Halloween, so far....

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that the kids have already dressed up 15-25 times for various reasons. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I will say that Nealy was sick of her super special butterfly wings by the middle of this past week and she started fishing in the dress up bin for something new. She ended up as a mermaid for the library party Thursday night and for Trick or Treat day at her school on Friday, so who knows what she'll want to pull out tomorrow. My vote is for the pink dragon costume that belonged to her older cousins because it's cooooold out there!
One thing no one is sick of around here? Mustaches. It has been my entire costume plan for myself, because I seriously don't have much time to make myself over into something other than my normal make upped self (no one needs to see the alternative in the winter - you only get to see unshowered, unmake-upped, dirty clothes mama in the summer time when it's too hot for anything), so I hardly have time to make myself into Endora from Bewitched or one of the Mad Men ladies (both costumes I'd love to wear). But a mustache - a little liquid eyeliner that's only used at Halloween goes a long way around here.
What was I saying? Oh, I should mention that I just fed a slew of teenagers brunch, which means I'm pretty close to napping off those extra slices of bacon I enjoyed. But I guess I'll leave you with some pictures of some Halloween fun so far rather than rambling on and on only to get lost in a post brunch stupor.


On Friday afternoon, we made a quick trip over to the college of architecture to see the annual pumpkin carving. This is one of my favorite events that we never properly enjoy because it happens at dinner time when we need to be home getting settled in for the night. I know we will all get to enjoy this event even more as the kids get older - such a wonderful tradition! (the first picture in this post is from the pumpkin carve - I love their method of using old tires for pumpkin displays!)

And we managed to throw in a little game day fun yesterday to celebrate the arrival of actual football weather, which is so much nicer than hiking to campus in 95 degree heat only to visit with old friends while sweating through your pants. Scarves, boots, and jeans make for much cuter football attire. Trick or Treat pictures from tomorrow will be pending. We'll enjoy the evening with some of our subdivision friends, because subdivision neighborhoods are where it's at for Halloween.

One more pic - a little love for some Beckwith staffers, now friends, who were in town for a weekend visit. We all enjoyed a Sunday brunch with Luke. It was a lovely morning

Field Trip

Today was Jacks's annual school trip to the pumpkin patch. Since I have been with Jacks for the last two field trips, plus I had a team celebration at my school today, Joe got to be field trip dad for the day.

This field trip is for the 3 and 4 year old classes. Realistically, Joe could have taken Nealy along for the ride. But I think it's nice that Joe and Jacks got to have a boys' day with just each other. And come on, Jacks hardly gets enough attention these days (heavy sarcasm there - I mean, did you see the last post about the greatest birthday party ever?).

I haven't been given a full blow by blow about what happened, because Joe and Jacks are boys and don't detail the minutia of every event like I do, but there are pictures to document the day.

Picking a pumpkin....

Goofing with best friends.... and this is a truly unique class that Jacks has had the privilege of being a part of for most of his life. He has been friends with all of these boys since they were all on the baby hall. They are all just like brothers at this point. When they are all split up in kindergarten, we are all going to go through a serious period of adjustment.

Jacks touched a horse!!!

(This is actually a big deal for him. He has always been pretty leery of large animals. Okay, I'll go ahead and admit - all animals. He's not very trusting.)


And he touched a rabbit!

And he touched a billy goat!

And he touched a tractor!!!


I think they had a really great day together. And they know that they better not use the checkers on the air hockey table.



I was sad to miss the field trip, but I know that my boys had a great time together. And Joe captured every moment so much better than I would have. Since I am NOT the photographer of the family, I usually spend days like this gabbing with the other mothers and wishing Joe was there to take pictures. I guess I'm pretty spoiled....

Maybe next time we go we can capture photos of all of the oddities involved in a family run pumpkin patch (checker boards, air hockey tables, threatening signs, and more!).

Jacks is FIVE!

Well, almost....

His real birthday is next week, but the football game was away this weekend, so we jumped on the date to plan the party.

The theme: Super Jacks
(this is an original superhero of Jacks's own creation, helped along with some creative skills from his father)

The plan: A simple park party

The execution: Have cake and play at the park. Oh yeah, and everyone needs a superhero cape. (this is the part of the blog where I go on and on about sewing 20+ superhero capes over the past couple of weeks. I will refrain for now because I'm tired. This post might have to be all about letting the pictures speak for themselves)

The result: Perfect!

Today was the sunniest, breeziest, fall-iest, most gorgeous beautiful day which was tailor made for being spent in a park eating cake. Each guest received a superhero cape with a white emblem on the back which could be colored, a mask was selected (white or black), and playing ensued. After some good time park fun, all the children were gathered on the hill for some hilarious group photos, then cupcakes and snacks were enjoyed by all.

And that was the whole plan. And it was just right.

Enjoy some pictures of the big day. It was a huge success!

Here are the kiddos getting ready for the party....And the cake.....

The cupcakes
(cake and cupcakes made by Cakeapotomus, toppers made by Joe!)
The capes....
And the capes in creative action....

The juice boxes.....The goody bags....
The tiny superheroes who can't sit still for long.....
The big moment.....
Joe got in on the fun as the villain.....

This is possibly my favorite action shot ever....

I call this picture "Reunion."
(Tristan - with the curly hair - has been in school with Jacks, Allen, and Carter since infancy. And he has been at a new Pre-K school this year. The boys were thrilled to see each other.)

Nealy was in heaven following her cousins around.....

This might have to be about it for this post. There are nearly 300 pictures from the day. It is a lot to rifle through when I'm trying to watch SNL with one eye and blog with the other.

But it is important to reflect on the fact that my tiny baby has turned 5 years old out of the blue, and he's not tiny anymore. Nor is he my baby. He's a big boy who knows so much and can almost read and can't wait to start kindergarten and loves superheroes and comic books and loves his family and his home and his friends and he might be a little bit hard to handle at times, but he's my precious boy who I will always be proud of and support and love and be continually amazed by. (pardon the run ons, poor sentence structure, verb inconsistency - I don't teach language arts anymore....)

Here's one last shot of the big boy loving every moment of his big day. It was a wonderful party spent with great friends and family. I am generally at a loss for perfect moments like these.

Sunday Visit

Jacks's birthday party is rapidly approaching. As the day gets closer, I feel like super hero capes are multiplying around my sewing machine, lists are growing ever longer, and as usual, time is running out to prepare. My parents will be here for the party and a weekend visit before we know it. Unfortunately, Joe's parents aren't able to make the party, so they came to Auburn for a visit with the kids today.

We enjoyed a perfect lunch of bacon, tomato, and avocado sandwiches on sourdough toast (thanks to Pinterest for the idea) followed by coffee and cookies on the deck.

Here are some pictures of the fun the kids had with their grandparents (who, by the way, Nealy is calling Gramma and Bob - when their names are Rick and Glenda, but they go by Racko and Glendo as grandparent names. Apparently, Nealy is having none of that.)

Guess who had nail polish in her purse? And guess who discovered it as she was rummaging through other people's things? (that would be Glenda with the nail polish, and Nealy who was sticking her nose into Glenda's purse. Glenda was sweet to share her hand cream and nail polish with little miss diva)
Rick enjoyed playing outside with the kids in this gorgeous fall weather.

After they left, Nealy and I both crashed for a late afternoon nap. When we woke up, we were pleased to find that the fall weather was still perfect and lovely. The kids played out on the deck until it was dark outside.

And here's one last dash of Nealy cuteness to round out your weekend...

Thanks to Rick and Glenda for a great Sunday afternoon visit. We hope you come again soon!

Fall picture day!

It's that time of the year again - school pictures. Each year I agonize over what the kids should wear for their pictures. I want them to look perfect. And each year, one or both kids manage to cry or scowl or make some kind of a face to make the picture less than perfect. So why was I so worried? We'll never care that much what the kids are wearing in those pictures - we'll care so much more about what they were thinking, feeling, doing that day that made them make that face in that photo.

This year was, of course, no different. I took both kids up to Dillards to get some new Polo outfits. I wanted to make something, but of course, I didn't have time, and I waited until almost the last minute even though picture day has been scheduled for months.

Nealy chose her own outfit: A navy Polo dress with a little pink cable knit cardigan. It helped that the mannequin was wearing the same outfit. Jacks declared that he also wanted a navy blue Polo shirt. We got that shirt for game day outfits, but I chose a chambray button down for him so that he wouldn't match so precisely with his sister. You don't want to be too matchy matchy (she says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice that tells you that although she knows to mock herself, she really means it).

The trip to Dillards was accented with a visit with my sweet friend Ashley who manages the children's department who spoiled the kids with sweet talk and gumballs. Nealy was really sweet about the gum treat (which she promptly ATE), but Jacks was being kind of a pill due to the fact that he had come directly from time out on the playground at school before being hauled to the department store. When asked why he was in time out, he replied, "I don't want to talk about it." Which also means, "I don't want to tell you in case it leads to further punishment."

So, outfits picked, shoes chosen - this picture was going to be great! All siblings at the day care would be photographed on the same day, which was also the last day that the photographer was visiting the school. Nealy's particular class was photographed that day before the scheduled sibling day, so she got to have a look at how things were going to go down during pictures.

From what I understand, little one lost her S-blank-blank-T. That was a cuss word right there, in case you're not following along..... She had to be removed from the room, where she was NOT having her picture made at that particular point, but a photographer WAS attempting to take pictures of several other uncooperative and difficult toddlers which could not have been easy with little Miss Bug having a conniption fit.

She declared herself to be afraid of the pumpkins. (there were apparently pumpkins in the photographer's tableau)

Pumpkins.
My child is "scurred" of pumpkins.

We have had pumpkins on our front step for over a week now since our favorite neighbor brought us two gorgeous pumpkins (as he's known to do when the prices on pumpkins are still low) and I get the itch to decorate for fall during the September teaser (that's what I call that 36 hours of cool weather we always get in the first few days of September, which causes us all to put on jeans and long sleeve shirts and start cooking with extra cinnamon and planning pumpkin patch visits - all before the weather promptly returns to 96 degrees before 2 days are up. Have we discussed this phenomena before?).

Anyway, pumpkins are on the homestead premises. This child is not afraid of pumpkins, but she HAS learned to make excuses for her mania. Ahhh, she is my child.

Her teacher was genuinely concerned for poor Nealy because she freaked out so sufficiently that everyone now feared for the outcome of the actual picture day.

As well they should. Here's a preview of the face she made.....
This post will have a much better ending when we actually get a good looksee at the picture, because I am sure that the documentation of Nealy losing it over a bunch of pumpkins (which were apparently REMOVED in an attempt to get her to calm down, to no success) will be worth it and entertaining and funny and all that. Hopefully we'll all look back on this kind of a thing and laugh and laugh.

And this child who declared herself to be terrified of gourds walked in the house this afternoon by using the pumpkin on the front step as a hand hold to get herself up that step, then gave that pumpkin a little pat pat and said, "pumpkin," in passing as if she were regarding the pumpkin as a friend.

I guess she forgot about her fear for a minute. (when you enjoy the picture below, notice the pumpkin in the background - which she is decidedly not scared of)

Luckily, we do have some pictures that Joe took in the front yard in the morning before school, most of which turned out beautiful, much like all pictures taken in the gorgeous fall weather (by my gorgeous, awesome photographer husband). I call this one the, "Do you think he's trying to murder her?" picture.

Spirit Day

This past week rapidly became a blur. I previously mentioned my migraine. It came, it went, it returned, it stole three days of my life.

I have had one other major migraine in my life, and it was nothing like this. I had no idea a headache could become so bad and scary. I visited two doctors in two days, I received various shots and meds to clear it up, and I was forced to return to regular life earlier than I was really ready, because as everyone knows, mama ain't allowed to be sick.

Between the pain and the meds, three days became a blur of sleep, fear, unbearable pain, more fear, preparations for my death (yes - I was quite sure that I was having an aneurysm at one point, and I made a list of instructions for Joe in the event of my departure....maybe a little dramatic, but it seemed a good idea at the time), and by the time I came to, late on Tuesday, I realized that time was passing quickly and without mercy. I forced myself to attend a yoga class Tuesday night in order to prepare my body for the marathon of work that sat around waiting for me to regain consciousness.

Come Wednesday, I needed to be prepared to take over 100 sixth graders to a camp on Lake Martin for a day of outdoor games and team building. This is a field trip that I love each and every year. I love canoeing with the kids, I love watching their faces as they triumph the zip line or the treacherous water slide, and luckily, this year was no exception. I went equipped with an emergency pill in my pocket, and I was thrilled that I didn't need to use it. The ride on the bus back to school got a little loud and long and excruciating, and I was so sure I would have to come home and collapse, but I managed the stamina to power through.

I have found that in the days following migraine recovery, I find myself walking on egg shells. Every loud noise, every unusual food, any additional stress - I keep wondering what will be the trigger to put me back over the edge. I spent most of that first day back in my sunglasses even though it was an overcast day, mostly out of fear that someone would see the terror in my eyes.

Migraines ain't no joke, y'all.

And the treatment I received has made me start to really wonder....how vigilant with doctors does one need to be to find out what is causing problems? It is starting to completely bewilder me as to how doctors identify rare diseases and cancer and other disorders. Do they really have to be looking for it? Does the patient really have to believe they have something specific before doctors go looking for it?

In the end, I was diagnosed with rebound headaches. This is something that can happen when you have spent too much time trying to ignore daily headaches with medications - specifically over the counter, aspirins or ibuprofins, even worse if that drug has a little caffeine. I have spent years swearing by an excedrin migraine and a coke. The combo of those things gives me the caffeine and sugar to help me perk right back up. Maybe in the end, I was doing something close to making myself drunk to relieve pain. We all know that caffeine and sugar are bad for us, but if it makes you feel better, then where's the harm? I guess that's what heroin users say, too, right?

And do you know who determined that I was having rebound headaches? Yep - that would be me. I suggested this diagnosis to the first doctor I saw, and he totally ran with it. No brain scan, no MRI, no looking in my eyes or ears, no touching my skull to find pressure points, no nothing. Just me. Saying I might be having this. And there ya go.

I should have gone to medical school. Or maybe not. Apparently I can diagnose just about anything with a couple of google searches. Maybe the doctor should be paying me a consult fee....

Anyway, long story short, between losing three days of my life and spending close to 12 hours (from departure to work to return from work) in a work-like setting (well, that's a loose description considering I was on a beautiful lake side camp), my obligations came tumbling down on top of me.

The bills needed to be paid. Papers needed to be graded. And most important of all, Auburn themed outfits for the kids needed to be sewn. They had their first spirit day last week, and I winged it with an orange shirt for Jacks and an Auburn dress for Nealy that fit her last year, which now works as a tunic over shorts for this year.
I had purchased navy blue gingham the weekend before to attempt to amend this problem, and almost an entire week later, that gingham was still sitting in the bag in which it was purchased.

Which means, Thursday night was a blur. I turned on the Friends on Nick and Nite marathon, and I got busy cutting and sewing. Unfortunately, I was rushing. The tension on my machine was not appropriate for the thinness of the gingham, and I was too tired and ready to be done to care. Here's what I came up with......



I made Nealy's armholes a little too small because I've been making them too big on all her other pillowcase dresses. The seams on all the pieces are dodgy at best. I so hope to GOD that no one looked closely. And what you can't see in the picture is the little Aubie patch sewn onto the bottom hem of Jacks's pants. I found that little Aubie in my grandmother's sewing box. There was a time when she and my mother used those Aubie patches to cover up most holes and stains and tears on our clothes. These days, those patches cannot be found in stores anywhere because Auburn University controls all trademarked clothing, and to sell something that can be sewn onto an unapproved garment is strictly against the rules. So here I am, outing myself to all the world and whatever copyright gestapo might be out there reading - I sewed a vintage Aubie patch, which is decidedly aged and yellowed in places, onto a pair of shorts for my son. A pair of shorts that I will have to cut up and remake sooner than later due to the hems that look like hills and valleys. All for the sake of day care spirit day.

War Eagle, y'all. The things I do for school spirit. And to avoid dropping $100 on school gear at the local bookstore.....

(oh, and in case you didn't hear, Auburn won again this week. Once again by the skin of their teeth. They sure like to keep things exciting. Or nerve wracking. It's a fine line. WDE!)

Productive Saturday - 300th post!!!

Well, today is Sunday and I have spent all of it in bed with a migraine. This is the worst I have ever had, and I'm currently waiting on an on-call doctor to call me back. This has been the most discouraging day because yesterday was just about the most productive Saturday I have had in years.
The day started out slowly. I got up early, but then proceeded to fall back to sleep on the couch while Joe made pancakes and bacon (side note - Publix brand bacon is not the best, be warned). I woke up to enjoy a plate before leaving the kiddos with daddy so I could make a mid-morning yoga class. It was relaxing and mildly challenging, or at the very least, I managed to challenge myself. Upon returning home, I lured Joe and the kids out to the deck for some water play work/fun. I decided that the picture window, surrounding windows and screens needed a good scrubbing. This started when I began washing the window to the deck door and decided that this wasn't working well enough for the level of filth on my windows.
I whipped up a solution of detergent, vinegar, and water and got to scrubbing with an old kitchen scrub brush. Joe got on top of a ladder for the hard to reach spaces. After several rounds of scrubbing and rinsing, the years-old layers of pollen, the moldy spots, the cloudy glass began to shine and sparkle. A few chunks of paint came off of the window frames, but they got clean.
While we were working, the kids got busy with a couple of buckets and the hose. I heard Nealy proclaim, "Let's take our clothes off!" and before I knew it, I had a couple of naked children soaking themselves with the hose and soaping themselves up with bubble solution. It was quite a sight.
After the deck experience, Nealy came in for a reluctant nap while Jacks camped out in front of a tv show. It occurred to me that it might start raining at any moment, so Jacks's tv time might be increasing at any moment, so I needed to get that kid out of the house. So he and I loaded up our bicycles (after some serious doing from sweet Joe - who needed to put air in my tires, discovered he couldn't make it to a gas station/air compressor in post-game day traffic, so returned home to find a hand pump followed by some manual labor for our outing of bike fun) and we headed over to the bike trail along Shell Toomer Parkway. My big boy is doing really well on his bike, even though he still has training wheels that I don't think he needs. I will say that he has really outgrown his bike from last summer, so we will be looking for a new one for his upcoming birthday! Maybe one without training wheels this time? We'll see....
After about an hour spent enjoying the bike trail, encouraging Jacks to make it up that hill, and taking several juice breaks, he and I made our way back home.
I should probably mention that Auburn won their game yesterday, by the skin of their teeth, so life seemed just a little bit better than usual.
We came home to a wide awake baby girl, which meant it was time for me to get into our bathroom and scrub away the layers of grime that had piled up in there since the last cleaning (longer ago than I care to admit - we seem to clean the hall bathroom more often, which means our own bathroom is woefully neglected.).
When I was happy that it was clean, which probably means it's not all that clean by a clean freak's standards, I got into the kitchen to make one of the best meals in recent history. Here's what I cooked up.....
Earth Fare had a coupon on salmon filets, which means that I grabbed one from the portable cooler and kept on going. How expensive can salmon be? Very expensive, apparently, especially if it's from Scotland. At least I had a coupon! So whatever I made with it better be good, right? It WAS! I stirred up some soy sauce, local honey, minced garlic, and fresh ground pepper to make a little marinade earlier in the day. About 30 minutes before baking, I tossed in the salmon. When it was time to bake, I put it all in the oven (marinade included) at 400 for about 20 minutes. That fish was GOOD, if I do say so myself, and it is kind of my own recipe adapted from one that used maple syrup. I'm not a fan of maple syrup, and I try to use honey whenever I can.
Next up I cubed a couple of sweet potatoes with the skins peeled off. I put them in a microwave safe dish with some butter, salt, and pepper. I microwaved it covered for about 6 minutes, pulled it out and sprinkled a bit more than a sprinkle of brown sugar on top, then put it back in for about a minute.
I also made some steam-in-the-bag haricort verts, which I believe is French for "green beans." Yes, exotic, I know. But the French style was on special at the Publix earlier in the week.
I made a round of my good old French bread, halved and smeared with butter, then heated up and then broiled to a slight burn. (after those last two fixins', I feel like I was serving up that meal from the movie Better Off Dead - shout out to those of you who know what I'm talking about.)
And to top it all off, I made a super fancy lemon cake, which was made primarily from box cake mix, box pudding, and a cool whip icing. That sort of a recipe is a little trailer trash, but we all need a little trailer trash in our cooking now and then.
Joe and I ate like kings! We were so happy with our delicious meal. Jacks and Nealy were, of course, bribed with cake to eat at least a few bites of each food. I was actually surprised at their resistance considering the sweetness of the fish AND the potatoes. Everything was to die for.
I went to bed with a mild headache, which was continued from earlier in the day/week/month - oh, who can count anymore? And I woke up with debilitating pain that I cannot describe. Unfortunately the on-call doctor just recommended a visit to the ER or a walk-in clinic tomorrow as she thinks I need to be seen by a doctor. Well, that stinks and really cuts into my Labor Day plans of grading papers and visiting work to make copies for Tuesday. I might sound in high spirits, but that's only because I'm still living out the high of yesterday's success in my mind. In reality, my head is throbbing and I'm having difficulty getting up.
Here's hoping I wake up healed so I can have a productive Monday. Cheers to 3 day weekends. In an ideal world, every weekend would last 3 days. Of course, in that ideal world, all of civilization WOULDN'T be shut down for the 3rd day as it will be tomorrow, because sometimes you need a business day without work to get things done, you know? Happy Labor Day to all.