Play Me a Song, You're the Piano Man Boy

Alternately titled "It's All Fun and Games Until Mommy Gets a Migraine".

Alphabitty Moments - The Letters G & H

I got behind again. Even after Carrie was on vacation sick leave and gave us an extra week. What can I say, I live my life playing catch up. Mad procrastinational skills can do that to a person. And yes, I believe I just made up the word 'procrastinational'.

The letter G is for Graduation. My older daughter graduated from elementary school last year. I only cried a little. I also had a horrible case of bronchitis and bad hair, so no one is allowed to see the family picture from graduation day.



What great timing for the letter H. Halloween is not really a bitty thing around here. We love Halloween. No, we are not devil worshipers or anything like that. We just love having a chance to hang out with friends and eat candy without guilt. Chocolate has no calories when eaten while walking, right?

Our street isn't all that great for trick or treating, so we always go hang out with friends in another neighborhood. This will be our ninth year trick or treating with this same family. Obviously, our families have grown over those nine years as has the number of families joining us. I am always asked to cook my lasagna. I tried to get out of it this year, but the kids all said it's tradition, and I have to. Honestly, it's the only time each year I actually get around to cooking it, so I don't mind at all.

The Princess and her friend, L, have not missed one single year trick or treating together. They are the best of friends. Their birthdays are one month apart, and The Princess swears she remembers meeting L in heaven where God picked them to be best friends. How sweet is that? I have photos of these two together from each of their Halloweens, starting when they were four and five months old, but I don't have a scanner, so all I can share is the last three years!



Now head over to 4 the Love of Family to see what everyone else created this week!

Halloween Costumes?

Here we are four days away from Halloween, and I have no clue what my kids are wearing. I have convinced the girls to use something we already have, and they seem to be okay with that. We have plenty of princess dresses, witch costumes, a couple of different cats, overalls for a scarecrow, farmer or hobo.

Little Man is another story. We don't have much little boy stuff hanging around the house. And while his sisters think it's funny to dress him up in old dance costumes, his Daddy and I really don't.

It's difficult to buy our costumes too far in advance because most Halloween costumes seem to be geared toward those who live in the parts of the country that have a true fall season. Some years it's quite chilly here. Last year was rainy and in the 60's. The forecast this year is for a high of 89 degrees. The weather man even mentioned something about having fried pumpkin by the end of the day. Loverly.

To make things in the Halloween costume department a little more interesting, my girls both came to me after bed time last night to 'remind' me that they need costumes to wear to church tonight.

Of course by 'remind' I mean tell me for the very first time. And so I'll spend my day putting together costumes that are appropriate for church.

It's not like I have approximately 49 loads of laundry, dirty bathrooms, a sink full of dishes, two toddlers making new messes whenever my back is turned or my mother coming for a visit this weekend. Nope, I've got all the time in the world to search for costumes.

Especially with all the advance notice.

Family Game Night

We try to have Family Game Nights as often as we can.

When we play games that require us to divide into teams, The Princess is always on my team while her sister is with her Daddy. The Princess and I almost always lose.

So, not too long ago, we decide to practice playing Pictionary, then we would challenge the other two to a game.

We wanted to practice first so we could get in sync with each other and have a chance to win. We got out the chalk board and chalk and used Pictionary Man to give us our words.

The first time The Princess drew pictures for me to guess, she drew something, then said, "That's spinach in case you can't tell." I couldn't.

So, I started making guesses. I finally guessed 'vegetarian'. The Princess was very excited that I had guessed the correct word. Until I looked at Pictionary Man's foot and realized her word was veterinarian. Not exactly the same thing! Although we did decide that it would make sense for animal doctors to not want to eat their patients.

I explained to The Princess that if I drew something that looked like an ear, that meant the next word I planned to draw would sound like the word I really wanted her to say. She seemed to understand, but please keep in mind that this is my blond child.

On her next turn, The Princess drew an ear. Here's what followed:

Me: Ok, good! Sounds like....

She started writing letters. Ok, so she didn't really get it. She was trying to spell a word that rhymed with what she wanted me to say. Still it was a start. Or so I thought.

She wrote: M - A - S - A - C - H - U

Me: Massachusetts?

Princess: YES!

Me: It sounds like Massachusetts?

Princess: YES!

Me: It sounds like Massachusetts?

Princess: YES!

Me: It sounds like Massachusetts?

Princess: YES!

Me: Does it also rhyme with orange?

Thankfully, our time ran out.

Her word? MOSQUITO!

I knew then that we were doomed.

Not Me! Monday - Dr. Seuss Style

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not read Mr. Brown Can Moo
Not one time nor eighty-two.

I did not say, "Take your sister the book
She wants to read it, just go look."

I did not, did not ever say
"Mommy's tired, please go play."

I did not babysit with TV,
I would not do that, no not me.

My son doesn't throw things in the sink.

Things like diapers, toys and drinks.

I did not look and find a shoe

Floating in the water too!

I do not talk in this rhyming way

Over and over every day.

I do not think Dr. Seuss had a plan

to make moms go crazy, but I'm still a fan.

No, I did not read Mr. Brown Can Moo!

I did not do it, now what about you?

What, oh what, did you not do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My amazingly talented and creative friend, Carrie, has entered her Alphabitty Moment's book into the Best Blurb Books Contest. Please take a moment and go vote for her book. The top 15 books move onto to the next level, and Carrie is very close to that level! You DO need to have a blurb account, but you can opt out of the email notifications, which means all you have to do is put in your email, a unique user name and a password, and you're set! Easy peasy!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I haven't Not Me'd (I can totally make that a verb, right?) in a while, mainly because I seem to get stuck in a routine and do the same things day in and day out. But I'm giving it a go today.

This week, after spending countless hours searching my daughters' heads for nits, I most certainly did not find a nit in my very own hair. I did not then search the internet for any and all solutions, concoctions, old wives tales and/or voodoo that might help me rid myself of lice and nits. I have not treated my head with LiceMD, put tea tree oil in my shampoo, rinsed my hair with vinegar or colored my own hair in an effort make sure the things were gone. I did not mix tea tree oil and water in and empty Febreeze bottle and spray it on every piece of furniture, rug, bed and pillow in my house. Nor did I spray said concoction on my own head. After all that, I did not ask last night if I should go ahead and treat my hair with LiceMD again. My husband and older daughter did not say, "NO!" in unison, and neither of them accused me of being obsessed.

Also, tea tree oil does not smell a little like old people. The mixture of tea tree oil and vinegar does not leave a lingering smell in my house that says, "Welcome to Mamaw's. We're putting up pickles."

And finally, it's such a shame my 19 month old son has no clue what to do when he sees a camera!

Alphabitty Moments - The Letter F

Alphabitty Moments is a blog carnival created by MamaBear at 4 the Love of Family as a way to record the little things in our kids lives.

I have been distracted again this week. This week's distraction comes in the form of the lice and nits in my daughter's hair. AGAIN! So, I have only completed one page once again!

The letter 'F' is for field trips. My older daughter is in the 7th grade and has yet to go on a field trip without either myself or her Daddy with her. Other moms have made comments about how their kids would d-i-e die if they went on field trips. My daughter wants us there. And that makes me one happy Mama!

These photos were taken when I went with her to the equestrian center after her 5th grade class read The Black Stallion.

Using field trips for the letter 'F' also gave me the opportunity to use two of my favorite photos. I really didn't think I could get any good pictures from where we were sitting, but I love both the cowboy and the rodeo clown pictures.

A Little About Football

I am a girl who loves college football. More specifically, SEC football. Even more specifically, UGA football.

I'm not a big fan of professional football, or any professional sport for that matter. I love to watch kids playing the game. Kids who are playing because they love to play. They aren't in negotiations with owners and agents. They are playing because it is what they love to do. Yes, some are playing with hopes of obtaining contracts with professional teams. Some break our hearts by leaving school early to make millions of dollars. We don't blame them, but we do miss them (ahem, Knowshon).

I was born and raised in South Georgia where being a Dawg fan is not really an option. I wouldn't have it any other way. I have been to quite a few games 'between the hedges' in Athens. It's almost a religious experience. Hearing 85,000 Dawg fans shouting, "GOOOooooo Dawgs, sic em. Woof, woof, woof woof" can cause chill bumps.

Young boys dream of playing college football. What has me up in arms today is the realization that because of college football rules (NCAA Football Rule 9-2, Article 1(a)(1)(d) prohibits “Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves), when those same boys have realized that lifelong dream of scoring a touchdown in front of those 85,000 screaming fans, they aren't allowed to celebrate.

Are there times when unsportsmanlike penalties should be enforced? Absolutely. Taunting another player should never be allowed.

Even UGA fans admit that the penalty after the entire team stormed the field after UGA's first touchdown against the University of Florida in 2007 was well deserved.

But when a player makes an outstanding catch for what should have been a game winning touchdown and is then penalized for celebrating with his teammates, the rules have been taken too far.

Would LSU have ended up winning that game Saturday? Possibly. The defense was exhausted. They played almost every play of the first half when the offense couldn't get anything going. But I don't think the outcome of a game should be affected by what basically boils down to a judgment call by the referees.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Thank you.

I ♥ Faces - Constructive Feedback Friday

The ladies at I Heart Faces are offering a little constructive feedback today, and while I am nowhere near a professional photographer, or maybe because I am nowhere near a professional photographer, I would love a little feedback.

The first photo is the original (f2.8, 1/45sec, ISO 80, 6.3mm). I think his face looks blown out on one side and too dark on the other. The second is the edited photo, which I edited with paint.net. I bumped up the saturation a little, added a little more contrast and sharpened. Honestly, I just play around with my photos until I like what I see.

Alphabitty Moments - The Letter E

Alphabitty Moments is a blog carnival created by MamaBear at 4 the Love of Family as a way to document the little, everyday things.

This week is the letter 'E'. I only have one page finished. 'E' for eyes was a no brainer for The Princess. I have a migraine, and no brainers are the only things my brain can comprehend right now. I'll have to catch Sweetpea up at a later date.

I have dark brown eyes. My husband has mostly brown eyes with little flecks of green. I always thought our kids would all have brown hair and brown eyes. The Princess proved me wrong. She has blonde hair and eyes that used to be ice blue and are now either blue, green or grey depending on what she's wearing. I am fascinated by her eyes. I guess that's because mine are almost black and never change.

When she was little, strangers would stop us to tell us how much she looked like Cindy Loo Who. With those big blue eyes and the blonde hair that always had a bow in it, she really did look like Cindy Loo.

See?

Ok, I got off track there.

Anywho.....

Alphabitty Moments - The Letter E