What's a Birthday Without Cousins

Courtney and Dave had a Walt Disney World Birthday

planned for Lawson

Brady, Kim, Emma, Abby and John Brady

had just returned from WDW

I mean really just returned

They had been home 5 days

Abby's 2nd Grade class performed at WDW the week before

So....

needless to say, they would not be at WDW for the birthday party

So....

Courtney and Dave planned a mini water park

Birthday Party so that Lawson could celebrate with his cousins

and his Aunt and Unclemuch fun was had by all

even though it kept trying to rain
Lawson loves to sing
and when we all sang "Happy Birthday"
he sang the loudest

The grand kids all playing in Lawson's

"secret" clubhouse

We discovered this sweet message

on Lawson's chalk board

after

Emma had left

When Courtney and I started taking down the balloons that afternoon

Lawson started piling them on Pops

Pops slept right through it!

The Great Massacre of 09

If you read my daughters blog, www.longsatlegglofts.blogspot.com, you may have

read the post back in October with pictures of a cute little Halloween/Thanksgiving scene or err

a picture of a scene anyway

Not sure how cute

I think Courtney had been waiting on the opportunity to do this since before they moved in

You know how these things are

My thing when we moved into our first house was to put up

hanging flower pots and get a hammock

I think that even though Courtney and Dave loved their loft

they were looking forward to things that having a yard offered

Courtney asked me to bring up some bales of hay so she could do a little decoration for Halloween

Now, in Berry, a small country town

we don't have those cutesy little decorating hay bales

We have the real thing

So....

when Court asked for six bales

it was hanging over the edges of the back of the truck

Off we went to the Farmer's Market to get some pumpkins

The FM is so much fun

They had every kind of pumpkin in every size that you could imagine

About $75.00 later

we came back to Courtney's with a truck full of pumpkins

I also had brought corn stalks with me

So....

we started decorating

Let it be said that I do not have a single decorating cutesy gene

and I fear that my daughter is the same way

We worked and worked

but even we realized that it was just so so

but with the time and money put into it

the decoration stayed

and

Lawson thought it was wonderful

As we were decorating the hay

Courtney mentioned that she hoped the hay didn't hurt

the grass

Dave had that grass looking great

The first weekend of December

John and I went to Birmingham to go to a

Christmas Tree Farm

Court, Dave and Lawson went with us

We got trees for everybody

After we unloaded Courtney and Dave's tree

and Lawson's Charlie Brown tree

Courtney asked if we could take the hay back to Berry

So....

Out go Courtney and I to dismantle the famous decoration

As we were picking up the hay

we actually had to pull it up

it had rooted into the ground

Uh Oh

The surrounding grass had already turned the yellow brown color

that kind of grass does in the winter

So

it didn't look bad

Whew!

Well, when we were up at Courtney and Dave's, the first of May, for

Lawson's birthday party

I noticed this in the front yard

Yes, all the grass was green except for the memory of Courtney's

very first

yard decoration

She says

never again

Dave calls it

The Great Massacre of 2009

I've got to have a TALK with Guard Lizard!

John worked in the yard most of the afternoon. I had

ran to the post office. When I pulled up at the house John calmly asked me to walk up on the back porch. I did and then asked why he wanted me on the porch. He said 'Don't you see it?" Well no, I didn't see it.....so he said to get the camera....it was a few steps away on the kitchen counter. As I walked back out the door....I SAW IT

and this is the picture I got

Yep... that is the hose pipe on the ground

Stretched out on the bottom step on the opposite side of the porch was a really big snake

trying to get under my house

Mr. Snake was not to proud of John trying to get him away from my house

After some practical discussion about this being a chicken snake and how
they eat mice and other snakes
the decision was made to spare his life
as long as he agreed to live that life very far from ME
So.....first John tried to shovel him up with the handy little
doggy poppy scooper
Mr. Snake was much too big for this and by that time
Bama and Bailey had discovered Mr. Snake and wanted
to play
Mr. Snake was not happy!
So...here is my hero trying to be
"Billy the Exterminator"
(do you watch that show.....it will crack you up)
Here he is
Mr. Snake
gone on to live in a woods hopefully
no where close to me!

Guard Lizard
hasn't shown his face this afternoon!

QUOTING ELEANOR

Eleanor Roosevelt lived her life in the center of what many would

regard the 20th Century's most consequential events,

the Great Depression, World War II, the establishment of the

United Nations and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights. She confronted both opportunity and adversity with a sense

of optimism and determination.

A Former Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson,

once said of Eleanor Roosevelt

"She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness."

When will our consciences grow so tender

that we will act to prevent human misery

rather than avenge it?

Eleanor Roosevelt

Trying New things

John is trying to start up a business

He will be mounting deer horns

and

turkey tail feathers

naturally

This is the first one

he did as a gift to a friend

Tuesdays With MeMe

As you might remember from previous

"Tuesdays With MeMe" posts

John Brady always wants to go with his Mommy

when she leaves to take the girls to dance

It would really be easier if his

Karate classes were on Tuesday nights

but alas

that is the only night that they don't have

them for his age

Kim and I try to find something to make him want to stay

home or aka stay with MeMe

Kim had the perfect distraction this past week

A helium tank with balloons

JB3 and MeMe has a ball

I blew up, tied the balloons

and then tied it to a string for over an hour

JB3 had them all on the ceiling in his

Mom and Dad's bedroom

It looked like a party

As I blew up a balloon with the last of the helium

I told JB3 to get them all together

and we would make a balloon bouquet

I was pretty proud of myself

John Brady was happy

and I felt pretty tickled myself

As I tied that last balloon to a string

John Brady yelled

come look MeMe

as I looked up from tying my last balloon

I saw JB3 on the outside porch

pointing upward

I ran outside in time to see all 14 or so balloons sailing upward

in the air

Oh Well

He was thrilled

and happy

and

that's all that mattered!

The only balloon left

The only balloon left after I ran to get my camera

Domino trying to catch the balloons

QUOTING ELEANOR

A New York Times reporter who was present

at the meeting of the UN's Commission of Human Rights meetings

wrote of the power Mrs. Roosevelt's personality had over

certain unreasonable diplomats.

"The Russians" seem to have met their match in Mrs. Roosevelt.

The proceedings sometimes turn into a long vitriolic attack on

the U.S. when she is not present. These attacks, however, generally denigrate into flurries

in the face of her calm and and undisturbed but often pointed replies.

"Where after all do universal human rights begin?

In small places, close to home-so close and so small that they cannot be seen on

any map of the world.

Yet they are the world of the individual person, the neighborhood

he lives in, the school or college he attends; the factory, farm,

or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman

and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity

without discrimination. Unless, these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere, without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to

home, we shall look in vain for progress

in the larger world.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Have You Ever Grown

a sweet potato vine

I am trying to grow some sweet potato vines this year

Last summer

in downtown Tuscaloosa

there were pots everywhere

with these vines in them

and

they were beautiful

so I decided to give it a try

The 1st attempt

2nd batch

newest attempt

If you have ever grown these before
and
have any tips
I will gladly take them

I am a little worried about

planting them

since

I have no idea what to do!

Tuesdays With MeMe

A couple of weeks ago

I noticed this sign

on the girls bedroom door

I thought it was so cute

Notice

Daddy is allowed

that means

John Brady

isn't

I wonder what JB3 did!

Our "A Day" Story

IT BEGINS LIKE THIS

We parked......free...that was a nice surprise

Rode the bus to the Quad

He doesn't look happy but he was just

aggravated because I wanted him to look at meBig John was gone, once again, on a turkey hunting trip.
Dave was gone to South Carolina to play golf and celebrate

the birthday of one of his college friends.

So, Courtney and Lawson met MeMe

and we headed down to

National Championship Celebration #2

aka

A Day Game

Here he comes

"The General"

leading his "captains"





After the ceremony to put the hand and footprints of the

captains in cement at Denny chimes

We headed to one of Courtney's favorite college

eating places

"Pepitos"

It looks like Lawson approves!

By the time we were through eating

the bottom gates were full

So, we headed up the ramp.

Lawson loved running/walking up the ramp!

For a while anyway

Our first glimpse of the UPPER DECK

Uh Oh

we may not get a seat!

At the top

Courtney took Lawson to see the crane.

One of his newest interests

We watched from the aisle

for a little while

And then headed back down the ramp

We sat down to rest outside of the

stadium

and

Lawson was fascinated with the

tower of X's

It took Court and I a minute

to zero in on what he

was talking about

Taking another break

and discussing statues

Riding the Bama Bus
Lawson loves to do this

and even though I must admit...

I was so against this move to ride buses

onto the campus.....

I absolutely love it now!

I feel like I am riding into

"the happiest place on earth"

As we were walking back to our car

Lawson decided he had to "tt"

At his age

when they ask to go

you let them go

Now

there were

port a potties

about a block away

but after a little discussion we decided that

a visit to a port a potty

might set potty training back

MONTHS

So

Lawson "tted" right there

at The Stallings Center

after all who would be more

understanding than Coach Stallings!

Then, Lawson wanted to investigate the beautiful little garden

at the center.

As Paul Harvey always said

AND HERE"S THE REST OF THE STORY

If you read the "A Day" post

You may have said

It looks like they had a great day

Well yes, we did

but

since I like to call myself an honest person

I feel the need to tell

"the rest of the story"

so here goes

EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG

I never over sleep. I never set my clock because I always wake up so early

5:30 or so

Now I may stay awake for a few minutes and then

allow myself to fall back asleep

So

I was not worried about meeting Courtney

I was going to leave Berry at 7

I woke up at 8:45

So...we got a late start.

That was okay

we still had plenty of time

except

the traffic from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa

started slowing down right outside of Bessemer

But, we made it

got to see Coach Saban and the captains

Okay, so that's not so bad

Courtney wanted to eat on the quad

Lawson loves to eat on the quad

and play while he eats

We left the blanket in the car

the ground was wet

Okay

we will just go to Pepitos

Court had not been there in years

Sit down

whew

everything is okay

until

Lawson grabs a table knife off the table

and his arms slips

and he jabs his eye with the knife

Panic

everywhere for a few minutes

He was okay

it hit right at his eye brow

a little cut and a little bruise

and some hurt feelings and MeMe and Mommy's food starts flopping around in our stomachs

We head to the stadium

We get in line for the only lower level gate available

We are getting in

until

they tell me my purse was too big

What

we get out of line

go to another gate to see if they will let my purse in

Yes, yeah!

but

it is upper deck

That's okay

we take off

Lawson is loving it

until

he falls and skins both knees

he calms down when his Mommy tells him

that he can have some jelly beans from

the concession stand

We take off to the top, again

Oh No

this can't be

It was so crowded that you had to get into

a line to even go out and hunt a place to sit

No Way

with a baby

So

we hung out a while and peeped in to watch a little action

bought Lawson his jelly beans

and headed back down.

Back on the quad we went to take pictures of the captains

hand prints in the cement at Denny chimes

They had it blocked of, of course, since it

was wet cement

Guess what happened

You won't believe it

Lawson spilled his jelly beans

they fell on the ground

But

3 fell in the cement

Court and I gasped

Oh no, not on our captains

But

it got worse

Lawson

upset over his spilled jellybeans

ducks under the blockade and heads for

his jelly beans

Major police movement

Courtney grabbed him just

before he became a

Alabama Captain

But

3 jelly beans were still in the cement

when we left

quickly with our heads ducked

to the bus stop

We rode the bus back to our car

Lawson needed to "TT"

After our discussion about port a potty

we decided to get him behind some bushes and let him "TT"

I mean surely the cops won't arrest a 2 year old

for indecent exposure

except that Lawson likes to take his pants completely off

when he "TT"s

So

there he is bottom shining

in the bushes at the Stallings Center

Luckily

our first luck that day

no one came by

By this time Courtney and I were getting silly

We both know that Lawson will probably be an Auburn fan

That is fine with us both

we tell Lawson he just has to respect our love for Alabama

So...in our silliness

we start talking about the likely little Auburn fan

"TT"ing on the grounds of Alabama at their A Day game

you can see that we were getting delirious!

While Lawson was in the bushes "TT"ing he noticed

the cute little flower garden at The Stalling Center

He wanted to go in

There was no stay out sign

so we went in

It was a beautiful little garden

peaceful

until we looked around and Lawson had pulled up a nice little bouquet

of tulips!

Can anything else happen?

We get to our car fast and go

We were going by Brady and Kim's house

to check on their animals

They were at Disney World

Lawson was so disappointed because the kids were

not there but happy to play on their swing set

I let the cat out and we sat outside to let

Domino stay outside and stretch his legs.

We went in after about 45 minutes

Lawson was wanting to play with Domino

Domino is still a kitten and swats at

everything that moves

So

you guessed it

Lawson was in the line of fire for one of those swats

He was fine

his feelings were just a little hurt

until

we noticed that the spot was swelling

and

he was breaking out

ADD one more thing to Lawson's allergies

Courtney gave him some benadryl

he seemed better

but he said his stomach hurt

Uh Oh

start the bath water

Poor Baby

It was then that Courtney noticed the warning

on the jelly beans that she bought him

They were sugar free

and

it says to only eat 8

or it may cause diarrhea

are they kidding!!!!

Lawson had eaten most of the

package

Anyway

the benadryl started taking affect

his stomach eased

Courtney gave him a bath

while I tried to find some of John Brady's clothes

that wouldn't fall off of Lawson

We locked up and headed home

Courtney said for us to go 55 mph

stay in the right lane and go straight home

and hope tomorrow was better.

AND...THAT"S THE REST OF THE STORY

UPDATE****** I knew I left some things out....Read Courtney's comment

for the rest of the story....yes it get worse******

QUOTING ELEANOR

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt came from a longtime

affluent New York family. She was a niece of Theodore Roosevelt,

26th President of the United States, and 6th cousin of

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States,

who became her husband.

She was a shy child who experienced death at a

young age. Eleanor's Mother died when she was 8 and

she became an orphan, at the age of 10, with the

death of her Father.

Eleanor attended school in England when she was a teenager.

When life is too easy for us,

we must beware or we may not be

ready to meet the blows

which sooner or later

come to everyone,

rich or poor.

Eleanor Roosevelt

I Lv U - I Lv U2

About ten years ago, while on a ladies trip, a young woman about

13 years younger than me, made a statement that I still think of regularly.

We were in a restaurant in Gulf Shores. She pointed out a older couple sitting at a table across from us and said that she had not seen them say a word to each other.

She said she hoped that when her and her husband got older that they

always had something to talk about.

I have often wondered why I can't seem to forget the statement

that she made. It did not hit home. John and I always had plenty to talk about.

I have thought about it often and if we sit at a restaurant for any

amount of time....I wonder if some young person is looking at us and saying they

hope they aren't like us someday.

And there it is.....

That is what bothers me

I luckily have the hard earned wisdom of almost

38 years of marriage to my high school sweetie

There is nothing new with us

We know each others thoughts inside and out

We have a happy life

And guess what

We can be happy

just

being quiet!

But according to this comic

we will never look old and unhappy

We text all the time

How cool are we!

but then, I have to say it again

not cool

never have been

never will be

But, we are quietly in love

and

we text it to each other everyday

QUOTING ELEANOR

Eleanor Roosevelt

had a very true concern for others.

She taught at a school set up for poor people,

She ran a factory for the jobless

and

believed in human rights

when it was an

unpopular stand!

People grow through experience

if they meet life

honestly and courageously.

That is how character is built.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Look Who Woke Up

Guard Lizard

John opened the door

"Easter Morning"

and

Guard Lizard jumped out of the wreath

on my front door

but

he stopped long enough to give us

a head nod

Turkey Slayer

John recently took a hunting trip

to Oklahoma

Turkey hunting

is one of John's favorites

He loves the challenge

The Turkey Hunters