Family is important

Since we live so far from family here, we have extended family, like Denise and Lisa, and all those would be 'cousins'-ish, and Mr. Michael and Coach Jim, etc. But, family is still important. Blood relatives. T has been talking a lot about GG these days. We want GG to know that T still loves her Kiki--blankie, that GG made 6 years ago. Kiki is T's friend through good times and bad, and there is a connection with T and Kiki. So, here are some pics of T with her Kiki for GG and another pic of T and J with Uncle Buck. We're looking forward to the holidays with Buck, Jen, MaMaw, PaPaw, Grammy and Aunt Noelle. Cheers, Folks!

What a week!

Drink Diet Coke (or Coke or Sprite or anything carbonated made by Coca-Cola)!! Coke's 'sparkling' beverages need a push in the current market-here is T wearing (proudly) her Diet coke shirt in the backyard sprinklers last Sunday, promoting the Coca-Cola sparkling beverages. This week has been a crazy one in this world of ours. At our home, however, we had a nice birthday celebration in honor of MaMaw and the kids were so glad to see Uncle Buck again, even though J did ask (before saying hello), "Where is Aunt Jen?". Sorry U.Buck. T came home from school Monday with the SECOND top tooth gone, so the tooth fairy visited her again for the second time in two weeks (but admittedly almost forgot and almost got caught slipping in early in the am). While snapping some pics of toothless T for this blog, my J insisited that I take some of him, so here they are--those blue eyes and sweet faces-gotta love 'em. How can you just not want to squeeze them and kiss them?!

Adorable face, even with remnants of ice cream on the lower lip

All she wants for Christmas are her two front teeth (yeah, right!-and lots of toys)

And, as a proud mom, I must include that T is making nice improvements in her soccer game--she ran like a champ last Saturday up and down the field and was really in the game. In addition, her tennis instructor said that she is really improving her hand-eye coordination and swing (all this I am sure is because she is now banned from Wii tennis which actually hurt her game).

J has taken a BIG interest in baseball, much to the delight of his Dad and PawPaw. He wants to play on the field at the rec park, and wants to swing that bat every chance he gets. Should we have named him Ted?? Only time will tell. How cute is this pic? Let me answer....VERY CUTE!

Who has time to blog when there is Facebook??

Well, its been almost two months since my last post. And since school started, it has been busy (and I discovered Facebook a few weeks ago-if you are on there, you know what that is like), so here is a top 10 list of what has been going on and some pics:



1. T started tennis lessons-fun for the whole family and we've enjoyed this ammenity that we never took advantage of in the neighborhood.


2. After a sort of rough start (T bumped into a few walls and really injured herself-two calls from the school nurse in 3 days), the adjustment to the new school is going well for T. She seems like such a big girl. I'm proud of her zest for learning (do you like that word?)-she can't wait to do homework and read every night. Frankly, its tiring for me.

Toothless T-she tugged the tooth out during rest time at school-awesome. It was in there pretty tight when she left that morning, so I know it wasn't easy. One of the boys in T's class told his mom, "T is so cool because she can turn her tooth sideways!". That is cool if you are in Kindergarten. I think she looks like the Wicked Witch of the West. haha, I'm kidding, of course.

3. J-Not much has changed for him, except he just gets bigger and is learning A LOT at school (daycare). He jumped up two classes when school began and got to keep the same teacher, so the small change suited him well. He is too funny-I asked him to vacuum the bathroom floor (and he willingly accepted) and about two minutes after he finished he saw a speck of something on the floor. His response, "WHAT IS THAT, I JUST VACUUMMED HERE!". Who does that sound like? hahaha I cracked up.

4. I flew home Labor Day weekend for my Dad's 60th birthday. I also enjoyed lunch with my dear friend Kelly, saw my Grandmother, and hung out with my mom Friday while I was there. Laura threw a really nice party for my Dad and it was great to see my Aunt Debbie, Uncle Richard, and a bunch of big boy cousins. Really big boys.

My 60 year old Dad and my Aunt Debbie (his sister)

5. A week later, I turned 35 with a bang. A bunch of the neighborhood girls, plus Aunt Jen (who was visiting with Uncle Buck) went out for too many margaritas and beers. The next day of work was a little rough, was my actual birthday, and it was SIX FLAGS NIGHT for Coca-Cola. This is when Coke rents out the park for its employees from 6pm-12midnight. We took the kids and Uncle Buck and Jen, and left the park at 11pm exhausted. Still fun though. Did I mention what a great company I work for? The weekend continued with get-togethers with friends and a baseball game Sunday.

Aunt Jen, T and J. Love this pic.

T at Six Flags-J even rode a pretty fast roller coaster that night-he continues to impress me!

6. T started soccer the day after the Six Flags outing but was so stinkin tired after being up until midnight, that she didn't do so hot. Week 3, however, and she is finally showing improvement.


7. And more about Coca-Cola....on 9/11 they launched a new partnership between Vault - Montgomery Gentry - and the USO to support our troops. So, in true Coca-Cola fashion, they threw an awesome lunch party where Montgomery Gentry stopped in to the couryard at HQ and sang us a few songs----it was AWESOME. How many people get to watch a concert at lunch and call it work!? Montgomery Gentry is a country band for those of you not familiar with their work. Of course, there was free food, too.

8. John's BF at work quit and lucky John absorbed 6 more sales people. The good news is that USF is down one DSM by attrition instead of downsizing, the bad news is John is so busy!! He takes it all in stride. We continue to see job loss in this area and are thankful for our jobs and health. Lets hope it continues.

9. I went out last Friday to celebrate my dear friend Lisa's 30th birthday and overdid it. I am not the rockstar I once thought I was, but boy did I have fun trying. I haven't danced like that since college and I haven't felt those muscles in my thighs in that amount of time either, even during Chris' toughest agility drills class at the Y. I haven't seen the pics yet, and frankly, I'm scared to.

10. We haven't sold our house and it will come off the market in about 3 weeks. Although we really thought we wanted to be closer to our jobs, a fun summer, uncertain economy, and our wonderful funloving friends here make it so desirable for us to stay put. I'll admit it is sometimes tiring to live in a subdivision filled with people ready to put together a party (get-together) at a moment's notice or for any reason, but boy is it fun. For now, it just fine with us to continue commuting (I mean I only do it 3 days a week).....that is....IF WE COULD JUST GET SOME GAS IN ATLANTA WE'D BE IN GOOD SHAPE. Sadly, we really depend on our gas here-with no means of good public transportation and most people have sizable commutes, Atlanta is a gas dependent city. Hopefully the latest shortage will teach us some lessons. I know my wonderful boss told us we could work from home all last week in order to conserve. Did I mention that Coca-Cola is AWESOME?!!



So, thats it. Our life over the past two months. Hope you enjoyed it. :)


ps. I just got DVR and am so excited to use it tonight to record Greys Anatomy!!! Thank God good TV is BACK!

Elementary School and The Beach (post below)

Thats right, folks, today was the first day of Elementary School. Kindgergarten for T. T was very excited to have people she knew in her class. I think she'll have a great year. I just hope she learns something. I know that summer had barely begun for the kids up North--believe it or not we are not the first school system in Atlanta to go back to school.

Here are some pics of the big kid....my camera isn't taking the best pictures in low light....I have to get out the manual to figure out what setting to use, but you get the idea....

Pensacola Beach, Florida

Beautiful scenery pics first...........



We had a fabulous family weekend at Pensacola Beach, FL this past weekend. It was only about a 4.5 hour drive, and a very drive at that. T loved the beach (J liked it OK), and J loved the pool there-it was very kid friendly. We didn't realize there was a Bushwacker Festival going on-apparently this drink is big in Pensacola Beach, so we went over to the Boardwalk to check it out (think Fells Point, Baltimore crowd, on a Friday night + a beach)-lets just say we got some pizza and brought it back to the hotel veranda and ate it while looking at the beach-the Bushwacker Festival was not the best place for kids. This was a great end to the summer for us. Thanks for the recommendation, Denise!

John and T being silly after Saturday's pizza dinner at the hotel

J sticking his head in the fountains in the pool. I didn't get a picture of the 'booty dance' he was doing. And, no, I had nothing to do with it-I don't know where he gets these things!

My blue eyed-babies have a hard time seeing at the beach--this pic was taken at sunset-late sunset at that and they are still squinting (but still cute)

What's up Cuz

This giant fellow is my little cousin Justin. I don't know Justin very well, since he is 12.5 years younger than me and grew up in New Hampshire whereas I lived in Maryland. My dad has 7 brothers and sisters (Mom has 4) and therefore, I have many, many cousins (at least 19 cousins on Dad's side alone). So, you can imagine that the cousins I knew best were the ones closest to my age. Anyway, I heard that this one was working for the Washington Nationals and traveling with the team, so when John and I went to the baseball game last night, I decided to give Justin a call just to see what he looked like. Last time I saw him, he was probably a Freshman in high school and I guarantee you he wasn't this big. So, when I asked him how will I spot him in a crowd (other than the fact that he is 6'5" tall), he said, "I'm very good looking". Funny kid. It was great to see him, catch up for a few minutes. It is probably the most I've ever talked to him in my life, but nice to see a cousin that I never really knew. I'm hoping we can catch up with him when he comes back to town in September. Anyway, tell me....do you see a family resemblance??? Haha. I really got the short genes, huh? I have many cousins that are this tall, so for those of you who wonder how I deal with such a tall husband, well, I've been around it my whole life. I have a few female cousins in Utah that are WAY over 6'.

Tired girl and Tater the clown

Last week, my friend Denise called to ask if T could spend the night....uh, let me think about it....yes! T was so excited to have a little change in routine. She says her life isn't as fun as it used to be before I started working. Well, she had a great time hanging out with the girlfriends, as Denise likes to call them, so much so that the next evening, this is how she looked (picture taken at 6:36pm).

Today we attended a birthday party at the local pizza place for one of J's buddies from school. They had a very talented clown who painted faces and did a magic show. Take a look...

We have so many wonderful friends here....I have been left wondering so often lately-why are we trying to leave? No matter-our house hasn't sold yet anyway!