Camera dump

I am finally getting around to downloading some pictures from my camera. So, I figured I could update the family on what we have been up to.

Most afternoons are spent like this:

Payton is such a good student and usually gets started on her homework right away. She is loving that our school has started the Accelerated Reader program this year and always has her nose in a book. One of her favorite authors right now is Andrew Clements. Her teacher read "Frindle" to the class and Payton was hooked.

When we get home from school, Hayden immediately strips out of her uniform and takes her rubber bands out. Most days she immediately puts her pajamas on. She will sometimes try to hide them behind the couch cushions so she can get right to them when she gets home. On this particular day she actually opted for clothes. Matching her clothes is not a priority for her. Her homework method of choice is to do her entire homework packet for the week on Monday. That way she only has her reading to do on all the other nights. Her reading has just blossomed this year. She did fine last year, but never wanted to read out loud to me. That has all changed. She wants to start reading her book to me as soon as she gets in the car sometimes. I love to hear her read.

Fourth grade has been an adjustment for Taylor. She is having to work harder for her good grades this year. It is not unusual for her to spend 45 minutes on homework each night. On parent night at the beginning of the year, her teacher said the state guidelines suggest that a fourth grader should be spending 45-50 minutes on homework every night. Now that she knows what and how she needs to study and how everything is supposed to be done, the frustrating moments are becoming fewer. They do still happen, though. (as recently as today) She loves her teacher and seems to be just soaking everything up. I love for her to come home and be excited about the inertia experiment they did or want to tell me everything she learned about the role Alabama has played in the space program. She has even been excited to share with me her new way of doing 2 digit multiplication. This is going to be a great school year.

Apparently she got ahold of my camera one day. These made me smile when I discovered them.
Obviously our Saturdays always involve watching the Alabama game. I love this family tradition. I love remembering those Saturdays when Bryan and I were first dating that we would spend at Bryant-Denny Stadium. I love seeing Bryan totally in his element yelling at the TV and losing his voice cheering when the Crimson Tide scores. I love seeing the girls in their Alabama t-shirts and knowing that it is kick-off time because I can hear them yelling ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!! I love that when I run errands on Saturday everyone is wearing there crimson and white and also trying to get back home in time for "the game." I love that you can say "the game" to anyone and they know what you are talking about. I love singing the fight song after every touchdown. I love chanting "Rammer Jammer" after a big win and I love remembering chanting it in a stadium full of 90,000+ other fans yelling the same thing after the Iron Bowl. This is Alabama Football!

Our time has also been spent doing a lot of extra-curricular activities at school. Both Taylor and Payton sing in the school choir and are on the Student Council. The SC is only open to 3rd-5th grade. In 3rd grade you can run for class representative and in 4th and 5th grade you can run for an officer position. Taylor was excited to have that opportunity this year so she decided to run for Historian. She chose this office because she "likes to scrapbook and take pictures." When I found out that 10 other kids were running for that office I was a little worried for her. I wanted her to try, but I sure didn't want her to fail. We made her posters as a family and put them up Monday morning. By Monday afternoon, this is what the stairwell looked like:

Taylor was so excited to be part of it all. She kept saying she was OK if she didn't win, she just liked running for office, making posters, and asking people to vote for her. Here she is on Friday with one of her posters. I was surprised the balloons stayed inflated all week.

This was right after she made her speech and you can tell she has the biggest smile. The speech couldn't have gone any better. The speeches were given at an assembly of all the 2nd-5th graders, teachers, and parents. I figured there were at least 600 people there. Taylor had her speech memorized and she delivered it perfectly. Everyone else must have thought so to, because SHE WON!!! They didn't make the announcement until the following Monday morning. I think that was the longest weekend of Taylor's life. I have to admit, I was pretty anxious about it to. We had even talked about what she would do if she didn't hear her name called or if she felt like she might get upset. But, none of that was necessary. The following week, the classes held elections for their representatives. Payton was excited to be able to run for that since she is in 3rd grade. She was even more excited that she also won a position on the Student Council. They have already had their first meeting and their first event. The Student Council made signs and held them up along the route on National Walk to School Day. Payton stood on one of the routes holding her sign and Taylor walked all over taking pictures.


The girls are also running with the cross country team. Here they are after their first 5K of the school year.
The cross country team is not affiliated with the school this year so they don't practice there anymore. The practices have been a little difficult for us to make as often as we would like, but the girls totally love it when they can go.

Between all of these things, Taylor singing with Mobile Singing Children, PTA, PTA, PTA, church callings, Activity Days, etc. we still try to find time to spend time as a family. The girls enjoy playing games together. There recent favorites are Mancala and Farkle.

Last month Payton was selected as the Terrific Tiger for her class. This used to be called All-Star but was renamed Terrific Tiger to coincide with a character education program the counselors are implementing this year. Whatever they call it, this little girl deserves it. She is such a sweet girl to her classmates, is always willing to help out the teacher, and always does her best.

(You know what the out of uniform shirt means----Perfect attendance for the month including no tardies. Yay, me!)

This is a camera dump so here is some more misc. information. I am loving my Silhouette. It is perfect for YW handouts, Student Council posters etc. I especially love it now that I have some vinyl. Thanks, Lynne. You are the best. And thanks, Mom for the gingersnap recipe. You're the best. They were so good but I don't know if I can make them again before you come visit. I don't know if Payton can handle it. The smell of them baking reminded her too much of you. I guess you will know if I made them, because I am sure she will want to call you again.

Maybe I should write a book about that. If you make some gingersnaps, your house will start to smell like Mimi's. If your house smells like Mimi's, it will make Payton sad. ... You get the idea.

While I am on the subject of thanking Lynne. Thank you for the pumpkin bread recipe. I made that Saturday. Thank you for showing me how to make rolls. I made those Sunday. Thank you for teaching me how to make cinnamon rolls. I made those Monday. I'll have to give you a recipe for the crumb cake I made Tuesday. Thank you for telling me about chocolate covered popcorn. I made that Wednesday. Thanks for the chocolate covered cinnamon bears that came in the mail today. I am sure those won't last long. Thanks for showing me how to make these brownies. I will probably make them tomorrow. Now I just need one more thing from you....

.... A New Pair of Pants!

Pumpkin bread and gingersnaps only mean one thing. We had Fall this week. I hope everyone enjoyed it because that is about how long it lasts in Mobile. When we had Fall this week, the girls loved being outside. My driveway has the art gallery to prove it.

Baking isn't the only thing I use to distract myself from the never-ending pile of laundry. I sometimes sew to block out those pesky thoughts. The sound of the sewing machine is louder than the voice in my head telling me to unload the dishwasher or mop the floor. I am still a beginner but I am learning. I love quick, easy projects that are idiot proof. After Lynne taught me how to make aprons this summer, I have tried to branch out. Shawna showed me how to make rag quilts and I have made a couple of those. I made my kids some mini-quilts to make sure I had it down before I tried for a regular sized one. I think I have it figured out, because the two I made for baby gifts seemed to be appreciated. Here is Hayden with her dinosaur quilt. When I decided to make quilts for the girls I took them to Joanne's and let them pick out the fabric. Hayden saw this fabric and knew she had to have it. This picture was taken right before bed a couple of months ago when she had Bronchitis. With her allergies and "touch of asthma" as the doctor called it, she has become quite the pro at using the breathing machine. She doesn't have to use it all the time just for a week or so here and there. In this picture, you can also see right below her eye where she busted her face on kitchen table. This happened the week after she got her boot off from her broken ankle. Nothing a trip to the Immediate Care and some Dermabond can't fix.

Back to the sewing. I have a friend who has a sweet hook up on cute kid fabric remnants. She got me a bag full of pink chenille dot fabric remnants. I have had it for a couple of weeks trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it. Well I used part of it tonight and made Hayden this little outfit.

I have never made pants before but I had read a tutorial online and I just went off what I could remember. They aren't perfect so don't look to close, but she was super excited about them. She said they were the softest thing she had ever felt. You know how she likes her soft things. Always has. We had this cute little t-shirt so I decided to applique a matching "H" on it.

On another random note: At the end of August, the Activity Day girls had a father/daughter luau that Bryan took Taylor and Payton to. That left me and Hayden alone for our own date. We decided the best way to spend it was at the library then getting smoothies. We spent our time picking out dinosaur books and we looked through some of Graeme Base's books. We had to bring some of those home to share, too. Then we headed over to Smoothie King to drink smoothies and read dinosaur books. It was a great way to spend time with my baby who is getting bigger every time I blink. Somebody make it stop.

Some of the things I have not taken pictures because I never remember to charge my camera are:

Taylor's field trip to the Mobile Museum of Art

Hayden's field trip to Seward Farms and the corn field maze

1st grade Honor's Day when Hayden got her A-honor Roll certificate.

A visit from Daylyn, Jilly, Addy, and Ezra

All of the other day to day activites that fill our lives.

Even when I don't have a camera around to document , I always remember I am the luckiest mom in the world!

NOW YOU SEE IT......

NOW YOU DON'T!!!!!!!

Hayden finally got her boot off on Monday. She has been hobbling around with that thing for six weeks and was not sad to see it go. The doctor said she healed like she should and she can return to normal activity now and sports in two weeks. I am not exactly sure what that means for a six year old. Her normal play is like a football game with no ball. She is always running around, jumping on stuff, tackling something, etc. The doctor said she should only be limited by her pain. Meaning, if her ankle starts to hurt, she should take a rest. Somehow I think cleaning her room or doing other chores might really make her ankle hurt.

Between her broken arm a couple of years ago and her broken ankle, we have been to the orthopedic doctor more times than I would like in her 6 short years of life. When we left, I told the nurse I hope we never see them again. I hope she didn't take it the wrong way. Somehow, I think we will be back.

Happy Birthday to me!

Another birthday has come and gone. I think I am somewhere in the thirties. I spent the day the best way I know how--with my family. We spent the morning at church having a ward swap day and scavenger hunt. I am a smidge competative so I was already gunning for our family to win. When I saw that the prize included a bag of peanut M&Ms, I knew losing was not an option. Thankfully, Bryan and the girls share my competative spirit. So off we went with our list in hand and a plan in mind. We had about half of the things in the car (sad, I know) and we went home for the rest of the stuff. We each picked something to we could get in the house and knew we had to be back in the car within 5 minutes. We found everything except for a 2009 coin. Who knew that would be so hard to come by? So I went to the place that has everything---Walmart. The ladies there went through two registers to find me a shiny 2009 quarter. We raced (not exceeding the speed limit) back to the church and proudly presented our bin of treasures.We won! Nevermind that there weren't very many teams or that we didn't have any small children to tend to. We won! We had a great time. Who knew that something so simple could be so much fun for our family to do together? And a special thank you to our driver who got us there safely and even entertained us with a song or two.

We spent the afternoon just chilling at home then went out to dinner at my FAVORITE restaurant. American Cafe never disappoints. The Spinach con queso was as good as ever and the food was great, as usual. We splurged and ordered dessert. Who can pass up S'mores Sundaes? My girls and Bryan know how to make me feel special. I sure am lucky!

Back to School

It's that time again. The girls started back to school this past Monday. I was not terribly excited about it because I like having them home with me. However, I do like getting back to the routine that goes out the window during the summer time. Even though we were totally prepared for the first day of school and left the house in plenty of time, we managed to hit the dreaded first day of school traffic. The drive that normally takes us 10 minutes on a typical morning, took us 35 minutes. So, we were rushing in to school before the bell rang and I had to hurry them in to their classrooms with a quick kiss goodbye. They all seemed fine but I had a hard time holding it together. They were the most adorable kids at school that day, in my opinion. They were so excited to get started with the school year after having met their teachers the previous week. Hayden was the only one who was remotely hesitant, because she is tired of answering questions about what happened to her foot. (For the record, it is technically her ankle and she broke it on the fourth of July on a trampoline.) They all had a great first day at school. It is going to take some time to get used to not having them home. The summer was just too short.
It is hard for me to believe that Taylor is starting 4th grade. She is so excited to have so many of her friends in her class. She has come home every day for the past week just chatting it up about everything they've done and what she has learned.

Hayden starting 1st grade is the hardest for me to swallow. I guess she isn't me baby anymore. She is so much more grown up and needs me less and less. I am getting sad right now just thinking about it.

Payton was excited to start 3rd grade with her new glasses. When she came home the first day, I asked her if she enjoyed being able to see that board at school. She said it was great and that she kept checking it all day with and without her glasses to see the difference.

Besides missing my girls during the day, I have been dreading school starting for various reasons. Now we are back to ironing uniforms, packing lunches, sitting in carpool, early mornings and signing behavior reports, reading logs, homework folders, permission slips, etc.

I do love to see my girls succeed, though. So, I will keep sending them to school. One more first week of school down. Only 11 more to go. Boo Hoo!! Somebody stop time for me.

On another note--I discovered a new song I like so I added to my playlist. It is by Parachute and is called "She is Love." Enjoy.

Today

Today...I am copying Lynne's blog post.

Today...was the last day of Tiger Ice for this school year and I was able to make it through without getting a single drop on my clothes. That might be because I was only there for third grade.

Today...I ran to Wal-mart to buy lunchables after dropping the kids off at school because they informed me that the sliced ham being served in the cafeteria was "disgusting." I bought a pound of my favorite Jennie-O Sun-dried Tomato Turkey (sliced on a #1) while I was there.

Today...I got a much needed pedicure and indulged myself in a recent copy of Us Weekly while there. When I say much needed, I am serious.

Today...was the last day of after-school choir practice for Taylor. I played bubbles with Hayden while we waited. The big High School Musical concert is on the last day of school. I can't wait.

Today...I went to 3 stores looking for the elusive perfect brown flip-flop. My old ones are RAGGED but I will wear them until I find the perfect replacement.

Today...I was lonely, just like everyday. You would think that after an entire school year, that I would be used to being alone during the day, but I am not.

Today...as usual, I cried when I read Lynne's blog.

Today...Mrs. Funk was nice enough to take Payton home with Elle and then on to soccer practice. The end of the season tournament is this weekend and their team is in second place.

Today...I am sad that the school year is almost over and that means the kids are getting older.

Today...I am excited that the school year is almost over because that means no more ironing uniforms, packing lunches, signing reading logs, etc. for 2 1/2 months.!!!!!

Today...the DVDs were returned on time to the library. That is a first in a very long time.

Today...Hayden came home and promptly changed into her pajamas. Oh wait, that happens everyday.

Today...I was not as concerned about the dog roaming the neighborhood as my neighbor was. He is way nicer about dogs than I am.

Today...I am going to my first mutual activity in a long time since I am now serving in YW after serving in RS for almost 4 years.

Today...I counted the days again until the Benhams get here. Only 10 more days. I can't wait!!!!

Run, Taylor, Run!!

Taylor decided to join her school's cross country team at the first of January. The team was formed this year in the fall. She didn't want to join then but after our family ran the Senior Bowl 5K in November she decided she wanted to. To make the team she had to run 2 miles in 26 or 28 minutes (I can't remember.) When she made the team she was very excited and committed. They had practice every Monday and Friday and meets a couple of times on Tuesdays. They also had one mandatory Port City Pacers 5K a month to run on Saturdays and several other optional races. Each of the 5K races gives awards based on age divisions. She is still in the lowest division, 0-9 girls. This is mostly 9 year old girls. A couple of times there have been younger participants (like her sisters) but not very often. Taylor's hardwork has paid off. At her most recent race, she ran her best time ever - 33:10. This is almost 7 minutes faster than her first 5K. She ran this race with her coach, Ms. Green who was encouraging her the whole way. Here they are together at the end of the year banquet. She is a great coach and sacrificed alot for this team. She ended the season with knee surgery after running a little too hard with Taylor at that last race.

It hasn't always been easy for her. She has finished a couple of races in tears after pushing herself. Hayden has been willing to help her out a few times. Knowing that there were treats and awards at the end of each race also helps.
This was after the Bunny Chase 5K where I think she placed first.

This was part of the ERD team before one of the races.

This was at the end of the year banquet. It is such a great group of kids and parents. Everyone cheers each other on and waits at the end of the race to high-five their team mates. She is excited to be on this team again next year.

These are her other 3rd grade team mates and the rising stars of ERD cross country team.

Butterfly release

Several years ago, our PTA decided to set up two outdoor classrooms, AKA the butterfly gardens. Thanks to several hardworking parents and teachers, they have gotten bigger and better each year. What started out as a couple of canopies with nets thrown over the sides, is now two full size green houses with planters, benches, stepping stones, etc. Parents also donated flowers that butterflies are attracted too and will lay their eggs on. Each year every classroom in the school is given two cups with 5-8 catterpillars in each. The children are able to watch them progress from catterpillar into caccoon in their classroom. The cups are covered with a coffee filter and this is what they attach themselves to. After they become caccoons, (or is is it a chrysallis?), they are transferred to the greenhouses. Clipping these coffee filters to the lines strung across the greenhouses is not the most fun job in the world, but it was all worth it. After a week and a half, we had hundreds of butterflies just waiting to be released. On the day of the release the students gather around the greenhouse as the sides are rolled up and the butterflies start to fly out and sometimes land on the children. Obviously, they all loved it!
I didn't get any pictures of Taylor because the two greenhouses are released at different times and her grade level was scheduled for the second release.

Coastal Cuisine

Part of Taylor's science curriculum this quarter is studying marine life. For the past couple of years at our school, the teachers have ended this unit with a Coastal Cuisine luncheon. This allows the students the chance to sample the local cuisine that includes some of the things they have learned about. The teachers put this whole thing together and the kids make decorations for the hallway. On the menu this year was gumbo, hush puppies, crawfish, bowled shrimp, and banana pudding .

Taylor willingly put everything on her plate but was not willing to try everything. She tasted the gumbo and said it was too spicy. She didn't want anything to do with the crawfish. She was willing to try the shrimp once a classmate offered to peel it for her but, when she saw the inside of eat, she changed her mind. She liked the hush puppies and banana pudding and asked for seconds. I was surprised at how many of the kids actually enjoyed the crawfish. I guess because it is not my thing, I figured kids that age wouldn't like them either. Yet, a lot of the kids were cracking those things open and sucking the heads like pros. Yuck!

Here are some gratuitous seafood pictures for the Benhams. Just a few more weeks and you can partake in your very own Coastal Cuisine.

Thanks to Maureen for being my hand model.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I have a confession to make. I have a slight shopping addiction. I don't spend my time hunting bargains for clothes, shoes, purses, makeup, or scrapbook supplies. I am addicted to finding great bargains on groceries. I like getting the Wednesday grocery ads a little more than I should and the Target ad is the first thing I pull out of the Sunday paper. I try to keep my coupons clipped so I can make good use of them. This isn't a new found love. This has been part of me for many years. Back when I was first married and when Taylor was a baby, Lynne and I used to spend hours clipping coupons and shopping at Delchamps when they would double and triple coupons. Sometimes we would close the store down trying to stock up on tinfoil, toothbrushes, cereal, etc. for free or just a few pennies. Delchamps eventually closed and those middle of the night grocery runs were history. But my need for a good grocery bargain lives on. You don't want to get behind me in the checkout at Walmart. I love to ad match and use coupons and it usually takes awhile. I also love to get my coupons doubled (up to 50 cents) at Brunos. I have recently discovered Targets $5 gift cards with certain purchases. But the story doesn't end there. Just a few weeks ago I was getting my weekly fix from the Wednesday grocery ads when I saw it.....Brunos was tripling coupons up to 55 cents on Saturday. Oh My Gosh!! I was so excited. And if that wasn't exciting enough, it has continued every Saturday for the past month. So what is a girl to do that has a stockpile of coupons and a addiction to good grocery bargains?! Go to Brunos. My first trip a few weeks ago yielded this bounty:

Any guesses on how much 5 bags of frozen biscuits, 5 boxes of Hormel lunch meat, 6 tubs of country crock spread, 10 large jars of Ragu, 8 tubs of frosting, 2 jars of wostershire, 1 box of crunch n' munch, 10 5ct. packages of Pringles minis, 12 boxes of Ziploc bags, 1 bottle of hot sauce, 1 bottle of Hungry Jack syrup, 4 bottles of Pine-sol, 11 rolls of Bounty paper towels, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 bottles of detangler, 16 boxes of granola bars, 16 boxes of fiber one bars, and 17 1-lb. bags of rice costs? (That is 130 items -- all of which, we use)

Drumroll please......$117.00 with a savings of $232.97.

But it doesn't stop there. Here is the receipt for the day I spent 54 cents TOTAL on 6 boxes of cereal.

This is the other day at Target when I got 8 boxes of cereal and 8 jars of peanut butter for a cool $16.43.

Last Saturday's haul at Bruno's yielded this result:

I got these 17 1-lb. bags of rice, 25 rolls of Bounty paper towles, 16 boxes of Betty Crocker muffin mix, 16 Betty Crocker Warm delights (for when the Benham's come), and 5 boxes of Ziploc bags for $42.41.

The only drawback is that Bruno's will only let you do 10 coupons at a time so I have to stand in line dividing up my order into groups of 10 and try to keep the correct coupons together. My bank actually called me a few weeks ago because there was "suspicious" activity on my account. Apparently multiple small transactions at the same place sets off some sort of fraud alert.

I love finding a good deal, I love seeing my cupboards full for my family, and I love knowing that I am getting my food storage in place.

Sorry about the music...

I don't ever have the sound turned up on my computer. So, I had forgotten that I had such a depressing song leading off my playlist. I am sorry about that. I have now changed my playlist and added a new song to the top. I have loved it since I first heard it a couple of months ago. Every word of it describes how I feel about Bryan. It is such a sweet little song and I can't get it out of my head. So turn your speakers up and listen to The Plain White T's singing "1234."