The Weekend Edition

The sunshine was quite deceptive today.  It LOOKED warm outside but it was quite chilly.  The kids really wanted to play outside and so I let them go out. I had a revolving door today as the girls went outside and played and then came back inside asking Pete to build a fire.  I got a little cleaning done and I finally put away my Spode Christmas China (sniffle) and some other pieces of my Lenox Winter Greetings.  I thought I'd gotten down to my last Christmas tree, but forgot about the one in the guest bedroom. I do have the remaining trees undecorated, so now I'm just referring to them as "winter trees" rather than "Christmas trees" and I'll get to it when I get to it!

We had ballgames this morning. When Ali first awoke she told me that she just didn't feel up to playing in today's game. I certainly understood since she's been sick most  of the week and I can tell she's dropped a few pounds. She doesn't have any spare pounds to drop so she looks a little pale and waif-like. However, after getting up and showering she seemed to feel better and wanted to try and play.  I could tell both girls were a little tired during their games but they still did well. Ali won the "effort award" today for dragging herself out of bed and playing in the game even though she felt lousy. Addie Belle won the "most Christ-like award" for always having a sweet attitude and being a good role model on her team.  I was so proud of both of them!

Now how do you like THAT form?   

Addie Belle is too little to get the ball to the goal. Her coach, Coach Wright, taught her the "granny shot". She hit two goals during practice and was so proud of herself! Coach Wright grabbed her up and slung her around when she hit her first goal! She LOVES Coach Wright!

Ali's team, the Lady Sparks and their Coach, Coach Jones

Ali always looks so skinny after being sick! She still played well though and hit one basket during
the game. She played GREAT defense too!

After a rough week of sickness, I think the Bennetts are on the mend. Ali Grace is working on memorizing the books of the Bible for extra credit in her Social Studies class. Luckily she memorized them in song form while she was in the Children's Choir.  She taped them to the wall and every once in awhile as she walks by the sheet, she sings the song. Thanks to Dwain our Children's director! You've saved us a lot of study time!!

I am so looking forward to tonight. We are watching a movie and Pete suggested we open a bottle of wine and just decompress while watching something completely mindless.  Sounds heavenly. 

Soper's Hole, West End, Tortola British Virgin Islands

Here's my warm weather picture of the day:  Sure hoping we can get back there soon.

January Shmanuary

I love Friday nights. I am usually utterly exhausted and knowing I have two whole days ahead of me at home with Pete and the girls makes me so happy and relaxed. I run around like a straight fool all week long putting out fires both at home and at work.  It is exhausting y'all.  I want something different. I'm just not sure what.

I've come to the point in my life where I've been slapped in the face with the reality that there are no perfect people. Maybe you all realized that earlier than I did. I am stubborn. Naive maybe. Totally unrealistic in my expectations- definitely. It's a harsh thing y'all! I have felt very threatened by several things going on in my personal life lately with friends and family. Every single seemingly perfect person with the perfect marriage and the perfect car and the perfect job is carrying around a burden. Sounds so simple. Why am I just now realizing that it is okay to make my own decisions? It's great to take advice from those older and wiser, but after you realize that they're struggling to get through this life just as hard as you are, it makes you realize that you may as well make decisions based on what YOU want in life- not what they think you want.  [Insert long sigh here]  That's the end of my philosophical rant. Without sharing the details, I probably sound like a nut anyway.

The girls had Basketball Spirit Week this week at Edmund Burke Academy. Today was Jersey Day. Addie wore her Upward jersey. I let Ali Grace wear my UGA #8 Jersey. They were both cute as could be! Please feel free to ignore my dirty windows.  Thankfully, the girls are both feeling MUCH better today. I was starting to think it might take a big fat shot of Rocephin to knock out this crud, but they seem to be on the mend today.

Addie got 4 eggs today. She has gotten SO good at gathering eggs after school without being asked! Now we're going to work on folding some of her own clothes!  This is our first full week without Francisca and while my house doesn't look perfect, it's acceptable. It looks "lived in" and I'm getting used to that. I'm actually starting to appreciate it. Now if the laundry heap gets much higher, I may change my mind. So far though, we're hanging in there. 

 January is by far my least favorite month of the year. It is so hard to get back into a routine after the wild holidays around here. The weather is typically dreary.  It is a LONG month- especially for teachers. I'm just not a fan of January. It's too early to even THINK about Spring. Yuck. I found this picture on my card reader tonight. We took this picture while visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Palm Bay, FL over the summer. Something about it makes me feel warmer! Or maybe it's just that my husband is home and has built a HEAVENLY fire in the fireplace. You know- The kind of fire that inspires you to drink a great glass of wine and read the latest Southern Living from cover to cover.  My sweet hubby renewed my lapsed Southern Living subscription over the holidays and I just got my February issue today. Ahhh... I WILL enjoy January. I WILL enjoy January. I WILL enjoy January. Now I need some wine. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Limping into the weekend

This has been a very long week for us. Pete was gone for part of it and the girls complained that there was no fire in the fireplace. I didn't even attempt to make a fire while he was gone, knowing all they'd do is compare it to Daddy's inferno.  I have about 1,000 things going on at work, none of which amuse or interest me. Add to that the fact that both kids have been snot factories this week and you've got a recipe for a meltdown or a good ol' southern hissy fit.  I just keep repeating "tomorrow is friday!".

The girls did not have fevers this morning so I sent them on to school even though they felt terrible. This made ME feel terrible. We are short a teacher on our hall for who knows how long so there was just no way for me to stay home today. There are few things more heartwrenching than leaving crying children behind.  I know all moms go through this, but I'm not doing well with it lately. I'm realizing that they are growing up so quickly and I feel like I'm chasing behind them rather than living life alongside them. I think I've whined about this before. Sorry.

Luckily, both of them felt better when they got home from school today. Still yucky, but better. They even felt like playing outside for a short time.

This should help her sinus drainage issues. :)

We're looking forward to a restful weekend around here. I do plan to put away my last remaining Christmas tree. I hope. If not it will be a Valentine's tree or something of that sort. Don't judge me.

Love it when the girls are getting along!

Bless her heart. After Benadryl, she crashed. I had to drag her into the shower. This is when I'm especially thankful for a huge walk in shower!

Hooray for sunshine!

 Thank goodness the sun decided to come out today! Addie didn't even bother to get her bookbag out today. She came inside, got a drink and then went out on the back deck to play. She also got all the eggs from the chicken coop without even being told. For those who are curious, yes, Addie does have a year round cherry limeaid mustache.

I LOVE that my kids enjoy playing outdoors so much and I was glad to take Addie's picture until I realized she had no shoes on. It's not THAT warm here today!

Addie asked if she could play with Jessie and Woody outside and I told her she could. She came out with a frown on her face and said that she had Woody but could not find Jessie.  I almost panicked because when we can't find Jessie,  all life stops until we find her!  As I was about to get up Addie said "I was only teasing you Mama! Woody never goes ANYWHERE with out Jessie".   She helped them climb the rock wall today.

I got very good news this morning when Pete called. We'd had a misunderstanding and I thought he was coming home tomorrow night but actually he's coming home very late tonight. YAY! We had a pretty good girls night last night but all of us would rather Daddy be home.

Ali put her UGA puzzle together in front of the fire during the basketball game

Addie went through my closet and tried on three dresses. 

Then all of us: Ali, Addie, Woody and Jessie piled into bed.

Ali still feels cruddy. She doesn't want to miss school because she doesn't like to have to make up work in addition to her homework. Don't get me started on homework. Y'all should know I am the biggest anti-homework teacher out there! Ugh... I told her if she had to stay home she had to stay home and if we had to, we'd tag team the homework!

still feeling kinda rough. It was inside out day at school today.

We're all looking forward to the weekend around here!  We've had a hard time finding a routine after the Christmas break, snow days, etc. Also hoping Ali feels better since we've about had all of the laying around on the sofa watching Mythbusters we can stand! First on the list for the weekend though- a revised chore list! Wish us luck!!

Single parenting

Ali and Nanny waiting on the steaks to come off the grill!

Pete is off at one of his many Ag functions tonight and tomorrow night so I'm a single parent for a couple days. I don't like it. I'm not good at it. That's all I have to say about that.  Today it was rainy and cold most of the day and it's sure easy to get into a funk when the weather is so dreary. I was a little down since I knew Pete would be leaving this afternoon and I have so much to do around here.  Luckily when I got home my Daddy invited us over for a steak dinner. Talk about perfect timing.

This is the best shot I could get as Addie and Poppy flew through
the front yard on their way to grill out at Poppy's house!

Ali seems to still be a little gunky. Her fever is gone but her throat still hurts and her nose is dripping like a faucet. She and I are watching the UGA/UT game on TV tonight. Now that she's actually been to Stegeman Coliseum, she thinks it's really cool to see it on TV.  

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I'd make a terrible single parent. I'm very thankful for my husband. He gets on my last everloving nerve but I miss him when he's not here. I don't sleep well when he's gone. That really IS all I'm going to say about that. 

The 100th day of school

Addie Belle had to do a project over the weekend to celebrate the 100th day of school today. I've never really understood what was so special about this day, but to kindergarten teachers everywhere you'd think it's the 180th day of school, which would REALLY be a reason to celebrate. Addie had to do a project representing 100 of something. I surely did not feel like running into town to get anything so off we went across the road to my parents' garage. We all refer to it as "the Y2K shelter". My daddy buys so many things in bulk and then stores them in the garage for whatever reason. We all make fun of him until times like this when we need Hershey's kisses. I remember once my mom was about to make cocktail sauce and forgot the horseradish. My dad exclaimed, "there's some in the garage"! Horseradish? really? Yes! Along with maraschino cherries, palmolive, spray starch, success rice, chicken broth and luckily- Hershey's kisses!  I don't have the patience for such projects. Pete helped her complete the entire thing and then was totally dejected when she announced to her class today that she and her MOMMY had done the project! Poor dads- don't get enough credit!  Addie wanted her hair curled and I will at least take credit for that.

Addie Belle with her 100th day crown. Woody and Jessie had to be part of the celebration!

Ali woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible fever. She is like a heat rock when she has a fever. I don't need a thermometer. I can tell by her red cheeks and the heat radiating off her body that she's on fire. I gave her some ibuprofen and by daybreak her fever was down. I still kept her home from school today anyway and we had a nice morning together.

Ali is in heaven watching her Mythbusters episodes. 

By lunch, she felt like working on some homework while I cooked.

Now I KNOW some of you out there are thinking "She has lost her mind! She won't let a dog in her house but she will allow a scooter!"  To you I say... well I don't know what to say except yes, yes I did. In the last few weeks we've had sleet, snow, ice, and now rain.  This is GEORGIA! Not Minnesota, not Washington, not North Dakota... GEORGIA.  After a  certain amount of time indoors, we Georgians begin to disintegrate! Well not really, but we do get nutty and furthermore, I hate video games and I'd rather hear the roar of a scooter running circles in my house than gunfire on some video game. There I said it. And even FURTHERmore, the scooter does not shed. Or drool. Or chew up a very expensive monogrammed lunch box.

The fact that I'm posting these pictures with books, socks, ribbons and various other random items strewn all over my floor is a big step for me! My house is a slight wreck and you know what? It'll be alright. It will. I hope.

Awesome day in Athens!

I spent a wonderful 4 years of my life in Athens, Georgia and don't get to go back nearly as often as I would like.  Since the girls started playing basketball this year we thought it would be a great idea to take them to a Georgia basketball game. Turns out, this MLK weekend the Lady Dawgs were slated to take on the Rowdy Reptiles from Florida. Perfect. We invited my friend Shannon and her daughter Hailey to go with us.   We got up early and Addie had to find Woody and Jessie. We can't go anywhere of any significance without them!

We picked the Widener women up around 9am and headed to Athens! Ali was so excited that Hailey was going to the game with us.  We listened to silly silly girly laughing all the way there!

Once we got to Athens, we let the girls walk around campus a little and Pete and I told them all the stupid things we'd done while we were there. (Well not ALL the stupid things of course). The snow and ice was still rough in places so we didn't go as many places as I'd like to have but we had a good time anyhow.

We had lunch at one of my favorite places. LOCO's! I love a hot Cuban! (And I don't even care if he speaks english! LOL) 

Before going to the game, Pete wanted to walk through the UGA Trial Gardens. He's such a horticulture geek and it's quite annoying at times because he takes random plant pictures like this one:

Is there even a plant THERE? Ugh....

Hailey and Ali Grace at the Trial Gardens

When we finally made it to the game we were so glad to see Brian and Cohen! They came to sit with us and Addie was glad to have a friend of her own at the game with us. I was impressed by Stegman Coliseum! It's not the "Stegosaurus" it once was! The game was slow and Georgia was down by as many as 16. In the last 6 minutes of the game, the Lady Dogs showed up and whittled the Gators' lead to 2.  FINALLY out of nowhere our 3 point shooters showed up and it was ON! The ending was great and Ali's throat hurt from yelling so loudly! My proudest moment was when the game was a little slow and I turned around to see Addie and Cohen talking about something totally random and unrelated to the game. The UGA Pep band started playing "Glory" and instinctively both kids stopped talking and started clapping to the beat!  Proud Mama! GO DAWGS!