Goodbye September

Hello October!!!!

I am ready for pumpkin picking!

I will be going with Peanut on his preschool field trip to the pumpkin farm again. It's so fun to watch those little guys on the hay ride and out in the patch picking pumpkins! I can't wait.

 I can't wait to see the colors of the leaves as they change!

Driving into work I have a beautiful view of the mountains. We live really close to Cades Cove and fall up in the mountains is one of our very favorite times of year!

I love fall. October is great in East Tennessee. The weather gets cooler and is just perfect for football.

Halloween is right around the corner, too. My most favorite part of fall and October is that hubby the kids are out of school for a whole week. AND the best part...

I will be off with them!

Wordless Wednesday

Mummy girl!

She might kill me later even though she thinks it's cool for now.

She had a sleep test last night. Lots of testing, little sleeping...

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Is it really only Tuesday?
I want another Friday already.

Tonight I get to sleep in a lovely hospital sleep chair at the local Children's hospital. My Sweet Girl has a sleep study tonight. My hopes for tonight are:
1. I sleep.
2. The test goes well.
3. I can at least catch Biggest Loser before they tell us lights out/tvs off.
4. There are no bedbugs in said sleeping chair like those found in another local hospital...eww
I am not looking forward to this at all. They will be waking us up at the buttcrack of dawn to leave. Don't they know I like to hit the alarm 47 times before being dragged out of bed? I like the thrill of a rush first thing in the morning. Haha...not.

I have a slight addiction lately to trail mix. Love the stuff. I thought I couldn't get enough of it until last night. I stopped at the WM to buy a bag. I cracked that baby open on the way home and ate a handful. Then once I was home I read the nutritional content. I will now be measuring out my servings of trail mix. Yep.

Every time I answer the phone at work I give my name. It bugs me when people call me by the name of my coworker.

I first sat down to write this post last night. I had more to say but didn't get past the title. Now it seems all my random thoughts from last night have disappeared. Hmmm.

I think (more like AM) I will be doing a Giveaway soon. It's been a while, like a year, since I had a giveaway on the blog. So, stay tuned for that. I can tell you that it is something mom's of little girls would likely be interested in. Or even you aunts, sisters, grandmas of little girls might want to check it out. :)

Wordless Wednesday



Random Thoughts Tuesday

You know what kills me? Certain perfume wearers. I'm not a huge perfume wearer because 1. my husband has asthma and allergies and that crap messes with his ability to breathe and frankly I want the man to breathe, ya know. 2. I am afraid of being "one of those" perfume wearers that I am getting ready to gripe about. Seriously, one spritz or spray is usually enough to not be overbearing. However, some people think you must spray half the bottle in one use to get the scent to hang around longer or something like that. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing I don't stink but there are some perfumes that do in fact stink especially when poured all over ones body/clothing. Some scents should actually be taken off the shelves if you ask me. I won't go naming those specific scents so as to not offend but let me tell you a couple of things I DO think you should consider. * When visiting loved ones at the hospital (especially when having surgical procedures done) I would advise you to just avoid wearing perfume all together. There is nothing like already being nauseated from anesthesia and other meds and then someone coming in your room with you wearing an entire bottle of your stinky scent. * It is also not wise to board a plane full of strangers (or a bus, taxi, any mode of transporation where quarters are tight) smelling like you bathed in it and then poured it all over you. I am not sure even why people think being heavily scented is a good idea, ever.  I guess I will step off my soap box now (haha... some people should feel safe just sticking to soap). ;)

I think some days my kids are going to be the death of me. 

Yesterday, for example, Mr. Peanut was given several breakfast options varying from boiled eggs to PopTarts and lots in between. He would eat a bite or two of the egg, a pretzel or three but then complain and whine about "Mommy doesn't love me because she won't take me to Chickfila to get what I love." Um, yeah..kid you're right, it's all about love. Whatevs. We went about our morning and headed to school. I offered him MY trailmix out of MY lunch/snacks for the day to which he said he wanted because he liked the raisins. Hey, it was something at least to go with what he'd already eaten. But again, not good enough. What could I do at this point but send his rear to preschool. He showed me up...big time. We got to class and he was crying how hungry he was and I reminded him as I told the teacher, "He was given options. He had a few bites of this or that. I am not a horrible mom that is sending her kid to school without food, I promise." Next thing I know Mr. Peanut is out in the parking lot. What was he doing? Who knows. Maybe he was going to walk to CFA and get his own breakfast. Little does he know they don't sell nuggets to kids with good looks. That stuff cost money honey and you have none! ;) Ahh the life of a 4 year old. I found out after school yesterday that his teacher ended up giving him some cheese crackers to which he let me know, "She gave me my most favorite thing ever." As if. 

I am going to the zoo this weekend with Annabelle and a few of my other Girl Scouts (and their moms). It's not my favorite place in the world but my girls earned free passes during their cookie sales in the spring so I'd hate to waste the pass. I know it's going to be fun but I wish the weather man would find a way to make it 70 degrees and breezy! 

Did you read/hear about the guy who committed murder and is claiming he was overly caffeinated? Ha. Today I have had a large coffee AND a large Diet Coke. I also have 12 ounces of Diet Coke still sitting on my desk. Just how much caffeine is too much or so much so that it "can make one murder?" Not that I am planning to hurt anyone today or anything...ha just sayin' I personally think it is a silly claim (that's my point!), but it's also been said that years ago someone got off with a similar claim. Interesting to say the least.

I had a victorious day Friday. I haven't talked about my weight loss attempts here on this blog in a while, but do blog about them occasionally here. But also don't really mention that specific blog to others because it is really more for me than anything else. Anyway, back to the victory. My jeans (the size 14s I got at Christmas) were starting to get loose. In fact, *I* felt they were getting uncomfortably loose especially since my wonderful hubby would point out that they were saggy in the bootay. So, Friday I decided to head over to Old Navy just to try on jeans in a smaller size. When I walked up to the jean wall two guys were working and one of them asked if I needed help with a size. Normally I would say no because I was too ashamed of the size I needed to ask for help. However, this day was different. I said, "yep. I need to get a couple of 12s there." Walked off with a smile and headed to the fitting room. Now I had told myself this was just a TRY ON session. I knew they wouldn't fit and should they even go up they'd be too tight to buy just yet but I was going to get  a sense of where my body currently was. Then the surprise happened! Sweet victory as I pulled those bad boys on and they fit perfectly! Ahhh. Success. I've wanted to wear those jeans ever since. And you know what feels even better? Being able to throw them in the dryer and not worry that they will shrink to the point I can't wear them. Woohoo!

Speaking along the same lines..
Tonight is the season premier of Biggest Loser 10. I can't wait. However, I hate that it comes on the same time as my fave show One Tree Hill. Thank goodness for DVR. Although I will miss the elimination portion of Dancing with the Stars. Too bad I cant' dvr more than one show at a time. ha. And gee, it looks/sounds like I watch a whole lotta tv. Hmm. Maybe I do.

Whew, this has become a very long RTT for me! I guess that makes up for lost blogging time, huh!?
You can participate in RTT too! Just head over to The Un Mom and link up! Adios.

He wants to play.

It's been a while since I have actually posted anything about football other than a picture or two. The fact is football season is going great and is much more relaxed and stress free than I have ever remembered it being. The team hubby now coaches for is doing fantastic. Have I mentioned they are after their 7th IN A ROW state title? Well, it is true!

Last week's game was great. I asked hubby the night before how the other team looked and he said they were tough. Friday night's score...

49-0

Another win for the Tornadoes!

To say the games don't stress me out would not be a true statement. I still get nervous before games and during but the stress mostly comes from my kids. Friday's are hard because Annabelle is tired from school and sitting still at a football game isn't exactly "her thing." Isaiah is beyond exhausted because he is with Mamaw all day and usually has no nap because they are out and about usually. And trying to get a 4 year old to sit still in the stands at a football game is quite the task. This past Friday night was no different except for the fact that the fit he pitched had me THISCLOSE to packing out stuff up and heading home before half time!

You see my sweet Peanut was bought (by his sweet Mamaw who spoils him like crazy who loves him SOOOO much) a Tornadoes jersey and real football pants earlier in the day! She called me at work to tell me how excited he was. She even said she explained to him that it was an early birthday gift. Yeah, right woman, his birthday is in March...good luck with him remembering that! ;) Anyway, some cool kid at the game had talked his mama, daddy, granny or such to buy him a used Tornado football helmet from the Booster club. Hmmm, hmmm.. You see where this is headed??

Mama started out with $30 at the game. I went before the game and loaded up on a few snacks and drinks to avoid spending too much at the game but of course my son cannot make it through a football game without a slice of pizza. I even stopped for dinner on the road despite the fact that I would have LOVED one of those juicy burgers from the AWESOME band boosters (HI!!!). After our snack stop, dinner and that slice of pizza I ended up having $15 cash on me. Not too shabby all things considered.

Fast forward to 2 minutes before half time.

My boy remembered the other boy (you know the COOL one) with the helmet. Sigh.
I inquired about the price of those preused helments. $20
Remember mama only had $15. Peanut did no,t and probably won't for a few years, understand that because I had TWO (a 5 and a 10) dollars that it was not enough for the helmet. I like to say it was because he was sooooo exhausted but I know it had some to do with the fact that he was mad I couldn't get the helmet BUT my sweet boy pitched one heck of a fit. Even though there was only 2 minutes on the clock it sure felt like an eternity passed by while we waited for Daddy to come out of the press box. I begged my loving hubby for a $5. He had NONE. Oy.

My son had cried, banged his little head on my shoulder, wiped snot down my sleeve and begged to go home because we couldn't get that helmet. He was begging for his bed and it was not even 8pm.  I was spent and within minutes so was my money. I am thankful for the awesome ladies in that booster club booth for floating us $5 for the helmet. They will never know how happy that made my overly obsessed Tornado fan of a son.

Wordless Wednesday

Tomorrow you get the entire story about this helmet.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Keely over at The Un Mom  hosts this lovely Tuesday bit we refer to as Random Thoughts Tuesday. It's your chance to get random and say what ya wanna say. ;)

I warn you that today my RTT post is being written before coffee. And yes, I realize it is 11:43 a.m. and no, I still have not had any coffee. So goes life..some days!

Peanut is snack helper at preschool tomorrow. We have to feed 17 "hungry" children. I was thinking about muffins and fruit. Too bad Peanut wants to go pick out his snack to take. Maybe I can sway him in the direction of the muffin isle?! Ahh, I know the Mommy in me should let my 4 year old choose. Perhaps *I* can have my own muffins this weekend. teehee

We had parent/teacher conferences yesterday. Ours went well. Surprisingly. I am amazed that Miss Annabelle's teacher told me the girl is having no behavioral issues though. Seriously, as cute as my kid might be...she does NOT act cute at home very often. So, I was sure she was showing some of this sassy misbehavior at school too. Not so much. And of course Annabelle wanted to know what her teacher said. So, I told her. And now I am going to use that to my advantage, I think.

I've had two Public Law boards to prepare this month. One was on the larger side and the other small. Thankfully they are both DONE! This means playing catchup on my other stuff at work. No fun.

It is mid-September already. Can you believe that. Well, technically tomorrow is mid-September but still this year is whizzing by. Have you began to think about Halloween costumes yet?  My kids have but only because we got some silly magazine in the mail. Annabelle wanted to be the chic with short hair from Scooby Doo (her name slipped my brain suddenly) but I am sure that was short lived because Annabelle got a cute new hair cut (did I ever post a pic) and it looked similar to that chic (whos name I cannot recall still!). Peanut, well he is 4 so his mind changes like he changes undies (and believe me people that is A LOT). Friday he was bought a football jersey and real football pants (and if you recall me saying I had a story from Friday night to share) he also got a helmet. So, maybe we can just talk him into being a football player in support of his favorite team (he is what we call OBSESSED)!

I finally got my coffee. It wasn't the large cup I requested but a medium. Thankfully it still hit the spot. However, it wasn't the best thing to pair with the steam broccoli that accompanied my lunch. And I am still picking bits of said broccoli out of my braces. Hate that.

Oh oh oh...this makes me excited! I purchased Annabelle's pick Christmas gift from Santa this weekend. I am so excited. And I am excited because I know she will LOVE it and be as excited as I am about it. :) I love seeing my kids faces light up on Christmas morning. Today Peanut was looking through a Fisher-Price catalog we got in the mail. We still haven't decided what to get him. Yes, we do our shopping early! Anyway, I told him to look through and see what he might like Santa to bring. Of course I said that to a 4 year old. Are 4 year old boys capable of picking out ONE thing they want from Santa? Heck no! He wanted everything in that blasted book right down to the Little People. How I love the Little People (so much so that I have held on to Belle's for the last 6 years). Anyway, one thing he mentioned was the "Jesus family." Yep, he said it just like that. Love him and HIM! Have you seen that cute Little People nativity? Ahhh, so sweet. I'm hoping our Elf (on the Shelf), Willie, might be able to make an appearance sometime before Thanksgiving with this small gift (the LP nativity) for the kids as a reminder of what Christmas is about as well as reminding them that Santa is watching, too. And if you do not have an Elf on the Shelf and you do have little kids...get thee to a Hallmark store or some other place that sells them. Such fun! 

Ok, I should be a little productive at some point today....not that blogging isn't productive or anything. lol

tap tap tap

Excuse me...
Is this thing on?

I was just looking at my blog and realized it was Tuesday that I last posted! Yowzer!
You see, it is Public Law Board time again at work and I had been a busy little bee. Work, the gym, errands... Once I get home it is time to tend with kids, homework for Annabelle, showers and the whole getting ready for the next day routine, and then pack lunches...mayabe some laundry and if IF there is time...spend it with the hubby. Seems there has been little time for that. And wouldn't you know I look at the clock to realize it is after 11 and I am sitting down to write a post on my blog. Sigh.

I'm guessing I am not the only mom, wife, blogger out there that gets busy or heck, even forgetful! LOL and well, if I am then you just feel free to share your secret about fitting everything in throughout your day! I have serious time management issues along with my whole procrastination problem. They go hand in hand for some of us (ahem, ME!).

While like is hectic and in some cases stressful...it is still GOOD!

So, tomorrow I will start my day with a little randomness and I promise at some point I will get to a football post. I actually took my camera to the last game and there's a fun little story to tell about my adventure at that game. Whoa buddy, I had Mr. Crankypants with me that night and mama was exhausted before half time. I have high hopes for this week's game as far as the kiddos and my sanity! ;)

Stay tuned!

Random Thoughts Tuesday

The Un Mom hosts these RTT's and I just love them because I can get a lot said in just one post!

I like long Holiday weekends but I do not like when my work week starts on a Tuesday yet it still feels like Monday. Don't get me wrong here though because I do like that it is a short work week. I have lots to get done this week in a shorter amount of time but I am still one day closer to the weekend.

I started my morning out with a treat. I haven't been to Starbucks probably since last winter. Early winter actually. Like maybe December. I had traded in my $3 Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte in for a $1 cup of regular old coffee (2 Splendas, 3 creams) at McD's. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I'm not usually one to drink my calories anyway so the trade off was good. Anyway, my treat this morning was a Tall Non Fat Pumpkin Spice Latte (no whip, please!). So I drank 200 calories but I ate boiled egg whites as a trade off. And did you know Starbucks prices went up a wee bit? Geez. $4 for a tall now!? Eh, maybe it's the high tax here or just that I was so use to my $1 cup at McD's. haha 

I went to the Orthodontist last week and we discussed what the oral surgeon had to say. At that time I also informed the orthodontist that I was NOT going to sign up for this oral surgery bit. Nope. So, he said he had something else he wanted to try if I was willing. Sure thing, sir! He said he liked my spirit. Yay! Rah rah. ;) So, I have been in some terrible pain with the bit of changes he made. Usually it only takes a few days of getting use to. Friday the pain was worse and oddly enough on the opposite side of my jaw/face than the changes the ortho made. I chalked it up to the rubber bands pulling that direction?! 

The pain was MUCH worse by Saturday and shooting through my ear. Could it be something other than the orthodontic work? Perhaps. So, I decided to take myself to the clinic just in case. 

Hmm hmm. Yep. Sure 'nough. Mama spent the weekend with a raging ear infection. I left there with 3 prescriptions. Fun times relived from my childhood...only worse! Today I am feeling better with only short blips of pain shooting through my ear once in a while. Be jealous. ;)

Last night my awesome hubby made our weekly grocery run. I love him for doing this chore (among others). I am not a good grocery shopper, he is! When he returned home I kindly asked if wanted any help unloading the car. He said sure and I hopped out of my chair to go grab some bags. Haha.. I walked not 3 feet out the front door and there on the driveway laid a dead baby snake. OMG. I don't know about you but I hate snakes...big, small, dead or alive. I am NOT a fan. I squealed like the girl that I am and ran my right back into the house where my wonderful hubby was chuckling his hiney off. Thank you, honey. See in my mind all I was seeing was mama snake and the other babies in the bushes that line the front of the house. What happened if one of the kids left the front door open to long? Or what if mama snake lived in the backyard and decided to come in while I was tending to the dog that evening? Oy. I do not like snakes. Baby snake was gone this morning. While I am sure my hubby is right that something ate it overnight I still do not like it's disappearance anymore than I liked it being there dead on my driveway within feet of my front door in the first place. 

I'm putting this shameless plug out there again. I am running the Race for the Cure 5k in October. October is breast cancer awareness month. I have set up a button on my side bar because I am trying to collect donations to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation to FIND A CURE. Last year because of many blog readers like you I was able to reach my fundraising goal. Please help me reach it again this year and know that it is going to a great cause and your donation is tax deductible! Thanks in advance. 

Music Monday

Do you love music?? Music gets me moving (at least when I run). Music can also get me in a great mood when I am down (with the help of a certain song). Or in the case of the current season (hello, football!?!?) music can really get me excited!

If YOU love music, too be sure to head over (on Monday's) and join RunDMT for a little Music Monday!



Hopefully you can see the above video!

It's football time in TENNESSEE!! GO VOLS!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Peanut's last year of preschool.

This is better than the way he reacted on Monday when I dropped him off.