Gorgeous

Frozen fountain in Forsyth Park in my beloved Savannah




(Photos from www.savannah.for91days.com)

O Holy Morning (at Northside Drive Baptist Church Preschool)

Friday morning was the 22nd Annual Christmas Pageant at Sam and Lily's preschool. Sam starred, in a pivotal role, as Joesph and Lily was a donkey. He had one line, which he delivered beautifully,

"Mary, I have been commanded by the King to go to Bethlehem. Please come with me."

He did make goofy faces when he first saw Andy and me in the crowd which I quickly nixed with the "Don't you dare!" glare that only mothers can give. He then proceeded to bend over with his hands on his knees repeatedly, as if winded from standing up for so long. You'd think he'd just competed in a 500 yard dash or something. He was belting out those songs though. He did a great job.

Lily the donkey was too weary from her journey to Bethlehem to stand on her own little donkey legs and insisted her teacher hold her while she turned her back to the crowd and stuck her hand in her mouth the whole time. She also refused to wear her donkey ears- I kind of expected that. I'm glad I put a big white bow on her head so I could spot her in the sea of donkeys. I think she may have rung her bell a few times but that was the extent of her participation. Maybe she is holding out for a bigger role ;)




Mary and Joesph


The back of Lily and Ms. Alicia


They were thrilled to pose for pictures afterward.



On a side note, who in the world asks a nine months pregnant woman to hop on a donkey and walk to a faraway town? Couldn't Joesph just vouch for her in the census?
"Listen, my wife is nine months pregnant- gonna give birth any day, I mean she wanted to come, but then she would be all uncomfortable, you know how women are, stopping to go the bathroom every five minutes, pestering me to ask for directions... You understand, right? Besides, I beat my best time by 26 minutes! 26 minutes!! Impressive, huh?"

Am I going to hell (I mean for this, not all that other stuff)?

All kidding aside, St. Joesph must have been an amazing man with an extraordinary faith in God and is an example to us all on how to love unconditionally. May God bless us all with such attributes.

Progress!

Why do I even buy toys?

Lily likes to help me unload groceries and then play with all the cans. These are all her "fwiends" and are all named Hot Dog.

Turkey Day Mishap

We went to Fairhope to celebrate Thanksgiving and my niece Anna Eloise's baptism. This was our first time meeting her and she is a gorgeous sweet baby.

I wish I could share some great pictures with you but I forgot my camera. I forgot it because it was all packed away in my suitcase and I FORGOT MY SUITCASE. Oh yes, you read that right. I forgot my entire suitcase. It sat on the floor of my empty bedroom for five days while I ran around in my Mom's undies (TMI?) and borrowed clothing. Luckily, Shanny brought half her wardrobe and kindly let me wear some of her clothes. So I was not only dressed, I was well dressed! Better than I would have been had I brought my own clothing!

Next time we travel, MY suitcase is going in the car first.

Thumbs up

For when baby is just too tired to take one more step....

It's only just begun...

Lily has become, well, quite verbal and assertive recently and doesn't mind sharing her opinions with me. She talks incessantly, which to me, is a bit surprising since her brother simply will not stop talking all damn day. I always thought she would never get a word in with his constant

"Hey Mom, look at me! I'm shaking my booty at you."
"Mom, how old will I be when I am in the fourth grade?"
"Mom, what's 399 + 72?"
"Mom, can I play Angry Birds on your phone?"
"Mom, I used to be sick. Remember when I threw up? I threw up on November 2."

But I digress. This post was supposed to be about Lily, right?

She is every marketing executive's dream. During commercials advertising any toy (doesn't matter what it is- she's not the discriminatory type), she yells at the TV, "I want dat! I get dat!"
To which I reply, "If you're a good girl, maybe Santa will bring you ______ (whatever stupid piece of plastic shit she is referring to)." The first time I said that, she turned around, hand on hip and with a look that could wilt flowers, she informed me, "My daddy buy me dat."

Oh hell no. Is this my sweet baby?

Yesterday at breakfast I overheard her tell Sam, "I don't like you." (Then, of course, there was some tattling, blah, blah...). So I tried to explain to her that instead she could say, "I don't like what you are doing" or something similar. Going on, I said telling people you don't like them could hurt their feelings or make them feel sad. Immediately she looked over at me with the same soul piercing look and declared, "Well... too bad for peoples."

Maybe you had to be there. Reading this story is probably not as funny as the version I hear in my mind. I know, I know, my doctor said not to listen to those voices in my head anymore but sometimes they are so funny.... ;)

Stereotypes are a real time-saver

*** Disclaimer: Everything in this post is stolen. The title stolen from The Onion and the rest from my friend Ashley's blog. I couldn't resist!




GIRL, n.: A squadron of pink ribbons; will learn to say ‘gimme’ almost automatically
— Not Your Average Dictionary


BOY, n.: a noise with dirt on it.
— Not Your Average Dictionary



PS. If you can't tell, I don't know to change the size or style of the font on my blog :(

Happy Halloween

Three Little Bulldawgs

Will the real Cinderella please stand up?

Monday Night Fever

Tonight at bath time, the kids were coloring in the tub with bathtub crayons. I told Sam that we have to teach Lily how to write her name. So he showed her how to write the letters in her name and started showing her how to write other words too. He wrote big, cat, Dad, and finally, ball.
"Look, Lily. This is the word ball. This is how you write it. B-A-L-L. You know, like a disco ball?"
Ummm... I did not see that one coming! A baseball, a soccer ball, maybe a golf ball?

Where does he come up with this stuff?

Let the festivities begin!

Get ready for a barrage of Halloween pictures. Mario and Cinderella are going Trick-or-Treating four times this year. Gotta get our money's worth out of these costumes :) Right now we are two down and two to go! These are from the Children's Museum:

Gross but cool

Andy is very proud of his barfing pumpkin.

Punkin' Paintin'

We decorated pumpkins last night. Sam


and Lily painted a few.


Andy carved one


and Shanny made a crying ghost pumpkin.


I drank wine and supervised.

Soccer Time

Look at that goalie! He's ready for anything!

(Yes, he always wears his shin guards outside his socks.)

Obligatory pumpkin patch visit/ photos

Ridiculous hometown pride

I am sure you have seen these telescope-y things in towers, scenic overlooks, and at other attractions before. You can find them all over the country, even the world. Why does Katie care so much about these stupid things, you may be asking yourself. Well, because they have been manufactured by See Coast, Inc. for 50 years in.... wait for it.... wait for it.... Fairhope, Alabama!! I have seen these viewers in many foreign destinations (such as the botanical gardens in exotic Atlanta, GA, as seen below) and I always look down to confirm, yup! Made in Fairhope, AL!
AND, the owner of this company lives a few doors down the street from my parents!!
He has an awesome pier.

Good story, right? I bet you wish you could have the few seconds that you took to read that back, huh?

Seriously, on your next vacation, if you are out sightseeing, look at the bottom of the viewer/telescope/fancy looking machine (Despite my unfounded love and pride for these things, I still don't know what to call them.) and I will give you ten bucks if it wasn't manufactured in good ole Fairhope, AL.

You'll take a two-party out-of-state bad check, right?

Au naturel

After explaining to Sam that he has a make-up soccer game tonight instead of practice, he immediately refused to go. So, of course, I told him he is going whether he wants to or not. We argued back and forth a couple times and he started to pitch a fit. I said something really loving and motherly like, "What is your problem?" and, near tears, he shouted, "Mom, I am NOT wearing make-up to my soccer game!!"
It gave me a good laugh :)

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

The kids and I took our first trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this afternoon. That place is huge! We were there for several hours and didn't make it out of the Children's Garden. I think I will go back with adults next time so I can actually see the rest of the grounds (in about 15 years or so, right?). There were several kids' activities happening this afternoon.


Pumpkin bowling



A pumpkin toss



And face (or arm, in this case) painting

Some of our favorites

Here are some of the scarecrows we liked best at the Botanical Gardens (There were actually much cooler ones but these were among the few that didn't terrify Lily.):



SEC Sports Fan (I only picked him because of his Vanderbilt flag.)



Scarecrow made by the Morris Brandon Bees (where Sam and Lily will go to elementary school)



Sam's favorite: MarioKart

Awwwwww.....

A birthday card from a little girl in Sam's class:

Birthday Booty

Sam opens his first present- a disc shooting robot


Karate uniform (No he does not take "kara-TAY" ,as he pronounces it, but has been asking for a uniform for ages!)


Nerf gun!!!


Saved the best for last- Mario Party DS game. Think he's excited?

Who wore it best?

The Family Tuck

The family minus Jaedyn :(



Katie and precious Phoebe



Teresa and Jackson, the best dressed man in the room



The grandkids from left to right-
Jackson, Jaedyn, Trey (well the top of Trey's head), Sam, Lily, the Phoebster