Orange, Blue, an X and a Gold Horseshoe

3:05. That's what time my eyes opened Saturday morning because I simply couldn't stand it any longer. For weeks, I'd been looking forward to November 13th because it meant a Chi O reunion on the Plains for the '98 pledge class. And finally, the day had come. Just three hours into it and I couldn't sleep another wink! Some of the girls I see on a fairly regular basis, some I don't; but one thing never changes...I love them all dearly. And thanks to those pledge tests we had to take every Sunday night during our first semester (or quarter rather), I can probably still tell you their full names, birthdays, and hometowns.

After filing a flight plan to get to Auburn as soon as possible, I met two hotties that I'd been dying to see...
Not long after that, the Deckers came strolling down the sidewalk which was was icing on the cake...
They're as good as gold, and took such good care of us while we were there. They're like family! I can't think of too many people who would let their 16 year old take their brand new Expedition to Auburn to drive her sister and friends around town for a certain birthday celebration. Some things never change...they treated us to a fun lunch and great conversation before we rushed off to the Chi O tailgate.

I couldn't help but pull my camera out of my purse as we made our way through campus...
The clock on Samford Hall was about to strike noon, and one of my favorite things about being at Auburn was hearing the fight song coming from Samford at that same time every day.

We ran into an old friend and had to stop for a photo op...
But we had even better old friends to get to, so we kept on moving.
This is the group I'm talking about...
It's not quite half of our pledge class, but I think we had a fabulous turn out!
I can't tell you how much fun it was to see those gals again. We picked up right where we left off and it was like no time had passed at all. Especially not eight years! We laughed, we ate, we talked about old times, good times, and everything in between.
The two Taras...
Erika took a break from practicing her splits to pose for a picture, God love her...Sarah, Anna Kate, Ashley, me, Darby, Tara and Erika...
Ginny and Miss Sixty...Not sure how Darby and I pulled ourselves away from translating voice mails into texts long enough for this one, but I'm glad we did...Roommate and me...
We're probably reading each others minds and laughing about what we're both thinking. Like pacifier teeth or something. Or maybe we're laughing over the picture taken of the inside of her purse. Who has that picture...Erika??

Let's be honest. Being 30 and going back to your alma mater is a little intimidating thanks to all the cute college girls in game day dresses. I mean, I was a little worried I'd stick out like a sore thumb. But after seeing the sea of boots and skinny jeans at the Chi O tailgate...
...I think I blended in well enough. For an alumni, that is. Believe it or not, we didn't send out a dress code memo, but it was definitely boots or bust! Should I tell you that my feet were killing me after walking all over campus in those boots? And I feel certain I shouldn't admit that my back still hurts from being in the car for so long on Saturday. But driving 8 hours in one day just to spend 4 hours with great friends was oh...so...worth...it!!
I'm just not as young as I thought I was, and I can certainly live with that.

Towns had a cheer competition early Sunday, so there was no football game in the cards for me. I had to get on home. When our goodbyes were said and everyone else headed to Jordan Hare, I made my way to The Hill right by myself for one long look at Molly Hollifield Hall...
The old Chi O dorm still looked just as I remembered it.
Ahhh, memories!
And a trip to Auburn wouldn't be complete without seeing the McKee house...
I'll forever believe that Auburn is the best place on earth. There really is no other place like it. But it's not just the town or the campus that makes it so special. It's just as much, if not more, the friends and the memories...
I think David Housel best summed it up when he said this about Auburn...

It is a spirit. It is an attitude. It is a way of looking at life and at one another. It is, almost, a way of living. Unless you have experienced it, you will never know what it is; you will never understand it. Once you have experienced it, you will never be the same. A part of you will, forevermore, be an Auburn man or an Auburn woman.

War Eagle, my friends!

This is the Day...

Every morning on the way to drop the girls off at school, we sing a song. Not just any song, though. It's the same song every passing day. I like to think that we've sang it and talked about it enough that they really understand what it means. If not, I suppose it'll come eventually. But the cherry on top is that it gives me sweet things to look back on like this when they're older and are probably making my hair turn gray...
Kidding. They'll never give us a minute's trouble as teenagers given the fact that J & I were model children. Ha!!

It Happens Every Time...

I turn my back for two seconds...

The one on the left is the culprit...the one on the right is the accomplice.
If we can only figure out how to channel this energy in a positive direction, we'll be set.

On the bright side, at least it was an easier clean up than this a year or so ago...
There's always a silver lining!

Pep Rallies, Parties & Motorcycles

Friday afternoon marked what would be Bethany's last pep rally of the football season. Decatur lost in the first round of the play-offs that night, but no one can argue their regular season was pretty amazing. I loved seeing the 9th grade cheerleaders in their long sleeve uniforms for this pep rally...Usually they've dressed up according to the theme of the week, so this was a nice change!
These two were super excited that they somewhat matched their Bebby...They were in awe of everything more so than usual for some reason...

I mean, it does look like fun so I can understand the intrigue!
The girls were all in an exceptionally good mood for picture taking, so we seized the moment...Love these three to pieces!Friday afternoon B layered herself up to get ready for the big game, and looked as cute as ever...
She spent most of the weekend on the go doing the typical teenager thing!
Saturday after a two hour gymnastics session for both Bebby and Towns, the two little ones surprised us all when they decided to help J do some work under the house. I wish you could see what he had them wearing. What made me laugh most is when he put glow bracelets around their arms so he could keep up with them in the dark. Towns is showing me hers here...
Cate was excited about doing "man's work"...B and I took advantage of everyone being confined in the crawl space of the house and set out in search of an outfit for her to wear to JUG's Fall Party that night. We didn't have much luck. I love that B has her own taste and style, and that she wouldn't just settle for any outfit. It had to be "the outfit". Too bad we didn't find that outfit. In situations like that, it's necessary to have a back-up. I think her back-up would have been my first choice, but then again she's way more stylish than me...
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!Sunday morning when we woke her up for church, she could barely move her legs. They were so sore from hitting the dance floor (and from her gymnastics class). It reminded me a little bit, ok a lot, of my life from 1998-2002. You Auburn girls know what I'm talking about. I couldn't help but tell her how proud I was. Ha! The only thing missing was a drumstick, but we'll work on that.

While B was dancing the night away, J took the rest of us to the arena cross event at the indoor arena in town. I have to admit that I wasn't super thrilled about it, given the fact that the girls could have been in bed by 6 p.m. because they were just that tired. Another minor detail: there's no heat inside the arena so we had to have ten layers of clothing. I think Towns went for one reason, and one reason alone. Nachos. You can take her anywhere and she'll be happy as long as they have a concession stand. J had been overly excited about taking us, so we bundled up, put a smile on our faces, and decided we didn't mind smelling like exhaust fumes if it made him happy!
Cate loved it while it lasted, but didn't make it very long. How she fell asleep with all the noise, I'll never know...One chick who wasn't missing a beat was this one...She was bright eyed the entire time, and once she saw this she knew exactly what she was putting on her Christmas list...
She's convinced she wants a motorcycle - a green one with a pink motocross outfit to be exact. This made J ecstatic, but the truth is that he doesn't want his girls following in his footsteps. We know all too well about motocross induced injuries at our house. We ended up having a blast, and J has already has an endless list of races he wants to take me to (so I can watch him race if I had to guess). His wheels are always turning...pun intended!
We weren't clear on how serious Towns is about wanting to race motocross until she put J's jersey on when we got home and insisted she sleep in it...
I don't know how we'd fit one more hobby, sport, extra curricular, etc. into our schedule, though. And we reminded her that you have to know how to ride a bike without training wheels before a motorcycle can even come into the picture. God love her...

I Belong in the Zoo?!

Sometimes I wonder what I'm going to do with those two monkeys in that picture. I love them with all of my heart and soul, and 99.9% of the time it seems like the feeling is reciprocated. But last night Towns made me start to wonder. Here's how it went...

I put the girls in the bath before dinner with the intention of getting ahead of the game as far as the bedtime routine is concerned. After I bathed them, I went to grab towels so I could get them out. As I was about to walk back into the bathroom, this is what I heard:
Towns: Cate-Cate would you like to hop on my train so I can take you for a ride around the zoo?
Cate: Absolut-el-y (she can make that word have 5 syllables)
Towns: Ok, here we go! (She's sitting in front of Cate pretending to be the conductor.) If you'll look this way, you'll see the giraffes. Oh, and right over there are the lions and tigers.
**I open the door and walk back in and she gestures to me with her outstretched hand**
And ladies and gentlemen, over here we have the gorilla.

Really? Gorilla? Not a pink flamingo or something cool. A gorilla.
And with that, I'll wish you all a happy weekend...

Growny

See that crib? That crib was what my cousin Mary Catherine slept in when she was a baby. When Towns was on the way, my aunt so generously asked if we'd like to use her baby furniture. We said absolutely, and have had it ever since. It's what Towns slept in until Cate came along. And it's what Cate has slept in until about a week ago. I honestly thought she'd be waking up in it on the first day of kindergarten. She's the independent type in lots of ways, and sleep is no different. She's always wanted to be right by herself with no one in her space. The crib with its rails ensured that no one could bother her! We've talked a lot over the last year about letting her sleep in a big girl bed and she's wanted no part of it. But having Towns coming into our room every night because she doesn't want to sleep by herself wasn't working, and we had to have a solution. Fast! One night last week after the little ones were asleep, we put them both in the same bed and it was like magic. They both slept all night long! Apparently Cate's over needing her space, which means blondie has a new bed fellow. Hallelujah!! Since we're getting ready to take the crib down for good, I told Cate I had to take a picture of her in it one last time. That's when she decided that she knew a few babies who might like to give it a try before it was too late...She was so attentive and made sure they had everything they needed...She's probably eying that doll's paci and thinking about how much she misses hers. That's another thing she's given up in the last week or so. But I have J to thank for that one. He told her that her paci was going to make her teeth fall out and she wouldn't be able to talk if that happened. I nearly fell out of my chair when he told me about it. So much for honesty!! If you know Cate, you know that being speechless would be a problem. Those teeth are a bit of a necessity...Sweet baby...who's not really a baby anymore!

She had to see for herself that her teeth hadn't fallen out...
She's still got her "toofs"...thank goodness!
One more that I love...
The girls and I do this thing where we'll say "I love you a million times all the ____ in the world" which is pretty sweet and funny at the same time. Cate can come up with some doozies! She got stuck on pink tree houses and horsies for at least a month straight. What makes me smile is when she gets done with telling me, she'll laugh and say "is that a lot?". In the picture above, she's telling her baby that she loves her "all da million times da pumpkin patches in da way-ld" (that's how she says world) which I fully believe is true. Last night, Towns topped it all when she told me she loved me a million times all the owls in the world. Oh, she knows me well!

Out With the Old...

In with the new...

Variety is the spice of life...or so they say.
We'll see! I've come to grips with the fact that those two will wear boots with everything. And if that's the case, we had to be prepared for upcoming holiday attire.
They were necessary. Totally necessary.