A Poem For Ayden Claire

Thumbs

Oh the thumb-sucker's thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered, and white as the snow,
But the taste of a thumb
Is the sweetest taste yet
(As only we thumb-suckers know).

By Shel Silverstein

The Pumpkin Patch 2008

Our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Clanton. We love going there to get our pumpkins. The weather was perfect and we had a blast.

Ear Piercing...Take Two

We got Anniston's ears pierced last summer (as in '07) when she asked to do it. She climbed up in the Libby Lu chair and got them both done at the same time, inserting two little pink flower earrings into her sweet little lobes. Fast forward to Christmas time when we go to change the earrings, for the first time, to a Santa pair she has picked out. She flips out about putting the new ones in. I mean she is terrified. We try for weeks to talk her into letting us put earrings, any earrings at this point, back in. No luck. We try at night after she is asleep. No luck. Bribery, threats...nothing works. She isn't letting us near her with an earring. Finally, by spring I accept that her ears are no longer pierced and she'll probably be the only girl in Junior High without earrings because no way is she ever going to want to do it all over.... Until yesterday. We went to Wal-Mart for milk and as we were walking by the jewelry department she starts asking me all kinds of questions about earrings and getting ears pierced, not necessarily her ears, just ears in general. The day goes on and she is still going on about earrings. Finally I say, "Anniston, do you want to get your ears pierced again???" fully expecting a firm "No, thank you." She thought for a moment and said "Yeah". So we hightailed it to Wal-Mart as soon as Alyssa's friend Sarah's dad picked her up after school from our house. The lady, Nell, who was quite old, tried to talk me out of getting it done since she was the only one there and would only be able to do one ear at a time. I looked at her and said, "Look, we've done this before. I know. We aren't going to make a big deal about it but if she wants it done, she will do it." This, after all, is Anniston. And she may not be completely without fear, but she is a girl who knows what she does and does not want and she wanted her ears adorned with little pink heart earrings like all the other Coosada Baptist Preschool 4 year old girls! So she did it. She was the proudest little pierced girl for the rest of the day. She sported her new earrings today at school like a champ. All is good so far, but I think we will wait a few years before changing them out!

15 Things...

15 Things You May Not (or Maybe You Do) Know About Me...

15. I have a severe Diet Coke addiction...seriously, I love the stuff and I drink way too much. If they ever find out definitely that it causes something, I will totally, beyond a shadow of a doubt, have it!

14. I hate the TV or radio to be even the slightest bit loud. I want to be able to hear and that's it- nothing over just audible. I tried as a teenager to be "cool" and blare the music while it honestly just racked my nerves! Just one example of what a nerd I really am, I guess.

13. I am NOT anywhere near as organized as I should be with 3 kids. Its a constant battle with myself to get organized. I like a neat appearance, but please steer clear of my tupperware cabinet and junk drawer- drawers!

12. I throw out/donate my kids toys when they are not home. I've been busted on quite a few items, too. I just can't stand having so much clutter and no where to put it! The latest was a Dora doll I had just gotten rid of that Anniston decided she wanted to play with (after like, 6 months!) and was REALLY upset she couldn't find her. I had to call my mom, who was going to pass it on to my cousins baby, and get her back. Dora is once again resting peacefully safe and sound in the bottom of the closet.

11. I didn't have a big girly wedding. I got married in Jamaica. We didn't elope but it was just the two of us and it was wonderful. Hopefully we will go back in September 2009 to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

10. I love Chelsea Handler (the Chelsea Lately Show on E!). She is crude, probably an alcoholic, but she cracks me up like no one else! My mom recently told me that reading her book "My Horizontal Life, A Book of one Night Stands" wasn't good for my mind/heart. I disagree- the laughs I've gotten from her book are great for my sanity at the end of the day!

9. I don't vote Republican (pick yourself up off the floor....). I'm not saying I would never, I just haven't seen a Republican worth voting for yet. So don't blame Bush's legacy on me....

8. My secret wish is that I could sing. I have zero musical ability- I don't even sing in church for fear the person next to me will hear how tone deaf and off pitch I am!

7. I am lazy. Not all the time, I don't have time to be as lazy as I would like. I usually spend Ayden Claire's nap time either napping myself or wasting time. (If I spent it getting my tupperware organized I wouldn't have a #13)

6. I am great at being a thrifty shopper. I love to find bargains. I found my $110 diaper bag online brand new for $30. See- I wasn't totally wasting time that day...I was saving money!

5. I love to read, would rather read a book than see the movie actually. Once I start a good book, I can't put it down. Further proof of the nerd I am.

4. I haven't worked a day since finishing my college degree. Its a Bachelor of Science in Business and Human Resources, Wes calls it my BS degree... :) One day I may use it but right now I love raising my girls, which requires a lot of Human Resources Management!

3. I LOVE to look at houses. I used to want to be an architect and would beg my mom to buy me a pack of graph paper at the store rather than a pack of stickers. I would draw little house plans, which actually weren't all that bad for a 10 year old. A real treat for me would be a magazine of floor plans! (Yes, not that you needed it, but even more proof of my nerdiness!) I wanted to go to Auburn and be an architect but freaked out when I realized you had to know how to draw the front of the house and the landscaping also for this degree. I can draw lines and squares and put them together but I am no artist, not even by a long shot. So now I amuse myself (waste time) looking at the houses for sale in my area, or any area for that matter. Maybe I should look into Real Estate Agent school when the market improves...

2. I am terrified of death. I think for this reason, I think up crazy illnesses and convince myself I have them. I guess I think if I think of it, it probably won't happen. Seriously, every time I have a little muscle pain I am convinced its the beginning of something serious; heartburn is always an impending heart attack; a headache is really meningitis; dry eyes is retinal cancer; and lets not forget the brain tumor I self diagnosed myself as having when I was about 16 (it must be a very slow growing tumor). I don't mean to make light of any of these conditions, I have felt the fear of having them all!

1. I probably need therapy!

Fellow bloggers....that would be you Jill and Melissa.....go do this on your blog if you would like!

Six Flags

We have talked about going to Six Flags since May. We take the girls most summers. It isn't Disney, but its close and fairly affordable and hey, Wes and I love the Roller Coasters! So Saturday, after the girls game they cheered at, we headed over to Atlanta to stay the night at our friends Chet and Cristy's house and then go to Six Flags on Sunday. We got there around 10:00 Georgia time and crashed the Frazier's house (not really!). Our girls played with their girls, Savanna and Peyton who are such sweet girls. We don't get to see them often enough but it was great to visit for a couple of hours before bedtime. Then we got up Sunday and (finally) found breakfast at a Cracker Barrell and then went to Six Flags. They guy in front of us in line to buy tickets was buying $4000 worth of tickets (no joke, I'm serious, $4000!) so it took forever to get ours! I always pick the wrong line, Murphys Law, right? We did get in the park eventually though and wasted no time getting to the rides. Logistically, we had to work out who would ride what with which kid and who would wait where with Ayden Claire and the stroller. Sounds fun, huh? It really was. Wes got to ride most of the roller coasters and I rode one of the big ones and the smaller one with Alyssa and a kiddie one with both girls. They had a blast. I even got Anniston on the wheelie with me this year! Alyssa chickened out after riding it the past 4 years with me. Ayden Claire was an angel and loved watching her sisters enjoy themselves. One of the highlights of the day was when Alyssa and Anniston got on a ride in Kiddie land and then got right back off before it started. We asked them why they didn't get to ride and they didn't know. Then I heard the employee say there was a snake in the bushes right by the ride! Yeah, we moved on quickly to the other side of the kiddie rides! We made a day of it and were exhausted by the time we left. The kids of course slept the whole way home so that was nice. It was a great little getaway!

Time For Change (Sadly...)

I went to pick up Anniston at school today and we (the parents) were told Mrs. Alison wanted to talk to us before we got our children. My first thought was maybe she needs help with something, or worse, maybe something had happened to someone from the classroom. When I got to the room I saw Anniston's teacher sitting at a table crying and three other parents with watery eyes. My heart sank because I thought something had happened to one of Mrs. Alison boys- she has three and her middle son has battled cancer for quite some time now. Then she said she had taken a job at PCA and would be leaving in a week. I was SO thankful and relieved that her boys were okay but then I realized she was leaving! We have loved Mrs. Alison and she is great with the kids. Our loss is definitely PCA's gain. I told Anniston in the car on the way home, and I don't think that she really understands that she is getting a new teacher- soon. Mrs. Brandy will be taking her place, who works at the preschool already, so I guess its good that it will be a familiar face. I get attatched pretty easily though, and I am attatched to Alison. I guess that is life. People come and go, things change and we have to change and adjust with them. Its not always easy to do. A very good friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago that she and her family (husband and 4 children) would be moving at the end of the year to be "parents" at a childrens home in Mississippi. Again, I know this is what is best for them right now, but I will miss them terribly! Sidney and Hutson are dear friends to Alyssa and Anniston. We will adjust, but we will sure miss these people who were put in our lives and touched our family!

Queen For A Day

Today was Homecoming for the city league Alyssa and Anniston cheer for, complete with the cheerleaders serving as Homecoming Court and of course, a Queen had to be chosen. Much of practice this past week was spent trying to get the four squads to vote for a queen and 1st and 2nd runner ups from each squad. Sound confusing? It looked confusing! Anyway, I asked Alyssa who she had voted for on her squad and she said, "Sara Grace, Carly, and Peyton."
"You mean you didn't vote for yourself?" I was a little surprised...don't pretend like you wouldn't have voted for yourself!
"No Mom. Its rude to vote for yourself."
Oh. Okay.
Well, today was the Big Day and Wes escorted both of our little cheer princesses across the football field, which was so sweet in itself. And then they announced the 2nd runner up. "Alayna...." And the 1st runner up. "Ansley..."
"And the 2008 Millbrook Junior Mustangs Homecoming Queen is....Alyssa Kelley"
She was more embarrassed than excited. I was proud of her, after all, her friends thought she was a sweet enough girl to vote for her...hopefully thats what they thought. I want her to take it with the grain of salt she seems to be taking it with...because I know there are much bigger accomplishments to come and I don't want ever want her to think she is somehow "better" than someone else. We all have our gifts and talents and we are all different. She hopefully is learning how to be a gracious loser and an even more gracious winner. I think she is a pretty grounded girl, so I am letting her enjoy being Homecoming Queen for a day...