Conquering Kindergarten!

Ellie began school (over 1 month ago!) and she is conquering Kindergarten! It is so hard to believe how incredibly fast she has grown - she should not be this old! She was super excited about beginning big school. She has attended a "Mom's Day Out" preschool program since she was 3, so I knew she was ready (if not beyond ready) to go to big school. She is one smart cookie. And, the school she is attending is full of greatness - teachers, students, and mile from my office!

On the 1st day of school, we were both very brave. No tears. I asked Jamie not go with us on the 1st day, not because I am selfish or anything, but because the bravery would have turned into the worst day of school ever. She is such a daddy's girl that there would have been an Emmy Award given out for the "Best Performance in a Drama." I just didn't want her to get started on the wrong foot. So we arrived the first day at the same time our good friends the Eakes' crew did. She was able to walk in with Davis & Avery which helped.

So far the school year has gone great! Well, except for getting up in the mornings. Those are hard because neither of us are "morning people", but we have done well. There have been a few notes that have come home from school and her "clip" moved, but some of this is a learning process for her to understand that she has to do what the teacher directs, which sometimes is not the same idea she has (wonder where she gets that from?). Hopefully, her love of school will continue.

The stuff she says...

First of all let me apologize for being such a slacker. I will try to do better.

Here is Ellie's latest story ...

Memama & Granddaddy (Jamie's grandparents) have a dog, Daisy, that is expected to pass away any day. She has been suffering with huge tumors in your stomach ... it is really heart wrenching. On Wednesday this week, they picked up Ellie and Macy Ruth from school. When they arrived at their house, the girls were playing outside until they spotted Daisy, laid beside one of the sheds. Asking about the dog, Granddaddy replies that Daisey had been there all day, waiting to go to "Doggie Heaven" where she won't be in pain. Well of course this gets the girls upset, they begin crying, and basically hold a vigil for Daisy. The girls come into the house in tears and all upset about the poor dog. Shortly thereafter, Granddaddy comes into the house with the announcement that Daisy moved from her spot. Ellie, with tears still in her eyes, looks up and says, "So, we have done all this crying for NOTHING?!" Needless to say, the grandparents got good laughs from her comment.

At the Doctor's Office

So I bet you are all wondering if I have been abducted by aliens or fallen off the face of the Earth, but truth is ... my computer has sub come to a virus. A mean, bad virus. It is currently being cured by our "computer doctor", my Uncle Keith. So this post will require reading, and unfortunately no photos to help tell the story. Just to catch up on what's been going on at our house...
1. Ellie began school mid-August. We are conquering Kindergarten. So far she loves it. When I ask her what her 3 favorites things were about school each day, her reply is usually "Recess, Lunch, Recess". That does sound like an awesome day to me. So far we have done well getting up and going in the mornings. I purchased a canvas closet hanging organizer to put together 5 outfits in each slot along with a bedtime book to read each night. This little system works fabulous for us. She gets the independence of picking out which slot of clothes she wants to wear, and I know that are ironed, matched and ready to go. Though I think she picks it out by the book in each slot. Plus, her school provides free breakfast to all of the students (Thanks Kenton Elementary). This also saves us time.
2. Jamie has taken up the game of golf - or at least giving it a good attempt. He has signed up to play in a tournament with some of his co-workers in their company's tournament. That should be interesting. I tried my hand at it the other day in the yard. Needless to say, I will not be participating in any tournaments.
3. I will be going to my 1st Vols game! I am super excited! We are preparing for the full blown college game experience for the UT vs. Georgia game! Our friend, Patrick, who lives in Knox, has outfitted an enclosed trailer with large flat screen TVs, stereo, and all the other tailgating essentials. Then we are going inside the stadium for the game. Thanks to my cousin's season tickets, we will be enjoying the game from great seats right where the team enters through the "T". So excited! I can't wait!
4. It's BAND Season! I can't wait to begin going to the competitions & rooting for the GCHS Marching Pioneers! Our cousin, Mary Beth, will be conducting the band for their tribute to the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.
5. Dove season opened this past weekend. Yippee! This is just the beginning of a very, very long season.

Well, that is about as boring as it gets around our house. Hopefully, my computer will be cured by my next post.

Beach Favorites {Just

The Beach {Day 5}

On our final day at the beach we took a boat ride to Shell Island, to find the perfect shells to take home & look for sand dollars. The boat ride was ok on the way there. The kids were entertained by the seagulls literally snatching Cheetos from their outreached hands. Once there we hit the island. I believe the next time we go we will figure out how to lounge on the island for most of the day. It was so secluded and peaceful. Jeffery did find a small, but whole sand dollar, but it fell to pieces with the least bit movement. We did see lots of these little guys ... not much hunting required.

The ride back however was not as enjoyable. The captain decided to take us out from the bay and into the Gulf to search for dolphins. I know he meant well and wanted his passengers to get the most bang for the hard earned dollars, but it was exhausting. I have never felt sea sick before, but I did this time, as well as others. He kept idling doing figure 8's in the water. I just kept my eye on the shoreline. Luckily, no one got sick that I knew of, but that ride is over for us. We did however find the dolphins - a mother & her baby. Jaxon & Ellie really liked to see them as well as a sunken ship from a recent hurricane. We did more laying out at the beach and ended up ordering pizza that evening.

Some other notable vacation adventures:

• Tripp tossing a cola over the rail from the 17th floor. Fortunately, no one was in the pool below or injured.


• Ellie accidentally dropped her flip-flop from the 17th floor right into the swimming pool. "Watch out below! Splash" We had to go retrieve it.


• Jeffery bailing out the auto to put some punk kids in place for tail gating on his bumper on their rented mopeds. Priceless.


• Going into a store "Everything's $1" to hear the recorded announcer, who sounded worse than Ben Stein, repeat "Everything's $1; No need to pay $5 for those spoons; We need a price check on aisle 5, never mind because everything's $1"

It was a wonderful trip and we are already planning next year's beach adventure.

The Beach {Day 4}

Day 4 was a lazy day, alternating from the beach & swimming pool for the kids. The water was finally clear, pretty and seaweed-free. There were, however, red flags posted for the huge waves. It was a nice relaxing day. We did come in a little early to get ready to go to some places we had put off. We walked down the pier that stretches way out into the ocean. Unfortunately, no one was catching any fish, but we did see about 12 surfers catching waves, which was fascinating to watch. Afterward, we cooled down at Kilwin's. I was excited about my Cookies-N-Cream in a waffle cone. We did a little shopping at Pier Park and I brought home a Christmas ornament from our trip. A little souvenir trick I learned from my sister. Each time she goes on a trip, she searches for a Christmas ornament that is unique to the area. We visited the boatyard to look at interesting boats and picked up a few t-shirts from the restaurants (because that is part of going to the beach, right?) That evening we ate at Raggie J's a Caribbean inspired restaurant at Pier Park, then off for (you guess it) more putt-putt.

The Beach {Day 2 & 3}

Our full second day at the PCB turned into a rainy one. When we got up that morning it had been raining on and off throughout the night and looked like it could the rest of the day. Jamie and I chalked it up as a "wash out" day and decided to do our on thing. We ended up in Destin, about 50 miles away, to do some shopping at the outlet mall and Destin Commons. Amazingly, no good deals were found! I couldn't believe it. The Destin Commons is an outdoor type of shopping center, which wasn't very suitable for a rainy day. Ellie did end up getting some new clothes for Olivia Lou (her Build-A-Bear that she so dearly loves). The outlet mall was a mess! All the stores that were were interested in were in a disheveled state of merchandise reminiscent of an After-Thanksgiving/Black Friday sale. I guess all the back to school shopping had everyone looking and tossing items aside.

That evening we went to Schooner's to eat. A neat little joint on the beach with live music. Tripp, the music lover, really liked the action of the band. The food was good as well and there was a nice breeze blowing that didn't make it unbearable to eat outside. We also ended the evening with some more putt-putt. Ellie's new favorite thing to do! And a trip to one of the plentiful surf shops around for some beach toys.

The 3rd day was a little better, only an afternoon shower. And we spent quite possibly the best $6 on the trip - Ellie a body board! She loved riding the waves back in on this board. There is not telling how many times she would come in and go out. She turned into quite the surfer girl. And Tripp ended up fascinated with the seagulls! So fun to see one of the birds catch his eye and he was off. The beach bums got quite a laugh watching the grown up chase after a 1 1/2 year old who is chasing a bird.