UGA (not so great)GameDay

We took the monsters to Athens to tailgate for the Georgia v. Alabama game on Saturday. It was great fun even though Georgia lost. It was Lily's first tailgate. Sam, however, is a seasoned Bulldawg, having made his first tailgate appearance at just seven weeks old, the next at Homecoming 2006 (when Vanderbilt BEAT UGA, I might add) at 1 year old, and his first game shortly after that when we snuck him into the Georgia v. Florida game in Jacksonville. Such responsible parenting...
Lily was totally unimpressed and seemed rather annoyed with the noise and all the other people. When people were watching another game on TV (Was it Ole Miss v. Florida?) and would cheer loudly, she would just wail and cry. I have a feeling my beautiful daughter is not a party gal! Now who I am going to pass my "Good Time Girl" title down to? Maybe my niece Molly... ;)
Sam had a ball though. We tailgated with Amber and Dustin, friends from UGA, and folks Dustin works with. What a setup! Besides all the fun adult party stuff, they brought markers, paints, paper, stickers, playdoh, balls, and inflatable toys for the kids to play with. Someone even brought their baby swing! So everyone had a great time and we met a lot of good people. Sam played with other kids he met but mostly spent time painting with a Hannah Montana glitter paint set!
We even made the uphill trek from South Campus all the way to North Campus (which is a loooong way) while pulling Sam in a wagon and pushing Lily in her stroller. Not easy to do while navigating crowds and balancing a beer in one hand. (See above about mad parenting skills.) It was nice to see some people we haven't seen in a while.
We stayed with Amber and Dustin in their gorgeous new home. And now we are all jealous. Even Sam.
Me: Sam, what do you think of Amber and Dustin's house?
Sam: Ummm (pausing to think), it good.
Me: Is it better than our house?
Sam: (no hesitation) Yes!
Of course it is. They have horses and their very own restaurant right next door!

Thanks, Amber and Dustin. We had so much fun. Sam already wants to come back to your house!


Dustin, you better watch your back. Sam has really taken a liking to Amber ;)



Sam and Owen get ready to pick up chicks on a wagon ride.


Ry explains basics of tailgating to Lily. DO wear black for Blackout games. (Sorry, Lily, Mom dropped the ball on that one.) DO NOT forget your favorite glitter paint set...the list goes on and on.

Savannah friends

Last weekend our friends from Savannah, Christina, Dean, and their kids came to visit. It was so good to see them and meet their little one- baby Sam. What a cutie! Our Sam had so much fun with their girls, Kennedy and Cate. It was his first slumber party! We put the air mattress up in his room and we could hear them all up there monkeying around long after bedtime. Sam likes the air mattress so much that he won't let us put it away and still sleeps on it every night. I miss my Savannah Mom friends- best Mom's groups EVER!!!

Funny Daddy

Sam's 3rd Birthday

Sam decided to take a disco nap at 6 pm before his party. He would not wake up....until 9:15. So he had some pizza




and was so excited for his birthday cake! He wouldn't even let us sing "Happy Birthday" or put candles on his cake. I do not know how Andy and I got such a party pooper for a kid!!


Opening presents helped a little.


Woo-hoo! Golf clubs helped a lot!
I hope next year is more fun than this!!

Lilybug

I feel like I talk about Mister all the time so I decided it's time to catch up with Lily. She is 5 months old today. Happy Birthday baby girl!! She is as happy as a clam except when she is hungry, then she gets downright mean. She doesn't miss a meal. She eats every 3 hours and starts crying right at the third hour like a little alarm clock. She giggles- mostly at Andy, Sam, and the carpet guy at Home Depot (?)-drools A LOT, puts everything in her mouth (if only she could put that binkie back in after she has yanked it out), grabs and holds her toes, and rolls over. She has started to pay attention to her toys and try to reach them. Her face absolutely lights up when Sam enters the room and her eyes follow his every move. I love to watch her watch him because the look on her face is the closest thing to pure adoration I've ever seen. It gives my heart a little squeeze. My beautiful babies!

Uncie Rich

Rich came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. He was really sweet to Sam, who velcroed himself to Rich's side the entire time he was here. Saturday, he, Andy, and Dustin went to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and saw an exciting fight. Andy even tried to get Rich to go to Athens Saturday morning to tailgate before the Georgia game and the fight, but I think they were too tired from the night before. Jeez, old men.

iHateyournewphoneandy

Andy got an iPhone for work and he plays with it constantly!! Sure, it's handy when you are on the go and want to know/MUST HAVE some info about your fantasy baseball team...but it sure can kill a conversation! A real live one, that is. Andy and I are trying to have a serious conversation and I look up, he's texting on the iPhone; we are at dinner, he's surfing the web on his iPhone. We are listening to a nice speech at a meeting...you guessed it-iPhone. Sure, it is fun to play with, but come on!!!! Hello?! Remember me? Your real LIVE wife? Do you need some screen to see how I am doing....can't you see the smoke coming out my ears and my angry red face RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU???????????



But still....iLoveyou!

CNN just got a whole lot sexier...

since they appointed me Dr. Sanjay Gupta's " special nurse" ;)
We were at a dinner tonight and Dr. Sanjay Gupta was the speaker and I happen to have a may-jah crush on him! So I went up to him and bumbled something like "Excuse me, Dr. Gupta, (while he was talking to a colleague about Facebook, mind you) I am a big fan! Can I take a picture with you?" Then I proceeded to put my arm around him like we were old homies or sorority sisters or something and he stood board straight and did not move except for smiling politely. All the while Andy is snapping away with the iPhone...so maybe that devil creation is not all bad...
What a dreamboat....sigh....

PS. Poll: should I get a haircut?

Furniture High

Shannon took me this awesome warehouse sale to check out some furniture. I got Andy a nice desk for his office. And I bought a loveseat, ottoman, and two chairs for the sunroom. I love it!!

See, starfall.com works! (sorta)

Sam and I were just talking about our names and writing letters, etc. Then he told me how to spell my name (Mama): MOMU! I laughed but then he sounded it out for me: Mm-ah-mm-uh. Huh. He's right!

I gotta go; now he is trying to tape me to the chair with of a roll packing tape he found!!

I am in love...

with www.starfall.com! No, it is not a celebrity gossip site, like some of my other favorites ;)

It is an educational website that teaches letters, phonics, sight words, rhyming, chunking, sounding out words, and all things that children need to know in order to read. It also teaches numbers, counting, how a calendar works, and other math concepts. It also has a section with music, art, etc. Plus, they learn to use the computer and mouse. I had no idea Sam knew how to click and drag until I watched him play one of these games! Sam actually knows how to open Safari, sort through the bookmarks, find Starfall (the one with the star by it, duh), and choose the game he wants to play. This, however, is not always a good thing because in the process he usually erases some vital part of the toolbar. I thought we used to have iPhoto on this thing...

Anyway, this site can help your kid learn everything he will be taught in kindergarten. The kids can play the fun games while learning these concepts. It is nothing short of amazing!!

Gotta love technology! I mean, I don't have to learn my kid nuthin' anymore, the computer does it all for me ;)


PS. I have to give all credit to Carol (Nonnie Tuck) who introduced us to this website last year. Thanks!!

(Check your kicks for) Route 66

If you are lucky enough to one of those super-on-top-of-it gals who shaves their legs everyday, then you probably know the condition of your legs quite well. Or if you have two small children and/or a crazy life -I am blessed with both-, you probably get to shave once a month, when the moon is full or when all your planets align with Jupiter, and by some freak accident you have twenty minutes all to yourself. Hmm...spend it sleeping or shaving? Tough call.
But I digress.
I was shaving my legs the other day and, to my horror, noticed that they are starting to resemble a road map! Spidery blue roads winding up and down, little bruises as roadside landmarks ("You lookin' fer the World's Largest Ball A Twine? Well, follow this here twisty road down yonder to Kneecap Bend and take a left just south of Joint Junction. Thar it is. Biggest ball a twine you ever saw."), and thin red lines spindling around. ("You should go fer a pic-a-nic at old Capillary Creek. Nicest crick in four counties!") Huh, who knew my legs are a road map of the Deep South?
So, when did I get so old?? I thought I was way too young for veins and bruises and such!
Hmph! Probably happened somewhere between Shin City and Cracked Heel County if I had to guess...

If you are out and about....

Everything at Banana Republic is 30% off today! I wandered in this morning and found out they are having the sale today only in honor of BR's 30th birthday. Time to shop!!

Signing Time

Teaching Poppie some ABC signs.

If your kids do not watch Signing Time on PBS, they are missing the Tuck's favorite show! Or check out www.signingtimekids.org.

Hmmmm

I think she's a Vandy girl.

Let's pretend this never happened.....

I love how Mister is starting to be able to pretend while he plays. Carol and Hazen gave him a cool cash register as an early birthday present so we play store. He pretends to cook for me in his play kitchen. He even does some "magic" tricks, i.e. putting a napkin over his cup to hide it and then lifting it up with a triumphant "Ta-da!"
Lately I have noticed he plays what I call "Mocking Mom and her Parenting Skills" all the time. I overhear him talking to Lionel (his stuffed lion) saying things like "This is your last chance! You go timeout! No hitting! No say stop! You have two minutes! I count....1....2........3! Timeout!! You go to room. I put up gate. Warning! Next time get out of bed, gate! You stay here! Two minutes! Timeout!!" and on and on. Usually all the threats are all out of order and mixed up from different times he got in trouble, but he's got them all down. At least I know he hears me even if he doesn't listen, right?! That's good, right? Right?!
I really hope he is not airing all this dirty laundry at school...his teachers would probably get a real kick out of it.

Before you call DFACS, I do not trap him in his room with the gate. When he keeps getting out of bed at naptime, I put the gate up in his doorway. He has another door to get out but for some reason putting the gate up on one door really works. Great. Now I have jinxed myself and the gate threat will never work again!!

Happy Birthday Andy!! ****UPDATE

Andy is 30 years old today!!! On September 1, 1978, the world became a kinder, smarter, funnier, more beautiful, and sexier-Andy told me I left that out ;) - place. I love you, dear. Here's to 30 more!