Catching Up

We survived the weekend and Brady is on the mend. So far the other kids have not come down with the crud although Ashton is fighting a cough and Emma continues to have a rash on her face. I broke down and took her to the doctor yesterday and he said to just continue putting lotion on it and it should get better. This morning her eyes were almost closed due to her face being so puffy and red. She did get in bed later last night after being at the ballgames for several hours so I am attributing some of that to exhaustion. I gave her some Benadryl and I think that has helped some. I will be so glad when her sweet little face clears up.


Ashton had his first ballgame last night and ended up playing for the J.V. team and the Varsity team. He scored 4 points in the J.V. game and 2 in the Varsity game. He seemed to like it and I think he is happy with his decision to change schools. I am. I really like his teachers and the administration of the school.


Emma was entertaining everyone while Ashton played ball. She kept yelling "Bubba" to him but of course he was ignoring her. The funniest part was her with the mascot (a bear cat?). She so wanted to touch the mascot and every time he would come near her she would panic and turn away. It was so cute. She was very brave while he was several feet away from her but not so much when he came near. I attempted to get a picture of her reaching to touch him but it was so short lived that I couldn't get the picture taken quick enough.



So I had a very good weekend in the grocery shopping arena. Kroger and Harris Teeter were running triples and I racked up! I bought $337.11 worth of groceries and spent $153.13. Not a bad deal. I saved $178 in coupons, with my best percentage at Kroger being 76% one stop, 68% on another stop, and 63% on my last stop. My other great deals were at Publix. I LOVE PUBLIX. I bought 6 packages of Nestle cookies for $3. Great to have in the freezer. Some of my favorite free items included:

• Fleischmann's yeast packets
• Land of Lakes spreadable butter (5 containers)
• Star Kist tuna packs
• Kroger brand chips
• Suave deodorant
• Duracell batteries (2 packs)
• Rad Baron pizza singles
• Cover Girl lipstick
• Tic Tac chillers

My really cheap stuff included:

• 5 containers of Welchs juice (.44 cents each)
• Aunt Jamima pancakes
• Dominos brown sugar
• Betty Crocker frosting (.12 cents each)
• Minute Rice (.50 cents)
• Smithfield bacon ($1.14 lb.)

Okay, so enough boring stuff. I am just really proud of my good deals and my freezer and pantry are stocked for some time to come.

During the ballgame Emma managed to snag Pop's hat.

None of my pictures of Ashton are very good. I have not mastered that whole action shot thing.
He's number 5 in case you can't tell.

Dede gave Emma a Blues Clues costume and it is a major HIT. She looked so cute playing in it and Bo managed to get a couple of not so hot pictures. And major news: Emma touched our dog Gypsy (basset hound) on the nose and the ear on Friday. SHOCKER. This is the closet she has ever gotten to her. I was so proud of her and you could tell she was so proud of herself. Of course Gypsy moved just an inch closer to her and Emma jumped up like she was about to be eaten!

It Appears The H1N1 Is Here

Well, I think our turn for the H1N1 has come and I'm hoping to contain it to only one of the kids. Brady had a cough yesterday and woke up this morning complaining of a bad headache and body aches and he also has a fever. I had some Tamniflu left from last year's flu and I started him on it. I'm hoping that will curb the effects of the flu and I hope and PRAY that no one else gets it. Emma has been coughing and having a runny nose and Ashton also has dry cough. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


Emma was adorable when she woke up this morning. I went in to get her up and she was bouncing around in the bed and laughing and she stood up and looked at me and said "I love you". Now you might not recognize those words when she says them but we have been working on that for a while. The sweet thing is that she said it unprompted. She has also been putting her hands on my shoulders and making me look right at her when she needs to "tell" me something. She just jabbers and jabbers and then she goes about her way. It's hilarious. One other funny Emma story from yesterday involves her potty habits. For some reason when she has to poop she calls it "nanoo". She immediately comes to me and points her bottom up to me and says nanoo when she needs her diaper changed. Yesterday she did that and I said "do you have a nanoo in your pants" and she just smiled and then took her little hand and waved it front of her nose and said "shoo". It was so cute!



I bought this adorably silly hat and glove set on clearance at Old Navy long before we had Emma and I brought it out for her Wednesday afternoon and she has loved wearing it. She thought the gloves were socks and I had to explain what they were. Bo thinks she looks like an Indian in them. I just think she looks too cute.

Asthon was inducted in to Junior Beta Tuesday night and I wasn't able to get a good picture of him. I am very proud of my boy.

Santa came early to our house this week. My friends Brenda and Ken (aka Honey) brought over this doll house that their granddaughter's had outgrown. Emma was hilarious when she saw it and made her surprise face. She has begun making this face a lot. Her mouth wide open and her eyes get huge. Thanks Honey and Brenda! I have also been warned that this house is big enough to accommodate 2 girls laying on the shelves and hiding for long periods of time. Hmmm.

Emma was scheduled to have some pictures done this morning at the Belle Meade Mansion but now that Brady is sick we had to cancel those plans. I'm so disappointed. I had already chosen all of her outfits and was really looking forward to it. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Well, our weekend plans are up in the air now. Brady's last band competition is tomorrow but it looks like he will not be able to participate. Ashton is already attempting to negotiate his plans but there will be no extra kids here this weekend.

Have a good weekend.

Princess Emma

Emma was a little uncertain about the whole dressing up for Halloween thing. She really did like her dress and actually wore it much longer than I thought she would. These pictures were taken before all of the actually trick or treating was done and it wasn't easy to get a smile. She was too busy watching the dogs to make sure they didn't eat her to manage a little smile for me.

I love the look she is giving Bo.

Mom, there is dog right behind you. Please be careful. (That is her new phrase "be careful" but it comes out sounding like she is saying awful.)

Another no smile picture.

So we made a few stops for Halloween. She was very impressed that people actually gave her candy and we did well with NO suckers. I actually hid a couple because I couldn't bear to hear her screaming.

Emma had a play date with Rory this morning and they were so cute. When Rory says Emma it sounds more like "Amma" and it is adorable. Emma would just look at Rory and one time she just put her hand on her back and patted her. It was very sweet and they had a good time together.

This week doesn't appear to be as busy as the last 2 have been. No doctor's appointments! Although Emma has developed some type of rash on her face that feels like alligator skin. She isn't scratching it but it looks really bad. She was supposed to have some pictures done on Friday and I am hoping that it will be gone before then.

Well, my exciting life offers nothing new to write about and maybe that's not a bad thing. I am just attempting to clean, do laundry, make schedules, eBay clothes, plan dinner, etc. No, nothing too exciting there.

Friday Already....I'm Seeing a Trend

Another BUSY week of appointments and practices and therapies and life. The weekend looks to be busy as well but that seems to be the norm for everyone these days.


I have to give a shout out to my sweet husband. Today is our 22nd anniversary. I can't believe we have been married that long! This morning at 3 a.m. when I was up with Emma and she had a dirty diaper and he came in to bring her a drink while I was changing her he said "Happy Anniversary, not exacltly how I planned it." Who knew 22 years ago where we would be today! Life is a funny thing.


I'm very excited that our beach pictures are finally on line. Some of them are really good. Some of them make my face look huge. Ashton was flashing those high dollar teeth in some of them and it was obviously a fake smile. Brady's were absolutely great. Now I have decide which ones to order and that is going to be a hard choice.


Well, I'm off to attempt a nap before I head out to work tonight. Little Miss is busy watching The Wiggles (what else) and I'm hoping she can tear herself away pretty soon. Have a great weekend and a fun and safe Halloween.

Monday Again.....

Aside from the weekend being very busy, it was a good one. I worked on Friday night as usual and it wasn't a really bad night but it wasn't anything special either. I came home and stayed awake until after noon to watch Emma while Bo took Ashton for a couple of appointments and Brady went to a band competition. By the time Bo got home I was more than exhausted and took a short nap only to get up and watch the UT game and be even more broken hearted after it was over. For all of my Alabama friends, and you know who you are, congratulations. There is always next year:)


Yesterday we went to Owen Farm for the afternoon and had so much fun. Emma loved it. She was fascinated by the animals and really loved riding on the barrel train. I have to say that as a 42 year old mother I managed to hang in there with her. However, I did have my moments. See below.


There was a huge slide that kept calling my name. The good thing about having a little one is that it gives you an excuse to "play". So I held on tight to Emma and down the huge slide we went. Bo told me he would catch me at the end because you are going so fast that you can't stop. He meant he would catch it on film! Needless to say he didn't catch me and I thought I had broken my ankle when I got up. Brady's friend Alex broke his leg on the aforementioned slide and he is only slightly younger than me (by 30 years). Emma seemed to love it, but I decided that I didn't want to tempt fate and we didn't go down it again.
This is the slide with my dear son at the top. He wants to get a job here. He thinks he has found his niche in life.

Just swinging with my mom. The higher we went, the happier she was.

Attempting to get a picture of Emma and Rory was much harder than it looks. Emma has started saying Rory and it sounds so cute. Every time she sees her picture she starts calling her name.

Brother number one in the barrel train.

Brother number 2 in the barrel train.

Just some of the animals on the farm.

Looking at the goats. Emma is really studying them closely. Notice the painted fingernail if you can. She wanted them painted while I was sleep deprived Saturday morning. She kept blowing them all day thinking they were still wet.

Oh No, another slide. Look at the old woman at the top.

Here goes nothing!

Notice Emma's pigtails flying in the air.

Mom and Emma in the barrel train.

The fattest pig I have ever seen. All he does is hang around the corn pit and eat the spoils.

Hayride time.

Wearing her scrubs that belonged to Cara (who is now 18) and her lai. She dressed herself.

I am so excited about this Monday. Want to know why? I don't have to go anywhere until it's time to pick Brady up from school and I have a long list of things to accomplish around here today. The other reason is that my girl was so tired from her long weekend that she slept all night and I may have enough energy to get some things done today. I know, my life is so exciting!

Friday

Suddenly my little girl had learned she can climb up on all of the furniture. That has been our struggle this morning. She hasn't exactly figured out that she can also fall off, so we are working on NOT climbing on the furniture. She doesn't like that part of the game.


Another busy weekend ahead with band competition, work, church, etc. I thought weekends were supposed to be about relaxing?
Can you tell that we had spaghetti for dinner last night?

Have a good weekend.

What Grandmothers Will Do For Entertainment

Just hanging out reading the paper.

Star Wars Granny.

Brady, my sweet 15 year old son, said "Look mom, Nanny got a make over." He meant it only in the nicest way and he was high on pain killers at the time.

Brady went back to school today. I would like to think it was because he is so dedicated to academia, however I am not stupid. It completely involved a girl. I'm only hoping that he can catch up with his missed assignments. His face was still very swollen this morning but he was determined to go and drugged up on Motrin prior to leaving.

As I suspected, Emma was a complete BEAR last night. She woke up again last night at 2:30 and this time she certainly had good reason. Her bed was soaked. This child has some over active kidneys and so we had to have a sheet and pajama changing. I put her back down and she slept until 6:30. Not too bad. We headed out to speech and O.T. this morning and she did well at both of those. Mrs. Jane (speech) made the mistake of giving her a sucker and so I had to literally pry it from her mouth before we left amid the screaming. I don't think Mrs. Jane will make that mistake again.

So I have a few hours before it's time to get Ashton from practice and I'm so hopeful that little Miss takes a good nap and I so need to clean and tidy things up and make several dozen banana, chocolate chip muffins for band, but all I really want to do is take a nap. Decisions, decisions.