Chocolate Covered Everything

The girls and I spent yesterday afternoon in the kitchen covering everything in chocolate.  I mean, can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?  Pretty sure I can't.  It started with strawberries, and then we kept finding reasons to dip anything and everything in our chocolate.  We didn't stop there.  It wouldn't be a party without sprinkles!  I have a thing for sprinkles.  They just make me happy...maybe because they're so colorful?  We didn't get double boiler fancy with our chocolate, though.  We went the quick and easy route (that made for an easier clean-up as well)...

I voted for rainbow sprinkles, but I was outnumbered by two little girls who are obsessed with whatever holiday is coming next...

Halloween sprinkles it was!  Never mind the fact that Halloween is two months away.  The girls base everything around holidays and what time of year it is.  Since summer is technically over, that obviously means Halloween is right around the corner. :)

How can it be that my children are so into shoes and want to own every pair they see, but then don't ever want to wear them?  Case in point...

I escorted them into church Sunday morning with shoes, but they came out barefoot. Both of them!

Mrs. Propst tells me Towns stays barefoot in her classroom, but that she can hardly get onto her for it because she'd rather be barefoot herself.  Now church is one thing, but not wearing shoes at school sort of makes me nauseous.  We had numerous conversations before school started about keeping shoes on at school because I had a feeling it might become an issue.  And it has, of course.

I just realized I'm going in reverse order of our weekend.
We'll roll with it.  

Saturday morning was one I'd been looking forward to for a while.  My good friend Blazer, or Elizabeth if you're not on board with calling everyone by their last names, and her husband Blake are expecting twins and a shower was definitely in order!  I vividly remember multiple conversations while at Auburn about baby names.  She picked Palmer and Price from the start, and it's so exciting that Palmer and Price will now make their grand entrance in a few short months.  There was no shortage of good food, good conversation, and great friends...

And how cute is this?!

Our crew plus four, no make that five (can you guess who the other one is?), little ones you can't see in their mamas' bellies...

I love those girls!  They make me laugh like no other.  And after all these years (thirteen to be exact) it feels like old times when we're all together again.
We still affectionately call each other Roommate...

Always have, always will I'm sure!
Ever since I've known Blazer, she's been the ultimate celebrity guru.  I had to smile when I was seated at our table and in front of me was a quiz that listed twins and you had to guess which celebrity they belong to.  She must have rubbed off on me, because I am proud to admit that I knew almost all of the answers without cheating and Googling them!

These girls are also near and dear...

Blazer's roommates.  I adopted them, or maybe they adopted me.  When I talk about them, their names come out in one word...NinaStephandErin.  You don't get one without the other!  I should have put them in that order before we took the picture.  Here it's Erin, Steph, me, Blazer and Nina.  They flew in from Jacksonville for the shower...so fun!  The five of us spent a glorious week in Paris during Spring Break of our senior year at Auburn.  Oh the memories (and stories)...

One more outside shot before it was time to depart... 

Minus the star of the show - Blazer you must have been inside?!  Price and Palmer got so many goodies that were to die for.  And don't for one second think they won't come into the world not knowing what an owl is.  They will be outfitted, bibbed, and everything else in owls!  Sweet little Chi O babies, God love them!
I'm so happy for you, Blazer.  I can't wait to meet the newest members of the Sloan family! 

Friday afternoon was a big one.  Grandmommy and Pop came to visit, and Bethany had her first pep rally. The Decatur vs. Austin pep rally had a Jersey Shore theme which never disappoints.  Poofy hair and fist pumps were the name of the game.  And you better believe that Bethany had it down pat.  It takes major talent to fist pump in a full extension...

I love that picture.  Even though you can't see her face, you can see the crowd is totally following her lead.  And a certain someone is fixated on her, but he shall remain nameless!
After the pep rally, the minutes seemed like hours while we were waiting for Grandymommy and Pop to arrive.  They are always so sweet and do whatever the girls want to do.  That includes being up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning and at the park by 6:15.  Now that's love, folks!

This morning we pulled out the pink cowgirl boots...

The second it hits low 60's in the mornings we just can't help ourselves.  It did just that this morning with a cool, crisp 62 degrees.  I do believe that Fall (albeit subtly) is in the air...

I've Become One of Them...

Soccer Mom, (sok-er mom) n. 1. A woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to their sporting events or other activities.

 Webster's doesn't recognize this lingo, but Wikipedia does.  

It also goes on to say:

The phrase soccer mom generally refers to a married middle-class woman who lives in the suburbs and has school age children.  She is sometimes portrayed in the media as busy or overburdened and driving a minivan. 

Now I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm overburdened and haven't run out to purchase a minivan, but I've definitely felt like the epitome of a soccer mom since school started.  And my children don't even play the sport.  I've never done as much running around as I have in the past two weeks.  I just thought we were busy before...little did I know what I was in store for.  Morning drop off, mid-morning trips back to school for a meeting, carpool line in the afternoons, dropping off at dance class, picking up from cheer practice, etc.  It's never ending!  As tiring as it can sometimes be, I have a sneaking suspicion that when everyone is grown I'll miss these crazy days.  Besides, if we didn't have a thing to do I'm pretty sure we'd be bored to tears!  A good friend of mine is PTA president at the magnet school this year and has ever so kindly pulled me in.  I don't mind that one bit if it means being at Towns' school as much as I possibly can.  We've been there for PTA meetings, getting folders stuff for such meetings, helping on school picture day, and tomorrow I'll be the official popcorn popper.  I'm incredibly thankful that working from home allows me to do just that, though.  On the flip side, I might just have to do lots more work in the wee hours of the morning than I did circa PTA.  Cate's been the ultimate trooper and already feels right at home at Ben Davis.  She waltzes in and out of Mrs. Propst's room like she's been doing it all of her life, and Towns absolutely loves us being there all the time.  I'm wondering how long of a shelf life that will have.  The other day she screamed, "Mommy!" and ran to give me a hug when I went into her classroom to help her teacher hang some artwork.  Afterwards, J and I had a long phone conversation as he prepared me for the day that I wouldn't get such a warm welcome.  For now I'm soaking it up. Before long it will be a completely different story!

 And I definitely know that taking pictures of my baby girl and her friends at school will eventually be a thing of the past...

How cute are they?!

Speaking of picture day, I realized after the fact Towns' ribbon was sticking straight out...

Hoping the picture guy fixed that before before the one and only snapshot he took?!

We might have been semi-permanent fixtures at the school, but don't let that fool you.  Cate and I have had our fair share of quality time with the older girls gone all day.  Trying to get anything done around the house or any work accomplished is a thing of the past.  You can hang it up.  This chick wants to be either on my hip, hanging from my leg, or in my lap at all times...

She's pretty funny, too.  The other day she told me she loved me.  I asked her how much.  She said, "well actually I love you like fifty howas."  That's hours. I assumed that was a lot, but I didn't dare ask.

I don't complain for one second about her always wanting to be attached to me in some form or fashion.  She's so tiny, and I can't very much help wanting to scoop her up and carry her everywhere.  One might question if she's even capable of using her feet.  She is.  I just don't want her to.

Today we had to take care of a few things at Bridge Street...

One of the things on our list was a stop at the carousel.

My Buggy had it all to herself and picked the zebra...

Three cookies and a carousel token...

She's a cheap (and sweet) date!

Happy weekend from one soccer mom to another...

JUG Summer Formal

After such a fun and full weekend, it was hard to get going this morning.  I sure wasn't ready to rise and shine so early, but if I'm not up and getting Towns ready for school no one else is going to do it for me!  As you can tell, we're still adjusting to having to be somewhere at a given time to avoid a tardy.  Last year kindergarten started at 8:30 which was much easier to be on time for - and if we were a few minutes late it was perfectly fine.  Such a stark contrast this go 'round!

Friday night Bethany had a night with her friends which left us with two little girls who haven't quite gotten the concept that it's ok for their big sister to do things with other people. They're a little territorial!  So we had dinner and a movie...complete with Towns and Cate giving me a pedicure.  One foot was covered in gold polish with white polka dots (Towns' choice) and the other was lavender with hot pink streaks that were supposed to be polka dots (Cate's choice).  The beauty of being really tired while that was going on is telling myself I'd take it off in the morning, which I forgot to do.  I went all over town the next day sporting such a fancy pedicure and didn't realize it until mid-afternoon.  Saturday was all about Bethany and helping her get ready for JUG formal that night.  Not only did she need a formal dress (for lead out), but she also needed a party dress (for band party) as well.  You would think I'd have that down by now, but I didn't even think about it until she reminded me Saturday morning.  So we set out to find the perfect party dress.  We scored big with a cute one that only needed to be altered two sizes to make it fit.  My sewing kit is obviously my new best friend these days.  Somehow we made it work, and it fit like a glove.  She was armed and dangerous with two perfect dresses for the night!  She got dolled up and was a knock out, as usual.  I think her date should consider himself a lucky fellow...

 

A little closer up...

 

She pushed him out of the way to get a solo shot...

Kidding.  Well, almost!  One more of the two of them...

Lead out was at Mallard Farms which is one of our favorite spots in Decatur.  Despite the sweltering heat and humidity, it made the perfect backdrop.  All the JUG girls...

B and her sophomore friends...

 While we were waiting for it to start, the girls found a friend and they fed the ponies boat loads of hay...

 And finally, it was time...

I've yet to figure out my camera and didn't get the best action shots, but I still think she's pretty even when she's blurry...

Once lead out was over, it was time to let loose and dance the night away.  And after hearing her recap of the night, I think it's safe to say she very much enjoyed herself!

Oh, to be a teenager again...

Football Frenzy

Football is the name of the game once school starts.  Or more specifically, cheerleading is the name of the game.  Whoever said it's not a sport hasn't had three hours of practice daily nor cheered in the heat and humidity for four long quarters.  After all, what would a football game be without cheerleaders?  And maybe I'm a little biased, but I think Decatur has the best ones around.  Last Friday night was Meet the Raiders where Bethany performed and the girls got to show the crowd what they learned at the cheer camp back in July.  They thought they were something else being down on the field where their big sister was...


After they did their thing, the announcer said their names over the loudspeaker and they were supposed to wave when their name was called.  Cate was oblivious, but Towns wasn't missing her name for anything...

That night was huge for Bethany.  She and her stunt group were chosen to be front and center during their halftime performance.  B's an incredible flyer and she means business.  She and her group have worked so hard to be good at what they do, and it paid off Friday night... 

They totally nailed it, rocked it, and anything else you want to call it!  We were SO proud!!

Last night was another football affair when Decatur played Muscle Shoals in an exhibition game.  All of the cheerleaders (9th grade, JV and Varsity) cheered and did a great job.  B was right in front of the student section, so I would sooner die than have my camera in her face!  I didn't come home with any pictures of her cheering, but I did sneak a few of the girls with Emma Hensley and Mary-Reed...

Of course they're all a blur because they didn't stop moving the whole night.  They kicked their shoes off and cheered their hearts out!

And Towns gave lessons on her daddy's iPhone...

Emma Hensley listened intently...so cute!

It's Friday and that can only mean one thing...

 

Those two cuties survived their first week of school!  We might just have a party this afternoon.  I think everyone is down right exhausted from this week being such a stark contrast to our summer routine.  Towns and I have a deal about what she wears to school.  I pick out her clothes Monday-Thursday and she gets to pick out what she wears on Fridays.  Her friend Emma has the same "BFF's rock" shirt, and they had planned to match today.  That's the epitome of 1st grade excitement!  Not to mention today is popcorn day at school.  I mean, does it really get any better than that?  Actually it does...it's JUG formal weekend!  We'll be primping it up with B tomorrow which gets me excited just thinking about it.  Happy Friday!

Peace, Love, 1st Grade

Go ahead.  Just give us a reason throw a party and we're all over it.  The April tornadoes squelched our desire to have Towns' birthday party (it didn't help that we still didn't have power on party day), and for a laundry list of reasons we never found a great time to reschedule.  We were originally supposed to have a painting party that my good friend Jess puts on.  She's so creative, organized, and amazing with kids which obviously means she's the perfect party planner.  I told her that I'd get the canvases prepped and ready to go for our April party.  In fact, I put all three girls to work painting those canvases a pretty shade of pink right after I rescued them from school the day the tornadoes hit.  They've been sitting here collecting dust ever since, so there was no doubt we needed to remedy that.  And we did just that with a belated birthday/back to school party Sunday afternoon!  Towns loves to get a party going, so she was so excited to help me get everything set up.  She brought her CD player outside with the perfect party mix music which eventually turned into a full on dance party.  And everyone knows you can't concentrate on painting without tons of candy surrounding you to keep you motivate...

Or so said the six year old.  She picked colorful Skittles, Pixie Sticks, Laffy Taffy and gumballs. Yum!

 

 Someone once told me that peace signs are all the rage in 1st grade, so that's exactly what we decided to paint...

 

Towns and Madelyn...

 

They painted, took a candy break, painted some more, you get the idea...

 

Bethany was my go-to girl Sunday afternoon.  She's such a sport!

Blondie takes painting so seriously...

Everyone else was finished, but she took her dear, sweet time!

She was done at the first talk of opening presents, though...

As if the girls hadn't had enough sweets, it was time for cupcakes and ice cream...

 

And what would a party be without something fun for our friends to take home?

 

Peace, Love, 1st Grade shirts!

 

 

After the party, Jess worked her magic on the paintings and got them ready for us to deliver to our friends...

How frilly and cute are they?!  What's even better is that they're ready to be hung in the perfect spot.
Thanks Jess...the party was a hit! 
Can't think of a better way to ring in the 1st grade year!