Time to Party, Time to Celebrate...

NaBloPoMo is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(a little song I'm singing in my head) - I did it, I did it, even with mono, I did it!

I posted every stinkin' day of November, and today's the final day! Jillian threw down the challenge, and I accepted, and now I've finished the drill! I've even posted twice a day sometimes... I think this is my 44th post of the month. I have enjoyed posting every day, but I will say that I'm glad it is over. I'll still post a lot, just like I did before the challenge started, but at least I won't have to do it every day if I don't feel like it.

So, to those of you that have posted every day in November - I think Jillian, Jennifer, and Kelly have done it - and those who made a valiant effort, here is an "official" NaBloPoMo completion seal that I have for you to put on your blogs!

We did it!

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...

will stay these Dawgs from their com- pletion of the appointed season! We did go to Athens - in the cold rain - to see UGA play Georgia Tech. Even though the Dawgs lost 45-42, we still had a fun weekend.

We went up to Athens on Friday evening, driving in the dark and in the rain. It was yucky, yucky weather, and only a prelude of what was to come the next day! We met Stacey and Joey Lancaster at the condo- we had invited them to go to the game with us. (Stacey and I were roommates in college.) This was the first time in almost three years that we've gone out without 1-3 kids in tow! One of Saunders's good buddies Martin and his girlfriend Alayna met us, too... Alayna had given Martin tickets to the game for his birthday.

We all went downtown to DePalma's to eat. There, we met Trey Sheneman (Stacey's brother, and my other college roommate), his fiancee Jennifer, and two of their friends. Unfortunately, DePalma's was a TWO HOUR wait, and there was no way mono-girl was going to be able to stand around for two hours before eating. So, we walked to Wild Wing, still had to wait thirty minutes, but we were able to eat some yummy wings there. The Lancaster/Jones families decided to take a big challenge at Wild Wing- we ordered a 50 wing platter of Wild West wings and Colorado Coppers! That's the biggest wing tray! Normally, I can easily put down sixteen wings, but with the swollen spleen, I could only get down seven. So, I let the team down. Stacey didn't eat many more than me, but Joey and Saunders put on a good show, so we were able to get finished with 40 of the 50 wings! We had a great time at dinner, laughing and reminiscing about crazy times when we all lived together in Athens. We went back to the condo, talked about - what else? - the kids for awhile, and then hit the sack. Martin, Alayna, and the younger kids all went out clubbing downtown, but the two old married couples were just too tired!

Saunders & Joey

Stacey & Me

Me & Alayna

Martin & Saunders

Jennifer & Trey

Trey's friends

On Saturday morning, we got up to a cold day and drizzly rain. We took showers and got ready, and then went to Zim's Bagel Bakery for a delicious Breakfast Special. We went back to the condo and put on even more warm clothes, and walked down to the game. Although it was hard, and I was almost in tears by the time we made it to our seats because my legs were so weak, I made it!

Wearing our ponchos

Ready for the rain!

Because of the rain, the Redcoats did not march on the field, so it was kind of a dis- appointing pregame show. It was Senior Day, and I felt bad for the Seniors running out in the rain with no band playing around them. Since it was the last regular season game this year, they did a lot of honoring during the game... honoring the baseball team for winning the SEC this year, honoring Vince Dooley by announcing the new athletic complex would be named after him, and honoring Larry Munson for his 43 years of announcing for the Dawgs! It was an emotional moment when they honored Larry Munson... he looked so old and confused for a minute or two, and I was afraid he didn't know what was going on. But then he took off his hat and waved it to the crowd, and his chin crumpled up like he was trying not to cry. Too sad!

Of course, the Dawgs did not win. The offense came out and put 21 points on the board with little trouble in the first half, so we went into halftime with a 16 point lead. At that point, being out in all that cold rain was worth it! After the half, there was a total momen- tum shift in Tech's direction. They came right out and scored a touchdown to start the second half. The offense battled back and put another 21 points on the board, but the defense just could not stop Tech's option. Also, in typical Georgia fashion, penalties really hurt us. I can think of a big pass play to Mohamed Massaquoi that got an important first down, but that was called back due to holding, and that led to us having to punt. Massaquoi had a big game, with three catches for touchdowns. Stafford even tied a school record with five touchdown passes, but they still couldn't conquer the triple option. So, the final score was 45-42. At least it was a close game! We still had a good time in spite of the rain, the cold, and the loss. As Stacey put it when we were leaving the game, "If anything can be miserable and fun at the same time, that just was."

After the game, Stacey and Joey hit the road back to Madison to relieve her parents, who were on babysitting duty. We packed up everything we had taken to the condo this season, which was a lot more than we realized! We looked like Beverly Hillbillies heading home! We stopped at RuSan's for some yummy sushi with Martin and Alana, then we started the long drive through traffic and rain back home. Although it took us longer than we thought to get home, it was so nice to sleep in our own bed last night, so it was worth it!

Good Nite Light!

Two of my blogging friends (Kristin and Kelly) have blogged about their issues lately with toddlers moving from cribs to toddler beds. Also, the president of Saunders's bank (whose wife is a friend of mine that I taught fourth grade with) has talked to Saunders about how they're struggling with the same issues. I know we're just a short time away from having this same problem with Katie Anne- how to keep her in the toddler bed once we're in bed? How do we keep her from getting up in the middle of the night and thinking it is playtime?


I did see this cool product called the Good Nite Light. I have not ordered one, but I plan to once she's moved out of the crib. The product was created by a dad who was having this same problem with his son. You set the timer for your child's bedtime and wake-up time. At bedtime, the nightlight becomes the moon, and it stays the moon all night long... you just teach your child that, when the moon's showing, it means stay-in-bed time. Then, at the wake-up time, the nightlight becomes a sun, and that means it is okay to get up! I think this is such a cool idea, and thought I'd share it!

Look at these two having fun...

Katie Anne and her daddy are getting lots of Daddy-Daughter time while I'm sick. They are having a great time playing together! Here's a video of them having a blast running around the house. They'd been doing this for several minutes before I made the video... poor Saunders was exhausted!

Our Thankful ABC's

Saunders and I brainstormed an ABC list of some of the things we're thankful for this year. We've got so much to be thankful for that this isn't even a complete list, but it is a good start!

A is for…

Amanda- Katie Anne’s teacher. She does such a great job with the kids. We appreciate that she reads with the kids every day, plays music and dances with them, does tons of art projects with them, buys them treats with her own money, and is kind and sweet. I love it when I walk in Katie Anne’s class and see her art work all over the walls, snapshots Ms. Amanda has taken of her playing on the bulletin board, and her playing happily with friends. She told us the other night that the only people who were nice were “Anana and Gingo” (Amanda and Ginger). :)

B is for…

Brothers. We love Greg and Carlton! They are both fun-loving, easy-to-get-along with guys that we love to talk to and hang out with. We are even luckier that Greg and Carlton are such great friends outside our familial relationships, because it makes hanging out together even more fun. We are very lucky to be so close to both our siblings. We’re thankful that Katie Anne has two kind and fun uncles!

C is for…

Cars. We have two reliable, paid-for cars that never give us a minute’s trouble. (Well, the Element resents being called a car… it prefers to be known as an SUT, but I think that’s pushing it.) Our cars are pretty nice, hold a lot more than it looks like they would, and safely get us where we need to go. And- a big plus during the high gas phase- they get great gas mileage!

D is for…

Dogs. Even though they sometimes drive us nuts, we are grateful for Abby and Ginger! Their little antics crack us up, they are very loving and cuddly, and Katie Anne just adores them. Sometimes they are stinky, and sometimes they destroy things, but they are always happy to see us when we walk through the door.

E is for…

Eating. We are grateful for delicious food! At Thanksgiving, all your festivities are focused around food and family, and that’s so nice. Although we’re so stuffed later, we’re so excited to eat all that yumminess! We are so thankful for plenty of food to feed our family, too. We are fortunate that going hungry is not a worry for us, and Katie Anne always has plenty of food on her table.

F is for…

Friends. We have great supportive friends that add so much to our lives. Our friends support us, care for us, rejoice in our successes, and lift us up when we’re down. I tried to make a list of our helpful, generous friends, and I realized there are too many to try to list, and that’s truly something for which to be thankful!

G is for…

Grandparents. We are so thankful for Gigi, Granddad, VJ, and Doc. All their help and support is invaluable! They are always ready to lend a hand to our family, and we are lucky to live within just a few miles of both of them. When I think of raising a toddler many miles away from our parents, I cannot imagine how hard that would be. We could not do it without the grandparents! We are glad that Katie Anne has a big, loving extended family to grow up around.

H is for…

Home. We are so grateful for our lovely house and the shelter it provides. Of course, there are projects we’d like to do, but it really is our dream home. We’re thankful that we have room to grow our family without having to move again for a long time.

I is for…

Internet. We’re so thankful for the internet! It is truly an integral part of our lives. It’s hard to remember life without it! We use the internet to keep up with friends and family, get news and information, and just look at funny videos on YouTube! And, of course, we couldn’t blog without internet access!

J is for…

Jobs. We are so thankful for our careers. In today’s economy, it is a wonderful thing to be employed and have a reliable income. We both are lucky enough to work at places we enjoy, doing things that challenge us, with people we like, and that’s something for which to be thankful!

K is for…

Katie Anne! Of course, we are the most thankful for our precious baby girl. I was looking at pictures of last year, and she has grown up so much since last Thanksgiving that it’s amazing. Katie Anne adds so much to our lives… so much joy, so much fun, so much craziness! We could not imagine our lives without her.

L is for…

Laughter. It seems that Saunders and I are always laughing together, with Katie Anne, with family, and with friends. We love to laugh and are grateful for the joy in our lives!

M is for…

Marriage. We are thankful for our happy marriage. In December, we will have been married for five years, and in January, we’ll have been together for ten years! Although we have our fights like any normal couple, we truly make each other happy and have a great time together. We agree on so many things and work together toward common goals very easily. We think we make a pretty good team. :)

N is for...

New Couch! We got our new couch this year, and we are very thankful for it. We were so tired of the old couches, and they were looking rough and feeling uncomfortable. The new couch is big enough for the whole family to stretch out on, and the new arrangement gives Katie Anne more room to play.

O is for…

Organization & Order. I am very thankful for organization and order because it makes my life easier! Saunders is thankful that I love to organize and keep things orderly! I spend a lot of time getting things neat and keeping them that way, and I get very sad when things are messy. We both agree that a neater house makes for happier people, and we’ve finally found a balance between my OCD-ness and Saunders’s messiness!

P is for…

Photographs. Anyone who knows this family knows we love our pictures. My pictures make me so happy. I love to go back and look at pictures of my childhood, teen years, our courtship and wedding, Katie Anne’s first year… it just brings back all those fun memories. We are so thankful to have the digital technology to preserve all the good times in photographs for enjoyment years from now!

Q is for…

Quiet. Now that Katie Anne is a little fireball of energy, we are thankful for those few peaceful hours between her bedtime and our bedtime! Especially after spending a loud day in a small room with twenty six-year-old chatterboxes, spending a little time in silence is a good thing for me. We really value those precious hours of quiet time!

R is for…

Reading. We are so fortunate that both Saunders and I are big readers, and we’ve passed that love on to Katie Anne. A love for reading is the number one predictor of school success, and we are so happy KA loves to read! Our house is filled with books, from toddler board books to beautiful picture books to crafty books to education books to philosophy books to business books to novels and nonfiction! We read all kinds of things. Saunders and I both love to spend time in the evenings, laying around on the couch or in bed, reading quietly. So relaxing!

S is for…

Sister-in-Laws. We have two wonderful sister-in-laws, Jillian and Trisha. Neither Saunders nor I ever had a sister growing up, so it is so fun adding two girls to our family! I personally am so thankful that they’re so creative and love crafts, because we have a lot in common and can bounce ideas off each other. We are very fortunate that Katie Anne gets to grow up with two fun and loving aunts!

T is for…

Tivo. We got our Tivo this year, and it has completely changed our life! Well, maybe not our life, but it has completely changed the way we watch tv. Now, we never miss shows that we used to not be able to watch. Being able to Tivo Sesame Street has been great, too. We’re not home in the morning when it is shown, so Katie Anne watches “Hermie” as she calls it (she means Murray, the puppet who starts the show) in the evenings. Saunders loves Tivo because he can really analyze the football plays on UGA Saturdays. I love it because I can go to bed and still watch the good shows that come on from 10:00 – 11:00 pm!

U is for…

United States. We are so grateful to live in The United States of America! We live in the greatest country in the world and have so many opportunities, and that’s an amazing birthright.

V is for…

Volunteers. Since I’ve been sick, we’ve been privileged enough to have friends and family volunteer to help us out. Family members have brought food, picked up Katie Anne, helped watch her in the evenings, done household chores, picked up things from the grocery store, driven me places when I couldn’t drive, etc. My friends at work totally picked up the ball when I was out for seven days and helped the sub, wrote almost all of my lesson plans for me for the next three weeks, and cut out/copied tons of fun Christmas activities for my kids to do in December. We are so thankful for the help we’ve received- it is greatly needed and appreciated!

W is for…

Wii. We love the Wii! The Wii has been the most fun gaming system that we’ve played in a long time, and we can’t wait until Katie Anne is old enough for us to play together.

X is for..

Xenodocheionology. (That means a love for hotels and inns.) We do love to travel, and we love to stay at great hotels and unique inns, so I guess we’ve got a case of xenodocheionology! We’ve been fortunate to take some amazing trips together- New York, the Bahamas, Florida, Jackson Hole, the Carolinas, Arizona, Las Vegas, and more. We love to take trips, go places, and have adventures. We’re so thankful for all the neat and exciting places we’ve been!

Y is for…

Yard. When we moved into this house, our yard was horrible… I mean, embarrassment-of-the-neighborhood horrible. We had a ton of work done on it, and I spent hours and hours of my maternity leave watering the new grass, and now we have a beautiful backyard for our kids to enjoy.

Z is for…

ZZZZ’s! We’re grateful for getting plenty of sleep because Katie Anne is a great sleeper. She goes down between 7:00 – 7:30 each night, and she sleeps until 7:00 – 8:00 each morning (or until we wake her up to go to work). She’s been sleeping this way since summer of 2007, and we’re quite lucky compared to other parents of babies and toddlers! Now, I'm off to get some of those wonderful zzz's myself!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!