My daughter's face covered in a red rash. We had no idea what it was, but since she wasn't in any pain, itching, or had any type of fever, we didn't worry too much. I kept her home from the birthday party though, just in case. Well, when she woke up on Monday, her face had gotten MUCH blotchier and the rash had started to spread all over her body. I was worried it was Hand, Foot, Mouth (which is super contagious) so I took her to the doctor for a diagnosis since WebMD was not being helpful (and scaring the crap out of me).

Luckily, the doctor said it was just a (belated) allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. (Which I should have suspected, since my mom & I are both allergic to that as well as penicillin.) She recommended we try benedryl to clear up the rash. I am so glad we know now that she has that allergy, and I am doubly as glad that it was not a severe reaction with itching, pain, hives, etc. It could have been a lot worse! And clearly she didn't feel bad....here's Miss Hollywood on the way back from the doctor....

I just felt bad for Nate b/c Monday & Tuesday were his Fall Break and we stayed in the house with his freaky-looking sister b/c I couldn't deal with the stares from everyone  :( Despite that, N was happy as usual. Oh that smile, what a heartbreaker!!

And this past week has been busy as well, but at least we haven't had any new health issues. Instead, it's just  been a lot of stress (and excitement!) because we bought a house!!!!! More details - and pictures - to come as soon as inspection goes smoothly on Thursday (prayers please!). And we close very soon....on November 28th. But let me just say this one thing.....this is our dream house, and it literally fell into our laps. I could not.be.more.excited!