Keep up if you can...

They will tell they're grandkids about this - Part 2

Ok so remember Mr. Young here waving to our boys...

Yes I did call his name and no he did not look at me and I'm all... ok he has to hear me but he's thinking (heres me trying to figure out what Vince Young is thinking - as if I have even the slightest idea) ok its probably something along the lines of. "Ok this woman is trying to get me to look at the camera so she can take my picture" (like thousands of other people on the planet do when they see him) but him being the ever so cool QB that he is  stays calm, cool and politely disses me but then he's thinking (again as if I know) I'll wave to her boys that way shes happy and she won't  have a dumb picture of me looking right at her camera. This ain't his first rodeo. Smart man. So this is all I got. But I'll take it . I'm happy. I'm not the paparazzi for crying out loud.

I also got shots of other player adjusting their skull caps and getting ready for the game. It was fun and neat in every possible way.

 

Then we went back to our seats to watch Vince do this for most of the first half before we had our own personal little football game. Against (can you believe it ) a " Raidiers" team. How fitting. And from the looks of some of their players before the half-time  game started...

we were feeling a little better prepared. This little guy was out cold. At least none of our guys were alseep ...uh yet.

And so my Morgan took the NFL field for the first time in his football career at teh tender age six. And he's hoping it won't be the last. And I must say he's not really tender either. He's more like a hurricane with dirt on it.  (but honestly after I saw the pro players hit each other at ground level, I'm not so sure I want them playing past college heck maybe even high school - seriously) Now I know why some of those guys can't walk well past the age of 50. Geeez Louise!!

So here we go.

Morgan on defense makes the first tackle of the game to stop them from advancing the ball into the end zone and we continue to do so until they fail to score.

 Us on offense.

 

First play a fake 32 right sweep to Morgan.

It does not work. back to the huddle. My husbands on the Jumbo-Tron, I'm having a coronary and  by this time I can no longer feel my legs, but thats ok, I'll survive. MY SON AND HUSBAND ARE ON AN NFL FIELD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!  

Next play. Long pass to Morgan. I am a flipping nervous WRECK! Do you hear me people... NERVOUS WRECK.

The pass play does not work. What now.

We do a QB sneek and (Morgans little friend in the picture with him from the 1st post) Garrison gets into the endzone. WE score and we win and that should be the end of the game. Both teams were only allowed one chance on offense. BUT.... the Titans official allows the other team a second chance which means they could score and we could end up NOT winning this thing. Oh no.

Well here we go.

They pass to the guy Morgan is covering. Morgan jumps up, intercepts the pass and seals the win for the Brentwood Blaze. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!!!! 

Oh my can you say excited with a capital E!

A little bit of advice to those Radiers boys...remember you snooze ya lose. But really how can one help falling alseep when your six.

We spent the second half enjoying the rest of the game.

 Dancing for joy,

 

Celebrating as the Titans won by kicking a field goal with 2 seconds left

 

Leaving while watching mammoth players run past you to their locker rooms and wondering how in the world we got here.

 One word: VERY GRATEFUL ok thats two but you get what I mean.

I'm grateful for:

1.life with all the good and bad (ain't it beautiful)

2.little boys and big dreams

3.a husband who loves to coach

4. my camera and lenses (very grateful!!!)

5. dreams coming to pass

They will tell they're grandchildren about this one day.

Seriously folks...where on earth do I begin?! I am worn out. What  a weekend. First off I must say that never in all my life did I ever fathom that I would one day be the mom of two athletic boys who love every sport imaginable ( football ranking at the top spot). But two, that I would one day sit on the actual field (ground level) of and NFL game while one of them is on that field playing the game of football! This experience is one we did not see coming, but it did come our way and we are really, really grateful. REALLY! Heres the story. Be prepared this is going to be  one VERY long post.  

 

 Keith decided to head coach Morgans team this year because Austin was going to take a year off to play fall baseball. About two weeks ago he got word from the organization that they would like to have his team the Pee Wees come play at half-time of the Titan/Raiders game and would he be interested in participating. He did three things 1.hit respond, 2. typed YES! 3. hit send. then got up and jumped up and down like a maniac. Ok thats four things and he actually really didn't jump around like a maniac. That was me. When he called to tell me. And so the adventure begin. 

We started by boarding the team bus the Titans sent for us. The boys were extremely excited to say the least. It was very official and a very "big boy" experience for them all.

They loaded their gear under the bus.

They grabbed their seats. Heres Morgan with one of his favorite teammates.

 

There is just something about watching a bus full of little boys look out the window at a football stadium that they are about to play in.

Austin was pretty excited too. That him in the hat.

 .

And here is coach Chandler himself, ready with every play mapped out for our little team, to ensure they come out with a victory on that Titans field. (and our cheer coach Angela there - shes great)

Then we headed down the tunnel underneath the stadium just like the Titans do.

This I have to say was ultra cool.

And then, as if walking into paradise...  there we were.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I'll let this one do the talking.

Heading over to line up with the Titans for the National Anthem.  I almost peed my pants. ( did I just type that?) My legs felt like noodles. I'm not a star-stuck sort of person so what was wrong with me.

 

Where giants tread. Morgan was walking on the field where the greats have played. Eddie George, Albert Hayneworth, Frank Wycheck, Vince Young, Jevon Kerse. And those are just a few and just the Titans. Oh man was this big.

Morgan holding the Titans youth alliance sign with a player from each of the other 3 teams.

Titans right behind us.

Our little guys on the big Jumbo-Tron

.

Then BIG Titan players started giving us high fives and stuff. It was cool.

As we were heading back to our seats I smiled at one of the Titans coaches and said thank you and he pointed at something behind me for me to look at and when I turned around this is what I found standing a foot behind me...

 Oh ...um...hello Mr. Vince Young, what big muscles you have and stuff. I thought I would pee my pants then to. But I didn't. Thank goodness, that would have been bad.

I said his name. He wouldn't look at me, but he did wave to our guys. 

It was all too spectacular.

Ok for now I'm going to post this andthen later I will detail what happend at half-time and for   the remainder of the second half.

I'm gonna need a second cup of coffee for this.

Whew!

Rock star for a day.

This must be how they feel all the time. Rock stars, supermodels, hollywoods finest. Ya know the just stepped out of the salon look and feel. Why can't I ever get my hair do to this. And believe me I can't. Despite the $40.00 in products I purchased to help to me with it (which by the way will last 3 months - of course)

Anyway for a day I got to swing my hair around like I was Julia Roberts. Today it will all be gone with one step in the shower.  *long sigh* Oh, get over yourself Sonja. Ok I'm good. Next up... 

It's Titans day!! WHOOO HOOOO we are excited!

This ones ready to run.  I can't hardly stand it. It's live on Fox tonight. Tune in, ya just may catch a glimpse of us. I'll be down on the field with them. They say being on the field on game day with the stadium filled is intense. Guess I'll find out.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!

BALANCE, busy-ness and football

Balance is the challenge I am faced with everday. I usually throw myself into one particular thing or another and devote all time and efforts there neglecting the other 2400 things calling for my attention. Balance is one thing I have never been very good at, but I am happy to be able to say I am truly getting better at it.

Every year I tell myself I will not allow the football season to take over our lives and every year I lie. I lie big time. Football is and I suppose ever will be a huge force to be reckoned with. It is all consuming and can be at times overwhelming, but in a good sort of way. As if a tidal wave is a good thing. I don't know you decide.

For the past three weeks we have been at the football field every night for approximately 3 hours per night with the exception of about 3 evenings off.  This week alone has me running scared. Practice 3 nights this week, team pictures, a huge football pep rally, playing at half-time at the Titans game friday night and a Jamboree bowl game on saturday to kick of the season. Whew, I wore myself out just typing the list. All this is the midst of getting jerseys to the letterer for names, tying up loose ends with uniforms, oh and Austins fall baseball team starts practice this week (right in between Morgans pictures and pep rally non the less) Little off balance here people. Oh yeah and remember I told you I'm homeschooling this year, still planning on it, so final decisions on curriculum are being made, house organization is getting done and lets not forget the referreeing I'm doing between two boys who are trying to learn to adapt to being together 24/7. Am I complaining? No. Not at all just stating that I have again this year agreed to allow my husband, my children and myself to venture into organized chaos and was just wondering if any of you out there have any legal and quick solutions for my lagging energy problems. Anyone, anyone...Bueller, Bueller.   

Ok, so lots on my plate right now, with it sometimes tipping in one direction more that others but...but... I love it. All the fatigue and pain mean I'm alive not dead and as long as I am by golly I'm going to be movin and shakin. So thats my week in a nutshell. But here the best part...

   

this one is home with me.

Oh and this one too

We are home and loving the fact that we are not FLYING out the door at 7:15am and are still enjoying the last warm summer days at a leisurely pace, on the porch or in the swing. Its nice. Very nice indeed.

Just wondering , why do you post what you post? Why do you post your busy, detailed,  and bumpy lives. I would love to here it.  Is it because you need to vent, share or just because. When you post, does it make you feel better, worse, or indifferent and do you find these questions boring and unnecessary or were you thinking "hey I was just hoping someone would ask me boring and unnecessary questions like this today" Or are you really thinking "I wish she would stop now". Ok, I'm done.   Just wondering.

I am grateful for:

1. spraypaint (those stacked boxes at the beginning of this post are being repurposed from baby room to little boy room all with one little can of the stuff - awesome)

2.having breakfast with my boys with no time restraints

3.Chaos filled moments  (cause it helps you remain grateful for the peaceful ones) 

4.bubble gum (chewing helps work out  anxiety - really does) so does the bubble blowing and its less caloric than cake

5.my telephoto lense (gonna need it at that Titans game friday - WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!)

Quick Chandler family update

Still working on house stuff. Getting the final bits of paper of the kitchen wall, but we are wading deeper into football season.

 Morgans first game is tonight. Can't wait.

We also got spectacular news that Morgans team will be playing at half-time of the Titans - Radiers game next friday night. To boot they get to line-up and stand in front of the Titans players during the national anthem. I cry each time I think of this. What a huge blessing. Hope Morgans in front of Vince Young, or Jevon  Kerse or Chris Brown. Oh who cares...just that he going to be there is enough for me. Ya know....he will tell his kids and grandkids about this one day, or at the very least I will. 

He's grow since last year. A little over five pounds. Oh yeah baby!!

 And he got a new number this year.

#18.   Peyton Mannings number. He was happy about that.

He's ready.

Here's to a great season M train, Gods speed to cute little man...uh.... I mean cool big guy and remember Mom, Dad, Austin, Aunt Jenni, Uncle Jason, Maw Maw, Paw paw and Grampy are all behind you. Now RUN FOR THE FENCE!!!!!!!

I am grateful for;

1. cool weather (it was nearly below 60 this morning - brrrrr)

2.waking up before my little family and getting some much needed quiet time

3.the anticipation of watching my 6 year old play on an NFL field

4.getting to do the hard work it takes to get to the really great stuff (even though I dont always like it)

5.my camera

Oh yea...have you heard of this place?

Ikea. One simple word and I was taken immediately. I had only learned of this spectacular place a few short months ago. What rock had I been under? While checking them out online I discovered the location closest to myself was Atlanta.  Sweet niblets, I was ready to go right then and there. So when I headed up to see Jen a couple weekends ago well... I just knew I needed to run in there to see what I could find. Six hours land a few decisions later this is what we came walking out with. Or should I say rolling out with.

 

They have great ideas.

they have whole rooms set up with arrangements I would have never thought out myself and in terms of lack of storage and space , good gravy they have some great solutions. Cuae I have some storage problems let me tell ya. I ended up finding a bunk bed and bookshelf for Morgans room and a few odd and ends. Jen got some incredible bookcases and other fun stuff to create a library in the front room of her house.

Oh and I love this end table.

Just thought I 'd throw that in there.

We had a great time and were utterly exhausted, oh and our feet hurt too. But it was well worth it. 

I worked on Morgans room ALL weekend and I am so pleased. I'll post that later. Next is Austin's room and oh yeah, I'm still working on my kitchen. Think I can get t all done before Christmas? Oh how I love a challenge.

I am grateful for:

1. A job well done.

2. shopping with my sister

3. making room for function and living

4. a healthy body

5. paint

Indian Poker

My brother in law Jason is an avid poker player. Sometime during our visit on of the boys asked him how you play and before we knew it we had game going on.

Jason thought the boys could learn better playing Indian poker, where you put one card on your head and highest card wins but you don't know what card you are holding yourself (as opposed to regular poker where only you know your own hand) but everyone else does and so it becomes a I THINK my card is better that yours situation and therefore bet placing can get pretty intense. Plus others reaction to the card on your forehead can get really funny. Great for Austin because he had to learn to NOT react. Very difficult for him.

  

What ensued over the next couple hours was one of the most fun nights to be had in a long, long time.

First off this kid is a natural in every sense of the word.

He just by instinct knew when to hold'um and when to fold'em. Which was hilarious.

He was winning for most of the night.

This one had a problem with not knowing how to NOT react which had him losing most of the night.

And Aunt Jenni was just plain unlucky all night. I think she got deal a 4 or 5 card for about 5 or 6 rounds.

And me well...

I was just happy with the virgin bloody marys complete with umbrella straws Jenni made for everyone. Ok, mine weren't really virgin but then again I was really happy.

We laughed and laughed some more. Austin went broke and bought back in with doing the dishes.

Morgan continued to win.

  

Aunt Jenni continued to be unlucky

Uncle Jason was sort of the head dealer and well that just made him cool.

And me ...um lets just say

I was really happy with the bloddy marys and the olives. Yes lots and lots of olives.

We laughed SO hard and the reactions, turn of events and comments from all players cold not be planned. It was priceless.

Austin ended up winning it all in the final round. And these were the 4 highest cards. You just can't plan that.

 

Fun to the 3 power ya'll.

I am grateful for:

1.unplanned poker games

2.human character

3.innocence

4.songs you can never figure out the lyrics too (blinded by the light)

5. being close to those you love

It's a lot of work to have too much fun.

Back from Atlanta. Whew that was a fun trip. I had not realized that we had not been there in quite awhile. And we had a especially excellent time. I'm not sure if its because we had not been there in forever or because the boys are getting older or if its because I'm starting to lighten up about my role as a parent or cause Jen and Jason are two of the best hostesses with the mostesess. It maybe was all of those things but I gotta tell ya, were were worn out from the fun. If the fatigue level is any indication of success in the "had a great time" department we took home the gold. But it's a good tired, of course.

  

For starters Aunt Jenni has Rock Band. This is I did not know. Had I known this we may have been there months ago and just moved right in. Not to go into to much detail on this but Morgan has been begging for the game as if hes a impoverished red-headed step child with 16 siblings that has never seen the light of Toys R Us let alone a video game. It's pathetic. He's so neglected. Anyway  Rock Band Rocks! Nuf said

We played for hours. We rocked the house. It was a blast. And now Guitar Hero is just not enough. What ever will we do.

Next up.  This place. Read about it in Southern Living magazine and thought it would be fun and since the boys don't normally get to drink soda I thought why not.

Stood in line for 22 hours. Just joking, it was actually about an hour. Did you know they have different Cokes all over the world? Tis true.

Did you know that right here on the very first bottle of Coke created that it  said "For Headache and Exhaustion. Hmmm... maybe it was forsight as to what it actually does TOO you today. Very interesting.

Being the adventure seekers we are we thought we'd try a few. 64 to be exact. From many different continents and countries.

Some are delicious.

Some are just plain horrible.

But we drank alot. My fav was BiBo from South Africa. It was pinapple-ly delicious-ness. Oh and Finley's Bitter Lemon from England was another good one.

 

Can you tell by the look on our faces that we had to pee. Well we did, badly. Did I really need to tell you that.

 

This was a chair in the gift shop and I loved it trememdously. It was not for sale, or it might have gone home with momma. So here's a picture of it instead.

Fun times.

Headed to one of my fav's and since we don't have one in Nashville I was very excited.

See how happy I was.

And in case you had any doubts...

This is what 64 flavors of Coke will do to a person.

I am grateful for:

1. sisterhood

2.insanely fun video games

3.dogs

4.a county we are free to roam  any time our hearts desire

5.hysterical laughter

More tomorrow on the rest of our fun, fun trip.

Over and out

S.

It's a definate.

He will be singing all I want for christmas is my two front teeth.

He looks so much more grown up to me now with he front baby teeth gone. This was my baby. He's not a baby anymore.

Also tonight is the first  night at football evaulations with pads. That means they get to hit each other. He's very excited. And is also a force to be reckoned with. Austin is having a few regrets about not playing this year. I feel a little bad for encouraging him to take the year off, but he'll be back next year in full operation and hopefully his asthma will have subsided.

Tooth fairy was good to him again. Got another "whole 6 dollars"!!!    Excitement all around.

This one wrecks my heart completely. I won't go there now, maybe later.

I am grateful for:

1.The game of football and what you can teach through playing this game.

2.Healthy and tough (but sweet) handsome sons.

3.Under armor gear (makes the boys look so "cool") not that they weren't already of course.

4.Time to spend with the ones we love most

5. A 6 yr. olds excitement over the tooth faily visit

Bonus: getting to visit my sis (we're leaving in the morning for the weekend) I am VERY grateful!

Losing steam.

I have finished the half-bath and I've moved onto the kitchen. Again I HATE wallpaper. And the kitchen has a lot of it. And its wallpaper I have never really liked. I've just lived with it for 6 years  Anyway, I bought a wallpaper-steamer. Thought it would help. It has but I'm tired. But I love home improvement and while there may be lots of people who can have others come in and do it for them ...well I'm happy to say I like doing it myself. So does Brad Paisley apparently. Saw him at Home Depot buying himself lots tools and home improvement stuff. Guess even if you can have people come it and do it for you some folks just like to do it themselves. Brad is one of them I guess. Makes me feel better.  Knew I liked that guy for some reason.

Anyway,  on with my story. You can see how faded it was.After the border came down the orginal was really yellow, and old and tired. Like me. Ok not really old but tired for sure.

Had to move the fridge. Nothing prepares you for what you find when you do this. It was bad. Austin walked in when I did, and stood there in amazment. We stood there together in silence (and disgust) for a short time then he finally asked "is that a cracker" I had to laugh. Closer (and courageous)observation showed it to be a Vanilla wafer. Do you know how long its been since I've bought Vanilla wafers.  3 years, at least.

And so the work continues.

The border came down in full sheets and had I known that I would have taken it down the first week we moved in.

The border was a breeze, it's just the wall-paper itself that's the challenge. But I'ts getting done. Slowly. Ever so slowly. Should be next Easter I'll have it completed. Ok, not really, but with two bored boys and still more than half a kitchen to go, I'm losing steam. Thank goodness my Wagner wall-paper steamer isn't. Does that sound like a commercial?

I'm grateful for:

1.And able healthy body

2.two healthy bored boys

3.my Wagner wall-paper steamer

4.change

5.going to bed after literally "working hard" all day  

6. seeing country music stars at home improvement stores buying stuff to do there own home improvements

Back from the lake.

WE had a great time. The boys fished, tubed and swam the whole time and what could be better than that. Not much.

Their all time favorite is the tube, hands down.

See here  This is them doing the "tubing dance". Thats how very excited they are. Its quite a show.

A here they are finally on the tube. They like to fall out. And they hope that they hit a big wave and fly out. It's a hysterical sight. Really.

They fell out several times, so it was an all around great time. Now for the dog story.

Most of you know Blaze our canine family member who is so well behaved and loyal and precious that he may well be  the best possbile dog on the planet. Well this weekend proved that all the more. For one he is part lab and  labs love the water so we were anxious to see how he would behave at the lake. Two he is still a puppy, so we had no idea what would happen. It was interesting.

First we gave him free reign of the yard and waterfront and he was in heaven and being the great dog he is, never ran off. He played and had a great time.

Then... his boys got in the water and he was stumped.

He must have been thinking "can I go in too", cause he gave me this look.

Then I gave him the ok and it was all over after that.

Wooo Hooooo

He ran and jumped and was the happiest dog in the whole U.S.A. It was fun to watch.

He rode well on the boat too, but was a bit apprehensive at first. Didn't have his sea-legs yet I guess.

He was not up for jumping off and swimming like some of the other dogs on the water did. But he loved the breeze while we cruised and had a great time watching the boys jump off to swim and tube.

Keiths Mom and Dad were glad to see us and happy to be up and around. Some of you know that Janice has been in and out of the hospital for about six months now and is finally doing better. We are hoping she does not have any more problems and can stay healthy.

 

It was a fun trip and the boys and the dog smelled like a stinky fish from swimming in the lake. I guess that equals a good time.

I am grateful for

1. Family

2. Road trips

3. Smelly boys and dogs (who have been swimming in a lake)

4. A dinner out with Keith (thanks maw maw and paw paw)

5.  Coming home ( to a clean house)

Hittin the road.

Heading up (or is it down) to see Keith parents. I never know really even all these years later. Anyway we are going to the lake and I suppose we'll swim and I suppose we'll eat and I suppose we'll have a grand ol' time. So thats where I'll be. Just in case you were wonderin.

Peace out.  

Cleaning

I have not posted since the 4th. I have been cleaning. Cleaning big time. After approx. 12 bags to good will and 14 bags of trash out the door the house feels as if its floating.

The reason is that I am better able to make the big changes with the cleaning being done. Still lots of wall paper to get down down, paint to go up and built-ins well...built. Oh and the carpet... the dreadful carpet that desperately needs to be purged from this home.  It has gotta go.

Then onto homeschooling. Lots to do there. Have make a final decision on curriculum and get our ducks in a row. Still have to organize that also. Oh and football is starting. At least  for Morgan, Austin is playing fall baseball to take a rest from the grind of the gridiron.

HELP.

Anybody?   

Fly by the seat of our pants, lazy , 4th of July

Traditionally we are in North CArolina for the fourth, But due to Austins all star team schedule and Keiths mom still in the hospital (until just a few days ago)  We knew it was going to be a late 4th visit up there.So we are going to head up there soon.

Since before Morgan was born we have been going. He's never not know a 4th on the lake and we hope to resume this regularly scheduled program next year.

But since we were home we decided to be ridiculously lazy. And we succeeded. Oh we did grill out and all. Some steaks and hot dogs, baked beans and I even made pico de gallo and guachamole (that was delish) but that was bout it.

Lazy. We did nothing all day. The boys played in the back yard and we just stayed lazy all day. So lazy that we were not even planning on heading out to watch fireworks. Thats pretty lazy. Anyway, lazy we were until Morgan said PLEEEEEEEEEEzzze can we go see fireworks. Well we knew there would be crowds to fight and we were so lazy we really did not want to battle them but we got off our lazy hineys anyway and headed toward the local fireworks frienzy. It was crazy busy. So busy they were turning people away.

We ended up in the recycables parking lot with about 15 other cars and lifted the hatch and lazily watched the spectuclar display. We actually had great seats and the show wase good. I even took my camera which surprised me because of how lazy I was but this is what a lazy person gets when she does not have a tripod and is...well just plain  lazy.

We did enjoy ourselves but we would have rather been on the lake with family far more than just being at home lazy. But it is how it is and we are grateful for the day.

Happy Freedom Ya'll!! 

Have you heard the BuZZZZ? And I am potentially going to get in trouble for dog-napping.

Austins All-star team is the Buzz. Kinda funny name huh?  Anyway... had our first game tonight. Didn't go so well. They put us up against a team that we could not compete against at all.  And so you learn another life lesson. They put this team together but had no intention of telling us that we would be competing against teams that have played together for 5 or 6 years and play 60 games in a season as opposed to our 16. It was ...should I say   hugely unbalanced. Anyway, they hung in there. Austin played well. Made some great plays but it was an eye opener. Still having trouble with his " just newly surfaced" asthma (as of last football season) It get a little scary sometimes.

One more game and we are done. I myself am in great need of a break. Need some time to myself and a little breathing room from constant "boy duty" . Will have to do that here soon. Very soon.

Ok, now bout the dog part of my title.

I may seriously just kidnap this dog. Oh my goodness!!!

He belongs to a boy on Austin all-star team. He is a minature dachund and his name is ...get this...Stanley.  He is tiny .   

You cannot tell tell from these pictures just how tiny he is but he is like... 4 pounds tiny. Yes, I did state 4 lbs. He is half the size of my cat and shes a small cat. She might could even eat him. Thats a bad visual (sorry)

And I ...cannot stay away from him. It's pathetic. I wear the dog out. But he is so cute, I may just keel over from dog-itis. Is ther such a thing? anyway...

 When I see him coming...well it's all over.  But I'm not the only one. He's magnetic. Everyone loves him. It's maddness.

 

I'm afraid that while I am holding him I may slip him into my bag. I mean... I could,    he's THAT flipping small!

Who knew I would become such a dog fanatic. It has shocked me, let me tell ya.

  See he's about the size of his owners shoe size of 6  1/2. Can you stand it? I cannot. I'm in trouble. I think I need vacation or something cause I am like seriously considering more dogs. No, wait no,... no... no I'm not.

 Ok I'm good. Whew sometimes posting pics of painfully cute dogs or just being round Stanley can do that to me. And if you saw him it would do that to you too, and if the sight of him didnt do that to you, I would be seriously worried bout you, is all I'm saying. Grown men stop to cuddle Stanley. It's criminally precious.

Anyway thats all I have to say about that one and  I will continue to stalk cute puppys and post pics of them here.

 Cause I have issues. 

DIY Home Improvement and other crazy shananigans.

Ok so most of you know about model homes, some not so I'll give you a quick run down.  The "model"  home is there to entice the interested parties with a  glimpse of what their future home would look like or at least resemble somewhat. After all the lots in the neighborhood are bought and built on, then they sell the model.

Well, we purchased that model. About 7 years ago.  Fully decorated with window treatments and wall papers to coordinate. It's all so very purposeful. Anyway during the purchase process they deducted the price of all the treatments so as to allow the buyer to "re-do" the treaments to fit their own personal taste. Some of the existing decor was actually beautiful. Athough some of it was not at all to my liking I could most assuredly live with it. And with a  with a busy 4 year old and a second baby on the way I didn't see way to make any changes at that time.

Fast forward seven years later, now with two busy boys,a dog, a cat, one lone hamster and lots of peeling wall-paper, heavily dusty window treatments, not near enough storage and some seriously nasty carpet, repair and changes must be made. It's time. Can't procrastinate anymore, it just has to be done. 

So here I am

Doing my best to start the process.

This is the downstairs half-bath. It was the worst. Peeling wall-paper and well Morgan. Thats all I have to say really, but the problem is he likes to peel  uh...wall-paper and has added to the peeling problem during his "business transactions" at potty time. Nuf said. 

Problem was, the professional installers used so much dang paste it took me forever to do this small space.

This is the paste I scraped off the wall after I got the paper off. All the paper is off now but I'm still scraping paste. Does the word MODERATION register with all you wallpaper hangers out there for crying out loud.

As my sister says "wallpaper is from the devil"  She should know she removed it from 3 rooms in her home.

Its evil I tell you E V I L!!!   So with one room down I only have 3 more to go. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!

Anyway lots to do. With the boys coming home to be home schooled, we need storage (built-ins) , their is need of storage solutions in the garage and just basic changes to be made to update and make the house more family friendly, as of now ...its not.

I leave you with this happy face. Went over to grill with some friends of ours the other night and here is their new addition

 

This is Hershey, he's a labra-doodle. A lab and poode mix. And he has BLUE EYES!!! Oh my goodness, can you stand it!!!!

For the love of all thats good and right in the world what is it that makes a puppy steal every bit of your heart and attention and has you completely forget the chaos of man (and bad wallpaper hangers)

I don't know but it makes me want ten of them. Ok not really I'll just go visit my friends who have new puppys. That should work.... I hope.

Until the next episode of Home Improvement starring Sonja "the-tool-woman" Chandler. Wish me luck. 

Several bits of news comin at-cha.

The regular season is over for us. We made it to the second playoff game. We held the #2 team to a 3-3 score for most of the game until  the 5th inning when the other team took the lead. Tough loss. But as far as I'm concerned, we won. We surley outplayed them. But Austin was still bummed. He wanted to advance to the next round. He sure did his part. 57 strikes outs for the season, only 4 walks. In that last game he had 7 RBI's 3 doubles and made some great plays infield. I could not be any more proud or happy for him. He listened, played hard, concentrated. and well....he made a difference. Thats what we asked of him, and he did it. Keith did some great coaching as usual. Only got a litttle up-tight a few times.(smile-smirk-giggle)

But since Austin made the All-Star team, its off to new adventures. We'll have to see what that holds for him.

This one was named MVP agian this year. The coaches said some very nice things about him and again we are so happy for him  being  honored for all his hard work and passion to play. This one has me wrapped completely. 

And in the midst of gaining a trophy he lost a tooth.  Now entering into serious boyhood here people.

He got (as he puts it) "a whole six dollars"! Man is that tooth fairy ever generous!

 Fathers day breakfast. Full spread, with eggs, grits, turkey bacon, blueberry muffins and fruit. I'm pretty sure Keith enjoyed it, seeing that I never really get to whip up that sort-a thing very often. Yumm-o. We went to see the Iron Man movie (since Keith is our very own personal Iron Man) -now wasn't that clever,    and later we made cupcakes and took Blaze to the dog park. Fun times.

  Now we are back to monday and the list is long. Got several things to do round the house. Our T.V. died friday. Cleaning things out, moving things around. Getting set up for homeschooling soon. The garage is a disaster-gotta fix that. Lots to do people. Got two helpers though. I knew I got hard workin boys for a reason.

I'll leave you with this...first blooms from one of my hydrangea bushes.

  So happy to see these beauties. They did not bloom last year for some reason.

But they sure did this year. HELLO LOVLIES..... where ever have you been hiding.

Enjoy!!!

WE miss Aunt Jenni and we have a SUPA-STAR!

WE love it when aunt Jenni comes!!! She's a fun spot in our lives, a ray of sunshine really and good golly...you can't not love that smile.

  She she gets smushed on when she comes to town. Crushed like a empty forgotten soda can. Well not actually cause shes not forgotten and shes really not empty cause well....as she says this is just her getting her love tank filled.

So that was a bad analogy.

l

Anyway she came to see the boys play baseball.

Austin threw his 45th strike out for the season and HE MADE THE ALL STAR TEAM!!! We are very proud and excited for him. He worked hard for it.

Morgan played reguardless of his foot.

 I personally declared him "IRON-MAN "award recipent for the season. The kid is tough, you have to give him that.  

He played with all heart in the 98 degree heat.

Aunt Jenni was impressed.

She says she has the best two nephews on the planet. 

Are you surprised that I agree totally.

Thanks for coming Aunt Jenni we missed you two minutes after you walked out the door. We are coming up there next.

Love you!!! 

a waterlogged team, 3 fractured metatarcels and yipee... aunt Jenni is coming!

The eternally young Coach Chandler thought it a good idea to soak the baseball team (Austins) after practice last night. The boys didn't know what hit'em and quite honestly it was downright hilarious.  

.  

 

There were several super-soaker water guns, a whole case of football water bottles and a cooler full of water dispersed upon the unknowing White Sox team. It lasted all of about 5 minutes but they cooled off fast after all that drenching and well all I can say is paybacks are....well you know how the saying goes.

  Fun times people, fun times. The dads all were in on it too. Fun, fun times.

Now some not so fun times.        Morgan.

 Thats all I really need to say but I'll go ahead and tell you the whole sordid affair. Ok, it's not really a sordid affair it was actually just one of those "mother of a boy moments" where you sit a think to yourself....hmmmm  would girls have been easier and is there a place for trade-ins?  Just joking, I really love my punk boys ("long sigh") but anyway where was I...Oh yeah Morgan...well he asked to jump on my mini excercise trampoline I got 6 months ago when I got this great idea to bounce my way back into a size 8 (I would have even settled for a 10) that I've only used twice since then because it didn't work and because the only thing I "bounced my way to" were saggy-er breasts (if thats possible) and well lets just say my bladder has never  really been the same since birthing babies and the trampoline did not improve this aspect of my life either but you didn't really need to know all that did you.  But Morgan... well he asked  me so nicely and of course me being the wonderful encouraging mother I am and sort of being in the end of school year/back from Phoenix trip decompression phase, I said "Oh sure go ahead, just be careful"     Famous last words. Those are not only my famous last words but some days they are my only words. The words  I use most frequently as the mother of 2 boys. "BE careful, oh please be carelful. Hey boys please be careful alright, just remember to be careful, boys make your mother delirously happy and be careful today...I sound like a broken record, anyway, he did not actually fracture it by jumping,  it happened when he made a sideways dive off of the trampoline and slammed his foot into the metal frame of the trampoline. But we did not know it was fractured for a day because well... Morgan really does not cry nor does he feel much pain and he had to hobble around for awhile before my mothers intution kicked in (its kinda slugggish lately) and I said we gotta have that checked. Well, 2 doctors and  4 x-rays later determined 3 fractures on his 1 right foot and now I need 8 maragaritas. Can I get an AMEN sisters!!! Thank you...thank you very, very much. 

But he likes his boot.  He says it looks like Knights armour. Isn't that just like a boy to enjoy the brutality of a moment like this. He thinks its cool. I think bottles of wine are cool and  when my sister gets here this weekend we are going out to have one and I  am going to make a toast. 

 

    A toast to the joys of boys and all that comes with that. Broken meta-tarcels and all.     

Back from the desert

Our Arizona trip was a blast. Lots of fun and family and sun, yes lots and lots of sun. This is the boys at my uncle and aunts resort pool. They thought they had died and gone to heaven. It was big fun.

 Way fun. It was my dads birthday. He's 71 years young and it was a good time. Lots of cousins.

This is Bailey. Her and Austin are closest in age and had a great time.

 Then there is Bennett and Bryce. They're twins and cuter than cute. Here they are with their auntie Christy. Shes my cousin too. Lots and lots of cousins here people.  And then theres Bella. We can't forget Bella. Well no one can forget Bella cause shes so darn cute. Too cute for words and well ya just can't forget about Bella. (can ya shelly? Ok I'm only teasing-inside joke here people-between my cousin Shelly and I who just happens to be Bella's mommy, and Bennett and Bryce and Bailys mom too) Man that woman is busy!!! if I do say so myself.

Then there is these two adorables.

This is Gabriel an Dominic. Very beautiful children. They belong to my cousin Amber who is also due with a little girl in about 4 weeks. Whew we have some serious fertility going on in our family I'll tell ya. And these two just happened to think Austin was REALLY funny. And Austin really loves little ones so he took a real liking to Dominic...well because hes little and cute. And he made them laugh and giggle and then he did this a lot.  

He carried Dominic around alot. It was cute. Now my cousin Shelly suggested that we girl cousins pose for some pics together which I thought was a smashing idea but then we did not do it and now I have no pictures of them to show you, so that was kind of  dumb, but hey it gives me a good excuse to make another trip out there...right?

Now we went to celebrate my dad birthday but we got to see all the family which was really wonderful.

Like my soon to be 94 year old grandmother. Who is quite amazing, if I do say so myself. We got to sit and talk a lot

which was very wonderful. She gets around and

does for herself really well. It's awesone to watch.

    

An then theres sweetie -pie Josh. So very glad I got to see him. He wanted to see me too which

made me feel so very special.

We basically just stayed at the house and swam and played. And what a house it is. My aunt Judy and uncle Steve built it a little over a year ago. It's quite beautiful. My dad has a tiny apartment so we could not all fit there, so  getting to stay with them was quite a blessing.

As Austin put it "This is like being on vacation Mom!!" And then I quickly reminded him that we had never stayed anywhere that nice on vacation before.

 

He also stated that it was "way more than he what he expected". Quite a funny guy that Austin is.

They mostly played in the game room

partaking in shuffleboard and pool and occasionally watching a movie on the big screen. 

They played alot in the back yard.

In fact Keith and my Dad had a lot of fun playing crochet (spelled?)

See!!

But the best of all was the pool. The boys were crispy by the time we left, But oh what a wonderful time they had. We all did and we are grateful.  

ch ch ch-anges

A final walk. Completing elementary school. Moving onto middle. Big change. This is the fouth graders final walk throught he halls of David Lipscomb Elementary. Sad for some, a big celebration for others. For us it's a celebration. We are excited.

This guy has worked hard, had fun and really learned to endure. He did say it was a bit sad for him, leaving and all, especially since we are not coming back at all next year. But he is excited for next year and said to me this morning "Mom your gonna be a great teacher"  Love that kid, really do! It will be an awesome and great adventure for us all. Morgan... well he said he will miss (take a guess)   the gym. Go figure. He even did a little fake weeping "scene" at the gym doors this afternoon when we were saying our goodbyes.

   Goodbye hallways, goodbye purple and gold, goodbye seven and half hour days/35 hour school weeks. Goodbye. Goodbye and good luck. We wish you all the very best your heart can hold. Thank you.

 It's been fun. Have a great summer.

Oh yeah and goodbye to my hair Got it cut off the other day. I suppose it was time, but I cannot make it look like my stylist does and it makes me REALLY mad. Why? because its kinda why I don't like having "a hair-syle" You have to style it and well....I can't do that. Looks nothing like the day she did it. Nothing like it. And whats even worse, it took me 40 minutes to do THIS. Oh well, is all I can say.

We are off to Phoenix for my Dads birthday. He is turning another brighter and we thought we needed to be there for that. My aunt and uncle just built a new house and we and excited to see it. They have offered us a stay there and we are taking them up on it and are grateful.  I'll post pics when we return. Sinora ya'll! 

Elvis has left the building, but not before he stole the show!

                                                                                                 I have been waiting to post this story because I wanted to get a clip of the video we took from the night and post that too but that is proving to be  a bit to "techy" for my brain to handle at the moment, but I'll get to it later... but for now... picture the scene if you will. 4th grade play. They had been practicing for weeks. The play was about our great state of Tennessee and all the historical and celebrity details of this beautiful part of the country. Austin was given the part of Elvis. Very approporate for those of you who know his "entertaining" personality. Well, there were a quite a few classmates that decided that they were jealous that Austin got this part and proceeded to mentally beat him down about it until his confidence had all but diminished. He had not told me this until one day I unexpectedly dropped in on practice and stood at the back unnoticed. When his part came up I expected to hear his rendition of "nothing but a hound dog"  loud and clear, but what I observed was a red-faced boy, looking at the ground,  very quiet, mumbling the words of the song and his music teacher saying "Austin YOU HAVE TO SPEAK UP"! ,while several kids snickered and stared at his apparent melt dowm. Kids are just so delightful aren't they?. Imagine my surprise. What could be wrong I wondered. In the car he confessed that several kids were saying things like "you should not have got the part and that so and so could have done it better" or here's a good one... one of the two girls who were playing the  parts of  "the Elvis fans" told him he was stupid and to shut up. Kids are just so adorable don't you think (my saracasm level is higher today than usual) The tears welled in his eyes as he went on about it and then we had the talk. You know the "kids are jealous because they can't stand for someone to be good at something that they're not good at" talk. We talked about how because he was good at singing and entertaining that he would always have people who would want to say untrue and unkind things about him or basically take him down. And that the whole reason for their hateful words were to stop him from doing what he was good at. I said "they are hoping to stop you Austin, they want you to not perform well" He was amazed. Then I told him "It's time to show them how little you care about they're dumb comments and much you care about being the person God created you to be. He got quiet for awhile. I told him the best way to do that was to give a performance that would make them all shut up. Go out there and do what you do and what could they say then. He understood that. He got that they would all be shocked if he just gave the performance of all performances. And he listened. He kept on practicing and well...                   He blew them all away. Even his mom and dad.

If the audiences reaction was not enough to convince Austin of his great efforts then the compliments and pats on the back from parents and grandparents and even people that he did not know sure did. He was hilarious and sang out with great projection. He swung those hips and swooshed that cape and at the end he did the big Elvis "arm circle" thing and went down on one knee (we put that in at the last minute for effect-none of the kids or teachers had seen it before then) And he had so much fun he almost laughed himself out of  a few of his own lines. While the audience continued laughing and clapping he laughed too.

A lot of the kids even came up to him and gave him his due congrats.

One mom said "he irrefutably stole the show Sonja"

I have to agree. And what  a lesson learned.. Now some of the kids never did say anything to Austin especially the ones who had originally said unkind things but for Austin it just proved what he had learned. Some will never like you simply for you being who you are. And he's ok with that.

And I hope he always remembers the feeling of a "give it all you got" performance and a job well done.

And as he said.....

Thank you..thank you very much!   

 

Peonies, just for me. Ok, you can have some too.

This is my favorite flower. Hands down. Simply adore it. If fact my brain believes God created it just for me. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful a lot. Oh, now I do like other flowers, yes, I mean I love roses too, especially cabbage roses and cally lillys are supurb, and I can't forget my mothers favorite..tulips and begonias have me at hello. I could go on and on but the peonie has first place in my heart.

While at the market yesterday I spotted these little beauties. They were sitting their so abundant yet gentle and kind and they sort of winked at me and then wispered my name and said, we really need you to take us home. I think I needed them as much as they needed me. Now I perfer any peonie but the ones that have a nice pink blush of color have me at hello and I cannot resist.

  These are white and can I just say... ridiculously beautiful. They light up the entire kitchen. I'm going to plant some here soon. I want bunches and bunches. So I can share. See, I may be irrefutably convinced that God had me in mind when he made these little gems of velvety gorgeousness but I'm a very generous person and I will give you some. Just as soon as I grow them.

So what's your favorite. The sunny sunflower, the dancing daisy or how bout the maginificent marigold? Which one did God artfully piece together to capture your heart? I would LOVE to know!!   

5 hours, several bruises, one x-ray and a 2nd black belt.

Keith's black belt testing was saturday which makes for a very long day.  You see, he already has a black-belt. See here... see that black-belt around his waist, yes he is already a black-belt but you see there are many levels of black-belts. Yes, its true. Nine to be exact. I think there is only one 9th degree black belt in the entire world and let me just say, if I was in any sort of threating altercation, I wouldn't mind knowing the guy. But I don't know him and quite honestly I'm fine with that because I  now have a 2nd degree black-belt in my midst, and what a 2nd degree can do in connection with anyone trying to do me any bodily harm well... let me just say I'm feeling pretty good about knowing Keith right now. An